****************** THE MARVELOUS WORLD OF EAMON DELUXE 5.0 *******************
*                                                                            *
*                        EAMON DELUXE PLAYER'S MANUAL                        *
*                              Second Edition                                *
*                                                                            *
*************** ALL NON-COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION IS ENCOURAGED ****************











Second Edition by Frank Black, Luke Hewitt, and TMF with some text written by 
Donald Brown. Contact: eamondeluxe@gmail.com

First Edition published April, 1999. First Edition Final Revision published 
November, 2007. Second Edition published October, 2012.

  Contents.    
     1.    WELCOME TO THE MARVELOUS WORLD OF EAMON DELUXE!
     1.1    A BRIEF HISTORY OF EAMON: DONALD BROWN, JOHN NELSON, AND THE NEUC
     1.2    A BRIEF HISTORY OF EAMON: THOMAS ZUCHOWSKI AND THE EAG
     1.3    A BRIEF HISTORY OF EAMON: MATTHEW CLARK AND THE EAG WEBSITE
     1.5    A BRIEF HISTORY OF EAMON DELUXE: EAMON DELUXE VERSIONS 1 AND 2
     1.6    A BRIEF HISTORY OF EAMON DELUXE: EAMON DELUXE VERSION 3
     1.7    A BRIEF HISTORY OF EAMON DELUXE: EAMON DELUXE VERSION 4
     1.8    A BRIEF HISTORY OF EAMON DELUXE: EAMON DELUXE 5.0
     1.10  INSTALLING AND RUNNING EAMON DELUXE 5.0
     1.15  INSTALLING UPDATES

     2.    PLANET EAMON

     3.    BASIC CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES AND ABILITIES     
     3.1    HARDINESS
     3.2    AGILITY
     3.3    CHARISMA
             
     4.    COMBAT RELATED CHARACTER ABILITIES
     4.1    WEAPON TYPES AND CHARACTER WEAPON ABILITIES
     4.2    ARMOR TYPES AND CHARACTER ARMOR EXPERTISE
     4.3    BASIC COMBAT: ATTACKING AN OPPONENT
     4.4    DAMAGE FACTORS

     5.    MAGIC SPELLS AND RELATED CHARACTER ABILITIES
     5.1    THE BLAST SPELL
     5.2    THE HEAL SPELL
     5.3    THE SPEED SPELL
     5.4    THE POWER SPELL
             
     6.    RELATING WITH CITIZENS, MONSTERS, AND OTHER LIVING BEINGS

     7.    THE MAIN HALL, THE VILLAGE AND THE PRACTICE YARD
     7.1    BUYING WEAPONS AND ARMOR
     7.2    BUYING SPELLS
     7.3    THE BANKER
     7.4    SCHMITTY'S CASINO
     7.5    THE GOOD WITCH'S EMPORIUM
     7.6    GRENDEL'S EXOTIC WEAPONS AND CUSTOM SMITHERY
     7.7    SPELL PRACTICE (WITH A LICENSED WIZARD)
     7.8    WEAPON WIELDING 101 WITH DON DIEGO
     7.9    MASTERING THE ART OF WEARING ONE'S CLOTHES PROPERLY

     8.    EXAMINING YOUR CHARACTER AND LEAVING THE UNIVERSE
     8.1   USING THE CHARACTER EDITOR
     8.2   USING TEST CHARACTERS

     9.    GOING ON AN ADVENTURE
     9.1   RETURNING FROM AN ADVENTURE (SELLING YOUR LOOT)
     9.2   STANDARD COMMANDS IN AN EAMON DELUXE ADVENTURE

     11.   CREDITS AND LICENSE INFO
     
            

1.   WELCOME TO THE MARVELOUS WORLD OF EAMON DELUXE!

Eamon Deluxe is a computerized version of what are called fantasy role-playing 
games or "RPGs" for short. When you enter the universe of one of these games, 
you become a member of the Free Adventurer's Guild in the world of Eamon. This 
Guild is made up of hardy individuals who, instead of seeking standard 
employment, choose to live by their wits, defeating horrible monsters and 
finding glorious treasures.

Unlike most RPG gaming systems, Eamon Deluxe sets no direct goals to achieve; 
there are no experience points to earn and no way to finish or "win the game." 
The main focus instead lies upon character development and the amassing of 
wealth. If so desired, personal goals may also be set (do good to the less 
fortunate, destroy all evil beings, etc.) and incorporated into each adventure.


1.1  A BRIEF HISTORY OF EAMON: DONALD BROWN, JOHN NELSON, AND THE NEUC

Eamon is one of the oldest computer role-playing gaming systems in history and 
certainly the most enduring. As I write this, Eamon is now about thirty years 
old and the gaming formula is still unique and going strong with new adventures 
being developed and distributed within an active online community.

The original version (hereafter referred to as "Classic Eamon", "vanilla Eamon" 
or simply just "Eamon") was developed in the early 1980's by a man named Donald 
Brown. Don created a system that consisted of a master floppy disk (with the 
Main Hall and Beginner's Cave on it) where one could store characters they had 
created, carry out common transactions, and be launched into a multitude of 
adventure settings and scenarios. Each Eamon adventure was a separate floppy 
disk (or disks) with a database of rooms, monsters, treasure, etc..

Brown did an excellent job of simplifying complex paper and pencil RPGs (like 
"Dungeons & Dragons") and integrating that genre with the popular "adventure 
game" style (which tends to focus on puzzle solving, ignoring character 
development). The result was a unique gaming formula with open-ended 
development possibilities that made it highly appealing to both gamers and game 
designers alike. The name "Eamon" (commonly pronounced "E-MUN") was reportedly 
picked by Brown, at random, from a nearby Irish dictionary during development.

Eamon was released into the public domain as non-commercial software and Brown 
encouraged people to do whatever they wished with it. Brown himself wrote the 
master Main Hall disk, a few manuals and utilities for creating adventures, and 
eight adventures that showed off a variety of ways that Eamon could be 
expanded. He went as far as including examples of adding sound effects and even 
a graphic interface before completely leaving the Eamon world, never to be 
heard from again.

After Brown's departure, the Eamon reins were taken up by a fellow Des Moines, 
Iowa resident and computer store patron named John Nelson. Nelson started the 
National Eamon Users Club (NEUC) and personally continued development of the 
vanilla Eamon system using Brown's original formulas and source code.

The NEUC assigned official numbers to each adventure created for the Eamon 
library, which soon included over one hundred entries, and a produced a 
semi-regular newsletter. Nelson's development contributions included bug fixes, 
slight expansion of the master disk programs and a new set of utilities. 
Nelson, who contributed eighteen original adventures of his own to the library, 
standardized the base system to automate such things as doors, healing potions, 
and the level of light in rooms.


1.2  A BRIEF HISTORY OF EAMON: THOMAS ZUCHOWSKI AND THE EAG

Eventually Nelson started focusing on porting Eamon to the PC and his Apple II 
Eamon involvement, along with the NEUC newsletter, became increasingly sparse 
and sporadic. Finally, in a desperate act of preservation, a club member named 
Thomas Zuchowski "continually nagged" Nelson until he finally agreed to turn 
over control of the NEUC library, membership records and remaining funds.

