vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
|
Post by vagsancho on Sept 3, 2015 17:01:58 GMT
(The Ressurection of Razaak)BACKGROUND Something is happening in Allansia. The Sun has long been left to watch. The disease decimates hundreds and hundreds of people in every city of Allansia. In the air, people just feel suffering and loneliness. And pain, a pain that no one speaks. A pain that is not possible to be translated into words. There is something strange that anyone can understand - normally when the Evil forces go into action, Men were usually the victims in their look for blood. But in these times, death strikes indiscriminately, killing all without regard to anything ... Men, Dwarves, Elves, Trolls, Ogers, orcks, Good or Evil Wizards, all Death strikes without a discriminate touch. Times of Incomprehension. A group of 10 of the most daring warriors, coming from Stonebridge, Port Blacksand, and Zengis, after walking for long days without rest, now come to Yaztromo's tower, searching for answers and for a possility of a last rescue.
The door opens. Relief. Yaztromo is still alive. Nobody haven't seen him for many, many years. He is aged and looks tired.
"Great Yaztromo" - began one of the Warriors, called Crádon, an high and dark individual for about 25 years old, "Our world is lost, our families suffer and die every day, plants die, animals die, kings die. We have came from far away so we could ask you what is the source of all this evil? Is it still possible a solution to our world?"
Yaztromo, slowly, after a deep breath, back up, and begins to rise again towards the top of his tower. Halfway up, Yaztromo stops suddenly just to say "Just one come in."
At the top of his tower, the years seem not to have passed, everything looks the same as the old Warlock sits down in his old oak chair. Yaztromo throws a tired look to the young warrior, eagerly sitting in front of him, and after a long break to recover from his climb's effort, he speaks:
"I know what's going on. This wave of death that now attacks the world has a cause that I know. About two or three years ago, when death began to decimate Allansia in a crazy way, like never before have ever been seen in these parts, I decided to consult the Higher Orders of the Pure Truth looking for knowledge in search for an answer. For days there was only silence, for days there was no answer, until one night in my sleep, I thought I saw a face in the middle of nowhere. That face was engulfed in black smoke and therefore i was not able to identify who or it. But this image reappeared me the following nights for a whole year, taking from me the rest and cursing my days. (He whispers...) But there was not, never, any doubt for me that he was the source of all this evil. The nightmare of helpless ignorance chased me all this time until exactly three nights ago, when I felt for the first time in this strange presence a familiar energy. Immediately I opened my eyes and screamed out loud: "Who are you? Tell me who you are?" Then, for a moment, everything around me disappeared, the tower was gone, all black, an endless blackness, and suddenly ... two eyes. .. and after a second disappeared. But i saw. At last, i saw. And no doubt, it was him!"
Yaztromo stares at the young man, and, with fatality in his eyes, pronounces a name: "Razaak".
"Who?"
" He is now invincible, i fear" - is the only answer. " Everything is possible - says the young warrior - Where is the glorious Wizard reputed for always believe?
Yaztromo looks at the ground, helpless: " Razaak is now more powerful than ever. In addition to the countless weapons to have a mere possiblity to win him, he now has launched into himself the ancient spell of Dhareem Blaal - the only one who can have the mystical power to defeat him, can only be someone who have killed him before.
Seeing the young warrior startled, the old warlock ends:
"Kull died many decades ago... and as for the other... (in his eyes a sadness and an even higher helpless brightness now)... he should now have ninety or one hundred years old, if is it that he is still alive, what i do not know ..."
You now have ninety four years old, you live a quiet life and your body is all surrounded by the diseases of advanced age, you're now weak, helpless and old. And nevertheless, after a while, someone will come, and someone will knock at your door only to inform you that you and only you can save Allansia all over again from the most powerful necromancer who have ever lived on Titan, the most powerfull necromancer that some day was born... (Now Turn to 1.)
|
|
|
Post by champskees on Sept 4, 2015 8:25:56 GMT
Looks like it's been given the go ahead. Attachments:
|
|
|
Post by hynreck on Sept 4, 2015 12:56:38 GMT
Beating Livingstone in nastiness by killing you at the end of the first section.
