The Forest of Doom: Final Thoughts

If there is one word that I would use to describe The Forest of Doom, it might very well be "comforting".  That's probably not what Ian Livingstone had in mind when he wrote the thing, but there's just something about this book that puts me at ease.  Perhaps it's the rules; I do love a Fighting Fantasy gamebook that just goes with the basics.  It could be the multiple chances to succeed that it gives the reader; this book stands alone in that it allows you to go back to the start if you fail to find Gillibran's hammer.  It could even be the difficulty level, which is pitched in such a way that any character with any stats could complete it.  Most probably, it's a combination of all of the above.

This is Ian Livingstone's first solo effort as a gamebook writer, and it shows.  I hate to say it, but he's just not the designer that his partner Steve Jackson is, and whereas Jackson's initial outing provided a classic in The Citadel of Chaos, Livingstone's first gamebook is merely decent.

The setting is novel, at least in theory.  This is the first time that a Fighting Fantasy has ventured out of doors, but in practice what that amounts to is a dungeon with lots of trees and grass instead of tunnels.  It's probably more pleasant than Firetop Mountain, but it's not as intriguing.  That said, the forest setting does make more sense.  The Forest of Doom suffers from the same problem as Warlock of Firetop Mountain did: very few of the encounters are connected, and the whole journey through the forest feels like a string of wandering monsters.  In a forest, though, it's a bit more plausible that you'd encounter a wide variety of nasties.

The encounters in the forest are quite good, though.  Yes, there are the obligatory Livingstone moments of "a monster jumps out, now fight it!" but there are enough genuinely interesting scenarios to make up for it.  The fire demon and his mushroom garden, the gremlins and their strange obsession with clay hands; both are examples of Livingstone at his best.

I also want to praise Livingstone here for keeping his bloodthirstiness in check.  Anyone who has played his later books can attest to the fact that he's a sadistic bugger who delights in crafting frustratingly impossible gamebooks, but this is a younger, kinder, gentler Ian.  None of the fights are too difficult.  You can take any number of different paths to victory.  You only need a couple of items to succeed.  As I've already mentioned, you can even loop back to the start if you don't find the hammer.  Yes, it creates continuity problems when you encounter the same monsters again, but at least the thought was there.  It's nice sometimes, after a long hard day of Crypt of the Sorcerer, to come back to this book and remember the times when Ian Livingstone was a very nice man.

Malcolm Barter, on the other hand, I don't have such warm feelings towards.  Some of his illustrations are genuinely great - I love the Fire Demon, for instance - but there are a few that weird me out.  There are a lot of shirtless men in this book, and they all have the same odd, lumpy quality to their musculature.  His werewolf has a too-human look, and I've always been uncomfortable with that Catwoman illustration.

Still, for all that I've disparaged it, I really love The Forest of Doom.  A lot of that is nostalgia; it is the first gamebook I ever legitimately finished, after all. But more than that, it's a solid gamebook with just about the right difficulty level, a good variety of encounters, and no complications.  It's just a simple, straightforward adventure that's fun to play through despite its flaws, and I wish the series had more of those.

Addendum - S.T.A.M.I.N.A. Rating

Story & Setting: Darkwood Forest is iconic in Fighting Fantasy lore, but it never quite feels like the dark, deadly place that the book initially describes. It has a lot of fun encounters, but few of them feel connected. As for the story, it's oddly low-key: the Hammer of Gillibran is important to the dwarves, but the hero doesn't have a lot of stake in it.  At least it's not another evil wizard, I suppose. Rating: 4 out of 7.

Toughness: This book is pitched at just about the right difficulty level. You don't need high stats to finish it, and the ability to loop back to the start means that you won't be doomed by choosing the wrong path at an intersection. Rating: 5 out of 7.

Aesthetics: The writing is evocative enough, even though Darkwood Forest isn't as fearsome as the introduction leads you to believe.  Malcolm Barter's art is strange, and his characters have an oddly lumpy quality to their musculature that grosses me out. I have to bump it back up for that Iain McCaig cover though. Rating: 4 out of 7.

Mechanics: This is as basic as it gets for FF, and that's fine by me.  There's nothing new or clever going on here, but the fundamentals of the system are done really well.  Rating: 4 out of 7.

Innovation & Influence: As far as innovation goes, the only things that Forest of Doom provides over The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is the wilderness setting and the ability to loop back to the beginning. It's also the start of a story branch that runs through (at least) books 9, 14 and 26. Does it count if Livingstone influences himself?  Rating: 4 out of 7.

