Back to section 4: Game Considerations (Advanced Game)

5. Lists, tips and other paraphernalia for the DARKLANDS voyager

Rare items and places in DARKLANDS (Holy relics, Devil's Bridge, etc.)

These are found in evil monasteries, locked in chests. Once in the hands of the group, they are freed and can be returned to a cathedral (not just any church) in a city. The return of these holy relics does not appear to confer any direct benefits on your group in the way of improving individual characteristics, but each donation transfers 30 points or so to improve your local reputation. It would appear that a donation of more than one relic per day does not, however, grant more increases. If a player has more than one relic, he should spread the donations over a few days, or a few cities.

Some holy relics can be used by the group, others cannot. All those with 99q are not useable or saleable, and all weapons (with less than 99q) can be equipped and used as regular weapons. Other than their obvious quality, useable holy relics may or may not have other beneficial properties. Certainly, no items of such quality can be purchased anywhere.

Useable

NOTE (AvL): Donating relics not only improves your local reputation, it increases your virtue level as well. Furthermore, relics can be used to cleanse an evil place, the diabolic altar in a satanic village, for instance.

b. The Devil's Bridge, the Good Witch

The Devil's Bridge can be found before entering the village of South Nurn. 'Nuff said.

The good witch can be found in a tower SW of Magdeburg. She will evaluate your level of training to determine whether you are capable of taking on the evil that lurks in the darklands. You can return to this place for a quick appraisal.
 

c. Clothing Manufacturers in cities

As was pointed out by Chris Meadows (robotech@eyrie.stanford.edu), clothiers will never sell you anything during the day, but if you go back at night...

Back to Table of Contents

List of cities with Cathedrals, Universities

In Universities, you can combine most of the functions of some of the other learning institutions, the Kloster and the Alchemist. The University will allow you to learn about saints or purchase alchemical material (the physician also), and to upgrade your Philosopher's Stone. Furthermore, you can hire the services of a professor to teach the following subjects: Alchemy, Religion, Speak Latin, Read and Write and Healing. The first can also be obtained from an Alchemist, the middle three from a Kloster and the last from a Physician. Note that cities not listed here have neither a Cathedral nor a University.

NOTE (AvL): A short note on hiring teachers. It's mostly a better choice to hire 'private' teachers rather than those from Universities. I haven'tnoticed a higher rate of increasing skill/knowledge at University teachers, while they charge you two or three times higher than other will do. For example, if you are in Prag and hire a teacher at the University, he will take 90pfs for alchemical instruction, while the local Alchemist is hireable for only 26pfs (prices may vary, relations stay the same) !)

• Aachen
• Augsburg
• Bamberg
• Basel
• Brandenburg
• Braunschweig
• Breslau
• Bremen
• Brunn
• Danzig
• Erfurt
• Flensburg
• Frankfurt O
• Freiberg
• Freiburg B
• Goslar
• Hamburg
• Köln
• Konstanz
• Leipzig
• Lübeck
• Luxemburg
• Magdeburg
• Mainz
• Munster
• Osnabrück
• Paderborn
• Prag
• Schleswig
• Soest
• Speyer
• Strassburg
• Stuttgart
• Thorn
• Trier
• Worms
• Würzburg
• Xanten
• Zurich

• Erfurt
• Heidelberg
• Köln
• Leipzig
• Nürnberg
• Prag
• Rostock
• Würzburg

Strange things in the game

Grappling Hook, Rope

 

(NOTE AvL) A rope is of use for leaving a town by the city wall, entering a cave on top of a mountain, getting yourself out of the pit in the mines and dragging a companion out of the quicksand when travelling through a bog. I believe a grappling hook supports most of these purposes as well. However, all occasions for using a rope include different options which will serve the special purpose more accurately. Leaving the pit with the help of a Stone-Tar potion is guaranteed success better than anything else, leaving the town by a sewer rather than climbing up the wall using a rope, and getting your comrade out of the mud is properly done with a Transformation potion.

Harp, Flute

 

(NOTE CMB) To be used in combination with prayers to St.Cecilia, Patron Saint of music, who, among other thing "enhances local reputation greatly if the person has a musical instrument".

Superb Horse, Fast Horse, Average Horse, Pack Horse, Mule

 

(NOTE DA) Superb horses increase the travel speed of the party. The best indicator for this is the night/day icon in the upper right corner of the display: it really slows down when the group has superb horses. It will speed up again in mountainous and forested areas or anywhere the going gets tough. I have never found whether the party needs only one superb horse or whether everyone needs one -- anyone know? I am not sure, but I think that the best places to seek out superb horses are in villages (that's where I usually find them) or monasteries.

 

(NOTE AvL) With horses, you have the option to make an attempt to outrun boars, wolves and the Wild Hunt. Yet, I haven't figured out (or just can't remember) if this works if only one of your party members owns a horse. Nor did I find out if a fast or a superb horse increases your chance of success proportionally. But I guess your riding skill will affect this as well. Also, when meeting pilgrims, sick people or displaced villagers, you can offer your mules to them for easing their travellings, which increases your virtue. What I can say, is that horses and so on are significant only if your purse grows too heavy }-) I haven't noticed a better traveling speed or anything like that.

 

(NOTE CMB) Furthermore, horses appear in towns. They don't seem to affect the price of your lodgings, but they are mentioned if you go to the port at night, as part of an attempt to escape from a city.

 (NOTE CMB) The following is an exchange between Mark Kundinger <mtk@owlnet.rice.edu> and myself on the subject of the boar's tusk:

Mark: You can use a Tusk of the Boar to attempt to purify a satanic shrine place thingy.
 
CMB: How do you use it?  I never had the option of using it, as I recall.  I presume the character with the highest "holiness" has to carry it?
 
Mark: Well, usually after wiping out an evil village, I would see the options of physically destroying it, and using a potion on it, I think.  However, once I had the tusk (and I gave it to my holiest person, but I dunno if it's necessary) then I had the option of "using religious knowledge" or something to purify it.  It's handy.
 
