'Deathtrap': a prequel to 'Deathtrap Dungeon'

[philsadler]

Hey all!

This bad boy has taken me one and a half years to design, write, edit and play test. It's now finished and I'd be very interested in what you have to say about it.

Attachments:

Deathtrap.docx (457.39 KB)

[philsadler]

Just uploaded another version with a few spelling errors fixed. In addition, Andy has released forums for both my previous books now:

www.ffproject.com/gcomf5t2s0.htm
www.ffproject.com/gcomf5t3s0.htm

[philsadler]

Just had a really nice reply on Fighting Fantasy Project: www.ffproject.com/gcomf5t3s0.htm

"Phil Sadler... I must say playing a few of your games, Ive really enjoyed them. I judge a gamebook on various things, but one of the main things is how good the deaths/bad endings are, and yours are biblical... They have been interesting, unusual, grotesque, cruel and at times insulting the character for his poor choice... loved it. I like the fact on some of the deaths, the paragraph ends before you die and the horrible fate is unspoken"

[offm]

Can i put this adventure on the FF simple engine Phil Sadler?

[philsadler]

Of course you can!

[offm]

I see you got creative in fights

[philsadler]

I try! Yes, I think there's some pretty good and interesting fights in there. After all, almost anything is better than a boring skill 7 stamina 8 goblin.

[philsadler]

Just found and corrected a few small errors:

Desert Lizard Man had no stamina (should have been 8)
Giant Spider skill 7 (used to be 6)
Sword Tree's stamina up from 9 to 12
Tangle-weed 7/6 down from 8/13
Tyrannosaurus 12/12 to Tyrannosaurus (Young)

Nothing game-breaking (well I'm not too sure about that naughty Desert Lizard Man, but the odds of meeting him or any of those others are about 500-1).

[philsadler]

2 more small errors found

1.) A naughty pixie somehow became a mighty 9/8 instead of 5/5
2.) A Red Dragon's stats were mixed up so that 11/14 becomes 14/11

[philsadler]

Just saw this on Facebook by an FF fan called Rob Hatton:

Today I will be attempting an intriguing piece of fan fiction with Phil Sadler's DEATHTRAP, a prequel to...... you guessed it, Deathtrap Dungeon. I only became aware of this particular gamebook the other day after hearing mention of it by the author on a group post, and immediately asked if I could use it for a play-through, and here we are.

I must admit to being instantly enthused by the notion of another adventure set within the walls of Baron Sukhumvit’s infamous Dungeon, much as I would be excited about another book set in Blacksand or Firetop Mountain or Craggen Rock...... they are the stomping grounds of legend. Having said that, it does immediately set expectations to a certain lofty standard, so it takes a fair amount of balls to give it a go.

Nobody could ever accuse Sadler of not putting enough effort into this venture, as this is no mere 200 reference mini-adventure, but a colossal work of nearly 500 entries. We are treated to an extensive background intro in which we get a meaty chunk of exposition on various rumours surrounding the construction of the dungeon, the fate of the ten guardsmen sent in to test it’s effectiveness...... and the lesser known tale of the second group sent in after them......

This is where YOU enter the story, as one of ten various adventurers who answered the notice put up by the baron seeking brave warriors to evaluate his Deathtrap Dungeon before it is officially opened.

Amongst your fellow guinea pigs are a number of familiar character types, such as a Barbarian, a Knight, an Elven Woman, and a Ninja. I am assuming for now that none of these are the actual contestants who step into the void in the original book, but are perhaps merely a nod to those legendary figures, although I won’t rule out the possibility of perhaps the Ninja being one in the same. Of the others which make up the ten we have a Mage, a Gladiator, a Ranger and a Beastmaster.

