tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3640929554503965005.post5386794354596590024..comments2024-03-04T09:12:37.072+00:00Comments on MALthus Dire's Fighting Fantasy Page: #26: Crypt Of The SorcererMALthus Direhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15847555508305181801noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3640929554503965005.post-27499387419125562722023-01-13T20:42:54.320+00:002023-01-13T20:42:54.320+00:00Yeah, that's annoying, but I love how IL portr...Yeah, that's annoying, but I love how IL portrays Yaz as a total lazyass dickwad who would rather puppet others to win than get off his lazy wizard's butt.Bosk of Port Karhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05382836168231297724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3640929554503965005.post-75600657980181558372020-10-31T22:08:50.418+00:002020-10-31T22:08:50.418+00:00Razaak kinda looks like a Doom 2 Revenant, awesome...Razaak kinda looks like a Doom 2 Revenant, awesome drawing!<br />BTW, how could Ungoth escape from Razaak's crypt when it caved in? He makes a comeback in Deathtrap Dungeon 3.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07094467722918928359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3640929554503965005.post-90869580065311230732020-05-30T17:34:11.254+01:002020-05-30T17:34:11.254+01:00One of my favs for sure, if not top 1. It is so ha...One of my favs for sure, if not top 1. It is so hard though, just had a crack at it today (to pass the day) for the first time in years. I have two copies of this book, one I play and the other signed by John Sibbick!Thunder Bearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02733864928402096545noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3640929554503965005.post-80917368826467718682020-01-30T09:50:53.849+00:002020-01-30T09:50:53.849+00:00Here's why I hate CotS:
YAZTROMO: "...an...Here's why I hate CotS:<br /><br />YAZTROMO: "...and so the sword cursed Kull to become a skeleton, forever haunting the lake"<br /><br />READER: "Wow, that's really creepy! If I don't deal with this cursed sword properly I could end up a skeleton. Can't wait to figure out how I escape that curse..."<br /><br />YAZTROMO: "Except I will magically protect you from the curse"<br /><br />READER: "Oh..."<br /><br />YAZTROMO: "Instead, you must find about 30 other items and do loads of fighting"<br /><br />READER: "Can you help me with that too?"<br /><br />YAZTROMO: "Nope"Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05903993127360160864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3640929554503965005.post-82772478516093936802019-11-16T19:25:21.078+00:002019-11-16T19:25:21.078+00:00Sorry for the late comment. When i was a child i ...Sorry for the late comment. When i was a child i was much taken with the FF books, although some were a little samey. I will always remember COTS because it was so unfair on the unfortunate player. In spite of your impressive and superbly written defence of this edition to the FF series, i generally still hold this view. However, in certain other aspects i found it an enjoyable read.<br /> First of all the positives. I do agree that COTS was well paced and imaginatively described with IL somehow managing to get a whole lot of action and locations into only 400 paragraphs without any ever appearing to be rushed or squeezed in. There were also some new and clever defences protecting the big baddie, defences not previously seen in the FF books. The weight balance and timelock traps were en pointe and i felt it was a refreshing change not to actually have to fight Razaak's guardian (Ungoth) just before the end.<br /> All this does not change the fact that it was an inherently unfair book in my opinion. I defy anyone who claims they completed the book without cheating on the last battle alone. I would have thought IL would have at least given the player the chance to weaken Razaak first in order to bring his stats down to more manageable proportions ( the use of the rod of paralysis perhaps ). Of course i don't know if he ever considered this, but his failure to incorporate it as an option flies in the face of the original FF principle that any player, no matter how weak on initial dice rolls, should be able to successfully complete the book! Was this principle suddenly forgotten or was it deliberately and tacitly dropped? If it was the latter i feel IL should have been more honest with the reader and stated this at the beginning, so the reader would not have wasted their time with impossibly low initial stats. While on this subject, why an earth were Razaak's stats so unreasonably high for a crippled old man ( judging by the textual description and front cover picture ) in the first place?<br /> Another bugbear i remember was that, in order to be successful you had to unprovokingly attack an innocent man in a graveyard. You had to do this in order to obtain the aforementioned rod of paralysis. Such atrocious behaviour is not in keeping with the hero/heroine you are supposed to play. Indeed it is the sort of behaviour Razaak himself would be proud of!Mr incognitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13676712824191398742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3640929554503965005.post-53174916877301090632019-01-14T21:04:51.653+00:002019-01-14T21:04:51.653+00:00Ah well, at least there are plenty of other FFs fo...Ah well, at least there are plenty of other FFs for me still to read.Scott Moorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12795927022315090123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3640929554503965005.post-24670844972568806942019-01-14T19:05:51.004+00:002019-01-14T19:05:51.004+00:00In my opinion, Crypt of the Sorcerer was the last ...In my opinion, Crypt of the Sorcerer was the last truly decent FF that Livingstone wrote. If