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Post by jmisbest on Feb 17, 2020 19:37:20 GMT
I've just read The Topic on A Basic to Epic and have created my own version that will give me a good chance of completing the challenge and do so without cheating, without using guides and only doing those Books that I have memorised a path to win that's not always the best. Here's my version. What do you think?
You start with Skill 7, Stamina 14 and Luck 7 You quest is to get to Skill 13+, Stamina 25+ and Luck 13+
But you randomly roll other stats. For example Resolve in Keep of The Liche Lord, Faith in Vault of The Vampire and Presence in Island of The Undead
You can only have 1 melee weapon(that can be magical), 1 armour(that can be magical) and 5 other items(that can be magical) on you
You can have up to 12 meals or equivalent(like The Cheeses in Revenge of The Vampire) and get map making gear, fire making gear, cooking gear, Lantern, Bedroll and backpack and without using up even 1 of your allowance of 5 items
As well as which Flint and Tinder as a set are 1 item, up to 8 torches as a set are 1 item but depending on size and weight Flint, Tinder and up to 5 torches are the biggest set that are only 1 item
You can have unlimited cash and other treasures, but Shields and Ranged Weapons count against your limit of 5 items
Although you can have unlimited cash you only generate it in The Book you start in
Quest items such as Fangs of Furies Bracelet and Torch and Scorpion Swamps Spell Jewels don’t count against your 5 item limit in the book they appear in but do if used outside of them
You gain Skills and Spells in books as standard and while you don’t lose them when you leave the book their never used again
In The 2nd Sorcery Book The Massive Backpack lets you hold 5+5-1 or 9 items but if you lose it or its stolen you potentially lose 9 Items
After any adventure in which being given a place of residence seems reasonable I can use that place/those places of residence to store stuff that know or think won’t be of use in my next adventure but don’t want to lose in case it/they are of use in a later adventure
After adventures in which you get a large reward but little if any of it is described you can assign whatever you judgement deems reasonable but remember that without a house to store stuff you’ll lose most of it
If you do Armies of Death you can store as much as you want with your workers to put in your castle at the start, in it at the end and with trusted members of your army during it
If you do Deathtrap Dungeon that you can spend all of The 10,000 Gold on 1 Magic Crate that’ll send anything you want to a house you also buy with the prize and 1 set of 3 Magic Bags that let you hold up to another 15 items but they’re lost as a set, so lose 1 you lose the set and potentially 15 items
In The 4-Part Sorcery Series you can have as many Spell Ingredients as you think you can reasonably carry but outside of The 4-Part Sorcery Book any Spell Ingredients other then Coins, Items that are also of Value, any number of Goblin Teeth, 1 Giants Tooth, 1 dose of Blimberry Juice and The Comb that holds limitless Beeswax each count as 1 item
I’m even being clever and doing Warlock of Firetop Mountain for A Weapon that gives +2 Skill and a permanent +2 Luck from Potion of Fortune, then Demons of The Deep(for which I net 2D6+2x100 of both cash and pirate loot), for +1 Skill, then Moonrunner for A Item that gives -1 Skill to all foes, then Deathtrap Dungeon for +1 to all 3 stats, then Scorpion Path for +2 Luck for declaring you’ll only aide good and then The 4 Sorcery Books for the juicy bonuses at the end of Books 1 and 3 and during Book 4 On Howl of The Werewolf
In theory you can keep and use The Ritual of Banishment and The Holy World that halves The Skill and Stamina of mutated Freaks but I’m only doing the books that I can beat from memory with no cheating, no guides and theirs no foes they’ll work on in the books I can win in that way
The 5 Silver Daggers that are essential in your Quest and The 2 Silver Candlesticks that can be uses to beat The Vampire Lady of Maunn only count as 2 sets that only use up 1 item allowance in this Book
