Death at Chapmans:Hints

Written by Erik Westra

This document provides a number of hints and a complete walkthrough for the BoA scenario Death and Chapmans.  Of course, if you want to maximise your enjoyment of the game, then you should avoid reading this file, but if you're stuck you can read through the hints to find out what to do next, and if you're really stuck you can always refer to the walkthrough at the end.

Obviously, this document contains lots of spoilers.  You have been warned.

To find the answer to a question, find the number associated with your question and look it up in the Answers section, below.

• I've arrived at Olsen.  How do I find out what's going on? ...21
• The publican won't tell me what's going on! ...1
• How can I get the angry man in the eastern house in Olsen to talk with me?  ...15
• What do I need to give to him?   ...2
• Where can I get more advice?   ...10
• I've found a strange woman in a hidden clearing, but I don't know what to say to her.  What should I do?   ...13
• How do I get beyond the locked gatehouse?   ...18
• I'm in the schoolhouse, but can't get through the locked doors.  What do I do?   ...23
• I've found a door with someone behind it, but I can't get it open.  What should I do?   ...14
• I've explored the school, but can't find any clues to what's going on.  Where should I look next?   ...7
• I found a hooded figure down in the storerooms.  How can I fight it?   ...12
• I need more information.  Where can I go?   ...17
• I've searched the storerooms, but Melville just keeps sending me back to search some more.  What should I look for?   ...22
• I've found a strange green charm.  What do I do with it?   ...4
• How can I learn how to use the Death Charm?   ...20
• I've learned how to use the Death Charm, but what can I use it for?   ...3
• I've got the Death Charm, and have searched everywhere.  I'm totally stuck. What next?   ...16
• I'm still stuck.  Just tell me, dammit!   ...6
• I've searched Melville's back room, but can't find anything useful.  What should I be looking for?   ...19
• I've found the hooded figure again, but I can't kill him.  What should I do?   ...11
• I'm still stuck.  Just tell me what to do!   ...8
• I've finally destroyed Death.  What else can I do?  ...9
• Should I keep or destroy Willem's notebook?   ...5
• What are the different endings and how do they affect my rewards?   ...24

Hint Answers

1. Buy a beer from him.
2. Search the doss-house.
3. Try using it near some undead.  They won't like it.
4. Have you tried using it?  Maybe you should ask Melville about it.
5. It's up to you.  Your choice does affect the ending of the game, and what reward(s) you will be given, but nothing you do will prevent you from finishing the scenario.
6. Use the Death Charm in Melville's room.
7. Ask Melville about the undead.  He will tell you what to do.
8. Look around Death's domain some more.  There's a coffin which you need to do something to.
9. Examine the passageway to the east.  You'll find someone interesting there.
10. Talk with Malone, the angry man in the eastern house in Olsen.  If the publican has told you all he knows and you have given the letter to Malone, he will tell you about someone hiding nearby who can help you.
11. You can't kill Death.  Have you asked Fran (the priestess in the hidden grove) about him?  She will tell you what to do.
12. You can't (yet).  Talk with Melville about it.
13. Talk with the publican and Malone in Olsen.
14. He's afraid.  Try talking to him.
15. You need to find something and give it to him.
16. Try using the Death Charm in unusual places.
17. Have you tried asking Fran?  She's the priestess in the hidden grove outside, in case you've forgotten.
18. Wait until it is dark.
19. A secret door.
20. Ask Fran (the priestess in the hidden grove outside).
21. Ask around.  All the locals know something of use, if you can just figure out how to get them to tell it to you.
22. A secret door.
23. Buy lockpicks from the storekeeper in Olsen.  If necessary, fight some more monsters to gain levels, and increase your tool skill.  If all else fails, you can find a Wand of Opening in the school library.
24. There are four separate endings to the game, depending on what you choose to do with Willem's notebook.  You can choose to leave without killing Willem's Spectre, or you can kill Willem and choose to (i) destroy his notebook, (ii) take his notebook with you, or (iii) leave it on the body.  If you take the notebook with you, you get an extra reward for selling the notebook.  If you destroy it, Fran gives you an extra reward.

