Caverns of the Snow Witch

Background - 

Guess what?   Its still 1984, in fact only October.  These books are being pumped out at an extraordinary rate.  A lot faster than it takes to write a blog about them that's for sure.  How are they managing this?  Lets go and have a look.

Ian is sitting at this desk on the phone to the puffin publishers.

Ian "You can not be serious, do you have any idea how long it takes to plan one of these books!  Its easier to write a novel!"

Indistinct voice shouting down the line.

Ian "Yes, ok I understand, yes, yes, ok.  Ill have the manuscripts ready."

Ian slams down the phone in disgust.  At this point there is a banging against the door upstairs.  When it subsides the US Steve Jackson appears in the doorway.

Fake Steve "What's that noise coming from upstairs Ian?  Its really creepy!"

Ian "Nothing for you to worry about Steve.  How is that Swamp gamebook coming along?"

Fake Steve "Actually that's it finished now, here you go."

Ian puzzles over the manuscript for a while.

Ian "Huh you can go South, that's ambitious.  Ok thanks Steve, here you go."

Ian hands over a crisp £5 note.  Fake Steve looks down a bit disappointed.  He looks like he is going to say something but one look at Ian in his frazzled state makes him think twice.  Then the banging starts again.

Fake Steve "Thanks Ian, ill be on my way.  Let me know what the publishers think!"

Ian "Ill give you a lift to the train station."

Fake Steve is already half way out the door, now pretty much in fear for his life.  He has no idea where he is going but just wants to make his escape.

Fake Steve "No thanks Ian, just going to stretch my legs, I've been in that basement for what feels like weeks!"

With that the door shuts.  Ian sighs and starts to make his way up the stairs.  He turns left at the T-junction and checks the lock on the door.

Ian "Steve I told you to be quite.  I cant have you out and about confusing people with two Steve Jacksons.  Once he is back across in the US you can come out."

Ian walks back downstairs.  Even with Scorpion Swamp he needs something else quickly.  Looking through some old Warlock magazines he sees Caverns of the Snow Witch.  A 200 paragraph adventure for the magazine.  

Thinking for a bit longer he decides that about 17 people would have read the magazine.  He makes a plan to tell them it was just a teaser of a full adventure.  He then changes some names on his notes of another manuscript he was working on.  Smiling Ian allowed himself a drink.  He might make the deadline after all.

So reading about the background for this one and it looks like it started life as a smaller adventure in Warlock magazine.  Ian has since said it was always meant to be a full blown adventure but the nature of the book apparently casts doubt on that.  We shall see after I have played it.

Covers - 

So this poor guy is having a terrible day.  He has just got back in the door of this cavern and polishing the wall skulls when the snow witch has come up on the crystal ball intercom.  She is clearly not happy though and not only has she activated his shock collar but his feet and legs are in the midst of being turned to ice.  Its a double whammy.  One can only speculate what has caused such ire but I suspect he has been eating other peoples food from the fridge.  Not that you would need a fridge in the snow caves really but that just makes his behavior even more reprehensible!  

As this is an Ian Livingston original its had a few reprints.  The wizard title ditches the tortured Orc completely and features the snow witch more which makes sense.  In this one it appears she is awkwardly creeping up behind someone like a pantomime villain.  Which must be tough in that dress.  Speaking of which I am not sure any 1980s nerd would stand much of a chance against her.  

Glad to see the wall of ice skulls made it though!  

Schoolastic also reprinted this one and as its for kids the sexy snow witch has to go.  To be replaced instead by a fearsome monster as thats more appropriate.  

I think this is the Yeti you are sent off to hunt at the start.  It actually looks like a monster as opposed to the poor thing illustrated in the book.  I would have liked them to have used that picture instead, would have been hilarious.

Just to show he means business he has scratched claw marks into the cover as well and the Ian Livingstone has a skull in the O just to make it more scary.

Ah the US version again provides us with the most to talk about.  It looks like the goblins have opened a trap door out of which the snow witch has floated up.  Maybe this is how she came to be in charge as before the goblins and other creatures just ran around the caves and they accidently released her and got enslaved.

