Stealing from the Gamebooks, #3

So it's apparently NZ's hottest summer in 60 years or so, and the water restrictions and fire bans are popping up all over the place. Personally, I don't care if my lawn dies (less mowing) and my tomatoes are quite good this year. I'll work on the Eternal Summer setting later on, as it would make a change from all these Eternal Winter novels out there. Keeping as far away from Dark Sun as possible...

Also, not a good season for being hunched over a computer screen, hence the lack of posts, and thinking about RPGs.

However, sorting out the moving boxes has gone well, as has my pillaging of the books that started my interest in this, some 30 years ago... The Fighting Fantasy series. Although aimed at young children, at least at first, and having a rather goofy, somewhat simplistic world that does not agree with me, there are some hidden gems in their descriptions, characters and 400-odd paragraphs that I can pilfer for my own use.

Today, #3, The Forest of Doom...

Handsome guy on the left, right?

Shapechangers, strange leftovers from the Age of the Lizards, that hold a fearsome reptilian appearance in their natural form, but that can mimic any living form temporarily (of roughly the same size - mass is shifted, not created or removed) that it has viewed, or, as some suggest, slain and eaten. No signs of greater than goblin level intelligence and no attempts to communicate with anyone, at least attempts that didn't end with one of the parties dead.

Absolutely no relation to the Doppleganger, at least, hopefully not. These guys (girls? who knows?) lurk in places named "Doom" while Dopplegangers infest civilised places. That's the theory...

Meanwhile, the plot of the book is simple; a dying dwarf tasks you with recovering the Hammer of the Dwarves. It's a little more complicated in execution, though.

Anyway, the ideas;

• The Northern (or Eastern, or Western, or Southern) borderlands, where few people venture and a traveller can go weeks without meeting another. Wolves and Trolls, though, seem rather common.

•  A learned old witch, dwelling in an isolated cabin in these wilds, with only a hunchbacked servant for company. She knows many arcane or historical secrets, and those needing this knowledge may seek her out, but she is crafty and dangerous, and may trap unwary seekers with her schemes and dark bargains... She is also skilled in herbalism, and can escape violence by transforming into a bat. The servant is a drooling idiot, but she may require groups to take him somewhere dangerous as a condition of her help. Think of assistance from her being a form of Faustian bargain...

•  A secret underground mushroom farm where small humanoid clones tend the giant fungi for a Fire Demon. Actually, the Demon is victim of a curse, and any who slay it, and don the golden crown that it wears, finds themselves transforming into a similar Fiery figure, but are distracted by the quiblings and telepathic reports of the clones, and are trapped overseeing the operation. The end destination of the fungi, and who is responsible for the whole set-up, remains unknown to this day, but certain types of dried fungus are becoming a problem in the Coastal Cities these days... 

•  Wild hillmen do range in these parts, so be careful when entering land that might be occupied. Read up on the Welsh or Pictish 'barbarians' (well, at least to the Romans and various types of English throughout the centuries) to get an idea of how these peoples live, and hunt, and why they want to kill you. They aren't mad, and only want to kill you because you've offended one of their strange and bizarre taboos. Like pissing in their sacred river, for example, or killing a sacred deer out of season, or perhaps they don't like people wearing shoes...

•  The Eye of Amber. A simple palm sized circle of amber on a silver chain, it appears unimpressive, but when worn, in plain view, it allows the wearer to discern when someone is lying to their face, in a one-to-one situation. Useful, but not admissible in most courts..

•  The Brass Flute of Wyvern Calming. A legendary artifact, that features in many of the bards stories, where the exiled Prince must find a number of special items or blessings to defeat the guardians and claim the kingdom/princess/pot of gold. This flute, however, is actually real, and, given the frequency of wyvern flights in the mountainous areas in my worlds, of practical use. If played properly (which means some experience in flute playing, mostly) it can send a Wyvern to sleep. Any wyvern affected by this wakes if something dangerous approaches, but otherwise sleeps normally until dawn or sunset, whichever is soonest. Last known holder was Barrot the Wanderer, who financed his wastrel lifestyle by looting Wyvern nests, and the remains of past victims. Rumour is he got careless and one woke on him. All that is known for certain is that he hasn't been seen since last Winter...

