Dungeon Master

Dungeon Master

Dungeon Master is the main Firestaff target and the best-supported game today. Firestaff aims to run the original PC game data with source-faithful behavior and modern display/input handling.

How to Play

Start Firestaff, choose Dungeon Master, then press Start. In the Hall of Champions you must choose champions before entering the dungeon. Click a mirror, inspect the champion, then reincarnate or resurrect them. After choosing your party, open the entrance and continue into the dungeon.

The game is real-time. Move carefully, watch food and water, and use the mouse or keyboard for inventory, spells, attacks, and doors.

Controls

• 1 to 4: open champion inventories, as in the PC 3.4 command table.
• Ctrl+S: open the original save-game route. Escape freezes/unfreezes.
• Up / Down: move forward/back. Left / Right: strafe.
• W, A, S, D: same movement as the arrow keys.
• Q / E or Home / End: turn left/right.
• Shift+1 to Shift+6: spell runes. F10 changes the live graphics scale.
• Mouse: interact with champion portraits, hands, inventory, doors, wall items, runes, and action buttons.
• Escape or menu buttons: return to Firestaff menus where supported.

On Steam Deck or a controller, map the D-pad or left stick to arrow keys and map buttons to mouse clicks, Q, E, and common action keys until the in-app controller mapper is complete.

Game Data

Put your legally owned Dungeon Master files under:

~/.firestaff/data/dm1/

The exact folder name is not required. Firestaff scans recursively by hash, so renamed files and supported archives can still be found. Keeping a dm1 folder is recommended because it makes troubleshooting easier.

Common required data includes the original graphics and dungeon files for a supported PC version. Optional title, intro, and language resources are used when available.

Saves

Firestaff stores saves in the user Firestaff directory, separate from the original game files. Keep your original data read-only if you want to avoid accidental changes.

For original PC 3.4 saves, Firestaff treats the data as little-endian and keeps the documented encrypted Block 2 key at offset 20 as a source-owned format detail. See Savegames before moving an original save between versions.

Notes

DM1 support is active and strongest in Firestaff. If startup, champion mirrors, wall inscriptions, title timing, or dungeon rendering look wrong, keep the original data folder intact and report the exact build, platform, and data version used.

Technical Reference

For the source-lock architecture, PC34 save transaction boundary, F0115 render ownership, and focused verification commands, see the DM1 Technical Reference.