Girl with Red Dragon

*** Hints on how to lose ***
*** gracefully at L.O.R.D. ***

Preface:

If you're going to play a game, learn the rules.
Then learn how to use them.


Introduction:

The Role-Playing Game, Legend Of the Red Dragon (LORD), designed and crafted by Seth Able Robinson, is a fascinating game, painstakingly cobbled. But many of its nuances are not immediately visible to the casual player.

This compendium assumes the reader has a nodding knowledge of the game, and wishes to improve performance.

None of the following is cheating. It is merely understanding the game, and applying the rules to your advantage.

Most of the material in the pages to come, flows from the author's experience in playing LORD on many BBS's, and on a Local-mode set-up on his home computer. Credit is gratefully given to the following players who have made the game more enjoyable:

Bethanne, formerly on the Hyper City BBS -- The Great Knight, of The Studio BBS
Catwoman, formerly on the Hyper City BBS -- K.J. Radkey, posting in the FIDOnet LORD echo

Loyd Bulmur, Toronto, CANADA -- Loyd.Bulmur@guildnet.org -- Sept. 10, 1996
09/24/2002 Note: Email address no longer works.


Skills:

The selection of a skill is very important. Although it is done at the player's entry into LORD, it can (and should) be changed periodically.

Mystical skills are the strongest of the three categories. But they are also the most difficult to acquire. The player should either select the Mystical 'profession' at first entry, or change to it at an early stage of play. It is almost essential to have high Mystical skill uses in order to slay the Red Dragon. Entering the profession at an early stage gives the player the opportunity to attain a high level of proficiency before Level- 12 is gained.

Death Knight skills are the next best. They are slightly easier to obtain than Mystical, but they carry only about half the clout of Mystical.

Thieving skills are the easiest to get, but are the weakest. They should be used only to defeat monsters in Forest Fights. They are next-to- useless in Player fights, and Red Dragon hunting.


The Mystical Skills:

(1) Pinch - Similar to using your sword
(4) Disappear - Useful to get out of a tight corner
(8) Heat Wave - Equivalent to a Death Knight punch
(12) Light Shield - Impact of opponent's next blow is cut in half
(16) Shatter - Equivalent to two Death Knight punches
(20 Mind Heal - Restores your Hit Points to maximum

(NB: does not increment to over-scale such as obtained with the JENNIE-HOTT code.)


How To Save Your Gold:

One of the banes of many players is, that when regenerated to Level-1 after slaying the Red Dragon, all but 500 gold is lost. There is a way around that, but it requires the assistance of an ally.

Make a pact with another player. Before you attack the Red Dragon, transfer all your gold to that ally, with the understanding that the ally will transfer the gold back to you. You can point out to the ally that s/he will earn interest on the gold, and I suggest that the terms of the pact allow the holder to keep that interest.

Danger: should the ally double-cross you and refuse to return the gold, you have no way of recovering it.


Partners:

One of the most daring feats in LORD is to set up a partnership. Not only for retaining gold, but for terrorizing other players. One of the more complicated I have seen was a four-player partnership which worked in this way:

PLAYER-1 got to Level-10 and stayed there.
PLAYER-2 got to Level-8 and stayed there.
PLAYER-3 got to Level-6 and stayed there.
PLAYER-4 got to Level-4 and stayed there.

The sequence was that PLAYER-4 would log-on first, do the Forest Fights, and slaughter all other players possible at levels 3, 2 and 1. PLAYER-4 would then Bank-Transfer all gold to PLAYER-1, then <Q>uit the Realm.

PLAYER-3 would then enter the Realm, do the Forest Fights, slaughter Level 5 and 4 players (including PLAYER-4), Bank-Transfer all gold to PLAYER-1, then <Q>uit the Realm.

PLAYER-2 would repeat the process.

The key to this was that the members of the consortium had to log-on to the BBS in sequence: 4-3-2-1. But once in place, it was next-to-impossible for an independent player to rise through the ranks to Level-12 and fight the Red Dragon.

Every couple of weeks, the PLAYERS would change positions, so each of them had a shot at being top dog.

Because there are so many Inner Game Modules available, and since authors are continually updating and improving them, no attempt is made to include any hints on them.


Miscellaneous:

A player who reaches Level-12, should always attack the Red Dragon forthwith. A player killed by the Red Dragon loses only gold-in-hand, no experience points such as would be lost if slain by a monster in the Forest, or by another player.

-=-=-=-=-

The game-day on which the Red Dragon is slain, the player gets an extra <R>omantic mail to send, provided the first such has been sent.

-=-=-=-=-

If your character is a Thief and you happen to have a Fairy to spare, go into the bank and type "2", without quotes. The amount you "steal" will vary and may not amount to much, but it's a good use for a leftover Fairy!

