Darklands
Darklands
Darklands
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_ .-!! N r E R T A I N MEN r s 0 F TWA R E.
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Darklands
The Fantasy Role-Playing Game of Medieval Germany
Printing: 9 8 7 6 5 4 ~ 2 1
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~ TABLE OF CONTE'NTS ~-
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Introduc-i ion 5
Quickstart Tutorial 7
Playing Darklands 11
Initial Options 11 -
, Creating Characters 13
Universal Controls and Menu Bar 17
Party Information 20
Character Iriformation 22
Travd and Interaction 27
Battle 31
About Alcbemy 41
, . _ About Religion 45
Goals and Reward s 48
Gothic Germany 51
Introduction _I 51
/ . " Life in the Holy Roman Empire 53
Germanic Encounters 64
Medieval Battle 72
Medieval Alchemy 81 /
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utrut)uctiuu
Welcome to Darklands, a fantastic land where knights in deeds-actions that people will remember long after. you
plate armor rule from soaring, turreted castles; where an pass. Someday~ourfame might rival that of Beowulf, Roland,
ordinary journey becomes a dangerous adventure; and where and other great medieval heroes whose stories are still re-
clerics can command miraculous powers while wizardly al- membered today. ' '
chemists concoct awesome potions. We invite you to enter the Darklands, a place where re-
This realm is chaotic and violent. The roads ana rivers ality is fantasy, and fantasy reality. Begin now a lifetime of
iue uns'!.fe. Justice is uncertain. Bribery and corruption are quests and adventures ...
commonplace. Pepple's darkest fears are real: awful dragons
ravage the countryside, strange creatures infest underground
mines, loathsome witches dispense crippling curses, and
satanic 'cults s€ek to ensnare the unwary.
Darklands is' based on a real time and place: Greater
Germany in the 15th Century. The strange, ,miraculous and
magical elements simply reflect popular beliefs, supersti-
tions and myths. This is an era before logic or science, a time
when anything is possible. In short, if medieval Germans
believed something might be true, in Darklands it may ac-
tually be true.
Darklands is a fantasy roJe-playing 'gam'e. Yo,u direct' a
band of heroes (your "party") in search of immortal fame.
You can actually create the type; of heroes you desire, using
the character gene~ation 'system, or you can use, pre-gener-,
ated characters.
You t~avelacross the HolyRoman Empire, as th~ realm
was then called. The Emperor is weak, while the PriQces
constantly war among themselves. You can visit more than 90
different cities, as well as innumerable castles, hamlets and
monasteries. You' will find unique dangers and surprising
terrors. There are many oppoFtuniti~s to perforrp heroic
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This is a fast, casual overview of Darklands. It is designed to options may not be on Jhe screen (especially in Character
get you playing. quickly. Fot specific questions, details and Information); here you must refer to the back manual cover
special options,' or step-by-step instructions, refer to the for appropriate "action" keys. ' .
appropriate ' sectipn iri, "Playing Darklands." On the _back The cursor keys include not just the' traditional arroW
cover of this booklet is a quick summary of all keyboard com- keys, but also the numeric. keypad. This me.aris that 1, 3, 7
mands. Y{)O may find it handy, especially if you lack a mouse. 'and 9 can be used fordiagorial movement bn the map or in battIe.
To use the menu bar, tap FlO, move thehighlightwith
.~Keyboa'rd and Mouse c:::::;..,.J the cursor key,s, then tap Return to~make your selection. To'
M.oUSE: Darklands can be operated witr mouse llnd/m leave the menu ' bar without making a' selection, tap FlO
.keyboard. With the mouse, you "left-click" (click the left 'again. Note that most menu bar actions include-the names of'
button) to select items, or occasionally "left-down" (hold a keyboard shortcut. .
, down the left button) to "drag" items from one spot to •
another on the screen. ~Installation, Setup and r,.oading c:::::;..,.J '
. ~ Most selectable options highlight as you move over them. See the accompanying "Installation & Supplement"
Scrolling lilits of items have a "scroll bar" at the top and bottom'. . booklet for details o'n installing, configuring (setup) and
. Left-clicking on this,bar moves the highlight up or down. loading the game. ,
The' right button activates t~~ hidden menu bar. Right- After you load, when the animated opening ends, select
down reveals the menu bar and allows you to select menu items. the "Quicks tart" option. This oypasses the character genera-
To choose options, move the mO\lse-(with the button still down}" . tion sequence (if you're interested in that, see "Creating
to the item desired, then release the button. Characters," PP.13, for details).
KEYBOARD:. All mouse selections hav,e keyboard
equivalents. This allows you to mix and match mouse and/or - , ~Part¥ and Goals ~ /
keyboard commands in whatever way you feel is most effi- Your goal is 'fame: The mort: you ,get, the; longer you'·ll be
c;ient. In general, the design concept is a simplification of that -remembered. Accomplishing .g reat tasks, righting wrongs, or
used in MicroSoft Windows®and the Apple Macintosh. ,justparticipatingin significant activities can iI:Tlprove your fame.
. ' Some options have a highlight, movable by cursor keys; To see your current fame, money, 'and other inform-
tap the Return key to make your .selection. Other options ation, ~ap F6 for party'information: '
.. have a crimson lett er (the fi~st capjt,:i1 lettel, if you're color-
blind). Tap that character (on the keyboard) for tpat action: ~ Character Informa-tion .c:::::;..,.J
- Complex-situations includ.e ·both: move the highlight ·first; You may be curious about the characters in your'party. To s~e
then tap the appropriate{ crimson letter. In a few cases the informa~ion about a ch~racter, left-click on the appropriate
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character box (along the left side of ,the screen) or tap Fl The formulae list is for 'r eferepce, Seh~cting a formula
through F5, Inci,dentally, these character boxes have bar gives you information, nothing mOTe.
graphs sh6wi'ng the character's current endurance, strength The saint list not only describes what a saint can 'do, but
and OF (divine favor), with the numeric value beneath. In also allows you to pray for miraculous aid at that instant. Of
I)orklands these three values fluct)Jate the most, hence their course, the char~cter's divine favor (OF) will be-reduced.
constant visibility. Fortunately, elsewhere in Dark<ands you,can regain this.
, This screen presents full information about a character. To exit character information, left-dick or press the
You can left-click on a board (or move the highlight box and function key that matches the highlighted character box (the
tap Return) for more infQrmition. Equipment, Formulae, small ' bo~ on the left side of the screen). .
and Saints open up scrolling fi$ts. PARTY LEADERSHIP: Any of your characters can be the
To use a sp~cific weapon or w,e ar specific armor, high- party leader and spokesperson. You can assign a new leader
light1he item and tap "a." To use a specific potion, tap' ''p.'' '. by going to their Oharacter Information and left-clicking on
To try tel use a relic's special powers, tap "r:' To discard an "N9t Leader." However, a faster way is simply to hold down
item forever (i.e., just ·get rid of it), tap "d." To transfer an · .the Control.(ctrl) k~y and tap a function key, from~l to F5.
item to another character, tap "1" through "5" to indicate the
character. If using a mouse, you can left-drag an item to ~From ,Recreation to Travel C;-J
another character box, 'or onto the armament board (which AT THE INN: When you leave character information, you're
li~ts current weapons and armor). You must still use the back ·at the initial gathering of your parry, planning your
keyboard for discards, adventure. The optiqns available here are typjcal of maQY
interactions throughout the game. Select " ... spend some
time here ... " to stay at the local inn.
, Incidentally, on screens with these menu options, you '
can get hints and help by holding down .the shift key while
ygu move the highlight over the options. The amount.ofhelp
depends on the difficulty level selected.
At the inn, select the " .. .take ' up residence ... " (staying
here) option. It allows yOIJ t9 select different daily acr"ivities
for each of your characters, including prayer (to regain divine
favor), regaining strength (to recove,r from wounds), study
and training (if you've found any teachers), earning money
(lJseful if there's nothing bett~r happening), aQ.d alchemy
work. To operate this screen, move the highlight to a char-
acter name, then left-click or tap the crimson letter to select
his or her activity. When you're finished, pick one of the two
, options at the botrom ("Spend a day ... " or "Leave").
The "Alchemy,work" option allows a character to create .
specific potions. First you select a formula. Next you see y.our .
chances ofsucc~ss and the ingredients required. If you have
sufficient ingredients and skiH, you can make one or more
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potions of that type. All this is just planning - the actual Finally, to select a tar-get
work pnly occurs after you return to the original staying here or destination, hold down ~he
options and select "Spend a day... " left mouse button. The
TRAVEL: To leave the city, go from the inn tb the main" mouse pointe"r changes
street, and from there go to ~main gate and just walk out. You shape. When you Lelease the
110W see yourself on the travel map. To ttavel, either use " button, the point of release
cursor keys or left-click on a destination. becomes the new target or
destination. When using the
~B attle ~ keyboard, use the cursor keys
Just to learn more, let's provoke a fight. The easiest way is to to move the target symbol, ,.:
return to the"ciw you just left, go up to the main gate during then tap Return.
daylight, and attack the guards there. - Once orders to a charac-
Battles have two states: an "orders pause" and "real- ter are finished, you can give
time action." During the orders pause you can give orders to orders to another character,
each character in YOUf- party. During real-time action, you or start real-time action.
watch the battle >occur. You can stop the action for more Feel free to select vari-
orders as frequently as you wi~h. -ous orders. F or a quick battle,
Battle starts in "Q rd~rs pause," waiting for you to give give each character orders to
orders to characters. ' In fac"t, "the party leader is alre~dy attack a different guardsman.
selected, as a reminder that you are in orders pause. REAL-TIME ACTiON:
To start up the battle and simply watch the action, tap To start real-time a6tion, tap the Space bar.
the Space bar. > >> > COMBAT: When a character targets an enemy, the char-
ORDERS: In general, to issue orders, you (1) select a acter box bar graphs double up, showing endurance, strength
character, (2) select an orde>r, and sometimes (3) select a and DF for both th~ character (on the left') and the opponent
target or destination. (on>the right).
To select a character, either left-click on one of your When a"cl)aracter scores a hit on the enemy, the amount '
characters, or tap a number key from "1" to "5''- (us,e the ' of endurance damage appears in red atop the target. When
number keys across the top of the > k eyboa rd, not the the enemy hits one of YO\lr characters, the endurance damage
nUQleric >keypad), This immediately puts the ,battle appears in white over the character's head. You 'II. also see the
into "orders pause." bar graphs change appropriately.
You can also tap t~e Space bar to create an orders pause, " RES ULTS: When endurance reaches zero, the character
then select a character '(or simply give orders to the party collapses. When strength reaches zero, the character isdead.
leader, who is automatically'selected in this case). " Most characters and enemies collapse before they die, but it
To select an order, use the pull-down "Orders" or "At- is possible for both to happen Simultaneously, or for an -
tack" menllS. The most useful options are "Move-toward," especially weak charaeter to die quick~y.
"Attack," "Use Missile" (if the character has a missile weapon) LOOTI NG~ If you are victorious, you can"pick over the
and "Throw Potion" (if. the character carrie,s potions). If bodies of the fallen. When this occurs, you see the "Item
ordered. to attack, a character will move toward the enemy Exchange Scrolls." When using,the keyboard, the right/left
until within weapon range, then start attacking. . > cursor Keys shift between the scrolls; with the mouse an
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appropriate left-click does ~ W ha fNext? ~
the job. One of the actions . Well, now that you've thoroughly infuriated the gove.rn~ent
across the top changes which atthis city-by trying to turn guardsmen into dogmeat, It might
character's 'items are 's hown be wise to travel elsewhere, or at least stick to the side ~treets!
alongside the available loot. Darklands giv es you all of Greater Germany to explo~e, with '.
Another moves ' items be- a wide var:iety of potential tasks,"encounters and rewards.
tween the scrolls. Although there are large plots afoot, as in real life, do n()t
Actually; this type of. expect everything to be interrelated. Le~ "medieval ~o~
screen is used many places, in- mon sense" be your guide. Don't be afraid to be altruiStiC,
cluding most business trans- but don't let down your guard either! ' .
actions. For detailed instruc-
tions lIbout 'using "Item Ex=
<::hange S~rolls," see page 28.
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~ INIT~ALOPTIONS ~
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U~e the mouse or'i:ap the approp)jateletter'key to select one '~Create a New World ("c'.? key) ~
of the four options. desc,ribed below. - This also begi~s Darklands, ~ut there is no default party of
. characters. Instead, you can create Y0l!r own, newchllracters
" . ~ Quickstart ("q" key) ~ . to f~rm the party.of your choice. As in the "Quicksta~t," each
This immediately begi~s your adventures in Dat:klands with time this option is chosen the Darklands world is reorganized
four default characters: GRETCHEN, GUNTHER, HANS, and -'and reset. Characters created for other worlds are not a'vail- '
EBHARD. With these adventurers you can begin DarklafJds
able in this n'ew world. This allows you to .have completely
with,Ol.!t spend'ing th~ time to create new characters.· , ' ' different games (each in its own '~·wbrld") running simulta-
, . "Gretch" and her friends are a typical, balanced group of neous1y, without one game "poaching" on another. .
adventurers. Tney hav.e no special abilities Or po~sessions '. Many of the options can be used on any available character
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tbat make them recommended choice, nor do they have (iisted to the right on the screen). Therefore, first select a
any special weaknesses or d'isadvan-tages . . charact~r by left-clicking the mouse on a name, or by tapping
Alth()Ugh the party is always the same in the "Quickstart," the cursor ("arro}V") keys to mov~ the higIilight.Th.en select
- random elements in Darklands are reset each, time. There- an action by left-clicking on the word with the crimson letter, or
fore, seer~t locations and upcoming events will b,e;different tapping t~at crimson lett~r on the keyboard. ' .
each time you select this:option.
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CREATE A CHARACTER: KILL A CHARACTER: This elfminates the highlighted
Here yau can create a new character from the list .of possible characters in the g::ime. If
character, regardless .of which the character is"in the party, it alsa eliminates the character
characters (if any) are cur- .from the party. .
rently in ,yaur party. See ]lEGIN THE ADVENTURE: This ends 'party selectian ac-
"Creating Characters" far tivities and begins the game. Make sure you are ~appy with your
" mare ,abaut this. party before choosing this option. This actually creates the new
EXAMINE A CHARAC- "warld," with randam elements reset, secret lacatians se-
TER: Here yau can see infar- lected, etc. Ta begin, the party is placed in a city samewhere in
matian abaut the highlighted Greater GermaI\Y, knawn theQ as ~he Haly Raman Empire.
character. See "Character In- Important:,Ta save the characters yau have created,
. farmatian," pp22, far.details. yau must "Add ta the Party" .one .or mare characters,
ADD TO THE PARTY: then . save the game, .
This adds the highlighted RETU RN TO MAIN MENU: This menu returns yau to the
character to the party, and initial aptians.
marks the name an the list.
Nate thatyaur party can have ~The Story Continues ("t" key) ~
.one to faurcharacters, na mare. This allaws yau to manage previausly saved games.
In same battle situatians, LOAD SAVED GAME:: Us~ the mause .or cursar keys to
party leade'rship defaults ta select a previausly saved game and laad it. '
the first character added to the party. B'ear thi ~ in mind when DELETE SAVED GAME: Use the mause .or cursar keys to
selecting the first character to jain the party. Far mare delete any previausly saved gaIl!~. Warning: deletians cannat
infarmatian, see pp31. . ' be "undane." Make sure yau have na further use for that
DELETE FROM THE PARTY: This remaves the high- saved game befare selectiog this optian.
Iigh ted character from the party. The character is still ·" alive," _ RETUR.N TO MAIN MENU: This· menu returns yau to the
available far u~e in the future, . !nitial aptians. :
. S~LECT CHARACTER IMAGE: Here yau ,s elect new im-
ages and calars far the highlignted chara2ter. Yau can change ~Heroes of Darklands ("h': key) ~
the entire image, .or certain calars within th~ image. Select This allaws yau to view .the "Hall .of Fame," where the
"Finished" when yau ar~ dane.. - explaits .of the mast famaus Darklands heroes are r'ecarded.
Yau can .only select images far characters in the party.' Yau can either erase the existing names in the Hall .of Fame,
Therefore, add the character tQ the party befare yau "try to .or simply leave, returning to the initial .optians. . .
select an image! .
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character-after creation. Money is included only when the
initial members of a party pool their funds at the start of the
game_ Characters who join the p)my later do not bring any
additional money with them. '
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your mouse also has a right button, hold down that button to The.party leader is denoted by special colored text in the
show the menu bar; keep it down to select options from the character box. '
menu·s. When you release the righ~ button, the selection MOUSE: To see information' about a character, left-click
occUrs and the menu bar disappears. - anywhere within the character's box. To leave the informa-
tion and return to play, left-click again in the box.
~Keyboard Cursofs in Darklands ~ KEYBOARD: Function keys Fl thrOl.igh FS select one of
The arrow (cu-rsor) keys are almost always enabled in the five possible characters in yOlJf party. Tap the key once
, Darkiands.You can use them to move the highlight or target for information. Fl selects the topmost character, FZ the
pointer, instead of the mouse.
In addition, to theJeft, right, up and down arrow keys on Character Boxes and Universal Controls
most keyboards, Darklands .also supports cursor movement
. from the numeric keypad. The advantage here is that not Character Box Endurance Pull-Down Menu
only doZ, 4,6 and 8 correspond to down, left, right 'and up, Nickn~me
but 1, 3, 7 and 9 correspond to the various diagonal dir~ctions , Menu Bar
which is very useful in movement.
Character Access/
'~Inforination Controls ~
.In Darklands you can examine the. "character infor~ation"
for any character, at any time. See ppZZ for a qetailed
explanation of the character information. .
CHARACTER BOXES: The l~ft side of the screen shows .. t~t.l1..,buof .,.....t ~J,,, .... J,u.
five boxes. In the top of each is the character's nickname. ' ' ... tJ, .. uaft dtst-ri .. t ... " otJ, ..... ",,",n si" .. ~"ll ..~•.
Bel9w, on the left, is an illustration of the character as he or ... tb&::J\o.............. " ...."U-k'l10 ... :n hn,..,Ul, s:i,:abllls',
... tlto. .."""..... ",," "oeks.
she appears in battle, and be l1 eath that a single letter indicat- ••. A sUi.. st1".. ,,1: .... 1;" ...t. ~~(.,. b.s:s yi.sibh..
.: " " S"1""i«, ,,,"O\ol1lZ. .... J,IIL tot. ':110.,," .:,.,..., ..,,,H CI'WTd. 't'lIZ.lcu-!. •
ing the current combat orders or attack, if apy. ... O'mL of tl;t .. mai'l19Io1'hts,tll.A:"-i1l9 oJ!-i of tbe. ,eitlJ.t. " \
The remainder of the box has three bar graphs, with
numbers beneath .. The left bar and number represents the
character's current endurance (End). The center bar is the
character's current strength (Str). The ,right bar is the
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. next character down: ,etc. FS se)ects the character at the the desired game and either
bottom. To leave character infolIDation and return to the left-click or press Return.
game, tap the same
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fu.nctio~ key -again.
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'" DIFFICULTY; There are
three levels' of difficulty,
. ~The - Universal Menu Bar ~ which control many aspects
O!)ce you begin Dar'klandsr a hiddeq "Univc;rsal M.enu Bar" of the game, including the
is al~ays 'a vailable across the top of the screen. To see this amount .of help available.
m.e nu bar, either hold down the rIght mouse button or tap FlO. The three levels are shown
. To "pull down" a menu from the various options on this by a sub-m'enu, with a
bar, simply move the mouse (with the right button still down) , 'checkmark showing which i's
.~ or move the highlight (with the left/right cursor keys). currently operating. ,
In either case, th.e appropriate pull-down menu appears Basic provides the great-
under that title.. , eS,t help, but character .im-
To select an item from the poll-down menu, move .the provement and fame rewards are somewhat smaller. This is
mouse to that item (with the rjght button stil/down) and recommended ifDarklands is your first fantasy role-playing game.
release the right button. With a keyboard, move. the high-' Standard provides modest help, with average character
light with the corsor· key~ to, the desired"option an? tap the . improvement and fame rewards. This is recommended if you
Return 'k e y , a r e familiar with fantasy role-playing games.
, MENU BAR SHORTCUTS; Some menu 9Ptions have Expert provides almost no help, but your character im-
special key combimitions for shortcuts. These are listed after provement and fame rewards are larger than normal. This is
the menu item. A menu bar shortcut is used instead' of recommended if you want greater challenges, or seek the'
highlighting the menu option. These shortcuts are also listed best. characters and highest fame, regardless of risk or cost.
on the back of the ma~uaL Standard shortcu_t abbreviations See "Help and Difficulty Levels," ,befow, for a more
used on the menu bar include: detailed,discussiori of these options.
alt: Hold down the ALT key while tapping SHOW CHANGES (alt-c); This,turns on and off messages .
the letter. about temporary skill and attribute changes caused by al-
spc: Tap the Space bar. . chemical potions or prayers..to saints. By default this.i,s "on," .
Rfno: Tap' the Return key. ' and all changes appear. However, a few saints can cause so
Esc: Tap the Escape !<.ey. lJlany changes that you may wish to turn ifofftemp~rarily.
Permanent changes are always shown (such a~ skill
~The "Gqin~," 'Pull-down Menu ~ increases caused by experience), regardless of this setting.
SAVE GAME (alt s); This allows you to sa ve the current game. MUSIC: This option toggle~ background music on and
You can type a short remark about the game. In addition, for off. If you see a check mark, then the music is currently on.
general identification purposes the saved game always ap- SOL!ND Fx:,This option toggles sound effects on and off. If
pends the date and general location. At some points saving you see a check mark, then the sound effects are currently on.
is proh.ibited. In these situations "Save gam.e" is faded vlsu~is; There.are three levels of visual presentation,
and unavailable. with the current 's election shown by a check mark. This
LOAD SAVED GAME (alt I): This allows you to -reload a choice 'affects the way pictures are shown with various menus·
previously saved game. Simply move' the highlight to select and messages. .
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~ PARTY INF9RMATION ' ~
Party information is available on the "Party" menu of the LOCATION: This' indicates the nearest major city to your
menu bar (hold down the right mouse button), or by tapping party, and is a general aid for finding your location on the map.
the F6 key. It displays general information about your party. LocJ\l. REPUTATION: This indicates your reputation in
Party i,nformation is not available during battle. , the nearest city. Local reputation influences the attitude of
To leave party information, tap any key or left-click people iri the city, and to a lesser degree those living in the
the mouse. surrounding countryside. ,I
FAME: This displays your party's fame in Greater Ger- WE,ALTH : This indicates the amount of cash carried by
many (the Holy Roman Empire). Fame is an open-ended your party. The amoUtitshown'does-notinclude money stored
scale starting at O. Every important success in Darklands elsewhere in Germany, nor does it include the value of your
increases' your fame . Your goal is -to achieve the highest Letter of Credit. See "Medi'eval Money" below for inform,a-
possible fame. tion about florins, groschen and pfenniges. ,
TI,ME AND DATE: This displays the current hour, day NOTES: If you carry a letter of credit (Ltr Credit), a
and month. Th.e year is sometime in the 15th Century (1400- medieval "bank note," this indicates the val-ue of the, letter.
1499). See "Medieval Timekeeping" below for information Money carried as a Letter of Credit is easily concealed, but
about medieval "hours" and calendar. normally you can't use it until you reach a banker and
exchange it for "real" money. , '
The "PStone" notation indicates the current quality of
,Party Information·
the philosopher's stone carried by the party. See "Alchemy"
(pp 41) for d'etails.
Fame Points Reputation at Current Location MAP .INFORMATION: The smalL map of Greater Ger-
many highlights your current location .w ith a white circle.
With a mouse, you can move theiJointer around the map for -
information. With- the :keyboard, tap the Tab key to cycle
thro'ugh all the cities.
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How TO CHANGE iEADERS: To change p~rt;y leadership The year is al"",ays sometime during the 15th Century
,quickly, simply hold down the COrltrol (ctrl) k~y and either (which never ends). '
left-click on the appropriate character box or tap the appro-
, p'riate function key (ctrl F1 for the first or top-left charaCter ~ Medieval Money ~
box, ctrl F2 for the second, etc., to ctrl F5 for the bottom Money'is counted in three denominations: gold florins, silver
character box-and character). yo~ cannot transfer leade'rship groschen, and silver pfenniges. Because distrioution of wealth
to' a non-existent character. ' and wages were so different, comparisons to modern cur-
You' can also change leader-ship in,the character informa- rencyare impossible. In general, florins are very valuable,
tion screen by left-clicking on a character box, then It?ft- but are used only in large transactions; groschen are fairly
clicking on "Not Leader.". This changes that character to the valuable and are in daily use; pfenniges are "small change,','
leader (see "Character Infprmati6n," the next section) . . important only to the very poor.
, In" pattie you can change leildership by holding down CClOversion between denominations follows the c1as'sic
Control (ctrl) and ~Iicking 00 the animating character on the medieval pattern of "a dozen and a gross," namely: '
battlefield. Also TlOte tfiat j'o battle, whenever the party - 12' pfenniges '(pf) 1-groschen (gr) ,
enters "group" mode leadership automatically switches 20 groschen (gr) 1 florin (fl)
to the first (top left character box) character. 240 pfenniges (pf) , = 1 florin (fl)
~ Medieval Timekeeping ~
HbuRS: The standard "c1ock"'used in the Middle Ages was
based on the 'routine of prayers in monasteries. There were
, eight of these "hours," or "offices," during the \lay. In
addition, the 'system of 24-hours was beginning to be~ome
common as craftsmen built large mechanical cJocks into
varibus public buildings. For simplicity, Darklands assigns
three "modern" hours to each monastic '~hou~" as fo'llows:
Matins: Midnight
Latins: 3 AM
Prime: , 6 AM
Ter~e: 9 AM
Sexts: Noon
Nones: 3 PM
, Vespers: 6 PM
Compline: 9 PM
CALENDAR: The old Julian calendar was in effect dur-
ing this---era., This used the sa~e days aFld months as the
modern Gregori"an calendar, although due to poor leap year
- ac:counting, tpe Julian was slightly inaccurate. For simplicity,
all festivals and holidays always fall on the 'same day every
year, and there a~ no leap years.' / '
21
\
, I
22 ,. /
' .
I ,
, - ,
, 23
.
ing to convince them of som-ething. Therefore charisrria is FLAIL WEAPONS (wFll): This'represents a character's
very useful for a party leader. . , ability to handle flailing weapons in hand-to-hand combat.
DIVINE FAVOR (DF): This represents the amount of These are weapons whose damage-prod\lcing "head" is·
"credit" the character has when praying for saintly-miracles. attached to a handle by a chain or pivots. ,
It is lost in such prayers, but can be regained. See "About , POLEARM WEAPONS (wPol): This represents a
Religion, Divine Favor," pp46, for more infor~ation. character's ability to . handle spears,' pikes, halberds , and
staffs in h a nd-~o-hand combat.
~About Skills~ THROW~ WEAPONS (wThr): This represents a
All skills use a 0 to 99 scale. Adult humans use . the entire character's ability to throw axes, javelins, darts or kni ves
range, from 0 (totally. incompetent1 to 99 (nobody better). at .the enemy in combat.
Most ordinary people achieve 35-60 in important skills, less Bow WEAPONS (wBow): This represents a character's
in secondary skills. Recognized masters or experts achieve _skill at firing drawn bows in combat, including rc::gu'iar '''short''
65-90 in their chosen field. bows, longbows, and Asiatic composite bows. .
EDGED WEAPONS (wEdg): This represents a - MISSILE DEVICE WEAPONS (wMsD): This repre-
character's . abjlity to handle swords, daggers and axes in sents a character's skilr at firing crossbows and hand-
'hand-to-hand (melee) combat. - guns in combat. , -
I~PACT WEAPONS (wImp): This repr«sents a _ ALCHEMY (Alch): This represents a character's knowl'-
character's ability to handle clubs, hammers, mauls and', edge of alchemy, including various experimental methods
maces in hand-to-hand (melee) combat. and techniques. It is general knowledge; independent of
knowing specific fO'rmulas . •
RELIGIOUS TRAINING (Relg): This represents a
character's knowledge ofthe Church, its institutions, organi~
zation, and procedures. It also indicates a growing know-
ledge of various prayers and observances. This is general
knowledge, independent of any specific saint.
VIRTUE (Virt): This represents the acceptability of a
character's actions, based on the norms of the age and the
general sdictures ofth.e Church.
SPEAK COMMON (SpkC): This represents a character's
ski1l1n spe'aking, including the ability to "fasHalk" some- '"
one, as well as the ability to say things qiplomatically. For
simplicity, characters are assumed to know the local, everyday
language (in Darklands this is usual,ly German). ,
SPEAK LATIN (SpkL): This represents a character's
knowledge' of Church Latin~ the , universal European lan-
guage for both religious and int~llectual acti~ity.
READ AND WRITE (R&W): This represents a
. character's ·ability'to read and write whatever languages he or
she speaks. Literacy was a separate and not altogether
, common skilI' in this era. .