FF and DA commented on this:
 
FF: I doubt the tusk had anything to do with his occurence. After all, when the tusk is obtained, it mentions that its for 'good luck'.  If it did anything, I'd assume that it helps some battle multiplier or hit accuracy or potions working correctly.  Satanic purification?  NOT.
 
DA: I also remember it being for good luck and only the leader needed it (one only). My recollection is that it was of only minor importance, but I can't recall what parameter you would check to see its effects. I surely don't remember any of the effects mentioned in the first email on this.
 
DA's son Carey found another use for tusks which I had also noted when I was playing the game:
Well, the only thing I remember the boar's tusk being useful for is using it as a "buffer" to protect your useful items when you're selling loot.  Since stores won't buy a boar's tusk, the inventory menu will stop scrolling when it gets to the tusk, and any items above it in the menu won't be sold accidentally.  Another good thing to use is clothing if your party is young and hasn't encountered boars.

Things with no apparent purpose in the game

If anyone knows of any use for these objects, please contact the authors.

Clock
Gold Cup
Wolfskin

Back to Table of Contents

Bits and pieces

The following is quoted from Microprose, README.TXT distributed with patch 483.07

CHARACTERS LEAVING BATTLE by STAIRS or LADDERS

If a character uses a ladder or stairway (a "portal") to change floors, remember that the character is now inaccessible except through the appropriate number key (1 through 5) on the keyboard. Please review pages 35-36 of the manual if you're confused.

Also note that "Multiple Portals" is more flexible than the manual suggests. If all survivors have left the original floor in different directions, the view shifts to the character who departed last. However, we still recommend that you rejoin the party immediately, since various functions (including group mode) may be confused by a party split onto various floors.

UNCERTAIN FATES & PRISONERS

Sometimes a character will suffer an uncertain fate. A series of "?" symbols appear in the blue character box. Such characters may be dead, may be a prisoner in a nearby city, or may have escaped their fate and be waiting for you at some nearby city inn.

To rescue a prisoner, you must get into the dungeons of the city hall. If forced into a fight, you must kill ALL the guards. Accomplishing this will free your compatriot.

1. Do you want to beat that bothersome knight who keeps challenging you to a joust or ride? Pray to Christoph (31) or George (23), defeat the knight, and increase your reputation.

2. The person using a rope to climb up something should remove all armor and weapons before climbing.

3. If the party is fighting just one strong enemy (raubritter, demon, etc.) he will fight with only one of your party. That means the other three may do battle using their berserk mode thus making short work of the enemy.

4. Once the party has some experience and skill, they may gain money at an accelerated pace by scouring the countryside for castles with evil rulers. Using Roch and Reinold or other saintly combinations, the party can discern whether or not the ruler is a good man or an evil man and then sneak into the castle if he is evil. There are usually bountiful goodies inside.

5. A note on the Wild Hunt. I think someone mentioned some specific saints who would stop the Wild Hunt. In my experience, the saint needed to end the hunt is never the same from one game to the next.

NOTE (CMB): The saint even changes within a single game, once you have defeated the hunt with one saint. The hunt will continue to attack you, and the Holzfrau will tell you the name of another saint. I presume it is the name of a saint you do not know at the time.

7. Here is what I know of the dwarf king mine question that Alex posed. On the second level down there are two ladders downward; one leads to the dwarf's treasure and the other leads to the dwarf himself. Take the treasure level first which consists of a couple more levels down before you reach the treasure. This path leads to the area where the gnomes keep multiplying as fast as you can kill them. The best thing to do is to run from them and escape to the next level down. This takes some dexterity and maneuvering since each member of the party must move as an individual. When you have retrieved the dwarf's treasure, return to the second level down from the surface and take the other ladder down to find the dwarf. The obvious thing to do when you meet him is to trade his treasure for returning the mine to the miners.

Michael Nemeth (v-vsmn@microsoft.com) contacted us with the following information about how to use a "feature" of the game to cheat.

	A few months ago, I very accidentally discovered a way to duplicate
	any item that you have without the use of an outside editor. I'm usually
	not one to cheat in games at all, but since this is the first "cheat" of
	this type that I have found on my own, without any help, I can't resist
	using it every great once a while.

	You start by going to the Inn in any city. Select "Store an item with
	the Innkeeper". Put whatever items you want to duplicate in the storage
	cache.

	Leave the the cache and then select "Store an item with the Innkeeper"
	again. Retrieve the items you have in storage, and DO NOT LEAVE the storage
	cache. Instead, hit ALT-L (for load game). At the Load Game menu, select
	"Return to Game". You will be returned to your game, but instead of appearing
	in the Storage Cache, you will notice that you are carrying the items you
	wanted to duplicate. Select "Store an item with the Innkeeper" once again,
	and the items will also be in the storage cache, ready to be picked up!!
	This is a way not only to keep your characters in good equipment, but basically
	have an unlimited source of cash. If you really want to tear through the
	game, just make one of each 45 quality potion, and duplicate to your hearts
	content. This can really be used for hard-core cheating if you're into
	that, but it can also be a way to give yourself that one extra 45-quality
	Composite bow that you can't find (or duplicate those holy relics, but
	I think that is a little sacreligious ;-) )

	I don't know whether many people know about this, but I figured I would share
	it, just in case.

In a later message, Michael adds:

	Just to let you know, after a little experimenting, I've found that
	this duplicating trick only works in version 483.06, but it has worked in
	every install I've tried. I guess for version 483.07, they found it and
	fixed it. (In version 7, there is no "Return to Game" option from the Load
	Game screen.)

Back to Table of Contents

Stupid things about DARKLANDS

1. Characters have no real limit on how much they can carry, even though weight for each object is given.

2. There is never a shortage of any particular good for sale. No matter where you go, you can always buy any number of a particular item for sale. Considering that Germany was not yet the rich nation it later became, it seems unlikely there would be an unending number of all items for sale at any given time.

