Talisman of Death - Attempt 1

Cover by Peter Andrew Jones

The once-peaceful world of Orb is in terrible danger. Dark forces are at work to unleash the awesome might of the Evil One - and only YOU can stop them. YOUR mission is to destroy the Talisman of Death before the dark lord's minions reach you. But beware! Time is running out...

With the first ten Fighting Fantasy books behind me, I've come to a whole new era. Previously, Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone had been the major creative forces behind the series, writing nine out of ten books and firmly establishing the tone and style. From this point onward, however, books written by those two gentlemen will be few and far between. There are plenty of good authors to come, and plenty of great books, but the quality varies a lot more going forward than it did in the past.

Thankfully, Talisman of Death is helmed by two of the most reliable gamebook writers out there: Jamie Thomson and Mark Smith.  They'll pop up again in the future of FF, and their work outside of the series - most notably the Way of the Tiger gamebooks - is also great. There are some stinkers on the way, but for now we're in safe hands.

The background to this one is a bit unusual, in that it's a fantasy adventure that's definitely not set on Titan. Nor do you play the typical adventurer. No, in this book you hail from modern day Earth, and have been whisked away by the gods of Orb to aid them in their time of need. You awaken in the Garden of the Gods, where you are met by a pale female, with a robe of many colours and an eyeless face, and a man who is at one moment old and wise, and the next an infant. The gods explain that they've brought you to Orb to stop a "fatal upset in the balance of nature", and that you of everyone on Earth have the best chance of fighting "him who would bring Chaos to Orb". With little else in the way of explanation, they send you down to the surface to get on with things. It's okay, you have a sword and somehow you know how to use it.

(As an aside, I've sometimes played this book as a sequel to House of Hell.  After all, what Earth resident would be better equipped for this quest than the one who took down the Master of the House of Drumer?)

For my first attempt at Talisman of Death, I rolled a Skill of 9, a Stamina of 16 and a Luck of 7.  Not a promising start, to be honest. My inventory included a sword, leather armour, a backpack, 10 provisions, flint & tinder, and five torches. I also had the option of one of three potions, and chose the potion of Fortune, hoping to offset my terrible Luck score. A quick skim of the rules showed that this was standard FF, with nary a rules variant to be found.

ATTEMPT 1

I awoke in a huge chamber, deep underground, and before I could get my bearings an infernal howling filled the air. I heard running footsteps approaching, and decided to hide in a nearby archway. As I neared it there was a click and a rumbling sound ahead, and a trembling beneath my feet. I stopped my headlong flight just in time, as a slab of rock crashed down from the ceiling, covering the archway completely. I drew my sword to face whatever was coming.

A shieldmaiden in chainmail burst into the room, followed by a paladin, a priest, and a wizard in a smiling golden mask. They were obviously fleeing from whatever it was that made the howls. The woman demanded to know what I was doing in the Rift, the "spawning place of all evil". I told them that I was on a quest against evil, but the priest was able to tell that I was lying with a spell. (I'm not sure why this is a lie, I thought the gods made it pretty clear.) Once again, the shieldmaiden demanded the truth, but I told them to sod off and mind their own business. After all, I didn't know who they were either.

After some deliberation, the adventurers decided to use me in their own schemes, and the masked wizard cast a spell that hypnotised me (and dropped my Luck to 6). While I was hypnotised, they had time to do some exposition at me, and I learned what was up on Orb. The minions of the god of death had long ago fashioned the Talisman of Death, which would allow them to summon their god when the time was right. That time was coming, and so the Loremasters of Serakub had sent a band of crusaders into the Rift to recover the talisman. Only these four remained, but they had succeeded. With the story over, the wizard handed me the talisman, and tasked me with returning it to my own world, out of the reach of Death's minions. The hypnotic spell forced me to accept, but I would have done it anyway, as getting home was the number one thing on my mind.

The wizard told me to head west for Greyguilds-on-the-Moor, where I might discover a way of getting home. He also gave me a pouch containing 10 gold pieces. Finally he cast a spell, and I was transported out of the Rift, but not before seeing the four adventurers overwhelmed by an onslaught of Trolls and Dark Elves. Serves them right, the hypnotising gits.

