vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Sept 15, 2019 11:14:38 GMT
WEll. GOOD TO KNOW EVERYONE FOR ONCE LIKE A LIVINGSTONE'S BOOK. HOWEVER IT IS OUT OF MY LEAGUE FOR NOW. THERE IS NO A PORTUGUESE TRADUCTION AND I AM NOW A TOO LAZY MAN TO READ IT IN ENGLISH. HOWEVER THERE IS NOW A PORTUGUESE TRADUCTION TO BLOODBONES. I WILL FEEL IT SOON.
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Sept 15, 2019 12:21:13 GMT
A minor gripe I have with this adventure is that you are supposed to be avoiding assassination NOT actively hunting down all your pursuers from the start.
Agreed- how are you to know from the get-go that you are meant to kill them all? I was trying to avoid them if at all possible! On my first playthrough on the run from the orcs I specifically avoided that obvious trap of the woman in the tree asking if I wanted to come in and see her 'magic books'. And there was no way I was going to go to Port Blacksand, the seat of power of the man wanting you dead in the first place. The seer saying that the Zenghian ultra was running along a 'dirt path' made me keep an eye out to avoid dirt paths and head for the town.
In contrast to 'The Seven Serpents' where you are told you need to intercept them before they make it to Mampang.
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Post by arekkusu on Sept 23, 2019 7:04:45 GMT
Nitpicking some narrative errors:
* (67) and (125) say you bandage your leg, even though you have not been shot in the leg.
* (163) has you fight Urzle Ironface for five rounds, but he can be killed in only three rounds by using Luck.
* (199) says you hand over your possessions, but unlike (81) does not exclude items in your pockets, which makes the book unwinnable. In either case, given the situation, "possessions" surely includes your sword and any other weapons, but many subsequent sections assume you have a sword.
* (205) says the bounty on your head is 10,000 Gold Pieces, not 1,000. (This could be character error on the part of the assassin?)
* (335) says you follow the map down Quiet street, but it's possible to reach this section without buying the map.
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Post by champskees on Oct 3, 2019 15:16:38 GMT
Finished the book tonight. Agree, definitely the best recent Livingstone entry. Main gripe is that he writes so simply, many of his sentences made me burst out laughing. I guess he's aiming for a younger target audience though...
Glad to see a lot of you agree that you have 10 provisions, I have done survival type treks for up to 14 days, you have emergency rations and water but really need to be able to live off the land as much as possible, can only carry so much.
Maybe I'm reading into it too much but I noticed almost every NPC encounter involved paying for goods or services...is this money grubbing Ian's take on reality?
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Oct 4, 2019 6:30:04 GMT
Finished the book tonight. Agree, definitely the best recent Livingstone entry. Main gripe is that he writes so simply, many of his sentences made me burst out laughing. I guess he's aiming for a younger target audience though... Glad to see a lot of you agree that you have 10 provisions, I have done survival type treks for up to 14 days, you have emergency rations and water but really need to be able to live off the land as much as possible, can only carry so much. Maybe I'm reading into it too much but I noticed almost every NPC encounter involved paying for goods or services...is this money grubbing Ian's take on reality? Is there a Nemesis in this book?
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Post by champskees on Oct 4, 2019 9:46:17 GMT
Finished the book tonight. Agree, definitely the best recent Livingstone entry. Main gripe is that he writes so simply, many of his sentences made me burst out laughing. I guess he's aiming for a younger target audience though... Glad to see a lot of you agree that you have 10 provisions, I have done survival type treks for up to 14 days, you have emergency rations and water but really need to be able to live off the land as much as possible, can only carry so much. Maybe I'm reading into it too much but I noticed almost every NPC encounter involved paying for goods or services...is this money grubbing Ian's take on reality? Is there a Nemesis in this book? None other than Lord Azzur himself.