This goblin is just as confused at what is going on as we are.

Meanwhile the Dragon has a resigned look of Sigh here we go again.

Premise - 

Well its back to Ian Livingston so I was hoping for a good long introduction again but alas its also just over two pages long.  Which is a shame as Ian is really good at this part.  Not rushed at all....

So we are in the employ of Big Jim Sun as a warrior to help protect his trade caravan as they head north to the frozen outposts.  We bring them goods like spices and in return we get furs and ivory.  Which probably means the wooly mammoth is going to be just as extinct in Allansia as it is here.  Now I have the amazing job of walking in front of the caravans and prodding the ice with my sword to make sure it thick enough to take all the weight.  I can only imagine this would be represented in game terms with a load of test your luck requests.  I am obviously all brawn and no brains here.  

Anyway a horn goes off and Big Jim asks me to go off to investigate.  I find that the colony at the base of the ice finger mountains has been ravaged by a beast that's killed six men.  Its a grizzly scene and I head back to let Big Jim know the news.  When I get back its almost night so the wagons are circled and the Big Man has a proposition for me.  He wants me to hunt the beast for 50 gold pieces.  Apparently its a bit difficult to trade with people when they are all dead.  Ah of course Jim, ill go after the beast that killed six men on their home turf when I know nothing about snow survival or tracking, sounds like a great plan.  Its at this point that real life me realises that Big Jim is trying to kill us off and make it look like an accident.  First the "testing the Ice" and now hunt a beast that killed a load of men at the same time.  

My character accepts and first thing in the morning heads back to the outpost.

Big Jim, Obviously a man to be reckoned with! 
And just look at the look in his eyes.  Clearly says oh great, your back.  Why are you not dead yet? 

Playthrough - 

Great news, I have my provisions back!  As usual Ian does not deviate from the tried and tested and we are back to sword, leather armor, 10 provisions and a sack.  Even the character sheet is back to normal as well.

Skill - 11

Stamina - 22

Luck - 12

I am pretty sure that is my best stat roll up so far.  Delighted with how that's gone.  Of course my luck would be the maximum, its the only way I have survived Big Jim's constant attempts at my life!  No wonder the ice never broke.  Also as its standard set up potions are back!  Always take potion of strength for the stamina!  Always!  Even with the provisions the longer I can stay alive the less risk of a really short blog entry.

So I head off to the camp but when I get there the snow has covered the beasts tracks.  So on a whim my skilled tracker of a character heads towards the mountains, for reasons.  We are also told its an abominable killer monster, so yeah, we are 100% after a Yeti.  And already first 50/50 choice when I get to a crevasse.   Cross the ice bridge or take the long way around.  Well it is a no brainer, who would go over the ice bridge?  Well I did as I think going the safe way is the real trap here.  I pass a luck test thanks to my expertise with walking on ice with Big Jim's caravans.  

Once across the weather gets worse and I start to hear the howl of wolves and before I know it they are on me.

Down boy!  Have a Provision.

I do not get the option to feed them as its a forced fight.  They are both Skill 7 and very kindly take it in turns to attack me.  Well I think they are Skill 7, for some reason the Skill and Stamina are the wrong way around.  I put this down to a printing error.  The do not lay a claw on me.

The snow is really coming down now and I get the option to stop and build a shelter.  I feel it would be daft to try and walk on in a blizzard plus how often to you get a chance to build an igloo!  

What I pictured in my head.

What my character actually made.

It costs me two provisions to sit out the blizzard but when it dies down I kick down the collapsed wall of my craploo and make my way onwards.

And the first thing I come to is a trappers lodge, so I probably did not have to go through the igloo fiasco.  It tells me the door is frozen shut so I shoulder it down.  Yeah I am sure it was "frozen shut", could not possible be locked.  Once in I get inside I am a right dick and put on the fire and eat the home owners stew.  Not only that but on the way out I help myself to his Spear and Warhammer.  It mentions that I don't have to take them as you might want to not be over encumbered but as Fighting Fantasy does not have a system of dealing with that yet I snaffle up the weapons.

