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Finally uploaded the game documentation, or at least the first few pages of it. It is adapted from the original Mac documentation.

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<h1>Section 1: About Blades of Exile</h1>
<h2>About this copy</h2>
<p>This is Blades of Exile, a huge, highly-detailed Shareware fantasy role-playing system for the Macintosh. This remarkable set of programs contains nearly infinite possibilities for adventure. First, the game itself comes with three full, exciting scenarios, filled with excitement, puzzles, and role-playing. Then there is the Blades of Exile scenario editor, which you can use to make your own role-playing adventures to play yourself or trade with friends. Finally, you can obtain scenarios which other people have made with the scenario editor and play through them yourself. Even when you’ve finished the scenarios that come with Blades, you’ve only started to tap the potential for fun this product offers you!</p>
<p>In {TODO: insert year}, the source code of the game was released, and {TODO: put something here...}</p>
<h2>About Open Source</h2>
<p>This program is being distributed and licensed under the GNU General Public licence. You should have received a copy of this license with the game – if you haven't, it may be found online at <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0-standalone.html">this site</a>. This copy should, when you first receive it, contain a copy of the game, data files, four scenarios, and documentation.</p>
<p>The source code of this game is available at <a href="http://code.google.com/p/openexile/">its Google Code project</a>. If you wish to contribute in any way, email one of the project owners or post in the <a href="http://www.ironycentral.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=22&page=1">forum</a> to express your interest.</p>
<h2>Comments and Bugs</h2>
<p>Any comments and bug reports should be submitted using the form at <a href="http://code.google.com/p/openexile/issues/entry">the Issues page</a>. Please do so. We love to hear from you, and any comments can serve to make this game better. You may also submit suggestions for improvements there.</p>
<h2>System Requirements:</h2>
<p>Blades of Exile for Macintosh requires 3 MB of free memory, Mac OS X (10.4 and newer is supported; it may or may not work on older systems), 7 MB of hard drive space, a 13” screen, and 256 colors. {TODO: This section is probably out of date; update it.}</p>
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<h1><img src="../img/boe.gif"> <u><b>Blades of Exile</b></u></h1>
<p><i>Created in 1997, Spiderweb Software, All rights reserved</i></p>
<p>This document contains all the information you need to play Blades of Exile, a shareware fantasy role-playing game for the Macintosh and Windows. If you're new to the game, you may want to start with <a href="Tips.html">Playing Tips For Beginners</a>, <a href="Hints.html">Hints For Getting Started</a>, and <a href="Valleydy.html">Answers To Early Puzzles</a>. These sections will help you learn to play the game, and get past any serious difficulties you may have.</p>
<h2>Contents</h2>
<ol class="toc">
<li>About Blades of Exile</li>
<ol>
<li>About this Copy</p>
<li>About Shareware</p>
<li>Comments and Bugs</p>
<li>System Requirements<br>
<a href="About.html"><img src="../img/gobtn.gif"></a></li>
</ol>
<li>Playing Tips for Beginners<br>
<a href="Tips.html"><img src="../img/gobtn.gif"></a></li>
<li>Getting Started</li>
<ol>
<li>Starting Quickly</li>
<li>Introduction</li>
<li>Starting the Game</li>
<li>What Is Going On?</li>
<li>What is a party?</li>
<li>Getting to know your characters<br>
<a href="Intro.html"><img src="../img/gobtn.gif"></a></li>
</ol>
<li>The Exile Screen<br>
<a href="Screen.html"><img src="../img/gobtn.gif"></a></li>
<li>The Exile Menu<br>
<a href="Menus.html"><img src="../img/gobtn.gif"></a></li>
<li>Getting Around Town<br>
<a href="Town.html"><img src="../img/gobtn.gif"></a></li>
<li>Getting Around the Outdoors<br>
<a href="Outdoors.html"><img src="../img/gobtn.gif"></a></li>
<li>Killing Stuff<br>
<a href="Combat.html"><img src="../img/gobtn.gif"></a></li>
<li>Miscellaneous</p>
<ol>
<li>Material Wealth</p>
<li>Magic</p>
<li>Magic Walls and Barriers</p>
<li>Summoned Monsters</p>
<li>Credits<br>
</ol>
<a href="Misc.html"><img src="../img/gobtn.gif"></a></li>
<li>Mage Spells<br>
<a href="Mage.html"><img src="../img/gobtn.gif"></a></li>
<li>Priest Spells<br>
<a href="Priest.html"><img src="../img/gobtn.gif"></a></li>
<li>Hints for Getting Started<br>
<a href="Hints.html"><img src="../img/gobtn.gif"></a></li>
<li>Answers to Early Puzzles<br>
<a href="Valleydy.html"><img src="../img/gobtn.gif"></a></li>
<li>The Blades of Exile Editor<br>
<a href="Editor.html"><img src="../img/gobtn.gif"></a></li>
</ol>
<p>"Blades of Exile" and Spiderweb Software are trademarks of Spiderweb Software.</p>
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<h1>Getting Started</h1>
<h2>Starting Quickly</h2>
<p>Blades of Exile is designed to be as simple as possible to learn and play. If you, like many game-players, dislike reading the manual before jumping into the game, go ahead. It is recommended you read the Introduction (the next section), the overview of the most important commands (the section before), look at the illustrations to see what the buttons do, and, if you plan to design your characters from scratch (eventually a good idea), read the section describing what the skills are.</p>
