Character Basics

Each player in LOD has one and only one character with which to explore the game. You're given a character at logon time and you keep that character until it dies - at which point you may make a new character, regenerate the dead one, or a few other options.

The main features of a character are the attributes and the inventory. Attributes are numeric representations of your characters abilities and physical characteristics. The inventory is the collection of items that your character is carrying at any given moment.

In addition to the inventory that you are carrying (think of it as being stored in a "backpack"), there are also several equipped items. Equipped items are special items that you have readied and are prepared to use at a moments notice.

Attributes

Your character has four basic attributes. These are strength (STR), dexterity (DEX), agility (AGL), and health (HITS). These attributes determine your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to combat.

• STRENGTH: Strength effects how hard you can hit with your weapons. The higher your strength, the more damage you will do in hand-to-hand combat.
  
  
• DEXTERITY: Your ability to hit what you are aiming at. The higher your dexterity in relation to an opponents agility, the better your odds of hitting that opponent.
  
  
• AGILITY: Your ability to run away, dodge attacks, and perform certain actions in combat. The better your agility in relation to an opponent's dexterity, the better your odds of performing these actions.
  
  
• HEALTH/HITPOINTS: Your current hit points are your life. Hitpoints are divided into two numbers in the format "xx/yy" or "xx of yy". The first number is always the number of hitpoints that you presently have. The second is the maximum number of hitpoins that you can accumulate. For example, 20/25 would mean your character has 20 out of a possible 25 hitpoints.

There is one other attribute that is not directly related to your character's physical characteristics. It is EXPERIENCE. Experience is the sum of all the knowledge that you have gained from combat encounters and special quests. The more you play and fight, the more experience you will gain.

The LEVEL of your character is derived from the experience. Every so often, you will accumulate enough experience points to "go up a level". When you rise a level, you will be allowed to apply additional points to your basic attributes.

Experience Table

Level	Experience Needed
1	0
2	1250
3	2500
4	5000
5	10,000
6	20,000
7	40,000
8	80,000
9	160,000
10	320,000
11	480,000
12	640,000
13	800,000
14	960,000

When you have enough experience to gain a level, report directly to Sacre Base. As soon as you arrive, you will be given the option of training for various attributes.

When training, you may allocate your training points however you wish to Strength, Dexterity, Agility, Hit Points, or trade training points for cash. Cash is usually a poor idea since levels become increasingly difficult the further you progress. Your best bet to attain cash is by salvaging equipment from the wasteland.

There are several different special quests which can be accomplished out in the wastelands. A quest could be as simple as delivering a special item to a certain place or as complicated as having to locate and slay a particular monster. It's up to you to discover what these quests are! Completing a special quest usually has the following benefits:

• An experience bonus.
  
  
• Accumulation of quest points - gives you a certain amount of "prestige" in the quest points section of the rankings.
  
  
• A special item - many quests result in you gaining a special item or learning a useful clue about the game.

Team Play

From time to time, it has been noticed that soldiers have grouped themselves together to form "teams". These teams provide a number of benefits:

• Smart Mines which are placed by one team member will not explode when another member enters the area.
  
  
• Team members will be able to see each others fortresses using the fortlist ROM as well as teleport to each others fortresses without any fee (regardless of the list-with-traders-union option)
  
  
• Teams with 2 or more members will get an automatic 5% team discount at all city stores.
  
  
• Team members can bypass other teammate's fortress TOLL and PROX systems without harm.
  
  
• The bank will grant larger loans to players who are on a team based upon the combined value of the team members.

Options for team play can usually be found at the troop quarters of any city.

Equipped Items

Items are equipped by use of the Q)-equip command. You may only select the appropriate type of item for the appropriate equipment slot.

• CLOSE COMBAT WEAPON
  
  Please see the chapter on combat.
  
  
• RANGED COMBAT WEAPON
  
  Please see the chapter on combat.
  
  
• ARMOR
  
  Please see the chapter on combat.
  
  
• AUX-WEAPON/SHIELD
  
  Please see the chapter on combat.
  
  
• MEDICAL LINING
  
  Medical lining is a special suit that you wear underneath your armor. It is kind of an automated medkit. While you are moving about, the medical lining pumps you full of chemicals, increasing your hit points as you move.
  
  Medical lining is rated in terms of hit points per 50 moves. So 5/50 medline would be one hit point regenerated per every 10 moves. The following classes of medical lining are available directly at Sacre Base:
  
  
  • STD. MEDLINE: 1/50 (1 hit regenerated per 50 moves)
  • ADV. MEDLINE: 5/50 (1 hit regenerated per 10 moves)
  
  
• LAPTOP
  
  The GS-224 laptop was specially designed to assist adventurers out in the wasteland. It is capable of performing a variety of useful function. The basic Laptop come pre-configured with only the essential commands. To add new programs to your laptop, you will have to purchase or otherwise obtain "ROM Cartridges". ROM Cartridges may be copied with the laptop's "COPY" command.
  
  We highly suggest purchasing the Laptop and the following ROMs as soon as it is convenient for you:
  
  
  • NOTES: Keeps an online notebook of the locations of important places that you visit.
    
    
  • CSTATS: Extremely handy. Displays useful information about your weapons, armor, and other combat statistics. Can be used to scan your inventory to find out which weapons are better than others.
    
    
  • DIET: An automatic diet maintenance program. No more worrying about when to each rations.
    
    
  • APPRAISE: Displays the relative costs of items in your inventory. Costs displayed are the "new purchase price" and the price paid by Sacre Base may be significantly less. The APPRAISE ROM is nevertheless a useful tool in determining what items are valuable and what is not.
  