I follow a set of footprints and lose my first stamina point due to the lack of air this high up before I hear the tell tale noises of a battle so I rush over.

And find this evil man attacking a scared beast!

Now the text paints a picture of the man fighting for his life against the monstrous beast.  But this picture makes me just feel sorry for the Yeti.  So I start to wonder how we have got to this stage of killing innocent wildlife.  Lets have a look from the Yeti's perspective.

299 - You still can't find your family.  There is a small human looking settlement just up ahead.  If you have a look go to 16.  If you want to look in the mountains go to 145.

16 - You arrive in the human village and they all start screaming at you.  You try and explain you are looking for you family but it does not seem to help.  You raise your hands to placate them.  Test your luck.  If you are lucky turn to 9.  If you are unlucky turn to 217.

217 - As you raise your arms you do not notice the human next to you and accidently decapitate him when you raise your arms.  All hell breaks lose and you must fight for your life.

My character though has already proved he is a bad guy though when he ate the trappers stew and stole his weapons so he lobs the spear right at the Yeti.  Its still a Skill 10 fight though.  Ill have to look through the other options when I am finished but if you are a Skill 7 character I think this fight would be unavoidable and game over.

The dice are kind and I take down the Yeti without a single hit.  No doubt its exhausted from its ordeal of being hunted for so long.  I decide to bury it first with a tear in my eye before going over to the dying hunter.  Now glad I stole his food and weapons.  

He explains that he has spent five years looking for the crystal caves, home of a dangerous snow witch and her minions who plan to bring along a new ice age.  He found the entrance just yesterday as its hidden but he saw a minion go in through a magic wall.  So he put a fur next to it so he could find it again.  Really I ask.  What happens when a minion sees it and just moves it?  He has not thought of this but begs me to put an end to her and tells me there are treasures to be found as well.  He then dies.

I am told I think about going back to Big Jim and getting my 50 gold but decide an adventure in the crystal mountains is too good to pass up.  Rubbish!  I want the option to go back and have that as my ending.  Similar to selling the ring in Scorpion Swamp to Poomchukker.

As I am pondering this though an avalanche hits.  But I am lucky and it goes off another ridge.

What I expect I would have seen had I looked up.

Amazingly nobody from the snow witches crew has noticed the fur marker.  No doubt this is why the Orc in the cover is being punished.  So I go through the illusion and first thing I am told is...yep you guessed it.  A T-junction with no indication of which way to go other than left or right.  No clues whatsoever.  I go left.

I run into a Mountain Elf and get a few options to deal with him.  Nod and just pretend I am meant to be here.  Tell him I want to join the snow witch or just attack.  Well I am skill 11 so no need to pretend.  The Elf is just skill 6 but as I get him down to his last 2 points of stamina I can offer him mercy.  I do indeed and he shows me his shock collar saying they are all serving her against their will.  If I kill him she will know and send others to investigate.  He begs me to slay her and free them and gives me his cloak for a disguise and tells me to take the right hand fork.

Which takes me to the kitchens.

I decide my stamina is still very high so I creep past them.  Straight into an Ice version of a scene from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

To be fair its an amazing ice statue.  

As I am wearing the same cloak nobody notices me after my luck holds.  I like to think I did some great acting as well, scratching at my neck saying things like, this collar bloody chafes.  Next I am at another T-junction.  Although this time Ian gives us a little titbit, I can hear screams coming from the left asking for help.  Well lets go that way then.

I find a Dwarf stuck in a pit while from higher up people pelt him with ice blocks.  He says the very friendly thing of curse you stranger if you don't help me.  Ok then.  I decide any enemy of the snow witch is a potential friend so I help him out and we run back to the T-Junction.  He goes the way out but before we part he gives me a sling with some iron balls and tells me to beware the white rat.  Does not say why or anything useful like that.

This guys eyebrows are out of control.  I hope whomever gets him in the crystal caves secret Santa this year gets him a trimmer.

