Dead Forest (H4)
README FILE
Campaign Name:	The Adventures of Wren
Map Name:	Dead Forest

Map Maker:	Jörgen Linde
Map Testers:	Gaidal Cain, BlackRaven, Marcus the Red, Martin Nielsen
Text Editor:	David Page

Map Type:	Medium, 2 Levels; 1H, (1C)
Difficulty:	Expert player skill is required.
Language:	English

Short cuts:	Hints	Early Walk-through	Comments on the map	
Notes:		This is the first map of four in "The Adventures of Wren".
		The walkthrough is helpful if you wish to decrease the map difficulty.
		For additional map comments, see Comments on the map.
		You might want to see the balancing rules before playing.

Acknowledgement:
		This map was originally inspired by a paper and pencil rpg-adventure
		("Döda Skogen"), written by Roger Undhagen, 1985.

Update info:	V 2.1 - fixed bugs in v2.0 (v2.0 -A new area has been added to the map.
                The text has been edited and a few new events have been added as well.
                Carry-over has been automatized.)
Description:	A map where you use small sized forces in an RPG kind of style. A reference
		file containing the intro and background ("dfh4(ref).htm")is included for those
		who are interested.

Instructions:	Only play the game using Advanced setting. If Advanced is too hard, then feel
		free to play on Intermediate. Make sure to play with Stationary Guards!
Special Win:	Reach the Dwarves of the Mountain.
Special Loss:	Lose the hero named Wren.
Special Other:	None revealed here.
Narrative:	You are Wren, a young elvish woman, on a quest trying to reunite the Old 
		Peoples before it is too late ...

Thanks to:	All the map testers! Extra thanks to Anders Jonsson (Gaidal Cain) who provided
		lots of feedback and helped a lot. Also thanks to Marcus the Red who discovered
		some serious flaws in the map.

H4-sites:	Please see the TaoWh4(readme)-file.

 


 

SPOILERS:	WARNING!!!  SPOILER INFORMATION FOLLOWS - PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!
SPOILERS:	WARNING!!!  SPOILER INFORMATION FOLLOWS - PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!
SPOILERS:	WARNING!!!  SPOILER INFORMATION FOLLOWS - PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK!



Basic Walk-through:

* Follow the path north, past the garrison and get Eldur, Giljath and Fenor.
* Return south and find Ketolous.
* Visit Elusia's House.
* Move eastwards, defeat the Ogre/orcs south of the waterwheel,then take out the Golems near
  the arena.
* With the Satyrs in your party you should be able to defeat Bakkus near the volcanic area.
* Visit the Temple of the Winds (= Temple of Nature) and the Tiger Entrance on that island.
* Free Arathor!
* I'd go westwards now, purchasing skills, etc.


* The misson objective is to gather 3 keys and a poem. Then you can open the mountain gate.

* Key 1: White pearl. You get it by visiting Elusia and returning the Crystal of Memory to her.
  The crystal of Memory is located on the central island, at the Nature Temple. You can only get
  it by having Wren in the army when visiting the temple of Nature.

* Key 2: Horn of Shell. It is in the possession of Windhand. Windhand can be a hard opponent,
  and should you find him too hard, then visit him directly, without stealing anything or 
  freeing the imp. This way is furthermore to your advantage in the 2nd map.

* Key 3: Blackhand the orc has this key. It is the Black Pearl. You need to visit his under-
  ground home and force it from him. To avoid being killed by a demon, be smart ...

* Poem: If you have the Horn of Shell, the Eremite in the Swamp will give you the poem.



Hints:

* Sometimes there are alternatives to fighting.
* Scouting skills are not recommended to develop during level up.
* Wren: Put effort into (Expert) Nature magic and Combat skills for it will be useful in the
  next map. I prefer to have chaos magic with Wren too.
* Arathor: Put effort into primarily Tactical skills but also Life magic.
* You can buy other kinds of skills after you have advanced to level 6.
* At level 6, I suggest you free Arathor, cause he starts at level 6.
* Save the game before you enter The Cave Ravine, Windhand's Complex, the Barrow Mound, and
  Deep Swamp. Also save when entering the secret area (V2.0) to the SW.
* Resources of interest: From day 80 and on, you will want to keep gold and wood and ore on
  hand ...
* Don't go for Tactical skills or Life Magic with Wren! Those are Arathor's specialities.
* Remember that Ketolous has a critical artifact! Don't use him in your troops (bad for morale).
  Let him stand by the trading post, should you want to trade. Or put him in the southern
  garrison(V2.0) ...
* If you get more troops than you wish to keep in one army, let the others either scout or be
  kept safe at the Trading Post. Scouting will probably get them killed sooner or later. You may
  want to keep them in the southern garrison (V2.0) ...
* When fighting air elementals it is allowed to engage with you heroes only.
* You will need your troops in the ending battles, so don't let too many die.
* The last battles are no walk-overs. Try using what you have (potions, spells, etc.)
  Sometimes you have to sacrifice troops in order to hold up strong armies long enough for
  Wren to cast some necessary spells. If you feel that Wren is strong, march her forward and
  have her defend against all the hydras. Actually you can win w/o having to use any
  potions or such things. Sparks, slayer, fortune, etc. could be useful spells by the way.
* The three hideous Trolls (i.e. Behemoths) carry three very good artifacts that carry over
  to the next map! Defeat those three monsters before you finish the map! The Trolls roam about
  the eastern parts of the map initially. Don't try them until you are around lvl 9.






Comments on the map:

Should any of your NPCs die on the map but still be in the story, then consider them wounded
and out of action, but not dead.

Maintaining the balance in the map is the hardest part. I wanted to be able to restrict Archery
and Melee to Expert, but since it isn't possible to do so in this first edition of H4, I have
banned Melee and Archery. Arathor will not receive these skills in this map, but he can achieve
Magic Resistance and Combat. Please note the Balancing Rules below.


Month of 'x' will not interfere heavily with the map.
Month-of-stacks seem to only appear randomly where neutral stacks of the same alignment as
the "Month Of" have stood. Therefore, at certain places on the map, the neutral stacks will
change owner when encountered. This will prevent spawning from ever happening at those places.


Which Artifacts symbolize the Keys and the Poem?
In this version they are variables and not seen. You'll have to imagine that you're carrying
them :)

Balancing Rules:
I would much have preferred a different solution, but I couldn't come up with any, so this is
the best alternative solution to prevent Wren from becoming too powerful too soon.
The rules are:

1) If you achieve Master Archery, you lose.
2) If you achieve Master Combat and are below experience level 9, you lose.
3) If you achieve Grand Master Combat, you lose.

So, no point in picking those skill proficiency levels during level up.

Also, the Altar of Nature at the center of the map, may give out the Summoning skill, despite
the fact that it has been banned from the game. I've decided to let the Altar remain, but
should you receive Summoning from it, then reload and visit it again!