Sadly though but outside of Howl of The Werewolf The 2 Silver Candlesticks count as your near limitless Treasure Allowance but The 5 Silver Daggers are each 1 Item and if you do carry all 5 you can’t carry anything else
As for The +1 Skill, +2 Stamina and A Power or Ability The Werewolf Curse gives you from time to time you only permanently gain The +1 Skill and +2 Stamina once, don’t keep The Power or Ability and if you get/roll/generate quickening then you don’t get A 2nd +1 Skill
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Post by Law on May 13, 2020 13:06:12 GMT
It's cool to see someone had a similar idea to me of making a solo campaign out of the FF stories, much like Lone Wolf and Way of The Tiger. At first I wanted to raise Initial scores by one for every book beaten (like the Magna-Kai series) but then I made a basic level up system of gaining 10 x your Initial Skill +1 (80-130XP) via the accumulation of the skill scores of every one you slew / defeated. Stamina could only rise by magic or if you took a build-up of damage over your Initial score during your history and Luck could only be raised by circumstance or a Potion of Fortune. I'm a lore fiend in case you're wondering, so I wanted as complete continuity as possible and even looked up dates on Titannica to see which instalments would be out of the running for my two characters. 1st, Sigurd Jaeger, a human male warrior, eventual paladin [SK 12 / ST 21 / LK 12] (on first rolls, I'm not kidding!) born 255 AC, on the 27th of Warming, within Clam Beach's settlement in Ruddlestone. - 267 AC, Captain Cinnabar's pirate galleon, the Virago, puts Clam Beach to the torch and murders your father and brothers. - 272 AC, your mother dies and you join a merchantman as a sail-sword, travelling to all corners of Titan (trained by the sword maestro Barolo in Khul) - 275 AC, SPECTRAL STALKERS - 277 AC, BLOODBONES (Sig avenges his family) - 278 AC, SCORPION SWAMP (good path of course!) - 279 AC, WARLOCK OF FIRETOP MOUNTAIN (gain the +2 IN SK Sword and the Crescent Moon Shield) - 280 AC, KEEP OF THE LICH-LORD (gain the Stayng Plate Armour, -1 to all DMG) - 281 AC, CITY OF THIEVES, DUNGEONEER!, BLACKSAND! (the latter two are said to take place in 284 but too many of the books already do that according to TITAN!) - 282 AC, FOREST OF DOOM, TEMPLE OF TERROR- 283 AC, DEATHTRAP DUNGEON, ISLAND OF THE LIZARD KING (gain the first-round auto win helmet) - 284 AC, MASTER OF CHAOS, (after being fated so in the Old World you return to your homeland and join the Knights of Telak) - 287 AC, KNIGHTS OF DOOM, (perhaps my personal favourite) - 288 AC, PORAL OF EVIL - 289 AC, BENEATH NIGHTMARE CASTLE, ALLANSIA! - 290 AC, STEALER OF SOULS (first game-book I ever read and beat) - 293 AC, SPELLBREAKER (back to Ruddlestone for pilgrimage) - 296 AC, NIGHT DRAGON (most epic final boss in the series) - 298 AC, SLAVES OF THE ABYSS (second game-book I ever beat, loved book-ending this character with arguably the two most trippy books after SKY LORD) Unfortunately, I can't remember his epic stats but he was definitely running Attack Strength scores in the range of 35-45 when fully kitted-out with stat-boosting gear. I had to start buffing boss enemies' skill and stamina and kitting them out with 1-6 special moves to make them a challenge!
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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 May 13, 2020 14:39:47 GMT
I could be mistaken but I don't think Attack Strength scores can ever reach 45! Unless you were using 12 Magic weapons at the same time.
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on May 13, 2020 16:10:00 GMT
No way. Scorpion swamp has indeed a powerfull essence inside it. I always was a defensor of a stronger adaptation of that book. BUT, IT MUST BE THE EVIL PATH!!
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vagsancho
Knight
Posts: 809
Favourite Gamebook Series: CRYPT OF THE SORCERER
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Post by vagsancho on May 13, 2020 16:39:46 GMT
"Night Dragon -, most epic final boss in the series" ( ??... ??... ??) RAZAAK! (!!!)
