Deathtrap

Phil Sadler has written another gamebook. Not unsurprisingly, given the title, this is a prequel to Ian Livingstone's Deathtrap Dungeon. You are one of a group of adventurers hired by Baron Sukumvit to test his new creation.

Download it here

Paul Mc
Fri Sep 30 16:26:03 2016

Early death for me!!
I was going rather nicely until I had 5 options. The one I chose led to my head being chopped off with an axe.

phil sadler
Tue Oct 4 14:10:08 2016

Ah, you have found 1 of the 28 instant deaths in my book (and it's pretty pleasant compared to some of them):

Hellfire:
499 refs
42 deaths

Riders of the Storm:
400 refs
37 deaths

House of Pain
499 refs
39 deaths

Deathtrap
499 refs
28 deaths

Yaztromo
Wed Oct 5 23:55:06 2016

You're getting softer... ;-)

A.E. Johnston
Tue Oct 18 04:19:29 2016

Thanks Phil, I am a big fan of deathtrap dungeon so can't wait to check this out. I always liked the eclectic mix of participants in the beginning of the story ( the elf, ninja, barbarians etc). Should be fun!

Paul Mc
Wed Oct 26 01:21:03 2016

Id like it if this game was put on the site.

Paul Mc
Tue Nov 29 02:10:14 2016

Phil, I'm just as cruel

Satan's Academy
400 References
39 Deaths (and a couple deaths you can get to a number of ways)

Phil Sadler
Tue Nov 29 07:45:52 2016

Don't worry, neither of us could ever be as cruel as Ian Livingstone.

Paul Mc
Fri Dec 30 11:25:19 2016

I died again, One of the options was to go into a box and I knew it was a bad idea so I dont know why I did it...
anyway it turned out I was right, it was a bad idea...

Can I have some clues please.

Paul Mc
Tue Jan 3 09:14:30 2017

Phil Sadler... I must say playing a few of your games, Ive really enjoyed them.
I judge a gamebook on various things, but one of the main things is how good the deaths/bad endings are, and yours are biblical...
They have been interesting, unusual, grotesque, cruel and at times insulting the character for his poor choice... loved it.
I like the fact on some of the deaths, the paragraph ends before you die and the horrible fate is unspoken e.g. "the goblin giggles as you decide which way they torture you..."

Phil Sadler
Tue Jan 3 09:51:42 2017

Thanks for the nice comments. In regards to "good deaths" I tried to take a leaf out of Steve Jackson's books especially Creature of Havoc where even the death scenes were something to look forward to (in a sense). This would mean that you are sort of 'rewarding' the player even if they fail.

Paul Mc
Wed Jan 4 11:55:03 2017

Please give me some clues for Deathtrap though...

Also could you play my game that I wrote a while ago
http://fightingfantazine.proboards.com/thread/484/improved-satans-academy-play

Paul Mc
Wed Jan 4 14:33:06 2017

I would still like some help with deathtrap though.

Phil Sadler
Thu Jan 5 10:04:00 2017

I don't really play gamebooks anymore. As for clues in DT I will say a few things. It's still a new book and so I don't really want to give anything out. Secondly, it's supposed to be a real hard rock-solid game that is designed for the express purpose of NOT being easy in any way shape or form. However, unlike DD, you can complete this on a skill of 9 and perhaps even lower.

Robert Douglas
Fri Jan 6 11:31:57 2017

Steve Jackson's writing ensured Creature of Havoc as being amongst the best titles in FF - or, indeed, any series. The narrative was gripping, tense, and downright sinister! His employment of coded speech truly tested the brain of the player. The death scenes were certainly very entertaining, although there were more 'wrong turns' than I preferred.

Phil Sadler
Fri Jan 6 16:18:42 2017

Sadly, I had the bugged version of COH back in the day and so it never found a place in my heart like HOH did, for instance. You might be pleased to know though that there's a cheeky reference to the actual Creature of Havoc himself buried within this book.

Robert Douglas
Sun Jan 8 14:52:09 2017

What was the bug in COH? And where's the reference in HOH?

Phil Sadler
Tue Feb 7 19:55:16 2017

At one point in the story the character finds a pendant that allows the player to locate secret passageways when used, achieved by adding 20 to any reference when it begins with the phrase "You find yourself..." Reference 213 commences with "You reach...", but adding 20 leads the player to a paragraph that states a secret door has been found, thereby allowing game progression. It is unknown as to whether this was an error or Jackson's deliberate attempt to encourage lateral thinking - just as the bestial protagonist is forced to do within the narrative.

As for the reference in HoH, well it's actually in my own HoP and it's just that the creature himself does appear later on and is even named.

Phil Sadler
Wed Mar 29 11:43:26 2017

Just found and corrected a few small errors and have sent the details to Andy:

Desert Lizard Man had no stamina (should have been 8)
Giant Spider skill 7 (used to be 6)
Sword Tree's stamina up from 9 to 12
Tangle-weed 7/6 down from 8/13
Tyrannosaurus 12/12 to Tyrannosaurus (Young)

Nothing game-breaking (well I'm not too sure about that naughty Desert Lizard Man, but the odds of meeting him or any of those others are about 500-1).

The updated version is there now.

Phil sadler
Mon May 29 15:45:12 2017

2 more small errors found

1.) A naughty pixie somehow became a mighty 9/8 instead of 5/5
2.) A Red Dragon's stats were mixed up so that 11/14 becomes 14/11

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