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Post by JMISBESTNO1 on Jun 11, 2018 2:44:00 GMT
Can my fellow fans say 1 thing you don't like about 3 Books in this series you love. Here's mine
Appointment With FEAR. Could only ever beat without cheating or a guide with Energy Bolt
Forest of Doom. The chance to go back through the forest if you don't get both halves of The Hammer makes it too easy
Rebel Planet. The fact that if you win The Entire Arcadian Race is effectively but not actually dead |
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Jun 11, 2018 13:05:06 GMT
I can only think of two at the moment.
Though I love tinkering with Stormslayer(it is my new hobby horse)I wish some of the multiple opponent rules were a little clearer. I interpret optimistically and fight one at a time. In a similar vein I wish the rules on whether to round up or down were stated clearly. I obey this rule optimistically as well.
Similarly with Night of the Necromancer I wish some of the rules were a little clearer. The main rule I follow is to reach paragraph 250 because if this is not sufficient then there is no way to answer the third question. I am not sure if some of the less optimum revelations are sufficient to answer the third question. To be on the safe side I interpret them as not sufficient.
Nevertheless I believe both of these works to be masterpieces.
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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 Jun 11, 2018 15:46:30 GMT
Easy.
Howl of the Werewolf - A fantastic book ruined in part by the absolutely pointless Change attribute. To possibly undergo the Change would make for a much more interesting adventure but it never happens unless you're extremely unlucky. There's also one paragraph section that is full of lore described in detail, one of the best scenes in the entire book that is made well nigh unreachable because you won't fail the necessary Change roll.
Spectral Stalkers - Another bizarre but amazingly written story with a similar problem as the above. The Trail attribute does nothing, but again if you're really unlucky and fail the roll, it takes you to the end of the book where it's still possible to win. In effect it's doing you a favour.
Black Vein Prophecy - My favourite story in the entire series that I can never play using dice. This is the book with the infamous Luck Test that you have to fail in order to succeed. Unforgivable really, but playing diceless and just enjoy it for the story makes this a real winner...but it's a weird adventure that isn't for everybody.
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Post by daredevil123 on Jun 11, 2018 15:57:15 GMT
City of Thieves: Possibly Livingstone's best book but the Skill 11 Moon Dog makes it almost impossible for a low stats character. And the random "choose the correct ingredient" element is unforgivable, as well as completely pointless.
House of Hell: A very atmospheric book but the Kris Knife ambiguity is infuriating. The fact that the book is impossible if your Fear score is too low is also poor design.
Stormslayer: Mostly an excellently designed book but the Mount Pyre section is extremely linear. I don't think I have ever made it out of there alive, let alone knowing the elemental's name.
I actually quite like the Change stat in Howl of the Werewolf. Although it should have been used more, at least it made me feel like something was happening the first few times I played it!
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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 Jun 11, 2018 16:22:53 GMT
I actually quite like the Change stat in Howl of the Werewolf. Although it should have been used more, at least it made me feel like something was happening the first few times I played it! Don't get me wrong, I love the concept. It was one of the things I looked forward to, but it never does anything so in the end, it was another missed opportunity. It may have worked if the additions to Change all had a +1 to them, and each time you undergo the Test, you also gain +1 to Change no matter the outcome. And, while we're on the subject, Serpensa is too hard and needs a -2 Skill reduction. |
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Post by daredevil123 on Jun 11, 2018 16:34:15 GMT
I actually quite like the Change stat in Howl of the Werewolf. Although it should have been used more, at least it made me feel like something was happening the first few times I played it! Don't get me wrong, I love the concept. It was one of the things I looked forward to, but it never does anything so in the end, it was another missed opportunity. It may have worked if the additions to Change all had a +1 to them, and each time you undergo the Test, you also gain +1 to Change no matter the outcome. And, while we're on the subject, Serpensa is too hard and needs a -2 Skill reduction. I agree with your amendments to Change. I don't mind Serpensa being so hard as she's not on the true path and makes collecting all five daggers much harder than the relatively easy main adventure. |
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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 Jun 11, 2018 17:05:04 GMT
Serpensa is the hardest of the five, even Varcolac in terms of how well you're equipped up to that point.
