Getting Armed
CHAPTER 2: GETTING ARMED
Fun Fact: I am running the latest version of Exile, released just after Exile III. It added the improved graphics from Exile III. The second version added Exile II graphics and changed how AP works in combat. The very first version had characters have only 1 AP during combat, Ultima III style.
Welcome back to the caves of Exile! Let me take this opportunity to explain the interface. Of course, the largest window is the game window, so you can see what's actually happening on the screen. Below that is the town, dungeon, or region of Exile we are currently in. As you can see, right now we are in Fort Exile. At the very bottom is our action buttons. Going left to right, they are Cast Mage Spell, Cast Priest Spell, Examine/Search, Talk, Get Items, Bash Door, Pick Lock, Create Potion, Map, and Combat Mode (in combat mode, it goes turn-based and all of your characters appear instead of just the one at the front of the party). To the left of the main screen is the status window, where you can see your characters stats, inventory, and statuses. You can also dismiss and switch character order from this menu. Below that is where messages are displayed.
Next to the portal we see a well-dressed man. Let's go talk to him!
NOTE: In Avernum this guy is black, but the text still describes him as pale (???).
Talking to someone in Exile opens up the dialogue screen. Dialogue in Exile works old-school style: type in a keyword, and the person will tell you about it. Everyone responds to Name and Job, and shopkeepers will always respond to Buy and Sell. Fun Fact: Exile only pays attention to the first four letters of any word you type in.
Tor, eh? Let's go find this guy before we stave to death.
This is the supply depot. Tor's place is a little east of here.
Here he is! I hope gives us more than he did in Avernum...
He's actually lying. Metal weapons are p. easy to find. Magical weapons are a little harder, but still.
Phat lewt! Let's go check out what we got...
Not bad. Pretty basic supplies. The darts make decent throwing weapons, and we can distribute the armor around the group.
Equipped items are colored and italicized in Exile.
Here is the menu for giving items to other PCs. Pretty simple.
This is what our team looks like now. Yikes. We're going to have to pick up some better weapons soon.
This is the larger character menu in Exile. Here you can view equipment stats and known spells. As you can see, there are a lot of spells in Exile, of which SMA knows none.
This is the info menu for weapons. Here we can see it's type, it's value, it's damage, the governing skill, any magical charges it may have, and any weapons bonuses. Bonuses are (I believe) controlled by weapon material, type, and size. It is a straightforward damage addition. For example, a sword with a damage of 6 and a bonus of 1 would do 7 base damage.
The armor menu works much the same way, except it details encumbrance and protection instead of damage. Encumbrance controls whether you can cast Mage Spells while wearing it or not.
This is the supply room. Unfortunately, all the barrels are empty. Maybe it's a barrel storeroom?
Hey, it's some peasant chick. I wonder if I can get a sex card from her?
Oh well... better go talk to this Thairl guy now.
This is map. It opens up in a separate window alongside the main game. Gray space is explored area, gray with black dots is unexplored, purple box is the PCs, black squares are wall, outlined gray squares are items or decoration.
Right across the street from the supply rooms. That's convenient.
Blue robes, definitely a sage.
Meet Thairl: radiating beacon of pessimism.
Right. Remind me not to head that way.
In Avernum, Dunvo was made into Fort Dunvo, a coal mining town.
If I had to sum up the entire series in one sentence this would probably be it.
We can search any sort of container by using Examine on it. This dresser doesn't have anything in it, though.
There's the south city gates, but we don't want to leave yet.
Up there are the guard barracks. Nothing interesting there.
This sign contains a rather interesting bit of lore that actually wasn't included in Avernum.
So the Empire sent over 100,000 Untermenschen into Exile? Wow. This really shows how goddamn huge the Empire must be. Of course, this really isn't indicative of the actual population of Exile, as a large number of those were probably killed by the Slith or otherwise murdered horribly.
ALRIGHT FUCK THIS SHIT IM OUTTA HERE
Awwww. In Avernum this was changed to intense heat surrounding the portal, which doesn't make much sense seeing as you should have been fried the moment you arrived in Avernum...
A pit of sludge and trash. Most "swampy" tiles like those will poison some of you characters when you step on them, so it's best to avoid them if you can.
We've done all there is to do in Fort Exile. Time to leave. (Also - notice how our food meter has gone down. We need to eat food to survive. After a certain number of steps, our party consumes food. Each party member uses up 1 unit of food, so having a smaller party means you don't need as much food.)
Finally, out of the confines of the Fort and onto the world map! Next time - we reach Silvar!