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The Complex User Manual Written by Sean Craig Copyright (c) 1995 [Last revised : 28th July, 1995] This manual may be distributed freely. Most of the material in this manual is also available on-line in the 'Help section (quick reference)' from the Main Menu. This manual should mainly be used as a reference. Beginners should skim this manual then read the 'Quick start for beginners' section. Experienced players should still read this as it contains new material. There is also a FAQ (frequently asked questions) section at the end of this manual. Contents * System overview * Character attributes * Character classes * Experience * Action/Spell points * Combat * Magic * Treasure * Vision and light * Movement * Food * The game concept * Connecting to the system * Quick start for beginners * Miscellaneous * Hints, tips and suggestions * Frequently asked questions (FAQ) * The last bit System overview The Complex is a fully automated on-line fantasy role-playing gaming system. You create and control a group of characters to venture forth upon a chosen quest in a medieval world, fighting monsters and searching for treasure. Many parties can compete on the same quest. This human element is what makes the game interesting to play. Character attributes Strength * Prime requisite for Fighters. * Can affect your 'hit probability' (the chance of hitting someone) and 'damage adjustment'. * Also affects your ability to swim and dive. Dexterity * Prime requisite for Thieves. * Can affect your armour class (defence adjustment). * Also affects your chance of finding/noticing secret things, picking locks and stealing stuff. Intelligence * Prime requisite for Wizards. * Affects your chances of learning new Wizard spells and also the maximum number of spells you can learn every time you go up an experience level. * Also affects your chances of finding secret things and stealing stuff. Piety * The prime requisite for Clerics. * Affects your chances of learning new Cleric spells. * Also affects your chances of spell failure. Health * Can affect your hit points every time you go up an experience level (hit point adjustment). * Also affects your chances of successfully being resurrected, and your ability to swim and dive. Character classes Fighter The best class at combat. They can fight well without weapons and gain 1d10 hit points per level (plus additional hit points if they have a high health score). Thief Thieves are skilled at picking locks, detecting secrets and stealing stuff. They gain 1d6 hit points per level and are naturally harder to hit. Wizard Wizards are good at casting spells and tend to learn spells quickly due to their high intelligence. They gain 1d4 hit points per level. Cleric Clerics are good at casting spells and aren't too bad at combat. They gain 1d8 hit points per level. Changing class - characters may change class as often as desired. When you change class, the abilities of the former class are 'remembered', experience level is reset to one and experience is set to zero - hit points, action points and spell points are not changed. A character will gain only one hit point and one action point each level until reaching a level that is higher than any other level of any other previous class. Normal hit points and action points will be gained from this level onwards. Example; "Fred the Hero" starts his life as a Fighter. He advances to level four and then changes to a Wizard. Fred can now start to learn Wizard spells while still being able to fight as a level four Fighter, though his weapon selection may be limited by his new class. He will gain one hit point and one action point until he reaches level five. Only then will he gain the normal hit points and action points he is entitled to. Experience Advancement in experience levels will increase a character's hit points, action points and attributes. The amount of hit points gained depends on the class of the character. Spell points are only gained if any new spells were learned. Action/Spell points There are two different types of points used : action and spell. Each character has a certain amount of action points and spell points to spend each turn. Note that these points cannot go negative. Action points are used for almost everything, but mainly for movement, combat and spells. The amount of action points is takes to do something depends on how long that action should take. Other things may cost action points depending on the difficulty of the scenario. Spell points are used for spells only. Note that a character must have enough spell points and action points to cast a spell. Combat This is how you can physically attack other characters and monsters. You do NOT gain any experience points from killing characters, but you do gain experience points from killing monsters. The allocation of experience points is based on a 'points' system. These points are known as 'participation points'. The more damage a character does to a monster, the more experience he will get. Any characters nearby will also receive a token participation point if they can see the monster. This is best explained by the example below: Fred the Hero attacks a goblin and inflicts 10 hit points of damage. Fred receives 10 participation points for the amount of damage he did, plus another point for actually doing the damage, for a total of 11. Darius was nearby and saw the attack. Hence, Darius receives 1 participation point. Then Eric enters the scene and hits the goblin for 2 hit points of damage. The goblin dies. Eric receives 3 participation points (2 for the damage and 1 for doing the damage) and Darius and Fred each receive 1 participation point for being nearby. The participation points for each character looks like this: Fred - 12 Darius - 2 Eric - 3 Each character receives a share of the experience point total of the monster, depending on how many participation points each has. In this case, the total amount of participation points is 17 (12+2+3). If the goblin was worth 100 experience points, Fred would get 70 experience points, Darius would get 11 and Eric would get 17. This method ensures a fair distribution of experience points, giving more experience points to those who participate more. Magic Spells are divided into two different categories : Wizard and Cleric. Each category is divided into eight levels, with four spells per level. Like combat, spells also use the participation point system described above. Treasure Treasure can be gained by killing monsters, though some monsters may not carry any. Some of these items may be magical (eg; scrolls, potions, etc). Magic items can be used either by simply equipping the item or by Using it (from ACTION). Vision and light A character will not be able to see if he is dead, asleep or blind. Certain types of terrain can restrict your vision. Your