Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant

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Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant

Developer(s)	Sir-tech Software, Inc.
Publisher(s)	Sir-tech Software, Inc.
Series	Wizardry series
Release date(s)	1992
Genre(s)	Role-playing
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	MS-DOS, Windows 95, PlayStation
Media	CD-ROM
Input	Keyboard

Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant is the 7th title in the Wizardry series of computer role-playing games by Sir-Tech. It is also the 2nd in the 'Dark Savant trilogy'. It was published in 1992 by Sir-Tech Software, Inc. It was originally developed for DOS. In 1996 it was remade into Wizardry Gold, designed to work on Windows 95, and distributed by Interplay.

1 Crusaders of the Dark Savant vs. Wizardry Gold
2 Plot
3 NPC Races
4 Gameplay
5 External links

[edit] Crusaders of the Dark Savant vs. Wizardry Gold

The first main difference between the original Crusaders of the Dark Savant and Wizardry Gold is that they are designed for different computer platforms. While you can play Crusaders of the Dark Savant on Windows 95 computers (and beyond), Wizardry Gold will not work on DOS.

Wizardry Gold introduced diplomacy to the game to a much larger extent, with a whole level of programming added purely to deal with the diplomatic element. Whilst diplomacy technically existed in Crusaders of the Dark Savant, it only did minor things such as changing prices, and also decided which alliance you were with, and hence which quests you were on. The Wizardry Gold version made diplomatic relations much more complicated.

Another major development in the Wizardry Gold version was the introduction of speech. This was primarily in the form of a narrator who tells you what is happening at each stage. In the Crusaders of the Dark Savant version, this is merely text that can easily be skipped through.

Finally, Wizardry Gold introduced a simple version of 3D action. Whilst they were essentially 2 dimensional characters that played out set moves, this differed in that the characters that were fought actually changed.

Wizardry Gold was included as part of Interplay's Ultimate RPG Archives, that was released in 1998 and it's also available in the Ultimate Wizardry Archives that contains the first seven Wizardry titles.

[edit] Plot

Crusaders of the Dark Savant picks up where Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge left off. The party had just found the Cosmic Forge, the pen that the Cosmic Lords use to script the events of the universe, after it was stolen by the Bane King and his Wizard, Xorphitus. Before the party could decide what to do with it, it was spirited away by a servant of the Cosmic Lords, the cyborg Aletheides.

The Cosmic Forge was used to hide the location of the Astral Dominae, a powerful artifact with power over life itself, on planet Guardia. Because of this, its theft revealed Planet Guardia to the universe. Now, multiple forces are converging on Lost Guardia to find this artifact, including the party itself. It is after planetfall on Guardia that the story begins.

As there are three endings to Bane of the Cosmic Forge, there are four beginnings to Crusaders of the Dark Savant (one for each of the endings from the previous game, and a fourth for parties who are starting fresh).

The first beginning follows a party who decided to believe the lies of the Bane Queen and kill her husband, the Bane King, his lover, Rebecca, and her brother, Bela. On a whim, the party then enters the mouth of a "giant slumbering beast" (in actuality, a spaceship), which was secreted behind Bela's room. The ship is captured in mid-flight by the Black Ship Dedaelis, which belongs to the Dark Savant, who is the main antagonist of the story. The party is pressed into service by the Savant, who explains that he wants the Astral Dominae to overthrow the Cosmic Lords, and is transported down to Lost Guardia to aid the T'Rang in finding the Astral Dominae for him.

The second beginning follows a party who did not believe the lies of the Bane Queen, and who spared the life of the Bane King. He commits suicide, and Rebecca gives the party the key to her brother Bela's room. In this case, Bela does not attack the party; in fact, the party agrees to accompany him on his spaceship to chase Aletheides to his destination. As Bela has been in contact with a race called the Umpani for some time on an interstellar communications device, the party transports to the surface of Guardia just outside Ukpyr, where the Umpani are based. They then have the option of joining up with the Imperial Umpani Federation in their mission to defeat the T'Rang.

