Kesmai Archive > IoK > Advanced Game > Guides

                                Contents
     
     12.00    Developing Your Character. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
     12.01      Developing a Fighter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
     12.02      Developing a Martial Artist. . . . . . . . . . . . 54
     12.03      Developing a Thaumaturge . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
     12.04      Developing a Wizard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
     12.05      Developing a Thief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
     13.00    Karma and Alignment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
     14.00    Extending Your Horizons:  The four segments  . . . . 64
     14.01      Kesmai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
     14.02      Leng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
     14.03      Axe Glacier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
     14.04      Oakvael. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
     14.05      Moving Between Segments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
     15.00    Praetoseba, The Underworld . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
     15.01      General Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
     15.02      The Quests for Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
     15.03      Osirus - Stomache Quest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
     15.04      Anubis - Intestine Quest . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
     15.05      Khnumeri - Lung Quest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
     15.06      Sekmet - Liver Quest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
     15.07    The Karma Quests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
     15.08      Getting Forgiven - One Karma point . . . . . . . . 76
     15.09      Getting Forgiven - Two or Three Karma points . . . 77
     15.10      Getting Forgiven - More than Three Karma points. . 77
     15.11      The Underworld - Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
     16.00    Obtaining Special Weapons and Other Quests . . . . . 78
     16.01      Silver Greataxe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
     16.02      Returning Axe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
     16.03      Rhammer +4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
     16.04      Crossbow +4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
     16.05      Crystal Gauntlets +4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
     16.06      Knight's Quest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
     17.00    Social Play. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
     18.00    Miscellaneous  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
     18.01      The Janitor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
     18.02      Combining commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
     18.03      Deletion of your Character . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
     19.00    Information Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
     19.01      Attend the Conferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
     20.00    A Note about Guilds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
     21.00    Contests and Special Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
     22.00    Island Vernacular: Commonly Used Slang Terms . . . . 89
     23.00    Getting Help from Fellow Players . . . . . . . . . . 90
     24.00    Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

                                                                     PAGE 1
1.00:  Introduction

    The Island of Kesmai is a multi-player, interactive game, set in
    a magical environment with a vaguely medieval ambience.  It is a
    combat oriented game that emphasizes tactical challenges.  There is
    no single object of the game; the game is open-ended.  Players pursue
    various ambitions, skills, discovery, adventure, wealth, power,
    ability to help others; often pursuing these ambitions over several
    characters' lifetimes.  The game has proven to be enormously
    compelling.

    This manual is an unofficial guide to the Basic Game (BG).  It
    was first compiled and edited by TJ..Alf (76475,3253) in late 1988.
    In November 1993, several new sections covering Oakvael and
    Praetoseba (the Underworld) were been added by Sir.James..Sea
    (70762,1416), plus a general update of several game changes, mostly
    changes to critters.  GreyMouser (73541,3243) developed sections
    dealing with the social aspects of the game in June 1995.
    Miscellaneous editing and formatting was completed by Fizzbozz
    (70303,576) in July 1995.
                                                                     PAGE 2
2.00:  Prerequisites

2.01:  Basic Setup

    The game requires nothing more than a terminal or a personal
    computer running a terminal program, and a 300 baud modem. Although
    there is a text mode available, a minimum requirement for really
    enjoying the game is VT52 emulation on your terminal or terminal
    emulation program.  Playability increases at modem speeds over 300,
    but modem speeds above 2400 baud give marginal benefit.

    Configure your terminal or terminal emulation program for VT52. When
    Compuserve prompts you for your user ID, append a *VT52 to the end as
    follows. User ID: 777777,777*VT52

    GO GAM-26 to access the Main Menu of the game. Select option 6,
    Change Player Parameters, and then option 1, Change Terminal Type.
    From the Change Terminal Type menu, select option 1, Use Compuserve
    Default. You can now enter the game and play it with 'text based'
    graphics! Enter PLAY to actually enter the game. Just remember to
    append the *VT52 to your User ID everytime you login to Compuserve to
    play the game. There is no need to change your terminal type again
    from the game menus.

2.02:  Front-end Programs

    Once you have played using text based graphics, you will soon realize
    the limitations inherent this mode. The text symbols used to
    represent various terrain features can be confusing. This makes it
    difficult to walk about in the game. Over the years, players have
    developed various 'front end' programs that run on personal computers
    such as IBM compatibles, MacIntoshes and Amigas. You will probably
    want to switch to one of these front ends as soon as possible.

    For people with IBM computers and clones, there are several MS-DOS
    based front ends: IoKTerm, KPlus and TheGuide. Check MPGAMES library
    7 for the files related to these programs. IoKTerm is the oldest
    program. It is simple to use and has a nice autoroller for creating
    new characters. KPlus is a long time favorite. There are graphical
    upgrades available in the MPGAMES library that enables the program
    to display colorful and graphical effects. TheGuide is packed with
    advanced features and is a favorite of those who like to track the
    advancement of their character in detail.

    For WINDOWS users, there is a great front end program called HUNTER.
    It is considered by most to be the best front-end available, with
    excellent macro and recording capabilities, and nicely rendered
    graphical display of the game terrain. Check libs 4 and 7 for the
    latest Hunter files.

    For those with Macintosh computers, Kterm is available in library 7,
    with a level of sophistication at least equal to that of Kplus.
    VKTerm, a program for Amiga computers, is also in the MPGAMES libs.
    Directions for installing these programs should be included in the
    Libs.

    For all of these programs, you will want to access the Change Player
    Parameters in the game main menu to change your terminal setting to
    Kesmai Terminal Protocol. Also, you no longer need to use the *VT52
    when you login.
                                                                     PAGE 3
3.00:  Preparing a Character

    When you GO GAM-26, and come to the Island of Kesmai menu area,
    you will first have to create a new character (commonly called
    "rolling a character").  A couple of suggestions for your first
    character:  first, recognize that it will probably not be a
    "keeper" character; in other words, you will probably be killed
    several times as you learn the manner of the game, and your
    character will eventually die once too often, and you will have to
    roll another.  At the beginning, this is no real tragedy; in fact,
    you should plan on it as you learn the game and begin preparations
    for an eventual "keeper" character.

    Secondly, you will have the opportunity to select what class you
    would like to play:  a Fighter, a Martial Artist, a Thaumaturge, a
    Wizard, or a Thief.  All of these classes have their own strengths
    and unique characteristics, but at the beginning a Fighter is
    probably the easiest to learn with, and I suggest you begin with
    that class.  But as you will certainly like to make up your own
    mind a discussion of each class follows.  Character class is the
    most important decision you will make; other choices for
    nationality and sex complement class.  A common practice nowadays
    is to gather much wealth and weapons for one's "keeper" crt with
    his/her first few crts.  This way, the keeper character has a lot
    of gold to purchase levels, skills, and other necessaries with, as
    well as some decent equipment with which to begin.  Oftentimes,
    character-tied weapons are ancestored to the new character, which
    is a practice described in full detail later in this manual.

3.01:  Fighter/Knight

    Running a fighter traditionally has been the most popular choice.
    It is an especially good choice for first time players.  Fighters
    rely on weapon skills and strength to kill opponents, and blocking
    skill and dexterity to avoid opponents' weapons.  Fighters gain vital
    experience points rapidly and are given a higher number of hit points
    (how much damage can be absorbed is determined by how high your
    "hits" are) than any other class except Martial artists.  When
    fighters are knighted, moreover, they gain magical powers that
    enhance their weapon, enable them to locate opponents, increase their
    strength and heal their wounds during combat

    There are disadvantages, however.  Fighters are able to fight only
    one opponent at time in direct combat, and must either fight or
    run when faced with overwhelming odds.
                                                                     PAGE 4
3.02:  Martialartist

    Martial artist (MAs) characters are for the action oriented
    player.  They are fast, nimble and possess extraordinary ability to
    block opponents' blows.  At higher skill levels they have offensive
    blows that exceed all other fighting classes.  But because they must
    engage in direct hand to hand combat, the life of martial artists is
    as dangerous as it is exciting.  The MA trainers will offer some
    training in thiefly skills, but such skills are not as effective as
    when wielded by a true thief.  Martial artists receive many hit
    points and acquire skills and experience quickly.

    This is not a difficult class to begin with, as equipment needs
    are minimal, and it offers much power to the player at higher levels.
    It requires, however, much patience during the middle skill levels.
    Opponent armor will frequently block a martialarts attack. Moreover,
    martialartists who choose to wear armor will find their weapon
    blocking abilities severely limited.

3.03:  Wizard

    Wizards rely almost utterly on magic for their play.  Highest
    level wizards are, arguably, the most powerful characters in the
    game.  Even at middle experience levels, wizards possess terrain
    spells that can clear rooms of opponents.  Intelligence and
    dexterity are extremely important for this character class.
    Additionally, wizards are gifted with a powerful shielding spells
    effective against missile weapons.

    However, there are several disadvantages for this class.  A low
    level (beginning) wizard spends most of his/her time running for
    their life.  To balance the awesome powers of the magic spells
    wizards can acquire, a wizard gets considerably less hit points to
    work with.  This is why beginning players should consider a
    fighter or MA for the first character.

3.04:  Thaumaturge

    Thaumaturges are the IoK version of warrior/priests. They are a
    compromise between pure magic users and pure head bashers like
    fighters and MAs. Thaums, as they are called, are easier to train
    with standard weapons and are somewhat more durable than wizards.
    Like wizards, they have powerful spells and higher level thaums can
    even summon phantasms of various sorts to assist them.

    The main drawback is they usually have fewer magic points and
    their spells are more restricted than wizards.  Whereas a wizard
    has a number of area type spells like fireballs and icestorms, a
    thaum's spells are more tailored for one-on-one combat, which can
    be awkward at times, since in most areas of the game the critters
    and other nasties like to gang up on adventurers.
                                                                     PAGE 5
3.05:  Thief

    The final class of characters to consider are the thieves.
    Running a thief is both infuriating and exciting.  The biggest
    strength of the thief class is the ability to 'hide'.  Thieves can
    use this power early in their careers to penetrate the lairs of
    dragons and drakes, the castle of the giant and rooms full of
    opponents (if careful) without detection.

    Also, although not terribly effective until high skill levels,
    thieves can steal.  They can steal goodies from opponents and
    occasionally not get caught.  However, the steal command is tedious
    and most thieves will develop MA skills.  A thief with a high skill
    level in unarmed (hand) combat is NOT a character to be trifled with.

    One other major handicap is thieves are not lawful.  This means
    that lawful non-player characters in the towns will attack you.
    Until late 1992, other lawful players could also attack you, but
    since then all player vs player combat has been banned by the
    ghods of Kesmai, and players of all alignments are commanded to
    live in peace and harmony with one another

3.06:  Character Attributes

    All characters start with six basic attributes: Strength, Dexterity,
    Intelligence, Wisdom, Constitution, and Charisma. Values of each
    attribute can vary from a low of 3 to a high of 18. When you create a
    character from the main menu, these values are 'rolled' randomly. You
    keep rolling until you get a range of values you like. It is not
    practical (nor really needed) for you to roll an 18 in all
    attributes. Before giving some guidelines on rolling, here is a
    discussion of each.

    STRENGTH: Strength has two numbers, the point value and the combat
    add. Point value determines how much you can carry and how rapidly
    you use up stamina while walking about the game. Each point allows
    you to carry up to an additonal 4,000 coins worth of weight. (All
    items in IoK have weight expressed in coins.) Combat adds increase
    one's effectiveness with weapons. Each add gives better odds at
    penetrating opponent armor and inflicting damage.

    DEXTERITY: Dexterity also has point and combat add values. The point
    value gives one better odds at dodging attacks. The combat add gives
    one better odds at landing a blow.

    INTELLIGENCE: Intelligence is needed by wizards and thieves for spell
    casting. It primarily affects how rapidly they will advance in the
    magical arts. There are no combat adds.

    WISDOM: Wisdom works like intelligence, but only for thaumaturges.

    CONSTITUTION: Constitution determines one's ability to gain hit
    points, magic points and stamina points as one advances in the game.

    CHARISMA: This attribute is currently not used in the game.
                                                                     PAGE 6
    Of these attributes, each class has certain PRIMARY attributes that
    should be sought.  Every character is going to need good Strength,
    Dexterity and Constitution stats.  As well, Wizards and Thieves will
    want good Intelligence stats, and Thaums will want good Wisdom stats.

3.07:  Gender and Nationality

    You will be asked to choose your character's sex and nationality.
    Gender is merely cosmetic. There is no difference in skills or
    capacities between the sexes.

    Nationality is somewhat more important since certain nationalities
    have better odds of obtaining attributes, such as strength or
    dexterity, than other nationalities. Also, there is some small
    variation in starting skill levels among the nationalities, although
    none of the nationalities begin life with very much skill.  There are
    two things you will want to be considering in this regard.  First,
    your primary character attribute for your class and second, the skill
    level at which you begin to play.

    Here is where nationality comes in.  There are eight choices of
    nation:  Mnar, Mu, Lemuria, Leng, Hovath, Draznia, and a kind of
    non-national Barbarian.  Some nationalities give better averages of
    certain primary statistics; for example, Draznians enjoy a much
    higher average in Intelligence stats than do the inhabitants of Mu,
    and Hovathians score higher in Wisdom than do citizens of Mnar.  The
    chart on the following page (table 3-1) was taken from a survey of
    100 characters supplied by the computer for each nationality, and
    shows the average statistic for each character attribute.  This chart
    was uploaded to the library as "Rolls.ref".
         
    Keep in mind that these are only averages, and can only serve as a
    guide.  One may well find a roll where Mu yields a high intelligence
    average, but one's chances are probably going to be better in
    Draznia.  From this chart, it is clear that those who are only
    looking for high Strength, Dexterity and Constitution stats (fighters
    and martial artists) might well choose Mnar as their nation of
    origin; those needing high Intelligence (wizards and thieves) might
    choose Draznia, and Thaums might choose Hovath for its wisdom
    potential.
                                                                     PAGE 7
                                Table 3-1

            B       D       H       I       L       L       M       M
            A       R       O       L       E       E       N       U
            R       A       V       L       N       M       A
            B       Z       A       Y       G       U       R

    STR     12.3    11.9    11.3    11.2    10.1    13.3    14.0    14.2
    DEX     12.0    12.2    11.4    11.7    12.7    12.5    12.0    11.8
    INT     12.5    15.1    11.1    12.2    13.4    12.3    10.5    10.2
    WIS     11.9    12.1    13.4    12.5    11.2    11.9    11.2    13.2
    CONS    11.4    12.0    13.3    12.3     9.4    11.4    13.4    11.8
    CHAR    12.1    11.4    12.2    12.0    13.9    12.5    11.8    11.4
    HITS    23.5    23.5    23.7    23.4    23.3    23.6    23.5    23.5
    STAM     2.2     2.2     2.2     2.1     2.1     2.3     2.5    2.5
                                                                     PAGE 8
3.08:  Beginning Skills

    The other aspect to keep in mind is the skill with which your
    character will begin.  The following chart shows what weapons each
    class in each nationality starts out with, and what their skills
    are with each weapon.  Keep in mind that you can use most any
    weapon you like (except for thieves, more on that later).

                              Table 3-2

Abbreviations: Untr=Untrained, Awk=Awkward, Med=Mediocre, Cap=Capable.

OCCUP/NAT.      IN-HAND      ON-BELT      ON-BELT      H2H  MAGIC
THEFT

FIGHTER
Illyria    Rapier/Cap   Longswd/Med  Dagger/Cap   Untr         Untr
Mu         Axe/Cap      Shield       Dagger/Awk   Untr         Untr
Lemuria    Halberd/Cap  Mace/Awk     Dagger/Awk   Untr         Untr
Leng       Longswd/Cap  Shield       Dagger/Med   Whit         Untr
Draznia    GSwd/Cap     ShrtBow/Cap  Dagger/Awk   Untr         Untr
Hovath     Longswd/Cap  ShrtBow/Cap  Spear/Cap    Untr         Untr
Mnar       ShrtBow/Med  Shield       Axe/Cap      Untr         Untr
Barbarian  Axe/Cap      Shield       Longswd/Med  Untr         Untr

MARTIALARTS
Illyria    Staff/Cap    Shurikn/Med  Shurikn/Med  Grn          Clum
Mu         Staff/Cap    Axe/Cap      Dagger/Awk   Grn          Clum
Lemuria    Katana/Cap   Staff/Cap    Dagger/Med   Grn          Clum
Leng       Katana/Cap   ShrtBow/Med  Dagger/Med   Blue         Med
Draznia    Katana/Cap   Shurikn/Med  Shurikn/Med  Grn          Clum
Hovath     LongBow/Cap  Katana/Cap   Dagger/Cap   Blue         Clum
Mnar       Staff/Cap    ShrtBow/Med  Axe/Cap      Grn          Clum
Barbarian  Axe/Cap      Staff/Cap    Shurikn/Med  Grn          Clum

THIEF
Illyria    Dagger/Cap   Sword/Med    Dagger/Cap   Yel   Skulk  Med
Mu         Dagger/Cap   Sword/Med    Dagger/Cap   Yel   Apprn  Aver
Lemuria    Dagger/Cap   Sword/Med    Dagger/Cap   Yel   Skulk  Med
Leng       Dagger/Cap   Sword/Med    Dagger/Cap   Yel   Apprn  Aver
Draznia    Dagger/Cap   Sword/Med    Dagger/Cap   Yel   Apprn  Aver
Hovath     Dagger/Cap   Sword/Med    Dagger/Cap   Yel   Apprn  Aver
Mnar       Dagger/Cap   Sword/Med    Dagger/Cap   Yel   Apprn  Aver
Barbarian  Dagger/Cap   Sword/Med    Dagger/Cap   Yel   Apprn  Aver

THAUM
Illyria    Rapier/Med   Dagger/Med   Dagger/Med   Untr  Shamn  Untr
Mu         Axe/Med      Shield       Dagger/Awk   Untr  Apprn  Untr
Lemuria    Longswd/Med  Shield       Dagger/Awk   Untr  Apprn  Untr
Leng       Longswd/Med  Shield       Dagger/Awk   Whit  Shamn  Untr
Draznia    Longswd/Med  ShrtBow/Med  Dagger/Awk   Untr  Apprn  Untr
Hovath     Spear/Med    ShrtBow/Med  Dagger/Med   Untr  Apprn  Untr
Mnar       ShrtBow/Awk  Shield       Axe/Med      Untr  Apprn  Untr
Barbarian  Axe/Med      Shield       Longswd/Awk  Untr  Apprn  Untr
                                                                     PAGE 9

OCCUP/NAT.      IN-HAND      ON-BELT      ON-BELT      H2H  MAGIC
THEFT

WIZARD
Illyria    Rapier/Med   Staff/Awk    Dagger/Med   Untr  Apprn  Untr
Mu         Axe/Med      Staff/Awk    Dagger/Awk   Untr  Asprt  Untr
Lemuria    Sword/Med    Staff/Awk    Dagger/Awk   Untr  Apprn  Untr
Leng       Sword/Med    Staff/Awk    Dagger/Awk   Untr  Apprn  Untr
Draznia    ShrtBow/Med  Staff/Awk    Dagger/Awk   Untr  Apprn  Untr
Hovath     Sword/Med    Staff/Med    Dagger/Med   Untr  Asprt  Untr
Mnar       Axe/Med      Staff/Awk    Dagger/Awk   Untr  Apprn  Untr
Barbarian  Axe/Med      Staff/Awk    Dagger/Awk   Untr  Apprn  Untr

    Also, remember that the skills at this stage are still fairly low
    level, and can easily be taken to higher levels.  Overall,
    choosing nationality according to primary character attribute is
    far more important than choosing it according to skill.  Still,
    table 3-2 may prove useful to you (compiled from "Dock.ref").

    
3.09:  "Rolling" your Character

    After you have chosen your character's gender and nationality, you
    will be presented with a display of a character the computer has
    chosen for you.  It will look something like this:

          Strength     12  Adds 0
          Dexterity    15  Adds 1
          Intelligence 10
          Wisdom        8
          Constitution 14  Hits 22
          Charisma     16  Stam  2

          Roll again? (y,n,p):

    Scan the description.  You will want a minimum of 15 in each of
    your "primary" categories (strength, dexterity and constitution
    for all classes; additionally, intelligence for wizards and
    thieves, wisdom for thaums).  15 will give you any "adds"
    (category bonuses) that are available.

    Most fighters and martial artists care very little what the
    numbers are in categories other than strength, dexterity, and
    constitution; many magic users (wizards, thieves and thaums) like
    to see at least 15 in all categories except charisma (which is not
    presently used in the game).

    However, getting 15 or higher in all categories may take a LONG
    time and at least for your first character, a score of 15 in your
    primary categories should be adequate.
                                                                    PAGE 10

    If you like what you see, hit n. If not, hit y. Hitting p will
    display the same screen again.  "Hits" tells you how many damage
    absorption points the character will begin with.  This number
    usually runs between 21 and 26; the higher the better, but at this
    early stage it is not terribly important.  The same holds true for
    stamina; you want all you can get, but your choices are only 1-3,
    and it won't make all that much difference.

    Be patient with this phase of character generation.  Be willing to
    keep rerolling the generator for as long as it takes to get good
    numbers.  If one nationality isn't working out, try a different
    one (by accepting the character, then backing out and starting
    over).  Time spent here is time that will be of value for the rest
    of your character's life.

    This is one area where the front end program IoKTerm will be
    outstanding.  IoKTerm is no longer supported and for general game
    playing is pretty much obsolete, but the auto roller feature is
    still one of the best.  You can program the minimum requirements
    you desire for your character, and the program will continuously
    keep 'rolling' new characters until one meets your requirements.

3.10:  Pick a Name

    After you are done "rolling" your character, you will be asked to
    name it.  Players are stuck with the their character's name after
    selection.  Pick a name, therefore, with which you can grow old.
    There are no traditional conventions for naming, except for
    appending the guild logos to those players belonging to these
    groups.  Guild logos follow a few dots behind character names,
    i.e., Daenbear..Sea, Wooly..Sun, Fizzy..Alf.

