Completed Let's play Dark Heart of Uukrul! -- Dead and done!

[Crooked Bee]

DISCLAIMER: Imageshack has some issues with the RPGCodex, so hotlinking isn't working now and some of the images won't show -- you'll only see a frozen frog image instead. Hopefully the issue will be resolved eventually, but for now there's a solution for those using Firefox or Opera.

SOLUTION FOR FIREFOX (kudos to Antihero):
1. Type about:config in the address bar.
2. In the "filter" line, type "referer".
3. Set the value to 1 and reload.
4. If that doesn't work, set the value to 0.
5. Set it back to 2 later if you want.

SOLUTION FOR OPERA (kudos to Merkwürdigliebe):
Menu -> Settings -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Network -> Uncheck the "Send referrer information" box -> Profit!!

Hope that helps. I'll reupload all the images to photobucket eventually, but that's a lot of work, so it won't happen soon.

Let's play Dark Heart of Uukrul (1990): A blind oldskool dungeon-crawling LP never to be finished!

It took me 8 years to finish this game.

I envy you, being still able to try your hand at Uukrul with hopes of actually finishing it! :p I lost those long ago, though I still jump into it every now and then out of sheer morbidity and masochism.

CONTENTS!
1: Party Generation
2: Exploration basics
3: Combat basics and the first sanctuary
4: Of Wolves, Skeletons, and Secret Doors
5: Shopping and Leveling-up
6: The Four Temples, the Circle of Magic, and the Catacomb
7: It's a Trap!
8: Sagaris
9: Two Hearts
10: Two Deaths
11: Bats, Birds and Spiders
12: Faith
13: To URRAN
14: Unfinished Business
15: Shopping
16: Plagued
17: Third Heart
18: OMG
19: URSHAS and the Secret Temple Rooms
20: Dungeons and Dragons, Part 1
21: Dungeons and Dragons, Part 2
22: Dungeons and Dragons, Part 3
23: Cat-and-mouse
24: The Pyramid
25: Great Engineer, Part 1
26: Great Engineer, Part 2
27: The Cube
28: Hearthall
29: Adron's Palace
30: Chaos: Dead and Done

Hello Codexia!
Following my own inclination and Black Cat's sound advice -- according to which the purpose of an LP like this one is "more to show off a cool and hardcore game than to do a full walkthrough" -- I hereby announce the beginning of a totally hopeless and rage-inducing blind LP. "Blind" means I don't know what the hell I'm doing, where the hell I should go next, or how the hell can I get there in one piece. "LP" means you're going to follow me on my party's path to despair, disease, starvation and death -- and, without a doubt, laugh at my pathetic and incompetent efforts. My only excuse is, this being an introductory LP, you'll get casually introduced to this gem of a game and maybe get to like it despite or, if you're sadistic enough, even thanks to this LP's inevitable eventual demise; so much for the rationale. Graphics whores and storyfags may get the fuck out right now, there's nothing for them to see or be attracted to here. (I'm a storyfag myself by the way, and I find this game's, uhm, "proto-story" to be quite atmospheric -- with all those inscriptions, descriptions, visions, and bits and pieces of info and bad humour scattered around the dungeon -- so maybe storyfags can stay; graphics whores, on the other hand, should definitely get out. Also: no gay elven romances here, or any romances for that matter. Don't say I didn't warn you.)

Uukrul is supposed to be hardcore as fuck, meaning this LP's gonna be extremely long-going, something like Andyman's and Garfunkel's LPs of no less hardcore games. I've also got a life to live. Also, bear in mind that my Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes of Light LP -- which you should definitely check out if for some weird stupid reason you haven't done so yet -- remains my top priority; this LP comes second. But I'm not in a hurry, and neither should you be, guys and gals and horses and whoever else inhabits this kawaii cesspit. Welcome and enjoy your stay.

Now I guess some introductory words should be spoken about the game itself. The Dark Heart of Uukrul is a first-person/top-down turn-based dungeon crawler with a four-character party, a lot of puzzles, random encounters (don't blame 'em on JRPGs FFS!), spells, prayers, traps, and tears. It's first-person when crawling dungeons and top-down when in battle encounters. The game was developed by Digital Studios Limited and published in 1990 by Brøderbund Software, the company that brought us Prince of Persia, The Last Express and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?. A long, long time ago, that was. In other words...

