Eamon CS is a computerized roleplaying game, or "RPG" for short. When you play one of these games, you assume control of a character in an interactive story filled with adventure and danger. Your alter-ego is a member of the Free Adventurer's Guild in the world of Eamon. This guild contains like-minded individuals who choose to live by their wits, seeking glorious treasures and defeating horrible monsters.
Unlike many RPG gaming systems, Eamon CS takes a freeform approach to character advancement. There are no direct goals to achieve, no experience points to earn, and no way to finish or "win the game." The main focus instead is the improvement of various character attributes and the amassing of wealth. The pursuit of personal goals (help the less fortunate, defeat all evil beings, etc.) may also be incorporated into each adventure if desired.
The Eamon roleplaying game dates back to the dawn of the personal computer era. It has gone through extended periods of activity over the decades but also languished, written off as a relic. However, the system tends to emerge and reinvent itself as new technologies develop. For this reason, it is also one of the most enduring computerized gaming systems ever created.
Research published on the internet indicates Donald Brown created Eamon in the late 1970s; by the early 1980s, it had been standardized and released to the public domain. The game successfully fuses two popular genres of the era - "text adventures" and "roleplaying games" - with features that appeal to players and adventure designers. Brown built the vanilla game engine, some documentation and utilities, and a set of example games to study. He then departed from Eamon, never to return. A growing collection of authors who delighted to take the game engine and pack it with a host of special behaviors contributed to the adventure catalog throughout the 1980s. The endless flexibility of Eamon remains a contributor to its longevity.
After Brown's departure from the scene, control of Eamon passed to John Nelson. Nelson polished and enhanced the base source code, created an extended set of adventures, and started the National Eamon Users Club (NEUC). NEUC organized the Eamon catalog by standardizing game numbers and produced semi-regular newsletters. During the early years, NEUC was instrumental in coordinating all things Eamon.
As the 1990s arrived, Nelson was committed to porting Eamon to the IBM PC, which left less time to manage the Apple II codebase and NEUC. Into this vacuum stepped Thomas Zuchowski, who assumed control of both. Zuchowski, a member of NEUC, was an accomplished adventure designer and newsletter writer; he renamed the Club the Eamon Adventurer's Guild. The group became a professional base for Eamon fans, with a regular newsletter published quarterly for 15 years! Zuchowski continued the work of fixing bugs and polishing the existing vanilla codebase. But he also upgraded it with many customized formulas to address perceived weaknesses in the system, overhauled the game database structure to make it leaner and more efficient, and rewrote the manuals to match. Today's "modern" Eamons trace their lineage back to work done by Zuchowski during this period.
By 2001, interest in Eamon had waned to the point where few new adventures were being written, and the Apple II codebase was no longer under active development. As a result, Tom Zuchowski formally decided to shut down the Eamon Adventurer's Guild and stepped away from his role as caretaker for Eamon. But before doing so, he passed control to a man named Matthew Clark. Clark had already spent several years building and maintaining the official Eamon Adventurer's Guild website, located at www.eamonag.org, and also authored a high-quality Eamon adventure of his own. As of this writing, the website is functional but appears to be under care and maintenance.
During its lifespan, The Wonderful World of Eamon was the basis for various porting efforts and at least a dozen side projects, some of which were far more sophisticated than the original system. In addition to Donald Brown's commercialized derivative SwordThrust, the game can count among its progeny Eamon II, KnightQuest, Super Eamon, Imagery! and a host of others. Information about these systems is available on the EAG website. However, the last of the BASIC games, Eamon Deluxe, stands out and requires a full accounting.
Frank Black Production's Eamon Deluxe began in late 1997 as a project based on an advanced Apple II Eamon codebase and was first released on MS-DOS in mid-1998. Initially, versions 1 and 2 were intended as a learning tool for the author; the focus was on creating NEW Eamon adventures and taking full advantage of a more advanced hardware and programming environment. In 1999 version 3 was released, featuring automated adventure conversion and a system for multi-adventure sets. The goal for version 4.2, released in 2001, became the conversion of all existing Apple II Eamon games. This painstaking process continued to 2006 but was then abandoned due to lack of interest and real-world demands. In late 2012, a rekindled interest in Eamon led to version 5.0, with software completely rewritten for efficiency while adding many new and enhanced features. This version of Eamon is the foundation (albeit distant) of all modern non-BASIC Eamons, including Eamon CS.
Eamon AC (EAC), the earliest prototype of Eamon CS, was written incrementally between mid-2014 and mid-2015 in ANSI C. The project's goal was to answer the author's long-standing question: what would Eamon look like in the C family of languages? This port involved a meticulous reproduction of Eamon Deluxe's MAINPGM.BAS file. While EAC was complete and fully functional, only The Beginner's Cave was ported before work halted. Unfortunately, the resulting monolithic EamonRT game engine lacked the elegance and extensibility expected from a modernized Eamon. A new approach was needed. As a result, the unmaintained Eamon AC is obsolete and should be avoided.
The C# programming language seemed like the next logical step for development. Work on Eamon CS (ECS) kicked off in mid-2015, and it formally debuted in early 2017. Building ECS on this platform can potentially help it avoid the fate of many older Eamons. The system sits in the .NET slipstream, never needing an emulator to run. Also, as Microsoft's flagship development environment, the .NET ecosystem is vast and continues to expand; Eamon CS Mobile is an example of using compatible 3rd party technology. The game engine takes a toolkit approach to development, encouraging code reuse through inheritance. Many enhancements have been made to Eamon CS over the years, including multi-category artifacts, a plugin-based architecture, an advanced container framework, a full-sentence parser, and utilities to convert data from previous Eamon systems. As of this writing, the game catalog has grown to include 15 classic and original adventures, with more on the way.