<p>If you were lucky enough to have played Exile: Escape From the Pit, Exile II: Crystal Souls, or Exile III: Ruined World, you will have a very easy time getting into the swing of things here. The commands are basically the same, and the differences will be pretty easy to pick up as you go along.</p>
<h2>Introduction to the World of Exile</h2>
<p>The world of Exile is a huge place. Actually, it's two very different worlds in one. First, there's the surface world. The surface world is ruled by the Empire. That's what its called. The Empire. Not the Empire of Something, or the Something Empire. Just the Empire. It's understandable. There's no need for elaborate names when there's only one game in town.</p>
<p>The second world is the underworld, the networks of thousands of miles of caverns and tunnels, ever hidden from the sun, spiraling down to depths unimagined, filled with bizarre races of creatures, some friendly, most hostile. For many years, the Empire, in its arrogance, banished everyone it felt didn't fit in. Eccentrics, petty criminals, malcontents, they were all regarded as undesirable by the Empire. And, for many years, these unwanted citizens were sent into this underworld. There, against horrible odds, they formed their own nation. They called it Exile.</p>
<p>Exile is a network of hundreds of miles of caves and tunnels, forming an enormous, weblike labyrinth of warrens under the surface of the world. Kept lit by magic, fed by fungus, and populated by the unending stream of humans (and humanoids) from the surface, the people of Exile struggled by as best they could for many years.</p>
<p>They were opposed by demons. Many of these creatures, led by the demon lord Grah-Hoth, had been Exiled from the infernal realms to the caves where the humans were sent. There were the Nephilim, a barbarian race that once roamed the surface and, like the Exiles, had been banished from the surface. There were the slithzerikai, a subterranean lizard people, many of whom considered humans to be foes at best, meat at worst.</p>
<p>It seemed that there was no way for the humans to survive in this alien environment, opposed as they were by so many hostile creatures. When Exile was established, however, the Empire, complacent and arrogant, made its greatest mistake and gave Exile the boon it needed to survive. It sent down several mages, powerful mages, who were on the wrong side of a political struggle. The winners, Emperor Hawthorne and the archmage Garzahd, were confidant that sending down these archmagi would not be a problem. They even thought that maybe their skills could later be harnessed, once they were beaten down by several years of rotting in the sunless lands.</p>
<p>They could not have been more wrong.</p>
<p>Some of the exiled wizards, like Rone, and Solberg, and Patrick, were content simply building a better life for the Exiles. They united the Exiles into one nation, raised an army, and beat back the Nephilim and slithzerikai and, in one huge battle, imprisoned the demon Grah-Hoth. From there, the wizards tried to form a healthy, peaceful life, doing their best to forget the humans who had sent them from the light of the sun.</p>
<p>One of the wizards, however, was named Erika Redmark. A harsh and vindictive incantatrix, she enlisted a band of adventurers, made tough by their years below, in a wild, dangerous, and eventually successful scheme. She wanted to assassinate Hawthorne, brilliant and evil Emperor of the surface world.</p>
<p>Five years later, Hawthorne was killed in his own throne room.</p>
<p>The response was immediate, and vicious. First, the portal into Exile was closed. Nobody was to be sent through. Second, other portals were created in remote areas of Exile. Soldiers were sent there, the finest soldiers in the Empire's army. They had one mission: Vengeance. Not one citizen in this subterranean den of vipers was to escape alive.</p>
<p>In launching this invasion, however, the Empire made their critical mistake. They discovered a new, bizarre, humanoid race living even farther down in the caves - the Vahnatai. These creatures were highly intelligent and resourceful, and very skilled in the use of crystals for magical deeds. In fact, they had the ability to take the spirits of their ancestors, and bring them back in crystalline form. These revered forefathers, the Crystal Souls, were their spiritual guides, and the beings most revered by their people.</p>
<p>The Empire, seeing how strange and powerful the Crystal Souls were, kidnapped three of them. The Vahnatai, appalled by the magnitude of this crime but unsure of the identity of the perpetrators, attacked Exile.</p>
<p>Fortunately, aided by the peaceful Vahnatai Bon-Ihrno, a group of bold Exiles were able to infiltrate the Empire lands, steal the Crystal Souls, and return them to their rightful owners. In return, the Vahnatai joined forces with the Exiles, and used their mighty magic to slaughter the Empire troops. The Empire War finally ended, bloodily and victoriously.</p>
<p>Aided by Erika Redmark and their new Vahnatai allies, the Exiles built a mighty teleporter, a magical machine able to send many people in an instant from the caves to the surface. The Exiles hoped to find a part of the world as yet uncrushed by the Empire. Little did they know that the Vahnatai had plotted a savage revenge against the Empire. Their fury at the Empire for stealing their Crystal Souls was so great that they tried to kill every person on the surface, by inflicting them with plagues of vicious, lethal magical monsters.</p>
