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Post by The Editor (Alex B) on Feb 9, 2016 3:37:42 GMT
Kickstarter from the team behind the recent Way of the Tiger reprints:
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Post by hynreck on Feb 9, 2016 13:20:59 GMT
Backed, even though I already have 2 copies. But I want to support their efforts so that they continue delivering goods with gamebooks (old editions given proper respect or new stuff). I also enjoy holding the physical copy.
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Post by hynreck on Mar 28, 2017 18:43:31 GMT
Review of CRYPT OF THE VAMPIRE (by Dave Morris)
Crypt of the Vampire is the first gamebook from a small series back in the ’80s, named Golden Dragon. There are only six books in this series, and none are linked; they only share some simple game mechanics, and of course, the authors. But, all the same, that was one of those books that I’ve wanted to read/play since forever, as it’s been somehow a part of my life since the very first gamebooks came along. Allow me to reminisce a little in more details.
These were the days when the gamebook craze had just exploded on life’s scene, mostly due to a little book named The Warlock of Firetop Mountain that you might already know about. These were the days when a book fair (sort of) would be organized at least once a year (perhaps twice, memory fails) in my school gymnasium and my mom would have given me money for one book and one book only (we were never rich) and I would walk the improvised aisles of folding tables with wonderment in my eyes and trepidation in my steps and anxiety in my heart: so many treasures to discover, so many possibilities, and only one choice, and dammit, it needed to be the right choice and to count for all the other stuff I couldn’t get!
These were the days when I held in my hands copies of Island of the Lizard King, Flight from the Dark, The Shamutanti Hills, Avenger! and Crypt of the Vampire and wondered: which one deserves the most my hard-earned money (hard-gifted money would be more appropriate)? All had the potential of filling my days and nights with adventures – dreams and nightmares alike – but only one could be taken home on this day, and when the next opportunity arises? It might be gone. Or more likely it would be swamped by so many other possibilities, those old desired books buried under the weight of newer temptations.
Nowadays I don’t have that dilemma anymore. If they are available, I can probably afford them. But back then that represented a real challenge. And I remember clearly how the first three Golden Dragon books would often turn up in my hands but kept on being rejected. There might have been multiple reasons for that, none of them being that the books didn’t looked good enough. More likely it was because – other than the familiar budgetary reasons – I already owned some Fighting Fantasy and Lone Wolf books and was more comfortable with those systems… Also, I probably did keep my money for the next Lone Wolf book since it was a continuous story and I was always hungry for more. And also, notably, I had a friend who had the first two in this series, so probably I thought I could borrow those if I wanted to, though I don’t remember ever doing it (I’m still friend with that guy, but the books are long gone, unfortunately).
But never mind all that, nowadays I’m the proud owner of three editions of Crypt of the Vampire (and of all the Golden Dragon) so I think I’ve kind of make up for those childhood indecisions/dilemma.
And yes, before getting in the thick of this review (thank you for being patient, if you are still reading) I need to offer you a bit more background about those three editions.
The first edition I own was bought a few years back, slightly after a major buying craze where I was perusing secondary markets for all my missing FF books. It was a bit like I couldn’t be totally satiated after finally acquiring all the FFs; I was still starving and thus my gaze turned toward the other series, all those I’d been curious about in my youth but never got around to try. Golden Dragon was a major one, so I bought used copies of Crypt, along with The Lord of Shadow Keep, The Eye of the Dragon and Curse of the Pharaoh. Couldn’t get my mitts on a fair priced copy of The Temple of Flame or The Castle of Lost Souls around that time, but it soon wouldn’t matter anyway.
It wouldn’t matter because not too long after – remember I was already busy playing through a huge amount of FF books, and it’s not like whenever I receive a new book through the mail I just throw everything else aside and dig in – that I read on Dave Morris’s blog about the planned rerelease of his old gamebooks, Golden Dragon series included. New format, new somber, more serious covers, slight corrections/revisions, in some case, including that one. So, I started buying those too. They sure were easier to get (still are, I believe). And when the time came to finally play that book, I had two options at my disposal.
I ended up choosing to play the newer, slightly revised edition. Less wear and tear on my old, used edition, for one thing. Of course, I intended to keep it, for comparison sake and for all those cool illustrations inside that didn’t make the cut. But I’ll get back to this later, because I need to keep focus.
That third edition I own arrived later in my life, a while after I was done with playing the book (yes I take forever to review, I know). It’s from the Kickstarter that Megara Entertainment did back then, what? beginning of 2016? Around that time. A collector’s edition, what else, large format hardcover, thick paper, original illustrations coloured by Leo Hartas himself, 5 new illustrations by the man himself (with stretch goal achieved) and 100 new sections written by David Walters and supervised by Dave Morris (if the stretch goal was achieved and it was). Plus the promise of perhaps more collector’s editions if this turned out well. All very tempting stuff, and I fell for it even though I guess I didn’t need it by that point.