It is worth noting this game system is not the only activity in Eamon these days. Two other projects should be mentioned. Keith Dechant's Eamon Remastered, found at www.eamon-remastered.com, is an Eamon variant with an extensive collection of ported games that runs in a web browser. And Huw Williams' Eamon Wiki, located at www.eamon.wiki, explores all topics related to Eamon, including author correspondence, game walkthroughs, maps, and trivia. Please be sure to check out both of these excellent resources when you have the chance!
There are primarily two ways to "install" Eamon CS, and the best way to do so depends on how you want to interact with the system. For people who only want to create characters and go on adventures, but don't care to interact at the source code level, the best course of action is probably to download the Eamon-CS-master.zip file. This file can be obtained from GitHub using the green Code button and extracted to a unique directory, from which you can play the game. On the other hand, for those who wish to explore ECS at a deeper technical level, you can do a Git clone of the repository to your local filesystem. Note that, in either case, there isn't a formal installer to run as you would with many software packages; also, the game may not work due to dependencies missing on your system. But any issues encountered can be quickly resolved. See the PREREQUISITES and POST-INSTALLATION TOPICS sections of the Technical Paper found on the Eamon CS website for more details.
The QuickLaunch folder contains a variety of .bat and .sh files, organized by game subsystem. To run Eamon CS, you find the appropriate file and double-click it; a console window opens, allowing interaction with the game. The BATCH FILES section of the previously mentioned Technical Paper provides further insight.
Upgrading Eamon CS is usually a simple process, but before doing so, you should make sure no adventures are being played through; all characters must be in the Main Hall. There is a CHARACTERS.DAT file in the System\Bin folder; this ensures the file is in a stable state.
For those who originally downloaded the Eamon-CS-master.zip file, you can obtain the latest version by visiting GitHub and downloading a new copy of it. Extract the new Eamon-CS-master.zip file into a unique folder, and then overwrite the new CHARACTERS.DAT file by copying the old file from the old repository. If the CHARACTERS.DAT file structure has changed in the new system, the old file will transparently upgrade to the new format. Your characters have now been transferred to the upgraded Eamon CS system and are available for use.
If you are working with a Git-cloned Eamon CS repository, you should backup your CHARACTERS.DAT file before pulling the latest changes from the master branch. Then copy the old CHARACTERS.DAT file back into your repository. If you are working off a branch, you will probably want to push the master changes into it. Things can get tricky if you have made other changes to the repository; it is at your discretion what changes need to be kept, rolled back, or merged. In this scenario, you may wish to backup the whole repository before attempting to upgrade.
A different process must be followed if you have done any adventure development and wish to migrate your work to the upgraded system. First, you can use EamonDD's Adventure Support Menu and follow the steps to recreate each game in the new system. Then, manually delete each newly created adventure folder under Adventures and copy your old adventure folder (with your ongoing work) into its place. When you recompile your work-in-progress games in the new Eamon CS system, you may need to fix errors if any breaking interface changes have occurred (but hopefully, these are stable at this point).
Far away, at the dead center of the Milky Way, is the planet Eamon. It doesn't orbit any suns; two great suns orbit it! The shifting pull from these great bodies brings strange forces to bear upon this planet, twisting light, tides, even the laws of science itself! Strange things happen on Planet Eamon, and the citizens must always be adaptable, for things are rarely what they seem and quite often not the same as they were from one day to the next!
Eamon CS is played through characters who are imagined to be citizens of this weird world that belong to the famous Free Adventurer's Guild. Free Adventurers are men and women who have dared to seek their fortune in the marvelous world of shifting laws and time. Players will often find their characters fighting terrible monsters such as orcs, trolls, and dragons and claiming various riches and treasures as their own. However, Planet Eamon is bound by no laws of time or space, and anything can happen once an adventure has been started. At any random time, a character could end up facing such varied opponents as Billy the Kid or Darth Vader!
Eamon CS is a mixture of two popular types of gaming systems, namely "adventure games" and "fantasy role-playing games." In an adventure game, a player normally explores pre-mapped settings, often locating special objects or solving various puzzles to proceed to other parts of the game until reaching the ending.
Role-playing games (or "RPGs") also involve diverse pre-mapped settings. But rather than playing a single adventure in the first-person perspective, RPGs are based heavily upon creating and developing characters that the player then uses as alter-egos. A character is taken on many adventures, the player assuming this character as they explore and make decisions. Characters can quickly develop through shrewd adventuring, growing stronger in various attributes and skill levels while gaining wealth and acquiring better equipment.
All new characters created in Eamon CS start at a beginning level. Like the people playing them, they are a diverse group with different strengths and weaknesses. Four numbers (or "attributes") will describe a newly created character's general mental and physical makeup. These are called Intellect, Hardiness, Agility, and Charisma. These attributes are each obtained by the computer rolling three eight-sided dice and adding the results together. Thus the numbers can range from three (the lowest) to twenty-four (the highest), with most rolls averaging twelve to fifteen.
This technique is called "rolling three-die-eight" (commonly written as "3D8"), and the terminology comes from various multi-sided dice used in the original pencil and paper style role-playing games upon which computer RPG games are based. These strange-looking dice are used to determine random factors, adding a stronger sense of reality to the gaming experience.
Along with the four main attributes, characters are also defined by various skills, including weapon abilities, spell casting, and combat experience involving fighting while wearing heavy, protective armor. While a character's skills will increase with use, the four basic attributes cannot be changed through "natural" means in any way. However, Eamon is a magical world, and you may find ways to increase (and sometimes decrease) a character's attributes in certain adventures. Also, when a character becomes wealthy enough, there are special shops in the village and practice areas just outside of the Main Hall, which rumor has it, can boost any attribute or ability (see section 7 for more information).
