Getting started

The daily report

The report includes all information your character was able to gather for the last day. It starts with a complete summary of your character. The report starts with an overview of your yesterday's actions and whether they were successfull or not.

        Tue Aug 29, 2569
        ------------------------------------------------

        LEARN: You learn sword.
        MISC: You are adventuring for 21 days.

Now you will pe presented with some stats of your character...

        Name: Aragon (1000)
        Race: human (mortal)
        Description: A proud looking man. He wields a big sword.
        Condition: excellent
        Max carry: 5.0
        Stealth level: 0
        Movement Points: 10 (move) / 0 (fly)

... and his combat behavior.

        Combat values:
        Help group members: off              Position: front
        Retreat: 50% of max. Hitpoints       Style: normal
        Flee: 30% of max. Hitpoints
        Actions: nothing
                 nothing
                 nothing
        Melee: 4   Defense: 6
        Ranged: 0

If your character has learned something or done some other specific actions he will gain skills. A skill is shown in levels and experience. You need 5 cumulative experience points per level to advance to the next one (5 for level 1, another 10 for level 2, etc.).

        Skill:           level:  exp:
        observation[obs]     2     1
        sword[swo]           2     5
        trader[tra]          0     1

If you have any items they will be listed next. Status EQUIPPED means that you actually wearing, wielding, or using this item, not just carrying it around. Weapons and armor directly influence your combat values (melee, defense, ranged).
The weight gives the sum of all items of the same kind (e.g. 77 silver coins weigh 0.77).
The value is the price local merchants will offer you if you want to sell this item. The price is on a per item base.

        Item:                   amount:  equipped:  weight:  value:
        street clothes[scl]          1                0.5       16
        leather vest[lve]            1       armor    1.0       55
        silver coins[sic]           77                0.77
        iron sword[isw]              1       melee    1.0       46

Load indicates the overall weight your characters carries around. Adding the Weight of the character himself gives us the Weight value.
The last entry shows you how much money you have on the bank. This will only be shown in settlements with a bank.

        Load: 3.27        Weight: 13.27
        You have 0 Silver on bank.

Now comes the description of the region the character's in. You see a mini map of your actual region (in the center) and the surroundings. Left of the region's type you see your own personal coordinates (starting top-left).

        Region: Swamp (1; 0)
        Map:      Legend:
        F P P     F = Forest   P = Plane    H = Highland
        S S F     L = Lake     M = Mountain S = Swamp
        M M L     . = Ocean    @ = The Chaosplane

Next you see a list of the settlements in the adjacent regions. Regions not mentioned only hold a hamlet.

        The Town of Appleburg lies to the north-east.
        The Village of Walnut's Place lies to the south.
        The Town of Cherryville lies to the south-west.
        The Village of Fostershear lies to the west.

If this region would hold any special buildings or places (caves, groves, etc.) they would be shown next. Note that most of these buildings are hidden. OBSERVATION is needed to find them.

This ends the region description. It follows the local settlement. First you will be confronted with some superficiality information about size and economy. The assets are the average wealth of each citizen. The bigger the settlement the higher this average value is normally because in bigger cities live more rich people.

        Name: Wolf's Rest        Size: Town        Assets: 1230 (prospering)
        Population: 699

This follows a list of special buildings in this settlement. Note that some might be hidden. You need OBSERVATION and/or STREETWISE to locate them first.

        Buildings:
        fortress[for]
        tavern[tav]
        bank[ban]
        school[sch]
        temple[tem]
        forge[fog]

Next is a list of available items in this settlement. Prices are given for buying and selling them (see also your equipment list for your personal items' prices). The list starts with normal equipment followed by goods (normally 0 to 2, i.e. peat, iron, silk)) and some herbs.