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Post by tyrion on Oct 5, 2019 8:52:39 GMT
So in terms of chronology, does this fit directly between city of thieves and deathtrap dungeon? I've seen some saying it is a sequel to port of peril
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Post by daredevil123 on Oct 5, 2019 10:11:58 GMT
So in terms of chronology, does this fit directly between city of thieves and deathtrap dungeon? I've seen some saying it is a sequel to port of peril It definitely isn't a sequel to POP, as Throm is dead in POP whereas he is alive in this book. It also definitely takes place before DD but I'm not sure about City of Thieves. I need to play this book a few more times but so far I think it's Livingstone's best book in a long time (I know that's not saying much though). The gameplay isn't too unfair and some of the characters are quite colourful and interesting. I agree that the writing is very simple and I also think that the game mechanics are incredibly basic - the book is a world away from Jon Green's recent efforts, for example. Overall a very middling gamebook, but better than I expected from Livingstone.
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Post by Wilf on Oct 5, 2019 11:16:35 GMT
I think we have to assume that Throm in Assassins is not the same as Throm in Deathtrap. Or that he player of Assassins is not the same as the player in Deathtrap. Or both.
It's not about whether
Throm is alive in Port Of Peril ... not just that, anyway. It's also that
you still have all your possessions on you at the end of Assassins, and you see Throm go before the other Barbarian, which logically means he ends up on the spiky floortrap at the beginning of that book, and that you don't recognise him when you first meet him in Deathtrap.
All of this could have been avoided if the final assassin was a ninja, and you stole his clothing to disguise yourself in order to get to Azzur. You'd have had to leave your backpack behind, of course, but you'd gain some food and ointment. Then you could be captured and forced into the Dungeon at the end as the Ninja NPC, and all continuity errors - Schrodinger's Throm excepted - would, I believe have been resolved.
It's a pity Livingstone doesn't read his own books, never mind anyone else's...
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Post by daredevil123 on Oct 5, 2019 11:53:30 GMT
Yes, the continuity makes very little sense. I kind of assumed that the player in AOA is a different person to the player in DD - otherwise the Throm situation would be completely nonsensical. It perhaps makes most sense if the AOA player is the elven woman who dies in DD. I'm really clutching at straws though.
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Oct 5, 2019 21:45:43 GMT
I am not sure about this because doesn't the continuity in Deathtrap mean some opponents somehow overtake you? It is not as if the adventurers are on a conveyor belt.
The upshot could be the thicko Throm was wandering in circles until you caught up with him?
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Post by a moderator on Oct 5, 2019 22:07:59 GMT
You're the fifth to enter the dungeon in DD, and Throm is last.
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Oct 6, 2019 15:26:54 GMT
You're the fifth to enter the dungeon in DD, and Throm is last. Don't you 'catch up' with Throm so somehow he overtakes you?
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Oct 6, 2019 15:54:37 GMT
You're the fifth to enter the dungeon in DD, and Throm is last. Don't you 'catch up' with Throm so somehow he overtakes you? That's right. Given he doesn't have much interest in any items or things he doesn't understand, it's no wonder he gets in front.
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Post by a moderator on Oct 6, 2019 17:04:20 GMT
He was probably only a few minutes behind you by the time you'd killed the Goblins, and then he must have taken the other exit from their room. I imagine he passed the subsequent convergence of routes at around the time you emerged from the pipe.
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Oct 6, 2019 20:13:42 GMT
My guess it is impossible to know this but are there any clues as to who followed the arrow and whose footprints were those of the person who disobeyed the arrow?
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Post by Wilf on Oct 6, 2019 20:14:10 GMT
Or he found a secret passage that you didn't.
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Post by a moderator on Oct 6, 2019 22:14:08 GMT
My guess it is impossible to know this but are there any clues as to who followed the arrow and whose footprints were those of the person who disobeyed the arrow? If you take the non-arrow route and enter the right room, you find the corpse of the barbarian who was the third contestant to enter the dungeon. Logically, the knight, the elf and the assassin must have been the ones who followed the arrow. Or he found a secret passage that you didn't. Given Throm's conduct while he's accompanying you, I doubt that he'd have gone anywhere near any secret passage he might have discovered.