For those who wish to instantly create a character with specific attributes, ability levels, etc. (and who don't mind a little "cheating"), Eamon CS includes an editing program that allows every aspect of a character to be customized to exact specifications (see section 8.1).
For the sake of example, in the next few sections, it is assumed that a new character named "Hedric the Horrible" has just been "created" with an Intellect of seventeen, a Hardiness of thirteen, an Agility of twenty, and a Charisma of five.
Intellect is a measure of a character's mental acuity: perceptiveness, wisdom, raw intelligence, and "street smarts." Older Eamon systems had no equivalent statistic - an obvious omission - so Eamon CS includes it. The base game engine uses Intellect in calculations involving spell and skill gains. Still, adventures may use it for other purposes, such as disabling traps or making "saving throws."
The actual percentage adjustment that Intellect has upon the ability to reason (or "Intellect Factor") is figured out by subtracting thirteen from the character's Intellect and multiplying the difference by two.
Hedric the Horrible, whom we just "created," has an Intellect of seventeen. If he successfully uses a weapon to attack an adversary or casts a spell, then the odds of improving the corresponding skill are increased by his Intellect Factor of 8% (17 - 13 = 4, 4 x 2 = 8).
Characters with a high Intellect are blessed with a greater capacity to learn than those with a low Intellect. The Intellect Factor ranges from -20 to +22, impacting the maximum attainable value for skill and spell abilities; the limit on these abilities ranges from 80 to 122.
A character's Hardiness has two major effects. First, it represents the number of damage points that their body can withstand before they die. Second, it is used to calculate the total amount of weight in weapons, armor, and other objects that they can carry with them. The standard unit of weight in Eamon CS is called "gronds." Gronds are sometimes further split into tenths using a smaller unit called "DOS" (so one grond equals ten DOS). There is no real reason for using Grond or DOS units other than that is what Donald Brown decided when he created the original Eamon system. Eamon CS (being based on Eamon Deluxe) preserves this system and further standardizes it as one grond generally weighs as much as two gold coins. However, cumbersome items (like a stack of plates or a full quiver of arrows) can weigh more in gronds than they would if only using the two-coin system.
Hedric the Horrible has a Hardiness of thirteen. So he can withstand thirteen harmful "hits" (damage caused by attacks from an enemy, being poisoned, setting off traps, etc.) before he perishes. Hedric can also carry up to ten times his Hardiness in items, or one hundred thirty gronds. The amount of weight carryable is a static number derived from base Hardiness, not the number of hits taken; a character can carry the same amount whether critically wounded or in perfect health.
In Eamon CS, the only major effect of a character's Agility is found in combat. A character with high Agility is more likely to strike an opponent and dodge attacks from that opponent. Some adventures will also use the character Hardiness or Agility to resolve other situations specific to that setting (like the chances of successfully opening special objects or avoiding dangerous traps).
A character's Charisma is a combination of both their physical attractiveness and how likable their personality is. Charisma can often affect how the citizens and other sentient beings on Planet Eamon will react to them.
For example, many merchants will offer slightly better pricing deals to a likable character with a high Charisma than an average or low Charisma. While on an adventure, a character's Charisma may also affect how some creatures react to them, choosing to attack, ignore, or become friends with them. The more friends a character has in an adventure, the more help they have during battles.
The actual percentage adjustment that Charisma has upon the decisions of others (or "Charisma Factor") is figured out by subtracting ten from the character's Charisma and multiplying the difference by two.
For example, the smelly hermit from the Beginner's Cave has a base friendliness of 50%. With a Charisma of ten, Joe Normal will make friends with the hermit 50% of the time. However, Hedric the Horrible (with his Charisma of five) has only a 40% chance of making friends with the hermit. Lovable Linda, with a maximum Charisma of twenty-four, has a 78% chance of making friends.
Joe Normal: (10 - 10 = 0, 0 x 2 = 0). 50% + 0% = 50%.
Hedric the Horrible: (5 - 10 = -5, -5 x 2 = -10). 50% + -10% = 40%.
Lovable Linda: (24 - 10 = 14, 14 x 2 = 28). 50% + 28% = 78%.
However, many of the beings encountered on adventures will have a pre-set friendliness factor and thus react the same regardless of your character's Charisma. A rat with a friendliness rating of 0% will never be a friend, be it with Joe Normal, Hedric the Horrible, or Lovable Linda; likewise, a fellow adventurer with a friendliness rating of 100% will always befriend your character.
Combat is often an important aspect of Eamon, being a rough and violent world. In most adventures, combat is taken care of on a blow-by-blow basis. Typically, every valid combatant in the room gets one turn to attack one enemy; the effects of that attack are calculated, and the result (hit or miss) is applied. However, you will find that certain powerful creatures can launch multiple attacks in one combat turn, sometimes against different enemies.
All weapons are simplified into types zero through five. Type zero is "natural weapons," which can include just about anything but will always have the same odds (0% bonus) and can never be dropped or broken. Weapon types one through five are axes (any "chopping" weapons), projectile weapons (everything from a standard archery set to a machine gun), clubs (any blunt weapons), spears (all weapons used with lunging or jabbing motions), and swords.
Weapon types one through five have what is referred to as "weapon odds" or sometimes "weapon complexity." This number reflects the quality of the weapon and how hard it is to use properly. For example, a club may have an odds value of twenty since it is easy to use, while a more complicated weapon such as a bow may have a negative odds value (-10 is common for bows). The actual effect of weapon odds on a combatant's chances to hit their opponent is described in further detail in section 4.3.