<p>Fortunately, a band of Exiles, seeing the surface world they so longed to rejoin threatened, opposed the Vahnatai and brought the plagues of monsters to an end. The leader of the Vahnatai, Rentar-Ihrno, was defeated. She fled to the lowest depths of the underworld, but not before she slew Erika.</p>
<p>Empress Prazak, the leader of the Empire, who is a good deal wiser and kinder than her predecessor, rewarded the Exiles with a corner of Valorim, the wildest and most unsettled portion of the Empire. Half of the people of Exile left the caves they loathed to return home. They now live on the surface, and have an uneasy peace with the Empire. The rest of the Exiles stay below, having come to regard Exile as their home. They have been joined by many friendly slithzerikai and Nephilim, although the barbarian members of those races raid Exile settlements whenever possible.</p>
<p>And, below everyone, ever lurk the Vahnatai. The Vahnatai still nurse a constant fury against the humans that defied them, and they are nervous about the other races that are constantly advancing through the caves they consider theirs. On the other hand, many of them, in their hearts, long for peace. It is a constant political struggle in the Vahnatai homeland, and the few contacts between them and other races tend to be very eccentric.</p>
<p>There are many forces in these two worlds, above and below ground. The people of Exile, above and below the surface, try to survive. The Empire tries to hold control, even as forces of rebellion keep poking up all around. The Vahnatai want to be safe. The Nephilim and slithzerikai fight to survive, often at the expense of others.</p>
<p>It's a tumultuous world, filled with combat and confusion. What better environment for a group of adventurers (like you) to make their fortunes?</p>
<h2>Starting the game</h2>
<p>Once you run Blades of Exile and see the title screen, you have five options:</p>
<dl>
<dt>Load Saved Game</dt>
<dd>Resumes a game you've already started. Select the save file to resume. If that party is already in a< scenario, you will pick up in the scenario where you left off.</dd>
<dt>Make New Party</dt>
<dd>Creates a new band of adventures. A window will come up, and you can edit them however you want. When you're done, you will be given a chance to save your new party.</p>
<dt>How to Order</dt>
<dd>This screen gives the relevant information for when you decide to register Blades of Exile. This includes cost, address, and the registration code (or codes) you will need to give when you register. Since the game is now free, of course, this is obsolete.</p>
<dt>Start Scenario</dt>
<dd>Once you have a party loaded (by opening a save file or selecting Start New Game), press this button and select a scenario. This is how you load one of the four scenarios which comes with Blades of Exile. Click on the scenario to play.</p>
<dt>Custom Scenario</dt>
<dd>Lets you play a scenario besides the three which come with Blades of Exile. Press the button by the scenario you want to enter it.</p>
</dl>
<p>When you are just starting, you'll want to select Make New Party...</p>
<h2>What is going on?</h2>
<p>Before you can do anything, you will need to create a band of adventurers for yourself to control. This group of adventurers, called a party, will be your agents in the strange worlds you find yourself in. You can control them, talk to people through them, and sometimes even get them killed. You have to have a party before you can start an adventure. To make a party, select Make New Party on the title screen.</p>
<h2>What is a party?</h2>
<p>A party is the group of up to 6 adventurers, called player characters (PCs for short). You can play a party of your own making, or get a prefabricated party provided by the game. When you first run the game, select 'Make New Party' from the opening screen. You can then choose whether to play a prefab party or make one from scratch.</p>
<p>When you hit Make New Party, you will be given the introduction to the game. Click the mouse button when you're through watching it. Then you will see the Party Creation window. You will be given six prefabricated characters, each with preassigned skills and abilities. To get rid of a prefab PC, hit the Delete button by its name, and then hit the Create button. When your party is how you want it, press the Done button to start the game.</p>
<p>Using the party creation window, you can select each of your character's names, graphics, race, advantages/disadvantages, and skills.</p>
<h2>Race, PC Traits</h2>
<p>Each of your characters can be one of three different races, and have any of several advantages or disadvantages. These traits will help or hinder your character in various ways. They will also affect how quickly your character gains strength. If you take a character with lots of advantages, he or she will gain skills at a much lower rate. If there are lots of disadvantages, the character will gain skills faster.</p>
<p>These are the races and character traits. The percentage following each trait is how much slower this character will gain experience. A negative number means the character will gain experience faster.</p>
<h3>Races</h3>
<dl>
<dt>Human (0%)</dt>
<dd>The default race. The vast majority of Exile citizens are human. Being human conveys no notable advantages or disadvantages.</d>
<dt>Nephilim (12%)</dt>
<dd>The Nephilim are a race of nimble, feline humanoids. They get a bonus when using missile weapons. Also, when character creation is completed, each Nephilim character gains 2 bonus points of dexterity.</dd>