And let me tell you, it is very pretty, very polished. But I will also write about that a little later because focus is in short supply and I must first review the gamebook proper (sigh of relief all around).
And by that I mean review that revised edition I ended up playing. So, after years of waiting, how was Crypt of the Vampire? Much better than I expected I guess. Vampire stories can be so ridden with clichés and there’s been countless of them throughout the years, so it’s hard to imagine oneself to be surprised by anything anymore really. However, while this one is definitely sticking to some classic, proven stuff, it doesn’t read as if the author, Dave Morris, is just lazily copy/pasting bits of stories he’s read or seen in popular culture; he is making those moments his own, adding his personal touches throughout. It also feels like you are there in this dark, gloomy gothic world, and it’s mostly due to the great atmosphere that’s laid on as soon as you step into the thick mud, stuck in a storm and surrendered by incoming wolves. It’s nothing particularly genius but nothing is dumb and everything is very serviceable. And fun, most of the time, let’s not forget this important point.
Dave Morris has admitted a number of times that he views that particular story as an homage to the Hammer movies of old, the Draculas of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing fame. I must admit that the influence shows, in a good way. The original version of Crypt of the Vampire came out during the big gamebook boom of the eighties, and that particular moment in time was mostly all about Medieval Fantasy. So, the publishers felt obliged (Morris was against) to stick in there some of the usual staples of fantasy – elves and goblins and whatnot – to please the common folk. But here they go against the grain of the atmosphere, rubbing the story the wrong way. For the revised edition, Morris could finally get rid of those anomaly, by replacing those fantasy monsters by more suitable Hammeresque encounters. Hence the revision part of the version I ended up playing. It created some small continuity errors that I spotted, like, for example: the elf that you meet outside the vampire’s mansion in the original becomes a soldier in this new version, but out of nowhere he turns back into an elf for one section… whoops, no big deal as you can see, but it is still a goof. It is that kind of mistake that you’ll find if you read that version, rather small and thankfully nothing that breaks the game or inflicts loops on the reader, just so you know. Easy to ignore.
Those small but significant revisions are the other reason why I ended up favoring the newer version over the old. It was a matter of trusting Mr. Morris opinion and respecting his vision, his original intention, and it turned out fine because they indeed fit better the mood and setting of his story. I went back to look at the old version and it does feel strange to be thrust in that sort of late 19th century gothic setting but still encounter fantasy creatures left and right. Imagine if you will that you are wandering the country side of Romania (as if there was another side) and that you are lost and stalked by wolves. Meeting a man on the road would be an opportunity for help, a chance for directions. But wait a second, is that man even a man, cause he looks more like a woman, or perhaps, wait a tick, a… gosh darned Elf!? Could it be? The fabled creature itself? You knew you were lost, but didn’t realised that you wandered off the map and into someone else’s fantasy story! What country are you supposed to be in exactly? You see, confusion. And after you’ve taken refuge from the storm and the wolves inside that creepy mansion – probably owned by some rich aristocrat recluse – and after you’ve witnessed enough occult occurrences that you are now pretty sure that you’re in deeper shit here than back out with the wolves, you – wait – hold on, who’s that around the corner? Some help perhaps? The man of the house? How about Conan the barbarian (well you wouldn’t have a clue who Conan is, but run with it)! Hey, maybe him and his axe can lend you a hand (and an axe) in escaping this house of hell… But right after a few games of dice with the Orc neighbour??
Yeah. I’m sorry for wandering. But you probably get my point. Sometimes revisions, such as revisiting and giving those cliché fantasy characters new, more fitting, identities, is a good thing. Immersion is what you should be going for, right?
As far as the gameplay go, I must admit I expected something fairly linear, especially since this book is pretty small, without a lot of sections. So, I was rather surprised to find that it isn’t so as there are plenty of options for getting out of trouble and alternative routes that you can take to reach the ending. In truth, it’s possible I could be wrong, seeing as I couldn’t test all those routes as I managed to win on my first try, but as I flipped through the pages thereafter I could see that there was plenty of situations that I didn’t get to see and most of those didn’t seem to involve a death paragraph. So, based on this observation and my own personal experience, I’m inclined to believe that this book seems to offer a mostly fair and clever affair.