  For more information about the Laptop and it's ROMs, we suggest you visit the Sacre Base Tavern. There is usually someone there who can be of assistance.

The Map and Terrain System

The "world" in LOD is composed of a series of interconnected maps. One map, termed the "main" map, represents the ground level of the earth. This is the map in which most travel and exploration takes place. Almost all of the other maps are linked in some way or another to the main map.

The main map is usually 125x125 squares in size. Each square represents some arbitrary measurement of land. A square could represent an acre, a square mile, or virtually anything that the imagination allows. Travel is usually performed by moving in a compass direction (N/S/E/W) from one square on the map to another.

Each map square has a particular type of terrain associated with it. Common terrain types include "roads", "plains", "forrest", and "mountains". Some terrain types, such as plainse, can be traversed easilly and with no special equipment. Others, such as rivers and lakes, require special devices (such as a miniraft) to cross them. There are also impassible terrain types, such as impassible mountains and dense forrests that cannot be traversed no matter what equipment the player carries.

Due to the visibility limitations of humans, only a small window of the map is displayed at one time. This window is approximately 5 squares by 5 squares in size, although it can be configured to 3x3 if modem speed is a problem. The player is always located in the center of the 5x5 window, and the window will move automatically with the player. There are several different map display modes available:

• SVGA (graphics mode)
  
  SVGA graphics are the preferred method, assuming that your equipment supports the graphics and you have properly configured the software. SVGA is always available on the sysop-side (host) of the connection if the sysop desires. However, use on the remote side (user) requires using the GTERM terminal program. (more on this later)
  
  With SVGA, you will see a small "picture" of each terrain type in the 5x5 map window. This is by far the best and easiest to navigate. Certain terrain types, such as walls and roads will be automatically "connected" to make following them easier.
  
  
• ENHANCED ANSI (text mode)
  
  With enhanced ansi, the map display will be held permanently in place at the top of the screen. Graphics will update as you move, but the screen generally does not "scroll" down. It's the preferred mode for those who do not use SVGA. Enhanced ansi is available in 5x5 or 3x3 configurations.
  
  
• STANDARD TEXT (text mode)
  
  This is the most primitive and least-desirable display method. It is limited to a 3x3 grid. A new map is drawn every time you move and the whole mess scrolls down the screen. However, if for some reason you support neither the SVGA or ANSI modes, you can always fall back to this one.

Text Symbols

If you use either the ENHANCED ANSI or STANDARD display modes (ie anything but SVGA), then you will have to contend with the text map symbols. The text symbols are meant to be symbolic representations of the type of terrain that is present. Each text symbol is two characters in size.

If ANSI is supported, then the text symbols are also colored. These colors have been chosen to make things a bit clearer. For example, green is used to represent plains and blue is used to represent water. YELLOW is almost always used to represent enter-able locations such as cities, stores, etc.

The best way to learn the symbols is to just move around the map. The name current terrain that you are standing is always displayed next to the scanner. Pretty soon you'll learn em all!

Terrain	Symbol	Description
Plains	--	Wide, open grasslands; Usually quite safe
Impass. Mtn	MM	Impassable mountains. No way to get around em!
Desert	..	Hot temps and dust storms make travelling dangerous
Mountains	mm	Low mountains; Easily climbable, but not too safe.
Road	||	Pre-war highways - monsters usually stay clear
Wasteland	ww	Areas severely damaged by nuclear radiation - stay clear!
River	~~	Flowing water - can be crossed if you have a raft
Swamp	""	Swamps - very unsafe
Rad-zone	rr	Direct nuclear strike. Very, very hazardous!
Forest	ff	Thick, woody forests - UNPASSABLE!
Hut	HT	Small huts occupied by rural dwellers
Towns	##	Sends you to a new town map (## is a number)
Red Pylon	/\	Several located, but their function is unknown
Green Pylon	/\	Several located, but their function is unknown
Store	ST	A generic city store
Wasteland Exit	WL	An exit from a city into the wastelands
Bank	$$	Good place to transfer funds
Hort. Center	HS	True nature unknown; Rumored to exist
Phaser Cache	PC	True nature unknown; Rumored to exist
Clone Center	CC	True nature unknown; Rumored to exist
Nuclear Silo	NS	True nature unknown; Rumored to exist
EEEE	EE	True nature unknown; Rumored to exist
Kill, Inc.	KI	True nature unknown; Rumored to exist
Comm Tower	CT	True nature unknown; Rumored to exist

Dealing with Towns

You'll encounter several towns, villages, and cities in the wastelands. To enter a town, you'll need to use the "G" key when you're on the proper map square. "G" stands for "Go".

Some towns require something special to be done before you can enter. Usually they'll tell you what this is, but sometimes they can be somewhat vague. If you get stuck trying to get into a particular town, then you may wish to post a message asking for help. Usually someone else in the game has already figured it out.

When you enter a town, you'll switch to the town map. The town map is presented at a somewhat different scale -- rather than map squares being an acre or square mile, in towns they represent a much smaller size, perhaps a square yard.

Towns typically have roads that lead from the entrance to various places of interest. Civilian dwellings and unimportant locations have typically been "left out" of the town maps - only important locations such as stores, banks, taverns, etc are presented. Mots twon maps are small and the typical player should be able to fully explore them pretty quickly.

Some towns, such as Sacre Base, will charge high-level players rent for staying within. If this rent is not paid on-time, then access to the city may be refused. The rent account may always be paid at any bank in any city.

Although much of the previous civilization was destroyed by the great nuclear war, one custom has survived: Tax Collection. For some unknown reason, the political leaders of each of the wastelands towns have all agreed to charge high level players taxes. These taxes will be re-distributed nightly to all players. Redistributed taxes are dumped in the "standard account" any may be retrieved by visiting any city bank.

