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Post by stevendoig on May 26, 2019 18:20:37 GMT
BLACK VEIN PROPHECY
OK, I remember getting this book at the time of release and thinking the cover was the worst ever! (certainly one of the worst anyway) I was also annoyed with how it started thinking to myself - 'They're just ripping off Creature Of Havoc' I have never got anywhere with the book, its so tricky and I get fed up with it after a shot or two.. However, today it is pouring rain and with very little else to do, I decided to give it my very best try.
1st SHOT -- 10/19/8 - I failed the luck roll which was a good start! I plodded around for quite a bit, had to look for the sitting statue and got killed by eels in a river coz I never had a chang whistle.
2nd SHOT - 10/19/12 - No multi coloured scales this time but never mind - I ended up in much the same place as last time, but having never acquired the chang whistle , I head out the jungle, join up with an army and get massacred.
3rd shot - 8/21/8 - Failed the luck test again - great! This time, near the beginning, I decide to associate with the bandits and end up their leader and end up dead.
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Post by stevendoig on May 26, 2019 18:23:28 GMT
4th try - 7/18/11 - Oh where is the chang whistle? (Not that it really matters coz I don't have multi coloured scales) Anyway, I poke my nose in various places and end up in a village where they really don't like me , so i die.
5th try - 10/16/11 - I found the chang whistle!! Jubilations! I also find a couple more codewords I missed earlier. I went back to the jungle, used my whistle --- then I got lost and died!
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Post by stevendoig on May 26, 2019 18:28:46 GMT
OK, I had NO chance of actually winning on my final shot, but I decided that I would max my stats and 'cheat' on the luck roll (I reckon I could live with that!) Anyway, I find the statue in the jungle, and even more crazy, I make the right decisions and get it back safely. I end up probably doing a lot of the right things, however, I never picked up battleplans this time round (I did the last couple times) - so I died.
FAILURE
Still don't like it, there is absolutely NO room for starying off the designated path, and although this is the furtherest I have ever got in the book, i'm pretty sure it would have at least another six goes to get anywhere , and i'd probably still have had tocheat on the luck test
Has anyone completed this book fairly?
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Post by lordomnibok on May 26, 2019 23:05:29 GMT
Spine creases suggest that I gave this book a good read a long time ago, yet I have no recollection of it. Quite odd. Had I completed it, I think I would recall. Anyway, Spectral Stalkers is getting closer and I loved the oddity of that one. Still really enjoying the Six Shotties thread.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,563
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on May 28, 2019 8:59:32 GMT
OK, I had NO chance of actually winning on my final shot, but I decided that I would max my stats and 'cheat' on the luck roll (I reckon I could live with that!) Anyway, I find the statue in the jungle, and even more crazy, I make the right decisions and get it back safely. I end up probably doing a lot of the right things, however, I never picked up battleplans this time round (I did the last couple times) - so I died. FAILURE Still don't like it, there is absolutely NO room for starying off the designated path, and although this is the furtherest I have ever got in the book, i'm pretty sure it would have at least another six goes to get anywhere , and i'd probably still have had tocheat on the luck test Has anyone completed this book fairly? I think so though I may have cheated on the initial Luck roll. Possibly in the spell battle at the end too. |
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Post by stevendoig on May 28, 2019 18:14:48 GMT
Yep that one luck roll possibly makes the book broken....
Onyway - I've been busy
KEEP OF THE LICH LORD
I remember this was the first FF book I bought after starting the Academy, a lad (who didnt believe I had a full set) took great delight in waving a copy under my nose, so I bought a copy the following weekend. I've always had a soft spot for it even though it is quite easy, and also full of relatively pointless diversions.
1st try - 11/14/9 - OK, I got the spear, and ended up making friends with a bonny elf lassie but also a bad man. This meant I had to fight a bunch of vampires and I got killed.
2nd try - 11/18/10 - I avoided the graveyard this time and made for the keep as quick as I could, once there I went straight through a door and got killed by a bunch of arrows.
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Post by stevendoig on May 28, 2019 18:27:07 GMT
3rd try - 10/17/10 This time, I go to the graveyard and don't make friends with the baddy. This meant I didn't have to fight vampires. I helped with a slaver ship. However, on my return journey, I decided not to help the centaur (coz he annoyed me on my first try,) and this meant I was too late in reaching the keep....
4th try - 10/20/10 - OK, this time, I got all the rubbish moves out my system! Bit of a breeze, and by the time I faced up to Mortis (and what a let down THAT was.) I had an extra skill point and a frankly silly initial luck of 14.
SUCCESS!!!
