
                              RAIDER Version 3.14
                        By Fire Elf, Trapezoid Software
            (C) Copyright Christopher Sean Forgeron 1988,1989,1990
                    ========================================

                              ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

              Trapezoid Software, <--R-A-I-D-E-R--<<, and Fire Elf
                      are Trademarks of Chris Forgeron

         Raider is written by Chris Forgeron, of Nova Scotia, Canada, eh.


 I designed RAIDER after a few bouts with J.P.S.C.L.B. Quest for the Atari ST
by Joe Pannone.  The game had a good idea behind it, but did not show good
programing. (Not to insult the programmer(s)) After a while, I grew tired of
the randomness, and designed my own. This program is the product of my labours.

 This help file will not go into the details of RAIDER, just the basics.
One reason for this is to keep this file short. The other is that you are
susposed to learn the details of Raider through playing. This is what makes
some players better than others.

 At the start of your (hopefully long) journey, you are given a character.  The
character has 4 main attributes that you should concern yourself with.
 Each attrib. is out of a number between 3-18. Normal Human score = 8-15

 Strength     - How strong you are. The stronger you are, the more damage you
 (STR)          do to your opponent. It also increases chance to hit.

 Speed        - How quick you are. Makes it harder to hit you by lowering your
 (SPD)          armour class. Kender will also find a high SPD to be useful
                because a high SPD will give bonuses to your Pick Pocket
                chances.

 Constitution - Your personal stamina. Your constitution will determine the
 (CON)          ammount of Hit Points that are added to your HP Maximum every
                time you gain a level. Generally, its 1-10 HP added, plus a -2
                to a +2 HP bonus, depending on CON.

 Charisma     - How well you react with others/Leadership skills. This is
 (CHR)          helpful when you are looking for henchmen. The higher the CHR,
                the lower the cost of the henchmen.

 You are also given the choice of belonging to a race. There is a choice of
Elves, Humans, Dwarfs, Gnomes, Orcs, and Kender. Each is different.

 Elf    - These are the protectors of the wild. They are deadly quick with a
bow, but are not made of the sterner stuff of humans. Usually shun Mankind.

 Human  - Your run of the mill Homo-Sapiens Sapiens. Nuff Said.

 Dwarf  - These short, stocky, bearded creatures are quite a sturdy lot.

 Gnome  - These are quick, little beings that are highly intelligent, but
lacking in real stamina.

 Orc    - The perfect fighting machine. These huge creatures have plenty of
strength, and bad manners. They are generally shunned by all other races.

 Kender - These little belling resemble human young. They are only half a man
tall, and are also known as Halflings. They are extremely good thieves, and
thus are not liked by many. Kender may <P>ick Pockets. The skill at PP grows
with the Kender's XP.

 Your Hit Points (HP) are how much damage your character can take before dying.
You get between 1-10 HP each Level you gain.

 Your Armour Class (AC) is determined by your DEX and what armour you are
wearing. The lower the armour class the better for you, as it makes it harder
for your opponent to hit you. Note - A Shield can be used with other armour
for increased bonus.

 Your henchmen (HM) are a rowdy lot who will fight for you as long as you feed
them, and pay them. Henchmen require 1/10th of a GP each Game Day, and 1 ration
per henchman a day.
 NOTE - How you treat your henchmen does make a diffrence. If you do not feed
them, do not pay them, and tend to loose many battles, they will leave you,
and it will cost more per HM to buy new.

 You are given a wide selection of weapons. This version only supports offensive
weapons, but later on, you will be able to purchase offence/defence weapons,
things like Chucks, Poles, etc. Note - The Dagger gives you 2 attacks per
round as opposed to the 1 attack per round of other weapons.

 Your level is determined by how many experience points (XP) you have. Every
level gained, you increase your HP by 1-10 points.
 You gain a level every 1000 XP. When you hit 5th Level, you gain a level every
2000 XP. 10th level requires 3000XP for a level increase, and so on.

 You have 10 turns (Usually) to use each day. Fighting a battle, becoming
healed by the clerics, and working all take one turn, not to mention various
other deeds. The Day is over when you run out of turns.

  Now, a little about the game it's self.

 When you start the game, you have a choice of options. Each one holds an
important function.

 Character Status - A listing of your stats. AC, HP, STR, SPD, CON, CHR,
                   Weapons, etc, etc.

