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Post by a moderator on Dec 18, 2021 19:06:07 GMT
Next year marks the 40th anniversary of the publication of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. Things have been a bit quiet on the multi-player gamebok challenge front for a while (though terrysalt's recently-completed 'Progressive stats playthroughs' has been a good one-man substitute), so I wondered if people might be interested in something a bit different in 2022. If you add together the number of FF books published by Puffin, Steve Jackson's Sorcery!, the Warlock magazine mini-adventures not based on main range gamebooks, Clash of the Princes, The Adventures of Goldhawk, the new FF books published by Wizard, the new FF books published by Scholastic, and the FF mini-adventures in Fighting Fantazine, you get 104. Double the number of weeks in a year. Don't worry, I'm not about to suggest playing two FFs a week. Almost half of the 104 titles have been published or republished this century. So I split the 104 into two lists: FF books published by Wizard and/or Scholastic, plus Fantazine mini-adventures (totalling 51), and the rest (totalling 53). If we can find one Puffin-only book that everyone interested owns, that can swap lists to even things up. The lists, so you don't need to spend time figuring out what's what: This centuryThe Warlock of Firetop Mountain
The Citadel of Chaos
The Forest of Doom
Starship Traveller
City of Thieves
The Shamutanti Hills
Deathtrap Dungeon
Island of the Lizard King
Kharé - Cityport of Traps
Caverns of the Snow Witch
The Seven Serpents
House of Hell
Talisman of Death
The Crown of Kings
Freeway Fighter
Temple of Terror
Appointment with F.E.A.R.
Sword of the Samurai
Trial of Champions
Creature of Havoc
Crypt of the Sorceror
Armies of Death
Return to Firetop Mountain
Spellbreaker
Legend of Zagor
Curse of the Mummy
The Eye of the Dragon
Bloodbones
Howl of the Werewolf
Stormslayer
The Resurrection of the Dead
Shrine of the Salamander
Night of the Necromancer
Prey of the Hunter
In Search of the Mungies' Gold
Bones of the Banished
Escape From the Sorcerer
Queen of Shades
Vengeance at Midnight
Return to the Icefinger Mountains
Blood of the Zombies
Hand of Fate
Ascent of Darkness
Starhunt: Void Slavers
Six-Gun Friday
Lords of Stone
The Port of Peril
Sister Angela's Veil
The Gates of Death
Assassins of Allansia
Crystal of Storms
Last centuryScorpion Swamp
The Dervish Stone
Space Assassin
Dungeon of Justice
The Rings of Kether
Seas of Blood
The Dark Chronicle of Anakendis
Temple of Testing
Rebel Planet
The Floating City
Demons of the Deep
Fortress Throngard
Rogue Mage
The Land of Changes
Clash of the Princes - The Warlock's Way
Clash of the Princes - The Warrior's Way
Robot Commando
Deadline to Destruction
Masks of Mayhem
The Temple of the Pharaoh
Beneath Nightmare Castle
Star Strider
Phantoms of Fear
Midnight Rogue
Chasms of Malice
Battleblade Warrior
Slaves of the Abyss
Sky Lord
Stealer of Souls
Daggers of Darkness
Portal of Evil
Vault of the Vampire
Fangs of Fury
Dead of Night
Master of Chaos
Black Vein Prophecy
Keep of the Lich Lord
Legend of the Shadow Warriors
Spectral Stalkers
Tower of Destruction
The Crimson Tide
Moonrunner
Siege of Sardath
Island of the Undead
Night Dragon
Deathmoor
Knights of Doom
Magehunter
Revenge of the Vampire
Darkmoon's Curse
The Demon Spider
Mudworm Swamp
Ghost Road
My blog represents the third time I've played (or at least attempted to play) all FF in publication order. I'd prefer not to do that again just yet. So how about this? At the start of each week in 2022, I use a randomiser to pick one title from each list, and post both here. Once selected by the randomiser, a title is removed from the list, so nothing will be played more than once. Participants play one of the selected titles during the week - their choice of which. If you have both (and sufficient time), you can try both, but you only get to count one of them towards the challenge. Participants post the result of their attempt at their chosen book before the end of the following Saturday. The post should include starting stats, number of opponents defeated in battle, outcome of the adventure and (in case of failure) equipment and/or relevant information acquired over the course of the game. Points will be awarded for winning a book, with bonuses for succeeding with low stats, for the highest kill-count, or (for the books that nobody beats) getting closest to success. There will be special rules for some potentially awkward books, but we'll deal with them when they come up. As Steve Jackson's Sorcery! permits carrying stuff across into later books, I could specify that those books are played in order - the first time the randomiser picks a title from the series, The Shamutanti Hills is automatically selected, and so on. Unless people would prefer the added challenge of playing each one in isolation... So, questions, suggestions, recommendations for the book to switch to the 'published this century' list? Given that Scorpion Swamp has been around longest
