Bludgeon Help <1>Using Help Within a help screen, topics are shown in red. Click on a red topic heading to see details of that topic. A topic may have further topics, and so on. There are three ways to leave a topic or subtopic screen:- * Selecting another subtopic. * Clicking on the "cross" in the top left corner of the help window. This terminates help. * Clicking on the "diamond" in the top right hand corner of the help window. This returns to the parent topic. N.B. The purpose of the on-line help is to enable common "how do I?" questions to be resolved quickly and easily. It is not intended as a replacement for the Bludgeon Manual which contains much more detailed information on the Bludgeon game mechanics. <1>About Bludgeon <2>Philosophy The Bludgeon gaming system is not like a traditional computer game. Though Bludgeon adventures can be played as stand alone solo adventu- res, the program was originally con- ceived as a tool so that fantasy wargame battles could be enjoyed by multi-player groups either as a tac- tical wargame or as part of a fan- tasy roleplaying adventure. Though the current program is still fairly limited in scope, it serves this basic purpose more than adequa- tely. For some time now we have been successfully using Bludgeon to run moderately large and sophisticated battles. It can only get better as time progresses. We have decided to release Bludgeon to a wider audience so that gamers with similar interests to ours can sample the benefits of computer moderated fantasy wargaming combat and hopefully share in its future development. The Seaton Shareware Cooperative. August 1993. <2>Registration Bludgeon is a shareware product. To register, send œ10 to the following address:- The Seaton Shareware Cooperative 82 Harrington Drive Lenton Nottingham NG7 1JN Please make cheques payable to "Seaton Shareware Coop". For this pittance you will receive:- * The latest versions of Bludgeon & Generate. * A 50 page user manual describing the complete Bludgeon Fantasy Wargaming system. * A number of ready to run scenar- ios. * Eligibility for regular updates. N.B. Bludgeon requires at least 1MB to run successfully. <2>Updates Bludgeon is not complete. It never will be. Modifications are being continually made in response to requests from regular users. The following is a list of some of the "priority" modifications to be implemented in the near future:- * Linking STs together using stan- dard Midi leads so that several people can play simultaneously. * An extended range of spells (over 42 different spells have been requested!) * More sophisticated automatic "baddie" behaviour so that better "face to face" and "solo" adven- tures can be developed. * Much, much more! Upgrades are only available to regi- stered users. Each upgrade con- tains:- * The latest versions of Bludgeon & Generate. * A complete solo or multiplayer adventure. * A newsletter which contains dis- cussions about how the programs can best be used and what addi- tional features users want to see incorporated in future releases (contributions from all comers are welcome). Since the first version of Bludgeon appeared in November 1991, there have been 12 issues of the Newslet- ter. In future, we plan to issue upgrades once every two months. To subscribe to the upgrade service for six issues, send œ15 to the following address:- The Seaton Shareware Cooperative 82 Harrington Drive Lenton Nottingham NG7 1JN <2>Feedback Bludgeon is not complete. It is continually being developed in response to suggestions from regular users. Please feel free to send any comments or suggestions to the registration address. However, the best forum for discussing enhancements is probably the newsletter which forms part of the upgrade package. <1>Starting Quickly <2>Loading An Adventure <3>Licensed Version To load a new adventure, adopt the following procedure:- * Click on the button marked "File" in the bottom right of the screen. * Select the "Load Adventure" option from the ensuing menu. * A warning message then appears. Click on "O.K.". * A file selector should then appear. Use it to select the adventure you wish to load from disk. After a short delay, the new adventure should be loaded. N.B. Remember to make sure the "Line Of Sight" button (the "O" button at the top of the vertical scroll bar) is pressed in - otherwise you'll be able to see into rooms before you have reached them. <3>Freeware Version The Freeware version of Bludgeon is provided with a solo adventure ready loaded ready to play. (New adventu- res can only be loaded or designed by registered users. Note also that partially completed games CANNOT be saved in the Freeware version). <2>Finding The Adventure's Objective Clicking on the button marked "plot" will access a "help" screen (like this one). This will tell you what the objective of the adventure is. It will also give some clues to help you navigate round the adventure. You can refer back to this help screen at any time in play. <2>Ordering Individual Combatants Instructions can be issued to each member of the party individually by pointing the mouse at them and clic- king with the left mouse button. A menu will appear showing the various options available. These should be fairly self explanatory. However, further information can be obtained by clicking on the "help" button and then selecting "action modes". <2>Ordering Groups Of Combatants Instructions can be issued to seve- ral combatants simultaneously by using the "group action" option. This is activated by clicking on the "group action" icon (three bods in a row in the bottom right of the screen). A group selection menu