-=-=-=-=-

To increase your chances of having the Bard double your money in the bank, don't pay him a visit until you've fought at least two monsters in the forest.

-=-=-=-=-

To increase your chances of executing a power move in the forest, type "P" there.

-=-=-=-=-

To get a short story-poem by Seth, press "S" from the entrance menu.

-=-=-=-=-

To check the game stats and find out what's being said about you when you flirt, press 1 from the Town Square. This also shows how much gold you can transfer at a time, per day.

-=-=-=-=-

In LORD version 3.50 and higher, pressing B in the Forest will cause a vulture/buzzard to take your gold and deposit it in the Bank.

-=-=-=-=-

To learn about your enemies, you can always check with Chance the barkeeper at the DARK CLOAK TAVERN. For two gems he will tell you about your "enemies" weapon/strength, armour/ defense, how much gold they have, and how many gems. It doesn't tell you what that persons hitpoints are, but that's where you weigh the pros & cons after looking at the other stuff.

-=-=-=-=-

When fighting monsters in the Forest, periodically you are approached by an old witch (hag) asking for a gem. If you are at less-than-maximum Hit Points, she will heal you in return for one gem. If you already are at maximum Hit Points, she will increase your Hit Points by one. This is 50 per cent cheaper than what the Bartender charges for increasing your Hit Points. If you don't have any gems but still say yes to the old witch, your Hit Points will be reduced to 1.


Strategy and Tactics:

While there are many strategies and tactics, here is one of the more common: When you have a choice between offense and defense, defense points (armor) will allow you to stay alive longer in battle, while strength points (weapons) only allow you to hit harder. The best weapon in the world won't help if a strong adversary gets a good hit on you, but you can always keep whacking away if your armor is good.

-=-=-=-=-

Here is a strategy from Jera Morrison as posted on the FIDOnet LORD echo:

You should stay at level 6 until you've got at least the ninth or 10th type of armor, or the monsters will trash you almost faster than you can gain XP. There seems to be a plateau at that level that you must be wary of crossing until you're sure you can survive. In addition, there are some monsters that it is simply cost-prohibitive to fight because it costs you more to get healed than you can receive from them. One of these is the Mystical Blast. He does so much damage with each attack (and seems to have a higher chance of getting power moves than most monsters) that unless you've got super-good armor and weapon, you are risking death with each encounter with him, and what gold you get from him is just about what you have to pay to get healed back. Therefore, when I run into him (or others like him, and there are several others), I follow the maxim about discretion being the better part of valor.


The Jennie Codes:

The JENNIE Codes, as of LORD v3.55, are:


BABE - extra forest fight               LADY - gold (1000 x your level)
SEXY - extra user fight                 FOXY - one Gem
HOTT - temporary 25% increase in hit points
COOL - extra charm point if you are not at full hit points
DUNG - turned into a frog until you apologize
UGLY - kicked out; 1 hit point when you return
FAIR - lose your "player flirt" option for the day
DUMB, STAR, and NICE - apparently no effect   

These codes work only when the character is in HIGH spirits, which is shown when the game is first entered. The character must be in the Forest, type jennie (do not press <ENTER>) and reply with whatever code you want.

The over-scale hit points disappear the following day, but are useful if you are one of the first players of the day, and you obtain them just before exiting. (A nasty surprise for some one who attacks you.)


How To Survive

It is wise, if you have the Gold, to take a Room at the Inn. The normal setting for being attacked in the Inn is no more than one Level down. Thus, a Level-1 player is immune from attack by any player Level-3 or higher.

If you have not used your JENNIE-HOTT advantage, do this before retiring for the night. If you are attacked, the attacker may get more than was expected.

Having a Fairy in your pocket is no advantage while your are asleep. The Fairy disappears as soon as you exit the game. To paraphrase an old adage: if you don't use it, you lose it.

Having a Horse doesn't help either, while asleep. Although both the Horse and the Fairy help in fighting monsters in the Forest, other players or the Red Dragon, those attributes are of no assistance if you are attacked while sleeping. 10/15/02: In the case of the Fairy, it is lost to the player when they go to sleep in LORD itself, or in an IGM.


The Red Dragon

The Red Dragon is a powerful foe. But it has a weakness: Mystical Skill attack.

The best combination that you can have when attacking the Red Dragon is a Fairy, a Horse, at least 40 Mystical Skills and Mystical Skill uses, at least four Death Knight Skills and Death Knight Skill uses, weapon-grade 10 (minimum) armour grade-10 (minimum) and 500 Hit Points.

Assuming you have that combination, start with the Mystical Skill Shatter. Follow with a Death Knight. Another Death Knight. About this time, the Dragon will inflict enough damage on you that the Fairy will have to revive you. Another Death Knight should be next. Watch your Hit Points, and invoke the Mystical Skill Mind Heal, which restores you to full Hit Points (non-augmented if you had started with JENNIE-HOTT). One more Death Knight should finish off the Dragon, although you may have to use your normal Attack weapon around this time.