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Post by The Count on Dec 18, 2021 21:02:34 GMT
I'd move Keep of the Lich Lord to the first list as even though that was in another series, it has been republished in the past decade.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,462
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Dec 18, 2021 23:01:08 GMT
Sounds like fun
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Post by peasantscribbler on Dec 19, 2021 0:37:17 GMT
Good idea. If you have an edition with pre-generated character sheets will you be allowed to choose one or will everyone be rolling up stats from scratch?
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Post by a moderator on Dec 19, 2021 1:44:03 GMT
Good question. I think choosing a pre-generated character would be acceptable, but the 'low stats' bonus would be reduced, as the player would be able to (for example) choose a high Skill score rather than having to go with the roll of the die.
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Post by terrysalt on Dec 19, 2021 7:21:41 GMT
This sounds like a fun idea.
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Post by schlendrian on Dec 19, 2021 22:18:25 GMT
Good idea with the two lists.
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Post by LA on Dec 22, 2021 23:04:24 GMT
It would be better if you divide the books into 12 groups and pick one a month, or just pick enough to pick from a small group each month. It would be more likely that people could keep up and make a proper job of it.
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Post by LA on Dec 22, 2021 23:09:53 GMT
I would also just divide them up sequentially in time order so over a year you pick 1 from the next 8-9 books, thus sampling the whole 40 year period. One month you could use for sorcery and include like clash of princes etc
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Post by nathanh on Dec 22, 2021 23:35:16 GMT
Do you have any preferences about whether people use i) any notes or maps they've taken themselves in previous plays or ii) external solutions?
I think I'd rather have "pure" runs, but I understand that can't be policed and others may have other preferences anyway. At least, it might be nice for us to avoid ii).
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Post by terrysalt on Dec 23, 2021 5:04:11 GMT
I'm the opposite. Given that the rule is not only unenforceable but breaches are completely undetectable, there's absolutely no value in prohibiting the use of external solutions.
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Post by schlendrian on Dec 23, 2021 17:24:58 GMT
Either way, it should be made clear whether using solutions is in the spirit of the challenge.
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Post by a moderator on Dec 29, 2021 19:00:05 GMT
The question about using pre-existing maps or solutions is a tricky one. I won't be using any myself, but there are multiple books for which my memory is just as effective as any written guide, and I'm not about to pretend not to know the correct choices I remember.
How about this? There's no ban on using them (which would in any case be impossible to enforce), but when posting results, you have to say whether or not you did (and, if so, what you used). In the event of a tie breaker being required, use of external aids will count against you.
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Post by terrysalt on Dec 29, 2021 19:17:24 GMT
That seems like a good solution to me.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 1, 2022 1:53:46 GMT
Week 1
The randomiser says: This century - Escape From the Sorcerer (Fighting Fantazine 6) Last century - Sky Lord
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Post by terrysalt on Jan 1, 2022 2:29:44 GMT
Short and sweet. Refusing on principle to subject myself to Sky Lord again, I went with the other one. I rolled skill 8, stamina 21, luck 12. I killed 1 guard and then got ripped apart in the next fight (I almost killed the lizard man if there's points for partial credit) For what it's worth I did use Champskees' guide if you need a tie breaker for last place or something.
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Post by peasantscribbler on Jan 1, 2022 23:33:30 GMT
Are we to only report our first attempt or can we make multiple attempts?
