The Prince

© 1984 J. Sherry

The Prince is an interactive role-playing game of strategy and adventure for four players and 17 computer controlled “players”.  It represents a real challenge to the resourcefulness of the players, since it pits them not only against computer-generated difficulties but also against each other; the interactions which take place between the players away from the keyboard are as important as the interaction between player and computer.  There is much scope for skull-duggery, deception, and behind-the-scenes arm bending, and it is this machiavellian strand that is part of the main reason for the Game’s title.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. SCENARIO

The game takes place within the confines of Castle Ravencrag – a dark and straggling pile that is ruled over by The Prince.  At the outset of the game, the Castle is in a turmoil – the Lore Master is missing and is rumoured to be dead.  The Lore Master is the individual who organises the day to day existence of the castle and is the most powerful individual at Court, next to The Prince himself.  By an ancient law, succession to the post of Lore-master is by “presentation of the tokens” – a ceremony whereby the applicant asks for an audience with the Prince and then presents him with “the tokens” – an object and a word.  It has always been a mystery to all castle dwellers just how the successor comes by the tokens.  Each of the game’s four players represents a particular “power base” within the life of the castle – there is a Landowner, a cleric, a merchant and a court official.  Each one is determined to discover and present the tokens of succession and so become the next Master of the Lore – and each one is, of course determined to do everything possible to hinder the others in their efforts.  When the tokens have been presented and the Master of Lore nominated, the game is at an end.  The winner, obviously, is the player that has secured the nomination.

2. GAME STRUCTURE

The game is played on two separate levels – the level of interaction between player and player, and the level of interaction between player and computer.  Between themselves players may haggle, bargain, bribe, blackmail, sell, or whatever, as they see fit.  Interactions between players may be public or secret.  Players will form alliances, sell objects, services, and information, and generally try to further their own ends at the expense of everybody else.  More about that later.

Interaction between players and the computer is quite straightforward.  With the exception of the initial “introduction of characters”, which should be seen by all players, only one player at a time may be at the keyboard.  While one player is at the screen, the other players continue their own interactions.  All players should have pens and paper and should make a note of objects and situations as the game progresses.

3. GAME MECHANICS

Players decide in advance on the “character” which they wish to adopt in the game.  The human player takes on the name and the specific type of power of the “character” and they can exercise this in relation to the others.  These specific powers are as follows:-

Grasper, the landowner, dispenses protection.  To do this, he enters the command, “protect (player’s name)” at his turn.  Whoever comes under Grasper’s protection becomes invulnerable to physical attack and is very difficult to steal from.  These conditions apply, of course, to Grasper himself throughout the game.

Ambrose, the cleric, dispenses Grace.  To do this, he enters the command, “shrive (player’s name)” during his turn at the keyboard.  “Grace” is important because of the piety of The Prince – he will not grant a protracted audience to anyone who has not been absolved from their wrongdoings.  The blameless will not need to seek absolution from Ambrose, but not many players will be able to do this.  Even calling on a Hench has its effect on a player’s state of grace.  To be shriven by Ambrose also has the effect of reducing a gaol sentence.

Porcus, the merchant, dispenses cash.  This is self explanatory.  Without cash, items cannot be purchased from Gamp, and payments may not be made to other players.  Porcus will lend out money, in fixed batches of 1000 crowns, to anyone – including himself – that he regards as deserving.  To do this he enters “loan to (player’s name)” during his turn at the keyboard.

Fernando, the tipstaff, dispenses justice.  Any player who wishes to bring charges of theft or assault against another player may petition Fernando for a trial.  To try someone, Fernando enters “trial” during his turn at the keyboard.  Once this command has been entered, then all players (except any who are incommunicado) may come to the screen, and Fernando enters replies to a series of prompts:- a. the name of the accused;  b. his crime “stealing” or “hitting”;  c. the name of the accuser;  d. proof of guilt. (Guilt is proved by naming an object that is in the possession of the accused.)  If the court finds the accused guilty, he will be sentenced to a period in the cells – the “proving object” is given to the accuser and the rest of his possessions are donated to Gamp.  If a player is found not guilty, then the accuser is fined 1000 crowns.  There may sometimes be a miscarriage of justice, but then no system is perfect.  At the end of the trial, the Tipstaff will be asked if mercy is recommended – replying “yes” will result in a reduced sentence.  Before the accused’s next turn (when he will find himself in the cells and therefore incommunicado) he may petition Ambrose for Grace.  This, if given, will reduce his sentence further.  The commands “protect – “, “shrive –“, “loan to –“ and “trial” are specific to individual players – the general commands will be dealt with in a moment.

4. BUYING ROUND

Each player in turn has an opportunity to buy allies and provisions.  No other player should be present at the screen while this is being done.  For each player, this initial buying round has four phases:-

a)	Hench buying, (used to steal or assault)

b)	Spy buying, (used to locate objects or to provide information)

c)	Item buying, (players may only hold a maximum of nine items)
Gamp appears with a list of items for sale. (Gamp is the Castle entrepreneur, he buys and sells anything and everything).  The items on offer are a randomly-chosen group of items that Gamp has for sale – he has many more things than the player sees.

d)	Information.
The first screen shows the player with his hench and spy, and it also gives his passcode and wealth score.  The passcode must be noted at this stage – without it, the player will not be able to take his turn.  The second screen is simply a list of all items held.  A “given” object will be highlighted by “flashing” its name.