Other stuff I noticed during my playthrough that might be of interest: basically, you have three stats to keep track off: Vigour, Psi and Agility. Of those three the only one I ever used was Vigour. I don’t remember using the other two, though my adventure sheet shows that my PSI stat went up twice. So, that must have happened, somehow. In all manner of interactions, I kept expecting to be ask to roll my agility but always ended up rolling a die to get a random number. I know I’m simplifying a little here, but it’s been a while since I played a Golden Dragon book, and I don’t fully remember everything. I do remember that the combat rule (and other interaction rules, too) was simple, user friendly, and that in the end I kind of wonder why there was those two other stats that never got used. Nothing that ruined my experience, mind you; just making me go why?, with a puzzled look on my face.
Now I promised that I would write more about that new collector’s edition from Megara, and I’ll do that, but just be aware from the start that I haven’t had the opportunity to play it yet (and knowing me and my backlog of books to go through, it will be awhile). So hope accordingly.
Since I haven’t played it yet, there’s not a whole lot to say, but from what I glimpsed, the added sections seem to add substantially to the story, with a least one new deviation from the original that obvious, even without actually reading it. Now what I don’t know yet is if those extra sections are optional or not. Optional in this case would mean something akin to just a new pathway added on your way to the Count, and as such a very real possibility of missing it entirely. Seeing as I’ve already done the slightly revised edition, and that one of the main reason for tackling anew this gamebook once more would be the added material, I would hope that the added storyline is something that you are forced to experience, something inserted between two previous sections, so that I wont miss it and then must go look for it. Save me the trouble. Of course, for a new player that would probably be a moot point. One day I’ll find out which it is.
Anyway, those new scenes are accompanied by new illustrations, all fitting in with the old ones and all a pleasure to look at. Well, they were made by Leo Hartas, after all. I’ve got, however, a confession to make. I was not in love with the original illustrations. There were a few left in the revised edition I played, and they were okay, but I thought, perhaps, a bit amateurish, with wonky angles and proportions. Then I looked at my old used original copy (remember the different versions I own? That comes in handy for such stuff) and saw that Dave Morris (I think he admitted to it himself in a blogpost?) had omitted a few for the revised edition, and when I saw the few he omitted I went: yeah, right, I can see why they were left on the cutting room floor. That’s all I’m gonna say about this.
But you know what? Leo Hartas did a splendid job colouring those old illos for the collector’s edition. So much so that now I’ve come to love them. They are so much clearer now, more alive, and for quite a few, I suddenly understand what it was that I was supposed to see. For the rest of them (and all of them, really) it’s the atmosphere they convey, perfectly in synch with how you are supposed to feel while reading the text. A perfect choice of colour, and for this, I can only tip my hat to Mr. Hartas. Good job.
And that’s all there is to say, I believe. I’ve pretty much exhausted the threads, beyond that I will rehash, and you probably already know that I can do that very well. I liked Crypt of the Vampire, and would recommend it to anyone looking for a gamebook that’s more on the classical side, and easily as a good entry point for anybody starting in the world of gamebooks. The only thing that’s left for me to say is that, whenever the day comes that I end up reading/playing the Collector’s Edition, I reserve myself the right to add to this review a small (hopefully, most likely) paragraph or two, going into more details about what’s new.
Till then, onwards! Next stop The Temple of Flame!
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Post by a moderator on Mar 28, 2017 23:01:11 GMT
There is indeed more than one viable route through the book, and some of the encounters you missed feature Psi and Agility checks.
The Temple of Flame is more linear (well, there's the extremely difficult route and the highly counter-intuitive route, and various other paths that are guaranteed to end in failure) and a good deal more difficult.
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Post by hynreck on Mar 29, 2017 12:41:33 GMT
Yes I do remember the Temple of Flame being more difficult. Looking at my notes, three playthroughs were needed to do it. Knowing me and my patience, I probably was cheating a little by that point. I'll have to take a more in depths look at my notes to know for sure, but in any case, I remember being happy about it (the book, overall, not the cheating)! We'll see.
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Post by lordomnibok on Mar 29, 2017 21:24:19 GMT
I was considering trying out this series, but now that I have read your review I am unsure whether to buy the originals or the reprints. I like the idea of reading the originals, but the adjusted versions sound better. Also, I wonder if all the books in the series maintain a good standard? I will consider my options. Lastly, I can relate to your FF buying craze; I felt obsessed with the idea of having them all & I recently achieved that goal. Fortunately I had collected most of them as a kid anyway, but I wish I had bought Magehunter when I was ten; I lived on breadsticks and beans on the week that I finally purchased that one.