During the audience we have with Sukhumvit, where Sadler does a fine job in revealing the wealth and power of Fang’s most illustrious citizen, the baron outlines what is expected from his hand-picked expedition. The dungeon must be tested for weaknesses of any conceivable type, with anyone making it out alive to report on their experiences, with suggestions on what needs to be improved and which parts were too easy. Once this task is complete, each surviving member of the group will receive their reward of 1000gp, with no apparent restrictions on how many are allowed to emerge alive from the dungeon. (After all it is not yet officially open)

One important factor to note with this book is the lack of any artwork, so to compensate for the absence of our standard window into the adventure, Sadler has gone into overdrive with prose which is rich in imagery and atmosphere.

The ambience which he creates for the most part has a strong theme of psychological horror throughout the story, feeling very much to me like being in some unholy mixture of a Stephen King film and Apocalypse Now, which I hope conveys just how disturbing some of the scenes play out.

I definitely get the impression that much emphasis is placed upon yours and other character’s state of mind throughout your decent into what seems like Hell on earth, which may have a lot to do with something which is released into the dungeon shortly after the last person enters...... (but I’ll say no more about that for now)

SK 10 ST 21 LK 12

PREDICTION/GOALS

I’ve rolled up a pretty strong character overall, which is probably a good thing if I want to give this a decent attempt, as it seems pretty clear that it won’t be an easy ride. This first attempt will serve to get the measure of what the book is made of, with no real hope of getting anywhere near to the end, as I’m sure that more than a few goes will be required to crack this particular nut. Here goes!

The post is here:

www.facebook.com/groups/2347541406/permalink/10156594689381407/?comment_id=10156595276706407¬if_id=1534100240070950¬if_t=group_comment_mention&ref=notif

[philsadler]

Rob Hatton PART ONE

So the time finally arrives to decide the order of entry into the dungeon, with everybody taking a folded piece of paper with a number between one and ten written on it. I manage to pick the number ten, and whilst I try to decide whether this is a good or a bad thing, the Ninja becomes the first of us to walk between the two decorative pillars and into the gloomy tunnel beyond.

I watch each adventurer enter in the order chosen, each in their own unique way, until it is finally my turn. After a few moments waking, the smooth walls which were visible on the outside transform into a roughly hewn and crudely excavated tunnel, completely changing the atmosphere to something more ominous and sinister.

I soon reach a table of some sort which holds the now familiar boxes inscribed with each person’s name, although in this version of events there is some evidence to show that attempts have been made to open my box, which adds a nice edge of realism to things. Inside is a note from the big man, informing me that I need to collect gems, and just as I read this I notice that the Barbarian is there watching me. At the same time, a voice (presumably the baron's) suddenly speaks as if from the very walls.

Apparently, some 5 minutes after the last person (me) enters the dungeon, something else will be released after us. This being has no name, as it is from “the other side”, and is referred to simply as “It Which Follows", or simply "It". Clearly this is more than a small nod to Stephen King’s demonic creature of the same name, but it adds an unexpected new twist to the story.

The voice goes on to warn that It will hunt down the group with a remorseless and unwavering single mindedness, without hope of being able to barter with It, harm It or hide from It.

It will use our deepest fears as it’s weapon and merely laying eyes upon It could result in you losing your mind completely. The only hope is to run from It, as it’s only real weakness is the fact that It is slow, with the only salvation coming when we cross the dungeon’s threshold.

The Barbarian is having none of this however, and fiercely boasts that he will run from and will fear nothing, and ignoring the warnings of the voice he goes to stand at the corner of the tunnel which faces the entrance. I watch him standing there motionless until he smiles and says the he can see something coming, and that it is merely a man, and so I begin to walk towards the corner to see for myself.

The change in the Barbarian’s expression halts me in my tracks, which is now frozen into a mask of terror, until at last he manages to shout the word “run!” before turning and fleeing off down one of the four tunnels heading into the dungeon. I stop and listen long enough to hear a set of slow, steady and remorseless footsteps coming ever closer, before following suit and rushing down the westernmost tunnel........

