sylas
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"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,677
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
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Post by sylas on Mar 6, 2022 0:19:33 GMT
Apologies with the delay on the results folks. Finally succumbed to this Covid everyone's talking about and it's left me a bit devoid of brain power. Hopefully post the full results tomorrow. Don't worry about it buddy. Look after your health.
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Post by a moderator on Mar 6, 2022 0:29:28 GMT
Hope you're feeling better soon, Kieran.
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kieran
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Posts: 2,437
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Mar 6, 2022 19:00:27 GMT
Thanks folks, feeling a lot better today thanks.
Anyway, without further a-do, here are the results:
Results
We had 15 entries which was better than I hoped so very pleased with that. Contestants were:
philsadler
sylas
nathanh
vastariner
petch
bloodbeasthandler
Charles X
greenspine
terrysalt
Gabe Fandango
wilf
Peter
Tyrion
The Count
natwa
Question 1: Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook which was authored by more than one person.
Correct answers:
Dead of Night: 7 (sylas, nathanh, bloodbesthandler, terrysalt, Gabe Fandango, Peter, Tyrion)
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain: 2 (philsadler, petch)
Sword of the Samurai: 2 (vastariner, The Count)
Clash of the Princes: The Warlock's Way: 2 (Charles X, wilf)
Clash of the Princes: the Warrior's Way: 1 (greenspine)
Keep of the Lich-Lord: 1 (natwa)
Incorrect answers:
None
It seems quite a few players guessed that everyone would forget that Stephen Hand had help with Dead of Night from Jim Bambra. They were wrong. Clash of the Princes was perhaps not quite as obscure as players hoped, but the fact there are two of them spared three players picking up too many points. No-one went for either of the Mason/Williams books - read into that what you will.
Leaderboard after Q1:
1. greenspine, natwa - 1 point
3. philsadler, petch, vastariner, The Count, Charles X, wilf - 2 points
9. sylas, nathanh, bloodbeasthandler, terrysalt, Gabe Fandango, Peter, Tyrion - 7 points
Question 2: Name a medallion you can acquire in Daggers of Darkness.
Correct answers:
Hulugu: 7 (sylas, greenspine, terrysalt, Gabe Fandango, wilf, The Count, natwa)
Bogomil: 3 (philsadler, petch, Charles X)
Uruz: 2 (bloodbeasthandler, Peter)
Korkut: 1 (nathanh)
Kazalik: 1 (vastariner)
Incorrect answers:
Pikatube: 1 (Tyrion)
No-one fell for the Yigenik trap. I'm guessing the popularity of Hulugu was because it's acquired in such a mundane fashion compared to the others. Korkut and Kazalik are probably the two hardest to find which is perhaps why players didn't think of them? Not too sure what Pikatube is - sounds like a Pokemon streaming service.
Leaderboard after Q2:
1. vastariner - 3
2. philsadler, petch, Charles X - 5
5. greenspine, natwa, nathanh - 8
8. bloodbeasthandler, Peter, The Count, wilf - 9
12. sylas, terrysalt, Gabe Fandango - 14
15. Tyrion - 23
Question 3: Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook where you can learn and cast at least one spell
Correct answers:
Stealer of Souls: 3 (bloodbeasthandler, Tyrion, natwa)
Vault of the Vampire: 2 (terrysalt, Gabe Fandango)
The Seven Serpents: 2 (vastariner, Peter)
Demons of the Deep: 1 (sylas)
Spellbreaker: 1 (nathanh)
Chasms of Malice: 1 (petch)
Legend of Zagor: 1 (Charles X)
Daggers of Darkness: 1 (greenspine)
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain: 1 (wilf)
Keep of the Lich Lord: 1 (The Count)
Incorrect answers:
Citadel of Chaos: 1 (philsadler)
I couldn't really accept Citadel of Chaos unfortunately as you don't really learn any spells during the book - you just know them already. The Seven Serpents however is acceptable as not only is there the LIX spell (as vastariner pointed out), but the reader does have to memorise the spells beforehand and has another opportunity to memorise them again. Legend of Zagor features the Stamina spell Zuqulrum can teach you so is also acceptable. Oddly, the book I was thinking of when I set the question was Temple of Terror where you learn a bunch of spells right at the start yet no-one said that - too obvious? Maybe Stealer and Vault were popular because of how late into the book you learn spells?
Leaderboard after Q3:
1. vastariner - 5
2. petch, Charles X - 6
4. greenspine, nathanh - 9
6. The Count, wilf - 10
8. natwa, Peter - 11
10. bloodbeasthandler - 12
11. sylas - 15
12. terrysalt, Gabe Fandango - 16
14. philsadler - 21
15. Tyrion - 26
Question 4: Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook that has more than 400 sections.
