The Aethra Chronicles manual

Table of Contents
What is the Aethra Chronicles
What do you get when you register
How do you register
How to get started
Creating a Character
Advancement and Experience
Equipment
General rules on using Equipment
Non Player Characters
Traveling About
Movement Commands
Combat Commands
Other Icons
General Play Instructions
The Aethra Chronicles, is a shareware game by Michael W. Lawrence copyright 1994.
Author/Programmer: Michael Lawrence
Graphics Artist: Philip Mann Music & Sound: Matthew Mooney
Creative Input and Advice: Scott Hardy and Matthew Mooney

What is the Aethra Chronicles?
The Aethra Chronicles is an atypical Fantasy Role-Playing game. You will create several
characters choosing from twelve different classes and five different races. The object of the
game is to stay alive and advance your characters in levels while completing various quest
which will be made known to you.
The Aethra Chronicles is shareware and is free to try out. Please fell free to play the
shareware version as long as you like. The shareware version however is not the complete
game. The shareware version is what we call chapter one "Book of Prophecy". Those who
register the game will receive chapters two and three. I hope you will agree with us that
this game is one of the finest shareware games in its class. However unless we get support
from the users will not be able to continue with this type of work.
What do you get when you register?
- A printed book of spell lore. This manual contains descriptions for all the spell classes as
well as spell descriptions. This book is a must for serious spell users. 225- Chapters two and three of the saga, "Gems of Power" and "Demons Might".
- Satisfaction that you are supporting the shareware concept and encouraging authors to produce
high quality programs at an affordable cost.

How do you Register?

The registration fee is $25.00, check or money order is acceptable.
Please Send registration fees to:
Michael Lawrence'
P.O. Box 4203'
Lexington, KY 40544'
Make checks and money orders payable to Michael Lawrence. Please include your
name and address on a separate piece of paper.
You can also GO SWREG on Compuserve & register online look for AETHRA.
If you wish to order with MC/VISA then you can call Albrights at'
(606) 277-3937 and place your order. Hours of operation are from'
9:00 AM To 5:00 PM EST'
International orders Please include $3.50 for additional shipping charges.'
Program Notes:
The Graphics Library is Fastgraph By Ted Gruber Software.
The Sound/Music Library is Worx by Mystic Software.
Both Packages are highly recommended and are Royalty Free.
Have fun and if you enjoy the program & wish to see more from us please
let us know. I can be reached on Compuserve @75116,1445.

How To Get Started:

First a little background story to set the stage. You live in a small kingdom known as
Celystra. Your home is in the town of Stormhaven which is the capital of the Celystra kingdom.
Your father is a Knight Paladin and is the King`s Champion, you family has fulfilled this honor
for generations. It is a tradition for the title to be passed down from parent to child and hopefully
you will serve as your father has. Alas you are an only child. Your mother died when you
were a small child. The ship she was traveling on was lost in a storm. Your father never
remarried because he refuses to believe she is dead. Her body was not found in the wreckage.
Lately events have gone very badly. First the old King "Korros the Wise" died suddenly of a
mysterious illness. The wife of the new king, "Lythare" son of Korros, gave birth to a new heir
on the new king`s coronation day. This great joy suddenly turned to tragedy when two days later
the young infant was kidnapped. No one knows who is responsible for this horrible deed. King
Lythare blames your father and has charged him with treason for failing to protect the royal
family. King Lythare has also dismissed most of his fathers retainers in retaliation for the failure
to protect his son. Your father however has been locked in the dungeons with no hope of release.
You know your father is innocent of any wrong doing. You believe the best way to help your
father is to find the missing child and discover who is responsible. With this in mind you and
two of your most trusted friends embark upon your quest of redemption.