...

"Welcome to The Dark Heart of Uukrul, a game where you will explore a single immense underground city, searching for the means to destroy the incarnation of evil: Uukrul. Your underground world is far richer and more mysterious than any you have explored before. Your adventure will lead you from the simple passages and markets in the west to the final confrontation in the palaces of Adron and the areas of chaos to the east. You will find opponents, challenges, and puzzles of subtlety and depth." So says the manual. The underground city -- the "Mountain City" which we will explore from its western, more friendly end to the eastern, the darkest and most wicked one -- is called Eriosthe. "Eriosthe has fallen from its glory. Gone are the jewel-encrusted palaces, gone are the stately marble atriums. Much has fallen into decay, and Uukrul has laid many snares in the passages, corrupting their path. As you explore towards the east, the Sanctuaries will become sparser, the passage forward more obscure, the danger supreme. To survive you will need to be wary of every breath and step."

Yes, this game has food management, which is a must in any truly old-school cRPG. Every action we take -- be it exploring, resting, or searching walls for secret doors -- eats up some food, so given my thorough approach to exploration we'll be running out of food pretty quickly. (Starvation, here we come!) The sanctuaries are basically checkpoints -- again, hello JRPGs -- which let you rest, check you party level, back up your game -- you can save anywhere but the one and only regular save slot gets rewritten every time you enter a battle and/or one of your party members is killed (hardcore!), whereas the backup slot is not -- as well as recuperate, at the expense of food, your health and special points you need for spells and prayers. Which doesn't mean that reaching a sanctuary means you've "cleared" the previous part of the dungeon; in fact, you can -- or rather must -- revisit the already explored areas, as some passages, doors and secrets only become accessible as your skills progress. Apart from the sanctuaries, there are teleporters that let you fast travel between different areas of the vast Eriosthe dungeon. Every sanctuary has a corresponding teleporter, but there are more teleporters than there are sanctuaries.

"Your party consists of four Aspirants: a Fighter skilled with weapon use, a Paladin who has the ability to lay on hands as well as skill with weapons, a Priest who can call on the gods and elementals to aid the party, and a Magician whose magical skills are vital to the party's success. You are a party of novices, chosen not for your prowess but for your promise. Only as an inconspicuous party can you enter Eriosthe without alerting Uukrul to your presence. Once within it you can gain the strength and experience that you will need to defeat Uukrul." In other words, in this game you control a four-character party. The classes of your characters are pre-set, which may be a drawback for some, but given that I enjoy JRPGs that's no big deal to me personally. The starting stats are not preset, however, but are determined via a dialogue-based party generation process -- we'll take a look at it later.

tl;dr You control a Fighter, a Paladin, a Priest and a Mage. Here, take a look at the pic:

"But all is not dark. Eriosthe is a huge city and Uukrul has not corrupted the whole of it. In the west there are still people who struggle to make an honest living under his shadow. Here you will find a marketplace with a Shop for the purchase and sale of weapons and other items, a Forge for the repair of weapons, a Hospice which will heal your wounds, a Mausoleum where your dead can be resurrected or laid to rest and a Guild where you can meet and recruit other party members. Temples and a Magic Circle allow your Priest and Magician to advance in skills and powers." We'll see what exactly all these places are when we first visit them.

For now, a prologue is in order. In the manual, it's a two-page tl;dr, but I've attempted to make it more, um, streamlined and girly and thus more accessible to you, Fair Codexia. Let's get started, shall we?

Prologue

You enter the throne room of the Western Council. Elaria herself, leader of the Council and probably the most powerful figure in the Western Lands, comes down from the podium to greet you and tell you why you have been chosen from all of the new entrants to the Council's Training Guild. You are held spellbound by her voice and the power of her green eyes.

"You are the most promising of all the Aspirants, but none of you has any training in your arts. This is why you have been summoned. Your fate is to become great beyond the skill and abilities of the Council to teach. But your fate is also to walk closer to the darkness than any from the Guild have walked before. We would ask you to walk into Eriosthe itself."

