lassen.pcx
Welcome, fellow game-designers, to the eleventh issue of the UANL! As usual, we've met with a variety of set-backs and delays that have kept the NL out of your eager hands for far too long. However, these were serious issues and had to be dealt with properly before moving on.
That's not to say that the UANL11 is sub-par, either. We just took the extra time to do it right. Among other changes, Shadowmaster created a *great* new UA world populated by... you, the UA public! Read on for further information. Kaviyd has translated several of the popular AD&D (or related) campaigns for use with UATOOLS. EKSTRA has joined us, as well, bringing his special blend of humor, technical know-how, and design sensibility to a very original column. Kaviyd has prepared an *extensive* set of articles relating to character generation using UATOOLS -- something that alternate-universe designers will love.
But I ramble (again, and again...). Without further preamble, I give you the UANL11. Enjoy!
Nyx, if you'll remember, was one of the first UANL staffers. Her reviews have graced almost every issue of the NL, and her loss will be felt by all. To everyone who uploaded modules in the past three months, my apologies -- we simply couldn't get to them. Reviews have always played a major part of the UANL, and I'd like to get the area up-and-running soon.
Again, submissions to the Review area of the UANL is encouraged -- without them, we might have to cut the area entirely.
NOTE: The RPG, of course, will be nothing like the UA game mechanics due to the numerous copyright problems.
* Unlimited Adventures (UA) is a trademark of Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Submitted by Shdwmstr03@aol.com for the RPGideas project group.
While it is possible to create a weapon that is held in the left hand, it will inflict the "2nd attack damage", not the damage of the weapon. Any special abilities that you put on a weapon will work for all character attacks made while the weapon is readied, not just for attacks with that weapon.
So, in summary, left-handed weapons do not work, but you can give a Warrior additional unarmed attacks by tinkering with the "attack #2 figures".
All you need to do to neutralize a potion of giant strength is to cast strength-affecting magic at the strengthened character. So, an Enlarge spell cast by a Mage of level 8 or less will immediately weaken the character, while the same spell cast by a Mage of level 10+ will temporarily strengthen the character. In any case, the character will revert to his unmodified strength when the Enlarge spell expires.
I would assume that the "Ray of Enfeeblement" spell will also work, but I have not been able to test this one out.
The Strength spell is totally ineffective in this regard, as it only increases a character's strength to the racial limit, which has already been exceeded by any character with giant strength.
A more drastic and less desirable solution is to give the character a girdle of giant strength, which increases the character's strength to 23. However, if he ever removes the girdle, his strength again reverts to its natural level. This solution can be used to weaken a too-strong character only by using the item editor to create a girdle of 18/00, 19, or 20 strength, thus permanently reducing the strength of the wearer. However, a crafty player will test out such items on characters only on characters who are at their natural strength.
One very little known use of Vistapro however is its ability to generate maps. I've already seen how some have used it to do semi-impressive maps. However, since I like introducing new concepts I'd like to show y'all a new way of doing it.
First is generating the demographic's that Vistapro needs for its renderings. This can be accomplished by one of many ways. The first is just loading a demographic file into Vistapro. The program itself contains many maps already in its library to suit many of your needs, also there are many other dem files available on many of the bbs (including America Online keyword: VRLI). The second is having Vistapro randomly generate the dem file for you. Each of its dem files are uniquely generated by using a base seed value for its maps. You can use the same seed value to continue generating the same map over and over again (an intresting variation on the password saves). The third is creating your own dem file by using almost any commercial graphics program around. This requires a little more explanation so I'll skip it for now and discuss it in the next issue.
Once you have the map you want, I'll show you how to render an overland map with it. First I'll explain to those who have never used Vistapro a couple of terms. Vistapro uses a couple of factors to tell it from what position and angle on the map the rendering is to be taken. The first is the camera position this tells it where the shot is to be taken from, in the map area. The second is the target position this tells Vistapro what the camera should be aiming at. There is a third factor which is called the P factor which tell Vistapro what angle the camera is rotated for the shot, but this is not really important to overland maps, so I won't go into it.
The trick to generating overland maps is to get an aerial shot of the map, with the best results if the camera is position from above and pointing straight down. That's easy enough, all you have to do is place the camera and the target at the same position therefore forcing the camera to point at itself or downwards by making sure that the target is lower in altitude than the camera. That's it! Easy huh? Yes and no, first to really get the best results you should place the camera and target factors at the exact center of the map, next you should use the wide angle lens so that you can get a sort of panoramic warping effect on the map giving it a more three dimensional feel. Also you should distance the target quite a distance from the camera so as to get as much of the map as possible in the rendering without losing the quality of the rendering. Here's the factors I've found yielding the best results:
Camera Target X: 3840 X:3840 Y: 3840 Y:3840 Z: 6000 Z:150Lens: wide angle - 16 degrees (default)
Quality: Ultra (cloud, sky, and stars rendering should be turned off as they won't be in the shot anyways therefore speeding up the rendering slightly)
Tip 1: Unless you are using a dem file provided, I would suggest smoothing the map using Vistapro's smooth function first to get rid of the jaggies...
After vistapro has rendered the map, all you have to do is save it as a pcx file cut out the portion you want from it, place the portion on the palette using you own familiar graphics programs (reduce and resample if necessary), and reduce the colors to UA standards (224 colors). Tada! You have a map ready for you, to place your little buildings on for UA. And with Vistapro, you can add other nicknacks (rivers, lakes, trees, etc) before you render so a lot of the work is done for you. Included are two overlands lassen.pcx, and island.pcx both rendered with Vistapro using the above techniques, ready for you to house them, as well as for UA.
Until next time, when I conclude my review on Vistapro 3.0 by showing you how to create your own dem files for your maps, backgrounds, etc. By using your own graphic programs, in conjuction with Vistapro.
This is...
-DIKA WOLF@aol.com
First, read through (and - if necessary - print out) any documentation that came with the adventure. Some games favor a particular character race (the Mines of Moria comes to mind), some are designed for a solo party (such as Heart of Darkness), while others may advise (or strongly encourage) a certain class of character (Paladin 2..?). An accompanying text file will usually state any special circumstances the designer has for his or her adventure. Also, some designs have an "Adventurer's Journal" of some sort, and it's much more convenient to have a printed version handy than to exit the game each time the journal is referred to.
Next, generate your character party. When you choose the "Play Game" option, a menu screen will come up with a number of choices. "Add Character" will only be available if you've already created one or more characters, unless the designer provided his own characters with the game. "Create Character" takes you to another menu, where you are asked to choose the race, gender, alignment, and class of your character.
There are certain advantages and disadvantages inherent in all four of the previous choices (although hacked games may not have the same restrictions) -- different races have class and level restrictions, female characters tend to have lower maximum strength than their male counter-parts (for humans, this applies only to exceptional strength for fighters), and alignment choices may prevent certain character class choices (and vice versa). Page 14 through 18 of your UA designer's journal gives a fair explanation of the races, classes, and alignments available in Unlimited Adventures (for those who aren't intimately familiar with them already), while pages 48 and 49 have tables showing class/ability score restrictions and ability score modifiers available to certain races.
