[LP] Sorcery! Now Playing: The Crown of Kings

[angelfromanotherpin]

Deduct 4 STAMINA points. You aim your finger at the creature's head and unleash your lightning-blast. Unable to complete its transformation, the Demon can do nothing to prevent this attack. The blast hits the creature on target, and its head seems to explode from inside, spraying its gory vital juices around the room.

One thing about the First Six, they may be expensive, but they solve problems. Nothing like interrupting a transformation sequence.

The hideous Demon drops to the ground. Its shape shrivels and disappears before your eyes, returning to its god-forsaken home. You are now alone in the room with the Crown of Kings and the body of Farren Whyde. You check the old man. He is dead. You walk over to the desk to touch the Crown. In spite of being made from solid metals, it is remarkably light. You wrap it carefully and place it in your pack. Now you must return it to Analand.

• Leave the room and step carefully down the stairs?
• Open your pack and look for something to use?
Cast a spell?
• ROK
• RES
• NAP
• LAW
• SIX

[Mr Shine]

Either cast RES on Farren Wyde or look for something to use, and use the whistle if given as option. I vote look for something.

[Sirocco]

Well. That was anticlimactic.

Logic dictates that we use the whistle and skedaddle, and we only have 4 STAMINA left. But I feel we shouldn't leave poor Farren Whyde dead, since the book gives us the opportunity to raise him...

I don't know. Half a vote for whistle, unless someone can convince me otherwise.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Let's RES Farren Whyde. After that, use the Birdmen Whistle if the option presents itself.

[angelfromanotherpin]

Do you have a silver whistle or holy water from the Tinpang River with you? If so, you may use either of these.

• Use the whistle?
• Use the holy water?
Go back to the previous options?
• Leave the room and step carefully down the stairs?
Cast a spell?
• ROK
• RES
• NAP
• LAW
• SIX

Okay, so that's the full actual set of options.

[MisterDee]

@MisterDee and angel: How did this version discrepancy even happen? Is the French version based on a deprecated printing that people know to be buggy and don't play, or a buggy release candidate? Did they just write what the hell they wanted Power Rangers style?

The ** thing has to be a translation/ediition fuckup. The French editions of most dice-based gamebooks were published by the same big publisher. I imagine they saw how popular gamebooks were, bought the rights to all of them, and pushed shoddy translation out of the door as fast as they could. Crown of King is massive and they probably split the translation/edition job, so little things like that ** got missed.

The ZED casting thing is weird, however. I would have understood had they merely screwed up translating the bit that says "you know what's coming so you get to pick instead of rolling." Even in English the instructions aren't as clear as gamebook rule-changes usually rare. (I would have expected a straight "when you cast ZED, you'll be asked to roll. But since you know the secret you can just pick your result."

I imagine that somehow the French version ran into deadline/space problems, and they decided to slice off that particular bit to make it fit - in fact, if I remember correctly, Jann's infodump about the Archmage's identity was in the French version, but it was not actually reachable by any legal path. I guess they fucked around with some reference numbers to fit within the pagecount and ended up messing stuff up (and obviously, they wouldn't playtest the French versions after translation.)

[Starmaker]

RES. Save the holy water for Jann, it's not a spell and thus should work.
Oh shit, you're right, Sirocco. Just the water then, rezzing people takes precedence over curing people, and I suppose Fletch and Fenestra will figure something out behind the scenes anyway.

edit edit: okay, RES. I do think the holy water is the DMF way to rez the guy but whatever, better safe than sorry and spells are more classy.

[Sirocco]

Doesn't RES use up the holy water?

[Darth Rabbitt]

Shouldn't we cast RES, rather than just use the Holy Water? I imagine the stuff works better if we cast the spell, and that all of the Holy Water is used up either way.

[Sirocco]

You're assuming that just using the holy water will have the same effect as RES. Whereas we know what RES does, we don't know what will happen if we "just" use the holy water (for all I know, Fletch might just drink it!)