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Oct 6, 2019 23:52:51 GMT
My guess it is impossible to know this but are there any clues as to who followed the arrow and whose footprints were those of the person who disobeyed the arrow? If you take the non-arrow route and enter the right room, you find the corpse of the barbarian who was the third contestant to enter the dungeon. Logically, the knight, the elf and the assassin must have been the ones who followed the arrow. Or he found a secret passage that you didn't. Given Throm's conduct while he's accompanying you, I doubt that he'd have gone anywhere near any secret passage he might have discovered. I love how you followed through with the logic. It seems there might be a shared character trait whereby they are innately distrustful. Then again all out competition with a winner takes all outcome hardly inspires trust and camaraderie. Are we going slightly off topic? Though this was a pleasant meander.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,458
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Oct 7, 2019 9:16:37 GMT
He was probably only a few minutes behind you by the time you'd killed the Goblins, and then he must have taken the other exit from their room. I imagine he passed the subsequent convergence of routes at around the time you emerged from the pipe. Weird thing is if you take the quickest possible route from the Goblin Room, he still beats you to the junction. Maybe he takes the long route and sprints the whole way. On a similar note, in Trial of Champions it's weird that you meet the Chaos Champion coming down a corridor from the opposite direction - doesn't he know people are forbidden from travelling south in an Ian Livingstone book?
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Post by a moderator on Oct 7, 2019 10:42:36 GMT
He's a Chaos Champion, and laws are as nothing to him.
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sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,678
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
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Post by sylas on Oct 7, 2019 14:52:36 GMT
He only goes forward, rotating when necessary.
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Oct 7, 2019 21:45:18 GMT
... Or that the player of Assassins is not the same as the player in Deathtrap.
That's right - it cannot be the same person. The introduction of Deathtrap Dungeon has YOU popping into Port Blacksand, sailing north on the sea, then upriver on a raft to Fang. After registering your entry to the competition and getting a violet scarf, you spend 3 days being given 5 star hospitality and get put up in a guesthouse.
It clashes completely with the end of Assassins of Allansia.
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Oct 8, 2019 8:55:33 GMT
What is that thing that lacks in port of peril?
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Post by daredevil123 on Oct 8, 2019 17:39:22 GMT
What is that thing that lacks in port of peril? The word "The"?
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Oct 9, 2019 22:51:44 GMT
I have just realised Throm must have an identical twin Brother called Throm who entered third at the end of the book so this highly logical reasoning must mean you meet another Throm who you have never met before. Thankfully he really cares after all.
Alternatively if they do not recognise one another Throm could be the equivalent of John Smith so there is no logical problem whatsoever. You meet an entirely different Throm who happened to be standing behind you.
I like the idea you could be the assassin and this also clears up the potential errors deriving from the foreword of Deathtrap Dungeon.
This artifice renders the book a highly artificial advertisement for Deathtrap Dungeon. If he has thought the above through I can only wish he spent as much time on game mechanics. Is this book the same as Emotional Rescue where too much time has elapsed?
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Oct 10, 2019 19:06:19 GMT
I have just realised Throm must have an identical twin Brother called Throm ... Not just identical twins - they both lost their right eye as well. What are the chances of that?!
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Oct 10, 2019 19:34:38 GMT
I have just realised Throm must have an identical twin Brother called Throm ... Not just identical twins - they both lost their right eye as well. What are the chances of that?! Congenital birth defect?
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Post by daredevil123 on Oct 10, 2019 19:41:15 GMT
Or maybe all the time travel in The Gates of Death created a divergent timeline?
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Post by schlendrian on Oct 10, 2019 22:12:48 GMT
One should not forget the existence of the mirror spell from Citadel of Chaos. If a mere student of magic, albeit the best, can copy a being for one fight, a powerful mage should be able to clone a barbarian for a considerable time.
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