                   
                   Tome of Vast Knowledge, Version 1.13

                         README - Important Stuff

                          Last Updated June 1995
                             Douglas P. Webb
                   





                           Contents of This File
                           

        What you get here ................................... 1

        Shameless Advertisement ............................. 3

        Definition of freeware .............................. 4

        Limited Warrant and Disclaimer of Warranty .......... 5

        Distribution License ................................ 6




                         
                         What You've Got Here
                         

This is a FREEWARE (defined later on in this document) version of the
Tome of Vast Knowledge. "What is the Tome of Vast Knowledge?", I hear you
ask. Back when I started this program (1988), I was a big fan of Advanced
Dungeons and Dragons (I still am for that matter). I had 7 of the hard
cover rulebooks, 10-15 modules and about 60 Dragon magazines. As a DM I was
having trouble trying to find information that I knew I had, but couldn't
remember where I'd read it.  So I set out to write a program for keeping
track of all the AD&D spells. (Interestingly enough the original version was
written in PROLOG). After typing in the entire Players Handbook, Unearthed
Arcana, Oriental Adventures and 100 spells from Dragon Mag., it occured to
me that the same sort of thing would be useful for tracking monsters and
magic items, and to a lesser extent, the piles of other interesting
information that I had collected over the years. So I typed in the 3 monster
books, and the 250 or so monsters I'd collected elsewhere, and all the magic
items I could get my hands on.  Then I added psionics, player character
descriptions, non-player character descriptions, and many other things.

Why, you may ask, am I telling you what I've done instead of directing you
to simply examine the product. Ahh, there's the rub. TSR as you know has
copyright on almost all of the material which I have compiled, and I need
written authorization and some sort of a licensing agreement to distribute
it. Alas, TSR used to have an exclusive licensing agreement with SSI (you 
know, they make all the "official" AD&D adventure games: Eye of the Beholder, 
etc.). SSI once upon a time put out some really poor programs that were 
billed as the "Dungeon Master's Assistant" product line. These programs 
bombed. SSI lost money. I (and several other individuals, who I do not know 
personally) subsequently sent SSI products which superceded the DM's 
Assistant programs and suggested SSI market them. Alas, SSI was gun-shy
after their previous failure. They did "market research" and decided they
could not make money in this market. There was a hope that independent
software developers might be allowed to sub-license from SSI, but this
began to look doubtful. So, as a last attempt to get the product out where
the public could look at it, I "digested" the various NET.BOOKS which may be
freely distributed - now including the "Great Net Spell Book", 5th Ed. (and
part of the 6th), Great Net Prayer Book, 6th Ed., the "Net Monstrous
Compendium" and the "Net Monster Manual"  and portions of the "Complete
Net Handbook",  "Darksun Net Handbook", "Complete Guide to Alcohol and AD&D".
In 1993 I released the Tome onto the internet, and it has since been spotted
on AOL and various CD-ROM compilations.

UPDATE: In 1994 SSI's exclusive licensing agreement ran out, so I
petitioned TSR for some sort of licensing agreement which would have
allowed me to release 'Official' material with the Tome.  TSR indicated
they had no plans of releasing or licensing software of this type.

NOTE: I am also collecting NET.Magic.Items for the TOME so if you have a
unique magic item which is useful, please send it along and I'll try and
include it in a upcoming release of the TOME.


                                    1



As you have probably realized by now, none of the copyrighted material is
enclosed.  This may seem all the more perplexing if you read through the
manual, which may still have some references to copyrighted material that
is not included (although I have revised the manual several times in a
attempt to remove references to material which is not included). The manual
was originally written to accompany a version of the Tome, which was to
include all the copyrighted material. Excepting only the limitations
in what databases I can release, this version is not crippled in any way,
and is fully functional. Incidentally, most of the interesting stuff in
the manual is in the last 10-11 pages, so if you're going to read any of it,
start at the end and work backwards =8-).

Even though this program has been under casual development for a long time,
it most surely has deficiencies and worse yet, bugs :-). If you find one
please send me email describing the deficiency, or the nature of the bug
and the exact conditions under which it manifests itself.

NOTE: Unlike the keepers of the various books who have bent over backwards to
include every spell they get, and leave it exactly as they recieved it, I have
made a few changes.  I intend to use all these databases in my own games, and
I felt that many of the spells had an unreasonable level associated with them.
I have changed the level of several spells, and I have left out a few that I
think are unworkable or redundant, and made minor semantic clarifications in a
few dozen or so that I thought were unclear. Flame me if you must, (I'll file
your flames appropriately). Alternatively, argue persuasively for changes, and
maybe I'll make them. (Or buy the BUILDER and change them yourself!)

NOTE:  "Why" you might ask "has he not included all the new spells from the
GNSB volume 6?"  The reason is I have a large project starting June 23rd,
and despite my best efforts I couldn't get it all done by then.  I didn't
want to delay release of the revised Tome until the fall, and it might be
that long until I have time.  I'll add the rest when I have time -
sorry for the inconvenience.

For the foreseeable future you can contact me at:

dwebb@cetac.com

or send me a letter at (until at least Feb 1996):

      Douglas Webb
      803 Hackberry Court, Appt# 2204
      Bellevue, Nebraska, USA
      68005

          EEEEE N   N JJJJJ  OOO   Y   Y
          E     NN  N   J   O   O   Y Y
          EEE   N N N   J   O   O    Y
          E     N  NN J J   O   O   Y
          EEEEE N   N  J     OOO   Y

                                    2




Shameless advertisement for related products (not found in this archive)
follows:


                     
                     The Database BUILDER for the
                       TOME OF VAST KNOWLEDGE
                     


When the TOME was originally released with a few public domain databases, it
was recieved fairly well. However, everyone agreed that the program would be
much more useful if only the standard spell/monster/magic item databases
were available.