That first segment, coupled with the detailed and atmospheric into, is just about as much as you could ask for to kick things off. It sets you up with what is to come, which is a heady brew of suspense, horror and outright mind-fuckery.

I stumble out of the tunnel into a cavern-like opening, and almost trip headlong into the piles upon piles of bones littering the floor. Crunching across the scores of human skeletons proves to be an unsavoury prospect, but I linger here long enough to search through the remains until I discover a crystal pendant on a silver chain. I then decide to make haste from this charnel house through the western exit, thoroughly unsuspecting of the horrors to come.

The next cavern I enter is full of human remains once more, only this time the corpses are of a much fresher variety, with all the negative consequences that go with it. Despite this, and spurred on by my success in the previous area, I compel myself to make another grisly search. This time, the appalling surroundings and the Implications of what I’m actually doing begin to take their toll on my mind, until I sense movement all around me.

Several of the bloated and rotting cadavers have come to “life” and are climbing over their inert counterparts in order to get at me, which needless to say has the effect of freaking me out somewhat, until just as suddenly my head spins and then clears to reveal that it was just an hallucination. Time to leave.....

TO BE CONTINUED .....

[philsadler]

Rob Hatton PART TWO

Taking another tunnel to the north I eventually emerge into a chamber to find a large group of poorly dressed peasants attacking a lone victim, whom I cannot even see due to the press of bodies around them, but it seems clear that they are in need of assistance. I wade into the fray slashing this way and that until I become the primary focus of this rabid mob, leaving the victim free to high tail it out of there without even a backwards glance at my welfare...... how’s that for gratitude?

Fortunately my warrior’s training proves more than a match for these crudely armed and undisciplined thugs, and those who do not fall beneath my sword flee in blind panic.

With nothing more to discover here I leave through another tunnel and into a rapidly thickening fog until I can see nothing around me, but with my blindness comes a heightened sense of hearing, and I am beset on all sides by ominous whispering. This is some seriously spooky shit.

Suddenly I hear the rapidly approaching footfalls of somebody running straight at me, and before I can properly react they collide into me, the unseen figure making a feminine sound of terror before sprinting away in an unknown direction. The clatter of a fallen object follows the collision, and I spend a few moments groping around on the ground until I feel a smooth stone-like trinket, after which I also flee from this place. Just about making out a doorway with a question mark above it, I follow this route until the fog clears and I can identify the object as a black pearl with the number 53 upon it.

The room I now find myself in has a very promising sight in it, that of a treasure chest, which is just too tempting to ignore, despite the possible risks. The chest’s lid lies open, revealing coins and jewels aplenty, but as I reach out and touch some of it I find my hand stuck to the treasure. Suddenly a fist morphs itself from the wood and punches me in the gut, making it now very clear that I am up against an Imitator. Using mg free hand I draw my sword and hack at the thing until at last it ceases to move, leaving my hand now free once again, and I able the take the only thing which appears to be real...... a bone monkey charm.

I head through a western exit and find myself in the most horrific place yet, a huge cavernous space which is covered in a veritable sea of rotting corpses, with strangely the only space free of the dead being a chalk-drawn circle in the middle of the floor.

Before my very eyes, large patches of the ground now begin to open up allowing molten lava and flames to spring into the air, with the writhing dead caught in the inferno. This vision of hell can surely not be real? If not, then what us causing It? Am I slowly losing grip on my own sanity, or am I falling victim to the influence of It which follows?

Trying my best to summon up the will to continue, I block from my mind what is happening around my and skirt the edge of the cavern and make for a tunnel which has a cleaved arrow above it. I emerge from the crazed insanity into a pear shaped room, and find myself once again in the company of the Barbarian.

His manner immediately seems at odds with our previous meeting, somehow too open and friendly in comparison to the proud and aloof warrior he should be. He tells me that the Wizard is dead, apparently burned to death, although whether this is true I will probably never know. He suggests combining our efforts and working together as a team, but there is something about him which I immediately distrust, something of the Boromir under the ring's malign influence. I refuse his offer, steeling myself for the inevitable storm of violence to come, but he merely shrugs and leaves through one of the exits.