Walkthrough

This walkthrough only covers the main tasks needed to complete the scenario.  There are more things you can do, but only those tasks you absolutely must complete to finish the scenario are listed here.

1. Olsen

When you start the scenario, enter the pub and buy a drink from the Publican.  Then ask him where everyone went.  Follow the dialogue options through, and you will discover that there are undead walking about.

Leave the pub, and visit the store directly south.  The storekeeper will tell you more about the school once you know about the presence of undead.

Go to the rear of the doss-house and find the secret door.  Search the cabinet, and you will find a letter addressed to Malone.  Then break open the door of the house on the east side of town, and try to enter.  The person within is Malone, and will offer to help you once you give him the letter.  Talk with Malone, and he will tell you where a priestess is hiding nearby.

2 Outdoors

Leave town, and head south-west.  Search the cliff near the large boulder, and you will find Fran's hiding place.  Enter, and you can ask Fran for advice in dealing with the undead.

Leave the hidden grove, and travel south and east to the gatehouse beside the lake.  Wait until dark, and approach the gatehouse.  You will be attacked by a group of undead.  When you defeat them, the gatehouse will open and you will be able to cross the lake to the school.

3. The School

Enter the school, and take the first passage to your left, then the first to the right.  As you approach the door on the north side of the passage, you will hear grumbling and the sound of furniture being moved.  Speak out, and you will find Melville, a mage who has been hiding from the undead.

Talk with Melville, and ask if there is anything you can do about the undead.  Melville will tell you how to find the secret passage leading down into the storage rooms.

Leave Melville's room, and head back towards the school's entrance.  From the main hallway, take the side passage labelled "Lecture Halls", and enter the school's laboratory.  Examine the pedestal on the eastern side, and you will find the way down.

4. Storage Rooms

Climb down the ladder, and you will be in the storage rooms.  Explore the cavern beyond the broken-down walls, and in particular the caved-in section to the northwest.  As you turn to leave, you will meet Death.  Watch the cut-scene carefully.

Return upstairs, and discuss what you saw with Melville.  He will tell you to keep searching the storage rooms.  Do so, and you will find a hidden passage leading to two more storage rooms.  In the western room is a blue box containing a magical item, the Death Charm.  Take this charm.

5. Fran's Grove

Leave the school, and head back across the lake.  Go back to the priestess' secret grove, and ask her about the Death Charm.  She will teach you a secret ritual for activing the charm.  Then go into the grove a second time, and ask her about Death.  She will have some advice which will prove useful later on.  Once that's done, go back to the school.

6. Endgame

This time when you enter the school, you can use the Death Charm as a weapon against the undead; whenever you use it, the Death Charm will cause damage to all undead nearby.  Return to Melville's room, use the Death Charm, and see what happens.

Assuming you survive the fight, explore Melville's back room.  Search the western wall, and you will find a hidden staircase leading down.  Death is waiting there; do not approach, but skirt around and explore the passage to the north, then the west.  You will find a coffin in a side-room.  Examine the coffin, and by following the priestess' advice you will be able to force Death to leave the school.

Return to the chamber where Death is waiting, and fight.  Death will be weakened, and you can harm him now; fight him, and when he is sufficiently weakened he will disappear.  Enter the passageway to the east, and talk with Willem Spectre, then fight him.  Once he is killed, you can choose what to do with his notebook; it won't stop you finishing the scenario, but your choice will change the ending message somewhat.  If you choose to keep the notebook, you'll get extra cash for it when you leave; if you destroy the notebook, Fran will give you an extra reward.

Your mission has been accomplished.  Leave the school, and make sure you visit Fran in her grove for the extra reward if you've earned it.  Then you can end the scenario by travelling along either of the two outdoor roads and leaving Toronde.  The finishing message will vary depending on what you did with Willem's notebook.