One of the strongest reasons for choosing -- or not choosing -- non-human characters over humans (aside from the requirements of the particular game) are the maximum level limitations on character classes -- and this is a good argument for designers to include a text file with the game, explaining the beginning and expected maximum levels of the characters in the adventure. There isn't much incentive to use non-human characters in a high-level game (where they have little or no chance to advance in level). All non-humans, however, are allowed unlimited advancement as thieves, so don't rule them out entirely.
At this point of the game, you need to generate a well-balanced group of characters. While everyone probably has his own view of the perfect "general purpose" character party, this usually means a strong group of fighter classes to the front (the first three characters), with a mage, cleric, and thief taking up the last 3 slots.
For your fighter types, Paladins are a good choice, not only because of their class abilities, but because having a paladin in your party will allow you to control NPC allies in combat. A ranger (or two) is also a strong class for the party's front, as he/she can do additional damage against a broad range of creatures, has access to some very useful spells (at higher level), and most important, can start out with greater hit points than other character classes. Clerics are useful for that all-important ability to "turn" undead, a good mix of curing, defensive, and minor offensive spells, and for that other all-important ability: using the "fix" command while camping. Unless you have at least one (conscious) person in the party who can cast first-level cleric spells, the fix command won't do anything... Thieves are important in games where the designer has placed traps or other situations in which thieving abilities (wall-climbing or picking pockets) are required. They can also "backstab" an opponent (designer's journal, p.21), an ability that should never be under-rated. And, last but not least, mages provide spell-powers that rival or exceed the abilities of most other classes in the game. Unlimited Adventures is a design system based on the "Sword and Sorcery" genre -- while designers certainly aren't restricted to that theme, for the most part, many of them use it. And a sword and sorcery game, without the magic, just isn't the same.
Once you've created your characters and saved them, choose "Add Character" from the menu to add each to your party, and then save your game. From there, you're ready to start playing.
After starting play, at the first opportunity, have the party find a place to rest and memorize spells. Do this immediately if you can (personally, I always forget to have my characters memorize spells until I've played for awhile ;). The spell choices you have will depend on the character levels, but whatever they are, choose wisely... I won't go into a lot of detail on the uses of every spell -- it'd take a much larger article than this -- but I do recommend having your cleric pray for "detect magic" and as many "cure light wounds" spells as possible. Having him do the former frees up your mage to memorize other first level spells than that one, while still giving the party the chance to check for magical treasure after a battle.
Throughout the game, you should save often -- especially when it seems your party is about to face a battle. In fact, keep several saved games, in case you find yourself unable to escape a particularly nasty encounter or you inadvertently destroyed your party's chances to complete the game by giving the wrong answer to a "once-only" quest opportunity. Also, keep a notepad handy. You may find in some games that a particular password is needed to continue on -- and the word is given only once. It might also be a good idea to keep notes of the party's objectives in a certain area. You may need these notes to familiarize yourself if you quit playing for awhile and decide to come back to the game later on.
Last, but not least, use tactics when faced with difficult battles. This is where saving your game often comes in most handy; if your party is completely devastated by a particular monster, or only a few characters remain and you don't particularly feel like trudging to a temple for a "raise dead" spell, take note of where the battle took place and restore the game. Then, after returning to a spot just before that location, choose "camp," have your spell casters cast defensive (and offensive) spells, and save the game. These spells include: (for clerics): bless, protection from evil, resist cold, resist fire, prayer, protection f/evil 10' radius, (for high-level rangers): invisibility to animals, barkskin, protection from fire, and (for mages): enlarge, shield, invisibility, mirror image, haste, invisibility 10' radius, protection from normal missiles, fire shield, minor globe of invulnerability, fire touch, iron skin, globe of invulnerability, mass invisibility, and mind blank. Obviously, many of these spells aren't always necessary -- if your opponent doesn't use magic, a globe of invulnerability serves no purpose, and so forth. If your party is in "search" mode, be sure to turn this off before stepping into the combat -- otherwise, 10 minutes of game time will go by, counting against the duration of the spells you've just prepared.
Special case encounters: At times, you may find your party facing a monster that requires a bit of finesse to beat:
-Autery@aol.com-
When I originally bought UA it was for one purpose -- to keep a 10 year old pen & paper group of role-players together. I had moved to Chicago and several of the other players moved to different cities shortly after. So we had a core group of 8 players in four different locations across the country. I picked up UA, and convinced all of them to do the same (Not one of them uses UA to create adventures, just to play mine) and since that time have created over 50 adventures for them to go on. Most are 1 or 2 dungeon crawls designed to keep them busy, but it works.
Anyway, back to my original point: when I decided to convert my Waterdeep module ("Waterdeep: Terror by Night") for release to the world of UA players I had to make a decision. Should I re-write most of the adventurer so any generic party could use it, or should I keep the prebuilt characters and give the player enough history and background so that they would be able to relate to the party? That is, I would have to force the gamers to use my pregenerated party.
I opted for the latter option, and I've made the decision that all of my adventures will take place with this group of characters as the main focal-point. Although many UA players may decide to overlook my adventures, those that do play will find a group of characters with a rich history and background.
As a designer I find that I can put more specifics into an adventure if the "main cast" consists of adventurers I know. In Waterdeep the leader of the adventuring group known as Those Guys@ is one Quill Nightshade@. I know Quill better than I know some real people. A good friend of mine spent 10 years putting a history into Quill's family, his enemies, fears, and desires. By knowing what makes Quill tick I can customize parts of the adventure to events that would cause Quill to react.
Well, as a designer this is perfect, but it doesn't do any good if the player who is controlling Quill and the others doesn't "relate" to the characters. So as a designer I must provide a detailed history of the character. It must relay something about his origins, his personality and his relationship to other characters. Then I must - as in any good adventure - give the player a reason and a purpose for the adventuring group.
Remember: a good movie has an interesting plot, and strong characters you can feel for. There is no reason a good UA adventure can't contain both. Going the route of a prebuilt party is certainly not the politically correct way to create a UA adventure, but designed correctly it can become an alternative that adds more creativity to the designer.
[Below is a short sample of some of the background information which will be included in the upcoming "Waterdeep: Terror by Night" module. ThoseGuys and the individual characters are copyrighted 1989 to Dan Spezzano. This group of adventures will appear in several UA modules and, if I find a publisher, in a fantasy novel sometime in the future. Waterdeep will include complete character backgrounds & history. An audio introduction, a short story leading up to the parties current situation, graphical maps and character portraits.]
-MntnbkeDan@aol.com
If you wish to create a hacked adventure that modifies the standard 1st edition AD&D character generation rules, use the following guidelines to describe the desired changes. Then send a text file containing your desired changes to Kaviyd@aol.com and I will help produce the required hack changes.
Using fewer characters than indicated presents no problems.
All six races must have at least one legal class each, although it is possible to "blank out" races from the character creation menu.
For this class, specify spell progression for levels 1-29.
For this class, specify spell progression for levels 1-29.
For this class, specify spell progression for levels 1-29.
For this class, specify spell progression for levels 1-29.
For this class, specify thieving skills at levels 1 to 18. If you wish to change adjustments for dexterity, specify these adjustments as well.