I materialised on the edge of a huge chasm; the Rift, no doubt. To my left I could see some hills, and to my right a forest that extended all the way to the hills. Reasoning that I might be pursued, I decided to get under the cover of the trees.

In the forest I soon came to a clearing, where a huge, white she-wolf was suckling two cubs. She growled at me, but I offered her some dried meat to placate her (leaving me with 9 provisions). As soon as I did, a green-robed figure stepped into the clearing, announcing that he was Wodeman, Guardian Druid of the Sacred Grove.

He gave me a blessing (which restored my Luck to 7), and also gave me a golden apple. Thanking the druid, I took my leave. (Does this encounter actually accomplish anything? The golden apple can restore 4 Stamina, but that's of equal effectiveness to the provision I just lost feeding the wolf. I guess there's a Luck bonus, but unless that golden apple is used for something else it's not really that helpful.)

For some time I forced my way through the undergrowth, reaching the hills, until I rounded a corner and saw a brown lizard with eight legs basking in the sun. Armed with an exhaustive knowledge of the AD&D Monster Manual, I realised that this was a Basilisk and left the path to find a way around it before it could turn me to stone. (This is supposed to be me, right? From Earth, with all of my knowledge? Knowing about monster stuff is pretty much all I'd be able to bring to the table here.)  The going was heavy, and I was forced to eat a provision to restore my strength (leaving me with 8).

Eventually the hills gave way to a desolate moor, where I was accosted by a band of warrior-women on horseback, who demanded to know what I was doing out here alone. Not wishing to give away my quest, I told them that I was the last survivor of an ambushed caravan, and when pressed on the caravan's departure point I told them it was Serakub.  This seemed to satisfy their captain, and she agreed to escort me to Greyguilds.

I was dropped off in Greyguilds, and soon came to the junction of Store Street and Smith Street. Continuing down Store Street, I was interrupted by a woman in green robes who wanted to know who I was and where I came from. Again not wanting to give myself away, I told her I was just passing through and hurried on.

I noticed that the stores were closing, and people were hurrying home. A carriage pulled by black mares reined in beside me, and inside I saw an empty coffin with my own name on it. The carriage door opened, and a man stepped out and introduced himself as the Envoy of Death, saying that he had come for the Talisman. As he spoke, his handsome features transformed, and he became a skeletal figure grasping a rapier.

I denied having the talisman, but the Envoy wasn't fooled. He stabbed me with his rapier, and my life felt as though it was draining away (reducing my Stamina to 14, and my Skill to 8).  I had a fight on my hands against the Envoy of Death (Skill 8, Stamina 6). We were on equal terms, but I was able to defeat him without suffering another wound (which would have drained me of Skill as well as Stamina; all but 1 would have been restored at the end of the battle).

Store Street soon turned into Booker's Walk, where I saw two grand buildings. Some young people in blue togas were entering one, and the other appeared to be a library. I entered the library, and asked to read something about the Gods. I learned about Fell-Kyrinla, swordsmistress of the Heavens (and patron of the warrior-women who had escorted me to Greyguilds); her opposite Rocheval, God of Paladins; the All-Mother, preserver of life; Anarchil, breaker of edifices, who spurns order; and Avatar the One, essence of light. (None of these seem to match the two gods I met at the beginning of the book.) By that time night was falling, so I took my leave and went back into the streets.

While searching for an inn along Booker's Walk, I stepped on an inexplicably placed man-trap, which snapped shut on my leg (reducing my Stamina to 12). Black robed figures emerged from the shadows, declaring themselves as Priests of Death, and one of them took the Talisman. Just then a group of warrior-women also appeared, and a fight broke out. One of the women beheaded the bearer of the Talisman and rode away with it. I was left to rot, my leg still caught in the man-trap.

After some time a man came along and helped me get free. He offered me a place to sleep for the night, and I accepted, having had little success with mistrusting everyone. He took me back to his bungalow, and I got a good night's sleep (restoring my Stamina to 16).