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Post by stevendoig on May 28, 2019 18:36:10 GMT
LEGEND OF THE SHADOW WARRIORS
Don't remember this one much from my youth, although I certainly bought it on release. Its well read now, and one of my favourites!
1ST TRY _ 8/17/12 - I lost my weapon in Royal Lendle so when I met a Shadow Warrior after stepping outside - I died!
2nd TRY - 9/23/11 - I ended up in those horrible caves inhabited by Smegg and strange hot fire which burns me, although I eventually found the book I was looking for, my stamina had taken a battering. I rolled a life force of 9 for the spear and met Voivod. Unfortunetly, I hadn't encountered any of the shadow warriors earlier. I used the spears life force to kill a couple, then got killed fighting Voivod after failing rolls against the spear.
3rd try - 11/19/11 - I went the other way and met the circus and the mandrakes which is a cool wee sub plot. Getting the spear with a max life force of 11 and a brilliant ring of destiny helped loads. I also met guignol and his very unsettling discovery and then I went to town and found a cool mace. This meant my fight with three remaining shadow warriors was a breeze and having passed the roll against the spear, I won!!
Fantastic book! - ALWAYS a pleasure to read!
SUCCESS!!!
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Post by stevendoig on May 29, 2019 21:15:42 GMT
SPECTRAL STALKERS
Like books 36 & 37 up here in Scotland, this book and Tower of Destruction appeared in the bookshops at the same time. I remember hating the cover, hating the premise and cheating my way to the end in no time. My copy is in beautiful condition which suggests I haven't played it much at all -
1st SHOT - 7/19/11 - I went lots of places - the future Khul one was the most interesting I suppose! Anyway, I gathered up a few round objects as specified and decided to find the mannie who could tell me stuff. I ended up in a horrible maze and got killed by some venom
2nd SHOT - 9/20/8 - I visited the sci fi world with the grappler robot, I hadn't picked up anything useful and therefore he kept reducing my skill until I died!
3rd SHOT - 12/20/8 - I 'accidently' (coz I wasn't paying attention) visited the ziggurat world first, which was foolish as I ended up with a stamina of 2 and had to roll less than that with six dice - hmmmmmmmmmm.
That'll do the night. Its an OK book, but not my cup of tea, each world has no space to be developed properly, and I can see me getting a bit sick of playing it next time!
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Post by stevendoig on May 29, 2019 21:16:11 GMT
whoops!
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Post by lordomnibok on May 30, 2019 8:10:24 GMT
I really liked SS because of its uniqueness, but I can see why it could be a bit of a marmite book; not for everyone.
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Post by stevendoig on May 30, 2019 19:09:48 GMT
Oh aye, I understand why people would like it( I think!)
4th TRY - 12/22/10 - AAAH. Very happy. EVERYTHING went right, I found my way through the annoying maze. I found 3 round things which wasn't enough so a bit of a waste of time really. I went to the ziggurat world , made some fluky but correct choices and let the big baddy get killed by the stalkers -I win!!!
SUCCESS!
Will I play it again? - nah!
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Post by stevendoig on May 30, 2019 19:14:27 GMT
TOWER OF DESTRUCTION - See the last book, THIS book and the next book all annoyed me when I was a laddie and made me stop buying FF for a year or so. Anyway, I canny mind much of this book at all.
1st try - 7/19/8 - Ouch, I didn't last long. I decided to look for a sage as recommended by a bird, had tofight a smoke demon and he killed me!!
2nd try - 10/20/11 - OK, got a bit further! Met a tribe, traded some stuff, found the sphere, then I got killed by a fire elemental ....
3rd try - 9/23/8 - OK, I went a different route inside the sphere, and then I made some bad rolls while fighting a Man Orc, so i died!
I am getting NOWHERE with this book so far! - Will try again tomorrow! |
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Post by stevendoig on May 31, 2019 20:19:20 GMT
OK, TOWER OF DESTRUCTION continued....
4th Try - 11/18/8 - Ok, so I reached the good old sphere in one piece again, this time I decided to turn right coz I hadnt been there before, and there was a golem to fight. Then I went into an aperture and fell a long way.
5th try - 9/14/11 - Made it to the sphere. Made it to the Man orc - JUST beat him (coz I had a bonus with the akavit for one fight), then I met a man, and the sphere blew up and I went to look for the ice palace . Then I met a polar bear and I died........
DULL< DULL< DULL
6th try - MAX stats. OK,, I got to the good old 'hub' I tried nearly EVERYWHERE but didn't do well. There was a HUGE JOBBY of a number puzzle that there was no way in hell I could solve (I'm not bright). I never found the ice keys so I ended up in the tower unprepared. Didn't really matter coz I fell out the tower and died - aaaarrrgggh
My God, that was a tiresome dull book, not going near that again! Fight, fight fight, collect loads of stuff, yawn.
