RUBACUS A Blades of Exile Scenario Designed by Leon Lin (C) 1998 INTRODUCTION ------------ The big buzz about Sharabo Province is that there's lots of adventure to be had there. And they also say there's plenty of sun, lots of good drink, and other amenities commonly missing from dank, dark caves. Of course, Sharabo Province isn't exactly the paradise you heard it was -- not with its large swamps, roving bandits, and oppressive government. Still, there might be something interesting for you to do here, and maybe, just maybe, something going on behind everyone's back that's bigger than you imagine... HOW TO PLAY ----------- "Rubacus" requires a registered copy of Blades of Exile for Mac or Windows to play. The zip file that the scenario came in should contain the following files: rubacus.exs (scenario file) rubacus.meg (Mac graphics file) rubacus.bmp (Windows graphics file) rubacus.txt (readme file) rtrain.exs (scenario trainer) Mac users: Place rubacus.exs and rubacus.meg in the "Blades of Exile Scenario" folder. If you wish to use the trainer, place rtrain.exs in the same folder. Windows users: Place rubacus.exs and rubacus.bmp in the BLADSCEN directory. If you wish to use the trainer, place rtrain.exs in the same folder. If you have any difficulty with any of the files, please contact me at leonlin@ix.netcom.com. DIFFICULTY ---------- This scenario is aimed at medium level parties (levels 9-18). One that has finished the scenario "Valley of Dying Things" should do. If you don't already have a party that fits the bill, use the trainer on a totally fresh party; see the section "THE TRAINER" below for more details. Parties of other experience levels will likely find the scenario either too easy or too difficult to complete. THE TRAINER ----------- In case you don't have a medium level party ready to go, a trainer (rtrain.exs) is included with this scenario. Create a totally new party and then run it through the trainer once. This should raise each party member to about level 11 or 12, depending on race and advantages/disadvantages. 13,000 gold is also provided to train the characters and purchase equipment. Instructions are provided in the trainer. In general, a party created with this trainer will not be as well equipped as a similar level party which has actually gone through another scenario, mainly because they will not have many magic items normally gained in the course of adventuring. Nevertheless, parties created by the trainer should be adequate for the task at hand. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --------------- I can't thank my beta-testers enough for their help. Without them, numerous bugs would have gone unnoticed and unfixed. They also made many suggestions to improve the scenario. Thanks to Jamie "Skyle" Clark (at jamclark@kfalls.net), Ivan Godard, Brian "Stareye" Kiedrowski, Peter Twieg, Andy (at griffinp@ma.ultranet.com), Andrew Barton, and Elizabeth (at MAOSC@aol.com) for their efforts. The machine graphics were cut and pasted out of the regular Blades of Exile graphics set. Since I can't draw to save my life, I readapted one of the terrain graphics for use as a monster graphic. Thanks to Andrew Hunter for this and the other graphics in Blades of Exile -- I hope you don't mind me using the machine graphic in an unorthodox way! Thanks to Tarl Kudrick for his High Level Party Maker, which was adapted as the trainer for this scenario. And, of course, thanks to Jeff Vogel, for creating the incredible world of Exile and the wonderful Blades of Exile scenario editor. This scenario wouldn't have been possible without you. CONTACTING THE AUTHOR --------------------- Any questions, comments, or bug reports? Write to: Leon Lin leonlin@ix.netcom.com Have fun! VERSION HISTORY --------------- v. 0.9.0 - 10/4/98 ================== Initial beta v. 0.9.1 - 10/17/98 =================== Second beta. Numerous bug fixes and adjustments. v. 1.0.0 - 10/29/98 =================== First release v. 1.0.1 - 12/21/98 =================== Some players experienced a bug in the Tower of Nado in which the glass bead did not move at all on the conveyor belt. This appeared to occur after restoring a saved game. Leaving the level and returning fixes this problem. Unfortunately, in 1.0.0, leaving the conveyor belt puzzle was impossible. A teleport has been placed in the puzzle to allow escape before the puzzle is solved. Also, a set of coordinates in the graffiti was incorrect. It did not affect the puzzle's solution, but has been corrected for accuracy.