CHARACTER CLASSES
CHARACTER CLASSES
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Character class refers to the profession of your player character. Different classes have different outlooks on life, different methods of physical and spell combat and different specialties. These classes range from fighters to ninjae, and clerics to magic users.
When creating a character in Scimitar, you will be asked to select that character's class, statistics, and weapon skill. You should read through the help on the different classes, and choose one that appeals to you. In the descriptions below, keep in mind that choosing extreme values in some statistics will cause some difficulties in others. High values in your primary stats are desirable, but luck should not be discounted, since if your luck is low you may have trouble finding treasure.
When a character description indicates that a character type can cast spells at so many levels "below" a magic user, it means that the character type must gain that many more levels than a magic user before it can cast the same spells. For instance, a fighter, being 4 levels "below" a magic user, must be at 9th level to cast a spell that a magic user can cast at 5th level.
As a barbarian, your childhood is typical of a nomadic primitive society.
When you were born, you were made part of the clan. All clan members cared for you and each other. There were no families, for the Sun God had decreed that your group must survive, and you were simply part of the group.
As you reached maturity, you were taught the basic hunting and survival skills of the adults. As you grew, you learned to loathe and despise the weaker and more civilized societies. Your love was not for fine jewels or spicy food, but rather for a simple fire and raw meat. Your barbaric customs set you apart from other races and other classes, and so you swore to become the strongest and fiercest warrior ever known.
Though the barbarian is a fierce fighter, and can withstand extraordinary amounts of punishment, they are not known for their magical skills - they cast at five levels after MU's.
Barbarians start with 10 Vitality, 15 Fatigue and 1 Magic, and should choose a high strength and dexterity.
Many years ago, your great-grandfather ventured into the Eastern Mountains to find excitement and adventure. He was gone for three years, and when he returned he was a changed man. He came back in flowing robes, preaching the Way of Shoatl. Since that day, your entire village has come to worship Shoatl, and many claim that Shoatl has smiled upon your village, for crops have been good and war has always bypassed your area.
Born into this society, you grew up with one purpose - to become a Priest of Shoatl. You studied hard under your grandfather (his father having died long ago), and learned of the power that Shoatl gave those who worshipped him. As a Cleric of Shoatl, you could cast minor spells of healing and curing. However, evil times began to threaten your village. Each year the village's fields grew smaller and evil creatures strayed closer. You began to learn the Way of Shoatl, which would turn you into an active Cleric by your 18th birthday. You learned to use blunt weapons (so as not to draw blood) and to cast spells in armor. The village elders were pleased with your learning, and sent you forth to preach the Word of Shoatl and help the world recover from it's evil burden.
Clerics also have spell capabilities that cannot be used by other classes, are able to do better at hand-to-hand combat than a Magic User, and can cast some spells. The spells Heal, Vigor, Curepoison and Tame can be cast through higher armor levels. Clerics are the only class that can cast Heal. Clerics draw their spell powers from the Gods, and normally worship a single deity, although the deity need not be a good deity. Since they have a "holy" or "unholy" power behind them, Clerics can turn undead monsters away (more on this later) and can be invaluable in a party with their ability to cast CUREPOISON, HEAL and VIGOR spells.
Clerics start with 7 Vitality, 11 Fatigue and 4 Magic. A cleric is a both a fighting and casting class, and thus should not specialize in any one statistic, but should start with high Strength, Intelligence and Dexterity.
As a fighter, you have spent most of your adolescence training under the watchful eye of Doranthar, the MasterWarrior. A Field Marshal who survived the overthrow of the Gothian army, Doranthar is an expert in military strategy and weaponry. As his pupil, you realize that military strength and decisive actions such as the construction of the Great Wall are necessary to keep Boldhome secure.
You have spent years practicing with all forms of weaponry; morningstars, glaives, scimitars, and rapiers to name a few. Your training in these weapons is so complete that you are equally skilled with all melee weapon types, sharp, pole, thrust, and blunt weapons.
Because of your long combat training, you are a better warrior than others. Your chances of winning in combat are higher than other classes, as is your ability to withstand the rigors of battle. Fighters are also, on occasion, able to use their gladiatorial skills to deal a blow so powerful and so well placed that their opponent dies instantly. However, their spell casting ability is low - four levels below magic users.
Fighters begin life with 8 Vitality, 14 Fatigue and 2 Magic, and should choose a high Strength and Dexterity.
When you were young, you dreamed of one day becoming a powerful fighter, and therefore started training with the fighters guild on the use of weapons and armor. The training soon paled on you, however, and you grew weary of constant practice with weapons which provided no intellectual challenge. To relieve your boredom, you began to study minor enchantments that friends you had made in the Magicians' Guild demonstrated from time to time, and quickly became fairly proficient with them.