3. There is no difference in size for various characters (Gretch can wear Gunther's armour and vice versa, an unlikely occurence in real life).

4. There is no need to eat or sleep while on the road. Normally, I would say this has been abstracted for the sake of simplicity, but for a game that actually requires you to decide what your characters do every hour of every day, you would think eating and sleeping might be requirements, rather than simply optional. Also, travelling is continuous, with no stops at night, unless you desire to do so. Your characters will cross Germany from end to end without stopping to rest or eat.

5. Travelling further by water does not cost more. Assuming it costs 3 groschen to go from Vordingbord to Naskskov, and it costs 3 groschen to go from Naskskov to Flensburg, it doesn't cost more than one fare to go from Vordingbord to Naskskov and continue on to Flensburg and even further, all the way to Thorn, if the opportunity arises.

6. Germans are extremely honest people; nothing you carry with you is ever stolen without your knowledge, or being able to fight to keep it.

7. You are never caught unaware, with your pants down and your weapons unready, unless the player has chosen to unequip his characters ahead of time.

8. No one ever bolts from combat, everyone fights to the death, unless the player chooses otherwise. Non-player characters die with their boots (or hooves) on.

9. A player character who has not been attacked will not involve itself in the defense of others, but a non-player character will.

10. Characters on the point of death can still strike with full force.

11. Armour and weapons never degrade as a result of regular combat. Only alchemical weapons cause armour to degrade.

12. Characters can pass things to one another, even though they're rooms apart.

13. The Archbishop of Trier has two capitals, Trier and Koblenz.

Back to Table of Contents

List of the First 40+ significant jobs and significant events in one game

This is the list of the first 40 jobs of a particular game. This is not intended to suggest that the events will take this course, but only as a guide to the types of jobs one can expect. This also does not include random events, such as wilderness or town encounters. Also, it should be noted that the game was on the easiest setting but not enhanced by save editors.
 

No.	Patron	Task
1	Fugger, Frankfurt M	Raubritter Raban of Bar, W of Speyer, SW of Frankfurt M
2	Fugger, Frankfurt M	Raubritter Endres Höltzel, NE of Bamberg, E of Frankfurt M
3	Medici, Frankfurt M	Raubritter Raban of Bar, W of Speyer, SW of Frankfurt M
4	Hansard, Frankfurt M	Medici in Freiberg, letters
5	Medici, Frankfurt M	Raubritter Konrad of Thurgau, NE of Köln, NW of Frankfurt M
6	Fugger, Frankfurt M	Fugger in Gröningen, letters
		Witches' gathering, S of Goslar, 22SEP
		Knockers, Mines near Aachen
7	Fugger, Dresden	Tarnhelm of Siegfried, SE of Worms
8	Hansard, Dresden	Raubritter Ulderich Linck, N of Freiberg, W of Dresden
9	Medici, Dresden	Scroll of Walram, N of Fulda
10	Medici, Fulda	Raubritter Endres Höltzel, NE of Bamber, SE of Fulda
11	Hansard, Leipzig	Medici in Linz, letters
12	Hansard, Goslar	Silver mace of Friedrich Barbarossa, Shrine N of Trier
13	Fugger, Koblenz	Medici in Burglitz, document
14	Medici & Hansard, Kuttenberg	Raubritter Eike of Lenzburg, W of Olmutz, E of Kuttenberg
15	Archbishop, Koblenz	Raubritter Konrad of Thurgau, NE of Köln, N of Koblenz
16	Fugger, Koblenz	Goods merchant in Gröningen, document
17	Alte Herr, Köln	Raubritter Kaspar Linck, NE of Aachen, W of Köln
18	Fugger, Köln	Fugger in Freiberg-im-B, document
19		Raubritter Diepold of Bar, NW of Xanten, N of Köln
20	Fugger, Köln	Tarnhelm of Siegfried, S of Leipzig
21	Fugger, Frankfurt M	noble relic (crown), W of Salzburg
22	Merchant, Salzburg	Raubritter Boto of Nunnenbeck, N of Salzburg
23	Bishop, Salzburg	Raubritter Leopold Osiander, N of Passau, N of Salzburg
24	Fugger and Medici, Augsburg	Raubritter Thom of Thurgau, NW of Ulm, W of Augsburg
25	Hansard, Augsburg	Fugger in Leipzig, document
26	Medici, Augsburg	Tarnhelm of Siegfried, N of Speyer
		Knockers, Mines near Kuttenberg
27	Fugger, Heidelberg	Raubritter Raban of Bar, W of Speyer, W of Heidelberg
		Witches' gathering, S of Freiberg B, 22SEP
		Discover location of Great Monastery
28	Hansard, Freiberg B	Raubritter Raban of Bar, W of Speyer, N of Freiberg B
		Witches' gathering, E of Strasburg, 13APR
		Witches' gathering, NW of Groningen, 22SEP
29	Medici, Gröningen	Raubritter Lienhard of Berlichingen, E of Paderborn, SE of Gröningen
30	Fugger, Worms	Raubritter Thom of Thurgau, NW of Ulm, SE of Worms
		Invoke St. Crispin to save team from Wild Hunt
		Witches' gathering, N of Breslau, 11JUN
		Witches' gathering, SW of Teschen, 31OCT
31	Hansard, Teschen	N of Burglitz, Prayer Book
32	Fugger, Teschen	N of Frankfurt O, Crown
33	Hansard, Dresden	Raubritter Udalrich Linck, N of Freiberg, W of Dresden
		Knockers, Mines near Speyer
34	Alte Herren, Hamburg	Raubritter Joachim Hochstetter, NE of Luneberg, E of Hamburg
35	Fugger and Medici, Hamburg	Raubritter Lienhard of Berlichingen, E of Paderborn, S of Hamburg
36	Teutonic Knights, Marienburg	Raubritter Rupert Schuffelin, W of Danzig, W of Marienburg
37	Fugger, Marienburg	Medici in Stettin, document
38	Hansard, Marienburg	Medici in Dresden, document
		Witches' gathering, SE of Görlitz, 25MAY
39	Fugger and Medici, Prenzlau	Raubritter Bernard Waas, NW of Prenzlau
40	Hansard in Prenzlau	Fugger in Thorn, document