    Beyond guild names, there are few other considerations.  Humor,
    self-deprecation and imagination are appreciated by other players.
    So too are literary, mythical and historical allusions.  Pick a
    name that complements the role you envision for your character.
    Thaums are religious zealots, wizards are stuffy intellectuals,
    thieves are sly and unobtrusive, knights may be pompous buffoons
    or mock-heroic gay blades, martial artists have a wealth of
    history behind them.
                                                                    PAGE 11

4.00:  Getting Your Bearings - Entering Kesmai

    When you enter Kesmai, your player will be standing at the end of
    a dock (you've just gotten off the boat).  Your screen will look
    something like this, though Val may not be present:

        . . A . . .            1.  A Val
        ~~~~::~~~~~~
        ~~~~::~~~~~~
        ~~~~^:~~~~~~
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~
        ~~~~~~~~~~~~

    

        R  Axe                             Hits:  34   Hits Taken: 0
        L                            Experience: 1600
                                        Stamina: 10

    The graphics in the upper left represent a map of 49 "hexes" of
    Kesmai.  Each hex is made up of a pair of characters.  Your PC
    (player character) is represented by the ^ in the center of the
    map.  Above (north of) you is the pair of characters ::  which
    represents a dock or bridge in the game.  Around you are hexes
    made up of the pair of characters ~~ which represents water.  The
    northernmost hexes are made up of pairs consisting of a period (.)
    and a blank ( ) representing empty ground, or plains.

    The "A" three hexes north of you represents another personality;
    it could be another PC, an NPC (non-player character - a computer
    generated human player), or a monster (trolls, orcs, dragons,
    etc.).  The upper right of the screen tells us which; in this
    case, we are told that "A" is a character by the name of
    Val...whether Val is a PC or an NPC can only be determined by
    experience.

    The bottom left tells you your crt (character) is holding an axe
    in right hand, and left hand is empty.  The bottom right tells you
    the number of "hits" (how many units of damage your crt can
    endure, 34 in this case) and how many hits he has taken (how much
    damage he has received, in this case 0) and your crt's stamina.
    It also reveals the "experience" of your character - 1600 points.
    Experience is gained simply by existing in Kesmai, but primarily
    by killing monsters.  As your experience climbs, every time it
    doubles you can obtain more hits, stamina and other bonuses.  (To
    receive those bonuses, once your experience has doubled, simply
    ensure you have taken no damage and are at full stamina, then type
    REST.  You must REST at maximum hits and stamina to move up to the
    next level; this is commonly called "resting up levels".)
                                                                    PAGE 12

    Before we go anywhere, let's check out your crt's stats and
    equipment.  Type SHOW STATS.  Beneath the graphics box, in the
    middle left of the screen, you should obtain a readout listing
    your stats for strength, dexterity and so on, as well as telling
    you the level and alignment (explained later) of your crt ("You
    are a level 3 lawful fighter) and your encumbrance ("You are
    lightly encumbered").  If your encumbrance is moderate or heavy,
    moving around, especially quickly, will gradually lower your
    stamina.  In that case, you might want to lighten your load.  To
    see what you are carrying, type SHOW BELT.  You will receive a
    list of the weapons on your belt, as well as a description of the
    armor you are wearing.  To belt a weapon, such as your axe, type
    BELT AXE.  To draw a weapon, type DRAW AXE or WIELD AXE (or DRAW
    SHORTBOW, or whatever weapon you want).

    Your crt can walk (move one hex at a time), run (two at a time) or
    sprint (three at a time).  If your stamina is low, you may only be
    able to walk.  In the dungeons it is best not to sprint, at least
    until you get a feel for the place; you may sprint right into
    danger!  But in town, as long as you are not carrying too much
    heavy stuff, you can sprint and save time.  Right now, let's
    sprint northwards, towards the town proper.  Type N N N (north,
    north, north, or north three hexes).

    If Val hasn't moved, you should have landed right in the same hex.
    Your screen may now look somewhat like this:

        {}{}. B . []              1. Val      longbow          plate
        . . . $ . |               2. B Tak
        . . . . . [][]
        . . . ^ . . .
        ~~~~~~::~~~~~~
        ~~~~~~::~~~~~~
        ~~~~~~::~~~~~~

    

    
        R Axe                           Hits:  34   Hits Taken: 0
        L                         Experience:  1600
                                     Stamina:  10

    The pair of characters {} represents trees or bushes.  The []
    represents a wall, and the | a door, so we can see that we have
    arrived near the corner of a building, with the door two hexes
    northeast of us.  Note, if you are using one of the front end
    programs available like TheGuide, enhanced ASCII graphics will be
    used.  Another character, Tak, is two hexes north of us.
                                                                    PAGE 13

    Since we are standing on the same hex as Val, we are given a
    little more information about her; she is carrying a longbow and
    wearing plate armor.  We could have found this out earlier by
    typing LOOK AT VAL from any place in sight of Val.  Now, we could
    LOOK AT TAK and we would be told his sex, nationality, class, what
    kind of armor he is wearing, and what he is holding.

    4.01:  Initial Commands

    The $ in the map represents something lying on the ground.  It
    could be almost anything:  an empty bottle, a ring, some gold, a
    weapon, armor, a potion, a gem, or any combination of these
    things.  The best way to tell is to go to the hex with the $ and
    type LOOK.  You will be told what is on the ground.  You can also
    look in adjacent hexes by typing LOOK N, LOOK SE, etc.  If you see
    something interesting (like coins or gems) you can go to the hex
    where the object is and type in LOOK AT <item>.  If there was
    anything there you wanted, you could TAKE <item>.

    Once you have the item, you have to decide what to do with it.  If
    it was armor you might WEAR <item>.  If it was a ring, you might
    PUT RING ON 2 LEFT to put it on the second finger of your left
    hand.  If it was a weapon, you might BELT <weapon>.  If it was a
    potion, you might OPEN BOTTLE AND DRINK IT (don't do this if you
    are not VERY sure of the results!).  If it was gold or gems, you
    might PUT GOLD IN SACK.

    Your sack is always with you, and holds twenty items.  Right now,
    if you LOOK IN SACK you will be told what is in it - probably only
    one gold coin.  You can TAKE <item> FROM SACK or PUT <item> IN
    SACK.  You could go NE NE AND LOOK AROUND and you would move up to
    stand in the doorway, and be told what kind of place it was (in
    this case, the weapon shop).  A later section, "Using the Shops",
    will tell you what you could do there.

    Right now, you are probably anxious to get into the dungeons and
    start hacking away at crits.  There are a couple of things you
    might want to do first.
                                                                    PAGE 14

5.00:  Don't Leave Town Without Them

    Most importantly, get some Balm, or at least some balm berries.
    Balm is a wonderful potion, sold for 16 coins by an NPC in the
    temple (just keep going north in town).  If you OPEN BALM AND
    DRINK IT you will be immediately healed of any and all damage you
    have taken.  This is an absolute must, because you WILL take
    damage!

    Balm berries are not so useful, but at least they are free.  If
    you TAKE BERRIES FROM SACK AND EAT IT it will remove up to 6
    points of damage.  Balm berries are found by going to the temple,
    going through the doors to the east, then heading north up the
    hall, then NE into the garden.  Stand on the hex with the bushes
    and TAKE BERRIES.

     To obtain your first few coins for balms, you can look around
    town for used recall rings which have been dropped by other
    players.  These will be described as 'small gold ring' and be
    worth 48 coins. 48 coins just happens to be enough for 3 balms.
    In a pinch, you can grab any and all the junk laying around and
    sell it to one of the shop keepers in town.

    The other thing to consider is a RECALL RING.  This is a magical
    ring that, when removed from your finger, magically transports you
    to wherever you were when you put it on.  Recall rings cost 150
    coins, are small gold rings emitting a faint blue glow, and are
    sold by an NPC just outside of the pawnshop (near a little plaza
    in east section of town).

    At 150 coins, they seem awfully expensive at first (later, you
    will think it chicken feed), especially since they can only be
    used once, but they can be well worth the bargain if they save
    your life. I recommend that after you buy the ring, you hold it in
    your left hand (SWAP if it is in right hand) and type PUT RING ON
    1 RIGHT.  Wearing it on this finger means that in an emergency all
    you have to type is REMOVE RING (rather than the usual TAKE 1 RING
    OFF RIGHT).  Of course, if you are holding something in your left
    hand, you have to belt it or drop it before you can use that hand
    to REMOVE RING.

    One VERY important note here, please do NOT drop used recall rings
    by the ring vendor.  A number of adventurers have suffered
    untimely deaths because they picked up used recall rings some
    inconsiderate slob dropped and did not check them before putting
    the ring on.  There is nothing more depressing than when you are
    getting badly beat up by some critters and have NOTHING happen
    when you remove the recall ring.
                                                                    PAGE 15

    Make sure that the location you are in when you put the ring on is
    a safe one, as when you transport yourself there magically by
    removing the ring later you may be near death.  Do not put the
    recall ring on when you are standing in water, or in a doorway, or
    on a ruined wall.

    One hint for aspiring wizards, the recall ring should be set in an
    out of the way place.  Accidents can happen with area spells and
    if you happen to kill something lawful (like a snake or griffin
    figurine), you will turn neutral.  Recalling into the middle of
    the town square in this condition will be extremely hazardous to
    your health, since all the towns people will immediately attack
    any nonlawful character they see.

     You have just started, so you don't have much gold with which to
    buy these nice products.  But if you wander around town and check
    every $ you see, you should soon be able to pick up enough gold
    rings, dropped weapons, and other such that you can resell.

    If you are the bold type, you can ask any other players you see
    for a loan or gift of some gold to help you get started...most are
    willing to be of help to beginning players.

    To buy balm or recalls (or any other products from a peddlar who
    is not behind a counter) simply step into the seller's hex, and
    drop the required amount of gold.  The seller will then drop as
    many balms (or rings, or whatever he is selling) as you have paid
    for, one at a time.
                                                                    PAGE 16

6.00:  Entering the Dungeon (and coming out alive)

    Now you are loaded up with balm, and if you could afford it you
    are wearing your recall ring.  You are ready for the dungeon hunt.
    Take your weapon in hand (right hand holds the weapon), head to
    the temple, and go through the western door, then up north and
    west to the stairway.  Type DOWN (or just D) to go down the
    stairs, and you will find yourself on level -1 of the dungeon.  Be
    on guard...fierce creatures inhabit these areas!

    In the screen below, you have just come upon a typical level -1
    dungeon scene:

      [][][][][]. .         1.  A *2 skeletons
      | . . < / . .         2.  B *wyvern
      [] B. . [][][]
      [].  A. |
      [][][][][]

    
      R axe                              Hits:  34   Hits Taken: 0
      L                            Experience:  1600
                                      Stamina:  10

6.01:  Combat

    The wyvern can move two hexes at a time, and will probably be on
    you next round ("you" are the <, in the northeast corner of the
    room).  The skeletons are a little slower, but will arrive the
    next round after, at which time you will have three monsters on
    you (unless you have already disposed of the wyvern by then <g>).
    You can fight it out, or you can run from them (you can move three
    at a time, so can outrun them), balm up, try to separate them
    again, and renew the battle.  At this point you have to choose
    your fights carefully, since almost everything in the dungeon is
    going to be bigger, meaner, and tougher than you are.

    To fight a crit, type FIGHT <crit> (in this case, FIGHT WYVERN)
    and you will swing on the crit with the weapon in your right hand.
    If you are holding a bow, you must first NOCK the bow, then SHOOT
    <crit> next round.

    You will be told the results of your swing.  You may be blocked by
    the crit's armor, or by a defensive move on its part.  You may
    miss.  You may fumble, in which case you must TAKE your weapon
    again to use it.  Hopefully, you will hit, and do either light,
    moderate, heavy,
    severe or fatal damage to the crit.
                                                                    PAGE 17

    Meanwhile, the crit will also be attacking you.  You will
    automatically respond to its attack and you will be told whether
    you or your armor blocked the crit, or, if the crit hits, you will
    see how much damage you took in the "Hits Taken" slot.  If you
    have taken more than 1/3 of your total hits, it is time to move
    out and balm.

    If the crit manages to slay you (it happens to the best) you will
    receive the "fatal" message.  You can do nothing except quit or
    talk to other players within sight (as a ghost).  If you quit (you
    must wait 60 seconds to do this) and your constitution stat is
    high enough (about 5 or higher), the gods will resurrect you, and
    you will re-enter the game at some relatively safe location.

    Now for the bad news, each time you die you will suffer some kind
    of permanent damage; loss of constitution and strength stats, loss
    of hit points, and skill deterioration.  If other players are
    within sight when you die, and can come to pick up your corpse,
    they can take you to a priest or a thaumaturge with a working
    RAISEDEAD spell for resurrection, and the damage taken is usually
    somewhat less (if you are with someone who dies, it is an
    excellent help to them if you can grab their corpse and get it to
    a priest or thaum for resurrection).

    If you die in front of a critter or one wanders by your corpse,
    they will strip you of your armor and all your possessions.  If
    this happens, you may be able to get some things back by going
    back to the scene (it is best to get help for this, as you are now
    even less able to handle matters there) and searching the $ and
    the crits in the area for your things.  If you die in fire, you
    will lose whatever you were holding at the time, but the ghods
    will immediately resurrect you with the contents of your sack,
    back in town.

    On the other hand, if you slay the critter, you get to do the
    looting!  A '$' will show up in the hex in which it died.  Type
    SEARCH CORPSE and you will rifle through the loot, and might find
    what the crit was carrying gold or gems or rings or something else
    valuable to you.  Pick up what you want (see "Dungeon Loot"), and
    carry on.

    If there is more than one corpse in the hex, SEARCH CORPSE
    searches the top one.  To search the others, you can type SEARCH
    <number> CORPSE.  Each time a corpse is searched, it is moved to
    the top of the pile, so if you have a stack of 5 corpses you can
    type in SEARCH 5 CORPSE and for the next four rounds type in 'A'.
    'A' is short for AGAIN, which repeats the previous command.
                                                                    PAGE 18

    Take note of the * before the names of the crits in the upper
    right section of the screen.  The * means they are chaotic
    monsters, and will attack you.  A + by the name means they are
    evil, and will attack anything.  An ! means you have encountered a
    neutral player, and though you may wish to be on guard, you should
    probably not attack.  Most neutrals are upright players and won't
    harm you; in fact, they may be of much help to you.  If there is
    no character by the name, it is a lawful player, and potential
    ally.

    Watch the change in your experience points when you finally manage
    a kill, you will gain anywhere from 20 to 250 experience points
    for a level -1 kill, depending on the type of crit you slew.

    Until you get the hang of it, it is best to stay on level -1 for a
    while.  The deeper you go in the Kesmai dungeons, the more
    dangerous it becomes.  Fire is used on the next level down, as
    well as weapons and claws, and until you get good fire protection
    that can be very dangerous indeed.  See the section on developing
    your character.

6.02:  Magical Combat (and basic magic use)

    In addition to combat with weapons, described above, MUs (magic
    users) have to learn to fight with magic, as well (technically,
    thaums use prayers, not magic, but as the principles are the same
    this manual will include them in the Magic Users category).  Some
    principles are the same for each class:

    1. Spells are written in the spellbook that the character begins
    the game with.  This book will only provide spells for the
    character it was assigned to; no one else will be able to read the
    spell book or make the spells work.

    2. To cast a spell, the player must first "warm" the spell.  This
    is done by typing the spell words exactly as they appear in the
    book; no quotation marks are used.  For instance, if the spell
    book says:

              The following will cast the spell of strength:
              asak nungi irrga luubluyi

    the player would type in only the words

              asak nungi irrga luubluyi

    without any qualifiers, and that would constitute warming the
    spell.  If the "warming" is mistyped, the spell cannot be cast.
    This is where the advantage of using a communications program that
    allows you to assign phrases to your function keys or special key
    combinations is most clearly seen.  Rather than being forced to
    type the spell, the player need only hit the function key or key
    combination that holds that spell and it will be entered for him.
                                                                    PAGE 19

    3. If, in the round in which the player warmed the spell, more
    than 1/6th of the players REMAINING hits were taken in damage, the
    spell will be disrupted, and will fail.  If not more than 1/6th
    damage was taken, the player may cast the spell.  Personal spells,
    such as Strength, Prfire or Shield are simply CAST or CAST AT
    <player in same hex>.  Directed offensive spells like Curse,
    MagicMissile or Stun are CAST AT <crit>.  Terrain spells like
    Bonfire, Lightning or Icestorm are CAST <direction>, i.e., CAST N
    N N.

    Every round that a spell is warmed, but not cast, one magic point
    will be subtracted.  Further, thaumaturges may discover that the
    longer the period is, between warming and casting, the greater the
    likelihood grows that the spell will fail (wizards and thieves
    never suffer from failed spells).

    More about the strategies and means of MUs will be covered in the
    section "Developing your Character".

6.03:  Strategy Hints

    1. "Zoos" are rooms with several crits in them.  Don't try tackle
    zoos all at once.  If you come in sight of several crits at once,
    retreat; not all the crits move at the same speed, so as they
    start to chase you, they will be drawn apart.  When you have them
    drawn out so there are only a couple or so to deal with, slay
    them.  Then head back slowly towards the zoo area, and repeat
    until done.

    If you have a fireball staff or wand, or an icestorm wand, or a
    ball, you might want to throw a spell or two into the zoo while
    they are together.  But be prepared to run immediately, as they
    probably won't all succumb to the spell.

    2. Always keep a line of retreat open, and KNOW what it is.  You
    may not always be able to SEE three open hexes to your rear, but
    you should know where they are, so you can retreat at full speed
    (three hexes at a time) without danger of running into walls
    (stunning) or unknown areas.  I like to be sure of a 9 hex retreat
    path.

    3. Unless you are very confident of your area, never advance more
    than 2 hexes at a time into an unknown area.  Try to advance in
    perpendicular lines, not an angle.  This cuts down on the number
    of new hexes--potentially filled with crits--that you will
    encounter with each move.
                                                                    PAGE 20

    4. Remember that you can be stunned in battle at any time.  Balm
    or Cast Cure at 1/3 hits on, much earlier if involved with a very
    hard hitting crit.  If you are fighting 4 hobgoblins at once (very
    dangerous) and you have 80 hits and one of the hobs hits for 20
    while the other three miss, realize that that means the hobs could
    potentially hit you harder in one round than all of your hits.
    Even if they only hit for 10 each, if your are stunned in combat,
    they can still potentially slay you without giving you a chance to
    react.  Be cautious in such situations; use a wand or staff to
    soften or break them up, or a distance weapon.

    5. MOST crits cannot move as fast as you can.  Even of those that
    can, few can move that fast and hit you in the same round.  So
    constant moving is a good way to get out of trouble.  If you are
    heavily encumbered or very badly wounded, you will lose stamina
    quickly, so this strategy can't work forever, but it is helpful.
    Some exceptions include gargoyles and dragons and sometimes bears.

    6. Don't hesitate to RECALL in trouble.  There is absolutely no
    shame in that.  Death in the BG is VERY hard to recover from, it
    is advisable to avoid it at all costs, once you are working on
    your "keeper" crt.

    More strategy can be gleaned from careful reading of the section
    describing the various segments of the game and the nature of the
    crits in those segments.
                                                                    PAGE 21

7.00:  I've Been Poisoned!

    Certain critters can inject poison into your system.  These
    include ghouls, the scorpions and manticoras in Leng, the Leng
    drake and Oakvael serpent.  The ghoul's bite and the tails of the
    others are the poisonous attacks.

    Poison has a delay period before it is activated.  The ghoul's
    poison, and the drake's, have a two-round delay; the scorpions and
    manticoras have a one-round delay.  Once activated, the poison
    will hit for several consecutive rounds, in decreasing measure.
    The ghoul's poison, for example, will hit for 15 points damage two
    rounds after the bite.  On the third round, it will hit for 14
    points, on the fourth for 13, on the fifth for 12, and so on until
    it runs it's course.  If one were to be bitten twice by the ghoul,
    the poison could be hitting for above 25 points in every round,
    coupled with any other damage being received.  This can become
    quite serious very quickly.  Scorpions and manticoras have a nasty
    habit of stunning you with their stings, then stinging again, and
    again, so that by the time you come out of the stun, you may have
    60 hits/round damage to deal with.

    There are several ways one can deal with poison.  One is for a
    thief or thaum to CAST NEUTRALIZE upon you, eliminating the
    poison.  Another is to buy some "sprigs" (sold just north of the
    pawnshop, outside the apothecary in Kesmai); sprigs can be taken
    from the sack and eaten in one round, and will cut the poison
    damage by about 5 points.  A neutralize amulet worn on the belt or
    carried in the sack can be drawn and held in the hand, so that the
    next round you can CAST NEUTRALIZE yourself.

    A very effective way sounds a bit strange at first...that is to
    drink another poison, with a very long activation delay.  Wine
    (bought at the tavern) is a mild poison (does 1 hit of damage)
    that has a 10 round delay.  Since no poison is injected into the
    system until the delay period of the last received poison is
    finished, a poisoned player can drink some wine and get a 10 round
    respite from poison effects; enough time to quit and locate, from
    the conference rooms, a thief or thaum to come to the player's
    position with a NEUTRALIZE spell, or to get a pile of balms
    together in anticipation of the coming damage.
                                                                    PAGE 22

8.00:  The 'critters', what to expect

    The following is a list of dungeon creatures, listed
    alphabetically.  At the end of this section is a short table which
    will give a comparison of critters to each other in the different
    game segments.  The first group are the fighter types, with the magic
    users second and the lair critters last.

    Bees - They are venomous, but very weak attackers.  Anyone who has
    more than +3 in shield rings will block 99 percent of their attacks.

    Beetles - Same as bees, except without the potential sting.

    Bears - Come in two indistinguishable varieties.  Regular bears are
    less trouble than a common troll, but there is one variety known as
    Bigfoot, which is fairly common in Axe.  Possessed of tremendous
    durability, and able to dish out damage in the 65 hits per round area,
    this bear can do more damage than the Kesmai Dragon and is to be
    feared.  Bigfoot will always greet you with a roar, while smaller
    bears will will be content to growl at you.

    Boars - Usually travel in pairs or trios, they announce their presence
    with an 'angry squeal'.  They are comparable to hobgoblins in damage
    potential and will either trample or gore you.  One interesting thing
    with boars is if you take one to the tailor to get skinned, the tailor
    will make a football for you; this is another case of the ghods
    strange sense of humor.

    Ducks - This is more or less comic relief and to prove the ghods of
    Kesmai have a sense of humor.  They are almost always neutral, whereas
    most critters are chaotic.  Anyone who gets killed by a duck better
    find a different game to play.