Elaria' voice seems humble when she speaks of your power, as though she were in awe of what fate awaits you.

"Eriosthe, as you know, was the greatest city ever constructed. Built hundreds of years ago underneath and spanning the Kalurn mountains it was once the jewel in the crown of the Western Lands. But that is now part of the faded past, Eriosthe has lain abandoned for many decades now since the flight of the Ancients."

(So the Ancients fled the city. I wonder why.)

"What you may not know is that the evil that defeated the Ancients has grown incredibly powerful and now seeks to poison the Western lands. That evil is contained in the devilry of one man, once of the Ancients himself: Uukrul."

Elaria pauses, watching your faces. You realize that the whispered rumors of trouble in the east were truer than any believed. If Uukrul, whom all presumed dead, were to strike the west, the suffering and destruction would be great if not total.

(An undead evil sorcerer. Bioware evil.)

"Uukrul must be stopped! We cannot afford to allow his plans to mature!"

(Elaria pauses again.)

"Eighteen months ago we sent a party of powerful Councillors against the evil. None have returned. Leading that party was Mara, who guided the Council for many years before she took up this burden."

Elaria is silent a moment and then looks at you with renewed spirit.

"Our mistake was to underestimate our opponent: he was more powerful and more cunning than we had thought. He intercepted our party and raped trapped them. Their power was not equal to his evil. Since that time we have reflected upon our failure, and upon our enemy's strengths, and we have perceived a road to defeat him. Uukrul has one fatal weakness; it is the same flaw that will always defeat evil: his hubris."

(Hubris, in Greek tragedy: excessive pride toward or defiance of the gods, leading to nemesis.)

"We see now that Uukrul believes himself unbeatable. Any threat by a powerful opponent will play into his hands and will end in our defeat. But he could never foresee defeat by a small party of Aspirants."

"This is why you have been chosen."

Elaria gives you a long, meaningful look.

"If you agree, you will be transported to the west side of Eriosthe and smuggled into the mountain city through a secret entrance. In his pride Uukrul will never suspect such a move against him."

What a sophisticated, cunning, feasible plan.

"I will not send you totally defenseless, although any powerful magic would alert Uukrul to our plans. I have four Soul Amulets, rescued from Eriosthe before it fell., which I can pass to you. Should you die these will capture your souls and allow your bodies to be resurrected. The Amulets will also allow you access to refuges within the Mountain City. These Sanctuaries will only open to a party bearing the Soul Amulets and will protect you from opponents."

(The "soul amulets" are this game's annoying copy protection system that makes you match letters and symbols, shit like that.)

"I can also give you this diary. It was being kept by Mara and her party, and was carried out of Eriosthe by an underground stream. Some pages have been torn from it, but it still may contain information to help you in your journey."

(The diary is another tl;dr in the manual. We'll take a look at it later, maybe.)

"Know that if you choose to follow the path into Eriosthe you cannot fail: evil is ever blind to its greatest weakness. This is your fate if you choose it, and the good of the Western Lands lies in your path. Darkness must fall!"

Yay! And so it begins.

"Within Uukrul's stronghold at the eastern end of Eriosthe and throughout the Mountain City are cunning traps, hostile monsters and myriad dangers; once Uukrul is aware of your presence he will stop at nothing to destroy you."

Traps, monsters and puzzles! It doesn't get better than this.


Next time: party creation.

As a bonus, theme song: Rakoth - Dark Heart of Uukrul (courtesy of Fowyr). Stay tuned.

 

[Black Cat]

There goes Sir Bee-Kun, so brave and so daring, with the heart of a true dungeon crawler. I very much aprove.

I'll be following your adventures into the land of hardcore evil with great interest.

 

[Fowyr]

Awaiting updates with great interest.

 

[lightbane]

I'll be following this, I expect lots of rape and

 

[Furious Flaming Faggot]

If this LP lasts for more than a week i will be very disappointed and proud at the same time.

 

[Kz3r0]

More goodness from the days of yonder I salute your noble effort Madam.

 

[spekkio]

Not enough bloom...



+1 for boobs
-1 for non-human party member

 

[chzr]

wtf is this shit, can i volunteer as female paladin?