The amount of physical damage a weapon will inflict is determined by the damage "dice" of that weapon. All weapons (including "natural") have a pre-set number of dice with a pre-set number of sides. For example, an average sword has a damage level set around 1D10 or 2D5, meaning one ten-sided dice that causes 1-10 points of damage or two five-sided dice that cause 2-10 points of damage, respectively. Thus, a normal "powerful" weapon will have a damage level of around 2D8 (capable of doing 2-16 points of damage).
Standard levels of armor are also divided into types. Even numbers determine the actual type of armor, with odd numbers indicating that a shield is also included. For example, chain armor alone has a value (or "class") of four, chain armor with a shield is class five, and so on. Armor class names are used generically, regardless of what the armor is actually comprised of (a dragon with class four armor made of scales would still be considered "chain armor").
In most cases, armor is factored in as "hits absorbed" from an attack, meaning the wearer has a certain amount of damage deducted from the total applied when struck in combat. The basic "armor class" and the hits deducted by each are as follows:
Armor Class Name Hits Absorbed
-----------------------------------
0 ............None .........0
1 ............Shield .......1
2 ............Leather ......1
4 ............Chain ........2
6 ............Plate ........5
8 ............Magic ........6
Armor also affects the odds of opponents striking each other in combat (after all, one isn't as agile when fighting inside a tin can!). Characters have abilities that often start in a lower range but increase to highly skilled levels given time and experience. Non-character combatants are also affected by weapon quality and armor encumbrance factors, but it is assumed they are skilled on an average level. The actual effect of worn armor on a combatant's chances to hit their opponent is described in further detail in section 4.3.
All new characters start with the same skill levels for weapon expertise: 5% for axes, -10% for projectile weapons, 20% for clubs, 10% for spears, and 0% for swords. These numbers reflect that an inexperienced adventurer who is just beginning is more likely to hit an enemy with a club than an arrow.
Weapon abilities can increase through the successful use of each type of weapon in combat. If Hedric the Horrible is fighting a troll and scores a successful hit, then a dice roll will be used to determine if Hedric learned anything about how to use his weapon better. His chance to learn is the same as his chance to have missed, so a one hundred-sided "percentage" die (or 1D100) is rolled.
For example, if Hedric's chance to hit is 40%, he will have a 60% chance of his weapon ability going up by 2%. In the next round, his chance of hitting the same opponent would then be increased to 42%, while his chance of raising his ability would reduce to 58%. Weapon abilities continue to increase until reaching the natural limit of 100%. (Recall that Hedric's Intellect Factor further adjusts the die roll and 100% limit.)
Characters can use shields and several types of armor to help protect themselves from bodily harm. However, as mentioned above, the stronger the armor, the more cumbersome it is, and this will affect your character's chance to hit an opponent in combat until they fully develop a skill called "Armor Expertise."
The following chart describes the types of armor, the amount of protection they provide, and how much they reduce a character's chance to hit an opponent. As with the similar chart above for non-character armor class, even numbers are types of armor, and odd numbers mean that a shield is also included.
Armor Class Name Hits Absorbed Odds Adjustment
-----------------------------------------------------------
0 .........None ...........0 .................0%
1 .........Shield .........1 ................-5%
2 .........Leather ........1 ................-10%
4 .........Chain ..........2 ................-20%
6 .........Plate ..........5 ................-60%
8 .........Magic ..........6 ................-60%
The odds adjustment here reflects a new character with an Armor Expertise of zero. As the character becomes used to the constricting effects of fighting and maneuvering while wearing armor, their increased Armor Expertise will reduce the odds adjustment until, finally, the armor has no adverse effects at all.
A character's Armor Expertise ability is developed the same way as their weapon abilities. Every time they successfully strike an opponent in combat, 1D65 is rolled; if the result is larger than the odds adjustment of their armor versus their current Armor Expertise, their ability increases by 2%. Armor Expertise will continue to increase until it reaches the maximum limit of 65%, after which any type of armor can be worn without negative effects. (Recall that the character's Intellect Factor further adjusts the die roll and 65% limit.)
Every time a character attempts to strike another living being, there is a percentage chance of success, which is calculated by comparing multiple factors. Likewise, opponents have a similar set of factors determining their chance of success when attempting to harm your character.
All combatants have a base chance of 50% plus two times the difference in Agility and armor between them and their target. If a weapon is being used, half of the "weapon odds" value is added (up to a maximum increase of 15%). If your character is the attacker, their Armor Class, Armor Expertise, and relevant weapon ability are also figured into their odds to hit.
Once the odds to hit are determined, if a roll of 1D100 ranges from one to the percentage chance to hit, the blow is considered a success, and the resulting damage is calculated. In addition, there may also be magical or other extraordinary effects in some adventures, which will factor into combat as well.
If the roll is greater than the chance to hit, the attacker will miss their opponent or fumble the attack. The negative impact of a fumble on the attacker ranges from benign to disastrous, including, among other things, a recovery, a dropped, damaged, or broken weapon, or a self-inflicted injury.
As explained in section 4.1, a random amount of damage is done to the target when a blow hits. This amount of damage is based on the weapon's dice and dice sides; the armor worn by the defender usually lowers the base damage. Leather armor and shield each take one point of damage, chain armor takes 2, and plate armor takes 5 points of damage away from that taken on the body (all effects are cumulative and magical devices may sometimes act as armor).
That, of course, is what usually happens. However, due to flashes of good luck or clumsiness, weird things can happen. For example, in many of the classic adventures, an attacker will get what is called a "Critical Hit" about 5% of the time. That will result in the following, each with its probability of occurrence: ignore armor (50%), three-halves normal damage (35%), twice normal damage (10%), triple normal damage (4%), or an automatic kill (1%). This was standard in the early versions of the original Eamon system and carried over to certain Eamon CS conversions to make them more authentic. For instance, The Temple of Ngurct has standard "classic" combat, and the Eamon Deluxe Demo Adventure has standard "modern" combat.