...but still full with 399 unreachable paragraphs, cause that wouldn't be a gamebook without 'em, you know!
|
|
kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,437
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
|
Post by kieran on Sept 4, 2015 16:47:35 GMT
I actually kinda like the idea of playing a geriatric hero. "You are walking along the street when you catch a flash of Nora Batty's wrinkly tights. Test your Luck. If you are Unlucky, the shock causes you to stumble backwards over a wall accompanied by a comic tune."
|
|
vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
|
Post by vagsancho on Sept 5, 2015 21:59:00 GMT
I had a dream. God himself told me that The Reussurection of Razaak is coming! At least i think it was God. But it is not for me to do so. My paper was only to be the prophet of that Miracle. Who will it be? Green? Livingstone? Kaxhaz? Sylas?
|
|
sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,677
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
|
Post by sylas on Sept 5, 2015 22:14:31 GMT
lol. well if i was paid to do it, i would. i don't think you'll enjoy it though. it will make logical sense and be fair in gameplay.
|
|
|
Post by hynreck on Sept 16, 2015 18:26:35 GMT
I want The Reuserrring of Razaak to become real just like Nil, Mouth of the Void.
|
|
sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,677
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
|
Post by sylas on Sept 16, 2015 18:52:40 GMT
does that mean you want Razaak to become nothing?
|
|
|
Post by hynreck on Sept 17, 2015 12:10:23 GMT
Good catch, actually. I was thinking more amongst the line of: as real as fiction, but I like your interpretation better!
...yeah I'm reading The Way of the Tiger right now, so let's say my thoughts are being influenced. At Assassin! for the moment, having a blast most of the time.
|
|
kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,437
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
|
Post by kieran on Sept 17, 2015 12:23:26 GMT
Speaking of Way of the Tiger, does anyone know if all the little annoying bugs in the books have been fixed in the reprints? Also have the fights been made a little fairer?
|
|
|
Post by hynreck on Sept 17, 2015 13:03:32 GMT
Supposedly they've been fixed, that was one of the goals, at least. Unfortunately, I never played the originals and don't own them so I coudn't compare if I wanted to. I do remember frequent post from Megara talking in length about the process of correcting, improving, debugging, giving section numbers, telling exactly what they changed, what dilemma they faced, etc. I stop reading those, though, as they were filled with spoilers, but certainly the answers are out there, in fact, I could go and check if I could copy/paste the info if you are interested. Of course, I will have to be carefull not to read anything beyond Assassin!...
|
|
|
Post by hynreck on Sept 17, 2015 13:29:33 GMT
That should probably be in a thread on The Way of the Tiger, so feel free to move it there, Greenspine, if you wish, though I will probably add value to this otherwise joke thread!
Anyway here go the first copy/paste and I'll do the other if you folks are interested.
The changelog for book 1, Avenger!
Good day. We are making progress on all fronts, and, like I said last time, we plan to share changelogs as we go through each book. Well, except for books 0 and 7, because there aren't exactly any "gameplay improvements" to make when the books were never published before.
I have handed off edits for book 1 to Mikaël. As mentioned when talking about who does what on this team, "I" am the editor, Richard; but everyone from the original authors through to the RPG team has weighed in on what the book needs. Now Mikaël is doing the massive task of getting it into a print-ready layout with illustrations, and we hope not to harrass him too often with "Ooh! Ooh! We missed something, so go back and change it!"
That said, do you personally know something that needed correcting back in the 1980's version of book 1? Then compare to the below and let us know in the comments if we missed something obvious.
General gameplay
In the game rules, the authors instructed us to change throw mechanics. Throws used to give a bonus to damage only; now they ALSO give a bonus to your Punch Modifier or Kick Modifier. (This allows for more complex strategy. Some players mistakenly thought this was true in the original anyway, because the rules said "it will be much easier to strike a thrown opponent.")
Clarified how kicks, throws, and Inner Force interact. (Order of operations.)
Put the enemy's counter attack into its own subsection in the rules for ease of use.