I awoke to find the man sitting, watching me. (Creep.) His name was Apothecus, and he was a sage of history. Apparently I had talked in my sleep, so I decided to tell him everything. He said that the Talisman would be in the Temple of Fell-Kyrinla, in possession of the high priestess Hawkana. I would need to steal it back at all costs, and to do that Apothecus recommended that I contact the thieves at the Red Dragon Inn. He also gave me 5 gold pieces and a ring that would increase my skill at arms (restoring my Skill to 9). Finally he invited me to dinner later that day, giving me a jade rose that I could show him as proof that I'm not a shape-changer.

I headed for the inn, and on the way passed two students in blue togas fighting. One of them dropped a brass tiger charm, but I ignored them and kept going until I reached the Red Dragon.

I paid the barman for an ale (leaving me with 14 gold), and looked around. Aside from the barman there was an old man cleaning tables, and a group of six surly men who "looked like thieves". I tried to befriend the barman, and he told me a story about a man named Heimdol, and how he was embarrassed and killed by a warrior named Tyutchev, a follower of Anarchil. Doubting the relevance of this tale, I decided to approach the thieves.

They were not welcoming, but I told them I needed help with some unfinished business which might prove profitable to them. They told me to meet them at midday tomorrow at the Thieves' Guild, via the disguised coal-hole on Hornbeam Road.

Two newcomers entered the inn, a warrior named Tyutchev and an armoured woman named Cassandra. Tyutchev went to order a drink while Cassandra sat opposite me. The thieves all scattered.

I introduced myself, and they asked what brought me to the Red Dragon. While I was thinking, Cassandra decided to throw a knife at the table right near my hand, which I'm sure was a perfectly friendly gesture. I told them I had just come for a drink, then I apologised and left. (I got a Luck bonus for surviving the Red Dragon, so I gather that the whole scene could have gone much worse.)

I decided to return for dinner with Apothecus, ignoring an offer from a young boy to make some money by helping a scholar. After showing the jade rose I was let in, and introduced to Diodorus, a friend of Apothecus. He was an expert on inter-planar travel, and told me that I could find a portal at the top of Mount Star-reach, southeast of Greyguilds. Apothecus told me that I could call on the All-Mother for aid at the time of my greatest need, so long as I was not in the temple of another god.

The next day I set off for the guild, ignoring a street magician who was performing for the crowd. I found the coal-hole on Hornbeam Road, and entered the Thieves' Guild, where I was introduced to Vagrant, the Guildmaster (and his awesome mustache).

I told Vagrant that I needed his help to steal something. He asked me what it was, and I told him that it was in the temple of Fell-Kyrinla, but I didn't want to reveal that I was after the Talisman. Vagrant thanked me, and I was suddenly shot dead by a volley of arrows.

My spirit drifted towards the Valley of Death, but I was intercepted by the two gods who had summoned me at the beginning. They offered to wind back time, placing me back on the lip of the Rift. I accepted the offer, and I was back at the start of my quest. (My stats were all restored, and my inventory was back to where it started, with the Talisman of Death back in my possession.)

This time I ignored the forest, and decided to make straight for the hills over the open plains. This was a terrible idea, as I was pursued by a band of Orcs from the south, and a band of Dark Elves from the north. I decided to hide in a sulfurous crack, hoping the vapours would conceal me. I was spotted however, and as I was drawing my sword one of the Orcs grabbed my belt pouch. The Orcs fought over the gold that spilled out, and I was able to make my escape just as the Dark Elves arrived to restore order. (I now had no gold, though.)

I came to a pool and a gnarled old willow, and felt suddenly sleepy. Unfortunately I succumbed to the suggestion to fall asleep (failing a Luck test that reduced my score to 6), and sank into the waters. I had been charmed by a Willow Weird (Skill 8, Stamina 12), which was now pummeling me as I drowned (reducing my Stamina to 12). The pain shocked me awake, and I was able to defeat the Willow Weird after a hard-fought battle (which further reduced my Stamina to 6).

