Exodus v1.0.0
by Kelandon
Comments, criticisms, help by e-mail: tomwatts@berkeley.edu
Look for updates and other things by me at my home page: http://home.sanbrunocable.com/~tommywatts03/
Like this scenario? Dislike it? Like some parts and don't like others? Rate it at the Lyceum's Comprehensive Scenario Rankings: http://p080.ezboard.com/fthelyceumfrm32

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction (PLEASE READ)
2. Background
3. Special Spells List
4. Tips of the Day
5. Credits

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1. INTRODUCTION

Exodus, n., from Greek ex (out) + hodos (way, road) = a way out. A going out. The book of the Old Testament relating the departure of the Israelites from Egypt. See also katabasis, odyssey.

This is my third real scenario for BoA. Have fun!

This scenario will work only with the latest version of BoA.

There is a hint file included (HINTS.txt). It has a FAQ and a detailed walkthrough.

This scenario was designed to be played by a party that has just finished Bahssikava. Alternatively, you could use the Artifacts Hall (available from TM's site) to get Bahssikava and Canopy artifacts and then use the HLPM (available on my site) to make a level 55 party.

You are free to use any party, but if you use a god party or some other weird party, I take no responsibility for strange things happening or the story not making any sense. Put another way, THIS SCENARIO HAS KNOWN FATAL BUGS FOR GOD PARTIES. You have been warned.

ABILITIES: You have several special abilities that are useful. Check them out by pressing "u" in-game. Note that you can cast special spells (once you learn them) by using the Spellbook special ability, writing a spellbook, and then using that spellbook (which should appear in your inventory).

I've included documentation of the SDFs used, so that you can understand the scripting better if you want (and fix any minor problems that may come up with the Character Editor -- do this only if you're sure that you know what you're doing). This is in SDFs.txt.

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2. BACKGROUND - important if you didn't play Bahssikava
This is a quick summary of necessary information from the Avernum Series and from Bahssikava. I recommend playing Bahs first, but if you can't or (better) if you need a refresher, here goes.

The sliths of Avernum are notorious for belligerence and barbarianism, and they fought two major wars against the human Avernites (during A1 and ZKR), but not all are hostile to humans. The slith settlements of Gnass and Lost Bahssikava are peaceful, and they assert that the sliths are exiles as well, exiled from somewhere deeper in the caves.

Legare was a slith from Lost Bahssikava (so named because it was lost -- other than the heroes of A1, no Avernite could find it) who underwent a religious transformation in the tunnels under the town and remained there in meditation, unknowing, while Lost Bahssikava was destroyed by the Empire (shortly before A2). He meditated in the tunnels for twenty years until, shortly after A3, he surfaced and, finding his old home destroyed, journeyed to Gnass.

In Gnass, Legare began preaching of a mysterious Goddess who spoke to him, telling him that it was time to return from exile, which earned him the nickname, "The Prophet." He developed enough of a following that he was considered a threat by the establishment in Gnass and was exiled. He and his followers returned to Bahssikava (no longer lost) and began work trying to reach the iconic steel doors that barred the sliths from their homeland.

They requested your help, and you arrived, knowing little about the situation. There, a slith named Kass, Legare's right-hand man, gave you instructions as you made your way through many dangers to the steel doors, eventually stumbling upon the ruins of a much older Bahssikavan city that was now cursed. You made your way through the defenses activated by the Empire and recovered the metal triangles that cleared the way to the steel doors, which Legare, in his characteristically poetic fashion, opened.

Beyond lay the homeland, albeit in the form of a deserted guardpost on a small river. You scouted south, eventually finding yourself back in the ancient Bahssikavan city again, where you were told the story of the cataclysmic cavequake that led to the ruin of ancient Bahssikava. The Bahssikavans, after a failed attempt to open the steel doors, were over-run by demon henchmen of Grah-Hoth, and in the tremendous coinciding cavequake, much of Bahssikava was destroyed, and many walls shifted.

Eventually, you fought your way through the demons and slew Nolagh-Khar, their leader, freeing the enslaved souls of the Bahssikavans. You returned to the guardpost and were told to scout north with Phaedra, a spunky singleton adventuring woman.

In the north, you found a dragon named Galthrax and his minions. After struggling through his dungeons, you faced him in combat and slew him, clearing the northward path for Legare's expedition. Led by Ithik, a local slith, you made your way to Vasskolis, a small city populated by the Bahssikavans who fled the demon invasion and the former warriors of the guardpost by the steel doors. Vasskolis is in the homeland, but it is far from civilization, being an outpost at the very farthest extent of the slith empire when it was at its peak.

After a short time, Legare's expedition reached Vasskolis, and you were given the good news that a new route back to Avernum existed. You departed, leaving them to gather what they needed before making the long river journey back to the centers of homeland civilization, where Legare's (and the Goddess's) promise might yet be fulfilled. After many months, you have returned, ready to finish the job.

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3. SPECIAL SPELLS
Here's a quick reference for all the special spells. This information is available in-game, too, via your special abilities, but it's all in one place here.