Lying on the floor where the Barbarian had been standing moments before is a small potion bottle, which again arouses my suspicion and I choose to ignore, instead leaving the room through a sign bearing a “thumbs up” symbol.

In the next room I find the body of the Gladiator, who has met with an appallingly violent death, with his various body parts scattered around the place in a totally undignified manner. I find myself thinking that this could have easily been accomplished with the Barbarian’s axe...... I choose not to stick around any longer and leave via a sign bearing a pair of red eyes.

I find myself in a sort of laboratory with glass bottles lining the walls and shelves, with one particular bottle catching my eye, which seems to have swirling black mist inside it. For a moment I think I spot a pair of red eyes within this black mist, arousing my suspicions that this bottle contains some kind of evil genie, possibly called a Nanka? Not entirely sure about the name, but it’s enough to put me off touching the bottle and I leave the room via an exit bearing some religious symbolism.

Beyond is a room which appears to be a comfortable living quarters of some kind, complete with a luxurious looking four-poster bed. The brief desire to rest a moment in this bed is quickly put aside by my fears of being overtaken by It Which Follows, whatever It may be, and decide that I do not want to find out.

I leave this room by an exit bearing an arrow made of skin, which frankly is not encouraging in any sense of the word.
The chamber I find myself in is a horrific and despicable kind of surgery, with its latest “patient” still lying on the stone slab which dominates the room.

All around flies are buzzing, making a sickening noise which seems to only amplify the stench of the place. Rats are crawling everywhere, which includes all over the corpse, which I notice has been completely skinned.

Staring at the ghastly body, I have a horrendous notion that it is somehow an exact copy of myself, only lacking it’s skin and eyes. This is when the thing sits up on the slab, and turning it’s head towards me it jumps down to the floor to reach for a rusty surgical implement.

Thus I must do battle with the Skinned Corpse, which is my unholy doppelganger, matching me in skill except for the disadvantage of being sightless. As I deal the “killing” blow to the thing and it falls to the floor, it simply vanishes along with the rats and the flies and the stench, leaving me standing dazed and confused in a dusty, but otherwise empty room.........

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!

[philsadler]

Rob Hatton CONCLUSION

Feeling that the mask of sanity has definitely slipped, I rush headlong out of the room into a bizarrely cross shaped chamber with a strange sarcophagus occupying one of the cross-arms, wreathed in a ghoulish green flame.

Detaching itself from this area comes a ghastly apparition to intercept me, a Death Wraith, which frankly is too much for my fragile psyche to handle at this precise moment and I flee in its unholy wake.

The exit I run through is marked with a multitude of eyes, and I find myself in a cave in which a strong acrid smell pollutes the air.

Dominating the far end of the cave, languishing in its disgusting pool of acidic slime, is the legendary Bloodbeast. As I look on in horrid fascination, eye-like blisters constantly erupt all over its bloated and blubbery body, hiding the location of its true eyes. (Its only real weakness)

Before I can decide on a course of action, an incredibly long tongue darts out to wrap itself around my body and begins to drag me inexorably towards the bath of acid. Fortunately I manage to sever the thing before I am pulled into the pool, and begin to wildly hack at the Bloodbeast’s slug-like body in the hope of scoring a miraculous strike.

After employing a dose of luck, I manage to hit one of the vulnerable eyes, incapacitating the creature long enough for me to escape it’s lair into the tunnel beyond.

Running headlong into the next chamber I bowl into and completely take by surprise another fellow adventurer, the black garbed silent assassin, the Ninja. In a flash be reaches for his katana, but I have the element of surprise here and slash at his exposed thigh, causing a significant wound.