Things You'll Find in Towns

Towns include all sorts of exciting places. Sacre base itself has many locations to enter. You are encouraged to visit them all and learn what they are about. Some of the more generic entities that are available in most cities are discussed below. (ANSI users remember: G)o-able locations are almose always represented by yellow colored symbols)

• TAVERN (ansi "TV")
  
  Most, if not all, of the towns have taverns in them. Taverns are the local hangouts for the prominent town citizens. Most taverns will welcome you openly and most citizens will talk freely about themselves. The first thing you should do when you enter a new town is to thoroughly question everyone in the taverns.
  
  When talking to a character, the character will respond to various "hot words" - for instance, asking someone about "JOB" or "NAME" will usually yield a response with the appropriate information. These hot words are hilighted in RED for ansi users or capitolized in all-caps for non-ansi users.
  
  
• STORE (ansi "ST")
  
  Towns almost always have stores in them where the local merchants and traders have items for sale. These stores can be a great source of equipment that is not available at Sacre Base.
  
  
• TROOP QUARTERS (ansi "TQ")
  
  Every town has a troop quarters. The troop quarters is sort of a catch-all for utility functions that you may need to perform. For example, viewing the log or the rankings and adjusting your ANSI options.
  
  
• BANKS (ansi "$$")
  
  Every society has them - the bankers and tax collectors. Even after a total collapse of government, these instituations still reamin functional. Banks have several functions available, such as savings account and low- interest loans. The "rent" account can also be paid here.

Other Map Notes

The map is full of unusual places to discover and explore. Always proceed with caution, but don't be afraid to try new places.

Large specialty stores have been known to exist directly on the main map. Commonly known ones are the EEEE which sells advanced weapons and ACME Weapons which boasts a full-time weaponsmith and technician available for custom weapon modifications. There is a horticulture center out there somewhere that deals exclusively with advanced food products.

A transportion network of pylons is out there. Pylons are not very well understood and little documentation exists on them. The only facts are that they commonly require a "keycard" of some sort and usually have a sequence of buttons that must be pressed in the correct order to select a destination point.

Beware of objects that are scattered about. Sometimes extremely dangerous mines may be encountered. These mines will appear exactly as normal objects to your scanners and to the naked eye. It's only when you get close to them that they will detonate and make a serious mess of you!

You may encounter fortresses at certain locations. Fortresses can be thought of as sort of miniature cities. Most do posess stores that items may be purchased from. As opposed to cities, fortresses do not posess their own maps - they are navigated by means of a series of menus. Fortresses are usually heavilly defended with advanced weapons, moats, and defense shields. Some fortresses even have "toll booths" and "prox sensors" that will firing on passing travellers!

Map System Commands

The map system (also termed the "wastelands menu") has several command options that are available:

Command	Key	Command	Key	Command	Key
North	N or 8	Pick Up Item	P	Enter	G
South	S or 2	Drop Item	D	Camp Out	A
East	E or 6	Check Status	C	Construct Fort	F
West	W or 4	Equip	Q	Enter Fort	I
Look	L or 5	Use Item	U	Inv Maint	M
Kill Obj	K	Quick Heal	Y	B.A.D. Spell	B

Most of those commands are self-explanatory, but a few of them deserve some special attention:

• ENTER (G)
  
  The enter command will not only get you into towns, but other locations as well - fortresses, camps, special places, pylons, whatever. When in doubt about a new location, you might as well try to enter it.
  
  
• KILL OBJ (K)
  
  This command will allow you to permanently "kill" an object on the wasteland. For example, if there is a "dagger" laying in front of sacre base and it has been annoying you, you can kill it.
  
  
• EQUIP (E)
  
  You need to use this one to equip your weapons, armor, etc.
  
  
• USE ITEM (U)
  
  This is one of the most important commands in the game. Certain items that you are carrying must be U)sed in order to activate them. For example, U)sing a medkit will heal your character.
  
  If you select the "list" option from the U)se prompt, the game will present a listing of the usable items that you are carrying. Non- usable items will not be listed. This is a quick and easy way to figure out which items are use-able.
  
  Alternatively to typing the number of the object in your inventory to use, you can also type the first few letters of the item name. For example, you could type "MED" to use a medkit, or "TRI" to use a tricorder.
  
  
• QUICK HEAL (Y)
  
  Rather than use the USE (u) command multiple times on a medkit to heal yourself, you can use the Y command to automatically use as many medkit doses as are necessary to heal you.
  
  
• PICK UP (P)
  
  There is a special power-user option for those of you carrying energy cells (Vortex cell, kralox cell, etc). If you type the word "cell" at the item number prompt, then LOD will automatically pick up all ammo at the current location and charge your energy cell with it.
  
  
• "ALL"
  
  On the Kill obj (K), Pick Up (P), and Drop (D) commands, you can say "ALL" when prompted for an item number and LOD will attempt the command on all available items.

The Basics of Combat

Combat is a fact of life -- the wastelands are not a safe place. This chapter has been assembled to briefly explain the most popular combat styles and tactics. Those who do not posess a thorough understanding of the aspects of modern combat tactics will not survive long.

Under most circumstances you encounter, combat will occur in two distinct phases: Long Range and Close Combat. Understanding the different aspects of these two phases is essential to your success.

LONG RANGE COMBAT occurs when the participants are at a significant distance. Several options are available at this phase, the most common of which are firing a ranged weapon or throwing a radiation grenade at the enemy. In most cases once one of these options is executed, combat will proceed to the close combat phase.