 
Back to Table of Contents

Cities of Germany

(modern names, where applicable, given in square brackets, IFC = Imperial Free City)

CITIES OF THE DANUBE
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Augsburg		Mod	IFC, Home of Fugger Bank	Frager/Rat of the Reichstadte	Ulm, Regensburg
Brunn	Brno	Sm		Obervogt/Margrave of Mähren	Olmutz, Pressburg
Graz		Mod		Capital/Duke of Styria	Pressburg
Kufstein		Sm	alpine mines	Obervogt/Duke of Tyrol	Passau, Salzburg
Linz		Sm		Richter/Duke of Styria	Passau, Steyr, Wien
Munchen	Munich	Mod		Capital/Duke of Bavaria	Regensburg, Passau
Olmutz	Olomoue	Sm	bowyers	Capital/Margrave of Mähren	Brunn, Pressburg
Passau		Mod		Capital/Prince-Bishop of Passau	Regensburg, Munchen, Salzburg, Linz
Pressburg	Bratislava	Mod		Erbvogt/King of Hungary	Olmutz, Brunn, Wien, Graz
Regensburg		Mod	IFC	Schultheiss/Rat of the Reichstadte	Passau, Munchen, Augsburg, Ulm
Salzburg		Mod	armourers	Capital/Archbishop of Salzburg	Passau, Kufstein
Steyr		Sm	swordsmiths	Landhofmeister/Duke of Styria	Linz, Wien
Ulm		Lge		Altere Herren/Rat of the Reichstadte	Regensburg, Augsburg
Wien	Vienna	Mod	Free City	Losunger/Rat of the Reichstadte	Linz, Steyr, Pressburg

 

NON-RIVERINE CITIES OF THE UPPER DANUBIAN BASIN
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Teschen		Sm	importer of superlative bows	Capital/Prince of Teschen	n/a

 

CITIES OF THE NECKAR
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Heidelberg		Mod	University	Capital/Count Palatine	Worms, Speyer, Stuttgart
Rottweil		Sm	Free City	Burgermeister/Rat of the Reichstadte	Stuttgart
Stuttgart		Mod	armourers	Capital/Duke of Wurttemberg	Rottweil, Heidelberg

 

NON-RIVERINE CITIES OF THE UPPER DANUBE/RHINE AREA
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Freiburg B		Mod	swordsmiths	Capital/Count of Freiburg	n/a
Hall		Sm	Free City	Alte Herr/Rat of the Reichstadte	n/a
Nördlingen		Mod	IFC, gunsmiths	Schöff/Rat of the Reichstadte	n/a

 

CITIES OF THE MAIN
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Bamberg		Mod		Capital/Bishop of Bamberg	Nürnberg, Würzburg
Frankfurt M		Mod	IFC	Schultheiss/Rat of Reichstadte	Würzburg, Mainz
Nürnberg		Lge	IFC, finest metalworkers in the Empire	Schultheiss/Rat of Reichstadte	Bamberg
Würzburg		Mod		Capital/Prince-Bishop of Würzburg	Bamberg, Frankfurt M

 

CITIES OF THE UPPER RHINE
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Basel		Mod	Free City	Alte Losunger/Rat of Reichstadte	Strassburg, Zürich, Konstanz
Koblenz		Sm		Capital/Archbishop of Trier	Köln, Trier, Mainz
Konstanz	Constance	Sm	IFC	Schultheiss/Rat of Reichstadte	Zürich, Basel
Mainz		Mod		Capital/Archbishop of Mainz	Koblenz, Frankfurt M, Worms
Speyer		Mod	Independent bishopric	Capital/Bishop of Speyer	Worms, Heidelberg, Strassburg
Strassburg		Lge	Ancient Roman City	Erbvogt/Duke of Burgundy	Speyer, Basel
Worms		Mod	IFC, fine craftsmen and great churches	Burgermeister/Rat of the Reichstadte	Mainz, Heidelberg, Speyer
Zürich		Mod	crossbows and guns	Oberste Hauptmann/Swiss Confederation	Konstanz, Basel

 

CITIES OF THE MOSEL
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Nancy		Mod	large armour and gunmaking industries	Landhofmeister/Duke of Burgundy	Trier
Trier		Mod	wealthy city	Capital/Archbishop of Trier	Koblenz, Nancy

 

CITIES OF THE MIDDLE RHINE
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Duisberg		Mod	metalworking centre	Obervogt/Count of Cleve	Wesel, Xanten, Köln
Köln	Cologne	Lge	Free City, largest in Empire	Alte Herr/Rat of the Reichstadte	Duisberg, Koblenz
Wesel		Mod		Landhofmeister/Count of Cleve	Xanten, Duisberg, Paderborn, Nymwegen

 

NON-RIVERINE CITIES OF THE MIDDLE RHINE
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Aachen		Mod	Free City, craftsmanship	Schöff/Rat of the Reichstadte	n/a
Kempen		Sm		Landhofmeister/Archbishop of Köln	n/a
Luxemburg	Luxembourg	Mod		Vogt/Duke of Luxemburg	n/a

 

CITIES OF THE LIPPE
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Paderborn		Sm	swordsmiths	Capital/Bishop of Paderborn	Wesel

 

NON-RIVERINE CITIES OF THE LIPPE
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Dortmund		Sm	IFC, gunsmiths	Altere Herren/Rat of the Reichstadte	n/a
Soest		Sm	Free City, armourers	Frager/Duke of Westphalia	n/a

 