24
HEALING (Heal): This represents a character's skill at . replacing whatever is there. This is how you select (or
treating and dressing wounds. This is everyday, practical '~ready") differeI)t arms and arm.or.
knowledge, nota "magical" healifig power. The rate at which To do this with a mouse, left-drag the item from the
characters regain strength while resting depends on the s"Croll to the in-use board. (That is, move the pointer to the
single highest healing skill in the party. item desired, hold down the left button, drag the mouse with
ARTIFICE (ArtO: This represents a characte(s under- the button still, down to the in-use board, then release the
standing 'Of fine devices, including the ability to assemble, button.) The item now appears on the in-use board, replac-
disassemble and manipulate r:hem. Such fine devices in- ing whatever item was there. ,
clude locks, trap mechanisms, etc. To do this with the keyboard, move the highlight to the
. STEALTH (Stlh): This represents a character's ability to .. item desired, then tap the "a" key.
move quickly and almost invisibly, taking advantage of every . UN-ARMING (u key): You can remove weapons or armor
shadow while avoiding actions that make loud noises. from the in-use board. With the' mouse, left-drag the item
STREETWISE (StrW): This represents a character's fa- from the board back to the equipment scroll (which must be
miliarity, with city life, and ' the expectations of city visible). With the keyboard the procedure is .different: just
citizens. It makes interaction easier and mor'e effective highlight the item on the scroll and tap the "u" key.
with city residents. A character without any weapons is assumed to have a
RIDING (Ride): This represerns a ~charac.ter's skill at small knife.
riding a mount, usually a Korse. Riding skill and horse quality USING POTIONS (p key): You can use some alchemical
combineg. yield a character's abiHty to catch or es.cape some- potions to improve your own equipment or attributes. To do
one (or some thing). - . this, highlight the potion in your equipment list, then left-
WOODWISE (WdWs): This represents a character's fa- click with the mouse or tap "p" on the keyboard. An appro- .
miliarity with country life, wood lore, the habits of wildlife, priate change will occur in y~ur character or equipment,
and the ability to "read"-the ground for tracks or danger. depending on .the potion, and "Enhc~' (Enhanced) appears
on the iI).-use board. Typically this change lasts for one day.
~About EquipmentCo-J -RELICS: Some relics have special attributes, but .you .
Equipment is listed by .its name, quality ("q") and how always receive the advantages automatically. The advan-
many are carried. tages usually apply to the ppson carrying the relic. \yithout
Quality is rated on a 1 to 100 scale, with 0 being worth- their special advantages, some relics are still useful as high
less. Normal, everyday quality is 25. Quality over 40 to SO is quality weapons. For more about relics, see "About Reli-
so outstanding that. most people would feel an item had gion," pp45.
special religious or magical powers. Such quality is extremely TRANSFERRING EQUIPMENT (1-5 KEYS): An item can
rare and valuable. All potions are rated quality 25,. 35 or 45, be transferred from one character to another. However,
depending on the sophistication of the formula used. temporary additions to your party will not "lend" or other-
Equipment also has a weight (not shown) that includes wise transfer their equipment to one of your characters.
a bulk factor. By changing which items are "in use" and Equipm'e nt cannot be transferred to a non-existent character: if
observing the encumbrance effect, if any, you_can decide the character box is empty, you cannot transfer anything to it.
which item.s to use. To winsfer an item with the mouse, left-drag the item
USING EQUIPMENT (a key): When the equipment scroll from the scroll to the appropriate character box (on the left
is open, you can take an item and put it on the in-use boqrd, side of the screen) and release. The item disappears from the
25
'. .
equipment list. If you check Formulas are used to create potions. The formula de-
character information for that scription includes a sUn1ll)ary of that potion's effects.
other character, you'll see the Characters cannot actually create alchemical potions at
item at the bottom of his or this time. Th~y must calTIP or take up residence somewhere
her equipment list. f first, then spend one or more days mixing potions. See
To transfer an item with "About ~lchemy," pp41, fo"r more information . .
the keyboard, move the
highlight to the item desired, ~ Saint's· and Prayer ~
then press the appropriate When the "Saints" scroll is open, you see all the s;ints known
number key (" 1" for the char- by that character. As with alchemical formulas, to see a:
acter in the top left box, "2'? detailed descriptio~, left-click" the mouse on a saint's name,
for the character in the box 9r select with up/down cursor keys and tap Return.
next from the top, etc. to "5" PRA YING TO SAINTS: The detailed description of a saint
foI' the character in the bottom box. Use the number keys across i.nclufies the mi-raeulous benefits you <,::ould expect. Unlike
the top ofthe keyboard, not those on the numefic keypad. . alchemy, you can attempt to pray to a saint at any time.
DISCARDING EQUIPMENT (d key): Your character can The "OF Remaining" value shows how much OF you
always abandon any item of equil>ment. To do this, either would have, if you pray now. As this indicates, praying to a
left-click on, the item or move the highlight to the item, then saint reduces your OF (divine favor), which may limit your
tap-the "d" key. . ability to· pray further. Fortunately, OF can be recovered.
Items discarded in this fashion can' never be recovered. . Left-click the mouse or use cursor keys and Return to
Therefore, be careful before you throwaway an item. In- select which option you prefer:
stead, you may wish to find a reliable person who can store . . More divine favor is ~pent: This increases the amount of
items for you. City (j~ village innkeepers frequently perform OF (div:ine favor) the character "spends" while praying.
this service. Less divine favor is spent:-This decreases the, amount of
OF the character ';spends" while praying.
~Alchemi_cal Formulas ~ Pray now....: The chanlcter begins praying. The OF' is
. Alchemical formula names provide the original inventor and immediately reduc«.d to the appropriate amount. Prayer
a general title relating to its effect. Each inventor has a results occur, quickly. .. .
slightly different version of the formula: Don't pray right now: This returns you to the infor-
Left-click the mouse on a formula name (or select with mation hoards:
up/down cursor keys and tap Return) to see a detailed See "About Saints," pp45, for more details about praying
of
description th-tit formula. Left-click or pr(:ss Return agairi to saints. See "The Universal Church, Darklands Saints,"
to return to the information boards. pp88 fo~ more information about specific saints.
FORMULA DESCRIPTION: This is a detailed description
~~~
of the the formula's ingredients and mystic number. Mystic
numbers range approximately from 75 tQ.. 200; higher num-
bers,indicate more difficult formulas. -
26
/
27
Some options have sub-menus. When these appear, you Expert displays no hints:
must move horizontally (straight across the screen) until the You mak~ your own deci-
mouse is 'wi thin the area before you can select and left-.click. sions, ba~ed purely on your
Using the keyboard, the .rightlleft cursor keys move the judgement of the situation.
highlight into or out of the sub-menu. The up/down cursors Help messages are posi-
move the highlight within the sub-menu. As before, to select tioned on the character who
an option tap Return. will leaq or interact. If the
HELP: When interaction options exist and "Difficulty" message is positioned across
(in the "Games" menu of the menu bar) is set to "Basic" or all fi~e characters, the entire
"Standard," holding down either shift key displays helpful party will work together in
remarks about the immediate re~ults of that option. "Ex- this task, and success IS J
I
pert" difficulty gives no hints. based on a n average of
Basic displays the exact probability of success. Of course, th ~ir abilities. . ~~ _ ~~~~~~~~~
you must still judge the likely effects of this su'ccess or failure. SAINTS AND P,OTIONS: During interactions,.some menu
Standard displays general comments about your chance of options permit u.se of potions, while others assume prayer to
success. Again, it only applies to the immediate action, not the saints. In order to_correctly apply the potion or saint to the
overall effect. situation, you must select the appropri~e option here in
interaction (not in character information).
Interaction Menus You can still g0 to any character information screen and
use potions or pray to saints normally (see "Cha'racter Infor-
Help information mation" for details), but this only provides general aid. To
(hold down "shift" key) Sub-menu seJ,ectJon apply sain tly aid to a specific situation, yo"! must select it
Selection from the interaction sub-men u, not cha.racter information.
As with saints, some interactions allow the use of potions
for special effects. Again, to get the benefit, you must select
9'Ual'"d~d. ~ \",d most Or
-tl:J1Z. the appropriate interaction sub-menu.
1'IZ.O'Ph. 't)'1.ji'l1g to 91lt into INTERACTION RESULTS: A variety of results are pos-
for tl:JOSfl. t .... ':Ii'tt9 to 1'2."Y IZ..
~ov.d.lLc.id.lZ.to ... sible. In some cases you may return to the map, while at other
... :$im~ll.j 1+'i.11k ov.t
gv.", ... d.s.
times you may move on to another interaction. You may also
~.. 'bidlZ. Among U,IZ. 'Pt.O'P h . see specific results messages, or become involved in a battle.
s"J1t.\'1k 0'\1. t, 'US\ '119 I.j O\l. yo
an alo!l)lZ.mi..:.al ""'''''~''O''
~ltem
... v..SIZ.
U)IZ. g,v.aY'ds.
Ma:l1s
Exchange Scrolls 'C:;--J
iJo.!.:iov.s ......... oma.
5\1, n"'", Y"st (2)
(~)
. This specia l display appears whenever you attempt to buy or
:BtClC.t\ Ctov. ..... (11)
.!bl)L1.'J"d. sell goods, or if your party stores items or recovers them from
NO Mi.OV. S "''I" OWII:\
S\l.nbv.Y'st (2)
:!:lac.kClov. ......
storage. It also appears if your party finds items after a battle,
either on a defeated-enemy, or inside chests and treasure troves.
First use a teft-click or the left-right cursor keys to select
which scroll to use. The upperscroll is the list of items found,
stored, or -for sale. The fower scroll is the list of items
currently carried by the character.
Next, move through the scrolling list to find the specific SELL AN ITEM tPUT AN ITEM .. , : This is only available
item to buy, sell, or move. Left-click at the top or bottom.of when the lower scroll is active (i.e., an item in thar-scroll is
the scroll to move the highlight, or use the up-down cursor keys. highlighted). It causes the character to transfer the item to
Finally, select one of the actions beginning with a crim- 'the upper scroll, or give it to the owner of that scroll. The
son letter, either with a left-click, or by tapping that letter on patry gains any appropriate selling price.
the ,keyboard. Characters who temporarily join your party cannot use
P URCHASE AN ITEM / GET AN ITEM", : This is only th'is option. They insist on keeping their personal posses-
available when the upper scroll is active (i.e., an item in that sions! The only way to get rid of items carried by such
scroll is highlighted). It causes the character to gain that item, characters is to discard them (see "Character Information,
paying any appropriate cost. Character Information Boartis," pp22).
BARTER FOR ANOTHER P.ERSON / CACHE ANOTHER
PERSON'S ITEMS / DISTRIBUTE LOOT TO ANOTHER PERSON:
Item Exchange SCJolls
This allows you to change which character's items are dis-
Left-click here to give OF sell Left-click here to take or buy played on the lower scroll. You can buy, sell, or transfer items
item. highlighted on the lower item highlighted on the upper with the character of your ~hoice-except, of course, charac- .
scroll. (If an item is already scroll. (If an item is already ters who are just temporary members of your party.
highlighted on lower scrolL) highlighted on upp~ r scrolL)
LEAVE: This ends the exchange session.
Current party leader does Items available to the party.
tho bargaining; changing
leaders can change Change party member; ~ Staying Here ~
prices. • changes whose possessions When your party camps in the countryside (see "Camping"
are listed on lower scroll.
above), or takes up residence at an inn or similar resting
place, you see the "Staying Her.e" options....-T hese options are
selected and resolved one day at a time.
To select options with a mouse, left-click on a character
name, thert left,click on the activity desired for that charac-
ter. The text changes to describe what the character will do I
for the day. Continue selecting options and characters until
you are satisfied.' Some options may be available to some .
characters, while prohibited to others.
. To select options with the keyboard, use the cursor keys
to move the highlight and the appropriate letter key to select
the activity.
JUST RELAX is a default "do nothing" option that allbws
you to recover from a ny exhaustion.
REGAIN STRENGTH}S only allowed to'wounded charac~
-
Note: To move between scrolls using the ters. It represents a full day of rest. The rate of recovery is
keyboard, use left and righ t cursor keys.
related to the character with the- best healing skill in. the
entire P"lrty.
29
PRA Y FOR DIVINE FAVOR is allowed to anyone whose
OF (divine favor) is below maximum. Prayer helps restore
divine favor.
·ALCHEMY WORK allows the character to mix new po-
tions. See "About Alchemy," ppOO, for details.
EARN A LlTILE MONEY allows the character to find .a
short-term job, td earn a little money. You will see the best
job the character can find in the c"ity, with the pay per day.
Jobs can be .exhausting. Work may cost a character some endur-
ance daily. .
G .UARD THE CAMP only applies' when camping in the
countryside. It helps you to conceal and protect your pres-
. ence, decreasing the chance that some \.!npleasant person or
thing will find you. .
TRAIN AND STUDY allows the character to work to im-
prove a certain skill. Selecting this option produces a listof
the possible skills the character c"ould attempt to improve.
30
...
~BATTLE ~
Medieval Germany is a dimgero~s and violent place. There- figure on the battlefield. You can also select a character by
fore, from time to time, your party must fight: Sometimes you tapping the number key for that character of the 'party (1
can even start a fight. Such options are.-(requently available through 5). The character in the top left character box is
in interactions. number 1, thenext down is number 2, etc. Use the number
You observe all battles from an overhead view. The keys a€ross the top of the keyboard, not those on the
ceiling and walls are "cut away" to show your characters and numeric keypad.
the enemy moving and fighting. BATTLEFIELD VIEW: Normally the battlefield view tries
The battl~ begins "paHsed," that is, with the action to follow the party leader. However, you can scroll the entire
frozen and the party le~der highlighted. You can evaluate the battlefield view using the mouse or keyboard.
situation, then gives orders to your leader, and/or any ether If using a mouse, move the cursor near the edge of the
characters, as you wish. battlefield. The pointer will turn into an arrow. Now tap the
When ' you're ready ,t o watch ·the action, either tap the Shift key. Each tap ~crolls the battlefield a small amount. If you
Space' bar key, or select "Resume" in the "Orders" pulI- hold down the Shift key, the battlefield scrolls a large amount.
down menu. This starts the battle. You see all moving and If using the keyboard, just hold down the Shift and tap
fighting in "real time"; that is, both sides move and fight the appropriate cursor key. '
simultaneously.
To pause th'e battle again for new orders, simply select
Giving Orders in B~ttle
any of your characters (with a mouse-click on the character,
or by tapping the appropriate number-key), or tap the Space
bar. The ac'tion stops and you can give new orders. Current orders to the Character
Remember, battles begin in "pause," waiting for your
orders. You must"tap the Space bar or select "Resume" from
the "Orders" pull-down menu ttl start the action.
31
To return the vIew to potions, etc. If a target is required, the screen pointer changes
"follow the leader," you must shape. Wh~n using a mouse, the pointer doesn't change
select a party leader (by' tap- shap.e until you hold down the left mouse button. If using the
ping cuI Fl, ctrl F2, etc., or keyboard, use the directional cursor keys (including the
holding down the Control numeric keypad, with allows diagonal movement with 1,3,7
key and clicking in the ap- and 9) to position the pointer.
propriate character box). You can maneuver the target pointer around the screeri,
Warning: Whenever the to discover the "legal" targets available. Certain orders are
mouse is active, be very careful not allowed in certain locations; an error symbol indicates
with your use of the Shift key. this. To finish your selection with a m9use, just release the
You. can unintentionally scroll left button. To finish your selection with the keyboard, tap
the battlefield by holding the the Return key (to'finish for that character). To finish orders
Shift down too long. for ,t he entire party, tap the Space biU instead.
GIVING ORDERS: 'Orders normally have three steps: (1) In some cases the target pointer only appears O!1 certain
select the charac'ter, (2) give the order, and usually (3) select 'parts of the battlefield. This is another way of indicating that
the target or destination. only rhose areas or- enemie~ can :be targeted.
Select the Character: To select a character with the mouse, Notes: The "Orders" pull-down menlJ.. has various gen-
left-click on the character on the battlefield; if using the eral options. Only those currently allowed appear in black.
keyboard, press the appropriate number key (1 through ' 5). The "Attack" pull-down menu has specific combat instruc-
Whenever you use the Space barto pause, or at the start of the tions for individual characters.
battle, the party leader is already selefted automatically. You The current order' for a character appears as a letter in the
can switch to another character by simply clicking or hitting lower left corner of the character box. This letter is the same
the appropriate key for' that character. as the keyboard key for that order. '
If the character is currently not in view, the battlefield CHANGING CHARACTERS: When you finish giving or-
automaticaliy centers the view on [he character when you tap ders to one character, you can immediately select another.
the appropriate numberkey. Warning: If you don't finish giving orders to a character
Give an Order: To give an order with the mouse, hold and select another character, the first character (who only got
down the right button to reveal the menu bar. Continue partial orders) will be quite confused. The character may do
holding the button down to choose an appropriate ~election nothjng, or do something entirely unexpected. The most
from the "Orders" or "Attack" sub-menus. frequent error is to forget to specify a destinatien for move-
Ifusing a keyboard, you can either press the appropriate ment, or a target for an attack. ,Therefore, make ,sure orders
letter key forthe order, or use the menu bar. To use the menu to one character are finished before you start another. '
bar with the keyboard, first tap FlO to show the menu bar, CANCEL ORDERS-IN-PROGRESS: To cancel orders in
then use the cursor keys to navigate the highlight, and finally progress, just tap the Escape (Esc) key. This erases any
tap Return to conclude your selection. orders partly given'. However, once orders are completed, the
If an order does not require a target or destination, giving only way to erase them is to give the character new orders.
the order is all you need do. Select another character or restart . RESUME RI<:AL-TIME ACTION: To end the orders pause
the real-time action. and resume real-time action, either select "Resume" from the
Give Target or Destination: Most orders require a target "Group" pull-down menu on the me"nu bar, or tap the Space bar.
, toward which characters move, attack, use missiles, throw
,32
..,
..
33
RESUME (Spacebar): This ends the orders process and TRAVEL SINGLE FILE;(q key): See "Group Travel,"
resumes real-time action. below, for details. . .
{NICKNAME} FINISHED (Return key): This ends the USE DOOR (u key): The selected character (if moving
orders for the named charaqer, but the battle remains paused. individually) or the leader (if a group) opens the nearest door.
If the orders were incomplete, the character reverts to his or This optioJl- only appears if a qoor is very close to the
her previou~ orders. ' appropriate character.
You should now give more orders or select "Resume'.' (above). When' moving as a group, the door used is always that
ENEMY INFO (e key): This is a toggle. Selecting this closest to the leading character. I
once replaces the character boxes with information about the If the door is locked then "Pick Lock" and/or "Dissolve
enemies you face. Selecting this option again restores the lock" may appear. If the door has a trap, then "Disarm Trap"
character boxes. may appear. It's always wise to 'view this pull-down menu
,WALK TOWARDS (w key): This moVes an individual before trying to open a door.'
character (or the entire party if moving as a group). You must Sometimes doors lead to hidden areas previously invis-
specify a destination. _ ible to your view., In this case, using the door may cause the
Normally just an individual character moves. However, character to disappear through the door, as ifhe or she were
. if "Travel as Group" or "1.'ravel Single File" are selected, the using a stairway. See "portals," below.
partY moves as a whole. See "Group Travel," below, fqr details. USE STAIRS (u key): The selected character (if moving
While moving, the character or group m.ight encounter individually) or the leader (if as a group) uses the nearest
enemies. If they get within hand-to-hand combat range, the stairway (or ladder). This option only-appears if the appropri-
character or group always st~ps and fights . ' ate character is at a stairway.When moving as a group, the
Also see "Exploration and Real-time," below. stairway used is the one closest to the leading character
FLEE TOWARDS (f key): This is the same as walking, (character number one). ~
except the character or group does not stop to fight enemies. Stairways (and ladders) are a/ways portals to different
Instead, they keep moving toward their destination. This areas. See "portals," below, for d(~tails.
means enemies can strike while the character or group does OPEN.CHEST'O key): The selected character (if mov-
not strike back. Once. the character or group reaches their ing iridi,vidually) or the leader (if as a group) opens a chest to
destination, . th~y stop "ig- sec>what's inside. This option only appears if the appropriate
norini( enemies and fight character is beside a chest. . '
those who come within reach. If there are any items of value or i.nterest, the IteI)1
, HALT (h key): The se- Exchange'Scrolls appear(see "Universal Controls and Menu
lected character stops and Bar" 'for more information). When you select "Leave" from
stands jn place. He or she ' - the Item Exchange Scrolls, you return to your battlefield view.
defends against the first en- Although virtually all chests are locked, most of them
emythatattackshand-to-hand, can be broken open. Only 'extremely solid, sturdy chests
but otherwis~ does nothing. require YDU to pick the lock befo~e opening the chest. In this
TRAVEL AS GROUP (g case, "P~ck Lock" appears on the "Orders" menu. If a chest
key): See "Group Travel," is protected by a trap, "Disarm Trap" appears on the ~'Or-
below, f~r details. . ders" menu. -
34
..
PICK LoCK (p key): The selected character (if moving take prisoners, but wild ani-
individually) or the leader (if as a group) attempts to pick the mals may kill and/or eat one
lock on the nearest chest or door. This option only appears or all of the party.
when a locked door or chest is close to the character. LOOT BODIES (l key):
' Lockpick attempts depend upon the ~haracter's tools Whenever you defeat a group
'and artifice skill. A character can attemptlhis without special of ' ~nemies, Y9u automati-
'tools, but the chances of success are usually quite small. If a cally have a chance to loot
lock is protected by a trap, "Disarm Trap" appears on the their bodies, However, in
"Orders" menu. large battles you may wish to
DISSOLVE LOCK WITH EATER,-WATER (d key): The leave some loot behind, then
selected character (if moving Individually) or the leader (if as return later and get more. To
a group) uses an Eater-Water potion to dissolve a lock. This do this, lTlove .the character
is equivalent to picking it. Naturally, the option is only or group next to the "body"
available j.f,th~ appropriate character is at the lock and has at symbol, then select this option (or tap the "I" key). The item
least one Eater-Water potion. " exchange scrolls appear (see "Travel and Interaction, Item
Eater-Water eannot be used on traps. Exchange Scrolls," pp28, for detailS). '
DISARM TRAP (d key): The selected character (if mov.- ex
EXIT BATTLEFIELD key): If the selected character is
ing individually) or the leader (if as a group) attempts to on the edge ofthe battlefield, this option is available, Select-
disarm a trap o.,n.a chest. This option only appears when a ing this option causes the cha.racter !-o leave the battle area.
trapped chest is close to the character. Disarming depends In effect, the character,"runs away" from the en~my.
primarily upon a character's artifice skill, and secondarily If all functional characters have run away, leaving only
upon his or her intelligence and perception. In all cases it is the exhausted behind (i.e., characters who collapsed b'ecause
affected by the difficultY,of the trap. ' , their endurance reached zero), the battle automatically ends.
Sometimes c.!taracters may stumble over traps in the Those left behind may suffer a variety of fates, depending upon
floor or a wall. Perceptive charaj:ters with artifice skill are the enemy. Looting, imprisonment and/or death are common.
most likely to notice these: If you spot 51.1ch {l trap before CANCEL LAST ORDER (Escape or Esc key): This
triggeri~g it, a~just your . cancels whatever order you are giving either to an individual
movement to avoid it or s,uf- 'or to the entiregroup. The character ot group reverts to their
fer the co'nsequences. These initial orders.
traps cannot be disarmed. 0RDERS W!THOUT TARGETS: From the above group,
SURRENDER (s key): the only orders thal require targets are "Walk towards" and
When you select this option, "Flee towards." All others automa~ically apply to the nearest
your entire party surrenders to target available. In most cases the orders aren't even available
the enemy. Youtchar;lcterswill unless the character or group leader is very close to the target.
lay down their arms and cease
resisting the enemy attack. ~Portals~
Beware: . I n some cases, When a character uses sta'irways, ladders or certain special
. the enemy will show no doorways, he or she temporarily aisappears from the battle-
mercy. Most huwans will field. The character is now waiting at the other end of the
35
stairway, ladder or doorway for the rest of the party. When all ~Group Mode~
surviving members of the party use that same doorw3y., Group mode exists as a convenience for long journeys. It
stairway, or ladder, the entire view changes to the new scene, allows you to move the entire party as a group, rather than one
at the other end of the stairway or door. bOy one. Group mode is prohibited if an~T character is fighting
RECALL FROM ' A PORTAL: After a character "uses" a
hand-to-hand. In fact, group mode is a disadvantage when-
door or stairway, he or she can be recalled.Tap the appropri- ever combat threatens. You should give individual orders
ate number key (1 through 5) to see the character, then tap when fighting.
the "u" key (or select "Use stairs" from the pull-down menu) Whenever you select a group mode (either "Travel as
to return. This is the only order available for that character. group" or "Travel Single File") the number one character
The character will reappear in the door or on the stairway. (the character whose box is ifl the uppeT left) automatically
. You cannot use the mouse to recall characters - because the becomes the group leader. _
characters are beyond your view! TRAVEL AS GROUP (g key): This means the party moves
MULTIPLE PORTALS: Different doors and stairways may in a fan-formation that allows everyone to face front. It is an
Jead to different places. I(part of the party uses one, and part adequate fighting formation, but cannot fit down nar-
' another the view will never shift to a new scene. Instead, you row corridors.
will stid see the old battlefield, with nobody on it! In this To begin "Tra~el as gr~up," use the mouse or keyboard
case recall some of the characters and move them to join the to select it from the "Orders" pull-down men,u, or tap the "g"
othe~s, until ~veryone has passed into th~ same door or stairway. key. If you look at the pull-down menu again, you'll see a
check-mark beside "Traver as group."
Next,you must select a target for the group. The char-
acters in the party will attempt to assemble into a group here.
If the party is too widely scattered, some or all may be unable
to assemble. In that case, give ~'Walk toward" orders to
indivjduals to move them closer together, then try again.
- TRAVEL SINGLE FILE (q key): This means the party
moves in single file, with character number on'e in the lead,
theri number two, etc., until the last brings up the rear.
Although usually poor for fighting, this is the only way a
grqup can move through narrow passages. ,
To begin "Travel Single File," use the mouse OF' key-
board to select that from the "Orders" pull-down menu, or
tap the "q" key. If you look at the pull-down menu again,
you'll see a check-mark beside "Travel Single File." .
Unlike "Travel is group," you need not specify a target
p0int when entering this;node. The characters in the party
automatically assemble behind th_e number one character
(character whose box is in the upper left on t,hescreen): Of
course, you still mus.t use destinations when moving (see below).
36
, \
As in "Travel as group," if the party is too widely THROW POTION (t key): The selected character throws
scattered, some or all may be unable to assemble. In that a potion at any allowed target. Characters cannot throw over
ca'se, give "Walk toward" ord,ers to individuals to move them friendly or enemy characters. A less skillful thrower must
closer together, then try again, avoid friends by a wide margin, while a more skillful thrower
MOVING A GROUP: When the party is in eithe.r group , can throw right past friends with a very narrow margin.
mode, it is always waiting for movement orders. Simply left- This opti6i; includes a sub-me'n u of all potions 'that
click the mouse to specify the destinatiol) for "Walk toward" character can throw. To select the target point, left-click the
movement. Ifusing the keyboard, you must tap '~w" or select mouse, or use the cursor keys (including the numeric key- I
~'Walk toward" from the "Orders" pull-down menu, move pad) and tap Return.
the cursor to the pestination, then tap Return. If the target is a location, the thrower ignores the move-
Also .see "Exploration and Real-time," below. ment of friends or enemies and simply throws at that spot. If
SPECIAL,ORDERS: In addition to moving, if the group a
_the target is person, the throwef maintairis his or her aim at
approaches certain points, other exploration orders are pos- that person, trying to throw at where they are moving toward,
sible. Th~ options available depend on how 'close the current rather than their cur!er-t position.
Party Leader is to t.he object. Other members of the group Notice that throwing skill determines how much friends
' cannot open doors, disarm tr\ips, etc. To have them do such, or enemies block a throw. Assuming the target c'an be hit, the
you must either change the party leadership or give them an potion hits the target, regardless of skill level. Please bear in
individual order (which ends group mode). ' mind that' throwing a potion takes time (potions require the
If you use a stairWay,.ladder or special doorway in group alchemist to do some special mixing" lighting, etc., just
mode; the entire party moves through the portal. ' before they are thrown) .
. Important: Unlike individual orders, you do·notseleq a ATTACK (akey.): The selected character attacks a spe-
,specific character for group orders. Instead, you ' just cific target in h!lnd-to-hand combat. To choose 'the target,
give one thing: either a destination (for movement), oC a left-click the mouse, or move the pointer with cursor keys
specific action (for other exploration orders, like opening and tap Return. The target must be ~specific enemy. If the
doors, etc.). ,enemy is not a'djacenJ:, the attacker will move toward that
EXITING GROUP MODE: To leave group mode, you enemy, seek(ng to engage :t hem.
must deliberately "turn off' group mode by selecting the Standard '~attack" orders
check-marked item on the "Orders" pyll'-down menu (either , tell the character to balance-
"Travel as group" or "Travel Single File"). This toggles his or her fighting methods,
'-"off' the group mode. Tapping the appropriate group move- alternating between strikes
ment key (g or q) also toggles off group mode. and parries. The character
si11lply tries to hit the target,
Fighting: The ' without aiming for any spe-
~"Attacks"Pull:-down Menl,l ~ cial.spots.
All atta~k orders are given to individual characters. All attacks Characters cannot attack
must have a target, selected by either a mouse left-click or the enemies ollt of sight or oth-
cursor and Return keY3. If you specify none, ~hen the orders are erwise invisible. '
disqlfd~d and the character reverts to his or her previous order.
