Re: bard's tale

[stuckey@mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu (Anthony J. Stuckey)]

sgulic67@ursa.calvin.edu (Stephen Gulick) writes:

>Anyone who has played Bard's Tale I or III...what do you think is the best
>combination of characters?

	For Bard's Tale I:
	2 Fighter-Types.  (Monk, Paladin, Hunter, Warrior).  They all have
their advantages.  The Paladins seem to get better saves, the warriors have
the best item list, the monks get the armor-class and damage bonuses and
hunters get critical-hit.  There's not really a heck of a lot of difference
except that monks get free item slots since they don't wear as much armor.
Hunters only get a single swing, which can be important, but the best
weapons tend to do enough damage to kill a large percentage of what you're
meeting anyway, and they get the critical hit, which isn't perfect, but
they kill a lot of things with it -- Useful against that grey dragon that
you won't get another swing at before he breathes...  Monks also have the
disadvantage of getting much lower hit points than the other three listed.
	Bard's Tale (1,2,3) Doesn't roll a separate hit roll for each swing,
which really sucks -- it means that the extra swings are only a damage
multiplier.  It would be much more balanced and a better game if it were
possible for your fighters to kill multiple monsters per round.  But I
digress.
	1 Bard.  This guy is very useful -- The armor-class song, the healing
song, and the special effects of the instruments.  13 of the 127 items in
BT1 are bard instruments, and another couple are usable only by Bards.  As
a fighter, he could be replaced by a much better one, but there are at least
2 places in the game where you benefit greatly by having a bard.
	3 Spellchuckers.  It's best to have a mix, and definitely to make them
true arch-mages.  (go to 7th level spells in all 4 classes rather than
wimping out and changing class early).  After you acquire the
group-affecting spells, you life becomes a heck of a lot simpler.  This
happens at 5th level.

	Some people take only 2 spellchuckers, preferring the reactor-shielding
effects of the extra fighter and his armor class, but ... I think that's a
lose in the end due to lessened offensive power.


	The rules change a bit for Bard's Tale 3.  First of all, the Rogue is
now useful.  Not only useful, but required.  He's acquired the hunter's
critical hit ability, although with a few restrictions, he's got the
item-identify, so you don't have to pay through the nose, and he's got what
hide-in-shadows should have been a long time ago -- A way to avoid combat
*while* attacking, rather than instead of it...
	Also, you now have the option of taking 7 characters and no special
instead of 6.  As I recall, though, enough beneficial monsters have to join
you that a full party isn't really useful.
	Similarly, the added classes of the Chronomancer and the Geomancer mean
that you have to be a little more selective in who you decide to throw
away.  The documentation lies -- The Geomancer can't use the items of his
old class, it's just that the game doesn't forcibly un-equip the ones that
he has on.  This was one of the greatest disappointments of this game.

	Other than that -- have fun.  Call me if you need any help.  And the
suggestion of sector-editing your characters is *VERY* hard to do past
BT1.
--
Anthony J. Stuckey		stuckey@mrcnext.cso.uiuc.edu
"And if you frisbee-throw a universe where does it go?"
             Turquoise, Steve Blunt.
GCS/S -d+@ p c(++) l u+ e+(-) m+(*) s+++/-- !n h(*) f+ g+ w+ t+@ r y?