then appears. A variety of predefined groups are available. However, you will pro- bably find that the "Ad Hoc (Point)" option is the most useful initially. Having selected this option, the mouse cursor will turn to a pointy hand. Click on all the combatants to be included in the group. When the group is complete, click on a floor tile to indicate that you have fin- ished. A menu will appear showing the var- ious options available. These should be fairly self explanatory. However, further information can be obtained by clicking on the "help" button and then selecting "action modes". The group action option is primarily used to set "group gotos" i.e. all members of the group goto a certain spot. If you set the group to "goto" the leader of the group and then issue individual goto commands to the leader of the group, the group will follow the leader around. This is useful for exploring corridors and generally wandering about. <2>Starting/Pausing The Game When initially loaded, the adventure will be "paused". To start things running you need to click on the large red button at the bottom right marked "Combat Is Paused". You can click on this button again at any time to repause the game. (N.B. You do not have to pause the game to issue commands to members of the party, though often you may find this helps). <2>Viewing Combatant Details If you want to "view" the details of a combatant, point the mouse at them and click with the right mouse but- ton. Their details will then appear on the right hand side of the screen. These are not especially self explanatory; but you do not need to understand them to play the game. However, if you are intere- sted, further information can be obtained by clicking on the "help" button and selecting "combatant attributes". <1>Combatant Attributes The effect that any combatant has on the game is determined by the value of various combatant attributes e.g. "hit points", "attack speed" etc. <2>General Attributes <3>Name This is shown at the top of the combatant details. If you click on the name, a dialog box appears enabling you to change the name. <3>Group Each combatant can belong to a "group". Commands can be issued simultaneously to all members of a group using the group command but- ton. (This is the "three bods" sym- bol at the bottom right of the screen). A combatant's group is shown in smaller type below the combatant's name at the top of the screen. <4>Changing a combatant's group Click on the group name with the left mouse button. A selection list of all available groups then appears. <4>Changing the name of a group Click on a combatants group name with the right mouse button. An edit box then appears. <3>Armour Class (AC) Armour class determines how easy it is to hit a combatant. Somewhat perversely, the smaller the number, the easier it is to hit a combatant. (N.B. Several people moan incessantly about this. In due course this will probably be reversed). The armour class is supposed to represent the following factors:- * The type of armour being worn. * The innate ability of the combatant to avoid or parry blows. * The acquired combat proficiency of the combatant. There are a number of other factors which affect how easy it is to hit a combatant. These are dealt with separately and are not included in the armour class:- * Magic items. * The type of weapon being used: a shield is better than a rolled up newspaper. <3>Hit Dice (HD) The hit dice are used to determine how many hit points a new combatant has. Hit Dice are specified by three numbers as follows:- * The first number determines how many dice are to be rolled. * The second number determines the size of the dice to be used i.e. a four sided dice, a six sided dice etc. * The third number determines a number of additional bonus hit points to be added. Hit dice are basically used to determine the hit points of randomly generated baddies. Goodie combatants created by Generate have HD of the form 0/0/n where "n" is the number of hit points they have fixed at birth. <3>Autotargeting The autotargeting attribute deter- mines how a combatant selects a target when using a missile weapon or casting a spell. The autotargeting variable is represented by a number shown next to the target icon near the top of the combatant details. There are four settings for the autotargetting attribute as follows:- * 0. The target is always prompted for. * 1. The target is selected automatically until no target is available. A prompt for alternative instructions then appears. * 2. The target is selected automa- tically. No action occurs if no target can be found. This is primarily used by dungeon desig- ners for baddies lying in wait for player combatants to appear. * 9. This is the same as 0. It is effectively redundant only being used by some old combatants. It will be removed in due course. N.B. Though this use of coded numbers is messy, there is no room to fit a more meaningful description on the current screen layout. Something will be done about this in due course. However, there is no real need to remember the codes because more meaningful descriptions are used whenever autotargeting instructions are changed. <3>Hit Points (HP) Hit points represent the amount of damage combatants can sustain before they are killed. Two HP numbers are shown at the top of the screen:- * The left number represents the current HP total. * The right number represents the maximum HPs a combatant can have. Further information is available on:- <4>Red Boxes Combatants who have fewer than one third of their original HP total are "red boxed" in the main play area. <4>Death "Death" occurs when a combatant's