Correct Answers:
Eye of the Dragon: 3 (sylas, Charles X, The Count)
Creature of Havoc: 2 (philsadler, petch)
Appointment with FEAR: 2 (terrysalt, Gabe Fandango)
The Seven Serpents: 2 (wilf, Peter)
Howl of the Werewolf: 1 (nathanh)
Gates of Death: 1 (bloodbeasthandler)
Clash of the Princes: The Warlock's Way: 1 (greenspine)
The Shamutanti Hills: 1 (Tyrion)
Khare: Cityport of Traps: 1 (natwa)
Incorrect answers:
Clash of the Princes: The Warrior's Tale: 1 (vastariner)
Feel a bit bad about this, but "Tale" and "Way" just aren't close enough for me to accept vastariner's answer. Otherwise, nothing much stands out here. Perhaps Eye of the Dragon having a very un-round number of sections is what prompted people to think of it.
Leaderboard after Q4:
1. petch - 8
2. Charles X - 9
3. greenspine, nathanh - 10
5. wilf, natwa - 12
7. The Count, Peter, bloodbeasthandler - 13
10. sylas, terrysalt, Gabe Fandango - 18
13. vastariner - 21
14. philsadler - 23
15. Tyrion - 27
Question 5: Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook published under Wizard Series 1 that has not been published in either the Wizard Series 2 range or the Scholastic range.
Correct answers:
Sword of the Samurai: 4 (petch, terrysalt, Peter, natwa)
Freeway Fighter: 3 (nathanh, bloodbeasthandler, Gabe Fandango)
Crypt of the Sorcerer: 2 (greenspine, wilf)
Temple of Terror: 2 (Tyrion, The Count)
Spellbreaker: 1 (Charles X)
Incorrect answers:
Midnight Rogue: 1 (sylas)
Robot Commando: 1 (vastariner)
Eye of the Dragon: 1 (philsadler)
I think sylas and vastariner must have misread the question as they both guessed books that had only been published in the Puffin range. While Eye of the Dragon hasn't been republished by Scholastic, it was republished as part of the Wizard Series 2 range. Although Sword of the Samurai was the most popular choice, surprisingly no-one went for the other Smith/Thomson book.
Leaderboard after Q5:
1. Charles X - 10
2. petch, greenspine - 12
4. nathanh - 13
5. wilf - 14
6. The Count - 15
7. natwa, bloodbeasthandler - 16
9. Peter - 17
10. Gabe Fandango - 21
11. terrysalt - 22
12. Tyrion - 29
13. sylas - 34
14. vastariner - 37
15. philsadler - 39
Question 6: Name an author of a Fighting Fantasy gamebook where that was their only published Fighting Fantasy gamebook.
Correct answers:
Dave Morris: 6 (sylas, nathanh, vastariner, petch, Gabe Fandango, Peter)
Rhianna Pratchett: 4 (terrysalt, wilf, Tyrion, The Count)
Marc Gascoigne: 2 (philsadler, Charles X)
Graeme Davis: 2 (greenspine, natwa)
Charlie Higson: 1 (bloodbeasthandler)
Incorrect answers:
None
Oddly, despite the popularity of Dead of Night in the first question, no-one went with Jim Bambra here. And despite the popularity of Dave Morris here, no-one guessed Keep of the Lich-Lord for the first question until the very last entry to come in. Possibly Dave's popularity here may be due to players hoping that his otherwise prolific gamebook career might have caused others to forget he only wrote 1 FF. Newest FF author Rhianna Pratchett also proved quite popular - more so than second newest Charlie Higson anyway. No-one went for Keith P Phillips though The Count did say he was his initial answer before he changed his mind.
Leaderboard after Q6:
1. Charles X - 12
2. greenspine - 14
3. bloodbeasthandler - 17
4. petch, wilf, natwa - 18
7. nathanh, The Count - 19
9. Peter - 23
10. terrysalt - 26
11. Gabe Fandango - 27
12. Tyrion - 33
13. sylas - 40
14. philsadler - 41
15. vastariner - 43
Question 7: Name an attribute other than Skill, Stamina or Luck that you must roll for at the start of a Fighting Fantasy gamebook.
Correct answers:
Fear: 2 (philsadler, Peter)
Magic: 2 (sylas, petch)
Ferocity: 2 (bloodbeasthandler, Charles X)
Crew Strike: 2 (terrysalt, Gabe Fandango)
Armour: 1 (nathanh)
Rating: 1 (vastariner)
Weapons Strength: 1 (greenspine)
Presence: 1 (wilf)
Resolve: 1 (Tyrion)
Faith: 1 (The Count)
Crew Strength: 1 (natwa)
Incorrect answers:
None
Plenty of options here and the answers were pretty diverse though 3 of them came from Seas of Blood.
Leaderboard after Question 7:
1. Charles X - 14
2. greenspine - 15
3. bloodbeasthandler, wilf, natwa - 19
6. petch, nathanh, The Count - 20
9. Peter - 25
10. terrysalt - 28
11. Gabe Fandango - 29
12. Tyrion - 34
13. sylas - 42
14. philsadler - 43
15. vastariner - 44
Question 8: Name an item you can buy from Yaztromo in Forest of Doom.