I beat a hasty retreat, only to find that I was still being pursued by Dark Elves that were sniffing out my trail. I plunged into a shallow river to throw off the scent, and after a time scrambled up the opposite bank, and this seemed to throw them off. (The strain of the chase reduced my Stamina to 4.)

I had reached the moors beyond the hills, and was once again accosted by the warrior-women. This time I explained my quest to them in full. The captain demanded my sword, which I refused to give, but it was taken from me by force (reducing my Skill to 7). I was unable to resist, and so I was taken as a captive to Greyguilds.

In Greyguilds I was told that I would be taken to Hawkana. I sat quietly to see what would happen, and I was taken to the watch-house. There I met Hawkana, a striking woman who was High Priestess of Fell-Kyrinla and Marshal of the Watch. She stripped me of the Talisman and had me thrown into the street.

Out in the street I decided to go down the Street of Seven Sins. I found the Red Dragon Inn, but it was closed. Suddenly I saw footsteps appearing in a pile of sawdust. I scooped up some dirt and flung it in that direction, revealing a man-like form moving towards me. It was an Unseen Stalker (Skill 7, Stamina 8), and I would have to fight it. The Stalker wounded me once (reducing my Stamina to 2) before I could kill it with my bare hands. (I probably should have died here, but I forgot that my Skill had been reduced to do not having a sword.)

I searched for a stable to spend the night, and soon found one with an inviting bed of straw. I wolfed down three provisions (restoring my Stamina to 14) before going to sleep. In my dreams I saw the paladin from the Rift, who said that I should seek the help of the Thieves Guild. (Really? Because the buggers already killed me once.) He then told me to wake up, which was just as well, because I was about to be murdered by an armored Death Knight (Skill 10, Stamina 15).

The Death Knight was more than a match for me, and quickly had me at death's door (reducing my Stamina to 6 after I dealt him a single blow). To my amazement, the Paladin appeared, cutting the Death Knight in two with his Holy Sword. He disappeared, but the sword remained, and I was glad to claim it. (Picking it up restored my Stamina to 12, and gave me a +1 bonus to Skill).

After sleeping the rest of the night, I found a gold piece in the straw before heading off to find the thieves at the Red Dragon Inn. Once again I passed the quarreling students, and this time I decided to return their brass tiger charm. They thanked me, then kept on fighting (and my Luck was restored to 7).

At the Red Dragon, I bought a drink with my last gold piece and decided to talk to the old man cleaning tables. He warned me that the inn was dangerous, which was hardly news, and I went to talk to the thieves again. After organising a meeting I once again met Tyutchev and Cassandra. I tried to leave immediately, but Tyutchev told me to stay. I did so, and then told him I was looking for some thieves. Tyutchev told me he was a thief, but was needed at his temple and wasn't interested in helping me. I took this as an opportunity to get the hell out of there (and restored my Luck to 7).

With no invitation from Apothecus this time, I took a walk down Merchant Street. I saw an Alchemist Shop, but had no gold to buy anything. Heading down Carriage Street I came to an inn called the Silver Trinket. It looked much nicer than the Red Dragon, so I went inside, and was allowed to eat and rest as long as I did the washing up (restoring my Stamina to 16).

The next day I went to the Thieves' Guild, and this time I told Vagrant all about the Talisman of Death. He was intrigued, and after a few hours I was ready to sneak into the temple of Fell-Kyrinla with a posse at my back.

The thieves and I made our way inside the temple, and while one of them was disarming a trap I saw an old serving-man passing by. I decided to spare him, hoping he hadn't seen us, but I was wrong. Soon enough the alarm sounded, and my "comrades" had scattered. I bolted down some stairs, hiding behind a tapestry as a group of guards went by (this required a Luck test that reduced my score to 6; I drank my potion to bump it back up to 8).

At the bottom of the stairs another guard was on duty (Skill 7, Stamina 8). I tried to dispatch her quickly, but even with my holy sword I was too slow. The other guards came back down the stairs and overwhelmed me.

Once again my soul was winging its way to the Valley of Death, and I was given the option of turning back time.  My spirit was weary though, and I declined. My adventure was over!