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,462
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jan 2, 2022 0:21:04 GMT
Knowing that Escape from the Sorcerer has a brutal opening, I try Sky Lord. It was all going very well: beat the Redneck, defeated the orange blob, blew up the Starfire Valioog, but then I misremembered what warp to use next and ended up facing the Grand Archipelago and slammed into one of its pylons.
Starting Stats: Skill 12, Stamina 15, Luck 9, Rating 3
Enemies defeated: Fahbad Redneck Auto-Drone Robot Pathologist Insane Crewman Ludo Kludwig Sky-Wasp Starfire Valioog Smart Missile
Items gathered: only those needed to beat the blob
Information learned: zero
Didn't use a guide
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Post by a moderator on Jan 2, 2022 1:24:26 GMT
Are we to only report our first attempt or can we make multiple attempts? One attempt per adventure, but you're free to try both and report whichever goes better.
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Post by schlendrian on Jan 2, 2022 17:58:16 GMT
I had to go with Escape, an adventure entirely new to me. As Kieran said and terrysalt demonstrated, the opening is brutal, and even with a Sk 11, St 21, L 11 character I was close to dying against the guards. I also had to use the flashpowder right the first instance after I got it against the scorpion. From then on it felt easier and quite interesting, and I managed to get to what I think is the door before the endgame, but (playing without a guide) I was missing the clue to how to open it, which brought my adventure to an abrupt end. Still, I managed to defeat 12 enemies, and I'm quite content with my first go at this adventure.
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Post by peasantscribbler on Jan 2, 2022 19:37:30 GMT
My attempt at Sky Lord did not go well at all, so I decided to try Escape From the Sorcerer. I like kieran's formatting, so I will copy it. I don't actually know if I was on the right track or not, but vague hints from the text suggest I might have been on a viable path. I probably wasted my doses of the potion of skill (which, in this adventure, increase attack strength for a single combat) on lesser opponents. In the end, I was easily killed by a skill 10 stamina 10 Crocodile Mutant. Edit: I just realized that things might have gone better if I had remembered to use my shield in combat.
Starting Stats: Skill=10, Stamina=16, Luck=9
Enemies defeated (13): 1st Guard 2nd Guard Lizard Man 1st Troll 2nd Troll 1st Lizard Man 2nd Lizard Man 1st Guard 2nd Guard 3rd Guard Puflin 1st Crocodile 2nd Crocodile
Items gathered: sword shield potion of skill potion of strength potion of luck Puflin beak
Information learned: "Shaft of light to be kept in cell" -- I don't know what to do with that. Should I free her because my enemy wants her locked up? Should I keep her in her cell because she is just too dangerous? Based on my experience, I'd lean toward the latter.
Didn't use a guide.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 7, 2022 17:41:57 GMT
I tried Escape (without a guide), and had my most successful attempt yet. Which isn't saying much, to be honest. I rolled a pretty good character: Skill 11, Stamina 19, Luck 12.
The first couple of fights were pretty brutal (I had to use Luck in order to defeat the first Guard within the time limit), but in the end I managed six kills in battle: 1st Guard Lizard Man 1st Troll 2nd Troll Giant Scorpion Asura
A trio of Asura killed me in the end, by which time I had acquired only a Flashpowder parcel, a Giant Scorpion's claw, and knowledge of the Asura language.
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Post by nathanh on Jan 8, 2022 0:31:13 GMT
A blind play of Escape. A good character: Skill 12, Stamina 17, Luck 10.
I managed to explore a fair amount, but eventually died when I was allowed to "reconsider" a risky approach and instead given a choice of ways to die. Nice.
Enemies defeated: 2 guards 3, uhm, things? A lizard man and some other stuff 1 Sabre-toothed tiger 2 lizardmen 3 guards 1 puflin 2 crocodiles 1 Crocodile mutant
Items: +4 sword 20 gp shield puflin beak bucket
Knowledge: Shaft of light to be kept in her cell, language, wear not the bronze
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Post by a moderator on Jan 8, 2022 0:36:45 GMT
Any other players still have just under 23½ hours to post their results for week 1, so I won't tabulate scores just yet.