NPCs & Monsters: The monsters here are mostly D&D staples, and most of the NPCs are fairly unmemorable.  Yaztromo is a big one though, and even though he's your fairly stereotypical crotchety wizard he does stand out.  Rating: 4 out of 7.

Amusement: It could be the nostalgia talking, but I do enjoy this book quite a bit. Not having to worry about finding the critical path makes it a pleasant, relaxing read, but that also means that it doesn't scratch the itch if I'm looking for a challenge. Rating: 4 out of 7.

I'm going to give Forest of Doom the bonus point, just because I love it so.  The above totals add up to 30, which doubled gives a S.T.A.M.I.N.A. Rating of 60.  It's in the enjoyable but unremarkable range.

The Forest of Doom - Attempt 1, Part 2

My last installment ended with the discovery of the first half of the Hammer of Gillibran, a handle inscribed with the letter 'G'.  Now I was left standing in the cave of a dead ogre, pondering my next move, agonising over what direction my quest would take next.  Not too much agonising, though; I was an adventurer after all.  What else was there for an adventurer to do but loot the cave?

The cave was not exactly a treasure trove, but it did contain a silver box that I could not resist opening.  Having already found one useful item in the cave, I should have known better, because the box was filled with poison gas.  Luckily, I came prepared, and was able to avoid harm by slipping in my magical Nose Filters, purchased earlier from the wizard Yaztromo.  So far, that guy is earning his keep.  The box was empty, but I kept it anyway because, you know, silver.  I do wonder why that Ogre had poison gas in a box, though.  I'd like a reason other than "Ian Livingstone put it there to kill nosy adventurers".

I left the cave and walked further north, only to catch my foot in a noose and be left dangling from a tree.  A successful Luck test meant that my sword remained in its scabbard, and I was able to cut myself down.  It should be noted that at this point my character contemplates waiting around for the trapper to arrive, presumably planning to murder the fellow.  Chilling.

Further north, I found a knotted vine hanging from a tree, and climbed up.  Who wouldn't?  It led to a wooden platform that was home to an APE-MAN, who attacked me with a daintily-clutched femur.

Despite my increased Skill (from a potion I drank earlier), and the Ape-Man's questionable bone-gripping technique, he managed to hit me a couple of times before I killed him.  I had a penalty to my Attack Strength due to fighting in a tree, while the Ape-Man was right at home, funnily enough.  It didn't do him a great deal of good, though, because soon I was looting his corpse.   He was wearing a copper bracelet that I snapped on, and it turned out to be a Bracelet of Skill which gave me a +1 bonus to Attack Strength.  Man, there are a lot of combat bonuses in this gamebook.  There's bound to be a tough boss battle at the end, right?

Still further north I came to a four-way junction, and headed west, then north at a T-junction.  Then west at another junction.  (Gripping stuff.)  The sound of barking dogs could be heard ahead, but I decided not to hide as they drew nearer.  I was met by a masked rider and his hunting pack.

I'm pretty sure that his horse is not breathing fire.  Despite being an adventurer, and also despite the gold rings he was wearing on every finger, I refrained from attacking him and entered into peaceable conversation.  The rider was on the trail of a wild boar, but I couldn't help him.  Even so he gave me some belladonna before galloping away.  What a great guy.  I'm glad I didn't cut his hand off and steal his rings.

I turned west at the next crossroads, and found a mud hut that was home to some sort of mutated freak.

This was Quin, who was just sitting around flexing his abnormal musculature. Transfixed by his horrid beauty, I went inside the hut, whereupon he challenged me to an arm-wrestling match.  How could I refuse him?

I came to the conclusion that Quin's physique could only have been reached through some sort of vile magical experiment, so I decided to use my Armband of Strength to even the odds.  It did the trick, and the defeated Quin gifted me with some Dust of Levitation.  I left him slumped at the table with a suicidal expression on his face, and journeyed back into the forest.

Back at the last junction I turned north I came to a waterfall that tumbled noisily down into a river.  There was a boat tied to a post nearby, and also a set of stone steps leading down behind the falls.  I took the steps, and was soon in the lair of a hostile FISH MAN.

Alas, the Fish Man had no valuables, but he also wasn't able to hit me in combat, so it all evened out.  I climbed out to the north side of the river and made camp as the sun set.

Just as The Warlock of Firetop Mountain had Chekhov's Sharpened Stick, The Forest of Doom had provided me with Chekhov's Belladonna.  Spurred on by this narrative law, a WEREWOLF awakened me from my sleep and attacked.  I dispatched it without taking any damage, though, so Chekhov's Belladonna remained on the metaphorical mantelpiece.