Tom, who had previously authored several high quality adventures (as well as 
the popular character editor program that is included on the NEUC's Main Hall 
distributions), successfully resuscitated the club. Renaming it to "The Eamon 
Adventurer's Guild", Tom created a professional base for Eamon fans with a 
regular newsletter that would continue for fifteen years! Tom also personally 
continued to develop the Eamon system; using a mixture of Brown's formulas and 
his own, he redesigned the database and main adventure programs to be more 
efficient and take up less disk space, considerably increasing the speed at 
which the system loaded and ran. Among other improvements, Tom also updated the 
manuals, made the player interface more friendly, and continued the automation 
of handling certain item types (including a standard system for armor and other 
"wearable" items).


1.3  A BRIEF HISTORY OF EAMON: MATTHEW CLARK AND THE EAG WEBSITE

Interest in Eamon had waned considerably by 2001 and development of new 
adventures appeared to be coming to a halt, so Tom Zuchowski started procedures 
to officially shut the Eamon Adventurer's Guild down. By 2005 Tom permanently 
left the scene, passing control to a man named Matthew Clark. Matt had already 
spent several years building and maintaining the official Eamon Adventurer's 
Guild website and also authored a high quality Eamon adventure of his own.

As of the last count, there are 258 adventures written for the Classic Eamon 
system, as well as multiple utilities and customized Main Hall disks. There are 
also multiple cross-platform Eamon ports and "cousins."

Known Apple II based systems derived from Eamon are: Super Eamon, Eamon Pro, 
Eamon II, KnightQuest and Donald Brown's own commercial Eamon clone, the 
SwordThrust series. The known cross-platform attempts over the years include 
ports of Eamon to the Atari 5200, Atari ST, Commodore 64 (under the name 
"Imagery!") and several MS-DOS renditions. Strangely enough, there was no known 
port of Eamon for the Apple II's successor, the Macintosh, until 2012 when 
Eamon Deluxe 5.0 was released as a cross-platform system.

Currently, all versions of Eamon can be downloaded from Matthew Clark's 
Official Eamon Adventurer's Guild website: www.eamonAG.org. The Guild website 
is the largest Eamon resource in the world and is also the official home of 
Eamon Deluxe 5.0: www.eamonAG.org/pages/eamondx.htm.

This concludes my revised "brief" history of Eamon, a gaming system which, 
after thirty years among the world of computer gaming, is still too unique and 
creative be "briefly" described. Cheers to those thirty years, everyone who has 
been involved with Eamon, the modern release of Eamon Deluxe 5.0 and the next 
thirty years of Eamon gaming.

                                                     -Frank Black
                                                    September, 2012


1.5  A BRIEF HISTORY OF EAMON DELUXE: EAMON DELUXE VERSIONS 1 AND 2

Eamon Deluxe began as a leisurely project started in December of 1997 and first 
released in May of 1998. The project started as an MS-DOS port of an unreleased 
Apple II upgrade to Eamon 8.0. There were already two known MS-DOS ports, both 
named "Eamon", so the working name for the new system was, for lack of a better 
name, temporarily (and jokingly) called "Eamon Deluxe" to avoid any potential 
confusion. By the time Eamon Deluxe 2.0 was released the next year, it included 
so many enhancements and improvements that the term "Deluxe" actually seemed 
relevant and the name became permanent.

Initially intended as a learning tool for the author, Eamon Deluxe was meant to 
focus on creating NEW Eamon adventures and taking full advantage of a more 
advanced hardware and programming environment. Porting classic adventures was 
tedious work during the first few years, with all of the text and data from 
each adventure having to be copied and entered manually. Likewise, all of the 
unique code which comprised each converted adventure's various special effects 
had to be reverse engineered and adapted for the new environment. Because of 
the massive amount of work involved, only a few select adventures from the 
Classic Eamon library were originally intended to be ported to Eamon Deluxe.

Eamon Deluxe 2.0 was released in December of 1998 and among a few other classic 
Eamon ports, it included all adventures written by both the author and Donald 
Brown. Rather than assign new numbers to each of the conversions separately, 
multiple works by the same authors were combined into a single database and 
released as special "adventure sets". The method used to create these adventure 
sets was very bulky and inefficient at that time, therefore no further large 
conversion "sets" were planned.


1.6  A BRIEF HISTORY OF EAMON DELUXE: EAMON DELUXE VERSION 3

The 3.0 upgrade was started in the summer of 1999 and included a major system 
overhaul and a revised numbering system for the adventure lists. These 
revisions were the results of Tom Zuchowski sending a copy of his new 
"Eamon CD" to the author. The CD suddenly made the entire Classic Eamon 
adventure library available, along with Emulators to run them in MS-DOS, making 
it possible to automate much of the conversion process. After a few test runs 
using emulator extraction, the author was inspired with a plan to include 
conversions of all known Classic Eamon adventures into the Eamon Deluxe library.

The obvious next step was taken to condense the conversions into organized 
collections rather than single entities. A new "Multi-Adventure" system was 
designed and soon permanently integrated into the Eamon Deluxe system 
framework. Included among various system design upgrades and improvements, was 
the first port of the Graphic Main Hall originally written by Rick Volberding 
for the classic Apple II Eamon system.

At the time of its release, Eamon Deluxe 3.0 included the completed sets: 
Beginners Adventures, The Donald Brown Adventures, The Jim Jacobson Adventures, 
and The Frank Black Adventures.


1.7  A BRIEF HISTORY OF EAMON DELUXE: EAMON DELUXE VERSION 4

The Eamon Deluxe 3.0 framework proved to be very stable which allowed further 
development to focus solely on classic adventure conversions. While working on 
these conversions, the base adventure programs were heavily debugged and 
revised, leading to the release of Eamon Deluxe 4.2 in the fall of 2001.

Adventure conversions continued from 2001 to 2006 as time and interest 
permitted. During that time two original adventures, Journey Across the Muerte 
Sea and Realm of Fantasy, were also written by new authors specifically for the 
Eamon Deluxe system.

Sadly, the entire project was discontinued indefinitely in 2006 due to a lack of 
outside interest, real-world demands, and increasingly difficult compatibility 
issues which arose with the release of each new Windows operating system. The 
final public release of Eamon Deluxe 4.2, along with almost all of the existing 
classic adventure conversions, was made available for public download on the 
Eamon Adventurer's Guild website, where Eamon Deluxe would sit and remain 
dormant for the next five years...


1.8  A BRIEF HISTORY OF EAMON DELUXE: EAMON DELUXE 5.0

In November of 2011, a hard drive containing the work directory for Eamon 
Deluxe 4.5 (which had never been publicly released) was successfully salvaged. 
Among various minor revisions, version 4.5 included Realm of Fantasy, several 
new conversions in the Classic Eamon Adventures Volume Three set and an 
adventure menu list which used "The Waiting Room" as a "dummy" placeholder for 
adventure sets which had not yet been completed.

In December of 2012, as version 4.5 was being slightly upgraded, there was a 
sudden explosion of renewed interest in Eamon Deluxe and a decision was made 
to revise and improve the entire system. Eamon Deluxe 4.5 was archived in The 
PC Eamon Museum (with a few humorous alterations) and the 5.0 revision project 
was started.