        Available items:            buy:   sell:  weight:
        bronze sword[bsw]            57 /    23     1.0
        iron sword[isw]             114 /    46     1.0
        steel sword[ssw]            171 /    69     1.0
        iron sword, 2h[is2]         148 /    59     2.0
        steel sword, 2h[ss2]        216 /    87     2.0
        handaxe[axe]                 85 /    34     1.0
        hatchet[hat]                114 /    46     1.5
        battleaxe[bat]              171 /    69     2.5
        wooden spear[spe]            39 /    16     1.0
        iron tipped spear[its]      102 /    41     1.0
        street clothes[scl]          39 /    16     0.5
        fine clothes[fcl]           114 /    46     0.5
        rich clothes[rcl]           285 /   115     0.5
        robes[rob]                   51 /    20     0.5
        mage robes[mro]             114 /    46     0.5
        priest robes[pro]           114 /    46     0.5
        cloth armor[clo]             85 /    34     1.0
        leather vest[lve]           136 /    55     1.0
        leather armor[lar]          342 /   138     1.5
        chain mail[cma]             570 /   230     2.0
        scale mail[sma]             684 /   276     2.0
        full plate[fpl]            1140 /   460     3.0
        mule[mul]                   228 /    92     -20.0
        horse[hor]                  456 /   184     -20.0
        peat[pea]                    22 /     0     5.0
        vulcuberry[vul]              57 /     0     0.01
        screamstool[scr]             57 /     0     0.01
        greenrot[gre]                57 /     0     0.01

Then you see all teachers who live in this region. They can be hired with the HIRE TEACHER command.

        Teachers:                 quality:
           0) stealth[sth]         average

Lastly you see a list of other characters and monsters in this region, provided your OBSERVATION and STREETWISE skills are high enough.

        Persons in this region:
        Kelendriel (1004), elf - email@home.net
        wielding: shortsword[ssw]/longbow[lbo]        wearing: street clothes[scl]
        An elf in a green outfit.
        Kelendriel is a Nobody.

        ------------------------------------------------
        Monsters in this region:
         0) A trader is looking around for a good deal.

Starting a career

As a beginner, there are at least three paths to choose from:

1) The way of the artisan/scholar:
Many skills can be used to earn decent money in conjunction with the order WORK. You need the appropriate building in which you have to work. The minimum skill level is 3 for most buildings. However, some need levels of 5 (e.g. university).

2) The way of the warrior:
Learn an appropriate weapon skill and buy a weapon and armor and start monster bashing. It is strongly suggested to cooperate with other people in a group. And don't forget to set your combat stats (e.g. COMBAT FLEE).

3) The way of the rogue:
With the skills STEALTH, STEALING, PICK LOCK and OBSERVATION you can start a career as a pickpocket. You can earn the most money in big cities but the risk is also heightes also. Friendly guys add DISARM TRAPS to their repertoire and help adventurers in finding treasure in deep caves and dungeons.

There exist more, some easy, some hard. It is up to you what you want to do and become in the world of Ta-Lan. Note: Becoming a trader is possible but not easy. You have to travel around much and find promising markets with interesting goods and good prices. To cut a deal you must buy many of these goods at once and you need capacity to carry them. Traders is not recommended for beginners.

Beginners tips:

Learn OBSERVATION to see other characters, monsters and hidden places. The higher this skill, the less likely you will be mugged.
Most characters are overloaded with silver coins at the beginning, rendering them immobile. Learn some skills first. Don't buy a mount at this time for they are too expensive.
Trying a combination of the above careers should be avoided at first. Do not start learning other skills before you have earned enough money (500 - 1000 silver coins) or have at least a steady income.
Kill monsters in groups. When trying a new monster set your combat stats accordingly (COMBAT STYLE DEFENSIVE, COMBAT FLEE 50 50). OBSERVE monsters first.
Be very careful when you are wandering around. Try to reach larger settlements as soon as possible and avoid villages and hamlets. Those areas can be very dangerous. Large packs of monsters lay in wait of the unsuspecting there.