When you play Sorcery! gamebooks is it as Wizard or Warrior?

[CharlesX]

Warrior can definitely be amazing but it often feels like Sorcery! isn't fully balanced for the role and somehow doesn't feel as fun to play. But that's my opinion, what's yours?

[terrysalt]

It definitely feels like wizard was the intended playstyle and warrior was thrown in for the people who didn't buy the spellbook.

[vastariner]

Can't be doing with dice-rolling/page-flipping all the time, so it's wizard. But a wizard by the time you get to Mampang is a pretty buff warrior anyway...

[schlendrian]

The magic system is just so much fun, couldn't imagine ignoring it.

[CharlesX]

Jan 19, 2024 22:35:52 GMT terrysalt said:

It definitely feels like wizard was the intended playstyle and warrior was thrown in for the people who didn't buy the spellbook.

I will say Sorcery! Crown Of Kings can be fun to play as Warrior. SFAIK most editions have the spellbook at the back (both my older and modern versions do), and the Warrior option was possibly partly an attempt to add replay value; that doesn't fully allow for cynicism.

[a moderator]

Jan 20, 2024 10:58:04 GMT CharlesX said:

Jan 19, 2024 22:35:52 GMT terrysalt said:

It definitely feels like wizard was the intended playstyle and warrior was thrown in for the people who didn't buy the spellbook.

SFAIK most editions have the spellbook at the back (both my older and modern versions do), and the Warrior option was possibly partly an attempt to add replay value; that doesn't fully allow for cynicism.

The Sorcery Spell Book was included in the back of Serpents and Crown, and all reprints of Hills and Kharé that came out after Serpents, but for around a year after initial publication (during which at least one reprint of Hills came out) it was only available as a separate volume.

[kieran]

As a child, I played warrior more - wizard seemed like too much work! But definitely flipped now though try warrior every now and again.

[alziel]

I usually play as Wizard. When I first got The Shamutanti Hills, way back in 1983 (in a box sleeve, packaged with the spell book as a separate volume!), the novelty and allure was too much to ignore - so Wizard it was! I remember spending hours going through that spell book!

I started trying with Warrior for a change, around about the time that The Seven Serpents was released, and I was pleasantly surprised by how different the whole experience felt, especially in The Crown of Kings. I eventually completed the full, four book quest with both Wizard and Warrior.

When I picked up the (abysmal!) Scholastic reprints a couple of weeks ago, it had been decades since I played Sorcery!, so I chose Warrior over Wizard (age is a thing now, and my memory is shot to pieces! - I figured I'd make a pig's ear of things as a Wizard! ). I struggled a few times, even as a Warrior, so I decided to follow Champskee's guide here. It was good fun! I'll give it a whirl as a Wizard again in a few weeks or so, I reckon! 

[sylas]

First time I played, I played as a Warrior. Afterwards, I only play as Wizard as it is way more fun.

[Peter]

I've never tried playing the books individually. It just never occurred to me. Maybe I should. And try with both characters.

It would make for a different experience, treating each one as a separate gamebook.

[scramblehead]

Is it actually possible to beat the last book while playing as a Warrior? It's been a while since I dusted off my copies of the Sorcery! series, but my memory was that finishing Crown of Kings was dependent upon using the ZED spell.

[kieran]

Mar 15, 2024 7:03:14 GMT scramblehead said:

Is it actually possible to beat the last book while playing as a Warrior? It's been a while since I dusted off my copies of the Sorcery! series, but my memory was that finishing Crown of Kings was dependent upon using the ZED spell.

Yes.

SPOILER: Click to show

The She Satyrs give you a genie in a bottle who is able to teleport you out of the prison tower.

[thealmightymudworm]

Mar 15, 2024 7:03:14 GMT scramblehead said:

Is it actually possible to beat the last book while playing as a Warrior? It's been a while since I dusted off my copies of the Sorcery! series, but my memory was that finishing Crown of Kings was dependent upon using the ZED spell.

Nothing to add to Kieran's reply, just wanted to acknowledge scramblehead's post since it's the first since the start of the UK's Covid lockdown when we were all sharing round Boris Johnson's Matt Lucas impression (or was it the other way round? I forget). Good to see you on the other side.

[scramblehead]

Mar 26, 2024 15:10:32 GMT thealmightymudworm said:

Mar 15, 2024 7:03:14 GMT scramblehead said:

Is it actually possible to beat the last book while playing as a Warrior? It's been a while since I dusted off my copies of the Sorcery! series, but my memory was that finishing Crown of Kings was dependent upon using the ZED spell.

Nothing to add to Kieran's reply, just wanted to acknowledge scramblehead's post since it's the first since the start of the UK's Covid lockdown when we were all sharing round Boris Johnson's Matt Lucas impression (or was it the other way round? I forget). Good to see you on the other side.

Haha, thanks  Last few years have certainly been a bit of a wild ride.

And thanks Kieran for your reply. Guess I'll have to actually try playing the Warrior's route sometime...