When it came to the attention of Callyx, the Master Wizard and head of the Magicians' Guild, that one of the fighter trainees was entertaining classmates with spells with which some of his own students were having trouble, he examined your record. Seeing that training you as a fighter would be a waste of your considerable magical talents, he invited you to join the guild for training, an invitation you gladly accepted, having grown very bored with the routine in the Fighter's Guild. Callyx reasoned, as well, that having a member of the guild with skills in weapons and armed combat would be no bad thing.
Thus for many years you trained in the Magicians' Guild, happy at last to be learning in earnest the things you before could only pursue as a hobby, and learning secrets of which you had only dreamed. When at last you completed your initial training, you ventured forth to learn ever more. Your skill in combat is basic, but still much better than that of other members of the guild, though your armor skills are limited, by your need for freedom to cast spells, to 1 level of armor and 1 level of shield.
Magic Users start the game with 7 Vitality, 10 Fatigue and 5 magic. You start with 10% skill in any one weapon, and can increase the skill in any weapon as can any fighting class. A Magic User should learn to mix fighting technique with magic use in order to do best in battle. High powered offensive magic spells can be hard to find, and expensive to use, but defensive magic and healing can be very useful to you, and invaluable to a party. Your ability to use weapons well, in addition to being something to fall back upon, is extremely useful against magic resistant monsters.
Magic users should start with a high intelligence and dexterity, but at least a medium strength.
As a ninja, your history is of little matter to you. You were raised by Monks, and never knew your parents. As well as being trained in the skills of ninja combat, you worked in the fields, meditated, and learned how to do things most others thought impossible.
Your mentor, Tokasashi, spent long hours practicing with you, teaching you how to fight as the ninja do, and how to use all types of missile weapons. Through your training, you are able to fire a bow better than any other class, and have an almost magical ability to avoid missiles. You are able to subconsciously avoid missiles as well as other characters can when they are consciously dodging them. You were taught how to move quickly, and can literally run circles around many monsters. Your ability to conceal yourself from monsters also allows you a chance to surprise and backstab them for great damage. Your training included learning how to track and hunt wild animals. Indoors, you learned to do things that less dextrous people could not, such as picking locks and gaining access to locked doors and chests. In addition, you were taught some of the arcane magical arts, and will be able to cast spells at 3 levels below a magic user.
As a Ninja, your philosophy on life is typical of your mentor - The application of the precise amount of action required at the precisely correct moment to accomplish what you desire.
A Ninja starts with 7 Vitality, 12 Fatigue and 3 Magic, and should choose a high strength and, especially, dexterity.
As a paladin, you have also spent your adolescence training with Doranthar, the MasterWarrior (see the Fighter class for more information). You have come to accept Doranthar's opinions that military strength and decisive actions are necessary to keep Boldhome secure, but you also know that purely defensive tactics against such evil as exists outside Boldhome are simply not enough.
Religion has always been a large part of your life. Doranthar has seen this in you, and after completing your training he has brought you to Gelorian, a warrior with a holy purpose - to rid the world of evil. As a pupil to Gelorian, you have come to realize that the power of 'good' is stronger than that of evil. Gelorian's tales of holy conquest have solidified your purpose in life. You know, deep down in your heart, that you are part of the forces of good in this universe, and that it is your task to eradicate evil from the face of the world.
Evil monsters cannot stand against your righteous anger and holy crusade. You are also extremely moral and virtuous. Because of your faith, you will never kill innocent townsfolk or gentle, nonviolent creatures. Your unbreakable faith also gives you certain advantages over ordinary fighters, in that you can cast spells at 2 levels below magic users, and are resistant to magic, suffering only half the normal damage from offensive magic spells.
After having spent years practising with all forms of weaponry, you've chosen one weapon as your own specialty. After becoming an expert with this weapon, you are able to use all similar weapons effectively. Because of your long combat training, you are a good warrior. Your chances of winning in combat are high, as is your ability to take punishment in battle.
Paladins have the innate ability to calm violent monsters. The Paladin can raise his hands and tame these monsters, through the power of his mind. Note that they are not able to tame monsters who have been wounded, for the trust that is built up between paladin and monster is broken. Having learned at the feet of the clerics, a Paladin can also turn undead monsters, though not as well as a cleric.
A Paladin is a difficult character to start, as Paladins cannot neglect any of their statistics. A high strength is required for combat, and a high dexterity for defence. Paladins should not have low intelligence, however, as at least medium intelligence is required for casting Vigor, one of the Paladin's main abilities. A Paladin can cast for large amounts of fatigue through any armor class, and requires this ability to fight well.
Paladins start with 11 Vitality, 8 Fatigue and 3 Magic, and require high Strength and Dexterity, and at least medium Intelligence and Luck.
When you were a child, you were stricken by disease. As much as you tried, you were too weak to help on your families farm. Your illness confined you to the farmhouse where you spent much of your time reading. By reading and experimenting you were able to double your families yield.