•  And finally, a lesser class of bandits. Men and women of peasant stock, driven to theft and murder due to a lord's displeasure, crippling tax rates (110% bites), other bandits stealing your stuff...

Look at them - rags for clothes, chipped and rusty weapons, no armour, no safe way of shaving. Give the players a sob story about hard times and eating your dog, rather than having well armed and armoured lootable bandits.

That's all I could hoist from this book - most of the traps, tricks or even dungeons were set pieces for the use of one-shot magic items you buy at the start, and that tends to be very situation dependent...

Stealing from Gamebooks #2 - Citadel of Chaos

Well, recovering from my first experience as a barista, as my wife's monthly craft market's usual coffee van couldn't make it, so she volunteered me and my home espresso machine for the day.  Not bad - 17 coffees and 4 hot chocolates, mostly in a half hour rush at 10:30. It's not a bad job.  You give people coffee and they give you money and are appreciative. Sort of like a legal drug dealer. Although the concentration required to get a reasonably good home setup producing continuously good shots takes a lot of concentration.

Anyway, next on my pillaging list is The Citadel of Chaos.  Harder and more whimsical than the Warlock, Balthus Dire has the strangest friends...

What have I picked up?

-An enchanted throwing dagger. Shiny metal blade, strange green leather hilt inlaid with strange dark gems. There are dark stories of the Assassin's Blade. It is usually discovered in the treasure hordes of minor beasts, and used for acts of daring and murder. Used in hand-to-hand combat, it conveys no advantages, but when thrown, it never misses (target has to be within reasonable range, and visible, and reachable) and does 2d6 damage (this is in Dragon Warriors, where you start off with between d6+4 and d6+7 health points, and if you're lucky, gain one a level). It then vanishes, presumably to be found by a minor beast...

-An Unusual Trap. A rack of wine bottles. When the trap is triggered, they start firing out at the party - wither bottles, or their corks. Either way, the shock makes them think they are under attack, minor damage (if unlucky) and a heap of noise and mess.

-Slumberberries. A twisted shrub, with diamond shaped leaves and small flat berries, that give the shrub it's name.

-Hogweed Essence. Repels stone-based creatures. Why not? Random name, useful effect.

-A Charmed Amulet. Actually, despite it's high asking price, it's merely a jewel of light set in a precious metal pendant. However, it does convey a sense of luck and protection. And thinking about it, jewels of light should be one of the most common treasures anywhere where adventurers tread, given their lack of survival rate.

-Sewer Snake. Yes, it's a snake, that looks like a rope, and hangs around in sewers. Fun for the whole family!

-The Rhino-man. I've got a kingdom of beastmen pencilled in, far to the south, as civilised and intelligent as humans. But although they are more powerful individually, their bestial nature sometimes clouds their judgement. And here's another 'type' to add.

-The Miks. Fey, other-worldly, and Masters of Illusion. No-one knows what their true form is - rumoured to be a thin, gracile elf-like race. They are aggressive, and use thin stiletto-like daggers. They can appear in any form, man, beast or object, but cannot use metal in any disguise and cannot cast illusions over any other objects. If encountered, they commonly drift from one form to another, confusing most watchers. They can be bribed with magical items or potions, however, even though they serve the forces of Chaos.

-Calacorms. Two headed lizard men, grey with long tails, from windswept rocky deserts. Simple minded, deathly afraid of mice, contented with little and reliable to carry out repetitive tasks, even though the two heads constantly bicker and argue.