    Gargoyles - Fast and fierce, they can often move three hexes and hit
    in the same round.  The Oakvael versions can only be hurt with blunt
    instruments.  Using a sword or edged weapon will only get you a 'hits
    with little effect' message.  They almost always are restricted to
    carrying coins only, instead of other more valuable treasure.  Some
    will be wielding greatswords, others will batter you with their wings
    or slash you with claws.

    Ghouls - One of the most feared non-lair critters in the game, they
    are very nasty fighters and have a venomous bite that can do severe
    poison damage to you.  They are tougher to kill than the average
    minotaur and can be difficult for experienced players to handle. They
    are found on the -4 level of Kesmai and the undead level of Oakvael.
                                                                    PAGE 23

    Goose - Only found in the Axe Giant's lair, the only thing of great
    interest with this critter is the gold egg she leaves when killed.
    Other than the fact the goose is guarded by the giant, it is not
    particularly dangerous.

    Hobgoblins - These critters are not found until you get to the lower
    levels of the dungeon.  They are quite tough and have a habit of
    traveling in groups of three (or more).  A group of three hobgoblins
    with greatswords can be very big trouble.

    Hyena - These critters inhabit the plains of Leng and are comparable
    to wolves in habits and damage potential.

    Kobold - The lowest level critter in any game segment, they are not
    particularly dangerous, except for the newest of new players.

    Lizards - Cold cousins to the Kesmai salamanders, they cast Icestorms,
    which are more damaging to most characters than are Fireballs.
    Usually, the damage from ice does not amount to more than 15 hits
    (with basic fire and ice protection), but should a player get caught
    in overlapping or double storms, the damage can skyrocket quickly. One
    player reports taking 90 hits in one round from ice!  Lizards are not
    difficult to kill, and will run when severely wounded.

    Manticoras - This is a cross between a winged lion with a scorpion's
    tail.  The scorpion's tail is a good hint that these critters are
    venomous and will frequently sting you with an occasional stun thrown
    in for good measure.  They are about as tough as Minotaurs for simple
    fighting, but do not have nearly as many hit points and are easier to
    kill.

    Minotaurs - These critters are hard hitting and tough to kill.  They
    are blessed with loads of hit points and can take experienced players
    several rounds of intense fighting to subdue them.  Minotaurs also
    have an annoying habit of running (fast) when they are badly wounded,
    so in addition to the initial fight, you will have to run a foot race
    to finish them off.  They typically will use greatswords or a staff.
    Some will be armed with chaotic iron gem staffs, which are among the
    hardest hitting weapons in the BG.  One particular robed minotaur on
    the serpent level in Oakvael is very nasty with more hit points than
    normal for minotaurs and is very dangerous.
                                                                    PAGE 24

    NPCs (Non-player characters) - These computer operated players come in
    the same varieties that are available to regular players.  The ones to
    be especially careful of are the Thaums, who can cast Blindness,
    Death, Fear and Stun.  Wizards cast concussions followed by Icestorms
    most often.  A variety of fighters and MA types will be met.  Most
    fighters carry +4 weapons; greatswords, longswords or axes and hit
    hard and fast.  MA NPCs have very effective jumpkicks and can hit you
    from three hexes away.  They can average 15 to 40 hits with a punch
    and 20-65 hits with a good jumpkick.  It is wise to try to handle NPCs
    from a distance, and singly.

    Ogres - Tough cousins to the trolls, they hit somewhat harder and can
    be one of the most difficult non-lair critters to kill.  They are
    usually armed with halberds, and can hit from one hex away from you.
    They can also see in the dark.  They are only found in Axe at this
    time.

    Orcs - Next to kobolds, one of the most commonly encountered critters
    in almost any game segment.  In the upper levels of the Kesmai
    dungeon, they are slightly more dangerous than the kobolds.  In the
    lower levels of the dungeon, they get considerably more powerful and
    in addition to the fighter types, you will start seeing spell casters.
    The primary spells for them is either 'WEB' or 'FIREBALL'.  Webs are
    nuisance spells, but without fire protection, the fireballs are
    lethal.

    Rats - Low level critters that can usually be found on the upper
    levels of Oakvael.  Anyone with more than one shield ring will block
    them 9 times out of 10.

    Ravens - These are pretty much nuisance critters that will avoid
    fights most of the time; content to fly around and cry out a squawk
    periodically.

    Rockworms - They are confined to two hexes of movement at a time, but
    can move and hit in the same round.  They can see in the dark, and ram
    their way through illusionary walls.  They can only be killed by
    pointed weapons such as rapiers, daggers, or arrows.  Lightning and
    fire are also effective against them.  Most rockworms hit for about
    15-35, but there is one, a granite worm or super rockworm
    (indistinguishable from others) that can hit for four times that
    amount of damage.  They are unique to Axe.

    Sandwyrms - As their name implies, these critters are restricted to
    sandy areas.  They do not carry weapons so have to fight with claws
    and an occasional bite.  They are found either in Leng or Praetoseba
    and frequently carry a polished agate gem that is required for several
    portals.  They are not particularly dangerous and can usually be
    killed with one or two swings by someone with moderate weapon skills.
                                                                    PAGE 25

    Sharks - Inhabit the waters around Kesmai and the lake at the east end
    of Leng.  Once upon a time they would eat you, at a time when getting
    eaten was a permanent death.  They usually can be avoided, unless you
    find yourself trapped between a zoo on the land and a shark in the
    water.

    Skeletons - These are strictly fighter types.  As with orcs, in the
    upper levels of the Kesmai dungeon, they are only a big problem for
    very new players.

    Snakes - There are a few chaotic snakes about, but most often any
    snake you might see will be from a snake staff or createsnake spell
    from another player.

    Stalkers - You can always tell when a stalker is approaching by 'the
    sound of many gnashing teeth'.  They are very tough fighters that only
    experienced players should try to tackle.

    Trolls - Trolls can be found on levels -2 thru -4 in Kesmai and
    depending on the location, can be either slightly tougher than the
    orcs or considerably tougher than hobgoblins.  In most areas, trolls
    are solitary critters, so it is unusual to see more than two at a
    time, which somewhat offsets the risks fighting them.

    Wolves come in three varieties.  Ordinary wolves usually run in packs
    and they are easily killed.  Although they typically do less than 15
    points damage on average, if they all get a lucky bite in together,
    you can get in big trouble fast.

    The next two types of wolf are Prince wolves and King wolves (found in
    Axe).  They usually run alone, and can only be killed by a silver
    weapon, either a silver dagger, the silver Greataxe or a MA wielding a
    silver ring (see notes on MA class).  The Prince wolves bite for
    between 10 and 35 points of damage.  The King wolf, which is
    indistinguishable from the others, is much harder to kill, and does
    damage for between 10 and 110 points!  His attacks usually are in the
    30-40 range, but can be much more severe, and he often will stun you
    with a blow.  When killed, his corpse will yield an Obsidian Egg,
    necessary to obtain a Returning Axe (see section dealing with quests).
    Dire wolves can be stunned, and cannot see in the dark.  They are
    fast, able to move three hexes at a time almost indefinitely, but they
    cannot move those hexes and hit at the same time; a fact that is of
    great strategic value to a fighter who can run and balm at the same
    time.

    Wyrms - These are distant cousins to the dragons and can be formidable
    foes.  They are presently only found in Oakvael and the ones found on
    the wyrm level can be hurt with silver weapons only.  There is a wyrm
    pack that can be found in the reptile pit (-310ft) in Oakvael and
    are the equal of most any dragon for fierceness.
                                                                    PAGE 26

    One important note for the wyrms on the upper level of Oakvael, they
    are very useful for training purposes.  They usually hit for 15 to 30
    hits per swing, which is ideal for maintaining the risk factor while
    training.  Using anything other than a silver weapon will not hurt
    them, so you can train with your preferred weapon for extended
    periods.  The training risk factor will be discussed further in the
    section on character development.

    Wyverns - Wyverns are fast moving lizards that usually fight you with
    claws with an occasional bite.  They are very tough critters for new
    players and have to be treated with respect even by intermediate level
    players


8.01:  Magic users

    Banshees - They always announce their presence with a piercing shriek
    and will cast one of two spells.  About 35 percent of banshees will
    cast darkness spells at you, so a NV (night vision) helm is very
    necessary.  Another 35 percent will cast curses at you EVERY round.
    While the curse may only do 20 to 30 hits per round, they can add up
    real fast.  The remaining group will fight you, usually with axes.
    They are fairly easy to kill for high level players.

    Goblins, Hobgoblins and Orcs - All fairly low level magic users, which
    can cast fireballs, magicmissiles and webs.  They usually die with a
    one or two blows from anyone with moderate weapon skills.

    Lich - They have a variety of spells.  In Oakvael, they will cast
    Icestorms, except for the Iron Lich, who prefers Fireballs.  Other
    liches will cast Stuns and/or Death spells.

    NPCs - Wizards and Thaums have the same choice of spells available to
    players.  Wizards usually will use a concussion for the initial spell
    and then follow it with icestorms.  Thaums can be considerably more
    dangerous with blind, death, fear and stun spells.  Any thaum that is
    seen wearing a robe is going to be fairly high level magic user and
    can seriously hurt you.  The fear spell can be the most aggravating
    spell to get hit with.  While fear does no physical damage in itself,
    it causes you to run in random directions.  If you happen to run into
    a zoo room, you are going to be in very big trouble.  A player's 220+
    hit point knight was hit with a fear spell once and spent 10 rounds
    running back and fourth between two groups of banshees, wraiths and
    NPC thaum, until he finally ran out of hit points and died.

    Presence - Similar to spectres, these creatures inhabit two lairs, the
    Oakvael Doom.Orc and the Axe Drake.  The presence in Oakvael will cast
    continuous stun spells.  This gets rather awkward when there are
    several other critters around beating on you.  The presence in Axe
    will cast icestorms at you.
                                                                    PAGE 27

    Salamanders - Noted for the continuous fire balls they cast,
    occasionally they will take a swing at you with a claw.  Some
    salamanders in Oakvael also require blue glowing weapons to fight.

    Spectres cast Death and sometimes Stun.  Being hit by a Stun spell is
    most unnerving, as for four rounds or so you have to simply stand
    there and take what the crits can dish out.  Spectres are still
    invisible until they approach you.

    Wights - Slightly less powerful than wraiths, they usually cast curses
    and often will be fighter types.
    
    Wraiths - Their favorite spells are blindness and death.  In Oakvael,
    there are many wraiths who are fairly high level MAs and can do
    considerable damage with punches and jumpkicks.

8.02:  Lair Critters

    Most lair critters require the use of magical (blue glowing)
    weapons.  In addition to this, some may also require edged or
    pointy weapons, blunt weapons, silver weapons or in the case of
    the Axe icedragon, a silver greataxe.

    If you start a fight and get a 'hits with little effect' message,
    it is time to beat a hasty retreat, since you are using the wrong
    weapon.

The Kesmai Dragon (Daisy)

    Found in the -4 level of the Kesmai dungeon, this is the beginners
    version of a dragon.  She usually hits in the 30 point range, with
    frequent knock downs.  A Knight with 90 hit points can usually be
    successful in a fight with Daisy.  The reason knights are
    interested in Daisy is she carries the gem necessary to start the
    knight's quest.  She is not a foe to be taken lightly, however,
    and all players must exercise extreme caution with her, as with
    all lair crits.

The Trog (Kesmai)

    The trog is one of the weaker lair critters, but can still do
    damage comparable to what an Ogre would do.  She hits for 30 hits
    average with frequent knock downs, but is afraid of water.  Since
    there are several conveniently located pools of water in her lair,
    you can easily retreat to a puddle to drink balm or work on her
    with distance weapons.
                                                                    PAGE 28

The Axe Giant

    In Axe on the 60'level the Giant's castle may be found.  The area
    surrounding his castle is often swarming with NPCs, as is the
    interior.  An altar on the second floor of the castle often holds
    a Returning Hammer.  And there is the Giant.  Carrying a halberd,
    possessed of high Martialarts skill, the Giant can swing on you,
    kick you, stomp you and generally pulverize the unwary.  He can
    hit for upwards of 90, and connect for stuns often.  He cannot
    (usually) move and hit in the same round, and some players have
    used that fact and the castle terrain to fight the giant; few
    stand toe-to-toe and slug it out with him.  The Giant wears dragon
    scale armor.

The Axe Drake

    The drake lives in a lair atop the 230' level.  Coveted for the dp
    he carries, and for the wealth in his lair, the drake is
    nonetheless a fierce foe.  He strikes with lightning (to which he
    himself is nearly immune) that can hit for as much as 100 hits,
    and often stuns the player for two rounds.  His strikes with tooth
    and tail are no less furious, and he moves and hits in the same
    round.  He is himself possessed of approximately 1500 hits, so can
    often outlast, in battle, the mightiest foes.

The Axe Ice Dragon (+Mama)

    The Ice dragon lives in a lair above the drake's lair.  If the
    drake is a tough opponent, the ice dragon makes him look like a
    baby.  You can expect 20 to 30 hit icestorms, EVEN with top notch
    ice protection.  Hitting with tooth, horn, and claw, this dragon
    can do 120+ hits per round.

    The most successful technique for fighting the icedragon is to
    have a thaum summon about 10 or 12 djinee and with 4 or 5 high
    level players, march in to the lair TOGETHER and give her hell.
    The icedragon can only be hit with the (silver) greataxe.  One
    other technique for the adventurous soul who wants to SOLO the
    icedragon is to stand on an ice hex (yes, for some reason the ice
    dragon IS afraid of ice) and throw the greataxe at the dragon.
    Scoot out and grab the greataxe and back to the ice hex, and hope
    you don't get stunned in the process.  Very few people have gone
    toe-to-toe solo with the ice dragon and lived to tell about it.

    The main reason for all this pain is to get a set of the coveted
    ice dragon scales, which is the best armor protection available in
    the BG.  The goodies in the hoard are nice too, with numerous
    magic point restore potions.
                                                                    PAGE 29

The Axe Yeti

    This is a case where getting to the lair is almost as hard as the
    battle with the critter.  The Yeti is located in a lair past BOTH
    the drake and ice dragon.  For a thief with a good hide spell,
    this is not a big handicap, but everyone else will have to deal
    with the drake and icedragon.

    The Yeti can cast icestorms, but is more noted for the ferocious
    attack with tooth and claw.  He averages around 70 to 90 hits when
    he connects with a good shot.

    The main items of interest in the Yeti's hoard are the dagger he
    carries that is necessary for the second part of the knight's
    quest and the night vision helm (bear skull).  The NV helm is
    almost essential for anyone who plays in the undead level, since
    one of the most frequently cast spells down there is darkness.

The Leng Drake

    Pretty much a carbon copy of the Axe drake, the most notable
    feature with this lair critter is the company it keeps.  The Leng
    drake lair area has about the fastest regeneration rate in the
    game and is loaded with Manticoras, Minotaurs and death casting
    Liches.  The critters regenerate so fast, in the space of five
    minutes you can go from no critters at all to a genuine zoo.
    Note, this is an edged weapon type critter, punches (by MAs) and
    blunt weapons like r-hammers will not hurt it at all.

The Leng Dragon

    While not considered to be an ice dragon, the Leng dragon
    frequently casts icestorms.  They are potent enough to do
    considerable damage even with ice protection.  Add in the usual
    dragon tricks with their claws and wings, this dragon averages 70
    hits per attack, occasionally doing 100+.  The only redeeming
    feature to this fight is it is at the edge of a cliff.  By wearing
    feather fall boots, you can jump out of the lair to drink balm and
    regroup, although sometimes the dragon WILL follow you down.  The
    reason this is not considered an ice dragon is if you take the
    corpse to the tailor, all you get for your effort is standard
    dragon scale armor. Searching the dragon corpse yields a gold
    buddha coveted by martialartists in their quest for special
    gauntlets.
                                                                    PAGE 30

The Leng Ninjas

    The Oakvael Serpent is considered to be a 'lair' critter without a
    lair.  In this case, the Ninja lair is a lair without a single
    critter.  What is does have is swarms of ninja warriors, which can
    give you as good a beating as any dragon could.  Due to variations
    in the generation of critters and NPCs, you can see remarkable
    differences in damage potential in this area.  The area is
    accessible only to thieves and MAs through two teleports.  Anyone
    who enters this area better bring a lot of balm, they will need
    it.

The Leng Sand Serpent

    This is another fairly weak critter, which most intermediate
    players should be able to handle fairly easy.  It's hoard is not
    worth all that much, but does usually have one or two +3 shield
    rings in it, which does make the fight worth while.

The Leng Vampire

    The dark tower is the most feared area in the BG.  Like the drake
    lair, it has an unreal regeneration rate for the critters.  There
    are four levels to the tower, with the vampire at the top.  The
    vampire himself is not much tougher than the typical dragon, but
    the zoo that keeps him company is unequaled in the BG.

    To start, there are always two very high powered griffins there,
    one high powered salamander and a lich that likes to stun anything
    he can. All these critters are magic proof, so fire and ice has
    little or no effect on them.  The vampire himself is completely
    invisible, unless standing on the same hex with you.  He can cast
    continuous deathspells, which hit in the range of 100+.  The
    vampire also has venomous bites and can punch you for 100+.
    Overall, this is without a doubt the most hazardous area in the
    BG.

The Oakvael Doom.Orc

    While the Leng vampire is the most dangerous lair, the Doom.Orc
    may well be the easiest.  The only serious trouble you can get
    into in the Doom.Orc lair is if the presence there finds you and
    starts stunning you while the other critters are beating on you.
    Most of the time, there will only be several archers in the area,
    but occasionally a griffin or bear will be there too.

    The Doom.Orc himself is a wimp, but a wimp wearing drake scales
    and carrying a +4 blue glowing steel crossbow.  The crossbow is
    highly prized by thieves, since they can use it from hiding and
    kill considerably tougher critters that they could not handle
    otherwise. One other note, the entrance to the lair is a night
    portal and also will not allow wizards or thaums to pass.
                                                                    PAGE 31

The Oakvael Iron Lich

    Found in the southwest corner of the undead level (-280ft) in
    Oakvael, the biggest challenge is often just getting there alive.
    The undead level is without a doubt the toughest playing area in
    the BG.  The foyer to the Lich's lair usually has a couple
    banshees, two scorpions and maybe one or two MA wraiths.  The
    biggest problem is dealing with the secret doors into the lair.
    Any use of area spells will instantly close the secret door,
    regardless if you are standing in it.  This leads to numerous
    explosions which can do considerable damage.

    As soon as you open the secret door to the inner lair, depending
    on his mood, the lich will either cast a fireball at you or
    jumpkick you. If you get the fireball, you better not be in the
    doorway of the secret door.

    The Lich himself is not particularly powerful.  He punches in the
    neighborhood of 30 to 50, although with frequent knock downs.  If
    there is no major zoo in the inner lair, the best thing to do is
    jump for the middle hexes and give him hell with your weapon of
    choice.  There is usually at least one more NPC spell caster in
    the lair with the Lich, plus possibly some banshees or MA wraiths.

    The whole object to this exercise is the goodies that can be found
    in this lair.  The more important stuff is +3 strength bracelets
    (steel bracelets with swirling lines), FF (feather fall) boots,
    r-hammer, cure wand and ice wands.  Use the ice wand with caution,
    its' power is +20 and can easily kill people without ice
    protection.

The Oakvael Whirlwind Dragon

    This dragon is primarily part of the final part of the knight's
    quest.  This is another case where getting to the dragon is harder
    than the actual battle with the dragon  (see section on knight's
    quest). The dragon lair is guarded by pack of from two to five VERY
    dangerous wyrms.  They are venomous and hit almost as hard as the
    dragon.

The Oakvael Serpent

    This is a rather unique lair critter, since it doesn't have a
    permanent lair.  The serpent wanders the central portion of the
    serpent level (-240ft) in Oakvael, among the black foetid fogs.
    This is a very venomous critter and can stun you repeatedly with
    bites, to the point where even if you escape you can die to the
    poison.  It also requires magic (blue glowing) weapons to kill it.
                                                                    PAGE 32

    One redeeming feature of this critter is it is slow moving, two
    hex at at time maximum, so a player armed with a r-hammer, r-axe
    or halberd can run 3 hex, poke or throw at the serpent, and then
    run three more hexes.

    The serpent will often be carrying a mother of pearl bottle with a
    drake potion in it, assuming some industrious thief hasn't picked
    its pocket.

                              Table 8-1.
            K = Kesmai, L = Leng, A = Axe and O = Oakvael

FIGHTERS            K     L     A     O
Bees (P)            -     4     -     -
Beetles             4     -     -     4
Bears             * 4/7   4     7/4   4     (*) When two ratings are
Boars               4     -     -     4         shown, the first one
Ducks               2     -     -     -         is the most commonly
Gargoyles           6     6     6     6         encountered.
Ghouls (P)          7     -     -     8
Goose               -     -     2     -     (P) Indicates poisonous
Hobgoblins          6     6     6     6         bite or sting.
Hyenas              -     6     -     -
Kobold              4     4     4     4     (P+) Indicates very
Manticoras (P)      -     7     -     -          poisonous bite with
Minotaurs           6     7     7     7/8        frequent stun.
NPC Fighters        5     6     6     7
NPC MAs             -     -     6     -
Ogres               -     -     7     -
Orcs                5     5     5     6
Ravens              -     2     -     -
Rats                -     -     -     2
Rockworms           -     -     7     -
Sandwyrms           -     5     -     -
Skeletons           5     5     5     7
Stalkers            -     -     -     7
Snakes (P)          -     5     -     -
Tigers              -     8     -     -
Trolls              6     6     6     7
Wolves              6     6     7/9   -
Wraith/MA           -     -     -     8
Wyrms (P)           -     -     -     6/9
Wyverns             5     -     -     -
                                                                    PAGE 33

MAGIC USERS         K     L     A     O
Banshees            -     -     -     6
Lich                6     6     6     6
Lizards             -     -     6     -
NPC Thaums         *6    *6    *6    *6
NPC Wizards         5     5     5     5
Presence            -     -     -     4
Salamanders         6     6     6     7
Spectres            6     6     6     6
Statues *           -     5     9+    -
Wights              5     -     -     7
Wraiths             6     6     6     7

(*) The Axe Statues are lawful guardians of the lower town and
should never be approached by anyone who is not lawful (except for
thieves, who don't appear to be non-lawful).  They cast a 900+ hit
death spell, which is instant death.