Eamon Deluxe 5.0, while maintaining backwards compatibility and a similar 
interface, is a significant departure from all previous versions. The base 
adventure programs were rewritten from scratch, as were most of the system 
programs and utilities. The intent being to make the programs more efficient 
while adding a multitude of new and enhanced features. Among the most 
significant improvements were cross-platform compatibility for modern operating 
systems and the addition of "VI Mode", an alternate output method which makes 
the system totally accessible to vision impaired or disabled users, into the 
system framework.


1.10 INSTALLING AND RUNNING EAMON DELUXE 5.0

Windows: Run the installer program.

Mac OS X: Unzip the package and move "Eamon Deluxe 5.0" into the Applications 
folder. Open the app to start.

Linux: Eamon Deluxe system is just data files in Linux and can run on any 
distro that can run DOSBox. Use a package manager to install DOSBox if needed, 
then download, extract and move the home folder ("edx") to "/usr/local/share/".
X Menu entries (".desktop" files) can be found inside the home folder (copy 
to /usr/share/applications/" in Debian). Launch Eamon Deluxe with the Desktop 
Menu or the terminal command: dosbox -conf /usr/local/share/edx/Xeamondx.conf

Nintendo Wii: [See the HTML version of the Player's Manual for Wii 
installation instructions.]

ALL OPERATING SYSTEMS:

The first time Eamon Deluxe is launched after being installed or upgraded, a 
prompt will appear, asking if "VI Mode" is required. This refers to an 
alternate output mode that has been designed for compatibility with screen 
readers and other custom access software which is used by vision impaired or 
disabled players.

Unless a screen reader or similar device is actually being used, simply hit the 
"N" key to enable Standard Mode and you won't be asked again. If, however, YOU 
ARE using a device which requires VI Mode output, hit the "Y" key and then the 
"X" key at the following prompt for verification.

The Eamon Deluxe Main Menu is displayed upon startup. This menu offers options 
which lead to all other areas of the gaming system. To switch between Standard 
and VI Mode output, reset the speed for special events, or modify other Eamon 
Deluxe system settings, choose the Control Panel option. If VI Mode is needed 
but has somehow been turned off, press "7" and hit Enter at the main menu then 
simply hit Enter again at the Control Panel menu to reset the display mode. 

Windows version only: Using the VI Mode desktop icon or Start Menu shortcut 
will change the default display setting to VI Mode before launching the system.


1.15 INSTALLING UPDATES

Eamon Deluxe is a dynamic system which allows for system upgrades and continued 
expansion of the adventure library. With version 5.0, the system has been 
revised so that new versions can be installed over older ones without losing 
any character files, new adventure designs, or other personal data. The only 
requirement is that the file system location and structure is kept intact after 
the initial installation (including the Start Menu entries in the Windows 
version).

The Official Eamon Deluxe Homepage (www.eamonAG.org/pages/eamondx.htm) contains 
download links for all supported versions of Eamon Deluxe. These links are 
updated frequently to reflect new changes and additions. An existing Eamon 
Deluxe installation can be updated to the latest release by simply downloading 
the latest release and installing (Windows, Linux) or copying (Mac OS X) it 
over the previously installed version.

Note: While most user data is unaffected, updating Eamon Deluxe WILL destroy 
any saved games. It is recommended (although not required) that all characters 
are returned to the Main Hall before updating.


2.   PLANET EAMON

Far away, at the dead center of the Milky Way, is the planet Eamon. It doesn't 
orbit any suns, two great suns orbit it! The shifting pull from these great 
bodies bring strange forces to bear upon this planet; twisting light, tides, 
even the laws of science itself! Strange things happen on Planet Eamon, and the 
citizens must always be adaptable, for things are rarely what they seem, and 
quite often not the same as they were from one day to the next!

Eamon Deluxe is played through characters who are imagined to be citizens of 
this weird world that belong to the famous Free Adventurer's Guild. Free 
Adventurer's are men and women who have dared to seek their fortune in the 
marvelous world of shifting laws and time. Players will often find their 
characters fighting terrible monsters such as orcs, trolls, and dragons and 
claiming various riches and treasure as their own. However, Planet Eamon is 
bound by no laws of time or space and anything can happen once an adventure 
has been started. At any random time a character could end up facing such 
varied opponents as Billy the Kid or Darth Vader!

                      
3.   BASIC CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES AND ABILITIES

Eamon Deluxe is a mixture of several popular types of gaming systems. The two 
core aspects of that mixture being "adventure games" and "fantasy role-playing 
games." In an adventure game, a player normally progresses through the 
exploration of pre-mapped settings, often having to locate special objects or 
solve various puzzles to proceed on to other parts of the game, until reaching 
the ending.

Role-playing games (or "RPGs") also involve diverse pre-mapped settings, but 
rather than playing a single adventure in the first person perspective, RPGs 
are based heavily upon creating and developing characters which the player then 
takes on many adventures, imagining themselves as these characters as they 
explore and make decisions. Characters can quickly develop through shrewd 
adventuring; growing stronger in various attributes and skill levels, while 
gaining wealth, and acquiring better equipment.

All new characters created in Eamon Deluxe start at a beginning level, but, 
just like the people playing them, they are also a diverse group with different 
strengths and weaknesses to work with and build upon. Three numbers (or 
"attributes") will describe the general physical makeup of a newly created 
character. These are called Hardiness, Agility and Charisma. These attributes 
are each obtained by the computer rolling three eight-sided dice and adding the 
results together. Thus the numbers can range from three (the lowest) to 
twenty-four (the highest), with most rolls averaging around twelve to fifteen.

This technique is called "rolling three-die-eight" (commonly written as "3D8") 
and the terminology comes from various multi-sided dice used in the original 
pencil and paper style role-playing games upon which computer RPG games are 
based. Aside from looking interesting, these strange dice are used to determine 
random factors, adding a stronger sense of reality to the experience.

Along with the three main attributes, characters are also defined by various 
skills, including weapon abilities, spell casting and combat experience 
involving fighting while wearing heavy, protective armor. While a character's 
skills will increase with use, the three basic physical attributes cannot be 
changed through "natural" means in any way. However, Eamon is a magical world, 
and ways may be found to increase (and sometimes decrease) a character's 
attributes in certain adventures; also, when a character becomes wealthy 
enough, there are special shops in the village and practice areas just outside 
of the Main Hall which are rumored to be able to boost any attribute or ability 
(see section 7 for more information).

For those who wish to instantly create a character with specific attributes, 
ability levels, etc. (and who don't mind a little "cheating"), Eamon Deluxe 
includes an editing program which allows every aspect of a character to be 
customized to exact specifications (see section 8.1).

For the sake of example in the next few sections, it will be assumed that a new 
character named "Hedric the Horrible" has just been "created", with a Hardiness 
of thirteen, an Agility of twenty and a Charisma of five.


3.1  HARDINESS

A character's Hardiness has two major effects, the number of damage points that 
their body can withstand before they die and the total amount of weight in 
weapons, armor and other objects that they can carry with them. The name for 
the standard unit of weight in Eamon Deluxe is called "gronds." Gronds are 
sometimes further split into tenths using a smaller unit called "DOS" (so one 
grond equals ten DOS) but there is no real reason for the DOS unit other than 
that is what Donald Brown decided when he created the original Eamon system. 
Eamon Deluxe preserves this system and further standardizes it as one grond 
generally weighs as much as two gold coins, however, cumbersome items (like a 
stack of plates or a full quiver of arrows) can weigh more in gronds than they 
would if only using the two-coin system.

