Hey Haoie, thanks for sharing the link, lots of interesting choose your own path adventures
Robert Douglas Fri Feb 3 02:34:31 2012 General Chat
A particular point has been raised concerning the player's attribute scores. Much as we all love Fighting Fantasy, to be honest there's always been a downside to the rules. Rolling a 1 leaves you with Skill of 7, or rolling 2 totals a mere 14 for Stamina. The player would never really get very far on such diabolical stats!
In light of this, I'm very keen on pre-generated characters; veteran soldiers, assassins, etc would perhaps start with a 9 or even 10 for Skill. This gives the player more of a chance.
Ian Livingstone introduced this concept in 'Legend of Zagor' - but some of the Wizard Books publications have also implemented a pre-generated character section. In this way, at least the player isn't tempted to cheat (thus feeling guilty) when choosing an 'approved' set of stats. Also, it's great to have some kind of personal background to your character!
Also, while wizards are comparatively poor fighters, they should start with a dozen select spells to help raise Stamina and aid in combat, ie: 'Fireball', 'Summon Creature', or 'Illusion' - but a 'Spell-casting Ability' element to the rules determines success or strength of a spell. Opportunities to purchase/obtain/earn more spells are provided along the way.
Robert, funny you should mention that. Am currently working on a story that is a direct sequel to a famous FF story with an unsatisfying ending. The hero is a veteran of many adventures and as such has all attributes maxed out. That said, it is still easy to challenge such a character if handled well.
Robert Douglas Fri Feb 3 14:17:35 2012 General Chat
@ SCC,
Interesting...and somewhat mysterious! Will you be posting it on this site once it's finished? Wonder if it's to do with Chadda Darkmane...?
Robert Douglas' sequel to House Of Hell can now be played online.
"The-the Earl of Drumer's place," he gasps, "You're having a joke with all of us," he laughs nervously, "go on, own up to it!" Your face remains puzzled, no hint of a mischievous grin emerges. Terry's face falls. "Look, look," his hand grips your shoulder, almost crushing it, "you don't know me, I don't know you, but listen, listen," he grits his teeth to emphasise the point: "Don't go there! That place is cursed, I tell you, cursed".
Hi Everyone. Try as I might, I cant get passed the grandfather clock puzzle in the house of droomer's celler. Could someone give me a hand with this one? I should mention I've never played house of hell before so if knowledge is required from that gamebook I apollogise.
This puzzle is based upon the player's knowledge of the dread number '666'. The short hand is to be placed on a particular number while the button is pressed, then placed and pressed twice more to give a three digit number: '666'. Simply select '6' each time the text prompts you for a number. 'House of Hell' has no bearing on this puzzle whatsoever.
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It was probably unfair of me to assume fans would be familiar with the bible or 'The Omen' films. However, Andy sent me an interesting link concerning an old parchment which mentions the number is actually '616'.
Hi Robert, thanks much, I'll get on with the game and let you know my impressions when I'm done. I hope it's long, there's been a decided lack of outsider length games on here recently which is a shame.
Okay, Ibrahim. But even on high scores 'The Curse of Drumer' is quite a challenge. I hope you get on with it okay :). I have to say I've been killed several times by my own gamebook...whether ill fortune, combat, etc. However, I'd managed (just about!) to complete it - that penultimate battle reduced my Stamina to 1, phew! - so I quickly wolfed down FIVE meals before facing the last opponent.
Please let me know if it was long enough for you; I wanted to put a fair bit of dialogue into it, make it more realistic with banter, suggestions, arguments etc amongst the characters. Bit worried it was too long, though. I learned my lesson from 'Prison of Pestilence' and 'Snakeland Scorpion' as regards an exhausting Background.
Hi Robert. Many thanks again, I'm still playing it and I'm liking the dialog and the characterisation, much better than a simple FF dungion crawl. I have noticed that you are testing your skill, stamina and luck a lot more than in the other gamebooks on here but I'm enjoying it all the same. I've never played prison of pestilance or Snakeland Scorpion so will have to check them out when I've finished this title.
I agree with Ibrahim, I've been loving the Curse of Drumer. I always found the original House of Hell decent but hardly great, whereas The Curse of Drumer is genuinely exciting, detailed, chilling and entertaining. I really like the approach of adding other characters to the adventure, it makes it more varied and also adds an element of fear for your companions rather than just for your own hide. Still not finished it
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I got vampired on my first attempt and werewolfed on the second.
Hello al :) does anyone know where I can play house of hell...? I jsut stumbled upon this new sequel and I've never played the first one.. :S and it's not on the website.
