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Started by Funt Solo, 19 October, 2021, 02:40:32 AM

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Batman's Superior Cousin

#195
Quote from: Dark Jimbo on 11 April, 2022, 01:41:57 PM
Quote from: Batman's Superior Cousin on 11 April, 2022, 01:19:20 PM
For those who want to know why I posted those two images, it's because Ian says that they may be planning something like this for ALL 59 original books for it's 45th Anniversary.

He doesn't quite say all 59 - and honestly, a lot of those really aren't deserving of it. Whereas some of the best books in the series - Howl of the Werewolf, for instance - weren't published as part of the original run.

Massively exciting news, (potentially) though!
I can't help but feel that Godpleton's avatar/icon gets more appropriate everyday... - TordelBack
Texts from Last Night

Barrington Boots

Isn't that claim of 59 part of the April Fools bit?

Regardless I'm not sure hardback versions of all 59 is viable - or affordable - although it would be pretty awesome. I'd settle for reprints of the whole set - I only own about half the series and whilst I haven't looked in detail beyond a quick 'can I buy a job lot for the purposes of this thread' query, some of the latter ones look to be pretty hard to obtain now I think. I'd definitely splash out for nicer editions of the best ones though and I do have Assassins of Allansia in hardback (and signed by the man himself!)

Speaking of assassins....
You're a dark horse, Boots.

Barrington Boots

In the first of what might be a few 'I have Covid' playthroughs I revisited one of my favourite gamebooks of youth, Avenger!, from The Way of the Tiger series today.

The worldbuilding in this book is glorious - it's stuffed with detail that you don't get in the early FF books, enough to make you really feel like you've stepped into a fully realised world. It's helped tremendously by there being a solid plot: you play a character with a defined background and motivation rather than 'generic sellsword'.

It's also got a nifty little combat system that gives you a choice of various fighting techniques - generally you can use punches or kicks, which are riskier but do more damage, or throws that do no damage but may give you a huge advantage on a follow up attack. Because the damage is calculated via dice roll the fights are much quicker and feel more brutal, and because the enemy's attacks can vary as you do they feel a lot less abstract.
As a ninja you can also pick 3 of 8 special ninja skills which can alter your route through the tale. (I can't stress this enough: always take poison needles and climbing. A couple of the others, like feign death, didn't even crop up in my playthrough)

Plotwise it's a revenge story / assassination role into one as you set off to kill the evocatively named trio of Manse the Deathmage, Honoric, Marshal of the Legion of the Sword of Doom and Yaemon, grandmaster of the monks of the Scarlet Mantis and the man who murdered your adoptive father. It encompasses a battle on a pirate ship, a visit to the famed Arena of Mortavalon (later seen in the Arena of Death duelmasters series), a trip overland and finally breaking into Quench-Heart Keep. The latter part is excellent, as with the smart choices it's possible to assassinate two of your targets without restoring to combat before a final epic showdown on the top of the keep itself.

I did get auto-killed by some lions at one point but being fairly familiar with the book I was able to otherwise finish it without much difficulty.  It's very different to a FF book - there's no need to map it, no 'shopping list' of items needed at the end, and no dead ends, only paths that make your journey easier or harder. Most of the choices you make can be made based on the lore or things you've observed or been told in the text which makes you feel a little more in control of the story. I know I've a lot of nostalgia for it, but the differences, combined with the lore and writing making it so immersive, meant I really really enjoyed this. If I were to critique it I might say that, outside of combat, it may be a bit easy, but that might be because I've played it many times before (many years ago)

I never played another WotT book - back in 1986 I only read gamebooks that were either in the library or on sale at the big Martins on Rayleigh high-street - but I'm tempted to look these out. It looks like there were new editions funded on Kickstarter, but the older ones hold the charm for me!
You're a dark horse, Boots.

Batman's Superior Cousin

Quote from: Barrington Boots on 11 April, 2022, 05:23:57 PM
Isn't that claim of 59 part of the April Fools bit?

Regardless I'm not sure hardback versions of all 59 is viable - or affordable - although it would be pretty awesome. I'd settle for reprints of the whole set - I only own about half the series and whilst I haven't looked in detail beyond a quick 'can I buy a job lot for the purposes of this thread' query, some of the latter ones look to be pretty hard to obtain now I think. I'd definitely splash out for nicer editions of the best ones though and I do have Assassins of Allansia in hardback (and signed by the man himself!)

Speaking of assassins....