Well he says I cant go any further.  But if I have a magical flute I can use that.  I do not have a magic flute so its out with the sword.  But to my dismay he makes two illusions of himself so now I have to pick which of the three to attack.  I go for middle but it's not correct so I get hit.  I then pass a luck test to catch him with a slash.  I am a bit worried as luck is already down to 8.  His wound magically heals itself in front of me.  I can attack him again, or smash his prism.  That's slightly too telegraphed for my liking.  Of course I smash the prism and he screams and is gone.  What I did not expect was for a genie to appear and say in thanks for releasing him he will make me invisible once.  Before I can ask questions though like how long it lasts for and how do I call him, he is gone.

I now get a choice of three doors, one on the left.  One on the right.  And one through the gaping maw of a stone skull.  Well the Snow Witch is not going to be behind a non descript door.  These villains love the grandiose such as a giant skull door.  

Straight into the lair of a frost giant.

I can run through or fight him.  As I am skill 11 and still loaded with stamina I go for it.  Only to be offered the choice of using a sling, David and Goliath style.  It works and I do not even have to fight him!  His chest pops open and I get the chance to try on one of the three rings that spill from it.  Gold, Silver or Copper.  Urgh I hate this, one will be good, one bad and one meh.    I stick with the Indiana Jones theme and start muttering the cup of a carpenter as I try on the copper ring.  It is a magic ring that allows me to summon a warrior to help me once and give me one luck point back.  No idea how to use it, I assume I will get prompted.  I can try on the other rings as well, no thanks I am out of here.

I get told at the next junction I have no time to even look before I am set upon by this guy - 

Unfortunately old crystal did not finish getting into shot when this picture was taken. 

Luckily I have a war hammer which if I did not I assume it would have been curtains for me.  Still its a skill 11 enemy which is still going to be tough.  What follows is a very long fight with a crazy amount of draws.  But in the end I win out and he is reduced to mass of quartz.  That's what the snow witch gets for being cheap and not using diamond.  Before I move on I sit down for multiple meals to get my stamina back up.  Then its another T-Junction with zero clues.  I go left for the only reason that its a close paragraph so less pages to flick.

I get to a room with an open sarcophagus and a white rat pops out and I instantly remember the Dwarf telling me to watch out for him.  I am asked if I have some ground minotaur horn but I forgot to pick any up from the store this week.  

So it then turns into this - 

A bloody white dragon.  Thanks Dwarf for the cryptic warning.  Not that it would do me any good as I could not avoid it.  Some ground minotaur horn would have been more useful!

Its Skill 12, Stamina 14.  These encounters are brutal to be honest.  But wait, I get asked if I am wearing a copper ring.  Which I am!  Its never explained how I know what the ring does or how to activate it but I start rubbing away at it.  It gives me a d6 to roll which warrior comes to my aid.  I roll a 6 and get a Knight with Skill 9 who fights him first before I have to then fight him.  Oh great, why cant I attack at the same time as the Knight?  Or better yet let me slip away as they fight.  I got the best warrior who is already at a -3 difference in skill.  

Unsurprisingly the Knight gets zero hits in.  So its a bit embarrassing all around.  So its up to me.  I use some luck but we hit each other roughly the same amount of times.  Its only my superior stamina that sees me through.  But its really low.  So as its body hits the ground next to the useless Knight I quaff my potion of strength to get my stamina back.  I wander over the the sarcophagus and pop my head inside.  (I have not choice in this).

Jesus Christ....that nose ring is awful.

Its the Snow Witch herself, which is a bit of a surprise this early.  But she is also clearly a vampire.  So I am asked if I have any garlic.  Crap I should have gone into the kitchen.  Luckily though I then pass the skill test to break her gaze and remember you need a stake to kill a vampire......which I do not have.

She forces me to expose my neck and next thing I know I join her ranks of the undead.  The adventure is over.

Notable Encounters - 

This might take a while as I missed a fair chunk of the book.  In fact the second half is like a different book completely.  

