How do I kill the hooded figure near the start of the game? I’ve been puzzling over this off and on for 15 years now! Heeeelp! :(:(
Also, how do I get rid of that annoying wizard?
Oh yeah, does anyone else still use a Commodore? My old CBM has been faithful and true for 15 years now.
You’re in luck - I wrote FAQs for the entire Zork trilogy (and Wishbringer) and sent them to GameFAQs.com…great site, definitely recommend it. Only printed one for some reason, sadly. You can always go to my website, home.hawaii.rr.com/dkwff, if you want to see them.
Okay, on to your questions…
It’s actually not too hard to kill the hooded figure. (Of the three enemies in the trilogy that you have to fight, the troll and thief in 1 and the figure in 3, the figure is the second hardest). However, and this is very important…you’re not supposed to kill him! Attack him until he’s “badly wounded and defenseless”, but then take his hood instead of finishing him off. You’ll find out why later. Incidentally, nearly all the puzzles in the game inovlve thinking through the situation and not doing the obvious thing. That’s what makes it so hard. Well, that and the Grand Puzzle. 
The wizard is in the second game, not the third. Eliminating him is actually one of the major objectives of the game, so it’s too long to describe here. In summary, you have to collect the 10 treasures in the game, summon the demon (who’s powering the wand), give the treasures to him, and make the right wish. Details in my Zork II FAQ.
I remember in Zork II when I decided the best way to get rid of the dragon was to light the brick and throw it at him.
Needless to say, for game veterans, it didn’t work.
Oh man, the memories you have just brought back. I still use a C64 emulator to play these games, and boy it is ever great. I used to love the pauseing that would go on while playing the game on the old COmmodore machine, and waiting with eager anticipation as to what would appear on the screen when the disk stopped spinning. The emulator does this too, so it’s great.
As for the Old man in Zork Three, I believe he wants the piece of bread you are carrying, or should be.
>zork
At your service!
Thanks for the help. I’ll try it tonight.
Snooooopy - As you’ve no doubt discovered by now, the reason you can’t use the brick to kill the dragon is that you need both for something else. (Want to know more, read my FAQ…)
Father Pacelli - Glad to be of help. I played these games years ago, but never got very far in them, partly because I never had the instructions (honestly, how did we cope back then??), and partly because I stank at text adventures. I was able to try again only after I got some help from GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com). It’s a fantastic site, by the way, and it covers all kinds of games from all eras; you should go there the next time you have trouble. I’d long since lost the original disks (just as well…they were 5 1/4, and I doubt they’d still work even if our computer had a compatible drive), but I was able to download the games directly from an “abandonware” site.
“Obsolete” but still compelling games that run perfectly on modern hardware…I love this modern age.
Well, blowing myself to pieces was a clue that I was definitely on the wrong path.