you don't like that one I wouldn't bother reading any of the books he wrote after it.MALthus Direhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15847555508305181801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3640929554503965005.post-61175204862475120262019-01-14T00:40:53.306+00:002019-01-14T00:40:53.306+00:00I read your review before buying Crypt of the Sorc...I read your review before buying Crypt of the Sorceror, so I was expecting to have to cheat on the stats. As it happened, I rolled up 12 Skill and Luck on my second attempt, so I decided to keep them for subsequent attempts - so, a cheat, but one I could live with. So far, not too bad. It seemed to have the feel and something of the atmosphere of an early Livingstone book. However, as I clocked up more and more attempts, it not only to became very frustrating as a game, but the shine also came off the storyline. It just became a crude dungeon crawl, with meaningless fights, umpteen sudden deaths, and very little to break up the monotony. I quite like difficult gamebooks, but I wouldn't describe this as difficult per se - there are no puzzles, logical conundrums, or mysteries to solve. It's more a case of finding the one-true path combined with a very dull game of luck - I haven't made an estimate, but I reckon there's less than a 1% chance of completing it even if you take the one-true path. I got so bored with this that when I gave up playing it, and started just to read through the sections, eventually I couldn't even bring myself to fully read Livingtone's sparse text. So, for me, it's the worst FF I've yet to read - which is everything up to Midnight Rogue except for Space Assassin, Freeway Fighter, and Star Strider. I even prefer Starship Traveller! I'm left wondering if I should bother to read any other Ian Livingstone books as, with the exception of his very earliest FFs (up to City of Thieves, which I love), I seem to like them much less than most FF fans.Scott Moorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12795927022315090123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3640929554503965005.post-80454068820178882772017-12-24T08:16:07.153+00:002017-12-24T08:16:07.153+00:00Man, I hated this book so much when i first read i...Man, I hated this book so much when i first read it. it felt mechanical and the final fight felt less dramatic and more like reading a recipe. <br /><br />I mapped it out a few years ago and appreciate it a bit more now. But it's still a great example of IL's fascination with laundry list questing. Vomkrieghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09104475552979903737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3640929554503965005.post-10029231909936738942017-09-14T15:51:51.197+01:002017-09-14T15:51:51.197+01:00This has to be probably my favorite so far because...This has to be probably my favorite so far because of the challeng that gives the player. The first time i could finish razzak, wich it was almost impossible, i survived with 2 stamina... and just after all that, when it asked me, its your stamina above 6 or lower, i was so mad, it seems the ultimate fight from all the bosses. Then i played over again and finally got to beat this harsh book, that gives a sense of acomplishment. By the way, the story itself, very very good. Great reviewAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00421481030250157099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3640929554503965005.post-78679287510671379582014-11-18T11:53:30.714+00:002014-11-18T11:53:30.714+00:00thats great..looking forward to reading it
thats great..looking forward to reading it<br />edhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13633073283427830809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3640929554503965005.post-71268348622156678702014-11-17T19:51:53.688+00:002014-11-17T19:51:53.688+00:00Don't worry ed, Creature Of Havoc write-up is ...Don't worry ed, Creature Of Havoc write-up is coming soonMALthus Direhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15847555508305181801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3640929554503965005.post-43779395502609765542014-11-17T13:00:45.521+00:002014-11-17T13:00:45.521+00:00still no creature of havoc review....have you got ...still no creature of havoc review....have you got something against that particular book..?<br />edhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13633073283427830809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3640929554503965005.post-78470546989673408952014-11-16T19:07:13.814+00:002014-11-16T19:07:13.814+00:00I loved this post. It really made me think of Cry...I loved this post. It really made me think of Crypt of the Sorcerer in a new light. I really do like IL books as romps through bizarre places filled with weird people and things (the shopkeepers of Allansia seem to like selling their wares in some of the most dangerous, out of the way places possible) and Crypt of the Sorcerer is no exception. You are also right that most of the combats are actually no trouble for someone with a skill of 10, but Razaak means you need a skill of about 13-14 to win overall. This could have been rectified easily by having Razaak's sword give you an attack strength bonus against his former master (although I admire Razaak's cunning for making the only magic sword that can kill him so lame that it doesn't give you any bonuses). One minor detail that I find really important for flavour reasons is that provisions are replaced with healing potions. Finally, a lump of cheese and a loaf of bread aren't consumed at dazzling speed to heal up two wounds you took in combat - there is a a more plausible reason for it. Food still restores stamina, but it is a much more reasonable 1-2 points.Stuart Lloydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15100216520313336932noreply@blogger.com