[angelfromanotherpin]

If you have any Holy Water, you may cast your spell on the body of Farren Whyde. √

You step over to the old man's body. Sprinkling the holy water, you wait anxiously to see what the effect will be on Farren Whyde.

The old man's eyes start to flutter! Muscles twitch around his mouth and slowly life returns to the corpse. When he has recovered sufficiently to sit up, Farren Whyde looks at you. His expression is blank. He remembers nothing about the room or you, and you take some time to explain things to him.

'My friend, if all this is true,' he says finally, "then I owe you my life. And more than that, every person in the Femphrey Alliance owes to you the prospect of future peace and prosperity. But all your efforts count for naught if you are unable to return the Crown to your own King. Perhpas here is a way I can repay you for your bravery.' He steps over to the desk and draws out a velvet bag from the lowest drawer. Inside the bag is a ball of clear crystal and the old man peers into it. 'If they are still alive,' he says, 'the Samaritans will help you. Ah, yes – there is Croo now.' You look into the ball. Clearly formed inside is the image of an angry Birdman, barking orders. 'This,' says Farren Whyde,' is Peewit Croo, Chief Disciple of th Samaritans of Schinn. They will help you to return to Analand, for they hate the power of Mampang as you do. You may summon the Samaritans with this.' He gives you a small silver whistle.

Convergence!

You step over to the window and blow your whistle. A shrill, warbling sound comes from the silver piece and you wait for it to summon its masters. A short while later, nothing has happened and you begin to get anxious. But, sure enough, your call has been heard. A fluttering of wings can be heard at the window, followed by a familiar face. The head of Peewit Croo appears. 'Do you have the Crown?' he asks. You nod, and tell him of the struggle, patting your backpack to indicate that the Crown is safe. 'Then let us go!' he cries. 'For both our missions are now done. Without the Crown, Mampang is powerless. Give me your hands, friend.' The Birdmen take you and fly you away from the Fortress and across the peaks of High Xamen.



You have succeeded in your mission. The Crown of Kings will be returned to Analand. The Archmage is dead. Perhaps sometime soon another warlord will seize power in Mampang and your country will once again be threatened. But for the time being, you hold your head high in pride. Yours has been the most difficult task ever completed by a native of your country. You have firmly written yourself into the history books of Analand. And your adventures will become legends, passed on through generations of your people.

Your journey is over. You have earned your rest.

THE END! Epic quest completed, and well done! Wrap up to follow, and taking questions.

[Starmaker]

Rereading the thread, noticed this:

Away from the bustle of the festival of youth you are able to get a good night's sleep.

That's the expensive Crystal Waterfall village. I assume the 5 gp bed rest isn't actually all that restful. Nice detail.

...From a purely roleplaying standpoint, it would be pretty cool if it were possible to sic Jann on the Archmage of Mampang, but I strongly doubt the books support this.

Is Jann's AMF ever helpful?

When there are blind choices, go right.

Of the four possible roads, only one is left unexplored and the rest have led to hideous deathtraps. This 'going right' thing has not worked out.

Oh the irony. I glanced through the book and there *is* actually a hint, in the form of a poem, to the effect that all non-left turns are traps.
On the other hand, we managed to avoid the carnivorous marshmallow in Book 2 through being immensely lucky with blind choices, so there's that.

For sleeping of the sleepless ram;
Seek out the one they call The Sham.

Is book 4 unwinnable as a standalone?

'Three years ago I was the Seventh Noble of Kharé until the black-eyed curse befell me...'

What is the black-eyed curse? It can't be just a poetic description of blindness because Hannicus (in Creature of Havoc) specifically begged to have it lifted.
Also, I didn't notice before, but Angel's reading of the rules for the harpies fight was really generous, not that it would have affected the result.

So tumblers two sealed deep inside
One lock made out of Golem's hide
By Courga's grace, and Fourga's pride
Er... I beg you to stand aside?

One of the many high points of the letsplay.

