Beneath Nightmare Castle

Its the 1986 Christmas party at Puffin HQ.  Everybody is having a great time when Philippa gets up on the stage and starts to tap a spoon on the side of a wine glass.  The high pitched chimes ring through the room and the gradual murmur and hubbub dies down to silence.

Philippa "As you all know we have had another great year with Fighting Fantasy, you should all be very proud.  But we can not rest on our laurels, we must change with the times or else we risk going stagnant."

She turns to address Ian.

Philippa "Ian, I made you a promise.  If Steve did another fantasy book he could keep his name on the cover.  Well what do you think about this?"

She then pulls a cord which causes a black curtain to fall away revealing a giant version of the Dragon Steve Jackson and Ian Livingston presents logo."

Philippa "This will be proudly front and centre on all our books going forward!"

Ian starts sobbing as sycophants pat his back and congratulate him.

Nobody can really here the grumbling coming from the other authors as they mumble under their breath at the unfairness of it all.

Or the random comment of "But I liked the green zigzag...."

Later in the night Philippa pulls Ian aside.  

Philippa "Look this is all great and everything but it wont work unless we get more books.  You let Steve go yes?"

Ian "Yes, I released him back into the wilds, he is lost to us now."

Philippa "Some of the secret projects are still not ready, have you got any ideas on what we can do in the new year?"

Ian "Actually I do know someone, used to work at Games Workshop with me.  I could ask him."

Philippa "Why have you not asked him before?"

Ian "Well.....he is a bit unusual."

Fast forward to the new year of 1987.  Its a cold stormy night.  Ian makes his way up a path covered in weeds.  He reaches a metal gate with the emblazoned initials of PDE.  Not much can be seen in the pitch black of night but a stray flash of lighting briefly illuminates the scene, showing a massive castle straight out of a Hammer Horror movie.  Ian opens the gate which screeches loudly on the hinges as he makes his way into the grounds.

The scene changes to a warmly lit study, a fireplace is flickering away as two men sit in highbacked chairs facing it.  A table is between them with a decanter of alcohol and two glasses. Ian is one of them.

Ian "So you will do it?"

Peter Darvil-Evans "Yes I dare say I can."

Ian "Have you got an idea in mind."

Peter Darvil-Evans "Oh yes, but do not worry yourself with such trivial details Ian my friend, I will have the manuscript to you by the end of this month."

Ian looking a bit more nervous "And the matter of payment?"

The view of the scene changes to look directly at Peter, his tongue licks over his long fanged teeth.  He has a deathly white complexion and dresses like a 17th centaury noble.  

Peter Darvil-Evans "Just the usual Ian my dear boy.  The fairest lad and lady of age from the village down yonder."

Beneath Nightmare Castle came out in February 1987 and has a couple of firsts.  It was the first book to be released without the green zigzag version and I believe the debut of the dragon.  Its also the debut of a new author, Peter Darvil-Evans.  I am always excited by a new name as they tend to always bring something different.  Plus a new illustrator, Dave Evans, I remember seeing this one when I was a kid, I think my mate had it but I myself have never played it before so going in completely blind.

Covers - 

Well I say covers, there has only ever been this cover for Beneath Nightmare Castle.  Not much to actually say about it.  I do really like the moonlit background and the shadow of what I assume is the titular castle in the background.  The lady looks scary enough with her armour and long jabby fingernails.  The most terrifying thing though is her terrible fringe haircut.  In good news the long spiky fingernails did not hamper her ability to do her eyeshadow.

Premise - 

I am a skilled and hardy adventurer but my last escapade was not very successful (you are telling me, I am dead in the mines of Zharradan Marr) and I have no food and little coin.  I am so looking forward to visiting my old comrade in arms, Baron Tholdur, that I walk straight into a trap.  You see we start this adventure dangling in a net from a tree. slowly spinning around.  

You see I sound like I am not very good adventurer (very realistic as my previous adventures will testify to) and was so looking forward to a soft and warm bed that when I saw the town of Neuburg I got all excited and missed the suspect rustling bush, the strange bird call and the big net trap in a tree and blundered straight into it.

My pal the Baron is the Margrave of Neuburg Keep and we fought together at the Battle of Helm Hill to defeat the southerners.  The same southerners who have just captured me.  They hit me in the back of the head and I lose consciousness.

Very short and sweet, which is quite a change from the short story intro of Creature of Havoc.

Playthrough - 

As well as the usual Skill, Stamina and Luck we have a new stat to roll for.  It is called Willpower which acts identically to luck in that you have to test against it.  Except if you fail a willpower test when its sitting at 5 or less it is an instant fail.  So, it is representing your ability to stay sane with all the horrors you will witness so pretty much the same mechanic as Fear in House of Hell.  I do like it as it will force you to think really carefully before doing something.  Is this was an Ian Livingston book I would be opening every door possible knowing that I had to.

One thing I have noticed reading the instructions is that if you do have food or provisions you may only eat one meal at a time, even if you have more.  This is quite a good way to stop the ridiculous situation of eating 5 meals at once to restore your stamina, when we all know eating 5 meals at once will reduce your stamina and put you in a food coma.  Although it could lead to just eating in multiple paragraphs.

We start with hew-haw.  It says you trudge down from the hills with only your sword, armour, backpack, no food and little money.  The fact you also start captured as well might make this the most despondent start position ever.  

Skill - 10

Stamina - 19 

Luck - 11

Willpower - 12

Oh wow a max roll for Willpower, throw all the crazy horror stuff at me that you can, ill just laugh it off.  Also pretty lucky and average Skill and Stamina so I will take that.

Interestingly no first page illustration, do not agree with that as I like how it sets the mood.  Anyway, I wake up with a sore head.  In fact it says I feel like a persistent Dwarf blacksmith is using my head for an anvil.  Yep that sounds familiar.  My hands and feet are bound and I am blindfolded.  After some time passes I hear a voice whisper "My friend!  Hush! Say Nothing!  I have a sharp knife, but I dare not stay long.  I cannot enter through this small space, you must pull yourself a little to your right and I will sever your bonds, Hurry!"

Do I shuffle nearer or ignore it.  I decide to shuffle near but I swear if I just get stabbed and its game over....

Luckily It does appear I made the right choice and I am released and in a dark cellar with no sign of my rescuer.  Should I escape up the staircase or search the cellar?  Well I should look for my weapon but I doubt its in here with me so lets try and get out of dodge quickly.  

I appear in a circular stone room.  No guards are around and lo and behold there is all my stuff!  Looking through the slit window I realise I am in a ground floor room of Neuburgs East Gate.  The street is lit up by a red night sky and is very peaceful, but too peaceful.  In fact something is clearly wrong as it is silent, no sign of any of the normal town life.  I have to break down the solid oak door and expecting some test I am surprised that the book asks me to add my Skill and Stamina together (29) and roll a dice 8 (yes eight) times.  

I roll 21 and the door burst open and I decide to leg it into the evening towards the Southern Star Tavern (no choice just told that's where I head) as I remember it as being a nice friendly place in a great location in the market square.

As I make my way through the streets the few people I see are barring doors and shuttering windows.  I have to bang at the door with my sword to get into the Inn.  Good news though, getting a room is easy as I am the only guest.  I decide to speak to the Innkeeper but do I let on I know the baron or not?

I decide that these people are clearly living under oppression, not something my mate the Baron would be doing so something has clearly happened to him.  So I tell my new friend that I am tight with the Baron from back in the day.  He is clearly impressed and cracks out the best booze for me, before stopping mid pour and saying wait a minute how do I know you are telling the truth.  I show him the fancy ring the Baron once gave me which I have just discovered I have on my person (should have been in the equipment list).