1: Magic-User 2: Cleric 4: Thief 8: Fighter 16: Monk 32: Druid 64: Paladin 128: OtherAdd together all applicable codes.
The remaining files give suggestions for hacks based on AD&D worlds published by TSR. If you are interested in creating a hack based on one of my suggestions (or, for that matter, if you have an independent suggestion of your own), send me e-mail with a description of what you want. I will respond by e-mail to any specific request. If there are enough requests for any specific hack, I will upload that hack to the AOL libraries and/or to one or both of the UA ftp sites.
For level limits, you must decide which classes must be limited for non-Human characters. My preference would be to limit the Cleric and Magic-User classes and allow unlimited advancement in all other classes.
If you sacrifice this race to make room for Half-Orcs, change any Half-Elf characters that you use to Humans or Elves as appropriate.
If you sacrifice this race to make room for Half-Orcs, change and Halfling characters that you use to Gnomes.
Special thanks to JGB4907 for his ideas toward this hack.
This hack is based on the documents for the "Living Jungle" campaign that were posted in the RPGA section of the TSR Online forum of AOL. The Living Jungle is a relatively low-powered campaign, as the maximum character level is level 10. Refer to the 2nd edition PHB for any character generation information not given here. For adventure and setting ideas, consult the original RPGA documents for this campaign. Note that I am not a member of the RPGA and have never played in this campaign; all information is based strictly on the available documents.
Because dual-classed characters are not supposed to be permitted, I would blank out that option from the training hall menu and assume that the player will not select that option anyway. If the player does select the "Human Change Class" option, it will work normally, and he will suffer no penalty except for earning the scorn of the hack designer.
Type AC Encumbrance Reed 9 50 Bone 8 150 Thatch 8 50 Hide 6 300 Shield +1 Standard
This hack is based on TSR's "Buck Roger XXV" game. All player characters are Humans or Gennies (genetically modified Humans). The spell allocation lists are blanked out, as magic does not work in this setting. Overall level limit is 12. Minimum intelligence for all races is 8 unless a higher minimum is specified. No race has level limits below level 12. Unless otherwise stated, all classes use "Fighter" saving throws. Characters may be not be of evil alignment. No multi-classed characters are allowed.
Except as noted, ability score ranges for all player characters are as follows:
Str: 3-18 (no percentile strength) Int: 8-18 Wis: 3-18 Dex: 8-18 Con: 8-18 Cha: 3-18
Str: 18/01-19 Int: 8-16 Wis: 3-17 Dex: 9-19 Con: 9-19 Cha: 3-15
Str: 16-18 (18/01-18/00 if Warriors) Dex: 9-19 Con: 8-19 Cha: 3-17
Str: 3-16 Int: 9-19 Dex: 8-19 Con: 8-17
Str: 3-16 Dex: 12-19 Con: 8-16
Con: 4-19 Cha: 4-19
8x8db.tlb and 8x8dc.tlbHex and Dec values are easy to get confused with.... normally a dollar sign appears before a hex value. But for the sake of this text, almost every represented in in hex form. I will put ( ) around conventional dec numbers when used.
The easiest way to describe the structure is byte by byte. Here we go...
We will illustrate the first wall set RockA in 8x8db.tlb 00-62. This is a general info header area for the 8x8db.tlb file. It gives info that describes where the individual wall sets are found in this file.
00-03 Ascii values for HLIB
04-07 4 byte direct pointer, length of file, points to last byte +1.
08 variable, # of wall sets +1.
In 8x8db the value is 0a, for 9 walls,
In 8x8dc the value is 08, for 7 walls.
10-13 direct pointer to a byte. In the case of 8x8db, this points to
location 3c. 3c is used as a variable. The value of 9 means #
of wall sets contained in file. In 8x8dc, the value is 7.
14-37 4 byte direct pointers that mark the beginning byte of the 9 wall
sets contained in 8x8db.
14-17 4 byte pointer to wall set 1
18-1b " " wall set 2
1c-1f " " wall set 3
20-23 " " wall set 4
24-27 " " wall set 5
28-2b wall set 6
2c-2f wall set 7
30-33 wall set 8
34-37 wall set 9
38-3b direct pointer to wall set 10. Of course there is no wall set 10.
this pointer is the same as 04-07, and is an end of file marker.
3c variable, pointed to from 10-13. Value indicates total # of walls
3e-60 these are variables used to identify which wall set is stored in
which wall set location of this file. Values are read as follows
wall set 1 is stored as wall set 1. This is redundant in 8x8db.
However, in 8x8dc.tlb it begins as wall set 0a (10) is stored as
wall set 1 of 8x8dc. Remember, there are 16 total sets of walls.
9 are in db, and 7 are in dc.
3e and 40 wall set 1
42 and 44 wall set 2
46 and 48 wall set 3
4a and 4c wall set 4
4e and 50 wall set 5
52 and 54 wall set 6
56 and 58 wall set 7
5a and 5c wall set 8
5e and 60 wall set 9
62 this is the first byte of the wall set RockA. this is the
location pointed to by the address in 14-17.
62-67 ??? variable, length of wall set size
6a ??? variable, value is always 30 in every wall set
72 offset pointer. points to 1st byte for color cycles
value is always D4. This offset points FROM
the first byte of the wallset.
In RockA, this location is byte 62
From location 62, do a D4 jump to location 0136
76-133 offset pointers for 48 different sets of bitmaps used to generate
the 3-D effect in gameplay. Again, this offset value is the jump
from location 62.
76-77 offset pointer to first bitmap image address.
136 variable, value is 01 if non-cycle
value is 03 if colors cycle
I did not experiment with other values to see what may
happen if value of other than 01 or 03 was used.
138 variable value is always 20,
??? may be first color slot of palette.
note: the first slot devoted to wall is slot 20 (32) of
the color palette.
13a variable value is always 25,
??? may total # of palette slots used.
note: there are 25 (37) actual colors available devoted
to wall art.
13d variable value is always 18, ???
13e first byte location of the color palette
1ac last byte location of the color palette
note: there are (37) colors. They are stored as RGB format.
RGB means red green blue. Therefor, each slot of the color palette
has 3 values stored to describe the color.
The first 3 bytes, address 13e, 13f, and 140 are red green blue for
the color in palette slot 20 (32).
1ad ???
1ae variable, 4 different values are stored here.
Value 8 is 8 x 8 bitmap
value 18 is 24 x 24 bitmap
value 38 is 56 x 56 bitmap
value 58 is 88 x 88 bitmap
note: byte 1ad may be used with 1ae to describe certain conditions.
programmers made it possible to save space, and it is possible
that they used these 2 bytes together to make special walls,
such as the half wall/water image in WoodB.
1b4 and 1b5 algorithym.... will I ever spell algo correctly.... nah!
I have seen 4 different values stored here.
02 15, 04 15, 0e 15, and 06 15. I haven't broken this code yet.
It is obvious to me, however, that the program skips around the
bitmapping, possibly as a refresh rate for the graphics.
I have always felt that the basic bitmap scheme is in LBM format.