The next morning I set off again, heading north at another junction.  Delusions of invincibility must have been distracting me, though, because I walked right into a pit trap.  A successful Luck test meant that I avoided being impaled on a pointy stick, but I was still trapped at the bottom.  Or I would have been, were it not for my Boots of Leaping.  With a single bound I was free of the pit, and on my way.

Further down the path I found a sword stuck into a large rock.  Unable to resist such temptations, I pulled on the hilt, and with a successful Skill test yanked it free.  (With my Skill score of 12, there was no way for me to fail.)  The sword was enchanted, granting me a +2 bonus to my Skill score.

(At this point I want to digress into a discussion of The Rules.  Sometimes when you find a magical weapon it grants a bonus to your Attack Strength.  This is all fine, and presents no problem with the rules as written.  Sometimes, however, such a weapon will grant a bonus to your Skill score.  By the rules, though, your Skill score can't be raised above its initial level unless the text specifically says so.  By the rules, the sword that I just picked up would grant me no advantage at all, which doesn't make much sense.  That said, I didn't apply the bonus.  I tend to stick with the rules by following the text as closely as possible.  Besides, I was quite powerful enough.)

At the next junction I turned east, then north.  Just off the path was a pool of bubbling mud, which I decided to apply to my wounds.  This is the sort of thing that counts as medicine in Ye Olden Days, and sure enough it healed me back to full health.  Just in time to be randomly attacked by a PTERODACTYL, all flapping around and breaking verisimilitude.  The standard fantasy potpourri of mythological beasts never really bothers me, but there's something about dinosaurs that just feels wrong.  It might be the names.  Anyway, I took my frustration out on the poor bugger, and while examining its corpse I spotted an arrow painted on the ground.  My curiosity piqued, I followed the arrow to an old tree trunk with a dark hole leading downwards.

Dark holes are always promising to an adventurer, because that's where all the good treasure is.  Despite my lack of a light source, I quickly used my magic Rope of Climbing to make my way down.

At the bottom was a cavern filled with multi-coloured mushrooms, being tended to by a bunch of small, pale-skinned humanoids: CLONES!  The clones weren't attacking me, and I didn't want to attack them.  I also didn't want to mess with the mushrooms; as a rule, I don't fool around with mushrooms.  Unfortunately, the only options I had involved doing one or the other.  I figured that, being a combat monster, I'd have more chance against the clones than the mushrooms, so I rushed to the attack.

The fellow I attacked put up no resistance as I struck his head from his shoulders.  I like that touch of character; my warrior didn't try to stab him through the chest, or go for the efficient kill.  He went right for a decapitation.  There's a certain flair to it.  Anyway, the headless clone dissolved and turned into a purple mushroom that turned to face me.  That was my cue to get out of there, because, as I've said, I don't fool around with mushrooms.  I fled towards a patch of green mushrooms, then left the cavern by a flight of steps.

Halfway up the steps was a chest and a barrel.  Without even bothering to check if the chest was open, I blew it apart with my sword, and claimed the 8 gold pieces inside.  In the barrel I found a shield, described as an emperor's shield forged long ago by a master armourer.  I decided to take it with me; now, whenever I was wounded I could roll a dice, and on a 4, 5 or 6 the shield would protect me from 1 point of damage.

Further up the steps was an alcove, with the sound of shuffling feet coming from within.  The only things with shuffling feet are zombies or song-and-dance men, and neither of those are good, so I kept on up the stairs.  What I found there wasn't exactly pleasant either.

A FIRE DEMON!  I had to fight it to escape from the cavern, and for most adventurers it would have been tough.  Not only did it have a Skill and Stamina of 10, but in every round it had a chance of hitting me with its fiery whip.  Unfortunately for the poor Fire Demon, my Bracelet of Skill gave me an effective Skill of 13, and I made short work of him.  His whip almost got me on one round, but I was able to deflect it with my shield, and finish the battle unscathed.

Behind the Fire Demon was a throne, and next to his corpse was a crown.  A couple of clones were bowing to me.  I had the option of sitting on the throne, or wearing the crown, but there was no way.  I know an instant death scenario when I see one.  I hightailed it out of the cavern, and back to the surface.