The third beginning is not hinged on believing the Bane Queen or not; rather, it is dependant on whether or not the party decides to take the Cosmic Forge before boarding Bela's ship (either by joining him, or by force). Aletheides appears and takes the pen, and offers the party the opportunity to accompany him to Lost Guardia. After a long voyage, he transports the party to the surface of Guardia, just outside Dionysceus, where the Dane live.

The fourth beginning for new parties describes the party as adventure and treasure seekers, who stumble upon the Cosmic Forge in an abandoned temple. Aletheides introduces the events of Bane of the Cosmic Forge, then the party accompanies him to Lost Guardia. This party starts just outside of New City.

Whatever the initial circumstances of the party's arrival on Guardia, they are free to make or break alliances as they see fit. For example, a party initially aligned with the Savant and the T'Rang are fully capable of turning on them, with no repercussions in finishing the game. In fact, it is possible to either befriend, or make enemies of, every nation on the planet, and still be able to complete the main quest of the game.

The main plot involves the party's quest to find the resting place of the Astral Dominae, the greatest artifact ever created by the god Phoonzang. There are four distinct endings; each of these endings can then be imported as savegame files to Wizardry 8, the final chapter of the Dark Savant trilogy, which in turn has its own set of five beginnings.

Crusaders of the Dark Savant blends science fiction and fantasy into an epic story, and is seen through the eyes of medieval warriors. Because of this, a spaceship can be referred to as a "flying whale" or "beast-bird of steel," ships shooting lasers are described as "machines that breathe fire" and the Helazoid rocket sleds become "chariots of fire."

Many philosophical issues are touched on throughout the story, such as the purpose of reincarnation, the importance of self-reflection, personal responsibility, forebearance and history, and much more. Some are spoken through NPCs within the game or through the narrator, while others are read from maps scattered throughout the world of Guardia. These maps, which rival NPC parties are also seeking, offer philosophical treatises nestled alongside clues to solving puzzles within the game.

[edit] NPC Races

Umpani: A spacefaring race of rhinoceros men, who are banded together in an interstellar civilization called the Imperial Umpani Federation. Their society is based on both fair trade and impressive military might. They are the sworn enemies of the T'Rang, whom they have been at war with for some time. Their favored weapons are large, flat-ended swords called Walriblades, and gunpowder-based firearms like the musket and blunderbuss. They occupy the old Guardian ruins of Ukpyr, an old city whose stones and materials they have reused to construct a base there, and run a Detache Station in New City. General Yamo, their leader, operates from Ukpyr.

T'Rang: A spidery race whose star-spanning trade network rivals the Umpani's own. Their bodies are snake-like but they stand erect, and they have four claws extending from their chest/thorax, and two antennae protruding from their heads. The Guardia brood is ruled by a T'Rang Queen, a larger version of regular T'Rang, who spawns the eggs that hatch newborn T'Rang drones. The T'Rang favor the use of electrified staves to subdue their enemies, but are also known to use magic. They occupy the ruins of Nyctalinth, as well as a small building in New City called T'Rshieche's House. Their Queen, H'Jenn-Ra, lives in Nyctalinth.

Munk: The Munk are pudgy, red robed humanoids who look little different from Humans. They are adept at martial arts, and the use of the quarterstaff and rod. Their deeply religious culture revolves around the Holy Path, which appears to be a set of life guidelines set down by the ancient Munk prophet, Munkharam. Their faith bears a resemblence to monastic religion, as they dress and live simply, study martial arts, and practice charity for others (at low cost) from at least one church. They are at war with the Dane and the Dark Forest Munk, their fallen brothers, both of whom they consider blasphemers. They live primarily in Munkharama, and have a church called Thesminster Abbey in New City. Although they have no official leaders, the strongest Munk, Xen Xheng, teaches from Munkharama.