Clarified shuriken rules. (The original presented rules but then almost always ignored them. Now the book acknowledges that results vary.)
In the main paragraphs, the authors raised the amount of Endurance restored from brief rest. Instead of 1-3, you might get 2-5. (This does not affect anything larger, like 10 Endurance rest, but gives more of a reason to bother recording the tinier bits.)
All combat sections including throws give full enemy statistics.
Whenever you can injure an enemy early, e.g., with a shuriken, the text now tells you the enemy's Endurance early so you can do proper record-keeping.
Clarified combat with special rules, e.g., a throw that has an extra chance of success the first time it is used, and made the presentation uniform.
Flowchart errors and crashes
118. Corrected to send you to 390 instead of 301.
126. Changed to allow you to proceed even if you have neither the required skill nor any Inner Force.
244. Corrected to send you to 236 instead of 326.
326. Corrected to send you to 356 instead of 311.
356. Now exists. At all.
Text problems from taking an unexpected route
9. Eliminated casual reference to shuriken, as you might have none left.
47. Runeweaver is no longer said to have his sight restored (except by implication), as it was possible for him not to have been blinded in the first place.
118, 245, 278, 319, 367. Eliminated references to left arm, as it could have been broken.
282. You no longer use two shuriken, as the instructions only say you will use one if you choose to go here and you might have only one left.
372. The magician no longer talks about killing the Snow Giant (except by implication), as you might have killed it first.
Conflicts and logic errors
321. Established 26 Endurance on the Elder God. (The original section 321 conflicted with 333 and said only 22 Endurance, which would have made it weaker than the Two-headed Giant.)
343. Eliminated the option to go to the City of Far Snows. (You already decided not to do so and can't exactly go back.)
Style
Standardized capitalization of skills, martial arts moves, combat mechanics, and collectable items.
Standardized uncapitalization of ninja tools, excepting only the Blood of Nil.
Standardized spelling of "Island of Plenty," "Deirdra," "All-Mother," "Halvorc," and others.
Standardized phrasing as "Forked Lightning kick" with no "Strike" in the name. (This eliminates confusion with the Cobra Strike punch in places where the text leaves out "kick" or "punch.")
Rephrased all references to a skill to say its proper name. (This prevents confusion that could be caused by casual use in a sentence.)
Changed many sentences for flow and clarity, e.g., by comma use or reordering terms. Many, many sentences.
Other
Glossed over money. The player might collect "some gold pieces," but no longer is told how many. (The original was ambiguous over whether you should record numbers on your Character Sheet. You cannot run out of gold pieces anywhere in the series, so it is worthwhile to prevent player confusion. Note that talents of gold in book 4 are a different matter.)
11, 218. Made explicit that you do not retrieve your shuriken.
164, 233, 282. Made explicit that you get your shuriken back. (Usually you are only told when you do NOT retrieve one, but it seemed helpful in these sections. Other sections still leave you to assume you get your shuriken back as the default.)
396. The authors eliminated the Kick Modifier penalty. (It was a nasty surprise when just starting out, it was ambiguous whether it would be restored at the end of the book, and any such restoration would be really difficult to communicate to a reader given all the other intervening changes to the Character Sheet.)
. . . That's all the "text" news for now. Book 1 will get the very fastest turn-around time because we did tons of work for the demo version already. Next update I plan to talk about art development in general and book 1 in specific. I'm also editing book 0 now, which already got several rounds of back-and-forth revision between David and other team members, and hopefully is almost ready. I'm as eager to see the finished product as you are!
|
|
|
Post by hynreck on Sept 17, 2015 13:58:18 GMT
And here's a follow-up, just the relevant parts, anyway:
Updates to the changelog for book 1
We'd mentioned that in response to our changelog for book 1, a backer directed us to look again at Quench-heart Keep. Section 74 had a bit of oddness depending on the route you took there. So we added this to the pile of corrections, but then we came upon another matter of routes which we'd forgotten since first looking at the area: a flowchart problem where you could time travel one day into the future just by choice of route. It looks like the authors meant for these sections to loop together differently anyway, so we changed some section numbers and believe the problem is resolved. Here are new changelog entries:
Text problems from taking an unexpected route
74. You no longer "realise" where you are, as you might have scouted this area before.
Flowchart errors and crashes
166. Edited to send you to 398 instead of 402. (Section 398 has an "if you have not tried to enter the keep already" check which you would always fail in the original version. With this change it is now possible to pass the check.)
