PHANTASIA(6)PHANTASIA(6)NAMEphantasia - an interterminal fantasy game
SYNOPSISphantasia [ -HSabmpsx ]
DESCRIPTION
Phantasia is a role playing game which allows players to
roll up characters of various types to fight monsters and
other players. Progression of characters is based upon
gaining experience from fighting monsters (and other play-
ers).
Most of the game is menu driven and self-explanatory (more
or less). The screen is cursor updated, so be sure to set
up the TERM variable in your environment.
The options provide for a variety of functions to support
the game. They are:
-s Invokes phantasia without header information.
-m Get a monster listing.
-a Get a listing of all character names on file.
-x Examine/change a particular character on file.
-H Print header only.
-p Purge old characters.
-b Show scoreboard of top characters per login.
-S Turn on wizard options, if allowed, if running as
``root''.
The characters are saved on a common file, in order to
make the game interactive between players. The characters
are given a password in order to retrieve them later.
Only characters above level zero are saved. Characters
unused for awhile will be purged. Characters are only
placed on the scoreboard when they die.
AUTHOR
Edward Estes, AT&T Information Systems, Skokie, IL
PARTICULARS
Normal Play
A number of the player's more important statistics are
almost always displayed on the screen, with maximums
(where applicable) in parentheses.
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The character is placed randomly near the center of a
cartesian system. Most commands are selected with a sin-
gle letter or digit. For example, one may move by hitting
'W', 'S', 'N', or 'E', (lower case may also be used, at no
time is the game case dependent). One may also use 'H',
'J', 'K', 'L', for movement, similar to vi(1). To move to
a specific (x, y) coordinate, use the move ('1')
command. The distance a character can move is calculated
by 1 plus 1.5 per level. Moving in a compass direction
will move the player the maximum allowed distance in that
direction.
A player may see who else is playing by using the players
('2') option. One may see the coordinates of those who
are the same distance or closer to the origin as he/she.
Kings, and council of the wise can see and can be seen by
everyone. A palantir removes these restrictions.
One can talk to other players with the talk ('3') option.
In general, this is a line or so of text. To remove a
current message, just type <return> when prompted for a
message.
The stats ('4') option shows additional characteristics of
a player.
One may leave the game either with the quit ('5') option.
One may rest by default. Resting lets one regain maximum
energy level, and also lets one find mana (more is found
for larger levels and further distances from the origin).
One may call a monster by hitting '9' or 'C'.
Use 'X' to examine other players.
One may quit or execute a sub-shell by hitting interrupt.
Quitting during battle results in death for obvious rea-
sons.
Several other options become available as the player pro-
gresses in level and magic, or to other stations in the
game ( valar, council of the wise, king ). These are
described elsewhere. In general, a control-L will force
the redrawing of the screen.
Other things which may happen are more or less self-
explanatory.
Fighting Monsters
A player has several options while fighting monsters.
They are as follows:
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melee Inflicts damage on the monster, based upon
strength. Also decreases the monster's
strength some.
skirmish Inflicts a little less damage than melee,
but decreases the monster's quickness
instead.
evade Attempt to run away. Success is based upon
both the player's and the monster's brains
and quickness.
spell Several options for throwing spells
(described elsewhere).
nick Hits the monster one plus the player's
sword, and gives the player 10% of the mon-
ster's experience. Decreases the monster's
experience an amount proportional to the
amount granted. This also increases the
monster's quickness. Paralyzed monsters
wake up very fast when nicked.
luckout This is essentially a battle of wits with
the monster. Success is based upon the
player's and the monster's brains. The
player gets credit for slaying the monster
if he/she succeeds. Otherwise, nothing
happens, and the chance to luckout is lost.
Character Statistics
strength determines how much damage a character can
inflict.
quickness determines how many chances a character
gets to make decisions while fighting.
energy level specifies how much damage a character may
endure before dying.
magic level determines which spells a character may
throw, and how effective those spells will
be.
brains basically, the character's intelligence;
used for various fighting options and
spells.
mana used as a power source for throwing spells.
experience gained by fighting monsters and other char-
acters.
