Playing Darklands

 

INITIAL OPTIONS

Use the mouse or tap the appropriate letter key to select one of the four options described below.

 

Quickstart ("q" key)

This immediately begins your adventures in Darklands with four default characters: GRETCHEN, GUNTHER, HANS, and EBHARD. With these adventurers you can begin Darklands without spending the time to create new characters.

"Gretch" and her friends are a typical, balanced group of adventurers. They have no special abilities or possessions that make them a recommended choice, nor do they have any special weaknesses or disadvantages.

Although the party is always the same in the "Quickstart," random elements in Darklands are reset each time. Therefore, secret locations and upcoming events will be different each time you select this option.

 

Create a New World ("c" key)

This also begins Darklands, but there is no default party of characters. Instead, you can create your own, new characters to form the party of your choice. As in the "Quickstart," each time this option is chosen the Darklands world is reorganized and reset. Characters created for other worlds are not available in this new world. This allows you to have completely different games (each in its own "world") running simultaneously, without one game "poaching" on another.

Many of the options can be used on any available character (listed to the right on the screen). Therefore, first select a character by left-clicking the mouse on a name, or by tapping the cursor ("arrow") keys to move the highlight. Then select an action by left-clicking on the word with the crimson letter, or tapping that crimson letter on the keyboard.

CREATE A CHARACTER: Here you can create a new character, regardless of which characters (if any) are currently in�your party. See "Creating Characters" for more about this.

EXAMINE A CHARACTER: Here you can see information about the highlighted character. See "Character Information," (** "pp22,") for details.

ADD TO THE PARTY: This adds the highlighted character to the party, and marks the name on the list. Note that your party can have one to four characters, no more.

In some battle situations, party leadership defaults to the first character added to the party. Bear this in mind when selecting the first character to join the party. {**, "For more information, see pp31."}

DELETE FROM THE PARTY: This removes the highlighted character from the party. The character is still "alive," available for use in the future.

SELECT CHARACTER IMAGE: Here you select new images and colors for the highlighted character. You can change the entire image, or certain colors within the image. Select "Finished" when you are done.

You can only select images for characters in the party. Therefore, add the character to the party before you try to select an image!

KILL A CHARACTER: This eliminates the highlighted character from the list of possible characters in the game. If the character is in the party, it also eliminates the character from the party.

BEGIN THE ADVENTURE: This ends party selection activities and begins the game. Make sure you are happy with your party before choosing this option. This actually creates the new "world," with random elements reset, secret locations selected, etc. To begin, the party is placed in a city somewhere in Greater Germany, known then as the Holy Roman Empire.

Important: To save the characters you have created, you must "Add to the Party" one or more characters, then save the game.

RETURN TO MAIN MENU: This menu returns you to the initial options.

 

The Story Continues ("t" key)

This allows you to manage previously saved games.

LOAD SAVED GAME: Use the mouse or cursor keys to select a previously saved game and load it.

DELETE SAVED GAME: Use the mouse or cursor keys to delete any previously saved game. Warning: deletions cannot be "undone." Make sure you have no further use for that saved game before selecting this option.

RETURN TO MAIN MENU: This menu returns you to the initial options.

 

Heroes of Darklands ("h" key)

This allows you to view the "Hall of Fame," where the exploits of the most famous Darklands heroes are recorded. You can either erase the existing names in the Hall of Fame, or simply leave, returning to the initial options.

 

 

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