THE POST-GAME
I did okay, I think, even though I made some stupid decisions that hindered me in recovering the Talisman. Too many times I was distrustful when I shouldn't have been, and as usual I did some dumb things just to see what would happen. This book does have a way of funneling you onto the right track, though, which is refreshingly forgiving. I also wonder how many times you can be resurrected; there's no means of tracking it, so it might be unlimited. It's possible that I could have just kept trying over and over, and knocked this book off in one go. This post is already mammoth enough, though, I don't need it getting any bigger.

Exploring Titan 10: The Dervish Stone

Before I get into dissecting the setting of The Dervish Stone, there's one question that needs to be answered: does it belong on Titan?  After all, it's just a mini-adventure from a spin-off magazine.  It's not written by Steve Jackson or Ian Livingstone (or even Fake Steve Jackson).  More pertinently, it features a setting with two suns, something that no other book set on Titan before or since has ever depicted.  Surely that last piece of evidence should be enough to rule it out completely?

Despite these points, I'm still inclined to consider it a part of Titan.  It's published in an official Fighting Fantasy product after all, one that's edited by Ian.  It's far from the only adventure that the two founders didn't write.  Finally, it's set in the Twin Sun Desert; on a world where there are two suns, why would any one geographical feature be singled out with that name?  None of these are ironclad reasons to set The Dervish Stone in Titan, but it has the right vibe, the ineffable feel of that setting.  It's D&D-style fantasy written under the FF rules, of course it's going to feel right.  So in it goes, at least in my head-canon.  Titan's a patchwork world, and one more patch is always welcome.

Alasiyan
This town, squatting on the edge of the deadly Twin Sun Desert, is a lawless place.  Gnolls, Lizard Men, Goblins and Hobgoblins walk the streets in plain view, and the guards seem to pay more attention to the belongings of those entering the town than the criminals inside.  It's a melting pot, where thugs, ruffians, and merchants mix with the Nomads of the Twin Sun Desert.

The place is ruled over by Gumpas, with the odd title of "Sorcerer-Governor".  He's moderately powerful, able to cast fireballs and lightning bolts, shield himself from projectiles, and turn invisible, and it seems that he craves even more power: his guards are under orders to search everyone who enters Alasiyan, and to confiscate every item of magic found.  He rules from a large house near the centre of town, where he is guarded by a troop of Hobgoblins and a Thoul (more on this creature later).  Despite this association with monsters, Gumpas's guards aren't particularly cruel when arresting people for the possession of magic items; the items are taken, and the prisoner released after half an hour or so.

The other major figure of interest in Alasiyan is never named, but he is a young man with elfin features who claims to be 379 years old.  This is apparently due to the frequent use of potions of longevity, with the implication being that he's in prison due to being discovered in possession of them. He's also a thief, operating out of a "den of thieves", and is able to steal back confiscated magic items with little difficulty.

Inside the walls, there is a prison, a market square, the aforementioned mansion and den of thieves, and the One Safe Wall Inn.  On the outskirts closest to the desert there are a collection of beehive-shaped buildings, that seem to be tombs (the Night Ghoul prowling around them would suggest as much).

Twin Sun Desert
The desert is deadly, and easy to become lost in if you venture far from well-trodden paths.  About a day's travel from Alasiyan can be found the castle of Kuperan, Monarch of the Sands.  Somewhere beyond that are some hills where a hermit dwells, and further still is the Lost Cave of the Dervishes.

There are two peoples who seem to be the main inhabitants of the desert.  The first of these are the Nomads, who are all tattooed with the mark of a twin sun.  The Nomads can be found trading goods in Alasiyan, but even so they can be dangerous; some of them wait in the rocky desert passes to ambush travellers with poison blowdarts and rob them.  They use giant centipedes called Sand-Crawlers, though whether as steeds or pack animals it's unclear.  One of the Nomads encountered is said to be "dwarfish", but I don't think that means he's actually a Dwarf; all of the other Nomads are human, so I'm assuming that this one particular Nomad is just a very small man.