CLOSE COMBAT occurs when the opponents are engaged in a hand-to-hand situation. Either the fist is used to strike blows or (perferably) a bladed weapon is used. Close combat continues until one of the participants is either killed, escapes, or surrenders.

Now that you understand the basic foundations of combat, you may be wondering, against whom are you to use your newfound skills? Have no fear, the wastelands are filled with plenty of opportunities for you to kill something!

The most common combat advesary is the monster. "Monster" is a generic term meaning any intrinsicly hostile creature that habits the wasteland. The wasteland is full of such individuals. They range from mindless animals such as the Rad-Hound, to such complex entities as the Priesthood of Loki of whom posess the power to levitate and the weapondry to incinerate a recruit before he even knows what happened. Monster encounters generally occur at random - You'll be walking along and something will just jump out right in front of you!

You may also find that at times there may be another inhabitant of Sacre Base with whom you disagree. Or perhaps someone who's been showing off some nice weapon or equipment. While it is generally discouraged to go around "offing" other adventurers, it does happen quite frequently. Please note that all combat within Sacre Base is strictly prohibited. If you want to kill somebody, you'll need to find them unprotected in the wastelands. They may either be camped or holed up inside a fortress. If the latter is the case, then you will need to infiltrate the fortress in order to reach your prey.

Throughout the wastelands, you will notice occasional fortresses constructed to protect the owner and his valuables from outside dangers. These fortresses may be conquered, but the process of taking a fortress may be long and arduous. It may even require a team of warriors to drain the fort's defenses to the point that they may be breached. Taking a fortress does produce great rewards -- if you don't want to keep the fortress for yourself, then you may easilly sell it's equipment for a health profit.

Ranged Weapons

Long range combat necessitates the existance of long range weapons. The typical long range weapon contains a sighting system which is fixed upon the target and then a trigger is depressed which will consequently fire a projectile of some sort at target.

The type of projectile and means of propulsion depend on the type of weapon that is used. For example, a crossbow uses a wire and tension system to launch a crossbow bolt. A 9mm clip pistol uses an exothermic gunpowder reaction to propell a bullet at a high velocity. More advanced weapons, termed "energy weapons" use energy of some means to send forth a stream of sub-atomic particles (photons, neutrons, and gravitons are commonly used).

Most LR weapons are capable of launching only one projectile at a time. However, technologies such as the "three round burst" and "grenade launched" are also available which provide the user with additional technologies. We recommend contacting the weaponsmith at ACME weapons for more information on these advanced subjects.

The amount of damage done by a long range weapon is determined solely by the characteristic properties of the device. The user's attributes have no effect on the extent of the damage inflicted. The accuracy, however, does depend significantly on the ratio of the dexterity of the user as compared to the agility of the target. A higher user dexterity will increase accuracy. A higher target agility will decrease accuracy.

The other commonly used offensive technique is the throwing of a radiation grenade in the direction of an enemy. As with conventional weapons, the damage inflicted is solely dependant on the characteristics of the grenade. However, due to the large blast radius of a grenade, accuracy is 100% guarenteed.

Close Combat Weapons

Close combat weapons (also referred to as "short range weapons" or "SR" weapons) are used in close combat. This type of weapon is not required (the user may inflict blows directly with his fist), but is highly recommended due to the increase in damage inflicted by a bladed weapon.

Close combat weapons are almost always bladed devices of some sort. Contrary to ranged weapons, no projectile is fired. Damage is inflicted by physically striking the target with the weapon.

Close combat weapons are not necessarilly restricted solely to simple bladed instruments such as knives or swords. The blade may be charged with energy which will inflict a superior amount of damage when it comes into contact with the target. These types of weapons are referred to as "energy weapons". Many techniques exist for charging energy weapons. The most common energy weapons are the ElectoBlade, ElectroSword, and ElectroLance. They are the energy weapon version of the Dagger, Sword, and Razorlance respectively.

The damage inflicted by close combat weapons is proportional not only to the characteristic properties of the weapon itself, but also the strength of the user. Is a general rule, as the strength of the user doubles, the damage infliction will increase by approximately 30%.

As with ranged weapons, accuracy of close combat weapons depends on the user's dexterity in relation to the target's agility. A high dexterity will produce superior accuracy, while a high agility of the target will degrade accuracy.

Procurement of Weapons

Several popular LR and SR weapons are stocked at the stores in Sacre Base. It is highly recommended that you stop by these stores and obtain weapons before proceeding into the wasteland.

NOTE: The damage levels listed in the SR weapons store are the basic damage levels of the weapon. Remember, SR (short range or close combat) weapons perform increased damage if the user has increased strength. Thus, if your strength is above average, then the damage done will be greater than the base levels listed in the SR weapons store.

IMPORTANT: You must Q)-Equip your weapons before they will be enabled in combat. Simply carrying around a weapon in your inventory will not do - it must be equipped. To equip a weapon, press "Q" from the wastelands menu. Then select the appropriate choice (C for Close or R for Ranged) and select the desired weapon from your inventory.

Weapons may also be obtained from wasteland inhabitants. Occasionally, you may encounter a creature that has a particularly desirable weapon. There are two common ways of obtaining a weapon from the monster. The least risky is to purchase the weapon. Most, but not all, monsters will readilly sell their weapon for a reasonable sum of money. The other common method is to kill the monster and pick up the weapon when he drops it upon the wasteland.

The GS-224 Laptop and C-Stats ROM can prove useful in determining various properties of weapons. It is recommended that you pick up a laptop and C-Stats at your earliest convenience from the computer store in sacre base. C-Stats will report the base damage levels, ammunition requirements, strength multiplier, and any special features of your weapons.