-Dungeon chamber setup - a small chamber with a stone altar in the middle, holding three silver chalices with different coloured liquids, while a number of gremlins fly around near the ceiling. Drink the potions, or mix them together? Attack the gremlins, or see which chalice they are drinking out of?

-And Balthus Dire.  THAT"S what a sorcerer warlord should look like. Along with distinctive hair. There's another, better quality picture of him out there in the interweb, but he's wearing Roman sandals and walking the lizard, which does not behove an Evil Warlord.

Again, all pictures drawn by and probably still the property of Russ Nicholson.

Stealing Stuff from Gamebooks... #1 - The Warlock...

Showing the full glory of the wrap-around cover...

I first encountered the whole RPG scene the same way as a lot of people my age or older - transferred to a new school aged 7, I found The Warlock of Firetop Mountain in the school library.

And then the Puffin order-by-mail book club that all schools in NZ had in those days had the other books, as they were released, for a really cheap price (getting kids to read... if only they knew). I think I got up to Number 7 (Island of the Lizard King) that way, as I don't remember seeing Scorpion Swamp until I reached University... This was something different, and the feeling of not knowing what to do or how to react in some situations was exciting. I think a lot of my RPGing these days is trying to recapture the immersion of that first couple of decisions in the Warlock, along with the concept that my choices matter...

Anyway, I've started collecting them again, as they are no longer the cherished possessions of kids, and can be found in second hand book stores for a handful of dollars these days.

And I'm TRYING to use them as cheapish inspiration for my current GMing and worldbuilding endeavours.

So, without further ado, here's what I've gathered from the Warlock...

- A Mage's Power - rumours in the village suggest the Warlocks power may come from an enchanted deck of cards, or from shadowy gloves he always wears... Perhaps a PC's sorcerous abilities don't come from strange dimensions or ancient runes, but from a mundane object they acquired.

For the deck, give them a card every spell they learn. Use an ordinary deck - most people are smart enough to connect the two. This means that they can also 'lend' the odd spell to their friends or comrades, by physically giving them the card. But they can't use it again until it's returned, and if it gets eaten or burnt, then it's lost forever...

And gloves? A subtle form of magic, but perhaps while they can only use magic when wearing the gloves, there's something they can't do while wearing them.  Eating, drinking, sleeping...

- The magical tools extending the dungeon as you watch (no, I'd never come across anything like this before). Adds a different sense to the adventure than I've been using recently. Perhaps I need more whimsy...

- Di Maggio's Spell of Dragonfire, or anti-Dragonfire, actually. Worth a quest or two to get hold of.

- Random dungeon furnishings - a hidden chamber containing a jar of pickled eggs, random levers behind loose stones (the power of temptation) and a trapped rope...

- a Healing Fountain, with a cheap misspelled sign reading "Do not drink"

- Holy Water, blessed by the Overpriest of Kaynlesh-Ma. Where-ever that is, it sounds impressive.

- A room, containing a table with two helmets - one bronze, the other iron. Which one to wear? Which one might be cursed? What happens if you grab both?

- Don't have ghouls jump out and attack people immediately. Wait until they search the decomposing body for gold, and see how they jump when it reaches out and grabs them.

-Living Murals, lining a room or corridor.  Writhing and twisting, and silent when light shines on them, but in darkness, they howl and scream in an unearthly (and monster summoning) manner. And what is the truth behind them?

-The Giver of Sleep.  A magnificent bow and one silver arrow, in a labelled ornate case. The bow will only fire that one arrow, and it is rather pitiful unless used against one key foe.

-And boots abandoned in a dungeon, that register as magical, and stick to the floor when worn.  The old gags are the best....

All B&W illustrations, of course, drawn by Russ Nicholson, who is posting a lot of them on his website, The Gallery.

It's interesting, picking out the small, incidental bits that are completely incidental to the main quest, and I'm seeing these dry up as the series gets into the high numbers.  Here, everything is highly orchestrated, and there is little time or space for mere dressing. Still, we'll see...