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Post by johnbrawn1972 on Jun 11, 2018 19:19:06 GMT
Serpensa is the hardest of the five, even Varcolac in terms of how well you're equipped up to that point. Maybe I should choose Howl as my third option. I suppose Howl does have the massive advantage where if you are 8 skill you can choose the easy route a la Champskees solution. One day I must see if I can best it but it is so compelling. If you have 10 skill Serpensa becomes a difficult reality rather than an impossibility. Again I would like to best Champskees solution but it is compelling prima facie. I agree more should have been made of the Change attribute where the odds were much more difficult resulting in you needing to know more of the book. This is my personal reason for preferring Night of the Necromancer and Stormslayer where you need to know the whole book which renders them the total opposite of Trial of Champions. Nevertheless Howl of the Werewolf is a masterpiece where, at the very least, the initial dice rolls mean very different paths are pursued. |
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Post by a moderator on Jun 11, 2018 21:44:48 GMT
Spectral Stalkers - Another bizarre but amazingly written story with a similar problem as the above. The Trail attribute does nothing, but again if you're really unlucky and fail the roll, it takes you to the end of the book where it's still possible to win. In effect it's doing you a favour. Sure, fail your Trail roll and all you have to do is survive the loss of 3d6 Stamina and then roll equal to or below your by now depleted Stamina (there's no opportunity to eat Provisions in between) on 6d6. A doddle. |
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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 Jun 11, 2018 23:05:58 GMT
Spectral Stalkers - Another bizarre but amazingly written story with a similar problem as the above. The Trail attribute does nothing, but again if you're really unlucky and fail the roll, it takes you to the end of the book where it's still possible to win. In effect it's doing you a favour. Sure, fail your Trail roll and all you have to do is survive the loss of 3d6 Stamina and then roll equal to or below your by now depleted Stamina (there's no opportunity to eat Provisions in between) on 6d6. A doddle. Isn't there a thing that makes you not suffer the damage and isn't too hard to obtain? Might be the clay ball or the clown. Been a long time since i read it but i remember the experience being survivable. |
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Post by a moderator on Jun 12, 2018 0:56:48 GMT
The clay ball may provide protection from the Stalkers' attack (provided you manage to get it, which is by no means a certainty), but failing your Trail roll means missing out on the opportunity to free Baratcha, so you still have to survive the 6d6 Stamina check, which is quite a challenge for the average adventurer even at full Stamina.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,451
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jun 12, 2018 9:36:41 GMT
Deathtrap Dungeon: Some of the battles are just way too hard - there's no point even trying with a Skill less than 11 - the enemies should have been weaker and/or there should have been ways to boost your Attack Strength (note this could serve for pretty much all Livingstone books after Forest of Doom) The Crimson Tide: Black Vein Prophecy gets all the grief for that Luck roll but failing the Ferocity roll in Crimson Tide then having to beat Death's Messenger straight after is much more unlikely Spectral Stalkers: I just hate the maze - I can't work out that map at all and it's just plain tedious. Luckily it's pretty much optional. |
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Post by philsadler on Jun 12, 2018 11:24:27 GMT
Mazes in gamebooks. I just don't like them. Even now there's one in Jonathon Green's Nightmare in Wonderland and I tried and tried but just couldn't be bothered with it.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,451
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jun 12, 2018 11:39:03 GMT
Mazes in gamebooks. I just don't like them. Even now there's one in Jonathon Green's Nightmare in Wonderland and I tried and tried but just couldn't be bothered with it. Yeah I gave up on that book about that point. Not intentionally, I just never mustered the enthusiasm to get back to it. |
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Post by hynreck on Jun 12, 2018 12:44:19 GMT
Mazes in gamebooks. I just don't like them. Even now there's one in Jonathon Green's Nightmare in Wonderland and I tried and tried but just couldn't be bothered with it. Well, while mazes are annoying, I remember that there are two ways of getting info for it in Green's Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland, info that both reveal the first and second half of the true path through the maze. Granted I can't remember if it is even possible to get both of those info in one try and I think they are well hidden, but if you get those the maze is a piece of cake.