This seems to give the Ninja cause to back away, still disbelieving that I managed to take him unawares. After boasting that he will enjoy killing me when we meet at the end of the dungeon, he is gone from the place with the speed of a cat.

Leaving by the exit adorned with an actual human face (great), I enter a dusty and cobwebbed room, with several corpses littering the floor. It seems that these were once animated undead that have been recently destroyed, and in the centre of the floor I once again see the strange white chalk circle, the same as before.

It is then that my ears pick up a strange sound coming from a darkened corner of the room, and moving closer to the source I behold an extremely disturbing sight.

Crouching down in the corner is a huge and brutal looking man, who is actually knawing on the leg of a still moving zombie, apparently oblivious to my presence.

This, of all the nightmarish horrors that I have endured thus far, seems to offend my sensibilities the most. Without even thinking about my actions, I swing my sword down onto the huge shoulder of the man, which seems to have very little effect besides enraging him.

The Beast, as he is apparently known, raises himself to his full height of nearly seven feet before launching into a savage attack. I fight valiantly against the enormous Beast, but the mission has finally taken it’s toll on my body, and my stamina fails me against my opponents vast strength.

I imagine myself being lifted from the ground in a bonecrushing bearhug, before being hurled against the wall like a rag doll, shattering my body like pottery against stone.........

......and thus ends my futile attempt at this disturbing incarnation of Sukhumvit’s dungeon. I enjoyed the experience immensely, particularly the atmosphere of surreal terror which seems to infect every tunnel and every turn of the page.

I recommend anyone reading this to give it a try yourselves...... if you dare.......

[philsadler]

Just had another really nice review over on www.ffproject.com/gcomf5t3s0.htm

I finished Deathtrap (using simply.fighting fantasy.net) more than a week ago, but it has taken me this long to compose my thoughts about it into these few words:

Firstly, thank you Phil. DD was my most favourite of all the official FF gamebooks, and while it has been around 30 years since I last played it, somehow it has stayed buried deep within me. So I was definitely excited to attempt this homage to the original, and I have to say that it did not disappoint.

I have to agree with Albertt above, the atmosphere created by the author was truly astounding throughout. There are sections that I felt so disgusted, fearful, revolted, saddened or one of so many other emotions just from journeying through them, that when re-attempting this adventure they became difficult to re-read. Phil has to be the most evocative of all authors on this fan site, and that is meant to be no small praise.

To successfully navigate Phil's fiendish dungeon, I mapped my progress through more than several attempts. The motifs on the arrows above most passages were an excellent concept, and helped with this greatly. However, this mapping revealed a couple of minor errors (where North should have been West for example) but I won't bore anyone with these details unless asked.

The absolute highlight for me was the protracted duel with
SPOILER
END SPOILER
. This probably has to be the most epic armed conflict I've ever faced in a gamebook, and most gratifying to finally overcome. Thanks again Phil.

If I had to be truly critical, I would say that I don't think that the inclusion of the randomized foes that you face (or even pit against one another) adds anything to the storyline. And I found it a little disappointing that, unlike the original Deathtrap Dungeon, this prequel could be finished without finding all 3 requisite gems. However, these are just minor personal quibbles I'm sure.

All told, I must rate Deathtrap as an epic of astoundingly entertaining literary skill; as a read it has to be a 10/10, and at least an 8.5/10 in gameplay. It is a truly worthy homage to the original, and all congratulations and tributes must be given to its author. Once again, thank you Phil.

[Peter]

Looks intriguing.  I have added this to my list.  I will definitely get onto it.  Just 20 more FFs, LW, the Warlock magazine adventures, all the Fighting Fantazines, then your one.

Actually, when I write it like that, it looks like I will never get there.  Deathtrap looks good, I will make it one of my top priorities.  And the ones in the Fantazines are crying out for my attention too.

Stand by.

[philsadler]

Better late than never!

[offm]

Nice to see someone using the simple FF engine...