current HP total falls to zero or below. "Dead" combatants are represented by a skull icon on the main play area. In certain circumstances, "dead" combatants can be resurrected. (See "Healing" for more details). <4>Bleeding Goodie combatants with HP totals below zero bleed: further HP loss periodically occurs. (The rate at which this occurs can be changed - see the Bludgeon Manual for further details). Baddie combatants with HP totals which fall below zero in combat are automatically removed from the game. <4>Healing Combatants can regain lost HPs by standing next to another combatant in "Heal" mode. "Healers" can heal themselves. When HPs below zero are regained, the maximum HP number is permanently reduced by one: "death" is to be avoided at all costs. <3>Appearance The icon used to represent the combatant in the main play area is also shown in the combatant details on the right hand side of the screen. It is the top left icon of the leftmost group of four. <3>Size The size of a combatant is represen- ted by the top right icon of the leftmost bank of four. There are three possible sizes in Bludgeon:- * Small: Gnomes, dwarves, or anything smaller. * Medium: anything around man- sized. * Large: giants, golems etc. Small creatures have an advantage when fighting large creatures. <3>Alignment The alignment of a combatant is represented by the bottom left icon of the leftmost bank of four. There are two possible alignments in Bludgeon:- * Goodies: represented by an angel icon. * Baddies: represented by a devil icon. Goodies attack baddies and vice- versa. <3>Action Mode The action mode determines the behaviour of combatants in Bludgeon. A wide variety of action modes are available and they are described in more detail as a separate topic on the main help screen. The action mode attribute is represented by the bottom right icon on the leftmost bank of four. <3>Magic Items There are four classes of magic item in Bludgeon:- * Headgear: crowns, hats, tiarras etc. * Handwear: rings, bracelets, gauntlets, gloves etc. * Bodywear: armour, cloaks, neckla- ces, pendants etc. * Footwear: shoes, socks, boots etc. Each combatant can have one of each type. A combatant's magic items (if any) are shown in the rightmost bank of four icons. Clicking on a magic item will give more information about that item and allow the item to be swapped, given away, dropped etc. <2>Action Mode Specific Attributes <3>Fighting Action Modes Each combatant can have up to eight "attacks". These include weapon attacks (e.g. sword, dagger); bites, claws, stings; and a variety of "special" attacks. Each attack has its own setting for the following attributes:- <4>Attack Name The name of the attack e.g. "Sword", "Claw" etc. This is purely descrip- tive and has no direct bearing on the game. To change the name, click on the attack name with the right mouse button and an edit box will appear. N.B. Clicking on the attack name with the left mouse button allows a different attack to be shown. <4>Attack Type Four types of attack are currently supported in bludgeon:- <5>Shield This is not a true attack as such: it does not do any damage; but a shield does have a meaningful defensive attribute - infact this is the only attribute which has any effect for attacks of this type. Shield attacks are represented by - de dah - a shield icon! <5>Hand To Hand Attack (Inc Weapons) These are attacks which occur between combatants in adjacent squares (orthogonal & diagonal). They include the standard hand to hand weapon attacks such as sword, dagger etc, plus standard monster attacks such as claws and bites. Selection Of Opponents The targets for hand to hand attacks are always chosen automatically by the computer. The computer selects whichever seems the most appropriate target. This is always any enemy combatant directly facing the comba- tant. Otherwise the combatant will turn to face the nearest enemy. There are two reasons for lack of control over targets in hand to hand combat:- * It partly reflects the "dynamic" nature of hand to hand combat: you have to take the melee as you find it. * More pragmatically, it allows combat to proceed at an acceptable pace. N.B. Moves are afoot to implement more control over hand to hand combat through instructions like "fight to a specific location" "concentrate blows on..." etc. Hand To Hand Attack Type Icon Hand to hand attacks are represented by the sword attack type icon. (N.B. There is some confusion between this and the "Change To Attack" special attack icon which is a sword with blood dripping off it. The hand to hand attack icon is positioned bet- ween the shield and arrow in the attack type sequence. This is all very confusing; and I have had my ear bent to do something about it). <5>Missile Attacks These are weapon attacks which occur "at a distance" subject to "line of sight" restrictions. Weapon attacks are more effective at shorter distances. The targets for weapon attacks can be selected manually or chosen automatically depending on the setting of the autotargeting attribute. Missile attacks are represented by an arrow attack type icon. <5>"Special" Attacks Special attacks are primarily intended for monsters. Basically, any spell can be specified as an attack. Thus a dragon could be defined by four attacks: two claws, a bite, and a blast of fire spell. Some of the normal fighting mode attributes have different functions for special attacks. <6>Splatt Icons This defines the subtype of a spell, exactly as per normal spells e.g. a wall of ice as opposed to a wall of fire. <6>Damage Dice Unlike normal attacks, the damage dice do not define the amount of