After several bumper crops, you father was able to afford to make the trip with you to Castle Lumenlux where Callyx the Wizard resided. Callyx had the power to save your wilting body, but would not accept your father's money in return. Callyx was old and needed an apprentice to aid him, and thus you stayed on as a helper to the ancient Wizard.
All through your apprenticeship, you were called upon to help Callyx in his spells. With time, you were able to understand his strange languages and symbols, and cast minor spells of your own. Because of your high intelligence, and inquisitive nature, you were able to learn magic incantations and symbols at a furious rate.
It has been many years since you left his service to seek your own fortune. Your desire to learn more about the Wizard's way has never dwindled. But recently you have felt a gentle calling, a summons, and now you must go. Callyx summons you to Boldhome, and you cannot rest until you arrive there, to meet your magical destiny.
Seers do not generally do well in hand-to-hand combat, but can be extremely dangerous when they have found spells and know how to use them. Seers are limited in combat by the fact that they cannot use heavy armor or shields, and by their low strength. They do, however, get a better armor class when casting spells against monsters, rather than going in hand-to-hand combat. Certain spells can only be used by Seers (and Magic Users), and the Seer is the only class for which the Premonition spell will give a clear picture of what lies beyond a portal. The basis of their exceptional ability to cast spells is a high intelligence and the ability to memorize formulas and facts.
Seers begin with very weak physical stats, but a great deal of magic. Their stats are 6 Vitality, 8 Fatigue and 10 Magic. Seers cannot have strength higher than 10, and their weapon skills are limited to 10% missile. A Seer should choose a high Intelligence and Dexterity.
When choosing your characters' stats, bear in mind that some stats will be more important than others, depending on your class. Read the Character Class information for help in choosing your stats. Here is a brief summary of the properties of the stats:
Strength (STR)
- your STR times 10 tells you how many pounds of items you can carry (10 x STR = max. weight)
- you can't break or smash open any locked items that weight more than 10 times your STR
- a high strength increases your chance of hitting with a weapon
Intelligence (INT)
- the smarter you are, the better the chance you'll not be cheated by the pawnbroker
- high INT gives you a better chance of hitting with aggressive spells, and better damage with spells
- a certain INT is required for many spells
Dexterity (DEX)
- your chances of dodging traps, picking locks, hiding, feinting, circling, parrying and ducking depends on your DEX
- DEX can affect certain spells
- DEX affects a missile weapon's chance to hit
- a high DEX makes it harder for monsters to steal from you
Luck
- your luck affects treasure, both in quantity, and value thereof
Constitution (CON)
- a high CON lowers your chance of a double death, and lessens the chance of you being poisoned
When a character trains, two points are added to randomly chosen statistics. Each stat has a maximum value (usually 30). If the chosen stat is at maximum, another stat is chosen until one is found that can be raised. Each character class has two statistics that have a higher chance of going up than the other three. For each class these are:
- Barbarian
- Strength and Dexterity
- Cleric
- Strength and Intelligence
- Fighter
- Strength and Dexterity
- Magic User
- Intelligence and Dexterity
- Ninja
- Strength and Dexterity
- Paladin
- Strength and Dexterity
- Seer
- Intelligence and Dexterity
The base chance for primary statistic to go up is 2/7. For a secondary statistic base chance is 1/7.
When you choose your weapon skill, you start off with 10% proficiency with that type of weapon. You can increase your weapon skill by 10% a level by killing monsters. For every level a monster is above you, you increase your chances of gaining a weapon skill. If the monster is the same level as you or less, there will be no chance of gaining a weapon skill by killing it. The chance of gaining a weapon skill tends to go up in direct proportion to the ratio between the monster's level and yours. Never count on gaining a weapon skill, for luck of random numbers may make it never appear. If you do gain a skill, it will be gained on the weapon type you were using to kill the monster. You can never gain skill higher than 70% with a particular weapon type.
THEORYThe game of Scimitar is largely based along the lines of Dungeons & Dragons. Similar to Dungeons & Dragons, your goals in Scimitar are to attain higher levels of expertise in your field, participate in quests to rid Boldhome of evil, and most importantly, to have fun.
To reach higher levels, you need to gain experience points, and pay your guild to train you. To find out how much experience you need before you can train, use the EXPERIENCE command in Scimitar. When your experience equals 0 (zero), you are ready to increase your level.
You can gain experience by:
The experience gained by killing a monster is divided into two parts: experience for the damage inflicted, which is reduced if a monster is lower level than you, and an experience point bonus for killing the monster, which is constant. If a party kills a monster, all members of the party will receive the killing bonus.
The cost of training for your level (in shillings) is equal to half of the experience points you needed to gain that level.
You can increase your wealth by: