It is a time of change. The old overlords have lost control over the land, and the people live in fear. Magical creatures and evil forces are everywhere. It is told that in a far region there is a source of power so strong that anyone who could reach it would be able to dominate the land. Many adventurers have tried to find this legendary place; but the perils are many and few have returned alive. Those that have all speak of the same thing - that the place cannot be found without the TALISMAN. Playing TALISMAN 1) LOADING Load either side of the cassette. LOAD"" 2) CHARACTER SELECTION Up to four characters can be in the game; they can all be computer controlled (independent) or controlled by real players. You will be asked "ARE THERE TO BE NEW PLAYERS?" Answer Y (for Yes) or N (for No) Answer Yes if you have just loaded the game, or if you have restarted the game and want to select new players. Answer No if you are restarting (eg. because you have just been killed) but want to keep the same characters. You will be asked "HOW MANY CHARACTERS ARE THERE?" Enter 1-4 (you can make the quest without competition if you want - in which case press 1. Remember that the other three characters can be computer controlled though). Select the characters by using the up and down direction keys - 6 & 7. 0 selects the Character. You can give characters a name up to 10 letters long. The different characters have slightly different initial strengths and craft values: The Elf 3 strength 4 craft The Priest 3 strength 4 craft The Assassin 3 strength 3 craft The Warrior 5 strength 3 craft The Ghoul 4 strength 4 craft The Thief 3 strength 4 craft The Wizard 3 strength 5 craft The Sorceress 3 strength 5 craft The Druid 3 strength 5 craft The Troll 5 strength 3 craft After selecting each character, you will be asked, "INDEPENDENT CHARACTER?". Answer Y for computer controlled, or N for not. When all characters have been selected, you will be asked "LAID BACK, MODERATE OR SPEEDY?" (Enter L, M, or S). This refers to the speed the game plays at. Start on LAID BACK! 3) PLAYING THE GAME Move left or right with the arrow keys (5 & 8). Occasionally you will need to select which location you move into (eg. N or W). Watch the screen for reports. The top part of the screen will show you what objects (magic and ordinary) are in the location. The middle section shows a picture of the character, and its strength, craft, lives, gold, and spells (if any). There is an hourglass on the right. The bottom section shows you the ordinary objects in detail and any followers that are there. To pick up the objects and followers you must stop in the location (press ENTER). Various events will happen when you stop. You might be attacked by a monster, in which case you will have to defeat it in order to gain the objects and followers. A monster may attack with strength or craft; when it appears on the screen, its value will be shown alongside yours. At this point you can run away if you're quick! Once you are fighting, pressing any key will add a random value between one and six to both sides. Whoever has the greater total value will then win. Many other events besides monsters can and do occur; most locations have random events. If you do not stop anywhere, when your hourglass time- limit is up, you will stop where you are. Remember that there are events which can increase and decrease all of your values - for example, it is possible to get lost lives 'healed' at a castle if you have a prince or princess following you. Pressing P in your turn gives you your player information. Pressing SPACE allows you to: a) Press 1, 2, 3, or 4 which gives you the other players' information, but ends your turn. b) Press C to continue with the next player (without an event happening to you). c) Press R to restart the game. You may need to fight another player (e.g. if you kill one, it will lose all its objects). To do so, position your character over your target and press: 2 to fight with strength 1 to fight with craft Pressing CAPS SHIFT ends your turn (after you have stopped). If you see "CONTINUING" at the bottom of the screen, your turn has also ended, so press CAPS SHIFT. Sometimes you may have to miss a turn - although you cannot do anything, you will still need to press CAPS SHIFT. 4) SPELLS During the game you will acquire spells. These can be used at any time during your go. They are shown in the spell section of the screen (below the gold) as letters, and can be cast by pressing that letter. They are: A - STAY ALIVE - No lives can be lost in this turn by monster attack. B - PSIONIC BLAST - Concentrates your alpha waves into an unstoppable energy beam. Kills. C - MAGIC CLOAK - Protects player from attacks by other players for that round. D - TIME DILATION - All other players miss a turn. E - EVADE - Monsters cannot attack you this turn. F - FREEZE - Cast on another player. He misses a turn. G - GOLD DIVINING - Gain 3 gold. H - HEALING - Heale up to 4 lives. I - ALIGNMENT CHANGE - Random change. J - TELEPORT JUMP - Random teleport to another location. K - SCARE - Frightens all followers away from another player. L - LOSE ALL - Cast on another player. He loses all his magic objects. M - MEGASTRENGTH - Adds 6 extra strength in combat. 5) ALIGNMENT You might be good, neutral or evil. It may be important. 6) OBJECTS & FOLLOWERS There are 7 ordinary objects, 8 magic objects, and 8 followers. Most of these add to your strength and craft, and some have very specific uses. Watch out for the Gremlin; it may be necessary to lose him! Objects Magic Objects Followers Talisman Rune Sword Maiden Water bottle Soloman's Crown Prince Sword Magic Belt Princess Axe Holy Grail Pixie Helmet Magic Potion Unicorn Shield Holy Lance Gnome Armour Cross Guide Ring Gremlin 7) In the event of a broken program. Run will restart. ------------------------------------------------------ CREDITS TALISMAN was written and programmed by SLUG from an original boardgame by Robert Harris. Cover Artwork by Chris Achiellos Photographs by Nic Grecas Production Artwork by Brian Cumming Produce by Angus Ryall (c) Games Workshop Ltd 1985 Copyright 1985 Games Workshop Ltd. This program is sold subject to the terms of trade and the conditions of sale of the publishers, copies of which are available on request. The contents are not to be copied, hired re-sold, publicly performed or broadcast without the publisher's written consent. Games Workshop Ltd. 27/29 Sunbeam Rd. London NW10 6JP. TELEX:8951 1182 GECOMS G