NAME¶
phantasia —
an interterminal fantasy
game
SYNOPSIS¶
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 players).
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:
- -a
- Get a listing of all character names on file.
- -b
- Show scoreboard of top characters per login.
- -H
- Print header only.
- -m
- Get a monster listing.
- -p
- Purge old characters.
- -S
- Turn on wizard options, if allowed, if running as
“root”.
- -s
- Invokes phantasia without header
information.
- -x
- Examine/change a particular character on file.
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.
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.
The character is placed randomly near the center of a Cartesian system. Most
commands are selected with a single 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 reasons.
Several other options become available as the player progresses 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:
- 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 monster'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 characters.
- level
- indicative of how much experience a character has
accumulated; progresses geometrically as experience
increases.
- poison
- sickness which degrades a character's performance (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 follows:
- 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 |
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 progression 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 hiding 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 to 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.
- 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 doubles 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 monsters 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
temporarily 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 based 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 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 increased 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 percent 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 follows:
- Unicorn
- can only be subdued if the player is in possession of a
virgin.
- Modnar
- has random characteristics, including treasure 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 permanently sap
strength from someone.
- 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 carrying
holy water. These are Cluricaun,
Fir Darrig, Fachan,
Ghille Dhu, Bogle,
Killmoulis, 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 one of his
friends (Jubjub Bird or
Bandersnatch).
- 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 calculated based
upon the player's. The player is given the chance to ally with him. No
magic, except force field works when battling
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.
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
permanently 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 subtracts two from
poison, whichever is better.
transporter - allows finder to move anywhere.
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 maximum, 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
quickness.
- 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 very low, and adds 0.25
poison.
Rings¶
Rings are only carried by
nazguls and
Dark Lords. 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 battle 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 disappear after saving someone from death. In
general, cursed
rings occur much more often than normal
ones. It is usually 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 converted 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 randomly 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
protects from king's curses.
- energy
void
- The king may put a number of these scattered about his/her
kingdom as he/she pleases. If a player hits one, he/she loses
mana, energy, and
gold. The energy 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 exercised with the
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 purpose 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
teleport 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
members' 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 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 dishonest 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 direction. 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
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. Offering 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
quickness gets the first hit. If
the two players are severely mismatched, the stronger player is drastically
handicapped 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.
- 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 battle.
AUTHORS¶
Edward Estes, AT&T Information Systems, Skokie, IL
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.