Speedrun Rules

The rules for a Bard’s Tale 1 speedrun are somewhat arbitrary. They exist largely for variety and so that meaningful comparisons may be made between speedruns. I have created five categories of speedruns – Basic, Pure, Ultra Pure, Yolo, and TAS. These may change or be consolidated depending on interest levels. The General Rules apply to all categories unless specifically noted (e.g., scripting in TAS).

If you have suggestions for rules or exceptions or strange use cases, feel free to let me know as I’m flexible and very much interested in other meaningful ways to structure the rules.

General Rules

The overall principle is that the speedrun should be a rapid but meaningful completion of the game that is constrained by the game environment as implemented by the developers.

Versioning and Input

  • PC Version as contained in the Interplay 10 year CD.
    • Running at no more than 6000 Cycles in Dosbox
  • Game scroll may be increased by:
    • The game scroll “faster” command, i.e., “>”
    • Human keypress (including holding down a key)
  • Keyboard and mouse input only
    • No scripts, macros, etc.
    • TAS exceptions
  • Hex editing any game files is not permitted unless explicitly excepted (e.g., character creation)

Reasoning: I have chosen the MSDOS version because the game is legitimately and widely available to the public and can be run on an open source emulator. Running on an emulator and modern hardware allows for screen capture to stream and/or record the results. The MSDOS version also happens to be the version I grew up with.

Character Creation

  • The default characters may be used, ignored, or deleted.
  • The default characters may not be edited outside the game.
  • If other characters are desired, they may be created inside the game and then edited outside the game to have starting stats and gold that are equivalent to what can actually be rolled in game.
    • In such a case, characters must be rolled and named in-game.
    • Only game permitted names may be used.
    • Once created, their 5 stats, Max HP, Max SP (for casters), and Max Gold (and only these listed properties) may be edited in any editor offline.

Reasoning: BT1 appears to allow for maximum rolls across all properties (e.g., the SP roll is unaffected by the IQ roll). But rolling is in large part boring for both the player and the viewer, and it is entirely RNG dependent. The Pure category compensates for people who want the rolling experience.

For reference, the maximum stats are stated explicitly below. Please note the comments about HP, SP, and Gold.

Race Str IQ Dex Con Luck Totals Max HP Max SP
Human 17 13 15 15 12 72 29 18
Elf 15 16 16 13 13 73 29 18
Dwarf 18 13 14 17 10 72 29 N/A
Hobbit 11 13 18 12 17 71 29 18
Half-Elf 16 15 16 14 13 74 29 18
Half-Orc 18 10 15 18 11 72 29 18
Gnome 16 17 14 10 11 68 29 18

Comments: I vaguely remember 31 being the max hp, but have not been able to roll it in my version.  Many attempts at rolling SP suggest the MSDOS version range is 10-18. The max gold known to me is currently 170. It might be higher but rolling for additional gold (as far as I can tell so far) is essentially irrelevant. If these numbers are not correct, please feel free to update me.

Character Limits

  • No more than 12 characters may ever be created in connection with a single speedrun
  • May have multiple of any class or race or combination thereof
  • Only game permitted race/class combinations permitted
  • Gold from up to 12 heroes may be transferred freely and/or pooled into 1 hero.
  • Creatures in the special slot are not characters and do not count towards the character limit
  • One or more predefined parties may be created prior to the starting of the game
  • Heroes and parties may be deleted or created after the game begins, but time spent doing so counts towards the speedrun time

Reasoning: The 12 character cap is chosen because there are 10 classes and it seems like a reasonable number. The major point of the cap is to avoid early game gold pooling from dozens of heroes. Outside of the first few minutes, character creation to pool gold is not particularly time efficient in the speed run context, but it’s not interesting to watch or perform.

Item and Gold Limits

  • The game begins clean with only the default items in Garth’s shop.
  • The only items on characters are those contained on the default starting heroes.
  • Items may not be transferred from the default heroes to anyone else until after the speedrun starts.
  • Gold may not be transferred or pooled until after the speedrun starts.

Starting the Speedrun

  • The speedrun time starts when the opening image appears on the screen.
  • Prior preparation may be done as permitted by the rules (e.g., character creation) before a certain instance of starting the game triggers the start of a speed run.