VULNERABLE (v key):
, This i,-; a special tactic for hanCI-~
31
/
to-hand combat. Orders are and tapping Return. This inCludes thrown weapons, bows,
given-exactly like the normal crossbows, and/or h~ndguns. .
attack; i.e.,-an enemy targe'c The character fires missiles as fast as possible at that
ml!lst be specified by 'moulle target, as long as. circumstances' permit.
left-click, or by moving the . As in throwing potions, missiles-cannot be fired directly
pointe, with cursor keys and through friends or enemies to a target beyond. Also like
tapping Return. potions, the firer's skill det~rmines how close he or she may
"Vulnerable" orders teIl aim past an obstruction to hit a target farther away.
the chatacter to seek out A character firing missiles whois ,attaGke,d han9-to-harid
weak spots in the target's ar- automatically stops firing and switches to the hand-to-h,l!nd
mor. Therefore, the charac- , weapon listed on the in-use board (see "Character Infoima-
, tee's strikes are slower, the tion;" pp22). The character then adopts "Attack", orders
~~~~~~~~~~~~" chance of hitting is unaf- against this 'enemy. "
fected, and the chance of penetrclting is higher. Thecharacter's, ENLIGHTENEO' SELF-INTEREST: During hand-to-hand
defensive abilities are equivalentto the standard attack, above. comb'at, your characters sometimes 'make their own deci-
BERSERK (b key): This is a special tactic for hand-to- - sion~ about which: at.tack orders to use. You may see either
hand coml;>at. Orders are given exactly like the normal attack. "Attaok" or "Vulnerable" orders ,change to either "Attack,'"
"Berserk" cirders tell a character to make an all-out "Vulnerable," or "Parry" depending on the situation. You
attack on the enemy, as quickly as possible, without regard can override these orders by giving your ..Qwn, of course.
to his or her safety (like the Viking "Berserkers" of the Dark "Parry'; or "Berserker" orders are never overridden by en-
Ages). The character strikes more swiftly, with an increased lightened self-interest. A character retains these orders wi.til
cha~ce o~hitting, but is much more vulnerable to being hit. given new ones.
Of course, the character's armor will still deflect or reduce . \
38
.,
-'
,
Unperceptive characters are more likely to blunder into
them. If this happens, quickly-change your orders to prevent
any"more characters from blundering into the tr~p!
39
.
· .
40
~ABOUT ALCHEMY ~
Alchemical skill allows a character to create potions. How- EXAMPLE: Galen's Eyeburn and Nicolas Flammel's
ever, the character must also know alchemical formuhis, have Eyeburn both produce blinding effects, but the ·ingredients
the ingredients specified in those formulas , and have suffi- are subtly -dHferent. Galen's formula has a lower mystical
cient time to actually mix the potions. . number, but results in potions of lower quality.
Knowledge of alchemical formulas is one of the most Of course, both Eyeburn formulas have a far lower mystiyal
precious things in this era. Formula knowledge cannot be number than any formula for Breath of Death, because those
traded between your characters. However, ingredients, the potions are far more powerful than any Eyeburn.
,
"Philosopher's Stone" catalyst, and the resulting potions are
items' easily exchanged. Therefore, whenever a character ~The Philosopher's. Stone ~
makes potions, the ingredients carried thr~ughout the party The "Philosopher's Stone" is actually a fine mineral powder
are available for use. In addition, the resulting potions can be that is a universal catalyst. It is shared .equally among the
transfe'rred from the maker to any other character in the party. party, and is onlY'va'luable to alchemists. It cannot be bought
Alchemists of varying competence can be found or sold on the open market. The .party's Philosopher Stone
. throughout Germany. It is possible to buy potions from has a quality level, starting at zero (0); this value can increase
them, rather than making them yourself. However; this can during play. Many alchemists use a "stone" of levels 5 to 15;
be costly, assurningyou find alchemists with appropriate ski lls.
Some alchemicai potioJ1s can be used to improve a
Selecting Formulas
character's attributes and/or equipment. Alchemical potions
may also be useful in interactions. Finally, alchemical po-
Select this to create Left-click here to
tions can be used as weapons in battle to discomfort, demor- (mix) potion. select formula
alize or actually injure enemies. .
.... Descriptio.n of potion,
~Formulas~
Go to character information to see a summary of any fQrmula
a character knows (see "Character Information, Akhemical
Formulas," pp 26 for detail s).
NAMES: Each formulJl has a general descriptive name,
plus the name of the original inventor. There are mul~iple
inventors possibl.e for each general name, which means there
are various formulas for the same potion! Actually, the po-
tion'S are not exactly the same - they too vary somewhat, as
indicated by their quality value.
,MYSTICAL N U MBER: Each formula has a "mystical
number." The higher the number, the more difficult the
formula , and therefore more alchemical skill i,s required for
success. However, higher mystical numbers also mean either
a higher quality potion or a more powerfu1 effect.
41
/
42
/
At lower" difficul ty lev- throw certain potions. S~e "Battle, Fighting: the At-
els, the sub-menu may in- ta,ck Pull-down Menu ," pp3? ; for details .
clude faded potion names. While in battie you can also go to character information
These are potions thu could and use a potion on the character or equipme.nt from that
be used ; if only you had view. Whjle this has no effect on the enemy, it ,may aid
them! At the lowe~t diffi- your character. See pp25 for details .
culty level, some potion VIEWING CHANGES: When the "Show changes" option
names may. appear in red. is on (see "Universal Controls and Menu Bar, The 'Game'
These represent potions that Pull-do~n Menu ," pp18), any attribute and skill changes
could be used, and for which caused by potions appear in the character boxes. However, if
you know the formula. You this option is turned 'off, the changes. simply happen. You
can't use them because you must look at the appropriate character information to see the
haven't mixed up any (this isa current state of the character.
,hint to find the ingredients
and start mixing!).
POTION USE DURING
BATTLE: When fig\1ting, you
can give cha.racters orders to
44
, -
.
I ,
~ ABOUT RE,LIGION ~
, Many miraculou s aids are possi ble through r~ligion, espe- be regained through various deeds. The ,speed at which it is
, cially by praying for the intervention of a saint. Praying to regained varies with ,t he religious training of the character.
saints is possible at any time in character informatioQ (see Virtue is also important. Unlike OF, it is not spent.
pp26). However, additional benefits are possible if a charac- Instead, a c,haraoter's virtue' determines which saints and
ter takes advantage of a prayer opportunity during interactions. relics can be used, because each saint and relic demands a
Prayer reduces a character's "divine favor" (OF). How- different level of virtue.
ever, thi s is easily regained. In Darklands, think of divine fayor
as a type of "credif," which is ':spent" on pra')'er, ami can then ~Knowledge of Saints ~
Acharacter must "know" about a saint before he or she can.
pray for miracles. This' knowledge is a mystical understand-
Praying to Saints ing, and cannot be transferred from ohe character to another.
The 'saints currently known b Y) l character are ava:ilabJ~
in character information (see "Character Information;
Saints ," pp26) . " . ,
<:haracter~ can "learn" about new saints by seeking
those who know about them. Monasteries, universities and
cathedrals are the be's t sources, bu t you may 'f ind iddi tiona!'
opportunities.'There are over 130'different saints that
can be discQvered ; although is it unlikely that anyone
will learn them all.
~Praying to Sa in ts'c:::;..:J ,
A character can pray for saintly aid either in charac't er infor-
ma'tion, or as an interac'tion option. Interac;:ti'on success re-
,suits in norinalber efi'ts, plus the special effects that,occur'in
the interaction. Prayer from 'ch'a racter information only pro-
vides the normal benefits; you can never pray from character
'- Praying on sai nt's day Left-click here to actua'lly information and get interactien penefits.
,reduces DF cost, pray (DF is spent), Prayer is also possible dur-
, ing battle; Simply go to chluac-
Perce'ntage chance of Left-click to adjust the Calcinatio~
.'f.
success (varies with amou nt of DF spent while ter information and pray from
DF spent), pr~ing to thi'S saint.
there, then ret,i un ~o the battle "
45 ,
\
/
46 \ '
..
~ Relics C;--J
There are dozens of different religious relics. Many of these
are useful items in their own right, such as St. Adrian's Sword,
St. Bathildis' Staff, etc. In addition, reli«s may provide
certain miraculdus benefits. '.
SAINTLY AID BENEFITS: Possession of ar relic may re-
duce the OF cost of praying to that saint. However,. most
relics require the bearer to have sufficient virtue to gain this
advantage. The vi.rtue requirement is frequently high,; so
only the most virtuous will ~enefit when invoking a saint.
Relics related to Christ or M<l:ry ;tre beneficial when
invoking any saint. .
AUTOMATIC ATTRiBUTE & SKILL BENEFITS: In spe-
\
some cases, the maximum allowable OF may also be reduced €ial cases, a sufficiently virtuous character carrying a relic
to sOJl}ething les~ than 99., . may see a temporary improvement in attributes and/or skills.
When calling uPQn a saint, a chatacter must use at least Examine character information to'see tfiese effects. These
a certain minimum amount of Of. A character may also be effects are automatic for whomever carries the relic .
. limited in the maximum amount of OF tnat can be I:Ised.
REG~INING DF: Divine Favor is regained daily ata very
slow rate. You may improve this by spending days in prayer
(see "Travel and I~te"ract'ion, Staying Here;" pp29), by going
to confession, and/or going to mass. Donations to churches
and cathedrals may al~o improve your divine favor.
Ceration
. \
\
..
~ Character Development ~
Characters in Darklands will improve, but improvement has
its limits. All attributes and skills have an upper limit of99.
However, attribute.s almost never rise about the original
values, except temporarily due to potions or saints. Skills, on
the other hand , witl (mprove steadily. Skill improvement
occu.rs in situations where that character's skill is seriously
tested (i.e:, there is an element of risk). Successful use of a/
s'kill gives a greater chance of improvem,e nt, and somewhat
larger improvements as well. However ~ as skills get higher,
the chance' of improvement grows smaller. For example,
advancing 20 to 21 is fairly easy, while advancing from 95 to
96 is extremely difficult. -
Similarly, you can accumulate riches by various means:
Wealth is useful, but is not a goal ofth~ game. No great fame
is attached to wealth. For example, the Fugger banking
house was wealthy beyond the wildest dreams of many
kings, yet they are almost forgotten today.
48
Your party's reputation around Germany also changes , place is unpredictable. Ifag-
constantly. The worst reputation level possible is -99, where ing reduces any intribute to
the city guar.ds may try to kill you On ~ight and many doors ace zero, the character has suf-
,. (
~
Closed to you. A reputation of 0 means you are unknown, just fered a fatal iHness ~nd dies. I
·l~,
a faceless travelleI. A reputation of99 means you are the local RETIREMENT: Your '~
heroes of the day, favored py the government and ~itizenry. party may retir~ at any time,
Many things previously difficult may now be easy. simply by returning to the
Your reputation in a city ififluences your reception not inn at any city. Retirement
only in that city, but in the nearby countryside as well. Fur- ends the game and graphi-
thermore, ifa single nobleman controls multiple cities, your .. cally shows yourcurrentlevel
reputation in one city may affect your reputation in the other offame. However, it also cr~
cjties of that principality. Your reputation in an Imperial Free atesa "~aved-.game" file.'This
City is always unique to that city and the local countryside. means you can "come out,of "
The \Sages of the era suggest.that you content yourself retirement" ,simply by select-
with the challenges'and adventures ofDarklands, acceptwbat ing that saved-game file.
improvement comes your way, and then await new -chal- Even if you have fin-
lenges elsewhere in Europe (in forthcoIi'ling sequels). ished with Darklands, do not
erase the saved-game file.
~ Adventures, Aging .& Retirement ~ Forthcoming sequels may
ADVEl~TuRES: There are many possible adventures in use this file.
Darklands. Some are unrelated; it is possible to,have different DEATH: Sooner or later, your adventures may lead to the'
problems occurring simultaneously. Many ofthese problems death of one or more characters~ Dead characters can never be
are so common that they occur again and again, although in resurrected. Silintly aid or alchemical ,potions only have
different places and somewhat different guises. tempora,ry effects. Therefore, they.cannot reverse death. If
You should be aware that witchcraft in Germany is a your party has fewer than four characters, you can recruit new ,
pervasive evil, whose roors go very deep. Dealing with this characters at the inn (Gasthaus) o'f any city:
probrem wili be complex, but the potential rewards in fame
are larger than anything else. It is also a problem that once ~Hall of Fame ~
solved, is not likely to quickly reappear. This records the fame of your <:urrent party, and allows you
On the other hand, do not assume that every situation fo compare it with other heroes and parties. As ypur party
you stumble across is related to witchcraft. There are many other gains fame, they take their
problems in Germany. Your judgement must be youF guide. proper place in the memories of
Congelation
AGING: It is possible to continue adventuring almost mankind. If you find your posi-
indefinitely. There are always new problems, new areas of tion discouraging, the appropri-
unrest, where one can earn fame and hone skills. Your ate left~c1ick o'r keypress can
adventures could last years, if you have the sta,mina. After clear the Hall of Fame of all
five years of adventuring, characters who are tnirty or older prior entries.
suffer modest aging penalties to some attributes. The older
the character, the greater the penalties. The exact time ~nd
49
,
\ "
It t
f
fi
... .
, \
ut~ic6JemtlUtlJ
~~~ /
~ INTRODUCTION ~
~ ·Medieval Europe~ , Ages (circa.sOO- ~OOO) various kingdoms rose and fell, inClud-
Darklands is set in the late Middle Ages from 1400 to 1499' ,ing Charlemagne's Empire (800-814). Around 1000 AD Eu-
(the 1,5th Century AD), This, is an era 'oJ noble knights and rope stabilized into a recognizable form . Most historians find I
rapacIOus warlords, of universal Catholicism and three this:a convenient dividing line between the'''Dark Ages" and
competing Popes, of superstitious peasants-and rich mer- the "Middle Ages." , .
chant princes, of soaring castles' and dark forests, Above all , . Medieval Europe was an era ~here religion an'd culture
the Middle Ages was that half-millenium of 't ime when changed very slowly, So slowly, in fact, that most people
Europe' reorg~nized itself into new .k ingdoms ouf ~f the expected no change at all. The Church was ,universal, society
wreckage of the Roman Empire and the chaos of the Dark w.as feudal , and a man's place in the world was ordained by
Ages. It is an era of relative stability before· the accelerating bIrth. Noblemen owned the land. They were-trained wac-
changes that ultimately formed modern Europe, ri.ors with expensive equipment, Peasants were protected by
_ Until 400 AD Europe was part of the Roman Empire, at nobles, workep the land, and rarely were free to leave it.
first ,barbarian hinterlands, thell sophisticated and thriving . Small cities and towns held craffsmen, fairs for travelling
provinces', and finally overrun by new barbarians from East- merchants, and ,other facilities too costly or 'specialized for
ern Europe and the Russian steppes. Th'roughout the D:i'rk each hamlet. Even politics changed slowly. Almost every
51
/
locale had a king or emperor political dis'asters and upheavals ha~ reduced the Empire to
(except the northern Italian just its German lands, including -those ,eastern territories
city-states), but they were colonized ,by Germans at the expense of the native Poles,
constrained or someti'mes Czechs, and other Slavic peoples. '
cootrolled by their nobles. The Holy Roman Empire was surrounded -by other
Despite all the wars-, mar- kingdoms. To the east was strqng, expansionistic Poland. '
riages·and treaties, the gen- They wer,e reconquering their homeland from the Teutonic
eral political boundaries in Knights, slowly pushing westward. Down the Danube (Donau
J 1050ADweresimilartothose in Ge'rmll-n) River lay Hungary, whose nobles were active
of 1450 AD. partici'p'ants in Imperial politics, and vice versa. Northern
Of cours~, no entity is Italy was a patchwork of warring city-states. Switzerland was
enti'rely static. By the 1400s . unifying itself with innovative armies of citizen-soldiers who
(the century of Darklands) were developing a reputation as the most.formidable fighters
European and international trade was commonplace, along . in Europe. To the west was the Duchy'ofBurgundy, ostensibly
with banking. After the vast population loss due to the Black subject to the K,i ng 'o f France, but actually a rich, powerful
Death in the late 1300s, cities were growing. Monetary and independent kingdom including modern Holland, Bel-
wealth was at least as imp.ortant as noble landholdings, to the gium; and the lands west ot the Rhine all the way to Swit-
ruin of many minor nobles. The Renaissance was blooming zerland. Along the BalticSea was the Kingdom of Denmark,
in Italy, and from there gradually penetrating throughout ' ostensibly united wi¢ Norway and Sweden; bpt this weak
Europe. At the end ofthecentury (in 1492) explorers would · union was gradually dissolving.
discover a ~ew world. With hindsight historians can see the Greater Germany was a land of contrasts. Population was
foundations of medieval socie~y crumbling, but few peopl'e dense along the four great rivers of the realm: the Rhine, the
at the time understood this.'For them, it was simply a time of Danube, the Elbe and the Oder. Of these, th'e Rhineland was
. uncertainty and danger. tJ:!.e most sophisticated, with much of its population con-
centrated in or around many large, old cities. The Danubian
~ Greater G.ermany <::::;--J plains had some of the best farmlands anywhere in western
Germany did not exist as a nation until 1870. However, a Europe, plus a variety of u!leful trade connections to northern
wide part of medieval Europe spoke the German language, Italy or into the Balkans. The Elbe led to highl'ands and
or at least was colonized and ruled by Germl!ns. Historians moul).tains rich in ore 'and legend. The Oder formed the
sometimes call this region "Greater Germany." Of course, eastern border, ruled and heavily cc>lonized by Germans,
Gennan was not the only language. In Bohemia and along the although in the more remote > illages andJor~st hamlets
Polish border some peasants spoke Slavic tongues, and Poles and Slavs still spoke their native language and probably
throughout Europe the church and intellectual institu- worshipped the old gods.
. tions used Latin .
In the 15th Century, Greater Germany. was the H.oly
Roman Empire. To be crowned Emperor, a noble must first
be elected "King of the Germans." The Empire originated
with Charlemagne in AD 800, who ruled all of modern
Europe except southe.rn Italy and Britain. However, various
..
~ LIFE IN THE -HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE ~
_ ~Imperial Politics ~ _ . For example, in 1439 Emperor Albert II died. In the next
The extraordinary chaos and violence of 15th Century Ger- year his nephew~ Frederick of Habsburg, was crowned.King
,many was rooted in its pecliliar political structure. In arl age in ~achen and given custody of Albert's just-born son,
where all surrounding kingdoms were dynasties that passed ' Ladtslas. However, not until 1452 did Frederick go to Rome
from father to son, the German King and Emperor (he was for coronation as Emperor, and then only because a friendly
always the same man) was elected by seven powerful noble- Pope helped pay for the trip! For most of his reign Frederick
men: the Archbishops of Mainz, Trier and Koln (Cologne), III ruled from his Styrian (south Austrian) lands, enduring
the Count ~alatine of the Rhine, the Duke of Saxony, the 'various indignities and setbaCks from the-nobles while he
Margrave of Brandenburg, and the King oLBohemia. quietly, cautiously but competently ruled the. family realm.
This system insured that the Emperor was weak while In the 1470s he married his son, Maximillian, to the daughter
the large noi?le families remained strong. To get elected, of the Duke of Burgundy, the single richest prince in Eu-
would-be Emperors gave money and hinds to the electors in rope. The Duke hoped' to use his wealth to bu'y the title of
exchange for their support (i.e" buying their vote). Once King from Frederick. This in tuTn woulp lead to becoming -
elected, Emperors continued to spend money and lands, in the next Emperor. However, the Duke was killed in battle
an attempt to get their sons elected after them, ultimately -against the Swiss in 1477, allowing the Habsburgs to inherit
hoping to create a family dynasty, such as that enjoyed by the his wealth instead. This allowed Frederick to get his s~n
kings of France, Spain or England. elected co-Emperor in 1486, a major st'ep on the road to
establishing the Habsburg dynasty that would ultimately
dominate most of Europe in the 1500s.
What this means is that in the 1400s, the 'Emperor ..was
poor and frequently powerless; carefully husbanding re-
sources for future .generations. Various "" princes" were the
real powers.within the Empire: Some were rich arid powerful
nobles or prelates, controlling wide lands. Others were smaller;
sometimes no mbre than a tiny castle and a few villages.
Some families used family money to purchase from the' Pope
a posi tion of abb.ot, bishop or arch bishop, which gave the son
control of ~ ll the lands and income attached to that church
. offic~. These positions could
be quite important: some bish-
Digestion
ops or archbishops were fully
equal to a margrave or duke.
The archbishops of Mainz,
Trier and Koln were among the
richest in Europe, hence their
position as electors. The Pa- ,
pacy, plo'or and/or divi ded, was ~
53
quite happy with this arrangement. E\iiscopal offices could and he was rarely available! This meant that' crimimils only
not be inherited, and were therefore available for resal~ needed to elude the l~cal pursuit and slip into a neigh,boring
whenever the current occupant died. principality to avoid justice. In some cases, the noble himself
Noble families, acquired land ' by intermarriage, gifts .was a robber. With a band of mercenary soldiers, he could t(lX
(including thqse from would-bl? Emperors), and conquest. or plllnder anyone who passed near ' hi( land. These '
They, lost lands because fathers persistecl in giving each of "raubritter" (robber knights) were the bane qf Germany.
their sons a certain part of the-family.lands. This frequently , On a larger scale, Germany had various wars 'during tpis
caused bloody feuds between the sons. Family branches at period. The most significantstruggle was between the Teu-
war were especially. frequent in this century. The English tonic Knights and the'Kingdom of Poland, the most memo-
word "feud" is derived from "fehde," a German word mean- rable the-Hussite Wars. ' _ . '
, in,g "private war." , The Order- of TeutoniC Knights, based in Marienberg
, To the casual observer, it-seems that every major noble and stretching along tlie Baltic coast into modern Russia, was
house' in Germany wa's either fighting itself or its neighbors an inpependent but wanin'g power (the "Ordensstadt"). In
.sometime during this c~ntury. Actually, the division and 1410 a Polish-Lithuanian army (Hushed die Teutonic army at
, recombination qf noble lands had gone on for centuries. By Grunwald-Tannenberg. For the remainder of the century
1400 Greater Germany was a, patchwork of divisions, with the Poles slowly recaptured land from the Teutonic Knights,
many nobles owning lands in dozens of scattered locations. ,as well as expanding their eastern bO,rders into the Russian
Ea<;h n?hle with sufficient military pow~r could promul- city-states. Meanwhile a virtual plethora of Polish princesses
gate his 'Own laws. The only higher court ~as the Emperor, married into the highest families of the Holy Roman Empire.
This helped insure that Imperial forces would ignore the
gradual dismemberment of the Ordensstadt, as long as, th~
Poles .weren't too greedy. ,. .- '
, 'The other great conflict occured in Bohemia, a,fertile
basin surrounded by mounjains. Bohemia is a unique area in
the. Empir6. Originally Czech-speaking, 'its rich mines- anp
the great city of Pra'g (Prague) insured strong German int~r
est. The religiously-inspired Hus,site rebellions 'of the 1420s
attracted a virtual' crusade of German knights, led by the
Emperor himself at times. The Hussites not only sought '
rel'igious reform, but Czech cultural freedom from' G((rman '
domination. Unfortunately, the Hussite movement eventu-
ally fragmented , began fighting itself, ,and was ultimately
crushed by Imperial forces . "
In the north, theHans,eatic League was an a.ssociation o.f
cities that promoted and protected their· trade ..-Alth(:)Ugh
generally mercantile, the'Hansa did organize and fight wars;
, with each city contributing troops-or mercenaries. Like the
Teutonic Knights, the Hansa ,was a declining power. It-haa
made uriwise choJces in prosecuting t1'ade wars with the
, \
/
, " '., . " I ,'\ ,
.
archbishoprics'. Clefjcs 'from simple ,collntry priests to the . quisitorial witch-hunts to hints. Distillation-
, .-
Pope qimself routinely had mistresses. Excommunication's , 'that the final reckoning was at
- were invoked and revok~d to suit immedia'te politiclJl ends. hand. Of course, som,e were no'
111'
In rural parishes some priests couldn't even read Latin, more than freeloaders, threaten- . v-
makin'g it impossible for them to say th'e mass correctly. Of ing hell and damnation to a!1yone /
- ' course, nobody else in the parish understood Latin, so su- who/ didn't p'rovide them with
"
a
per~tition and old folk ways often ,contin\,Ied under a thin , food, drink~ and soft bedl" .
" . "
.
....
, "
,
. ' ,
I .,
, '
.:. . -~
I
RELIGION AND AD- ting any 'personal labor into the product, was considered
'VE_NTURING: For ,a~ adven- unworthy. Interest on loans (usury) was technically illegal by
turer, the miraculous aspects church law. However, the weakness of the Church and
of tQe 15th Ce,ntury church fraying morality allowed these' proscriptions to lapse. 'Mer:
are very useful. This includes chants and bankers eagerly entered the financiaLarena, and
both prayers for, saintly by the 1400s were rich enough to finance world-wide trading
, miracles, and the power of expeditions. In' earlie'r ages the non-Christian Jews had
various relics, served as bankers and merchants. N'ow they were unneces- -
CathedraJs, chlHches, sary, which led to many tragic pogroms that drove them from
and sometimes monasteries the citi'es, or sometimes the entire realm. '
are useflll places to add vir- When industry and trade returrred to Europe, money
tlte or regain ' divine. favor and wealth became more important than land. Not unlike
(OF), so ,that characters de: today, people started measuring status by disposable wealth.
pleted by 'asking for sg.intly Expensive clothing, palatial residences and costly.recreatiQns
aid can "recharge'~ and try . all displayed qne's place in society.
again. Others prefer simply Minor nobles and knights, living in rural castles and .
staying at an inn or in camp ruling a few hamlet:;;, were <?ften poorer than modest merchan ts
and praying to regain OF. or guildsmen in a neighboring city. Property, income and
Useful relics can be sales taxes were unknown, leaving many nobles with nothing
gained by a judicious barter more than traditio'n alland rents established ce-nturies earlier.
of services. Furthermore, few churchmen are actively cor- Some were virtuallyJorced to become "raubritter" (robber
rupt or evil; most are just pragmatic.-They might offer various knights) just to survive. Greater nobles consumed money by
forms of religious aid,,'if you give them something in return. the wagon-load to maintain their statusaRd' finance military
You should be wary of c1~rics met on the ' road, in the ventures (or defenses against venturesome neighbors). To
remote countryside, or small hamlets. Some are genuine, but -get money, they frequently sold land for big, long-term cash
the world is also full of freeloade.rs, scoundrels, and worse. payments, or let wealthy towns .and cities buy various de-
grees of independence. '
~Society~ MONEY: Various kin'g doms and principalities minted
ECONOMIES: In earlier centuries, land was wealth. Feudal their own coins with varying amounts of precious metals.
nobles owned the land, which included the peasant families Th-e florins, groschen and pfennigt;s in Darklands are com-
that worked 'it. Land was passed to sons and daughters, with mon denominations, widely I1sed in the Empi're. Florins are
holdings subdivided by death, then recombined by marriage. 'very valuable g91d coins, usually carried only oy noblemen,
Not even wars permanently changed the tradition of family rich merchants, and other wealthy persons. Groschen are
land. Military victors usually sought to eliminate the-enemy's larger silver coins, carried by all but the poorest citizens.
sons and marry their daughters, to give them "permanent" Pfenniges are small change, valued by only the poverty-
'title to lands currently occupied by their army, . ' stricken. A pop!;llar nickname for the gold florin wa's
In the late Middle Ages merchants and mercantile pur- "B.hinegulden" (Rhine gold), as many gold florins were
suits were an important part of Europe's economic fabric: minted in the \Veal thy Rhine cities.
Traditionally, profit from buying and selling, without put-
56
...
. \
I
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was a warrior as web as an administrator: His skill and tOwns and cities, mainly 0~7public buildings. -Clock mecha-
leadership h~lped assure survival against bandits and wild nisms were still cumbersome;: and complex, using weights
animals. Only rarely coqld a schulz rely on his titular noble and counter-weights.-Coi'led spring clock mechanisms were
" overlord for ai-d. All too often the overlord was just a distant not in¥ented until the next century.
source of taxation and trouble. . THE CALENDAR: For simplicity, in Darkiandi. all holi-
Travelling merchants hired guards to protect their goods days occur on the same date each year, and there are no leap
and lives. Even friars and pilgrims ft:equently travelled with years. In reality, holiday dates were a difficult and complex ,
weapons to defend themselves. . art, since medieval Europe I,lsed the Julian.Calendar, created
EDl:JCATION: Despite the difficulties of the age, the in 46 BC DY Julius Caesar. Although this calendar included
15th Century was also the beginning of the Renaissance. leap years, it produce..d an error of one ,day every 128 y,,<ars,
Knowledge and learning were no longer just the province of resulting in considerable confusion by the 1400s. This prob-
priests and monks., Universities existed. Scions of wealthy lem was not corrected until' the ~580s; when Pope Gregory
noblemen or merchants, were tutored by various teachers, not , sponsored ~djustments still in use today. '
just fI}(:lOks and priests. Johannes Gutenberg began printing Popular holidays in Germany dur~ng· this era include the
books in the 1440s. Even the wildest ideas, when committed Christian celebrations of Easter (April 15th) and Chr.istmas
to print, seemed credibl¢. One of the "best-sellers" in this (December 25th), plus Shrovetiae (February i 1th), Maidult
era was the Malleus Malificarum; a handbook on the evils of (May 1st) and Michaelmas (September 9th). Of these,
witchcraft, how to identify them, and how to deal with them. Shrov'etide was the largest. Ot~er well-known dates during
~ducatioil did 'not instantly confer wealthot position. the year include the Vernal Eql1iROX (March 21st), Holy
However, intelligent men 'lind women began trying to ex- Thursday (April-12ih), Ascension (May 26th), Corpus Christi
pand their knowledge; experiment and learn. For example, (June Ilth)( Midsummer Eve (June 21st), the Autumnal
while alchemists in previous centuries generally' tried to Equinox (September 22nd), All HqHow's Eve (October
invoke and bind demons or devils, alchemists in the 15th 30th); and among certain heretics the . L~t Sabbat
Century were adeast as interested in identifying pure ele- (December 26th) . '
ments and achieving ch.emical changes. Their hope of trans- ... .
forming lead to gold simply indicates the amount of know 1- - '--PThe' Cities of the Empire ~
edge they still lacked. Germany bad a plethora of small cities. The largest, Cologne
Latin remained the primary written language of Europe. (Koln in (Jerman), had about ~O,OOO people (6;000 to 7,000
However, for the first time documents were also written, and families) by the end of the century. This is similar to London
, event prihted, in local evcryday languages. This alsocontrib- ~rid somewhat smaller than Paris, but vas't!y smaller than the _
utedtothedeclineoftheChurch,inthlscaseasthereposttory. . . 100;000 of Naples (in southern Italy), not to mention ,' .
of human knowledge and wisdom. . . ,Constantinople or the great cities of Asia. For tr,is re~son,
THE CLOCK: The classic "monastic clock" of eight some historians refer to German cities as ·"towns."
ho~rs, or bells, was the traditional method of timekeeping in 'The Imperial Free City was 'an institution unique.to the
this era. The actual length of each monastic hour v'aried with Empire. Normally cities were subject to whatever nobleman
the' amount of daylight. in each day, since the hours were ruled th'o se lands. BU,t in the Efnpire,-certain cities became
. timed to1he sun's.position, rather than an absolute measure. <;Iirect subjects of the Emperor (which, of course, changed
New mechanical clocks were just appearing in the richer whenever ,
a new
.