The innkeeper turns grave and tells my a tale of the Baron returning from his last trip south in the company of strange swordsman.  They treat the town as their own and now people are going missing and things are roaming the streets at night.  He begs my help of saving the town and his advice is do not under any circumstances go out at night, do not even open the shutters and tomorrow I should find Old Huw at the ruined temple of Oiden.  With that he takes me up to my room for the night.

I give the room a quick search but it checks out.  My character then  completely ignores all advice and opens the shutters!  I get the option to jump down and explore the town or head to the keep.  Hmm no thanks, I trust the innkeeper so I decide to have a good nights sleep.  I mean come on the only build up to this book was how much my dude wanted a bed!

I am woken up during the night by an appalling yelping right by my window.  But it buggers off and I am able to get back to sleep ok.

The next day I get a meal from the Innkeepers wife which restores some stamina but I have not lost any.  After paying for the night I have 5 gold left.   I head out into the grey drizzle and can explore the town or head to the keep.  Well I want to find Old Huw so I head into the town.

I found a map!

I like the flavour of this map.  Well Old Huw is in a ruined Temple so I head to the Temple quarter.  

Erm, interesting sculpting from the people of Neuberg.

I have a wander through the area but as I go further along the temples get older and in worse condition.  I come to the last one and apparently despair of finding anything useful and get the option to turn back.  Nope this is exactly where I should be.  

Right enough its Old Huw who beckons me inside as he says enemies are approaching.  I am told his voice sounds familiar.  Well only person I know is the Baron so maybe its him.

Ah no he is the guy that freed me at the start.  He thinks I am the hero Oiden has prophesied that will save Neuberg but to do this I must first donate something that links me to the town.  So the ring then.  I am told its my most prized possession and get other options to say no or even attack Huw himself.  Well a couple of pages ago I had no idea I had it so I decide to donate.  

Huw is delighted and gives me a meal, still not needed, but then he gives me some advice.  So Huw is really old and helped build the temple which is in fact constructed to hold back the spirit of the evil Xakhaz.  The seals are still in place but the the Keep was also built for the same purpose.  Since the Baron came back with a wizard nobody knew he fears the worst, that Xakhaz has regained physical form.  

But all is not lost, Xakhaz is still vulnerable and you need the Talisman of Loth.  Of course though it has gone missing.  Cernic, the other priest went to the keep last week but has not been seen since.  He is adamant that I should not go to the lower levels until I have the talisman.  Also do not enter by the main gate as it is heavily guarded.  Instead take the side entrance to the right of the main gate.  Now he can give me more info but I must go through the Ordeal first.  Erm ok then...I guess.

So the ordeal is to climb a magic leafless tree, which is very, very tall.  Combine stamina and willpower together (31) then roll eight dice again.  Its close and I roll 29.  I make it to the top of the tree and I get the blessing.  Which is to increase my initial stamina and willpower by 1!

Now Huw sends me on my way, saying somewhere in the town is a fragment of a once potent weapon.  Its probably buried with a curio dealer.  He says avoid the merchants, they are thieves and the riverside as its an unsavoury place.

So I can now visit either of those locations or go to the keep.  I am not sure if I want to risk either area, the weapon probably gives a skill boost but I am happy with a Skill 10.  The issue is finding the Talisman in the keep so I head there.

I go up the path and everyone I see avoids my look and shake their head like I am a madman.  I find an overgrown path that leads to the right of the main entrance so I follow Huws advice and go that way.  I find myself in an overgrown kitchen garden.  There is a gravel path around the side, do you go left or right.  Dammit PDV, that is as bad as a blind T-junction choice!

Always left.  I can keep following the perimeter path or enter a tower by a hole in its wall or head into the centre of the garden.  I am happy to follow the path I am on.  I find a staircase and head up.

I appear in the inner bailey of the castle but can see no obvious way into the keep itself.  Before following the one path I decide to have a rest.  I then get asked if I have a blood lurcher tentacle?  Erm, no I do not.

I think I have made a mistake as I have arrived back at the main entrance to the keep,  Do I want to bang on the door or try and break in.  I am going to try and sneak in.  I do some parkour and swing myself through a window into a small room.  I can go through the opposite door or unbar a locked door and go that way.  Well must be locked for a reason so lets go there.  

I follow a tunnel for a while before I find another staircase going down into the dark, I can take it or stay in the tunnel.  Well I am not going downwards if I can help it until I have the Talisman so I stay in the corridor.  I come to a torture chamber where a man and a women are being held captive.  I get the option on which one to release first.  Well has to be the woman.  

She smiles at me and then of course her mouth keeps opening and a bunch of tentacles come out of the mouth.  I have to take my first willpower test.  I get asked if I have the Talisman of Loth.  Oh dear, maybe it was in the town.  I do not but I am in my first combat of the book.  She is only skill 4 though.  She does not hit me and when I win I flee the room and lock it behind me.

Apparently it is a disease but I pass a luck test and have not caught it.  The way I am going reaches a staircase and this time I have no choice but to head down into the darkness.

I arrive at a T-junction but this one has a well described choice.  One side I see open doors and a lit room which from a distance appears to be food and the other has closed doors with two guards.  Its Nightmare Castle, its not going to be food.  But going straight towards guards is not the smartest idea so I go towards the open room.

Of course the passageway behind me is engulfed in flame.  But I press on and reach the banquet room.  The room is described as being inside a tent.  I can either inspect the food (no thanks) or go back and try and get through the flame (no thanks).  The food is clearly a trap and I still have max stamina so I head back towards the flames.  

Do you want to take a run and a jump or take it slow.  Why would I want to take it slow?  Sounds daft, so daft that its clearly the right answer.  The fire is indeed an illusion as the fire does not give off any heat.  So I calmly walk through it..... and get killed by falling in a pit trap on the other side.

Notable Encounters - 

Well no matter what you think of this book it certainly has notable encounters that's for sure.  One of the first that comes to mind is when you are in the merchants quarter and you are a victim of a cut purse.  She is described as being nine years old and desperate and you fight a round of combat with her before she runs off.  Not too bad so far until you end up in an alley.

Erm Hey Kids, how about you put down the sharp objects, might hurt someone....oh GAWD

Yep a bunch of murderous urchins (books name not mine) appear and there is no talking your way out of it.  You have to kill two waves of them as well, six in total.  If it was not bad enough that you have just killed starving kids you then loot their bodies automatically for 3 gold.  Amazingly this does not trigger a Willpower test!  

You can also get involved in an abusive relationship. 

This Gnomes life is as miserable as his face implies. 

This poor dude gets shouted at by the female Orc chef in the kitchens and then shouted at more by the Orc guard he has to deliver it to.  You could of course just kill him and put him out of his misery and take out the chef as well.  Just dont then go into the kitchen, its instant death.  You can have fun though poisoning the meal and then delivering it to the orc guard to eat.

There is also a magic painting in the lovely waiting area that you can jump into.  But you have to pick where to jump into.  If you go to the lovely view of Neuberg it turns out its a view from the battlements, well more accurately a cage on the battlements that you are trapped in.  Its a long death.  Or you accidently go to a desert city and end up going to a temple with a bunch of worshippers.  You do bump into one of the Barons guards who tells you that you are very likely to be sacrificed as you are an outsider.   There is a correct one though which warps you like Mario to a later stage.

The gardener is handy if you can find  him.