I support that conclusion because some of these walls cycle colors
but PCX files will not cycle.
There is another possible answer to what is contained in 1b4 and 1b5.
02 15, and the other values may be a possible starting location on the
screen for the image to be displayed.
Between the byte address 1ad and 1b5 are 4 bytes with value 00 stored
in them. In certain wall images, the image does not begin in the upper
left hand corner. I have seen examples were there are values other than
00 stored in these 4 locations. Therefore, it may also be possible that
02 15 is also a starting location instead of an algorithm formula.
Later I will explain the walls, and how they interact. Hopefully this
theory will become clearer at that point.
1b6 This is the first byte that has a bitmap value stored in it.
The images begin here. 48 sets of bitmapping....... and
it's big!
Most of the time, the values stored here will be between 20 and 45.
These values indicate the slot used in the color palette.
The slots between 20 and 45 are devoted to wall art. 20-45 are also used
in dungeon art, but dungeons and walls are never displayed at the same
point in the game.
You will find the values 00-1f, and FF (transparent) used occasionally.
00-1f, and FF are devoted to general use for UA, and must never be
changed when working with the palette. The changes are global.
That is as far as I will go using actual locations. I have described
8x8db.tlb, its header, and the structure of the RockA set.
8x8dc.tlb is slightly different in locations, but the structure is
the same. The differences occur because there are 9 wall sets in db,
and 7 wallsets in dc. Also, wallsets come in different sizes.
For example, wasteland is a very small wallset. The bitmapping needed
to describe a blank wall is very small since it consists of nothing but
FF values.
To find the next wall set after RockA, I do a simple word search. HLIB.
The H will be the first byte in the next wall set.
Wall 1 is a global wall. It stands alone in wall 1. It also serves as a background in walls 3, 4, and 5. Wall 2 is the only wall independent of walls 1 3 4 5. wall 3 4 5 are small overlays to wall 1.
If you observe closely, you will see that the doors are simply overlaid on wall 1. Yet we see them as walls 3 4 or 5. Look at TreesA and TreesB. In treesA, the image seen in wall 1 is the same in walls 3 4 5. Now look at trees B. Notice that wall 1 is blank. That is why the bushes in walls 4 and 5 have no background.
The byte location 1b6 is the beginning of the 1st set of bitmapping. To simulate 3-D, it is required that we have 10 images. 1b6 just shows the bitmapping for left side far away wall 1. There is left, center, right, and far, nearby, close. In 3-D, we have to have a bitmap image for left nearby, just as we need an image for close center. Add in the 5 walls that make a set, and the total is 48 bitmaps. Wall 1 uses the 1st 10 bitmaps. Wall 2 uses the 2nd 10 bitmaps. Walls 3 4 5 use the remainder of the 48 bitmaps as overlays on the 1st 10 images.
What is an overlay? An example is the doors. The original programmers saved space by only using enough to show a different image without bitmapping the whole image. Now remember I said the 4 bytes that precede the 02 15, 04 15, etc are usually 00s. Well, it is possible to move a door halfway up a wall. Just change those numbers. There are examples to be found in the other wall sets. For example, the torches found in wall 4 are located in the middle. Those 4 bytes are not 00s in that bitmap. I could put the torch lower on the wall.
8x8db.tlb contains the following wallsets, in the order listed in UA: RockA, RockB, Adobe, Webs, Bricks, Caves, WoodA, WoodB, Wasteland. 8x8dc.tlb contains the following wallsets in order listed: Marble, TreesA, TreesB, CoralA, CoralB, Lava, Firebricks.
I could spend days providing ya with exact locations. Instead, I chose to provide ya with the basic structure. If you can find your way around RockA, then you will see all the other walls fall the same way.
I hope I have been clear enough. I used to program assembly language on a C-64 years ago. So I know what a hex is, what an address is, what an offset pointer does etcetc. But I was self taught. Therefore, it is possible that a real programmer may not understand a single thing I wrote.
Good Luck, Sarlegant@aol.com
PS. For those curious souls, Dungeon.tlb uses almost the same structure. Just different locations. For all I know, it may be possible to add more dungeons, as well as just making changes. But memory could be a problem. Also, we would have to add a name to the String file. But before we can test those waters, we have to be able to draw a new dungeon, OR wall.
*****
Special Ability/Effect Codes
compiled by David Knott (Kaviyd@aol.com):
In this version of the list I have begun to assemble the applicability of each effect. The key to this list is as follows:
Y Yes - Effect works.
N No - Effect does not appear to work.
X Setting this code causes problems (anything from strange graphics
to crashing the computer).
? I am not sure about this one.
As near as I can tell, NPCs are subject to the same effects as player
characters ("Char"), not monsters ("Monster"), as they join the party and
are saved in the same format in the saved game files. Also, since monsters
appear only in combat, effects that are not discernible at that time are
listed as "N".
Applicability
Code Char Item Monster Effect
0 Y Y Y No Effect
1 Y Y Y Blessed
2 Y Y Y Cursed
3 Y ? ? (Harassed by Snakes)
4 N N N Dispelling Evil
5 Y Y N Detecting Magic
6 Y Y Y Immune to Electricity
7 Y ? Y Gnome THAC0
8 Y ? Y Protected from Evil
9 Y ? Y Protected from Good
10 Y Y Y Resistant to Cold
11 N N N (Charmed)
12 Y ? ? Enlarged
13 Y ? ? Barkskin
14 Y ? N Friendly
15 Y ? ? Slowed Poison
16 Y ? N Reading Magic
17 Y ? ? Shielded
18 Y ? Y Half-Elf MR
19 Y Y N Finding Traps
20 Y Y Y Resistant to Fire
21 Y ? ? Silenced
22 ? ? ? ???
23 Y N ? Has Spiritual Hammer
24 Y ? Y See Invisible
25 Y Y Y Invisible
26 Y ? Y Dwarf THAC0
27 N X Y (Befuddled)
28 Y ? ? Duplicated
29 Y ? ? Weakened
30 Y ? ? (Nauseated)
31 N Y Y (Helpless)
32 Y Y ? (Dispelling Evil)
33 Y ? ? Blind
34 Y ? N Diseased
35 Y ? ? Confused
36 Y ? ? Accursed (by Ring of Vulnerability)
37 Y Y Y Blinking
38 Y N ? Strengthened
39 Y Y ? Hasted
40 Y ? Y Rakshasa MR
41 Y ? ? Protected from Normal Missiles
42 Y ? ? Slowed
43 N Y N Weakened when Unreadying
44 N X N Takes 1 hp of damage when Unreadying
45 Y ? Y Protection vs. Evil 10'
46 Y ? Y Protection vs. Good 10'
47 Y ? Y Dwarf AC Bonus
48 Y ? Y Gnome AC Bonus
49 Y ? ? Affected by Prayer
50 Y Y Y Fire Shield, Hot Flames
51 Y ? ? (Held)
52 Y ? ? (Asleep)
53 ? Y ? Readying item renders wielder helpless
54 Y Y Y Fire Shield, Cold Flames
55 Y ? ? Poisoned
56 Y Y ? Invisible (Ring)
57 Y Y ? Globe of Invulnerability
58 Y ? Y Petrifying Gaze
59 Y ? Y Reflectable Gaze
60 Y ? Y +3 or better weapon to hit
61 Y Y ? Resistant to Fire (Ring)
62 Y X N Rapid Healing
63 Y ? ? Minor Globe of Invulnerability
64 Y N Y Lethal Poison
65 Y ? Y Petrify Attack
66 Y ? Y Half Damage from Cutting Weapons
67 Y ? Y Half Damage from Blunt Weapons
68 Y ? ? Mentally Enfeebled
69 Y ? ? Invisible to Animals
70 Y ? Y Umber Hulk Gaze
71 Y ? ? Magically Highlighted
72 Y Y Y Mirror Readied
73 Y Y Y Immune to Dragon Breath
74 Y Y ? Wearing Boots of Speed
75 Y Y ? Giant Slaying Sword
76 Y Y Y Immune to Disease
77 ? ? ? ???