 

[Ulminati]

Everyone knows that a group that includes me as a Magician is in for FUN*


*And by "Fun" I mean horrible rape and spectacular total party kills

 

[Hell March]

This will never get past Tara--err, Pyramid.

 

[Crooked Bee]

wtf is this shit, can i volunteer as female paladin?

Everyone knows that a group that includes me as a Magician is in for FUN* I am very smug about this issue.

Aww I’m awwfully sorry guyz, but no volunteering, the party's all set already. And I've already advanced a bit in the game, in order to make sure this LP will last for at least some time. The party will be revealed in the next update, specifically devoted to character creation and scheduled to be up tomorrow or the day after.
I hope you're gonna stay nevertheless! But won't take offense if you don't, of course.

(Also, I am the female paladin FFS!)

This will never get past Tara--err, Pyramid.

I don't really know whatcha talking about (yet), but you're quite optimistic anyway. This may never even get to to the Pyramid.
Furious Flaming Faggot is more correct in his assessment of this LP's potential and fate.

(So you've beaten this game, eh, Hell March?)

If this LP lasts for more than a week i will be very disappointed and proud at the same time.

Only time will tell.

Not enough bloom...

+1 for boobs
-1 for non-human party member

Heh, you don't even know what you don't know. If you assume that that pic is representative of the in-game graphics or character set-up, you're in for a big FUUUU- surprise. You lovable graphicswhore, you.

There goes Sir Bee-Kun, so brave and so daring, with the heart of a true dungeon crawler. I very much aprove.

I'll be following your adventures into the land of hardcore evil with great interest.

Awaiting updates with great interest.

I'll be following this, I expect lots of rape and

More goodness from the days of yonder I salute your noble effort Madam.

 

[Cenobyte]

Food management was never included in any Wizardry game, so it's not a requirement for oldskool RPGs at all. Just saying.

Anyway, good luck. Never heard of this game before.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Food management was never included in any Wizardry game, so it's not a requirement for oldskool RPGs at all. Just saying.

Which only goes to show that this game is much more hardcore and oldskool than Wizardry. Just saying.

Never heard of this game before.

Shame on you!

Anyway, good luck.

Thanks! I'm gonna need it.

I'll post the party creation process a bit later today, so stay tuned.

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

If you need a hand, let me know. Otherwise, have fun! Wonderful game. Almost, but not quite, on par with Deathlord for difficulty.

 

[chzr]

wtf is this shit, can i volunteer as female paladin?

Everyone knows that a group that includes me as a Magician is in for FUN* I am very smug about this issue.

Aww I’m awwfully sorry guyz, but no volunteering, the party's all set already. And I've already advanced a bit in the game, in order to make sure this LP will last for at least some time. The party will be revealed in the next update, specifically devoted to character creation and scheduled to be up tomorrow or the day after.
I hope you're gonna stay nevertheless! But won't take offense if you don't, of course.

(Also, I am the female paladin FFS!)

fucking 2010 newfag cannot into party creation

 

[Hobo Elf]

You have my axe (in spirit). May this LP last longer than my run with Winter Voices.

 

[Crooked Bee]

If you need a hand, let me know. Otherwise, have fun! Wonderful game. Almost, but not quite, on par with Deathlord for difficulty.

Thanks! And Deathlord is brutal indeed. I wasn't able to finish it, but have been planning to give it another go sometime.

fucking 2010 newfag cannot into party creation

I have my own preferences.

You have my axe (in spirit). May this LP last longer than my run with Winter Voices.

Thanks, and shame about your LP. The game itself may not have been interesting to play, but it was sure fun to read the LP.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Yeah I liked the story, but I just couldn't be bothered with it because of the terrible combat. It just drained me completely. Shame.
When will you update?

 

[Crooked Bee]

When will you update?

The time is now! It's a really short update though. I'll be taking it slow.

1: Party Generation

Okay, let's make a run through character creation.

We press "G" and...

