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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 8, 2014 20:48:57 GMT
From TUFFF... Still recovering from my short holiday! (Or at least that is my excuse...) (328) Despite your best efforts, you find yourself decaying in front of a computer screen. Your adventure ends here.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 8, 2014 20:49:50 GMT
From TUFFF... This book just arrived today. Given how much I enjoyed Night of the Necromancer and how highly-regarded this book is, I'm really looking forward to it. I have a feeling this will be a very special book for me.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 8, 2014 20:54:24 GMT
From TUFFF (August 2013)... Yep this book is super totally brilliant but here's why it's not better than Night of the Necromancer or Stormslayer: mechanics. The story is probably better, the way the werewolf change is handled is pretty good, no real complaints, and I love the way you start with certain stats. The best thing about the book is you can win it but not get the 'true ' ending where you learn about the Cabal and get all of the daggers. But there are one or two tiny issues which I don't feel are present in the other two books I mentioned: 1) If you take the true path you have to beat Serpensa the Snakewoman straight up and I would say she is borderline impossible. I ran the combat over ten times before I was able to beat her. It's cool that such a tough fight is required for the true ending but she's just too hard. After that, nothing in the book is remotely a challenge except maaaybe Count Varcolac. 2) The werewolf powers are too random and some don't do anything. The idea is great but who wants the 'Red in Tooth and Claw' power? 3) I think being given the choice to waste an item you absolutely need is very naughty. In Spellbreaker it was constantly asking you to use the Heal-All and then killed you for not having it later. That is unforgivable. In this book, you can melt down your silver daggers to make bullets, which is *kind* of OK if you AREN'T going for the true path but it's still annoying and counter-intuitive. A similar gripe would be in Stormslayer for asking you to waste the Air Elemental and then finding out it is one of three things that could have saved you at then end. Not so bad in that one but it sure pissed off my ally after all we'd gone through. Apart from that this book is truly amazing and outshines nearly every other book in the series. It's the best horror book, if not on a par with Vault of the Vampire. And just so you know I don't consider Night of the Necromancer a 'horror' book any more than I do Keep of the Lich Lord, it is just 'undead themed.'
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 8, 2014 20:56:41 GMT
From TUFFF... Yep this book is super totally brilliant but here's why it's not better than Night of the Necromancer or Stormslayer: mechanics. The story is probably better, the way the wereolf chnage is handled is pretty good, no real complaints, and I love the way you start with certain stats. The best thing about the book is you can win it but not get the 'true ' ending where you learn about the Cabal and get all of the daggers. But there are one or two tiny issues which I don't feel are present in the other two books I mentioned: 1) If you take the true path you have to beat Serpensa the Snakewoman straight up and I would say she is borderline impossible. I ran the combat over ten times before I was able to beat her. It's cool that such a tough fight is required for the true ending but she's just too hard. After that, nothing in the book is remotely a challenge except maaaybe Count Varcolac. 2) The werewolf powers are too random and some don't do anything. The idea is great but who wants the 'Red in Tooth and Claw' power? 3) I think being given the choice to waste an item you absolutely need is very naughty. In Spellbreaker it was constantly asking you to use the Heal-All and then killed you for not having it later. That is unforgivable. In this book, you can melt down your silver daggers to make bullets, which is *kind* of OK if you AREN'T going for the true path but it's still annoying and counterintuitive. A similar gripe would be in Stormslayer for asking you to waste the Air Elemental and then finding out it is one of three things that could have saved you at then end. Not so bad in that one but it sure pissed off my ally after all we'd gone through. Apart from that this book is truly amazing and outshines nearly every other book in the series. It's the best horror book, if not on a par with Vault of the Vampire. And just so you know I don't consider Night of the Necromancer a 'horror' book any more than I do Keep of the Lich Lord, it is just 'undead themed.' Just because a book gives you the option of doing something stupid, doesn't mean you have to do it. It's only counter-intuitive if you're dumb enough to see what happens by doing so. Like in Citadel of Chaos, only a moron would choose to hide under the table at the end, and yet some adventurers will still choose that option due to curiosity or otherwise. The author isn't being an idiot; he's giving YOU the reader the opportunity to be one.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 8, 2014 21:01:52 GMT
From TUFFF... And you know I jumped straight under that table the first time. Point taken. I'm still pointing the finger at Spellbreaker for this though. And in Stormslayer, it seems obvious to use the Air Elemental on the final boss. I honestly believed that as I had arrived on the balloon, I'd leave on the balloon.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 8, 2014 21:03:53 GMT
From TUFFF... Actually let me do a 180 on the case of Howl of the Werewolf. See, the first time you meet whoever it is that melts the daggers, you have more than one. You think you're being clever by using up excess daggers, and in a way you are because you don't know the whole story and you don't know you need 5 of them. When I collected a second dagger, I was all like 'how annoying! This must be in case you missed it the first time.' As soon as you get to the end, it asks you how many daggers you have, and you're all like 'mr green you rogue!' But you can still win the book - and now you want to know where all the daggers are. On second thoughts I think this is genius. What I like, I decided, about howl of the werewolf is that all the items have a use, and the dagger in fact has three uses - it makes bullets, it injures werecreatures (which I forgot about) and it's a game completion item. No, I let him off on that one, and by doing so I admit I like Howl of the Werewolf even more for making me change my mind. Maybe it is better than Stormslayer after all.
