Temple of Terror - Attempt 1

So, uh, about that emotional farewell I gave at the end of my last post...

It seems I'm back.  My circumstances haven't improved, but after a few weeks of not blogging I found that I missed it.  It turns out that I'm mentally better off when I'm producing something, even if that production happens to be as insignificant as a blog about Fighting Fantasy gamebooks.  So, for the moment, the blog continues, with Ian Livingstone's Temple of Terror.

Cover by Christos Achilleos

The dark, twisted power of the young Malbordus is reaching its zenith. All he needs now is to retrieve the five dragon artefacts which have been hidden for centuries in the lost city of Vatos, somewhere in the Desert of Skulls. Each day that passes brings him closer to them and only YOU can stop him! YOUR mission is to reach the lost city before Malbordus and destroy the treasures he seeks. But beware! Each step you take leads you closer to your doom...

Temple of Terror really is the end of an era for Fighting Fantasy, as pretty much the tail end of Ian Livingstone's run as the series' main author.  Of the books before this, Ian wrote or co-wrote seven.  Of the 45 books that follow in the original series, he writes four.  Opening the series up to different writers gives it more scope and variety, and was the only way it was ever going to have any kind of longevity.  But for me, regardless of the many gameplay issues his books have, Ian Livingstone's books are the core of Fighting Fantasy, and the series loses a lot without his regular contribution.

(That said, I had no sense of this back in the day, because I thought Ian and Steve wrote all of them.  After all, their names were right there on the covers.  I was even convinced that they drew the pictures themselves, never mind the wildly differing art styles.  Some kids are dumb, and I was one of them.)

The background of this book begins with Malbordus, a child abandoned by his mother in Darkwood Forest and raised by evil elves.  As Malbordus grew it became apparent that he was gifted in the ways of dark magic, but he had to pass one final test before the elves would teach him their secrets: find five dragon statues in the lost city of Vatos, and bring them to life to lead an army in the conquest of Allansia.

The wizard Yaztromo got wind of this plot, and hurried to Stonebridge to find a hero to go to Vatos to stop Malbordus.  Yaztromo, introduced in Forest of Doom as little more than a means by which the player could buy magic items, comes into his own here as the most important good wizard in Allansia.  He'll fill that role in most of Ian's books going forward, and while he's pretty much a Gandalf knock-off, well... every generic fantasy setting needs a good Gandalf knock-off.  It comes with the territory.

Yaztromo finds the hero of the book resting in Stonebridge after a recent adventure, and while it's not outright stated that this is a sequel to Forest of Doom, it's pretty heavily implied.  The hero is tasked with travelling to Vatos, and destroying the dragon artefacts before Malbordus can get his hands on them.  We're back in familiar territory here, with a classic hero-vs.-evil-wizard plot.

We're in familiar territory as far as the rules go, as well, because Temple of Terror doesn't add anything new to the basic FF ruleset.  Creating my character, I rolled a Skill of 11, a Stamina of 18, and a Luck of 9.  For equipment, I had a sword, leather armour, a backpack, a lantern, and 10 provisions.  Yaztromo also gave me a pouch containing 25 gold pieces (which may very well be the same gold pieces I used to buy stuff from him back in Forest of Doom).

Before sending me off on my quest, Yaztromo took me to his tower to teach me some magic.  He had ten spells to choose from, but only had time to teach me four.  (This is a little ridiculous, honestly.  Pretty much all fantasy fiction treats magic like it's something that takes years of painstaking study to master, but here Yaztromo can teach someone a few spells in what feels like at most a matter of hours.  At least in Scorpion Swamp Fake Steve Jackson had the decency to explain this with one-use spell gems when he wanted to pull the same trick.)

The ten spells are Open Door, Creature Sleep, Magic Arrow, Language, Read Symbols, Light, Fire, Jump, Detect Trap and Create Water.  For my four, I chose Open Door, Read Symbols, Detect Trap and Create Water.  That last one seemed especially vital, given that I was heading into the desert.  For the others, I opted mostly for spells that would allow me to detect and avoid danger.  Or, in the case of Open Door, avoid losing because I failed to find a key somewhere. I know your tricks, Ian.

There's no specific limit on the number of times a spell can be cast, but each casting drains a small amount of Stamina.  The only spell of the four I chose with no Stamina cost is Create Water.