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level indicative of how much experience a charac-
ter has accumulated; progresses geometri-
cally as experience increases.
poison sickness which degrades a character's per-
formance (affects energy level and strength
).
sin accumulated as a character does certain
nasty things; used only rarely in normal
play of the game.
age of player; roughly equivalent to number of
turns. As age increases, many personal
statistics degenerate.
Character Types
Character statistics are rolled randomly from the above
list, according to character type. The types are as fol-
lows:
magic user strong in magic level and brains , weak in
other areas. Must rely on wits and magic
to survive.
fighter good in strength and energy level , fairly
good in other areas. This adds up to a
well-equipped fighter.
elf very high quickness and above average magic
level are elves selling points.
dwarf very high strength and energy level , but
with a tendency to be rather slow and not
too bright.
halfling rather quick and smart, with high energy
level , but poor in magic and strength.
Born with some experience.
experimento very mediocre in all areas. However, the
experimento may be placed almost anywhere
within the playing grid.
The possible ranges for starting statistics are summarized
in the following table.
Type Strength Quick Mana Energy Brains Magic
------------------------------------------------------------------
Mag. User 10-15 30-35 50-100 30-45 60-85 5-9
Fighter 40-55 30-35 30-50 45-70 25-45 3-6
Elf 35-45 32-38 45-90 30-50 40-65 4-7
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Dwarf 50-70 25-30 25-45 60-100 20-40 2-5
Halfling 20-25 34 25-45 55-90 40-75 1-4
Experimento 25 27 100 35 25 2
Not only are the starting characteristics different for
the different character types, the characteristics
progress at different rates for the different types as the
character goes up in level. Experimentoes' characteristics
progress randomly as one of the other types. The progres-
sion as characters increase in level is summarized in the
following table.
Type Strength Mana Energy Brains Magic
------------------------------------------------------
Mag. User 2.0 75 20 6 2.75
Fighter 3.0 40 30 3.0 1.5
Elf 2.5 65 25 4.0 2.0
Dwarf 5 30 35 2.5 1
Halfling 2.0 30 30 4.5 1
The character type also determines how much gold a player
may carry, how long until rings can overcome the player,
and how much poison the player can withstand.
Spells
During the course of the game, the player may exercise
his/her magic powers. These cases are described below.
cloak magic level necessary: 20 (plus level 7)
mana used: 35 plus 3 per rest period
Used during normal play. Prevents monsters
from finding the character, as well as hid-
ing the player from other players. His/her
coordinates show up as '?' in the players
option. Players cannot collect mana, find
trading posts, or discover the grail while
cloaked.Calling a monster uncloaks, as well
as choosing this option while cloaked.
teleport magic level necessary: 40 (plus level 12)
mana used: 30 per 75 moved
Used during normal play. Allows the player
too move with much more freedom than with
the move option, at the price of expending
mana. The maximum distance possible to
move is based upon level and magic level.
power blast magic level necessary: none
mana used: 5 times level
Used during inter-terminal battle. Damage
is based upon magic level and strength.
Hits much harder than a normal hit.
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all or nothing magic level necessary: none
mana used: 1
Used while combating monsters. Has a 25%
chance of working. If it works it hits the
monster just enough to kill it. If it
fails, it doesn't hit the monster, and dou-
bles the monster's quickness and strength.
Paralyzed monsters wake up much quicker as
a result of this spell.
magic bolt magic level necessary: 5
mana used: variable
Used while combating monsters. Hits the
monster based upon the amount of mana
expended and magic level. Guaranteed to
hit at least 10 per mana.
force field magic level necessary: 15
mana used: 30
Used during monster combat. Throws up a
shield to protect from damage. The shield
is added to actual energy level, and is a
fixed number, based upon maximum energy.
Normally, damage occurs first to the
shield, and then to the players actual
energy level.
transform magic level necessary: 25
mana used: 50
Used during monster combat. Transforms the
monster randomly into one of the 100 mon-
sters from the monster file.
increase might magic level necessary: 35
mana used: 75
Used during combat with monsters.
Increases strength up to a maximum.
invisibility magic level necessary: 45
mana used: 90
Used while fighting monsters. Makes it
harder for the monster to hit, by temporar-
ily increasing the player's quickness.