Hedric the Horrible, whom we just "created", has a Hardiness of thirteen. This 
means he can withstand thirteen harmful "hits" (damage caused by attacks from 
an enemy, being poisoned, setting off traps, etc.) before he perishes. Hedric 
can also carry up to ten times his Hardiness in items, or one hundred thirty 
gronds. The amount of weight a character can carry is a static number based 
upon their base hardiness, not the number of hits they have taken, so they are 
still able to carry the same amount whether critically wounded or in perfect 
health.


3.2  AGILITY

The only major effect of a character's Agility in Eamon Deluxe is found in 
combat. A character with high agility is more likely to strike an opponent and 
also to dodge attacks from that opponent as well. Some adventures will also use 
character Hardiness and/or Agility to determine other factors which are 
specific to that setting (like the chances of successfully opening special 
objects or avoiding dangerous traps).


3.3  CHARISMA

A character's Charisma is a combination of both their physical attractiveness 
and how likable their personality is. Charisma can often effect how the 
citizens and other sentient beings on Planet Eamon will react to them.

For example, many merchants will offer slightly better pricing deals to a 
likable character with a high Charisma than they will to a character with an 
average or low Charisma. While on an adventure, a character's Charisma may also 
effect how some creatures will react to them; choosing to attack, ignore, or 
become friends with them. The more friends a character has in an adventure, the 
more help they have during battles.

The actual percentage adjustment that Charisma has upon the decisions of others 
(or "Charisma Factor") is figured out by subtracting ten from the character's 
Charisma and then multiplying the difference by two.

For example: The smelly hermit from the Beginner's Cave has a base friendliness 
of 50%. This means that Joe Normal with a charisma of ten will get to make 
friends with the hermit 50% of the time. However, Hedric the Horrible (with his 
Charisma of five), has only a 40% chance of making friends with the hermit. 
Lovable Linda, with a maximum charisma of twenty four has a 78% chance of 
making friends.

Joe Normal: (10 - 10 = 0, 0 x 2 = 0). 50% + 0% = 50%.
Hedric the Horrible: (5 - 10 = -5, -5 x 2 = -10). 50% + -10% = 40%.
Lovable Linda: (24 - 10 = 14, 14 x 2 = 28). 50% + 28% = 78%.

Many of the beings encountered on adventures, however, will have a pre-set 
friendliness factor and thus react the same regardless of your character's 
Charisma. A rat with a friendliness rating of 0% will never be a friend, be it 
with Joe Normal, Hedric the Horrible, or Lovable Linda; likewise, a fellow 
adventurer with a friendliness rating of 100% will always become a friend to 
your character.


4.   COMBAT RELATED CHARACTER ABILITIES

Being a rough and violent world, combat is often an important aspect of Eamon. 
In most adventures, combat is taken care of on a blow-by-blow method: Every 
valid combatant in the room gets one turn to attack one enemy, the effects of 
that attack are calculated, and the result (hit or miss) is applied.

All weapons are simplified into types zero through five. Type zero is "natural 
weapons" which can include just about anything but will always have the same 
odds (0% bonus) and can never be dropped or broken. Weapon types one through 
five are: Axes (any "chopping" weapons), projectile weapons (everything from a 
standard archery set to a machine gun), clubs (any blunt weapons), spears (all 
weapons which are used with lunging or jabbing motions), and swords.

Weapon types one through five have what are referred to as "weapon odds" or 
sometimes "weapon complexity". This is a number that reflects the quality of 
the weapon and how hard it is to use properly. A club may have an odds value of 
twenty since it is easy to use, while a more complicated weapon such as a bow 
may have a negative odds value (-10 is common for bows). The actual effect of 
weapon odds on a combatant's chances to hit their opponent is described in 
further detail in section 4.3.

The amount of physical damage a weapon will cause an opponent is determined by 
the damage "dice" of that weapon. All weapons (including "natural") have a 
pre-set number of dice with a pre-set number of sides. An average sword has a 
damage level set around 1D10 or 2D5; meaning one ten-sided dice that causes 
1-10 points of damage or two five-sided dice that cause 2-10 points of damage 
respectively. A normal "powerful" weapon will have a damage level of around 2D8 
(capable of doing 2-16 points of damage).

Standard levels of armor are also divided into types. Even numbers determine 
the actual type of armor, with odd numbers indicating that a shield is also 
included. For example: Chain armor alone has a value (or "class") of four, 
chain armor with a shield is class five, and so on. Armor class names are used 
generically, regardless of what the armor is actually comprised of (a dragons 
with class four armor made of scales would is still considered as having "chain 
armor").

In most cases armor is factored in as "hits absorbed" from an attack, meaning 
the wearer has a certain amount of damage deducted from the total applied when 
struck in combat. They basic "armor class" and the hits deducted by each is as 
follows:

      Armor Class  Name   Hits Absorbed
     -----------------------------------
      0 ............None .........0
      1 ............Shield .......1
      2 ............Leather ......1
      4 ............Chain ........3
      6 ............Plate ........5
      8 ............Magic ........7

Armor also affects the odds of one opponent striking another in combat (after 
all, one just isn't as agile when fighting from within a tin can!). All 
non-character combatants are affected the same by weapon quality and armor 
encumbrance factors, with the assumption that they know all their skills on an 
average level, while characters have abilities that often start out in a lower 
range but increase to highly skilled levels given time and experience. The 
actual effect of worn armor on a combatant's chances to hit their opponent is 
described in further detail in section 4.3.


4.1  WEAPON TYPES AND CHARACTER WEAPON ABILITIES

All new characters start with the same skill levels for weapon expertise: 
5% for axes, -10% for projectile weapons, 20% for clubs, 10% for spears and 
0% for swords. These numbers reflect that an inexperienced adventurer who is 
just starting out is more likely to hit with an enemy with a club than with an 
arrow.

Weapon abilities can be increased through the successful use of each type of 
weapon in combat. If Hedric the Horrible is fighting a troll and scores a 
successful hit, then a dice roll will be used to determine if Hedric learned 
anything about how to use his weapon better; his chance to learn is the same as 
his chance to have missed, so a one hundred-sided "percentage" die (or 1D100) 
is rolled.

For example: If Hedric's chance to have hit was 40%, then he will have a 60% 
chance of his weapon ability going up by 2%. In the next round, his chance of 
hitting the same opponent would then be increased to 42%, while his chance of 
raising his ability would reduce to 58%. Weapon abilities will continue to 
increase until the natural limit of 100% is reached.


4.2  ARMOR TYPES AND CHARACTER ARMOR EXPERTISE

Character's can use shields and several types of armor to help protect them 
from bodily harm. As mentioned above, the stronger the armor, the more 
cumbersome it is and this will affect your character's chance to hit an 
opponent in combat until they fully develop a skill called "Armor Expertise."

The following chart describes the types of armor, the amount of protection they 
provide, and how much they reduce a character's chance to hit their opponent. 
As with the similar chart above for non-character armor class, even numbers are 
types of armor and odd numbers mean that a shield is also included.