Sent from my 5059D using proboards

[philsadler]

Just had another nice review by Condutas over on the Fighting Fantasy Project (I've deleted the spoilers so it may seem slightly disjointed):


[START QUOTE]

Hello there!

It is review time!

Let me just start by saying I never played the original book "DeathTrap Dungeon" but I played the sequel "The challenge of the champions" or something similar. I am familiar with the background.

Didn't really saw any bugs at all.

Exactly the same applies to your "House of Pain", since you can read the text, some would consider it "metagaming".

About secret references:

I like how most secret references on your book are related to


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The one, single exception to that rule is the one where

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The reason why I dislike ONLY that one clue is exactly what I told you in the past, when I reviewed your "House of Pain" and talked about the "knowledge one life char have but shouldn't have".

Love the fack that Makes it a much fair adventure.

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About the layout, the items needed to win and the

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I think it was a incredible nice touch and made me actually having to be very carefull to mapping everything well.

I also believe the number of hints, items and help you get is on point: not to much, with the ocasional lies in the middle but not too little. Definately better than in your Hellfire adventure, thats for God damn sure xD

My favorite enemy there, is, of course and with no surprise from you (I bet).

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I just love battles like thoses, for the exact same reason I liked your vampire lady in your third book here, "House of Pain".

The others enemy are fair balanced and without asking for big power spikes.

If I recall well, in "The Trial of Champions", the right path makes you.


SPOILER
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I like the fact that here its the same, its a nice, little, lets say "easter egg" you put there and I love it.

Most of the things I have write here are pretty much some information not that diferent from the other reviews I have done, soo let me just add this one last note about


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I think this was like "The Presence" in your other book but way, way way way better delivered and executed here. Love the notion that you put there, something in the lines of

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Kudos for that.

All in all, I liked the book a lot, its definately a good "dungeon crawl" kind of adventure. I would even say that this book have a lot of the best things you had in "Hellfire" and "Riders of Storm" while clearly removing some of the worst offenders.

Its not my favorite book on this site (Your "House of Pain" trumphs this one, in my eyes) but its still a solid 2nd place.

Nicely done

[END QUOTE]

[Peter]

So I've put Deathtrap at the top of my list and I've started working through my list.

I am very impressed so far - it is clear that you have put a lot of work into it. The environment is well-described without being too wordy. I like the way there are clues to what might lie ahead, not obvious and sometimes misleading.

I explored a lot before I finally got Fetched. There is plenty more to discover and I am looking forward to it. I don't like to use words like "engaged" too much, but I am definitely enjoying this adventure and I'm finding it hard to put down.

(If there is a separate thread for Deathtrap, move this to it.)

[a moderator]

Oct 10, 2021 0:52:58 GMT Peter said:

(If there is a separate thread for Deathtrap, move this to it.)

Done.

[Peter]

I don't mean to criticise, but I have found an error. When you are all sizing each other up (in the Background), the ninja looks at the barbarian and the cleric, which isn't possible.

[philsadler]

OMG! I never noticed that after all these years, and you are the first person to have spotted it!

I've edited the file and re-uploaded it.

[Peter]

Progress report:

This is very difficult! I have been mapping as I go, but I think I should have been making more copious notes as well. I can see that you need to do a lot of learning in order to make it through.

This adventure will hold my attention for quite a while and I expect there will be a real sense of achievement when I finally make it. It is making my head hurt, but in a good way.

[philsadler]

It's certainly a tough adventure, that's for sure but, unlike the original, you don't need great stats to complete it. I know this because I've play-tested it a few times.

Good luck!

[philsadler]

The Hungarian version is available for download here: 

drive.google.com/file/d/1D_UeMqHqCGOAJ7o_rH1_NpoeYdrriAL9/view?usp=sharing

With a colour cover and b/w internals.It's interesting to see how they have depicted the monsters I've created, and it's not always like I envisioned.

Click the link and then lick the download arrow on the top right if you're interested.