This spell may be thrown several times, but
a maximum level will be reached.
transport magic level necessary: 60
mana used: 125
Used during monster combat. Transports the
monster away from the player. Success is
base upon player's magic and brains, and
the monster's experience. If it fails the
player is transported instead.60% of the
time, the monster will drop any treasure it
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was carrying.
paralyze magic level necessary: 75
mana used: 150
Used during monster combat. "Freezes" the
monster by putting its quickness slightly
negative. The monster will slowly wake up.
Success is based upon player's magic and
the monster's experience. If it fails,
nothing happens.
specify magic level necessary: none
mana used: 1000
Used during monster combat only by valar or
council of the wise. Allows the player to
pick which monster to fight.
Monsters
Monsters get bigger as one moves farther from the origin
(0,0). Rings of distance 125 from the origin determine
the size. A monster's experience, energy level, and
brains are multiplied by the size. Strength is increase
50% per size over one, and quickness remains the same,
regardless of size.
Also, nastier monsters are found as one progress farther
out from the origin. Monsters also may flock. The per-
cent chance of that happening is designated as flock% in
the monster listing. Monsters outside the first ring may
carry treasure, as determined by their treasure type.
Flocking monsters, and bigger monsters increase the
chances of treasure.
Certain monsters have special abilities; they are as fol-
lows:
Unicorn can only be subdued if the player is in
possession of a virgin.
Modnar has random characteristics, including trea-
sure type.
Mimic will pick another name from the list of
monsters in order to confuse.
Dark Lord very nasty person. Does not like to be hit
(especially nicked), and many spells do not
work well (or at all) against him. One can
always evade from the Dark Lord.
Leanan-Sidhe also a very nasty person. She will perma-
nently sap strength from someone.
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Saruman wanders around with Wormtongue , who can
steal a palantir. Also, Saruman may turn a
player's gems into gold pieces, or scramble
her/his stats.
Thaumaturgist can transport a player.
Balrog inflicts damage by taking away experience ,
not energy.
Vortex may take some mana.
Nazgul may try to steal a ring or neutralize part
of one's brains.
Tiamat may take half a player's gold and gems and
escape.
Kobold may get nasty and steal one gold piece and
run away.
Shelob may bite, inflicting the equivalent of one
poison.
Assorted Faeries
These are killed if attacking someone car-
rying holy water. These are Cluricaun, Fir
Darrig, Fachan, Ghille Dhu, Bogle, Kill-
moulis, and Bwca.
Lamprey may bite, inflicting 1/2 of a poison.
Shrieker will call one of its (much bigger) buddies
if picked upon.
Bonnacon will become bored with battle, fart, and
run off.
Smeagol will try to steal a ring from a player, if
given the chance.
Succubus may inflict damage through a force field.
This subtracts from energy level instead of
any shield the player may have thrown up.
This is a very easy way to die.
Cerberus loves metal and will steal all the metal
treasures from a player if able.
Ungoliant can bite and poison. This inflicts five
poisons , and also takes one from the
player's quickness.
Jabberwock may tire of battle, and leave after calling
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one of his friends ( Jubjub Bird or Bander-
snatch ).
Morgoth actually Modnar , but reserved for council
of the wise, valar, and ex-valar. Fights
with Morgoth end when either he or the
player dies.His characteristics are calcu-
lated based upon the player's. The player
is given the chance to ally with him. No
magic, except force field works when bat-
tling Morgoth.
Troll may regenerate its energy and strength
while in battle.
Wraith may make a player blind.
Treasures
The various treasure types are as follows:
Type zero none
Type one power booster - adds mana.
druid - adds experience.
holy orb - subtracts 0.25 sin.
Type two amulet - protects from cursed treasure.
holy water - kills assorted faeries.
hermit - reduces sin by 25% and adds some
mana.
Type three shield - adds to maximum energy level
virgin - used to subdue a unicorn , or to
give much experience (and some sin ).
athelas - subtracts one poison.
Type four (scrolls)
shield - throws a bigger than normal force
field.
invisible - temporarily puts the finder's
quickness to one million.
ten fold strength - multiplies finder's
strength by ten.
pick monster - allows finder to pick next
monster to battle.
general knowledge - adds to finder's brains
and magic level.
All the scrolls except general knowledge automatically
call a monster. These preserve any spells that were
already in effect, but are only in effect while in battle.