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Jul 23, 2015 16:14:21 GMT
I love this book. Amazing atmosphere. Very realistic! One of the best! I strongly feel it.
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Post by hynreck on Jul 23, 2015 19:49:54 GMT
I do enjoy your reviews vagsancho, insightful and always filled with details. Though I must admit the suspense is often killing me. The words, they are so varied.
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Jul 25, 2015 17:54:57 GMT
A Phenomenal book. Undoubtedly urgently deserving to be published in Android. A fantastic masterpiece, maybe my second favorite book of all Fighting Fantasy Books, won only by Crypt of the Sorcerer.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 26, 2015 0:17:52 GMT
*sighs* on your constant repetitiveness.
but yeah Howl is one of my favs. Did a quiz on it, perhaps I should submit it to the official site one day?
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nicodemus
Squire
Posts: 20
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy and Sorcery!
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Post by nicodemus on Aug 7, 2015 23:15:59 GMT
This is probably the book that I want to read (and play) the most. Never read it before. Can't find a copy of it... well in ebay and amazon theres 2 or 3 copies for 199,00£!!! what the hell?! I can' even... this must be the hardest book to find. So goddamn expensive.
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Aug 8, 2015 7:47:51 GMT
Fabulous Book. Tremendously special to me. Perfect Book. Complete. Magical and powerful Book. Probably my second favourite FF book.
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Post by offm on Aug 8, 2015 16:35:28 GMT
This is probably the book that I want to read (and play) the most. Never read it before. Can't find a copy of it... well in ebay and amazon theres 2 or 3 copies for 199,00£!!! what the hell?! I can' even... this must be the hardest book to find. So goddamn expensive. it is an expensive book indeed, i think it is mainly because : 1.There are very few new copies on the market 2. People who already have it do not want to sell them then again a copy appeared on ebay for 15£ the other day.
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Aug 8, 2015 21:30:53 GMT
This is probably the book that I want to read (and play) the most. Never read it before. Can't find a copy of it... well in ebay and amazon theres 2 or 3 copies for 199,00£!!! what the hell?! I can' even... this must be the hardest book to find. So goddamn expensive. I managed to buy a reasonable condition second hand Howl just before the prices went ballistic. What did I pay? Maybe £5 or £6. I would suggest second hand bookshops as it is not Revenge level just yet. Look out for Night Of The Necromancer as well because it is by the same author and a total blast too.
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Nov 25, 2015 21:17:36 GMT
Ow.. How I wish to play / to feel / to win this book again. How I desire to tear the bowels of the earth to be able to feel this book again!
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Post by deadshadowrunner on Nov 26, 2015 3:44:52 GMT
So...you dropped your copy into the centre of the earth?
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Post by hynreck on Nov 26, 2015 16:21:07 GMT
You are a real poet, vag... but since you are saying that in just about every magical book thread, I can't help wondering why the hell you can't just pick the damn book and read it again, without the need to bother us about it. Did you went and burn them all up in one night of frenzied thai worship? Or lock yourself in an alternate reality where Portugal condemns to death reader of Fighting Fantasy? Do I even really want to know?
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Post by a moderator on Nov 26, 2015 17:55:10 GMT
#
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 26, 2015 18:07:15 GMT
He's probably an avid gardener and buried (lost) it beneath his crocus flowerbed somewhere.
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Post by hynreck on Nov 26, 2015 19:31:10 GMT
He should look under his patio.
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Post by lordomnibok on Apr 22, 2017 13:49:59 GMT
I thought it would be nice to have a thread just for people to put down their journeys through each gamebook, so that the number of attempts and causes of demise could be compared. I, for instance, am curious at to whether I got lucky with this one or if my success rate is average for this book. I will put two of these threads up for now - each for a different book - to see what response I get; if it is good maybe more could be created. Note: if you cheat - insta-win all fights, for example - that should be noted clearly, as it will obviously effect the stats. Played through without any cheating. Attempt 1: Enslaved by the Lady of Maun, one page away from completing the book! Attempt 2: Success; I am ready for a new adventure. (Was I lucky, or is this average? Post your own attempts.)
