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Post by vastariner on Sept 6, 2020 11:18:02 GMT
The thing about DD is that it is the most selfish of the gamebooks. There's no moral issue there at all; you want to win fortune and fame. That makes it intriguing in itself, you're not that great a hero.
I think it has Livingstone's best writing in it. An entire alternative world. But it is flawed from two basic logical perspectives. One, how come it's such a big festival? Unless there are scrying pools, all people see is some people go in, and then a very quiet exit. And two, if you get to the end without the right gems, you'd surely find it easy to go back to take another look.
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Post by a moderator on Sept 6, 2020 11:57:22 GMT
if you get to the end without the right gems, you'd surely find it easy to go back to take another look. The Gnomish Trialmaster probably has magic powerful enough to stop you. If you get lucky and kill him before he can immobilise you, the trouble's just beginning. The chamber you're in has just two exits: the one for which you need the gems, and one leading back to the Bloodbeast's pool, which is in turn reached by sliding down one of several chutes. Depending on how steep and slippery they are, going back might not be easy at all. Especially as the Bloodbeast is still alive, and might decide not to just wallow in pain if it hears the human who hurt it slipping and scrambling about trying to get back up. On top of that, the creators of Deathtrap Dungeon know how to make invisible one-way barriers (see sections 70, 325 and 386). If they put one of them at the top of each chute, there's no turning back, just a difficult climb to the realisation of the inevitability of defeat.
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Post by dragontyrant on Sept 6, 2020 12:55:21 GMT
I would take the Stephen Hand books over the majority of all these and we know how that went. People vote in mysterious ways. Completely agree, at least they are fair stat wise.
And again, completely agree, this are gamebooks, part game, part book and if one is done poorly I can't let it pass even if the other is awesome.
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Post by vastariner on Sept 6, 2020 12:58:40 GMT
if you get to the end without the right gems, you'd surely find it easy to go back to take another look. The Gnomish Trialmaster probably has magic powerful enough to stop you. If you get lucky and kill him before he can immobilise you, the trouble's just beginning. The chamber you're in has just two exits: the one for which you need the gems, and one leading back to the Bloodbeast's pool, which is in turn reached by sliding down one of several chutes. Depending on how steep and slippery they are, going back might not be easy at all. Especially as the Bloodbeast is still alive, and might decide not to just wallow in pain if it hears the human who hurt it slipping and scrambling about trying to get back up. On top of that, the creators of Deathtrap Dungeon know how to make invisible one-way barriers (see sections 70, 325 and 386). If they put one of them at the top of each chute, there's no turning back, just a difficult climb to the realisation of the inevitability of defeat. But the Trialmaster seemingly wants to escape as well - his alleged magic not enough to get out himself when nobody is watching...
To be fair, the real problem is the Ring of Wishes. Wouldn't you wish yourself to be the winner?
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Post by a moderator on Sept 6, 2020 13:31:07 GMT
Even if the Trialmaster is no threat, that still leaves the chutes and the possibility of invisible one-way barriers. As for the Ring of Wishes, that is a massive loophole, though I have addressed it in my (as yet unfinished) parody gamebook Dungeon Crawl. Attached to the ring with a blue silk ribbon is a scroll. “Terms and conditions,” explains Ortha. You unroll the scroll to see what it says:
“Any wish made using this ring is subject to approval by the Reality Alteration Monitoring Committee of BoonGranters Incorporated1, and as such cannot be granted until a quorate gathering of Committee members has assembled, which will take between 7 days and 34 years depending on the alignment of the stars and elemental planes. Wishes for personal financial gain will only be passed if approved by a two-thirds majority of those present. Wishes for items of low value (as assessed by the Inexpensivity Rating Sub-Committee) require only a simple majority of votes. Wishes for restoration of health, fortune and/or capability likewise require a straight majority of approving votes, whereas wishes for enhancement of same will not be granted unless three quarters of the present Committee members are in favour of said enhancement (four fifths if the requested enhancement is in excess of what can normally be achieved by a member of the wishing individual’s species). The majority required for approval [Text continues at length, shrinking until illegibly tiny, but the formatting here won't allow for that.]
1Unless you want to use the ring to banish a Mirror Demon. We hate those guys. So if you want to use your wish to get shot of one of those multiple-faced b******s, fill your boots.
2This clause not valid in Kabesh.”
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Post by sleepyscholar on Sept 7, 2020 1:55:32 GMT
I take back my comment about tactical voting. I wasn't even aware you could change your vote!
I am definitely voting for Slaves of the Abyss in the next round (once, at least).
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