"Before you start to explore the city of Eriosthe you must generate your own party of four characters. You are asked several questions about the characters, to shape their personalities. You should consider your answers carefully, as the character attributes determined here are important." Now, this is of course a dumbfuckery. I much prefer distributing points to blah blah shit like this. Well, at least it says "there are no right or wrong answers". I'm gonna roll with the first party I'll end up with after the dialogue mini-game, just because I don't feel like going through it again. Within every class, by the way, there are several subclasses -- a character's subclass is determined by the outcome of the character creation process. The manual doesn't seem to list all the subclasses, however, which is a pity. We'll see what subclasses we get.

There are 5 main attributes in this game. "The character's attributes show where his strengths and weaknesses lie. Attributes range from 0 to 20, though magic may take them higher. They are:
Strength: affects all characters, especially your Fighter and Paladin, as it is important in fighting.
Intelligence: is especially important for your Magician as intelligence determines progression through magical abilities.
Piety: is particularly important for your Priest as it determines progression through priestly abilities. Piety also affects every character's chance of withstanding attacks by undead characters.
Dexterity: determines reaction speed and agility in combat.
Vitality: determines the character's ability to withstand wounds and resist diseases, and is important when resurrecting a character who has died."

Now to the way we're gonna name our four characters. My decision is for the names to be randomly chosen from among the faithful readers of my Final Fantasy LP. This is, uhm, my little gift to those who've been more or less faithfully following my first LP; love and stuffies.

"Randomly" means really randomly -- using a complicated algorithm involving dice-throwing and eye-closing. I'm gonna be the Paladin, but we still need to name the Fighter, the Priest, and the Magician. The initial name pool has 12 names: Azira, Black Cat, Cenobyte, GarfunkeL, Jaedar, Jasede, KalosKagathos, Kz3r0, lightbane, Mrowak, spekkio, and Undead Phoenix. (I hope I didn't leave anyone out!!)...

... And the results are:
Fighter: Lord Rocket
Paladin: Bee
Priest: Kalos
Magician: spekkio
(I really wanted Kuroneko-chan to be in to make it a half-male, half-female party, but fair is fair. Should I make spekkio female, then?)
Anyway, congrats to the lucky winners. Under my guidance, you're all gonna face a horrible demise.

Now on to each of the characters. I've made all the choices myself, guys, 'coz I don't trust you -- just because. It's simpler this way. Plus I really wanted to choose all the answers myself. And Lord Rocket's been MIA during this week, to boot. So yeah, deal with it. I tried to LARP each one of you as best I could, however. I wonder if I got your, uhm, preferences right.

Character 1: Brave Fighter

"Your fighter is your best attack where you cannot use magic: strength and prowess will conquer many foes. And when all others are falling, your Fighter will have the strength to guide you back to safety. Fighters are the strongest characters, and have fighting abilities above that of all other classes. Your Fighter will prove invaluable in combat. His strength allows him to carry a greater weight of items, and he can use his brawn in other situations while exploring the Mountain City. This strength is important in carrying the great weight of armor needed to protect Fighters from powerful opponents." It's a tank, basically. "The Fighter can use all heavy and powerful weapons available in Eriosthe. Some weapons are particularly effective against certain monsters, and your Fighter can change weapons instantly to make use of this." Changing weapons instantly sounds like a handy feat. "This is also useful when changing from a broken weapon to a sound one: a Fighter can strike in the same combat round, while a Priest or a Magician would take a full combat round." I'm pretty sure Lord Rockety will indeed be a great addition to our party -- if we get his attributes right. Which we have to do via a dialogue minigame, of course. :godimsomadtheyremovedthissmiley:

Yup, confirm.

I picture myself as Lord Rocket...

That's how I see LR. I had a hard time choosing between 2 and 3, however.

A middle ground between being too cunning and being too rash.

A strange orange fungus. Brrrr. Sure as hell LR wouldn't touch that, amirite?

No, LR ain't stupid.

This ends the Fighter generation sequence and...

A Berserk? Really!? What the fuck was it in our answers that suggested LR was a Berserk? This is an outrage. Also, I'd prefer Lord Rocket to have a bit more Strength and Vitality -- and I doubt he needs that much intelligence, but OK, he seems to be an intelligent fellow after all.