78 Y Y ? Wearing Stone of Good Luck
79 Y ? Y Iron Golem MR
80 Y ? Y Half Damage from Weapon of +2 or less
81 Y ? Y Half Damage from Weapon of +3 or less
82 Y ? Y Slain by Blessed Bolts
83 N X Y Super Fire Breath
(as 84 but greater damage)
84 N N Y Dragon Fire Breath
85 N N Y Dragon Cold Breath
86 Y ? Y Phase Spider Poison
87 ? ? ? ???
88 Y ? Y Paralyzing Attack
89 Y Y Y Wearing Cloak of Displacement
90 N N Y Dragon Poison Breath
91 N N Y Dragon Lightning Breath
92 Y ? Y Immune to Fear
93 Y Y Y Immune to Fire
94 ? ? ? ???
95 Y ? Y Elf MR
96 N N Y Dragon Acid Breath
97 Y ? Y Short Guy MR
98 Y Y Y Immune to Cold
99 ? ? Y Random Bonus Attacks
100 ? ? Y Dragon Fear Attack
101 Y Y Y Drain 1 Level
102 Y Y Y Drain 2 Levels
103 Y ? Y +1 or better weapon to hit
104 Y N Y +4d6 fire damage
105 Y N Y Ranger Damage Bonus
106 N X Y Stunned
107 N X N Aura of Hostility
108 Y N Y +2d6 fire damage
109 ? ? ? ???
110 Y N N (Paladin Cure Disease ability used up)
111 ? ? ? ???
112 Y Y Y Protected by Fire Shield (either kind)
113 ? ? ? (Strengthened by Potion of Giant
Strength)
114 Y ? Y Paralyzing Gaze
115 Y Y Y Vorpal Weapon
116 N N Y Marilith Attack
117 Y N Y Beholder Attack
118 ? ? ? ???
119 Y ? ? Resist Fire (Druid)
120 ? ? ? ???
121 Y N ? Fire Touch
122 Y ? ? Iron Skin
123 Y ? ? Shielded by Mind Blank
124 Y ? Y Charm Gaze
125 Y ? Y +2 or better weapon to hit
126 Y ? Y Protected vs. Gaze Attack
127-131 ? ? ? ???
132 Y ? Y Paralyze on Hit
133-136 ? ? ? ???
137 Y ? Y Carrion Stench
138-139 ? ? ? ???
140 Y N N (Paladin Lay Hands ability used up)
141 Y ? Y Immune to Sleep/Charm
142 ? ? ? ???
143 Y ? Y Immune to Poison/Paralysis
144-157 ? ? ? ???
158 Y ? Y Immune to Paralysis
159 ? ? ? Damaged by Holy Water
160-167 ? ? ? ???
168 Y ? Y Vulnerable to Fire
169 Y ? Y Half Damage from Magic Weapons
170 Y ? Y Inflicts Mummy Disease
171 X ? Y Mummy Fear Aura
172 Y Y N Afflicted with Mummy Rot
173 ? ? Y Grows from Electricity
174 Y ? Y Resistant to Fire/Cold
175 Y ? Y Half Damage from All Weapons
176 ? ? Y Shambling Mound Engulf
177-185 ? ? ? ???
186 Y ? Y Black Pudding Attack
187-192 ? ? ? ???
193 Y ? Y Immune to All Weapons
194 ? ? ? ???
195 ? ? Y Gorgon Attack
196-200 ? ? ? ???
201 N X N ???
202-214 ? ? ? ???
215 Y X Y Cannot Heal
216 N N Y Troll Get Up
217 Y N Y Troll Regeneration
218 N Y N Fully Healed on Unready
219 Y ? Y Efreet Fire Resistance
220 ? ? Y Owl Bear Hug
221 Y Y Y Guarding - No Movement
222 ? ? ? ???
223 Y ? Y Hell Hound Breath
224 Y ? Y Ghoul Paralysis Attack
225 ? ? ? ???
226 Y Y N Troll Regeneration
227-229 ? ? ? ???
230-255 X X X Crash Computer or Program
Notes:
Effect 4 gives the "dispelling evil" text but has no effect in practice.
Effect 62 causes problems unless it is the very last special ability and other fields are set a certain way, in which case it works properly. Similarly, the dragon breath abilities will work for player characters only if the dragon breath ability is the last ability in the record and the character is turned over to computer control. Even then, the result is erratic.
Effect 112 gives the "zap" from the Fire Shield spell. Effects 50 and 54 are simply the modifiers for hot and cold flames, respectively.
Effect 172 as applied to item takes effect when item is unreadied.
Note effects 216, 217, and 226. An item with effect 216 will not work. An item with effect 217 will permanently grant the character the ability to regenerate once it "kicks in" after three rounds.
Effect 221 forces a character or monster into a "Guarding" mode. The character cannot move for the remainder of the turn (if readying an item with this effect). A character or monster under this effect (whether as a personal ability or as an item effect) will not move at all if turned over to computer control.
Credits: Peter Delaney, Autery, Fet Selonn, Shdwmstr03, Slashem, and JorgeC2you provided much of the data for this table.
While at a recent UANL staff meeting, we came up with what we hope will be an interesting addition to the UANL. We thought it would be neat to create a city in which our favorite characters would be the inhabitants. These characters would be the focus point of adventures and plots that would take place in the city or the surrounding country side. We will try to make these new short adventures available on a bi-issuely basis that will take place in this town setting. One of our many goals for this new section is to introduce and use the newest editors, hacks, and patches that are being written and made available for UA.
So, to get this thing on a roll, we will need the help of you fellow UAer's. It would be much appreciated if you would take the time to type out the stats and background of a couple of your favorite characters or NPC's (not more than 3 submissions, please) and email them to me at:
UACity@aol.com
Please include your character's:
Name Age Sex Class & Level Alignment Str Int Wis Chr Con Dex Hit Points AC Magic items that he would be normally carrying. Special magic items or artifacts that this character possess. and any other information you feel that would be important. A brief background on you character's history.Also include a note stating as to whether or not you would be against your evil character or npc being used as a bad guy in one the adventures. Otherwise, you might find that he is an evil npc in one of the many side adventures we hope to write.