About 4% of the time, the attacker will fumble a weapon. As a result, it will have one of the following effects: fumble recovery (35%), drop weapon (40%, for natural weapons such as claws, the attacker recovers instead), break weapon (20%, with a 10% chance of self-inflicted injury), normal self-inflicted injury (4%), and double-damage self-inflicted injury, ignoring armor (1%).
The strange shifting forces around Planet Eamon constantly create effects that can only be described as magical. However, most of these effects are highly localized to a particular adventure setting and will not be consistent from one foray to the next.
There are four common spells that work almost everywhere. Any character can pay a knowledgeable wizard to teach these spells at a starting level. When a spell is first learned, a 1D100 die is rolled, and the starting ability is set, ranging from 25% to 75%. As with combat abilities, there is a chance that each spell ability can be increased every time your character successfully casts that spell. If a 1D100 die roll exceeds the chance to cast it, the spell ability will increase by 2% until the natural limit of 100% is reached. (Recall that the character's Intellect Factor further adjusts the die roll and 100% limit.)
For example, Hedric has now learned the BLAST spell with a starting ability of 30%. If he successfully casts the spell and a 1D100 roll yields a result exceeding 30%, then his overall ability for that spell will increase to 32%, with a roll exceeding 32% being required for the next increase. (Again, the die roll is further adjusted by Intellect Factor.)
There are also "wildcard" rolls involved in spell casting: a roll from one to five will always be successful, while a roll of one hundred will overload your character's mind. In this case, the spell cannot be cast for the rest of the adventure.
The channeling of supernatural powers through the body can be tiring. Every time your character successfully casts a spell, the next chance is reduced by half until the brain fatigue clears by "resting up" for a bit. Use the STATUS command to see the current and overall spell ability values, among other helpful information.
Note that this is the way the four common spells usually work. However, Eamon CS is a marvelous and very random world. Spell abilities may not drop at all when your character uses them in some adventures, while in other places, spells may work quite differently or sometimes not at all.
Your character can use this spell to send a magical blast of pure energy at either an opponent or an item (such as locked doors or chests). If successfully cast, a BLAST spell will always hit its target and do 1D6 in damage. Also, if the target is a living being, armor will not help absorb any damage from a BLAST spell.
This spell can remove damage points from the character casting it or any other living creature (in effect, "healing" them). If successfully cast, a HEAL spell will remove 1D10 in damage points from its target.
If successfully cast, a SPEED spell will double your character's Agility for a random amount of time (ranging from eleven to twenty turns). Suppose a SPEED spell is cast successfully while another one is already in effect. In that case, the new spell will increase the number of rounds left but will not further multiply a character's Agility. The SPEED spell is useful when a character is engaged in combat with a skilled opponent, has to avoid a deadly trap, or needs to write a lengthy paper within a short amount of time.
Depending on your character's adventure, successfully casting a POWER spell may cause a harmless diversion or have powerful effects (both helpful and harmful). It's essentially a call to the magical forces around your character that says, "Hey, do something!" In many adventures, Power will do little more than make a loud noise; in others, it may be the key to survival or accessing different parts of the game. So if you become stuck (or feel daring), give POWER a try.
There are two places your character will be encountering other denizens of Planet Eamon, out on adventures and at the Main Hall of the Guild of Free Adventurers.
The Guild heavily protects the Main Hall and its surrounding areas. While your characters may communicate with the various people there to do business, they will not be permitted to start fights or break any other rules. The Guild also enforces fair business policies on the various merchants; while they will not do any real favors for your characters (except possibly giving them better prices depending upon their Charisma), they will not cheat their customers or otherwise harm them. They are mostly simple businessmen and women, out to relieve Free Adventurers of their gold while helping outfit them to go get more.
During your adventures outside of the Main Hall, however, anything can happen. By default, any being found in an adventure may seem rather simple-minded; when they first meet your character, they will decide if they like them, dislike them, or choose to ignore them completely. If they are friendly, they will follow your character and fight on their side during any battles. If they are hostile, they will most likely try to fight them in deadly combat. Once they make up their minds, they will usually keep with their decisions, unless your character does something particularly nasty (such as ATTACK a friend) or nice (such as GIVE a "neutral" monster extremely valuable items or large sums of money).
Just because monsters do or do not like your character does not always mean that they will fight to the bitter end either; some will be less courageous (or smarter) than others and will run from what they view as a losing battle. In some adventures, they will run out of exits and into a nearby room to which you can follow them. In others, they may leave the game altogether, never to return.
All Eamon adventures are unique, however. Some will allow your character to interact further with its inhabitants, including options to make small talk, ask important questions, have conversations, give orders, get ideas, play games, etc...
Your new headquarters will be a room you rent at the Main Hall of the Guild of Free Adventurers. You can buy weapons, armor, and even spells there, as well as advance your skills through training, gamble, and get lost in other friendly diversions. In addition, you can check out your character's current attributes, skill levels, and possessions. You can also keep some money with the banker - cash in the bank is safe if you're robbed on an adventure but, then again, you can't use it to ransom yourself out of a sticky situation either!
Those familiar with Classic Eamon will notice that Eamon CS features an extended Main Hall, three times the size of the original, which has two added areas of interest for your character to visit if you so desire.
It seems that the traditional open enrollment policy, combined with the lure of easily obtained wealth and fame, has turned the Guild of Free Adventurers into a major enterprise on planet Eamon over the years. Many of the courageous and not a few of the foolhardy are attracted to seek fame and fortune by the sword. This large influx of adventurers has also lead to what business leaders call a subsidiary industry. A small village has been constructed just outside the gates of the Main Hall, its residents eagerly waiting to provide additional services to those who make a living as professional heroes. However, unlike those who run their businesses from within the Main Hall's gates, none of these village merchants carry the Official Guild Seal of Approval. Any business interactions with them are considered done at your character's own risk.
