Tangled Tales by Gary Scott Smith and Alex Nghiem from Origin, 1989 Tangled Tales requires at least a 64k Apple II series computer. It comes on four diskette sides: Boot, Adventure #1, Adventure #2, and Adventure #3. The original diskettes are heavily copy protected and subject to failure. (Backing up the diskettes is a very good idea!) The game includes three pieces of documentation: a Player Reference Card, Playbook, and Journal. What you have below is the information from these sources. Sometimes, as in the "Journal", it has been compressed. Mostly, the information is a near copy with a bit of elaboration and reorganization. Rubywand, 11 Jan 2000 Journal Your journal begins with you looking for something to practice a Heal spell on. You are considering twisting a cat's leg when Drek (another, older, apprentice residing in the tower) appears in a cloud of smoke. (It smells like sweat like he does only worse-- it's from all those potions he works with.) He accuses you of torturing cats and says he will tattle to Eldritch unless you let it go. The _he_ chases it off with a fireball! You decide to lure a bunch of cats with catfood in hopes of finding one needing healing. Alas, Master Eldritch will not give you the money. "A wizard relies on citizens' generosity," he says, "or, if all else fails, on thievery." Probably, he was thinking of the time a farmer hired him to clear a field of tooth-beetles. Eldritch lured the insects out with a Redolent Decoy potion and then flamed them all. When Eldritch named 30 gold pieces as his price, the farmer said he couldn't afford it, so Eldritch left. But later he entered the farmer's house under a Cloak of Invisibility and rooted around until he found a pouch of 50 gold pieces under a mattress, which he took. He claimed the extra 20 pieces were "interest". So, you 'borrow' a vial of Adamantine Dust from Eldritch's laboratory-- very pretty and sparkly and rare-- planning to use just a pinch or two for invisibility and to create demon images. Your plan is to go to the Crystal Goblet tavern, become invisible, and scare everyone with demon images. Then, a bit later you can stop by and approach Mayheco the bartender with an offer to exorcise the demons for a juicy price. Everything works great except that, just as the patrons are ready to flee for their lives a tall spooky bald wizard with weird eyebrows appears and casts a Dispel to wipe out the demon images. You later learn from Master Eldritch (leaving out the part about the 'borrowed' Adamantine Dust in your question) that the wizard is named "Xavier"-- evidently a very dangerous sort. "We'll have to do something about him someday," Eldritch remarks. Your next try is to use another pinch of Adamantine Dust for invisibility and steal some cat food. You set it out in the woods and wait for cats. Perhaps the idea would have worked except that Drek has followed you. He appears floating above the food and pours out a few drops of Redolent Decoy. Soon you are nearly buried in the stampede of forest animals. And, above it all Drek is cackling in that chicken-cluck way he has. As fate would have it, one of crazed animals knocks the vial of precious Adamantine Dust from your grasp and onto a nearby squirrel! The squirrel barrels through the other animals, knocks Drek out of the air with a swipe of its magically charged tail, grabs Drek's flask of Redolent Decoy, and is off to the deep woods. Drek is banged up pretty badly which, finally, gives you a chance to cast a Heal spell! Master Eldritch is pleased with your success ... _until_ he finds out about the lost Adamantine Dust! He wipes your spellbook clean of spells and tells you that tomorrow he will give you an assignment which will provide ample opportunities for travel and acquiring new spells. Attributes The better your Strength and Speed, the more elaborate the weapons and armor you can select to equip and use. Strength also affects how much damage you can withstand. Speed also affects whether you get to act before a foe in combat and how successfully you can run away when necessary. Intelligence determines your starting Spell Points (the "currency" of magic). Charisma influences the prices you are charged as well as how long some hirelings will stay with you. Rank You begin as a lowly Initiate. The other ranks in ascending order are Magician, Sorcerer, and Wizard. Your rank changes as you successfully complete the quests Eldritch assigns you. Moving around in the Adventure Use the joystick to point in the direction to move or use the arrow keys. Use A/Z for forward/backward if you do not have the up/down arrow keys: Joystick or ... Up arrow key or "A" | <-- arrow key -- -- arrow key --> | Down arrow key or "Z" Press "P" to Pause game Adventuring Commands You can use the pointer to select icons to pick actions using the joystick or keyboard. Or, you can use shortcut keys to directly pick an action. Pressing joystick button 2 or SPACE activates the pointer. Move the joystick or <-- --> arrow keys to point to the action icon you want. The icon on the far right is for switching to another set of icons. Press joystick button 1 or RETURN to select an icon. When you need to select an item from a list, you can use the joystick or arrow keys. For Up and Down use the up/down arrow keys or the A/Z keys. Joystick button 1 or RETURN are for selecting an item. If you get into a list, etc. and want to exit without changing anything, press the ESCape key. Icon Commands (and Shortcut Keys) Eye (L)- Look shows you your surroundings, the people in your party, and what you are carrying. Sometimes looking at something reveals more things that you can look at. For example, you may look at a shelf and discover that a scroll