Yet Ian still responded to the April's Fool stating that they're hoping for it to happen in time for the 45 Anniversary...
I can't help but feel that Godpleton's avatar/icon gets more appropriate everyday... - TordelBack
Texts from Last Night

Dark Jimbo

Quote from: Barrington Boots on 11 April, 2022, 05:23:57 PM
I'd settle for reprints of the whole set - I only own about half the series and whilst I haven't looked in detail beyond a quick 'can I buy a job lot for the purposes of this thread' query, some of the latter ones look to be pretty hard to obtain now I think.

And then some...! I did cave and buy a long-coveted copy of Moonrunner because of this thread. Thankfully I already/still have all the other FFs I have any intetest in.
@jamesfeistdraws

Richard

Moonrunner is one of the best! Let us know what you think.

QuoteYet Ian still responded to the April's Fool stating that they're hoping for it to happen in time for the 45 Anniversary...
"Hoping..." It's the 40th anniversary this year and they haven't managed to do it, so don't hold your breath.

Barrington Boots

Moonrunner is one I'd love to get my hands on.
You're a dark horse, Boots.

Dark Jimbo

Quote from: Richard on 11 April, 2022, 08:09:57 PM
Moonrunner is one of the best! Let us know what you think.

I will - eventually! Trying not to skip ahead too far. Finally managed to eke out time for a playthrough of Island of the Lizard King, so I'll post that this week.
@jamesfeistdraws

Funt Solo

Quote from: Barrington Boots on 11 April, 2022, 05:25:22 PM
I never played another WotT book - back in 1986 I only read gamebooks that were either in the library or on sale at the big Martins on Rayleigh high-street - but I'm tempted to look these out. It looks like there were new editions funded on Kickstarter, but the older ones hold the charm for me!

I highly recommend playing the other books in the series - I played the original six book series on publication, and have fond memories. Without giving too much away, they stretch the story out in interesting ways so that you're not just a wandering warrior for the entire series.

You probably already know, but Book Six notoriously ended on an ambiguous cliffhanger - although a seventh book was published in 2014 to tie things up. I haven't played that one yet.
++ A-Z ++  coma ++

Dark Jimbo

Been a while since I did one of these. For such a supposed classic and a book that so many were looking forward to playing, it's interesting that Deathtrap Dungeon nearly killed the momentum of the whole thread stone dead! Anyway, we're back with...

Island of the Lizard King

A beloved childhood memory, this one. Played it many times, but it's a mark of the book that I can't wait to dive in again...

The Playthrough
I roll up a very respectable adventurer of Skill 11, Stamina 19 and Luck 10, who in turn rolls up to the idyllic little fishing village of Oyster Bay. My old buddy Mungo's in a bind; Oyster Bay's being plagued by Lizard Men from the nearby Fire Island. Well, I'm not having that! He doesn't even have to ask. I've got your back, brother from another mother. Out to sea we go, and it's just like old times.

When we land, we happen upon some PIRATES in the adjoining cove. Nothing needs to be said between us, no questions asked or plans made; we're totally sympatico, an alliance honed by years of journeying together. One soul in two bodies. Swords drawn, we rush down the beach and take out two of the six before they even know we're on them. Two of the remaining buccaneers head for Mungo, two for me. I'm not worried about my pal - ha, they're the ones who need to be worried! I soon finish off my pair, and turn to see how my best pal is getting- Noooooo! Mungooooooooo-! I don't remember much about what happens next. I emerge from a black haze of grief to find the PIRATE CAPTAIN dead at my feet, but there's a tight, hollow place in my chest that stops me from feeling any satisfaction about it.  All the deaths in the world won't bring Mungo back now. A light went out in Allansia today. A light called Mungo.

*       *       *

After laying my friend to rest, I trudge into the jungle. Three HEADHUNTERS waylay me, but their mistake's in trying to take me on one at a time, and it's me who adds to my kill-count. Heading west, I'm soon wading knee-deep through the brackish waters of a vast mire. It seems to stretch as far before me as the eye can see. Just as I'm considering turning back, a gangly amphibian skips nimbly past - it's a MARSH HOPPER, said to know the swamps better than anyone or anything. I persuade it to let me follow in its wake, and away we go. I'm reminded several times that Marsh Hoppers are notoriously untrustworthy, and repeatedly asked if I want to continue following it. Methinks the gamebook doth protest too much - I know a double-bluff when I see one.