Character 2: Loyal Paladin

"Your paladin is a holy fighter whose virtue conveys special powers. In battle the power of laying hands will often tip the balance in your favor. Paladins are fighters who have extra powers conveyed to them because of their virtuous nature. Although a Paladin lacks the great strength of a Fighter, his skills in battle are considerable, and he too can use any weapon and armor and change weapons instantly." So I can switch weapons on the fly too, huh? "Your Paladin's goodness allows him to lay hands on another. A Paladin can only lay hands during combat, as it requires a trance-like state brought on by the presence of an evil enemy." Laying hands is a very useful ability, as we'll get to see during the game. "If the Paladin lays hands on another character, that character will be healed. If the Paladin lays hands on an opponent, the opponent will be wounded. Laying hands will always drain some hit points from the Paladin. The strength of the effect depends on the skill of the Paladin."

Now on to LARPing myself.

Yep.

I picture myself and...

Yeah, yeah, I'm flattering myself a bit here.

Clear head above all. And then die, apparently.

"Challenge her parentage", lol. Still, I'd rather challenge her authority -- I'm a paladin, after all. And "challenge her to a game of chess" is pure dumbfuckery.

Emphasis on "telling nobody". Not really paladin-like, but that's the way I roll.

And...

Guardian, yay. Well, my Dexterity and Vitality are okay, I guess, but my Intelligence could've been a bit higher. Overall, a pretty mediocre build.


Character 3: Devout Priest

"Your Priest can petition the gods to aid your party in your quest. The forces of the gods flow through his veins and allow him to commune with the proud spirits of the ethereal planes in battle. Priests may also wage battle with limited weapons, but they will not be as effective as Fighters or Paladins. Their greatest value lies in communion with the gods. Priests are able to invoke help from the gods through Prayers kept in the Priest's Book of Prayers. The gods may answer such Prayers, but their response is never certain." Moreover, the gods may even smite the Priest from above for outreaching his station, which is not very pleasant, especially in combat, as it makes the Priest lose quite a lot of HP. "The Priests are also able to call forth Elementals to fight alongside the party in combat and their holy calling allows Priests to turn undead foes. A Priest's rings are ranked in order of metal-Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Silver (Ag), Gold (Au), Platinum (Pt) and finally Crystal (Xt). As your Priest progresses in experience he will be awarded more powerful rings from the Shrines within the Temples: these will give him greater success in his communion with the gods. The rings that your Priest wears are shown in the Character Profile."

It's Kalos' turn.

Okay.

I picture Kalos in my mind...

It demands of you, "What can change the nature of a man?"
Kalos is in the Religious Studies department, so let's assume he's pious, shall we?

Same here. Also, lol at "defensive position".

This game sure has a (bad) sense of humour.
Anyway, we choose "prophet", not "profit".

I was really tempted to choose the "Become an agnostic" option, but LARPing is LARPing.

And we get...

A Bishop, yay.
It looks like our LARPing has paid off in Kalos' case. His Piety stat is really high. Which is very good, according to the manual. He's got only two rings initially, those of the gods Ufthu and Golthur; he'll get more, and of higher value, as his skill level progresses.

"Your Priest will serve four gods:
UFTHU: God of War
DRUTHO: God of the Underworld
GOLTHUR: God of the Physical Self
FSHOFTH: God of the Spiritual Self
Each god has a set of Prayers that a Priest may intone. The chance of a god answering a Prayer depends on the power of the Prayer and the ring that the Priest possesses to that god. The god may choose to ignore the Priest's Prayer, and indeed may choose to punish a lowly Priest in retribution for rash Prayers." "Every Prayer, successful or not, demands a toll of your Priest's Virtue Points. These represent his spiritual energies, and regenerate slowly to a maximum. The Virtue Points are shown in his Character Profile. If your Priest does not have enough Virtue Points to recite a Prayer, it will not be heard by the god and will not be answered." Hardcore. "To Pray to one of the gods, your Priest must have a ring to that god. He may recite any Prayer regardless of the ring he has: the metal of that ring will influence the chance of the Prayer being successfully answered. To Pray to one of the gods, choose the Invoke option when it is presented in the menu. Your Priest's remaining Virtue Points are shown, and you can type the name of the Prayer to recite it, or press RETURN to leave without doing anything." The names of all the prayers are given in the manual, and yes, you have to type them in manually, just as you have to manually input the spells' names for the Magician. Oldskool. We'll take a look at each of the prayers as we proceed.
"If you are in combat, your Priest can also attempt to Call an Elemental. If you wish to call an Elemental, you are asked to choose which plane. Elemental spirits may be summoned from the four Elemental planes: AIR, EARTH, WATER, FIRE, increasing in power respectively. Elementals fight independently with the party against a common enemy, until the combat has finished or they have discharged their duty. Your Priest's chance of successfully calling forth an Elemental depends on his skill. Calling demands a toll of your Priest's energies." It's a cool ability, but hardly feasible on low levels. "Your Priest may also attempt to Turn undead in combat. If successful, this will make undead monsters, such as skeletons and corpses, flee from the party and may damage them. The chance of your Priest successfully turning the undead depends on his skill, but can be improved by carrying one of the holy crosses that you may obtain or buy."

