...and buddy, I'm kickin' butt.Today I stopped in at a neat little local bookshop called Books, Crooks & Spacemen. It's a nice bookstore, and I rarely get to go, but today I did. I browsed around a bit and spotted this guy -- the re-issue of the classic Fighting Fantasy gamebook, "The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain". The cover is new (and, in my opinion, not as evocative), but the text is the same -- copyright 1982, the year of Blade Runner, TRON, Conan The Barbarian and "Don't You Want Me?" by The Human League, which incidentally is my favorite song EVER.
The book had to be mine.
I'm no stranger to the series; a few years ago, my wife bought me a copy of gamebook #16, "Seas Of Blood". I relished the solo roleplay and dug right in, taking the role of a pirate captain. The setting appealed to me, and in fact I considered using it as a setting for a regular tabletop game -- in fact, why I haven't yet, I don't know."Seas of Blood" kicked my ass.
I'm pretty sure I got most of my crew killed by a yeti, or something; I decided to be all heroic and save a monastery or...hell, I forget. Just one more reason to pick it back up, I guess.
But here in Firetop Mountain, I'm the bee's own damn knees. I have Skill 9, Stamina 23 and although my Luck is a mere 7, I keep getting points back. Trouble is I can't really keep 'em because I always get more than I can actually have.
Killed the orc chieftain and his servant; whacked the drunk goblins. Saved the crazy old guy and took his advice. Wasted the sand-worm on the riverbank. Broke down doors hither and yon. Found a nifty shield but couldn't justify taking it because I'm that badass.
I am destined to become the king of Firetop Mountain. They'll sing my praises!
If you sing my praises, turn to 214.
If you'd rather go back, deduct 1 LUCK and turn to 7.
Oh, yeah. I also own this little beauty:
This one, uhh...this one I'm not so good at. Damn bikers. Soon as I become the king of Firetop Mountain, I'm gonna send that giant after 'em. Finish your soup, giant!
If you'd rather go back, deduct 1 LUCK and turn to 7.
Oh, yeah. I also own this little beauty:
This one, uhh...this one I'm not so good at. Damn bikers. Soon as I become the king of Firetop Mountain, I'm gonna send that giant after 'em. Finish your soup, giant!