The Dwarf gardener has barricaded himself in one of the towers.  You can of course just kill him but if you come in peace he can give you some hints and help.  Even better if you share food with him he will introduce a secret passage.  However if you do kill him you can take his rune axe, Bokhorbhil.  This is a great weapon but it makes you murderous and you always have to take the combat option and can't escape.  However if you have already killed the Dwarf chances are you are already murderous and this will fit your plays style.  Good little roleplaying encounter this though. 

The lady from the cover, her eye shadow is not so good here.

You find the spiked maiden incarcerated in the dungeon.  The advice in the jailers room is to wear ear plugs, but this is a good double bluff.  As if you do you do not get to hear her tell you she is the Barons daughter and she has been put in this armour and has no control of it as she attacks you.  If you kill her you get a cruel message of you find out later who she is and the Baron is understanding but upset.  Clever.

This women is a bad egg.

Acting almost like a sub boss, the wizard Senyakhaz is a master illusionist.  She appears more than the big bad as she is the one that has drugged your friend the Baron and is pulling all the strings to help her master.  You can encounter her in a variety of ways but she does like to be in disguise and trick you into having a rest.  Spoiler, do not have a rest.  If you do reveal her though she will attempt an escape through a magic mirror that acts as a portal.  If she gets away you get a sub optimal ending where you are told you free the Baron from her control and the people of Neuberg are very grateful, but all you have done is delay the inevitable destruction of Neuberg.

Also this book loves gory and descriptive encounters, but only one really got me  -

Thats not something I was expecting to be in the wine......

Artwork - 

We have another new artist for Beneath Nightmare Castle, Dave Carson.  Its his one and only go from what I can see and if I am honest I can see why.  The illustrations are very important for me as they bring the book alive but this has to be the worst art since Starship Traveller.  Its totally devalues the horror aspect of the book.  But I also understand you are very limited in a children's book but the quality is just poor.

They are not all awful though as I do love the heads in the barrel above, and I do like the blood Lurcher.

Ill give the background a pass since its at night.

But it is a really good interpretation of the text, by far the best.  Also the old goblin curio seller is ok.

Not sure whats going on with tv static background though.

This scene with the Baron looks good as well, reminds me of Grima Wormtounge in Lord of the Rings.  Except she uses drugged wine to control the Baron. 

But I don't know, something just is not clicking with me for the art.  Higher standards have been set now in Fighting Fantasy.  The one illustration I found in my playthrough of the temple is bland and odd.  The Gnome, Dwarf, Barons daughter all look off.  Especially the Dwarf and his proportions.  Senyakhaz should also look far more epic, instead its like a portrait you see in castles.

These are meant to be illusions of an identical Senyakhaz, not sure whats with the random white circle behind them. 

 

A death scene with some rocks being thrown at you from the top of the tower.

Oh exciting, some weapons.

The priest, Cernic, with the Talisman you need looks more freaky than some of the Eldritch Horror monsters!

The Bakk-Ruman is described as having a human type head.  Not sure how many humans have heads like that.

In a trivia note there was an illustration for the women with the tentacle mouth that I met in my playthrough but Puffin cut it out - 

Okay yeah this would have been awesome but I can see why it was cut.

Big Bad - 

Xakhas is well.. wow!

To be fair good job with this artwork based on the descriptions in the text.  It gives me early Warhammer chaos spawn vibes.  Anyway back to Xakhas himself.  We do get a good bit of background on him from Huw, he was an archmage of the evil gods of the southerners of Zagoula and during the wars to drive the southerners out there was a secret war between the priests of Oiden and Xakhas.  When his body was defeated his spirit was sealed under the earth and the Temple and the Keep raised to protect it.  In the intervening years in limbo it appears he has gone a bit mad and seems intent on experimentation and is responsible for all the crazy monsters, limbs and diseases going about.  He has the crazed mad scientist vibe with absolutely no morals at all.  He would get on well with the Witches of Dree.  

I do like that you have multiple paths to success against him.  Just default Xakhas is Skill 14 and Stamina 32 but you can pick up weapons to aid you in the fight, either reducing him down to Skill 9 or even just instant killing him with a good throw of the green orb grenade.  If you do defeat him he has a small metal box in his head which you pass to Huw for safe keeping.  Apparently its his spirit.

Menagerie - 

Well to say Peter Darvil-Evans came up with some new and unique monsters for Fighting Fantasy would be an understatement.  The southerners are the initial bad guys as they are prowling about the town and they are painted very much as sinister and evil, but mainly as they are different.

There Snuffhounds sound much more scary in the description than this picture.

 

Dwarf bullies.

But look at how they are portrayed, cloaked and Arab like.  Now I have to remember the world was very different in 1987 and things should be judged in their time but it has not aged well.  It might be because of the conflict in Gaza going on as I write this thats made me notice.  It might not be that but its what I am seeing.

Lets have a more fun look though at the utter madness that you come up against.  I must say though that my favourite are the Blood Lurchers.  The Bakk-Ruman sounds good on paper if its illustration could have matched better.

The Charabats are undead zombie frogmen.  Because why not.

 

The Vlodblad, not the comfy chair it first appears to be.

He also has a fun mechanic where he starts with skill 3 but every time you fail to wound him in a combat he grows more limbs and it gains +2 skill.

Griltig is a Hobgoblin jailer who has a peg leg.  

A mottled Kraken, he has seen better days  Believe it or not thats meant to be water..

The Vitriol Essence does not like you disturbing his pool.  Captured here just before his genitals appear.

Not to mention all the others that dont have a picture like the Crate of Limbs.  Even stock guys like an Orc or the Ogre come with a twist as the Ogre is wearing a turban with a monster inside it controlling him.

Special shout out to Skarlos though - 

Look at all that light.

Except when you point out he is not Skarlos, as you may or may not have his trident.  But thats definitely not a trident he is holding anyway.  If you call him out on his bull he turns out to be - 

If you guessed a giant mutant slug award yourself 1 point.

Entertaining Deaths - 

I am sorry people but there are so many I had to truncate it, but with 49 instant death paragraphs the choices were overwhelming.

Not accepting help to free you in the cellar, you get sacrificed slowly and painfully in your third paragraph.

Looking about in the cellar, you get chased around and captured and then sacrificed slowly and painfully in your fourth paragraph.

Getting caught stealing a pie and getting into a fight with an angry grocer, you get tried and executed as a common criminal the same day.

Taking a blood lurcher tentacle, which eats your food in the pack and turns into a kiss of death protoplasm and attaches to your head next time you look in your pack for provisions.  You run about mewling until it drains you of blood, leaving you as a husk.

Being captured by the guards who feed you well but every night tie you down at the base of a tower as the guards take turns throwing boulders at your head from the top, one eventually hits you.

Trying on an Ogres turban, it has a brain defiler in it and it takes control of your body.

Stepping into a tapestry and ending up in a temple in Dolod in the Southlands.

Using the Talisman near a mirror and burning your brain and melting your eyes and leaving the word LOTH burned into your forehead.

Going through a magic mirror and ending up in a completely different dimension. 

My favourite though is not one of the many many gruesome deaths but instead - 

Drinking some magic fertilizer and turning into a tree and living for hundreds of years.

Pete's Corner - 

Accept the help from the voice in the cellar.

Final Thoughts - 

I think I can best describe Beneath Nightmare Castle as a mixed bag.  The things it does well, it does really well.  The parts I do not like, I really did not like.

Lets start with a positive, the atmosphere.  I do not mean though when you are in the castle which is creepy but the town of Neuberg.  I really enjoyed the feeling of the town and the danger after dark.  Something is clearly not right and I really enjoy the writing around this piece.  