# Name		  Min Skill	SP	Effect
HOSTILE
1 Bind Foe			M10	4	2 + 3 * skill + B/5 Webbed
2 Poison			M18	3	10 + 15 * skill + B * 4 Poison
3 Filth				P18	5	20 + 50 * skill + B * 5 Poison, Acid, Diseased
4 Capture Soul		P10	15	store soul
5 Recall Soul		P10	20	summon soul
6 Destroy Mind		M22	15	5 + 5 * skill + B/3 Dumbfounded; L2 Enfeebled;
								L3 1 + 3 * skill + B/7 Confused
7 Sleep Foe			P19	8	2 * skill + B/15 Asleep
8 Paralyze			P20	10	1 + 2 * skill + B/10 Paralysis
9 Anti-Magic Field	P22	15	3 by 3 field of antimagic
10 Sleep Cloud		P20	10	3 by 3 field of sleep cloud
11 Quickfire		P25	30	1 by 1 field of quickfire
12 Fire Field		M20	10	3 by 3 field of fire wall
13 Ice Field		M20	10	3 by 3 field of ice wall
14 Death Knell		M25	30	9-163 + (13-275 * skill) + 8 * B unblock visible
15 Destruction		M21	13	5-65 + (10-210 * skill) + 6 * B unblockable
16 Cloudkill		M23	16	7-105 + (11-253 * skill) + 7 * B unblockable rad
17 Inferno			M18	10	8-64 + (10-80 * skill) + 3 * B fire rad
18 Bonechill		M19	10	8-64 + (10-80 * skill) + 3 * B cold rad

All radius spells hit a radius of two at level 1 and three at levels 2 and 3.
Death Knell delivers unblockable damage to all visible targets.

BLESSING
1 Sanctuary			P21	8	3 + 3 * skill + B/6 Sanctuary; L2 visible; L3
								Regenerating
2 Protection		P22	12	10 + 10 * skill + B Martyr's Shield, Magic
 								Resistant, Resistant; L3 1 + 2 * skill + B/10
 								Invulnerable
3 Major Haste		M10	6	2 + 1-3 * skill + B/4 Haste visible
4 Safe Travel		P15	10	L1/L2 30 + 50 * skill + B Safe Travel; L3 Hovering
					 			Feet
5 Divine Warrior	P22	20	4 + 4 * skill + B/5 Divinely Touched; L2 Magic
 								Resistant; L3 1 + 2 * skill + B/10 Invulnerable

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4. TIPS OF THE DAY
* Read the readme! It has vital information about playing this scenario! You can find it in the scenario folder. It is the file named READ ME.txt.
* If you're stuck somewhere, check out the hints and walkthrough in the scenario folder. They are in the file named HINTS.txt. If you need more help, ask via the Spiderweb message boards or e-mail me.
* Check out your custom special abilities! They are important and sometimes very useful. View them by pressing "u" or hitting the Special Ability button.
* In order to use some of the special spells, you will need to train your Mage Spells or Priest Spells skills above 17, which is the highest you need for normal spells. Check the readme for details.
* Unlike in some BoA scenarios, in this scenario, every skill will count for something (except First Aid, I guess). Don't neglect your Tool Use, Nature Lore, or Arcane Lore!
* Most monsters in Exodus have a "distractibility" factor: if you attack them, they might acquire the attacking character as a target instead of whoever they currently have. Useful when you want a monster to attack someone else.
* There are a number of secret passages in Exodus. They are never necessary to complete the game, but they often conceal useful bonuses.
* Doors work a little differently in this scenario. Unlock Doors works on non-magical doors. Also, some doors are magically locked and cannot be unlocked without Unlock Doors or a magical lockpick. Lockpicking has been slightly randomized, too.
* In order to use special spells, you must create a spellbook. Do this by using your special abilities. Press _u_ or hit the Special Ability button. To use the Hostile Spellbook, you must be in combat mode.
* In this scenario, you're likely to encounter a BoA error: a file corruption caused a too-high skill that is being manually reset to 0. Then, on your stats sheet, your health will appear as 0. I can't do anything about this, but it has no in-game effect.

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5. CREDITS

*BETA*
Thank you to my beta testers, who were invaluable in getting this scenario in release-worthy shape:
Homey Maigre, whose comments were totally pointless
Rakshasi, who was the first to beat the scenario
Universe_JDJ, who played over and over and over
Arancaytar, who is an expert at walking into walls
Nikki, who wanted the Berekh Hive suitable for a family show
Niemand, who whined about bad combats until I made them better
Jo, who was good at putting boats on land
Arrna, who loved producing script-killing and game-ending errors
Salmon, who is a college grad and wanted me to know it
Nioca, who reminded me that there actually IS an in_boat() call
John Johnson, who is part of the reason for the god party disclaimer
Wlerin, who likes Vahnatai Creationism no more than I do
Luz, who braved the custom objects script and actually made adjustments to it
Stefanie, who lost her boat
TM, who wanted the scenario to be pretty, oh so pretty
Tyranicus, who really wanted to be famous in a readme
Sarah Woodbury, who I ignored courteously
John Hutton, who can tell the difference between a < and a >

*ART*
Thanks also to the artists whose work I used:
G500: ADoS and Luz Piazuelo
G502: Luz
G503: Luz
G505: TM
G506: Fulbert Teh
G507: Eldiran
G510-6: Frahhamn
G520: Bigblue and TGM
G521: Luz and TGM
G522: Kun Iamde
G525: Mortimer
G526: Enraged Slith
G527: NecrisOmega
G570-8: Luz

Particular thanks to Luz, whose graphics I used a TON and who gave me a lot of help with getting the graphics to work.

All other graphics are from Spiderweb games, mostly the included BoA scenarios, Geneforge, or Nethergate.

*SCRIPTS*
Script attributions are in the scripts themselves.

*OTHER*
Thanks to the whole BoA community. I used a fair number of utilities and ideas from a wide variety of sources in order to create this scenario. Without the community, this scenario would not have been made.