Eml?eror
...
was e1e.cted). .Typically
......
Gities
I .
1 58
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I ,
.5 9 . , i
,
, .
..
pawnshop). Marketplaces adventurer, these are e~cellent soutc~s of information about
frequently include - a alchemy and various saints. University cities include Rostock,
pharmacist, who might have Koln, Wittenberg, Erfurt, Leipzig, Freiberg, Freiberg-im.
various alchemicalmaterials. Breisgau, Wtirzburg, Prag, Basel, Wien, Pressburg and Heidel-
Every city has its parish berg. Universities founded late In the 14005 are not included.
church, representative ofthe
many in the city. Cathedrals ~ Ordinary Life ~
are frequent, although most Over three d9zen common occupations are available to po-
are still unfinished. Cathe- tential adventurers. These allow adventurers to develop
drals frequently have patron skills and abilities. Theoretically, in the Middle Ages birth
saints and/or relics. Virtually determined allowable occupations. However, after the Black
every city has a monastery of _ Death, Europ¢ was underpopulated. People cQuld 'and did
. some sort. Praemonstrater travel about, dropping their old life and making a new one.
monasteries are e'specially common in the west and Freisland When this is combined with the growing importance of
(the' North Sea coast). Their specialty is providing well- wealth (rather than land-holding), considerab1e social
. trained clerical staffs to church-es and cathedrals. For the mobility results. -
adventurer, monastic libraries are excellent sources of _ Medieval society was also 'quite conscious of gender.
religious knowledge , Women had a carefully defined role, subservient to the male.
Industry and craftS ate ostensibly regulated in cities by Women were supposed to create and_riurtur~ families at home;
the guilds. The guilds control all work in a specific field, older single women or working women were considered \.lnde-
insuring high quality and requiring all rne.mbers to charge a sirable and possibly unsavory. Overall, the female sex was seen
"fair" price. Useful guilds include swordsmiths (for hand-to- by the Church as more dangerous and potentially sinful than man.
hand and thrown weaponry), bowyers and gunsmiths (for ' Women, of course, adopted their own solutions to this
missile ,weapons), armsrers (for metal armor), clothmakers problem. Many cross-dressed as males, disguising their "true"
(for non-metalarmor), and artisans (fOf miscellaneous items , nature. It is impossible to estimate how common this was.
and tools). Smaller cities and various rural hamlets jost have For example, as la~e as 1700, the finest duellist and best
a blacksmith, who can fashion certain types of ~eapons or secret agent 1n Europe was the Duke d'Eon. To this day
armor, 'usually of lesser q\lality: . nobody is sure whether "he" was a man or woman, since the
Also in the guild district you may find alchemists and/or Duke dressed convincingly for both roles!
physicians. Alchemists may be willing to sell or 'trade knowl- A few'of the bolpest, most charismatic women ignored ...
edge and materials, while physicians can be helpful in curing social convention entirely, making their. own rules. Joan of
physical a·i lments. , Arc is one example. She was a charismatic military figure-
Virtually every city has inns of some sort, a place for head for French fo'rees fighting the English in thelater stages
travellers. Every city has an -annual fair. This was a time of of the "Hundred Years War" during this perioli. Her
'celebr'ation, sometime,s linked ,to a trade fai~. Naturally death and marty rdom occ-urred after she fell into En-
prices are higher during the fair, Shrovetide i.s the most glish hands' (in 1430). . .
com,mon celebration. In either case, and in keeping with a more modern
A few cities have universities, centers of intellectual · sentiment.about gender, women are allowed virtually equal
activity sponsored by the state,.rather tha'n the church. For an opportunities in Darklands. Female character's graphics are
. .
60
· included in Darklands, but feel free to use a "male" appear-
ance for female characters who are cross-dressing.
The only exception to this equality is in religion. Certain )
p.'
clerical occupations are only available to males. However,
f;
. ;f
l'
this is balanced b.y various saints who provide greater ben- ..13 / /
efits to women. / .
,. ' {'
.'
MILITARY OCCUPATIONS: Most soldiers begin as a
RECRUIT in a mercenary co'mpafiY or nobleman's army. Afte'r
receivingtraining in basic weapons and various specialities,
they are considered a useful SOLDIER, where once again their , .
concern is with weapons. VETERANS have mastered the
military life. They can pursue non-military interests, or
strive for excellence in a specific weapon. The last step is
becoming CAPTAIN of one's own mercenary company or
city guard. Here one develops leadership and human- final step possible is an appointment ~s BISHOP. The Church
management skills. prohibits women from becoming Priests or Bishops.
ARISTOCRATIC OCCUPATIONS: Fo't most, the easiest In addition to the traditional monastic orders, there are
entry to the aristocracy isoecoming a COURTIER in one of the also new, mendicant orders. These FRIARS travel the world ,
great cou!Js ofthe Empire, perhaps even that of the Emperor begging for,sustenance and helping the needy wherever they
himself. Courtiers become adept at negotiation; urban living, find them. An even more ancient tradition isthe HERMIT, who
and clerical matters, but have only limited opportunities for finds some private, lonely place to contemplate privately the '
weapons practice. For a person of noble birth, the alternate meaning of religion and virtue ~
route is inheritance - ~s 'a NOBLE HEIR. This provides a well- Monasteries also allow OBLATES', lay students taught
rounded range of opportunities, depending upon one's inter- alongside the monks. Unlike novices or monks, oblates make
ests. KNIGHTS are invariably noblemen, fighting and often no commitment to a monastic life. In effect, an oblate is ,like ,
leading contingents in an. army. Successful captains or high a modern student, with the monastery serving as a private
clerics can acquire patents of nobility and become knights. school. Historically, many ,monasteries received a ~tipend
The pinnacl.e of aristocratic success is the MA'NORIAL LORD, with from families who sent sons or daughters to be oblates.
personal lands. These leaders have a wide range of experi- MERCANTILE OCCUPATIONS: Travelling PEDDLERS are
ence, especially in leadership and management. the simplest of merchahts, selling small simple items to rural
CLERICAL OCCUPATIONS: Noble or wealthy families peasants and farmers, then car- .
could and did buy their·sons a PRI ESTHOOD. This is illso open ryingsimple country crafts back
Gold
to persons with significant intellectual training (such as into the city, where they can
clerks, professors, etc.) or social status (such as nobles, village trade them for more small items.
leaders, etc.). Otherwise, the usual entry into the Church is LOCAL TRADERS have some-
through a monastery, where one begins as a NOVJCE MONK or what greater substance, with
NOVICE NUN. A few years as a novice normally results in enough capital to take wagon-
acceptance as a member MONK or NUN in the order. Then one loads of goods between a city
can aspire to being a PRI EST (if male), ABBOT or ABBESS. The and the surrounding country-
61
/
side. Much to the dismay of nior clerks frequently act as middle managers, especially in
the guilds, these traders of- large busiQesses or noble ~ourts.
ten undercut the guild sys- Instead of clerking, the intellectually inclined could
tem by engaging peasant become PROF,ESSORS an<;l teach at universities, or gain an
wives and other rural labor to equivalent, resident position in 'the court of a powerful
make cheap .copies of guild noblemap. Specialists in medicine and the hijman Qody
products, especially clothing. might .become PHYSICIAN.S and treat the sick.
These "cottage industries" Finally, one can become an ALCHEMIST. With experi·
helped fuel northern Europe's ence, alchemists ascend to MASTER ALCHEMIST. Both of these
economic development.in the pursuits confer knowledge of alchemical formulas, provide
latter Middle Ages. simple components 1 and a starting Philosopher's Stone.
TRAVELLING MER- COMMONERS AND THE COUNTRY: Those withou~the
CHANTS are the national and ability or inclination to pursue more complex pursuits can
international traders who' link European cities together into always work as ·a common LABORER in a city or town. Mer-
a larger economic network, and who reach out to the rest of . chants, guilds, and large households ' always need strong
. the world. Marco Poio was one such mercharit. Considerable backs and willing hands for many tasks.
wealth is needed as capital, but tlie rewards are commensu- The countryside is composed of small farming hamlets
rate with th~ investment and the risk. The most successful and villages. Homes might be ~pread out among the farmed
be..come MERC~ANT-PROPRIETORS, wealthy managers of an in- plots, or grouped together in the center for protection. Offi-
ternational business. These managers stay at home, while cially, the residents are PEASANTS, tied to the land and pro-
subordinates take risks and travel for them. hibited-from leaving without the landowner's permissron. In
CRAFTSMEN: Medieval Europe had no factories and no fact, unhappy peasants ~an and do flee to the independent
production lines: All goods were hand-crafted. In cities cities, w:here residence for a year and a. day gives freedom. In
craftsmen specializing in a certain sphere quickly learned to many larger villages, especially those with a neighboring
form guilds. Originally similar to labor unions, guilds soon noble manor, some residents are HUNTERS, usually for the lord.
became the sellers as well as creators of their goods. Guilds They specialized in taking game from uncultivated land.
established rules for both prices and quality. In a guild, a Unlike England, in Germany most woods are Imperial prop-
person stans as an APPRENTICE 'CRAFTSMAN to gain initial erty or owned by nobody, making hunting available to every-
training and exp~rience, then graduates to JOURNEYMAN one, commoners as well as noblemen.
CRAFTSMAN. After a suitable period, the most skillful become UNDERWORLD AND UNDERCLASS: Mpst u'rban crimi-
MASTER CRAFTSMEN and leaders of the guild. nals are THIEVES, specialists in robbing people 'or dwellings.
THE INTEL-LIGENTSIA: in addition to monastic educa- A few of the brightest and best-talking are SWINDLERS, who
tion as an oblate, monk or nun, one can be a STUDENT at a outwit their victims in various ways. In the countryside,all
university, where literacy, Latin and clear thinking are the manner of fugitives hide in the forests, becoming BANDITS who
main topics, along with a certain amount of religious back- prey on passing travellers, or sometimes terrorize small hamlets.
ground. This opens the door to various ad¥anced professions. The most humble of all the underclass is the VAGABOND;
The. most common is that of CLERK, who functions as scribe the' penniless wanderer without family or residence, barely
and bookkeeper for noblemen, businessmen, or guilds. Se- 'surviving from day to day. Any variety of disastef'creates
62
,these miserable creatures. Sometimes their struggles and
privations provide an inner strength (not to-mention pragmatic
experience) that helps in later life .
. THE LIFe OF ADVENTURE: In all cases, it is presumed
that, some "sea change''- in life caused the person to sta(t
'a dventuring. Nobles or clerics might be sJJddenly dispos-
sessed by war or' family misfortune, great merchants might
have their fortune ruined, and any manner of disaster, or
simple wanderlust, might cause a person to abandon the "easy"
life and seek truth, justice for all, and ,everlasting fame.
ADVICE FOR ADVENTURERS: In childhood, the major
decision is whether to favor certain attributes (making the
character truly outstanding in those), or ):o divide EPs evenly.
Beware of short-changing strength and endurance, since
, such characters die quickly, Intelligence is critically impor- enced character has long-term advantages, although you
tant to would-be alchemists. Somebody will need to be the . must suffer with his or her poor skills during early adventures.
lead~r, and he or she should ha)!:e superior charisma (and a Fortunately the inexperienced learn quickly (or die trying).
good "Speak Common" skill). Also consider having a sec- The last occupation of a character before adventuring
ondary "battle leader" with good perception and superlative determines hi's or her starting equipment. Therefore, certain
fighting attributes, who takes over from the "meet and greet occupations are very useful immediately before adventuring.
leader" at appropriate times. / One of the most popular is a military pursuit, since the character
The first five years of ad 4lt life are the most important. ends up with weapons and armor. Knights, of course, have the
Characters receive a great deal of experience, allowing them best equipment, followed by Veterans, Captains, Manorial
to iearn a lot quickly. The next five years are also important, Lords and $oldiers, in that order.
although the experience gained isn 't quite so large. Afterthat
experience varies solely with the profession selected. Re-
member that many professions may adjust attributes as well
as offer opportunities for SKill increase. If you are depending
on a certain attribute, avoid professions that might reduce it!
. After age 30, aging begins to reduce attributes. Endur-
ance, strength and agility suffer first, then: perception and
charisma, and finally intelligence. The amount ofloss gradu -
ally increases, especially from age 45 onward. Old warriors Iron
may ha~e superior skills, but are very brittle, with less
endurance and strength than younger men and women.
Remember also that while adventuring can increase --your
skills, there's almost no way to permanently improve a.t-
tributes. Therefore, a younger, stronger, but less experi-
63
~ GERMANIC ENCOlJl~TERS ~
,
~A Land of Myth and Lege,nd ~ for farmirig. Typically, the lowlands and flatlands were cle'ared
Germany is a land rich in folk stories and fairy tales. Some can first, while the hil1s and mountains remained tree-covered, a -
be traced to· the pre-Christian age where barbarian Franks darkly ominous -presence that overlooks fertile valleys.
worshipped northern gods like OdLn and Loki. The Dark In Germany skies are overcast more than clear, with
Age~ spawn,ed the Siegfried myth: an invincible dragon- frequent storms from the North Sea. The colder air causes
slaYing hero doomed by an &ncient curse he~areles s ly ig- ground fogs that cloak val1eys and ' lowlfmds with a white
blanke~. Winters are cold and snowy. Steep roofs are preferred,
nored. Many of the fairy fales collected by the 19th Century
brothers Grimm come from the Middle Ages. Their random S9 heavy snow slides off, rather than collapsing. the building.
violence, capricious events, and conflicts between material The geest of Friesland, peopled by the Wends, is much
wealth ~nd proper social station echo popular concerns ofthe like the heath and moors of Scotland or Nova Scotia. The
late medieval and early modern eras (1400' to 1700). , land is very flat, tabling slowly into the North Sea. The
GEOGRAPHY: The Great~r Germany of Darklands has a'
. coastline is a huge wetland with large tidal marshes th ~1t
wide variety of geography. Except for the geest (heath) along disappear beneath the sea during high tide. Cold, biting
the North Sea coast, the entire area was originally dense winds off the North Sea dis.coura:ge trees, so the ground cover
forest. Open land only exists because man cleared the forest is mostly grass and brush. ....
Conversely, along the Baltic coast and to the east of the
Oder, the land is flat but heavily forested . The o~iginal Slavic
peoples, now heavily, mixed with German colonists, are stil1
sparse. Many future centuries wil1 pass before this region
beco~es known as "the North German plai,n.," In this age the
brooding Eastern forests evoke visions of barbaric savages
Faiding Christian farmsteads, even if the reality is more likely
to be a troop of Polish lancers charging battered, doomed, but
still defiant Teutonic Knights. '
Central Germany, between the ' Rhine and the Elbe,
south of the geest and north of the Danube, is a'fertile '\and
dominated by the Thuringian Wald (forest) and the Harz.
Both are low mountains covered with dense forest. Th'e Harz
is more rugged, wit~recipitoHs ravines ~nd-various places of
evil repute, including Brocken, a high; frequently clouded,
lightning-blasted mountaintop, and the Hexentanzplatz ("the
place where the witches dance"). The Harz is also a fine
mining site. However, some of the richest mines in Central
Germany are along- the slopes of the Etzgebirge (literally
"the ore mountains" ) near Freiburg and Dresden. .
.64
The Rhine River origi- have slavic roots; matly speak Czech. To Germans, Bohemia
nates in Switzerland, in' the is a slightly strange, uncertain place where one must expect
southwest corner of Greater the unexpected.
Germany. AS ' it flows north -
ward to the sea, most of its ~ ~ Ordinary Humanity ~
length passes through heavily FELLOW TRAVELLERS: When travelling the roads and
forested mountains and countryside of Germany, there are many common sights.
ridges. Eventually, between Travelling merchants with wagons and guards are'common-
Duisberg and Wesel, its delta place. Due to the bandits and tolls, many of these merchants
to the North Sea becomes a take uncomm~n or unexpocted routes, preferring natural
welter of waterways through hazards to hUlnan ones: Merchants are naturally nervous
Holland and Belgium. Al- about the intentions of anyone they meet.
though the Rhinelands are Another common sight is the travelling friar. Such en-
frequently rugged, there are counters are to be dreaded, since some friars use religious
more than enough fertile val- sentiment and the hint of eternal. damnation to virnially
leys and small plains to sustain extort almost anything from anybody, especially drink, money
a large population, in-cluding and food (roughly in that order!).
its many ancient cities. In war-torn lands, military scouts or entire armies are a
The Danube originates constant danger. Even worse is the risk of travelling into
in the Black Forest, near the lands under feud, where each side regards all others as
start of the Rhine, but flows eastward toward Hungary and potential enemies. During a feud ambushes, raids, and sim pie
the Balkans, The south bank is a great watershed of plains mu.rder are commonplace.
and marshes, formed by rivers flowing from tile Alps north A variety of other people also risk the rigors and danger
into the Danube. This fertile plain is the heartland of Ba- of travel, from simple vagabonds and refugees to boldly
varia, with the trading ci ties of Ulm and Regensburg, the bedecked noble, parties going to or from some tournament.
banking center of Augsburg, and somewhat to the north the' HUNTING: Germany is covered with dense forests, some I
famou.s craftsmen of Nurnberg. ' , " of them untouched by human habitation, while others grow
South ofthis, the Alps themselves form a mighty rampart on farmland left vacantafter the Black De~th. Unlike other .
guarding the heartland of Switzerland and the northern realms, nobles have few legal claims on the forests, which
Italian plains. Its ' passe~ aFe only open in summer. The aJ(ows more hunting by commoners. However, nobles-some-
jutting, ice-covered spires still inspire awe today. Medieval times claim any and a-ll acces-
man imagined all manner of places and things among the sible land, regardless of their
Lead '
inaccessible heights. legal rights, and might take um-
North ofthe middle Danube is the great basin of Bohemia, brage at "poachers,'· The best
formed ages ago by a giant meteor. Its,capital is Prag (Prague), way to avoid such entanglc;ments
but in this century it is most famous for silver mines and is to camp in remote areas.
religious fanaticism: the Hussites, followers of Huss and BANDITS & RAUB RITTER:
Ziska. Although Germanic in this age; the common people An extremely cOillQ'lon danger to n
65
at extorting river tolls. He preferred to .toss his victims from
his clifftop overlooking the river, enjoY1ng the screams as
they plunged to the rocks below. In fact, in 15th Century
Germany river tolls were so common and so costly that most
merchants preferred overland travel, despit~ its slower sreed
and greater difficulty. -
TH UGS AND THIEVES: Within cities life is more peace-
ful. Many cities are self-gove rning, with citizens forming a
council and/or serving in a urban militia that drilled each
weekend on a square or green . In times of danger, th.e militia
might be supplemented by a hired mercenary company.
These two sources provide the troops at the gates and walls,
as well as the nightwatch. Almost every city has a late-night
curfew, after which it is illegal to be on the streets until dawn.
Most German cities are well-regulated, wit·h clean streets
and a peaceful population. However, many have slums, run -
down areas inhabited by the poor and/or a criminal e.lement.
This is the most dangerous part of any city. The next most
dangerous activity is trying to stay outdoors or in a ruined
building, rather than spending money for a room at the inn.
travellers is bandits. The hills, mountains and fore sts of Thieves usually prey ' on the weak and defenseless; only
Germany provide innumerable lurking places for human rarely will they risk capture in the "better" parts of town .
scum. Bandits are frequently ~riininals banished or exiled Sometimes travellers find a city in th e midst of upheaval.
from more lawful cities and manors. Whenever a judge The citizens may be unhappy with the government, or vice
decided to banish a criminal (rather than mutilate or kill versa. Political stresses often require a certain amount of
. him), that criminal bec;lme a problem e lsewhere. Local jails violence, or threatened viol ence, before they are resolve d .
and dungeons are short-term "hold ing pens" until trials. To this end, " thugs" hired by each part y prowl the
Only prisoners held for ra"nsom or political purposes might streets, looking for suspicious activity and punishing it.
languish in dungeons for years. Urban politics is a dangerou!, and st ressful occupation
There are no long-term prisons for criminals in this e ra. in such circumstances!'
One is punished as necessary, then freed (if still living). Of
course, some bandits have good reasons for their occupation. ~ Beasts and Monsters ~
They might be dispossessed, struggling to live however the y In the 1400s Europeans had a fanciful and mythological view
can. Many were unemployed or defeated mercenaries. ofthe creatures inhabiting the world. Even the great natural-
The worst of these bandits are the "raub ritter, " or robber istic studies of the 1500s (Ambroise Pare and Konrad Gesner)
knights. A raubritter usually claims a small piece of territory, still included huma;l hermaphrodites, fur-covered women,
basc;:d on his possession of a fortress. Supported by his band . children with dog's legs, demons created by sorcerers, Ara-
of thugs, he extorts tolls of all sorts from anyone passing near. bian unicorns ; etc. Onl y some of the more common
Afamous Austrian raubritter on the Danube d'idn't just stop po<')sibilities and dangers are listed below . Always ex-
pect' the unexpected.
66 \ .
..
lV·
away unless starving: These creatures are frequently re- son ':Vho gives his soul !o a devil
ported in forests, but thefe are tales of. spiders found in can hav.equite unpleasantdesi'res!
mines, ruined buildings, and (once) inside.a cathedral. In a famous case of the late
TATZELWURM: This large, vicious lizard has two legs 1500s "Stubbe Peter" terrorized .
anq a long, whip-like tail. It is very agile, and is rumored to the 'area a;ound Cperadt and
have a poisonous bite. It fights tenaciously for its territory, Bedbur in Germany. Pe,ter was
.6 7
driven by unnatural lechery and lust for females, from small intelligent: beautiful in their own peculiar way, ~nd generally
girls to attractive women. He would chase down a victim as friendly, es.pecially if regularly giv.en offerings of food and
a wolf, transform to a man and ravish her, then transform back tools. They are many cases of hoJ.zfrau kindness to 'lonely,
to a wolf and kill her. He disliked most men ,' and killed lost humans in the woods.
his own son. . OGRE: The~e semi-human, large, misshapen, -but pow-
SCHRAT: This large, hairy, hulking creature of the woods erful creatures are a continual danger to mankind. They hide
is also known as the "wodewose." Roughly human-shaped; in the deepest forests and most remote mQuntains, to avoid
schrats are simple-minded, unable to speak, and frequently capture and death. Ogres are hunters: Their great favorite is
either angry or lustful (so )lluch so that another nickna'me is the taste of human flesh. Falling into their power is almost
"wild man"). Many have.greenish hair, and are mistaken for invari'a bly fatal. Fortunately, ogres are also stupid. More
small trees by some travellers. Others consider them de- than one potential victim has literafl y talked his or her
formed ogres. Little good can be ex'pected from a schrat; ifit way out of the pot!
cannot be avoided, it usually must be fought. Women should KOBOLD: These small, dark crea.tures iive underground,
be especially careful ar-ound them, as they could be captured usually within smallpacks in the rock. Their thinbodies and
and defiled. However, the schrat's companion, the hblzfrau, 's pindly limbs let them move through apparently impassable
is very different. areas. They ate hO:itile to all who invade their realm, but are
HOLZFRAU: This large, hair-covered but humanoid not especially brave or intelligent. They hate human miners,
female is also known as the "waldmannlein", "woodwife" or and frequently set traps, ruin ore veins,' cause fires, and
"faun." It is the normal mate to a schrat. Holzfraus are generally do their b~st to kill the' human inva,ders. Fortu.-
nately, individual kobolds are weak fighters, with poor
weapons and no armor beyond their leathery skin.
Sometimeskobolds are ruled by the far craftier dwarfs.
Then the situation depends on the attitude' of their dwarf
ruler. When directed by dwarf cunning, kobolds can become
very dangerous opponents.
DWARF: These semi-human creatures prefer. to live
underground, in mountain~ and/or caves. They are small,
dark, and slightly twisted. Cunning and dangerous, they
freq\lently rule a clan of kobolds apd/or. gnomes, Dwarfs
consider humans a numerous but inferior race, mostly pests,
but sometimes useful. Their gifts to human~ are frequently
double-edged, with both advantages and disadvantages. For
example, the famous Ring of the Niebelungen, made by
Albrecht the Dwarf from the cursed Rhinegold, caused the
death of all who owned it, including the hero Siegfried.
Some dwarfs ar-eJeputed to be great sorcerers and magi-
cians, which suggests they are in league with Satan, Presum-
ably, therefore, they can command some of the same powers
as witches and other satanic cults.'
..,
Few humans have ever seen a; vulcan, fewer still have ·
survived the encounter. Nobody has any real understanding
ofthem. The only consistent information is that they are very
active in some mountains, sometimes leaping from
mountaintops or ~migrating down a mountainside. Fortu-
nately, these events are brief, after which the vulcans once
again disappear underground.
DRAGON: The dragon is not a natural or living creature.
Instead, the dragon is an embodime·nt of evil, waiting for the
final battle of Armageddon <as predicted~ in Revelations).
Then it will fight with the forces of the Antichrist. Dragons
do not eat normally: the more they eat, the hungrier they
become, until they eat the entire world. A dragon cannot be
satisfied. The more treasure it has, the more it desires, until
it has the entire treasure of the world and goes mac) with the .
desire for more. The very existence of a·living dragon, with
.. its unnatural hungers, causes all types of sickness in the land,
spreading pestilence and evil.
Dragons are rumored to be intelligent, but their motiva-
tions are unknowable and certainly unnatural. As a foe, 'a
dragon is formidable: well armored, with powerful jaws and
GNOME: These art:; creatures of the rock itself, elementals
that embody the living spirit of the earth. Gnomes ar~ not tail, it can spit fir,e Gnd flame. Dragons have.been killeg in
. easily aroused, but some dwarfs and kobolds know the secret. combat, but usually with divine and/or magiCllI weaponry .
Certainly humans do riot, and do not really understand what Fortunately, the premature awakening of a dragon (i.e.,
motivates them. Many believe that gnomes are disturbed if before the final battle in"the apocalypse) is quite rare.
humans tunne,! into their homes.
Gnomes can cause tremors, cracks and quakes. They can ~Heretics and Devil-Worshippers ~
also leave their home in the rock and fashion a body from In this era the greatest threat to mankind is Satah himself.
loose rock and dirt. These incarnations are very dangerous Satan tempted man into sin, encouragirig all evils small and
but usually brid. Miners believe· that unnatural cave-ins are .large. Satan could and did appear to people in virtually any
actually gnomes briefly aroused by a kobold, dwarf, or per- form, offering any number of '
haps some human transgression. temptiltions. With the aid of ..-------~...
VULCAN:This is a creature of the deep underground, of Christ, man fights a constant Multiplication
the fiery depths where rock itself burns. Sometimes they are battle rIOt only to hold off evil,
called "fire elementals," but this implies too great-a univer- but to recover those under
sality. Vulcans avoid the surface or air, preferring the depths Satan's sway . .
of the earth. They may have existed before the fall of Satan; DEMONS: These creatures
it is unclear whether they just happen to inhabit hell,'or they ar~ sp~wned by Satan, theth
actually are controlled by its ruler transported to or materialized -
69
upon the earth. In their natural form, all are grotesque, with GARGOYLES: These wir1ged creatures are also denize ns
beaks, flippers , fish-eyes, rat-tails, and worse. Some are great ot judgment and h~ll. They appear on churches as reminders·
, .wizards and magicians, while others are no better than stupid of the evil in the wofld. Nobody really understands how
thugs, armed with clubs. A few might be strong warriors, but living gargoyles are brought into the world, but Qnce "alive"
Satan-worshipping h,u mans usually serve this role better. on Earth thyy cause desolation and destruction. They can be
Demon~ can be killed on earth, although many die quite killed like animals, but it is unclear whether they. die, or
slowly. However, an earthly death simply sends their spirit simply return to hell, like a demon.
back to hell, where their existence continues. Therefore UNDEAD: Witches and satanic priests, using methoCls
demons are almost never afraid of injury or death. unknown, are able to recreate a semblance of life in bodies
The appearance of demons is a sure sign that either otherwise long dead. These corps~s may contain va rious
Satan· or his henchmen/worshippers are near. Demons al- amounts of flesh , or may be purely skeletal, depending on
mos.t never appear randomly or on their oWn. their age. Communication with the undead is supposedly
HELLHOUNDS: These dogs of hell are demonic crea- possible, suggesting that when reanimated , the l:>odies retain
tures that serve Satanic masters. Larger than normal dogs, some of their former knowledge and abilities.
they are skeletal, with rat-like tails and large mouths full of WITCHES: Frequently female, these are people who
. ferocious fangs. have made a pact with a devil. They give themselves entirely
'Properly speaking, hellhounds are a specific species of into the power of Satan, and in return receive various unholy
demon. They ,are something like ever-hungry, ferocious, and evil gifts or powers. Some witches are solitary. Others
mad wolves. organize "sabbats" where they leaoa small congregation in
the unholy rites of devil-worship.