The second of these people are the Laupers, a race of cat-like men who fight with vicious, trained war-cats, and wield iron claws.  Little else is known about them, except that they are hostile, and not found within Alasiyan.  It's possible that they have a special hatred for Dervishes, as the Lauper encampment holds a dagger especially enchanted for killing them.

How these two groups interact is unclear, but both of them can be found in the court of Kuperan, the Monarch of the Sands.  Kuperan is a Fire Giant, and seemingly the ruler of the desert.  He delights in forcing visitors to his castle to do battle with his personal Bronze Golem.  Those that survive, he takes into the desert to be eaten by his "Earth Demon".

There are also slavers operating in the desert, possibly affiliated with Kuperan; the track they are encountered on leads right to his castle.

The Dervishes are a mystery.  All we learn about them is that one of their priests found the Stone of Shanhara ages ago, and that they are still guarding the cave in which the diamond was hidden.

The Hermit of the Hills is the last denizen of note, and he's another cipher, mostly.  He lives alone in the hills, is known to Kuperan, and although he doesn't know where the Lost Cave of the Dervishes is, he does know where the map is located.  For no discernible reason, he won't give up this information without first making the hero stick his hand in a hole that might have a scorpion inside. 

Of the desert's geographical features, the most interesting is the Valley of Diamonds.  The floor of this valley is indeed littered with diamonds, but it has very steep walls, and a giant Roc nests on the cliffs nearby, a sure deterrent to would-be thieves.  I wonder, could the Stone of Shanhara itself come from this valley?

The Stone of Shanhara
This diamond was discovered ages ago by a wizard named Shanhara, a dervish priest.  Many people coveted it, so Shanhara hid it away in a trap-filled cave.  The location of this cave was eventually lost, although it seems that the dervishes still know where it is; one of them guards it still.  The cave was recently discovered by a man named Jakor One-Eye, although how long ago is unclear; it has to be at least long enough for Jakor's corpse to be stripped down to its skeleton.

Monsters
The area surrounding Twin Sun Desert is home to a number of the mainstays of the standard D&D/FF menagerie (hobgoblins, goblins, lizard-men), but what's interesting is that it also features a number of D&D staples that are rarely seen in FF: gnolls (men with hyena heads), bugbears (big, hairy goblins), and kobolds (smaller dog-men) are some of them, as is the Bronze Golem and its ability to spray molten metal from its wounds.  Dragons are nothing new in FF, but the Blue Dragon with its lightning breath is distinctly D&D, as are Fire Giants, and the Crab Spiders that guard the Lost Cave of the Dervishes.

Thouls are from D&D, and are a very odd combination of hobgoblin, troll and ghoul.  How they got this way is unclear; it's not even known whether they are alive or undead.  They do retain the Ghoul's ability to paralyse their enemies, however.

A Night Ghoul prowls the tombs near Alasiyan, but it's unknown whether it's any different to a regular Ghoul.  It has no abilities beyond those of the regular Ghoul, so it's probably just a slightly different name for the same creature.

The giant Rock Toad that lurks near Kuperan's castle seems to be nocturnal, and devours its prey by pulling it in with its tongue.  There have been giant toads in FF before, notably the Spit Toad from Island of the Lizard King, but nothing quite so deadly as this variety.

While sleeping in Kuperan's castle your provisions will be eaten by Hellrats, whatever those are.  Nothing is said about them that would differentiate them from regular rats.

Surprisingly, the Griffin is making its first FF appearance here.  I would have thought such a well-known mythological beast would have appeared before this.  Here, they are the standard eagle-headed/lion-bodied variety, and serve as flying steeds for Kuperan's forces.

Also making its first appearance here is the Roc.  It's basically a really, really big bird which just happens to have the map to the Stone of Shanhara woven into its nest.  There's a Giant Hawk in this adventure as well, which might just be one too many big birds.