                              Table 8-2

LAIR CRITTERS            Rating  Ave Hit    Eater
Kesmai Dragon              4      30-40     No
Kesmai Trog                3      20-30     No
Axe Giant                  7      70-90+    No
Axe Drake                  8      80-100+   Yes
Axe Ice Dragon             9+     100-130+  Yes
Axe Yeti                   8      70-90+    Yes
Leng Drake                 8      80-100+   Yes
Leng Dragon                9      100-120+  Yes
Leng Ninjas                8      40-50 *   No
Leng Sand Serpent          4      20-30     No
Leng Vampire (P+)          9++    80-120+   No
Oakvael Doom.Orc           5      20-30     No
Oakvael Iron Lich          6      40-50     No
Oakvael Whirlwind Dragon   9      80-100+   Yes
Oakvael Serpent (P)        7      60-80     No

    Note, the ratings are relative to other lair critters.  The Leng
    ninja lair is a special case, where although there is no specific
    lair critter, it is a lair type environment.  Also, due to
    differences in the way critters are created (basically a random
    roll for abilities), there can be remarkable variations in damage
    potentials.
                                                                    PAGE 34

9.00:  Dungeon Loot:  Things you may find in the dungeons

    When you LOOK at $, you can find most anything:  weapons, armor,
    rings, bottles, gold, even dried up toads (worthless).  The
    following information may give you some help understanding the
    value of what you have found.

9.01:  Rings

    The following are some rings that can be found in dungeons:

    Strength Rings -- These provide a spell that increases the
    strength of the wearer.  They are gold rings with red gems.  If
    the gem is small, the spell has a power of 1. If the gem is large,
    the spell is power 3.  If the gem glows (often called a "glower",
    and much more rare), the spell is power 6.

    Vermeil Ring -- This ring contains the spell of identify, and can
    help you determine the nature of objects you find.  Hold the ring
    in the left hand (or wear it) and the object you want to know
    about in your right hand. Type CAST IDENTIFY.  You will be told
    the properties of what you hold, but not its cash value.  A
    shopkeeper can tell you that when you ask him to APPRAISE it.

    Shield Rings -- These are iron rings with black gems, and provide
    protection against archers, and some protection against weapons.
    Their spell power is either 1 or 3, but you can only tell which by
    CAST IDENTIFY or an appraisal.  In the AG (Advanced Game) there
    are +6 shield rings, which are iron rings with glowing black
    stones.

    Waterbreathing Rings -- These are silver rings with black stones,
    and when worn provide a spell that will prevent you from drowning
    in water.

    Moonstone Rings -- These are good for resale, worth between 300
    and 400 gps.  Some players believe that the 400 gp moonstone ring
    can increase your chances of getting more hit points than you
    otherwise might when you gain a level.  This has started many
    arguments over the years, but the only thing you can be sure of is
    you need a moon- stone ring to get into the night portals of Axe,
    where the returning axe and silver greataxe are obtained.

    Rings with Emeralds, or with Diamonds in a Rosette of Rubies --
    Sometimes are fire and ice storm protection, but most of the time
    are only good for resale, and are worth between 800 and 1200 gps.

    Flexible Rings of Interwoven Gold Wire -- Wearing one of these
    rings will provide a spell of increase dexterity.
                                                                    PAGE 35

    Ring of Tiny Green Feathers -- These provide the spell of RESIST
    BLIND and can increase your chances of not being blinded by a
    crit's blindness spell.

    Brass Ring -- Worth one coin.  Useless.

    Heavy Lead ring -- Worth 5 coins.  Some people believe wearing
    this ring helps them punch harder (if they use martialarts
    skills).  Probably not worth the finger.

    Gold Ring -- Worth between 20 and 48 coins, and can be changed by
    a thief into recall rings.

    Gold Ring with Blue Glow -- A recall ring.  When removed from the
    finger, this ring will transport the wearer to wherever he/she was
    when the ring was placed on the finger (unless that was in water
    or on a wall).

    Knight's Ring -- A ring worn by knights which enables them to cast
    their knightly spells.  It is a ring with triangular-cut jade
    mounted with diamonds.  WARNING: All attempts to use this ring for
    non-chant spellcasting purposes by non-knights will result in an
    explosion.

    To wear a ring, you must hold it in the hand opposite the one on
    which you wish to wear it.  The PUT RING ON <number of
    finger><right or left>.  To wear it on the 3rd finger of the left
    hand, hold the ring in right hand, and PUT RING ON 3 LEFT.
    Removing rings is similar, but just different enough to keep you
    alert.  Make sure the opposite hand is not holding anything, then
    TAKE <number of ring> OFF <right or left>.  To see what fingers
    are free, you can SHOW RINGS.  To look at rings on your fingers,
    type LOOK AT <number of ring> ON <right or left>.

9.02:  Amulets

    There are four amulets available in the Basic Games.  One is
    diamond with a ruby, and provides excellent f&i protection when
    worn.  One is a jade pendant, and allows the wearer to CAST LOCATE
    and determine where a certain player or crit is.  The third is a
    silver chain with an onyx scorpion, and allows the wearer to CAST
    NEUTRALIZE and thus neutralize the ill effect of any poison he has
    taken.  The fourth is found in Leng, and is a sapphire necklace.
    No one has yet determined any special characteristics of this
    amulet.
                                                                    PAGE 36

9.03:  Bracelets

    Most bracelets are useless, but there are a few found in various
    lairs which are desirable.  In the Iron Lich lair in Oakvael,
    there are wide bands with bold swirling lines, which are +3
    strength bracelets.  There are some other bracelets like this one
    as random treasure, but are either +1 strength or worthless.  The
    Axe Glacier Yeti has a silver bracelet with tiny dolphins, which
    has the spell of breathe water.  These are useful for freeing up
    fingers for more strength or shield rings.

9.04:  Bottles and Potions

    LOOK at a bottle to see what is in it.  Some of the bottles and
    potions in the BG are:

    Cloudy White Liquid -- This is balm.

    Clear liquid -- This is probably nitro, sometimes water.  If it
    is nitro you can use it by first opening the bottle and then throw
    the bottle, and it will set a two-hex-radius explosion where it
    lands.  Useful with crits that are maintaining their distance, but
    dangerous to throw at incoming crits, as both they and the
    explosion might land on you next round.  Throw either at the crits
    or by naming a hex, i.e.  THROW BOTTLE AT ORC or THROW BOTTLE N NE
    NE.  Nitro bottles make things interesting when you fumble them,
    since they will blow up in your face.

    Black ceramic bottle -- These contain naphtha.  Open the bottle,
    then throw it, and it will set off a one-hex bonfire.  Same
    cautions as above for nitro.

    Clear Red Liquid -- This a potion that will temporarily increase
    your strength when you drink it.  These spells are non-additive;
    in other words, one is as good as five, until it wears off.

    Reddish Clay Bottle with Three Concentric Circles -- This bottle
    is a potion of permanent strength increase.  Drinking it will
    permanently raise your strength stat 1 point, up to a maximum of
    17.  It will also stun you for several rounds, so make sure you
    are safe before drinking!

    Black Ceramic Bottle with Gold Whorls -- This potion will
    permanently raise your dexterity stat 1 point, up to a maximum of
    17.  It will also stun and/or blind you for several rounds, so
    make sure you are safe before you drink it.
                                                                    PAGE 37

    Green Glass Bottle with Blue Liquid and Tiny Bubbles -- This is a
    youth potion, and is needed by players who are approaching very
    old age.  Every 24000 rounds or so, your crt will age.  The
    increments are Young, Middle Aged, and Old.

    Before the introduction of the Under World (Praetoseba), youth
    potions where essential to keep characters from aging and
    suffering a permanent death.  Most players drank a youth potion at
    Old age, which reset their age to the vicinity of 24000 rounds,
    making them Middle Aged again.  Some deterioration of abilities
    begins when Old Age is reached.

    Small Porcelain Vial -- This is the rare and highly prized Drake
    Potion (called a DP).  This potion will add 2 points to your
    constitution stat (up to 18), add 4 points to your stamina, and
    add an additional 4 points to your hits, up to 10 times your
    experience level.  Since Oakvael opened up with a fairly generous
    supply of DPs they sell for about 40K in coins on the open market,
    though it appraises at a much smaller value.

    The Oakvael serpent carries a DP in a slightly different bottle,
    described as mother of pearl bottle with delicate tracings

    Blue and White Streaked Bottle -- This is a stamina-restore
    potion.  It will restore all stamina points lost, due to exertion
    or injury.

    Wine comes in various containers, usually a clay bottle with a
    thin, tapering neck.  Used mainly to delay the effects of poison
    (see the section on poison).

    Ale comes in various containers, usually a blue enamel flask.
    Worthless, unless you owe someone a drink <grin>. There are also
    some interesting variations of many potions.  For example, in
    Oakvael, some temporary strength and dexterity potions come in
    steel bottles stamped with icons of a bull or falcon,
    respectively.  Balm in particular has been known to come in many
    different types of bottles, most all of them being a transparent
    bottle of some color.
    There are other various other potions and drinks, some for
    intelligence and charisma.  There is even a bottle found on some
    Oakvael orcs containing orc urine.  Use your ID ring or have
    bottles appraised if you are curious about one you find.

9.05:  Gems

    Purple Gems -- are amethysts.  They are almost without value.

    Yellow Gems -- are topazes.  These go for 40-60 coins.

    Red Gems -- sell for 100 to 300 coins.
                                                                    PAGE 38

    Tiger-eyes -- do not sell for much, but they are the required
    ingredient for wizard's "peek" spell.

    Sapphires -- sell for quite a range of prices, but most are in the
    250-500 range.  The ones sold in the Axe Chaotic Town are worth
    10K each and are used to help move gold to the AG.

    Emeralds -- come in many varieties, the best being the simple
    "large green" version.  Prices range from 600 to 2000.

    Diamonds -- also come in many forms.  Generally, they are worth
    more than emeralds.

    Stalking Panther or Whale -- are carved sapphires useful for
    anyone headed to the advanced game, used for the Sword of Light
    (SoL) quest.

    Pear Cut Diamond -- a rare gem found only in the hoard of the
    Leng *vampire.

    There are also a few AG gems floating around the BG game, like the
    salamander eye ruby.  These have no purpose, but they are very
    valuable.  Also, the value of gems depends of where you find them.
    A gem found in Oakvael can look just like one found in Kesmai, but
    be worth twice as much.

9.06:  Weapons

    There are weapons, and then there are WEAPONS!  Most of the common
    weapons in the game such as axes, hammers, greatswords,
    longswords, bows, daggers, etc. are random treasure or carried by
    critters.  Some weapons are considerably better than others, a
    special variety that contains extra combat ADDS.  These weapons
    hit much harder than a  regular one, and may block better as well.
    They are not always easily discernible from the regular variety;
    i.e. a +4 axe does not LOOK any different than a regular axe.  But
    you can use your vermeil ring to ID weapons, or have them
    appraised.  It would be very rare to find one of these special
    weapons on the first two dungeon levels, however.  +4 axes and
    hammers can regularly be found in the pawn shop.

    Shields -- wooden, wooden with steel plates, and steel.  Steel is
    the best, wooden is worst.  Steel found on npc-s wielding short
    melee weapons.  Steel shields can also be purchased at Chaos Town
    in Axe Glacier.  Shields are seldom carried by advanced players
    because their effectiveness is not sufficient to offset the hassle
    or weight of an extra object to carry.
                                                                    PAGE 39

    Swords -- iron short sword, longsword, katana, and +4 longsword.
    The katana hits hard and blocks well (in the BG) but there are no
    enhanced katanas.  The +4 longsword is a good, balanced weapon.
    It's favored as a thief weapon since when it is belted thieves can
    still hide.  The regular longsword can be enchanted by knights,
    but none of the other sword weapons can.

    Maces -- mace, +3 mace, axe, +4 axe, hammer, +4 hammer, rhammer
    and raxe.  The +3 and +4 varieties are excellent one-handed
    weapons, all of which can be thrown effectively at fleeing
    opponents.  The rhammer and raxe are magic weapons that return to
    your hand after throwing.  The rhammer is found in the crypt
    behind the lair of the Daisy the Kesmai dragon twice a week after
    game resets, on the altar near the giant's throne room and in the
    Iron Lich's lair in Oakvael.  There is another version of the
    rhammer in the AG referred to as a Thor.  Using this hammer can
    scare you to death, since fumbling it will release a 300+ hit
    lightning bolt which will kill you for real.

    The raxe is acquired from Vulcan for an obsidian egg.  The raxe
    and rhammer are very close in terms of damage and blocking ability.
    The raxe will be armor blocked less than the rhammer. The raxe is
    useful since some critters can only be hurt by edged weapons, notably
    the Leng Drake

    Greatswords -- iron greatsword, +3 iron greatsword, +4 steel
    greatsword, black broadsword, and greataxe.  This category of weapons
    is the most popular in the game due to the magic weapons: the black
    broadsword and the silver greataxe.  These weapons hit hard and
    except for the greataxe, they block well.  The +4 steel greatsword is
    found on npc-s on Axe Glacier and in Leng, and in the Kesmai dragon's
    lair.  The broadsword is obtained from Ironbar, the blacksmith, in
    exchange for yttril and iron.  It is considered one of the better
    knight weapons in the BG, for its hitting and blocking power.  The
    silver greataxe is obtained from Silvermoon, the Axe Glacier
    blacksmith, also for yttril and iron.  It can hit harder than the
    broadsword, but doesn't block at all.

    The greataxe is required for the Axe icedragon, which can not be
    hurt by any other weapon.

    Rapiers -- steel, +4.  This is a good offensive weapon, that is
    seldom blocked.  Its deficiency is defense--i.e., having none.
    Players using this weapon usually carry a shield or parrying
    weapon in the right hand.  The +4 rapier can be found on -4 of the
    Kesmai dungeon, or in Axe Glacier.  It is sometimes available in
    the pawn shop.
                                                                    PAGE 40

    Staffs -- wooden, +3 carved wood, +3 iron rod, fireball staff,
    cobra (snake) staff, steel (lightning) staff, pine (fireball)
    wand, hickory (portal) wand and glass (icestorm) wand.  Not to
    many players use staffs as their weapon of choice.  They are not
    good offensive weapons, and the threestaff is a better defensive
    weapon.  The best staff is the +3 iron rod, which has a circle of
    glowing red stones at its center.  This weapon comes in lawful and
    chaotic varieties, do not use the chaotic ones.  They are often
    found on minotaurs.

    Daggers -- steel, +2 silver, and +3 gilt-handled.  Only the silver
    dagger and the +3 parrying dagger are worth attention.  The silver
    dagger is the only weapon in the game other than the greataxe that
    can kill silver wolves.  Thieves often carry several to throw in
    the dark at wolves.  The +3 parrying dagger is a good blocking
    weapon that is often wielded in the left hand to add blocking to a
    more offensive weapon wielded in the right. Silver daggers are
    found everywhere except level one and the surface of Kesmai.  The
    silver dagger can be used to get forgiven by the ghost if a lawful
    character changes alignment to neutral. The +3 dagger is found on
    rapier wielding NPCs and as random treasure.  There is one other
    dagger carried by the Axe Yeti used in the knight's quest.

    Spears -- wooden, +3 wooden, and javelin.  The spear is a
    neglected weapon in the basic game.  The weapon blocks well, while
    also avoiding blocks against it.  It is also effective when
    thrown.  But, it does not seem to hit hard.  The javelin is a very
    dangerous weapon, good for only one throw.  It contains the spell
    of lightning in various degrees.  Wise players avoid this weapon,
    since it inevitably will strike your character either when fumbled
    or when an opponent charges into your square.

    Halberds -- There are two types of halberds, one can be purchased
    at some weapons shops and are easily available wherever ogres are
    found.  The other halberd is obtained in the Knight's quest and is a
    +5 weapon and considered by many to be a top BG weapon. They hit
    harder than spears, and seem to block about as well, but they are
    themselves blocked more easily. The advantage of the halberd is
    "poking," which allows you to strike at opponents one hex away.  The
    big drawback with halberds is they can not be belted, which makes
    carrying them around climbs most annoying.

    Bows -- shortbows, longbows, crossbows, +3 longbows, +3 and +4
    crossbows.  Crossbows are nice because they are an easily handled
    distance weapon that can be shot indefinitely and can be carried
    while loaded.  Moreover, because they can be used while in hiding,
    crossbows are extremely popular as the main weapon of many
    thieves.  The +4 crossbow is found on the Doom.Orc in Oakvael and
    is the preferred weapon of thieves.
                                                                    PAGE 41

    The longbow hits harder and seems to be blocked less.  The +3
    versions of each are found on level four of the Kesmai dungeon and
    at advanced locations in Axe Glacier and Leng.  These are good
    distance weapons for fleeing opponents.

    Shurikens -- come in only one version.  This is a distance weapon
    designed for martial artists or thieves who would otherwise be
    encumbered with a bow.  It is blocked less than the bow weapons.
    Shurikens can be found on many berserkers in Leng.  One advantage to
    shurikens is that they, like daggers and javelins, can be draw from
    the belt and thrown in one round with a simple THROW SHURIKEN AT ___
    command.  Other weapons cannot be drawn and thrown in the same round.

    Threestaff -- comes only in a +3 variety.  The threestaff blocks
    very well at low skill, but never hits very hard and is frequently
    armor blocked.  Some wizards like to wield a 3staff to enhance
    blocking while they chant their spells. To a lesser extent, low
    skilled MAs may wield a 3staff in their LEFT hand for blocking until
    their hand blocking skill improves.  The threestaff can be found
    wherever martial arts npc-s are to be had.

    Gauntlets -- leather, +2, +4 (MA).  These increase the hitting
    power of martial arts' hand blows.  Leather gauntlets can be
    purchased in weapons shops.  The +2 variety (thin steel plates)
    can be found in more advanced play areas.  The leather and +2
    gauntlets allow anyone with MA skills to hit harder, they are more
    often blocked than is the bare hand.  The +4 gauntlets are a quest
    item for MAs are without a doubt the hardest hitting weapon in the
    BG.  For the past several years many people have started MA
    characters to get the MA gauntlets and then rerolling and
    ancestoring them to another character (usually a knight).

    Balls -- darkness (black), light (white), web (milky), fire (red),
    ice (blue) and concussion (green metal).  Balls contain spells
    that are released when thrown.  The strengths of the spells vary.
    It seems to be best to throw them at areas rather than directly at
    opponents; less fumbles result.
                                                                    PAGE 42

9.07:  Apparel

    Armor -- You start out wearing leather armor. You can buy chain
    or plate in the armory for 25 or 100 coins respectively.  But the
    best armor in the game is the hide of certain crits. Kill the
    following critters and drop the corpse on the hex of a tanner.

         - Trolls, plate +1
         - Salamanders, fire protective
         - Dragons, plate +2, f&i (protection against fire and ice)
         - Drakes, plate +3, f&i
         - Ice Dragons, plate +4, f&i

    Beginning players should concentrate on skinning a troll and a
    salamander. This will give them some protection to advance to the
    more dangerous areas of Kesmai.

    A MAJOR disadvantage of armor is it encumbers your ability to
    block attacks with your weapon! At higher weapon skill levels, most
    players will remove all armor. The increase in weapon blocking
    typically far outweighs any loss in armor blocking. This must also be
    balanced against the risk of being stunned by a blow, spell or
    poison. When stunned, armor will continue to offer its protection,
    while you will be unable to block attacks with your weapon.

    Most proponents of the martialarts believe one should never wear
    armor or scales of any kind at any level.

    Scales -- wyvern, salamander, serpent, lizard, dragon, drake and
    ice dragon.  Wyvern scales are equivalent to leather.  Salamander
    scales reduce fire damage by 1/2. Lizard scales reduce ice damage by
    1/3.  Serpent scales are pretty, but seem otherwise useless.  Dragon,
    drake and ice dragon scales all offer fair protection against weapon
    attacks of all types, but are most effective against blunt weapons.
    The also reduce fire damage by 1/2, and ice damage by 1/3.

    Furs and feathers -- various creatures.  The most important
    feathers are a vest from griffin feathers. This offers total immunity
    from blindness spells and is a favorite of martialartists and players
    with advanced weapon skills since feathers do not encumber
    attacks.  Furs reduce fire damage by 1/2 and ice damage by 1/3,
    but are largely out of fashion. Players prefer the fire and ice
    protection of amulets and rings and find furs too encumbering.
                                                                    PAGE 43

    Robes - black with red runes and white with scorpion are the most
    common.  A black robe with gold serpent can be found on the robed
    minotaur in Oakvael occasionally.  Yellow torn strips and cresting
    wave robes can also be found.  The official line is that all robes
    are equal.  Yellow and cresting wave robes are worn by lawful
    NPCs, and not easily obtained.  About the only thing that makes
    the rarer robes more desirable is some people want to make a
    fashion statement.

    Boots -- soft leather, crocodile and featherfall.  Soft leather
    boots seem useless.  Crocodile boots grant waterbreathing.
    Featherfall boots (rimmed with fur) allow a character to fall 5000
    feet without taking damage.  They are found only in the Axe Drake
    / Dragon / Yeti lairs, and in the Iron Lich's lair in Oakvael.

    Skulls & Helms -- dragon skulls and bear skulls.  Skulls offer
    additional protection against blows and the bear skull is the coveted
    night vision helm which allows you to see in darkness. They also
    offer better odds against being stunned by a weapon attack. These
    items will only block attacks if worn in conjunction with armor of
    some type.

9.08:  Figurines

    In the BG, gold and yellow figurines in the shape of a snarling
    tiger are available as (quite rare and valuable) treasure.  These
    figurines serve two uses:

    1. If a player has taken a karma point (see page 63) the figurine
    can be traded to a confessor ghost for forgiveness.

    2. Figurines, when thrown in sight of creatures of a different
    alignment than the thrower, will "activate" and become creatures
    allied with their thrower.  For example, if a lawful player is in
    sight of a *hobgoblin, he can throw the figurine and it will turn
    into a lawful tiger.  The tiger will attack the hobgoblin, and
    fight until either the hobgoblin or the tiger is slain.  If the
    tiger remains alive after the hobgoblin is slain, it will proceed
    to attack any other non-lawful crits in sight.  It will continue
    until it can no longer find crits to attack, or it itself is
    slain.  If it can no longer find crits to attack, it will
    "deactivate" within a few rounds, reverting to a figurine again.
    If it is slain, it will revert to a figurine as well.  Figurines
    make fairly powerful and endurable allies.  Each time the tiger
    makes a kill, it gains experience, and become even more powerful.
    You can determine the experience of your figurine by having it
    appraised.