Now, it's still a hard book, there a few bottlenecks near the end that are hairpulling. I can't go into details as I don't have my notes with me (plus no spoilers for you!), but I clearly remember getting to a dead end near the end, going through the book once or twice more to find the missing "key" to that dead end (and being relieved when I finally found it, of course), only to experience another dead end the very next paragraph! And it was... back to the beginning. Ouch. 
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Post by unknown on Jun 30, 2018 4:19:46 GMT
False paths. You think you're on the right track and getting progress done. But really you're doomed regardless. Hate that. I always feel cheated like some dirty hooker. Crypt of the Sorcerer i believe has a false path, can't remember, but those books are ones i just put back on the shelf and never open it again.
Mazes. I hate mazes. Scorpion Swamp was a huge pain. I think Warlock of Firetop mountain was just as bad too.
I like gamebooks you can defeat in one read, like Island of the Lizard King.
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Post by a moderator on Jul 1, 2018 12:58:55 GMT
Many Ian Livingstone gamebooks have false paths in them. Crypt also has a distinct lack of interesting encounters on the false paths.
What do people think is worse? Having a false path that is also dull, or 'wasting' interesting set pieces by putting them on dead-end trails?
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,451
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 1, 2018 18:07:45 GMT
What do people think is worse? Having a false path that is also dull, or 'wasting' interesting set pieces by putting them on dead-end trails? Definitely the former. I quite like involved false paths personally. |
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Post by slloyd14 on Jul 12, 2018 20:07:31 GMT
Moonrunner - you need 1 of 2 skills or you die.
Spectral Stalkers - you don't get to explore the worlds in depth. Especially future Khul.
Space Assassin - it's easy to miss the best encounters/scenarios - the jungle, the six armed alien and the tank battle.
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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 28, 2018 13:05:26 GMT
Moonrunner - you need 1 of 2 skills or you die. Either of these skills can be attained through the Mask of Belthegor. |
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Post by Paul Mc on Oct 31, 2018 2:08:28 GMT
1. House of Hell: The fact that you can't see the sacrificial part without dooming yourself is criminal.
2. Citadel of chaos... paragraph 400 is a little unsatisfactory. Now you've won You can use a levitation spell if you have one or you can go back through the citadel.
3. Warlock of Firetop mountain... the maze of zagor!!
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Post by vastariner on Dec 17, 2018 17:29:45 GMT
Slaves of the Abyss...there was never a sequel for the successful adventurer.
Black Vein Prophecy...you have to fail a test to win.
Siege of Sardath...I think it is a rotten trick that, if you transfer into Black Elf form, AND have wings, that the wings do not also transform into a dark colour. What should have been a route to completion for the intelligent reader turned into an unforeseeable trap.
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Post by Wilf on Jan 10, 2019 7:53:58 GMT
MUDWORM SKILL 12
You reach...
Being impaled by the Headhunters' trap if you're Lucky. (Especially if you *didn't* see the skull on the post.)
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,451
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jan 10, 2019 16:45:33 GMT
This error actually makes the book easier since avoiding it puts you on the correct path |
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Post by marblefigure on Apr 23, 2019 21:28:22 GMT
Three I really love do still have points I can criticise:
Deathtrap Dungeon - The confusion between restoring skill points and gaining attack strength bonuses.
Trial of Champions - Chuck the champion fighting slave in the deadlier dungeon with only a sword, and expect them to win? Really?
Night of the Necromancer - The player character is not a mage, so how on Titan can they use the Codex Mortis?
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