Sorcerer Playing Manual

Training Grounds

Once you have started the game, you will placed in the castle,which will be discussed later.

However,if this is your first time in the game you will have to create some characters to play with.To do this,you need to get to the training grounds.One of the options in the Castle is the Edge of Town.

Press it and you will see a list of further options, among them Training Grounds.Press it and you will be taken there.

The Training Grounds allow you to create a new character and prepare him for use. Before we go into the various options available, it is a good idea to learn exactly what a character is. A character is your "alter ego" in the world of Sorcerer. Like anyone,he has skills,abilities, and possessions. You control him by telling the computer what you want him (or her) to do. All the parameters and information about your character is kept on the scenario untill you wish to use him, and after you finish a game, it is returned and updated, Thus, you can continue to play with him over many sessions, and the more you play, the more capabilities he gets, and the more Challenging and interesting the game becomes.

Character Class Defined

There are 6 basic characteristics a character has.There are:
Strength-affects combat ability.
Wizdom and Piety-determins ability to cast wizard and priest spells.
Vitality-modifies amount of damage that can be sustained before death.
Agility-determines order in which attacks occur.
Luck-helps in many mysterious ways.

Based on the above six characteristics, your character may become one of eight classes. These classes are defined below. Each class has certain minimus scores which qualify a character for that class. Each class also has many abilities, advantages, and disadvantages. When you are first starting out, you will probably only be able to qualify for one of the first four clases. Later,as you become more powerful, you may qualify for entry into a better class. The class are:
FIGHTER-a basic man at arms. FIGHTERS need a minimum strength of 11. FIGHTERS have high hit points. They can use any armor and weapons, and are very good at combat.They may be of any alignment.
WIZARD-the sorcerers. WIZARD need a minimum wizdom of 11. WIZARDS have poor hit points. They can use only a dagger or staff as a weapon, and cannot use any armor except for a robe! However, they can use magical spells and may be of any alignment.
PRIEST-the holy man.PRIESTS need a minimum piety of 11. PRIESTS have hit points almost as good as FIGHTERS, and may use any armor or shield. PRIESTS may not wear helmets, and must use specifically consecrated weapons such as staffs and cudgels. PRIESTS do not fight as well as FIGHTERS but they can throw priestly spells. Additionally, PRIESTS have to the ability do Dispell! Some Monsters in the maze, collectively termed the "Undead" are animate only through the power of great Evil. These monsters can sometimes be forced from the normal planes of existence back to the abyss where they were summoned from. PRIESTS may not be of NEUTRAL alignment.
THIEF-requires an agility of 11. THIEVES get better hit points than wizards, can use daggers or short swords as weapons, can wear leather armor and use a shield. THIEVES are very good at circumventing the noxious traps that may be between a party of players and some loot. THIEVES may not be of LAW alighnment.
BISHOP-is a combination of PRIEST and WIZARD, and have advantages and disadvantages of both. BISHOPS have hit points intermediate to both, can wear leather armor and use priests' weapons. They use both of magical and priestly spells, although they do not learn them as fast as the other classes. While they start learning wizard spells immediately, they must reach the fourth level of ability before priest spells and the ability to dispell becomes theirs. BISHOPS also have the ability to identify the nature of magical items, thus not requiring them to pay the hefty charge levied for that service in the castle. However, there are some disadvantages to having a bishop inspect an item. If the bishop is not very careful, he may touch the item by accident. This will cause an EQUIP to be done, and if the item is cursed, the bishop will be forced to use it. Like priests, bishops may not be neutral.
SAMURAI-is fantastic fighters, and can use all FIGHTER weapons and armor. Thier hit points start out better than a fighter, but in the long run a FIGHTER has better hit points. At the fourth level of ability they slowly begin to acquire magical spells. SAMURAIS cannot be of CHAOS alighnment.
KNIGHT-is a combination of FIGHTER and PRIEST. They have the hit points and abilities of FIGHTERS but at the fourth level of ability they gain priestly spells, and the ability to dispell. KNIGHT must be of LAW alignment.
NINJA-is inhuman fighting machines. They can use any weapons or armor, but work best without any! When fighting without protection with thier base hands, they can cause havoc and destruction, and may even kill the strongest opponent with a single blow! Their great training gives them a lower and lower ARMOR CLASS as they reach higher and higher levels of ability. However, they get hit points as does a THIEF and gain no spells. Finally, they must be CHAOS.