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Post by hynreck on Mar 30, 2017 12:41:28 GMT
Yes, those last few original run FF books have crazy price ranges, really ridiculous. Some of the other series have that problem too, like the last two Grail Quest. I would suggest the reprint, it should still be available and cheap. Of course you'll be missing on some illos and nostalgia factor. There's some good info to be had here: fabledlands.blogspot.ca/If you have the cash, I would tentatively suggest the Megara edition, it is really beautiful. But I'm not ready to vouch for the new text yet. But at least it should be free of most mistakes (in the old text, from the revised edition I reviewed) and I can vouch for quality and the original text (nothing but the odd elf references and such should have been taken out). But I don't want to stretch your budget. Oh by the way, I received the pdf of the new edition of The Temple of Flame from Megara, so I'll be able to make a similar comparison in my next review.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,458
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Mar 31, 2017 13:01:51 GMT
I like this series (though only played the originals). The battle system, despite its simplicity is pretty good since it avoids the problem FF and LW suffer from where enemies are either too tough for weak characters or too weak for strong characters.
The goblins and elves etc in Crypt never bothered me - the illustration of the elf archer is probably the creepiest thing in the book IMO. Leo Hartas' weird art really helps the book's atmosphere. All in all I think it's an excellent book.
Temple of Flame is hard as nails. I've never managed to beat the thing. Eye of the Dragon is very tough too. Both are great reads though.
Lord of Shadow Keep is very goofy but fun.
Castle of Lost Souls is probably my favourite book in the series, it's got a real fairy tale feeling that you don't normally see in gamebooks.
The only one I've never really warmed to is Curse of the Pharaoh. Just seemed bland to me.
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Post by hynreck on Mar 31, 2017 16:22:52 GMT
After the dreamlike quality of Lord of Shadow Keep I remembered thinking that Curse of the Pharaoh was a pretty straightforward affair, if I remember correctly. Don't remember disliking it, but when I finally come around to review that one I will definitely need to pick the book up again to refresh my memory. That and my notes, of course.
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Post by lordomnibok on Mar 31, 2017 17:02:45 GMT
Thanks to you both for the tips. I'm now looking forward to giving this series a try.
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Post by offm on Apr 4, 2017 6:53:38 GMT
I heard that temple of flame book 2 will it's collection edition extended by 100 sections
Sent from my SUNSET2 using proboards
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Post by hynreck on Apr 4, 2017 12:18:00 GMT
True. I've got the PDF, but I didn't go hunting for the new sections. Since there are no new illustrations accompanying them, they are harder to find.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 11, 2017 3:24:54 GMT
It's so embarrassing when that sort of thing happens to one at work.
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Post by hynreck on Apr 11, 2017 12:29:10 GMT
Depending on the situation it might help you to get girls, though. But, of course, now that I think about it, it will also get you boys, no doubt.
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Post by lordomnibok on Apr 22, 2017 12:31:33 GMT
As per recommendation, I got the edited paperback version of D.M's Crypt of the Vampire, where the elves and such were removed and replaced with characters that fitted the author's original intentions. I'm glad I did. I really loved this book. Despite several attempts at it, it maintained a very non-linear approach which added great replay value. I felt that it was not overly harsh with insta-deaths and I even grew to love the simplified fighting rules and the fact that the surrounding world and backstory remained a mystery for me to fill in. The excellent style of writing felt more accessible for an adult audience, which I wasn't expecting at all. Maybe this was because of the edits, I don't know. Was the story original; maybe not... Was it well done; definitely! (As previous advice on this thread was so great, shall I keep as high hopes for the next book? And shall I buy the newer edited paperback version of that one too, or revert to the original?) This was a really good book.
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Post by a moderator on Apr 22, 2017 17:10:50 GMT
I've only played the original versions of the GD books, so I can't comment on the updates. I can, however, tell you that unless a lot has been changed in the edited version, the second book is a lot tougher than the first. Unless you make a very counter-intuitive decision at one point (and have found the item that keeps that action from proving fatal), you'll be confronted with an absolutely brutal series of dice rolls later on - even if you have the highest possible scores for the relevant stats, the odds of your succeeding are still only about 3%. And while that series of rolls must be the most difficult part of the book, the rest isn't exactly easy, either.
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Post by lordomnibok on Apr 24, 2017 15:50:20 GMT
Hmmm... That sounds ominous. I'll give the reprint a go then, as the last one worked out so well. Thank you Greenspine
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Post by hynreck on Apr 27, 2017 12:34:12 GMT
I'm going from memory here, so I might be wrong, but I remember Dave Morris saying that he mostly adjusted little stuff in his other Golden Dragon books, stuff that would not have an impact on the layout of the book, or the like. So, some stats perhaps for creatures (I think he adjusted one or two in Temple of Flame) and sometimes names for enemies, for a reason I can't quite recall.
