DWL Survival Manual III - Updated 7/09/89 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DWL has a character configuration which consists of the following attributes: 1) Strength 2) Dexterity 3) Hit Points 4) Radiation 5) Experience 6) Crystals 6) Level 7) Race Each user will start off by entering the Recruiting chambers to set up their initial Strength, Dexterity, and Hit Point attributes. STRENGTH: ~~~~~~~~ Strength is primarily the ability to exert force -- lifting, shoving, pushing down, or fighting. Strength is a vital attribute in fighting. It different- iates between a wimpy scum-blinging to a massive Hercules. The higher your strength, the more damage you will be able to do. DEXTERITY: ~~~~~~~~~ Dexterity refers to manual dexterity and general agility. Again, the higher your dexterity, the more effect you will be in combat. Dexterity is also used to calculate the marksmanship for the user of missile/projectile weapons. A high dexterity may also be important for "breaking into places" or to escape from a misleading circumstance. HIT POINTS: ~~~~~~~~~~ Hit Points are probably the most vital of all attributes. If your hit points equal zero or below, you will be considered dead (no doubt about it). When checking your status, the first number for hit points is your CURRENT points. The number in parenthesis is your highest possible hit points. Hit points, as well as strength, can be regenerated by liquifying water crystals and drinking them. RADIATION: ~~~~~~~~~ Radiation shows the percentage of radiation present on or in your body. A high radiation factor of over 50% will prohibit you from entering into the Complex from the wastelands (this prevents any contamination within the Complex). In hand-to-hand combat, your character can be affected from your opponent's radiation (vice-versa). If your radiation percentage reaches over 70%, the radiation within you will start to decay your body. Your hit-points will slowly decrease until they reach 0. You may heal radiation by drinking water crystals, using a medical pack, or visiting the Treatment room in HQ. EXPERIENCE POINTS: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Exp. Points are gained for efforts your character does either in the wastelands or in the Complex. Experience can be gained from stealing crystals, stealing equipment or weapons, finding objects, fighting against other players, killing monsters, and other numerous activities. More is explained in the Levels section. WATER CRYSTALS: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Water crystals are the main source of trade on this planet. Since the money system contained no value, crystals are now used as a source of survival. These crystals can be bartered for things such as weapons, equipment, armour, radiation treatments, or anything else that involves a trading of some sort. Water crystals are short in supply, but strong in demand. In the wasteland, when you have no water drink, you will slowly dehydrate and die. To avoid this from happening, keep a strong supply of water crystals on hand or in the Storage Bank (See SM II). LEVEL: ~~~~~ Your characters level is based on his/her experience points. The following table shows the ratios: Level Exp. Pts. ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ 0 1,000 1 2,000 2 4,000 3 8,000 4 16,000 5 32,000 6 64,000 7 128,000 8 200,000 9 280,000 10 360,000 11 440,400 12 440,401+ Therefore, the maximum level is 12. Once you have reached the need experience points for a particular level, you will receive a level bonus at log on. Here you will be allowed to raise one of your attributes by 4. This occurs each time a new level is achieved. RACE: ~~~~ (See SM II.) Within the Supply Room... The Complex's Supply Room can be found in HQ. Once in the Supply Room, you may either buy/sell weapons, ammunition, armour, and equipment. In the weapons listing, the first 6 weapons are considered HAND-TO-HAND COMBAT weapons. These are the ONLY weapons that can be used during H-t-H combat. Weapons 7-16 are projectile weapons and may ONLY be used for long range combat. The following list shows the different weapons, small definition, and ammo required to use the weapon: [ Hand-To-Hand Combat Weapons ] Weapons: Ammunition: ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ Switchblade Nil (Average "street" switchblade found almost anywhere. These weapons do not inflict much damage but can be effective when experienced with one.) NightStick Nil (The common "club" most associated by the HeXonium police force. They are approximately weigh 5.5 pounds and very durable.) Steel Chain Nil (A specialized unbreakable steel linked together into a 3 feet chain. This weapon could be considered the "best minor" hand-to-hand weapon since it requires no ammunition and is more effective than the switchblade or stick.) Electro-Stunner Power Belt/Back Pack (These are stunners which consist of a 4 foot cane [average sized walking stick] and contain a high-voltage stunner on the end. These are effective against smaller animal-types. NOT to be used against other humans.) Sonic Knife Power Belt/Back Pack (This is an extended very sharp knife with an archaic dagger-type style. A power supply surrounds the blade of the knife with high-voltage electricity. When an incision is made, the electricity enters the opponents wound and expands the wound, causing extreme damage.) Electric Sword Power Belt/Back Pack (The electric sword is approximately 4 feet long and has the same structure as the sonic knife contains, except that the sword has a higher voltage extreme. This is sometimes called the "Big-Daddy" of Hand-To-Hand combat weapons.) [ Long Range/Projectile Weapons ] Weapons: Ammunition: ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ .9mm Lugar Pistol Bullet/Jet Clip (Direct from HeXonium Underground -- main weapon used by the force. This weapon is the cheapest [and least effective] of the projectile weapons.) Laser Rifle Rifle Jet-Clip (This rifle is specialized with laser sites and targeting. The jet clip provides for a subtle kick-back effect and better siting.) .45 Thompson Thompson Drum (From the old order of "Tommy" guns. These guns are rare on this planet but are effective because of the number of rounds the drum holds.) 