I am new to the original MS-DOS version of Bard's Tale, and trying to get a feel for the game commands/controls. I tried to access my characters, but so far all I see is a few things like using an item or casting a spell. Those commands aside, I can't do much more than pulling up a screen concerning the party's gold. What other commands are there? Better yet, how can I pull up a list of possible game commands?

The original game came with a command reference card that lists the commands. Unfortunately, there is no such list in the game itself.

Here are the commands available (determined by testing every key):

1-6: View character's stats and inventory. This also allows you to equip items (very important)
T: Pause the game (if you don't do this, night will fall and battles will start, even if you don't move, but spellcasters will recover SP outside in daylight)
U: Use an item
P: Start intra-party combat (useful, for example, if you want to use the healing bard song to heal up)
Z: Summons a Stone Elemental (only works outside; is this a debugging feature that was accidentally left in?)
C: Cast a spell (if you click on a character, you can choose the spell from a list, but if you type 1-6, you will instead be prompted for the 4-letter code found in the manual)
V: Turn the music off/on (only affects audio; bard songs still function normally. Does work in the guild)
B: Play bard song outside of combat
N: Change party order (only the first three regular party members can attack or be attacked physically)