Witches ~ re known to have powerful curses, which can
cause sickoess or death. Witches can· summon spirts that
influence the minds of the unwary, causing illusions, unnatu-
ral emotions, and evil acts. This ineludes summoning Incubi
or Succub~ to lead "as tray the unwary. Witches can summon
demons for various specific, short purposes. Witches; using
var·ious invocations or ointments, can fl y on 'ordinary objects.
Witches can have their bodies. temporarily inhabited by a
devil. This occupation can transform their body into another
form and shape. Witches sometimes can change others from
human into beast form . Finally, witches have some command
over evil weather, and can sometimes call hail or lightning,
HERETICAL C ULTS: The unhappy condition of the
Church inspired various splinter groups throughout- the
Middle Ages. For example, the 9athars (sometimes termed
"Albigensians") created a splinter cult in the 1140s that was
a
eventually declared heresy, resulting in series of bloody
"crusades" in the early. 1,200s within France that extermi-
n'a ted them.
70
..
71
,
~ MEDIEVAL BATfLE ~
Combat in the late Middle Ages was far more than a battering prince could alford to equip an entire army in it. Only
match between plate-armored lackwits that ended in mutual rroblemen or the rich, who personally owned warhorses and
exhaustion. In this era personal armor reached its zenith, plat~ -armor, brought them .to war.
including not only plate armor, but also ha:nd-to-hand weap- There were also advances in missile weapon technology,
ons, as well as entirely new inventions such as the handgun. The now-traditional crossbow, refined and improved over
The 15th Century was the heyday of "gothic" plate the centuries, was joined by the handgun. Gunpowder artil-
armor, suits of which still grace various armories and castles lery (of uncertain quality) existed in Europe during the 14th
throughout Europe. The technology and craftsmanship de- Century, but man-carried weapons such a's the handgun were
. manded by true plate armor is quite astounding. new in the 15th. Well-ma'd e handguns offered greater dam-
Plate armor used steel rather than simple iron, but even age power and greater penetration over a longer range than
then complete safety was an unobtainable goal. Tournament any bow or crossbow. However, handguns were more ex-
armor provided the most-protection, but was too bulky and pensive and slower to fire than crossbows; which in turn were
cumbersome for most fighting. "Battle" armor was lighter slower than traditional bows.
and simpler, so men could move, use weapons freely and In hand-to-hand (mele,e) combat, the dominant military
fight all day, rath<;r than collapsing from exhaustion and heat concept of the era was the invention (or rediscovery) of the
prostration after a few hours. Howev.er, even a full suit of 16-man-deep "pike phalanx." Originally used by Alexander
"battle'" plate armor ,was extremely expensive. No king or the Great's Macedonians iw the 300s BC, pikes allowed
trained infantry to reliably repulse any cavalry charge, no
matter how heavily armed and armored the riders . This was
because horses simply could not'be trainee!- to impale them-
selves upon the forest of pike-points. Pike infantry was also
quite effective when it charged to the attack; some -even
considered 'it unstoppable except by better pike men . .
As a result, successful armies in the 1400s used a mixture
of pikes and various missile or melee infantry to defeat the I
pikes. Cavalry stilrexisted, but it was no longer the dominant
military arm. .
, Another result of the growing usefulness of inf~ntry was
its dramatic effect on a feudal society already fractured by the
Black Death.With infantry armies, any ambitious and wealthy
lord could hire troops, spend a few months equipping and
training them, and fiavea formidable fighting force . The
knightly codes and feuda) system quickly gave way to primi:
tive military capitalism. Now money was the most impo'ftant
element in prosecuting war. This produced enterprising
men who, for a fi~ed fee, offered to find, equip, train, 'and
lead appropriate troops. These entrepreneurs were the great
72
mercenary captains. Thei'r "free com~anies" (because they skill is lessened if he ~ifnultaneously faces other opponents.
operated free-lance), large and small, were an important part Bad-visibility and/or impaired eyesight further reduces the
of many European armies. chance of hitting. .
, Despite these changes, one thing remained the same. When firing missiles, the skill of the firer is compared to
Castles and tower "keeps" dominated all military s~rategy. the target's agility. Agility is reduced by encumbrance, so the
Primitive cannon only served 'to spur a new wave of fortress weight carried" by the target can be important. A man 'with
building and reinforcement, designed to wit)1stand ,bom- more than a light load loses agility, a'heavily-Iaden man has
bardment. Artillery technology was not quite advanced very little agility, and an overburdened man has virtually I
enough to batter down a well-built fortress (this would none. Shields are especially advantageous against missile
gradually change during the next two centuries), As a result, fire because the direction ·of attack is more predictable than
many wars that began with promising battlefield victories hand-to-hand strokes, even if the missile is too fast to see.
ended in long sieges, with no result beyond one or two _Visibility also plays a large role 'in missile -fire.
fortresses changing hands, For 'example, the great English Despite all these considerations; battle is still a flurry of
victory at.f\gincourt in 1415 did not end the Hundred Years blows, moves and coumer-moves that yield.-a proportion of
War. In fact, the "'lar had started iii. the 1330s and ended in hits and misses. Typically, a great advantage to one side
the 1440s - and then in a, French victory. In this sense, means it hits frequently, while the disadvantaged side hits .
m'ilitary affairs were still medieval: a man behind strong walls rarely, When considering tactics, remember that every fight
was a s1:rong man indeed. - . is a gamble. Even the worst opponent may have an excep-
tionally lucky day and sco~e a devastat~g hit!
~The Natur~ of Battle~ · DAMAGE: These risks are why warriors wore armor.
Despite the changes in military methods and equipment, Those who eXflect~d hand-to-hand fighting favored the
. personal combat in the 15th Century remained essentially heaviest armor ~hey could use comfortably. Therefore even
eyeball-to-eyeball. Even missile troops were obliged to get if the enemy 'scored a hit, the armor would absorb -at least
close, to penetrate the armor of their targets, Combatants 'some and preferably all of the damag;e. . ,
personally reached out to maim and kill. In Dorklonds, daQ1age to strength represents real, physi-
To this end, a wanior concerned himself with how to hit cal wound~ that take time to heal. Damage to endurance
his target, and what sort o-f damage he might inflict. Weapons repre~ ents exhaustion, shock and general battering. In gen-
an,d armor inter~cted in complex w~ys to produce various , eral, unless one is very unluclw or has very low endurance,
advantages and disadvantages. There was no one, universal endurance will reach zero before str~ngth, Therefore, fight-
weapon good in all situations. - - ers tend to ' collapse before they die. HiStorically, many '
HITTING THE TARGET: Hand-to-hand combat is a series battles involving thousands
of blows, where the- striker and his opponent compare their .of .troops yielded only hun-
-
Separation
weapo)1 skills. Each must have sufficient'strength to handle . dreds of dead, especially
his/her weapon well, or their chance of hitting suffers. Con- those battles which centered .- .-
'r -
versely, a man with extraordinary strength can beat as'ide his around face-to-face, hand-to-
'opponent and .have a superior chance of hitting. Shields, of hand figh,iing. ' . - -
course, can block incoming blows, reducing the chance of a hit. Therefore, with ' each
In addition, a striker's abilities are reauced if he simul- , weapon, one must consider its -
taneously fights additional opponents, while a ~arget ' s weapon armor-penetrating ability as ~ell - ~
\
74
..
\
to position yourself with lots of open ground between the " are so close. With a "Flee" .
firer and the target. Best of aU, slow the enemy's approach · move, a character can "edge '
witH te"rrain and/or stone-tar potions. . pasc""'an enemy far better. , :
_Crossbows, arbalests and handguns all have long reload- Group Movement:
ing times. Un-I«ss the enemy.also prefers a long-range missile This is convenient when ex-
duel, you;1l probably have time for just one shotbefore hand- ploring larg~ areas, but use-
to-hand fighting occurs. . less in battle. As soon as battle
It j.s possible to organize a party into two ranks, with the threate~s, change from group
first fighting hand-to-hand while the second supports them -co individual orders.
with missile fire . HQ~eve!, this requires exceptionally skilled , - ' On a larger scale, it is
missile users. Only high-skill charact~rs can "shoot past" also dangerous to split the
/ friends accurately. Those witb lesser skill will find their fire party.This invites one ortwo
blecked by friends in front of them. . of the party to be assaulted
- -' by the full force of the en-
~Movement and Position~ - emy, before the rest can ar-
In general, a party should try to position itself so the entire rive. In"effect, splitting tbe
party fights the enemy one by one. This allows you to "divide · party allows - the enemy to
and conquer." If this is impossible, the party might use terain ,"divide and conqqer" you.
or potions to slow down, delay, or confuse at least some of Ehe
enemies, while it concentrates on the rest. In some cases, a
well-armored and skillful character might step' up and en- - ~ Selecting Weapons ~
gage ~ultiple ene)Tlies ~ith "Pimy" orders, allowing the rest Each weapon has various advantages and disadvantages. In
of the party to concehtrate on the few remaining enemies. addi tion to the obvious ones relating to penetration, damage,
"FLEE" TACTICS: Th-is option is the orily way to "disen- · and one hands or two, there are more subtle distinctions. For
gage" 'a character from combat. The character need not flee example, all weapons have a minimum skill level. If the
far. Not.e that normal "Walk towards" orders often don't fighter's skill is below that level, hi~ combat abilities suffer '
allow disengagement, since the automatic "fight anybody dramatically. Weap,oI)s also have a minimum strength. In
within range" prevents the character from walking away from addition, some weapons have an upper' strength .threshold
an attacking eriemy (the character stops and fights instead). (usually between 27 and 35), beyond.which the fighter has an
When 'a~tually disengaging the entire parry from battle, extra advantage. Typically, the
. a common tactic is to have one or two characters act as "rear handier and lighter the w,eapon,
guard." The others flee behind them while the pursuing the lower this threshold. Siiver
enemies are stopped by the rear guard. Then the rear guard When compared to armor, a
disengages, hopefully covered by missile fi,re fro~ their weapon that "matches" the ar-
more distant friends. mor just barely penetrates it.
The "Flee" order is also useful when-trying to iqaneuver The weapon therefore penetrates
in"a crowded melee. Normal "Walk towaid" . moves don't , all poore~ armors, and cannot
work because the character. instantly stops because enemies penetrate a better armor.
75
Finally, all weapons are rated for speed. The faster the damage, but has poor peQetration (it matches scale). It
weapon, the more blows a fighter <;an deliver, and ,therefore requires less skill and strength to wield than the two-handed
_hits are more frequent. sword, aJlld usually is cheaper. : '
' HAND AXE: This one-handed weapon is similar in
~Edged Weapons~ capability to the falchion. However, it is easier JO handle,-
This. Category includes the various swords and a]Ces, de- slightly cheape'r, and slightly less destructive.
signed to cut, slash, and slice into an opponent. These are the FIELD AXE: This two-handed weapon is better suited
standard "aJl-purpose" weapons of the era, useful in almost to felling trees than combat. It barely penetrates cuirbouilli,
all situations. ' does modest damage, and weighs more than the smaller ,
Two-HANDED SWORD: This heavy, two-handed swords ' and axes. Its sole advantage is cheapness and
weapon is the most potent of all edged ~eapons. It requires easy availability.
skiU- (19+) and strength (21 +) . . Its penetration matches
briganQine or chain mail. The full damage effect is formidable. ~Impact Weapons~ '
LONGSWORD: This one-handed weapon is quick and These weapons are designed to achieve superior penetratipn
handy. It requires good skill.o8+) and reasonable ,strength against strong armor, but require superior strength and/or
(19+). Penetration matches scale armor an,d damage skill. Their damage potential is less than edged weapons, but ,
effects are large. the importance of penetraoting armor frequently made them
F ALeHION: This heavy, chopping sword was a favorite preferred weapons in this century. For example, the great
sidearm of the 1300s. It req uires less skill and strength, while , Hussite general Jan Ziska is traditionally portrayed carrying
achieving significant damage. However, its penetration only a military hammer. ' "
matcnes the best non-metal armors. GREAT HAMMER: This large, unwieldy, two-handed
SHOR:TSWORD: This smaller, thrusting sword is a quick weapon can penetrate plate armor. However, it requires
infighting weapon that requires moderate skill 0 ,6+) and considerable skill (20+) and strength (24+1, and does less
little strength (13+). Its main advantage is penetration that damage than a longsword. It is also an uncommon weapon,
matches chainmail and brigandine. However, it achieves made by specialists for specialists, at a high price.
only modest damage. _ ' GIANT CUDGEL: This extremely l}eavy, two-handed
SMALL BLADES: These weapon matches plate armor with sheer force of ,impact.
serve as common sidearms. Most cudgels were wooden clubs reinforced , with metal
PONIARDS have better pen- straps or bars. The weapon requires little skill (10+), 'great
etration (match chainmail strength (27+), and is relatively cheap.
and brigandine), while DAG- GIANT MACE OR MAUL: This two-handed weapon is
GERS do a little more damage. cheaper and easier to handle ('s kill 9+, strength 25+) than the
A character without any giant cudgel, bilt its penetration only matches chain and
weapons is presumed to have brigandine. It is a useful choice when giant cudgels are either
a SMALL KNIFE. This is easy to unavailable or beyond a fighter's abilities,
handle, but not very powerful. MILITARY HAMMER: This one-handed sidearm looks
BATTLEAXE: This lirge, like a small pick. The long point is good against plate (which
slow, two-handed weapon it matches), while the flat head on the other side can be 'used
accomplishes maximum like a ma~e. Reasonably fast and light (skill 12+, strength
76
.,
15+), it is the favorite sidearm of many knights. Its main charges. However, to be effe~tive it must be used in "blocks"
drawback is a poor damage potential. 8 ~o 16 ranks deep. Its penetration matches chain of.
MACE: This one-handed sidearm was extremely popu- brigandine. Its ch'eapness is a great attraction to nobles
lar, but is now outmoded by plate armor, which it 'cannot forming armies, despite the need for considerabl~ skill (21 +).
penetrate. The mace produces more damage tha.n the mili- LONG §.PEAR: This one-handed weapon can match scale
tary hammer, bu t req uires less skill (,8+) and strength (14+), armor, is easy to use (skill 12+, strength 20+), achieves
even though it weighs a bit more. reasonable damage, and is cheap. However, is it fairly heavy,
CLU B: This simple, one-handed weapon could be al- and somewhat slow.
most anything, including a small log or a heavy stick. Like a SHO.RT SPEAR: This weapon is a "junior" version of the
mace, it inflicts damage by concussion, but its penetration long spear, lighter and easier to han.dle,in all respects (skill
only matches scale armor. Furthermore, the damage is but 8+, strength 17+), but without 'sacrificing penetration. Of
slightly superior to a small blade. Fortunately, minimum skill course, damage is somewhat. less. It is among the
(4+) and strength (1 ~+) are both low. cheapest of all weapons.
a
HALBERD: This two-handed weapon has blade with
~ Flails C::i---' various points and/or hooks on the end, depending on the
These weapons-hav€ hexible ends, allowing the user to reach specific design. Although heavy 'and slow, its penetration
. up and over obstacles like shields or parrying weapons. Flails matches chain or brigandine, and it does fearsome damage.
are slower weapons, but can be very useful if the enemy It requires significant skill (19+), good strength (23+), and is
relies mainly o'n large' shields for protection.' fairly expensive.
Two-HANDED FLAIL: "['his large, slow weapon is based QUARTERSTAFF: This cheap, easily-fashioned Weapon
. on peasant tools used to thresh grain. Bohemian Hussite is no more than a 6' length of smooth wood. Its miserable
rebels favored this weapon. The big flail is powerful enough penetration barely matches ordinary leather, bu!.. it is very
to match chain or brigandine, achieves good damage, and fast and easy to handle (skill 10+, strt;ngth 16+). Should
requires only modest (20+) strength. However, it demands penetration occur, damage poteRtial is almost equal to a
some skill (18+), and is quite heavy. sword. However, it is a two-handed weapon, preventing the
MILITARY FLML: This familiar "ball and chain" use of a shield.
weapon, inaccurately termed a "morning sta'r," only matches
scale, but does as much damage as a longsword. Although ~Thrown Weapons <::::::o--J
fearsome in appearance, its utility in battle is .limited. All these are one-handed weapons. Historians still deba~e
how much they were used; for example, some accounts of _
, ~ Polearms C::i---' Agiricourt (1415) describe the
These weapons all have a long handle, ending with a blade; , English men-at-arms throwing Solution
poiut, or blunt end, a's appropriate. All but the quarterstaff axes at the French just before
are fairl y slow and heavy Weapons, but make up for it with the melee was joined, while oth-
penetration and damage. ers insist,that it never happened. /
'PIKE : This exceptionally long (18-21') and heavy (about THROWING AXE,: This is
17 lbs.) two-handed weapon looks lik~ an extremely long the heaviest throwing weapon
s'pear. It is a popular infantry weapon for stopping cavalry available, with damag~ power
, '
, equivalent to a sword if it conne~ts. Moderate skill (19+) is ' skill (20+) and modest strength (16+). Although unable to
needed, and thrown penetration only matches cuirbouilli or penetrate plate armor, it is fairly effective against anything
studded leather. ', else. Dam:fge potential is the same as the other bows, but its
JAVELIN: This light spear, about 3' long, is easy to cost and weight are ' less.
handle (skill 10+)", but rather bulky. Damage power. is supe-
rior to an arrow, while penetration rpatches,scale armor. ~ Mechanical Missiles C;-.t
, DART: Military darts ,are mostly or all metal, with a lead These devices fire missiles using mechanical or chemical
weight on the shaft for balance' and accuracy. Popular in th'e power. All of them require both hands. Gunpowder weapons
Balkans and beyond, darts are easily carried and requirywere first seen in Eu.[ope during the Nth Century, and then
modest skili'(11 +), yet their penetration matches scale armor. ' ' only as castle-smashing artillery, Man ~ por'table firearms are
Damage potential is also modest: slightly less than an arrow. new in the 15th Centl!ry" but by the 1460s and 70s many
In Germany darts are rare and somewhat costly, ' armies,had large forces of handgunners. "-
THROWING KNIFE: This lightweight weapon can pen- CROSSBOW: This is ,the standard mechanical bow used
etrate nOh-metal armor, but does little damage. ~xceptiQnal in Europe for centuries. Cocking mechanisms varied from
skill (30+) is required, belthook-and-stirrup to a simple mechanical lever. Cross-
bows can penetrate any armor, do as much damage as a bow
~ Bows ~ ~ 'arrow, are easy to operate (skill 14+) and require modest
Bows are t~e fastest-fi; ing long-range missile weapons ,strength (18+), However, they are weighty and reload far
, available,.-and quite popular thro'ughout Europe. However, more slowly than a normal bow.
bows are two-handed weapons, and the damage potential of ARBALEST: This is a much heavier version of the cross-
an arrow is modest. Men frequently survived multiple arrow bow that uses even slower reloading mechanisms, such as
hits, eSpecially if armor reduced the force of impact, hand cranks, It has superior penetrating power, does a bit
LONGBOW: Mad~ exc:Jusively in England, longbows more damage,and only requires a little mo're strength and
were imported to Germany across the North Sea, Still, these skill than a normal crossbow. Its great disadvantage is a huge
weapons are rare and costly, especially because the bow can weight (almost 20 pounds), not to ~ention a fairly high price.
penetrate all armor. This powerful weapon requires both IRON HANDGUN: This simple handgun is typical of
skill (25+) and strength (20+), , ' early, crude firearms . It barely matches plate armor, does
COMPOSITE 'Bow: This Asiatic weapon is the rarest, more damage than an arbalest, and requires less skill (12+)
most expensive, and most valu,a ble of all bows, Some Polish ~nd strength (17 +) , Unfortunately it is weighty (14 pounds),
and Hungarian cavalry use these weapons. Great skill (30+) and reloads more slowly than any other weapon, ,
andgoodstrength(22+}areneeded.~enetrationanddamage , BRASS HANDGUN: This is typical of the high-quality
is equal to a: longbow, but the overall weight and bulk is less handguns available from the best craftsmen in Europe. Its
- because it is designed for cavalry use. Construction meth- penetrating power matches an arbalest, damage is superior to
oCis are outrageously complex: Central Asian bowyers some- either C;rossbo», or a(balest, and both skill and strength
times needed ten or twenty years to correctly "cure" the requirements are a bit less than the iron handgun , It also
materials in such a bow! ' weighs less. Unfortunately, it is very expensive, and not
SHORT Bow: This is the ordinary, traditional "self' bow especially easy to find.
used throughout Europe and beyond, It requires moderate
78 \ '
~Armor~
In the late Middle Ages, two maj6r types of armor existed;
tourilan:ent and battle' armor. Many museums and simple
books about armor fail to distinguish between these types.
This leads simplistic writers to peculiar conclusions. For
example, many people think tournament armor was used in
battle, and. therefore can't imagine how medieval knights
managed to move, much less fight.
Tournament (or jousting) armor was designed purely for
this sport. It was intended to -full y protect the wearer from
injury. The armor was thick and heavy, with poor visibility in the 15th Century. many w~lI-equipped soldiers only
and limited motion. Such qualities were acceptable for tour- used plate armor on their vitals (head, torso, and sometimes
naments, put almost useless on 11 battlefield. This was es- the. hips). They then used lighter armor on their arms and legs . .
pecially true when battles were not decided by the crash of B~IGANDINE: This is a "coat of plates'" sandwiched
heavy .cavalry charges, one against another. On the Qther be twee n two layers of leather. Easier to assemble than true
hand, the use of extremely expensive; spe~alized tournament plate armor, it provides almost as much protection. Since the
. armor helped restrict that sport to the nobility and the very rich. basic materials include numerous steel plates, the cost is
The other armor type, battle armor, is the norm in high. Brigandine armor covering the vitals is common among
Darklands: This "every day" armor was worn by troops from infantry forces throughout Europe in the later 15th Century.
the guardhouse to the battlefield. It was a / compromise CHAINMAIL: This is the old, traditional' metal armor of
between strength, flexibility, and weight. Many times battle ~ uropean warriors. ~ade of sma~l, in terlocking metal circles,
armor was covered wi th cloth; other times men wore tabards It produces a fleXIble but stro ng garment., Chain skirts,
cloaks or robes on top , to reduce maintenance and moderat~ leggings, shirts; etc. are all common. "C hairi" provides as
temperature effects (armor can get very hot in the summer much protection as brigandine, with less weight, but at a
and quite cold in the winter). Almost all metal armor was slightly higher price. ,
worn over a padded, quilte'd "arming" garment th at reduced S CALE: This is th e cheapest metal armor5till in common
chafing, as well as a.b.sorbing the impact of blows on the metal. use, popular mainl y in Eas tern Europe. Scale armor is.made
Of course, the lines between the two armor types ca n of small metal sca les that overlap. The ove rlap conceals laces
blur. For example, some knights used some (but not all) of that hold each sc~le to il leather backing. Scale armor gives
their tournament armor in battle, and vice versa. poor protection against upward-thrusting blows, which slide
In Darklands there are five basic revels of armor protec- between the scales. Therefore
tion. Ranked from best to worst, these are (1) p1ate, (2) scale armor provides less pro- Sublimation
br~gandine an d chainmail, (3) scale, (4) cuirbouilli and stud- tection than bri gandi ne or
ded leather, (5) leather and padded armor . chainm a il , but .it is sig nifi-
PLATE ARMOR: This is the finest armor avai labl e. It is can tI y ·cheaper. .
made of articulated stee l plates that move with Lhe weare r, CUIRBOUILLI: The stron-
yet keep the'body comple tely covered. It is stronger than any gest nOI}-metal arf)1or available,
other types, but also quite heavy. cuirbouilli is stiff leather moul-
", '
ded into curved sections, then repeatedly dipped in boiling fOr limbs . Basic leather ,\"rmor provides less protection
wax. The re,s ult is so hard and stiff that it is worn in plates, 'than cuirbouilli or studded leather, but weighs and
buckled on like metal. , However, cuirbouilli provides less costs much less.'
protection than any metal armor. Of course, it also weighs PADDED: Also termed "quilted" armor, this protection
much less: a complete suit of metal armor might be 45 to 60 has two lay~rs of cloth, with rags and cloth scraps sandwiched
pounds, while complete cuirbouilli coverage .is only one- between. The layers are then cross-stitched in a grid:-pattern.
third to one-quarter of that. The cost i:; also much less This means a slash or puncture only empties the stuffing in
than metal armor. the pocket affected, rather than the entire garment. 'Jlhis
STUDDED LEATHER; This armor is stiff but flexible armor provides protection similar to basic leather, weighs
leather reinforced with metal rivets, coin-sized "plates," more, and costs less. ~
and/or metal rings. The combination provides protection
equivafent to cuirbouilli, but with fewer manufacturing ~ Shields C;-J
problems (and thus a lower cost). On the negative side, Shields are only useful when using one-handed weapons. In
studded leather weighs a little more than cuirbouilli. this era all shields,had a solid metal rim: with a face of wood
LEATHER; This ancient form of armor is used by those or light metal covered by doth or leather. The primary value
who value speed and agility more than protection, or those of a shield is in defending against missiles. Its protection
who can't afford more! Many armies saved armor costs by valuein hand-to-hand combat is secondary. As the penetrat-
giving infant~men metal armor for vitals a~d leather armor ing power of missiles increased, the ability of shields to stop
them waned. This is why most armies stopped using shields
entirely in the next century: they were ineffective against
the successors to the handgun.
SMALL. SHIELDS only weigh fiv~ 'pounds, and provide
the least additional protection. , ~
MEDIUM SHIELDS weigh ten pounds, but provide sig- ,
nificantl),: more p,otection.
-LARGE SHIELDS weigh fifteen pounds, and provide the
most protection.
~Death~
A character dies when his or her strength reaches zero (0). "
There is no way to restore characters from death. To avoid
this final end, either increase a character's strength or re~tore
lost strength through potions and/or the saints. Even if
.strength is only temporarily incTeased, when the potion or
miracle "wears off' strength will not drop below' one (1).
In.fong, extended battles and explorations, if your party
simply rests for a while (does nothing), you may regain a little
endurance. In mosts cases, though, endurance cannot be
regained until you lea~e)he action. '
80
...
I ,
~ MEDIEVAL ALCHEMY ~
Alchemy was founded as a "science" by the Greeks in that appropriate materials and catalysts. could be ,found to
, Alexandria during the Second Century AD. Its body -of create an elixir of eternal life, or at least a , powerful
knowledge was acquired and expanded upon by the MQslem healing potion.. . .
Arabs after they swept over the Middle East in the 700s. The Many medieval alchemists were showmen (or women).
Arabs also added knowledge gained from the Chinese, with They used simple reactions and experiments to impress
whom they had distant contacts. When the Crusaders from their audience - preferably a rich nobleman. Holding out
Europe invaded the Middle Eas't in the 1100s, they the hope of transmutation, they acquired important court
brought alchemy back, with them to k:urope, which positions and a good living, at least for a while. Even if the
qu)ckly spawned European eX:pe~iments. go ld never materialized, a flashy alchemist lent immense.
Alchemists were early chemists. By combining, dissolv- prestige to a noble's court. Fer example, the ri.c h and power-
ing, sublimating" or precipitating various materials, they ful Duke of Burgundy sponsored many alchemists. The most
could produce certain simple, predict~ble reac~ions. How- successful alchemists were v~ry charismatic and re,-
ever, without scientific method and vacuum pumps (devel- markably convincing.
oped by Robert Boyle in the t"600s), alchemists could not Alchemists were also secretive. They 'recorded materi-
discover gases, crucial to the true understanding of chemis- als, exper~ments and results in a code, a shorthand of unique
try. Some alchemists, including many successful physicians, and frequently private "scientific" symBols. These codes
were content to observe resu1ts and repeat certain tech- and ciphers were to discourage "theft" of their,' valuable
niques. Others invented various theories explaining the knowledge. Of course, this also prtvented anyone from
. phenomenon they observed. Many European alchemists examining their information and challenging it. It also greatly
had clerical training, so 'some were inclined to am.i bute enhanced the prestige of one who supposedly commanded
certain results to the actions of invisible demons, while this secret,' mystical knowledge.
others indulged· in philosophica-l speculations about the na- ALCHEMY FOR AOVE TURERS: In Darklands, the uni-
ture of the universe : Many famous l1!edie'Val phiLoso- versal -catalyst, the Philosopher's Stone, really exists. Novice
phers dabbled in alchemy, including Roger Bacon a:1)d ' alchemists have a limited, low-quality stonr;:, but with effort
Thomas Aquinas. . , .it can be im'proved, usually by trading with other al~hemists
The plethora of alchemical theory quickly led to wild and university scholars. Meanwhile, the budding alchemist
speculation. Alchemists,observed certain substances chang- must search the land for various raw materials and formulas.
ingcolor and form. Just as they could precipitate salt from The most effective approac,h to alchemy is specializa-
seawate r, so did they hope to precipitate gold from solutions tion. It is more useful to have
of base metals. Lead was a popularchoice because it was both one ' good alchemist than .four
Sulphur
inexpensive'and already quite dense. Many theorized that a poor ories, The single good al-
universal catalyst was the secret to this transmutation. This chemist can mix potions for the
catalyst was the "Philosopher's ,Stone." They understood
enough chemistry to know'that catalysts are not consumed·in
- reactions, 'a nd therefore can be reused. Hence the extraordi'-
n~ry value of a universal catalyst. In fast"some even hoped
entire party. This i~ possible
whenever a party takes up resi-
dence somewhere, including
city or village inns, as well as o
81
/
~Alchemical Materials ~
Darklands alchemy uses nineteen special substances, plus
four general "basFs" of common materials. These are listed
below in order of rarity (from the most rare to the most
common). Astute adventures will notice that these raw ma-
terials are extremely easy to carry, even in large qua'ntities.'
MARSH VAPOR: A natural gas, whose medieval admix-
ture produced a sharp smell. Acquiring and containrng this
vapor was extremely difficult because it.isyirtually colorless.