Ammunition

Some weapons require ammunition. The best way to discover what ammunition a weapon requires is to view it's description with the V)iew command at store. You can also use a laptop equipped with the C-Stats rom to determine the ammunition requirements.

If you use a weapon that requires ammunition, then you must carry around one or more ammunition pack(s) in your inventory. These packs will automatically be used to supply the weapon with energy. You do not need to explicitly "load" weapon; just keep an ammo pack in your inventory and it will be done automatically.

A chart of common weapons and ammunition types follows. This chart is not exhaustive and many weapons and ammunition types not listed may be located on various wasteland inhabitants.

Ammuntion	Short Range Weapon	Long Range Weapon
Crossbow Bolts	None	Crossbow
9mm Clip	None	Clip Pistol, Uzi 9mm
Power Pack	Electroblade, Electrosword, Electrolance	Phaser-1, Phaser-2, Phaser-3, Comp Blaster
Grav Pack	None Known	Gravblaster
Plasma Pack	None Known	PlasmaBlaster
Neutron Pack	Neutron Sabre	Neutron Rifle

Reports of another type of energy, termed the "cell", have been heard from adventurers returning from the wastelands. Cells appear to be capable of storing energy in a generic format, and supplying whatever energy your particular weapons require. Hence, a cell may be capable of supplying both power pack energy to an electroblade, as well as gravitons to a gravblaster. Cells only work on "energy" type weapons. They cannot supply 9mm bullets or crossbow bolts for example.

Shields and the Aux Weapon

In addition to equipping a close weapon, there is an additional slot in which you may equip an auxilliary weapon or a shield. This slot is referred to as the "aux weapon" slot. Typically, the item in this slot is carried in the fighter's left hand, while the primary close weapon is carried in the right hand.

If a close range weapon is equipped into the aux weapon slot, then you may switch weapons with the "E" command in the close combat menu. This is useful in case you have an ammo-requiring close combat weapon equipped and the weapon runs out of ammo. If you have a non-ammo-requiring weapon in the aux weapon slot, then you may use the "E" command to switch between them.

If a shield is equipped in the aux weapon slot, then you will gain some additional defensive capabilities. There is a percentage chance that the enemy's attack will impact your shield rather than your armor or body. In this capacity, the shield acts as sort of an armor suppliment. You may also P)arry the enemy if a shield is equipped.

Using the P)arry option in close combat increases the odds of your sheild deflecting a blow by 400%. However, you will inflict no damage while parrying. Parrying may be of use in a situation where a player may wish to cause the enemy to expend his ammunition reserves. Once the opponent's ammunition falls critically low, the player would cease parrying and begin normal attacks against the enemy, who now has a depleted ammo supply.

Armor

Armor can be very beneficial to combat. In the case that an enemy's blow comes in contact with your person, then there is a percentage chance that your armor may absorb this blow, thus protecting your precious hit points. Many armor types are available. There are two basic properties of armor which are of interest: the deflection percent, and the deflection point capacity.

Deflection Percent is the percentage chance that your armor will absorb a blow that would normally hit your body. For example, if your armor had 50% deflection, then you could expect roughly half of the blows to impact the armor and half to impact you directly.

Damage point capacity is the number of points of damage that the armor has remaining before it is useless. Each time your armor is hit, it will lose some of these points. When they reach zero, your armor will no longer deflect blows at all.

Some armor types may be recharged when their deflection points are below maximum. The device use to recharge them is usually referred to as a "recharger". Rechargers are expensive and difficult to obtain, but you may happen across one in your travels.

The C-Stats ROM can be used to determine the various properties of your armor. The GS-224 Laptop and the C-Stats ROM may be purchased at the Sacre Base computer store.

Long Range Combat in Depth

• LONG RANGE COMBAT: "L"
  
  This simply fires your ranged weapon at the enemy. You must have a ranged weapon equipped to use this option. If the weapon requires ammunition, then you will need to have some ammo in your inventory.
  
  
• CLOSE COMBAT (hand-to-hand): "H"
  
  This will bypass your long range combat options and proceed directly to close (hand-to-hand) combat.
  
  
• THROW GRENADE: "G"
  
  You throw a radiation grenade in the direction of the enemy. Grenade hits are guarenteed 100% due to the increased blast size. After the grenade has detonated, close combat will automatically enagage.
  
  
• RUN: "R"
  
  You attempt to use the age old strategy of running away. If your enemy has no ranged weapons, he will probably let you go. But, if the enemy does have a ranged weapon, he may try to take a shot at you.
  
  
• SURRENDER: "S"
  
  Give him half of your money and he'll probably let you go.
  
  
• VIEW OPPONENT: "V"
  
  Display your opponent's stats.
  
  
• VIEW CHARACTER: "C"
  
  Display your current stats.
  
  
• STRIKE UP CONVERSATION: "T"
  
  For some monsters that look somewhat talkative, this option will appear and you can talk to the monster. Odds are you can't talk him out of killing you, but you may be able to gain some vital information from the monster.
  
  
• BUY ITEM
  
  Sometimes, you'll notice that a particular enemy has an item that would be of value to you. Rather than fight for it, you may opt for the more civilized approach of buying the item. However, monsters are not usually as generous as the Sacre Base supply station and their prices may be quite high!

Close Combat in Depth

• ATTACK: "A"
  
  Charge at the monster with your weapon; Inflict as much damage as possible while protecting yourself from injury.
  
  
• BERSERK: "B"
  
  Commit yourself to fighting until death. No aborting! You'll receive a minimal (about 10%) combat advantage when berserking, but you lose all chance of stopping in case you begin to lose!
  