  Armor Class  Name       Hits Absorbed     Odds Adjustment
 -----------------------------------------------------------
     0 .........None ...........0 .................0%
     1 .........Shield .........1 ................-1%
     2 .........Leather ........1 ................-4%
     4 .........Chain ..........3 ...............-16%
     6 .........Plate ..........5 ...............-36%
     8 .........Magic ..........7 ...............-36%

The odds adjustment here reflects a new character with and Armor Expertise of 
zero. As the character becomes used to the constricting effects of fighting 
and maneuvering while wearing armor, their increased Armor Expertise will 
reduce the odds adjustment until, finally, armor has no negative effects at all.

A character's Armor Expertise ability is developed the same way as their weapon 
abilities: Every time they successfully strike an opponent in combat, 1D65 is 
rolled. If the result is larger than the odds adjustment of their armor versus 
their current Armor Expertise then their ability is increased by 2%. Armor 
Expertise will continue to increase until it reaches the maximum limit of 65%, 
whereupon any type armor can be worn without negative effects.


4.3  BASIC COMBAT: ATTACKING AN OPPONENT

Every time that a character attempts to strike another living being, there is a 
percentage chance of success which is figured by comparing multiple factors. 
Likewise, opponents have a similar set of factors that determine their chance 
of success when attempting to harm your character.

All combatants are given the base chance of 50% plus two times the difference 
in agility and armor between them and their target. If a weapon is being used 
then half of the "weapon odds" value is added (up to a maximum increase of 
15%). If your character is the attacker then their Armor Class, Armor Expertise 
relevant weapon ability is also figured into their odds to hit.

Once the odds to hit have been determined, a roll of 1D100 is made and, if the 
roll ranges from one to the percentage chance to hit, the blow is a considered 
a success and the resulting effects are determined. In addition, there may also 
be magical or other extraordinary effects in some adventures which will factor 
into combat as well.

If the roll is greater than the chance to hit then the attacker will either 
simply miss their opponent or fumble the attack. A fumbled attack can result in 
several negative effects upon the attacker, including, among other things, 
dropping their weapon, damaging their weapon, breaking their weapon, or hitting 
themselves instead.


4.4  DAMAGE FACTORS

As explained in section 4.1, when a blow hits, a random amount of damage is 
done to the target. This amount of damage is based on the weapon's dice and  
number of sides to those dice. This base number of damage is usually 
lowered by the armor worn by the defender; leather armor and shield each 
take one point of damage, chain takes 3, and plate armor takes 5 points of 
damage away from that taken on the body (all effects are cumulative and 
magical devices may sometimes act as armor).

That, of course, is what usually happens. However, due to flashes of good 
luck or clumsiness weird things can happen. For example: in many of the 
classic adventures, about 5% of the time an attacker will get what is called 
a "Critical Hit". That will get one of the following results (each result 
is followed by the percentage chance of its occurrence): Ignore armor (50%), 
three-halves normal damage (35%), twice normal damage (10%), triple normal 
damage (4%), or an automatic kill (1%). This was a standard in the early 
versions of the original Eamon system and was carried over to many Eamon 
Deluxe conversions (such as The Donald Brown Adventures) to make them more 
authentic. The Beginner's Cave has standard "classic" combat and the Eamon 
Deluxe Demo Adventure has standard "modern" combat.

About 4% of the time the attacker will fumble with his weapon. It will have 
one of the following effects: Recover from fumble without any other effect 
(35%), drop weapon (40%, if the attacker is using natural weapons such as 
claws, the attacker simply recovers instead), break weapon (20%, with a 10% 
chance of hitting oneself at the same time), Hit self normally (4%), and hit 
self with double damage, ignoring armor (1%).


5.   MAGIC SPELLS AND RELATED CHARACTER ABILITIES

The strange shifting forces around Planet Eamon constantly create effects that 
can only be described as magical. However, most of these effects are extremely 
localized to a particular adventure setting and will not be consistent from one 
foray to the next.

There are four common spells that work almost everywhere. Any character can pay a 
knowledgeable wizard to teach them these spells at a starting level. When they 
first learn a spell, a 1D100 die will be rolled and they will start with an 
ability level ranging from 25% to 75%. As with combat abilities, there is a 
chance that each spell ability can be increased every time your character 
successfully casts that spell; if a 1D100 dice roll is less than their chance 
to not have cast it, their ability will increase by 2% until they reach the 
100% natural limit.

For example: Hedric has now learned the BLAST spell and been given a starting 
ability of 30%. If he successfully casts the spell and a 1D100 roll yields a 
result from one to seventy then his overall ability for that spell will 
increase to 32%, with a roll from one to sixty eight being required for the 
next increase.

There are also "wildcard" rolls involved in spell casting: A roll from one to 
five will always be successful and a roll of one hundred will overload your 
character's mind and they will not be able to cast that spell for the rest of 
the adventure.

Due to the tiring effects of sending supernatural powers through their body, 
every time your character attempts to cast a spell (regardless of whether or 
not they succeed) their next chance is reduced by half until they "rest up" 
their brain for a bit. The STATUS command can be used to see the actual values 
of their current spell abilities as well as their overall spell abilities among 
other useful information.

Note that this is the way that the four common usually work. Eamon Deluxe is a 
marvelous and very random world and spell abilities may not drop at all when 
your character uses them in some adventures, while in other places spells may 
work quite differently or sometimes not at all.


5.1  THE BLAST SPELL

This spell can be used by your character to send a magical blast of pure energy 
at either an opponent or an item (such as locked doors or chests). If 
successfully cast, a BLAST spell will always hit its target and do 1D6 in 
damage. Also, if the target is a living being, armor will not help absorb any 
of the damage from a BLAST spell.


5.2  THE HEAL SPELL

This spell can be used to remove damage points from either the character 
casting it or any other living creature (in effect, "healing" them). If 
successfully cast, a HEAL spell will remove 1D10 in damage points from its 
target.


5.3  THE SPEED SPELL

If successfully cast, a SPEED spell will double your character's agility for a 
random amount of time (ranging from eleven to twenty turns). If a SPEED spell 
is cast successfully while another one is already in effect, the new spell will 
increase the amount of rounds left, but it will not have the effect of further 
multiplying a character's agility. The SPEED spell is mostly useful when a 
character is engaged in combat with a skilled opponent, has a long paper to 
write within a short amount of time, or needs to study for an exam.


5.4  THE POWER SPELL

Depending upon the adventure your character is on, successfully casting a POWER 
spell may cause a harmless diversion or have powerful effects (both helpful and 
harmful in nature). It's basically a call to the magical forces around your 
character that says, "Hey, do something!" In many adventures, Power will do 
little more than make a loud noise, in many others it may be the key to 
surviving or moving on to different points in the game. If you become totally 
stuck (or just feel daring), give POWER a try.


6.   RELATING WITH CITIZENS, MONSTERS, AND OTHER LIVING BEINGS

There are two places your character will be encountering other denizens of 
Planet Eamon, on their adventures and at the Main Hall of the Guild of Free 
Adventurers.

The Main Hall and its surrounding areas are heavily protected by the Guild and, 
while your characters may communicate with the various people there to do 
business, they will not be permitted to start fights or break any other rules. 
The Guild also enforces fair business policies on the various merchants so, 
while they will not do you any real favors for your characters (except possibly 
giving them good prices depending upon their Charisma), they will not cheat 
their customers or otherwise harm them. They are mostly simple businessmen and 
women, out to relieve Free Adventurers of their gold while helping outfit them 
to go get more as well.