Dane: In contrast to the Munk, the Dane are tall, slim and blue skinned, wear flashy blue and purple robes, and their beliefs are radically different. Those on the lower tiers of their faith seem little better than charlatans, as they constantly press the party for more and more money as they advance through the Dane's ranks. For example, Kymas Turan is an infamous NPC who, after the party has joined the Dane, constantly demands 10% of all of the money the party has as a tithe, or he attacks. The upper echelons of the Dane seem more concerned with personal power, and the pleasures of wine and sex. Their race is a possible parody of evangelism and the excesses of "charitable" religion, whose members plead for money as they live like kings. The Dane are at war with the Munk, whom they consider blasphemers. They live primarily in Dionysceus, the Tower of the Dane, where their leader the Magna Dane also resides.

Gorn: The Gorn resemble the common fantasy archetype of the Orc, and share in their warlike nature. They are tusked, green skinned humanoids who wear Samurai-style Do-maru armor, and wield polearms like the naginata and lance. They are xenophobic and trust few outsiders, as their lands are situated between the Munk and the Dane, who are at war with one another. According to the game manual, it is the very presence of the Gorn Empire that keeps the Dane and Munk from turning the planet into a warzone. The Gorn, and their leader King Ulgar, live in Orkogre Castle, a hidden fortress in Orkogre Forest.

Rattkin: A race of humanoid rats, the Rattkin are adept at thievery and espionage. Their lower ranks are little better than cutthroats and bandits, though some Rattkin, like Professor Wunderland, have left their traditionally thieving ways behind. They favor the use of daggers and short swords. The Rattkin are ruled from the Rattkin Ruins, an abandoned city whose name has long been lost, by a Yakuza/Mafia-style crime boss named Don Barlone', who lives in the ruins of a funhouse there.

Helazoid: The Helazoid are the descendants of the Higardi, who are a race of humanoids that play a principal part in Wizardry 8. No male Helazoid are ever seen, but the females are depicted as long blonde haired women who ride fiery red rocket sleds. They are technologically advanced on a world of swords and sorcery, and are firm believers in the Prophecy, which states that once the Crusaders arrive from the stars to unearth the Astral Dominae, the Higardi will appear to take their long lost children into the stars with them. The Helazoid fire laser beams from their rocket sleds, and also make use of laser pistols and glowing laser spears. They live in the City of Sky, and are ruled by their Queen, Dame Ke-Li.

[edit] Gameplay

Crusaders of the Dark Savant is played from a first person perspective, with the party's character portraits visible beside what they see in the game world. Movement is tile-based.

Individual character personality is non-existent. Instead, the party thinks and acts as a cohesive unit (reflecting the player who controls them). The race and class of each character is, however, customizable, allowing for many different types of parties to explore the world of Lost Guardia.

Each race has a certain statistic value attached to them, before bonuses: Strength determines carrying capacity and melee damage. Intelligence affects the number of skills learned, and the strength of spells. Piety affects the amount of spell points a character has to use. Vitality determines HP, and resistance to disease. Dexterity determines number of attacks per round and thieving skills. Speed determines number of total attack rounds available and initiative. Personality determines how likely a character is to make friends with neutral or hostile NPCs. Karma does much the same as Personality, except that low values in Karma impress similarly low Karma NPCs (thieves like the company of thieves, and so on).

As with the first five Wizardry games, the races include Tolkien-esque Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes and Hobbits. However, continuing with the expansion of this concept in Bane of the Cosmic Forge, Lizardmen, Faeries, Dracons (half-Human, half-Dragons), Rawulf (humanoid dogs), Felpurr (humanoid cats) and the alien Mook (tall and hairy Yeti-like people, who make an appearance in Wizardry 8) are all playable. Each race carries its own unique set of benefits and detriments to statistics, unique resistances, and can make use of race specific equipment. The game even includes a weapon that is relegated only to Faeries who become Ninja.