At the center of the village is a mysterious statue, thought to have been set up by some of Planet Eamon's very few benevolent priests. It stands in memory of all those adventurers who have lost their lives while out on adventures. Some sort of spirit is rumored to live within the statue, and those who respectfully approach it may receive a reward (though whether this is true or just a rumor is quite uncertain). The odds are that, even if such a spirit did exist, it would likely be limited in its power, so anyone seeking it should probably not get greedy with hopes of repeated showers of such blessings.
South of the village is the "practice yard." It is detached and slightly away from the other businesses so that the sound of clanging weapons and magic sonic blasts won't interfere too much with the more peaceful activities of its neighbors. In this practice yard can be found teachers, skilled in the various adventuring arts, who are ready to help you increase your skills-- for a large fee, of course.
In the middle of the practice yard lies the info booth. Nobody is exactly sure what the shady character who runs it does, other than directing the more obtuse adventurers to the different trainers available. It is rumored that he also has information about hidden valuables that he may offer to share. But always for a price.
Marcos Cavelli owns a small weaponry outlet in the Main Hall, specializing in standard weapons and armor at fair prices. New characters begin with 200 gold pieces to spend on equipment. That should get them leather armor and at least one decent weapon if they can strike a bargain when visiting Marcos' shop.
Marcos carries the five standard weapons: an axe, which does 1D6 of damage and has a base price of 25 gold pieces, a 1D6 bow for 40 gp, a 1D4 mace for 25 gp, and a 1D8 sword which has a base price of 30 gp. Marcos will also buy used weapons; he pays 15 gold pieces for an average or poor-quality weapon and considerably more for high-quality or magical weapons.
Marcos' base prices for armor are 50 gold pieces for a shield, 100 gp for leather, 250 gp for chain mail, and 500 gp for plate armor. He also gives you trade-in credit for your old armor (but at somewhat less than what you paid for it).
Like all of the businesses in the Main Hall, Marcos' credit terms are straightforward: none.
Hokas Tokas, the resident wizard of the Main Hall, is willing to teach anybody spells for a price. His base prices for spells are 100 gold pieces to learn POWER, 1000 gp for HEAL, 3000 gp for BLAST, and 5000 gp for SPEED. Hokas is gruff but fair; he will never cheat you and will stick by you until you learn your spell.
Shylock McFenney, the local banker, will open up an account for any Free Adventurer's Guild member. He is absolutely trustworthy with the funds left in his care and does not charge any fees. He also does not pay interest, nor does he make loans (he makes enough money from adventurers who deposit money with him and never return.)
Ernst Stavro Jesse James Schmitt runs the "Paris Casino," which is always open, always lively, and always offering free drinks accompanied with an invitation for Free Adventurers to risk their gold pieces. As a result, many a fortune has been built and lost, in the blink of an eye, after being bet against the spin of one of Schmitty's brightly colored roulette wheels.
Though many an unlucky gambler has bitterly accused Schmitty of rigging the wheels, in truth, the odds they give aren't too bad, and plenty of adventurers leave the tables with heavier pockets than when they entered. Schmitty doesn't seem to notice the rumors some patrons spread about his integrity. He chuckles and maintains his pleasant, outspoken demeanor, knowing that it means business is good (and that those spreading the rumors will most likely be back for more).
A beautiful and mysterious lady, nobody is exactly sure where the witch came from, though she has seen a brisk trade among the Guild's Adventurers since she arrived. Likewise, what goes into her magic potions is a mystery, though the ingredients are most likely rare and expensive, judging by her prices.
Her draughts can raise your character's various attributes by one point and can even increase some of them over their maximum natural levels. However, each drink will cost several thousand gold pieces (with, perhaps, a slight discount for characters with above-average Charisma).
When Marcos' weapons are found to no longer be adequate for the seasoned adventurer, those lucky adventurers who have survived long enough to become "seasoned" start looking outside the Guild walls for exotic, more powerful weaponry. Upon arriving at the village, Grendel the smith was quick to fill that gap. He now offers a highly reputable yet somehow still discrete service, providing an assortment of high-quality and individually tailored implements of destruction for the wealthy aggregator.
Grendel's inventory contains used weapons of all types, typically ranging from 2D8 damage for 500 gold pieces to 2D16 damage for 1200 gold pieces. Alternatively, suppose your character has acquired enough money. In that case, they can pay Grendel to design a custom weapon built to their specifications (choosing its name, its complexity, and its total damage potential). Weapons may be built with a deadliness factor of up to 3D12, although such weapons do not come cheap and may in fact require a small fortune be paid to Grendel before he begins work.
It is well known around the Main Hall that there is certainly no love lost between this extremely polite mystic and resident mage, Hokas Tokas. Indeed Hokas' drunken ravings about "that smarmy git" have become something of an occasional, highly amusing entertainment at the Main Hall bar. It can't be denied, though, that the mystic's focusing and concentration techniques have lead many average adventurers to some truly staggering heights of magical prowess.
For a modest fee of 1000 gold pieces, the mystic will give your character a chance to practice one of their spells. The potential exists to raise that spell level by several points, even allowing it to increase beyond the natural limit of 100% (though, the truly unlucky will risk a chance of paying the fee only to learn nothing at all).
Some have said the sum of Don Diego's abilities with every type of weapon is surpassed only by the size of his ego. However, the quality of his teaching can't be denied, and for 1000 gold pieces per strike, he'll offer your character the chance to improve their weapon abilities by attacking one of his practice dummies. All sales are final, and there is no guarantee: your character may get lucky and raise a skill by several points or possibly learn nothing at all. Like the practice yard's mystic, Don Diego can also help your character increase their weapon skills well above their natural limits.