I cannot promise that I will be able make each and every submission an inhabitant. But rest assured, I will try use each and every submission in at least one of the future adventure shorts. I do however, hope to make at least one submission from each of you an inhabitant of UA City.
NOTE: If you are reading this article quite some time after its publishing, go ahead and send us your character's stats, as we hope this will be long running addition.
Well, with that said, we have one small problem: we need a name for our city. So, I am proud to announce the UA CITY NAMING CONTEST. I have looked at the tremendous publishing budget for the UANL of zero dollars and I have graciously decided that the winner of the UA City naming contest will have one of his characters named the founding father or mother of UA city. We will take submissions for this contest until 6-15-95. I will announce the winner in the issue following 6-15-95.
Please, send your submissions for the UA NAMING CONTEST to the same address listed above for character submissions with the heading naming contest. For, the more lazy of us I have again included that address below.
That address again, is
UACity@aol.com
I would also be interested in any and all suggestions you have for this newest section of the UANL. You should feel free to send any ideas you have for side adventures or any other notes or comments you might have concerning this new project. I would also be extremely interested in the stats of any special items you might have made for UA. I can't promise a quick response, as I am notoriously slow at answering my email, but, I can promise that I will try to answer all email sent to me.
As a final note, I look forward to a huge response, I hope that you the readers are as excited about this newest edition to the UANL as I am. Although, this article was short and only meant to introduce you to our newest addition. I hope it will be the forerunner to several exciting articles and even more exciting adventures for you our readers to experience.
"Shadowmaster"
Shdwmstr03@aol.com
Dernhelm@aol.com
Timber@indy.net
Yes, I have two Internet addresses, but one is from aol <G>. I will give
better explanation of what I want when you mail me (if you are unsure).
Thanx.
I am looking for someone who enjoys working on UA artwork and is good at what they do. I have recently begun work on a project that I hope to develop along three lines: UA module, AD&D module, and fantasy/sci-fi novel. In short, copyrights have already been obtained and work has already begun on the hard module and the novel, the novel nearing completion.
With my job as a tech writer and writing fantasy/sci fi as well, I have neither the time, (nor the skill, for that matter) to create mind blowing UA artwork. However, many of you out there do. If you are interested in assisting me in this project, please E-mail me at MjcVyper.
Payment, such that it may be, is as follows: Full illustrative credits in the UA module when it releases on AOL. I will also attempt to use the same artwork in the AD&D hard module as well. If that gets published (we are talking to editors as we speak), full illustrative credits will appear in that also. If this endeavor begins to produce an income (so far, so good), business arrangements can be made for future projects.
I want somebody good at what they do. I will not release details of the module or what we are looking for, in the newsletter just yet, but any that are seriously interested, please E-mail me. Once I decide on a particular artist, that individual will be given first consideration for work on future projects. There are three of us collaborating on this project, but we are in need of a good artist.
I look forward to all responses and will reply to all.
Finally, if you wonder about my own UA credentials, I have put one module out so far, the Rod of Ulran'ka, which debuted last April or May.
MjcVyper@aol.com
Anyway, you're probably asking yourself, "what kind of art does he need?" Glad you asked. (Obvious setup.) Here's my current (but tentative) list, just of creatures. Other stuff later.
I already have either made, modified, or downloaded the following, which are unnecessary to be duplicated:
Any help in this area would be greatly appreciated. I know I have never finished a mod (imploring many who might have helped to ignore my pleas!) but I am seriously attempting to do all the planning beforehand to finish this one!
EKSTRA@aol.com
Blackbird Stag Owl Eagle SalmonA picture of an Elf peering out through a barred window would complete the sequence nicely. Does anyone have any suitable art?
-Kaviyd@aol.com-
Rot Grub Vargouilles Little Mermaid Darth Vader Iceman (or any X-Men for that matter) Robotech (Any kind of picture!!)Also, how about some Planescape artwork people! We sure could use some Solars, Planetars, Modrons, Thieflings, and the like. Overland pictures for the numerous Outer Planes and The City of Sigil would be cool! Who is up to the challenge?! KEEP UA ALIVE PEOPLE! 'Urklore' of Anime Adventurers
-Urklore@aoL.com-
This want ad is related to UACity. As I am not an artist by any means, I am unable to draw the art that I require. So, if one of you feel so inclined, I would appreciate it if someone would draw the following on an overland map template. I would like a town scene depicted with various buildings spread around small lake with a dock. A waterfall at the left edge should be depicted falling down from a cliff into a river that flows into the lake surrounded by the buildings. The lake should flow to the right exiting into the ocean. It would be nice if a beach was drawn along the right side of the screen. I need the following buildings drawn on the overland map around the lake:
a dock
a dock warehouse
perhaps a lighthouse
a tavern
an inn
3 towers (one black, one white, one grey)
at least 2 temples
a fortress or castle
a garden
a marketplace
a mine shaft going into the cliff on the
left side of the screen would be nice
and several misc buildings for
(houses, training, etc...)
I am shooting for a environment that is similar to the Imagination
Network's Interface (Sierra). I thought it would be neat to move thru the
city in overland map mode and then zoom in to 3d move-mode while in the
building. I will, of course, give you credit in nice bold letters on the
intro screen for your contributions.
You can email me at
UACity@aol.com
Thanks, Shadowmaster (Shdwmstr03@aol.com)
And now on to...
Let there be Life: Part I - Character Creation
[Excerpt from The Third Dream of Primion]Character creation can be a tricky thing. How does one keep all of their antagonists from sounding like Darth Vader(tm), Sauron, or Dracula? Or, worse yet, a combination of the three. This problem can also manifest itself in the creation of protagonists as well as villains. Any character you create runs the risk of coming off as a clone of one of the many thousands of literary characters already in existence.Darmroth was a typical elf in many ways. He was curious about life and magic. He was patient, but not patient enough. He wanted power and he wanted it fast. While most elf mages were content to spend centuries on a single problem, Darmroth had to make new discoveries daily or he became frustrated. Before long this trait began to make him choose questionable methods in acquiring his materials, and in how he treated his subjects. In time his greed for knowledge consumed him. It was at this point that Malbech appeared to him. Darmroth entered into a pact with Malbech in exchange for knowledge, thus was the race of dark elves born.
However, a lot of hard work can go into one of these literary clones. The first step in character creation is to keep your antagonists from being too 'undeniably evil,' and your protagonists from being clothed in the shimmering cloth of 'ultimate goodness.' Most real people fall somewhere in the middle. You should endeavor to make you characters as real as possible by making them fall in this middle ground. In some cases it may be appropriate to put your protagonist and antagonist on the same moral ground. Such a situation will make those decisions the protagonists must make that much more difficult. Is a choice necessarily the wrong one, just because it is what your enemy would do? In comic books this may be true (although not so much any more), but certainly not in the real world. The good guys might not always do the right thing, and sometimes villains are merciful or kind.
When creating important characters stay away from stereotypes. Stereotypes are great for background characters or extremely minor NPCs, but should NEVER be used for important characters. Using stereotypes will automatically make that character unimportant in the minds of your audience. When creating important characters it is acceptable to begin with a stereotype as long as you alter it drastically to make the character unique. Give that middle aged Irish beat cop a passion for health food, or give that big muscular warrior an IQ to rival Einstein.