Also instead of a story at the start, you get the story unravelling during the adventure.  And it is a very good story, its a shame some people will miss it as you are only going to get it if you play multiple times as you can beat the book multiple ways which means you could miss info dumps.  I do not count that as a negative though as I love multiple paths to victory.  Do not get me wrong some are much harder than others but it does allow you to have a chance (a very small chance) with low stats.

The Menagerie is fantastic, what a selection of random monsters that we have not see before, all very Cthulhu like.  But for some reason they are all pretty weak.  The southerners for example are terrible fighters, I dont know how they took over Neuberg as the homicidal children could give some of them a run for their money.  

But this is just as well as PDE kills you through choices.  Far too many times you are doomed just for a simple choice.  Having instant deaths so early in the book is a bit daft.  The very first choice in paragraph 1 is a 50/50 death chance.  I mean its kind of obvious but if you have been burnt in other Fighting Fantasy books its not that obvious.  Also the bit where I died was complete overkill.  I was right, the banquet was a trap as its a giant monster, instant death.  If I had jumped instead of walked, luck test or instant death, my choice of walking was instant death, going towards the guards would have led me to dying as I did not have the trident.  I had one shot, go down that passage, go back and wait, win fights, dress up as guard, dont wait and sneak in.  Sounds simple but each decision point came with multiple others that would have killed me.  Felt a bit much.

I also did not enjoy the keep, I found the writing of directions a bit too hard to follow and found it easy to get lost, even when I was trying to map it out.  I would have much preferred going around the upper levels before working your way down, it felt that everything was below ground.  And yes I do not know what else I expected from a book thats entitled Beneath Nightmare Castle, clue was in the name.

Mechanics wise, Willpower was a good introduction, mainly because it opened up a whole new world of horrible deaths if it ever snapped.  This one does need to be a good roll to make it through and is slightly better than the fear mechanic precisely for some of the descriptions on how your mind breaks.  I also liked all the different weapons such as the Dwarfs rune axe forcing you to attack or other ones where more skill cost stamina or sacrifice skill for wounding four stamina per hit.  And of course the Trident but getting that is very difficult and not going to happen unless you have multiple play throughs.  Rolling all the dice for the tests was a fun change as well but also a bit time consuming unless you can chuck loads of dice at once.  Do not try with cats around.

Also the various sub characters you meet have a bit of flesh (not tentacles) on them which is great.  I like the Dwarf gardener and having a sub boss like Senyakhaz adds more flavour.

All this sounds great right?  Well I do not know what it is but after I got into the keep it just does not seem to work for me.  The story is good, the writing is fine and the big bad is suitably vile but I do find a lot of the art abysmal and it might be what was taking me out of it.  

When I had done all my notes, I had an idea in mind but as I am typing it out I realise I probably liked it more that I thought.  Still somethings just not quite clicking for me.

Neuberg Keep Feast Hall after the defeat of Xakhas - 

Baron Tholdur "Thank you once again for saving me and the realm, forget a nice ring, I am going to name you my heir!"

Me "Wow thanks, erm what about your daughter?"

Baron Tholdur "That was me that put her in there, she was wearing that armour long before Senyakhaz came along."

Me "Wow, so I will be a Baron!"

Baron Tholdur "No I am Baron, you will be Marquis of Neuberg Keep."

Me "Oh wow so your a Marquis, all there years I thought you were a Baron."

Baron Tholdur "I am Baron."

Me "Yeah so Baron is your first name and your a Marquis?"

Baron Tholdur "No I am Baron Tholdur, Marquis of Neuberg Keep."

Me "So are you the Baron or the Marquis?

Baron Tholdur "I am the Marquis of Neuberg Keep, Baron Tholdur."

Me "Sigh, maybe have some of this wine Senyakhaz left behind."

Score - 5 out of 10.

Creature of Havoc

Background - 

It is the tail end of 1986.  Over two years since Fighting Fantasy went from concept to juggernaut powerhouse.  But things are not all a bed of roses at Puffin Towers.  Ian and Philippa are in her office having a heated discussion.  Philippa behind her majestic mahogany desk while Ian sits on a plastic chair that would not be out of place in an 80s school dinner hall.

Philippa "All I am saying is that if he wants to keep his name on the books then he has to write more."

Ian "But he says he is not being challenged creatively enough!  Can't they just say Ian Livingstone presents?"  

Philippa "Thats not in the agreement.  Unless you get Steve to write another book we will start putting the actual authors names on the book, and we might even given them your royalties."

Ian with a face redder than an Aberdeen home strip "Fine, ill talk to him."

Philippa "And I want a fantasy one from him, they sell the best!"

Scene moves to Ian and Steve's pad.  Ian is outside Steve's locked bedroom door.

Ian "Look Steve I know, I know but I really need a book from you"

Steve "Fine but its not going to be fantasy, I have done horror, sci-fi, superheroes but I am sick of fantasy.  How about a book about book publishers writing a book?  It will be so meta!"

Ian "No Steve, I need a bog standard fantasy adventure based in Allansia."

Steve "I would rather gouge my own eyes out with a spoon."

Ian sighing "Look, I know, but this is important.  If you do not give them another book they will take your name off the series."

Steve "Fine..."

Ian "And take away your royalties."

Steve "Fine."

Ian "And without royalties how will you pay for Mr Riddles cat food?"

Silence for a while and Ian slowly slides down the door, sitting with his back against it.

Ian "Ok, ill work something out with Philippa.  If you do me one more fantasy book, then thats it.  I will let you out and you can go on with your life."

Steve "Promise?"

Ian "Yes, this has gone on long enough."

Steve "Can I have more pages?"

Ian "Yes, you can have the ones you missed out on Starship Traveller back."

Steve "And can my hero, not be a hero?"

Ian "Erm, I guess so?"

Steve "And what about being a mindless being that has no idea on language?"

Ian "I have no idea how that even works but as long as you make it clear its in Allansia."

Steve "Deal"

In the real world Creature of Havoc was released in November 1986 and was the last entry of the original run to be written by series co-creator Steve Jackson.  Even though he was not releasing as many as Ian Livingstone (as he was working on Sorcery), the ones he has released have always had something a bit different and I have enjoyed them all.  Starship took us to Sci-Fi (although it was poor), House of Hell was a brilliant modern horror and Appointment was a fantastic super hero one.  Even Citadel introduced a magic system!  I am really looking forward to what he does here.  I am aware of some of it from my youth, such as its very difficult, fiendish puzzles, possibly a big error, and that you are an actual monster.  Lets hope he goes out on a high.

Covers - 

Ok what is going on here?  I normally really like the classic covers but I am going to be a bit controversial here and say this is one of the worst FF covers so far.  I mean what kid wants to play a book with a green wizard doing his admin work? 

I do have questions though - 

I mean his writing technique is awful and what is up with the pen he is using?

 

What has this guy seen?  Whatever it is its far more exciting than this cover.

Does anyone know what we are looking at now?  I think its a dragon familiar regurgitating a miniature sun with a face.  But I could be wrong.

Now the Wizard cover is a lot better!  Now for years and years I thought this was you, the actual Creature of Havoc, but it is not, its actually a creature from the game itself.  Not much of a looker but its a great unique looking creature in the process of ripping an orc limb from limb.  Pretty badass.

He also got the shield cover reissue treatment but meh, the full cover is better.

Scholastic are back on the reprint train here with it being a Steve Jackson book.  And erm, well maybe the first cover is not so bad after all. We get a close up of old Zharradan Mharr drawn in a comic book style.  He looks very much like the Leader from Marvel.