  
• SURRENDER: "S"
  
  Give him some money and hope he goes away.
  
  
• RUN: "R"
  
  Try to run away. Your chances of successfully running depend on your agility in relation to your opponents dexterity. Monsters equipped with LR weapons may shoot you in the back while you're running.
  
  
• VIEW OPPONENT: "V"
  
  Display your opponent's stats.
  
  
• VIEW CHARACTER: "C"
  
  Display your current stats.
  
  
• WARP: "W"
  
  If you are carrying a warper, you can push it's button and get out of combat fast!
  
  
• MORE: "M"
  
  There's two combat menus - this toggles between them.
  
  
• EXCHANGE: "E"
  
  Exchange your primary weapon with your auxiliary weapon. Usefull if your primary weapon runs out of ammunition. This option may not be used if you have a shield equipped in your auxilliary weapon slot.
  
  
• HEAL: "H"
  
  Use a medkit dose. Your odds of successfully using a medkit dose depend on your agility as opposed to your opponents dexterity.
  
  
• DEATHPULSE: "D"
  
  If your weapon has the special "deathpulse" feature, then you use this option to attack in deathpulse mode. Deathpulse conversions are available from ACME Weapons, Inc.
  
  
• OPPONENT-CSTATS: "O"
  
  If you have a laptop with the C-Stats ROM loaded on it, then you may use this command to get a C-Stats report of your enemy. The C-Stats report may be useful to determine if your enemy has nay special features on his weapons and/or armor that won't show up in the "V)iew Opponent" command.
  
  
• PARRY: "P"
  
  If you have a shield equipped in your aux weapon slot, then you can parry against the opponent. Parrying consists of attempting to block the attack using your shield. Parrying inflicts no damage on the enemy, but it increases the odds of your shield deflecting a blow by 400%. Since parrying inflicts no damage, it is of questionable tactical value.
  
  
• FLASH
  
  If you are carrying a FlashBomb, then you can throw it at the enemy to improve the odds of escape.

Locating Other Human Warriors to Fight

As mentioned previously, you may find yourself in a position where you wish to fight another human warrior. This can sometimes be a difficult process, as most persons are reasonably skilled at protecting their location from possible attackers. However, in the event you do wish to fight another human, these are the steps that should be taken:

1. Enter Sacre Base and thoroughly check out the Sacre Base map. Look and see if your target has camped inside Sacre Base. If he has, then you will, of course, be unable to attack him. You might write him a message letting him know how much of a coward he is for hiding out in Sacre Base.
   
   
2. Exit Sacre Base and look around the immediate area. Perhaps your target didn't make it back into Sacre Base before running out of time. Or perhaps he just didn't know any better.
   
   
3. If you have a scanner device or a LR-Scan, then you might want to give it a shot. Both of these devices are capable of detecting players at medium-long ranges. If you posess a tricorder, then it may be of great use as well.
   
   
4. If you happen across a fortress, then your target may be within. Use the G)o command to visit the fortress and use V)iew to get a look at it. If the owner listed is your target or one of his teammates, then your target may reside within. In this case, your only chance of knowing for sure is to attack the fortress and conquer it.
   
   
5. If your you happen across a city, then your target may be camped within it. Explore the city and find out. Unlike Sacre Base, not all cities have a "no combat" restriction. If you find your target in the Death Warrior HQ, for example, then the Death Warriors will probably be more than happy to watch you battle to the death.
   
   
6. Explore the wastelands, repeating steps 2 through 5 until you find him or get tired of looking.
   
   
7. You can always write your target a message telling him you want to fight. If he's courageous enough, then he'll probably write you a message with a pre-determined location to fight. If he refuses, make it publicly known that he has chickened out. Usually someone will come forth to defend his honor.

There are a few special things to take into consideration when fighting another human. This type of combat is generally referred to as "player-vs-player" combat. Firstly and most importantly is the experience is calculated differently.

When you defeat another player, experience is rewarded according to the following: "The surplus of the loser's experience over the winners experience, plus 10% of the losers total experience." Mathematically, this could be written as the following:

• EXP gained = Max(0,loser_exp-winner_exp) + loser_exp*0.10

For example, say you have 10,000 exp and you kill someone who has 15,000 exp. In this case, you have attacked a player with GREATER experience than yourself. The math works out as follows:

Max(0,15000-10000) + 15000 * 0.10
= Max(0,5000) + 1500
= 5000 + 1500
= 6500

Now, let's look at an example of attacking a player with lesser experience. Let's assume you have 15,000 EXP and you attack someone with 10,000 EXP. The math works out as follows:

Max(0,10000-15000) + 10000 * 0.10
= Max(0,-5000) + 1000
= 0 + 1000
= 1000

As you can see, you are rewarded greatly for attacking someone who is more experienced than you. However, the rewards are fairly poor for attacking someone who is lesser than you. This is purposely done to discourage humongous players from attacking novices, and to prevent a few certain "cheats" that have been used in the past.

Fortresses

Fortresses may be constructed by the prosperous adventurer. There are several reasons a fortress is useful and several purposes a fortress can serve:

• A PLACE TO HIDE OUT
  
  The wasteland isn't a very nice place. Hiding out in your fortress can be a great defence against monsters and "competitive" players.
  
  
• STORAGE VAULT
  
  Every fortress includes a storage vault. You can drop off as many objects as you like. As long as your fortress remains intact, your valuables are safe.
  
  
• SELLING MEDKITS/AMMO and ITEMS
  
  You can designate portions of your medical doses on hand and/or energy on hand to be "for sale". Players may then visit your fortress and purchase medkits/ammo for the price that you decide.
  