During your adventures outside of the Main Hall, however, anything can happen. 
By default, the being found in an adventure may seem rather simple-minded; when 
they first meet your character, they will decide if they like them or not, 
dislike them or choose to ignore them completely. If they decide to become 
friendly then they will follow your character around and fight on their side 
during any battles. If they don't like your character...then they will most 
likely try to fight them in deadly combat. Once they make up their minds, they 
will usually keep with their decisions, unless your character does something 
particularly nasty (such as ATTACK a friend) or nice (such as give a "neutral" 
monster extremely valuable items or large sums of money).

Just because monsters do or do not like your character does not always mean 
that they will fight to the bitter end either; some, including both enemies and 
friends, will be less courageous (or smarter) than others and will run from 
what they view as a losing battle. In some adventures they will run out of 
exits and into a nearby room to which you can follow them. In others they may 
leave the game completely, never to return.

All Eamon adventures are unique, however, and some will allow your character to 
interact further with its inhabitants, including options to make small talk, 
ask important questions, have conversations, give orders, get ideas, play 
games, etc..


7.   THE MAIN HALL, THE VILLAGE AND THE PRACTICE YARD

Your new headquarters will be a room you rent at the Main Hall of the Guild of 
Free Adventurers. You can buy weapons, armor and even spells there, as well as 
train to advance your skills, gamble and get lost in other friendly diversions. 
You can check out your character's current attributes, skill levels and 
possessions. You can also keep some money with the banker (money in the bank is 
safe if you're robbed on an adventure but, then again, you can't use it to 
ransom yourself out of a sticky situation either!)

Those who are familiar with Classic Eamon will notice that Eamon Deluxe 
features an extended Main Hall, three times the size of the original, which has 
two added areas of interest for your character to wander about if you so 
desire.

It seems that the traditional open enrollment policy, combined with the lure of 
easily obtained wealth and fame, has turned the Guild of Free Adventurers into 
a major enterprise on planet Eamon over the years, attracting many of the 
courageous and not a few of the foolhardy to seek fame and fortune by the 
sword. This large influx of adventurers has also lead to what business leaders 
call a subsidiary industry. A small village has been constructed just outside 
the gates of the Main Hall, its residents eagerly waiting to provide extra 
special services to those who make a living as professional heroes. However, 
unlike those who run their businesses from within the Main Hall's gates, none 
of these village merchants carry the Official Guild Seal of Approval, and any 
business interactions with them is considered done at your character's own 
risk...

At the center of the village is a mysterious statue, thought to have been setup 
by some of planet Eamon's very few benevolent priests in memory of all those 
adventurers who have lost their lives while out on adventures. It is rumored 
that some sort of spirit lives within the statue, and that those who approach 
it respectfully will receive a reward (though whether this is true or just a 
rumor is quite uncertain). The odds are that, even if such a spirit did exist, 
it would likely be limited in its power, so anyone seeking it should probably 
not get greedy with hopes of repeated showers of such blessings.

South of the village is the "practice yard". It is located slightly away from 
the other businesses, so that the sound of clanging weapons and magic sonic 
blasts won't interfere with the more peaceful activities of its neighbors too 
much. In this practice yard can be found teachers, skilled in the various 
adventuring arts, who are ready to help you increase your skills-- for a large 
fee, of course. 

In the middle of the practice yard lies the info booth. Nobody is exactly sure 
what the shady character who runs it does, other than directing the more obtuse 
adventurers to the different trainers available. It is rumored, though, that he 
also has information about hidden valuables which he may offer to share. For a 
price.


7.1  BUYING WEAPONS AND ARMOR

Marcos Cavelli owns a small weaponry outlet in the Main Hall which deals in 
standard weapons and armor at fair prices. New characters start out with 200 
gold pieces to spend on equipment which should get them leather armor and at 
least one decent weapon if they visit Marcos' shop.

Marcos carries the five standard weapons: An axe, which does 1D6 of damage and 
has a base price of 25 gold pieces, a 1D6 bow for 40, a 1D4 mace for 25, and a 
1D8 sword which has a base price of 30. Marcos will also buy used weapons. He 
will pay 15 gold pieces for an average or poor quality weapon and considerably 
more for better quality weapons, it all depends on what you have.

Marcos' base prices for armor are 50 gold pieces for a shield, 100 for leather, 
250 for chain mail, and 500 for plate armor. He will also give you a trade-in 
credit for your old armor (at a bit less than what you paid for it).

Marcos' credit terms, like all of the businesses in the Main Hall, are very 
simple: None.


7.2  BUYING SPELLS

Hokas Tokas, the resident wizard of the Main Hall, is willing to teach anybody 
spells for a price. His base prices for spells are: 100 gold pieces to Learn 
POWER, 1,000 for HEAL, 3,000 for BLAST and 5,000 for SPEED. Hokas is gruff but 
fair; he will never cheat you and will stick by you until you learn your spell.


7.3  THE BANKER

Shylock McFenney, the local banker, will open up an account for any member of 
the Free Adventurer's Guild. He is absolutely trustworthy with the funds left 
in his care and does not charge any fees. He also does not pay interest, nor 
does he make loans (he makes enough money from adventurers who deposit money 
with him and never return.)


7.4  SCHMITTY'S CASINO

Ernst Stavro Jesse James Schmitt runs the "Paris Casino" which is always open, 
always lively and always offering free drinks accompanied with an invitation 
for Free Adventurers to risk their gold pieces. Many a fortune has been built, 
just as many a fortune has been lost, in the blink of an eye, after being bet 
against the spin of one of Schmitty's brightly colored roulette wheels.

Though many an unlucky gambler has bitterly accused Schmitty of rigging the 
wheels, in truth the odds that the wheel gives aren't too bad, and not a few 
adventurers have left the tables with more than they entered with. Schmitty 
doesn't seem to notice the rumors some patrons spread about his integrity, he 
just chuckles and maintains his pleasant, outspoken demeanor, knowing that it 
means business is good (and that those spreading the rumors will most likely be 
back for more).


7.5  THE GOOD WITCH'S EMPORIUM

A beautiful and mysterious lady, nobody is exactly sure where the witch came 
from, though since she arrived she has seen a brisk trade among the Guild's 
Adventurers. What exactly goes into her magic potions is a mystery, though 
judging by her prices the ingredients are most likely rare and expensive.

Her draughts can raise your character's various attributes by one point, and 
can even raise some of them over their natural maximum levels, though each 
drink will cost several thousand gold pieces (with, perhaps, a slight discount 
if your character's Charisma is already above average or more).


7.6  GRENDEL'S EXOTIC WEAPONS AND CUSTOM SMITHERY

When Marcos' weapons are found to no longer be adequate for the seasoned 
adventurer, those lucky adventurers who have survived long enough to become 
"seasoned", start having to look outside the Guild walls for exotic, more 
powerful weaponry. Upon arriving at the village, Grendel the smith was quick to 
fill that gap, and he now offers a highly reputable, yet somehow still discrete 
service; providing an assortment of high quality, and/or individually tailored 
implements of destruction for the wealthy aggregator. 

