One of the barbarians went next, then the ninja. I watched as the other entrants made their way inside: first the knight, followed half an hour later by the elf. I took one from him, as did the others mine had the word "fifth" written on it. (Obviously, the ninja is the one to look out for.)īaron Sukumvit stepped forth, holding six bamboo sticks. There were five other contestants awaiting the beginning of the Trial: two muscular barbarians, an elven woman, an armour-clad knight, and a ninja. The entrance was a dark tunnel that disappeared into the hillside, with two pillars at either side carved with demons and writhing serpents.
Deathtrap dungeon the golden room trial#
On the morning of the Trial I was led to Deathtrap Dungeon amid cheering crowds and many flowers thrown in my path. (I wonder if Fang gets many fake entrants, who just show up for a few awesome days of demigod action, then run away the night before the Trial begins?) I was given a violet scarf to wear, identifying me as a contestant, and for the next three days I was "treated like a demigod". I reached Fang a few days before the beginning of the Trial of Champions (or "The Walk", as it is otherwise known), and found that the town was in a state of great excitement. That was my lowest score, and I knew I'd need to boost it if I was going to survive. I chose the Potion of Fortune, as I usually do. These are respectable scores, and if the dice roll my way I could complete the book. I did quite well, rolling a Skill of 11, a Stamina of 22 and a Luck of 9. This, as all Fighting Fantasy veterans will know, is bullshit.
The rules section ends with the standard reassurance that any adventurer, regardless of stats, can complete this adventure. I know it's because they just did a lazy cut-and-paste on the instructions from The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, but I still take it as vindication. Besides, the Wizard reprints list a shield in your starting gear. It could be considered cheating, because having a shield comes in rather handy at the end of the book, but I always give myself one at the beginning, because there are passages in the book that make no sense otherwise. There's at least one place that assumes you have one, even though it's not listed in your starting equipment. You should also probably begin with a shield. For a more detailed explanation of the rules, go here. You begin with the standard gear: a sword, leather armour, a backpack, ten provisions, and the choice of one of the standard array of potions (Skill, Strength or Fortune). Skill, Stamina and Luck are determined in the usual manner, and there aren't any new rules to worry about. It's a brief thing, but it does a lot to give texture to the books, and the feel of a greater world.)ĭeathtrap Dungeon reinforces its status as the iconic Fighting Fantasy gamebook by sticking to the core rules. The hero passes through Port Blacksand on his way to Fang.
Deathtrap dungeon the golden room series#
(I'll get more into this later, when I do the Exploring Titan post for this book, but this is where the series starts to inter-connect. Just a dungeon to survive, and treasure to claim. No evil wizards, no maidens to rescue, no earth-shattering crises. The reader plays a foolish adventurer who has decided to try his luck with the Trial, and there's not much more to it than that. Every year, in a contest dubbed the Trial of Champions, he offers 10,000 gold pieces to anyone who can enter this dungeon and come out the other side alive. Baron Sukumvit, ruler of the town of Fang, built a giant labyrinth and filled it with monsters and traps. It doesn't get much more basic than this. This is FF boiled down to it's essence, and it embodies the sadistic nature of the series perhaps better than any other. Written by Ian Livingstone and illustrated by Iain McCaig, this may very well be the quintessential Fighting Fantasy gamebook.
It's a return I'm happy to make, because Deathtrap Dungeon is a hell of a book. With my initial foray into the Sorcery! epic done, it's time to return to the main series.
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