398. Added the option to go to 156. (Section 398 is the go-to place for players who scouted beforehand, so adding the scouted option is needed.)
418. Eliminated the option to go to 402, reducing to a single option for assaulting the keep. (You cannot transport yourself through time anymore.)
So that's better. Mikaël has put together a file ready to print, though we still are open to small changes if absolutely needed. (Not too many, we hope . . . )
|
|
sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,677
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
|
Post by sylas on Sept 17, 2015 15:38:48 GMT
the bugs, spelling mistakes, errors, dead paragraphs, continuity problems have all been fixed as far as i'm aware. i only own the reprint for book 6 though. running out of cash is a thing.
|
|
|
Post by hynreck on Sept 17, 2015 16:10:51 GMT
Yeah they are expensive. But it's worth it especially if you get the latest edition, the one with the thick paper.
|
|
sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,677
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
|
Post by sylas on Sept 17, 2015 22:55:54 GMT
i bought hardcover versions of book 0,6, and 7. 0 and 7 cos they're new, 6 cos it was changed the most.
|
|
|
Post by hynreck on Sept 18, 2015 12:13:28 GMT
Sensible, especially if you own the original versions. Those are the no-brainer!
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2015 0:41:31 GMT
Can someone tell me where Razaak's mother is?
|
|
sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,677
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
|
Post by sylas on Sept 19, 2015 15:47:10 GMT
in the ground.
honestly, i've no idea. it's never been covered not even in fan adventures.
|
|
|
Post by thealmightymudworm on Sept 19, 2015 17:40:22 GMT
Can someone tell me where Razaak's mother is? Vagsancho's basement?
|
|
vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
|
Post by vagsancho on Sept 19, 2015 21:50:57 GMT
Sometimes i ask myself.. are Razaak and Hitler now both in the same place? Its probably not a very intelligent question... but i am also not a very intelligent person, so they say. And truely, i know (almost) nothing of this life.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2015 2:47:45 GMT
Razaak has the face only a mother could love.
|
|
vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
|
Post by vagsancho on Sept 20, 2015 14:19:40 GMT
Razaak has the face only a mother could love. Not sure about that. Strangely, sometimes Beauty loves the Beast.
|
|
|
Post by thealmightymudworm on Sept 21, 2015 1:20:04 GMT
Razaak has the face only a mother could love. Not sure about that. Strangely, sometimes Beauty loves the Beast.No question about that.
|
|
|
Post by hynreck on Sept 21, 2015 12:17:58 GMT
So... Is this the follow-up? Is that what was hinted at for 2022?
|
|
|
Post by thealmightymudworm on Sept 21, 2015 14:15:23 GMT
So... Is this the follow-up? Is that what was hinted at for 2022? I imagine that an FF/Disney crossover series is probably in the pipeline. Snow Witch and the Seven Dwarves just seems like a given.
|
|
vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
|
Post by vagsancho on May 28, 2016 23:30:46 GMT
8 months later, I reread the Background of the Ressurection of Razaak. Brutal. Fantastic. Magic. One of a kind. There is no doubt! There can not be! This is the book that Livingstone needs to write. it's imperative. Give him the manuscript.
|
|
sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,677
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
|
Post by sylas on May 29, 2016 15:24:19 GMT
The self-praise is strong in this one. I don't need to give you a trumpet cos you're clearly blowing your own.
|
|
|
Post by hynreck on May 31, 2016 12:21:00 GMT
I'm ready to bow down and hail him as the greatest, fantastic-est, magnificiantest KING of ALL-WORLD. There can not be.
|
|
vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
|
Post by vagsancho on Nov 24, 2017 5:44:50 GMT
I have read the background of this book - Ressurection of Razaak - once again. Amazing. Magical. Superb.
|
|