    There is a downside.  Each time a figurine is thrown (one can
    throw it AT at crit, or throw it a direction, as in THROW FIGURINE
    N N N) there is a chance - say 10% - that it will shatter.  It may
    be that figurines thrown over water will not shatter even if they
    do fail to activate.
                                                                    PAGE 44

    There are also griffin figurines that, when thrown, will activate
    and become a live lawful griffin, as well.

9.09:  Miscellaneous

    Eggs -- golden and obsidian.  The gold eggs are simply treasure,
    worth about 4k.  The obsidian egg is key to the quest for the
    returning axe of Vulcan, and is obtained by killing the KingWolf
    in Axe Glacier.

    Rocks -- small, iron ore, gold nuggets, and yttril.  The nuggets
    are treasure, usually work 425 coins.  The ore and yttril are
    components for magical weapons.  The yttril looks like a gray rock
    flecked with glowing bits.  Do the small rocks have any value in
    the basic game?

    Berries -- various sorts.  Few players bother with berries any
    more. Ripe (red) balm berries reduce hits when eaten.  Other
    berries (yellow) are poisonous.

    Scrolls -- small leather.  Scrolls were designed to pass useful
    information to new players.  There is not much use for them now,
    as currently they contain outdated information.

    Books -- character-tied spell books and a few general information
    books.  Keep your personal spell book; replacement costs a hundred
    coins.  General books are worth perusing once, but no book offers
    really valuable information.
                                                                    PAGE 45

10.00:  Back in Town

    Once you have filled up your sack with loot, head back to Kesmai
    and sell your gains in any shop (see "Using the Shops").  This new
    wealth can be used in many ways:

    1.  Bank your gold

    It is a good idea to bank some proportion for the benefit of your
    "keeper" crt later; this first crt probably will not last.  Gold
    can be deposited in and withdrawn from the bank.  Money placed in
    any bank can be withdrawn from any other bank in the BG.  Just put
    the coins on the counter and type <banker's name>, DEPOSIT.  To
    withdraw cash, type <banker's name>, WITHDRAW <number of gps>.  To
    see how much you have in your account, type <banker's name>, SHOW
    BALANCE.  Kesmain banks offer only safety, not interest, for your
    gold.  Coins deposited by your crt remain in account for that PPN;
    if you roll a new crt from the same Compuserve ID, the bank
    balance will be available to your new crt.

    2.  Locker your items

    There are lockers located above the bank in Kesmai and to the east
    of the bank in Oakvael.  Just head west down the alley that runs
    along the bank's northern wall, and go up the stairs.  If you
    stand in the hex three hexes south of the stairs, you will be
    standing before your locker, which will open upon your arrival and
    close upon your departure.  Using the locker is much like using
    your sack; it holds twenty items (of any size).  Just PUT <item>
    IN LOCKER or TAKE <item> FROM LOCKER.  To see what is in your
    locker, type SHOW LOCKER.  To look at a specific item in your
    locker, type LOOK AT <number of item> <item> IN LOCKER (i.e.  LOOK
    AT 5 RING IN LOCKER to look at the fifth of 7 rings in your
    locker).  Like the bank, items placed in your locker are available
    to any crt running under the same PPN.

    3.  Buy training

    One of the most important investments you will make is skill
    training.  Your skill with a weapon is largely responsible for
    determining how much damage you can do with it, and how often you
    will fumble, or be blocked, or miss.  Increasing skill is a
    constant endeavor.  When you arrive on the dock, and SHOW SKILLS,
    you will see that you are untrained in many areas, Awkward in
    some, Mediocre (a little better) in others, and maybe even Capable
    in one or two (these are skill ratings for weapons, magic skills
    have different names, but follow the same pattern).  But Capable
    is just beginning.  You want to keep moving up to Familiar,
    Practiced, Competent...all the way up to Immortal, which no one
    has yet attained.
                                                                    PAGE 46

    Skill is gained whenever you swing a weapon regardless of the
    outcome. If your are engaged in combat and take damage from your
    opponent's weapon, you will gain skill faster due to the risk. You
    must swing your weapon within a few rounds of taking the damage.
    Finally, if you strike a fatal blow, you earn additional skill (kill
    bonus). 

    A really fast way to gain weapon skills is to do what is commonly
    referred to as 'skill-cowing', where you round up a couple low level
    critters and an amoral demon to train with under controlled
    circumstances.  The basic idea is to have the critters do 10 to 20
    percent damage to you with each swing while you beat on the demon.
    If you have 80 HPs, you would want the critter(s) to hit you for at
    least 8 hits.  This indicates to the game that you are in a real
    fight and activates what is referred to as a risk bonus for training.
    This bonus is typically four times what you would normally get for
    each swing.  Since you can not hurt the amoral demon, you can spend
    hours of accelerated training in relative safety, only pausing for
    balms when your hit points get over 60 percent of what's available.

    You can increase the rate at which skill is gained in these ways
    by undergoing training.  Take your weapon to the weapon's trainer,
    and hold it in your right hand.  Drop gold at the trainer's feet,
    or put it on the nearby counter if it is there, and type
    <trainer's name>, TRAIN ME. He will train you in the weapon, and
    you will gain some experience. Your skill will not immediately
    increase, but the rate at which it is gained will increase.  To
    see how quickly you are learning your skills, you can ask the
    trainer for a critique.  Just type <trainer's name>, CRITIQUE <key
    word> SKILL.  The key words are as follows:

Weapon                   Weap. Category (SHOW SKILLS)    Key Word
                                                         (Critique)
----------               -----------------------         --------------
hammer, axe, mace                 Mace                       Mace
any kind of bow                   Bow                        Bow
dagger, knife                     Dagger                     Dagger
rapier                            Rapier                     Rapier
greatsword, broadsword, greataxe  2-handed                   Greatsword
staff, wand, spear                Staff                      Staff
shuriken, thrown objects          Shuriken                   Shuriken
sword, katana, longsword          Sword                      Sword
threestaff                        Threestaff                 Threestaff
halberd                           Halberd                    Halberd
martialarts                       Unarmed combat             Martialarts
picking pockets                   Thievery                   Thievery
magic                             Magic                      Magic

    The trainer will tell you your RANK and LEVEL.  There are ten
    ranks to each level, so if you are at the seventh rank of
    Mediocre, you have three ranks to go to reach the level of
    Capable.
                                                                    PAGE 47

10.01:  Magic Training

    Training is no less important for magic users (thaums, wizards
    and thieves) in magic skill.  However, unlike weapon use, risk, in
    the form of taking damage from an opponent, is NEVER a factor in
    advancing magic skill.

    To train in magic, the MU (magic user) must go to the appropriate
    trainer of his class (in Kesmai, thaums go to Sven in the temple,
    wizards to Oscar near the pawn shop, and thieves to Lars in the
    thieves' guild).  They take their personalized spell book in right
    hand (spells written in spell books will only work for the person to
    whom the book was issued; others will be unable to use the spells.
    If you have lost your spell book, the magic trainer will sell you
    another for 100 coins) and place their money on the counter or altar.
    Then, the command is <trainer's name>, TRAIN ME. If the MU would like
    to check on progress, he can ask <trainer's name>, CRITIQUE MAGIC
    SKILL.  If a new rank has been made and the MU wants to know what
    spells he may be able to learn at this time, he can ask, <trainer's
    name>, SHOW SPELLS.

    To purchase a spell, the money is placed on the altar or counter,
    and the MU asks, <trainer's name>, TEACH <spell name>.   Skill
    points are awarded every time a spell is cast.  I suggest that MUs
    undergoing training NEVER allow their magic points to top out.
    Cast, and cast, and cast, even small spells such as Shieldspell,
    or Prfire, or Strength, or Fsdoor; keep casting them whenever you
    have mps (magic points) to do so, and keep training, and magic
    skill will rise very quickly over the lower levels.  It doesn't
    hurt to "wagonwheel" spells, even if your last Shieldspell hasn't
    yet worn off, it won't hurt to cast it again...the more mps you
    use in casting, the faster your skill will grow.  As well, the
    sooner you can get hold of a Robe, the better off you will be, as
    Robes allow your mps to build at twice the usual rate, allowing
    you to cast more often, and your skill to climb that much more
    quickly.  A short discussion of each magic class can be found in
    the section "Developing Your Character".

10.02:  Dealing with Shop Keepers

    Most items you may want you don't need to buy, but you may want to
    save for a special weapon on sale at the pawn shop, or a ring you
    saw there.
                                                                    PAGE 48

    Once you enter any shop, SHOW PRICES will tell you what is on sale
    in that shop, and for how much.  If you want to buy something, you
    move up to the counter (represented by == in the shop) and PUT
    GOLD ON COUNTER.  Then you address the shopkeeper by his name, and
    tell him to sell the item (if the NPC behind the counter is Steen,
    for example, you would type STEEN, SELL <item>).  The shopkeeper
    will take the correct amount of gold, leaving the item and your
    change on the counter.  TAKE <item> FROM COUNTER AND TAKE GOLD
    FROM COUNTER.  To see what is on the counter, LOOK ON COUNTER.

    If you have something to sell, you can TAKE <item> FROM SACK AND
    PUT IT ON COUNTER, and then sell it by asking, <shopkeeper's
    name>, BUY <item>.  He will take the item, and leave the proper
    amount of gold in its place.

    Almost any shopkeeper (not the banker) will buy almost anything
    from you.  If you have more than one item of a certain type that
    you would like to sell, you can DUMP them all from the sack unto
    the counter at once, as in DUMP GEMS ON COUNTER or DUMP RINGS ON
    COUNTER.  If you have a pile on the counter, ask the shopkeeper,
    <shopkeeper's name>, BUY ALL.  Then don't forget to take the gold
    the shopkeeper leaves, in exchange, on the counter!

    If you'd like to know what an item is worth, take it to a
    shopkeeper, put it on the counter, and say, <shopkeeper's name,
    APPRAISE ITEM.  The shopkeeper will tell you the value of the
    item, and whether or not it contains any special properties.

    The pawn shop is one of the more interesting and valuable shops in
    the Kesmai segments.  The most valuable of all items sold to any
    shop in town eventually end up for resale to the public in the
    pawn shop - at three times its value.  At first, it seems like
    quite a rip-off to pay three times the saleable value of an item
    to obtain it, and for many items this is true.  The same crossbow
    that costs 20 gp in the weapons shop will cost you 60 in Pawn, and
    that is certainly no deal. But there are items that are fairly
    hard to obtain, especially for a new player, and they show up with
    some regularity in Pawn.  A "glower" will sell in pawn for 6000
    gps, but they are so rare that many a player would gladly spend
    more than that to obtain one.  Robes of power sell for 7500 in
    pawn, and are not terribly rare on level -4.  However, they are a
    good item to be wearing before one ever ventures onto -4, so the
    7500 coins might not be a bad investment in that sense.  Just
    remember that though the prices are inflated over what you could
    sell items for, they might actually be lower than the going "black
    market" price.

    You can find out what is for sale by typing SHOW PAWN or SHOW
    PRICES.  The pawn shop is also unique in that you can look at
    specific items on sale by typing LOOK AT <item> IN PAWN.
                                                                    PAGE 49

    Besides the shops, it is a good idea to pick up some more balms
    and recall rings, too.

    5.  Buy experience points from the Sage (near the pawn shop).

    The Sage sells experience points at around 2.5 per gold coin.
    Just drop the coins at his feet, and type SAGE, TRAIN ME.
                                                                    PAGE 50

11.00:  Armoring Your Character

    Your first objectives will concern getting properly outfitted.
    You will need to be wearing proper armor before you go too far,
    and in the early stages, that means Troll Armor and Sally Scales.

    Obtaining Troll Armor

    Begin by setting a recall ring for the tailor shop.  Then, enter
    the dungeon and find your troll.  It may be best to confine your
    hunt to level -1 if you can; trolls are tough prey for new
    characters, as they hit hard and can endure many hits themselves.
    You may wish to enlist the aid of others in your hunt.  After the
    kill, you must pick the corpse up and yank the recall ring to the
    tailor's shop.  This can be difficult for characters without high
    strength numbers; trolls are heavy.  Strength potion can be
    purchased in the tavern or apothecary for such situations.  If you
    cannot lift the corpse, you can PUSH it one hex at a time, even up
    the stairs...but pushing all the way back to the shop will take
    some time.

    Drop the corpse at Stam's (the tailor's) feet, or push it into his
    hex.  Wait a round, then TAKE LEATHER AND LOOK AT IT.  You should
    find that Stam has made you a vest of a peculiar stone colored
    leather. Nice protection, and it was free for the killing!

    You are limited to two pieces of such apparel; you can wear two
    suits of armor, or a robe and armor, etc.  But the armor "adds"
    are not really additive themselves; that is, two suits of troll
    armor are not very much better than one.  Troll armor with sally
    scales is a good beginning combination, or armor with a robe.

11.01:  Obtaining Sally Scales or other Fire Protection

    Robes have excellent fire protection, but area hard for new
    players to get.  They can be found on level -4 or often bought in
    the pawn shop (7500 gps).  These also help magic users restore
    their magic points faster.  You may save your gold for a robe, or
    borrow one from a more experienced player, but you certainly can't
    hunt -4 for one, until you have another form of fire protection,
    at least.  This is where Sally Scales come in.

    Sometimes goblins will wander up to -1, in pursuit of fleeing
    characters, and sometimes they'll be wearing Sally Scales.  You may
    be able to kill one and obtain the scales that way.  Otherwise,
    you'll have to kill the salamander, much as you had to kill the
    troll.
                                                                    PAGE 51

    But it won't be as easy.  Salamanders spew fire that can easily
    incinerate an unprotected character.  Your troll armor or plate
    won't protect you at all.  If you are a wiz or thaum, or can find
    one to hunt with you, you may be able to use the PRFIRE spell to
    cut some of the damage.  If you are a thaum, you can stun the
    salamander immediately and then try to kill it before it comes
    unstunned.  But the best method, for any new character, is
    probably to take a longbow, wear a waterbreathing ring, and try to
    lure the salamander into following you to water.  Then duck into
    the water yourself, and plink away with the bow until the
    salamander is dead.  Take the corpse to the tailor, and he'll make
    you vest of sally scales, which offer pretty good fire protection.

    Anyway you look at it, getting fire protection on your own is
    very risky.  Many older players will sell you a robe or fire
    protection amulet cheaply.  The amulet is the best fire protection in
    the game, and can be bought at pawn for about 14000 coins.  There is
    also a ring that offers the same protection, but it is a rare
    treasure. Fire and ice protection from clothing NEVER 'add' to
    the protection from the amulet or ring. Once you are wearing the
    amulet or ring, you have the best protection you can get. Fire and
    ice protection from clothing is ignored.

    In lieu of the amulet, you can wear any two pieces of protective
    clothing, such as 2 robes, robe and scales, two furs, robe and fur,
    etc. There is also a ring, sold in Axe Glacier for 400 coins, that
    gives a small amount of ice protection.
                                                                    PAGE 52

12.00:  Developing Your Character

    With fire protection and troll armor it is time to begin the
    development of your character's skills.  Development paths vary
    according to character class; developing a fighter is quite
    different from developing a thief.  Nonetheless, there are some
    basic generalities common to all classes.  First, concentrate on
    building up offensive skills in as few areas as possible.  There
    is little payoff for range of skills; what is important is degree
    of skill.  Second, avoid taking risks with your character.  Death
    comes all too easily. With death you lose hit points, skills,
    permanent constitutions points and permanent strength points.
    After your first death, there is a good chance on subsequent
    deaths that your character will be "stripped" , i.e. reincarnated
    without armor, rings, weapons, sack and so forth. Permanent death
    will occur if your constitution points are too low or is your
    corpse is destroyed.  Third, train, train and train some more. In
    the current version of the game, training is arguably more
    important than fancy weapons.

12.01:  Developing a Fighter

    After the acquisition of fire protection and troll armor,
    fighter's next goal is knighthood.  Knighthood will be granted to
    any lawful fighter of the eighth rank in experience (51,200 in
    experience points). Stick to level two of the Kesmai dungeon until
    you cross this threshold.  By then, your character's hit points
    should be in the mid to upper 60s to low 70s.  An occasional foray
    into level 3 is fine, but be wary of fast-hitting gargoyles and of
    groups of hobgoblins.  Use balm often.

    Some fighters like to develop skills in two weapon categories:
    melee weapon and distance weapon.  Melee weapons include swords,
    greatswords, hammers and axes.  Most fighters tend to gravitate
    toward greatswords as their principal weapon.  One of the most
    effective weapons in the BG is the black broadsword (BBS), which
    requires greatsword skills.  There are also several critters in Axe,
    Leng and Oakvael which can only be hurt by silver weapons.  Since few
    people care to battle major critters with silver daggers, a greataxe
    is necessary and also requires greatsword skill to use.  (Note, quest
    weapons will be covered in detail later.)

    However, others like to concentrate on a single melee weapon,
    like a greatsword or halberd, and simply THROW the weapon when they
    need to drop a fleeing opponent. The halberd has the additonal
    advantage of being able to POKE critters in an adjoining hex. Plus,
    knights can quest for a very powerful halberd.
                                                                    PAGE 53
    The second weapon class of interest will be distance weapons like
    bows, daggers/shurikens, hammers and axes.  For a beginning
    character, development of bow skills will be important.  Bows are
    readily available, even ones that have weapon adds, and can be
    used to kill fleeing critters.  Even more important than killing
    fleeing critters, bows can allow you to challenge tougher critters
    from relative safety. A favorite technique of many players is to
    wear a water breathing ring and lead critters to water.  Most
    critters don't know how to swim, so a player with a bow can jump
    in water and shoot away without having to fear for his/her life.

    Although bows are great for beginners, as you advance and can
    survive in tougher areas of the game, one item close to the top of
    your shopping list should be a rhammer (returning hammer) or raxe
    (returning axe).  The primary benefit of these weapons is you can
    throw them every round instead of having to spend every other
    round loading a bow.  They also hit considerably harder than most
    bows can.

    When your character has reached the eighth level, it is time for
    pursuing knighthood.  Knighthood is granted to lawful eighth level
    fighters who have no karma points (you get penalized one karma
    point if you kill any lawful humanoid character, either computer
    operated or another player).  This is done by one of several
    knight trainers.  They are Hermann in the northeast corner of
    Kesmai, Aniette in Oakvael and Kaz in Leng.  If there is a Knight
    trainer in Axe, nobody has found him yet.

    Hermann (the hermit) was the very first knight trainer and can be
    found in the far northeast corner of the Kesmai surface.  The trip
    there is very hazardous for an eighth level fighter.  Look for an
    escort or be very cautious.  Your character will need waterbreathing,
    either a water ring or crocodile boots.

    The way to Hermann's is populated with all sorts of animals.
    Crocodiles, boars, sharks, wolves, bears, and last but not least,
    a pair of very nasty griffins will be encountered.  It helps to
    have some (big) friends when you go to visit Hermann.

    At this point, a more attractive alternative is to visit the
    Oakvael knight trainer, who can be found in the northeast corner
    of Oakvael. The big advantage here is there are not nearly as many
    critters to deal with and you can generally outrun anything you
    find on the surface of Oakvael.
                                                                    PAGE 54

    At the knight trainers, empty your right hand and say:  <name>,
    train (or teach) me.  The trainer will then place a knight's ring
    in your hand, which is usually worn on the left hand.  While you
    wear the ring you can cast several spells:  strength, cure, light,
    locate and enchant.  These spells dramatically improve the
    effectiveness of your character.

    The most commonly used spell will be cure, which will remove
    approximately 30 to 80 percent of hits taken during combat.  This
    spell can be used either to remove hits on the knight, or the
    knight can cure other players (or critters).

    The next couple of spells are used about equally; the locate spell
    is used to locate critters you want to attack (or avoid) and light
    is used to disrupt certain undead critters like banshees, liches,
    wights and wraiths.  A high level knight can easily kill these
    creatures with a light spell.  Strength is pretty self explanatory
    and comes in really useful when you have built up your character
    to the point where you can find 50K coins in a game session.  This
    is a very realistic goal when you can play areas like the undead
    level (-280ft) in Oakvael.

    The last spell available to a knight is to enchant weapons.  The
    weapon in question must have no combat adds to begin with.  With
    the availability of powerful quest weapons like the knight's
    halberd, the enchant spell is not nearly important as it once was.

    In addition to the above advantages, there is a special quest
    available to knights, which will be covered in detail later.

12.02:  Developing a Martial Artist
    
    For the first few levels of life, some people recommend that an
    MA wear a light armor, like the skin of a troll. However, many modern
    MAs recommend never wearing armor. The extra damage during combat
    will allow the MA to advance rapidly in skill because of the risk
    bonus. The MA should just be careful to avoid combat with multiple
    critters and to balm damage frequently. Hand blocking will soon
    become very effective and armor will only ruin that ability.

    Fire and ice protection should be by means of protective amulets
    or rings, or robes if available. Furs are also allowable if nothing
    else is available, but can be a bit encumbering.
                                                                    PAGE 55
    JUMPKICK starts to become an important weapon around Red Belt.
    Below that, frquent sprains and falls will occur that will inflict
    light damage on the MA. By 2ndDAN, a 3 hex JUMPKICK can be executed
    by the unencumbered MA with total confidence. KICK and JUMPKICK
    should always be executed with a bare foot. Boots increase the likely
    hood of being blocked by armor. Keep feather fall boots on the belt
    for easy access for those times you must leap off cliffs.

    Bare hand/bare foot damage is the same for all modes of attack:
    jumpkick, kick and fight. Blocking and damage ability will steadily
    increase with each new skill level. However, battle against heavily
    armored critters can be frustrating even up to high skill levels.
    
    The MA should quest for gauntlets as soon as possible, since
    quest gauntlets dramatically increase ability to penetrate armor.
    There is a special quest available to MAs for crystal gauntlets,
    which will be covered in detail later.

12.03:  Developing a Thaumaturge

    Thaums start the game with 14 spells written into their
    spellbooks, and a magic skill level (usually) of 2 (Apprentice).
    At this skill level, the only spells that will work with any
    measure of reliability are Strength, Curse, and Fear.

    Casting Strength upon him/herself (or upon anyone standing in the
    same hex) will give a little bit of combat advantage, or help with
    carrying heavy objects (like that troll).

    Casting Fear will cause those hit by it to run in random
    directions for approximately 10 rounds (and is by far the most
    aggravating spell to be on the receiving end of).