But going back to a one I missed earlier with my encounter with the mountain elf.  If he asks you where your shock collar is you have the option to tell him that you have put on weight so its getting resized. 

Also if I had taken another turn I would have fallen into a pit and met these boys - 

I recognize you boys from the US cover!

I would also like to go back to the crystal warrior.  If you do not have a war hammer you can use the genie instead.  Which avoids a skill 11 fight completely!  This should clearly be the first option and then if you have not got him then ask for the warhammer.  So you get punished for taking the warhammer but if you do not then you wont get the spear which makes the Yeti a skill 11 fight!  When in the trappers hut you should get an option to take one or the other.

So even if I had defeated the snow witch there are still two parts of the story to go.  The first is the escape from the caves.  This is where you get a couple of companions, Redswift the elf and Stubb the Dwarf.  They accompany you through the snow witches secret exit, which turns out to be a very long exit.

A lot of these books you can feel very alone so having Redswift and Stubb is great.  They have plenty of witty banter, especially when you make daft decisions.  Stubb even makes a comment after you pick up a shield and release an air elemental about your desire to touch everything in sight.  The only negative is that they have no mechanics to use them in the book, they act like NPCs who always have a fight of their own to deal with.  But its a minor gribble and they stay around for quite some time, unlike Mungo.  They are certainly a welcome addition.  

At the end of this escape sequence which is fine if not a bit long you get a really strange encounter.  Its the scene from the original cover where you find a crystal globe where the spirit of the snow queen is in.  She bribes you by demonstrating she can still control the collars so you have to fight zombie facsimiles of your friends.

Hey you guys, you don't look so good?

After this she decides the ultimate fate of you and herself is to play rock, paper, scissors.  I am not even joking.  You have to have picked up some metal disks on your way out in order to play the game.  So its Square, Circle, Star instead.  You put one in your hand.  She has a think, says one of them and you reveal.  If its a draw she says next time she wins with a draw so you get two chances.  Its completely random!  And if you win, instead of just blasting you with a bolt in annoyance and continuing to exist, somehow the crystal ball explodes and that's it.  She is dead forever!  I just do not understand why she would do this?  Unless the most powerful force in Allansia is the Square, Circle, Star council?

Anyway she is gone but the adventure is far from over.  Now we go on a trek across the world.  First in order to get Stubb home to Stonebridge and then to find a healer.  You see on your way out yourself and Redswift accidentally read a death spell which means you are cursed and slowly dying.  You need to find a way of stopping it before you die.

This section is packed full of references to other books which I love.  First off you decide against going to Fang as the Trial of Champions is not on.  But this gets very clever when you get close to Stonebridge.

Hill Trolls are getting ready to attack as the Kings hammer is missing!

This all leads into the story of Forest of Doom.  You even meet Bigleg, notoriously terrible map maker, who related the story of what's happened.  Stubb heads off with his friend to go and retrieve the hammer.  Spoiler they do not find it.

Its at this stage you think it must be close to over as you got Stubb home.  Nope this is where Redswift tells you about the Death spell and you have got another huge section to get through to find the healer.

During all this your stamina is getting hammered by the effects of the spell as you go from encounter to encounter.  The optimal route sees you meeting Redswift's brother in the wild.

Out of all the elves in the world to bump into in the wilds.

If by some miracle you make it to healers cave you have to go through a final set of ordeals which requires you to have the correct shopping list of items.

The Ian Livingston mask on the wall is in good company with all the demons who are probably easier to deal with than how brutally difficult this book is.

Its between the healer and Ash that you learn the healer is terribly disfigured from the one and only other time he healed someone from the death spell.  Which was Nicodemous, the wizard from City of Thieves.  

But after getting over a pit on a log, surviving a banshee and attracting a Pegusus to use as a taxi you eventually make it to the very top of Firetop Mountain.  And good lord after all that your ordeal still is not over as sleeping grass takes effect and you have to remember the correct bird symbol for the healer or you will not wake up.  Only then will you get to page 400.  Its not much of an ending but after everything that you have gone through you wont care as you will be too exhausted.