CHARCTER STATISTICS

There are many other statics and abilities you must be aware of. These are:
ALIGNMENT-describes your character's outlook toward the world, and his general ethical status. The possibilities are LAW, NEUTRAL or CHAOS, Note that some classes have alignment restrictions, and be aware that LAW charactyers SHOULD not be allowes to adventure with CHAOS characters. Thus, LORDS and NINJAS will never adventure together, but a NEUTRAL SAMURAI could go with either. Alignment must be chosen when a character is created and cannot be changed through any normal process. Thus, you should be careful in choosing it.
RACE-You may be one of five:HUMAN,ELF,DWARF,GNOME,or HOBBIT. Race affects initial statics and resistance to various forms of magial attack.
LEVEL OF ABILITY and EXPERIENCE POINTS-When the term 'Level' is referres to in this manual, we may be referring to one of three different meanings: Level of ability for each character; the poer level of spells; or the floor level of the maze. In this paragraph, we are referring to the first. Experience points are awarded for killing monsters. Each time a party kills a group of monsters, each survivor gets some experience poinsts(EP).When the total reaches a certain value, you attain the next level of ability when you rest in the castle. The higher level you are, the more you need to earn to get to the next level, up to level 13 when the earned experience points become a constant amount. The amount needed varies depending on your class. Each time you make the next higher level, you gain more hit points, you may gain new abilities or better old ones (like fighting ability) and your six characteristics may change. Usually they will go up, but sometimes they will decline. the OLDER you are, the more chance of a decline! If you are able to throw spells, you may learn new ones and you will probably gain the ability to cast more of them. Since your characteristics are generally rising, you will probably get them high enough to qualify for a better class.
AGE-simply how old you are! After 50 you start getting more and more feeble.
GOLD-the amount of gold you have to spend.(This Game usually use GP for Gold Point.)
EQUIPMENT-the items you have. These may be mundane armor and weapons, or magical items of some sort. You can buy or sell them, trade them to others, use them, or find them in the maze.
ARMOR CLASS-a measure of how well protected you are. This measure includes armor and other things like hindrance and AGILITY. Bare skin is AC 10. A Sherman tank is abount AC-10. The abbreviation AC is often used to denote ARMOR CLASS.
HIT POINTS-the amount of damage you can sustain before death. Each time you are hurt a certain number of hit points are deducted. You can recover lost hit points, up to your maximum, by resting in the castle, or by the means of a magical spell, potion or device. The abbreviation HP will often be used in the place of hit points.
SPELL BOOKS-there are a set of small books each player has in which he records the spells that he knows.
SPELLS LEFT-these tell you how many spells of each LEVEL of POWER and class (magical or priestly) you can throw. There are seven LEVELS OF POWER, and the higher the LEVEL, the more devastatingly effective the spell is. Resting in the inn will restore a player so that he can cas t all the spells he entitled to. Thus, the amart spell caster rests up after each expedition.
STATUS-this records what the player's tatus is. Most often he will be OK. However, he could be ASLEEP, AFRAID, PARALYZED, POISONED, PETRIFIED, DEAD, ASHES or LOST forver, to name a few. When a character is not OK, he can be cured either by application of a spell or by hauling him back to the castle and paying for the service at the temple.

HOW TO CREATE A CHARACTER

There are many more characteristics which are stored but you never see. Now that you know what a character is all about, you can start creating one. The main page of the TRAINING GROUNDS has six options. To create a new character,choose "Create a New Character" option.

First, you can type in the name of a character you know does not exist. Next you will asked what trace and alighnment wou wish to be.

A new page will plot with various information.Now, in the rows marked STRENGTH,etc., a series of numbers will appear. Each now corresponds to one of your basic characteristics. STR=STRENGTH, and so on. These numbers are the base numbers for your race in each of the statistics. You will also see that you have some BONUS points. You can use these in any of your characteristics to raise them. Generally, you will want to add to one of the strength, wizdom, piety, or agility traits to allow you to qualify for one of the four basic classes, and use the rest in vitality. At this point you can: Press + to add a point to the current number. Press - to subtract a point that you had added from the current number. As you press + and -, your scores qualify you for a class, and the name of that class will appear on the bottom. When you have allocated all your points, and you qualify for one or more classed, choose one.
Finally, you will be asked if you really want to keep this character. If you press OK your character will be placed on disk, and you will be returned to the main option page of the Training Grounds. There is no need to record your character's name on a piece of paper. All characters you have created are stored on the disk,. To list your character's names, press "Show Character's Status".

Now, by selecting the name of your character, you will be able to inspect that character.Also, you will be given access to the following five choices:
Delete a Character- eradicates your character.
Change a Character's Class-This option allows your characters to become one of the higher level classes. Remember, to qualify for the higher classes, your character must have the correct alignment and the minimum required charactre traits. Part of the fun in Sorcerer is discovering things on your own. Thus, we have not provided you with the minimum required character traits for higher levels. Just access the Change Character Class option periodically to see if you have qualified. Your character will be given the chance to remain as he is with no adjestment to experience points or spells. You will be told which classes you qualify for, and you may press that class. If you do so, the character becomes a first level character of the new class with zero experience points, but he gets the following advantages:
he keeps his maximum hit points
he keeps the knowledge of the spells he may have learned in the previous class, and may cast one spell for each spell he knows. Additionally,he may learn new spells of levels in which he already knows one or more spells, but not any spells of other levels. The net effect is to give him some of the abilities of his previous class(es).
his character attributes return to the base statistics for his race.
Show Character's Status-let you see all of you characters's statistics and abilities. You will be shown the character's class, level, alignment, characteristics, hit points, gold, experiences, spell left and items, and you will have the option to look at his spell books. This page of information can be reached from many places and will let you do different things when displayed from different places. The only option available from the Training Grounds is the ability to READ SPELL BOOKS. Choose if you want to read Wizard or Priest spell books. Pressing either will then display the names of the spells of that class that your character knows.

Options available while inspecting your character include EQUIPPING, CASTING SPELLS, READING SPELLBOOK, TRADING, IDENTIFYING, EQUIPPING or USING ITEMS.
EQUIPPING lets you decide what of your character's posessions he will wear. A list of your weapons,armor, shields, and so on, will be displayed, and you may choose which, if any, you want to wear. Note however, that if you have found a cursed item you will be forced to wear it if you equip. That's why it is a good idea to have items identified.

CASTING SPELLS lets you cast various spells useful to the party. Some like curative spells that restore hit points, ask what party member is to receive the spell.

READING SPELLBOOK lets read your spellbook that records the spells that he knows.

ITEM lets you use items to cast spells, equip ,drop or identify item. IDENTIFYING is done only by bishops and lets them attempt to divine the true nature of an item.TRADING let you trade items to members of the party your character is adventuring with. Press TRADE will display a list of the characters in the party you want to trade with.You will be asked which item you want to give.

RETURN returns to wherever you were before you inspected.