Is it you, Mungo, old friend...? Have you come back to guide me on my quest? Is it you who looks out at me from those mournful yellow orbs, you whose - Oh, Shitsticks! The little fucker's led me right into the den of a HYDRA! It's a sticky fight - the first head in particular is blessed with some really lucky rolls, but by the time I turn my attention to the second the Hydra's getting sluggish and mazed, and I emerge the victor. The Marsh Hopper's already off on his getaway sticks - good thing for him, too - so there's nothing to do but sheath my sword and continue my wearyOHMYGOD! I don't even get a single paragraph's grace before a giant WATER SNAKE's attacking me. I survive the encounter, but my stamina's now into single digits. This book is BRUTAL.

Up into the hills I go, munching furiously on my provisions to claw back some health. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those adventures where I'd be better off fighting with a sword in one hand and a sandwich in the other...! I find a dropped snuffbox with a message from one of the prisoners inside, and fight a GIANT LIZARD that's a Harryhausen wet dream. That's right, more combat - so when I find a peaceful pool in a wooded glade, I'm only too glad to pause for a drink. But this is The Island of the Lizard King, so of course I'm immediately attacked by a SPIT TOAD. He doesn't prove much of a foe, though, and once he's dispatched I find an intriguing wooden box sitting at the base of the pool...

The box is a veritable bonanza of goodies! A leather pouch, a glass phial, a gold ring and a pair of red leather boots await me. The boots don't seem to do much except make me look fabulous (I'm thinking Lola in Kinky Boots?); the pouch turns out to be a handy Pouch of Unlimited Contents; but the ring is a Ring of Confusion, and I lose two Skill points for putting it on. Ouch. Thus chastened, I leave the phial well alone, and continue wending my way through the hills. At a river delta I find the hidden raft mentioned in the note from the snuffbox, and clamber eagerly aboard (admittedly struggling to balance a little in my new stilettoes). I have to fight off a CROCODILE and a CRAZED PRISONER – who, in a startling moment of mercy for an Ian Livingstone book, I'm allowed to let live, merely punching him into the river when we reach the last attack round. Sir Ian, you're going soft!

I hop off the raft when I reach a village guarded by two LIZARDMEN! Aha! It feels like I've finally stumbled onto the main plot. I take one out from behind, before they even know I'm there, and cross swords with the second. It feels mighty good to finally get some Lizardman blood on my blade – if only Mungo was here to share this moment. Behind the village is the entrance to the slave mines, and after a bit of mucking about in the tunnels I soon happen upon this unhappy scene...



The LIZARDMAN looks tough, but you know what they say – 'The bigger they are...' It helps that the dwarf prisoners are pretty quick in helping me out, once they master their initial surprise. We're soon on a rampage of retribution through the tunnels, striking chains and collecting lizard heads, and once the dust settles I find I'm the head of a slave army numbering 63 followers! A bit of a party ensues back at the village, and why not? This feels like a big deal. An elf takes it upon himself to burst the party bubble, though, as he takes me aside and explains all about the Gonchong – a nasty parasite grafted to the head of the Lizard King in a symbiotic relationship that makes the two of them nigh unkillable. For us to have any chance of victory, we're going to need to know how to defeat them – and the only person who knows how to do this, apparently, is a shaman who lives 'somewhere' on the island...

Ho-hum. An adventurer's work is never done. This feels like a bit of a wild goose chase – I have literally no clues to help me know where to look – so I have to trust in Sir Ian's game design as I climb towards the slumbering volcano in the west. I slay a wandering HILL TROLL, and then, espying a brightly painted cave entrance up on the bluffs, I know I've found my shaman at last. As I start climbing upward, a spear comes sailing merrily through the air and spears me through the leg! I wonder how many others have fallen for this sneaky little bit of game design? Well played, Sir Ian. It's actually the home of a CAVE WOMAN, and she's not in the mood for making friends. I kill her – albeit reluctantly – and continue up to ransack her cave. There's not much of interest; the exception is some strange red powder, which I decide to spread on my face. Well, I don't feel that I'm too far away from the Lizard King, now – why not indulge in a little war paint for the occasion? Besides, the shade matches my boots.

This turns out to be a good move – I'm now treated to the (faintly ludicrous) potted backstory of the powder, and, honestly, the phrase deus ex machina has never been so apt. The upshot, though, is that wearing the powder will put a stop to any mind control attempts. So let's call it... the Rouge of Resistance. I leave the cave and continue toward the volcano, making a mental note to myself to look out for the Eyeliner of Enchantment and Lipstick of Luck.
Once at the volcano, the shaman's not too hard to find. However, he tells me that it's not for just anyone to take on the likes of the Lizard King, and before he tells me the secret to defeat him, I must pass three tests of skill to prove myself. The wizard's enchanted Rouge gets me through one test, and the cursed Ring (still stuck on my finger) actually comes good and gets me through another. The third I pass by the oh-so cunning method of... not choosing the paragraph where I scream for the shaman to stop. Having thus proven myself, he agrees to tell me how to best the Lizard King and Gonchong. Forearmed with this knowledge, we're surely now entering the endgame...