Artwork - 

So Gary Ward and Edward Crosby's woodcut artwork I can see being very decisive.   After the Yeti debacle I thought oh no this is going to be terrible.  The style of art is very jarring to start with.  But you know what, its grown on me.  I actually think it gives a dark gothic feel to it the more time I spent with the book the more I like it.  Id go so far to say its very good.  But I know it will not be for everyone.

I really like the ice wolves and white dragon from my playthrough but there are loads of good ones in here.

The Banshee is suitably disgusting.

A dead Dwarf on the way to Stonebridge.

This puzzle is really well depicted in the illustration, just look at the detail in the weapons.

And the Nightstalker, horrifying.

Its not all great though.  The Snow Witch looks a bit strange, and seeing only half the crystal warrior is bizarre.

Early attempt at 3D does not work for me.  

Also not a fan of the Zombie, there is just something off about it for me.

All in all though as long as you take the Yeti out of the equation the art is really good.  Second only to Iain McCaig's.

The Big Bad - 

A yes the snow witch.  Apparently her name is Shareella but I don't think this was ever mentioned in this book.  I like the twist that she is also a vampire, did not see that one coming.  You also can not fight her in straight up combat.  You absolutely need a runic stake or its all over (as it was for me).

But its all very anti climatic that you defeat her in person so early on in the book.  I realise though this would be the end of the warlock version of this story.  However the rock, paper, scissors fight at the end of the escape with her soul in a crystal ball is painful.  Its got the feel of being tacked on and its not as big as an event as fighting her in person.

And her decision to blow up her soul for losing the game does not fit thematically for me.  And you then spend the rest of the book, a fair amount of it, not really worrying or thinking about her.

She looks far more badass in the Warlock magazine version.  But a lot less suitable for children!

Also what is with the bird headdress?  And while I am at it, if you were the snow which and only a runic stake can kill you, why hide it in the kitchen?

Menagerie - 

Its a mixed bag depending which stage of the story you are at which makes sense.  At the start in the frozen tundra you get the Yeti, Mammoth and Ice Wolves.

Once you get into the caves you get your standard greenskin minions along with the slaves.  But things are spiced up with the minstrel, illusionist and the crystal warrior.  The Frost Giant keeps the cold theme going.  But I do have issues.

The Sentinel for example has Skill 9.

So this guy is in charge of protecting the Snow Queens treasure.  Yet he is not as tough as the Skill 11 crystal warrior who is just randomly wandering the halls.

The White dragon with his ice breath also fits well for the caves.  But things take a turn on the escape route.

For legal reasons this is a brain slayer and in no way at all anything like a mind flayer.  What do you mean it even looks the same?  Does not look anything like it.....

Just a random encounter to have which does not really fit the book at this stage.

Things of course change when you get outside where you meet Hill Trolls and a Dark Elf plus a couple more.

These guys are dicks

But then they have one of the most bizarre things in the book.

An unavoidable skill 12 fight.

First why are the bird men Skill 12, on par with a freaking dragon?  There is nothing you can do to mitigate this fight either so for me this is a gamebreaker.

The rest of the adventure has some more varied creatures such as the unique Night Stalker, Barbarians, a man orc who you do the old school home invasion on and paint him as the bad guy.  

The Banshee at the very end is also very, very tough skill 12 fight but there is a way around it.  Just remember to pick up some dragons eggs.

All in all the different locations allow for greater variety and most of it is very thematic.  My only issue is related to the stats some get.

Entertaining Deaths - 

You will die from stamina loss at some point.

But if you don't you get two goes at getting locked in a tunnel.

There is also the avalanche if you fail a couple of luck rolls it will bury you.  Curse you Big Jim Sun!

You can also pick up a magic dagger which proceeds to take over your arm and forces you to stab yourself to death.

Climbing into a tree hole and going down a rope will result in you being eaten by flesh grubs.