The other monsters debuting here are the Sandcrawler, the Laupers, and their trained War-Cats.  All of these are described in more detail above, under the Twin Sun Desert.  The Sandcrawler is a Giant Centipede, and given no more description than that.  A Catwoman appeared in Forest of Doom, and may be of the same race, but Laupers are much more cat-like in appearance.  It's not clear what species the War-Cat is, but they're big enough that a Lauper can ride one.

Finally, there's the Earth Demon, which is little more than a big mouth in the desert into which Kuperan likes to throw prisoners.  This creature seems to have little connection to the Earth Demon that first appeared in Warlock magazine #1, a spirit that dwells in the ground and draws its strength from contact with the earth.  We'll just say that this version is basically the Sarlacc from Return of the Jedi, and Kuperan gave it a not-entirely-accurate name.

Other Details

There's a magic sword that was forged by Dwarves of the Copper Mountains.  Wherever they are, they're not on any of my maps of Titan.

Ylaruam was a "master mage" who lived long ago in Alasiyan.  He created the magical glass eye that can be obtained in this adventure.

Someone named Snurd Hideflayer must be a regular visitor to Alasiyan, with a knack for getting Goblins murderously angry at him.

So that's it for The Dervish Stone, after far too long a hiatus.  This was a difficult entry to write, because so few of the elements of this adventure connect in meaningful ways, and much of it is detailed only sparingly.  It introduces a few new monsters and other things to Titan, but pretty much none of it is picked up on later.  Most of the fan-sites place it in the Chaos Wastes of Khul, the Dark Continent, saying that the remnants of chaos magic make it seem as though there are two suns.  That that does seem like the best place for it: Khul really is the dumping ground for stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else.

NEXT

It's time to get back to the main series, with Talisman of Death.

The Dervish Stone: Final Thoughts

So, I'm not dead.  Nor am I maimed, ill, discomforted, or otherwise incapable of blogging.  Thus I have returned, keyboard at the ready, to continue blogging through the Fighting Fantasy series in exhaustive detail.  Rejoice, despair, or shrug apathetically.  Whichever you prefer.

When I left off I'd just completed The Dervish Stone, the adventure from Warlock #4, so I still have to do a couple of wrap-up posts to finish it off completely.  Needless to say I'm working off memories that are almost a year old here, so my recollections may be somewhat hazy.  I'll do the best I can, but this probably won't be as comprehensive as usual.

The Dervish Stone, written by Paul Struth, was a fan competition entry, with the winner of said competition awarded with publication in the magazine.  I'm not sure how old Struth was at the time, bit it's probably not a stretch to say that he was pretty young.  It's important to remember this context when reviewing the Dervish Stone, because its flaws and strengths are pretty much what you'd expect given the circumstances.

Firstly, there's no escaping it: this thing is derivative as hell.  References to Star Wars abound, from the Sarlacc to the cantina to the Stormtroopers that "don't need to see your identification".  There's even more than those three examples, sadly.  Not only that, but the last portion of the adventure - a labyrinth filled with traps guarding a large jewel - cribs shamelessly from Indiana Jones.  There's even a bit where you have to stick your hand in one of three holes, one of which contain a deadly scorpion, which is probably taken from Flash Gordon.

It's not just movies either; Struth has raided the D&D manuals for his monster roster.  Bugbears, Blue Dragons and Fire Giants are right out of D&D, while Thouls and Bronze Golems are very specifically from Basic D&D.  It's a hard thing to criticise, as Steve and Ian did much the same thing when writing The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.  Still, they had the sense to avoid some of D&D's more idiosyncratic monsters, which made it feel like a bit less of a rip-off.

There's also a slight lack of polish.  The plot - a search for a lost diamond - is right off the shelf, and doesn't really progress in a way that makes sense.  The hero finds a note that mentions the diamond, goes into town to buy some gear, then just wanders into the desert and stumbles onto the correct path.  Some more clues or guidance would really have helped here.  There's also some hiccups and strange choices going on mechanically, though perhaps those should have been picked up by the editor as well.

What the adventure does have going for it, though, is a certain level of enthusiasm.  This is particularly on display in its most thrilling encounter, a battle in the skies over a hungry Earth Demon, which sees you riding Griffons, throwing orcs to their demise, and fighting on the back of a dragon (or poisoning it with a gas capsule, as I did).  It's a lot of fun, even if finding the right path can be frustrating.