CITIES OF THE LOWER RHINE
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Deventer		Sm	clothmaking centre	Erbvogt/Bishop of Utrecht	Zwölle, Nymwegen, Xanten
Nymwegen	Nijmegen	Sm	Dutch Free City	Losunger/Duke of Guelders	Deventer, Xanten
Xanten		Mod	Free City	Alte Losunger/Archbishop of Xanten	Nymwegen, Wesel, Duisberg
Zwölle		Sm		Vogt/Bishop of Utrecht	Deventer, Elberg, Leer

 

NON-RIVERINE CITIES OF UTRECHT
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Munster		Mod		Capital/Prince-Bishop of Munster	n/a
Osnabrück		Mod		Capital/Bishop of Osnabrück	n/a

 

CITIES ALONG THE COAST OF THE NORTH SEA
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Bremen		Mod	swords	Vogt/Archbishop of Bremen	Hannover, Braunschweig, Kassel, Hamburg
Elburg		Mod	imports English cloth and bows	Erbvogt/Duke of Guelders	Zwölle
Gröningen		Sm	controlled by Dutch nobles	Vogt/King of Danemark	n/a
Hamburg		Lge	IFC, English imports	Altere Herren/Rat of the Reichstadte	Lüneberg, Brandenberg, Magdeburg, Bremen
Leer		Sm	Free City, missile weapons	Alte Losunger/Rat of the Reichstadte	Bremen, Zwölle

 

CITIES OF THE WESER
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Fulda		Sm	strategic city	Capital/Prince-Abbot of Fulda	Kassel
Kassel		Mod		Capital/Landgrave of Hesse	Bremen, Fulda

 

CITIES OF THE ALLER
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Braunschweig	Brunswick	Mod		Capital/Duke of Brunswick	Bremen, Goslar, Hannover
Goslar		Sm	Free City	Altere Herren/Rat of the Reichstadte	Braunschweig
Hannover		Mod		Burggraf/Duke of Brunswick	Bremen, Brunswick

 

CITIES OF THE ELBE
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Berlin		Sm		Burggraf/Margrave of Brandenburg	Fürstenberg, Brandenburg
Brandenburg		Sm	Capital of Prussia	Capital/Margrave of Brandenburg	Berlin, Hamburg, Magdeburg
Burglitz		Sm		Burggraf/King of Bohemia	Prag
Dresden		Mod	armourers, gunsmiths and artisans	Capital/Margrave of Meissen	Wittenberg, St.Joachimsthal, Prag, Kuttenberg
Freiberg		Mod	silver mines	Vogt/Margrave of Meissen	Magdeburg, Wittenberg
Fürstenberg		Sm		Landhofmeister/Margrave of Brandenburg	Berlin
Kuttenberg	Kutna Gora	Sm	great mining centre	Landhofmeister/King of Bohemia	Dresden, Prag
Leipzig		Mod	Free City	Burgermeister/Margrave of Meissen	Magdeburg, Wittenberg
Lüneberg		Mod	Free City	Frager/Rat of the Reichstadte	Hamburg
Magdeburg		Mod		Capital/Archbishop of Magdeburg	Hamburg, Leipzig, Wittenberg, Freiberg
Prag	Prague	Mod		Capital/King of Bohemia	Bürglitz, Kuttenberg, St.Joachimsthal, Dresden
St. Joachimsthal		Sm	surrounded by mines	Obervogt/King of Bohemia	Dresden, Kuttenberg, Prag
Wittenberg		Mod		Capital/Margrave of Meissen	Magdeburg, Leipzig, Freiberg, Dresden

 

NON-RIVERINE CITIES OF THE MIDDLE ELBE
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Erfurt		Mod	IFC, modest armament and great craftsmen	Schöff/Rat of the Reichstadte	n/a

 

CITIES ALONG THE COAST OF THE BALTIC
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Danzig	Gdansk	Lge	Baltic seaport	Richter/Teutonic Knights	Marienburg, Thorn, Stettin
Flensburg		Sm	many Danish residents	Erbvogt/King of Danemark	Schleswig, Naskskov
Lübeck		Lge	IFC, Centre of Hanseatic League	Oberste Hauptmann/Hanseatic League	Wismar, Schleswig
Naskskov		Sm	Small Danish trade and fishing port	Burggraf/King of Danemark	Vordingbord, Flensburg
Rostock		Mod	Free City, guns	Schöff/Duke of Mecklenburg	Wismar, Stralsund
Schleswig		Mod		Capital/Duke of Schleswig	Flensburg, Lübeck
Stettin	Sczcecin	Sm		Burggraf/Duke of Pomerania	Frankfurt O, Posen, Bromberg, Danzig
Stralsund		Mod	Free City	Burgermeister/Duke of Pomerania	Stettin, Rostock
Vordingbord		Sm	Small Danish trade and fishing port	Obervogt/King of Danemark	Naskskov
Wismar		Sm		Capital/Duke of Mecklenburg	Lübeck, Rostock

 

CITIES OF THE ODER
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Breslau	Wroclaw	Mod	Great trading city of Silesia	Vogt/Duke of Silesia	Frankfurt O, Posen, Görlitz
Frankfurt O		Mod	Free City	Frager/Margrave of Brandenburg	Stettin, Görlitz, Posen, Breslau
Görlitz		Mod		Capital/Count of Görlitz	Frankfurt O, Breslau

 

NON-RIVERINE CITIES OF THE ODER
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Prenzlau		Mod		Richter/Duke of Pomerania	n/a

 

CITIES OF THE WARTHE
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Bromberg	Bvdgoszcz	Mod		Burggraf/Teutonic Knights	Stettin, Frankfurt O, Posen
Posen	Poznan	Sm	Teutonic-Polish fortress	Erbvogt/Teutonic Knights	Stettin, Frankfurt O

 

CITIES OF THE WEICHSEL
 

Name	Mod name	Size	Noted for	Ruled by/for	Docks lead to
Marienberg	Malbork	Mod	Fortress capital for the Hochmeister of the Teutonic Order	Capital/Teutonic Knights	Danzig, Thorn
Thorn	Torun	Mod	Teutonic fortress city	Vogt/Teutonic Knights	Marienburg, Danzig

 

Back to Table of Contents

Enemies

All these characteristics vary a lot from one group to another, but I'm not sure what effect it actually has on combat.