One of the easiest Dragon kills is if the Dragon attacks your Horse. Then, it's all over but the shouting, for the attack on the Horse automatically kills the Dragon, just as it does any monster you encounter in the Forest. 10/15/02: LORD v4.07 (beta) has been fixed to remove this situation. The dragons in mythology were never easily killed by a knight just because it killed their horse. Likewise, the Red Dragon is no longer affected by the Horse's death. So the "Death Crystal" event has been removed from the Dragon battle.


Dragon Taglines

Many of the following taglines were purloined from the prolific postings of KJ Radkey in the FIDOnet LORD echo.

"Aw, Ma! We had Thief for dinner LAST night!" --Red Dragon
"Hmm, lemme see, Dragon Handbook ... Red" <SCORCH>
"It's simple," mulled the dragon. "He who hesitates is lunch."
"Never trust anything you can eat." -- old dragon proverb
"Oh, a dragon is just a lizard that ate a Zippo..." <MUNCH!>
"Someone has to do something about the Red Dragon!" --Halder
...and never, ever cut a deal with a dragon.
1 Stick + 1 Coat = Red Dragon snack
A day without a dragon is ... MUCH SAFER!
A dragon a day keeps EVERYONE away ...
A dragon in the hand is worth five charred fingers ...
A dragon in time saves lighter fluid ...
A dragon with a can-opener. A knight's worst nightmare
A fool and his dragon are soon hoardless ...
A Red Dragon? Pass my marshmellows, please....
Always speak politely to an enraged dragon.
And the Red Dragon said, "Ho ho ho ...!"
Anything not coated with asbestos is a dragon toy.
Baby dragon to Momma dragon: Can I play with it now? Huh huh? Please!
Be advised: All red dragons have the right-of-way.
Call now & receive your FREE Belching Dragon Coloring Book!!
Cry, "Shhhh!" and slip quietly out the dragon's door ...
Death: The unfortunate side effect of attacking a dragon.
Don't irritate a dragon. Unless you WANT 3rd degree burns.
Dragon droppings, coal ... What's the difference?
Dragon Poker? But ... the Dragon always wins!
Dragon slayers wanted. No experience expected.
Dragon slaying is a whole knight's work.
Dragon to knight: "Leaving so soon? It's almost lunchtime!"
Dragon? What Dragon? You said we were looking for a worm.
Dragons also like lady fingers.
Dragons aren't extinct, they just learned to hide in books.
Dragons aren't extinct, they've just learned to hide real well.
Dragons aren't the only species; they just act like it.
Dragons do it whenever they want.
Dragons do it with fire.
Dragons love you ... dipped in chocolate.
Dragons love you, you're crunchy and good with ketchup.
Dragons make great pets. Just put down LOTS of newspaper.
Dragons work for scale.
Dragons: Cuddly Flamethrowers.
Dragons: Friendly Toasters.
Dragonslayer needed. Immediate position available.
Famous Last Words: "But it's only a LITTLE Red Dragon ..."
Famous Last Words: "Hey, Dragon -- got a light?"
Famous Last Words: "I Think The Dragon Is Asleep".
Famous last words: "Watch me goose that sleeping dragon!"
Famous Last Words: Dragon, what dragon?
Fear not, brave knight ... unless the dragon stops purring.
Gosh, I bet that dragon bite really smarts!
Have you hugged your dragon today?
He who hesitates ... is dragon fodder.
He's a dragon...that means we only have to pay him Scale.
Heat outer skin to cherry, peel, and eat! --dragon cookbook
Hmmm, that's funny -- I don't remember ordering a dragon.
How many hitpoints does being sat on by the Red Dragon cost?
How much for the dragon in the window?
I am a dragon. You are not a dragon. Any questions?
I gotta go find and kill the Red WHAT, Turgon?!?
I HATES Dragons! -- Yosemite Sam
I went ... I found the Dragon ... I got toasted.
I'd like to see you dismount the dragon and say that!
I'd rather be aloft on dragon wings ...
If I have to choose between Seth and the dragon, I'll take the dragon!
If you'll bring the marshmallows, I'll bring the dragon!
Just remember, Sometimes the dragon wins.
Love me, love my dragon.
Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy.
Naughty dragon? YOU spank him!!!
Never anger a dragon, for you are crunchy and go well with brie.
Never argue with a dragon or a SYSOP.
Never ask a Red Dragon if he has a light.
Never battle a dragon in his own lair.
Never hold a belching contest with a dragon.
Never stand in front of a sneezing dragon.
Never trust a smiling dragon picking its teeth with a two-handed sword
NEW from Ralston Purina: Maiden-flavored Dragon Chow ...
NO!!! DON'T scratch the dragon's bel~!@#$%^NO CARRIER
PALADIN 4 HIRE: Dragons Rescued...Maidens Slain...errrr...
Power corrupts. Absolute power is for dragons.
Red Dragon Taxi Service: Cheap Forest Rates, One Way Only
Science asks how. Philosophy asks why. Dragons don't care.
Score at the half: Dragons 21 - Newbies 0.
Slaying foul maidens and rescuing fair dragons!
Staring into a dragon's jaws, one quickly learns wisdom.
Stay low, conserve ammo, and never deal with a Dragon.
Strip Poker is OUT! I'VE seen the dragon naked; YOU haven't!
That dragon's a wuss ... a wimp ... Uh, behind me, isn't he?
The dragon made me do it.
The light at the end of the tunnel may be an oncoming dragon.
There are no dragons, here we call 'em gators
Those who live by the sword die by dragon breath.
Todays special Dragon a'l Orange' with Purple Monchichi sauce...
Wanna help me feed my dragon? <evil grin>
What Sandtiger SHOULD sell is a FEMALE Red Dragon!
When waking a dragon, use a very long stick.
Whoa, Dragon. I SAY WHOA DRAGON!!! -- Yosemite Sam
Why do dragons sleep during the day? So they can fight knights.
You can't soar with Dragons if you work with gargoyles.