damage caused by the attack. Instead, the third number specifies the number of spell points used in the spell when it is cast. N.B. Unlike normal spells, the spell points do not affect how long the spell takes to cast. This is determined by the attack speed attribute in the normal way. >5< The attack type icon displayed in the leftmost of the two icons in the attack area actually specifies which spell is being cast. >4< The attack type is represented by the leftmost of the two icons in the attack display area. <4>Splatt Icon This is the icon which is displayed when an attack is successful. The splatt icon is the rightmost icon in the weapon details area. N.B. There is a special "grey statue" splatt icon which denotes that an attack causes paralysis if it is successful. This is primarily intended for use by baddies! <4>In Use This determines whether the attack is in use e.g. if you are designing a monster with a bite and two claws only three of the attacks will be in use; the other five are redundant. Special Rule For Missile Attacks There is, however, a special rule for goodie (or "humanoid" monster e.g. orc) missile attacks. The first two attacks specify the left and right hand weapons and are specified as "in use". The third attack is the missile attack; but is defined as being NOT IN USE! However, if the Shoot action mode is selected, the computer ignores the setting of the in use attributes, and uses the third attack regardless. This is somewhat cumbersome in defi- nition; but it works very smoothly in play where goodie combatants often want to switch between hand to hand and missile attacks. <4>Attack Level The attack level attribute represents the proficiency of a combatant with a given weapon. The higher up the alphabetic scale the attack level is, the more chance that any given attack will be suc- cessful (e.g. "F" is better than "A"). N.B. Several people moan incessantly about this alphabetic scale. It is due to be revised at the same time that the armour class scale is also revised. <4>Speed The speed attribute determines how frequently an attack strikes: generally speaking a dagger can be wielded more swiftly than a two handed battle axe. N.B. The lower the speed attribute, the more frequent an attack is. The speed attribute actually determines the time between blows as if a correspondingly sized dice had been rolled i.e. a speed of '6' means a six sided dice is rolled. <4>Defensive Value This is the additional contribution that an attack (i.e. weapon) makes to the defence of a combatant - primarily by virtue of its parrying ability. <4>Damage Dice Damage dice determine the number of HPs damage inflicted when an attack successfully hits an opponent. Damage dice are specified by three numbers as follows:- * The first number determines how many dice are to be rolled. * The second number determines the size of the dice to be used i.e. a four sided dice, a six sided dice etc. * The third number determines a number of additional bonus hit points damage to be added. >3< N.B. At any time, it is only pos- sible to show the details of one attack in the central blue panel. To change the attack shown, click on the attack name with the left mouse button and then select an alterna- tive attack from list provided. >2< N.B. These include Attack, Hold, Attack & Advance, Retreat, Attack & Advance 1, Shoot, and (for what its worth!) Petrified. <3>Goto Mode <4>Target There are three types of target for a goto:- * "L" - Location. Combatants go to a specific square (or in some circumstances to the adjacent square if the target square is occupied. * "E" - Enemy. Combatants chase down an enemy target - even if the target moves. * "F" - Friend. Combatants follow a friend around. N.B. The comba- tants are never deemed to have reached their target - they con- tinue trailing around after their friend until some other command is issued. The only exception is for healers who have "heal" as their action on arrival: these combatants heal when they reach their friend. <4>Via (Waypoint) Combatants can go directly to a target, or they can go via a waypoint. N.B. If combatants have waypoints specified and that waypoint is occupied when they arrive next to it, they will not wait for it to become unoccupied before moving on to the target. <4>Direction Of Motion Combatants can either travel forwards or backwards to a target. Travelling backwards takes longer, but it reduces the chances of being hit from behind. <4>Action On Encountering Enemies When an enemy is encountered on route to a target, combatants have the option of stopping and behaving as if the target had been reached or of continuing persistently to the target. <4>Action On Arrival This attribute specifies what action mode is required when a combatant successfully reaches a target. N.B. If "goto" is specified as the action on arrival then an action mode prompt actually occurs. In effect the action on arrival is deferred. A new goto target can be specified or an alternative action can be specified. >3< Though all of these attributes are prompted for automatically when a goto is specified, they can all be reset individually by clicking on the appropriate icon or button. (N.B. A via waypoint can be flushed by clicking with the right mouse button). <3>Cast Spell Spells in Bludgeon work under a spell point (SP) system: spells have a certain SP cost; magicians accumulate SPs; when the accumulated SPs match the SP cost, the spell is cast and the accumulated SPs lost. <4>Spell Book Each combatant can have up to eight spells in their spell book. Combatants can only cast spells which are in their spell book. The spell