<dt>Slithzerikai (20%)</dt>
<dd>The Slithzerikai are an ancient race of reptilian humanoids. There are two faction of Sliths in Exile. Some of them are friendly and allied with your people, and some of them are cruel and barbaric, and fight you whenever they get the chance. Slithzerikai are trained from birth to use pole weapons, and get a sizable bonus when attacking with them. Also, when character creation is completed, each Slithzerikai character gains 2 bonus points of strength and 1 bonus point of intelligence. Finally, Slithzerikai are resistant to poison.</dd>
</dl>
<h3>PC Traits</h3>
<dl>
<dt>Toughness (10%)</dt>
<dd>A character with toughness is protected from damage. Practically any sort of assault does less damage.</dd>
<dt>Magically Apt (20%)</dt>
</dd>This powerful trait makes most spells cast by the PC more effective.</dd>
<dt>Ambidextrous (8%)</dt>
<dd>When using a weapon in each hand, the second weapon is used with a large penalty. This trait removes that penalty.</dd>
<dt>Nimble Fingers (12%)</dt>
<dd>This trait makes the owner much better at picking locks and disarming traps.</dd>
<dt>Cave Lore (4%)</dt>
<dd>The character with this trait is very familiar with the flora and fauna of the caves. When traveling, you will occasionally gain food from hunting. Also, this trait has other, subtle effects. Make sure at least one PC has it.</dd>
<dt>Good Constitution (10%)</dt>
<dd>This trait makes the character more resistant to poison and disease.</dd>
<dt>Woodsman (6%)</dt>
<dd>This trait is like Cave Lore, but comes in handy in the forests and glades of the surface. You will be able to hunt, move more stealthily, and occasionally notice interesting details.</dd>
<dt>Highly Alert (7%)</dt>
<dd>Some of your foes will try to magically put you to sleep. Having this advantage makes you more likely to resist this nefarious effect.</dd>
<dt>Exceptional Strength (12%)</dt>
<dd>This powerful advantage makes the lucky character be able to carry more stuff and do more damage in hand to hand combat.</dd>
<dt>Recuperation (15%)</dt>
<dd>This is a powerful trait, indeed. The PC with this trait has almost supernaturally good health, and will heal damage at a much faster rate than normal.</dd>
<dt>Sluggish (-10%)</dt>
<dd>This character has much slower reactions. He or she will get one less action point in combat.</dd>
<dt>Magically Inept (-8%)</dt>
<dd>This character never got the knack of using magical items. For some reason, they just don't work on him or her. The PC with this trait cannot use magic items.</dd>
<dt>Frail (-8%)</dt>
<dd>This PC is a natural target for colds and other illnesses. They easily take advantage of the PC's weak constitution. Poison and disease have a harsher effect.</dd>
<dt>Chronic Disease (-20%)</dt>
<dd>This poor character has been cursed with notoriously poor health. Illness constantly nips at his or her heels. This character will occasionally, spontaneously become diseased.</dd>
<dt>Bad Back (-8%)</dt>
<dd>Owning this trait makes the character unable to carry as much.</dd>
</dl>
<h3>Skills</h3>
<p>A PC created from scratch gets 60 skill points. Skill points are a sort of money you will spend on abilities.</p>
<p>When you press the Skills button, you will see a window where you can increase and decrease this PCs skills. To spend skill points to increase an ability, press the '+' button next to it. Press the '-' button to undo the action. The cost in skill points to increase your value in each skill is the number before the slash in the 'Cost' column. The number after the slash isn't relevant yet (it becomes important when you train your characters).</p>
<p>Should you spend the points and be satisfied, press the 'Keep' button. If you want to start again, press cancel. When you buy and keep you skills, you go to the next step...</p>
<h3>PC Graphic</h3>
<p>To assign a PC's graphic, press the Graphic button. Click on the button besides the graphic you want to use to represent your PC, or press cancel to begin the whole process anew.</p>
<p>If you have a Nephilim or Slith character, it is recommended (though not necessary) that you pick a graphic from that race.</p>
<h3>PC Name</h3>
<p>To choose a name for your character, press the Name button. It must begin with a non-space character.</p>
<h3>What about gender?</h3>
<p>You won't be specifically asked whether your character is male or female. If you want your warrior to be a woman, select a female graphic and appropriate name.</p>
<h3>Making a New PC</h3>
<p>Should you start with less than 6 PCs or drop one later on, you can get another. Go to the town you started the scenario in, and select Create New PC from the Options menu.</p>
<p>To find out what all these skills are good for, keep reading...</p>
<h2>Getting To Know Your Characters:</h2>
<p>Your little computerized people are, basically, a whole bunch of numbers, each determining how well he or she deals with the horrid threats the game will come up with. These are the most important statistics.</p>
{TODO: Format these nicely.}
<p>Level and Experience: These two numbers (starting at 1 and 0 respectively) represent how much stuff your character has done. Your experience goes up when you kill stuff and complete missions. For every 100 experience points you get (adjusted up or down for race and PC traits), your level increases (up to a maximum of 50). When your level increases, you gain some health points and skill points (described below), and become a little better at everything you do. Alas, the higher your level, the fewer skill points and health you gain.</p>