NEXT - One of my least favourites of all time
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Post by stevendoig on May 31, 2019 20:27:25 GMT
THE CRIMSON TIDE I bought this on release. I hated it SO much (along with the previous book) that I didn't buy any FF for two years or so. 1st try - 1/5/9/8 - Whoops, I went the wrong way at the beginning and had to fight that wonderful mudworm..... 2nd try - 2/6/9/8 - I pottered around for a long time - I picked up ONE single codeword ('art') and one item (wooden plaque), I made it to the palace and was killed by a monk of baochou. 3rd try - 3/11/9/9 - I tried something different early on, and ended up in an arena and was killed by a scary beast. 4th try - 2/11/9/12 - I tried something different early on, and it meant I headed back to the tremendous mudworm..... 5th try - 4/7/10/9 - I got a single code word again ('magic') , I ended up meeting the bad lads who killed my dad, because I was still young they recognised me and I died. 6th try - MAX STATS (For what they are worth) OK, did a wee bit better (or not as the case may be) I ended up with FOUR codewords! ( 'King', 'offer' 'crane' 'turn'). Back to the palace eventually and I got thrown in a cell and suffered a VERY disturbing ending where I suffered the pleasures of the sadistic pantu'... FAILURE!!! TWO Horrible books in a row!!!  Next ones great though!!!! |
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Post by daredevil123 on May 31, 2019 21:21:13 GMT
How did you handle "max stats" for TCT, given that a high Ferocity is disadvantageous? |
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Post by stevendoig on May 31, 2019 21:23:37 GMT
Well, I did not know that! However, I very much doubt it would have made a huge difference to my playthrough!
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Post by daredevil123 on Jun 1, 2019 8:27:47 GMT
I'd recommend you give TCT a few more tries. It's not for everyone and is very difficult but completing it is very satisfying and will probably make you appreciate the rest of the book more. Suffice it to say it's very different from any other FF book.
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 810 
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on Jun 1, 2019 12:04:32 GMT
THE CRIMSON TIDE I bought this on release. I hated it SO much!! YES. CRIMSON TIDE is a very bad book. Winning with 15 or 16 years old. Mission only talk with the king. Horrible book. |
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Post by stevendoig on Jun 2, 2019 9:39:51 GMT
MOONRUNNER
AAAAH ,one far more to my liking! I bought this book along with 49 & 50 a year or so after release - Hence its my first FF to not have shiny writing on the cover. The oddest thing is that as a youth I never even opened the book at all ! I presumed by the title that it was a sci fi one! I first played it around the turn of the century and its one of the best!
1st TRY - 8/15/12 - Weedy skill so i tried to avoid battles. A Dark Elf assassin nearly finished me off but I hung in there. I met the monocle lady and got 4 of the artefacts. However, after encountering someone who had been killed by the Shocker, I decided to 'hang around' and was arrested by guards!
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Post by stevendoig on Jun 2, 2019 9:42:24 GMT
2nd TRY -9/18/10 - Played it a wee bit different, ended up finding out where the Shocker lived and after collecting my artefacts, I went and killed him. This led to working out where Gruul was hiding, and after a few lame battles, he tried to kill me. Some lucky rolls and having the relevant items meant I won through!
Still a great book - so many different ways toplay (and win)
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Post by stevendoig on Jun 3, 2019 19:46:33 GMT
SIEGE OF SARDATH
First book I bought and decided not to write on my adventure sheet! Also first book I bought and decided toalways play fair - therefore ,I got nowhere.!
1st try - 11/17/9 - I remember travelling up the river was a good idea, I love meeting the Slykk and finding istu. I then met a mould zombie, and because it seemed to be bad news tolet the fight goon more than 2 attack rounds, I used my luck - oh then I died!!
2nd try - 11/23/12 - I didn't go in the direction of the mould zombie this time. I killed the imposter elf and got in the tomb. I saved a man at Sardath. I climbed some mountains and got killed by a flyer horde.
3rd try - 10/20/10 - Tried a few different options but with pretty much the same results....
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Post by stevendoig on Jun 3, 2019 19:52:00 GMT
4th try - 9/21/10 - This time I tracked a nasty river up the mountain. I followed a smaller body ofwater and got killed by some 'hobgoblin type creatures'
5th try - 8/19/11 - I failed my skill roll and got killed by the wood elves.