Usually, adventurers only get smacked by a giant's club when trying to relieve said giant of their money and treasures. However, the giant who resides in the practice yard realized that, by aiding adventurers in the skill of efficiently fighting while burdened under the weight of heavy armor, he could keep his treasures. He also gets paid hefty fees and still has the satisfaction of smacking adventurers silly with his club.
For 1000 gold pieces per strike, the giant will take a swing at your character. Should they successfully dodge his attack, they will have a decent chance of increasing their Armor Expertise by several points. Though, if the giant manages to clobber them, they won't learn anything (and may even suffer some temporary memory loss instead).
It does not cost you anything to examine your character or quit Eamon CS, unlike most activities in the Main Hall. The first option will create a "character sheet" style display, similar to using the STATUS command when on an adventure but with slightly more information. Exiting the universe will safely store your character until you are ready to return to the Wonderful World of Eamon CS for further adventuring.
A complete character editor is available for those who wish to customize their characters to exact specifications. It can also revive the dead and return characters directly to the Main Hall if they are on an adventure. Eamon CS places no restrictions upon how characters are created or developed, leaving those decisions entirely up to the player. You can run the EditCharacters .bat or .sh file under EamonDD to create, edit or list characters at any time.
For those who wish to create a custom character that is strong enough to complete almost all Eamon CS adventures yet still "average" enough to keep the experience challenging, use the following as a guideline for attributes:
Intellect=20, Hardiness=35, Agility=25, Charisma=20, Armor Expertise=65%, Heal=200%, all other spells=100%, all weapon abilities=40%. They should also be equipped with plate armor, a shield, and at least two 2D8 weapons with about a 25% complexity each.
Another fast and convenient way to play an Eamon CS adventure is by selecting from a special set of pre-made characters, then going directly to an adventure rather than creating and equipping a "real" character.
The test characters are available in both genders and have attributes ranging from somewhat weak to nearly invincible. Like real characters, they can change while adventuring and are restricted to occupying one adventure at a time.
You will explore castles, caves, dungeons, and other places reminiscent of common adventure games during your many exploits. However, Eamon CS is vast and unusual, and there is no "typical" adventure setting. Along with classic medieval-themed dungeon crawls, there are also many science-fiction or contemporary themed settings. Ranging from the darkest dungeons to distant planets to the modern-day sewers beneath the city of Chicago, Illinois, you can never know what to expect from one adventure to the next.
Your character can only go on one adventure at a time (character data management would otherwise be impossible) and must be returned to the Main Hall before they can embark upon another adventure. Test characters (see section 8.2) are recommended for those who wish to browse these games.
You can quit playing an adventure whenever you want by using the QUIT command. However, use the SAVE command first if you wish to return to the exact point where you stop and use QUIT HALL to remove your character completely from the adventure. The latter will return them to the Main Hall precisely as they were before you started the adventure.
To return to a previous game, run the QuickLaunch Resume[AdventureName] .bat or .sh file and, once the adventure has started, use the RESTORE command to load a previously saved game if desired.
If your character is dead (and you don't mind breaking the laws of nature) or has somehow become stuck "on an adventure," the Character Editor can be used to place them back at the Main Hall, alive and well (see section 8.1).
Upon returning to the Main Hall from an adventure, you will be stopped and inspected by the Knight Marshal on duty. He enforces the laws of the Guild, among them a limit on the number of carryable weapons. If your weapon count exceeds four, you are allowed to select the ones to sell along with the rest of your loot; the remainder you may keep.
Once the Knight Marshal allows you to pass through the first gate, you must proceed to the local buyer of treasure and booty. Typically, this will be Sam Slicker, a shrewd and experienced (but fair) businessman who has been in the pawnbroker business for quite some time.
A character's Charisma can affect haggling ability and the resale value of items. A high Charisma score can add an extra five to ten percent to the offer on most items; a low score can deduct from the bid. Some things (such as precious metals) will always be worth the same amount, no matter what. By the time you're done with Sam, you will carry only weapons and armor; everything else is converted to gold for safekeeping.
The following commands are standard in nearly every Eamon CS adventure. To see the current command list for an adventure, enter a question mark at the command prompt. To repeat your last command, hit Enter without typing anything (this is useful during combat, among other things). The HINTS command will bring up the help menu, which includes general tips for playing Eamon CS and any notes, tips, solutions, etc., specific to the current adventure.
MOVEMENT COMMANDS: NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, WEST, UP, DOWN, FLEE, and GO.
Try and move your character in the given direction if possible. In some adventures, you may also be able to move diagonally or indeterminately using the commands: NE, NW, SE, SW, IN, and OUT.
If combat gets too rough, you can attempt to run away with the FLEE command. However, if you don't specify which way to go (FLEE SOUTH, FLEE DOWN, etc.), then the game will send your character scrambling in a randomly chosen direction.
You can use the GO command (or, when appropriate, FLEE) to enter both directional and free-standing portals. These can take any form imaginable, including doors/gates, stairways, paths, crevices, structures, etc.
ITEM MANIPULATION COMMANDS:
CLOSE: Attempt to close a door or container.
DRINK and EAT: Attempt to consume something.
DROP: Drop a carried item.
DROP ALL: Attempt to drop every item your character is carrying.
EXAMINE: Repeat the long descriptions of items and monsters. May also reveal "hidden" items (those mentioned in a description of something else but not immediately listed as being in the room). Examining monsters will also report their current health status. Examining food or beverages will tell you how many drinks/bites are left. You can examine in, on, under, or behind containers to determine their corresponding contents. Extra information may also be available for a variety of items.
GET: Attempt to pick up and carry an item.