You cast your spell and wait to see whether anything happens. The shimmering haze reappears and engulfs the creature once more. As it rises, the Deathwraith is being transformed and another shape now stands before you. A stout, balding man appears in its place, who looks at you nervously and smiles. The Deathwraith has been an illusion!

And here MAG works like dispel magic.

If you do not turn back, you may find me at the Groaning Bridge.

So how to find Colletus at the Groaning Bridge?

• Are you still faithful to your Goddess, Libra? √
• Or have you chosen or been forced to renounce your faith?

Credit where it's due: the warning to stay faithful was given on the first page of the intro.

It won't hurt to find more components for the likely wizard duel in the end until the winds of magic throw Zed our way.

So that's what I assumed would happen in the end: Fletch and the Archmage throw spells back and forth until one of the options offered is ZED, which is a win.

20 gold pieces (plus your own 3 if you handed them over)

It's kind of annoying that chargebacks aren't universally implemented (see: the ferryman in Book 3).

It's the Archmage's citadel, it's totally okay for his illusions to be Spectre of the Gun quality. The secret of the flames is just a password of a different color.

I'm still not buying it as it's implemented in the book. Generally, I'm okay with illusions that don't hurt you but trick you into doing something dangerous, I'm also okay with illusions that act real if you think they are real - but the latter is difficult to write in a gamebook. I suppose a passable implementation would be to just dump the protagonist to a death paragraph without a warning, thus precluding an "I think it's illusory" hunch-based decision, then have a secret reference lead from the death paragraph to the disbelief option (as it's done with the serpent of Time and the npc in Creature of Havoc). E.g. "There's a suspiciously empty room behind those Throben doors. Do you go in or look for another way? [Go in.] Suddenly fires, you die. [Hidden reference.] Wait, no, you don't."

In the dark chamber of night, do not light your way with the blood candle.

This hint creeped me out. It's somehow less creepy now that I know the place is literally called "Chamber of Night". Much like the titles of the "seasonal" Dragonlance books sounded pretty cool (to a teenager) until I found out those were just the names of months, as in "October dragons", "January dragons", "March dragons".

You can't be wanting to meet the Spiny Ones.

The Spiny Ones are quite possibly the scariest encounter in the book. Also, total fucking bullshit.

But if the endgame seems rushed or narrow, it's because Steve wasted the space dicking us around on mountain paths.

The endgame doesn't make much sense.

The time-travel gimmick is cool, but the whole thing with the Archmage's disguise is pointless: he could have captured us any time. I looked at the magical options and most of them (except MAG) involve the Archmage one-upping the hero with a more powerful spell, after which it's choo-choo time. He could have just proceeded with the capture and imprisonment right from the first meeting. There isn't anything useful to us in the original room and there isn't anything useful to the Archmage in the prison room that he has to confront us later. For the plot to make sense, we should have gotten our hands on something important in that room or earlier, and not-Farren-Whyde could have sent us on a wild goose chase either to get us away from the important item or to make us waste the macguffin.

(One other thing I noticed in the spell section is that some apparently noncombat spells have combat applications, such as TEL allowing to predict the enemy Red-Eyes' actions and maneuver in such a way so as to have one of them be sliced up by the others' lasers. But you can never tell beforehand; other times, such spells are worse than useless and the enemy gets a free hit.)

(Also, Throg is really intelligent and prevents most spellcasting attempts: she destroys spell foci before the hero can get a spell off, wrestles away and drinks the healing potion if the hero tries to use one, etc. Not that it matters much, because going to the kitchen the first time around is fatal.)

Jann just straight-up, choo-choo, offering us ZED devalues remembering it. Why would you do that, Steve.

Speaking of Jann, the book unfortunately omitted how Fletch rescued him from the prison tower.

Still, an awesome LP of good books. I'm kind of sad it's over.