Correct answers:
Garlic Buds: 2 (sylas, Gabe Fandango)
Nose Filters: 2 (nathanh, Peter)
Potion of Healing: 2 (petch, greenspine)
Potion of Stillness: 2 (bloodbeasthandler, The Count)
Potion of Anti-Poison: 1 (vastariner)
Holy Water: 1 (philsadler)
Net of Entanglement: 1 (terrysalt)
Boots of Leaping: 1 (wilf)
Armband of Strength: 1 (natwa)
Incorrect answers:
Nose Plugs: 2 (Charles X, Tyrion)
I assume Charles X and Tyrion went off memory here but I felt I couldn't really accept Nose Plugs for Nose Filters. If I did, it would have been the most popular answer - perhaps because they're the most mundane thing on the list?
Leaderboard after Question 8:
1. greenspine - 17
2. wilf, natwa - 20
4. bloodbeasthandler - 21
5. petch, nathanh, The Count - 22
8. Peter - 27
9. terrysalt - 29
10. Charles X - 30
11. Gabe Fandango - 31
12. sylas, philsadler - 44
14. vastariner - 45
15. Tyrion - 50
Question 9: Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook which does not take place (even partly) on Titan.
Correct answers:
Star Strider: 5 (nathanh, Charles X, greenspine, Gabe Fandango, The Count)
House of Hell: 2 (philsadler, bloodbeasthandler)
Blood of the Zombies: 2 (sylas, wilf)
Robot Commando: 2 (terrysalt, Tyrion)
Talisman of Death: 1 (vastariner)
Starship Traveller: 1 (petch)
Freeway Fighter: 1 (Peter)
Space Assassin: 1 (natwa)
Incorrect answers:
None
Not too sure why Star Strider proved so popular! Interestingly, no-one went for Appointment with FEAR - perhaps out of fear I would count Titan City as Titan? (I wouldn't have). When I set this question, I decided I would accept the Clash of the Princes books as correct as despite fan theories, Gundobad has never been officially placed in Titan. Turned out no-one risked it anyway.
Leaderboard after Question 9 (and it's tight at the top!):
1. natwa - 21
2. greenspine, wilf - 22
4. bloodbeasthandler, petch - 23
6. nathanh, The Count - 27
8. Peter - 28
9. terrysalt - 31
10. Charles X - 35
11. Gabe Fandango - 36
12. sylas, philsadler, vastariner - 46
15. Tyrion - 52
Question 10: Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook where you can use a bow of some kind (eg longbow or crossbow)
Correct answers:
Siege of Sardath: 5 (philsadler, Gabe Fandango, Tyrion, The Count, natwa)
Tower of Destruction: 4 (nathanh, Charles X, greenspine, terrysalt)
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain: 1 (petch)
Knights of Doom: 1 (sylas)
Assassins of Allansia: 1 (vastariner)
Masks of Mayhem: 1 (bloodbeasthandler
The Seven Serpents: 1 (wilf)
Sword of the Samurai: 1 (Peter)
Incorrect answers:
None
Siege of Sardath and Sword of the Samurai are probably the two books that feature archery most prominently, though one got much more votes than the other - go figure. Tower of Destruction was inexplicably popular but oddly another Keith Martin book that features a crossbow (Master of Chaos) received no votes despite being the book I would have gone for. We end as we began with Slaves of the Abyss being an acceptable answer that no-one gave. Meanwhile wilf gives perhaps the most outside-the-box answer in the whole competition by pointing out you have an opportunity to use the bow from Khare: Cityport of Traps against the fake Death Wraith in The Seven Serpents. And this bit of unconventional thinking means he clinches victory!
Final scores:
1. wilf - 23
2. bloodbeasthandler, petch - 24
4. natwa, greenspine - 26
6. Peter - 29
7. nathanh - 31
8. The Count - 32
9. terrysalt - 35
10. Charles X - 39
11. Gabe Fandango - 41
12. sylas, vastariner - 47
14. philsadler - 51
15. Tyrion - 57
So yes, well done wilf. Interestingly, petch told me he was deliberately going for all the most obvious answers he could think of - a tactic that very nearly paid off! Thanks to all for taking part, it was a lot of fun.
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Post by The Count on Mar 6, 2022 19:42:10 GMT
That was fun. I thought more people would go for Keith P. Phillips and the Mason / Williams books as they are very popular so I avoided them - then ignored my own reasoning for the bow question...
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Post by Wilf on Mar 6, 2022 20:13:01 GMT
Glad you're on the mend. An awful lot of people on Planet Wilf seem to be catching Covid now the restrictions have been lifted - sorry to hear you're among them.
---oOo---
Thought I'd be middle of the table by about halfway through, but when I remembered what the last question was, I figured I might be near the top end. Delighted by the result - certainly didn't expect a first place, as that last question was the only real chance I had to be sneaky. The rest were sheer luck - there's no particular reason I went for any of them, though I knew there were ungettable medallions in Daggers, so I did a bit of research for that one.
That was fun to read and fun to take part in - thank you for running this, and I would love to take part in a rematch if you're up for it.