book can be viewed by clicking on the "Spell Mode" button. Entries in the spell book can simply be changed by clicking on them. You will then be prompted for a new spell for that entry. If the spell requires a spell type e.g. wall of ice as opposed to wall of fire, then you will also be prompted for this as well. N.B. There is no way to remove a spell from a spell book at the moment. <4>Spell An icon representing the currently selected spell is the left most icon in the spell area. <4>Spell Type The spell type is the attribute which distinguishes between similar spells e.g. wall of ice as opposed to wall of fire. The spell type is the represented by the rightmost icon in the spell area. <4>Max SP This is the maximum number of spell points which a combatant can accumulate. <4>Current SP This is the current number of spell points which a combatant has accumulated. Spell points are lost when:- * A spell is cast. (The target number of SPs are lost - any excess is retained). * The combatant moves. * The combatant is struck by a blow, missile, or spell. <4>Target SP This is the number of spell points required before the selected spell can be cast. This number varies between spells (e.g. blasts cost more than bolts) and varies depending on the level of the spell (bigger blasts cost more than smaller blasts). <4>SP Recovery (Regain) This is the number of spell points which a combatant can accumulate every second. Spell points are only accumulated if the combatant is casting a spell or is in hold mode. <4>Magic Resistance (Defend) Instead of using all their SP recovery ability to accumulate SPs, combatants can channel some of their recovery ability into magical defence. Magical defence reduces the effect of magical damage (e.g. from blast and bolt spells). Magical defence offers some immunity to a range of charm type spells e.g. Attack, Hold. However, magical defence can be overcome by raising the level of the charm spell; but of course, magic defence can be increased - and so on! N.B. Magical defence can also negate "friendly" spells e.g. teleport friend, cure petrification - so beware! >3< Most of the spell attributes are prompted for automatically when the spell action mode is selected. However, most attributes can be set individually by clicking on the appropriate button/icon. <3>Generate Mode (Clone) Generate mode is a device used by dungeon designers to introduce many baddies into a dungeon without the need to create combatants individually. <4>Camouflage A generator can be camouflaged. Click on the camouflage icon and all the available camouflages are available for selection. <4>Number Required The number of combatants to be produced by the generator. This number decreases as combatants are generated. <4>Clone Rate This is the number of seconds which elapse between generation of combatants. If the number is set to zero, then active generators will produce combatants as long as squares are available for generation i.e. there is no delay between generations. <4>Time To Next Clone As long as a generator is active, this is the number of seconds which are to elapse before the next generation. This number decreases as the next generation approaches. The number is set to the clone rate immediately after generation occurs. A particularly high initial value can be set for this value. This enables traps to be set for the players e.g. generation does not occur until the players' party has entered (or even left) a room. >3< N.B. Generators are only activated when goodies are in range - typically within about ten squares. Combatants are only generated on unoccupied squares next to the gene- rator. <3>Heal There is only one attribute for heal mode: the % heal chance. This is the % chance (each second) of healers restoring a HP to any friendly combatant in an adjacent square (or to the healer themsel- ves). <2>Positional Attributes <3>Location Each combatant occupies a specific location in a dungeon. The location changes in response to events in play e.g. as a combatant closes in to attack. A selected combatant can be manually relocated by clicking over the new location with the right mouse button whilst holding down one of the shift keys. If that square is already occupied by another combatant, they swap positions. Manual relocation is primarily intended for use by dungeon designers positioning baddies prior to play. Manual relocation is not really intended as a means by which players can reposition goodies to their advantage during combat (i.e. by moving them more than one square in one go). However, there are a number of instances where it is deemed to be acceptable:- * Swapping two adjacent goodies: usually so that a fresh combatant can relieve an injured comrade. * Moving a combatant one square into a gap in melee. This usually occurs either to allow more comrades into the battle or if the combatant is trying to move to a specific location. These are reasonable tactical objectives which are not supported in any other way at present. (N.B. Plans are afoot to automate both of these processes). * Repositioning combatants around a healer AFTER A BATTLE IS COMPLETE. Repositioning can be achieved by goto instructions; but since no tactical advantage is gained, it is often far less tedious to simply plonk the combatants next to the healer. * Reordering the party prior to scouting down a corridor. Again, no tactical advantage is gained, and it is often just less tedious to manually position the combatants in the desired order. <3>Orientation Each combatant can face in one of eight directions. The orientation of the combatant will automatically change in res- ponse to