I followed a path north, turned west at a junction, then turned north again, and continued until I spotted a stone building covered with ivy.  The building had no windows, and the door was stone as well.  With no key I thought I'd have to leave the place unexplored, but luckily I was able to charge the door down.  (I needed to roll under both my Skill and Luck with two dice.  My Skill was 12, which was no problem, but my Luck of 7 was a worry, so I drank my Potion of Fortune to raise it to 8.  I rolled a 7, so I would have succeeded anyway, but it was best to be safe.)

Inside the building, stone steps led downwards.  I followed them down into a crypt.

Lighting a candle I found in an alcove, I investigated the room.  The skeleton of a goblin or an orc lay in the corner; I was all prepared for it to try to kill me, but it seemed that Ian was resisting the cliche for now.  There was also a sarcophagus, which I decided to open.  The slab on top was too heavy to budge, but with the Dust of Levitation that I had won from Quin I was able to look inside, and... SWERVE!  I'd been worried about the skeleton outside, but inside the sarcophagus was a GHOUL!

Luckily I had a vial of holy water, which I splashed all over it.  The ghoul retreated into a corner of the room, leaving me free to loot its coffin.  To my delight, I found 25 gold pieces, and a bronze hammer head inscribed with the letter G.  Gillibran's hammer was complete!  Now all I had to do was get out of the forest, and my quest would be over.

I followed the path north, then east, then north again.  I stopped when I saw the lair of some creature, and something glittering within.  My quest was complete, and no doubt the dwarves would reward me handsomely, but...  Shiny object!  I had to have it!  I bent down to pick it up...

A WYVERN popped out of its cave to shoot fire at me!  I was lucky, though, and it missed.  Then, some strange premonition came over me.  I felt oddly compelled to pull out the flute that I had looted from a hobgoblin earlier, and start playing it, even though there was no logical reason that I should have done so.  Despite the seeming madness of this act, it turned out that the flute was magical, and it put the wyvern to sleep.

It's lair proved to be something of a jackpot: a gauntlet, a throwing knife, 10 gold pieces and a gold ring.  I tried on the gauntlet, and was pleased to discover that it was a Gauntlet of Weaponskill, which would give me yet another +1 to my Attack Strength.  Not all that useful so close to the conclusion of my quest, but handy nonetheless.  Then I got cocky, and put on the ring.  It was cursed, a Ring of Slowness that would subtract two from my Attack Strength.  I was effectively back to my starting level, my meager Skill of 12.  However would I cope?  (At this stage of the series, I can afford to be glib about a loss like this.  It won't be long before this sort of thing will be a sure-fire death sentence.)

Cursed back to being awesome instead of super-awesome, I continued north, and was soon ambushed by five scruffy yet oddly polite bandits.  They demanded five objects to let me pass, and I was honestly too tired to be bothered fighting them.  I gifted them with a kingly treaasure: some garlic buds, two maggot-ridden biscuits, a necklace of mouse skulls, and a throwing knife.  Enjoy.

With that, I was out of Darkwood Forest, and in the village of Stonebridge.  The dwarves seemed quite suspicious of me when I asked to see Gillibran.  One of them even asked about my wounds, which was pretty weird, because I could have sworn I didn't have any.  Gillibran was looking miserable, but he perked up considerably when I gave him the hammer.  Now his people would be able to fight the Trolls, though why they couldn't do this without the hammer is never really explained.

As I'd hoped, Gillibran gave me a hefty reward: a rad winged helmet worth hundreds of gold pieces, and a box full of jewels.  I was now wealthy beyond my wildest dreams, and one gamebook closer to competing my goal.

The Forest of Doom - Attempt 1, Part 1

 The Forest of Doom, written by Ian Livingstone and illustrated by Malcolm Barter, is the third book in the Fighting Fantasy series, and something of a return to the basics.  The magic system introduced in book two is no longer in evidence, and once more the protagonist is a roaming warrior with nothing more to his name than a sword, leather armour and a backpack.  This suits me; there's less effort involved in creating my character, and no new rules to trip me up.  I do like a good, bare-bones Fighting Fantasy.

My character began the game with a Skill score of 12, a Stamina of 19 and a Luck of 8. He's a down-on-his-luck killing machine, basically.  I was relieved to see that I would begin the game with ten provisions, each one worth 4 points of healing. I also could choose one potion that could restore one of my stats to its initial level; I chose the Potion of Fortune, partly because Luck is my lowest score, and partly for that sweet boost to my initial score that only this potion provides.