[Darth Rabbitt]

I'm also confused with the ending. Is the Archmage a demon, or was he just turning into one? If it's the former, why does he look like a completely different guy in his chamber? What's the deal with Farren Whyde, and why was the Archmage possessing his body?
Where would we have had the chance to renounce our faith? I'm not finding anything on it in this LP, although it's entirely possible that's my bad.
What would've happened if we tried to face the Jib-Jib? Epic combat music?
What would have happened if we hadn't heeded the warnings given by the Serpents (i.e. lit the blood candle in the chamber of night, eaten from Throg's larder, suffered the breath of the Mucalytics)?
Also, what would have freeing the untermensch in the stockade have done, if anything?
Does the incomprehensible parchment scroll do anything? How about the golden egg?

The Spiny Ones are quite possibly the scariest encounter in the book. Also, total fucking bullshit.

Don't leave me hanging!

[angelfromanotherpin]

Is the Archmage a demon, or was he just turning into one?

It's likely the Archmage is a possessing-demon entity, given that after the demon gets murdered, Whyde-load seems to be a reasonable person again.

If it's the former, why does he look like a completely different guy in his chamber?

The guy you meet in the prison tower isn't the Archmage. He's on the cover as part of a throw-you-off scam. In the text he's called 'the Sorcerer' (note capitalization), or 'wiry-haired fellow.'

What's the deal with Farren Whyde, and why was the Archmage possessing his body?

That's not clear. It seems likely that Farr-go is exactly who he originally claimed to be, except sometimes possessed. I don't know why he was possessed, except to pass on disinformation to Fletch. Though Jann's testimony suggests that Farren is his usual meat-muppet.

Where would we have had the chance to renounce our faith?

It comes up a few times. There are a couple of Throff-priests who try to convert you (one in Baddu-Bak, and Colletus in Xamen), and in Kharé the dude who tells you the line of the spell we missed basically bets you the line against your converting in a game of logic.

What would've happened if we tried to face the Jib-Jib? Epic combat music?

Jib-Jibs are tiny harmless furballs with scary voices. Fighting them is basically just murder.

What would have happened if we hadn't heeded the warnings given by the Serpents (i.e. lit the blood candle in the chamber of night, eaten from Throg's larder, suffered the breath of the Mucalytics)?

Using the Blood Candle sets you on a different set of blind darkness choices which inevitably lead to you tripping and impaling yourself on the blades, to death. The candle isn't just made of blood, it thirsts for it.

Eating from the larder is actually a full STAMINA restore, but a worn-out label leads you to eat what you think are Ant Meatballs and are actually MUTant Meatballs – which give you a random mutation like this was Realms of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness. It's a 2d6 table, some results are fatal, some are crippling, at least one is beneficial (you sprout hair all over and become unrecognizable, as if you had stopped all the Serpents), and the most likely result is that you're simply immune.

Mucalytic breath is instantly fatal. It can come up if you fight one, and instagibs you if you get close to try talking with them.

Also, what would have freeing the untermensch in the stockade have done, if anything?

He cold-cocks you and locks you into the stocks to cover his escape. It's a game over. Learns you for trusting/helping someone with a sloping criminal forehead.

Does the incomprehensible parchment scroll do anything? How about the golden egg?

I've never seen any use for either. Red herrings AFAIK.

The Spiny Ones are quite possibly the scariest encounter in the book. Also, total fucking bullshit.

Don't leave me hanging!

The encounter with the spinies takes place in total darkness and the winds of magic do not provide light, so you never actually see them. They make a strange noise (like a bundle of sticks being moved around – presumably the spines), and then they start launching spines into you, one at a time, inexorably. ping. ping. ping.

[Sirocco]

I for one find the endgame a little lacking, in script if not in execution. I mean, why bother at all with the deception of the prison tower, PLUS the inescapable-death-oh-wait-not-really-trap, when in the end you just summon the guards to throw us into the cell?

On the other hand, it did give us a chance to try a freakin' time-travel spell, which is pretty awesome. Pity about Jann though.

Also, what would have freeing the untermensch in the stockade have done, if anything?

He cold-cocks you and locks you into the stocks to cover his escape. It's a game over. Learns you for trusting/helping someone with a sloping criminal forehead.

What the.... STEEEEVEEEEE!