events in play e.g. being hit! However, the active combatant can be specifically oriented using the left and right "rotate" icons in the bottom right of the screen. >1< When a combatant is the "active" combatant (i.e. you have clicked on the combatant in the central play area), the combatant attributes are shown on the right hand side of the screen. The top pink panel shows various general attribute e.g. name. The central blue panel shows various attributes which are applicable to the combatants current action mode i.e. healing, casting spells etc. Positional attributes are simply manifest by the combatant icon in the play area. Philosophical Considerations The choice of attributes is always a great topic of debate in any fantasy wargaming system. Bludgeon is no exception. The philosophy behind the choice of attributes is discussed in the Bludgeon Manual. Furthermore, new attributes are often required as new features are introduced into the game. This is frequently the cause of (heated) debate in the Bludgeon newsletter. <1>Action Modes The various action modes which com- batants can adopt specify the actions which they perform. As the game progresses, the players will change their combatants' action modes to best exploit the prevailing situation. <2>Action Mode Descriptions This section contains brief descriptions of all the available action modes. <3>Attack This is the basic action mode for fighters in melee. Combatants will locate the nearest enemy and engage it in combat. Combatants are aware of enemies up to a distance of about ten squares away. <3>Attack & Advance This is similar to attack except that when an opponent is killed, a combatant moves into the square occupied by that opponent. This option is useful when trying to drive into a horde of enemies in order to make some ground. There are some limitations to this action mode in that it is not possible to control where the combatant ends up fighing to. (A "fight to location" action mode is under development). <3>Hold Combatants do not seek out enemies; they hold their positions. However, if enemies move into adjacent squa- res, they are engaged in combat. <3>Advance 1 This is similar to the hold action mode: combatants hold their position, but fight enemies which move close to them. However, if they kill an enemy, they move forward one square and then switch into true hold mode. This is useful for making space and holding it in close combat. <3>Shoot The usual setting of the "in use" attack attributes are ignored. Instead, the third weapon (which should be set up as a missile weapon) is fired instead. Shooting combatants do not move. Targeting requirements are controlled by the autotargeting attribute. If an enemy moves into an adjacent square, the combatant reverts to standard hand-to-hand combat (as specified by the attack in use attributes). If the enemy is killed, the combatant reverts to shooting. <3>Retreat The combatant backs away from the nearest enemy at half speed. If there is an enemy in an adjacent square, then it will still be engaged in combat. N.B. There are two differences between this action mode and the goto backwards action:- * The combatant still fights. * There is no control over where exactly the combatant retreats to. (However, this is an option which is being developed for future release). <3>Goto The combatant moves to another loca- tion. See the combatant goto attributes for the various options which are available. <3>Cast Spell The combatant casts a spell. See the combatant casting spell attributes for more details. <3>Clone This is a special action mode used by dungeon designers to reduce the effort involved in setting up a dungeon. Combatants in clone mode create a specified number of replicas of themselves. N.B. As these "generators" are not true combatants but a device to ease the design of dungeons, they are immune to all forms of attack and never become involved in combat. <3>Heal Lost HPs are restored to the combatant and to any comrades standing in adjacent squares. It is even possible to bring dead combatants back to life! <3>Petrified The combatant is immobilised and takes no further part in combat. This action mode is not usually available for selection. Combatants usually find themselves in this (in)action mode as a result of spells or special monster attacks. Petrification can only be reversed in two ways:- * The use of a cure petrification spell. * Cheating. >2< The detailed working of many of the action modes depend on a range of specific combatant attributes which are dealt with as a separate topic on the main menu. <2>Ordering Individual Combatants Instructions can be issued to each member of the party individually by pointing the mouse at them and clic- king with the left mouse button. A menu will appear showing the various options available for selection. <2>Ordering Groups Of Combatants Instructions can be issued to seve- ral combatants simultaneously by using the "group action" option. This is activated by clicking on the "group action" icon (three bods in a row in the bottom right of the screen). A group selection menu then appears. A variety of predefined groups are available. However, you will pro- bably find that the "Ad Hoc (Point)" option is the most useful initially. Having selected this option, the mouse cursor will turn to a pointy hand. Click on all the combatants to be included in the group. When the group is complete, click on a floor tile to indicate that you have fin- ished. A menu will then appear showing the various options available for selec- tion. The group action option is primarily used to set "group gotos" i.e. all