Anyway I can't comment further as I haven't played the original ToF. I'm the opposite of Greenspine!
Oh, and happy to see you've enjoyed the first book, I was surprised by it myself, I did not expect to enjoy it that much. It's not my favourite, but it definitively falls into the "might play again" categorie, if life allows it.
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Post by a moderator on Apr 27, 2017 14:53:15 GMT
Small changes could make a big difference to the playability of ToF. If those two 3d6 rolls have been changed to 2d6, that would make a huge difference. It could also help the readers a lot if a certain opponent were made a better fighter (yes, better).
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Post by hynreck on Apr 27, 2017 18:26:14 GMT
I got a pdf copy of the newest edition, here, at my job. So I could probably look up if those have been changed, if you point me in the right direction... I understand if you are avoiding spoilers for our friend, here.
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Post by lordomnibok on Apr 28, 2017 12:08:32 GMT
I got a pdf copy of the newest edition, here, at my job. So I could probably look up if those have been changed, if you point me in the right direction... I understand if you are avoiding spoilers for our friend, here. Thankyou all for your advice, I may not have purchased that first book had it not been for your review. I'll buy the reprint of the second & hopefully I'll be okay with the difficultly level (I am pretty persistent). I'll let you know how I get on. Cheers again
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Post by hynreck on Apr 28, 2017 12:17:57 GMT
Again, from memory, the writing is again pretty good (Dave Morris is usually pretty reliable this way, like Jon Green), so in any case it should make for a good read. It still pretty much on the classic side, Golden Dragon is probably the closest Morris did to FF, he experimented more later, but since you're a fan of FF, it should be right up your alley.
And I mean it's not like FF is a bad thing either!
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Post by hynreck on Apr 28, 2017 12:32:48 GMT
Ha! I had to double-post, sorry, but this is too good. If you go to Morris blog: fabledlands.blogspot.ca/You will find that today's post is about Temple of Flame and it's alleged difficulty. There Dave reveals the trick to succeed at the end. Obviously, spoilers!! But this is more for Greenspine at the moment, I'm curious if you already knew that, or if this solve one of the problems of the book. Anyway, nice coincidence!!
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,458
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Apr 28, 2017 12:58:07 GMT
Golden Dragon is probably the closest Morris did to FF Well bar Keep of the Lich-Lord of course.
I seem to remember reading an interview with Morris (or maybe it was one of his blogs) where he said he didn't really like FF much. I think he said something about it being the kind of fantasy where you have thieves' guilds and what not.
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Post by a moderator on Apr 28, 2017 13:56:13 GMT
I had already cottoned on to the trick mentioned in that post. The first time I reached the situation mentioned, I used the item in question too soon, so my opponent got the benefit of it as well, but on every subsequent occasion I got that far, I made sure to wait for a more suitable time. That still leaves the other issues, which I shall spoiler-protect for lordomnibok's sake. The really nasty bit is the encounter with the Smoke Wraiths.
In section 85, to survive you need to roll equal to or under your PSI (which starts at 1d6+3 and, as far as I can tell, cannot be increased prior to this encounter) on 3d6. Best case scenario, that's odds of 37.5%.
But if you succeed, you then lose 3 PSI (section 186) (and make a do-or-die Agility roll on 2d6, which is less of a big deal) and then have to get equal to or below your reduced PSI on another 3d6 roll (section 291). So if you started with 9 PSI, your odds of making this roll are 9.26%.
The chances of someone who started with the maximum possible PSI and Agility making that whole sequence of rolls works out at 2.89%.
Oh, and if you succeed at the last of those rolls, you lose another 3 PSI, dying if that brings your PSI to 0. In the unlikely event that a player who started with 6 PSI succeeded at both PSI rolls, their reward for this phenomenal bit of luck is to die anyway.
There is one item which makes it possible to avoid the whole encounter. But you can't find that item unless you FLEE the fight in section 160, and since the opponent there isn't that tough (roughly equivalent to 9 Skill in FF terms), and the FLEE option looks incredibly dangerous (and proves lethal unless you have a certain other item), most players aren't likely to try it.
So, in the pdf, are the rolls at 85 and 291 still 3d6? Is there still the PSI drain at 186? Do you still only need to roll 7 or above to hit Doom at 160? If none of those have changed, the book is still overly harsh.
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Post by hynreck on Apr 28, 2017 14:29:23 GMT
Golden Dragon is probably the closest Morris did to FF Well bar Keep of the Lich-Lord of course.