Grendel's used weapons usually include a stock starting with 2D8 weapons of all 
types for 500 gold pieces and ending with up to 2D16 strength weapons that sell 
for 1,200 gold pieces. Alternatively, if your character has acquired enough 
money, they can pay Grendel to design a custom weapon built to their 
specifications (choosing everything from its name, to its complexity, to its 
total damage potential). Weapons may be built with a deadliness factor of up to 
3D12, although such weapons do not come cheap and may in fact require a small 
fortune be paid to Grendel before he begins work.


7.7  SPELL PRACTICE (WITH A LICENSED WIZARD)

It is well known around the Main Hall that there is certainly no love lost 
between this extremely polite mystic and resident mage, Hokas Tokas. Indeed 
Hokas' drunken ravings about "that smarmy git" have become something of an 
occasional, highly amusing entertainment at the Main Hall bar. It can't be 
denied though, that the mystic's focusing and concentration techniques have 
lead many average adventurers to some truly staggering heights of magical 
prowess.

For a humble fee of 1,000 gold pieces, the mystic will give your character a 
chance to practice one of their spells. This has the potential to raise that 
spell up by several points, even allowing them to raise it higher than that 
natural limit of 100% (though, the truly unlucky will risk a chance of paying 
the fee only to learn nothing at all).


7.8  WEAPON WIELDING 101 WITH DON DIEGO

Some have said the sum of Don Diego's abilities with every type of weapon is 
surpassed only by the size of his ego. However, the quality of his teaching 
can't be denied and for 1,000 gold pieces per strike, he'll offer your 
character the chance to improve their weapon abilities by attacking one of his 
practice dummies. All sales are final and there is no guarantee: your character 
may get lucky and raise a skill by several points or simply learn nothing at 
all. Like the practice yard's mystic, Don Diego can also help your character 
raise their weapon skills well above their natural limits.


7.9  MASTERING THE ART OF WEARING ONE'S CLOTHES PROPERLY

Usually adventurers only get smacked by a giant's club when trying to relieve 
said giant of their money and treasures. The giant who resides in the practice 
yard, however, realized that, by aiding adventurers in the skill of efficiently 
fighting while burdened under the weight of heavy armor, he could keep his 
treasures, get paid heavy fees, and still have the satisfaction of smacking 
adventurers silly with his club.

For 1,000 gold pieces per strike, the giant will take a swing at your 
character. Should they successfully dodge his attack, they will have a decent 
chance of increasing their Armor Expertise by several points. Though, should 
the giant manage to clobber them, they won't learn anything at all (and may 
even suffer some temporary memory loss instead).


8.   EXAMINING YOUR CHARACTER AND LEAVING THE UNIVERSE

Unlike most things at the Main Hall, it does not cost you anything to examine 
your character or quit Eamon Deluxe. The first option will create a "character 
sheet" style display similar to using the STATUS command when on an adventure, 
but with slightly more information. Exiting the universe will safely stow your 
character away until you are ready to return to the Marvelous World of Eamon 
Deluxe for further adventuring.


8.1  USING THE CHARACTER EDITOR

A complete character editor has been included for those who wish to customize 
their characters to exact specifications. The character editor can also be used 
to revive the dead and return characters directly to the Main Hall if they are 
on an adventure. Eamon Deluxe places no restrictions upon how characters are 
created or developed, leaving those decisions entirely up to the player.

For those who wish to create a custom character that is strong enough to 
complete almost all Eamon Deluxe adventures, yet still "average" enough to keep 
the experience challenging, use the following as a guideline for attributes:

Hardiness=40, Agility=30, Charisma=24, Armor Expertise=65%, heal=200%, all 
other spells=100%, all weapon abilities=40%. They should also be equipped with 
plate armor, a shield, and at least two 2D8 weapons with about a 25% complexity 
each.


8.2  USING TEST CHARACTERS

Another fast and convenient way to play an Eamon Deluxe adventure is by 
selecting the "Test an Adventure" option from the Adventure Design Menu. This 
option will let you select from a special set of pre-made characters and go 
directly to an adventure rather than creating and equipping a "real" character.

The test characters are available in both genders and have attributes ranging 
from somewhat weak to nearly invincible. Test characters never change or stay 
dead and are allowed to go on an unlimited amount of adventures at the same 
time. Note for the nostalgic: The classic Apple II test character, "Sam", has 
been included in Eamon Deluxe 5.0 (with a few minor alterations).


9.   GOING ON AN ADVENTURE

Many of your exploits will involve exploring castles, caves, dungeons, and 
other places reminiscent of common adventure games. However, Eamon Deluxe is 
vast and unusual and there really is no "typical" adventure setting. Along with 
classic mediaeval-themed dungeon crawls, there is also a wide variety of 
science fiction or contemporary themed settings. Ranging from the darkest 
dungeons, to distant planets, to the modern day sewers beneath the city of 
Chicago, Illinois, one can never know what to expect from one adventure to the 
next.

Your character can only go on one adventure at a time (character data 
management would otherwise be impossible) and must be returned to the Main Hall 
before they can embark upon another adventure. Classic Eamon collections (such 
as "Beginners Adventures") are counted as a single adventure for such purposes 
even though they actually contain several individual adventures within them. 
Test characters (see section 8.2) are recommended for those who 
simply wish to browse these multi-adventure sets.

You can quit playing an adventure whenever you want by using the QUIT command. 
Use the SAVE command first if you wish to return to the exact point from which 
you are quitting, and use QUIT HALL to remove your character completely from 
the adventure (or adventure set) and return them to the Main Hall exactly as 
they were before you started the adventure.

To return to a previous game, select the option to continue a saved game 
(regardless of whether you actually used the SAVE command or not) from the main 
Eamon Deluxe menu and, once the adventure has started, use the RESTORE command 
to load a previously saved game if desired.

If your character is dead (and you don't mind breaking the laws of nature) or 
has somehow become stuck "on an adventure", the Character Editor can be used to 
place them back at the Main Hall, alive and well (see section 8.1).


9.1  RETURNING FROM AN ADVENTURE (SELLING YOUR LOOT)

When you return to the Main Hall from an adventure, you will first be stopped 
by the Knight Marshal on duty who checks the number of weapons you are bringing 
back with you. If the total count is greater than the legal limit of four, you 
will be asked to select the ones you want to keep and allowed to sell the 
extras with the rest of your loot.

Once the Knight Marshal lets you through the first gate, you will proceed to 
the local buyer of treasure and booty. This is usually Sam Slicker, a shrewd 
and experienced (but fair), business man who has been in the adventure resale 
business a very long time.

Characters with a decent Charisma can often haggle an extra five to ten percent 
on the resale value of most items, while certain things (such as gold or other 
precious metals) will always be worth the same amount no matter what.


9.2  STANDARD COMMANDS IN AN EAMON DELUXE ADVENTURE

The following commands are standard in nearly every Eamon Deluxe adventure. To 
see the current command list for an adventure, enter a question mark at the 
command prompt. To repeat your last command, hit Enter without typing anything 
(this is useful during combat, among other things). The HINTS command will 
bring up the help menu which includes general tips for playing Eamon Deluxe as 
well as any notes, tips, solutions, etc. which are specific to the current 
adventure.

MOVEMENT COMMANDS: NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, UP, DOWN, and FLEE.

Try and move your character in the given direction if possible. In some 
adventures you may also be able to move diagonally using the commands: NE, NW, 
SE, and SW.