<p>Skill Points: As mentioned before, these points are the money you will spend to increase your skills. After creating your character, you will spend them at training schools, located in certain towns. For example, in Valley of Dying Things, Lillian in Sweetgrove does training.</p>
<p>Current Health: This very important number represents how much punishment your PC can take before dying. Every time he or she is damaged, the number goes down. Time and magical healing raise it again, up to your maximum amount. Keep an eye on it!<</p>
<p>Every skill point spent on health increases your maximum by 2.</p>
<p>Spell Points: This number represents how many and how powerful spells your PC can cast. Whenever a spell is cast, you lose some spell points. Time and certain magic items bring the level back up.</p>
<p>Every skill point spent on spell points increases your maximum by 1. Also, every level of Mage Spells and Priest Spells (described below) bought while creating your character gives you three bonus spell points.</p>
<p>You can have a maximum of 250 health points and 100 spell points.</p>
<p>The myriad skills you can buy for your characters are described below. Each can attain a maximum level of 20, unless otherwise specified. The cost for each skill in Skill Points is in parentheses after its name. Note that, when training in these skills later, each point of increase will cost gold, too.</p>
<p>Strength (3): Measures how much brute strength the character possesses. High strength increases damage done in combat, improves odds of kicking down doors, and has other, more subtle effects.</p>
<p>IMPORTANT - Strength also affects how much health you gain when you attain a level, and how many items you can carry. Buy strength up to 3 as soon as possible. Otherwise, you won't gain much health when you gain levels.</p>
<p>Dexterity (3): Measures how nimble the character is. High dexterity gives a better chance of hitting in combat (esp. with missile weapons) and makes the character harder to hit. High dexterity also makes picking locks and disarming traps easier.</p>
<p>Intelligence (3): Measures mental strength and dexterity. High intelligence also makes your spells more effective, sometimes very much so. Intelligence below 4 makes your spells work poorly.</p>
<p>The above three skills are important. When high, they give many bonuses in the things you do. On the other hand, when one of these three skills is below 4, the PC will have penalties in any situation involving that skills. A PC in combat with a 1 dexterity will miss a lot.</p>
<p>Edged (2), Bashing (2), Pole (2), Thrown Missile (1), Bow (3): The higher the skill, the better the chance to hit in the appropriate weapon type:</p>
<p>Edged: Daggers, swords, axes.</p>
<p>Bashing: Clubs, maces, flails, hammers.</p>
<p>Pole: Spears, halberds, bardiches, slith spears.</p>
<p>Thrown Missile: Darts, Thrown daggers</p>
<p>Bow: Bows, Crossbows</p>
<p>Defense (2): This skill has three effects. It determines how well a character does at parrying, decreases the penalty in combat from bulky armor, and occasionally decreases the damage taken from enemies' weapons.</p>
<p>Bulky armor prevents a character from casting mage spells. However, when your armor is only a little too bulky, sometimes casting a mage spell will sometimes work when the mage has high defense skill.</p>
<p>Mage Spells (6), Priest Spells (5): These two skills are very expensive and very powerful. They enable the owner to cast spells of the appropriate type of a level up to the level of skill owned. The maximum level for both is 7.</p>
<p>You automatically know most spells of level 3 and below. It takes some time to find spells of level 4 and above. Thus, getting these skills above level 3 at the beginning may not be a good idea.</p>
<p>Mage Lore (1): You will occasionally need to decipher strange magical readings. This skill determines how good you are at this. If your skill is high enough, you may gain a spell or a valuable piece of information. What is important when trying to decipher something is how much of this skill is present in the party. One character with 18 Mage Lore is equivalent to 6 characters with 3 Mage Lore.</p>
<p>Alchemy (2): You will eventually gain the ability to make magic potions. To make a given potion, however, your Alchemy skill must be above a certain level. The higher it is above this level, the better the chance of succeeding.</p>
<p>When one PC is trying to make a potion, only that PC's Alchemy skill counts. Thus, it is much, much better to have one PC with high Alchemy skill than several PCs with low Alchemy skill.</p>
<p>Item Lore (4): When you kill a monster, there will occasionally be items on its body. Normally, you wouldn't know what they were. However, Item Lore skill makes it possible that when you find the item, you will know what it is. Otherwise, you would have to take it to town and spend money to identify it.</p>
<p>The higher the Item Lore, the better the chance of the item appearing identified. In general, several PCs with low Item Lore is better than one PC with high Item Lore.</p>
<p>Item Lore does not affect items already in town when you enter, or items gained in special encounters.</p>
<p>Traps (2): Many chests and some corridors will have traps on them, which can be devastating. You will, however, be given a chance to pick a PC to disarm it. Chance of success depends on this skill.</p>
<p>Pick Locks (2): Many towns and dungeons will have locked doors. A PC with some of this skill and lock picks equipped can try to pick them. The higher this skill, the better. Beware. Some locks are magical, and cannot be picked. Try the spell Unlock Doors on these.</p>
<p>Assassination (4): Sometimes, when a character attacks a much weaker monster, the blow will do a good deal of extra damage. The more of this skill you have, the better the chance of this happening, and the stronger the monsters it can affect.</p>
<p>Poison (2): You will find poisons, which you can put on your weapons for a little extra punch. Having a few levels in this skill will make it more likely you will put the poison on at full strength, and the less likely you will nick yourself with the poison accidentally.</p>
<p>Although you can buy a lot of this skill, 3-4 levels should be sufficient.</p>
<p>Luck (5): This skill is expensive, but can be a bargain at twice the cost. Its effects are pervasive, subtle, powerful, and sometimes irreplaceable.</p>
<p>Eventually, one way or another, you will have a party to control. At this point, you will be returned to the main menu, where you can select a scenario.</p>
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<h1>The Blades of Exile Screen</h1>
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<img src="../img/terscr.gif">
<p>Figure 1:<span class="Apple-converted-space">  </span>The main Blades of Exile screen, with the six sections marked.</p>
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<p>You will now be looking at the main Blades of Exile screen. This screen has six distinctive parts.</p>
<h2>Terrain Screen</h2>
<p>When outside or in town, the person in the middle represents your party. Around you will be the flora, fauna, and miscellaneous stuff of the surface or underworld.</p>
<p>To move around, move the cursor into the terrain screen. Move it around. It will turn into an arrow. Click the mouse button when the arrow points in the desired direction. When looking, picking locks, etc. (all described below), to select the item to look at (or whatever) click on it.</p>
<p>The border of the terrain screen is also something to click on. When looking, aiming a missile, or targeting a spell, clicking on the terrain screen border will shift the view of the terrain screen in the appropriate direction.</p>
<h2>Text Bar</h2>
<p>This bar contains information about what's going on. When in combat, it tells you who is active and how many action points they have remaining. Outdoors or in town, it tells you where you are.</p>
<h2>Buttons</h2>
<p>These change depending on your setting. What the Outdoor/Town/Combat buttons do is described in the relevant sections.</p>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="../img/pcbtn.gif"></p>
<p>Figure 2: PC Status Screen Buttons</p>
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<h2>PC Status Screen</h2>
<p>This lists the characters in your party, and tells you their current health or status. There are several things you can click on or find out about here.</p>
<dl>
<dt>Character's Name</dt>
<dd>When not in combat, clicking on a character's name makes that character active. The name of the active character appears in italics. The Mage Spells and Priest Spells menus list the spells for the active PC.</dd>
<dt>Health and Spell Points</dt>
<dd>Click on these numbers to be told the maximum number of health of spell points the character can have.</dd>
<dt>Trade Places Arrows</dt>
<dd>To have two characters trade places in the roster, click on the arrow button to the right of the first character, and then of the second.</dd>
<dt>Character Info Button</dt>
<dd>To see a window giving detailed information about the character's spell, statistics, etc., click on the '?' button to the right of the character's name.</dd>
<dt>Gold/Food/Day</dt>
<dd>At the bottom of this window, you can see your parties current gold and food totals, as well as what day it is.</dd>
<dt>Help Button</dt>
<dd>Clicking the button with the '?' gives you help for this area.</dd>
</dl>
<p>By each PC's name will occasionally appear a symbols representing that character's status. To find out what these mean, click the '?' in the PC status area.</p>
<h2>PC Inventory Screen</h2>
<p>This area lists the inventory for the current active character. There are several things you can do here:</p>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<img src="../img/invenbtn.gif"></p>
<p>Figure 3: Inventory Screen Buttons</p>
</div>
<dl>
<dt>Equip/Remove Item</dt>
<dd>An equipped item's name appears in italics. To wear an item, click on its name. To remove it, click again. Equipped weapons appear in red, armor in green, and everything else in blue.</dd>
<dt>Use Item</dt>
<dd>Click on the 'U' button to use an item.</dd>
<dt>Drop Item</dt>
<dd>To drop an item, click the 'D' button, and then click the space to drop it in (if in town) or say you definitely want to drop it (when outdoors). Items dropped outdoors are lost forever.</dd>
<dt>Give Item</dt>
<dd>To give an item, click the 'G' button, and select a recipient.</dd>
<dt>Item Info</dt>
<dd>Click on 'I' for a detailed description of an item.</dd>
<dt>Identify Item</dt>
<dd>When you visit a sage, this button will appear. Click it to pay the sage to identify the item for you.</dd>
<dt>Sell Item</dt>
<dd>When you visit a shop, this button may appear. Click it to sell the item for gold.</dd>
<dt>Enchant Item</dt>
<dd>Occasionally you may find someone willing to enchant your weapons. When you do, this button will appear; click it to pay to enchant.</dd>
<dt>PC Buttons</dt>
<dd>Click on the numbered buttons at the bottom of this window to make this character active (in town or outdoors) or see this character's inventory (in combat).</dd>
<dt>'Spec' Button</dt>
<dd>Clicking this button brings up a list of the special items you've obtained. Most of these (such as keys) are used automatically when needed. Others, such as maps, are used by clicking the 'U' button to the right.</dd>
<dt>Help Button</dt>
<dd>As always, clicking the button with the '?' gives help for this area.</dd>
<dt>Jobs Button</dt>
<dd>Shows a list of jobs you've accepted and quests you've been assigned.</dd>
</dl>
<h2>Text Screen</h2>
<p>This area gives you a running account of what's going on. If you miss something, use the scroll bar.</p>
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<h1>Section 2: Playing Tips for Beginners</h1>
<p class="p3">Blades of Exile (Blades for short) is a computer fantasy role-playing game. If you've never played a game of this sort before, much of what's going on will be very unfamiliar to you. This section provides an overview of how to do the most important things, so you don't get too swamped with the details. Don't worry - even though Blades of Exile is a complicated program, once you can get around, you will be able to pick up other things very easily. Also, don't worry if you've never played Exile I-III. Experience with those games is not necessary to enjoy Blades of Exile.</p>
<h3>Starting the game</h3>
<p>In Blades of Exile, you will control a group (or "party") of up to six adventurers (often referred to as PCs, for "player characters"). You will take these six people on adventures, kill monsters, collect loot, and try to save the world. Each person has his or her own skills, abilities, and items.</p>
<p>To start the game, you need to get a group of adventurers. From the starting screen, press Create New Party, and watch the introduction. When you hit the button, you will be at the party creation screen.</p>
<p>Notice you have already been given six characters. You can now, if you wish, drop, recreate, or edit these PCs. For now, don't worry about this. Just hit "Done," and save your party when given the chance. You will now see your party displayed on the introduction screen. Once you have your adventurers, you need to send them into an adventure (called a scenario). Click on Start Scenario and select "Valley of Dying Things". You're now on an adventure!</p>
<h3>What's going on?</h3>
<p>You start in Fort Talrus, an outpost at the entrance to Skylark Vale. Skylark Vale is currently afflicted by a horrible plague, a plague only you can cure. Before you can save the world, however, you need to be able to walk around. Many monsters and puzzles will inhibit your progress. For now, however, it is enough of a problem just to get equipped and figure out how to move around in this odd new world.</p>
<h3>Moving around and getting stuff</h3>
<p>Once you've started the game, you will be in your room in Fort Talrus. You can see yourself in bed in the window in the upper left corner of the screen (the terrain screen). You can move around by pressing the buttons on the keypad, or by moving the mouse cursor into the terrain screen and pressing the mouse button. Move around a bit.</p>
<p>Your characters will start with weapons and armor already equipped (i.e. worn). However, there are more things to be gotten. For example, you'll want the lamp on the table. Click on the button with the hand on it in the lower left corner (or type 'g', for Get). The getting things window will come up. Click on the lamp, and your first character will have it.</p>
<p>You should now see the lamp in the item window at the right side of the screen. To the right of it will be four buttons: 'U' (for Use), 'G' (for Give), 'D' (for Drop), and 'I' (for Item Info). When you click on the 'U' button, you'll use the lamp and light will appear. Don't do this yet - wait until you're in a dark place, like a dungeon.</p>
<p>Now move next to one of the dressers. Click on the 'D' button by the lamp to drop it. You'll need to click where to drop the item. Click on the dresser.</p>
<p>It's gone! You just put the lamp in the dresser. Maybe, in addition to the lamp, there's something else in the dresser. You should search it.</p>
<p>To search something, look at it while standing next to it. Stand right under the dresser. Press the Eye button (or type 'l'), and click on the dresser (or press the '8' on the keypad, for 'up'). You search the dresser, and will see a list of everything inside. Get everything, then search the other dresser.</p>
<p>Many things, such as barrels, crates, dressers and chests can be searched for interesting things. If you think something useful is hidden somewhere, be sure to search. Any sort of terrain can have something hidden in it.</p>
<p>Now you need to get supplies. Walk into the door to open it, and enter the room across the hallway. There's plenty of items for you there. Get them all (again using the get button or typing 'g'). Don't forget to also take the armor out of the chest.</p>
<h3>Readying armor and weapons</h3>
<p>Now that you have some armor and weapons, it's time to put on your new gear. The PC screen, listing your party, is to the upper right. One of your characters' names will be in italics. This is the active character. This character's inventory is given in the item screen below it. Click on another PC's name. It will become the active character, and that PC's inventory will appear below. You can also type the PC's number to make him/her active, a very useful shortcut.</p>
<p>Go to one of your PCs inventory pages. Click on the name of, say, a suit of armor. The name of that item will now appear in italics. That means you're wearing it! Click it again to take it off.</p>
<p>Suppose one PC has two suits of armor, and you want another PC to be protected. Go to the page of the PC with two suits of armor, and hit the 'G' button by one of them. This gives the item away. A window will come up asking who to give the item to. Click the button by the name of the PC to give the item to.</p>
<p>Shift your new stuff around so that your fighters have the best armor and weapons. There! You're equipped. Now, you can start meeting the people in the fort around you, or go out and kill something.</p>
<h3>Talking to people</h3>
<p>To get anywhere in Blades of Exile, you'll need to talk to many, many people. Might as well try this now. Hit 't' and then click on a person to talk to him/her/it. The talking window will appear.</p>
<p>Notice the buttons at the bottom of this area. Click on Name and Job, and you'll get the basic information that character has to say.</p>
<p>To ask someone about something, click on the word after they say it. If someone says "I really hate goblins," click on goblins to ask about it. If the person has something to say, the word will flash, and something else will come up. To see what the person said previously, click on Go Back.</p>
<p>Talk to people in the fort. You'll notice that the guards don't talk to you, but most everything else has something to say. Be especially sure to go to the southwest corner of Fort Talrus and see Commander Terrance, who will tell you a lot of information about your mission. Also be sure find a person named Avizo. He won't tell you anything useful now, but you'll need to speak with him later.</p>
<p>Finally, talking to people is how you will buy food and equipment. To see if someone has something to sell, press the Buy button. If they do, click on the item name to buy it.</p>
<h3>Killing Stuff</h3>
<p>Now it's time to go out and fight. Might as well get used to combat - you're going to be doing a lot of it!</p>
<p>You can find stuff to kill by either finding a dungeon or wandering around outdoors. When you get attacked, to strike back, simply move into the hostile monster. You'll swing whatever weapon you have in your hand. The text area in the lower right will tell you how your attack went.</p>
<p>When you kill stuff, the dead monsters will often leave behind more items for you to get. Unfortunately, you won't always know what these items are, and you won't be allowed to sell them until you do. There are, fortunately, people in towns who (for a fee) will tell you what they are. One such person is Axel, in Sweetgrove.</p>
<h3>Casting Spells</h3>
<p>The other necessary skill for playing Blades of Exile is casting spells: magical incantations which do all sorts of stuff. There are two sorts of spells: mage spells, which tend to do damage and help in combat, and priest spells, which tend to heal and help the party.</p>
<p>The easiest way to cast a spell is to use the Mage Spells or Priest spells menus. To have a PC cast a spell, click on his/her name to make the PC active. The Mage Spells (or Priest Spells) menu will list all available spells. Select the spell to cast it. If it's a spell cast on another character, like Minor Heal, you'll be asked whom to cast it on.</p>
<p>You can also cast spells by using the Mage and Priest Spell windows, which you bring up by clicking on the spell casting buttons in the lower left, or by typing 'm' or 'p'. Instructions for using these windows are given in the spell casting chapter. They're a little more complicated to use, but have the advantage of being usable entirely from the keyboard.</p>
<p>There are seven levels of spells, each more draining and powerful than the spells in the level before. You start with characters able to cast all spells from levels 1 to 3.</p>
<h3>Secret Doors</h3>
<p>Some doors (in all sorts of walls and in cave walls as well) are hidden. To search the walls, walk into them. If there is a secret door there, you'll pass through the wall.</p>
<p>Go to the north side of the building you started in and walk along the wall to the west (stand right next to the wall and don't go north, or you'll leave town). When you reach the mountains to the northwest of the building, walk west through them. You'll find an interesting (and hostile) surprise.</p>
<h3>If you get stuck</h3>
<p>Of course, it's possible that you will still get stuck. Maybe you always get killed, or you can't find any money, or something else. Should this happen, Blades of Exile comes with a character editor, which can heal your characters and give them as much gold and food as they want.</p>
<h3>Moving onward</h3>
<p>Finally, when you're through with Fort Talrus, walk out of the building you started in, and walk north. You'll eventually leave the town you're in and be outdoors. You'll be standing by a road. Follow it north, and you will eventually find a town called Sweetgrove. Walk into it to enter it. You're on your way!</p>
<p>This is only a brief overview, of course. It says nothing about training, or many important things about spellcasting. It will, however, get you moving, and once you're getting around, you should find the rest falls into place very quickly.</p>
<p>So welcome to the wild world of Blades of Exile! And good luck! Who knows? You may actually be able to make a difference!</p>
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