It's one of the original published FF gamebooks, so you won't be able to play it here (you can of course buy it). Fortunately, The Curse Of Drumer has a self contained storyline, so you aren't really at any disadvantage if you haven't played House Of Hell first.
Thanks for the kind reviews! It's true that I like a good mix of test rolls and enemy encounters - but always with a chance to replenish your scores (and it takes a bit of of work on player's part to find these opportunites).
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Apart from the Earl of Drumer and Jenkins, I also wanted to bring back Isaacson (who'd since been promoted) - since his 'big night'. Nelly was one of 'House of Hell's' captives. I wanted 'The Curse of Drumer' to have some relation to 'House of Hell'.
Hi Robert. I'm now at the door which requires me to work out the combination, the one passed the room full of snakes. I've tried what is probably the most likely sequence in this puzzle but either I am wrong or the game mechanics are. Any help much appreciated, and if you dont want to put the spoiler on list, you can email me at ibrahim(dot)gucukoglu(at)live(dot)co(dot)UK. I'm sure you can figure out the punctuation but I dont want to be spammed by trollers.
Hi Robert, its OK, I completed the gamebook and really enjoyed it. Thanks for a really good gamebook, probably one of the best I've played in a good while now and I hope to see your other works POP and SLS playable on here soon.
Each number is squared to give the next in sequence: 2, 4, 16...so it's 16 squared = 256
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Michael Schreiber Mon Feb 6 10:45:47 2012 Hellfire
Hi, I have some questions about the layout of Hellfire because I think I've found two problems in the game. The first is just inconvenient for a player who rolls a low Skill character, the other is game-breaking because it
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prevents acquisition of a necessary item
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1)
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The Abomination fight near the very end of the game is extremely difficult for a character lacking high skill because his weakness, the Mirror, doesn't seem to exist in the website version of the game. In the Word version you can obtain the Mirror immediately after opening the 'Treasure' door at the beginning of the game. When used on the Abomination it dies immediately and you proceed to the final fight with the Trinitour. I know there are many little alterations made between the Word versions of these gamebooks and their online versions since certain elements may be overly complex, but I wonder if this item and function couldn't be returned to the online version to offer mercy for lower Skill characters?
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2)
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The Rusty Gauntlets, which you NEED to fight the Trinitour at all, and beat the game, appear unobtainable without cheating, both in the Word version and website version. I've read Phil Sadler's old comments about how this item is supposed to be obtained by going to the dead-end after the Password door and using a 'Reveal Invisible' spell followed by the 'Open Door' spell. The problem I've run into here is that the logic of Hellfire prevents backtracking in this way. There is no way I've been able to find in both the online or Word versions of Hellfire to reach this "dead-end" area of the game while possessing 'Reveal Invisible' spells. The 'Reveal Invisible' spells are only obtained after using the Time Spell in the acid trap room (which comes AFTER the Password door and dead-end) to return to the beginning of the game and then using 'Open Door' on the 'Treasure' door. After gaining the new spells you are returned to the acid room where you're supposed to use 'Reveal Invisible' to make a bridge appear over the acid so you may proceed safely. That you reappear in the acid room, NOT at an earlier point where you could reach the dead-end area again makes sense with the game's logic. The Time Spell is supposed to return you to where you originally used it, not some earlier area. This creates an issue as you are only given the option to proceed forward out of the acid room, not backwards. This makes it impossible to ever get back to the Password door or the dead-end after it ever again, meaning the player will never obtain the Rusty Gauntlets and will be killed by the Trinitour for not having them at the final battle.
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If anybody's curious how I got to the
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Abomination
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since I just expressed how it seems impossible, I did so by
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cheating to gain the Rusty Gauntlets, by "teleporting" myself to the dead-end area so I could use the 'Reveal Invisible' and 'Open Door' spells on it and then teleporting myself back to the junction after the acid trap room.
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If I've missed something that anybody experienced with Hellfire is aware of that could remedy either of these things, please let me know. I bring these things up only because I've exhausted my imagination for finding a solution.
It's difficult, but it was certainly possible at one point. It's not inconceivable that I could have broken it by mistake though - I will have a look. The item mentioned in 1) is definitely obtainable though because I have just checked.
P.S - Also looking forward to playing The Earl of Drumer!
Michael Schreiber Mon Feb 6 20:45:05 2012 Hellfire
Thanks for encouraging be to recheck my first question. I found the item this time,
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never thought to open the 'Treasure' door and try to leave right away without taking anything. That sign about 'regretting it later' for taking the gold at last makes sense.
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asgardian, thanks. I'm going to try and run through the game again with your solution. I expect it'll reveal something I've missed,
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those gauntlets are all that stand in the way of my first fair completion!