Will the Avengers save Allansia?

Premise - 

Ok people, you are going to have to bear with me here.  Steve has presented us with a whopping 20 pages of background here called the Tales of Trolltooth Pass.  The nerd in me loves the world building here, the blogger looks on in dread.

Trolltooth Pass - 

The first part is a bit of a geography guide of various hills, plains and villages.  And a bit about how the trading works.  Guards known as Strongarms protect caravans going through the flatlands.  Silverton gets a mention after appearing as the "good" place in City of Thieves and of course a Port Blacksand mention as well.  Not too much here.

Dree - Village of Witch-Women - 

A dark village nestling in the fork of two rivers like a viper in its nest, Dree is a magnet for miscreants and black-hearted creatures.  Yeah sounds lovely.  How did this place come into existence you ask?  Well there was once a hag-witch Romeena Dree, who was a real nasty piece of work.  And I do not mean a misunderstood poultice seller.  No she was a practitioner of Marrangha which was the transplanting of limbs from one creature to another using magic.  She was trying to create her own super creature, but they sound more like chaos spawn from Warhammer.  

Anyway this made her quite unpopular with the locals of Salamonis where she lived and when she started upsetting the Gods she was bundled up in chains and forced to live somewhere else.  This somewhere else became the village of Dree as more like minded followers/maniacs flocked to her.

Anybody sailing past Dree were horrified by all the twisted mutants flopping around in the gutters.  It is described as worse than hell itself.

Traders eventually decide there is a killing to be made here but they all end up being made into the witches experiments.  That is apart from Ganga, who figured out the best thing would be to trade them some things they wanted, such as herbs and body parts such as elf eyes.  It works and Ganga gets very rich before others figure it out as well.  Good for Ganga I guess....  Its all about that supply and demand!

The Women of Dree - 

Its not all bad.  Romeena had three younger sisters who prefer to explore and get out and about, even helping humanity which is nice.  Some others have also left though and are a lot more evil, such as the witches that ended up in Balthus Dires kitchens.  Its these ones that contribute to Dree still having a bad reputation.  Well that and I imagine the dark horrors they inflict on their victims.....

Zharradan Marr the Necromancer -

Remember those aforementioned sisters.  Well they raised a child.  Father is unknown but there is one particular unlucky demon from hell being hit for child maintenance.  Anyway that child was old Zharradan himself.  Now the sisters knew the only male in Dree would not be safe so they sent him off to boarding school with the premier expert of dark magic, Volgera Darkstorm.  The class of 86 as it was known was Zharradan, Balthus Dire and Zargor (The Warlock of Firetop Mountain).  The three became good friends and rivals.

It's during this time that Zharradan decides he does not like the last name of Dree as its got a negative association with crappy witch magic and Zharradan was far too cool for this by now.  So instead of just changing his name on Deed Poll he instead cast a magic spell that made everyone who had ever heard the name forget it.  From now on he was Zharradan Marr.  Wait a minute if the spell was successful how do we know?

As time went by the three pupils started to get better than their master.  Darkstorm panicked a bit and decided the best way to deal with this would be to kill them, which seems a bit drastic but this is bad magic school, like an evil Hogwarts.  Inevitably though the Demonic Three, as they called themselves, killed Darkstorm and looted his library before going their separate ways.  A tale as old as time.

Coven - 

Big Z makes his way to the village of Coven and proceeds to build an underground lair for himself.  In a happy coincidence he also discovers a lot of gold and becomes insanely rich.  Now this would be enough for myself but not Zharradan, like any good bad guy he wants complete world domination.  

Part one of this plan is his first hire - Vallaska Roue.  He does not sound like a pleasant individual and shares a lot of Zharradna's values.  I can imagine the interview questions. 

You find a person wounded and needing help, do you  -

a) press into the wound with your finger
b) rob them
c) take some flesh for experimenting
d) all of the above

Anyway Roue gets sent off to find more generals for the world domination plan and a neutral wizard called Hannicus gets a job overseeing the mine.  He seems a lot more normal but Zharradan is just using him for the local information, but he does build him a house which is nice.

The Rainbow Ponds - 

A mythical place hidden in the forest of spiders.  Apparently all types of coloured pools, due to the crystals in them.  If you bathe in them each one has  a different effect, like making you really charismatic.  The pools are beautiful beyond compare apparently.  Why do you keep saying apparently John I hear you ask?  Well because nobody has ever seen them, nobody!  Convenient.

Sittle Woad - 

Eren Durdinath is a fabled Elven village that lies hidden in the forest of spiders.  Hidden by magic so only people that have been invited by the elves can find it.  Except if a young drunk elf goes out on the town and accidently blabs about it.  Yep this is exactly what happened for Leeha Falsehope.  Falsehope, maybe Steve was flagging a bit with the old world building.  Anyway he panics and tries to say its called Sittle Woad which is apparently a dye elves use.  The people don't buy it though and Leeha goes home in shame.  In fact his decedents are still living in shame because of this!  Who are these elves?  Warhammer Dwarfs?

The Vapours of Sittle Woad - 

So what's the big secret about Sittle Woad you ask?  Well its all about the vapours.  It all starts with a deal between the Gods and the Elves.  In return for the protection of the gods (including said magical cloaking) the elves would give them their most beautiful maiden to become the queen.  The queen would then commune with the Gods and at this stage I am thinking what's in it for the Gods?  Well apparently commune means get it on as the queen would always give birth afterwards.  Sounds like some Zeus sh*t to me.

Hello Ladies!

In a strange twist though instead of a child the queen gives birth to spirits called vapours.  These are immediately bottled up for the queen to use later.  Its very precise though, she can only use them once during her reign and even then only on one night of the year, known as the celestial equinox, when her God's constellation takes a certain position in relation to the other heavenly bodies. 

Thugruff and Darramouss -

So the wizard Hannicus relates all this to his new boss Zharradan with some extra info.  The current queen, Ethiless, was so beautiful three Gods "visited" her, the gods of language, reason and elf magic.  Zharradans ears pop up at the mention of elf magic and he decides he wants a bit of that.

But we are talking years going by and in the meantime they recruit the half troll Thugruff to the cause.  He was in the same mold as the rest of them and ended up bulldozing Hannicus house and made it into a training ground for troops.  Apparently old Hannicus was a bit crap at his job anyway.

Darramouss was an undead half elf who was particularly cruel.  He likes torturing his victims before killing them.  He took over the running of the mine and immediately wondered why the miners were getting paid.  Putting a stop to this he made them all slaves and now the armies of Zharradan regularly go and collect more slaves for the mines.

Daga Weaseltongue -The Innocent Traitor -  

With a name like Daga Weaseltongue you know this not going to be good.  Of course he is cousin to Erulia Falsehope, this family is terrible with names.  Anyway Zharradan disguises himself as a rhino man from the army and makes friends with Daga and manipulates him into stealing the vapours for him.  Great mission accomplished if you are Zharradan.  Slight problem, he has no idea how they work so still needs to find the elven village.  I don't know how Daga is an innocent traitor?  Yes he was manipulated but he still did the deed!

The Galleykeep - 

When word got around of a miracle airship that could hold a thousand troops, old Zharradan had to have it.  After using his Tooki Troops, which I imagine are like Koopas, he takes the ship and uses it as his new palace.  As an added bonus he thinks he will be able to spot the elven village from the air as they will not have thought to disguise it from that angle.  