    Casting Curse at a crit will cause damage equal to from 2 to 4
    times the thaum's magic skill level.
                                                                    PAGE 56

    However, thaums can attempt to cast ANY of the spells written in
    their spellbooks; sometimes the spell will work (if the thaum has
    enough mps) even though the spell was designed for a higher skill
    level.  This is a good way to gain skill, because whether the
    spell succeeds or fails, skill is awarded for the attempt, and the
    more mps expended, the more skill points received.

    A couple of advantages accompany attainment of the next magic
    skill level.  First, the spells of Light, Blind and Prfire will
    become more reliable (thaum spells are NEVER totally reliable and
    of course they fail at the worst times).  Light can be used in
    dark areas and to disrupt undead critters like wraiths and wights.
    Blind can be cast at crits or groups of crits to give the thaum
    time to deal with them while they can't see him/her (Blind lasts
    several rounds, depending on skill level of the thaum).  Prfire
    will give the thaum or anyone upon whom it is cast some (not
    total) protection from fire thrown by crits in the dungeon.

    However, just as important as the new spells gained is the fact
    that at higher skill levels, the spells become more potent.
    Curse, which at level 2 does about 6 points of damage, will now do
    between 9 and 12 points.  Once magic skill level 10 (Summoner of
    Snakes) is reached, the thaum's Curse, once so weak, will be doing
    nearly 40 points of damage, more than enough to slay most wraiths,
    for example.

    After the acquisition of troll armor and fire protection, thaums
    need to develop their magic skills.  The secret to a steady
    advancement in magic skills is to constantly cast spells.  The
    more magic points you burn up, the faster the process.  As more
    powerful spells start functioning they should be used, mostly
    because they use more magic points.  With frequent trips to the
    thaum trainer, you can see a steady increase in magic skills.

    The four most important thaum spells are:  stun, lightning, death
    and phantasm.  Stun comes first, becoming effective at magic level
    four.  Stun will freeze an opponent or group of opponents for
    about four moves depending on your character's skill.  Thaums then
    wade into their frozen opponents with a melee weapon.  The curse
    spell is used to bring down wounded opponents fleeing from such
    encounters after the stun spell lapses.  As with fighters, because
    of the structure of the game, the melee weapon of choice is the
    greatsword.  With the spells available to thaums, they do not need
    to rely nearly as much on distance weapons.
                                                                    PAGE 57

    The lightning spell allows thaums to strike at groups of
    opponents. Care needs to be taken with this spell.  More thaums
    have been killed by their own lightning then by critters.  Cast it
    only at unmoving opponents, stunned groups or archers, or cast it
    at a hex rather than a crit on the hex.  DO NOT cast lightning
    while in the water, or attempt to cast it over water.  Lightning
    is also the only 'area' spell that is available to thaums, that is
    a spell that affects groups of critters standing on one hex.

    The death spell is the second best offensive spell in the BG,
    second only to the wizard's ice spear.  Death cannot be blocked,
    is not affected by armor, and cannot be effectively saved against
    by creatures in the basic game.  It hits for ten times the thaum's
    skill level.  A stun and death combination is effective for all
    but the toughest critters.

    The next and most important spell a thaum can aim for is the
    Phantasm spell, obtained at level 11.  This will allow the thaum
    to create djinn, magical characters that will obey certain of his
    commands.  Djinn are useful to use in "baiting" critters; sent
    ahead of the thaum, zoos (or more commonly dragons) will focus on
    the djinn, and continue to try to slay it, and the thaum can fight
    them while they are thus engaged with little danger to himself.

    Djinn can be commanded to follow, to stop, to attack crits, to
    take items from the ground or drop them to the ground, to climb up
    or down stairs or cliffs.  Djinn wield spells themselves; casting
    icestorms or concussions at crits they have been commanded to
    fight, or advancing on them to attack with MA skills or held
    weapons.  They make wonderful partners for thaums, even though
    they aren't very conversational Once the thaum has this spell,
    there is little point in continuing magic training.  Higher
    magical levels will continues to make present spells more potent,
    and earn the ability to learn new spells.

12.04:  Developing a Wizard

    Like thaums, the first things a wizard needs to acquire is troll
    armor and fire protection.  Also like thaums, the secret to a
    steady advancement in magic skills is to constantly cast spells.
    The more magic points you burn up, the faster the process.  As
    more powerful spells start functioning they should be used, mostly
    because they use more magic points.  With frequent trips to the
    wizard trainer, you can see a steady increase in magic skills.
                                                                    PAGE 58

    One of the more important spells a wizard has is one of the two he
    starts the game with; MagicMissile and Bonfire.  Magicmissile will
    do about 4 times the magic skill level of the wizard, in terms of
    damage. At low levels, that is not a lot, but a wizard of 15th
    level magic skill is shooting 60 point MMs, and that is nothing to
    scoff at.  Thus, it is important to develop magic skill early.
    Many wizards have little or no weapon skill, concentrating on
    magic from the very beginning.

    Bonfire is the first of the wizards terrain spells (terrain spells
    must never be cast in town, by the way, or the wizard will turn
    neutral).  Terrain (or area) spells differ from direct attack
    spells like MagicMissile, or the thaum's Death spell, in that they
    work upon the terrain, and not the crits.  If any crits dies in
    the first round due to the casting of a terrain spell, the wizard
    will receive the experience points he would have received with a
    direct attack spell. The big advantage to terrain spells like
    Fireball is they can level entire "zoos" in the first round,
    giving lots of experience for little effort.  Wizards start out as
    the weakest crts in the game (excepting, perhaps, thieves) but
    with patience can grow to become the most powerful.

    Bonfire becomes more useful when the wizard has gained for himself
    some fire protection.  Until then, it can be quite dangerous,
    since bonfires must be cast a direction, i.e.  CAST N N rather
    than AT a crit or the fire can land on the wizard's hex and make
    wizard toast. Once fire protection is obtained (Prfire spell can
    immediately purchased for 200 coins) the wizard can PURPOSELY cast
    bonfire on his own hex.  This serves to burn up any crits that
    have entered the hex with the wizard, or to keep them at bay while
    the wizard casts MMs at them.  Using fire upon the wizard's own
    hex is one of their most effective strategies.  Bonfires typically
    last 10 to 12 rounds.

    First goal in this class is to become a shaper of fire and to
    acquire the fireball spell.  The spell is used defensively and
    offensively.  Defensively, it holds opponents at bay, or weakens
    them prior to armed combat.  Offensively, it can kill multiple
    opponents.

    Using a prfire spell in conjunction with the other fire
    protection, wizard can cast even concentrated fireballs on their
    own location to kill or weaken opponents who have closed.  Except
    for salamanders, silver wolves, some gargoyles, drakes and
    dragons, all critters in the basic game take damage from fire.
    Obviously, some critters are much tougher than others and may need
    several fireballs to kill them.
                                                                    PAGE 59

    The icestorm spell that can be obtained at the level of shaper of
    ice is more powerful than the fireball spell.  This is both good
    and bad.  It is good for dealing with the creatures with many hit
    points that are harder to handle with the fireball spell.  It is
    bad because the spell will also damage the wizard.  To be used
    effectively, the icestorm spell requires that the wizard be very
    well protected against cold.  As an absolute minimum, the wizard
    should wear a fire and ice amulet or use the prfireicespell.

    One important note on area spells like the fireball and icestorm.
    A competent wizard can vary the size of the area the spell covers.
    Normally, these spells cover a 2-hex radius, but can be cast to
    cover a 3-hex radius or, more importantly, on a 1-hex radius.  The
    reason you would want to cast on a 1-hex area is to concentrate
    the effectiveness of the spell.  If you take a spell designed for
    2-hex area and concentrate it on 1-hex area, you effectively
    double it's power.  This is also true if you cast it on a 3-hex
    area, in which case you halve the effectiveness.  With proper ice
    protection, a favored technique to deal with ghouls (who are among
    the nastiest critters in Oakvael) is to run 3-hexes away from the
    ghoul and warm up an icestorm, wait for the ghoul to reappear on
    your hex, cast a 1-hex icestorm and run 3 more hexes.  You may
    take 10 to 20 hits damage from the icestorm, but a ghoul can do
    considerable more damage to you than that.  After the second or
    third icestorm, the ghoul will either die or start running.

    The next important spell is a Firebolt. The total length it can
    be cast is euqal to half your skill level rounded up, including going
    around corners and out of the wizards sight.  It is a devastating
    spell that does as much damage to most critters as an icestorm.

    No other direct attack spell is presently available to wizards
    until they reach the 14th level of skill.  At this point the
    marvelous IceSpear spell can be acquired.  IceSpear is the single
    most potent spell in the game, doing over 19 times the magic skill
    level of the wizard in hit points of damage!

    As for defensive spells, the wizard's Shield spell is almost
    completely effective against missile weapons and becomes somewhat
    effective against melee weapons as the wizard's skill increases.
    The darkness spell works as emergency defense against many
    creatures.  When the number of opponents is too great, cast
    darkness and then blanket the area with fire or ice.
                                                                    PAGE 60

    Wizards have equipment needs, as well.  A robe is essential for
    your wizard.  If you want to be primarily a magic user and
    develop only a little weapon skill, you want to get a set of
    dragon or drake scales to protect you from your own CONCUSSIONS and
    to provide passive protection against weapon attacks. Ice dragon
    scales are best because of its additional weapon blocking power. You
    then need to develop only a few levels of weapon skill to deal with
    the very few critters that are immune to your magic, like the Axe
    kingwolf. Broadsword/Greataxe at Competent level are two popular
    weapons for wizards. Also, threestaff skill, which is strictly for
    blocking, is popular with "magic only" wizards.

    Although most traditionalists frown on spending a lot of time
    developing weapons skills for wizards, when you start using higher
    powered spells you will find that the MP (magic point) regeneration
    has trouble keeping up with you, even when wearing a robe.  At times
    like this, you will need to have skill with at least one melee
    weapon, if only for self defense.

12.05:  Developing a Thief

    Like wizards, thieves begin the game with only two spells, Hide
    and Fsdoor.  Running a thief can be a frustrating experience at
    low levels and is not recommended for a first character.  Aside
    from the hazards of the dungeons, thieves also have to cope with
    NPC knights in town like the sheriff, who will attack them on sight.
    They have no offensive magic power, they don't receive many hits, and
    they can't use the game's best weapons.  Moreover, the STEAL command
    is not very effective unless at high thievery skill level, and only
    then when used in combination with HIDE and DARKNESS.

    Now for the fun part of operating thieves, namely the Hide spell.
    Hide allows the thief to go unnoticed through the dungeon.  A
    thief in the same hex as a player or crit will ALWAYS be seen
    (unless there is a spell of darkness in place), and a thief
    standing in an adjacent hex will ALMOST ALWAYS be seen.  But from
    two or three hexes away, thieves can hide very effectively, given
    enough magic skill.

    The effectiveness of Hide is determined by the thief's magic skill
    level against the experience level of the player or crit from whom
    he/she is hiding.  A thief with magic skill of 3 (Diviner of
    Magics) can rarely hide from a crit of high experience at any
    distance, however a thief with a magic skill of 10 (Master of
    Secrets) can successfully hide from anything in the BG, from three
    hexes away.
                                                                    PAGE 61

    A thief can only hide when he/she is in darkness, or in a hex
    adjacent to a wall, tree, mountain or ruin.  The hide spell, once
    cast, remains in effect until the thief moves into the open, takes
    damage (any amount), draws or holds a large object, or quits.

    The thieves' Fsdoor spell allows them to find and open secret
    doors. When this spell is cast, any secret door within sight will
    fly open and remain open for several rounds.  Useful, in that the
    thieves' guild can only be entered through secret doors.

    With troll armor and fire protection, thieves should work
    concurrently on pursuing magic skill and weapon skill.  Stealing
    requires quite a bit of patience and technique to develop into an
    effective mode of play, so most thieves don't bother with it.

    In magic skill, the key spells are darkness and nightvision
    (available at magic skill level 6, Lurker in Darkness).  Once your
    character has nightvision, he can go anywhere in the game save the
    lairs of drakes and dragons by casting darkness and hiding.
    Bigger crits can be fought in the darkness the thief has cast,
    where the thief with nightvision can see, but the crit can't.  Be
    warned that several crits can see in the dark, including ogres,
    rockworms, ghouls, dragons and drakes.

    Since thieves do not possess offensive spells, magic skill is
    accumulated only by practice and training.  Training is expensive
    and so is the purchase of most thief spells.  Thievery may be the
    most expensive occupation in the game.  The best place to train is
    in the thieves' guild at the 120 level of Axe Glacier.  This is a
    good point to mention that if you do wish to train your character
    for thieving you will need to go to Lockpick Town (above the 120
    level) and purchase a lockpick from the general store.

    Weapons require some early choices.  Only small weapons can be
    held by thieves without evaporating the hide spell.  Daggers,
    short swords, shurikens and crossbows are preferred weapons for
    thieves.  Really large weapons like staffs and greatswords cannot
    even be belted with the hide spell.  Melee weapons and long bows
    will evaporate the hide spell when wielded.  Also, no "lawful"
    weapons can be wielded by thieves at all.

    Many thieves have chosen to develop MA skills and end up running
    mini-ninjas.  A thief with high level MA skills will make up for most
    of the aggravations of getting one started.  The thief trainer in
    Oakvael will train thieves up to 3rd Dan in MA skills, which is
    extremely powerful for any BG character.  Note, if you decide to run
    a MA type thief, most of the hints given in the MA section will apply
    here too.
                                                                    PAGE 62

    There is one quality weapon that is available to thieves, namely
    the +4 crossbow carried by the Doom.Orc in Oakvael.  It is a blue
    glowing weapon, therefore can be used against several critters
    that are magic weapons only.  Used from hiding, this crossbow is a
    potent weapon and is one of the reasons night vision helms are
    readily available.  A thief can sneak by the Axe drake, ice dragon
    and into the Yeti's lair, spend 20 minutes sniping at the Yeti in
    relative safety and have a nice hoard to loot with the NV helm the
    Yeti carries.  Also, about the only time a knight will start
    kissing up to a thief is when the knight needs the dagger the Yeti
    carries, which a thief can produce with little fuss.

    Thieves are excellent characters for exploring new territory or
    going into dangerous areas other characters would not tackle.  The
    downside is, that once there, thieves are limited in what they can
    do. But some valuable items have been picked up by thieves that
    much more powerful "lawful" characters don't dare attempt to
    retrieve.

    Thieves are neutral, but have an inherent disguise spell (they
    never need to cast it, it is built in) that makes them appear to
    everyone but Knights or higher level thieves as lawful fighters.
    This is fortunate, because, being neutral, they have no protection
    by the "karma" rules of the game.  However, since Kesmai Corp.
    banned player vs player combat, no one is allowed to attack
    thieves except in self defense.

    The only problem is Kesmai Corp. never got around to telling the
    NPC (non-player character or computer operated) knights about this
    policy, so they will attack a thief on sight.  This can make it
    hard to do things like banking and using the locker, but careful
    use of the Hide and Darkness spells will often take a thief
    through safely.

    As far as equipment for thieves go, robes are useful fire and ice
    protection and help to regenerate the limited magic points thieves
    get. Since thieves don't have any offensive magic spells to use,
    limited MPs is not a big problem.  Any variety of dragon scales is
    optional, unless MA skills are being developed.
                                                                    PAGE 63

13.00:  Karma and Alignment

    All characters in the game have a certain "alignment".  Most of
    the players are "lawfuls", which means they are in good standing
    in the various communities.  Most of the crits are "chaotic"
    (signified by an * in front of their designation) or "evil"
    (signified by a + in front of their designation).  Chaotics will
    attack all non-chaotics; evils will attack non-evils.
    Sometimes chaotic and evil crits can be found in combat with one
    another.

    Thieves are "neutral" players, although they appear to everyone
    (including crits) except Knights to be lawful.  Thieves will be
    attacked on sight by the NPC Knights in towns such as the sheriff
    and his deputies; but will not be bothered by other NPCs or
    statues that live in or guard the towns.

    Wizards or Thaums that cast terrain altering spells (such as
    lightning, fire, illusions, portal, darkness, etc.) inside town
    limits will turn neutral immediately, and will be seen as neutral
    by everyone.

    They will immediately be attacked by all lawful NPCs, not just the
    sheriff.  The only way they can be restored to lawful status is by
    taking a silver dagger to the confessor ghost (in Kesmai, the
    ghost is in the northwest corner of the temple), dropping the
    dagger in the ghost's hex, and asking GHOST, FORGIVE ME.

    Any player that slays a lawful character will also turn neutral.
    Some terrain spells may result in inadvertent killing of a lawful
    crit or player, so special care must be maintained.  If the lawful
    character that was killed was "human" (another player or an NPC)
    the killer will also take a "karma hit".

    Karma is revealed when a SHOW STATS command is given.  If you have
    taken one karma point, you will be told "You have killed one
    lawful." If you have two karma points, it would be "two lawfuls",
    etc.  If a player has three or more karma points, the player's
    alignment may be changed to evil, and the player will not be
    resurrected upon dying.

    Karma can be removed by the confessor ghost, as well.  The price
    demanded, rather than a silver dagger, is a tiger figurine (fairly
    rare in the Basic Game).  Drop the tiger figurine in the ghost's
    hex, and say GHOST, FORGIVE ME.

    Weapons may also have an alignment.  Broadswords, Greataxes,
    Rhammers and Raxes are lawful, and cannot be used by non-lawful
    players, even if such a player could obtain one.  As well, lawful
    weapons give an extra combat add than normal when used against
    evil characters.
                                                                    PAGE 64

14.00:  Extending Your Horizons:  The four basic game segments

14.01:  Kesmai

    Kesmai is the beginning scenario and when Oakvael was opened up,
    most of the critters were downgraded.  Once upon a time, level -4
    was one of the toughest areas in the BG, but now when most players
    get enough experience, they move to the other game segments.

    The dungeon is made up of 4 underground levels; the top level is
    designated -1, the bottom one -4.  Level -1 is the easiest level,
    and the best place for the new player to get accustomed to the
    game. Skeletons and kobolds are the easiest crits on this level,
    hitting for about 5-7 hits and not hard to kill.  Skeletons and
    kobolds can only move one hex at a time.  Kobolds will run from
    you when badly wounded. Orcs are split between archers and
    fighters, are a little harder to kill, but are worth 4 times the
    experience points of skeletons. Wyverns are tough and fast flyers,
    able to move 2 hexes at once, and can hit for as much as 15 points
    damage.  Trolls are perhaps the toughest of all, although they are
    still confined to 2 hex movement; they are worth the most
    experience points, and will also run when badly wounded.  An
    occasional wight may be encountered; wights stand away and cast
    curses at you, but do not do much damage.

    Level -2 has much the same selection of crits, but they each hit a
    little harder than their -1 counterparts, and are tougher to kill.
    Some of the orcs on -2 can cast fire at you, which can do a lot of
    damage to an unprotected character.  Still, -2 fires are
    relatively cool, and most characters will be able to get out of
    them alive, even without protection.  Goblins are found on -2,
    split between archers and fighters.

    Level -3 has a few changes.  Few skeletons or kobolds will be
    encountered.  The orcs will almost all be fighters, and more
    fierce than any previously encountered.  The wights curses hit
    harder.  Trolls become very powerful.  And some new crits will be
    encountered: hobgoblins are larger and much more dangerous cousins
    to the upper level goblins; wraiths are crits that stand off and
    cast spells of blindness (blinding you for several rounds; you can
    recall if it seems necessary, or having previously memorized your
    retreat path, retreat blindly but safely) or death.  Death spells
    can do as much as 40 points of damage on this level.
                                                                    PAGE 65

    Gargoyles are very fast, hard hitting pests that present great
    danger because they can do so much damage even when you are trying
    to run away from them.  Salamanders will engulf you in intense
    flame. Some orcs will cast web spells at you, hindering your
    movement while they follow up with magicmissiles.  Webs can be
    burned, or simply escaped as you try often enough; one can also
    recall out of a web if necessary.

    Level -4 presents some new challenges.  All of the -3 crits are
    present in harder hitting varieties.  They are joined by several
    others, making a wonderfully thrilling and dangerous package.
    NPCs (non player characters), ghouls, spectres, minotaurs, and of
    course, the dragon.  NPCs are wizards, thaumaturges, and fighters.
    One old thaumaturge, who usually is wearing a robe, can cast death
    spells that sometimes approach 70 points.  The wizards will
    surround you in storms of fire or ice, and the fighter attacks
    with a +4 rapier.

    Ghouls are invisible except from one hex away, and ferocious, they
    can hit or bite for 30 points, often stunning you in the process,
    and their bites are POISONOUS (see the section on poison)!
    Spectres are invisible until they run low on magic points, and
    cast blindness and death, like wraiths.  Minotaurs are fierce
    beasts swinging hard-hitting staves or greatswords, and they can
    absorb a LOT of damage before they will run.  The dragon is the
    ultimate challenge in Kesmai, not to be fought until a great deal
    of experience and hits have been obtained.

    The eastern islands are not usually hunted, unless a fighter is
    travelling to Hermann for Knighthood, or a player is travelling to
    Leng.  The islands are home to boars, wolves, and bears that are
    mostly equivalent to -2 or -3 beasts in danger.  But there is one
    bear out there that is second only to the dragon in ferocity,
    called "Bigfoot" by the players.  This bear announces his presence
    with a low roar and he is fire-resistant, hard hitting (as much as
    65 points can be dealt out), fast and extremely durable.

    The griffins guarding the approach to Hermann's make the gargoyles
    of the dungeons seem tame.  A tiger roams the area, and is about
    -4 average danger.  Finally, there are manticoras roaming about;
    mantis do not hit particularly hard, nor are they hard to kill,
    but they are POISONOUS, and that makes them dangerous indeed.  See
    the section on poison, page 21.

14.02:  Leng

    Most sections of Leng are approximately equivalent to Kesmai -3 in
    terms of danger.  The areas I would so describe include the plains
    of Leng, the dungeon, the mausoleum level, and the first cliff
    level. Other areas, such as the Dark Tower and the higher cliffs,
    are much more dangerous.
                                                                    PAGE 66

    Skeletons, berserkers, NPCs, manticoras, hyenas, boars and
    sandwyrms inhabit the plains of Leng.  Skeletons are still not
    very tough, though they are perhaps a bit faster than their
    Kesmain cousins.  Berserkers are archers or fighters, roughly
    equalling -3 orcs.  The NPCs are pale reflections of their Kesmain
    relatives, quite weak and easily handled. Manticoras are still
    poisonous.  Sandwyrms are invisible unless on your hex, but fairly
    easy to handle (many of them also bear a polished star ruby that
    must be held in hand to go through the "shimmering portal" west of
    town).  Hyenas and boars are much like the easier crits in
    Kesmai's eastern islands.