Nevertheless, it's time to fire up the randomiser again:
Week 2
This century - Freeway Fighter Last century - Fortress Throngard (Warlock 9)
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Post by terrysalt on Jan 8, 2022 8:30:57 GMT
Another dismal failure. I don't have access to any of the Warlock magazines so I went with Freeway Fighter. I had skill 7, stamina 30, luck 9, firepower 7, armour 29. I figured with those stats I'd just drive around and shoot rockets at things and then die in the next fight I got into. A plan that might have worked had I not failed a skill roll, failed to jump a bridge and ended up at the bottom of a river. I got 1 kill against a red chevy and didn't use a guide. If they count as items, I had 3 rockets, 3 iron spikes, 2 oil canisters, 2 spare wheels and 10 medkits. Information learned: 1) Don't stop at Joe's. 2) You need all 4 tyres to land on the other side of the bridge if you want to survive the jump.
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Post by vastariner on Jan 8, 2022 9:50:52 GMT
Thought I would give this a go and start with Sky Lord...
10/22/8
Rating: 3 4 lasers, 12 shields
Vamos. Let's go for the highest dimension possible, into the sixth dimension. Straight into being attacked by a Fahbad Redneck, who has the advantage, because his rating is higher than mine. (The rules are silent on what happens if they are equal.) How does combat go?
Him: hit Me: hit (6/10) Him: hit Me: miss (6/8) Him: hit Me: miss (6/6) Him: hit Me: hit (4/4) Him: hit Me: hit (2/2)
OK, this is peril, because he gets first blow in each round. If he rolls anything other than a 6, then I'm dead in the first reference.
Roll: 2
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Post by terrysalt on Jan 8, 2022 11:00:47 GMT
Thought I would give this a go and start with Sky Lord...
10/22/8
Rating: 3 4 lasers, 12 shields
Vamos. Let's go for the highest dimension possible, into the sixth dimension. Straight into being attacked by a Fahbad Redneck, who has the advantage, because his rating is higher than mine. (The rules are silent on what happens if they are equal.) How does combat go?
Him: hit Me: hit (6/10) Him: hit Me: miss (6/8) Him: hit Me: miss (6/6) Him: hit Me: hit (4/4) Him: hit Me: hit (2/2)
OK, this is peril, because he gets first blow in each round. If he rolls anything other than a 6, then I'm dead in the first reference.
Roll: 2 My copy is pretty clear on what happens if the ratings are equal. "If your rating is greater than the opponent's, you will shoot first; otherwise, your opponent will shoot first." The opponent shoots first and you don't even get the benefit of increasing your rating afterwards.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,462
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jan 8, 2022 12:40:57 GMT
Thought I would give this a go and start with Sky Lord...
10/22/8
Rating: 3 4 lasers, 12 shields
Vamos. Let's go for the highest dimension possible, into the sixth dimension. Straight into being attacked by a Fahbad Redneck, who has the advantage, because his rating is higher than mine. (The rules are silent on what happens if they are equal.) How does combat go?
Him: hit Me: hit (6/10) Him: hit Me: miss (6/8) Him: hit Me: miss (6/6) Him: hit Me: hit (4/4) Him: hit Me: hit (2/2)
OK, this is peril, because he gets first blow in each round. If he rolls anything other than a 6, then I'm dead in the first reference.
Roll: 2 My copy is pretty clear on what happens if the ratings are equal. "If your rating is greater than the opponent's, you will shoot first; otherwise, your opponent will shoot first." The opponent shoots first and you don't even get the benefit of increasing your rating afterwards. Never picked up on that! I've been rolling to see who shoots first if Rating is the same but it seems I've been wrong. Why is the Redneck's Shields score so high anyway? It's equal to that of the Starfire Valioog's despite that being a massive spaceship while the Redneck drives a space go-kart. If it was 4 or 6 it would be a lot more realistic whilst making that battle much less deadly.