That said, it was immensely fun to follow this playthrough, and even more to participate in the last book. Thanks angel and fellow players, and see you in the next LP!

[Darth Rabbitt]

So the Archmage is the long-lost lovechild of Balthus Dire and The Master (although instead of Kelnor, the Archmage has another sorcerer, which is much cooler.)

Also, what would have freeing the untermensch in the stockade have done, if anything?

He cold-cocks you and locks you into the stocks to cover his escape. It's a game over. Learns you for trusting/helping someone with a sloping criminal forehead.

Goddamnit, really? That's almost as bad as the Inner Sanctum thing. Although I think the Test your Luck to see how you die from the pit trap in the first book is still the biggest fuck you in the whole series, this book has the widest array of them.

This book does have a lot of awesome moments though; ZED being time travel beats ZED being Dragon Slave, which is what I thought it would be; exploding the Archdemon's head with ZAP was pretty awesome (all the more ironic that I voted against that course of action); making use of the information the Serpents gave us was nice, as was not being recognized by the Archmage's forces (but those are just as much strengths of the previous book as this one) and flying off into the sunset after finally completing our epic quest. That doesn't entirely make up for all of the bullshit and wasted potential here so I can't say I liked this one as much as I did the Seven Serpents, although it was a pretty cool end to the series.

A few more questions:
Where would we have gotten the hardwood spear blessed by a holy man, and what did it do? Is it a warrior-only option?
What did the scimitar and the pouch do at the merchant's shop?
What would have happened if we threatened Farren Whyde when we first met him?
What would have the (I'm assuming fake) Crown of Kings that the fake Archmage offered us?
What would have just using the Holy Water (rather than casting RES) given us?
Is there any cool stuff that we missed?

[angelfromanotherpin]

Where would we have gotten the hardwood spear blessed by a holy man, and what did it do? Is it a warrior-only option?

You get it from Colletus if you abandon your goddess for Throff (and thereby sabotage your ability to finish the book). It lets you auto-win a number of fights in the book, including a few of the events where you are otherwise told that the numbers are too overwhelming. Of course, sometimes there are too many even for the spear...

What did the scimitar and the pouch do at the merchant's shop?

The scimitar is a low-grade -1 weapon. The coins you buy out of the pouch (which magically generates more, which is why he won't sell it) burn through your pack and cause you to lose an item. It's such a weirdly Gygaxian magic item, 'a pouch that magically generates silver pieces that after a short while grow hot enough to burn through a backpack.'

What would have happened if we threatened Farren Whyde when we first met him?

The same thing, he just blubbers pathetically until you listen to him.

What would have the (I'm assuming fake) Crown of Kings that the fake Archmage offered us?

Can't quite parse this sentence, but if you want to take the crown he demands that you leave your weapon behind. If you agree, the guards grab you while you're unarmed but before you take the Crown (fake or not). It's a path through that encounter that costs no STAMINA.

What would have just using the Holy Water (rather than casting RES) given us?

The same thing. Either it's bugged or that particular holy water can just do that. It lets the warrior get FW back.

Is there any cool stuff that we missed?

Yes. I'll try to put that up sometime today.

[Darth Rabbitt]

You get it from Colletus if you abandon your goddess for Throff (and thereby sabotage your ability to finish the book). It lets you auto-win a number of fights in the book, including a few of the events where you are otherwise told that the numbers are too overwhelming. Of course, sometimes there are too many even for the spear...

That is so Steve.

Can't quite parse this sentence, but if you want to take the crown he demands that you leave your weapon behind. If you agree, the guards grab you while you're unarmed but before you take the Crown (fake or not). It's a path through that encounter that costs no STAMINA.

That's what I get for writing up questions while I'm still half-asleep. You got what I was trying to ask, though:

What would have happened if we accepted the (I'm assuming fake) Crown of Kings that the fake Archmage offered us?

[Starmaker]

I was afraid ZED would be "win hardcore and lose your magic forever". Like, literally the final spell one can cast.