Type five dagger - adds to strength.
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armour - same as a shield, but bigger.
tablet - adds brains.
Type six priest - rests to maximum; adds mana,
brains; and halves sin.
Robin Hood - increases shield and adds per-
manently to strength.
axe - like dagger, but bigger.
Type seven charm - protects from cursed treasure (used
before amulet ); used in conjunction with
blessing to battle Dark Lord.
Merlyn - adds brains, magic, and mana.
war hammer - like an axe, but bigger.
Type eight healing potion - sets poison to -2, or sub-
tracts two from poison, whichever is bet-
ter.
transporter - allows finder to move any-
where.
sword - like a war hammer , but bigger.
Type nine golden crown - allows the player to become
king, by going to (0,0).
blessing - cuts sin to 1/3, adds mana,
rests to max., kills Dark Lord with a
charm, and gives bearer first hit on all
monsters.
quicksilver - adds to quickness.
Type ten elven boots - adds permanently to quick-
ness.
Type eleven palantir - allows one to see all the other
players; used by council of the wise to
seek the grail.
Type twelve/thirteen
ring - allows one to hit much harder in
battle, etc.
Any treasure type 10-13 monsters may instead carry a type
nine treasure.
A monster may also be carrying gold or gems. These are
used at trading posts to buy things.A gem is worth 1000
gold pieces. Too much gold will slow a player down. One
may carry 1000 plus 200 per level of gold. A gem weighs
one half a gold piece. Monsters of treasure type 7 or
higher may carry gems.
The chance of a cursed treasure is based upon treasure
type. The more valuable treasures have a greater chance
of being cursed. A cursed treasure knocks energy level
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very low, and adds 0.25 poison.
Rings
Rings are only carried by nazguls and Dark Lord. They
come in four different flavors. All rings rest the player
to maximum and cause him/her to hit much harder in battle
with monsters (assuming one has chosen to use the ring for
battle.)
Two types of rings are cursed and come either from nazguls
or Dark Lord. After a few times of using these types, the
player falls under the control of the ring, and strange,
random things will occur. Eventually, the player dies,
and gives his/her name to a monster on the file. Dying
before the ring is used up also renames the monster.
The two remaining types of rings are much more benign.
The one from a nazgul is good for a limited number of bat-
tle rounds, and will save the player from death if it was
being used when he/she died. The one from Dark Lord is
the same, except that it never is used up. rings disap-
pear after saving someone from death. In general, cursed
rings occur much more often than normal ones. It is usu-
ally not a good idea to pick one up. The only way to get
rid of a ring is to have a monster steal it.
King
A player may become king by finding a crown and going to
(0,0). Players must have a level in the range of 10 to
1000 to be able to find a crown. When a player with one
or more crowns reaches level 1000, the crowns are con-
verted to gold.
Once a player is king, he/she may do certain things while
in the Lord's Chamber (0,0). These are exercised with the
decree ('0') option.
transport This is done to another player. It ran-
domly moves the affected player about. A
charm protects from transports.
curse This is done to another player. It is
analogous to cursed treasure, but worse.
It inflicts two poison, knocks energy level
very low, and degrades the maximum energy.
It also removes a cloak. A blessing pro-
tects from king's curses.
energy void The king may put a number of these scat-
tered about his/her kingdom as he/she
pleases. If a player hits one, he/she
loses mana, energy, and gold. The energy
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void disappears after being hit.
bestow This is also done to another player. The
king may wish to reward one or more loyal
subjects by sharing his/her riches ( gold
). Or it is a convenient way to dispose of
some unwanted deadweight.
collect taxes Everyone pays 7% tax on all gold and gems
acquired, regardless of the existence of a
king. The king collects the accrued taxes
with this option.
The king may also teleport anywhere for free by using the
origin as a starting place.
Council of the Wise, Valar
A player automatically becomes a member of the council of
the wise upon reaching level 3000. Members of the council
cannot have rings. Members of the council have a few
extra options which they can exercise. These are exer-
cised intervene ('8') option. All intervene options cost
1000 mana. One intervene option is to heal another
player. This is just a quick way for that player to be
rested to maximum and lose a little poison. The main pur-
pose in life for members of the council is to seek the
Holy Grail. This is done with a palantir under the seek
grail option. The distance cited by the seek is accurate
within 10%, in order not to make it too easy to find the
grail. A player must have infinitesimally small sin, or
else it's all over upon finding the grail. In order to
help members of the council on their quest, they may tele-
port with greater ease.