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Post by Law on May 13, 2020 17:21:41 GMT
Razaak was more the most desperate, terrifying boss, rather than a sheer spectacle! For Sy: My Initial Skill became about 28/24 by the end of my campaign thanks to levelling and because I was using the Firetop Mountain sword and Shanzikuul's Ring of Swordsmanship. My attack strength was only boosted +1 for armour, +1 for shield, +1 for the OP winged-helmet and +2 for the bracelet and gauntlet you find in Darkwood.
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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 May 13, 2020 18:03:01 GMT
Razaak was more the most desperate, terrifying boss, rather than a sheer spectacle! For Sy: My Initial Skill became about 28/24 by the end of my campaign thanks to levelling and because I was using the Firetop Mountain sword and Shanzikuul's Ring of Swordsmanship. My attack strength was only boosted +1 for armour, +1 for shield, +1 for the OP winged-helmet and +2 for the bracelet and gauntlet you find in Darkwood.
That explains a lot. The whole point of a challenge is that you don't start it being anyone who is way too powerful. When you don't have to 'work' for your victories, it isn't a challenge anymore. Out of all those adventures, the only one that may have been challenging is Bloodbones and that is only because it is a difficult adventure faced early on. Everything afterwards would be way too easy. The Skill leveling is not in any way balanced (Skill 28 is beyond a joke!) and should not be included. If nothing can hurt you, what is the point of rolling dice or even playing? Play the books as they should be played and you may find that it can be just as fun.
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Post by Law on May 13, 2020 18:33:58 GMT
Razaak was more the most desperate, terrifying boss, rather than a sheer spectacle! For Sy: My Initial Skill became about 28/24 by the end of my campaign thanks to levelling and because I was using the Firetop Mountain sword and Shanzikuul's Ring of Swordsmanship. My attack strength was only boosted +1 for armour, +1 for shield, +1 for the OP winged-helmet and +2 for the bracelet and gauntlet you find in Darkwood.
That explains a lot. The whole point of a challenge is that you don't start it being anyone who is way too powerful. When you don't have to 'work' for your victories, it isn't a challenge anymore. Out of all those adventures, the only one that may have been challenging is Bloodbones and that is only because it is a difficult adventure faced early on. Everything afterwards would be way too easy. The Skill leveling is not in any way balanced (Skill 28 is beyond a joke!) and should not be included. If nothing can hurt you, what is the point of rolling dice or even playing? Play the books as they should be played and you may find that it can be just as fun. I getcha completely, and I'm gonna let you finish! But you might have missed the part in my first post when I said I did level up a lot of opponents. (I've played them as stand-alone issues loads of times and wanted to try something different) Your standard orcs, gobbos and wild animals were always mob fodder to be hacked down. But I remember the new and improved Iron Cyclops, Mortis, the Moon Dog duo, the Shapechanger, the Mutant Orc Assassin (who brought me down to 1 ST before I killed him with a Lucky Strike) and especially Belgaroth and Mordraneth absolutely kicked my ass! (the latter even required save scumming - as did the Kurakil) I would usually up Skill and Stamina by 50%, then 100%, then even between 150-300% towards the final books. Unlike the standard rules, where you can never fail a Test of Skill upon reaching 12, I began using a 1d20, (then 1d20+1d10) to keep up the tension and gave super-strength opponents like giants and other very large monsters 3d6 AS rolls (like that time you use the Strength Spell against the Rhino guard in Citadel) So you see, a healthy challenge was still very much on my mind!
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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 May 13, 2020 18:50:55 GMT
No, I read that part too. But buffing Enemies as you buff your Hero is unnecessary. I'm suggesting that if you start with low stats and try to win adventures that way, it becomes a lot more satisfying and fun whenever you succeed. Instead of Skill 12, use Skill 7 and work your way up. With Skill 12 you started at the top which made all encounters a walkover, otherwise you wouldn't have felt the need to increase their attack scores. If you started with a weak hero, you wouldn't have to do that at all, and the result would still be the same. Of course, this is only a suggestion. You can play your game how ever you want. It's not how I would play it, but that's just me.