  If you pick a good location and set your prices right, players may opt to shop your at your fortress rather than a pricey town. If your fort is equipped with an energy-producing reactor, then you can make a healthy profit selling energy!
  
  All forts are equipped with a "sales counter" capable of holding any eight standard devices. You decide what to sell and what price to sell it at. Someone in dire need of a Warper may pay you a healthy price for one!
  
  It should be noted that when trading, other players are held outside the gates of your fortress. They aren't allowed access to your vault, treasury, etc.
  
  
• AVOID RENT
  
  If you are a level eight player or above, then you have probably already realized that if you stay in any of the towns, you will be charged rent. And this rent does get expensive.
  
  So, the solution - build your own base and stay in there. It's safer than hanging out on the wastelands and you don't have to shell out the cash to pay rent every day.
  
  
• FACTORIES
  
  You can install factories in your fort for producing a variety of items such as mines. A factory produces one item per night and can pay for itself very quickly!
  
  
• SCAVENGERS
  
  A special "scavenger droid" has been developed especially for fortress use. Each night, the scavenger droid will venture outside your fortress and locate any "junk" laying around. The scavenger droid will sell these items as salvage at 10% of full price!

All that sounds pretty nice, doesn't it? Well, it sounds nice to just about everyone else as well. So the point is, you'd better protect your fortress pretty well or somebody uninvited will move in! (and move you out!) Fortress defensive options:

• MOAT
  
  You can dig a moat around your fortress. When somebody wants to attack, they'll have to get through it. Several different moats are available - from simple water with a crocodile to flesh- dissolving acid!
  
  
• DEFENSE FIELD
  
  Every fortress should purchase a defense field immediately. The defense field is essentially the fortress's "hit points". When an attacker defeats the defense field, he is inside. Defense fields recharge before battle from the fortress's energy stores.
  
  Also, do note that if your base runs out of energy, then there will be nothing to recharge your defense field if you are attacked.
  
  
• WEAPON
  
  So what happens while somebody is hacking away at your defense field? You have a big gun that shoots at him. The better the fortress weapon, the more damage will be inflicted as the attacker attempts to beat the defense field.
  
  
• REACTOR
  
  All this stuff takes power. Your defense field requires energy to recharge, your base weapon requires energy to fire, etc. So you might want to have a reactor to build up your daily energy supply.
  
  
• MINE SPREADER
  
  These nifty items will take any mines from your forts storage room and scatter them around your fortress in a random manner. Very useful for automatically creating mine fields.
  
  
• PROX SENSORS
  
  Proximity sensors - Your fort is equipped with a weapon, right? Well, why not blast everyone who walks by!!! The Prox sensor will let you set your fortress weapon to attack all players who come within a pre-determined distance of your fort.
  
  
• TOLL STATIONS
  
  Prox sensors are nice, but there isn't much profit in just blasting people. How about charging them a "toll" fee. If they pay, they can continue unharmed. If not..... BLAM!
  
  
• FORTRESS SFG (Stealth Field Generator)
  
  Hides your fortress from the view of adjacent map cells. The only way someone can see your fortress is by practically standing right on top of it!
  
  
• ROBO-DEFENDER
  
  RoboDefenders protect your fort if the defense field falls. They are basically just a robot programmed to defend your fortress at all costs.

Now, the most important thing you have to worry about is supplying your base with energy. Without energy, your base defense field cannot charge and your weapon cannot fire. So, how do you get energy?

• METHOD #1:
  
  Buy, steal, or otherwise "acquire" ammunition packs. Take the ammo packs into your fortress configuration room and discharge them into the fortress power banks.
  
  Any type of energy-based ammunition will do - Power Packs, Grav Packs, etc. But the projectile-ammo is useless (how would you discharge some crossbow bolts???)
  
  
• METHOD #2:
  
  Buy a reactor (described above) and it will generate a generous amount of energy each day.

Note: You will want to make sure you place a lot of energy in your fortress when you create it -- There is a tactic becoming increasingly popular where players will lay siege to a fort by repeatedly attacking it and running from it, thus draining the fortresses energy reserves and making it vulnerable to attack!

Fortress Trading

As mentioned above, trading is possible with fortresses. By using the FORTRESS TRADE CONTROL menu, you can set various options about what you wish to buy or sell. Here are some quick hints:

• SELLING HEALING (MEDKIT) DOSES
  
  First you'll have to "dump" a medkit into your fortress medkit supply. You can do this from the fortress configuration menu. Then go back to the fortress trading menu and you can decide how much of your medkit stocks you wish to put up for sale and how much you wish to charge per dosage.
  
  
• SELLING ENERGY (Power Packs)
  
  Like with medkits, go into the fortress configuration menu and dump some energy into the fortress energy banks (unless you already have a plentiful supply of energy in the banks). Then go back to the fortress trade menu and select how much energy you wish to sell and at what price. Don't sell all your energy, because you would leave your base defenseless.
  
  
• BUYING/SELLING THE THREE PRODUCTS (minerals, herbs, fuel)
  
  Not fully implemented yet. Feel free to experiment with the options.
  
  
• THE SALES COUNTER
  
  Each base has a sales counter. The base owner may place up to eight items in this sales counter. Other players may then come and buy them from the base.
  
  
• SELLING TELEPORTATION
  
  If you equip your base with a teleporter, then you can charge other players to use your teleporter. You will receive money both when players depart from and arrive to your base. (Note: You may wish to use the "List with traders union" so people know where your base is)

Appendix 1: Common Close Combat Weapons

• KNIFE
  
  This is pretty lame. Sort of a cross between a butter knife and a steak knife, it doesn't inflict much damage. However, if you're on a budget, it is better than nothing.
  