Creating a character:

You will begin the game with three characters. The first character generated will be yourself.
The next two will be your companions. You will start the game at third level while your
companions will begin at second level.
Step One: Give your characters good names.
Step Two: Choose a race. Five races live in the kingdom of Celystra: Humans, Elves, Half Elves,
Dwarves, and Hobbits. Humans are the average by which the other races are compared, only
humans may be Paladins. Elves are a graceful and intelligent race and are naturally very agile
but not as strong as humans. Half Elves combine the best traits of Humans and Elves. Dwarves
are very hardy and strong. Dwarves make excellent fighters and clerics. The Hobbits are a
diminutive race but are incredibly agile and healthy. Hobbits can be thieves or spell casters.
Step Three: Creating the Character Attributes:
Str: Strength is a combat stat. A high strength gives a bonus to hit and increases damage done.
Agi: Agility affects the Bow skill, Unarmed Combat, Defense and all Thieving skills.
Con: Constitution determines hit points and resistance to disease and poison.
Int: Intelligence determines spell points for Mages, Bards and Ashikari. It is best to have 100
for this attribute if you are one of these classes.
Wis: Wisdom is similar to Intelligence but is used by Clerics, Rangers and Paladins.
Pre: Presence is how you interact with others, it affects the Trading skill.
Mem: Memory is the ability to recall information, it affects Mythic Lore and Read Runes.
Rea: Reasoning is the ability to solve problems, it affects Woods lore, Mountaineering and Training.
All attributes are important for one skill or another. Make sure your attributes match the
character class you wish to be.

Step Four: Select a character class. Eleven character classes are available to choose from.

Fighter: The killing machine. Proficient with all arms and armor.
Thief: The highly skilled character. Able to master any lock or trap.
Rogue: Combines the skills of the Fighter and Thief.
Ranger: A warrior who is in tune with the forces of nature. Is able to use nature magic.
Bard: More in common with the Thief than a Fighter. Use magic to discover the secrets of old.
Cleric: The spiritual spell caster. Uses the power of a god to smite the enemies of right.
Elementalist: A spell caster who specializes in using the forces of nature.
Sorcerer: A spell caster who uses a darker more wicked side of magic.
Mentalist: A spell caster who manipulates the mind and the will.
Conjurers: A spell caster who can summon creatures and effects to aid him.
Paladin: The holy warrior, granted special powers by the gods.
Ashikari: A warrior mage who uses magic to augment his combat abilities.

Step Five: Allocating training to skills.

After choosing your character class you will be presented with the development sheet. By
selecting the boxes next to the skills you will gain proficiency with the selected skill.
Each character class has a different development sheet which represents the inclinations
of that class. The following is a list of skills with a brief description:
Pick Locks: The ability to open locked doors and chests.
Disarm Trap: Used to disarm traps in the dungeons.
Deadly Strike: The ability to assess an enemies weak spot and to strike a fatal blow.
Trading: This skill is used to determine the prices offered by store keepers.
Unarmed Combat: The use of bare hands in combat, all transformation enhance this skill.
Handheld Combat: The proficiency when fighting with weapons.
Bows: Your combat rating when using a bow.
Item Ident: The ability to identify an item and perhaps reveal it true nature.
Read Runes: The ability to translate magic scrolls.
Detect Traps: A specialized skill used specifically to locate traps.
Fortification: Choosing this skill will increase the characters Hit Points.
Spell Points: Selecting this skill will increase spell points.
Perception: Skill applied to discover secret doors.
Mythic Lore: By using this skill the character can gain useful information about monsters.
Attack Evasion: Choosing this skill will enhance ones defense bonus.
Spell List: Spell casters must learn their new spell lists. Each pick of this lists increase the
chance of learning a new spell list by 5%. If a spell list is not gained the accumulated total is
carried over to the next level.
Woods Lore: The higher this skill the quicker one will move through woods.
Mountaineering: The higher this skill the quicker one will move through hills and mountains.
Advancement and Experience
When your characters gain enough experience they will be able to advance to the next level.
Experience is gained by completing quest and winning combats. Most experience will be gained
by completing the various quests. Combat yields only a small amount of experience. To
train your characters you will need to go to a guild and pay for training. Some guilds will only
train certain character classes (i.e. The Protectors Guild is the only place a Paladin can train).

