Dark Designs I: Grelminar’s Staff
In this fantasy role-playing game, an army of evil extra-dimensional creatures
is building above the Gandolan mountains, threatening the civilized regions to
the south. There is no army to defend the lands, but if a few hardy
adventurers can find a magical staff in the castle of a long-dead mage named
Grelminar, the gate can be closed and the invasion averted.
The player controls a party of four characters, each with some standard-issue
attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Piety, Body
Points and Magic Points. The game also features three of the usual character
classes (fighters, mages and priests), and there are different spell lists for
each of the spell-casting classes. Players can create their own characters or
use the ones provided by the game; either way, progress is automatically saved
from time to time (though there is a reset button which allows the player to
start over from the beginning).
The game starts out in a town (which is portrayed simply by a text-based menu
system) and then proceeds into a multi-level dungeon. While exploring the
dungeon, different areas of the screen display different information. There is
a first-person, ninety-degree-turning view, an automap and, in some areas, a
textual description. These are supplemented by random third-person, turn-based
combat encounters which take place in the window that normally shows the 3-D
dungeon view. In typical role-playing style, combat yields rewards of gold and
experience (and sometimes equipment), and characters gain in abilities as they
increase in experience.
Dark Designs I: Grelminar’s Staff