  
• DAGGER
  
  Basically, the Knife designed specifically for combat use.
  
  
• SWORD
  
  If you don't know what a sword is, go back to grade school....
  
  
• RAZORLANCE
  
  The lance is a special variation of a spear. It has razor sharp blades on both ends. The user usually holds the lance from the middle and can twirl it in many directions, hitting the attacker with the blades mounted on each end.
  
  
• ELECTROBLADE
  
  The electroblade is a dagger that has been electrically charged. It gets it's power from a POWER PACK and when the target is struck, the electrical charge dissipates into them, doing enhanced damage. This weapon does require ammo (POWER PACKS) and will do reduced damage without them.
  
  
• ELECTROSWORD
  
  The electrosword is an electrically charged version of the sword. Like the electroblade, it require POWER PACK ammo to function.
  
  
• ELECTROLANCE
  
  The electrolance is the electrically charged companion of the razor lance. When properly loaded with a power pack, it can do massive amounts of damage.
  
  
• NEUTRON SABRE
  
  A recent experimental prototype using Neutron technology. The Neutron sabre is a sword-type weapon that uses neutron energy to charge its blade. Produces an intense burning effect on whatever it hits. Uses NEUTRON PACKs as armor.

Appendix 2: Common Ranged Weapons

• CROSSBOW
  
  A purely manually operated weapon. The operator pulls back the string, sets in a crossbow bolt, aims and fires. It requires crossbow bolts for ammunition.
  
  
• CLIP PISTOL
  
  A 9mm clip pistol. You slap a clip in, take aim, and blast a hole in your enemy. Uses 9mm clips for ammo.
  
  
• PHASER-1
  
  A hand held phaser weapon. Sends a charged proton beam into the enemy. Requires power packs for ammo.
  
  
• PHASER-2
  
  More powerful version of phaser-1.
  
  
• PHASER-3
  
  More powerful version of phaser-2.
  
  
• COMP BLASTER
  
  The most powerful power-pack weapon built. Similar to a phaser, but uses higher efficiency circuitry to achieve a stronger effect.
  
  
• GRAVBLASTER
  
  This weapon sends a beam of gravitons against the target. The gravitons create an immense gravitational disruption in the target's cells, causing the gravitational forces to rip his cell structure apart. Uses gravblast clips.
  
  
• PLASMABLASTER
  
  Sends plasma energy into the enemy. Uses plasma clips for ammo.
  
  
• NEUTRON RIFLE
  
  Experimental prototype. Uses Neutron packs as ammunition to produce massive damage on whatever it hits.
  
  
• GRENADE PACK
  
  This is a package of grenades. It is neither a long range nor a close range weapon. When you enter combat, you have the choice of throwing a grenade at your foe instead of firing a weapon. Grenades have the advantage of almost always hitting the opponent and their damage can go right through an opponent's armor.

Appendix 3: Miscellaneous Items

• RADIO
  
  This two-way field radio can be used to tie into the base's communications system. You can send and leave messages just as if you were sitting in the safe comfort of the base.
  
  
• LR SCAN
  
  The LR Scan is a very useful device. What it does is tie into the ZR327L military surveillance satellite and generate a satellite picture of the surrounding terrain. Very handy if you get yourself lost.
  
  
• MEDICAL KIT
  
  The medical kit contains a number of self-contained "healing" drugs. One quick shot from one of these drugs can do wonders for a person's injuries. (These wonder drugs were actually created in 1973, but held up in various government agencies for 70 or so years)
  
  
• RATIONS
  
  A package of poorly tasting, but very nourishing troop rations. Mostly gathered from the remains of dead beasts, it tastes pretty bad, but is very necessary to your survival.
  
  
• SCANNER
  
  This is a hand-help radar scanning unit. It can give you a quick idea of the type of terrain around you as well as locate prominent establishments such as towns.
  
  
• STEALTH FIELD GENERATOR
  
  The SFG is a unique product of modern technology. It allows you to create a field around your person which can either interfere positively (amplify) or negatively (cancel out) the noise that you create. Since many of the wasteland creatures are dependant upon noise as a means of locating targets, you can either increase or decrease your encounter chances with this device.
  
  
• LAPTOP
  
  The GS-224 Laptop is a very valuable instrument when equipped with the necessary programs. You can buy a laptop at sacre base as well as software for the laptop. I'll leave it to you to discover what the laptop does. (Try talking to TROY HADLEY at the Sacre Base Tavern)
  
  
• MINIRAFT
  
  In case you should need to cross some rivers or lakes, then the Miniraft may be of some use to you.

Questions and Answers

Q. When I view a monster, it says his weapons do a certain amount of damage, but when I fight him, he hits for many more points!

A. The damage listed for his weapons is the BASE damage level. The actual damage is dependent on his strength. For a weak monster, the damage done will be less that the weapons rating. For a strong monster, the damage will be greater.


Q. How do I get to the lower levels?

A. You don't! Starting with version 2.00 of LOD and up, there is no lower map. The top level was increased in size to provide for a more realistic game environment.


Q. What are these "special quests" ?

A. They are exactly as the name implies - a few little side adventures thrown in to add flavor to the game. Sometimes talking to the residents of a town may get you some insight into a quest, otherwise, locating and using a special object may help. Remember, always try out all of the gadgets you find in the wasteland!


Q. I don't like this "xxx's weapon disintegrates as it falls to the ground" stuff. How can I get rid of it?

A. If you're the sysop (or game operator), then you can go into monster.def, find the character "DEFAULT_1", go down to the line which says "DESINT 35" and change it to a smaller value. The smaller the value, the less the chance that weapons, armor, etc will be disintegrated.