So now Zharradan Marr is flying in his new house over the Forest of Spiders, looking to find the village to unlock the secrets of the vapours.  The world is all in a panic as it would spell doom if he is successful.  Brave adventurers are being dispatched to reclaim the vapours which would normally be the lead in to this adventure but not for Steve.  

And that is the epic background of Creature of Havoc.  Honestly its is longer than some playthroughs!  I have massively truncated it.  Just one more page, I wonder what it says - 

This is the background to Creature of Havoc.  Much of what you have read will be of little help to you and some of the information may even lead you astray...

WHAT!!??  20 pages of background info and you are saying its of little help!?  

Instead the real background starts now.  You are a creature and you do not have much awareness and your actions will be ruled by instinct.  You need to find the answers to Who am I?  Where do you come from? Why am I here?  Could have just said that Steve.

Playthrough - 

So despite it being a Steve Jackson book we do not have much fancy mechanics.  In fact the adventure sheet is super basic with the usual Skill, Stamina, Luck and one big box for items carried and information gathered.  

The book does say read the rules carefully as it is not the same as other Fighting Fantasy books.  And it is just as well I did!  For in the rules about combat I found that you only lose 1 stamina point per hit rather than the normal 2 and that a luck test can reduce it to no damage at all.  My creature must have a tough hide.  

Also when rolling for attack strength in combat, if you roll a double its a killing blow and you automatically win.  That sounds quite powerful!

Skill - 11

Stamina - 18

Luck - 7

Well my monster is very strong, reasonably tough, but not very lucky at all!  Hopefully I will not be relying too much on luck in my playthrough.

This guy looks like he needs our help.

So I wake up in pain, can hardly open my eyes.  I ascertain I have scales and spines on my back and a heavy head.  I hear some breathing in the corridor to the North so I head over that way and encounter a wounded dwarf who points a pointy stick at me.

I decide there are no need for hostilities yet so try and offer him some help by showing I mean him no harm.  It does not go very well as first he hits me with his sword for 2 points of stamina points.  I do not give up though and try and restrain him to calm him down.  This goes even worse as my long talons erm... kill him.  Whoops.  I also lose another stamina point as he hit me while I was "helping" him.  

Since he is dead lets have a look at what he has.  But even this proves difficult as my big hands fumble around.  I see some nice coins but my beast does not understand coins and I am much more attracted to a scrap of leather.  I play with it and even wear it as a hat.  Its got a message on it which I cant read but if I need to use it I have to go to page 337.

We are now told we are currently at the whim of the creatures instinct so we need to roll a dice to see which way we head off.  I roll a 3.

I am bumping along the walls of the tunnel and see a light and get excited and charge in with teeth bared.  And smash straight into a group of adventurers!  One of them is a hobbit who I instinctivly hate and attack without mercy!  

I do not dislike Hobbits in real life but Frodo really annoys me, Sam did all the hard work.  Anyway with a skill advantage of 6 I smash through him in three straight attack rounds.  I start to chew away at the Hobbits arm before I remember the other two.  One is clearly a wizard preparing a spell and the others description sounds like a knight of some kind.  I can not choose who to attack and instead must trust to luck.  

Which of course I fail.  It is a Knight, Skill 8, stamina 9 so quite a tough battle for so early.  I get hit twice before I take him down and already stamina is sitting at a worrying 11.  No provisions either, hopefully I can toast the hobbit.

Instead though the wizard has has cast a creature control spell and he uses me to carry his dead friends bodies away.  Your adventure ends here.  Wow.

I think we can all agree that is far too quick for a blog so instead lets reset and pretend I randomly rolled a 4/5/6 for the direction choice.

This way leads to a door, but I have to roll to randomly determine going back the way I came or smashing it open.  I roll a 2 and trudge back the way I came.... sigh

Kill hobbit again in three rounds and this time pass luck test (rolled a 5, if I had failed again I would have rage quit).  Luckily you kill the wizard first without a fight but the Knight gets a free hit before the combat starts.  We then proceed to draw the first 3 rounds of combat, and another one later!  But he does not wound me this time and stamina is at 13.

I should mention as well that my opponents have been speaking full sentences but its all gibberish so my creature can not understand it.

Not only do I eat the hobbit though, I also eat the wizard and restore my stamina to its initial level!  I discard the useless metal pieces and the dough substance they all carry (precious provisions) and head west.

Some flying creatures attack me but they cant get through my scales so I continue on happily to another door, which I can smash in or try something else, but its another dice roll.  Creature decides to smash through the door and finds a scene of a battle which I think is a couple of dead adventurers and orcs on the floor (at least I think they are Orcs).  As I look on though I hear chomping and flesh magically starts to disappear from the bodies.  

Another random roll and I start prodding the bodies and I a rewarded by the materialization of Flesh Feeders!

Evil creatures, they must be my friends right?  Wrong.

Luckily even though they are three of them I dispatch them as they are skill 6 without getting hit (even with me rolling a snake eyes for one attack round, which was an instant kill haha).  I try and eat some Orcs but its not very nice and I spit it out.  More shiny metal is found and discarded but one of the adventurers has box and I struggle to open it.  Finally with much banging the flask contained within opens and a purple vapor appears.

It forms into a face which tells me - 

Yeah I wasn't typing this out.

Creature is not amused so swipes away at the cloud which goes back into the flask, re stoppers itself, and then magically disappears. I then get 2 luck points.  Ok.

Do you want to go through the door to the east or west?  Oh a choice!  I can only assume that I have found a vapor of reason perhaps?  Anyway not going to complain as now I can start playing a choose your own adventure gamebook rather than random dice roll adventure.

West I head with my new found freedom, and I instantly arrive in the future.  Well the description of a tunnel with gems on the roof that provide light but seem to be motion activated and follow my movement certainly sounds like motion sensor lights.  Anyway I blunder into a man and we both scream in embarrassment and instead of having a good old laugh about it, as its Fighting Fantasy we fight instead.  He is described as a Strongarm, he is also skill 7 so I do not like his chances.

Right enough he goes down without laying a blow on me, clearly he was more startled than me.  He did have friends though, a warrior and a thief.  Honestly this place is crawling with adventurers.    The Thief takes a nick out of me before they both go down and this is where I remember I am only meant to be taking 1 stamina point off due to my tough hide.  Id like to think somewhere a player was writing a blog about his great quest only to come a cropper with my beast taking him down.

My prize is a choice of a dull metal pendant, two wrist bracelets or a pouch containing metal disks (money).  Well I can not imagine my creature at the local shop buying things.  And I suspect the bracelets wont fit something of my size so I go for the pendant.  I am told if I read a reference which begins with "You cannot see a thing..." to then deduct 20 from the reference.

If you wish you may feed on the adventures, ah go on then.  Back to max stamina as it restores 4, like any good provision.  I reach a cave with a river running through it and set of steps going downwards which are too small for my feet. Interestingly there is a very foul smell and my creature is anxious.  But you have to test your luck.  I pass and make it down without incident and I can go West or North.  I pick West again.

I come to a cave filled with bones.  I can calmly walk to the exit on the other side or explore the dark cave hoping to attack whatever made the pile of bones.  Well I am the alpha now in my mind so if the cave creature wants a fight he can pick it so I walk calmly across.  Nothing happens and I grunt in a way to say yeah know your place.

I find a set of stairs going up and take them before I get another blind T-junction choice.  North or East, well North normally means no return in these books so I head East.  I arrive at another junction and all the lights go out, I can keep heading East or turn North or South.  Its at this point I start to have PTSD about the Maze of Zagor.  Lets stay the course.