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Post by CharlesX on Mar 6, 2022 20:47:43 GMT
Was on course for top 2 until my incorrect answer but scored a few 1 pointers and pleased to be in the middle. Congratulations Wilf, bloodbeasthandler, petch, others who scored above me, and everyone else including me for participating, and Kieran for doing it. Rather surprised no one else thought of Legend Of Zagor, which I would have thought was more obvious than Temple of Terror, but went for because I knew other people weren't fans.
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Post by terrysalt on Mar 6, 2022 21:35:51 GMT
1) I'm surprised Dead of Night was so popular! I had no idea what would be popular so I just went with a book I liked. 2) Another surprisingly popular one. My thinking here was that I absolutely can't pick the one in the Champskees guide (would have done better if I did ) so I just picked randomly from the others. Not sure why everyone liked hulugu more than the others but there you go. 3) The emphasis on having to learn the spell made me go for one that was unambiguously learned along the way and not part of character creation. 4) This was another "just pick a book I like" since I don't know what's going to be popular. 5) Same thing for this one, I worked out which books qualified and picked one I liked. 6) I figured I'd have better luck with a Scholastic only author. Looks like I picked the wrong one! 7) I thought Seas of Blood would be less popular. Guess not. 8) I just picked randomly. Luck ended up working in my favour this time. 9) I definitely thought Titan City would count as Titan and I thought House of Hell and space books would be too obvious. 10) I didn't want to scour through all the books to find books with bows in them so I just went with one I remembered from my playthrough of the series. This was quite interesting to see the results for.
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Post by vastariner on Mar 6, 2022 21:49:17 GMT
I did misread the reprint question, I thought it referred to the Puffin ones.
Am raising a point of order re the Warrior's Tale/Way though, surely getting 95% of the letters in the title right shows there's no possible confusion?
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,437
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Mar 6, 2022 21:59:18 GMT
I did misread the reprint question, I thought it referred to the Puffin ones. Am raising a point of order re the Warrior's Tale/Way though, surely getting 95% of the letters in the title right shows there's no possible confusion? True, but confusion isn't really the issue. I was similarly harsh on the two players who said "Nose Plugs" for Question 8 - I knew exactly what they meant but they still got the name wrong so I think that counts as an incorrect answer. Admittedly I should have made this point clearer in the initial rules.
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Post by tyrion on Mar 6, 2022 22:04:31 GMT
Thanks for this kieran, it was fun. Hope you feel ok soon, brain fog was the worst part of covid for me.
If there is another round I'll make sure I read the deadline properly and not try to do it from memory whilst in the pub!
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Post by vastariner on Mar 6, 2022 22:43:55 GMT
I did misread the reprint question, I thought it referred to the Puffin ones. Am raising a point of order re the Warrior's Tale/Way though, surely getting 95% of the letters in the title right shows there's no possible confusion? True, but confusion isn't really the issue. I was similarly harsh on the two players who said "Nose Plugs" for Question 8 - I knew exactly what they meant but they still got the name wrong so I think that counts as an incorrect answer. Admittedly I should have made this point clearer in the initial rules. The thing is Nose Plugs are an item in a different book. If there were another one called The Warrior's Tale I would have conceded the point. But then again I wouldn't have got it wrong...
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Post by petch on Mar 6, 2022 23:32:30 GMT
Congrats Wilf, and thanks for running this Kieran (and glad to hear you're feeling better).
Glad I changed my original answer to the controversial Q3 from my original one of The Citadel of Chaos. My argument - had I stuck with it - would have been that in reference 365 you get the opportunity to 'learn' two more spells through gambling, but as it's not exactly worded that way in the text it could be counter-argued that you're actually just increasing your magic score allowing you to cast extra spells that your character already knows. On balance am relieved I went for something less ambiguous!
And yes, as Kieran said for most of the questions I was deliberately giving the most obvious answers I could think of, figuring that everyone else would be stretching for the more obscure ones. In fact, the only time I thought I was being a bit clever was for Q6 where I thought that Dave Morris might not be such a popular choice as his only effort was co-authored, but that turned out to be my highest scoring answer!
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sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,677
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
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Post by sylas on Mar 6, 2022 23:43:34 GMT
Hope youre feeling better.
That was fun despite me coming almost last lol. I did misread that republishing question. I didn't really have a strategy going into this. I just answered with the first thing that came into my head. Also bit surprised no one said Battleblade Warrior for the Bow question.
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sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,677
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
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Post by sylas on Mar 6, 2022 23:56:19 GMT
For the non-Titan question, Gundobad does appear on the map in northern Khul in Beyond the Pit so it would be part of Titan now.
Also congrats to wilf.