I seem to remember reading an interview with Morris (or maybe it was one of his blogs) where he said he didn't really like FF much. I think he said something about it being the kind of fantasy where you have thieves' guilds and what not.
Right! Forgot about that one. Plus it got retconned into Fabled Lands.
I'm not sure about that interview with Morris, can't recall. I know he doesn't have a fondness for dungeon crawl; he mentioned it enough. He needs an emotional charge through some kind of storytelling device instead of a series of poor reasons to bash and smash, steal and survive deathtraps... Well, something like that.
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Post by hynreck on Apr 28, 2017 14:34:37 GMT
I had already cottoned on to the trick mentioned in that post. The first time I reached the situation mentioned, I used the item in question too soon, so my opponent got the benefit of it as well, but on every subsequent occasion I got that far, I made sure to wait for a more suitable time. That still leaves the other issues, which I shall spoiler-protect for lordomnibok's sake. The really nasty bit is the encounter with the Smoke Wraiths.
In section 85, to survive you need to roll equal to or under your PSI (which starts at 1d6+3 and, as far as I can tell, cannot be increased prior to this encounter) on 3d6. Best case scenario, that's odds of 37.5%.
But if you succeed, you then lose 3 PSI (section 186) (and make a do-or-die Agility roll on 2d6, which is less of a big deal) and then have to get equal to or below your reduced PSI on another 3d6 roll (section 291). So if you started with 9 PSI, your odds of making this roll are 9.26%.
The chances of someone who started with the maximum possible PSI and Agility making that whole sequence of rolls works out at 2.89%.
Oh, and if you succeed at the last of those rolls, you lose another 3 PSI, dying if that brings your PSI to 0. In the unlikely event that a player who started with 6 PSI succeeded at both PSI rolls, their reward for this phenomenal bit of luck is to die anyway.
There is one item which makes it possible to avoid the whole encounter. But you can't find that item unless you FLEE the fight in section 160, and since the opponent there isn't that tough (roughly equivalent to 9 Skill in FF terms), and the FLEE option looks incredibly dangerous (and proves lethal unless you have a certain other item), most players aren't likely to try it.
So, in the pdf, are the rolls at 85 and 291 still 3d6? Is there still the PSI drain at 186? Do you still only need to roll 7 or above to hit Doom at 160? If none of those have changed, the book is still overly harsh. Right, I figured you'd be the kind to know about the trick... from all those years of knowing you (through forums like these, admittedly not much real "knowing") if I was wisked away in a Labyrinth-like adventure and had a choice of picking a companion, well, sorry, but you'd tag along. Would improve my chances at survival.
In any case, around noon here I'll be looking at the pdf and trying to find what you are talking about. The sections probably don't correspond anymore due to the added 100... It's funny I can't recall the creatures you are talking about, a refresh is in order.
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Post by a moderator on Apr 28, 2017 14:40:57 GMT
The fight I mentioned is the one against Sulsa Doom after Damontir kills your monkey.
If the pdf is searchable, try looking for the phrase 'within the veil of smoke' for the start of the Smoke Wraith encounter. ETA: No need to check. I commented on the blog post, a brief dialogue ensued, and Dave Morris himself has revealed what I wanted to know (and apologised for the error that made the original book so tough). The new edition is much less harsh.
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Post by hynreck on Apr 28, 2017 16:51:01 GMT
I just went and read those posts, very interesting! Saves me the trouble of looking indeed. Though I'm still going to take a look to refresh my memory. Still, you were right about it, and all this drama because of an overlooked mistake, which seems to be often the case. How many gamebooks out there with such mistakes? Probably many.
Which is why whenever I encounter something that seems really wrong in a gamebook I usually don't fret too much about a bit of "cheating" to right the wrongs. But it's nice to get an official confirmation.
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Post by hynreck on Jun 2, 2017 19:26:26 GMT
THE TEMPLE OF FLAME (by Dave Morris)
Second book in the short Golden Dragon series, and another one of those first generation gamebooks I kept dreaming about whenever I saw that cool original cover, with the flaming skulls conga-line floating out of that mysterious temple lost somewhere, in some steamy forbidding jungle.
Well, I’ve never managed to buy that original book. I still pine for that cover from time to time but of course I can see it online. Sigh… It’s not the same. Alright. So, I’ve established I never owned the original but was painfully aware of its existence. I’m trying not to repeat myself too much from my previous review of Crypt of the Vampire, but right after my recent “used FF” buying craze (a few years ago), I went full-on “hunting mode” to get some of those series I’d missed in my youth; Golden Dragon being a primary target.