5. PLAYER’S TURN

Following the buying round, players take turns in coming to the keyboard.  Before a player can begin his turn, he must enter his passcode – there then follows two screens of information that have already been described and then the player is in the command mode.  Most of the commands will, as is usual in adventure games, have to be discovered by players as the game progresses.  There are, however, a number commands whose workings should be understood by all the players in advance.

First, the “call” command – the player enters “call”, followed by a character’s name, and this has the effect of calling a computer held character onto the screen.  Any character may be called, except that the calling of some characters depends upon the location of the calling player.  The human players cannot be called, since these can be contacted away from the computer; and the Prince cannot be called because that would be presumptious.  If a player wants to see the Prince, he must enter the command “audience”.  Interactions following a call are as follows:-

For spies.  A spy asked to “report” may (perhaps) give some information.  A spy asked to “find (object name)” will set off in search of it.  If the sought object is lying “open” within the castle, then the spy will give claim to it and will give it up on a subsequent call.  If it belongs to another player, then he will identify the holding player on a subsequent call.  If the object is held by Gamp or is otherwise inaccessible to the spy, then he will report it not found.

For henches; either “hit (characters name)”, or “steal (object name)”.  Henches can be instructed to “hit” other computer held characters, disabling them for a few moves.  Henches cannot “hit” the human players. If a hit is successful, a hench will report it on a subsequent call, otherwise he will report the job not done.  If a player tries to call up, say, his own hench, and is met with the message “no word from (character name)”, then his man has been hit by someone elses hench.  Hitting never results in death, but it is a triable offence and anyone found guilty of it is given a fairly stiff sentence.  If a hench is ordered to steal something, he will first of all ask who owns the object that he is after, then he will set out to get it.  As before, success or failure will be reported on subsequent calls.  Stealing, too, is a triable offense.

“Call banker”.  This brings up the banker for the purpose of transferring part of a player’s “personal” wealth to another player.  Transfers are in fixed amounts of 1000 crowns, and are made by entering “give to (player’s name)” on the banker’s appearance.

“Call Gamp”, brings Gamp onto the screen with an enquiry as to whether the caller is buying or selling.  The caller responds by entering “buy (object name)”, or “sell (object name)”.  Any number of buying and selling transactions can be carried out within a single call, and the player must enter “leave” to make Gamp go away.

Any other possible calls will have to be figured out by the players……

Second, the “give” command.  This takes the form; “give (object name)” – the computer then asks “Who are you giving to?” and the player responds by naming one of the other human players.  Transfers do not take effect until the named player has his turn.  Sometimes objects may be given as a result of bargaining, in exchange for, say, information or goods, but sometimes they may be passed on in an attempt to frame players on a stealing charge.

Thirdly, the “audience” command.  A player who wishes to see the Prince, enters “audience” on his turn.  When he meets the Prince, he must enter “token bearer” as his first statement.  If he is in possession of sufficient Grace, he will be allowed to stay and produce what he thinks is the quest object.  If that is successful he will be asked for the quest word, and if he supplies it he will be nominated as the new Lore master.  Failure at any of these stages of audience, though, results in the petitioner being thrown out, minus 1000 crowns and any Grace he may have had.

Other commands used.  The program also uses “move” followed by a direction, to shift the player about within the castle (an exception to this is if a player manages to get inside the dungeon, where cursor keys must be used to move the player within the corridors).

All of the other commands are fairly standard e.g.:-

1.	Examine (objects carried).
2.	Look (this scans surroundings).
3.	Take (object)
4.	Write (if parchment and quill carried).

and dig, drink, drop, help, open, and save, etc.

Other commands would have to be discovered by trial and error as the game progresses.

Players are allowed ten inputs at their turn.  Inappropriate commands are met with a blank “that does not work” – it is up to the player to figure out whether it is not working because the command has no place within the program or because it is being used under the wrong conditions.

6. MISCELLANEOUS

At the end of a turn a player may be informed that he is “incommunicado”.  While this condition applies he is forbidden to talk with the other players while he is away from the keyboard; they, of course, will not always know what has happened to him.  Players are allowed only one “errand”, for henches and spies, at a time.  Setting up a second errand before a first has been completed results in the first errand being cancelled, e.g. Errands cannot be completed within one turn. (A player cannot dispatch a hench or a spy at the start of a turn and then call him later during the same turn to collect his goods).  Any hench or spy not employed by the player may be called, but these are more expensive.

Henches will not steal from their own employers.

Spies can be asked for reports.

Entering “q” when a key input is required, or entering the word “quit” when a string input is required, will result in the game being re-started.

7. PLAYER – PLAYER TRANSACTIONS

In one sense these are extremely simple to cover – there are no rules governing what is or is not possible and the players act in whatever way they think will further their own ends.  Players can form alliances where they agree to keep out of each others way (an obvious example – the Tipstaff could agree never to prosecute the cleric in return for Grace on demand, but this could generate hostility from the merchant and landowner, and this would have to be dealt with, and so on).  Players can offer their own “special” resources in return for objects, information or cash from other players.  What information they give can be accurate or misleading.  They welch on agreements and double-cross on alliances.  They can threaten, cajole or blackmail other players into doing what they want.  This is something that only comes with practice – there is no way that you can “show” people how to do it in a rulebook.