You can not see a thing.. ah wait subtract 20!  The jewel in the pendant changes colour and in the red light reveals a hidden lever.  I pull the lever and the secret door opens.  I now get new instructions.  Now we are looking for a reference that says you find yourself... at that point add 20.  Now I happen to know there is a glaring error (some have argued its meant) where the passage you need does not actually start with that so ill be adding 20 to everything just in case.

I head through the secret passageway and arrive eventually in a workshop.  Its got some interesting boxes to look in and a suspicious hole in the wall.  Well I do not think I need to do anything other than find the secret door out of here so I decide not to poke or prod or peer anywhere.  

Its another maze like choice with a door in each wall and absolutely zero clues or information to make any kind of decision with.  Lets go North.

Well shockingly the East door opens and the lights go on and I apparently cant resist the invitation.  I mean really...

We come to a stone bridge over the noxious smelling river.  Its another luck test and luckily I do get lucky with a roll of 5 and do not fall off the bridge. 

Another room and another two doors.  But its a bit more interesting this time.  The door to the North has no sound but something breathing and snorting heavily is coming from the East.  I decide no need to prove who the Alpha is anymore and head North, but not before taking a stamina point of damage smashing the door down.  

I am in some kind of office so I pick up a parchment for a look.

And accidentally seem to conjure a Rock Demon!

The text is at pains to tell me just how much more powerful than me he seems.  Well we will see about that as I am Skill 11 and the Alpha!

So it turns out he is an illusion and I accidently step on the mouse that the spell is cast on, oops.  So I pick up the parchment again and I get a huge page of gibberish.  I am worried I was meant to have figured out how to read by now.  You can go back or go through the other door in this room so I try that.

I appear to be at the other side of a secret door as it just opens but portcullis come down from the roof blocking my way back.  Its another junction choice, East, West or North.  Ill head West since its technically left and we always go left.

Its a dead end.  Even though its not the correct phrase I try adding 20 just in case and the pendant activates and away I go through the new secret door (or I've completely mucked it up and I am at some other part of the dungeon).

A green light guides me but I cant see anything even with it.  Eventually four glowing heads appear and speak to me in the gibberish and another door opens which they want me to take.  Or I could attack them if I want.  I decide to just follow the path.  It leads to a sign which alas I can not read pointing West, along with a pile of small bones.  I decide to investigate the bones.

I get really excited by them as they are none other than Hobbit bones!  I decide to go after the filthy hobbits.  I find some Carrion Bugs eating my hobbit meal, we have a problem and decide to settle it by getting into a fight with them.  

Now two are skill 7 and one skill 8 but you have to fight them together so I expected them to get a coupe of nicks on me.  What followed was the most amazing attack strength rolling I have ever done.  I wish it had come during an epic fight or boss battle, but no it happened as I fought some bugs for the right to eat a dead hobbit.

Its a good meal and I get my stamina back up.  Then another Carrion Bug shows up, he has no chance and I squish him like the bug he is.  

This was all just a distraction as I end up going all the way back to the sign and follow it to another slippy bridge with another luck test.    My luck is quite low now so unsurprisingly I fall off the bridge and must now pass a skill test or die.

Lucky my Skill is high and I escape the river and climb up the other side.  I can now follow some footprints down a very narrow stair to a hole or follow the passageway to an Iron bound door.  No way I will pass any more luck tests so I decide to avoid the stairs and head to the door.

The door has a handy sign, except I can not read it.  I lose 1 stamina point trying to break it down before someone uses some keys from the other side.  A Black Elf gives me a piece of his mind and I hilariously just punch the door in and a fight ensues.  I am easily beating him when after two rounds he blows a whistle which summons a much tougher skill 9 Chaos Warrior!  

Not that much tougher though as I kill him without taking a hit.  But I cant relax as the elf blows his whistle again and another Chaos Warrior appears, this one is only Skill 8 though, must be an understudy.  

I spoke to soon and he hits me twice before going down!  Now a 3rd Chaos Warrior appears!  He nicks me once before he joins the growing pile of bodies.  Oh look another Chaos Warrior, getting a bit fed up so I skip ahead and realise its game over unless I want to see how many Chaos Warriors I can beat before dying, I cant be arsed.

Notable Encounters - 

Well a long time has passed because it has taken me that long to map out the book.  It was tough trying to go back to it as I was not enjoying it that much but once it opens up out of the dungeon and you learn the language its really quite excellent.

A lot of the most memorable encounters involve named characters such as Darramous the half elf undead who runs the torturous dungeon you start in.  But its tough to get to him, first using a secret passage and then having to understand what all the floating heads are saying to turn to the right passage to them meet him.  You also cant beat him in combat so any option other than fleeing will see you die and if you flee you have already lost.  Without the ring of holy blessing its game over but it does kill him.  But that's three encounters leading to secret paragraphs you need to get past him.  And even then you might not get out of the dungeon if you try and bluff the guard.

Since losing his job Hannicus has fallen on hard times.

Now I know Hannicus was not great at his job but blinding him seems a tad excessive.  This encounter is again meaningless unless you can understand what he is saying to you and you can turn to another page.  He is well annoyed by his former employers and gives you the ring to beat Darramous but he will ask for it back and you just have to go erm no pal I am taking this with me.

The locations above ground are very fleshed out as well.  Such as the graveyard.

I honestly thought from the description I was heading towards standing stones.

Here one of the books most vile tricks hits you.  If you flee into the catacombs you end up back in the dungeon, except without your pendant so you can never make it out again.  Except you might not even know you are back in the dungeon and keep playing for a while before your inevitable death.  

Welcome to Dree, its not bad, honest!

The description of Dree is fantastic but if you arrive here its game over, all that is left to decide is how.

The Women of Dree are all single and available to a lucky bachelor.

The Women of Dree are the same ones mentioned in the introduction and what feels like a side quest with them is actually a very important mission which leads to a trip to see a fortune teller, a bog and Coven.  Just make sure you know what a Scuttleweed is.

Speaking of Coven, its here you meet Grog.

Grog is the Mungo of this quest.

Providing you don't help kill him of course.  But when he is travelling with you, you can deduct 52 from any passage that ends in a 7 to get a unique take or advise from Grog.  This is great and makes him feel like a proper companion.  Poor dude dies though trying to save you, as all good Fighting Fantasy companions should!

The Testing Grounds, where a great new career awaits!

The Testing Grounds are also very well written.  You can actually stay here and work your way up the ranks to enjoy a comfortable life of hobbit stew.  Thugruff and the pixie guard are interesting enough but the true star is random rhino man 29.  You see if you find another random rhino man earlier you pass on a message saying his sister has been freed.  So number 29 no longer has to work in his crap job at the testing grounds.  Its a bad life for him as he got caught fraternizing with one of Balthus Dires Rhino men on his time off.  No doubt talking passwords.  Anyway you escape together and his fate is to immediately get caught in a trap for food for the Galleykeep.

Speaking of the airship it is also full of information.  Its also a death trap where almost any wrong move will kill you but its got lots of interesting interactions (that will kill you) but adds a lot of flavour to the story and the adventure.   

Artwork - 

For his third go around at Fighting Fantasy, Alan Langford returns.  I think my overriding feeling on the art for Creature of Havoc was that is fine.  Nothing spectacular but also nothing terrible either, a solid 7 out of 10 kind of effort to me.  The undoubted best though for me is the brilliant Devourer -

Oh boy!

I really like his depictions of Dree and the Testing Grounds as well but its his depictions of Undead where he excels such as the graveyard scene and these - 

Cursewitches need their beauty sleep, try not to wake them up.

