Welcome to Lineage: Massive Multiplayer Role-Playing on Mac OS X

Create and Play

Character Creation

When you begin playing Lineage, you’ll need to create your character. Every character has six number-based characteristics that will be familiar to fantasy gamers: strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, and charisma. These characteristics are important to the kind of character you’ll want to create. For example, a prince or princess should have a high charisma, to help build their bloodpledges. Your character will start at the first level, and as you train in the practice areas and go on adventures, your character can grow in level and skills.

Prince and Princess
The main characteristic of the Prince or Princess is the ability to form and lead teams (bloodpledges), but they are also competent in battle and at some magic spells. You can also build a “strength Prince or Princess” who will be better at fighting.

Knight
The knight (male or female) is the combat specialist of the Lineage world, able to use practically all weapons and armor. You can focus your knight’s abilities further by going for a “constitution knight” or “strength knight” option, emphasizing one of those two characteristics.

Elf
Elves (male and female) can fight and use magic, and also have infravision, the ability to see in the dark. But there are disadvantages to being an elf, such as the monsters who’ll automatically attack you!

Wizard
The wizard (male and female) has the poorest abilities in combat, but makes up for it with powerful spells.


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A Traveler’s Guide to the Kingdom of Aden

What kinds of places will you explore when you play Lineage? Come with us for a brief tour of Aden.

Singing Island: All wizards, princes, and princesses start here. Don’t worry — no characters over 10th level are allowed on Singing Island, so you won’t have to worry about competition from more powerful players. It’s home to many non-player characters (NPCs) who offer advice and training, as well as a variety of monsters that you can slay for quick experience points.

Talking Island: Once you’re ready to leave the relatively safe confines of Singing Island (or other starting points; see below), stop here, where you’ll find a bank, an inn, merchants, and a few ways to get to the mainland. Most players pay a fee at the harbor and take a boat or visit the teleportation merchant, but the daring ones try the underground passageway located in a dangerous dungeon.

Orcish Territory: Another island, this is a place the orcs rule with fists that are larger and stronger than those of their brethren on the mainland. To the southeast of their fortress lives a group of farmers who fled the harsh life on the mainland, only to find themselves in constant battle with the orcs, while the elven forest lies to the north. A bridge connects this island with the mainland.

Elven Forest: If your character is an elf, this will be your starting point, where you will learn about elvish culture. The elves’ village is in the center of the forest, where you will also find the Elven Mother Tree, which quickly restores lost hit points if you rest under it. There is an elder elf in the village who will construct special items if you bring him the necessary materials.

Hidden Valley: This is where all new knights start their Lineage careers on this island, which, like Singing Island, is off-limits to characters over 10th level. Plenty of NPCs offer advice here, and there are many training dummies that will help newbie knights hone their combat skills. Want a glimpse into the future of Aden? Visit Esmerelda the fortune teller.

Windawood Castle and Silver Knight Town: This large expanse of territory is home to a vast desert that connects Windawood Castle and Silver Knight Town. You’ll find a resting place called the Oasis in the middle of the desert, but beware: many monsters roam around it. You’ll also find many interesting NPCs in Windawood Castle and nearby Woodbec village, while Silver Knight Town is home to two training compounds that are perfect for knights who want to expand their capabilities. There you’ll find Gerard, who will send you on a quest that’s considered a rite of passage for all knights.

Gludin and Kent Castle: This is the territory of Gludio, which is controlled by the prince or princess who currently occupies Kent Castle (talk to the guards to find out when the next siege against the castle will happen — you just might find yourself a member of the next group that controls Gludio). The town of Gludin hosts several merchants, and southeast of it lie ruins that hide the entrance to a seven-level dungeon.

Feudal Territory of Giran: Giran, home to many merchants, is the largest and wealthiest city in Aden. Nearby is Giran Castle, an opulent place that provides many amenities for the characters who occupy it, and a four-level dungeon.

Heine Territory: There are three lakes in this area, including Lake Louis, the largest in Aden. Here you’ll also find Heine City and Castle Heine, which contains a sanctuary dedicated to Eva, the goddess of water. Explore below the sanctuary and you’ll discover a watery dungeon and the Kingdom of Eva, which thrived until a water dragon destroyed it. Now the kingdom is nothing but ruins full of monsters.


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prince
Male Prince.

knight
Female Knight.


Singing Island


GamePlay

Exploring, combat, casting spells — this is roughly what you’d expect from a fantasy game. But Lineage has some very unusual gameplay aspects that you won’t find in other games. For example, where else can you wager on the slime races? You can also acquire a canine companion (one of several different breeds, including wolf), and train it for competition in the animal tournaments. Your dog can gain levels, just as your character can.

crabThe most important unique aspect of Lineage is the concept of bloodpledges. In the history of Aden, they date back to the time when a dispossessed prince formed a bloodpledge to take the throne from a cruel man who married his mother after his father’s death and became a tyrant.

Players in the game form bloodpledges through discussions on the game’s chat channel, message boards, or fan-made web sites. To join a bloodpledge, face its leader and type “/join.” The leader will decide whether or not to add you to its ranks. Princes and princesses over fifth level can start their own bloodpledges and recruit other players to join them.

Why would you want to join a bloodpledge? Well, if you aspire to have any power in the game, they’re the best way to gain control of one of the many castles in the game. Castles provide taxation income from local peasants, resting areas, access to private hunting grounds, and other perks.

Members of bloodpledges that don’t control castles can occupy one of the many safe houses owned by NPCs in the game. (If you’re a prince or princess who’s 15th level or higher, you can buy your own safe house.) The houses provide resting areas where characters can restore lost health points as well as “home bases” where characters restart the game when they die.


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System Requirements
 Mac OS X version 10.1.2 or higher
 128MB of RAM
 Internet connection (modem or LAN)
 1GB of hard disk space

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