members of the group goto a certain spot. If you set the group to "goto" the leader of the group and then issue individual goto commands to the leader of the group, the group will follow the leader around. This is useful for exploring corridors and generally wandering about. <2>Restricted Action Modes Combatants are only eligible to per- form certain action modes provided they have the necessary attributes. For instance, combatants can only "heal" provided they have a "% heal chance" greater than zero. On standard action mode selection menus, ineligible action modes are greyed out and are not selectable. In order to set the necessary attributes for an otherwise ineligible action (thereby making it eligible):- * Make a combatant active by click- ing on it with the RIGHT mouse button. * Click on the action mode icon on the right hand side of the screen using the RIGHT mouse button. An action mode selection list will appear with all actions eligible. This procedure is necessary when creating new monsters for new dungeons - especially if you want to create a generator. <1>Creating Combatants For Players It is possible to create player combatants within Bludgeon by using the create combatant icon (the bolt icon in the bottom right corner) and then manually adjusting all the com- batant attributes. It is far easier to use the separate Generate utility and then load the generated combatant via the file command button. This also ensures that all player combatants are of comparable ability and are able to function in Bludgeon adventures without being too weak or too strong. See the Bludgeon Manual for more details of how to use the Generate utility. <1>Writing New Adventures The facilities for designing new adventures are rather rudimentary. We hope to make this slicker in future releases of Bludgeon. Having said this, however, creating a new adventure is no great chore; the "interface" is just a little cumbersome in places, and there are one or two awkward constraints. <2>Before You Start Warning! Before you start building a new adventure you MUST have a fairly detailed idea of the layout of your dungeon and the denizens contained therein. The Reason The reason for this is that the size of the dungeon and the maximum number of combatants contained within it is fixed from the moment you start building the dungeon. At present, there is no way to change these parameters once the dungeon has been started. Make sure the dungeon will be large enough before you start. The Default Settings * 55 Rows * 70 Columns * 135 Combatants Altering The Defaults The parameters for the size of dungeon and the number of combatants are stored in a file called "PARAM.INF" in the "BLUDGEON\PARAMS" directory. These can be changed using any text editor or word processor: but make sure that the file is saved as an ASCII file. (Just to be safe: take a backup before you start!) When you save a dungeon, these parameters are saved with the dungeon. When you reload the dungeon, these parameters are reset. Constraints On Dungeon Size Basically, the larger you make your dungeon, and the more monsters contained within it, the slower the game will run, and the more computer memory will be required. You can set the values of the parameters to any value you can get away with: we truly do not know what the upper limit is. In practice, we find the default settings fairly acceptable, though the number of combatants can be a bit of a squeeze. N.B. When working out the number of combatants you require, remember that "generators" can be used to reduce the number of combatants which actually need to be loaded in the initial game. <2>Creating Walls, Doors, Furniture <3>Switching To Wall Creation Mode When Bludgeon is initially loaded, there is a "wall" icon in the bottom right panel of the screen. Pressing this in with the left mouse button switches Bludgeon into "wall creation mode". Clicking this button with the left mouse button again causes Bludgeon to revert to standard mode. <3>Creating/Destroying Walls etc When in "wall creation mode", point at a floor square in the main play area and click with the left mouse button. A wall square will be created. If there is a wall that you do not want, point at the unwanted square and click with the left mouse button. Provided that you are in wall creation mode, the wall will revert to a normal floor tile. <3>Changing The Object To Be Created When Bludgeon is initially loaded, there is a "wall" icon in the bottom right panel of the screen. Pressing this with the right mouse button shows all the different "architectural" objects available. Select one by clicking on it, and you will revert to the main Bludgeon screen; the selected object will have replaced the original wall icon. This button can then be used to create the new object in the normal way. There are currently three types of architectural object in Bludgeon which have different effects on the game:- <4>Walls "Walls" have the following attributes:- * When line of sight is switched on, you cannot see through walls. * Combatants can never walk through walls. Walls occupy the bottom four rows on the "wall" selection screen. <4>Doors "Doors" have the following attributes:- * When line of sight is switched on, you cannot see through doors. * Combatants can walk through doors. Doors occupy the middle three rows on the "wall" selection screen. N.B. Some of these doors look like walls: they are doors nonetheless. (Their purpose is to act as secret doors). <4>Furniture Furniture (for want of a better collective description) has the following attributes:- * Combatants can see through furniture regardless of