Realms of Arkania 1 – Blade of Destiny Classic: Equipment, Magic Items and Herbs

The following tables are taken directly from the Realms of Arkania: Blade of Destiny Official Clue Book by Sirtech. This PDF file is included in the game files but I had to browse the steam local files in order to locate it. Furthermore, the document is a PDF scan so it cannot be text searched and as the document is 121 pages long it can be a bit of a pain to scroll through to find what you are looking for.

Therefore, I thought I would extract the relevant tables and publish them in a searchable format for the benefit of other players who, like me, probably weren’t aware what half of the equipment in the game did for quite some time. I also found some interesting information contained within the guide that I was not aware of before, so I would recommend you read the guide yourself, if you have not already.

However, that being said I would err on the side of caution with any of the official documentation as I found with the official manual and some of the descriptions in game is that it is not always true or accurate or they are counter-intuitive – for example, a mace is an edged weapon and the War Axe in game is described as a “2 handed sword” despite being used as an example of an “Axe” in the official manual. This has statistical implications when you are equipping your characters.

So my advice would be make sure you read weapon descriptions etc… Who am I kidding, anyone playing this game on Steam has probably been playing it for 20+ years.

With regards to the Magic Items, the table lists their location and power. With regards to Herbs, it lists their price and effect.

I hope you find this useful anyway.

The following labels are used on the weapon and armour tables respectively:

Name – The general name an item is known by throughout Arkania.

Group – Weapons are separated by group, depending on their most common function.

• PTD – A pointed weapon such as a knife or dagger.
• EDG – An edgend weapon such as the spike on a whip or a sickle’s single deadly blade. Weapons of the “cutting” category also fall in here.
• POL – A polearm weapon such as the staff.
• SWD – A sword weapon, such as the short sword, with a single cutting blade. (comment: there are basically only 3 swords in the game; short sword, sword and Grimring. Most other “swords” are classed as EDG or 2HD)
• AXE – An axe weapon such as a logger’s axe.
• 2HD – A two-handed weapon which requires the use of and strength of two hands and two arms.
• THR – A thrown weapon such as a throwing knife.
• MIS – A missile weapon such as an arrow that requires use of another instrument such as a bow.

Damage HP – The range of hit point damage a weapon can do in a single, successful hit. The attack’s damage may be lessened by the creature’s armour or protective spells and magical items.

Modifier AT/PA – Certain weapons have attack and/or parry hindrances when used in combat.

Weight – The weight of an item in ounces. This amount affects a character’s encumbrance.

Price – The general market price, in silver crowns, of an item in Arkania. Some vendors may offer it for more or less than this amount.

Protection – For armor. The level of protection afforded by a piece of armour relative to the character’s armour class.

Hindrance AT/PA – For armor. The amount a certain piece of armour gets in the way during an attack or protective parry, affecting the likelihood of being hit or of hitting.

BF – For weapons. The likelihood that a weapon will break.