Led by Yaztromo's pet crow, I headed south until I reached Catfish River, where an old barge crewed by unsavoury characters was moored.  There was also a rope bridge across the river, but rather than take it I decided to approach the barge crew and book passage to Port Blacksand.  (Allansia has really come together as a setting by this point.  Pretty much the entire opening of this adventure is made up of elements that were established in earlier books.)

The captain told me it would be 5 gold pieces for passage, and I decided to pay it rather than haggle with him.  I spent the whole journey asleep on a coil of rope, and before long I disembarked in the infamous "city of thieves".  (The hero of this book must be young man, because I'm pretty sure that if I slept on a coil of rope I wouldn't be getting up again for at least a few days.)

As night approached I started looking for a place to stay.  An old man in tattered clothes jumped out of a doorway in front of me, and told me that for 1 gold piece he could lead me to a place that offered a room, soup and bread.  Impressed by this man's obvious integrity, I was 100% convinced that his offer was genuine, so I gave him the gold and followed him to a dilapidated house.  As soon as he knocked on the door, two club-wielding things burst out and attacked me.  I'd been set up in a manner so subtle that I had not even the slightest inkling that it was ever going to happen.

The Robbers (Skill 8, Stamina 7 and Skill 7, Stamina 7) attacked one at a time, and the first one landed some strong hits early, but once I recovered from the shock I made short work of them.  (I was hit twice during the battle, reducing my Stamina to 14.)  The old man had run off with my gold piece, but a search of the robbers' pockets turned up a brass telescope and 3 silver buttons.

Continuing down Clog Street and into Harbour Street, I soon found the Black Lobster Tavern. I paid a gold piece for a room for the night, and another for an introduction to a ship captain who could take me down the coast.  Gargo was the captain of the Belladonna, and the price of passage was 10 gold pieces.  He didn't seem like the sort of man to haggle with, so I paid his price before retiring to my room. Along the way a clumsy patron spilled some ale on me, and I made amends by buying him another round.  This cost me another gold piece, and I started to wonder how long my funds would last.  (Buying these drinks reduced my Luck to 8, and left me with just 6 gold.)

The next morning I boarded the Belladonna, which I was surprised to discover was a pirate ship (because Belladonna sounds like the name of a respectable trade vessel, sure).  Due to crew shortages, I was told that my job would be to man the cannons, and it wasn't long before my services were required.  A ship was sighted off the starboard bow, a man-of-war that opened fire on us.  The Belladonna was no match for a warship, and after a brief skirmish it started to sink.  I managed to get safely to the deck before the ship sank (with a successful Skill check), and decided to float away on a piece of masthead rather than trust to the mercies of the enemy crew.

For two days I drifted on the sea, growing weaker and weaker.  (I had to roll two dice, and subtract the total from my Stamina. I rolled a 10, which reduced my Stamina to a worrying 4.)  On the third day, I was washed up on a sandy beach, with desert stretching to the horizon.  I still had my backpack and belongings, but water had seeped into my provisions, ruining three of them.  Luckily (due to a Luck test that reduced my score to 7), I had washed up near a grove of palm trees, and was able to replenish some of my strength by eating some coconuts.  I ate one of my provisions as well, to get back as much strength as I could for the journey ahead.  (This restored my Stamina to 11.  The loss of provisions was determined by a die roll, for which I scored a 3.  It also caused me to lose a point of Luck, leaving my score at 6.)

I decided to walk south along the coast for a while rather than head inland.  Soon I came to a strange pattern made out of seashells, with a feathered spear thrust into the ground at the centre.  I cast a Read Symbols spell (reducing my Stamina to 10), which revealed that the beach ahead was sacred, and that walking on it would anger the "demon of the beach".  I decided not to risk it, and headed inland.

Not long after I heard a buzzing sound overhead, and was attacked by a trio of giant Needle Flies.  With no spell that could harm them, I was forced to fight them with my sword.  The Needle Flies (Skill 5 Stamina 6, Skill 6 Stamina 7, and Skill 7, Stamina 6) were weak, and attacked me one at a time; only the last one managed to wound me (reducing my Stamina to 8).

Following my battle with the Needle Flies, I stumbled over a dead man lying face down in the sand.  In his hand was a pouch, which contained a small golden key.  I pocketed it before moving on.

As the day wore on, I saw a rider on a camel approaching through the heat haze.  I decided to approach rather than hide, and he offered to trade me a canister of water for some treasure.  I gave him one of my silver buttons, and gladly took his water.