whether line of sight is on or off. * Combatants can never walk through furniture. <2>Creating Combatants <3>Creating From Scratch A default combatant can be created as follows:- * Click on an empty square. * Click on the create combatant icon (the bolt icon in the bottom right panel). The various combatant attributes can then be adjusted manually to fashion the desired monster. N.B. This procedure is only recommended when designing a brand new monster; in other circumstances it is better to load a previously loaded monster from disk. A range of standard monsters are provided with registered copies of Bludgeon; and you can also build up libraries of your own "specials". <3>Loading From Disk This is simply achieved by clicking on the "file" button in the bottom right panel and then selecting the "Load Combatant" option. <3>Copying An Existing Combatant To create the first copy:- * Point at the combatant to be copied and click with the left mouse button. * Select "Stop" or "Quit" when the action mode selection list appears. * Point at an empty square and click. * Using the left mouse button, click on the bolt icon in the bottom right panel. To create subsequent copies, only the last two steps need be repeated. N.B. If a combatant has just been loaded from disk, it too can simply be copied by repeating the last two steps. <3>Generating Multiple Combatants If you wanted to fill a room full of orcs, for instance, you could load a single orc from disk and then copy it many times. There are a number of drawbacks to this:- * It is moderately tedious. * From a tactical point of view, you sometimes want more comba- tants than would comfortably fit in the room! * Most importantly, it uses up a large proportion of the available "slots" for combatants (135 by default). A better solution is to create a "generator". This is a single combatant which spawns copies of itself when enemies come into range. Any combatant can be converted into a generator by using the "clone" action mode. However, "clone" is a restricted action mode for goodies so that it is not easy to switch it on by mistake. For full details of the various clone options, see "Combatant Attributes" on the main help menu. <3>Creating Player Combatants It is possible to create player combatants within Bludgeon by using the create combatant icon (the bolt icon in the bottom right corner) and then manually adjusting all the com- batant attributes. It is far easier to use the separate Generate utility and then load the generated combatant via the file command button. This also ensures that all player combatants are of comparable ability and are able to function in Bludgeon adventures without being too weak or too strong. See the Bludgeon Manual for more details of how to use the Generate utility. >2< N.B. Combatants can only be created on unoccupied floor squares. <3>Removing Unwanted Combatants If you create a combatant by mistake, it can be removed by the following means:- * Switch To "Wall Creation Mode". * Point at the unwanted combatant and click with the left mouse button (i.e. make to drop a wall on its head!) * Confirm that you want to kill the combatant when the alert box appears. I know this will be difficult to believe; but it seemed like a good idea at the time! <2>Creating Magic Items <3>Creating a new magic item Magic items are created by the following method:- * Point at an empty square and then click with the left mouse button. * Point at the bolt icon in the bottom left panel and then click with the RIGHT mouse button. * A sequence of select menus will appear by which the magic item can be defined. <3>Editing a magic item Magic items are edited by the following method:- * Point at the square containing the magic item and then click with the left mouse button. * Point at the bolt icon in the bottom left panel and then click with the RIGHT mouse button. * A sequence of select menus will appear by which the magic item can be redefined. <2>Creating Plots A "plot" is a useful adjunct to solo adventures. It can be used to give a sense of purpose to what would otherwise be aimless wanderings. "Plots" are ASCII text files created with a text editor or word proces- sor. (N.B. Lines should not exceed 36 characters). They can be loaded by clicking on the "file" button at the bottom right of the screen and then selecting the "Load Plot" option. The plot will then be saved with the dungeon when the dungeon is saved. There are a limited number of formatting commands which can be used to enhance the appearance of the text:- * The first line should begin and this will become the title. * Lines beginning will become centred purple subheadings. * Lines beginning " * " will have the "*" displayed in green. * Lines beginning <1> indicate the start of subtopics which can only be revealed by clicking on them. (<2>,<3> etc represent deeper levels of subtopic etc). * Lines beginning >0< indicate the end of subtopic <1>. (>1<, >2< are used similarly). N.B. It is not necessary to have an >0< between two subtopics of the same parent which do not have any waffle between them). >1< N.B. The above topics give the bare outlines of how to proceed. The Bludgeon Manual provides far more detail and guidance. <1>How the @*#%! do I...? <2>Quit Using the right mouse button, click on the "vertical" button next to the clock. <2>Find A Named Combatant Using the left mouse button, click on the "?" symbol in the bottom right of the play area (where the horizonatal and vertical scroll bars meet). Select the combatant to be located from the list which then appears. (N.B. Use the right mouse button if you want a list of baddies).