 Visit Shoppes   - Here you have 5 choices.
                   - Weapons Shoppe - A wide range of weapons for sale.
                   - Armour Shoppe - Quality armour for sale.
                   - Bakery - Where you can buy rations for your men.
                   - Magic User's Guild - Many Arcane artifacts, of high price.
                   - Fighter Training - Increase the damage you can inflict.

 Visit Inn - Here have 4 choices.
              - Look for Henchmen - The Tavern part of the inn is always a
              good place to pick up a few stout men. For a price, of course.
              The Better your charsima, and the better you men's morale, the
              less a HM will cost, and the more HM will be avaiable.
              - Look for a job - This is where you can work for a few GP.
              There are always nasty jobs to be done, that no one else will do.
              - Gamble - You have 50/50 odds, double or nothing.
              - Lotto - Pick 3 numbers. Match 1, get 50 GP, match 2, 100, 3 150
              Tickets are 10 GP, and you can play once per day.
              - Look for Captains - Enlist a trained captain to lead your
              forces in a town. Captains are Level 5, have Chain and a Bastard
              sword.. Far Cry better than just having a henchman command the
              town.

 Attack/Visit Towns - There are 17 towns in the local area, belonging to
                      various people, rich for your taking. After you conquer
                      a town, you can visit it, to update the Guards or money.
                      The town can also be re-conquered by other players, or by
                      Frost Elf himself.
                       Once you conquer a town, you can install a captain in
                      the town, who will be leader of the town. Captains are
                      level five, wear Chain mail, and carry a bastard Sword.
                       The guards (Your henchmen that you assigned) will take
                      their pay from the town treasury, and their food from the
                      town's grain stockpiles. Make sure you keep your towns
                      stocked with gold and rations.
                       The Towns will produce Gold (Tax) and Rations (the poor
                      man's Tax) depending on the ammount of population, and
                      the population depends on the Economy (The # of GP in the
                      treasury) and how well the town is defended.
                       All Tax (Both Gold and Ration) are payed directly into
                      your town's stores.
                       I will tell you that having 50 GP in the town is enough
                      to get things moving.
                       Every day town maintence is run. Watch for it.

 Gladiator Fighting - Here the most desperate of men can fight for their lives,
                      and for their purses. Gladiatorial fights bring good
                      money. But once you reach enough power, you will not be
                      admitted to the games. There is no sport in slaughter.

 Read Helpfile - This file here.

 Visit bank - here you can put your hard earned money to work. The bank pays
              3% interest per day. (A day is when you run out of turns) This
              keeps your money safely away from Thieves, Bullies, and
              Pickpockets. Of course, not all of the tellers are honest.

 Visit Temple - Here the clerics can heal you...for a price. The money goes to
                the owner of the town.

 Visit Library - Many old books of lore may be read. The system Call-log is
                 one, along with a recent history file, and a listing of all
                 the players in Raider.

 Change Town/Dutchy - This changes which town you reside in, or which Dutchy's
                      rule you will reside under. The reasons for changing
                      Towns are so your money that you pay to the temple goes
                      to the owner that you want.
                      The reason for changing Dutchys is to gain access to more
                      towns. Each dutchy has 20 Towns.

 Spy on Town - Find out vital information before a siege of the town.

 Fire Henchmen - Sometimes is is necessary to rid your self of some of you men.
                 it's unplesant, but has to be done.

 Now for a brief history of the lands..

 Solsonia was a happy place for many a century. The Harvest was good, the
weather fair, the people beautiful and kind.

 Then came the one named Frost Elf.

 Frost Elf, and his evil minions ravaged the lands. They destroyed everything
in their path, occupied towns, and brought winter to stay in the lands. The
destruction brought on by this foe and his powerful magic was untold of until
now. The world was thrown into Chaos.

 But out of the Chaos rose a new type of man. One who could use the situation
to his advantage. The lands were divided, and the laws were dictated by the
ones with the best sword arms, and largest armys. If you could conquer all the
towns, then you would rule the land! Or at least rule a good portion of the
towns.

 But of course, you forgot that Frost Elf may not like this...

                 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

 I hope you have fun. These may be poorly written DOCuments, but Raider can
speak for itself, and is an easy system to learn. All comments are welcome.
 Contact your sysop for a list of ways to find me, if you care to. :-)



                    -Chris Forgeron (a.k.a Fire Elf)