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Post by Gabe Fandango on Mar 7, 2022 0:57:35 GMT
Question 2: Name a medallion you can acquire in Daggers of Darkness. Correct answers:
Hulugu: 7 (sylas, greenspine, terrysalt, Gabe Fandango, wilf, The Count, natwa) Bogomil: 3 (philsadler, petch, Charles X) Uruz: 2 (bloodbeasthandler, Peter) Korkut: 1 (nathanh) Kazalik: 1 (vastariner) Incorrect answers:
Pikatube: 1 (Tyrion) Sorry, can I verify on 1 point? How do you acquire the Kazalik medallion in this book? I thought I know this book fairly well, and I don't think I ever found a way to acquire it. In fact, I don't think the PC even gets to see it or come anywhere close to the maze (for Yigenik he at least gets to catch a glimpse of it before it gets stolen).
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kieran
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Posts: 2,437
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Mar 7, 2022 10:33:20 GMT
Question 2: Name a medallion you can acquire in Daggers of Darkness. Correct answers:
Hulugu: 7 (sylas, greenspine, terrysalt, Gabe Fandango, wilf, The Count, natwa) Bogomil: 3 (philsadler, petch, Charles X) Uruz: 2 (bloodbeasthandler, Peter) Korkut: 1 (nathanh) Kazalik: 1 (vastariner) Incorrect answers:
Pikatube: 1 (Tyrion) Sorry, can I verify on 1 point? How do you acquire the Kazalik medallion in this book? I thought I know this book fairly well, and I don't think I ever found a way to acquire it. In fact, I don't think the PC even gets to see it or come anywhere close to the maze (for Yigenik he at least gets to catch a glimpse of it before it gets stolen). You know I could have sworn you could obtain it but after scanning the book again, you appear to be right! It doesn't really affect anything since only vastariner went with Kazalik, but yes, my bad.
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sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,677
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
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Post by sylas on Mar 8, 2022 0:24:00 GMT
Is there going to be another one of these contests?
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Post by Gabe Fandango on Mar 8, 2022 0:42:08 GMT
Sorry, can I verify on 1 point? How do you acquire the Kazalik medallion in this book? I thought I know this book fairly well, and I don't think I ever found a way to acquire it. In fact, I don't think the PC even gets to see it or come anywhere close to the maze (for Yigenik he at least gets to catch a glimpse of it before it gets stolen). You know I could have sworn you could obtain it but after scanning the book again, you appear to be right! It doesn't really affect anything since only vastariner went with Kazalik, but yes, my bad. Thanks. I know it doesn't make much of a difference in this game's results, but I was kind of hopeful that there was somehow another way to get that elusive medallion.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,437
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Mar 8, 2022 1:36:15 GMT
Is there going to be another one of these contests? I'm probably not going to do one immediately but if someone else wants to they can go for it.
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Post by bloodbeasthandler on Mar 9, 2022 18:58:15 GMT
So it looks like what scuppered me early on was Dead of Night. And yes, as Kieran said for most of the questions I was deliberately giving the most obvious answers I could think of, figuring that everyone else would be stretching for the more obscure ones. I started by thinking of the most obscure, then argued that the most obvious might be best.... but then began to second (and third? or fourth?) guess my competitors. Basically I was turning into the Sicilian from the Princess Bride ...
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Post by CharlesX on Mar 9, 2022 20:10:06 GMT
I don't tend to enjoy competitive games - for example, if I was doing well in a game, then wrote an incorrect answer, that would irritate me no end - but I was pleased i got 2 1-point answers without second-guessing, which to me takes the fun out of it. I've a sneaking feeling people didn't mention Legend Of Zagor, and Spellbreaker, because they didn't like the two.
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kieran
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Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Mar 9, 2022 20:51:06 GMT
So it looks like what scuppered me early on was Dead of Night I did a points tally about halfway through and you actually won. And then the Dead of Night answers started to pile on unfortunately.
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kieran
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Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Mar 9, 2022 20:52:58 GMT
I was pleased i got 2 1-point answers without second-guessing, which to me takes the fun out of it. I've a sneaking feeling people didn't mention Legend Of Zagor, and Spellbreaker, because they didn't like the two. I thought LoZ in particular was a very good answer. I'd definitely forgotten about that Stamina spell anyway.
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Post by petch on Mar 28, 2022 14:40:39 GMT
Is there going to be another one of these contests? I'm probably not going to do one immediately but if someone else wants to they can go for it. Anyone up for another round of this? Hope you don't mind me taking over kieran, but since you gave an open invitation above I thought it would be okay - plus this way you get to have a go yourself too! I won't go over all of the rules again, I'll be sticking to the exact same ones as laid out by kieran in the opening post of this thread. As before, this won't really work without a decent number of players, so if I get less than 6 sets of answers, I won't go ahead. The questions for this round are as below. Like kieran did before, I have done my best to make these as unambiguous as possible, but where I have left any open to potential interpretation I'll allow for some reasonable justification however I'll have the final say on what constitutes a correct answer. Round 2 questions1. Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook that does not contain the word 'of' in its title. 2. Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook illustrated by Russ Nicholson. 3. Name a Spell Gem you can acquire in Scorpion Swamp. 4. Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook where reference 400 is not a victory reference (ie a reference other than 400 is one you need to turn to in order to win the book). 5. Name an author credited with co-writing a Fighting Fantasy gamebook. 6. Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook that does not have either a 'Provisions' or 'Provisions Remaining' box in its Adventure Sheet. 7. Name an opponent you can face in combat in a Fighting Fantasy gamebook that has a Skill score higher than 12 (without modifiers, ie the Skill score printed for the opponent is 13 or higher). Please provide me with the book and reference number for the encounter to save me a lot of hassle! 8. Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook set in whole or in part in Khul. 9. Name either a Talent you can select in Dead of Night or a Special Skill you can select in Moonrunner.10. Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook that mentions the word 'dragon' anywhere in its text. Please provide me with the reference number where the word is mentioned. Please provide your answers to me by private message by 12 noon GMT on Friday 8th April. Scores and analysis (which is unlikely to be anywhere near as engaging as kieran's!) will be provided shortly after the deadline.