It is also known as methane.
NAPJ:lTHA: First used by the Arabs in incendiary de-
vices, it is a highly volatile, inflammable oil. Various types'
can be distilled from wood, coal, and petroleum. .
. MAN-GANES: A rare ore that, when refined, purified, and
heated, burns quite brightly. It is also known as magnesium.
ORPIMENT: This sulphur-arsenic compound is bright
yellow, can appear in large masses; and frequently figured in
important alchemical reactions. It is also known as
trisulfide of arsenic.
/ WHITE CINNABAR: This silvery-white metal is usually
camping outdoors. Provided you have decent skill, know the found ,as a powder, because.it is extremely brittle. It.is also
formula and purchase-sufficient ingredients, anything can be e'x tremely poisonous, but still useful (in s.mall quantities) as
created with enough time and luck. Of course, bad luck can a compound in certain medic.ines. Sometimes used in
cause destructive results. When creating characters, you may glassmaking, it is also Jmown as arsenic. ,
prefer older, more el'perienced alchemists, even if that BLACK BEAN: This material, originally acquired from
m'e ans weaker attributes. the East, is reddish-brown. It has a strong taste and certain
It is ;1lso possible to purchase potiohS, ready-made, from unique but temporary stimulating effects on the body. It is
other alchemists. However, these can be difficult to find and also known as cocoa.
costly to acquire: Furthermore, alchemy and other intellec-- ZINKBLBNDE: This clear, cleavable ore can yield a wide
tual skills may be needed for ,s uccessful dealing with variety of results in various situations. It is also known as
other alchemists. - sphalerite, or zinc sulfide.
Many alchemical potio,ns are useful in biltde. They can ANTIMONI: This silvery-white powder is very brittle,
I attack enemies, reduce their abilities, and improve character's and invariably contains other trace elements. It is resistant to
offensive or defensive abilities. The "Essenc,e of Grace," a certain chemicals, can be used as a hardening agent, and is
healing potion, is especially useful. Finally, when facing als'o known as antimony. .
fiery dr.agons or demons, "Firewall" is indispensable for AQUA REGIA: A very strong,' volatile and dangerous
those who don't know the requisite saints. acid, this can dissolve almost' anything, including people. It
is a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid. '
82 "
.
GUM: A sticky, resrlient aQd 'strong materiaf, .it ·often CHOLERIC BASE: A variety of acids and other liquids
includes pitch or resin. The _purer forms gener.ally were considered useful, including aqua fortis, vitriol and Rornan
imported from the Middle East. vitriol, alcohol, distilled water, etc.
MONDRAGORA: A natural substance, reputedly from a PHLEGMATIC B ASE: , A variety, of common minerals,
plant, with many mystical properties. such as kupfedcopper), lead, liIt;le (calcium oxide), quicksil-
ALUM: A very astringent powder, used in dyes and .ver, and kohle (coal),
baking powders, or alone to induce vomiting. At this time the
only known sources were in Italy and Asiil Minor (Turkey). ~Alchemical Formulas ~
It is also known as ammonium bisulfate, potassium alumi- There are 66 different alchemical formulas, divided into 22
num sulfate, or sometimes (incorrectly) as aluminum sulfate: different groups. Each formula ' group. has three variations,
CAMOMILE: A supposedly' rare plant whose dried leaves with each variation nilmed after its original source. Easier
have various properties; often medicinal. Actually, it is fairly formulas have lower magic numbers, )jut 'also , produce a
common, lmt easily mistaken. . lower-quality potion. The three versions are listed in order,
PITCHBLENDE: A mineral that is a lustrous brownish- from easiest to hardest, and thus from ' the .lowest quality
black; When added to certain procedures, it can produce a results to the highest. ,
slightly glowing material. It is also known as uranium oxide Formulas aI-soJ1ave various danger levels. These danger
or radium oxide. - levels are only important when mixing your own' potions. If
ZINKEN: A bluish-white salt that can improve metals, a mixing failure occurs, the danger level (plus a certain
especially steel.'It also has various medicinal properties. It is amount of luck) determinenhe size of the disaster. An
also known as zinc. inept and unlucky alcnemlst could blow up himselfand
, NIKEL: A hard, silver-white materi~l that can be formed the rest of the party!
inoo a metal. 'It is much more useful when mixed with other NOXIOUS AROMA: (NoxAro)Formulas from al-Razi,
materials, s11ch as steel, where itadds strength and durability. 'Gerard ofCremona, and Petrus Bonus. This potion produces
It j's also known as.... nickel. a powerful stink that reduces the agility, perception, and
BRIMSTONE: Pale yellow crys tals that burn with a blue skills of everyone within the cloud. Those closer to the
flame and emit a horrible stench (like rotten eggs). It is center are more powerfully affected. Duration varies with
sometimes 'associated wi,th demons and Hell : It is use- qual~ty , from about 5 to 15 seconds. ,
ful in many compound s, including gunpowder. It is al'so EYEBURN:- (Eyebrn) Formulas from Solomon,. Galen
known as sulfur. . " .and N.icolas Flammel. If this potion directly hits a character,
PURE GOLD: A dark yellow metal that is v,ery soft and he or she is blindt;d, immobilized, and significantly ham-
heavy. It is considered extremely valuable. At som_ewha't pered, Those nearby are ham-
, lesser purity it is formed in bars or small, thin round coins for pered, but not fully blinded.;
Water
monetary purposes,. _ Duration varies with quality,
, MELANCHOLIC (MELANC) BASE: A variety of plants from about 8 to 25 seconds.
considered useful ,in alchemy, such as bell mushrooms, SUNBURST: (Sunbst) For-
belladonna, camphor, hemlock, seed of sea holly, night- mulas from Africa, Raimundus
..shade, thorn apple, henbane, turpentine, etc. Lullus and ~rother Elias. This
SANGUINE BASE: A vaFiery of animal materials. such as potion is a flash bomb that blinds
eye of newt, toad tongUes, bat claws, powdered unicorn horn, etc. the enemy, who then act only in
83
.
I .
self~defense. Friends are not',blinded because the user warns armor is destroyed, any remaining power inflicts damage on
them in advance. Duration varies with quality, and lasts about 12 the person. The amount of armor quality destroyed varies
to 25 seconds. . ' with potion quality and luck, from 3 to 15.
BLACK CLOUD: (BlkCld) Formulas from the. Orient, ARABIAN FIRE: (AFire) Formulas from Geber, Zadith,
Rufinus of Genoa, and Michael Scot. ThiLeotion slowly and Hugh. This potion explodes into bits of flaming liquid,
creates a large, black cloud of smoke. This "smoke screen" like Greek Fire. The amount of damage varies with the
is very useful in many situations. However, it cannot be used distance from ,the burst. Armor does not prote'ct against this
in battle because the screen takes too long to form. weapon; in fact, armor also suffers quality damage from the
STONE-TAR: (Stonetr) Formulas from Sina, Albertus flames. Even metal armor is affected, as straps burn off and
Magnus and Robert de Keten. This.creates a puddle of sticky moving parts become pitted or misshapen. The quality of the
black goo that slows anyOne moving through it. The speed potion affects the amount of damage, as does luck.
reduction varies with the quality of the potion. After about BREATH OF D EATH: (BDeath) Formulas fr'om the
four minu.t es the puddle hardens, making the. area passable. Smaragdinian tablet, al-Kind-i and Simon Cordo. This potion
FLEADUST: '(Fleadst) Formulas from al-Razi, Nicolas explodes into a deadly mist that can injure or even kill
Flammel, and Richard Anglicus, This creates a cloud that anyone near the bursting 'point. Armor provides no'defense.
'causes horrible itching and 'irritation. The stronger a The quality of the potion affects the amount of damage, as
character's armor (on both vitals and limbs), the more his or does luck. The mist dissipates ~Imost immediately.
her skills are reduced. Duration varies with quality, from DEADLY BLADE: (DeadBld)Formulas from Hayyan,
about 20 to 60 seconds. Vicent of Beauvis, and Roger of _Hereford. This potion
THUNDERBOLT: (Thun- improves the amount of damage a weapon can inflict. The
dr) Formula's from al-Tami- increase varies with quality. The potion affects all weapons
mi, Maimonides, and Arnald except impact and flail types. Duration is about one day ..
·of Villanova. 'This potion STRONGEDGE: (StrgEdg) Formulas from al-Majriti,John
explodes like a cannon, of Rupescissa, and Petrus Bonus. This potion improves the
Damage varies. with potion penetration of a weapon. The increase varies with potion
quality, while penetration quality. The potion only affects edged weapons and polearms.
power is great at. the Duration is about one day.
explosion site, ~hen decreases GREATPOwER:(Grtpwr) Formulas from ibn Rushd,
quickly with distance. The Jildaki and Albertus ·Magnus. This potion increases the
explosion may also damage overall quality of a w~apon, up to a limit of 99. The amount /
armor (reducing its q'uality). of increase varies with potion quality. Only impact weap-
EATER-WATER: (Eat- ons, flails and handguns can be improved with this
War) Formulas from Solo- potion. Duration is about one day.
mon, Alfred of Sareshel, and TRUEFLIGHT: (TruFlt) Formulas from ibn Umail, al-
Gerard of CrefJlona. This Bitrujl, and John Dausten. This potion improves the accu-
powerful vitriol eats through racy of a missile weapon; that is, it increases ~he chance of a
vitals and limb armor of hit. The amount of increase varies with the potion qual-
wllOmever it strikes, reduc- . ity. Duration is 'about one day. '
:ing armor quality, When the
84
HARDARMOR: (HrdArm) Formulas from ibn Ya:tid, restored varies with the po-
Brother Elias, and Leonard of Maurperg. This potion im- tion strength. 'The restora-
proves the quality and thickness Of 9ne person's armor (both tion is permanent (i.e., the
vitals and limbs). Thickness increases one or two levels, potion acts as a "cure").
while quality imp-roves 20 to 30 points. Duration is one day. FIREWALL: (Firewal)
TRUES IGHT: (TruSgt»),ormulas by Arfa Ras, ~ufinus of Formulas by J,!bir, Maimo-
Genoa, and Leonard of Maurperg. This potion improves a nides, and Raimundus Lul-
perso n's perception. The', amount of improvement (10-30) Ius. This potion enhances ar-
varies with potion quality and luck. Duration is one day. mor quality, but only against
. NEW-WIND: (NewWnd) Formulas by Sina, Michael Scot, - ' flame attacks. Duration is
and John of Rupescissa. This potion temporarily increases a about one day. This formula
person's enduran~e. The amount of increase (7,16) varies is almost indispensable when
with the potion quality an'd luck. Duration is about one day. fighting dragons or demons
IRONARM: (lronarm) Fon'mtlas by Jabir, Robert de who haye flilme weapens. ,
Ketene, and Hugh. This potion temporarily 'inqeases a TRANSFORMATION: (Transf) F<;>rmulas by Morienus,
person 's strength. The amount of increase (7-16) varies with Avicenna, and Nicolaus of Autrecourt. Potions from this
the potion quality and luck. Duration is abo,u r one day. formula can be used to purify certain sites, and if one is very
Despite any wounds, wnen the potion wears off a per- fortunate, transform worthless metal into 'a florin of gold.
' son will Jlo t die for lack of strength. , Howeve r, all require a certain amount of pure gold to act as
QmCKMOvE: (Quckmov) Formulas by Rayyan, John "seed" material. Generally, the cost of the ,"seed" (i.e., the
Dausten, and Richard Anglicus. This potion temporarily components) exceeds the value of the florin that results.
increases a person's agility. The amount of increase (7-18)
varies with the potion quality and luck. Duration is one day. ~, ~~~~, ~
When the potion wears off, agility never drops below one (1).
ESSENCE OF GRACE: (EssGrc) Formulas by Galen,
Michael Scot, a~d Avicenna. This potion restores lost endur-
ance 'a nd strength, especially the, former. The exact amount
85
~ THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH ~
The Univetsal (Catholic) Ghurch in Darklands is 'b ased on had mistresses. Excommunications were invoked ·and re-
rhe historical Church as it existed in the 15th Century. The voked to suit immediate political e!1ds. "Indulgences" could
beliefs porrrayed are appropriate to the peopl~ of this era, Of be purchased that virtually pardoned any s-in - for a price.
course, the Church and the qeliefs in the game are nothing On the opposite end of the scale, priests in small villages,and
_ like the modern Catholic Church. In the late 1500s and early hamlets often were as pOQr as the peasants, ignorant of Latin,
1600s the Church 'underwent a dramatic change,' a vast unable to say mass correctly, and all too often sub.servient to
' 'house-cleaning'' during the Counter-Reformation th ~tcured the local nobleman (i.e., strongman). -
many ills and created l)1any new, vital institutions, Further- Many church ceremonies and beliefs were overlaid with
more, modern man frequently approaches the role of religion' superstitution and ignorance. 'the wide in relics was so brisk
in life quite differently from medieval man, that one cleric qUIpped thit there were enough pieces of-the
In fact, even during t!)e 1400s many people regarded the "True Cross" to m.a ke a forest. He was answered that tbis was
CHurch as decadent and/or 'confused. By 1409 it had no less just one more holy miracle!
than thre~ competing Popes (Benedict 'XU I in ' Avignon, This-confusion of altruistic theology and decadent reality
. Gregory XII in Rome, and Alexander V in eisa). In a series of led to a similar duality among the worshippers, the common
great cou'ncils-, thi~ chaos was resolved, but the remaining people of the land. Clerics might be viewed-with suspicion,
"one" ,Pope ,was quite poor, and his city (Rome) was threat- but nobody doubted God's existence, nor His ability to
ened by variolls invading ·powers. As ~ result, the Roman rewaTd or punish, either now or in the life hereafter. Belief in -
Popes of the late 1400s seemed more like secular princes miracles and divine aid was commonplace. The concept that
than theological leaders. For example, in 1492 Rodrigo Borgia saints interceded between a worshipper and God was e'asy to
become Pope Al9xander VI. His son and daughter (through a grasp, especially if a sail'lt was "useful" for specific things.
mistress), Cesare and Lucretia Borgia, are infamous to this day. Similarly, saintly relics might be ex-peered to provide specific
In addition to poor Popes, the Church suffered many kinds of aid.
other evils. Simony (the sale of church positions, usually to' A practical person coulp see a practical value in all this.
noblemen) was normal practice. Men who purchased these A miner would pray to St. Barbara, .while an archer might
pr,i esthoods, abbeys, bishop- choose St. Sebastian.Baving directed their prayers correctly,
rics or archbishoprics could each would confidently expect a little aid in their endeavors.
hold more than one, and fre- Even those who doubted might still pray; if only as insurance.
quently lived somewhere For simila'r reasons, clerics from friars to prelates were feared:
, else entirely! They entrusted they might command divine aid for themselves, or possibly
day-to-day -affairs to rapa~ visit divine displeasure on their enemies. The unspoken
cious subordinates who were threat of this was enough in many situations.
expected to extract sufficient , Mon,asteries in this era were a great church institution,
gifts, tithes; etc. to make the -many dating back to the Dark Ages. Here monks or nuns,
purchase~~rofitable! supposedly retired from all worldly affairs and devoted their
Despite the rule of celi- attention to God. In the darkest ages, monks kept alive the
bacy, clerics' from country 'flame of knowledge. But in this era,' many monasteries and
, priests to the Pope himself convents became corrupt. Some were thriving businesses
86
,with vast lands, competing with guilds and merchants. Oth- sa'i nts'as little more than demi-gods - :;ome.one to whom you
ers were great political states, such as the Abbey of Fulda, Prayed for a specific goaL Of course, some churches, cathe-
itself a minor principality, dra'ls, and monasteries encouraged a larger conception of
. A new development in the Middle Ages was the mendi- saints, especially their oWll' patron saint(s). Stilt even their
cant. friars, such as the FraJlciscans. Originally these were ' services and ceremonies promoted a sense of mystery, awe,
'trav~lIing-preach.ers and pilgrims, men who Uved on alms and and the miraculous. ' .
helped those in n~ed, emulating Christ's first disciples. Alas, , A specific method for canonizing saints did not exist
by .the 15th Century some friars were Ignorant louts or lazy until 1638. In the 15th Century saints included those recog-
beggars, living from largess. Others were charismatic confi- nized by the Pope as worthy. of veneration on'their appropri-
dence-men, making wild speeches and soliciting donations ate day, plus those popularly recognized in the region. Cer-
for imaginary purposes. ' tain saints' were extremely popular in some are'as, while
The 1400s were the' last and worst years of the "old" virtually unknown in others: L~arning about all the saints was
medieval Church. In 1517 Martin Luther posted his famous more than a lifetime activity foran¥ man, and complicated by the
95 theses, . sparking the Protestant Reformation, whic;h in fact that new peopl~ were hailed as saints at every turn.
turn sparked Jhe Catholic Counter- Reformation. These twin The saints in Darklands include many ,popular during
eve!1ts swept away the old Church. In its place....evolved_the - the Middle Ages. Many of these are no longer officially
modern Catholic Church, an orderly, carefully regulated, af!d venerated by inclusion on the Papal calendar. For example,
far mQre altruistic institution. . Barbara was a very popular medieval saint, one of the "four-
MORALITY iN DAR~ANDS: Ethics and morality,in the teen holy helpers" and the patroness of miners. In the later
Middle Ages was somewhat different from today. Violence Middle Ages -artillery gun- .
was a commory part of life. The general sentiment was that ners chose her as their pa-
fighting, per se; does not affect yirtue. The goal of the fight tron, while in the early mod"
wa,s the important thing. Virtuous goals made the fight ern period she was adopted
acceptable, petty or evil goals made it wrong. Of course; by archite~ts and builders.
people still treasured peace .. Constant fighting was consid- Today most scholars doubt
ered immoral too. that she even existed; her
Direct, physical anacks .against the Church, or pursuing name was removed from the
heretical activities '(such-as worshipping Satan) were wrong. Vatic;an's Calendar in 1969.
No matter what the situation or extenuating circumstances, SAINTS AND ADVEN-
it was never virtuQus to attack or Rill weak, defenseless T U RING: When praying to
clerics. Similarly, U/'lprovoked attacks on th~ged, the infirm, saints, the. "skills" of virtue
or the defenseless were reviled. However, should a Priest: or and religious training are in-
Bishop ~ttack with a sword, he could be fought without risk valuable. Every saint requires
to ,one's soul. a certain level. of virt,ue, so
the highe.r your yirtue, the
. ~ Medieval Saints ~ more saints are available for
. In medieval Europe, saints were one of the most pOpulslr prayer. Furthermore, if your
aspects of the Catholic Church. Their cults were many and virtue exceeds the required
'varied. People with a simple concept of dieineligion saw amount, the.re is a bonus to
yo'ur chance of success.
87
,
, , ,
The desirability of high virtue, and the requirement that AIDAN (Yirt 23) Jan 31; WdWs; helps with animals.
a person kn~w a saint before praying to him or her, might ALBERT J:HE GREAT (Yirt 39) Nov 15; Int, Per, SpkL,
suggest that a party have just one "religious speci~list." R&W, Alch. . , / .'
However, the divine favor.(DF) cost for each prayer can be AU:::UIN (Yirt 44) May 19; In't, SpkL, R&W.
very high. Frequently a character will exhaust all his or her ALEXIS (Yirt 28) Jul 17; improves Local Rep, Chr, provides
OF in one to three calls. Therefore, spreading saintly knowl- a little money if extremely' poor. '\. .
edge among the party can be useful, so all party members can ANDRE'Y (Yirt 14) Nov 30; End, Chr, Improves Local Rep in
pray to saints at various times, not just one or two. distant lands. -
The best way to re~tore- exhausted divine favor is to ANDREW THE TRIBUNE (Yirt 37) Aug 19; most Weapons.
spend time praying (while "staying here" in camp or at an ANTH-ONY (Yirt 35) Jan 17; Chr, Sp~C, SpkL, R&W~ Str,
inn), and to visit city churches and cathedrals for confession . End; may banish a powerful demon.
and mass. If you need to restore large amounts of OF quickly, · ANTHONY OF PADUA (Yirt 59) Jun 13; Str, Per, Chr, wImp,
large tithes or gifts to churches or cathedrals are appropriate. . SpkC, SpkL. ,
The rate at which OF is restored depends on a character's, ARNULF (Yirt 18)Jul 18; Str, Pe'r, Weapons, SpkL, R&W,
religious training. StrW, Ride. ,
The best way to learn about new saints is to visit monas- ApO.LLINARIUS (Yirt 78~ Jan, 8; Srr, End; frequently
teries and universities around the land. Needless to say, routs enemies',
knowledge of Latin, as well as Reading and Writing, are , BARBARA (Yirt 32) Dec 4; wMsD, Art( sometimes p~e-
crucial in researching information about saints. Good reli- vents death, . , '
gious training doesn't hurt either! BATHILDIS (Yirt 21) Jan 30; Int, Per.
BONIFACE (Yirt 25).tun 5; Chr, Weapons, SpkC.
~Dat:klands Saints ~ CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA (Yirt 46) Nov 25; Int, Chr,
It is quite unlikely that 'a nyone party will learn ' all the SpkC. . ,
different saints known in Darklands. The sheer size of CATHERINE OF SIENA (Yirt 33) Apr 29; Per, Chr, SpkC;
Greater Germany, plus the dictates of chance, suggest that at sometimes Senses evil or forsees future.
least some saints will remain undiscovered. CECILIA (Yirt 41) Nov 22; Chr, Improves Local Rep; can
The reputed aid saints can provide is summarized below, prevent suffocation or .drowning.
along with minimum virtue required and their saint day. CEOLWULF (Yirt 23) Jan 15; Str, Int, Per, Weap'tins, SpkL.
Actual aid may vary with the situation. IlllProvements to CHARITY (Yirt 40) Aug 1; End; may improve party armor
strength or endu'rance may be restoration of lost amounts, or against flame, greatly improves one pe·rson's armor
true 'improvements. "Weapons" indicates an improvement . against anything. ~ _
in all weaponry skills. "Translation" is a theological term that CHRISTINA THE ASTONISHING (Yirt 54) Jul 24; Agl, Chr;
means flying (moving through the air without visible support). sometimes allows translation.
For a key to the abbreviations, see page 93. CHRISTOPHER(Yirt31)JuI25; Str, End, wBow, StrW, WdWs,
Unless otherwise noted, the normal dur,a tion for sai.ntly , Ride; improves travel speed for a week.
aid is one day. CLARE (Yirt 33), Aug 11; Str. End; sometimes routs,
, satanic en.emies.
ADRIAN (Yirt 43) Dec 1; Chr, Weapons, End . CLOTILDA (Yirt 22) Jun 3; Str, End, Chr, Heal.
AGATHA (Yirt 24) Feb 5; Chr, End (more if female). COLMAN OF CLOYNE (Yirt34)Nov24; Chr, SpkC, SpkL, R&W.
AGNES (Yirt 19) Jan 21; improves Local Rep, Chr.
, \
COLUMBA (Vi~t 36) Jun 9; Str, End, Chr, wEdg, wImp, wFll, ERASMUS (Virt 32) :Jun 2; Agl, Per; improves party armor
wPol; temporarily lose some Per. ' , again ~ t flame or lightning; may help in deali'ng with
COSMAS (Vin 15) Sep 26; Str, End, Per, Heal ; learn of sailors or' seamen .
St. Damian. -ERIC (Virt 42) May 18; Str, Chr, Weapons, SpkC, Ride;
,CRISPIN (Virt 28) Oct 25; improves non-metal armor quality, ~ jmproves Local Rep in distant lands; may help in deal-
reduces enemy non-metaf armor quality., ings with nobility (especially evil nobility).
CYPRIAN (Vin 54) Sep 26; Int, ,Alch; may stop some EUSTACE (Virt41) Sep 20; Weapons except impact and flails,
satanic magic. WdWs, Ride; improves travel through forests for a week.
DAMIAN (Virt 30) Sep 26; Str, End, learn of St. Cosmas. fELIX OF NOLA (Virt37)Jan 14; Agl, Stlh, WdWs; may-help
DAVID (Virt 30) May 24; Chr, Int, Per, Weapons, Ride. you escape from prison-once.
DENIS (Virt 38) Oct 9; Str, End, Chr, SpkC; improves Local FINBAR (Virt 17) Sep 25; Per, Chr, SpkL.
, Rep in distant lands. FINNIAN (Virt 24) Sep 10; Chr, Agl, StrW, SpkC, R&W;
DERFEL GADARN (Virt 57) Apr 5; Str, End, Weapons. .allows passage over water. .
DEVOTA (Virt 26) Jan 17; Str, End, Chr; improves Local Rep FLORIAN (Virt 17) May 4; Weaponry, Ride, improves Local
, in c!istant lands; helps to escape or withstand torture. Rep in Austria and Poland; allows passage over water. ,
DISMAS (Virt 53), Mar 25; Agl, StrW, WdWs, Artf, Stlh (for FRANCIS OF ASSISI (Virt 10) Oct 1; End, Per, Chr, SpkC,
, entire pany); helps in prison escapes ,or dealings Virt; lose some wealth with every successful prayer.
with thieves. GABRIEL (Virt 56) Sep 29; Int, Per; may cause enemies to'flee
DOMINIC (ViN: 29) Aug 8; Int, SpkC, 'S pkL, R&W; may help battle; can sometimes 'see a person's mind or heart.
in dealings witlr Dominicans and inquisitors. GENEVIEVE (Virt 73) Jan 3; Str, End; can prevent attacks, or
DOROTHY OF MONTAU (Virt 52) Oct 30; Chr, Per, Heal; s6metimes prevent further fighting.
imp'roves Local Rep in NE Germany; helps to sense evil GE.ORGE (Virt 23) Apr 23; Str, Agl, Weaponry, Ride; weapons
intent; may provide a longsword to the needy. and armor quality improves. ,
DROGO .(Virt 59) Apr 16; Per, Heal, WdWs; improves travel GERLAC (Virt 34) Jan 5; Str, End, Chr, Weaponry, Heal.
speed for a week. G ERTRUDE OF NIVELLES (Virt 26) Mar 17; SpkL, R&W,
DUNSTAN(Virt45)May 19; Per, Weaponry, StrW, Artf, Alch;' WdWs , Ride; can help you to nearest city instantly;
may impr'ove metal armor quality and, reduce enemy . sometimes offers insights into ,the future . I
metal armor quality. . ' • GILES (Virt 45) Sep 1; Str, End, Stlh, StrW, WdWs; tempo- .
DYMPHNA (Virt 21) May 15; Agl, Stlh, l:Ieal, End; sometimes rarily lose some Agl and significant Weaponry skills;
routs satanic enemies. ' , provides some money if very poor.
EDWARD THE. CONFESSOR (Virt 5) Oct 13; End , I nt, Per; GILES OF PORTUGAL· (Virt 64) May 4; Int, Per, Artf,. Alch
Weaf>0nry, Ride; if anyon~ in party has virtue less .than (very large); suffer -1 Virt and a 1 point wound to Su.
20, their virtue is raised , but party loses wealth'. GODEHARD (Virt 39) May 4; End, SpkL, R&W; can prevent
ELIGIUS (Virt 29) Dec 1; Artf, Alch; certain weapons increase some natural disasters.
in quality. " , . GODFREY (VirtS5) Nov); End, Artf, SpkC; may sense eviJ
EMYDIUS (Virt 31) Aug 9; Chr, SpkC; may purify or destroy in cle rics; m ay prevent a fi ght. .
a satanic site. GODFREY (Virt 55) Nov 7; End, Artf, SpkC; may sense evil
ENGELBERT (Virt 40) Nov 7; Ch I-, WdWs, Ride, SpkC; allows in clerics; mar prevent a fight . ' .
passage over w,ater.
89
GOTTSCHALK (Virt 44) Jun 7; Weaponry; improves Local KESSOG (Virt 31) Mar 10; Str, End, Chr, SpkC, Heal, Ride.
, Rep in Wendish (NW) Germany. _ L~SDISLAUS (Vin 51) J un 27; Str, Agl, Weaponry, SpkC, Ride:
GREGORY THAUMATURGUS (Virt 74) Nov 17; Chr, Alch, LAWRENCE (Virt 20) Aug 10; End, Chr, SpkC, StrW; helps to
, ·Artf, SpkC~ may briefly improve all Attributes and Skills; escape or withstand torture.
useful in some desperate situations. . LAZARUS (Virt 80) Dec 17; Str, End; may ,reduce the P9ssi·
HEDWIG (Virt 16) Oct 16; Str, End, Heal; imp~oves Local Rep bility of death.
in Silesia; may encourage nobility to reveal information. LONGINIUS (Vin 49) Mar 15; WeapOluy, improves wea·
HENRY (Virt 61)' Jul 13; Int, Weap<5nry; helps in some pons quali1:Y. '
. dealings with nobility. Lucy (Virt 77) Dec 13; Str, End, Per.
HERJBERT (Virt 30) Mar 16; Str, Chr; helps in some dealings LUKE '(Virt 17) Oct 18; Str, End, Heal. ,
with farmers. . LUTGARDIS (Virt 60) Jun 16; Cl}r, Per, Virt; temporarily lose
, HERV'E (Yirt 47) Jun 17; Per; may sense evil in people. . some End;.-sometimes allows translation (Ievitatian).
,HILDEGARD (Virt 13) Sep 17; Per;'improves Local Rep in W MARGARET (Virt46) Ju120; Str, End (bath greater iffemale);
Germany; may provide dreams or VIsions of the future. some benefit to, other attributes and skills far females
I HUBERT (Virt 34) Nov 3; wPol, wThr, wBow, wMsD, Stlh, only; gives one character superiar protection from flames :
. WdWs; m'ay prevent problems with wo.odland anim~ls ~ MARGARET OF CORTONA (Virt 52) Feb 22; Su, End,
ILLTYD (Vin 63) Nov 6; Chr, Weapons, SpkC, ~ide. SpkC, Heal.