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Post by Law on May 14, 2020 13:58:36 GMT
No, I read that part too. But buffing Enemies as you buff your Hero is unnecessary. I'm suggesting that if you start with low stats and try to win adventures that way, it becomes a lot more satisfying and fun whenever you succeed. Instead of Skill 12, use Skill 7 and work your way up. With Skill 12 you started at the top which made all encounters a walkover, otherwise you wouldn't have felt the need to increase their attack scores. If you started with a weak hero, you wouldn't have to do that at all, and the result would still be the same. Of course, this is only a suggestion. You can play your game how ever you want. It's not how I would play it, but that's just me. Hmm... Bloodbones had a tonne of mandatory combat encounters. And was no push-over even with 12. It's practically a prerequisite to win. In the Lone Wolf series you could go from a minimum of Combat Skill 11 at the start of the series to a range within the 40's to 60's! So I see no harm in making the median of skill broader than the 7-12 catchment area. I won't deny though that my other campaign was more... messy. 2nd, Felicie Erien, Lycan female shaman, eventual sorceress [SK 08 / ST 14 / LK 11] born 244 AC, on the 10th of Winds, atop the cloud forests nestled among the Anvils of The Gods (technically an Analander! Though born to a a mother who was of the Vynheim and a Femphreyan father [some of the books do a better job than others of being ambiguous regarding your gender, I had to imagine that a weaker female seeress might sometimes glamour themselves as a man while in the harsh outback of Titan, or on the high seas {I can't stand dissonances}]) - 258 AC, HOWL OF THE WEREWOLF (tied with Knights and City as a massive favourite) - 262 AC, DEMONS OF THE DEEP- 264 AC, SEAS OF BLOOD- 271 AC, CURSE OF THE MUMMY- 281 AC, MIDNIGHT ROGUE, DUNGEONEER! BLACKSAND!- 282 AC, CAVERNS OF THE SNOW WITCH, PORT OF PERIL- 283 AC, ASSASSINS OF ALLANSIA (Sig takes her place in the Walk by volunteering to be glamoured in her form when facing Lord Azzur, after she saved him from the Animated Tyrannosaurus Skelton end-boss in DUNGEONEER! Also explains away the incongruities this book raised since I'd already had Sig win Deathtrap Dungeon! Though I did enjoy the explanation of why you're penniless when heading for Fire Island! Next time, Vareck! NEXT TIME!) - 284 AC, TRIAL OF CHAMPIONS, ARMIES OF DEATH- 285 AC, Reclamation of the Crown of Kings from the Fortress of Mampang* - 287 AC, STORMSLAYER- 289 AC, RETURN TO FIRETOP MOUNTAIN, ALLANSIA!- 290 AC, CRYPT OF THE SORCERER (I won honestly... I swear... How can a hunchback move that fast?!) - 291 AC, CREATURE OF HAVOC (who's nastier than Grendel? Grendel's Mother!) - 293 AC, CITADEL OF CHAOS ("Don't f*** with this peasant! I could break the King of Salamonis in two! With my bare hands!") - 294 AC, REVENGE OF THE VAMPIRE ("You came back a hundred years later to have the misfortune to run into me, Reiner.") - 296 AC, LEGEND OF ZAGOR ("Don't you recognise me Gareth, old friend?") - 298 AC, SORCERY! ("UNLIIIIMITEEED POOOOWAAAH!")*
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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 May 14, 2020 15:55:58 GMT
Easy answer to your Bloodbones problem - don't choose it as your second adventure.
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Post by Law on May 15, 2020 11:09:23 GMT
If I play this campaign again, and rolled low attributes, I would probably play Bloodbones third and Scorpion Swamp second. With both it and Stalkers being set in Khul, I suppose it would make more sense geographically. Reminds me of how unreasonably fast your journey is across Kakhabad, about a week's walk to cross a fifth of the length of the Old World? I suppose it was originally meant to be a much smaller region in Steve's mind.
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