The Database BUILDER, a companion SHAREWARE product (available where you got
the TOME?) is a response to this demand. With this toolkit you can build your
own databases and integrate them into the TOME of VAST KNOWLEDGE.

Email or snail mail me for a copy if you can't find it. It costs me $5 to
mail it within North America (and more overseas), be prepared to send
me reimbursement upon reciept of the diskettes (specify media type.)

The BUILDER should be found in an archive named VBILTxxx.ZIP, where
xxx is a number indicative of the version.

The Current version of the BUILDER at the time of this writing is 1.07.







                   
                   Tome of Vast Knowledge, for Windows
                   

Not yet!


However, I am working on a port to Windows, and if this is something
you'd like to see, and would be willing to pay a small fee for (say
$15-$20.)  Send me E-Mail to this effect and I'll hurry the port along.







                                    3


                         
                         Definition of Freeware
                         

Freeware distribution gives users a chance to use software, without
having to pay for it. This does not extend the right to sell the software
to others or mangle it in any way and then redistribute it.

Copyright laws apply to both Freeware and retail software, and the
copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated
below. Freeware authors are accomplished programmers, just like retail
authors, and the programs are often of comparable quality. (In both cases,
there are good programs and bad ones!)

The author grants the right to any and all to distribute this program, so
long as you abide by the guidelines appearing in the Distribution License
for the Software (which appears below).
























                                    4


                   
                   LIMITED WARRANTY AND DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY
                   

  THIS SOFTWARE AND ACCOMPANYING WRITTEN MATERIALS (INCLUDING INSTRUCTIONS
FOR USE) ARE PROVIDES "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. FURTHER,
Douglas P. Webb, DOES NOT WARRANT, GUARANTEE, OR MAKE ANY
REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE, OR THE RESULTS OF USE, OF THE SOFTWARE
OR WRITTEN MATERIALS IN TERMS OF CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY,
CURRENTNESS, OR OTHERWISE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE RESULTS AND
PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS ASSUMED BY YOU. IF THE SOFTWARE OR WRITTEN
MATERIALS ARE DEFECTIVE YOU, AND NOT Douglas P. Webb OR ITS DEALERS,
DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS, OR EMPLOYEES, ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY
SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION.

  THE ABOVE IS THE ONLY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, THAT IS MADE BY Douglas P. Webb, ON
THIS Douglas P. Webb PRODUCT. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE
GIVEN BY Douglas P. Webb, ITS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS OR EMPLOYEES
SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY OR IN ANY WAY INCREASE THE SCOPE OF THIS WARRANTY
AND YOU MAY NOT RELY ON ANY SUCH INFORMATION OR ADVICE. YOU MAY HAVE OTHER
RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.

  NEITHER Douglas P. Webb NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN
THE CREATION, PRODUCTION OR DELIVERY OF THIS PRODUCT SHALL BE LIABLE FOR
ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING DAMAGES
FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS
INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE SUCH
PRODUCT EVEN IF Douglas P. Webb HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
SUCH DAMAGES.
 

                              
                              ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
                              

BY USING THE FREEWARE VERSION OF THE TOME OF VAST KNOWLEDGE YOU ACKNOWLEDGE
THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS LIMITED WARRANTY, UNDERSTAND IT, AND AGREE TO BE
BOUND BY ITS' TERMS AND CONDITIONS. YOU ALSO AGREE THAT THE LIMITED WARRANTY
IS THE COMPLETE AND EXCLUSIVE STATEMENT OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE PARTIES AND
SUPERSEDE ALL PROPOSALS OR PRIOR AGREEMENTS, ORAL OR WRITTEN, AND ANY OTHER
COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN THE PARTIES RELATING TO THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THE THE
LIMITED WARRANTY.
















                                    5


                 
                 Distribution License for this Software
                 

  I am thrilled that you have chosen to evaluate the Tome of Vast
Knowledge.  You are encouraged to distribute this software to any and all
who are interested in obtaining a copy, including distributing it on BBS's
or freeware/shareware distribution libraries.


  Douglas P. Webb encourages you to freely copy and distribute this
freeware version of The Tome of Vast Knowledge subject to the following
restrictions:

  The Tome of Vast Knowledge package is defined as containing all the
material listed in the FILES.DOC text file.  If any files listed in the
FILES.DOC text file, or the FILES.DOC file itself, are missing, then the
package is not complete and distribution is forbidden.  Please contact
me to obtain a complete package suitable for distribution.

   -  The Tome of Vast Knowledge package - including all related program
      files and documentation files - CANNOT be modified in any way and
      must be distributed as a complete package, without exception.

   -  You may charge a distribution fee for the package, but you must
      not represent in any way that you are selling the software itself.
      Additionally this fee must be limited to less than $10(Canadian).

   -  The PRINTED documentation may not be reproduced in whole or in
      part, using any means, without written permission from Douglas P.
      Webb.  In other words, the disk-based documentation may not
      be distributed in PRINTED (hardcopy) form.

   -  You shall not use, copy, rent, lease, sell, modify, decompile,
      disassemble, otherwise reverse engineer, or transfer the licensed
      program except as provided in this agreement.  Any such unauthorized
      use shall result in immediate and automatic termination of this
      distribution license.

All rights not expressly granted here are reserved by Douglas P. Webb.




















                                    6