ISIDORE (Virt 21) May 15; Chr, SpkC, StrW; improves Local MARK (Virt 35) Oct 7; Agl, R&W.
Rep in distan.t-Iands; may-help in dealings with pea~af.lts. MARTIN OF TOURS (Vin 69)
ITA (Virt 85) Jan 15; Str, End, Chr, Heal. Nov 11; Str, End, Chr,
JAMES THE GREATER (Virt 25) July 25; Str, End, Chf, Vin; Per, SpkC, Ride; may
temporarily lose some Int; improves Local Rep in sense evil in people.
distant lands. / . , MATTHEW (Virt 26) Sep 21;
JANUARIUS (Virt 66) Sep 19; prevents many animals attacks; Int, Sp!<-L, R&W; may
with relic could prevent many attacks. help with bankers.
, JOHN OF ' BRJDLINGTON (Virt 36) Oct 2'1; Str, End (both MAURICE (Vin 81) Sep 22;
greater for females). , ' wEdg, Alch; improves
JOHN CHRYSOSTOM (VirrS7) Sep 13; Chr, SpkC, SpkL; tem- quality ofedged weapons.
porarily lose some Per; unavailable during some festivals, MICHAE,L (Virt 72) Sep 29;
JOHN CLIMACUS (Virt 20) M.ar 30; increases all skills propor- Chr, Weaponry, Heal,
tionate to the prayer's yirtu.e. , impraves Local Rep;
JOHN NEPOLMUCHEN (Virt 22) May 16; Chr, I nt', SpkC, may improve quality of
StrW; improves Lacal Rep in Bahemia, especially Prag; weapons and armor.
may fbrce a person to' speak the truth . MILBURGA (Vin, 71) Feb 23;
JOSEPH (Vin 2V Mar 19; Artf, StrW, sametimes Chr. Chr, Heal;, sometimes al-
JUDE (Virt 15) .oct 28; improves ,attributes and skills,., But lows translation (levitation).
some wears off quickly; may help in "hopeless" situations. MOSES THE BLACK (Virt 66)
JULIAN THE HOSPITALER (Virt 61) Feb 12; WdWs, Ride;' Aug 28; Weaponry, StIh,
aids, in crossing bridges, fords or ferries. StrW, WdWs.
90
' .
i
NICHOLAS (Vin 49) ~c 6; Agi, Chr, Ride; improves Local STANISLAUS (Virt 42) Apr (1; Str, End, Chr, SpkC, SpkL,
Rep in Lorraine, distant lands; may save ship,s in storms. improves Local Rep in Pola"nd. ,
NICOLAS OF TOLENTINO (Virt 31) Sept 1; Restores all Str, STEPHEN (Virt 27) Aug 16; Int, Chr,Weaponry, spkC,Ride;
. some End, improves Relg and Heal. - , improves Local Rep in Hungary (Press burg) .
ODILIA (Virt 25) Dec 13; Per, improvesLocal Rep in Alsace. SWITHBERT (Virt 25) Mar 1; Str, End, Chr, SpkC.
000 (Virt 47) Ju(4; Per, Chr, Weaponry, SpkC. TARACHUS (Virt 50) Oct 11; Ste, End, Chr; may stop anim~l '
OLAF (Virt 18) Jul 29; End, Weaponry. attacks. . '
PANTALEON (Vin 56) Jul 27; Str, End, Alch, Heal; may THALELAEUS THE MERICFUL (Virt 62) May 20; Str, End, '
discourage animal attacks; improve ~omeone's armor Heal.
'against flame; allows passage over water. THEODORE TIRO (Vin 38) Nov 9; Chr, Weaponry, Ride.
PATRICK (Virt 22) Mar 17; 'Str, Chr, wEdg, wImp, wPol, THOMAS THE ApOSTLE (Vin 24) July 1; Str, End, SpkC,
SpkC, SpkL, R&W; may improve armor against missiles. Hea,l, An~ Wdws. .
PAUL THE ApOSTLE (Virt 19) June 29; End, Chr, SpkC, THOMAS AQUINAS (Vin 68) Jan 28; Int, SpkL, R&W, Relg;
Spk:C,' R&W; improves LocaL Rep in distant land"s; may may help at universities or monasteries.
prevent escape from prison or hostage situations. VALENTINE (Virt48) Feb 14; Str, EQd, Chr, SpkC, Stlh, Heal.
PAUL THE SIMPLE (Virt 70) Mar 1; Str, End; temporarily lose VICTOR OF MARSEILLE~ (Vin 65) Jul 21; Str, End, Chr,
considerable Int; may permitone to see iritqanother's mind. Weaponry, SpkC.
PERPETUA (Virt 16} Mar 7; Chr; may discourage animal attacks. 'VITUS (Virt 48) Jun 15; Chr, Agl; may dispell a demon; when ·
PETER (Virt 58)juI1 29; Str, Chr, wEdg, SpkC, SpkL, Heal; travelling may get you to nearest city; success could
temporarily lose considerable Per; may allow escape cause person prayrng to collapse (End=O).
from prison. \ " WENCESLAUS (Virt 44) Sep 26; Str, Int, Per, Weaponry,
~ETER OF ATROA (Virt 62) Jan 1; Int, Per, Ride, Stalh, Alch; Ride; improves Local Rep in Bohemia,
but lose a little Local Rep permanently. " WILFRID (Virt 25) Oct 12; End, Chr, Artf, SpkC; improves
POLYCARP (Virt 1..9) Feb 23; gives significant flame protection travel speed for a week. "
to entire party. , WILLEHAD (Virt 35) Nov 8; Agl, WdWs, Ride; may cause
RAPHAEL (Vin 75) Sep 29; Str, End, Agl, Per, Heal; may enemy to hesitate during a fight.
purify or destroy satanic sites. ' , WILLElJALD (Virt 50) Jun 6; "C hr, SpkC, WdWs.
RAYMOND PENAFQRT{Virt 67) Jan 7; Il)t, R&W; helps with WIl.. LIBoRoRD (Yirt 43) Nov 7; Chr, S"pkC, WdWs; improves
chur~h law; a~lows passage over water. Local Rep in' N Germany. .
RAYMOND LULL (Virt 29) Jun 30; Int, Afch, R&W; restores ' WOLFGANG (Virt 24) Oot 31; Int, Chr, SpkC, WdWs, Ride;
some Str and ERd if extremely low. " may improve relations with villagers or nobles.
REINOLD (Virt 27) Jan 7; End, Alch, Artf; temporarily lose ZITA (Virt 23) Apr 27; End, Per"StrW; may provide infor-
some Chr; helps in climbing stone walls, finding secret mation from servants.
doors and passages.
ROCH (Virt 19) A~g 16; Str, End,. Artf, J-Ieal ; helps deal
with pl'agues . , .
SABAS Tim GOTH (Virt 64) Apr 12; Str, End, Chr.
SEI}ASTIAN (Virt 28) Jan 2Q; Str, End, Agl, Weaponry (espe-
ciaily wBow); Ride; 6elps deal with plagues..- ' ,
~1
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\
~ D~KLANDS RELICS ~
There are ~any holy relics in Darklands. The powers ' or effec;ts of ~ saint once a successful~call is made. A few relics
abili~ies of relics are both uncertain ahd miraculous. ca n even improve the attributes or skills of whomever carries
Generally, relics.only aid the bearer, not the entire party. them. In rare cases, other members of the party may be
Some 'relics are weapons of miraculously high quality; which affected as well. . ,
means that any hits the bearer scores will do exceptionally To I<;arn more about a relic 's effects, pass it arouna
large amounts ofdamage. Som,e relics may aid !l charac:ter in among the party members, call upon any 'related saint, arid
calling upon the related.saint., Other relics may 'improve the try us~ng. it as a weapon.
. '
.,
, \
~ ABBREVIATION S ~
Darklands uses numerous ab- End = endurance LngBow = longbow SpkL '7 speak Latin (skill)
breviations to save space on . FkSpr = forked ·spear LngSpr=longspeaf Stlh = stealth (skill)
various screens , For your con- Flail = military flail Lngswrd = longsw.ord StLthr = studded leather (aJmor)
venience, they are listed here, FldAxe = field 'axe , Lthr = leather (armor) Str = strength
FScim = flaming scimitar MdShld = medium shield 'StrW = streetwise (skill )
Agt-.= agility Fswrd = flam~ng sword . MilHmr = military hammer ThrKnf = throwing knife '
Alch = alchemy (skill) GntClub '= giant club Per = perception V = Vitals (armor area)
Arblst = arbalest GrtHmr = great hammer P Stone = Philosopher's Stone Virt = virtue (skill)
Artf = artifice (skill) GtCudg = giant .c udgel QStaff = quarterstaff wBow = bow weapon (skill)
BatAxe = battle 'axe Halbrd = halberd Relg = religious training (skill) WdWs = wood wise (skill)
Brgdn = brigandine (armor) ,Heal = healing (skill) Ride = riding (skill) wEdg = edged weapon (skill)
BrHG = brass handgun HndAxe = hand axe ' R&W = read and write (skill) wFll = flail wea~lOn (skill)
Chain = chainmail (armor) Irit = intelligence ShtBow = short bow wImp = impact weapon (skill)
Chr = charisma IrHG ,= iron handgun ShtSpr = short spear wMsO = missile device weapon (skill)
CmBow = composite bow Javeln = javelin Shtswrd == shortsword wPol = polearm weap'0n (skill)
CrsBow '= crossbow L = Limbs (armor area) SmShld = small 'Shield wThr ;" thrown weapon (skill)
Curb = cuirbouilli (armor) LgShl,d = large shield SpkC = speak common (skill) 2Hflail ,,; two-handed flail
OF = divine favor 2Hswrd ,;, two-handed sword
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93
~LEXICON ~
~Pl ace Names ~ ~ Other Te rm s ~
Certain cities and rivers have different spellings in German The German language frequently uses compound words.
and English. In most cases names with lfn umlaut,s'imply lose For exampre~ "alt" means high, and "dorf' means village, so
that symbol 'in English (i.e., Ltineberg becomes Luneberg, a hamlet named "Altdorf' is literally "the high village." The
etc.), or add' an "e" after the vowel (i.e., "a" 'becomes "ae"). short glossary below covers common root words, and com-
More significant changes are listed below. This includes pounds where they are frequently used terms.
prominent cities in modern Poland, Czechoslovakia, and
Hung~ry that have reverted to their Slavic names.
BERG: Mountain, but bften a tall hiH
BURG: Town, city, or other urban place
B RESLAu: Wroclaw BURGGRAF: Castle lord, castellean
B ROMBERG: Bvdgoszcz DIET: Congress
B RAUNSCHWEIG: Brunswick DOM: Cathedral ' .
B RONN: Bmo - DORF: Village or hamlet ,
,D AI:'JZIG: Gdansk DORFGRAF: Village count
D ONAU: Danube River ELENDESVIERTEL: Slum
K ONSTANZ: Constance ERZ-: Arch-, as in "Erzbischof' (Archbishop) or "Erzherzog"
K OLN: Cologne (Archduke) , . I
K UTTENBERG: Kutna Hora • GELEITSBRIEYE:Letter of safe conduct, used by me~chants
. LUXEMBURG: Luxembourg GRAF: Count
MARIENBERG: Malbork HAus: House or building
MONCHEN:-Munich HAUPTMANN: Captain or 1eader
N ORNBERG: N t1remberg HOLZFRAU: Woodwife or Waldmifnnlein, female creature of
NYMWEGEN: Nijmegen t!1e woods, frequently the mate of a schrat
OLMOTZ: Olomoue KIRCHE:' Church
POSEN: Poznan KLOSTER: Monastery
PRAG: Prague LEIHHAUS: Pawnshop
PRESSBURG: Bratislava LOSUNGER: Treasurer
STETTIN: Sczcecin MEISTER: Master
THORN: Torun, . MUNzENPLATZ: Mint
WEIN: Vienna OBERVOGT: High steward
PLATZ: Plaza, square or pla<:e
RAT: Council
/
, "
94
RAulmriTER: "Robber 'knight," from "raub" (robber) and
"ritter" (knight) ,
REICHSSTADTE: Imperial Free City
RICHTER: Professional judge
.RrrTER: Armed rider, knight
SCHLOSS: Castle . ~
'S CHRAT: Wodewose or "wild man" of the woods
S CHULTlfEISS: Baliff or judge, usually imperial
SCHULZ: Headman or knight-mayor
STADT: City _ ~
TURM: Fortified tower or ke¢p
UNIYERSITAT: University
VOGT: Steward, magistrate, governor
YoN': Sir, a knightly title (as in "$ir John")
WURM: worm, but frequently a lizard or scaled worm
ZEUGHAUS: Barracks
\ .
95
,
~ DESIGNER'S NOTES ~
Dark/ands is an ambitious attempt to expand the "world" of independent of each other. Lots of things are happening in
computer fantasy role-playing games. At MicroProse, we the world. You can be involved in whatever interests you! .
have grown tired of "hack and slash" adventures, punctuated This.. ~'non linear" aspect of Dark/ands means yo u can play it
by siUy puzzles blocking your acquisition bf the magic gizmo almost endlessly, or return to it from time to time, as the
that dispatches Foobash, the evil wizard. All this happens in inciination strikes. .
a world populated mostly with a random assortment of Since reality has so many possibilities, our biggest prob-
monsters, sometimes expanded by a similarly random assort- lem was deciding what not to include. Microcomputers, circa
ment of silly villagers, all of whom sprang from a bad imita- 1992, are still v~ry limited in-their abilities, as are corporate
. tion of Lord of the Rings. budgets. We trust you 'll' be understanding when you 'see
Unlike any other game in' this genre, Dark/andsls set in similar city layouts, artwork, etc. There simply isn't enough
I a real time and place. Dark/ands is fantasy because whatever manpower in the computer gaming indl,lstry to bring alive
'people of the era imagined-was possible, now really is possible. every deta·il: Therefore, we concentrated on the high Spots.
Then we took a few additional liberties for the sake of Hopefully it will inspire your imagination to fill in the rest.
gaming and playability. However, much care was taken to THE GAME SYSTEM: Darklands uses an innovative game
make this world be the rea/15th Century, as perceived by its system for computer fantasy. Until now, fantasy games al-
inhabitants. There are many different adventures in most universally copied the concepts of "Dungeons & Drag-
Dark/anus. Some are j nterrelated, but many are completely ons"@, including various "classes" of characters, who ad-
vance through various "levels" via "experience points,"
acquiring more "hit points" as they go. In such a syste~, it's
quite 'possible for 20th Level warriors to..absorb an entire
mercenary compariy's volley of crossbow fire, simply be-
cauSe the character has so many hit points-!
- There ale alternate and better systems available. They've
been used for years in paper role-playing games. Darklands is
the first to bring these concepts to computer fantasy games. I
96
,\
an
improper, remember that in the medieval era the pragmatic study each new situati9i'1. Even experienced 'player can be
a,nd the spiritual. were intermixed in ways alien to many surprised periodically with new 's ituations or results. Best of
modern philosophies. all, thi's menu system 'allows the game size and scale to be
',Most "Ja ntasy games have a magic system. Instead, quite large. You don't have to deal with endlessly boring
Darklands has religious and alchemical systems. It is,impor- ' details, manipulate specific objects, etc. Instead, you pick a
tant to remember that both are based.o'n forms o.f belief course of action- and see what happens! .
now repudiated. . , ' The battle system in Darklimds was designed with care.
The Church portrayed in Darklands has no relationship We wanted the realism of real-time fighting, including ani-
to the modern Catholic Church. For the sake of game play we mated effects, the clash of weapons, the ebb and flow of
emphasized the miraculous. Modern Catholics should be action. However, w.e've observed that it's either frustrating
j'ustly proud of the Counter-Reformation (in the 1500s and or impossible for a player. to control four o'r five characters
1600s) that c'Jea'nsed the,Church, sweeping ancient, supersti- ,fighting simultaneously in real time. We think "pause for
tious baggage away, along with' all sorts of daily evils and or.ders" is a perfect compromise between realism and
hypocrisy Out of that has come a vigorous; healthy, and far enjoya ble gaming. . . ,
more spiritual Church whose quiet' role around the globe is THE PRICE OF R EALISM:'Some play testers comp lained
more altruistic and beneficIal,than many imagine. Be assured about our use of monastic hours, medieval 'coinage and
that this game has no secret "hidden agenda" or religious selected German spellings. We agree it's a bit more difficult,
message, and our apologies'to anyone offended by a glimpse but we thi'n k it ma,kes the game environment "feel" reali stic
into one of , the ', leSs attractive aspects of European without ruining common readability. T~is is why we inClude
religious history. ' umlauts (which only cause '
. The "alchemy" of Darklands represents what some of minor changes iIl." pronuncia-
,the finest medieval'minds hoped they might accomplish with tion), but avoid , the essen, a
their art. Alchemy is the ancestor to modern chemistry. special character in the Ger- ,
However, without ,equipment to understand gases and no man alphabet that represents
concept of scientific method, alchemist~ were doom'e d to an ,"S8" in the middle of a word.
imaginary "science:" Modern chemists will see brief , The biggest problem 'is -
glimmerings of real reactive properties, but 'none of the coinage, 'mainl y because
"formulas" in this game produce t\le' results d"escrfbed. , Americans have been
Readers and garners should not try 'alchemy; studying real "spoil((d" by 'a ridiculously
'chemistry is far more interesti-ng and much more produetive. easy decimal system. Older
Perhaps the most innovative aspect of Darklands is the Britons will undoubtedly find
extensive use of menus: We choose this approach primarily the relationship between
or
becaus):: the traditional "guess the word" "hearthe canned pfenniges, groschen, and flor-
speech" methods bored us. However, this has a beneficial ins .more familiar, being not
side effect: Darkltinds is not constrained by a dina base of unlike their 019 penye,
~bjects' and act-ions. As designers, we could create any situa- schillings arid pounds.
, tion, with any options and results, simply by creating a new Similarly, the arms and
menu and attached logic. The only limits are design time and , armor available in the game
imagination! Of course, as a player this mea,:!s you need to are authentic. Historians ma~
/
"
,
, -
point out that thiJ}gs Uke cuirbouilli .and scale we're anti: witch hunters~ Some argue.' that the Inquisition, wirh its
qua ted in 15th Centu.ry Germany. However, such armor was methods and beliefs, created the idea of witchcraft, which
stili commonplace in Poland, RussLa, and many other locales : was then seized upo~ and believed by various desperate and/
Besides, who, says that relativ.ely poor adventurets could nef- , or unbalanced people. Others see satanic pract~ce~ as activi- _
essafily. afford most !TI0qem equipment? tic::s of real extreQlists, the "lunatic frmge" of various heretical
, - The region depicte9 ·in the game, Greater Germany, is culJs spawned by the transparent decadence of ~he medieval ,
not intended to be a justification for German ,e xpansion into Church. Recently, some h.is~orians have suggested tnat since
" neighboring countries, including Holland, France, 'switzer- .witchcraft was predominantly female, it ' was a- relatively
land, Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia. The game only harmless "device" women usc::d to -redress . the b,aiance Of '
shows the I?oliti'c~l conqitio'ns and borders of that era, rounded power in a male-domiqated society. A few go on to suggest
off to a conveniently square map area. The histOry of this . this sometimes expandedlnto a cult of self-delusion, caused by
region is so complicated that suggesting a:"righ'tful" owner to. using various natural, mind-altering drugs available at that time .
almost any territory is silly. Instead, we applaud the growing .Regard,i ng the Templars, most historian feel they were
European attitude that problems are best managed by people. "framed" by King Philip's need for' cash and betrayed by a
living together in harmony, democratically, with'out racial or captive Papacy at Avignon. Indeed,' subsequenJ 'medieval \
98
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99
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· ~ BIBLIOGRA:PHY~ '
.~ General History Co--J , Fuhrmann and Arnold are maiIlly for those interested in the
These volumes provide a-general background 'to either the early Middle Ages (1000-1250), included purdy as a courtesy ..
Vaughan's gre~t four-volume work on the Burgundian
Mid91e Ages as a- whole, or a sp~cific aspect of it. An astute
reader will discover that these historians have widely differ- princes (the las t two are noted here) is also quite fas-
ing theories, some of which clash with the analysis of Gothic cinating. '
Geimanyin the Later MiddleAges-~ F.R.H. Du Boulay, -
Germany given here. For spycific information about medi-
eval affairs, Green, Bi~hop and Fossier.,are the most 'useful. Athlone Press, 1983. , ' '
For the best overview ·of Europe in this era, choose Hay. Nuremberg in the Sixteenth Century, Gerald Strau's s,
Ba~~aclough is unmatched for providing'a detailed but well~
Indiana University Press, revised edition 1976.
gUIded path through the minefield of German meaieval- The Government in the Rhine Palatinate in the
development. For interesting if sometimes radical opinions, Fifteenth Century, Henry J. Cohn" Oxford University
see Huizinga and Aston. 0
Press, 1965 . . ' ,
Medieval Civilization In Western Europe ~ V.H.H. The Hansa, Johannes Schildhaus, K. Vanovitch trans.,
Green, St. Martin's Press, 1971. Edition Leipzig, J985. •
The Middle Ages,Morris.Bishop, Houghton Mifflin, 1968. 'The Princes and Parliaments in Germany, F.L.
The Oxford Illustrated History of Medieval Eu-, Carsten, Clarendon Press, 1959. ....
rope, George Holmes ed., Oxford University Press, 1988. Philip the Good, Richard Vaughan, Barnes & Noble, 1970.
The Middle Ages 1250-1520, Robert Fossier e~i., S.H: Charles the Bold, Richard Vaughan; Barnes ~&
Tenison trans., Cambridge Univer~ity Press, 1986. Noble, 1973 . '
Europe in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries Princes and Territories in Medieval Germany,
Denys Hay, Longman, s~c6nd edition 1989. . ' Benjamin Arnold, Cambridge University -Press, 1991.
The Origins of Modern Germany, Geoffre y _ Germany in the High Middle Ages (c. 1050-1200),
Barraclough, Capricorn Books, 1963 reprint of 1947 edition . Horst Fuhrmann, Cambridge University Press, 1986.
. AHistoryofDemnark,PalleLauring, Dorset Press, 1960. Social, Cultural -&
The Waning of the Middle Ages, J. Huizinga, St.
Martin's Press, 1924. . ' \-.QEconoinic History~
The Fiftc::enth Century, Margaret Aston, W.W. Many of these books intermix the social institutions of the
N onon, 1968. . early middle ages with those of later times. After the Black
Death, actual social pa,tterns :Changed greatly, ,even though
~Local and Political History ~ popular perceptions and attitudes took longer to catch up.
These books provide specific historical insights into the For this reason, Rossiaud, Geremek and Dyer are actually
important people and events of the region. The mest useful much more useful than the commonly available books of
'and highly recommended is Du Boulay, the definitive En- ' Rowling and the Gies famil y. For information on trade,
glish treatment of this subject. For a sense of detail ·and industry, mining , currency, etc., the Cambridge Eco-
specific issues, Strauss', Cohn and Schildhaus are the best, no'mic Histor..y of 1987 completely outclasses all other
works in the field.
100
, I
, \
Standards of Living in the Later Middle Ages 1200- Research Group) publicatio~s and the Osprey illustrated
1520, Christopher Dyer, Cambridge University Press, 1989. bOQklets remain the best available, despite attacks on spe- ,
The Margins of Society in Late Medieval Paris, cific information w~thi'n them.
Bronislaw Geremek, ]. Birrell trans., Cambridge University War in the Middle Ages, Philippe Contamipe, Michael
Press, 1971 (trans 1987). Jones trans;.>_Basil Blackwell, 1984.
Medieval Prostitution, Jacques Rossi-aud, L.G. Medieval Warfare, Terence Wise, Hastings House, 1976.
Cochrane trans., Basil Blackwell, 1988. Armies of the Middle Ages (volumes 1 and 2) 1300-
The Cambridge Economic History of Europe: II: 1500, Ian Heath, Wargames Research Group, 1982-84.
Trade and Industry in the Middle Ages, Postan & Miller Ar~ies of Feudal Europe 1066-1300, Ian Heath,
ed., Cambridge University Press, 1987. Wargames Research Group, 1977. _
Private Life in the Fifteenth Century, Roger Virgoe German Medieval Armies 130.0-1500, Gravett &
ed., Toucan Books, 1989. McBride, Osprey, 1985.
A History of Private Life, II: Revelations of the The Swiss at War, 1300-1500, Miller & Embleton,
Medieval World, Georges Dubyed., A. Goldhammertrans., Osprey, 1979. , .
Harvard University Press, 1988. Armies of Medieval Burgundy, 1364-1477, Mi.c hael
A History of Private Life, III: Passions of the & Embleton, Osprey, 1983. .
' Reriaissance, Roger Chartier ed., A. Goldhammer trans., The Agincourt War, Lt. Col Alfred H .. Burne, Green-
Harvard University Press, 1989. wood Press, 1916 reprint of 1956 edition. '
Everyday'Life in Medieval Times, Marjorie Rowling, Warfare in Feudal Europe; 730-1200, John Beeler,
Dorset Press, 1968. ' • ' Cornell University Press, 1971.
Life in a Medieval City, Joseph and Frances Gies, The Art6fWarin the Sixteenth Century, Sir Charles
Apollo, 1973. Oman, E.P . Dutton, 1979 reprint of 1937 edition"...
Everyday Life of Medieval Travellers, Marjorie Medieval Warlords, Tim Newark, Blandford Press, 1987.
Rowling, Dorset Press~ 1971. "Towns and Defence in Laeer Medieval Germany,"
Women in the Middle Ages, Frances and Joseph Gies; David Eltis,' Oxford.
Harper & Row, 1978 . . '~El1-rly Bow Design and Construction," McEwen, Miller
& Bergman, Scientific American, June 1991.
~Military AffairsC;--.1
We are greatly indebted to Professor Kelly DeVries fOJuse of ~ Geography C;--.1 _
his manuscript for an upcomin,g book on hite medieval The single best source of medieval German map information
warfare. Among the published sources, Contamine offers'the is the Grosser Historischer Weltaltlas, almost unobtainable
most useful general history, Wise th~ best military- and , ' in the United States.For basic topography, nothing beats.the
wargaming-oriented work. Burne has 'the best military his- Times atlas. For specific details about specific cities, the
tory of the Hundred Years W~r, the later half occurring in this Baedeker travel guides are quite ',useful, especial1y the- rare
era. Beeler and Oman offer useful insights to.preceeding and pre-WWI series. kindly lent to us by Bruce Milligan.
later eras, and are recommended to anyone who thinks Gmsser Historischer W~ltatlas - Zweiter Tei!
medieval or early modern warfare was "simple." For techni- Mittelalter("Greater Historical World Atlas - Vol. II, Middle
c~l information on arms and armor, th'e WRG (Wargames Ages"),JosefEngel ed., B~yerischer SGhulbuch-Verlag, 1979.
I
101
/
The Times Atla;ofthe W6rld,Sev'e nth Edition, Times ' ~Religion, Saints & AlchemyC:;--.J
Books, 1988. Maps by John Bauholomew & Sons, Li~- In addition to ttie works below; the various multi- vo l~me
ited, Edinburgh . , ' , ' editions of Bu.tler's Lives, revised as research continues, are a'n
Northern Ge'rmany, Baedeker's, Charles Scribner, 1913. excellent source of information. We feel Delaney is the best
Southern Germany, Baedeker's, CharlesScrib'1er, 1914. single-volume work, although short on interesting anec-
Belgium and HolIand,Baedeke(s, Charles Scribner, 191? dotes. Bokenkotter and Bossy present very sympathic ch'urch
Austria, Baedeker's, Prentice-Hall Inc. (for U.S. ed ~- histories; yet' even they find it ,hard to say many positive
tion), third edition, c. 1980s. ' . things about the Church in this era. ~hose who dIspute our
. Germany [West], Baedeker's, Prentice-Hall Inc. (for ,opinion of th~ medieval Catholic church ar~ urged, to read
the U.S. edition), c. 1980s. the!l1. Incidentally, both were acquired at a Catholtc-spon-
Switzerland, a Phaidon Cultural Guide, Prentice- sored bookstore. , .
HaH Inc., 1985. ' , For alchemy, in addition to various short pieces in histo-
Atlas of Secret Europ~, Charles, Walker, Dorset ries of chemistry or science, we found Holmyard's book-
Press, 1990. invaluable. The Book'of Abramelin is very interesting, but
its au'thenticity' has been questioned. Fabricius' self-pub-
~Folk TalesC:i--J . lished effort is amusing, but few give it serious consideration.
Nosingle.one of these b09ks is especially useful in itself. We Butler's Lives of Patron Saints, Michael Walsh ed.,
had to assemble bits and pieces from all of them. Harper & Row, 1987.
TheRing of the. Niblung, RIchard Wagn~r"M . Armour Pocket Dictionary of Saints, John J. Delaney, Image
trans., Garden City; 1939. Book ---'- DoubJeday, 1980.
German Myths and Legends, Donald A MacKenzie, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, Daivd Hugh
Avenel Books, 1985. . Farmer, Oxford University Press, 1987. ,
The Complete Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales, Lily Saints arid their Cults, Stephen 'Wilson ed., Cam-
Owens ed., Avenel Books, 1981. , bridge University Press, 1983. , ,
Grimms' Fairy Tales, Lucas, Crane & Edwardes ed./ The Medieval Imagination, Jacques Ie Goff, A.
trans., Grosset & Dunlap; c. 1940s. Goldhammer trans., University of Chicago-Press, 1988.
Werewolves in Western Culture, Gbarlotte Otten ed., A Concise History ohhe Catholic Church, Thomas
Syracuse Univers'ity Press, 1986. " , Bokenkotter, Image Book - Ooubleday, 1977.