PLAYER.DAT file

Here is a typical entry from the PLAYER.DAT file. -- Account Number: 1

 (1) Name: Powerful Pierre              (2) Level: 9
 (3) Real Name: LOYD BULMUR             (4) Hit Points: 624
 (5) Experience: 403902                 (6) Hit Max: 624
 (7) Weapon: Spear Of Gold              (8) Weapon Num: 11
 (9) Seen Master: No!                   (0) Fights Day: 18
 (A) Fights Human: 3                    (B) Sex: MALE
 (C) Defence: 439                       (D) Gems: 0
 (E) Strength: 722                      (F) Charm: 51
 (G) Seen Dragon?: No!                  (H) SeenViolet: No!
 (I) Class?: Mystical Skills            (J) Times Won: 0
 (K) Armour: Full Body Armour           (L) Armour Num: 10
 (M) Player Dead?: No!                  (N) StayingInn: No!
 (O) Gold: 0                            (P) Seen Bard?: No!
 (R) Gold In Bank: 3861100              (S) Times Laid: 7
 (T) Player Kills: 11                   (U) Flirted Player?: Not yet.
 (Z) Married to: -1                     (,) Horse: TRUE
 (!) High spirits?: Yes                 (@) Kids: 0
 Last Time On: 47                       Last Resurrection: 47

 (X) Delete 'em       (W) Search By Name       ($) Edit Skills
 (]) Advance One      ([) Back Up One          (*) New Day For User

Input key to change, or Q to quit and save.

** SPECIAL SKILLS EDITOR **

(1) Death Knight Skills: NONE          (2) Uses Today: (0)
(3) The Mystical Skills: 12            (4) Use Points: (13)
(5) The Thieving Skills: 1             (6) Uses Today: (0)

Input key to change, or Q to quit and save.
 

How to save your marriage (to Violet or Seth Able)

A male needs a minimum of 100 Charm Points in order to marry Violet. A lady needs at least 125 Charm Points to wed Seth Able, the Bard. Upon divorce, the male's Charm is reduced to 50, while the female's Charm is reduced to 30. 10/15/02: LORD v4.05pb+ drops the player's charm by 50 percent during a divorce.

In order to preserve the marriage, the player must increase his/her Charm Points each game-day. Failure to do so will result in a divorce.

Have phun(TM) and remember....it's just a game! © 1996-97 Suzanne Franklin


LORD v4.0x Note: Some features of Lord were changed by Seth Robinson and Michael Preslar. Those changes are briefly referred to in the Lord Updates Page on this site. One Jennie code was added in v4.05, and one dropped. Player Divorce changes: your charm now drops 50%, instead of to 50 points. Players are no longer allowed to divorce someone, and then marry another on the same day. 01/29/2001 DGT. Reworded last sentence 10/11/02.


Go back to the main LORD Articles Page.
OR Choose another article from the links table.

Kiteria's Korner Articles Table:
LordNet Help LORD Article #1 LORD Article #2-A LORD Article #2-B
LORD Article #3 LORD Article #4-A LORD Article #4-B The Buzzard
Barak's House Jennie Codes LORD Ethics LORD Teams
IGM Cheat #6 IGM Cheat #8 IGM Cheat #9 IGM Cheat #10
LORD Hints Page 20 Player Types    

You are visitor number since Jan. 11, 2003.

Copyright 1996-2003. Suzanne Franklin and Donald Tidmore.
Updated on: January 12, 2003 at 07:07 pm.