To give you an example, I remember downloading an early UA module (which will remain nameless). After playing for a few minutes I came across the first encounter with the adventure's main villain. This enemy was in every way, including speech patterns, the clone of Darth Vader. I immediately exited the game and never started it again. I didn't want to waste my time with something I'd seen before.
Such a thing is only rarely admissible. If the designer is attempting to computerize an existing "pencil and paper" module, or a work of literature or film, then using the villains provided in the original work is fine. When developing a new story, however, unique characters are a must. Don't take the easy way out, or your audience may do the same and erase your game from the landscape of their hard drive.
Next month we will discuss "LET THERE BE LIFE-PART II GIVING MONSTERS PERSONALITY",
Until swords part,
Alex D. Karaczun
"In the beginning, there was nothing...No, scratch that. It's been used."Well, most people here have seen some of my writing. But, for those who haven't, I am EKSTRA@AOL.COM, but you can call me John for short. Now, I had this awesome idea for a new column that Bryan (PCC Bryan, or Bryan SM, or Coric, depending on how you know him) could include with the newsletter. That column, of course, is this one. I thought that what new UA designers needed (and I mean *really* needed) was a world they could truly call their own. The maps included with FRUA weren't enough. (Two of which, IMHO, were almost unusable--Web Realm and Ksoh. But, then again, my new mod--my first mod to ever hopefully be completed!--is going to use the Web Realm, so I should shut up.) Anyway, that's where this comes in.--TALES FROM THE FLOATING VAGABOND, by Avalon Hill Game Company
I have decided to take it upon myself to create what I always felt UA needed--the world where any potential designer could do what he wanted without the need for external source materials. (Ravenloft sets, Spelljammer sets, Forgotten Realms sets, Dragonlance sets, Dark Sun sets, stop me when I get tiresome...) This way, designers without the benefit of "official" AD&D products can create designs in a world without having to make it up on their own. A sort of free sourcebook, you might call this.
The maps included come in two forms: A PCX version, which is the basic map, and an LBM version, which color cycles. (Water or lava flows, etc.) Also, I more than welcome maps being sent to me for inclusion, as I am making the world up as I go along! In other words, if you E-Mail your maps to EKSTRA@AOL.COM, I will do my best to make sure they find a spot in the world somewhere!! After all, it might get pretty boring without _your_ input!! Also, for those who are wondering just what tools I used to create the maps, it was a toughie. I needed Neopaint to use my map tools (which are now at a _new_ version 2.0, with many new ones, including textures such as the grass and blasted plains used in this map!--shameless plug!!) as well as Improces for lake-making (the gradients look better from it) and Deluxe Paint ][ Enhanced for the river and the color cycling. (Color cycling only on LBM version, though...)
This, being our first article, will describe some very rudimentary history of the creation of Allegrin, the world we will create together. Simple enough? I hope so--I hate history lessons as much as the next guy, so grit your teeth and bear with me, please! I'll add little touches of humor to make it a little more interesting.
Allegrin was created by several gods accidentally. You see, when all of the gods, which would be known by different names depending on where you were (Krynn, Oerth, Toril, etc.) were creating those systems, they needed a place to "temporarily" place the rest of their ideas. Yes, Allegrin started as a sort of "Public Storage" for the gods. But, then, the gods looked down on Allegrin, and said to each other, "Nice place we accidentally made, huh?" And the others agreed. It _was_ a nice place. So they reached over into their other systems (Krynn, Oerth, Toril, etc.) and snatched up perfect representatives of every form of life they could--humans, dwarves, elves, halflings, gnomes, kobolds, goblins, dragons, everything in sight. They threw these representatives onto the world, and placed them in seemingly random areas. The idea was to make it so that they would live normally--not necessarily in peace, but just normally. After all, being gods, they knew that nature had to keep a perfect balance of predators and prey. Otherwise they might have left the kobolds and goblins.
In a nutshell, that was how Allegrin came to be. Notice how I did not go into too many specifics: Part of that is because I do not know where Allegrin is going yet, part is because I need a lot of room to grow. This is how it will be every NL. If I need a new god of some sort, I can just make it up! A war that happened a century ago? A few keystrokes--Voila! This whole project is to be very open-ended--just like a world should be!!
The Five Lakes Area! (See accompanying map, M_5LAKES.???.)
The Five Lakes Area was something the gods had not intended. Indeed, it did not exist when Allegrin was originally created. A milennia and a day ago, mages were not limited as they are now. The gods had not restricted mages as to the power of the spells they could cast and items they could create, and a great deal of power abuse was the result. (You simply _cannot_ trust anybody these days!) Two mages, Heribold the Wise and Goldweaver the Tormentor, waged a war on the ground where Five Lakes are currently located. The war was strictly between the two of them, as they were the most powerful mages currently on Allegrin.
The war was a simple one. Goldweaver had discovered the ability to summon and control gods, and had woven this power into an artifact, which he called the Hand of Shoul. The Hand of Shoul was named so because it was his father's severed hand, and his father was named Shoul. Heribold found out about Goldweaver's lack of humility before the gods, and decided to put an end to it. For 365 days and nights, the two hurled spells at each other. Goldweaver, wanting to save the five charges of the Hand (one for each finger) for conquering the world, did not use it to destroy Heribold. This, indeed, was the mistake that proved fatal. As they were both equal in power, on the 366th day, they were both exhausted. Heribold stood on that day, sweaty and tired, and walked right up to Goldweaver. He took the Hand from Goldweaver's possession. Goldweaver started casting a spell, but Heribold stopped him with one sentence: "Do it and I call the gods down to take you to Gehenna, and destroy the Hand." Goldweaver stopped dead in the middle of the casting, and the spell fizzled. A few of the fizzling sparks hit the Hand, however, and the Hand (being an artifact, and inherently magically unstable) burst into a magical azure flame. The flame engulfed the hand, and within seconds, the entire area of land was scorched clean. The grass withered, the plants wilted, the trees literally fell apart. Everything that breathed was destroyed, including Goldweaver and Heribold. The hand floated into the air, and the flames died down. The fingers spread apart, and flew off of the hand, landing in the center of the areas where each lake would later be. The hand itself then went into a magical green flame, and dissolved into thin air. Since this war, which ravaged a large chunk of the land which the gods themselves considered perfect, the gods have limited mages to what we consider "high-powered" 9th level spells. And no more artifacts without the approval of at least one of the gods. (In other words, more artifact wars _can_ occur, and have, but they are--and have been--more controlled.)
Now, you notice on the map that there is a nice, grassy plain very nearby to this blasted land I just told you about. That's where the town of Five Lakes resides. The Five Lakes Area is governed by one of Heribold's descendants, David the Quiet. Ever since the time of Heribold, nobody has ever gone into the blasted area and survived. Or at least nobody has gone and come back...However, David noticed magic use escalating in recent years, mostly due to people needing to make money (although being an "Adventurer" isn't the best way to do so!) and wanting to be excited while doing it. He also noticed that these same people using the magic were starting to take very seriously the idea that maybe the fingers of the Hand still exist, and that maybe those fingers are still magically potent. And he noticed large segments of the population disappearing. And never returning. And he noticed his popularity disappearing with the large segments of the population. And as any wise, just, caring, and popular ruler would, he declared it illegal to go into the blasted lands without Royal Consent. He has never given Royal Consent out yet, but that is not a major concern to most folks. He set up a steady patrol along the border to keep people out of the blasted lands, and created a number of forts along the border to house those patrols.