GET ALL: Attempt to GET every item in the room.
LIGHT: Turn on items used as light sources so that you can see in dark rooms. If an item is already lit, LIGHT can be used again to extinguish it. Note that LIGHT may also be used to light something on fire or perform other actions in certain adventures.
OPEN: Attempt to open things.
PUT: Attempt to place one item in, on, under, or behind another item.
READ: Attempt to read various items with markings on them.
READY: Select and equip a weapon to be used in combat. When your character starts an adventure, the most powerful weapon they are carrying will automatically be readied. The same applies when a GET command is used, and your character does not have a weapon readied.
REMOVE: Either make your character remove something that they are wearing or attempt to remove one item from in, on, under, or behind another.
USE: Generic command which can have a variety of functions. Many adventures have items that produce interesting effects when a character is told to USE them.
WEAR: Have your character equip armor (including shields) or put on clothing, shoes, hats, jewelry, or anything else which one might wear.
INTERACTIVE COMMANDS:
ATTACK: Use a weapon against items or other living beings. It is sometimes possible to force open locked doors or containers this way. You will always be asked to verify when your character tries to ATTACK any being that isn't an enemy so as not to harm a friend or innocent bystander unintentionally.
FREE: Attempt to release a captive from various imprisonments.
GIVE: Attempt to give money or items to others. Enter a numeric value for the direct object to give away gold pieces (e.g., GIVE 100). You can sometimes bribe neutral beings into becoming friends by giving 5000 gold pieces or an item of equal value. When others are given drinkable or edible items, they will usually take a drink or bite and hand it back. If they are given a weapon, they will READY it if they don't already have one.
REQUEST: Ask another being to give your character an item which they are wearing or carrying.
SMILE and WAVE: Kill 'em with kindness. Every living being in the room will display a reaction showing how they currently feel about your character. Different or special reactions may occur in some adventures; however, the default reactions found in most are growl (enemies), ignore/look (neutral beings), and smile/wave (friends). SMILE and WAVE can also be used to pass a turn.
SPELL COMMANDS:
These commands only work after your character learns the related spells.
BLAST: Attack an enemy or an item with a magic blast of energy. A successful BLAST will do 2-10 points of damage (ignoring enemy armor factors) and can be helpful when your character doesn't have a weapon or is facing a heavily armored foe.
HEAL: Either heal your character's wounds (when entered without a direct object) or heal those of another living being.
SPEED: Temporarily double your character's Agility. This spell can be useful when losing in battle to a skilled opponent or attempting to thoroughly clean and organize a house in one afternoon.
POWER: An unpredictable spell of randomness which has amusing, beneficial, or lethal effects in most adventures.
MISCELLANEOUS COMMANDS:
INFO: Display information about the current adventure, including name, author, serial number, volume label, last date modified, and a summary description.
INVENTORY: Display a list of all of the items your character is wearing and carrying. If INVENTORY is entered with a direct object, it will either display a list of items worn and carried by another being or list the contents of a container instead.
STATUS: Display a classic RPG "character sheet" style layout with a detailed report of your character's current skills, attributes, and other data. STATUS will also display special reports or effects in some adventures.
LOOK: Repeat the long description of the current room or (if a direct object is supplied) being or item. In classic Eamon CS rulesets, LOOK can find hidden objects or doors; in modern rulesets, the EXAMINE command searches for and reveals such things.
SAY: Make your character say something, anything. A lot of adventures have "magic" words or phrases that trigger special effects.
SETTINGS: When entered with no direct object, it displays the settings for the current adventure. Supplying a setting name and new value changes the setting to that value. Settings can vary between adventures, so it is good to use this command to see what settings are available when the game starts.
SAVE: Eamon CS adventures allow for up to five different saved games. If entered by itself, a prompt will follow asking which saved game slot to use and if a new name for that slot is desired. Entering SAVE 1, SAVE 2, etc., will "quick save" the game using the slot number specified, keeping its current description. SAVE 1 [Name] will save your game in that slot and change the description to whatever you specify.
RESTORE: Restores a previously saved game. Works just like the SAVE routine, with RESTORE 1, RESTORE 2, etc., used to invoke the "quick restore" feature.
HINTS: Displays a menu with general help and any available hints or notes specific to the current adventure. It is not uncommon for games to hide certain hints until particular criteria are met to avoid unnecessary spoilers.
QUIT: Stop playing the adventure and exit Eamon CS.
QUIT HALL: Exit the adventure completely, removing your character and placing them back at the Main Hall in their exact state before the adventure started.
Credit goes to the original Apple II Eamon system developers, Donald Brown, John Nelson, Rick Volberding, Thomas Zuchowski, and Eamon Deluxe's developers, Frank Black Productions. While obviously and intentionally based upon Eamon Deluxe, Eamon CS is a unique system written and developed by Michael Penner. It is a tribute to historical Eamons, a preservation effort, and a gateway for Eamon adventures' continued creation and enjoyment in a modern environment.
Along with those mentioned above, special thanks also go out to Matthew Clark and Huw Williams, whose respective websites have long been an indispensable resource to the Eamon community.
And, of course, all of the game authors who contributed their entries into the massive and varied Eamon adventure library. Whether it be a 26-room, 5-monster cave or a Middle-Earth epic, every Eamon adventure is a fun and fantastic journey into the imagination of its creator and a piece of gaming history.
This document is based on Donald Brown's original Eamon text, and especially the Eamon Deluxe Player's Manual, which sets the gold standard. Reworking the text to make it unique can be challenging given the polish of the source material, so credit goes to the excellent and imaginative writing of Frank Black, Luke Hewitt, and TMF.
Eamon CS is released as free software under the MIT License and is distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. For more information visit:
You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the MIT License as published by the Open Source Initiative.