Fighting Fantasy's Forest of Doom
Notice the head horns and skinny limbs. Same artist that did the City of Thieves horned skull head, Darth Maul, and I think the Githyanki cover on the old Fiend Folio.
I've finally played it. Well, I'm not done. It is awesome, I love it... it's 4:xx AM, and I'm playing it more as I woke up early from getting too hot, etc. It was the last thing I did last night basically, and it was great fun. Here's my semi-review, which has a few spoilers. Keep in mind, I haven't done many of these FF books yet, only the original first book Warlock on Firetop Mountain. I have bought several, and will be reading more (or PDFs)!
Walkthrough that sounds fun -
- About to use for 2nd pathway, um 2nd loop, err whatever - This guy has a good sounding walkthru where you face challenges but succeed. Need good dice rolls too. http://www.arek.bdmonkeys.net/FF/sols/sol2.html
- Gonna copy paste at the end of my post, b/c I hate when websites go down and info is lost.
Triva -
- Double check me, but the front cover artist also did the internal art, AND he did a bunch of later Star Wars designs like Darth Maul (See City of Thieves Cover which has the skull horn head guy like Darth Maul). I love most all of the art, even the melty muscle art (deformed lines, but it reminds me of some old old style). He makes the human muscles right sometimes, so it seems deliberate... gives it a weird vibe.
- I think he also did a ton of the AD&D Fiend Folio, including the front cover Githyanki. Check Nev's channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okD4NjbhSXY&list=LL&index=58
- It's the 3rd book, written by Ian Livingstone. So over in Britain, Ian Livingston and Peter Jackson did a ton of D&Dish stuff.
- LivingstonE became Livingston in the US it seems like. They even pronounce it the same.
- Livingstone with the E sure sounds like an Earth Elemental. :)
- Fiend Folio. OR kinda. See Nev's channel link above... he might mention it in that one or his City Of Thieves review.
- White Dwarf magazine which used to be all D&D, but now is Warhammer apparently.
- Founded Warhammer.
- Entry 168, the goblin is described as small, sinewy, and having brown scaly skin. So slightly reptilian maybe, for a goblin... interesting.
Acknowledgements - Thanks to Spellsinger's gamebook reviews on Youtube, he got me into wanting to read these. Neville of NevsBookChannel yt also more recently inspired me... he's got much more trivia but shows much less art picts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okD4NjbhSXY&list=LL&index=58
WARNING - don't buy the newest SCHOLASTIC 2017 version of ANY these books b/c they rip out the great internal art and put in some horrible low detail new art. I got ripped off buying a chunk of them on amazon, don't do it! Double check the versions! You have to buy some used or get pdfs from the internet. There is the new new hardback which has the original art for City of Thieves and one more of them, which I reckon I'll buy. See my post from yesterday or the day before.
The Good -
- Atmosphere. I love the forest stuff. Reminds me of the hex-crawl/ point-crawl the kid DM'd for me a few months back with the fire cultists, where we random encounter rolled a ton and ran into a dragon (twice, got away twice but was scary) and the pixie(s) and stuff. OK none of that was in this book exactly, but it does remind me of it.
- Not super punishing. You get so many magic items to help. First-ish run through I got to the "end" but hadn't found either piece of the hammer, so it sends you back to the front. Good. Fun.
- The creatures, oh yeah! Very old school AD&D vibe. Goblins. Gremlins. A werewolf (ouch, that turned out to be a "I made it!... Oh wait, it scratched me, ohhhh crap!". A 2-legged dragonlike creature with flames... yep, a Wyvern! That was super cool and potentially deadly. A giant (was easy, punk didn't touch me!... lucky rolls). A fire demon (aka a Balrog), and he did a lot of dmg... had a second attack with a whip that had special rules (1 dmg instead of 2).
- Reminds me, the Shield which gives 50% chance to take -1 dmg was KEY for me getting to the end without fudging too much. It negated pretty much all of the whip damage from the Balrogish Fire Demon, for instance.
The Bad -
- I can't think of much of anything yet. I'm no serious reviewer (this is mostly for me to gather my thoughts) and not gonna complain about minor things.
- OK, the melty muscles in the art is sometimes too weird not to notice. I'm still OK with it. I keep telling myself I'm fine with it, at least. :P
The Ugly -
- Melty muscles? Kinda. The witch's warty nose? :)
- I believe this barbarian (with the semi-right and semi-melty muscles) is very much a direct reference to the 1982 Conan movie, where Conan is crucified. The description even talks about vultures, face has signs of torture, etc.
Plot -
- Dwarf needs help, a special hammer undone into two pieces you gotta find in the deep dark forest.
- Funny mage in tower at start, with the "o" at the end of the name. He's good. Sells magic stuff, and you better get some.
- The very first stop out of the gate (after the mage) is a witch hut. Well I like to explore, even tho half the time it's bad, and she steals ALL of your stuff if you don't have the right magic item to counter her. But she has some item, and I bet you need it for the end. This isn't bad really, just part of the game, so I gotta put this under plot and remember to buy the other hting this time.
- Tons of places to explore, even a mini-dungeon from a hole in a tree (like "Hole in the Oak" got influenced eh, talking 2025ish Old School Essentials module borrowed from this old book, eh?).