All in all, the Priest is probably the most "hardcore" of all classes in this game. All his class-specific abilities -- such as Invoke, Turn Undead, or Call Elemental -- will be shit, shit, shit in the beginning, and it really takes a lot of effort to improve them. The virtue points are depleted VERY quickly, and the gods will pay almost no attention to a low-level Priest -- and will smite him quite frequently. I'm not sure I'll be able to handle all this properly.

Character 4: Magician

"Your magician knows magic and its subtle ways. Without magic to protect you and combat your foes, you would surely perish in the devious passages that Uukrul has prepared. Magicians are not strong of physique and can fight only with light weapons. They are best kept away from the attacks of powerful opponents. Nonetheless, your Magician's skills are vital to your success. A Magician's power lies in his wide range of magical Spells, kept in his Book of Spells. Unlike a Priest's Prayers, a Spell will always work if it is correctly cast." Which makes this class much less "hardcore".
"There are five disciplines of magic:
FIRE: Spells which are weapons of heat and flame, used to combat your enemy.
FROST: Spells which harness the cold power of chaos for combat.
PROTECTION: Spells which protect your party from attack.
HEALING: Spells which heal members of your party and cure disease.
KNOWLEDGE: Spells which extend and augment the mental powers of the Magician.
In order to harness these Spells, your Magician must make use of his rings of power. Each Spell requires a minimum ring to cast. The power of each ring is indicated by its metal, and like Priests' rings, they are ordered-Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Silver (Ag), Gold (Au), Platinum (Pt) and finally Crystal (Xt). As your Magician's skills increase, more powerful rings will be awarded at the Circle of Magicians. The rings that your Magician wears are shown in the Character Profile. Every Spell demands a toll of your Magician's Psychic Points: if there are not enough Psychic Points to cast a Spell it cannot be attempted. Psychic Points will regenerate slowly to a maximum." From what I've seen so far, psychic points regenerate faster than virtue points. "To cast a Spell, choose the Cast option when it is presented in the menu. Your Magician's remaining Psychic Points are shown, and you can type the name of the Spell to cast it, or press RETURN to leave without doing anything."

Let's create spekkio, then.

Okay, we opt for "male", not "female".

Now it's question time.

Go for the eyes, Boo!
Mirror-kun, being a mirror, would definitely go for the eye.

spekkio would never pass up a chance to take over the initiative.

He's a reckless fellow.

Now this is a weird question. In retrospect I should've chosen "Eye of worm", of course, but for some reason I went for "Tail of frog".

And...

spekkio's an Enchanter. Intelligent and Dexterous. Good.


"Your party is ready. Press ENTER to continue."

Which is what we do. We get to name our party now. The choice is obvious.

Codexia it is.
So whaddya think of our starting party, guys? I think it's more or less okay.

Next time: we'll start exploring the starting area of Eriosthe and get introduced to basic exploration aspects. And graphicswhores will have a fit, no doubt.

 

[Fowyr]

Journey has started!
Have a nice frog:

 

[lightbane]

Cool, let's see how many minutes you last.

 

[chzr]

 

[spekkio]

 

[Crooked Bee]

Thanks, everyone!
(And you look ... ugly, spek-kun. But doncha worry, I still luv ya.)

Is this shit for real? And if it is, why do male paladins always get better options?

 

[hoverdog]

but only tastefully!