The background of this adventure is a departure from the two previous books; there's not an evil wizard to be killed.  Instead, I have to venture deep into Darkwood Forest and find the hammer of the Dwarf King Gillibran, so that he can lead his people to war against the trolls. All of this was told to me by a dying dwarf named Bigleg (and no, I seriously don't want to know where a Dwarf gets that name), who stumbled into my camp with a belly full of arrows.  Bigleg stayed alive just long enough to provide the requisite amount of exposition, and also to hand me a map and a bag of 30 gold pieces.  He also told me to visit the wizard Yaztromo before I enter Darkwood, and thus my quest began.

At this point, I've just got to reiterate something that a number of other gamebook bloggers have pointed out: the protagonist of this book is a blatant sociopath.  Read about it here, it's very funny, and completely accurate.

Bigleg's map kind of sucks, but nevertheless I followed it to Yaztromo's tower at the southern edge of Darkwood Forest. The grumpy wizard conformed to all of the usual beard-and-staff cliches, and seemed none-too-pleased at my visit.  But when I informed him that I wanted to buy some magical items he invited me upstairs. I had the option here to draw my sword and attack him, and being a proper sociopath I did so.  Yaztromo very calmly told me to back off, so I meekly sheathed my sword and followed him upstairs.  I just wanted to flex my muscles, you know, let him know who's in charge around here.  I think he got the message.

Once inside his Ever-So-Wizardy Tower, we got down to the proper business of buying magical items. Ancient relics of power and mystery? None of that here! Just good old capitalism at work. I forked over 27 gold pieces and walked away with an Armband of Strength, Gloves of Missile Dexterity, Boots of Leaping, a Rope of Climbing, Garlic Buds, Nose Filters, and Fire Capsules. All of these items are good for one use (a very specific and singular use, I am certain) and they pretty much do what it says on the tin. Yaztromo also gave me a little background on Gillibran's Hammer, which amounted to "Some goblins unscrewed the handle and each took half of the hammer." Good to know, but not actually helpful in any concrete sense.  And can you really unscrew the head of a warhammer?  I know zip about forging hammers, but it doesn't seem likely.  Especially so for a mythical hammer wielded by a dwarf king.

With all transactions sorted I left Yaztromo and ventured into Darkwood Forest. And lest I begin to think that the forest might present me with a new and different kind of adventure, I came upon that most ubiquitous of Fighting Fantasy features, a T-junction. With the entire fate of my quest possibly hinging on this decision, I went east.

I quickly came to another junction, where a crow was perched atop a signpost. A talking crow, naturally, the kind who offers advice for gold. I forked over a coin and  received the sage wisdom "go north". Then I found out that he was really a man who had been turned into a bird by Yaztromo, and he needed 30 gold pieces before the wizard would turn him back. Sorry pal, if you'd met me a few entries ago I could've helped you.

Following the man/crow's advice (because what else did I have to go on?) I went north, and soon heard footsteps and voices. I opted to stand fast, and encountered these fine fellows.

What a friendly smile! Unfortunately I must have been radiating sociopathic vibes, because the Hobgoblins attacked me. It was a short and bloody affair, leaving me unscathed and in top looting form. And what a haul! 3 gold pieces, a brass flute, two maggot-ridden biscuits and a necklace of skulls. Into my clutches they go!

Further down the trail I saw a slimy hole (oo-er!) and could not resist entering it. Inside the hole was a five-metre worm (I repeat, oo-er), that I proceeded to engage in deadly combat.

The stingworm actually hit me a couple of times before I killed it, but it was totally worth it for the 4 gold pieces I found, and the mysterious vial of liquid. I quaffed it (because adventurers never drink when they can quaff) and discovered that it was a Potion of Weapon Skill, effectively giving me a Skill of 13 for the next two battles. Bad. Ass.

What was this further down the path? A cave? Of course I entered, and was startled by this sordid scene.

It was an Ogre, with a goblin in a cage for reasons that are best left unexplored. Not wishing to waste my newfound Weapon Skill unnecessarily, I decided to bung a rock at the ogre with the aid of my Glove of Missile Dexterity. One concussed Ogre later I was standing in front of the cage and opening the door, arms outstretched to receive the goblin's grateful hugs, with absolutely no thoughts of murdering him for the shiny black rod hanging around his neck. (Honestly, if I really wanted to murder him I would have poked my sword through the bars of the cage.)

Of course the little bastard had a go at me, and I was forced to Weapon Skill him to death most adroitly. And lo and behold, the black rod turned out to be the handle of a warhammer, complete with screw-thread and inscribed with the letter 'G'. Did it stand for Goblin?  Gimp? Or possibly... Gillibran?

Yes, I had found the first part of Gillibran's hammer, and it was dead easy.  The rest of this mission was going to be a walk in the park