The room looked harmless enough, but suddenly, as the party 
enters, they are attacked by 3 skeletons as giant spiders drop on 
them from the rafters.  If you think this bunch of adventurers is on 
trouble, consider what the poor DM is going through.  There have 
been a few times like this when I've been sorely tempted to intone, 
"You have offended the gods.  1000 lightning bolts smash into 
you.  You're dead." 

Obviously, this is NOT the route to a long and happy relationship.  
Good DMs do what they can to mitigate the confusion by good 
planning.  Now they have another ally in their constant battle with 
chaos -- the computer. 

I can hear the groans now.  Computer fantasy games are disappointing 
to the dedicated gamer.  The main attraction of D&D and 
AD&D gaming is spontaneity and openendedness, and these are 
precisely what is missing in most computer games.  However, what 
I'm suggesting isn't a Game.  Instead of playing to the computer's 
weaknesses, we are going to exploit its strengths -- rapid calculation 
and data storage.  

The witches of old had familiars.  One of their less repulsive duties 
was to sit upon the witch's shoulder and whisper instructions and 
advice.  So be it.  In these modern times, we let printed circuits and 
memory chips replace spells and enchanted flesh, and we have the 
"DM's Familiar."

This program was written to run on a Radio Shack TRS-80, but 
it can be used easily in any computer that uses a variation of 
Microsoft BASIC.  To use the automated combat segment, you need 
a disk drive; however, the manual combat and the dice-throwing 
segments work fine in any TRS-80.  A computer should make things 
easier, not harder, so I've tried to set up procedures that mimic what 
any DM does naturally. 

Dice throwing is the essence of AD&D gaming.  It can also be a 
real pain.  There is no finer proof for the continued existence of 
Murphy's Law than the number of times a die will find itself under a 
piece of furniture.  It also takes up time which interferes with the 
smooth flow of The Game.

The Familiar is a consummate dice thrower.  Once the menu has 
appeared on the screen, just press the number 1 and you are ready 
to throw.  He (my familiar is a he; you can re-sex yours as you see 
fit) asks only 2 questions: How many times, and which die do you 
want to throw?  Both of these questions are answered by pressing the 
appropriate key.  In the interest of SPEED, the familiar will accept 
most single-character answers automatically without the ENTER 
key being pressed.  He prints out the results of each throw and the 
total of the series.  Then he returns to his 1st quest.ion.  If you are 
finished throwing dice, press "Q", and the computer will return you 
to the main menu. 

Notice that the menu includes a coin flip (2-sided die) and a percentile 
dice roll as well as the more conventional models.  The "C" 
code that activates the 20-sided die is a reminder that that is the 
determination most often used in combat resolution. 

The Familiar has an added advantage. It is so easy to use that you
can while away the uneventful minutes by meaningless throwing.
Then when the party approaches a trap, hidden tunnel or whatever,
you won't alert them when you suddenly make the required detect/
miss throws.

The Manual Entry Combat is selected by pressing ?3? at the
main menu. You are first asked what class of character is doing the
attacking, its level and bonus to hit. If the attacker is a monster, a
special screen appears and gives the level equivalents for hit dice.
Once the attacker information is completed, the computer requests
the armor class and defensive adjustment of the defender. At that
point, it performs a roll and presents the result and the score that is
needed ?to hit.? This is so you can make any corrections (defender
surprised or hidden, attacker on slippery surface). that might not be
reflected by the tables.

If the attacker has hit, the computer presents a dice table so that
the damage can be calculated. If you wish to call a hit when the
computer has displayed a miss, just press any letter to return to the
beginning of the combat procedure, ?Q? to return to the main
menu, and ?1? to go to the dice segment to calculate the damage.
Then press "Q" and ?3? to return to the Manual Combat routine.
All this is much faster and simpler to do than to read, particularly
since each of these commands are accepted by the computer
instantly without the ENTER key being pressed.

The Automated Combat Sequence is both simpler and more
complex than its manual counterpart. Before the play of the adventure
or encounter begins, you must tell the computer about each
character that is going to be present. In its present configuration, the
Familiar will recognize 26 characters at a time. If you need more, it
is possible to switch between sets (using the disk drive) fairly rapidly.

To describe the characters to the computer, select ?5? at the main
menu. The first thing the routine will ask is if you wish to expand an
existing file or open a new one. This allows you to add new characters
to an old file. Press ?E? to add to an existing file or ?O? (not
zero) to open one. Next the program asks for the name of the file
you want either created or added to. Like all minor deities, computers
have rules that they insist you obey. In this computer?s case,
the file name may contain as many as eight letters and/or numbers
and the first character must be a letter. If you wish you can add a suffix
of three letters by typing a slash (?/?) preceding the suffix. If you
open a file with a name that you have used before, the computer will
erase the old file.

As examples, the following are all proper file names:
    A
    FILE
    FILE1/DUN
    DUNGEON/CAS
(Be sure to choose a file name you will be able to recognize later.)

Once the file has been identified, the computer will ask you for
much the same information needed by the manual sequence. I tend
to enter my players first, followed by the denizens in alphabetical
order. This will pay off later when the combat is hot and heavy.
When you have entered all the information, press ?Q? and
ENTER. The computer will return to the main menu. If there are
more than 26 total characters and monsters in the adventure/
encounter, create another file, but remember that your players?
characters must be in both files.

At the beginning of the adventure, hit ?6?. The computer will ask
you what character file you want to load. Spell it correctly or the
minor deity will be offended and you?ll have to run the program
again. The program will display the character names as it loads
them into memory and will return you to the main menu.

In the Automated Combat Sequence, you get to relax. The computer
displays a list of the character names with a letter to the left of
each and politely inquires who is the attacker. Press that letter, and
then the letter of the defender when the computer asks, and everything
else is automatic. The only thing you have to do is add the
attacker?s damage adjustment (which is displayed) to the die roll in
the event of a hit.

If you would like to look at a character?s specifications, select ?4?
from the main menu. The computer will give you a combat-segment-
type display, and you type the character?s letter. If you have a
printer and would like a permanent record, type ?P? after the letter.

With the Dungeon Master?s Familiar, I have been able to spend
more time as a creative person and less as a bookkeeper for a bunch
of bumbling barbarians. 

The Dungeon Master's Familiar