What the people who live in the town of Five Lakes don't realize is that there are five small mage communities in the blasted lands, and that these new patrols are infringing on those people's rights to cross into the grassy area. These people worship the lakes where the fingers supposedly fell, and are constantly searching out those fingers. That is why there is a road from each village to the nearby lake. Each village worships one lake, and each village wants one finger. Of course, the people of the town of Five Lakes believe that the villagers near the lakes themselves are evil, warped cultist followers of Goldweaver, and deserve to die anyway. This is largely true (except for "deserving to die," that is), but the people of the villages consider the people of the town of Five Lakes to be idealist, swine-swilling followers of Heribold who deserve to die. This is also largely true. (again, except for "deserving to die.") This situation has caused a lot of confusion of late, and so now David has been considering allowing one group of people to cross into the blasted lands to find out the truth--And, if possible, to bring the fingers of the Hand of Shoul back to him, where he can safely guard them.
And this is where--ideally--the player gets involved in _your_ mod using the Five Lakes area!!
I hope I've helped at least one potential designer who was sitting there saying to himself, "I need just a little _push_ to get me started!" If so, great!! If not, sorry. Either way, e-mail me and tell me your opinions. Send me your maps and your ideas! Hey, share and share alike, right? Who was it that said (paraphrase) "Stealing from one author is plagiarism, stealing from many is research?"
Anyway....
C-YA!
John Rudy
EKSTRA@AOL.COM
-The UANL staff:-) *Editorial staff: Editor-in-chief: Coric <PCCBryan@Aol.Com> Assistant Editor: Kaviyd <Kaviyd@aol.com> Assistant Editor: Shdwmstr03 <Shdwmstr03@aol.com> Associate Editor: MntnBkeDan <MntnbkeDan@aol.com> *Columnists: Reviews & Previews: Currently open... Art: Dika Wolf <Dika Wolf@aol.com> Beginner's Corner: Autery <Autery@aol.com> 'The Dungeon': Kent Conrad <KentConrad@aol.com> The Writing Workshop: Alex D. Karaczun Map Creation: EKSTRA <EKSTRA@aol.com> UA City: Shdwmstr03 *Contributors (all from AOL unless noted): Nyx Nightshade, Dernhelm, MJCVyper The UANL address: <UANL@aol.com>
Submissions are a key part of any hobbyist newsletter; ours is no exception. As I've said time and time again, this is YOUR NL! If you want it to be the best that it possibly can, you need to submit. We, the editors, cannot do it all by ourselves; we need your help (esp. you Internet users!)
(NOTE: all submitted material is subject to editing for clarity, brevity, and/or vulgarity. The UANL staff accepts no responsibility for anything said or implied in the free-lance articles; if you have a gripe, see its author. ;)
That's right: I'm talking about the so-called 'Fanny phenomenon'. For those of you unfamiliar with the topic, I'll explain. A few months ago, an AOL user appeared in the UA boards, spouting religious nonsense and absolute hate. She claimed to be a righteous old grandmother out to stop the evil influence of D&D gaming. UA'ers were accused of being the spawn of Satan, terrorists, and worse. She also attacked other groups completely unrelated to UA: homosexuals, Catholics, and political liberals.
As most of you know (or can imagine), this sort of wild-eyed attacking drew a barrage of attacks from loyal UA'ers. Fanny received double what she gave out from all corners of AOL's UA community. The flame war escalated, and PC Sylva was forced to intercede, but to no avail. The battle raged hotter than a clash of red dragons.
The crisis was narrowly averted when AOL's DaNightOwl (Chris Dunne) created a massive TOS (terms of service) campaign aimed at punting those members who misbehaved. It was an incredible amount of work -- he appealed to everyone from TOSAdvisor to Steve Case himself. Chris wrote dozens of impassioned letters that were laced with quotes from Fanny and her followers. Eventually, Fanny *was* punted, but at a great cost.
Now, the seeds of dissent are back. Fanny has returned, and for all of our work to punt her through TOS means, it has not worked (as of press, at least). We *do* know, however, that she was not a "she", but rather, a young boy, probably no older than 12. Nor was he out to spread the word of God: Fanny was simply trying to get the UA'ers angry.
And it was effective. Again, the UA'ers were drawn into a fray that had died down months before. But this time, the argument got even more ludicrous and more personal. No longer were the UA'ers content to shoot Fanny's religious arguments down with quotes from the Bible or by pointing out that D&D is *not* evil. No, they descended to Fanny's level, attacking him personally and for no other reason than to cause damage.
I'm currently in the process of TOS'ing about a half-dozen members -- almost all of which are UA regulars. It's a sad thing, having to punt your own friends and fellow designers, but it was something that I was obligated to do. The UA board was becoming more and more chaotic, and I saw no break in the future. Now, because of a childish argument with someone out just to cause trouble, several UA'ers will be kicked off the system. No, it's not a pleasant thing.
This scenario should never have happened. I shouldn't have had to kick UA'ers off AOL. My point is this: Members like Fanny are out simply to cause as much anger as possible. By responding or fighting back, he is simply gratified. Moreover, you're endangering yourself to TOS violations.
While this purge is going on, and if a similar situation occurs in the future (may the gods forbid it), I strongly urge you all to ignore Fanny. Simply pretend he's not there. Just cut and paste his TOS'able posts and ship them out to the authorities, with a little note about the situation. With luck, this will be enough to get the violating member punted.
Please, let's keep the UA boards clean of such garbage. We make up a small and close community, and it would be tragic if it was torn apart by such unrelated trash. They're our boards, and it's our responsibility to see that only issues related to UA are addressed.
-PCC Bryan-
Your UANL package should include the following files:
2aderre.pcx
c_cntipd.pcx
To import these graphics into UA, copy them into your ART subdirectory: "COPY *.PCX C:\FRUA\ART". I think that you can take it from there. :>
Also included is a playable demo of Kaviyd's upcoming Arthurian epic, "Culhwch and Olwen". It is ment to showcase some of the unusual aspects of the game -- namely, its original siege and jousting segments.
To play this demo, type the following (provided that you're using the default settings):
"MD\FRUA\SIEGE.DSN" "MD\FRUA\SIEGE.DSN\SAVE" "COPY *.DAT C:\FRUA\SIEGE.DSN" "COPY *.TLB C:\FRUA\SIEGE.DSN"Enter FRUA, Choose a New Design, and create a party. Done? Then you're ready to play! :>
And if you're wondering how to get at the actual UANL, simply type "UANL11" at the DOS prompt, or click on "UANL11.EXE" in your Window's File Manager. The NL is self-executing; you navigate the various windows with the arrow and 'Function' keys. It's simple, really!
-PCC Bryan-