    Dungeon creatures are of the same variety as those found in
    Kesmai's -4.  But they are not as tough.  They yield very good
    experience and skill, however.  Think of the dungeons probably as
    equivalent to -3.

    Crits on the mausoleum level and the first cliff level are much
    the same as those on the plains and dungeons.  Griffins are not
    nearly as fierce as those in Kesmai.  One exception is the
    scorpion.  This crit stings with intense poison, and usually stuns
    with the sting.  The danger with both manticoras and scorpions is
    that they will sting and stun you, then sting and stun you in the
    next round, and the next, and keep repeating it until you are
    dead.  Even if you manage to recall out, the poison they have
    injected will likely finish you before you can balm or get it
    neutralized.  It is not a bad idea to wear a neutralize amulet in
    Leng.

    The second cliff level holds a tiger of great durability, as well
    as bears, boars and wolves.  These crits all hit harder than their
    counterparts elsewhere in Leng, and, though not especially
    terrifying to experienced players, should be treated carefully.
    This area is also where you can find the knight trainer and MA
    trainer.

    The level of the drake's lair holds minotaurs and manticoras.  The
    greatest danger with these are their number and their regeneration
    rate; as fast as you kill them, new ones will always be around to
    pester you.  The drake, of course, is especially dangerous; in the
    present version, both the Leng drake the dragon are EATERS, they
    eat your character and send you on your way to the under world.
                                                                    PAGE 67

    The Dark Tower of Leng is popular for its fast regeneration rate.
    The lower levels of the tower are the easiest, though the crits
    may overwhelm you simply by weight of numbers.  As one goes higher
    in the tower, the crits become more dangerous.  Some of them are
    able to HIDE in the shadows, like a thief, and there is one
    critter called a lich that from some invisible point will STUN you
    if it can, then proceed to cast Death at you while the others beat
    on you.  The topmost level of the tower holds a couple of fierce
    griffins (much more powerful than the cliff dwelling griffins) and
    a Vampire.  The Leng Vampire is very quite nasty by himself, but
    combined with the griffins, salamander and lich, this is without a
    doubt the most dangerous area in the BG.

    North of the mausoleum area, there is also a SandSerpent's lair.
    The SandSerpent is, perhaps, the easiest of lair crits in the BG,
    killable probably by most players who can handle the rest of Leng.
    The SandSerpent can hit for 40 on a good roll, usually much less.

    Underneath the stables west of town is the Granite Hall where
    *Shido hangs out.  This martialartist commands packs of powerful
    *ninjas which have a permanent hide spell and can only be seen when
    standing next to or on your hex. Only thieves and MAs can enter
    the lair. But there is no hoard and *Shido wields a rather worthless
    MA weapon called the fan. Thrill seekers only.

14.03:  Axe Glacier

    Until Oakvael was opened for business, Axe Glacier was home of the
    most advanced trainers in the game.  If you should find that your
    skills have advanced to the point where the Kesmai trainers say
    he/she is no longer able to help you you can get advanced training
    in Axe Glacier.  Axe Glacier is also home to an entirely new set
    of creatures.

    The Axe is made up of several levels, as is Kesmai.  But there is
    a significant difference.  In Kesmai, each level is graded,
    progressing to greater and greater danger.  In Axe, all levels
    except the surface level are of equal danger, and the danger
    POTENTIAL is much higher than in Kesmai, although the traveller's
    time will often, even mostly, be spent in far less danger, due to
    a general lower density of crits than on Kesmai -4.  An Axian zoo,
    however, can be one of the most dreaded encounters in the BG.
                                                                    PAGE 68

    The surface level of Axe Glacier is relatively tame, somewhere in
    the range of -2 to -3 of Kesmai.  Skeletons, kobolds, gargoyles,
    orcs...the usual range of Kesmain crits is to be found there.  One
    interesting change to the skeletons is that those in Axe cannot be
    harmed by bow weapons, although they are relatively wimpy for the
    experienced player.  All of the remaining levels, from 60' to
    230', are another matter entirely.  They are populated by crits
    that are individually tougher than their Kesmain counterparts.

14.04:  Oakvael

    The last and greatest(?) BG segment to be implemented, Oakvael
    handily displaced Axe as being the toughest area in the BG.  The
    surface area of Oakvael is relatively mild, with the most
    dangerous critters being the wandering griffins.  Oakvael is also
    home to the most advanced trainers in the BG.

    The most notable feature of Oakvael are the pits that drop to the
    deepest parts of the area.  FF (featherfall) boots are very
    necessary here.  The southeast pit drops directly to the undead
    level (-280 ft), sometimes it's called the express elevator to
    hell.  The end of the drop is by an altar, which is populated by
    banshees, ghouls, liches, NPC thaums and wizards, stalkers,
    wraiths and wights.  Please take note, there are times when you
    WILL find all of the above in the same spot at the same time, the
    area is notorious for zoos.  If you blunder into the wrong spot in
    this area, you can take more than 200+ hits in one round.

    Now for the good news, for a high level player this area will
    yield the most loot, gold and experience that can be found in the
    BG.  You can average more that 1/2 million experience points per
    hour, plus 50K in coins.  To survive in this area, a minimum of
    140 hits is suggested, with the more the better (see above note on
    zoo damage potential).

    If the undead level sounds too intense for your taste, one level
    up at the -240 level, there is the troll/demon temple area.  This
    area is is inhabited mostly by gargoyles, hobgoblins, minotaurs,
    NPCs and orc archers.  They are all considerably more mild
    mannered than what you would find on the undead level and a
    character with 120 hits or so can usually be successful.  The main
    attraction of this level is fairly common DPs (drake potions).  It
    is fairly common to find one DP per hour in the area.
                                                                    PAGE 69

    One more level up is the serpent level.  The main feature of this
    level is a wandering serpent who typically carries a DP in a
    mother of pearl bottle.  The critters are pretty much the same as
    on the troll level, except for one robed minotaur who can be quite
    nasty.  The serpent can hit for 30 to 50 hits, with frequent
    poisons.  This area also has fairly common DPs; again the average
    seems to be about 1 per hour.

    The next level up is the hobgoblin caves, which is (obviously)
    populated by hobgoblins, orcs, trolls and an occasional spectre.
    Finally, just before you reach the surface, there is the spider
    level. The spider and hobgoblin cave areas are comparable to what
    you would find in Kesmai -3.

    The serpent and troll temple levels are comparable to Kesmai -4,
    with the undead level being much like the upper levels of the
    Annwn dungeon in the AG (advanced game).

    Up to now, one level has been omitted, namely the reptile pit
    (-310).  This area is primarily for the final part of the knight's
    quest, which will be covered in detail in the quests section.
    This area is the residence of two to four robed minotaurs, four
    big wyrms, numerous stalkers and one whirl wind breathing dragon.
    After getting past the wyrms, the dragon is usually a piece of
    cake (as long as you have two or three really big knights along).
    A minimum of 200 hit points is recommended, and at times that
    won't seem nearly enough.

14.05:  Moving Between Segments

    Movement between the segments of Kesmai, Leng, Oakvael and Axe
    Glacier is accomplished by portals.  There are two portals from
    Kesmai to Leng; the first is in the SE corner of level -2, or the
    SW corner of level -3, in a room with a pool and an altar.  This
    portal takes you to the Lost City of Leng.  The second portal to
    Leng is in the far eastern section of the surface of Kesmai, in
    the Eastern Islands and takes you to Stonehenge in Leng.  The same
    portal will transport you back to Kesmai, where you will appear in
    the western section of the temple.

    The portal from Kesmai to Axe Glacier is inside the limestone
    cavern on -3.  This will transport you to Axe Surface town; the
    same portal will transport you back to Kesmai, where you will
    appear in the western section of the temple.
                                                                    PAGE 70

    The portal to and from Oakvael is just to the east of Kesmai town,
    behind Sage's shack.  At the other end of the portal to Oakvael,
    you will find yourself next to the right of an altar.  Moving to
    the opposite side (left) of the altar, that is the return point to
    Kesmai. The town in Oakvael is to the west of the portal and is
    located in the trees above the surface.

    There is a portal in the NW section of Kesmai, and another near
    Chaotic Town in Axe Glacier, that will transport a player directly
    to the Advanced Game.  These are one way portals, once in the
    Advanced Game the only way back is by rerolling.  Don't use them
    unless you are sure.  Before moving to the AG, files in the
    MPGames library should be consulted.
                                                                    PAGE 71

15.00:  Praetoseba, The Underworld

    Once upon a time, when you got too old, had too few constitution
    points or managed to get eaten by something, you suffered
    permanent death and had to roll a new character.  Since Praetoseba
    was opened, you can now save your character by doing four
    different quests.

    This section covers Praetoseba, also known as the Underworld
    (which is considerably easier to spell and will be used hereafter
    in this file), plus a few helpful hints on how to proceed with the
    quests.

15.01:  General Notes

    There are four quests which have to be completed, assuming you
    have no karma points, before you can leave the Underworld.  If you
    have one or more karma points you need to get forgiven first.  The
    karma quest is covered at the end of this guide.  After the final
    quest is completed you go to the exit portal which is located at
    the extreme northeast end of the UW.  Use the standard portal
    chant to return to the land of the living.

    To deal with anyone in the Underworld you need to type in 'xxx,
    teach me', where 'xxx' is the name of the NPC you are dealing
    with. This also applies to Set, the karma point forgiver, who will
    be covered in detail later.  One of four things can happen from
    there.  (NPC = non-player character, or computer operated)

         1.  The NPC will tell you to go see someone else (another
         NPC)
         2.  The NPC will drop something and tell you to take it to
         someone else.
         3.  The NPC will tell you to lead an animal to someone else.
         4.  The NPC will tell you he/she can't help you, or you
         should see someone else first, in which case you are talking
         to the wrong one.
         
    To deal with animals like the tiger, cobra or crocodile, you
    approach the animal and say 'xxx, follow me', where 'xxx' is the
    animal in question.  One thing to note with the (lawful) crocodile
    is there are usually chaotic crocodiles in the area too, so make
    sure you talk to the right one.  To get the critter to go up or
    down stairs or pits, say 'xxx, climb up (or down)'.

    To deal with chaotic or evil critters, the best thing is to walk
    away.  Almost all the critters in the UW are slow moving and slow
    reacting, with the exception of the Ice Dragon, who can hit you
    with an icestorm as soon as it sees you.  The skill and experience
    gains in the UW are almost nil, so it simply is not worth your
    time to start a fight in most cases.
                                                                    PAGE 72

    The fastest way to travel from anywhere in the Underworld back to
    the temple is by killing yourself.  Unlike the regular game,
    anything you are holding in your hands when you die, will go back
    with you. Since death is irrelevant in the UW, you can save much
    time by drowning yourself or walking into fire.  One IMPORTANT
    note, this is not the preferred method of travel if you have any
    karma points.  That will be covered at the end with Set the
    Forgiver.

    One more VERY important note on getting to the Underworld.
    Assuming you have not been eaten by a dragon or something, the
    fastest way to get to the Underworld is by phone-slamming when you
    die.  The reasons to do this are most high level players would
    rather spend one to two hours in the UW than losing sometimes
    irreplaceable stats or hit points. If you are a knight which has
    done all the knight quests, any hit points which you lose though
    death can NEVER be replaced.

    If you have been resurrected by the Ghods and find you need to go
    to the UW to restore skill levels and constitution points, go to
    your locker and store all your belongings that you want to save.
    Then go to the nearest water or fire and kill yourself, then pull
    the plug on the modem (p-slam).

    NEVER use the Shrine of Tranquility for a routine trip to the
    Underworld!!!  The Shrine of Tranquility is strictly a ONE-WAY
    trip, used when you want to re-roll a different character and want
    to retain the experience and ancestor one character tied weapon.
    There have already been several cases where someone used the
    Shrine to get to the UW and were VERY unhappy when they found out
    they weren't going to come back.  The Kesmai Corp. can not help
    you either, other than if Fledge is in a sympathetic mood and
    helps you build up a new character.  They can not bring back the
    old character.

15.02:  The Quests for Life

    There are four quest masters, Osirus, Anubis, Sekmet and Khnumeri.
    Each master has two or in some cases three different quests they
    can
    give you.

15.03:  Osirus - Stomache Quest

    1. Lead a suitable pet to my son.

    Go to southeast end of UW, over rope bridge to area by +Ice Dragon
    There are usually two tigers roaming the area.  Say 'Tiger, follow
    me' and lead him back to Horus in the temple.  When the tiger sees
    Horus he will bow his head and drop a tiger figurine.  Take the
    figurine and give it to Horus (drop it on his hex) and say 'Horus,
    teach me'.
                                                                    PAGE 73

    Horus will drop an amulet and tell you to take it to his mother,
    Isis.  Give the amulet to Isis and say 'Isis, teach me'.  Isis
    will give you her blessing and send you to see Imhotep.  Go to
    Imhotep and say 'Imhotep, teach me' and she will grant you a
    stomache.

    2.  Get an Anhk from one who was queen.

    Go to Tyi, who is on the north side of the river just north of
    Cleopatra.  Say 'Tyi, teach me' and she will drop an Anhk and send
    you to Nepherteri, I who is in a cave to the north.

    Give the Anhk to Nepherteri, she sends you to Imhotep back in the
    temple.

    Imhotep gives you a stomache.

    3.  Go inquire of the locksmith

    Go to Khenty who is located just to the southeast of the temple
    entrance.  Khenty will give you a key and tell you to go see the
    magician, Thutmose.

    Give the key to Thutmose and Thutmose will tell you to see
    Imhotep.  Imhotep gives you a stomache.

15.04:  Anubis - Intestine Quest

    1.  Take a special bow to the goddess of the hunt.

    Go to the same area where the tigers are found and in the extreme
    south- east corner there is a chaotic NPC archer.  Kill the archer
    and take the shortbow to the goddess of hunt, Neith.  Neith will
    grant you intestines.

    Sometimes you can't find the archer and are stuck.  This can be
    because another player came through recently and killed him, or he
    may have wandered in front of the dragon lair and been killed by
    the Ice Dragon.  I Sometime you can find the shortbow by standing
    in the hex northeast of the dragon lair entrance and typing 'look
    west'.  If you see it laying there, you can type in 'west and take
    shortbow', then immediately head north to avoid riling up the
    dragon.

    One time saving hint for doing these quests.  If you are sent to
    find a tiger by Osirus, you can also go kill the NPC and take the
    shortbow too.
                                                                    PAGE 74

    When you finish with the quest given by Osirus, go see Aunbis
    next. When you see Anubis, the odds are about 50/50 you will get
    the shortbow quest, in which case you are ahead of the game and
    can go directly to Neith.

    2.  Lead a lawful crocodile to the god of the river

    Go to the swamps in the south part of the UW and find the lawful
    crocodile.  Say 'crocodile, follow me' and lead him north to the
    river. In the middle of the river is a small island with Sobek's
    temple.

    There are two things to watch out for here.  First is you don't
    want to get in a fight with the chaotic crocodiles.  Second is you
    REALLY don't want to get in a fight with the chaotic hippos in the
    river. They only need one bite to send you back to the temple.

    When the crocodile sees Sobek, he will bow his head and drop a
    bear skull.  Give the skull to Sobek and Sobek will send you to
    one of two river nymphs.  One nymph is in the southeast swamp and
    the other is at the south edge of the river.

    The nymph will give you a gem to take back to Imhotep, who will
    grant you intestines.

15.05:  Khnumeri - Lung Quest

    1.  Seek the most beautiful woman, she will give you lightness.

    Go to Cleopatra, who will give you feather fall boots and tell you
    to see either the one who rules from beneath the tomb, or the one
    who lies beneath the tomb.  The entrance to the tombs are east of
    Cleopatra thru the secret door in the Sphinx.  You will need a
    portal gem and a crystal (light) wand, if your terminal program
    has no maps.

    A. If you are told to see the one who rules from beneath the tomb,
    you need to see Pehket.  You go through two more secret doors and
    one teleport.  Climb up 2 flights of stairs and at the top jump to
    the west air hex.  The drop will put you in front of Pehket.
    Remove the boots and give them to Pehket.  Pehket will grant you
    lungs.

    B. If you are told to see the one who lies beneath the tomb, you
    need to see Montu.  After the teleport into the tomb and before
    the stairs up to Pehket, there is an air hex to the south.  Jump
    into this hex and the drop will put you into Montu's half of the
    tomb.  Go to Montu, remove the boots and give them to him.  Montu
    will give you a birch wand to take to Kephri.
                                                                    PAGE 75

    Kephri can be found at the northwest corner of the Underworld by
    the headwaters of the sacred river.  Give the wand to Kephri and
    he will grant you lungs.  There is a chaotic demon at the entrance
    to Kephri's area to deal with.  The best way to deal with him is
    to run.  In order to run, you need your stamina at its max.  The
    area from the water to Kephri is all dense forest, which will use
    up stamina, so it's a good idea to rest up before you make the
    final dash past the demon.

15.06:  Sekmet - Liver Quest

    1. The god Ra shall be your guide.

    You go to the Temple of Ra, which is located above Osirus.  Ra has
    two quests which he can give you.

    A. Seek the wisdom of Ptah.  Ptah is located below the cataracts
    in the southeast corner.  Ptah will give you a blessing and send
    you to see Thoth.

    Thoth is located at the rear of the main temple, under Osirus.
    Thoth will grant you a liver.

    B. Take a cobra to Re.Harakhti (the dreaded cobra quest).  This
    quest can be a real pain IF you get the wrong cobra.  Generally
    speaking the cobra that you see by Ra is going to be a loser.
    Most of the time the snake will move one hex every round,
    sometimes one hex every other round!  Since Re.Harakhti is located
    in a cave under the cataracts, this quest can take forever with a
    slow snake.

    If you exit the temple and go northwest along the side of the
    temple, there often is another cobra hiding behind the grates
    under the temple.  More often than not, this is also a much faster
    snake too.  I had a cobra from this area that moved three hex
    every round and had no trouble keeping up with me.

    The route down to Re.Harakhti also can drag things out.  There is
    a little known pit which can be climbed down to Re.Harakhti's
    cave, which is located on the south bank of the river just east of
    the river nymph. This is much shorter route than going across the
    north shore and swimming to the climb down by the cataracts.

    This is another area where you might want a crystal (light) wand,
    since these caves are in darkness.  However, if you have good
    maps, you can do without the light, since the cobra can see fine
    in the darkness.

    Lead the cobra to Re.Harakhti.  When the snake sees Re.Harakhti it
    will bow its head and drop a set of snake scales.  Take the scales
    to Re.Harakhti and she will grant you a liver.
                                                                    PAGE 76

    2.  Inquire of my brother.

    Go to Nefertem, who is located in another temple just to the west
    of Sekmet.

    Nefertem has the same choice of quests as Ra, so see their
    descriptions in part 1 of this section

15.07:  The Karma Quests

    Karma points are incurred when you kill any lawful human, either a
    real player or NPC (computer operated human characters).  This can
    happen sometimes by accident, mostly by people using area spells
    like icestorms, fire, nitro, javelins (lightning), etc.  Since
    balls, javelins and wands are common, this can happen to anyone,
    not just wizards and other magic users.

    Also, there are times when the Ghods have a rather bizarre sense
    of humor and generate NPCs with stats and hits so low, a good
    sneeze would kill them.  This is especially true for the beggars
    and other nuisance NPCs, which leads up to the 'not accidental'
    deaths, since there are some incredibly annoying NPCs in the game.

    If the karma hit is a result of killing another Player, it had
    better be accidental!  Player vs Player combat has been banned in
    IoK for several years, and anyone who kills another player without
    a VERY good reason (like self-defense) can be banned from the
    game.

    The preferred way to get rid of a karma point is to take a tiger
    figurine to the nearest ghost in the land of the living.  The
    ghost will remove one karma hit for each figurine you give it.
    However, at this point figurines will not do you much good.

15.08:  Getting Forgiven - One Karma point

    If you have one karma point, you will enter the UW from the usual
    place.  You should carefully make you way to the temple of Set.  I
    say carefully, because in most cases death in the UW is
    irrelevant, but NOT when you have a karma point.  If you die in
    the UW with a karma point, you will be resurrected in a VERY deep
    pit full of fire and ice.

    If you make it to the entrance of Set's temple, beware of the
    three demons who stand along the three secret doors leading to
    Set.  The best advise I can offer here is to keep moving, don't
    try to fight them. When you finally get to Set, say 'Set, teach
    me' and he will forgive you and remove one karma point.  You will
    then be teleported to the Pit.  If you only had one karma point,
    you can then step into any fire and when you die you will go back
    to the main temple by Osirus.
                                                                    PAGE 77

15.09:  Getting Forgiven - Two or Three Karma points

    Getting the first karma hit forgiven is the same as the preceding
    section.  If you have more than one Karma hit, the next one(s)
    will be much tougher to remove.

    There are three parts to returning to Set to get the next karma
    hit removed.  From the pit you have four climbs up, which total
    8000 feet.

    After you have climbed up, you are in the Sea of darkness.  You
    have to swim around numerous obstacles to get to the next step,
    which is the Sinner's Maze.

    At the end of the Sinner's Maze is a climb down to the east
    entrance of Set's temple, once again guarded by three demons.
    This may not sound that bad, but the problem is you have to do
    this in total DARKNESS.  Good maps are a must, or this will be a
    very frustrating quest.

    Each time Set forgives you, you are teleported back to the pit.
    When you have no more Karma hits, you can step into a fire hex and
    get teleported back to the Temple of Osirus.

15.10:  Getting Forgiven - More than Three Karma points

    If you have more than three karma points it means you died as an
    evil character.  The only difference is, as an evil character you
    go directly to the pit.  The quests are the same as before.

15.11:  The Underworld - Summary

    Some people have an extreme dislike for the Underworld, but I have
    found these are the people who usually make things harder than
    they have too.  When you consider the alternatives which were
    available before the Underworld was created, namely permanent
    death if you got eaten or too old, the Underworld does not look
    too bad.