vision may also be restricted if the scenario you're playing has day/night cycles or darkness underground. Spells and magical items can aid you in dark places. Note that light will not let you see past magically dark areas. Movement Each move will cost action points. The cost depends on the terrain. The more difficult the terrain is to travel on the more it will cost. For instance, moving on land is obviously faster than moving in water and thus would take less action points. An option available in movement is dragging. A character can drag another character or monster if they are dead, paralyzed or asleep. You can also drag characters in your party regardless of what condition they are in. The action point cost is doubled for dragging. Movement over water is possible by ship. When a ship is moved, all characters and items on the ship are moved. Normal action point cost applies but only to the character that moved the ship. Note that if a character drops an item whilst on a ship, that item stays on the ship and will move with the ship. Food If the system is using food, then your characters must have food to stay healthy. Each character consumes one food unit per gameturn. If a character runs out of food, then he will start to get hungry. Each successive gameturn without food causes the character to get hungrier and hit points are lost. A hungry character will immediately consume food upon receiving some. Note that this does not restore lost hit points. The game concept The system is split up into a number of different scenarios. Each scenario is based upon a quest. Whenever you start a scenario your characters are placed at a predetermined position on the map. From here you must make your own decisions on what to do and where to go. When a quest is completed all the parties participating in that quest will advance to the next one. The system is revolves around regular 'gameturns'. A gameturn will happen every few days (the number of days is determined by the person running the system, referred to as the 'GameMaster' or 'GM'). During this time the monsters get to have their turn (ie; movement, combat, cast spells, etc) and between each gameturn you get to have your turn. Connecting to the system To use The Complex you will need either a special terminal program or any communications program that supports Apple's Pascal Firmware Protocol (PFP 1.1). It is highly recommended that you use one of the terminal programs (these can be downloaded when you logon). Quick start for beginners From the logon screen type 'NEW' and follow the directions (if you already have a party then enter your party's name and password). After a few bits and pieces of information you will arrive at the 'Main menu'. Go into the 'Character menu'. Work out what type of character you want, then select the option 'Create' to create a character. The method used here is based on points. Each attribute starts on 8. Increasing an attribute past 8 will cost points, while decreasing an attribute below 8 will give you points (ie; a negative point cost). Adjust the attributes as desired and press RETURN when finished (see the sections above on Character attributes and Character classes for more information). Select a class and enter a name for the character. Repeat this process to create the number of characters you want. Return to the Main menu by selecting the option 'Exit'. Then select the option at the top of the menu, 'System Information'. Take a moment to look at various things here. You can find out a lot about the system from here such as how many people are playing, which scenarios they're on, when the next game turn is, and so on. Return to the Main menu when you have finished here. The are three other options on this menu, two of which are 'Message base' and 'Filing cabinet'. The Message base enables you to send messages to other parties. The Filing cabinet is an area where you can upload and download files. It's not important to familiarise yourself with these just yet, but you may do so now if you like. Return to the Main menu when you have finished. The third option is the most important - 'Go adventuring'. Select it now. In a moment you should see a screen with a map display at the top left, with the status of all your characters at the bottom. Press '?' to see a list of the options available. The top four are the most important - 'Action/Look', 'Combat', 'Movement' and 'Spell'. Each of these four sections has a number of options. Some of these options may be dimmed, meaning you cannot select them for some reason. For instance, from MOVEMENT, you could only select the option Up if the selected character was standing on some stairs up. Press 'A' to go into Action/Look. Move the flashing cursor around the map and press ENTER to look at various things. After you've looked around press ESC to exit, then press 'M' to go into MOVEMENT. Move the flashing cursor to a square you want to move to and press RETURN. After you've confirmed the movement the map display will be redrawn to reflect the characters new position. If you look at the bottom of the display, you will notice that the character's action points have decreased. Press 'V' and then select another character in your party. The map display is redrawn each time you select a different character. Note that the currently selected character will always have a pointer next to their name (at the bottom of the screen) and is shown on the map by a person with a sword and shield. All the other characters in your party are shown as persons in a different colour so you can identify them easily. You should now have a basic understanding of how everything works. If you are unsure about something, you can refer to this manual or read the help files on the system. If you're still stuck, you can always leave a message for the GM. There is also an 'FAQ' (frequently asked questions) section at the end of this manual. Miscellaneous Death/Resurrection - sooner or later, one of your characters will die. A dead character can be resurrected by a spell, a magical item or by paying a fee at an altar. The health score of a resurrected character is lowered by one. Once a character has reached a health score of one he cannot be resurrected and is forever dead. Aging - a character will start to feel the effects of old age at 60. Upon reaching 90, a character is likely to die. Laws and rules - from within 'System information' there is an option called 'Laws of the realm'. This will tell you what the laws and rules are and what the punishment is for each. A character that breaks the law is put onto the 'Hot list' for everyone to see. Any character on this list can be attacked legally (ie; the attacker is not put on the Hot list). Hints, tips and suggestions * Swimming - your chances of staying afloat (ie; not drowning) are much better if you're carrying less equipment.