Ordinary Humanity:

Rather than show all the possible variations, let's say that humans of all ilk usually wear leather, padded or scale in the 10-15q range and will have weapons ranging from 5q (for city bandits) to under 15q for Sergeants of the guard.  Raubritters will have a good weapon (25q) and also good armour (V Plate and L Chain, 20q). Expect to find 25q items in chests in raubritters' towers. Knights Templar appear below.

The values which appear below are not fixed in any given event (except for weapon quality where given). The ones given here are intended as examples, not fixed values.

Beasts and Monsters:

• Bear: Natural Armour - Excellent; Natural Weapon - Fair
• Boar: Natural Armour - Very Good; Natural Weapon - Poor
• Dragon: (haven't noted)
• Dwarf: Natural Armour - Very Good; Natural Weapon - Fair [Maul (15Q)]
• Dwarf King: (haven't noted)
• Giant Spider: Natural Armour - Fair; Natural Weapon - Fair
• Gnome: Natural Armour - Very Good; Natural Weapon - Poor
• Holzfrau: (not significant, one does not fight Holzfrau)
• Kobold: Natural Armour - Excellent; Natural Weapon - Fair
• Ogre: (listed but never encountered one)
• Schrat: Natural Armour - Excellent; Natural Weapon - Fair
• Tatzelwurm: Natural Armour - Fair; Natural Weapon - Good
• Werewolf: (listed but never encountered one)
• Wolf: Natural Armour - Fair; Natural Weapon - Poor

Supernatural:

• Demon: Natural Armour - Good; Natural Weapon: Poor to Fair
• Demon Lord: Natural Armour - Superb; Natural Weapon - Good
• Gargoyle: Natural Armour - Good; Natural Weapon - Fair
• Hellhound: Natural Armour - Fair; Natural Weapon - Fair
• Skeleton: Natural Armour - Good; Natural Weapon - Good [Battle Axe (10Q)]
• Wild Hunter: Natural Armour - Superb; Natural Weapon - Good

Human servants of Evil:

Rather than show all the possible variations, let's say that human servants of Evil usually wear leather, padded or scale in the 10-15q range and will have weapons ranging from 5q (for villagers) to under 20q for Schulzen and cultists. High witches will have a good weapon (30q) and very good potions, although none are likely to survive the combat.

Human servants of Evil at Great Monastery:

These have armour and weapons in the 20-25q range. Alchemists are weaker.

• Alchemist: V - Studded Leather; L - Padded; Dagger +; Potions +
• Dark Knight: V - Plate +; L - Plate +; Medium Shield; Long Sword +
• Evil Knight: V - Brigandine; L - Chain; 2H Sword
• Evil Monk: V - Leather; L - Padded; QuarterStaff +
• Templar: V - Plate +; L - Chain +; Large Shield; Two-handed Sword +
• Zealot: V - Scale +; L - Studded Leather; Large Shield; Long Sword

Evil Minions at the Citadel of the Apocalypse:

• Antechamber (Big Gnome): Natural Armour - Very Good; Natural Weapon - Fair
• Room 1 (Demon): Natural Armour - Good; Natural Weapon - Poor
• Room 2 (Vulcan): Natural Armour - Very Poor; Natural Weapon - Fair
• Room 3 (Alchemist): V - Studded Leather; L - Padded; Dagger +; Potions +
• Room 4 (Skeleton): Natural Armour - Good; Natural Weapon - Good [Battle Axe]
• Room 5 (Hell Locust): Natural Armour - Superb; Natural Weapon - Very Good
• Room 6 (Lancers): no data (menu selection only; loss of 25% in all attributes)
• Room 7 (Hell Dragon): Natural Armour - Superb; Natural Weapon - Very Good

Back to Table of Contents

Saints

The party needs to have knowledge of certain saints in order to get along comfortably in Medieval Germany. Some saints have very high Virtue requirments and are usually only useful to foil the Wild Hunt. I have compiled a list of saints, which I have found useful and which do not require extreme Virtue (listed in parentheses) to learn.

A. Saints who increase local reputation.

B. Allow party to pass over large bodies of water.

• Finnian (17)
• Florian (17)

C. Increase anyone's Virtue to 20 if less than 20

• Edward Confessor (5)

D. Cure the Plague

• Sebastian (28)
• Roch (19)

E. Prevent ambushes

• Wilfrid (25)
• Willehad (35)

F. Prevent animal attack

• Perpetua (16)
• Hubert (34)

G. Scaling walls

• Reinold (27)

H. Detecting evil in castle encounters

• Isidore (21)

I. Purify evil sites

• Boniface (25)
• Emydius (31)

J. Dealing with travelling clergy

• Dominic (29)

K. Improve Speak Latin/Read/Write for University training

• Alcuin (39)
• Dominic (29)
• Gertrude (26)
• Godehard (39)
• John CH (37)
• Patrick (22) (best improvement)

L. Improve Artifice for picking locks, etc. in mines, castles, & the Fortress

• Eligius (29)
• Joseph (27)
• Reinold (27)

M. Make armor impenetrable to flame weapons

• Erasmus (32)

Various other saints could also be listed, but for their high virtue requirement. In general, I try to visit the Monks in each town in order to check out the saints available for study. When the Wild Hunt comes, maybe you will be lucky and already have the saint you need -- virtue does not matter in this instance. Also, many saints temporarily increase strength, endurance, weapons skills, armor value, perception, etc. Reading the saint's "biography" will advise you of the improvements. There are a couple of saints that actually are bad influences; Giles of Portugal is one I can think of. He will permanently decrease strength and endurance.
 

NOTE (CMB): The information given on each saint is fairly accurate when dealing with game information. Unfortunately, you can't read that until you've learned about the saint. In the Basic and Standard settings, it isn't necessary to read them carefully as the game will give you the list of saints for each situation, but in the Advanced mode, you must be aware of the characteristics of the saints from reading their blurbs. The info provided in the manual is not really enough, although it does give you the level of virtue required.