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on May 17, 2017 20:35:16 GMT
I am not sure whether to attempt a solution for Howl but both of Champskees solutions seem so compelling.
The only thing on my side is the sheer vastness of Howl which gives a little room for manoeuvre. Nevertheless I am not sure I can really improve on the two solutions already posted. My Night Of The Necromancer and Stormslayer solutions 'feel' right especially the former due to the 'war of attrition' I have had with it lasting about a year. This 'war' helped with Stormslayer as I recognised some of the 'drivers' which were more obvious with the reduced number of paragraphs.
As an aside I also bought Creature Wizard 2 with the error in the catacombs resulting in me going around in circles forever. I became so frustrated I never touched it again. I will have to look at the solution one day to try to 'break' into it.
This board has been a wonderful resource with the 'serious' solutions and delightfully silly threads notwithstanding some annoying posters who seem a few spells short of a Citadel. You cannot be totally disabled if you know you are disabled especially if you can counter-interpret and compromise.
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Mar 13, 2018 21:03:45 GMT
I had to post this.
I have searched for the prices on a certain river and one is an astonishing £1999.00 plus £2.80 post and packaging for a 'new' copy.
I know the prices used to be unreal but this is insane?
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Post by vastariner on Mar 30, 2018 13:44:35 GMT
Down to book pricing algorithms. Seller A will sell it for £1 more than Seller B. The idea being that if you order from A, then A will buy it from B, and make a little money.
And then Seller B sends an algorithm out to scrape the web for the latest prices, finds A is selling it for more, so increases the price.
There was a book about fly genetics that was selling for $24,000,000 at one point because the algorithms went berserk.
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Oct 22, 2018 20:18:24 GMT
I am working on some solutions but I seem to be 'borrowing' 90% of the solutions already posted so maybe it is an esteem thing. Nevertheless there is no harm in trying.
I disagree with some of the interpretations in the text of the solutions but agree with 90% of the solutions.
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Nov 2, 2018 0:11:09 GMT
I am now hard at work on a completely revised 8/12/7 solution. My main realisation has been the -1 to enemy attack strength shield is a very good route to take. My other realisation is I believe the Wulfen Sword to be a red herring as the traps around it make it a very difficult route. This does make the endgame a little harder but I now believe the Flintlock Pistol is the way to go as you can fire 2 silver bullets for 6 damage and then you need a lucky hit for the next phase. The means a stamina 10 opponent so four hits with one being lucky. The endgame Wolf Demon is a little ambiguous as I pick up one Silver Dagger for -2 stamina and then attack it with my sword with the standard -2 stamina. This all seems to be in the rules as far as I can tell. You are only forced to use the Wulfen Sword if you have no Silver Daggers. The rules are a bit confusing I admit.
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Jun 15, 2019 19:12:03 GMT
Never played khights of doom and bloodbones, but I have difficulty to believe that any of those could be better than this extraordinary FF book.
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Post by jnicol on Jun 15, 2019 23:16:08 GMT
I am currently playing through Howl of the Werewolf, and am confused by weapons which specify that they are effective against undead, demons or magical creatures. Examples are silver daggers and the Wulfen Sword.
Does this mean that a regular sword is NOT effective against undead, demons or magical creatures?
Example: The cadaver in Dr Kafka's surgery is described as being "undead". Can a regular sword damage the cadaver, or is a weapon effective against undead required?
P.S. I haven't completed the book yet, so if possible please avoid spoiling the ending for me!
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Post by a moderator on Jun 16, 2019 12:33:08 GMT
Some types of undead are unaffected by nonmagical weapons, but not all. The book should specify when a regular sword will not do, and I don't remember any discussion of errors where it's not mentioned, so as long as you pay attention to the text, you should be okay.
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Post by jnicol on Jun 16, 2019 12:58:55 GMT
Some types of undead are unaffected by nonmagical weapons, but not all. The book should specify when a regular sword will not do, and I don't remember any discussion of errors where it's not mentioned, so as long as you pay attention to the text, you should be okay. Cool. I figured that the text would have made it clear if I wasn’t allowed to use a regular sword. Compared to the earlier FF books I have played there are a few fiddly combat rules in Howl (fighting alongside an ally, weapons with unique rules), so I just want to ensure I’m playing it correctly! Thanks for confirming.
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