lies on the shelf. Choose Look again to examine the scroll. ____ Open book (C)- Cast Magic lets you cast a spell you have learned. To cast a spell, use the arrow keys to highlight the desired spell and press RETURN to select it. Repeat this for all spells you want to cast. When finished, press SPACE to cast the spell(s). To Learn a spell, see info about the Actions command. Eldritch can provide information about some spells. Note: Spells are either non-continued or continued. Non-continued spells, like Recall or Heal, cost you spell points only at the time they are cast. Continues spells, like Light, will drain spell points as long as they are active. ____ Hand picking up (G)- Get shows a list of all the items you can pick up in your current location. Select the item you want to pick up; or, select ALL to pick up everything. You have room for up to 30 items in your backpack. ____ Mouth (T)- Talk lets you speak with people in your party or those standing nearby. You can greet someone, ask questions, try to buy something, or ask a person to leave your party. When you encounter someone (being on the same spot on the map) his or her picture will appear along with a name. To greet the person choose Talk and pick the Greet option. Often a polite greeting leads to a pleasant chat, the imparting of information, or even a request to join your party. To Ask about something, you can select a question from a list of subjects you currently "know about" in the game. If the person you are talking with has brought up some weighty topic in the conversation, check the Ask option to see if the subject has been added to you list of "known" question topics. You may be able to Buy an item from some of those you meet. You can Ask a person to leave your party. This lets you dismiss someone you have hired. (Some hirelings will not leave until they want to.) You can Ask for a Cure. Some persons, such as Fairhaven's Brother Vincent, can magically cure people of wounds, poison, paralysis, or even death. A donation for this service is required. To end a conversation, it is considered polite to say Goodbye. ____ Checkmark (/)- Actions include special commands like learning spells, speaking magic words, moving objects, drinking potions, ... . This command is often used after a Look and sometimes provides clues about a promising approach to a problem. ____ Hand dropping something (D)- Drop/Give lets you remove an item from your backpack. You can give it to the person you are talking to or just drop it at your current location. (If Giving an item, the person accepts it by picking it up.) ____ Diskette (S)- Saves game to disk. ____ Suit of Armor (I)- Inspect/Inventory tells you how many gold pieces and spell points you have as well as your current health. If you press RETURN, this command shows a brief description of the members of your party. If the list runs longer than a single screen, press any key except SPACE or RETURN to see the next page. Press RETURN again for a list of the items you carry. ____ Shield and sword (E)- Equip lets you choose weapons, armor, and a shield. Use the RETURN key to select the item(s) you wish to use, then press SPACE when you are finished. The equipment screens show all the items your current Strength and Speed allow you to carry. Note that you cannot Drop/Give equipped items. ____ Bed (R)- Rest halts the expedition while you and your companions rest. This restores your health and spell points. In most places, you should choose someone to stand guard against prowling monsters and thieves. The guard does not get to rest or heal. Combat in Tangled Tales As a rule, apprentices do not actively seek physical conflict. But, if conflict has found you, new icons will appear: Crossed swords (F)- Fight lets you attempt to inflict damage upon a foe with your equipped weapon. To attack, move your character onto a nearby enemy and choose this command. Your Speed attribute determines whether you or the opponent attacks first. ____ Legs running (R)- Run away is sometimes the better part of valor, especially against powerful foes. You can escape if your Speed attribute exceeds your foe's. ____ The Cast Magic command (Open book- C) lets you cast any non-continual spell you have learned. As with the Fight command, Your Speed attribute determines whether you can cast your spell before your opponent acts. Other members of your party decide for themselves whether or not they will participate in combat. A message is displayed should a member of your party kill an opponent or be be killed. You can encounter foes in even unlikely looking places. An ordinary basement may harbor a giant serpent or two. Sometimes wizards like to throw these obsticles in their apprentices' paths to keep the wary. So, stay alert! Staying Alive Use the Inspect/Inventory (I) command to see how well you are faring. It will tell your status-- whether you are healthy or poisoned-- and your wound level. As described under the Rest command, a good night's rest restores your health. If all else fails and you dies, Eldritch may try to find someone to resurrect you. (After all, good apprentices are hard to find!) Having a Party As you encounter the citizens of the land you will be able to convince some of these people to become your companions. Others that you encounter will join in return for payment. Having a party with you is important, for it will combine the skills and talents of your companions with yours. Also, some of your friends will assist you in combat. Another benefit is that certain characters have knowledge of people and places that you lack. Do not be too surprised if you find that one of your party members can reveal a clue to a puzzle that you couldn't solve otherwise!