Back to Table of Contents

Summary of Darklands Hint Book
 

NOTE (CMB): All material quoted from the DARKLANDS HINT BOOK for the purpose of this review has been identified by indenting the text. Identification of provenance will not be given in each individual case.

Darklands Clue Book:

I have purchased many hint/clue books over the years for computer games. I made it a policy to buy books for those games that I enjoyed completing enough to want to have a hard copy of what completing the game entailed. The Darklands clue book stands forth as one of the best I have owned. It covers the details of the game in depth. At 124 soft-bound pages, it encompasses everything from character generation, to what bonuses every Saint gives, and to the answers for every riddle. The version I purchased included a 3.5 disk which had the Version 6 Upgrade, a Character Editor, a program that allowed visualization of all Screen Backgrounds, and a program that allowed you to play all the Darkland
Tunes. The date of printing is 1992 and the book is textual in nature with no illustrations.

The layout of the clue book is as follows:
 

1. Introduction
2. Ebhard's Guide to Adventure
3. Character Creation
4. The World
5. Equipment and Combat
6. Enemies
7. Alchemy
8. Religion
9. Quests
10. Puzzles and Answers
11. Final Notes

Below is a brief summary of each chapter with relevant examples.

EBHARD'S GUIDE- A few pages of fiction which describes the making of a game party.

CHARACTER CREATION- This chapter is divided into tables which give all the information about each choice made in character development. I have copied excerpts from each table type to give you a sense of the information contained.
 
 

Childhoods:	Wealthy Urban		Occupations:	Monk/Nun
EPs	90		EPs	23
End	-1		End	__
Str	__		Str	__
Agl	__		Agl	__
Per	+1		Per	-1
Int	+1		Int	+1
Chr	__		Chr	__

 
 

Attrib	Start	Free	Buy	Total
wEdg	4	0	4	4
wImp	3	1	4	5
wFll	_	2	6	8
wPol	3	0	6	6
wThr	_	1	4	5
wBow	_	0	4	4
wMsD	3	0	4	4
Alch	2	1	4	5
Relg	5	4	5	9
Virt	1	5	5	10
SpkC	5	1	4	5
SpkL	1	3	9	12
R&W	5	3	9	12
Heal	1	2	8	10
Artf	1	1	4	5
Stlh	1	0	2	2
StrW	2	0	0	0
Ride	2	0	1	1
WdWs	_	1	4	5

                        

Special 1 x Saint

So, a Wealthy Urban character would start with Heal=1 and would get Heal +2 free by becoming a Monk with the possibility of buying up to +8 more for a total of +10. Every occupation is covered in the same complete detail.

These tables are followed by a Occupations and Age section. This lists the bonuses for early ages and penalties for older characters.
 

Ex:	30	35	40	45	50	55	60	65
Agl	-1(-1)	-2(-3)	-2(-5)	-2(-7)	-3(-10)	-3(-13)	-4(-17)	-4(-21)

Reaching age 50 would reduce your Agl by 3 and you would have lost 10 total by age 50.

The next section deals with occupation requirements. E.g.:
 

Physician - Character must have healing 15+, and experience as either a student, clerk, professor, physician, alchemist or master alchemist.

Therefore, mapping out a strategy for developing a specific occupation is easily accomplished using this information.

The chapter concludes by listing the equipment each profession begins with and a suggestion of important skills.

THE WORLD- This chapter contains an extensive list of the cities in the game. E.g.:
 

City

Map

Size

Cath

Univ

BkSm

SdSm

Arm

Bwy

Artf

Clth

Slm

Lhaus

Danzig

H1

7

Yes

No

No

26

25

25

25

26

Yes

Yes

Sizes range from 1-8 and the numbers below the various weapon shops are the quality of wares that they sell. Of note, Clothmakers sell non-metal armor in versions higher than 6 only. Squinting at the map in order to find a city is alleviated by the location numbers. Finding which cities offer those wonderful 40+ weapons and armor is also a breeze.

The Saints offered by each location are randomized at the beginning of each game.

The end of the chapter describes the various locations found with in cities and in the countryside. The descriptions are short and concise.

EQUIPMENT AND COMBAT- Once again, tables are used to cover the specifics of each weapon and armor. E.g.:
 

Weapon	Speed	Pen	Dmg	Skill	Str	Wgt	Rarity	Price
Falchion	45	2	10	14	15-29	4	4	170

Where lower # for speed are faster, and str above the range receive bonuses.
 

Area	Armor	Thickness	Wgt	Rarity	Price
Vitals	Scale	3	21	5	900

 
Other mundane equipment is briefly described, as are the encumbrance levels.  The chapter goes on to describe combat in great detail (6 pages). All "To Hit" and "Damage" probabilities based on str, weapon skill, equipment quality, type of weapon/armor, situational effects and speed are spelled out. Admittedly,
this section is a bit tedious. I prefer to just build up my skill, buy good weapons/armor and just assume that this is a good thing to do.

ENEMIES- A very interesting chapter. After all, we all want to know just what is behind all those nasties that have been trashing our party. Replaying the game after buying the manual, though, I did notice that some levels of enemies are not covered. The information is presented entirely as tables, E.g.:

Templar or Preceptor:
 
 

Templars in Darklands are demon-worshipping monks. Types B and C are formidable warriors, with type B sometimes carrying noxious aroma potions. However, type A is the Preceptor, the Templar overlord and leader. He may have noxious aroma and/or eater water potions. The Preceptor also carries one of the most powerful weapons in the game. Unfortunately, over half of it's quality comes from satanic attributes unavailable to you (if captured it is 45q).

Each enemy has such a table and description. Quite thorough and interesting reading.

ALCHEMY- Have a question about alchemy? Then, this is the chapter for you!  Nothing is left out. There are three parts: alchemical formulas, probability of success equation and potion effect description. As always, I provide an example of each below.
 