While I managed to buy used versions of the aforementioned Crypt; along with The Lord of Shadow Keep, Eye of the Dragon and Curse of the Pharaohs; Temple of Flame kept eluding me. Well, not so much eluding me as being inaccessible in the price-range department.
So, when Dave Morris, the author, announced on his blog that all the Golden Dragon would be reissued with slight modifications (and new covers and format due to copyrights and stuff), I was very pleased to learn that I would finally get myself a copy. The search was over. Minus that awesome original cover.
And now I’m the owner of that slightly modified reissue and of a Collector’s Edition financed on Kickstarter recently; that Kickstarter being done once again by Megara Entertainment. I haven’t played that version yet, but will comment a bit on it nearer to the end of this review.
Now for that review. The plot of The Temple of Flame is pretty straightforward: Enter said temple and loot its greatest treasure, basically. It’s not really explained (that I recall) why and what is your ultimate purpose, but sometimes such info is irrelevant to our fun especially if the author never planned on delving deeper in the matter anyway. We are here for the action, after all, not necessarily for pathos and drama (though it can still be welcomed in the appropriate setting). But what makes this one slightly different than your usual dungeon crawling experience is the fact that you discover early on that your nemesis, Damontir, is already on the spot, trying to do the same as you, except he is way more genre savvy (and possibly well funded), so he went and hired help to do so. I mean, what do we have? A team of rowers? Oh right, we do have that. But they’re a bunch of scaredy-cats so they stayed behind. Which probably means they all got eaten by giant fishes, crocodiles, water lilies… but, eh, that’s life in the jungle for you. So, basically, that Damontir character is my nemesis, he refused me on Facebook, I hate his guts and I convinced myself that his intentions toward the idol of Katak are less than pure, even though mine were never explicitly stated either. Either way, as we loath each other’s face, you’d have to be pretty dim not to expect a clash of some sort.
The reissue is a slim book, which certainly doesn’t scream content. Again, you’d be excused in thinking you will be reading/playing something mostly straightforward, perhaps some bit of railroading à la Lone Wolf, but you’d be fooled as it is only in appearance. The book offers a satisfying multitude of options and paths, though unlike Crypt of the Vampire, most of those will lead you to your doom. The structure is very much like some of those puzzle box FF books, where you need to discover the true path if you want to survive till the end.
While it is without a doubt more difficult this way – more so than a gamebook that offers multiple paths to victory – it can still be rewarding, if you have the patience for such puzzle box. The looser you are with the rules, the less frustrating it will be too, obviously. But the world building, while perhaps not on the level of a Dever (not on the same level of ambition, anyway), is top notch; Dave Morris writing is smooth, seemingly effortless, setting up atmosphere in a concise, precise way. While solving this puzzle box will definitely require some repeat reading, and you will no doubt skip some text from time to time as a result, it shouldn’t be too much of an aggravating task, since reading the text Mr. Morris crafted is such an enjoyable thing to do. There are worst ways to lose your time.
According to my leftover notes (which are simple adventure sheets, really, as I forgot to write down any actual real adventuring details or critics – to my damn shame – while it was fresh in my mind), I’ve played through this book three times before actually winning, and I remember minimal cheating, and being relatively proud of this fact. There are suspicious hints here and there that the ride wasn’t so smooth though. For example, in my first playthrough, in the enemy encounter section, my battle against the Nightmare Guard, which according to my notes I absolutely won (I mean, zero hit points mean dead, right?), also has a parenthesis stating a little incident like so: (neck snap, fucking dice), sorry for the crude language. But I save scum I guess. For some it will be cheating, to me it just makes sense. I’m not made of time, people.
There’s some other suspicious stuff, but harder to recall and/or verify. Like I must have been clued in about fleeing a certain enemy for a better result, cause on my first playthrough it is written, once more in parenthesis, that I fled this battle. Now that’s suspicious because I’m not usually the type that flees from a battle. I’m the type that bashes, shamelessly, without dodging, blocking, or any fancy trick. I have always been this way. Only now that I’m playing Breath of the Wild that I’m having to learn to dodge and parry, and I’m not very good at it, so I stock-up on potions and upgraded armours. Well, in this case, maybe I got lucky against that particular enemy. But, in my third playthrough, that enemy doesn’t even appear on my list. Now there might be a good reason for that, maybe I got tired of writing those encounters and just used the one on my previous playthrough, but… Hell, who knows. When in doubt, roll on the ground, hide underneath your desk. What? I got that wrong, you say? The past is the past, let’s not dwell.