6th try - max stats - now i'm sure (due to TWO separate references to it, that I REALLY need to find a brass key. Shame that - I have NO idea where it is!! I've definitely found it in past playthroughs coz I mind visiting the giants castle and mixing potions and stuff. Anyway, I climb up the mountains and may as well go into a cave. Istu gets into a fight and I pass through a door. I have a very hopeful reference to turn to ( I dinny think) when a Dark elf speaks to me. Shortly a dark elf speaks to me.
I died!
FAILURE!
Jings! - how annoying!
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,563
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jun 3, 2019 21:46:15 GMT
I REALLY need to find a brass key. Shame that - I have NO idea where it is!! There's actually 2 different places to get it if memory serves. |
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jun 4, 2019 1:13:35 GMT
THE CRIMSON TIDE I bought this on release. I hated it SO much (along with the previous book) that I didn't buy any FF for two years or so. 1st try - 1/5/9/8 - Whoops, I went the wrong way at the beginning and had to fight that wonderful mudworm..... 2nd try - 2/6/9/8 - I pottered around for a long time - I picked up ONE single codeword ('art') and one item (wooden plaque), I made it to the palace and was killed by a monk of baochou. 3rd try - 3/11/9/9 - I tried something different early on, and ended up in an arena and was killed by a scary beast. 4th try - 2/11/9/12 - I tried something different early on, and it meant I headed back to the tremendous mudworm..... 5th try - 4/7/10/9 - I got a single code word again ('magic') , I ended up meeting the bad lads who killed my dad, because I was still young they recognised me and I died. 6th try - MAX STATS (For what they are worth) OK, did a wee bit better (or not as the case may be) I ended up with FOUR codewords! ( 'King', 'offer' 'crane' 'turn'). Back to the palace eventually and I got thrown in a cell and suffered a VERY disturbing ending where I suffered the pleasures of the sadistic pantu'... FAILURE!!! TWO Horrible books in a row!!! Next one's great though!!!! Yes I too hit a brick wall with this and found it very frustrating. My habit at the time of not keeping a full adventure sheet and just committing codewords etc to memory really didn't help. If you are planning to win it without looking up the solution, that's the best tip: if it tells you to write something down, write it down. (I don't regret just looking up the solution though!) It's a clever book, but its cleverness mostly gets in the way of it being good FF rather than helping, imo. (Anyway I said all of this on the TCT thread.) As I recall, Paul Mason said in a Fantazine interview that he'd set out to write the hardest FF book because fans kept saying that was what they wanted. Later he felt silly about it as he knew enough about marketing to know that what people say they want and what they really want are two different things. How did you handle "max stats" for TCT, given that a high Ferocity is disadvantageous? Which is a particular problem (both for playing with max stats and winning by the rules) as Stamina and Ferocity are linked. This of course is particularly unfair as you need to 'fail' a Ferocity roll for the necessary encounter with Death's Messenger, but if you have low enough Ferocity for a good chance of that happening you probably have low enough Stamina that he's likely to kill you anyway. Grrrr. |
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Post by philsadler on Jun 4, 2019 3:23:03 GMT
I always wonder if that luck test was a mistake? Has Mason ever said?
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,563
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jun 4, 2019 6:45:30 GMT
I always wonder if that luck test was a mistake? Has Mason ever said? No I think he's said it was an intentional trick so cheaters wouldn't succeed. Ironically it just encourages people to cheat anyway |
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Post by stevendoig on Jun 4, 2019 19:39:44 GMT
It certainly does!!  RETURN TO FIRETOP MOUNTAIN 1st TRY - 8/18/8 - Oh look a Doppelganger - lots and lots of dice were rolled, but he killed me! 2nd TRY - 9/20/12- Made it in to firetop Mountain this time, I am making sure I keep a nice map. However, I very soon get sliced to bits by some animated weapons. 3rd try - 11/20/12 - OK,i wont go in that room! I enter a torture chamber and follow a goblin. I bought rope and lantern earlier, that was lucky! Then I sit in a 'sap chair' and die... 4th try - 11/16/12 - I decide to follow the goblin again. I end up in the Gorgon's lair, and the inevitable happens..... 5th try - 12/19/9 - I begin to suspect that following the goblin is a legendary 'Crappy Livingstone Wrong Path', so i don't go that way! I find a golden tooth and also paper and slate with words! This is looking good. I cross the river and then get killed by some Lizard men.... ONE MORE GO |
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Post by stevendoig on Jun 4, 2019 19:41:07 GMT
6th TRY - MAX STATS
I was raring to go!
However, I rolled poorly against the doppelganger and I died!!
FAILURE
I was convinced I completed this book when I first got it - I must have cheated!!!!
NEXT UP - I thought i'd stick with the 10th Anniversary and play 'Rogue Mage' from the yearbook! |
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Post by schlendrian on Jun 4, 2019 20:19:53 GMT
raring?
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