If you mean the for the cult classic RPG Arcanum , that’s a 100+ page PDF that came with the game. It includes:
But few manuals were as essential, or as revealing, as the one tucked inside . arcanum manual
In 2001, reading this felt like homework. Today, it feels like a lost art. It forced the player to respect the NPCs not as loot piñatas, but as members of functioning societies. If you went into the game treating the "Orcs" as generic baddies, the manual was there to scold you for your prejudice, informing you that Orcish labor unions were a powerful political force in the city of Tarant. If you mean the for the cult classic
The manual explains this phenomenon through "The Unified Theory." Today, it feels like a lost art
Developed by Troika Games—formed by the creators of the original Fallout — Arcanum is a cult classic. It is a game of dwarves in three-piece suits, elves who hate trains, and a sprawling industrial revolution crashing headfirst into a high-fantasy world. It is brilliant, buggy, and dense.
We live in an age of wikis and in-game tutorials that hold our hands through every menu. There is something tragic about losing the manual experience.