    The secret to breezing through the Underworld is doing it a few
    times.  By the time you have seen the quests once or twice, you
    should be able to get through the whole works in one to two hours.
    This is not a bad price to pay to preserve all your stats and
    skill levels, plus when you are reborn you start out with a very
    young character. Even with a youth potion, the best you can do is
    go back to middle aged.
                                                                    PAGE 78

16.00:  Obtaining Special Weapons and Other Quests

    The following is a brief summary of various special and quest
    weapons.

    Broadsword

    The Black Broadsword (BBS for short) is the best weapon in the BG.
    It hits hard and blocks well.  Though the Silver Greataxe can hit
    harder at times, the BBS has a harder hitting average than than
    the Greataxe.  The +5 Rapier sometimes hits harder when each
    weapon is used one-handed, but the BBS has two advantages over the
    Rapier.  First, it blocks well while the rapier doesn't block at
    all, and the BBS is "lawful" so it gains one extra damage add
    against evil crits like dragons and drakes.

    The Black Broadsword is obtained by taking yttril and iron ore to
    Ironbar, who will fashion it for you.  Yttril is a "blue-grey
    stone with flecks of glowing metal", and is found as rare random
    treasure on Kesmai -4, although much more frequently on the undead
    level of Oakvael.  Iron ore is a somewhat more common rock.  Take
    these two rocks to Ironbar (the blacksmith shop is west and a
    little south of town), drop them in his hex, and say, IRONBAR,
    SELL BROADSWORD.  He will take them and forge them into a BBS for
    you.

    The BBS is a character tied (personalized) weapon, only the
    character for whom it was made can wield it.  It uses greatsword
    skill, and it uses a short slot on the belt.

16.01:  Silver Greataxe

    The Silver Greataxe can hit much harder than the BBS, but can
    also hit much lighter, making it a frustrating weapon to use.
    Moreover, it never blocks anything.  It is really only good for one
    thing, killing the Axe Ice Dragon and to a lesser extent, the Axe
    KingWolf (more on that in a bit).  It is a heavy weapon, and will add
    much to your encumbrance.  It is lawful, personalized, and uses
    greatsword skill, much like the BBS.  It uses the long belt slot on
    your back.

    The Greataxe is obtained by taking yttril and iron ore to
    Silvermoon, the blacksmith in Axe Glacier.  The entrance to his
    shop is located near the statue by the portal to Kesmai.  To
    enter, you must stand in the entrance at night, holding or wearing
    a moonstone ring. Once you are inside, drop the rocks before him,
    and say, SILVERMOON, SELL GREATAXE.  He will forge the fine weapon
    and leave it for you.  Go back out the way you came in.
                                                                    PAGE 79

16.02:  Returning Axe

    The returning axe (Raxe) is one of the most sought after weapons
    in the game.  It is a lawful axe, using mace skill. It never hits
    really hard, even at high skill levels, but it is a fair blocker.
    When it is thrown, it will magically return to the thrower's hand.
    This makes it a very effective weapon for dealing with archers, or
    spell casters, or crits that are running away.  A combo of Raxe in
    left (for casters and runners) and BBS or Rapier in right (for melee
    situations) is a popular setup for traditional knights.

    The Raxe is obtained from Vulcan, high atop Axe Glacier, in return
    for an obsidian egg.  This egg is obtained by killing the KingWolf
    in Axe Glacier.  There is one special challenge in dealing with
    the Vulcan.  The vulcan is located in the upper levels of Axe,
    just before the drake lair.  His home is hidden behind another
    night portal which requires a moonstone ring.  When you finally
    stand before the Vulcan, beware of his daughter, Alia.  Given the
    opportunity, she will steal the egg before the Vulcan gives you
    the raxe.  The best way to deal with her is to wait until she
    moves onto your hex and then STEAL from her.  Unless you are the
    best of thieves (in which case you wouldn't need a raxe in the
    first place), you will be caught and she will run away from you.
    Another way to deal with Alia is to scatter several coins between
    you and her, and deal with the Vulcan while she is occupied.

16.03:  Rhammer +4

    The rhammer can be found in several areas of the game; the crypt
    behind the dragon lair, the Iron Lich lair in Oakvael and the
    Giant's castle in Axe.  Overall, the easiest one to obtain may be
    in the Giant's castle, where it can be found on an altar next to
    the room the giant occupies.  The only major hazard are the NPCs
    that inhabit the castle; you can get the rhammer without having to
    fight the giant. Damage is about the same as a raxe, as is its
    blocking, but it is more often armor blocked.

16.04:  Crossbow +4

    The +4 crossbow is carried by the Doom.Orc on the surface of
    Oakvael.  This is the only non-aligned blue glowing weapon in the
    BG and is a favorite weapon of thieves, since it can be wielded
    while hiding.  The only big hazard to obtaining this weapon is the
    zoo that usually keeps the Doom.Orc company.  The critter that is
    hardest to deal with is the 'presence', which can continuously
    cast stuns.  This makes it rather difficult to fight the rest of
    the critters.
                                                                    PAGE 80

16.05:  Crystal Gauntlets +4

    The crystal gauntlets are a quest weapon for MAs.  Due to a bug in
    the game, these gauntlets can be ancestored to non-MA characters,
    which made them one of the most prized weapons in the BG.

    The gauntlet quest starts with a visit to the Oakvael MA trainer,
    Yuri, who will tell you to save the lonely one and slay the Leng
    dragon.  The lonely one is named Konran, and he is located on the
    troll temple level in Oakvael, next to the stairs to the undead
    level.  The object of the quest is to safely escort him back to
    his hut in town. The best way to approach this quest is to start
    from the surface and work your way down, killing everything on the
    way down.  Bring Konran back up the way you went down and hope no
    new zoos pop up on the way back.  This can be a frustrating quest,
    since Konran is basically a wimp and can be killed by almost any
    critter.  Also, Konran has a very annoying habit of disappearing
    if he gets out of your sight for more that 2 rounds.  The final
    climb up from the spider level to the surface is the most likely
    place for Konran to get lost.  If possible, have a friend stand at
    the top of the climb to wait for Konran.  When you get Konran back
    to town, he will give you some cloth to take to another trainer.

    The second part of the quest can be either easy or terrifying.  If
    you can get a high level player to kill the Leng dragon for you,
    it will be easy.  If you want to kill the dragon yourself, be
    prepared to be scared witless and possibly eaten.  The Leng dragon
    casts icestorms that can do 20 to 30 hits, even with ice
    protection, and can hit for 60 to 90 hits.  The only thing that
    helps during the fight is when you get hit too bad you can jump of
    the cliff to balm (assuming you remembered the FF boots).  When
    the dragon is dead, the corpse will yield a small ivory buddha.
    Sometimes buddhas can be found at the bottom of the climb up to
    the dragon, since most people who regularly kill the dragon will
    push the corpse off the cliff.

    Once you have the cloth and buddha, which are both character tied,
    you take the items to Kiku in the Leng town.  Drop them in front
    of Kiku and say 'Kiku, teach me', then pick up your new gauntlets.

16.06:  Knight's Quest

    The knight's quest is to give knights more hit points and increase
    the number of hit points awarded each time he/she advances an
    experience level.  If done properly, a 12th level knight can end
    up with 200 or more hits.
                                                                    PAGE 81

    The quest starts by a knight seeking out Cudyl in Oakvael.  Cudyl
    is usually found in the southeast part of Oakvael, next to the pit
    to the undead level.  Ask Cudyl to teach you and he will tell you
    to slay the little dragon in Kesmai.  The Kesmai dragon is not
    nearly as nasty as her other cousins in Leng or Axe, hitting for
    an average of 30 hits with frequent knock downs and occasional
    fireballs.  With proper fire protection, the fireballs are
    harmless.  If anything, the fireballs are preferred, since when
    she is breathing fire she is not beating on you.

    After the dragon is dead, searching her corpse with turn up an
    agate gem.  This is another situation where is you look around the
    entrance to the lair, you may see a gem left from an earlier kill.
    Take the gem to the hermit's sister on Kesmai and ask her to teach
    you.  You will be engulfed in a rainbow and end up with *37* more
    hit points.  37 hit points sounds like a lot, until you consider
    what the second hald of the quest requires.

    The second half of the knight quest starts with Brych in Oakvael,
    who will tell you to bring him the dagger called the bane of
    knights. Commonly called the misery dagger, this is carried by the
    Axe Yeti. The Yeti is located beyond the Axe drake and ice dragon,
    which can be a challenge to get by in themselves.  The Yeti is a
    fierce fighter that averages 60 to 80 hits, with 100+ on occasion.
    There is an another bonus when you kill the Yeti, in addition to
    the knight's dagger, the Yeti carries the much prized NV (night
    vision) helm, which looks like a bear skull.

    Once you have the misery dagger, you have to go see Brysh in
    Oakvael, who will give you an enchanted halberd.  Many consider
    this halberd the second best weapon in the game (behind the MA quest
    gauntlets). To complete the quest, you have to 'show' the halberd to
    another NPC located behind the whirlwind dragon in the reptile pit in
    the deepest and nastiest part of Oakvael (see notes in section on
    Oakvael).
                                                                    PAGE 82

17.00:  Social Play

    One of the nicest thing about the game of IoK is the IoK
    community. The cooperation and camaraderie of the players involved
    makes this game a unique and wonderful experience.  Please keep
    the following in mind as you play:

    1.  Fighting other players

    The rules of the Basic Game forbid unwilling player-player combat.
    No experience will be gained from killing a player.  Players can
    be banned from the game for ignoring this rule.  If you feel you
    have a complaint against another player, it is appropriate to
    address a complaint to Kesmai Corp. directly (76703,1066), and
    also to post it in the MPGAMES forum if you like.

    2.  Stealing from other players

    Since some items can take a very long time and a significant
    amount of expense to obtain, the IoK community takes a very dim
    view of stealing from other players.  If you are running a thief,
    it may seem most natural to steal from other players, but keep in
    mind that most of the other thieves in the game, besides the other
    players, may take great exception to this, and you will find it a
    dangerous activity.  If you should ever come upon a "deathpile"
    (the items left after a player is slain and stripped) it is
    considered good etiquette to try and search out the player who
    died and return the items to him/her.  The rewards, even in
    material terms to speak of nothing else, that you will realize by
    participating in the cooperative spirit of the game will far
    outweigh any you may gain by theft.  Also keep in mind, you are
    going to die sometime too and be wanting help to recover your
    stuff.

    3.  Talking to other players in the game

    You can talk to any player in sight by typing anything after
    quotation marks, or after a slash mark.

    Both  'Look at Tak "Hi Tak, how are you?'
    and   'Look at Tak /Hi Tak, how are you?'

    will accomplish the same thing (you are looking at Tak and talking
    to him).

    If you'd like to shout at players close by, but not actually in
    sight, just add quotation marks or a slash to the end of your
    sentence, and then an exclamation mark.

        'Fight troll "Can anyone help me with this troll?"!'
        'Fight troll/Can anyone help me with this troll?/!'
                                                                    PAGE 83

    Occasionally, you may want to talk to someone who is playing, but
    far away from you.  Six conference rooms, lettered from A to F,
    are provided for this purpose.  Just quit playing, and when you
    return to the IoK menu, choose the "Talk to players" option, or
    type TALK <room letter>.  Once in the room, anything you type will
    be readable by anyone else in the room.  If you want to execute a
    command in the conference room, use a slash (/) at the beginning
    of the command; thus you can /ENTER the game right from the
    conference room, type /ROOM <room letter> to go to another
    conference room, type /USERS to find out who is playing, or /PAGE
    <player's name> to ask a player to come to the conference room and
    talk to you.

    4.  Matters of Etiquette

    When you come across a player involved in combat with a crit or
    group of crits, LOOK at the player and ask if he/she would like a
    hand. If the player is badly wounded, it might be wise to lend a
    hand even before waiting for the reply.  But keep in mind that a
    player who has fought long and hard to bring a crit to near death
    is not going to be pleased if you come along and finish the crit
    off with a blow, taking the experience points and skill bonus
    involved.

    As you enter a room with several $ hexes and a player involved
    with a crit or two, realize that some of the $ may represent
    recent kills that player has made and not yet had time to loot.
    Don't do any looting there, without asking first.

    Lair etiquette operates on a first-come, first-served basis.  If
    you come to the dragon or drake lair, and find another player
    engaged or waiting ahead of you, DO NOT engage the crit without
    being asked. Offers of help may be appreciated, and the loot
    shared after the crit is slain.  Simply ask.
                                                                    PAGE 84

18.00:   Miscellaneous

18.01:  The Janitor

    There is a "janitor" always on duty in Kesmai.  Most players refer
    it it as the +janitor (+ = evil), since many people have lost
    valuable property.  The reference here is to a continual sweeping
    of dropped items into the database.  If this were not done, the
    dungeon would soon be waist deep in unwanted swords, shields,
    suits of leather armor, etc. from the slain crits.  Every hex
    would have a $ on it, and searching for valuable loot would soon
    become very difficult and tedious.  Hence, the janitor.

    But there is a downside.  Items you drop on the ground for
    retrieval later may not be there when you come back.  Your
    "deathpile" (items stripped from you at death) may be raided by
    the janitor before you get back to it.  Be very careful leaving
    valuable items on the ground for any length of time.  Apparently,
    counters and tables are not in the janitor's contract, and are not
    cleaned.

18.02:  Combining commands

    Many game commands can be combined with one other.  For example,
    you can FIGHT TROLL AND LOOK AT TROLL in the same round.  You can
    TAKE GOLD AND PUT IT IN SACK, or TAKE GOLD FROM SACK AND PUT IT ON
    COUNTER.  Some commands cannot be combined with others; you cannot
    SEARCH CORPSE AND TAKE GOLD, for instance.  You can move and look,
    or move and manipulate an item, but you cannot move and fight in
    the same round, except for the MAs jumpkick.  Commands are
    combined by using AND or by placing a semicolon (;) between them.
    You can always tack a message on to any command or pair of
    commands.

    One command that took me a while to figure out was the LOOK
    command. If you LOOK AT an item, the program searches for that
    item in the following order:  right hand, left hand, ground, ring
    fingers.  So if you are holding a greatsword in each hand, and
    want to look at the one in your left hand, LOOK AT GREATSWORD will
    give you the wrong info - try LOOK AT GREATSWORD IN LEFT.  If you
    see a greatsword on the ground, LOOK AT GREATSWORD will still tell
    you about the one in your right hand; try LOOK AT GREATSWORD ON
    GROUND.  If you LOOK AT RING, the program will tell you about a
    ring in your right hand, or your left, or on the ground.  If it
    still finds none, it will tell you about the one on the first
    finger of your right hand.  If it still finds none, it will keep
    searching the fingers of your right hand, then your left, until it
    finds one to describe.  Be as specific as you can be with the LOOK
    command.

    For a complete reference on each command allowed in the game, see
    the file "CMD.REF" in library 7.
                                                                    PAGE 85

18.03:  Deletion of your Character

    One of the most feared dangers in IoK isn't really a critter at
    all, it is the MONNCI or network or program interrupt, or
    disconnection. Disconnection without properly exiting the game is
    often called a "phone slam", drawn from past practice of players
    who would disconnect their modem (slam the phone down, on the old
    modems) when in danger. In IoK, this can result in a severe
    penalty, and in the worst cases, can result in a trip to the
    underworld.  Several years ago, this would have resulted in a
    permanent erasure of your character from the database.  If you
    suffer a loss due to a network disconnection or slow down by CIS,
    contact Kesmai Corporation and inform them of the details.

    Your crt will also be erased if you fail to logon to IoK within a
    specified period.  The period is supposed to be 90 days, but you
    are much safer if you ensure that you log in each one of your
    characters every 60 days, and manoeuvre them about in the game for
    at least three rounds.
                                                                    PAGE 86

19.00:  Information Resources

    Use the Forum

    For the most up-to-date information, regular use of the MPGAMES
    forum (a discussion forum used by players used by the players of
    the game) is highly recommended.  GO MPGAMES, and there you will
    find folk dedicated to answering your questions, helpful
    discussions about myriad facets of the game, and up-to-the-hour
    information.  The forum and the people you will meet there will be
    the one of the most important sources of information for IoK game
    playing.  Section 7 of the forum is devoted to discussion of the
    Basic Game of IoK.  MPGAMES is a separate entity from Kesmai
    Corporation (authors and maintainers of the game).  But Kesmai
    Corp. does regularly read the forum messages, and can be directly
    contacted there or by Email (76703,1066).

    As well, the data libraries in the forum contain many reference
    files, stories, game replays and other notes about the game.
    Downloading these to your computer and examining them carefully
    will serve to uncover a lot of useful information.  Perhaps the
    most important file to you right now is called KESMAI3.MAP and
    contains maps of the surface and dungeons of Kesmai - a must until
    you have the place memorized.  Do not begin to play until you have
    downloaded at least this map.

19.01:  Attend the Conferences

    MPGAMES also conducts question-and-answer conferences for IoK
    players.  Conferences are held weekly and hosted by long time
    players. Check the ANNouncements of MPGAMES for the dates and times
    of the conferences.
                                                                    PAGE 87

20.00:  A Note About Guilds

    Guilds are groups of players who band together for purposes such
    as friendship, hunting, glory, etc.  Guilds are a great implement
    of social play, and can further aid players, especially beginners.
    Guild members almost always have a guild tag after their name - a
    small set of letters representing the guild to which the
    particular person belongs.
           For example: <JohnDoePlayer>....<guild tag>

    Guilds consist of members chosen by the guild master or members.
    Each of the many different existing guilds in the game have different
    membership requirements.  Some guilds might require you to hunt with
    and become friends with current guild members and/or the guild
    master, some might ask that you reach a certain level of power, (such
    as the ability to solo the Kesmai dragon, for example), and still
    others might require something as little as asking for membership.
    The guild master is the person who is in charge of the guild and
    makes all guild decisions.  He/she is the one who chooses members and
    organizes guild group hunts, functions, and handles all other guild
    matters.  In order to join a guild, it is often wise to acquaint
    yourself with the guild master and ask for information about it
    before you decide to let the guild master know that you are
    interested in joining the organization.  Oftentimes, you will find
    that a particular guild is not the one for you.  There are many
    guilds to choose from - you have to find the one that best suits your
    needs.

    Guilds function on an extremely simple basis - to offer members
    companionship, protection, and many times weapons/armor/items and
    gold as well as other services.  Guilds will often be closely-knit,
    and will often go on group hunts and organize group meetings.

    As a final word on guilds: It is highly advised that you make it a
    major concern to join a guild sometime in your IoK playing career.
    Oftentimes, a new player will be greatly aided by guilds and their
    members, even if he is not a guild member himself.  So get to know
    guildmembers and the guildmasters, and don't be afraid to be
    social: the decision to join a fine guild could be the wisest
    choice you will ever make in the game!
                                                                    PAGE 88

21.00: Contests and Special Events

    Although not held as frequently as some would like, every once in
    awhile Kesmai Corp organizes a special contest or event.  These
    events are often in the form of scavenger hunts, races, etc.  The
    winner of the contest as well as the person who organizes and runs
    the event are often rewarded for their efforts with a prize: a
    rare robe, weapon, or sometimes even an AG (Advanced Game) item in
    the BG (Basic Game)!  These contests are sometimes the ONLY place
    to get one's hands on some of the rarest and most coveted items in
    the game.  Participating in these events is a wise decision.
                                                                    PAGE 89

22.00: Island Vernacular: Commonly Used Slang Terms and Their Meanings

    There are many numerous slang words, terms, and symbols used in
    chatting and conversing with fellow IoK players.  Understanding
    the meaning of each is very useful in a conversation, as is being
    able to apply the terms ones self.  The following is a list of
    frequently-used terms and abbreviations:

    Dockbaby (Docker for short) - A new or inexperienced player.
    Often a derogatory term used by advanced players.  The term has
    its origin in the dock of Kesmai, where all new players begin
    their lives.

    Newbie - Same as dockbaby, someone who is new to either the
    Internet or to IoK.  Slightly less nasty than is "docker" or
    "dockbaby."

    IoK - Short for "Island of Kesmai."

    Crt - Short for "character," one's player character.

    Crit - Short for "critter," the term used to refer to monsters in
    the game.

    PC - any Player-character, a human player

    NPC - non-player-character, a person, not monster, in the game,
    that is not controlled by a human player.

    brb - "be right back," the term used in chat to convey the meaning
    that one has a minor interruption, such as a coffee break from the
    game, and will return shortly.

    :) or :-) - Euphemistically known as the "smiley," this
    horizontally-positioned happy face is used to express many
    emotions.  This particular example says that one is happy.  Others
    express sadness, greater joy, depression, boredom, etc., depending
    usually upon the position of the eyes and/or mouth of the face.

    <G> - Short for "grin."  This grin is used to express happiness or
    more often the onset of a joke or response to a clever joke.
                                                                    PAGE 90

23.00: Getting Help from Fellow Players

    Island of Kesmai players are among the kindest and most social
    online gamers around.  Oftentimes, more experienced players will
    be more than willing to help you out by offering advice,
    weapons/armor/items, and most players will even guide you and
    escort you to certain areas of the game if you ask them to.  If
    you need help, do not be afraid to ask - asking for help and
    making great companions can prove to be very rewarding and
    beneficial.
                                                                    PAGE 91

24.00: Conclusion

    In conclusion, I would like to state that it has been an honor
    working on such a great manual to such an amazing game.  For years
    and years, this manual has been hailed as the official
    encyclopedia of IoK knowledge, and the primary source for help and
    reference to the game.  I sincerely hope that you have read this
    manual thoroughly and have learned its lessons well before
    playing.  The great thing about this manual is that both newbies
    and seasoned veterans alike can use it from time to time for help
    and for the answers to their gaming needs.  The manual was
    originally created by TJ, revised and updated by Sir.James, and
    now the torch has been passed on to me, GreyMouser.  Hopefully,
    someday a new author will come along and carry on the tradition of
    updating the manual to fit the current version of the game at the
    time.  (Editor's note: The current version is 3(101)).  I hope
    that reading this manual will better enable you to play the game
    with increased knowledge and wisdom.  This manual has saved my
    crt's life more than once and I hope that my version will do the
    same for you.  Maybe someday, someone will continue the fine
    tradition of updating the manual when I am gone.  As for now, keep
    playing Island of Kesmai - it is the greatest online RPG of all
    time!  If you have any questions about the game or the Kesmai
    Kompanion, e-mail me at GreyMouser (73541,3243).  ENJOY!!  :)

         - GreyMouser, the Grey One, the Greyster, the Greymeister, Le
    Mouser Gris...well, you get the idea <g>

    
                               THE END! :)