So, aside from being harder, the gameplay is pretty much the same as in Crypt of the Vampire (nearly wrote Sorcerer here, which would have suck). Hell, I’ll have to repeat myself in the next reviews, but all Golden Dragon gamebooks have the same simplified gameplay: easy to learn, quick and painless. Looking at my bundle of sheets, I see that yet again my Agility stat and PSI stat didn’t move as much as my Vigour stat. Of course, it is to be expected that Vigour (Hit Points) would be the big mover and shaker, but I always expect a bit more interaction with my other stats. Yet, I see that in my third official playthrough my Agility jumped from 8 to 10, and my PSI went down from 9 to 8. So something must have happened. I was also carrying a rather large list of items by the end, but nothing out of place; no keys or piece of driftwood stamped with a random number for me to ponder about night after night long after the adventure is over.
What’s left to say? Well, I enjoyed the book overall. The gameplay was hard, as I stated, but if you allow yourself to fiddle with the more extreme elements from time to time, you shouldn’t pull your hair – too hard. As to why you’ll stay? If you are anything like me, for the story itself. It isn’t that original, but it’s well-written and makes you turn the pages in anticipation. That’s enough for me. Plus, sometimes you need your basics, side by side with the more experimental gamebooks.
About that new Megara edition. It is their new Collector’s Edition, following right after the one they did for Crypt of the Vampire. I have no idea if this will be an ongoing thing with the Golden Dragon books. All I know is that this Kickstarter was less successful than the last, but with next to no publicity (that I could find) it’s to be expected. Then there’s also the issue of Oliver Johnson. Two of the Golden Dragon books were written by Johnson and I don’t know what’s his stance on this matter. Also, some of the Golden Dragon weren’t illustrated by Leo Hartas and while Mr. Hartas was willing and did an excellent job colouring his old drawings, I think Russ Nicholson is less “drawn” to that design. “cough” And it is one of the main draw of those editions, right? Okay, I’ll stop.
So who knows? I’ll stick to what I know, indeed. Let me tell you then that this new edition is mostly full of pluses but with one minus that I wish I didn’t have to share. First, the good: it’s all high standard quality, what you can expect from Megara if you’ve ever bought one of their books. High quality cover and paper, giant format, neat bonus at the beginning, etc. There wasn’t any funding in the kickstarter to get new illustrations from Leo Hartas, unlike in Crypt of the Vampire, unfortunately, but what is already there, which is a lot, is beautifully coloured by the man himself. Those illustrations have never been prettier. Let me add to that, as a small parenthesis, that while in my previous review of Crypt of the Vampire I admitted to disliking the original black and white illos, here, I absolutely loved the original ones, like seeing a budding artist finally emerging and finding his voice (which might have been the case but I do not know). I thought they were excellent back then. So, seeing them in colour is just the cherry on top.
Continuing with the good, while there weren’t enough funds for new illos, there was enough for 100 new sections written by Mark Lain, a guy I know nothing about. And, since I haven’t had the chance to play through this new version yet, that’s basically all I know. I hope the new section are well incorporated – blending in seamlessly – but that’s all I can do at this point. I will, hopefully, report on those at a later date. Fingers crossed.
Now the bad. The formatting of the text (sorry if this term isn’t quite right) has been rushed. I understand that Megara is a small operation; few employees, with lots on their plates (like Autumn Snow 2, Grey Star, Fabled Lands) but the fact remains. I compared this edition with Crypt of the Vampire, and unless my eyes deceived me, it’s unfortunately a new problem. It will no doubt seem like nitpicking to some, but what it amounts to is: nothing constant in the presentation of paragraphs. Section numbers are never in bold (Turn to 348), which, admittedly, is a personal preference of mine. Punctuation marks are often suspiciously absent. Like, sometimes you’ll get something like turn to 120 with no dot after the number. And that is the concluding bit of the section, too, just so you know. But sometimes there will be one. You see? No constant. Either you put a dot everywhere it needs one, or you don’t. You don’t do both.
Similar problems to the examples I’ve stated above abound. Nothing huge, but they are – excuse me – constant. They are little things, and won’t stop you from playing the book, but they irritate me. It might just be me, but damn, every time I see such a simple mistake overseen I can’t help but think if the people in charge would just let me, I’d correct those mistake in an half-awaken state, no problem. I wouldn’t even need to be paid, I’d do that as a hobby. In any case, what’s done is done and that’s what the product looks like. It’s unfortunate, but not the end of the world. Maybe a future reprint will even solve this.
So there you have it. Repeating myself, I enjoyed The Temple of Flame and would recommend it. It is a bit on the hard side, but if you pick the slightly revised edition available brand new online, you should have a slightly easier time, and nothing is stopping you from adjusting the rules here and there to make it even better. I doubt Dave Morris will object.
Next stop: The Lord of Shadow Keep.
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