There are also several classes to choose: Fighters are the frontline troops. Thieves disarm traps and steal. Samurai, Lords, the female-only Valkyries, Bards, Rangers, Monk and Ninja are all hybrid classes that can fight, in addition to casting spells and/or thieving. Psionics, Priests, Mages and Alchemists all cast spells from one of the game world's four spellbooks. Finally, Bishops cast both Priest and Mage spells, but learn them half as quickly as a pure Priest or Mage.

Each class requires a basic statistic score to follow its path. For example, a character would need 12 Strength to be a Fighter, while a potential Priest needs 12 Piety and 8 Personality.

Class requirements can make it difficult for "mismatched" race/class combinations, such as Lizardman Bishops or Faerie Monks, even to the point of impossibility at character creation. Crusaders of the Dark Savant allows a way around this, by allowing any character to change to any class at any time, provided they meet the statistic and gender requirements.

Class change lets a character switch to a level 1 character in a class of their choosing, while at the same time keeping the skills of their former class. These level 1 characters gain experience and grow quickly, allowing for quick gains in that class' skills, and the opportunity to quickly class switch again.

While skills in weapons and magic go up quickly through class change, HP and MP gains are left at 1 per level until the character surpasses their previous class' level. For example, if a level 8 Fighter changes to a Mage, they will become a level 1 Mage. Every level until level 8, they will only gain 1 HP, whereupon normal HP growth will resume.

Formation of the party, up to six, is set up to allow the first three characters to be on the front line, where stronger short ranged weapons can be used, but where more damage is taken. The final three can only hit with ranged weapons, spells or while hidden, but are less likely to be hit and take damage.

NPC interaction, on the DOS and Windows versions of Crusaders of the Dark Savant, is carried out by the mouse and keyboard. The mouse selects general actions, such as "Fight," "Spell," or "Trade." The keyboard comes into play when talking, where the player must manually type in certain questions or keywords for the NPC. Simply typing "Ukpyr" will bring up the NPC's information about Ukpyr, while "Where is Ukpyr?" will give directions. The Japanese PSX version allows the player to choose from a list of keywords, much like Ultima. NPCs, like the characters, also travel the world, make alliances, kill other NPCs and discover treasure that the player may eventually have to barter, steal or kill for.

Battle is carried out through a system called "phased combat." When battle begins, the enemy party is shown graphically on the worldview screen. Relevant mythology skills are then rolled to determine if the party knows what kind of enemies they are. At this point, an enemy band of black birds could become "Fire Crows," "Vampire Vultures," or simply, "Black Birds." The player then selects an action for every character, whether it be attacking, dodging, running, casting a spell, or otherwise. When all the actions are selected, every character and monster involved in the battle compares initiative, and each participant acts depending on that roll. The fastest characters or monsters act first, complete their turn, then allow the next person to take theirs.

Magic is divided into four schools of magic, and six elements. The four schools are Psionics, mind-based spells, Alchemy, potion-based spells, Theology, religiously-based spells, and Thaumaturgy, element-based spells. The six elements are fire, water, air, earth, mental and divine. Spell points are depicted as current/max numbers, but are divided among the six spell realms. For example, a healing Priest has few spells available in the fire realm, and might have only 50 points to spend casting fire spells. On the other hand, she might have up to 400 to spend on divine spells. In this way, MP is divided up into six element sections, with each section corresponding to unique spells carrying the theme of the element it represents.

Levelling is similar to other RPGs. When enough experience is earned through defeating enemies, a character advances in their current class, earning new statistics, skills, spells and ranks in that class. Statistical growth can result in one statistic going up, several going up, or even (rarely) having one decrease. Skill gains are divided among weapon skills, physical skills like swimming and climbing, and academic skills like spells, critical strikes and mythology. Finally, if a character has enough skill in the spellbook they study, they can learn new spells. It is possible to load the game after a "bad level," fight another battle, and re-do a level for better gains.