10 gauge Shotgun Power-Clip (Another archaic weapon, the 10 g. shotgun is a powerful but lacks ammo supply when involved with long missions. The new "Power-Clip" ammo-type is a recent discovery which replaces the old 2-bit shells.) NATO M16 Power-Clip (This weapon was known for its use in the old wars, but now proves to be less common because of the semi-compatible Power-Clip ammo. The Power-Clips do not hold as many rounds as the old M16's bullet-chains used to.) Grenade Mortar Smoke/Fragment/Nuki Grenades (The Grenade Mortar is an effective weapon in long range combat because of the 3 different grenade types. The smoke grenade gives off a poisonous gas which reduces the opponents strength (this can be avoided with a Gas Mask). The Fragment grenade is like the regular grenades which explodes its metal casing into the enemy. The Nuki grenade, which is still experimental in HQ, releases toxic waste as it explodes as well as its explosion damage. Grenade ammo comes in pairs.) Rocket Launcher LAW Rocket (An effective weapon if the operator has an extremely high dexterity. This is the same LAW rocket ammo that was used in the old wars.) Flame Thrower Power Belt/Back Pack (An electrical supplied flame thrower which spreads a flame up to 30 feet. This weapon is hardly a miss if the opponent is within range.) Sonic Disruptor Power Belt/Back Pack (This is a new experimental weapon created by HeXonium Force which releases high frequency sound waves to destroy objects. The sound waves "disrupt" almost any type of living thing's nervous system, causing extreme pain.) Sonic Devastator Power Belt/Back Pack (Created after the Disruptor, with a few improvements -- stronger and higher frequency released, ability to "kill", and is considered the most effective projectile weapon to use. Expensive, but well worth it.) Also, in the Supply Room, are different forms of armour and protection. Here is a listing of those: Armour: ~~~~~~ Leather armour -- absorbs 50% of damage HX Armour -- absorbs 66% of damage Laser Vest -- absorbs 75% of damage Mega-Pro -- absorbs 80% of damage If fighting and combat are your main priorities to survival, it is suggested that armour may help you beat the odds of dying. Next in the Supply Room is equipment. Some equipment may be useless at the present. Further notification will resume the use of these items. Equipment: ~~~~~~~~~ Compass (If you plan on entering the wastelands and exiting again, a compass is a necessity. The compass displays the horizontal and vertical location of your position within the wastelands. Remeber where the Complex is!) Silencer (This silencer is sometimes confused with a weapon silencer. However, this silencer is a device which you place in your pack [or possibly on a weapon] which actually absorbs sound waves, reducing echo and sounds of your actions. When using a silencer outside the Complex, wandering monsters and beasts are less likely to hear you or bother you.) Dynamite (Dynamite found/bought is of very cheap quality which is the reason why the cost is so cheap. Dynamite can be used to blow up security systems on Bases. If there is no security on a Base, the entire base can be destroyed.) Gas Mask (This rare item is used to protect oneself from poisonous gases or smoke from grenades or possibly dynamite ash.) Poison (Poison can be added to hand-to-hand weapons but not long range. The poison only lasts thru your next h-t-h fight. Poison is most effective when battling another character instead of monster.) Thumpers (Thumpers [Ever see the movie Dune?] attract a pure-radiation beast called Nukem. Once a thumper is placed, Nukem will be attracted to that location. Anyone that enters a space that Nukem is in will be mutilated by him (it?). Infrared Scanner (This piece of equipment is considered one of the most powerful and most useful in the wastelands. The scanner literally "scans" ahead and displays the environment around your position onto the console of the scanner. The infrared scanner is especially useful when mapping.) Transmitter (Some call this item "the only way home" when lost in the wastelands. The transmitter allows you to pick up radio frequencies from the Complex and allows you to send or receive messages. E-Mail, however, is not supported by the transmitter. The transmitter picks up frequencies ONLY from the HX909 area.) Geiger Counter (The Geiger Counter calculates the amount of radiation within one square mile of you. It prints out on display the percentage of radiation.) Anti-Radiation Suit (Or sometimes called the AR suit, protects the wearer from excess exposure to radiation. However, the suit isn't 100% guaranteed to protect fully.) Medical Kit (The medical kit can used in order to heal wounds and to decrease the amount of radiation present in your body. Only 8 applications come with the kit however.) Lock-Pick Set (A Lock-Pick set can be used to enter Bases that are in the wastelands. A Lock-Pick can be used against all forms of security systems, but they are most effective against steel locks or gas alarm locks.) [ End of Part III. ]