Upon finding the grail, the player advances to position of
valar. He/she may then exercise more and niftier options
under intervention. These include all of the council mem-
bers' options plus the ability to move other players
about, bless them, and throw monsters at them. A valar's
blessing has the same effect as the treasure blessing,
except that the affected player does not get his/her
blessing flag set. All intervention options which affect
other players age the player who uses them. Valars are
essentially immortal, but are actually given five lives.
If these are used up, the player is left to die, and
becomes an ex-valar. A valar cannot move, teleport, or
call monsters. (An exception to this is if the valar
finds a transporter. This is to allow him/her to dispose
of excess gold. Any monsters which a valar encounters are
based upon his/her size. Only one valar may exist at a
time. The current valar is replaced when another player
finds the grail. The valar is then bumped back to the
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council of the wise.
Wizard
The wizard is usually the owner of the game, and the one
who maintains the associated files. The wizard is granted
special powers within the game, if it is invoked with the
'-S' option. Otherwise, the wizard plays no different
from other players. The wizard abilities are outlined
below.
change players
When examining a player, (game invoked with '-x',
or use 'X' from within game), the wizard may also
change the player.
intervention
The wizard may do all the intervention options.
One extra option, vaporize, is added to kill any
offensive players.
super character type
An extra character type is added. This character
starts with the maximum possible in all statistics,
selected from the other character types. A super
character's statistics also progress at the maximum
possible rate, selected from the other character
types.
Special Places
Certain regions of the playing grid have different names.
In general, this is only to give the player some idea of
his/her present location. Some special places do exist.
Trading Posts These are located at |x| == |y| == n*n*100
for n = 1, 2...1000. Trading posts farther
out have more things for sale. Be careful
about cheating the merchants there, as they
have short tempers. Merchants are dishon-
est about 5% of the time.
Lord's Chamber This is located at (0,0). Only players
with crowns may enter.
Point of No Return
This is located beyond 1.2e+6 in any direc-
tion. The only way to return from here is
a transporter or to have a valar relocate
the player.
Dead Marshes This is a band located fairly distant from
the origin.The first fourteen monsters
(water monsters) can normally only be found
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here.
Valhala This place is where the valar resides. It
is associated with no particular coordinate
on the playing grid.
Miscellaneous
Once a player reaches level 5, the game will start to time
out waiting for input. This is to try to keep the game a
bit faster paced.
A guru will never be disgusted with your sins if they are
less than one.
A medic wants half of a player's gold to be happy. Offer-
ing more than one has, or a negative amount will anger the
medic, who will make the player worse (add one poison ).
The Holy Grail does little for those who are not ready to
behold it. Whenever anyone finds it, it moves. It is
always located within 1e+6 in any compass direction of the
origin.
There is a maximum amount of mana and charms a player may
posses, based upon level. Quicksilver is always limited
to to a maximum of 99.
Books bought at a trading post increase brains, based upon
the number bought. It is unwise, however to buy more than
1/10 of one's level in books at a time.
Players over level 10000 are automatically retired.
A blindness goes away in random time.
Players with crowns are identified with a '*' before their
character type.
Inter-terminal Battle
When two player's coordinates correspond, they may engage
in battle. In general, the player with the highest quick-
ness gets the first hit. If the two players are severely
mis-matched, the stronger player is drastically handi-
capped for the battle. In order to protect from being
stuck in an infinite loop, the player waiting for response
may time out. Options for battle are:
fight Inflicts damage upon other person.
run away Escape from battle. Has a 75% chance of
working.
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power blast Battle spell.
luckout One-time chance to try to win against the
foe.Has a 10% chance of working.
Sometimes waits for the other player may be excessive,
because he/she may be battling a monster. Upon slaying a
player in battle the winner gets the other's experience
and treasures. Rings do not work for inter-terminal bat-
tle.
BUGS
All screen formats assume at least 24 lines by at least 80
columns. No provisions are made for when any of the data
items get too big for the allotted space on the screen.
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