Successfully Completing the Speedrun

The speedrun is successfully complete and time stops when:

  • Kylearan has rewarded the party with gold and XP after defeating Mangar;
    • Mangar need not be killed, spellbinding or stoning is acceptable.
    • Whether or not Kylearan rewards the party is the determining issue.
  • The player leaves the game; and
  • At least one hero in the party being awarded gold and xp is alive when the player leaves the game.
    • Alive means status is not stoned or dead.
    • Imminent death (e.g., next tick from poisoning) is ok, so long as alive when game is left.
    • Creatures in the special slot do not count as heroes for completion of a speedrun.

Unsuccessful Termination of the Speedrun

  • A speedrun terminates unsuccessfully if the player starts a speedrun but leaves the game prior to successfully completing the speedrun.
  • How fast can a human play the game and win in one continuous sitting is the guiding principle for a human speedrun.

Pausing the Speedrun

  • Given that the concept of a BT1 Speedrun is rather novel, pausing is allowed. However, this will probably change when speedrun times become more competitive.
  • Speedrun time stops when the T key is pressed and the game enters the paused state.
  • Speedrun time begins when the game leaves the paused state for whatever reason.

Timing the Speedrun

  • The speedrun may be timed by any reasonable means.
  • Persons claiming especially low or significant times should be prepared to document their achievements through publicly posted video that contains at least some contemporaneous audio and a contemporaneous digital timer.

Additional Rules for the Basic Category:

All the General Rules apply to the Basic category with the following exceptions:

Character creation in the Basic category must be accomplished by:

  • Deleting all default heroes.
  • Rolling and naming all desired heroes for the game.
  • Editing the created heroes to have their maximum allowed stats.
  • All heroes and selectable party groupings must be precreated prior to starting the speedrun
  • Heroes and parties may not be further created or deleted.

Reasoning: This category is the easiest and fastest to learn the speedrun. No speedrun time is spent rolling. Creating a clean backup of the game after character creation but prior to starting the game enables a clean and fast game reset via copy/paste scripts.

Additional Rules for the Pure Category:

All the General Rules apply to the Pure category with the following exceptions:

Character creation in the Pure category must be accomplished by:

  • Using only default heroes or heroes created in the game and during the speedrun time.
  • Heroes may be created at any time, but may not be edited outside the game.
  • Time spend rolling, creating, or deleting parties or characters counts towards the speedrun time.

Reasoning: This category essentially begins the speedrun with the game state from a clean install from a purchased copy and allows the player to further act within the game within reasonable bounds. Creating a clean backup of the game after a fresh install allows for a fast game reset via copy/paste scripts.

Additional Rules for the Ultra Pure Category:

All the General Rules apply to the Ultra Pure category with the following exceptions:

Character creation in the Ultra Pure category must be accomplished by:

  • Deleting all default heroes prior to starting the game.
  • Using only heroes created in the game and during the speedrun time.
  • Heroes may be created at any time, but may not be edited outside the game.
  • Time spend rolling, creating, or deleting parties or characters counts towards the speedrun time.

Reasoning: This category essentially begins the speedrun with the game state from a clean install from a purchased copy minus the default heroes. 

Additional Rules for the Yolo Category:

All the General Rules apply to the TAS category with the following exceptions:

  • The Ultra-Pure rules apply except that you can create only one hero.
  • You’re alone, unaided by other heroes, and hence only live once because there is no one to haul your dead body around.
  • The category is further broken down by class, as all classes have unique challenges to completing the game. 
  • At the very least, Warriors, Paladins, Hunters, and Bards might not be able to finish the game in light of Harkyn 2’s throne, the possession trap, and the portal up from Mangar 4 to Mangar 5. 
  • In light of this, suggestions as to how to make this possible are being considered.  E.g., some classes can hexedit an Exorwand or Ali’s Carpet in inventory so that it is equiped.  Or perhaps, one time uses of travelhelms.

Additional Rules for the TAS Category:

All the General Rules apply to the TAS category with the following exceptions:

  • Character creation in the TAS category must be accomplished by:
    • Using the rules for the Basic, Pure, or Ultra Pure Category.
  • Scripting and Macros are permitted.
    • Overflow bugs from fuzzing or non-keyboard/mouse inputs are not considered meaningful cases.
  • The use of save states is encouraged.  
  • The presentation of the speedrun should be in a seamless video format so that it appears to the viewer to be a continuous game.

Reasoning: This category essentially tries to mimic a playthough where the party is extremely lucky.  Since BT1 is not a reflex based game and has responsive limits to movement, the speedrun should generally be possible for a human with absurd luck.  The playthrough should also be meaningful (instant win conditions are not meaningful).