Equipment

Equipment is either bought from stores or found as treasure in dungeons. You will need to buy
weapons and armor for your characters when you start. Items can also be sold to the various
stores (sometimes you will need to sell items to have enough gold to train and hire NPCs). All
stores will buy precious gems, so keep an eye out for diamonds and emeralds they are an
excellent source of funds.

General rules for equipment

- Items such as weapons, armor, belts, ring, etc. must be equipped to be utilized.
- Some classes have restrictions on what type of armor and weapons they can use. The Mages
and Clerics cannot use bows and are limited in the amount and type of armor they can wear.
- Some items such as potions, scrolls, and wands have a limited use and are gone when used up.
- Scrolls need to be translated to be used. Items such as Scrolls are used with the I command.
- To equip with an item select the items option while reviewing a character. Then select the
equip option and select the items use wish to equip of unequip with. The item name will change
color when it is equipped. A lantern or torch can be used for light in the dungeons.

Non Player Characters

To fill out your party you can hire mercenaries from the various guilds. You will have to
provide equipment and pay a weekly fee. Some NPCs you may run into will offer services for
free just for the privilege of joining your party. Some of these NPCs will only stay for a
short time so do not get too attached to them.

Traveling about Celystra

Cities: You will begin the game inside the town of Stormhaven. In the cities you will see
buildings and streets. Some of the buildings are Stores, Inns, Guildhalls and even Dungeons.
Move around and explore the cities when you go into one. You will especially need to
locate all of the guildhalls in the various cities.

Outside: When you leave a city you will be placed on an overhead view of the surrounding
countryside. While traveling outside time will pass quickly and various terrain types
will increase travel time. Staying on the roads is the quickest and safest way to travel.
If your characters have good Woods lore skills the travel time through woods will be reduced.
Good Mountaineering skills will reduce travel time through hills and mountains. Towns and
dungeons will be found during your travels throughout Celystra.

Dungeons: In a dungeon you will have an overhead view of the area you are exploring. To give
yourself light you will need to use either a lantern or a torch. Items can be dropped and
picked up in the dungeons. You will see many items in the various dungeons. By using the (L)
look function you can examine them and then pick them up if desired. In the dungeons you need
to be aware that secret doors and traps will exist. The Perception skill is used to find secret
doors and Detect Traps is used for traps. The first three characters in a party will automatically
do this while you are moving about. It is a good idea to have at least one character with good
Detect Traps and Perceptions skills leading the way. Chest, urns and occasionally barrels will
contain treasure and must be (O) opened. It is always best to examine chest for traps before
opening. Some things will be hidden and may require some careful searching to find so at least
be aware of this.

General Play Instructions
- Clicking on the character portrait will bring up the review screen.
- Clicking and holding the mouse button down on the small combat pick beneath the character
portrait will allow you to drag that character to a new position in the party.
- The Green status bar is for hit Points, the Blue one is for spell points.
- Clicking and holding the mouse button on the two status bars next to the portrait will show you
how many Hitpoints and Spell points are left.
- The numbers 1-6 will allow you to select a party member for that position.
- The hit point status bar will change color if poisoned or diseased.
- You can go to the temples to be healed.
- The X, E or the Esc button will cancel most actions.
- Magic shops will buy magical items and weapons.
- Spell Casters pay double cost in spell points for casting a spell specific to another class.
For instance if an Elementalist learns the Mentalist list he can cast those spells but uses
twice as many spell points as a Mentalist.
- It is a good idea to develop a tough group for your three core characters. I would
recommend characters from the following group: Paladin, Fighter, Rogue, Ranger or Cleric. This
is especially true for beginning players, once you learn how to play the game you may want to
try different character classes.

Experience points needed to advance in levels:

2nd-5th Levels 00 Pts/level
6th-10th Levels 12,000 Pts/level
11th-15th Levels 36,000 Pts/level
16th-th Levels 72,000 Pts/level

I can be reached on several online services for any questions or comments
Compuserve: 75116,1445
GENIE: M.Lawrence1
America Online: MikeL56163