After departing from the rider I was caught in a sudden sandstorm (which reduced my Stamina to 6).  When the storm subsided, I found a brass handbell half-buried in the sand (due to a successful Luck test that reduced my score to 5).

I continued on, slaking my thirst with water from my canister.  Half an hour later I came across the tent of a desert nomad, and decided to enter.  The nomad, whose name was Abjul, was a merchant.  After providing me with a meal (that restored my Stamina to 10), he showed me the wares he had for sale.  None of the items seemed all that practical, but I bought a crystal key and a brass flute (this left me with 1 gold piece).  Abjul told me that he thought Vatos was to the south.  I thanked him, and continued on.

Soon after, a tremor in the ground warned me of danger, just before an enormous Sandworm broke the surface.  I had no choice but to fight the Sandworm (Skill 10, Stamina 20), and it was a long, drawn out affair.  I eventually killed the great beast, but it was a close call (I was left with just 4 Stamina).  I took one of the Sandworm's teeth with me, and ate a provision (restoring my Stamina to 8) before moving on.  (This is the sort of thing I hate most in Ian's books: an unavoidable fight with a really strong enemy.  The Skill here isn't super-high, but that Stamina is ridiculous, and guarantees that the fight is going to take ages.  And let's be honest, the FF combat system isn't interesting enough to justify long, drawn out battles.)

After a cold night which sapped my strength, I woke up in the morning and ate another provision.  (The cold dropped my Stamina to 5, and the food brought it back up to 9).  I passed by an oasis with birds circling above, but decided not to risk drinking from it, as I already had some water (as well as my Create Water spell if I needed it).  I instead decided to investigate a pile of rocks nearby, which turned out to be a bad idea, as I was stung on the hand by a scorpion (reducing my Stamina to 5).  After crushing it with my boot, I found a sack beneath the rocks.  Inside was a glass orb, in which a Sprite was trapped.  I broke the sphere and released him, and in gratitude he blessed me with good luck (restoring my Luck score to 6).  He also informed me that I could use the sack as a headscarf to protect me from the sun, and I gave him my thanks before he left.

Soon I finished the rest of my water, and managed to avoid heatstroke due to the sack I was wearing on my head.  (I do wonder how the Stamina loss from the heatstroke compares to that from being stung by the scorpion.)  Eventually, through the desert haze, I saw the ruins of a walled city in the distance.  Finally, I had reached the lost city of Vatos.  I ate one of my provisions before approaching (restoring my Stamina to 9, and leaving me with just 3 provisions remaining).

The entrance gate was closed, but there was a smaller wooden door nearby.  I opened it with my Open Door spell (reducing my Stamina to 7).  On the other side was an open square, with an archway on the other side.  I entered the archway, and descended some stairs.  At the bottom of the stairs was an iron casket, which I opened.  Inside was an iron helmet.  It seemed suspicious that a helm would be sitting here in the open without being looted, but this was a lost city after all, and presumably uninhabited.  I put the helmet on my head, and was pleased at the fit (and the +1 Skill bonus).

As I continued down the corridor, I was started by a tap on my shoulder.  Turning around, I saw a horrid, gaunt figure, with thick slime oozing from its eyes and mouth.  It whispered one word to me - "Death!" - before it disappeared.  This was a Messenger of Death, who had been sent by Malbordus to assassinate me.  The Messenger delighted in playing games with its victims, and had hidden letters of the word "death" in my path.  If I found all the letters, the Messenger would appear and drain my life.  (I've always loved this encounter, but it's a terribly inefficient method of assassinating someone.  Malbordus would have been better off sending ten blokes with knives.)

The corridor ended at a T-junction, with some drapes hanging on the wall ahead.  I was wary of uncovering any death letters, but also determined to find the dragon statues, so I drew back the curtain.  It concealed a door, which I opened.  The door led into a bare stone room, with a bucket hanging from the ceiling.  I was alerted by a skittering, just before a Giant Centipede appeared and attacked.

I was unable to escape, and the Centipede (Skill 9, Stamina 7) proved to be a formidable foe.  So formidable, in fact, that it killed me, and my adventure ended in its crushing mandibles.

THE POST-GAME

After losing 10 Stamina while drifting at sea, I felt like I was in a constant struggle to maintain my Stamina.  I also got low on Provisions, and got a little conservative with them.  Even so, I should have beaten the Centipede, as its Skill was two points lower than mine.  The odds were in my favour, but the dice weren't, unfortunately.  Next time I need to try to make it to Vatos without losing so much Stamina.