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Post by petch on Mar 29, 2022 17:23:56 GMT
I've now had 6 entries so pleased to say this round can go ahead Anyone else who wants to have a go is of course more than welcome!
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Post by petch on Apr 7, 2022 15:41:56 GMT
Results are to be revealed tomorrow...last call for anyone who fancies submitting a last minute entry!
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Post by petch on Apr 8, 2022 15:56:34 GMT
Results time! Once again a really good amount of players (14) which was nice to see. Contestants for this round are:
vastariner Charles X sylas bloodbeasthandler philsadler terrysalt greenspine The Count Gabe Fandango Peter kieran thealmightymudworm Wilf tyrion
I can reveal in advance that there were no incorrect answers given by any player, so whoever wins is going to come down entirely to whoever managed to give the least popular answers!
Question 1: Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook that does not contain the word 'of' in its title.
Correct answers:
Spectral Stalkers: 2 (vastariner, bloodbeasthandler) Return to Firetop Mountain: 2 (sylas, greenspine) Deathtrap Dungeon: 2 (philsadler, Gabe Fandango) Stormslayer: 1 (Charles X) Spellbreaker: 1 (terrysalt) Bloodbones: 1 (The Count) Starship Traveller: 1 (Peter) Deathmoor: 1 (kieran) The Crimson Tide: 1 (thealmightymudworm) Sorcery!: The Shamutanti Hills: 1 (Wilf) Appointment with F.E.A.R: 1 (tyrion)
No answer was replicated more than once which means the leaderboard is close between all participants after the first question.
Leaderboard after Q1:
1. Charles X, terrysalt, The Count, Peter, kieran, thealmightymudworm, Wilf, tyrion - 1 9. vastariner, bloodbeasthandler, sylas, greenspine, philsadler, Gabe Fandango - 2
Question 2: Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook illustrated by Russ Nicholson.
Correct answers:
Deathmoor: 4 (Charles X, bloodbeasthandler, kieran, Wilf) Island of the Undead: 2 (vastariner, The Count) Magehunter: 2 (sylas, tyrion) Chasms of Malice: 2 (greenspine, thealmightymudworm) The Citadel of Chaos: 2 (Gabe Fandango, Peter) The Warlock of Firetop Mountain: 1 (philsadler) Stealer of Souls: 1 (terrysalt)
Despite there being a relatively small pool of possible answers for this question, there was a pretty even spread of answers here, with the exception of Deathmoor, which proved the most popular choice. Nearly all possible answers were given here - the only other acceptable answer not given by anyone was Masks of Mayhem.
Leaderboard after Q2:
1. terrysalt - 2 2. philsadler, The Count, Peter, thealmightymudworm, tyrion - 3 7. vastariner, sylas, greenspine, Gabe Fandango - 4 11. Charles X, kieran, Wilf - 5 14. bloodbeasthandler - 6
Question 3: Name a Spell Gem you can acquire in Scorpion Swamp.
Correct answers:
Luck: 5 (vastariner, bloodbeasthandler, greenspine, Peter, kieran) Growth: 3 (sylas, philsadler, terrysalt) Friendship: 2 (Charles X, The Count) Curse: 1 (Gabe Fandango) Skill: 1 (thealmightymudworm) Bless: 1 (Wilf) Illusion: 1 (tyrion)
No idea why Luck proved so popular here, especially since only 1 other player went for Skill and no one went for Stamina at all! Also noteworthy is that only 1 player opted for an Evil spell, with 6 going for Good spells and the remaining 7 choosing Neutral ones.
Leaderboard after Q3:
1. thealmightymudworm, tyrion - 4 3. terrysalt, The Count, Gabe Fandango - 5 6. philsadler, Wilf - 6 8. Charles X, sylas - 7 10. Peter - 8 11. vastariner, greenspine - 9 13. kieran - 10 14. bloodbeasthandler - 11
Question 4: Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook where reference 400 is not a victory reference.