I need to go play some... bye. .... ..... Back! More!
Art
- I pretty much love it, like most of these old FF books, it's got charm and a little scary and a little gritty, with just a touch of cartoonishness. Mentioned how it's the skinny limbed style of this artist, and he is good with this style.
- Check out the creepy face on this stone lid... they don't mention it (till you light the candle), and I never noticed it when I saw this picture on reviews:
WALKTHROUGH COPY PASTED FROM GUY
The Forest of Doom
This is not the shortest or easiest path; it is more gratifying to face difficult situations and barely succeed. Rather than minimizing risk, this solution includes as many interesting parts as possible, while avoiding sections that are blatantly harmful or provide no useful information. You may need high initial scores; this path assumes favorable dice rolls.
Sword, leather armor, backpack, 10 Provisions, Potion of Fortune, 30 GP, map 1 Follow Yaztromo up the stairs 261 You thank Yaztromo and leave -16 GP, Holy Water, Ring of Light, Rope of Climbing, Armband of Strength, Glove of Missile Dexterity, Garlic Buds 177 Go east at the huge old tree 160 Pay the crow for its advice 343 Turn north as advised -1 GP 8 Meet the owners of the arguing voices 317 Fight both HOBGOBLINS 6/6 5/7 301 You search through their pockets 3 GP, brass flute, 2 biscuits 157 Continue walking northwards up the path 337 Examine the large cave 230 Pick up a rock and throw it at the Ogre 137 You possess a Glove of Missile Dexterity 55 Take a closer look at the creature 168 Unlock the cage door 117 Fight the GOBLIN 5/4 232 Leave the cave and continue northwards Ebony hammer handle Lu+1 358 You cut yourself down from the man trap Lu-1 40 You curse and continue northwards 274 Climb up the vine to the tree house 195 Attack the ape-like creature 352 Defeat the APE MAN 8/7 At-2 207 Put the copper bracelet on your wrist 302 You climb down the vine and continue Bracelet of Skill At+1 109 Go west on the plain 124 You decide to head north 180 Go west through waist-high grass 361 Face the oncoming pack of dogs 396 Start a conversation with the masked man 364 Carry on the conversation 194 You set off west again Belladonna 208 Keep going west at the crossroads 99 Enter the dried mud hut 209 Accept the arm wrestling challenge 28 You possess an Armband of Strength 52 You force Quin's arm onto the table 78 You walk back to the junction Dust of Levitation 349 Continue east at the crossroads 102 You decide to head north 105 See what the vultures are interested in 384 Return to the path to head north 394 Cross the river by the stepping stones 66 You decide to make camp for the night 325 You possess some Garlic Buds 268 You head north along the path 119 Continue north down the hill 90 The arrow misses you Lu-1 210 Attack the arguing men 43 Fight each WILD HILL MAN 7/5 6/4 At+1 50 You set off north again Silver key 188 Head east on the valley floor 359 Take a closer look at the stone well 172 Descend the ladder 256 You manage to hang on to the ladder Lu-1 122 Crawl along the torch-lit tunnel 135 Crawl east at the junction 151 Throw back the curtain and enter the cave 71 Fight the GREMLIN 5/5 At-2 273 You crawl back down the tunnel Gold medallion 296 Crawl south back to the well 398 Grab the first leg that comes into view 320 You climb out of the well 362 Continue heading west 238 You decide to keep on walking west 221 Head north again 199 Rub some hot mud onto your wounds 283 You set off north again along the path St+4 303 Fight the PTERODACTYL 7/8 At+1 247 Follow the yellow arrow 3 You have a Ring of Light 322 You possess a Rope of Climbing Gold medallion 94 Climb down the rope into the tunnel 136 You crawl along on your hands and knees 69 Attack one of the small humanoids 264 Head towards the green-topped fungus 189 Eat some of the fungus 269 You walk over to the steps St+4 293 Look inside the barrel 215 Take the heavy iron shield 248 Try to open the wooden chest Emperor's shield Lu+1 389 Leave the alcove 8 GP Lu+1 88 Continue climbing past the second alcove 107 Fight the FIRE DEMON 10/10 At+1 152 Sit on the magnificent throne 5 Climb up the rest of the steps 249 You run up the last few steps 164 You return to the path and head north 144 Head west in the thick undergrowth 213 You decide to head north 306 Examine the ivy-covered building 391 You possess a silver key 200 Descend the stone stairs 351 Light the candle 292 Try to lift the stone slab 95 You have some Dust of Levitation 173 You possess some Holy Water 58 You leave the crypt 25 GP, bronze hammer head 112 You decide to head north again 103 Look more closely at the lair 57 The fire bolt misses you Lu-1 132 You possess a flute 258 The Wyvern is powerless to resist 305 Try on the plate iron gauntlet 10 GP, throwing knife 374 Head north again along the path Gauntlet of Skill At+1 360 Give the bandits what they want 279 You pay a levy of five objects -3 GP, -2 biscuits 246 You are out of Darkwood Forest 204 You have the hammer head and handle 400 Your quest is over Golden winged helmet, jewels
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