[angelfromanotherpin]

Okay, so there's a lot of content in this book. We saw a bunch, and we've covered some more. I'm definitely not going to get into all the little missed details, just a few high points.

So, you don't think the Mampang Fortress is realistic, eh?

Presenting the (worst) toilet (in Kakhabad).

Yes, that's a plug for (Warhammer) Fantasy Battle at the lower left.

You can wind up playing a dart-game called ten-up with the guards for cash.

You close your eyes and 'throw' your pencil at the page.

In the prison tower, if you don't go into the sadistic mindfuck room, you have to face this thing.

It's the Hydra that the Archmage defeated and turned the heads of into the Seven Serpents. Only now its heads have been replaced by manifestations of the gods that he dedicated the respective Serpents to.

It's an illusion, but you can waste a lot of STAMINA throwing spells at it. And shit yourself if you try to fight it and discover that it's SKILL 18. Fortunately, its first attack reveals its nature.

My favorite tactic with the Sorcerer is to use an illusion spell against him.

First, he looks really badass...

... then he realizes that the wood golem he just torched was his own desk. <trollface>

Anyway, this book is huge and sprawly, and yeah, the showdowns with both the wiry-haired fellow and the Archmage are kind of letdowns. Nothing like as cool as the sorcerous duel you can get into with Balthus Dire. And yeah again, there's a lot more instant bullshit death than in the other chapters (although I like to think that Fletch actually uses his spell to go back in time and save himself from all his deaths in the series, Bill and Ted style).

But as a whole, it's a very satisfying conclusion. The time travel twist is particularly nice, although I think it could have been foreshadowed in the Seven Serpents as an alternate method to defeat the Serpent of Time somehow. And even if you missed the other callback to Book 1 (the portrait in the guard captain's office), the Jann connection provides that sense of just how much has happened between the start of the quest and the end. Even if the whole thing took in-universe less than two weeks.

Seven Serpents is still the best of the four, though.

[Longes]

Are there any fights the Assassin helps in?

No. We saw the sum total of Flanker's assistance.

Although, I did forget Vik. Oh man, Vik. So, back in book 1, one of the things you can buy at the opening merchant is an axe. This axe is a -1 SKILL backup weapon, but it has someone's name on it. If you meet that guy and give him back his axe, he tells you that if you get in trouble in Kharé, try dropping the name of his buddy Vik. And in some circumstances, one of the spell listings is VIK, which represents you dropping said name.

And his name works just like magic! Like, there's seriously a point where you sit down for a drink with someone, and he says, 'by the way, MASTER POISONER, peace out.' But if you croak out Vik's name before you die, he has kind of a nervous breakdown, apologizes profusely, won't stop offering you antidote, hands over a spell component for the trouble, and just wants to make sure that Vik doesn't hear anything bad about him. That kind of thing happens every time you bring his name up. I haven't actually found a reference where you run into the man himself, he's just this vague and faintly ominous presence that everyone seems to fear and respect. I was always disappointed that there wasn't a follow-up book where you played as Vik or someone working for him.

So, I know this was awhile ago, but I'd like to share. Inkle is making android and iOS ports of Sorcery!, with the first two books having been released. The first one is very close to the original, but the Khare is greatly reworked, with tons of content I didn't see here. Vik is the slaver, and the leader of the rebellion. He also kidnaps people and turns them into armored werewolves. You never meet him. The Lorag (wizard who gave you the wig) is a time-traveling city founder, who will have a polite discussion with you, but will try to mind-rape you into being his pet afterwards. There's an added plotline with Goblins kidnapping and brainwashing the First Noble, and starting a siege on the city (or trying. You use the North Gate magic to burn them all). If you fail to collect all the spell lines (and you need them all), then Lorag (the ghost, post time-travel) will send you back in time to the beginning. You keep your inventory, get some new dialogue lines, and lose one from your maximum Stamina. Overall, I highly recommend playing it - the art is great, and the reworked content fits nicely. Arguably, it's better than the source material.