Correct answers:
Deathmoor: 3 (greenspine, The Count, kieran) Demons of the Deep: 2 (sylas, thealmightymudworm) Sorcery!: The Seven Serpents: 2 (Peter, tyrion) Robot Commando: 1 (vastariner) Sorcery!: Khare - Cityport of Traps: 1 (Charles X) The Gates of Death: 1 (bloodbeasthandler) Black Vein Prophecy: 1 (philsadler) Appointment with F.E.A.R: 1 (terrysalt) Night of the Necromancer: 1 (Gabe Fandango) Clash of the Princes: The Warrior's Way: 1 (Wilf)
As a lot of players correctly identified, any gamebook which had fewer or greater than 400 references total would have been an acceptable answer for this question, meaning there were lots of potential answers to choose from. Despite this, once again Deathmoor was the most popular choice here.
Leaderboard after Q4:
1. terrysalt, Gabe Fandango, thealmightymudworm, tyrion - 6 5. philsadler, Wilf - 7 7. Charles X, The Count - 8 9. sylas - 9 10. vastariner, Peter - 10 12. bloodbeasthandler, greenspine - 12 14. kieran - 13
Question 5: Name an author credited with co-writing a Fighting Fantasy gamebook.
Correct answers:
Ian Livingstone: 4 (sylas, terrysalt, thealmightymudworm, Wilf) Mark Smith: 3 (bloodbeasthandler, greenspine, kieran) Jamie Thomson: 2 (Charles X, philsadler) Steve Williams: 2 (Gabe Fandango, tyrion) Jim Bambra: 1 (vastariner) Dave Morris: 1 (The Count) Stephen Hand: 1 (Peter)
So Ian got the most votes for this one, while his series co-founder Steve Jackson received none at all! Neither, for that matter, did Andrew Chapman, Martin Allen or Paul Mason.
Leaderboard after Q5:
1. Gabe Fandango, tyrion - 8 3. philsadler, The Count - 9 5. Charles X, terrysalt, thealmightymudworm - 10 8. vastariner, Peter, Wilf - 11 11. sylas - 13 12. bloodbeasthandler, greenspine - 15 14. kieran - 16
Question 6: Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook that does not have either a 'Provisions' or 'Provisions Remaining' box in its Adventure Sheet.
Correct answers:
Space Assassin: 3 (sylas, terrysalt, Peter) The Rings of Kether: 2 (Charles X, bloodbeasthandler) Armies of Death: 2 (kieran, tyrion) Starship Traveller: 1 (vastariner) Night of the Necromancer: 1 (philsadler) Creature of Havoc: 1 (greenspine) Sky Lord: 1 (The Count) Return to Firetop Mountain: 1 (Gabe Fandango) Freeway Fighter: 1 (thealmightymudworm) Siege of Sardath: 1 (Wilf)
Any of the sci-fi ones would have done for an answer here. Although, with over half of the players doing just that and choosing a sci-fi title, it seems the classic fantasy ones were perhaps a safer bet.
Leaderboard after Q6:
1. Gabe Fandango - 9 2. philsadler, The Count, tyrion - 10 5. thealmightymudworm - 11 6. vastariner, Charles X, Wilf - 12 9. terrysalt - 13 10. Peter - 14 11. sylas, greenspine - 16 13. bloodbeasthandler - 17 14. kieran - 18
Question 7: Name an opponent you can face in combat in a Fighting Fantasy gamebook that has a Skill score higher than 12.
Correct answers:
Hell Demon, House of Hell: 2 (terrysalt, Peter) Shanzikuul, Master of Chaos: 2 (The Count, kieran) Moon Serpent, Sorcery!: The Seven Serpents: 1 (vastariner) Quezkari, Bloodbones: 1 (Charles X) Bone Stalker Mage, Night Dragon: 1 (sylas) Grimslade, Scorpion Swamp: 1 (bloodbeasthandler) God-Headed Hydra, Sorcery!: The Crown of Kings: 1 (greenspine) Demon, Scorpion Swamp: 1 (philsadler) Reiner Heydrich, Revenge of the Vampire: 1 (Gabe Fandango) Harlequin, Night Dragon: 1 (thealmightymudworm) Demon Horde, The Gates of Death: 1 (Wilf) The Devastator, Appointment with F.E.A.R: 1 (tyrion)
Another question with a whole lot of possible answers, with the variety of answers given showing a menagerie of super-powered foes that the series has served up to us over the years! Opponents from Keith Martin and Steve Jackson books seemed especially popular here.
Leaderboard after Q7:
1. Gabe Fandango - 10 2. philsadler, tyrion - 11 4. The Count, thealmightymudworm - 12 6. vastariner, Charles X, Wilf - 13 9. terrysalt - 15 10. Peter - 16 11. sylas, greenspine - 17 13. bloodbeasthandler - 18 14. kieran - 20
Question 8: Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook set in whole or in part in Khul.