My favorite though is upsetting a minstrel.  If you make any aggressive move towards him instead of asking him about his music he plays a magic song to paralyze you and then slaps on a slave collar.  Why are people in the arts so sensitive to criticism?   

Pete's Corner - 

Go back and get your bounty from Big Jim and live your life working on the caravans.

Final Thoughts - 

Ok where to start?  Lets go positive first.  I love the worldbuilding in this book.  Having it tie into other locations and events we have seen so far in Ian Livingstone books is something I can't get enough of.  From the major like the whole prequel to Forest of Doom and finishing on top of Firetop Mountain to the small reference to Nicodemous.  World building is hard (I know I have tried it - https://fantasyclash.co.uk) but Ian does it very, very well.  It seriously impresses me.  

Another thing Ian does very well is tell a story.  If you look to all the way up to the crystal caves section its a great stand alone story.  After the escape as well when you try and find the healer is also a great standalone story.  

It is fantastically backed up by the art as well.  As I said earlier it gives it that dark gothic look and art is really important in these books to help you immerse yourself in the story.

But we do have some serious issues here.

First one I want to talk about is the mechanics.  Picking up a ring that can summon a warrior with no explanation is ok but only being able to use it for one fight where it is no use is frustrating.  The mistake with options for the crystal warrior battle is frustrating.  I can understand for the magazine adventure but it should have been tidied up when it got a proper release.  The fact it was not either by author or editors makes me feel it was rushed.

Second is the brutal difficulty.  You will test your luck more times in this book than multiple other books combined.  I got a roll of 12 and was already down to 8 and I was not even half way through the book.  Reading on and it you have to do it a lot more.  Potion of fortune is really required.  But so is the potion of strength as your stamina is always being whittled away.  The Yeti fight is unavoidable Skill 10 fight at best, that's far too high so early in the story and kills any chance for low skill players.  There are multiple really tough combats in this book but the majority have a route around them with correct items or choices which is exactly how it should be.  But the unavoidable bird men Skill 12 fight breaks the game.  No way single digit Skill characters can get past that.  As I said its a game breaker which is unforgivable.  My guess is this is the stage Ian figured out people were not rolling stats and giving themselves the maximum.  And he is not wrong.  I think you should have given characters pre generated stats and not rolled.  Takes away from the gaming experience but should allow better balance.  

Also you are in the crystal caves slaying dragons and snow witches and then you are back out into the world facing low skill enemies again.  Don't get me wrong you need a break but it throws out the pacing for me.  

Thirdly its the story.  I know I praised it as it is good but for me its in the wrong order.  I am all for trying something different and having the main battle in the middle is different but it does not work for me.  The two sections are too different and its kind of an anti climax from where you have been previously.  As a separate story though it would work.  

What I would do to fix it would be to change up the order.  Start with Redswift and Stubb.  Have you trying to get back to Stonebridge to help Stubb be the start.  You can read the death spell here.  Then follow through race to the healer.  Once healed you find out the snow witch is behind the spell and you want revenge.  You join Big Jim's caravan and go on the Yeti hunt as normal but when you get the information from the trapper it makes much more sense for you not to go back and go to the caves. 

The caves then play out similar fashion but integrate the escape route sections as part of the main section.  Including the crystal ball paper, scissors, stone section and when you win she gets frustrated and blows the crystal ball up which gives you a route to the next section.  Then the climax is the face to face meeting with her.  Then you can have a couple extra sections at the end to get out of the caves safely.  

I think this coupled with sorting out the errors along with a rebalancing of the foes and its right up their with Deathtrap Dungeon.  Its frustrating as it could have been great.  It gets a bit of hate for being linear but its not as linear as Lizard King when I mapped it out and I do not think that is a problem.  But there is only one true path that you have to take to be successful and you do need a mountain of items.  The fact that so many are in the kitchen and the store next to the snow queen shows me they had less room to fit everything in.  I guess that is what people mean by linear that you have to go a certain route rather than having multiple options.

But as it is now it reeks of being rushed and tacked on to get it out in time.  That might not be the case but I would not be surprised if it was.

Score - 5 out of 10.