Master of Hellfire does not stay down for long!

But also some nice other pieces such as the Ophidiotaur - 

Absolutely needed an illustration to go with the text!

But some were a bit odd for a choice of illustration such as the secret room that traps you and you die - 

I mean this would be fine if it didn't mean you were dead.

But I must call out the Chattermatter.  This is excellent as it gives you a clue for what you need to do in the illustration itself - 

It was only after I had read what happens that I noticed the eyes in the web at the top.

Big Bad  -

We do not get an illustration in the book of Zharradan Marr but that is ok because the scene on the front cover is pretty much the final showdown anyway.  In game terms you do not battle him, but trap him in the dimension he hides in.  Again this requires knowledge of where he hides and a big crystal hammer to get to hidden references.  But you better have accidently bathed in elven dust while in the dungeon as well or he will one shot you with a spell.  All these requirements makes him very hard to defeat but I do miss a dice roll showdown with a big bad.  

But yet he is still one of the best Fighting Fantasy has to offer and let me tell you why.  Character building.  We know so much about his early life, history, personality and his current plans through the extensive background section and interactions throughout the adventure with various NPCs.  And the showdown at the end is about six or seven paragraphs of more information where you learn who you are and what he has done to you.  He is also quite funny when you try and destroy the mirror just with your hands and he is like dude, if it was that easy a freak bit of weather would have trapped me if it fell over.

All in all an excellent villain and I can see why he is normally in the pantheons of most beloved Fighting Fantasy bad guys.    

Menagerie - 

Yep we still have the standard guys going about such as Zombies and Orcs and also a variety of different monsters.  

Black Elves do not fear you, they just shoot you down.  Or blow on a whistle for an endless amount of Chaos Warriors to pop up.

The Carrion Bugs I came across have an illustration if you get to them from another route.

A big assed claw beast with a strange face.

The Giant Hornet can instant kill you if he rolls a double!

But there is not too much combat in this book, and a lot of the monsters have gimmicks instead.

This is the GalleyKeeps doctor, Quimmel Bone.

Not sure if he is a relation of Zanbar.  But if you do get in a fight with him he just keeps resurrecting himself in an endless loop until you eventually run out of stamina in combat.  Again if you see this page, you are dead, its just how.

The Shadow Stalker just keeps hitting your shadow.

The Toadmen will kill you unless you have a friend.

But interestingly in this book you fight a lot of traditionally good people as well.  Especially in the dungeon which is full of adventurers trying to get the vapors back.  But I love being able to eat hobbits.  It such a wind up of Tolkien.  Even when you try and help release one and he is in the middle of giving you directions you can not help yourself and end up eating him.

Mmmm Tasty!

Entertaining Deaths - 

There are so many ways to die I had to limit myself.

Pulling a rope at a dead end and being skewered by hidden spears in an imaginatively called deathspear trap.

Getting blinded by blinding beetles and then wandering into a blackmouth floortrap and dying before even hitting the ground, or going the other way and drowning in slime.

Falling down the stairs.

Falling off a bridge (a lot).  Even passing a luck test to cross the bridge, you luckily hit your head on the way down so you don't feel the horrors of the river.

Stomping the ground in frustration at a dead end and getting buried alive in a cave in.

Getting eaten by Death Maggots.

Finding a secret room, with skeletons in it, and getting locked in and joining them as a skelly. 

Pushing a mine cart too hard and ending up in the river.

Drinking a witches potion of obedience and becoming her house slave.

A Toadman pushes you into quicksand.

Getting a job as one of Mharrs guards on the Galleykeep with lots of hobbit broth.

Waking up to find Quimmel Bone, who is meant to be helping you, removing your organs.

But the winner for me is actually becoming commander in chief for Zharradan Marr and running the Galleykeep!

Pete's Corner - 

Stay away from bridges!

Final Thoughts - 

Ok I know this book is held up as one of the best and I can see why, but I might be about to upset some people.  Is this book technically brilliant, a masterpiece of gamebook design?  Yes, without a doubt Steve Jackson has produced something quite remarkable.  Is it fun?  Eventually.  

Now I understand the random dice rolling at the start is to depict the creatures instincts and showing you have no control.  But you can die multiple times just with bad dice rolling without ever having made a decision.  I do not think instant deaths should have been there so early and based on pure dice rolls.  

The language is also very clever, but when you do get the vapour of tongues, the instructions on how to decode are terrible.  I mean I sat and tried to figure it out.  How can one rule be each vowel is replaced by the following letter and then another rule say vowels mean nothing.  It obviously makes sense to some people but I spent so long trying to figure it out.  This should not be a puzzle, you have the vapour, this should be a nice list of rules to tell you how to unlock the code.  I wasn't the only one and luckily found this brilliant explanation on Reddit - 

https://www.reddit.com/r/fightingfantasy/comments/jh906x/how_to_decode_the_code_in_creature_of_havoc/

Now if that had been in the book I would have been fine.

The big one, the fact that the secret passageway you need does not start with the required phrase.  I have seen this been discussed that this was another deliberate trick of Steve Jackson.  No chance.  I am not buying that for a second, its clearly an editing error.  And its game breaking for most people.  Now I am not blaming Steve, I am blaming the editors.  But can we blame them?  I mean you see from my blogs they have a lot to deal with, writers escaping on airships, robots etc, it was all very busy for them.

These three points though made me HATE the dungeon part.  I really struggled to keep coming back to this book and some points I thought I wont be able to finish this.  I am currently on holiday and everyone is out by the pool as I write this but I forced myself to use the holiday to get through it.  

But I am glad I did.  Because once you are out of the dungeon this book is fantastic.  Yes it is brutally difficult with so many ways or areas that are just death but the writing is fantastic.  This book is massive as it comes in at a whopping 460 paragraphs, but they are not short.  Steve's writing of some bits take up the whole page and it really does feel like a GM painting the scene for the players.  Wonderful stuff.  Also gone are the dungeon parts of here is a choice of directions, good luck not dying.  Instead we get sign posts and locations to aim for.

It also has the best implementation of a companion yet with the way Grog is implemented.  And I must mention Daga as well and the clever trick to work out if he is lying or not when he speaks.  

I would have liked the Galleykeep to be a bit more linear so they could have told more of the story as some bits you only get when you are going to die.  But the ending is very good, its fleshed out and the whole thing feels like an actual story as well as a gamebook.  The twist at the end I kind of saw coming but it fits so well with the story.  

As I said in the Big Bad section the details around Mharr are great and really flesh out the character but its not just him.  You know the story behind his henchmen and Daga and also the poor random Rhinomen.  I can not say enough about how well this is written and it was great to flip a page and immerse myself in the full descriptions.  I mean Dree kills you, one way or another but its worth visiting just to get the feel of the place.

But that's another thing well done in this book.  It is not a case of you chose the wrong path you are dead.  Steve will let you go another 10, 20 paragraphs sometimes before he kills you.  Some might find this frustrating but I enjoyed it.

There are so many gimmicks in this book with how to get through it, I even forgot that I could instant kill by rolling a double.  You are never really in any danger from combat to be fair, all battles are winnable and stamina should always be fine.  Its luck you really need a good score on to get over those bridges!  But this is still an extremely difficult for a gamebook for kids.  You will die, over and over but hopefully each time learn something new.  

How do I sum up this book other than it really is a book of two halves?  Its like its been put together by a mad genius.  Get through that horrible dungeon and then count that as a save point.  Then sit back and enjoy some great storytelling.

I am off to jump into the pool.

Score - 8 out of 10.