Correct answers:
Beneath Nightmare Castle: 3 (bloodbeasthandler, greenspine, Peter) Deathmoor: 2 (vastariner, kieran) Chasms of Malice: 2 (The Count, Wilf) Clash of the Princes: The Warlock's Way: 1 (Charles X) Portal of Evil: 1 (sylas) Scorpion Swamp: 1 (philsadler) Fangs of Fury: 1 (terrysalt) Daggers of Darkness: 1 (Gabe Fandango) Sword of the Samurai: 1 (thealmightymudworm) Keep of the Lich-Lord: 1 (tyrion)
I was quite relieved that no one went for Black Vein Prophecy or The Crimson Tide for this one, as, at least according to the FF Wiki, there is some debate as to whether the Isles of Dawn can be considered a part of Khul or not. Fortunately I get to avoid having to make a judgement call on that one as no one went for either of the two books set there! Gabe Fandango maintains his spot at the top of the leaderboard which he has held since Q4...with two questions to go can he keep it all the way to the end?
Leaderboard after Q8:
1. Gabe Fandango - 11 2. philsadler, tyrion - 12 4. thealmightymudworm - 13 5. Charles X, The Count - 14 7. vastariner, Wilf - 15 9. terrysalt - 16 10. sylas - 18 11. Peter - 19 12. greenspine - 20 13. bloodbeasthandler - 21 14. kieran - 22
Question 9: Name either a Talent you can select in Dead of Night or a Special Skill you can select in Moonrunner.
Correct answers:
Con: 3 (vastariner, The Count, tyrion) Disguise: 3 (bloodbeasthandler, terrysalt, kieran) Sense Demon: 2 (Charles X, philsadler) Tracking: 2 (greenspine, Wilf) Speak Demon: 1 (sylas) Combat: 1 (Gabe Fandango) Sleight of Hand: 1 (Peter) Sneak: 1 (thealmightymudworm)
Interestingly, only 3 players went for Talents from Dead of Night (and all 3 went for one of the ones that have Demon in their name), with everyone else plumping for a Special Skill from Moonrunner. Perhaps the reasoning there was that there are more Special Skills to choose from so there is less chance of replication...but unfortunately that did not help the players who went for Con or Disguise!
Leaderboard after Q9:
1. Gabe Fandango - 12 2. philsadler, thealmightymudworm - 14 4. tyrion - 15 5. Charles X - 16 6. The Count, Wilf - 17 8. vastariner - 18 9. sylas, terrysalt - 19 11. Peter - 20 12. greenspine - 22 13. bloodbeasthandler - 24 14. kieran - 25
Question 10: Name a Fighting Fantasy gamebook that mentions the word 'dragon' anywhere in its text.
Correct answers:
Daggers of Darkness: 2 (bloodbeasthandler, The Count) Night Dragon: 2 (philsadler, terrysalt) Stealer of Souls: 2 (greenspine, kieran) The Forest of Doom: 2 (Peter, tyrion) Knights of Doom: 1 (vastariner) Caverns of the Snow Witch: 1 (Charles X) Island of the Undead: 1 (sylas) The Warlock of Firetop Mountain: 1 (Gabe Fandango) Spectral Stalkers: 1 (thealmightymudworm) Curse of the Mummy: 1 (Wilf)
There are probably loads of acceptable answers to this question, but I'm not trawling through all of the books to work out exactly how many! Notably though, of the two books to actually have the word 'dragon' in their title, one (Night Dragon) was one of the joint most popular answers, while the other (Eye of the Dragon) received no votes at all.
Final scores:
1. Gabe Fandango - 13 2. thealmightymudworm - 15 3. philsadler - 16 4. Charles X, tyrion - 17 6. Wilf - 18 7. vastariner, The Count - 19 9. sylas - 20 10. terrysalt - 21 11. Peter - 22 12. greenspine - 24 13. bloodbeasthandler - 26 14. kieran - 27
Congrats to Gabe Fandango, who impressively managed to provide unique answers to 7 out of the 10 questions. And thanks to everyone else for taking part...hope you enjoyed!
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Post by CharlesX on Apr 8, 2022 17:00:47 GMT
Haha I almost went for Crypt of the Sorceror for Q6 but thought it was too obvious - and took a punt on Sorcery! 2's 400 not being a victory reference despite not having it in front of me. Thanks Petch!
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Post by philsadler on Apr 8, 2022 17:01:11 GMT
Thanks for running this nice competition!
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,437
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Apr 8, 2022 18:29:39 GMT
Thanks again for doing this Petch. Good fun even if I did come last - my abundance of Deathmoor answers really didn't pay off! No idea why Luck proved so popular here, especially since only 1 other player went for Skill and no one went for Stamina at all! I figured this question might be a trap and it was asking for a spell gem you can acquire in the swamp itself. I think there's only 2 that applies to - Friendship and Luck - so I went for the more mundane of the two. Probably overthinking on my part but looks like I wasn't the only one guilty of it! (Edit - and I just noticed in the original post Scorpion Swamp was in italics so this was definitely me being an eejit) Ha, didn't even consider that! Damn, my initial answer before I changed it. Doesn't Sky Lord use provisions? Although maybe there isn't a box for them in the adventure sheet. Annoyingly my initial answer was Dark Veil before I changed it on the grounds it was too memorable.
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