The Phantasie Project

Why Nikademus would never suspect you

When Filmon first meets the party, he says he chose them because Nikademus would never suspect them. Many players took it as an insult. It is the line for a party that is new to the series.

  • Dungeons
  • Tested by running the original code
A parchment-coloured window. It reads: Filmon the wise old sage speaks, "Greetings ye intrepid adventurers, prepare yourselves for the greatest challenge of all, to defeat Nikademus. I choose you because Nikademus would never suspect you." At the bottom: Press a key.

Filmon's greeting, as the 1987 game shows it

Part way through his speech to a party of heroes made in Phantasie III.

What a player heard

The first time a party meets Filmon, the wise old sage greets them and sets them their task, to defeat Nikademus. Then he gives his reason. He chose them because Nikademus would never suspect them.

Players have puzzled over that line for years. It sounds like a sage telling his heroes they are nobodies.

What we noticed

Reading Filmon's speech in the game's data, we found that it is not one speech. Between the greeting and the rest, Filmon can add:

  • "who defeated the Black Lord of Gelnor," when a hero beat the Black Lord in Phantasie I, or "who could not defeat the Black Lord," when one tried and failed;
  • "who destroyed the orb of Ferronrah," when a hero destroyed the orb in Phantasie II, or "who could not destroy the orb," when one failed.

If any hero won either game, his reason changes to "I choose you because you have proven yourselves worthy of the task." Heroes who only tried and failed still hear that Nikademus would never suspect them.

How we tracked it down

Filmon's speech is a small script kept with the first dungeon. It checks two numbers in every hero's record, the same two the town sage reads when he calls a party "heroes of Gelnor" or "heroes of Ferronrah", and asks whether any hero's number reaches a limit.

What each number means to Filmon
WorldWonTried and failedNever there
Gelnor (Phantasie I)100 or more1 to 990
Ferronrah (Phantasie II)200 or more1 to 1990

We then ran the game's own code for the speech with a new party, and again with one hero set just below and just at each limit. Each time Filmon said the lines above, and our recreation says the same.

What it turned out to be

A party made in Phantasie III has 0 in both numbers, so it hears neither extra line, and it is the party Nikademus would never suspect, heroes with no history. Only heroes brought over from Phantasie I fill these numbers in. How high the old game's values go is a question we have not settled yet.

The sage remembers too

The sage in every town reads the same two numbers. After the party's score and his verdict, he can add "and heroes of Gelnor," and "and heroes of Ferronrah,". A third line is the one a party earns in Phantasie III itself. After Lord Wood falls he calls them "heroes of the Netherworld.", after Nikademus "heroes of Scandor."