If combat gets too rough, you can attempt to run away with the FLEE command. If 
you don't specify which way to go (FLEE SOUTH, FLEE DOWN, etc.) then the game 
will send your character scrambling in a randomly chosen direction.


ITEM MANIPULATION COMMANDS:

CLOSE: Attempt to close a door or container.

DRINK and EAT: Attempt to consume something.

DROP: Drop a carried item.
DROP ALL: Attempt to drop every item your character is carrying.

EXAMINE: Repeat the long descriptions of items and monsters. May also reveal 
"hidden" items (those mentioned in a description of something else, but not 
immediately listed as being in the room). Examining monsters will also report 
their current health status. Examining food or beverages will tell you how many 
drinks/bites are left. Extra information may also be available for a variety of 
items.

GET: Attempt to pick up and carry an item.
GET ALL: Attempt to GET every item in the room.

LIGHT: Turn on items that are used as light sources so that you can see in dark 
rooms. If an item is already lit, LIGHT can be used again to extinguish it. 
Note that in certain adventures LIGHT may also be used to light something on 
fire or perform other actions.

OPEN: Attempt to open things.

PUT: Attempt to place one item in or on another item.

READ: Attempt to read various item with markings on them.

READY: Select and equip a weapon to be used in combat. When your character 
starts an adventure, either the most powerful weapon they are carrying (Eamon 
Deluxe 5.0) or the first weapon in the list (older versions) will automatically 
be readied. The same applies when a GET command is used and your character does 
not have a weapon readied.

REMOVE: Either make your character remove something that they are wearing or 
attempt to remove one item from another.

USE: Generic command which can have a variety of functions. Many adventures 
have items which produce all sorts of interesting effects when a character is 
told to USE them.

WEAR: Have your character equip armor (including shields) or put on clothing, 
shoes, hats, jewelry, or anything else which one might wear.


INTERACTIVE COMMANDS:

ATTACK: Use a weapon against items or other living beings. It is sometimes 
possible to force open locked doors or containers this way. Verification will 
always be asked when your character tries to ATTACK any being that isn't an 
enemy so as not to unintentionally harm a friend or innocent bystander.

FREE: Attempt to release a captive from various imprisonment.

GIVE: Attempt to give money or items to others. Enter a numeric value for the 
subject to give away gold pieces (e.g. GIVE 100). Neutral beings can sometimes 
be bribed into becoming friends if they are given 5,000 gold pieces or an item 
of equal value. When others are given drinkable or eatable items, they will 
usually just take a drink or bite and hand it back. If they are given a weapon, 
they will READY it if they don't already have one.

REQUEST: Ask another living being to give your character an item which they are 
wearing or carrying.

SMILE: Kill 'em with kindness. Every living being in the room will display a 
reaction showing how they currently feel about your character. Different or 
special reactions may occur in some adventures, however the default reactions 
found in most are growl (enemies), ignore/look (neutral beings), and smile 
(friends). SMILE can also be used to simply pass a turn.


SPELL COMMANDS:

These commands only work after your character learns the related spells.

BLAST: Attack an enemy or an item with a magic blast of energy. A successful 
BLAST will do 2-10 points of damage (ignoring enemy armor factors) and can be 
useful when your character doesn't have a weapon or is facing a heavily armored 
foe.

HEAL: Either heal your character's wounds (when entered without subject) or 
heal those of another living being.

SPEED: Temporarily double your character's agility. This spell can be useful 
when losing in battle to a skilled opponent or attempting to thoroughly clean 
and organize a house in one afternoon.

POWER: An unpredictable spell of randomness which has useful or amusing effects 
in most adventures.


MISCELLANEOUS COMMANDS:

INVENTORY: Display a list of all of the items your character is wearing and 
carrying. If INVENTORY is entered with a subject then it will display a list of 
items worn and carried by another being instead.

STATUS: Display a classic RPG "character sheet" style layout with a detailed 
report of your character's current skills, attributes and other data. STATUS 
will also display special reports or effects in some adventures.

LOOK: Repeat the long description of the current room. Unlike many classic 
Eamon systems, LOOK does not find hidden objects or doors in Eamon Deluxe. 
Instead, the EXAMINE command is used to search for and reveal such things.

SAY: Make your character say something. Anything. A lot of adventures have 
"magic" words or phrases which trigger special effects. SAY VI MODE is a system 
command which toggles extra screen clearing off and for the current adventure. 

SAVE: Eamon Deluxe adventure allow for up to five different saved games. If 
entered by itself, a prompt will follow asking which saved game slot to use and 
if a new name for that slot is desired. Entering SAVE 1, SAVE 2, etc. will 
"quick save" the game using the slot number specified, keeping its current 
description. Save 1 [Name] will save your game in that slot and change the 
description to whatever you specify.

RESTORE: Restores a previously saved game. Works just like the SAVE routine, 
with RESTORE 1, RESTORE 2, etc. used to invoke the "quick restore" feature.

HINTS: Displays a menu with general help along with any available hints or 
notes specific to the current adventure.

QUIT: Stop playing the adventure and return to the Eamon Deluxe main menu.
QUIT HALL: Exit the adventure completely, removing your character and placing 
them back at the Main Hall in the exact state they were in before the adventure 
was started.


11. CREDITS AND LICENSE INFO

Credit goes to the developers of the original Apple II Eamon system, Donald 
Brown, John Nelson, Rick Volberding and Thomas Zuchowski. While obviously and 
intentionally based upon Classic Eamon, Eamon Deluxe is a unique system written 
and developed entirely by Frank Black Productions. It is intended as a tribute 
to Classic Eamon, a preservation effort, and a gateway for the continued 
creation and enjoyment of Eamon adventures in a modern environment.

Along with those mentioned above, special thanks also go out to:

Matthew Clark for creating and maintaining the official home of the Eamon 
Adventurer's Guild (www.EamonAG.org). Matthew and his website have long been an 
indispensable resource to the Eamon community.

The DOSBox Team (www.dosbox.com) for providing me with one of the tools needed 
to continue the development and cross-platform distribution of the strange, 
continually-mutating creature that is Eamon Deluxe (still in its native 
environment, long after support for that environment was abandoned by its own 
creator). DOSBox 0.74 is free software distributed under the GNU General Public 
License.

Luke Hewitt and Patrick Moen for their extensive help in the inspiration, 
development and testing of VI Mode.

John MacArthur, Jared Davis, Thomas Ferguson and Derek C. Jeter who were the 
first authors to pen adventures using the Eamon Deluxe system. Thomas deserves 
extra thanks for all of his work with recovering lost treasures, converting 
classic adventures, and a multitude of other contributions to the Eamon 
community.

And, of course, all of the game authors out there who contributed their own 
entries into the massive and varied Eamon adventure library. Whether it be a 
26-room, 5-monster cave or a Middle-Earth epic, every Eamon adventure is a fun 
and fantastic journey into the imagination of its creator and is a piece of 
gaming history.



      Eamon Deluxe 5.0 - A complete fantasy/RPG/adventure gaming system.
                Copyright (C) 2013 Frank Black Productions
  
Eamon Deluxe is released as free software under the GNU General Public License 
and is distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of 
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. For more information write 
to: Free Software Foundation, Inc. 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111 
You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General 
Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 
of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

Donations are very much appreciated but never required; all I really ask is 
that you have fun.