Formula	Qual	Value	Potion Value	Compon Magic#	Risk	Ingredients
iY  Hardarmor	25q	378	264	151mn	High	1 Manganes,   1 Aqua Regia,   2 Nikel,   3 Zinken,   4 Sanguine Base
BE  Hardarmor	35q	497	249	160mn	Mod	1 Zincblende,   1 Aqua Regia,   3 Nikel,   2 Zinken,   3 Sanguine Base
LM  Hardarmor	45q	615	225	167mn	Mod	1 Solanaceae,   1 Aqua Regia,   3 Nikel,,   2 Zinken,   1 Sanguine Base

                             

Probability of Success = k + ps + int + alch + mn, where k is a constant and the max is 99%.

Fleadust: Anyone within the relatively small cloud loses skills based on the thickness of vitals and limbs armor. Amount varies from 10% lost (if leather and/or padded) to 50% (if all plate). The exact formula is:
 

Skill lost = 5*(vitals thickness + limbs thickness)

Duration of fleadust effects varies with the potion's quality:
 

• quality 25 (al-Razi's) -- 25 sec
• quality 35 (Nicolas F's) -- 40 sec
• quality 45 (Richard A's) -- 60 sec

As stated, this is a very complete listing. As in the chapter concerning combat, the specific information about potion lengths of effect, % increases to stats, etc. is not really something that you need to know. However, the fact that the information is there to be referenced is a definitely appreciated.

RELIGION - A brief description of the factors influencing prayer success and the length of the effects gained through prayer. This is followed by the complete listing of Saints. E.g.:
 

St. Peter [53v, 25-75df, 55%]: Str +(12-19), Chr +(8-15), SpkC +(10-19), SpkL +(10-19), Heal (skill) +(10-19), wEgd +(15-29), but Per halved (temporarily). If imprisoned, this Saint may aid in party's escape.

So, it is all there. Need to know what a Saint does, calculate how effective you would be at praying to a Saint, or find a Saint that gives the best particular bonus? Then, just look it up.

QUESTS - 20 pages detailing then various quests and objectives of the game.  Some minor spoilers are given in these pages. An example would be particular Saints that might aid in a given situation. For greater spoilers, you are referred to a particular number in the answers section of the next chapter. Larger quests (Dragon Dens, for instance) are subdivided (intro, dragon lairs, dragon fighting, dragon causes, rewards). For instance, the Dragon Lairs section tells you that finding dragon lairs is mostly a matter of blind luck.

It also refers you to the answers section of the next chapter where you find:

	Dragon lairs may be found in the following areas:

	(a) south of Bremen and Northeast of Hannover, in the middle of the geest;

	(b) east-northeast of Köln, in a Sauerland valley almost halfway to the
		Paderborn-Frankfurt road;

	(c) southeast of Goslar, deep in the Harz, a tiny bit southeast of the
		river source in the central part of these mountains;

	(d) northeast of Frankfurt an der Order and south-southwest of Stettin,
		in the middle of the great forest on the north side of the Warthe River;

	(e) north of St. Joachimsthal, at the top of an Erzgebirge peak (the
		specific mountaintop is just a tiny bit west of a line running directly
		north of the city);

	(f) north of Passau and south-southwest of Burglitz, on a mountain peak
		in Böhmer Wald just south of the source of the west branch of the
		Moldau River;

	(g) west-northwest of Freiberg-im-Breisgau and north-northwest of Basel,
		in the mountains west of the Rhine, on a west-slope hilltop between the
		two river sources (the rivers run north-northwest toward Nancy);

	(h) in the Tauren southeast of Steyr, southwest of Wien, and west-northwest
		of Graz, in the alpine range along the south side of the small river that
		eventually runs to Steyr and Linz. The specific mountain is near
		the eastern end of this range.

NOTE CMB: This quote from the Handbook has been re-organized for ease of reading.

This information is nicely described and only read it if you choose to go to the next chapter and look it up. I am very fond of the approach that allows you to peruse the general info without major spoilers present. The information that is given is well constructed and thought out.

Actually, I found Dragons in the two games that I completed before buying the book. Kept on refighting them too ;) The book mentions locations (it also mentions the High Sabbat locations, etc.). When replaying the game after buying the book I visited one of the locations and got the "burned out and lifeless area message", but I could not track down the lair in that location. I think you just have to look at each until you find the right one(s) in a given game.

PUZZLES AND ANSWERS - This chapter is structured much like the last. Each puzzle is listed out with a verbal work through. The answers are not given directly, but are referred to in the latter half of the chapter. E.g.:

	Puzzle #3:

	The path is blocked by an iron door. Flanking it are two paintings of
	grotesque dwarfs. One painting animates and speaks aloud, pointing to the
	other: 'Brothers and sisters have I none, but that man's father is my father's
	son. Tell me who that man is, and the door opens.' What is the answer?
	The wrong conclusion may release a dwarf trap!

	You consider carefully, then answer...

	...himself
	...his father
	...his son
	...his grandson

	Hint: If I have no siblings, who is 'my father's son'? Answer: See #27"

Look up #27 and you get "#27: 'My father's son' must be me. Thus, the painting is saying '...that man's father is 'me'.' Hence, the other painting is his son."

Wow! Not only the answer, but an explanation to boot. All answers in this section are handled in this manner.

The book concludes with a description of the various versions of the game, minor system tweaking, the use of type mem.log to check the power (1-10) of your party (sixth column) and thanks to those individuals that worked on Darklands without being mentioned in the original manual.

I hope that my examples have given you a feel for why I rate this clue book so highly. It essentially removes all the blindspots from the game and gives you solid information to fill them. The writing is excellent and great effort is given to make all the material easy to interpret and a pleasure to peruse. My only complaint is that it appears as though the authors of the book were never listed and they did such an excellent job. Kudos.

Back to Table of Contents
 
On to section 6: Additional files