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Post by vastariner on Jan 8, 2022 12:45:05 GMT
OK, Fortress Throngard. 11/20/7. Potion of Luck, then, and tempted to drink it before ref 1. Right. Idiot knight has got himself captured by wizards and an even more idiot knight is off to rescue him. Why the heck not send a wizard? Anyhoo, as soon as I get going, there are three chaps who want to capture me, and, weirdly, I am in a quantum superposition of having a sword and shield (per the introduction) and not (per para 1). And I assume that means I do not have my potion. Oh dear.
Plan was to get captured so I will put up a token defence. Boom, out, dungeon. Let's try to escape. I seem to be in a Premier Inn, corridor with loads of doors. Let's try the opposite one before moving on. Oopsie, a guard. But his Sk is 5 under mine, so he needs at least an 8 each attack round to have a chance of getting me. Amazingly enough, the first round I get snake eyes and he gets a 10. I actually get snake eyes again but he can't get the 8 so four swipes later and I win. Bit of food so I am back to normal and a sword.
No backpack. Can I come back later and fill up with provisions? Let's go left. Door to the left. I still have my picklock so let's get going. Shield and breastplate. Can have one. Let's take shield, easier to take off if necessary. Woo, 1 ST of damage on a 5/6 against me.
Door opposite, picklock, this is getting to be a bit Legend of Zagor. Small, grey-haired man in an armchair, who seems a bit undisturbed by me having just broken in. But I'm intrigued so let's speak to him. Vampire? No, actually good info (perhaps).
OK, carry on the way I was going. Corridor turns left ahead so this might be a squircle. Left door again, oopsie, four guards. Loot? Or back away because there's bound to be noise even if I win? Back away. Luck test, augh. 7, so lucky (just). [LUCK 6]
And the adventure does not let me open the door to the right. So I am climbing up until I get to a strong iron door. Which opens into another corridor. Door opposite, and corridor goes left and right, so it is not a squircle, unless I've cut across the middle. Open opposite then. Short passageway. Locked door. Open it. Picklock. Doesn't work. PUMA!!!!
I beat all three, took one wound (STAMINA 18). In an entrance hall. Aaaaaaand there is a dragon. And I do not have a bow and arrow. And it has SK15 ST16.
*deep breath*
11/18 v 15/16: WIN (test luck: PASS; LUCK 5) 11/18 v 15/12: LOSE (and lose 2 ST) 11/16 v 15/12: LOSE (unlucky, rolled a 12, but then a 10) 11/14 v 15/12: LOSE (1 ST) 11/13 v 15/12: LOSE (2 ST) 11/11 v 15/12: LOSE (2 ST) 11/9 v 15/12: LOSE (2 ST) 11/7 v 15/12: LOSE (1 ST) 11/6 v 15/12: LOSE (2 ST) 11/4 v 15/12: LOSE (1 ST) 11/3 v 15/12: WIN (too little luck left to test) 11/3 v 15/10: WIN (wow) 11/3 v 15/8: WIN (wow again) 11/3 v 15/6: LOSE (2 ST) 11/1 v 15/6: WIN (have no real choice but to try LUCK, and it FAILS, LUCK 4) 11/1 v 15/5: WIN (tried LUCK again, rolled a 4 (!)) 11/1 v 15/1: LOSE (and shield did not help to reduce 2 to 1, so even LUCK would not help me there)
Well, that was a bit...unbalanced. Dull dungeon crawl against easy opponents, then BOSS FIGHT in level 1.
he post should include starting stats, number of opponents defeated in battle, outcome of the adventure and (in case of failure) equipment and/or relevant information acquired over the course of the game. Points will be awarded for winning a book, with bonuses for succeeding with low stats, for the highest kill-count, or (for the books that nobody beats) getting closest to success
Overall: Opponents defeated: 4 Equipment gained: sword, shield Information: how to trap Big Boss in a pengangle
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Post by vastariner on Jan 8, 2022 12:45:56 GMT
Why is the Redneck's Shields score so high anyway? It's equal to that of the Starfire Valioog's despite that being a massive spaceship while the Redneck drives a space go-kart. If it was 4 or 6 it would be a lot more realistic whilst making that battle much less deadly. To take into account a greater manoeuvrability and it being a smaller target?
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