So while The Dervish Stone has its flaws, it's fairly well done in context.  It's never going to be anyone's favourite Fighting Fantasy, and it's not exactly what I'd call a hidden gem, but it is a reasonably fun adventure that a lot of FF fans probably haven't played before.  It's worth a look, so long as you can stomach all of the Star Wars references.

COOL STUFF I MISSED

I think I covered most of what this adventure has to offer in my dozen attempts.  About the only thing I didn't do was defeat the Sorcerer-Governor of Alasiyan, but as I suspected it's a pointless battle with a reward that's hardly worth the danger.

MISTAKES AND RED HERRINGS

There are a couple of instances where Skill and Stamina are mixed up, and a number of paragraphs that are almost impossible to get to, because you'll always have the Boots of Levitation by the time you reach them.  Otherwise there are no glaring errors, and no items that serve no purpose as far as I could tell.

BEST DEATH

There are 19 instant death passages in The Dervish Stone, which is a whopping number for such a small adventure.  For comparison, House of Hell only as 16 (although given the way that book loops around on itself I suspect there are many, many ways to reach those passages).  Anyway, this means I had plenty to choose from.  Most of the best ones were from the gauntlet at the end, and I chose the following:

Yep, it was the dangling corpse that got it over the line.

S.T.A.M.I.N.A. RATING

Story and Setting: For such a small adventure, the setting is quite well thought out and evocative, with the lawless town of Alasiyan perched on the edge of the deadly Twin Suns Desert.  The story's elementary stuff, though; Fighting Fantasy had already moved past simple treasure hunts by its second book.  It also lacks a little focus, as it's not clear how you should progress, or whether you're on the right track until the very end.  Even so, the set-piece battle in the skies against Kuperan's forces is very impressive.  Rating: 3 out of 7.

Toughness: The Dervish Stone was surprisingly difficult in numerous ways; I feel like I was about even on being killed by the dice versus dying due to making the wrong decision.  Still, too many of those deaths felt like I wasn't given fair warning, and once again we have an adventure that's unkind to characters with low stats.  A dozen attempts feels about right for completing a full-length FF, but for a short adventure it's too much, so I'll have to mark this one down.  Rating: 3 out of 7.

Aesthetics: I liked Tim Sell's artwork for House of Hell, but it's lacking in polish here.  The magazine format does it no favours either.  Rating: 2 out of 7.

Mechanics: This one could go either way, as for every moment where Paul Struth uses the rules well, there's another where he cocks it up.  On the whole, though, there are no glaring errors, mostly points of ambiguity, so I'm going to be generous.  Rating: 3 out of 7.

Innovation and Influence: This adventure gets a minor point for being one of the first to not be written by Jackson, Jackson or Livingstone, and another minor point for beating Temple of Terror to the desert setting by a few months.  It should probably lose a bit for ripping off George Lucas so shamelessly, though.  Rating: 2 out of 7.

NPCs and Monsters: There's actually a decent selection of monsters in this adventure, albeit ripped right out of D&D.  (Basic D&D to be precise, whereas regular FF seems to draw more from Advanced D&D.)  The characters here are pretty thin, but Kuperan and his fleet do serve as a satisfying major antagonist.  It's just too bad that so few of the encounters have anything at all to do with the Stone of Shanhara.  Rating: 3 out of 7.

Amusement: This one was decent fun to begin with, but it had certainly worn out its welcome by the end.  It's also overly linear, and if it wasn't for the battle with Kuperan I'd be marking it even lower.  Rating: 2 out of 7.

No bonus point for The Dervish Stone.  The above scores add up to 18, which doubled gives a S.T.A.M.I.N.A. Rating of 36.  This puts it equal last with the preview of Caverns of the Snow Witch, which I'm perfectly happy with.

Next week (theoretically) I'll be back to dig deeper into this adventure, with an Exploring Titan post.  Then it's back to the main series for Talisman of Death.