On Monsters and Marvels, Ambroise Pare,J.L. Palhster - Christianity in the West, 1400-1700, John Bossy, 'Ox-
trans., University of Chicago ' Press, 1982 (originally pub- ford University Press, 1987. .
lished in 1570s). . • ,Alchemy, E.J. Holmyard , Dover, 1990 reprint of
The Bestiary - A Book of Beasts, T.H. White, 1957 book.
Capricorn Books, 1960. ' The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin the
I A Dictionary of Fabulous Beasts, Richard Barber & Mage, S.L. MacGregor Mathers trans., Dover, 1975 reprint
Anne Riches, Macmillan,-1971 . of 1900 book of manuscript reputedly written ih 1458.
Alchemy, Johannes Fabricius,Johannes Fabricius, 1989
third revised edition.
102
. ,
, .
~Magic
I
and .
Witchcraft~ ~Art and Architecture ~
Because of the "witch craze'" that Reaked in Germany in th-<t The images.in Darklands came from many sources, the most
late 16tl) and early 17th Century, historians 'are still arguing important being the l imaginati~ns and inner visions of the
what it involved, aDd what causes lay behind it. The Malleus MicroProse art staff. Many of the fo1l0wing were_used for '
Maleficarum is the key,source, while Russell's detailed analy- inspiration, rather than for specific items. Furthermore,,the
sis i's the 'best modern examination of all groups and events, list below is just' a sampling of the resources: used. Inciden-
done-with .remarkable fairness .to all possible viewpoints: tally, although Fraenger's book 'on Bosch has superb repro-
Norman Cohn presents a popular, modern, liberal view; ductions, his interpretive theories are rarely supported in'the
Montague Summers is a classic arch-conservative. Meanwhile ' , academic community. Similarly, while K"ch 's analysis of
.. Kieckhefer makes an interesting attempt to define "magic" med.ieval warfare is weak, but the plethora of period'illustra-
" in medieval terms, as separate from the witchcraft, issue. - - -"tions is avirtu,al gold .mine. ' · . .'. ,
. Malleus Maldicarum, Heinrich Kr~mer and Jam'es MedievalCities,How~rdSaalman,GeorgeBraziller, 1968.
Sprenger, Montague Summers trans., Dover, 1971 reprint of . Medieval Architecture, Howard Saalman, George '
1928 translation of c.1480s publication. Braziller~ 1962. , .
Witchcraft in the Middle Ages, Jeffrey Burton Russell, . Hier.onymusB.osch, Wilhelm Fraenger, H. Sebba trans.,
Cornell University Press, 1972. ' G.P.Putnam's Sons, 1983.
Europe's Inner Dem.ons, Norman Coh~, Meridian The Complete W.o.odcuts, Albrecht Durer, revised by
Book - New American Library, 1975. ' Dr.M ..Heffels, Ardine, 1990.
A Hist.ory.ofWitchcraft and Dem.on.ol.ogy, Montague Medieval Warfare, H.W.Koch, Prentice-Hall, 1978.
Summers, Dorset Press, 1987 reprint of 1925 ~ition . The B.o.ok.ofthe Medieval Knight, Stephen Turnbull,
Magic in the Middle Ages, Richard Kieekhefer, Cam- Crown, 19S5. ,
bridge University Press~ 1.989. Arms and Arm.or .of the Medieva. Kr,ight, Edge & .
Heresy and Auth.ority'in Medieval Eur.ope, Edward Paddock, Crescent,. 1988. _ .
Peters ed ~ , University of Pennsylvania Press, 1980. Germany - A Ph.ot.ography J.ourney, Rup.e rt
. The Magician, the Witch and the Law, Edward Pe- Matthews, Crescent, 1990. .
ters, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1978. Devils, M.onsters and Nightmares, Howard Daniel,
Witchcraft, Magic & Alchemy, Grillbt de Givry, J.C. Abelard-Schuman, 1964. ' ..
Locke trans.; Dover, 1971 reprint of 1931 edition. K.onrad Gesner: Beasts & Animals, Carol B. Grafton
, ed ., Dover, 1983 rep-rint of woodcuts from Hlth and
17th Centuries.
103
~CREI)iTS~
(OriginallBM Version)
,
Darkl and s is a tr~dCffi'ark.. of M icro Prose Software, In c. Prog ram and Audio -vis uals' Copy ri ght © 1992 by Mic roProse So1tware . Inc. , Hunt Va ll ey, Maryland
, 104
I
, Abbreviation~, 93, Character Infor~ation Box, 17,20 (Leadership indication),
Add to the Pa.rty, 12 , 2t(to accessing Character Information)
Agility (Agl), 23 (attribute description) Characters, 13 (creation oD, · 16 (saving of),,49 (retirement
Alchemical Formulas, 26 (knowledge of), of), 63 (creation advicet '
41 (how to read them), Charisma (Chr), 23 (attribute description)
, 83 (description of) , Childhood Experience (EPs), 14
Alchemical Materials, 41.(in .formulas) , 42. (use in making Chests (opening), 34-35
, potions), 82-83 (description of) Church, The (background), 55, 86
Alchemy (Alch), 24 (skill description )', 30 (creation options), Cities, 20, 49 (reputation), 58, 59-60 (size and attributes)
37 (throwing potions in battle), 41 (formulas explained), Collapse (of a character), 39
42 (making p'otions)',"43 (using potions), . , Create a Character, 12
81-85 (backgrqund), 83 (description of potions) Create a New World, 11
Ambush,27 - Creating Characters, 13
Armor, 25 (using and. un-arming) , 76 (analysis of), Creatures, 67-71
" 79-80 (descriptions) , Crossbows, 25 (using and un-arming), 7S-(description of)
Artifice (Artf),25 (skill description) CuirbouiI!i Armor, t5 (using and un-arming), ' .
Artificial Intelligence, 33 (default orders), 38 (enlightened 79 (descrip'tion of) ,
. self-interest) \, Damage, 33 (during battle), 39 (effects), 73 (analysis of) ,
Attributes, 23 (<lttribute description) , Death, 39-40 (in battle), 49 (in gen(,!ral), .
Attack 37 (pull-down mc:nu), 37 (orders in battle) 8.0 (advice concerning)
Battle, 31 (basic controls), 33 ..(information), 33 ("orders" Delete from theParty, 12 .
, menu), 35 (portals),36 (group rnovemeRt mode), 37 Delete Saved Game, 12 . '
("Attack" menu), 39 ("Real Time',' coiurols), 39 (results) - Difficulty Level, 19 (levels), 28 (use with me nus),
Berserk, 38 (orders in battle), 73 (tactical analysi's) f 48 (effec,t on fame) -
Begin Adventuririg, 15 (for a char<olcter); 12 (for the party) Disarm,Trap, 35 ("orders" battle command),
Begin Childhood, 13 , . . Discarding ~quipment, 26
Boar.ds (for Character Information), 22 Dissolve Lock, 35'("orders" battle command),
Bow Weapons (wBow), 24 (skill d(}Scription),. 25 (using and ' Divine Favor (OF), 23 (attribute description), '
un-arming), 78 (analysis of) . 46-4 7 (use and restoration) "
Brigandine Armor,' 25 (using and un-arming), Doors(in battle), 34, 35-36 (as portal)
79 (de5cription of) Edged Weapohs (~Edg), 24 (skill s~ill description),
Calendar, 21, 58 76 (analysis of) _ ' .
, Camping; 27, 29 (Staying Here olJtions) Encumbrance, 23
, Chainmait Armor, 25 (u-sing and un-arming), Endurance (End), 23 (attribute description),
. 79 (description of) , 80 (recovery in battlt!) ,
Character Jnform~tion, 22 ,Enemies, 65-71 '
105
\
/
E-quiPJllent, 25' (rules for use)" 28 (Item Exchan~e Scrblls) . Looting, see' ltem Exchange Scrolls, 28
Escape (from battle), 39 , . './ M,aces, 25 (usrng and un-armi-ng), 76 (description of)
Exchange Rates (money), 21 ' . , Main Men,u (initial options), 11 .
ExiiBattiefield, 35 ("orders" battle command) Map, 20, 27
Experience Polnt,S (EPs),. 14 (childhood), Medieval Era, 51
/ ' '[5. <adult occup~ti06s) , Menu Bar (in general), 18
Fame, 48 , ' Menus (Interaction), 27 ,
, Family Background, 'l3' Menus: Pull-down, 18 ("Game"), 19 ("Party"),
Flail Weapons (wH!), 24 (skill description), , ' 33 ("O'rders"), 37 ("Attacks") ,
. ' ,
77 (analysis of) . Missiie Device Weapons (wMsD), 24 (skill description),
Flee towards, 3il ("orders" battle command), '. 78 (analysis of) ,
73 (tactical analysis) Missile Fire, 37-38 (orders in hattie) "
Game (pull-down menu); 18. . Money (Medieva!), 21 '
Geogr~phy, M . Morality ~ in Darklands), 87
German Terms, 94 . Mouse Controls (in general), 17
Greater Germ.any, 52 (introducdon),..58 (cities), Movement, 27 (on map), 34 (or<;iers in battle),
64.(geographY) 39 (real-time controls)
Group Mode, 36-37" ,75 (tactic,al analysis') Narp.ing Characters, 13
Hall of Fame, 14,-49 ' Occupations; 15 (in .c haracter creation), 61 \desqiptions of) .
Halt, 34 ("orders" battle command) : . Open Chest, 34 ("orders" battle comma'nd),
Hammers, 25 (using and un-arming), 76 Cdescriptionof) Orders, 33 (pull-down menu), 31-38 (in battle),
Handguns, 25 (using .\ln~ un-arming), 78 (d'escription of) 33' (default/automatic orders)
Healing (Heal), 25 (skin description) Orders 'Pause (battle), 31
Help 'Controls, 19,28 Eadded Armor, 25 (using and un:arming), 80 (description of)
Heroes of Darklands, 12 Plirry, 38 (orders in,battle), 73 (tactical analysis)
Holidays; 5a- . Party, 19 (pull-down menu), 20 (party information)
Increasing Skills, J4 (initiaJly), 48 (during play) Party Information, 20 ~
Impact Weapons (wimp), 24 (skill description), Party' Leadership, 20, 23'
.' 76 (analysis of) Perception (Per), 23 (attribute description)
Initial Options 11 , , Philosopher's Stone, 41 (use of), 20 (current'value)
' Intelligence (1m), 2~ ' (attribute d~scriptjon) Pick Lock,)5 ("orders" battle command)
Interaction Menus, 27 Plate Armor, 25 (using and un-armi'ng), 79 (description of)
Introduction, 5 Polearm W~apons (wPo!), 24 (skill description), .
Item Exchange Scroll~, 28 77 (analysis of).
Keyboard Controls (in genera!), 17 Politics,(in Medievlll Germany), 53
Kill-a Character (during character creation), 12, 15 Portals, 35
L: Limbs Armor, 22 . • Pot.ions, 25 Jas equipment), 37 (throwing orders), .
Leather Armor, 25 (using and un-arming), 80 (description of) 42 (creation of), 43 (general use), 83-.85 (description'of)
Loading Saved Game, 14, 18 . , Prayer (during Interactions), 28
Loot Bodies, 35 ("orders" battle command)
106 \ '
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I ,
107
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~ Copyrigh t Notice ~ As a condition precedent to the warranty coverage pro-
Copyright ©1992 by MicroProse Software, Inc., all rights reserv'ed.vided below and to ensure identification, the original pur-
chaser must complete and mail to MicroProse Software, Inc.·,
This manIlal and the computer programs and audiovisuals on 180 Lakefront Drive, Hunt Valley, Maryland 21030, within
the accompanying flopp y disks, which are described by thi s 30 days i1fter purchase, the RegistrationlWarranty card en-
manual, are copyrighted and contain proprietary information closed in this product. To the original purchaser only,
belonging to MicroProse SOftware, Inc. No one may give or MicroProse SQftware, Inc. warrants the media to be free from
'sell copies of this manual or the accompanying disks or of defects in material for 90 days. If during the first 90 days after
listings of the programs on the disks to any person or insti- purchase a defect in media should occur, the software may be
tution, eX'c ept as· pr<:wided for bY:"written agreement with returned to MicroProse Software, Inc., who will replace the
MicroProse Software, Inc. No one may copy, photocopy, media at no charge. If at any time after the initial 90 day .
reproduce, translate this manual or reduce it to machine _ period your media becomes defective, the media 'may be
readable (orm, in whole or in part, without the prior written returned to MicroProse Software for replacement at a reason-
consent of MicroProse Software, Inc, Any person/persons able service charge.
reproducing any portion or'this program, in any media, for In no case will MicroProse Software, Inc. be held liable
. any reason, shall be gUilty of Copyright Violation, and shall for direct, indirect or incidental damages resulting from any
be subject to civil liability at the discretion of the defect or omission in the manu~l, or other related items and
copyright holder. processes, including, but not limited to, any interruption of
, service, loss 'of business, anticipated profjt, or other conse-
~Limited Warranty~ quential damages. Some states do not allow the exclusion or
NeitherMICROPROSESOFTWARE,IN~. , noranydealer limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the
or distributor makes any warranty, express or .implied, with above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you. .
respect to this manual, the disk or any related item, their , This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you
quality; performance, ....merchantability, or fitness for any may also have other rights which vary from state to state.
purpose. It is 'the responsibility ,solely of the_purchaser to · IMPORTANT: The above warranty does not apply if
determine the suitability of the products for any purpose. the you make any unauthorized attempt to modify or dupli-
Some states do not allow limitations on implied warranties or cate the product, or if the product has been damaged by
how lo'n g an implied war(anty lasts, so the above limitation ,accident or abuse. .
. may not apply to you. . .
,/
MICROPROSE
Entertainment· Software .
180 Lakefront Drive, Hunt Valley, Ma'ryland,21030
(410) 771-1151.
.'
ios
TM
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-~ ...... ..
··~PROSE'M
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ENTERTAINMENT . SOFTWARE
IBM is a registered trademark of Internat ional Business Machines Inc. Microsoft, MS, MS-DOS and Wind ows are trademarks of the Microsoft Corp oration.
~ CONTENTS & SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ~
..-.:::>Contents ~ CONTROLS: Darklands is designed for play from ei ther the
Darklands includes a manual, this supplement, a keyboard mouse or the keyboard. In this version, a mouse is required, but
controls summary, a map, and a set of either 5.25" or 3.5" high almost every option also has a keyboard equivalent. Experi-
density disks. enced players may find keyboard controls faster and easier than
the mouse .
..-.:::>Computer Systems~ GRAPHICS: A standard VGA 256-color display system is
Darklands requires the following computer system:
required.
COMPUTER: Darklands requires at least a 12 MHz 80286 SOUND: Darklands runs with a wide variety of sound boards,
("AT") IBM-compatible computer. An 80386 or better, run- including Ad Liband compatibles, Soundblasterand compatibles,
ning at 20 MHz or faster, is strongly recommended. MediaVision's Pro AudioSpectrum series, Roland's MT-32 or
OPERATING SYSTEM: Darklands is designed for Microsoft LAPC-1, and the standard internal speaker of virtually all IBMs.
DOS 5.0 and compatible operating systems. co FIG .SYS should Use the game configuration program (see below) to select the
have FILES = 20 or greater. sound system.
MEMORY (RAM): Darklands requires at least 595,000 80286 ("AT") SYSTEMS: Although we do not recommend
bytes (581 K) of free RAM in main memory, plus at least 65,536 these systems for Darklands,the game may run if you have suffi-
bytes (64K) of EMS (expanded) memory. However, program cient main and EMS (expanded) memory. This almost invariably
updates may change these values slightly. After installation, means you must have a special memory board that supports EMS.
consult the README file for the latest information.
Darklands is compatible with both LIM 3.2 and LIM 4.0 ..-.:::> QEMM AND SMARTDRV ~
standards for EMS (expanded) memory. (The LIM 4.0 stan- Darklands is generally compatible with current versions of popular
dard is used by DOS 5.0.) memory managers, such as Quarterdeck's QEMM, or Qualitas'
If, after installing Darklands, you find that your computer 386MAX. However, if you use QEMM and the Microsoft disk
has insufficient main or EMS (expanded) memory, we recom- cache utility SMARTDRV.SYS or SMART DRV.EX E, certain animations
mend you create and use a "Boot Disk." See "Notes to Advanced will not run properly. We recommend you avoid using QE MM
Users" for further information about configuration options. and SMARTDRV together.
FLOPPY DISK DRIVES: High -densi ty floppy drives (1. 2M B
5.25" drives or 1.44MB 3.5" drives) are required for installation. ..-.:::> Windows and Darklands ~
Darklands cannot be installed from low density drives. Darklands could be run by opening a DOS window while running
HARD DISK: Darklands must be installed onto a hard disk. Microsoft Windows 3.1 or later. However, we do not guarantee
It cannot run from floppy disks. The exact amount of hard disk software compatibility under Windows. If you experience prob-
space required by the current version appears in the READ.M E lems, exit from Windows to DOS and then run Darklands.
file. The Installation program (see below) will alert you if there
is insufficient hard disk space.
2
~ THE INSTALL PROGRAM ~
The Darklands install program gives you the following options, cannot detect your sound hardware, especially if it has a non-
which we suggest you use in the order given. standard configuration for addresses, IRQs and/or 0 RQ (DMA).
To run the installation program, put the first disk in the Therefore, you can select any option from this list.
appropriate disk drive, type that drive letter, a colon, and tap If the hardware option selected has special configuration
the Return or Enter key. Then type INSTALL and tap Enter or options, a second series of choices allows you to specify Speech
Return. For example, if you insert the first disk in drive "A:", Address, IRQ, and DRQ (also known as "DMA") options.
then type Standard default options are shown. Be careful with these
A:INSTALL choices - errors can cause serious problems for your system.
and tap Return (Enter). If you inserted the first disk in drive You may need to consult the set-up guide for your sound system,
"B:", type B:INSTALL and tap Return. If the install program will including notes made during its installation into your computer.
not run on your computer, contact MicroProse customer ser- If you have a Roland MT -32 or LAPC-1 sound system, and
vice (see below). a second system that supports digitized sound, after you select
DISPLAY README.TXT FILE: This includes the latest Roland, you may have a second set of options for your digitized
information and updates about Darklands. Review this first. sound support.
INSTALL GAME FILES: This creates the Darklands game No SOUND: If you select this as an option during install,
on your hard disk. Darklands must be installed on a hard disk to you cannot turn on the sound during the game. Instead, you
run. Because files on the enclosed floppy disks are greatly must exit to DOS and re-run the install program to
compressed, you must use the installation program to transfer reconfigure your hardware.
the files to the hard disk. The install program copies and CREATE A BOOT DISKETTE: This helps you create a boot
decompresses these files as quickly as possible. The amount of disk. You must have a formatted floppy disk for your A: drive
time varies with the speed of your computer (for example, a 33 to use this program. A boot disk is useful only if your computer's
MHz 80486 will run much faster than a 12 MHz 80286). normal configuration does not have sufficient main and EMS
RECONFIGURE HARDWARE OPTIONS: This option allows (expanded) memory for Darklands. Due to the wide diversity of
you to select the appropriate sound system for Darklands. The IBM-compatibles, a boot disk may not work without
program attempts to detect the sound systems supported by customization, and can cause conflicts with special types of
your computer. Devices lower down the list generally provide software. For more information, see "Notes to Advanced Us-
more advanced sound capability. In some cases, our program ers," below and review the notes in the README. TXT file.
~ GAME STARTUP ~
Once Darklands is installed and configured, you can either run C: drive, you would type:
it from your hard disk, or from your boot disk. CD C:\MPS\DARKLAND
RUNNING FROM A BOOT DISK: Insert the boot disk into and tap Enter or Return or Enter.
the A: drive of your machine, then start or restart the machine Now that you are in the correct subdirectory, type
(if restarting, you can just use the CTRL-AL T-DEL restart). If DARKLAND
the boot disk works, your machine will start up and begin and tap Enter or Return. The game will begin.
Darklands. Be aware that when running from hard disk, you are using
RUNNING FROM A HARD DISK: At the DOS prompt, the hard disk's machine configuration. This configuration
change to the subdirectory that contains Darklands. If you must have sufficient main and EMS (expanded) memory.
installed Darklands to the suggested default directory on your
3
~ GAME STARTUP ~
FAST LOADING: You can bypass the opening animation when you can re-run the install program to change the configuration
loading Darklonds by going to the correct subdirectory, typing (sound setup), view README.TXT, or create a boot disk. You do this
DARKLAND /Q from the· DOS prompt by switching to the Dark/and subdirectory
and tap Enter or Return. The game starts with the initial options. (CD C:\MPS\DARKLAND), type INSTALL and'tap Return.
CHANGING CONFIGURATIONS: After Dark/ands is installed,
Official Proof-of-Purchase
Please check game format here.
o IBM 3.5" 0 IBM 5.25"
S31TI0992 4
Character Information: ~Battle~
~ About Equipment ~ ENEMY INFORMATION: Due to space limitations, the informa-
QUICK SCROLL: You can scroll quickly through the equipment tion about enemies can be confusing. For each enemy involved
lists using the "PgUp" and "PgDn" keys on the numeric keypad. in the battle, enemy information shows a picture of the enemy
MASS TRANSFERS: If you wish to transfer all items of a and a descriptive title (such as "Sergeant," "Guard," or "Wolf').
certain type from one player to another, hold down the shift key Below that, the vitals (V:) and limbs (L:) armor is described.
while either clicking the mouse on the character box (if using Below that, if a shield is carried, its size is listed.
a mouse), or while tapping the appropriate number key (if Below that the character's current hand-to-hand weapon is
using the keyboard). This is especially handy for transferring, listed, followed by the character's skill with the weapon. For
say, 30 arrows at one time, rather than moving them one by one. example, "Halberd -poor" means the character is using a
MISSILE AMMUNITION: In Darklands, some missile weap- Halberd, but has poor skill.
ons require ammunition. Bows use arrows, crossbows use quar- Finally, if a character has a missile weapon, that is men-
rels, and handguns use balls. A missile weapon without ammu- tioned, along with the character's skill with that.
nition is useless. For simplicity, any bow can use any arrow, any Skill estimations are not included if you select "Expert"
crossbow any quarrel, and any handgun any ball. Missile am- difficulty level.
munition quality has virtually no effect on weapon perfor- A "+" after an attribute, skill, weapon, or armor indicates it
mance in this version of Darklands (but may have an effect in has been alchemically or magically enhanced. Beware of such
future versions or sequels). opponents.
IMPROVING ARMAMENTS: Potions or saintly aid used to ENEMY POTIONS AND MAGIc: Some enemy characters can
improve weapons or armor only apply to the weapon or armor use magic or potions to enhance others in their party (see above).
currently "in use" (appearing on the "in use" board). There- In addition, remember that enemy potions can affect your
fore, be sure to arm with the desired item before applying the characters. For example, if the entire party is stunned by an
potion or calling a Saint! enemy sunburst, your characters will not respond for a while.
Enemy potions and other magic can have strange effects.
~Travel and Interaction ~ INDEPENDENT THINKING: Sometimes members of your
FAST TIME: Darklands frequently illustrates the passage of party will have their own ideas about what to do in battle.
time with an animating clock-calendar timepiece. If you find Sometimes they may be hesitant to continue fighting. Other
watching this tedious, times they may ignore instructions.
(j) Don't~raSh!
FLAIL PENETRATION: The manual on page 77 is incorrect
simply tap the space bar.
ALCHEMICAL
in two respect. First, two-handed flails just match plate and
KNOWLEDGE: At vari-
penetrate chain mail or brigandine. Second, military flails just
-: ous points, you may be match chain mail or brigandine and penetrate scale. This makes
flails rather useful weapons.
I I asked to identify an
SAINTS IN BATILE: Do not expect saints to have much
I I alchemical symbol.
These are found in the effect on enemies while a battle is raging. Saints are more
I Your Official Proof-of-Purchase is I effective before a battle is joined. To this end, Genevieve and
I located on the reverse side. I bottom right corner be-
Godfrey help prevent battles with humans, Aidan, Januarius,
tween pages 43 and 83,
I The official proof-of-purchase is I listed alphabetically. Pantaleon, Perpetua and Tarachus have some use with ani-
I required when ordering a backup copy I mals, and Hubert is useful in many woodland encounters. It is
of your game, and when participating also worth noting that the demons in this version of Darklands
I in most MicroProse promotions! I are especially powerful: don't expect much help from
"----------~
saints against them.
5
ESCAPE FROM BATILE: If the enemy is chasing you, you can
~ Religious Issues ~
escape by running out certain doors or moving to certain edges on
In case you missed the notices in the manual (see pages 87 and
a ~attlefield. When you get to such a door or battlefield edge,
98), Darklands is not intended as an attack on any religion. The
sWitch to orders pause and pull down the "Orders" menu. If "Exit
game uses the state-of-mind in the later Middle Ages as a setting
Battlefield" is enabled as an option, you can escape.
for your adventures. The portrayal of religion is an historical
interpretation and opinion of the designer, Arnold Hendrick.
~ Protecting Your Game ~
Although MicroProse has spent considerable extra time testing
Darklands, a few problems may still exist. We suggest you save
the game periodically. If a problem occurs, restart from your
latest saved game. We would appreciate hearing about these
problems, so please send a brief description to: Darklands,
MicroProse Software, 180 Lakefront Drive, Hunt Valley, MD 21030.
6
they are not. To avoid this either include the virus checker on commands from desirable ones. Only mandatory commands
the boot disk (if memory permits) or adjust the virus checker to should be included on a boot disk. The "desirable" ones
ignore file changes and additions in the Darklands subdirectory. frequently take up precious memory space without being
In general, for safety we recommend that you try required for operation. The best method is to start with the
Darklands without a boot disk. The n, if yo u have insufficient boot disk. created by the install program (above), then add the
memory, back up your hard disk and create a boot disk. minimum commands to make the boot disk run.
If you have trouble, check your computer supplier for more
~ Creating A Boot Disk <:::;-.J information about the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT require-
The boot disk creation program used by "install" (above) ments of your machine.
moves the DOS system files onto the floppy (using a "SYS A:"
command), find s DOS HIMEM.SYS, a mouse driver (if any), and ~ Drivers & Improvements <:::;-.J
an EMS (expanded) memory manager such as EMM386.EXE, For safety 's sake, we recommend that all driver adjustments or
then copies them to the boot disk, and the n creates appropriate improvements be made to your boot disk, rather than your
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files. normal hard disk configuration. If using new drivers, just copy
If your DOS is standard Microsoft DOS 5.0, if you use a them to your boot disk.
Microsoft mouse, and if you installed Darklands into the normal SOUND DRIVERS: Darklands includes its own sound driv-
default directory (c: \MPS\DARKLAND), the boot disk CONFIG.SYS ers for many sound systems. In many cases you don ' t need the
and AUTOEXEC.BAT might look something like this: drivers supplied with the sound card. If space is a problem,
The config.sys: experiment with disabling yo ur normal sound dri vers in
DEVICE = HIM EM .SYS CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC. BAT.
DOS = HIGH, UMB MOUSE DRIVERS: Darklands was designed for Microsoft
DEVICE = EMM386.EXE RAM mouse drivers. If you use a different mouse, and experience
BUFFERS = 20 mouse-related problems, try new parameters. Sometimes chang-
FILES = 30 ing speed or resolution will solve the problem. In other cases,
The autoexec.bat: a newer driver may help. Also try the Microsoft mouse driver
PROMPT $p$G with non-Microsoft mice (it's worked for us!).
MOUSE.COM ADDITIONAL EMS (EXPANDED) ANDXMS (EXTENDED)
C: M EMORY: If you have additional memory, after the first 64K of
CD C:\MPS \DARKLAND required EMS memory, Darklands uses additional LIM 4.0
DARK LAND EMS (expanded) and XMS (extended) memory to speed game
The exact appearance may vary, depending on your initial operation. If using DOS 5.0 without special memory manage-
machine configuration. ment software , review the section on EMM386.EXE to find the
ADJUSTMENTS: If the default boot disk doesn't work, yo ur optimum memory configuration for your machine.
system probably requires special mouse, memory, hard disk, SPEED IMPROVEMENTS: Some parts of Darklands may
video, etc., drivers. These are almost always placed in the seem to run slowly. Darklands runs better on machines with a
AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS files . higher MHz rating. It also runs better on advanced micropro-
We suggest you examine the current CONF IG.SYS and cessors. We recommend an 80386 or 80486 running at 20 MHz
AUTOEXEC.BAT, try to find additional statements that may be or faster. Like most software, Darklands runs faste r on OX
needed, and add them at the appropriate places in the above processors, slower on SX processors.
files. The edit program included in DOS 5.0 is an ideal tool for this. A fast VGA board improves performance, such as a 16-bit
When considering what co mmand s to included in board (rather than an 8-bit). U nfortunately, Windows graphics
CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT make sure to separate mandatory accelerator boards do not help, as they improve Windows
graphics, not DOS VGA graphics.
Hard disk access speed has a significant effect on game ADVANCED CONFIGURATIONS: Our experience during
speed. If your hard disk has an average access time of greater development has been that independent memory managers
than 30ms, the game will seem slow. Hard disk cache software can be more effective than those included in DOS 5.0. Early
improves hard disk performance, especially for slow drives. On 1992 versions of Qualitas' 386MAX and Quarterdeck's QEMM
some machines cache software provides better performance both worked well with Darklands. However, we experienced
than just leaving the extra EMS or XMS memory free for the problems when QEMM loaded the Microsoft SMARTDiw hard disk
game to use (see "Additional EMS and XMS Memory" above). cache.We found that QEMM and either SMARTDRV.SYS /A or
On others, the internal game software provides greater speed. SMARTDRV.EXE / A frequently worked.
We suggest you experiment for best results.
8
Darhlands~
~ KEYBOARD G ENERAL C OMMANDS ~ iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii..-J
ENTERTAINMENT . SOFTWARE
Darhlands m
831Re 0592