Enroute to rendezvous with my army, a HOBGOBLIN guards a bridge across a gully, and I seize gratefully on the book's offer to bribe him to let me pass. I could probably take him in combat, but in all honestly my Stamina's not too good just now, and I've already used most of my provisions up - at this late stage in the game, I can't be taking any more unnecessary risks. Not when I'm so close to taking on the Lizard King... So imagine how my heart sinks when I walk IMMEDIATELY into a LIZARDMAN riding a STYRACOSAURUS, who urges his mount into a killing trot. I go into combat evenly matched with the Styracosaurus for Skill, but on only 7 Stamina; and whatever foul deity the Lizardmen pray to blesses the monstrous steed with all the good dice rolls. Some increasingly desperate Luck rolls can't stave off the inevitable, and it's soon lights out. Get the drinks in, Mungo - I'm on my way, old friend.

The Verdict
Yup, this one's great. I love the little touches of worldbuilding emerging by this point in the series - Mungo talking about how his father died in Deathtrap Dungeon, and Oyster Bay being down the coast from Port Blacksand. It's really starting to feel like a cohesive world. And while he doesn't last long, I love briefly having a buddy to adventure with - more of that sort of thing, please!

While it's hard, that doesn't annoy me the way it did with Deathtrap Dungeon. Perhaps it's that Lizard King doesn't feel as 'on rails' - unlike in the Dungeon, there's a sense that I can take multiple ways to progress. I think that's just an illusion – it's actually quite a linear adventure – but it goes a long way to my enjoyment. And Fire Island is certainly a more evocative setting than those bloody underground tunnels - positively Harryhausian with its tropical island, smouldering volcano and festering swamps. It's hard because there's a LOT of combat - not because of any One True Path nonsense.

To sum up - it's not an adventure that's especially innovative, but it does virtually everything right. Alan Langford's art is solid if unspectacular, and the setting really sings. 7.5 combat dice out of 10.
@jamesfeistdraws

Barrington Boots

Great writeup Jimbo!

From the start of my (unposted writeup):

QuoteAfter being guilt-tripped by Mungo into joining him in sailing to the terrifying Fire Island, we make land full of hope but before we even get off the beach we've both been killed by a giant crab. Worst rescue party ever.
Second attempt and this time I'm just maxing my stats out. I slay the crab, but.. Mungo... nooooo!

I too had a noooooo moment over brave Mungo: the poor chap gets it regardless and although he's barely mentioned again in the text, I very much enjoyed your holding him close to your heart in your tale.
You're a dark horse, Boots.

Barrington Boots

You're a dark horse, Boots.

Dark Jimbo

Quote from: Barrington Boots on 14 April, 2022, 02:00:05 PM
Great writeup Jimbo!

From the start of my (unposted writeup):

QuoteAfter being guilt-tripped by Mungo into joining him in sailing to the terrifying Fire Island, we make land full of hope but before we even get off the beach we've both been killed by a giant crab.

Thanks BB! This was a fun one - although the crossdressing was a surprise to me!

In the interests of full disclosure, this was my third playthrough. The first one never made it off the beach, either (killed by the pirates) and the second got only slightly further (the headhunters). You really need Skill of 10 or above for this one!
@jamesfeistdraws

sheridan

Was on a trip to and from a wedding in Yorkshire this week, so managed to have a good run through Port Blacksand.  Won't say too much because it's been covered already in this thread, and we're way behind everyone else, but we did manage to survive up to the tower of Zanbar Bone.  Then got killed pretty promptly.  As we'd gotten so far through we decided to head on but not play through the combats.  Then we got killed immediately in the next room.  Oh well!

Dark Jimbo

Quote from: sheridan on 20 April, 2022, 01:17:22 PM
Was on a trip to and from a wedding in Yorkshire this week, so managed to have a good run through [City of Thieves]... we did manage to survive up to the tower of Zanbar Bone.  Then got killed pretty promptly.

I seem to be playing worse now (or having worse luck) than when I used to play these way-back-when. I'd gotten to Zagor, Zanbar Bone and the Lizard King in previous playthroughs (even if I didn't necessarily beat them). I've yet to see a single final boss in this thread...!
@jamesfeistdraws