[Let's Play] Rider of the Black Sun

[angelfromanotherpin]

I got some new fantasy gamebooks off Amazon, and one of them was this monstrous brick. It's an 8"x5.25"x2(!)" hardcover. It was originally released in German(y), but they kickstarted an English translation (among others). I invite you to join me in exploring it.

You are a Ugarith, a master of the night, with no recollection of your origin or past life, waking up after committing a disastrous bloody deed... Being a hunted outcast, you now have to fight for your way to freedom. Meanwhile you discover your superhuman powers and eventually fulfill your sacred duty – bringing back the world from the edge of oblivion.

Whether the Ugarith is destined for a happy, neutral or bleak end depends solely on the decisions you make, for this is no ordinary novel, this is a fantasy gamebook!

With more than 1,350 sections, Rider of the Black Sun is one of most extensive gamebooks ever published. It sets new standards with a completely unique approach to section reference and replayability.

Special features include: Finding hidden bonus sections, epic boss fights taking place in their own unique chapters, detailed combats, and complex puzzles!

Everything about this production is big and elaborate. For my part, the best indicator of this is that the character sheet is three pages long, and implements a save state system. Of course, our last foray into new-school-gamebooks-published-in-2012-with-amnesiac-evil-coded-but-world-saving-protagonists was also big and elaborate, and was still pretty disappointing. I hope this one goes better. Unlike last time, I haven't read ahead.

Map:

Character Sheet:

Basic Rules:

Prologue begins in the next post.

[Thaluikhain]

That looks complicated and ambitious, and "Swen Harder" looks like it's an order.

Anyhoo, interested to see how this one goes (I like the cover art), thanks for running it.

[angelfromanotherpin]

Prologue

A SHADOW AWAKENS

1 >Argh! My head... that light... is this death?<

Your mind is confused and you have trouble getting to your feet. The dimly lit room appears to you only in a blur. Obviously it is the richly-furnished bedchamber of a sun priest. Everywhere your gaze falls upon the holy symbol of Kar, the eight-flamed sun.

Outside, a furious storm is raging. A driving rain is beating against the leaded glass of the windows. For a single moment the room is bathed in a blazing white as a window is thrown open and the candles from the candelabra on the night stand are blown out.

>There is somebody... a shadow!<

You spin around. No one there. Your heart is racing. Suddenly, you trip over something lying on the floor. As you pick yourself up off the silken rug, you discover the body of an old human clad in the sweeping golden sleeping gown of a priest of Kar. The tangled ashen hair at the back of his head is soaked with blood. He is not moving.

>Is he dead!?<

Like flashes of lightning from the storm outside, agonizing thoughts dart through your head. You do not know where you are, do not know who is lying in front of you and – what is worse...

>Who am I?<

Haltingly, and with a dark premonition, your gaze moves over the dark gown hanging in tatters from your body and halts at last at your trembling black claws: blood! The blood of the man lying at your feet!

>What have I done?<

You want only to flee this place, flee from what you've done, when you hear footfalls.

If you want to turn the dead man over onto his face to see his face, turn to 51.
If you want to hide in a dark corner of the room, turn to 41.
If you want to leave the room at once, turn to 72.

[Thaluikhain]

See the face.

[pragma]

See his face. (Though I wonder if we might not get the same information by hiding.)

[angelfromanotherpin]

51 You grab the lifeless man by the shoulder and turn him over onto his back. A dead man's horrified gaze pierces you. Frozen with guilt, you realize that you have looked into these golden eyes once before.

In front of you lies the priest emperor Kathum, exalted Hierarch and Emissary of the sun goddess Kar. Shocked, you stagger back and find yourself sitting down on the edge of the bed. Shame and horror plague you. Despite the raging storm you can hear footsteps again. This time, they're definitely louder.

If you want to hide under the bed, turn to 4.
If you want to flee the room through the door, turn to 72.

[pragma]

0.5 vote for flee through side door. I thinking hiding under the bed will get us caught, but could be convinced to push my luck.

[Whatever]

Hide under the bed, since it's the new option.

[SGamerz]

Hide under the bed, since it's the new option.

[angelfromanotherpin]

4 Somebody's knocking at the door. You're holding your breath when a soft female voice calls out. "Is everything alright, my Hierarch?"

After several seconds of silence another gust of wind shatters the window panes. Clattering, the colored shards crash onto the wooden floor.

"Hierarch Kathum??!" the woman calls worriedly.

If you want to disguise your voice and command the servant to leave, turn to 12.
If you want to stay under the bed, turn to 37.

[Thaluikhain]

Hiding under the bed and putting on a fake voice (of someone whose voice we probably don't know) seems like a bad comedy, and half a vote for going for that.

[pragma]

I think committing to being under the bed (no voice acting) is the right play.

[angelfromanotherpin]

37 Incredulous, you keep gazing from the door to the body of the Kar priest and then back again. Through a large gap under the door you can see the naked feet of a young woman. She opens the door and takes a few steps into the room. A long piercing scream goes through your body; a candlestick drops to the floor. The broken candles roll throughout the room, at once setting the thin fabric of the canopy ablaze. Biting black smoke invades your hiding place, and you feel an agonizing urge to cough.

If you want to hold your breath, turn to 43.
If you want to keep breathing, turn to 79.

[pragma]

hold breath

[Thaluikhain]

Holding breath seems obviously the right thing to do, though suspiciously so. I vote for that anyway.

[Omegonthesane]

Hold breath.

[angelfromanotherpin]

37 You hold your breath and try to find a corner with fresh air. But the dark smoke seems to gather under the bed. Finally, unable to endure it anymore, you are forced to inhale. A coughing fit overwhelms you, causing you to roll out from under your hiding place unwillingly.

Turn to 9.

9 A piercing shout resounds through the hallways. The servant girl has seen you and in her panic calls for help.

If you want to cover the upset girl's mouth, turn to 30.
If you prefer to flee, turn to 5.

[Omegonthesane]

Flee. We've been caught literally red handed, and it seems unlikely that no one heard the girl screaming before we get to her to muffle.

[Thaluikhain]

Covering the girls mouth seems like we'll have two bodies on the floor, so flee.

[pragma]

Flee

[angelfromanotherpin]

5 The servant girl's loud shouts fade away only after you turn the second corner. But meanwhile other outraged voices are fighting against the roar of the storm. Your gaze darts nervously from door to door, from window to window. With each flash of lightning, the big Raan trees flicker like ghosts in the inner yard.

If you want to open a window and risk jumping into the inner yard, turn to 63.
If you want to hurry along the hallway, turn to 92.

[Omegonthesane]

Jump into the inner yard. The alarm's blown and we want as many escape routes as possible that don't require killing anyone else.

[pragma]

Inner yard.

I'm afraid of the "risk jumping" clause of that choice, but I'm pretty sure the other way ends iin a fight.

[angelfromanotherpin]

63 With trembling hands you reach for the iron fittings and lift the hook from the eye of the lock. With a jerk the wind pushes both shutters open and you gaze out into the storm. You can see nothing on the tree in front of you.

>Nobody's here. Am I imagining things?<

If you want to jump from the windowsill over to the tree and from there reach the courtyard, turn to 7.
If you want to close the window and continue fleeing through the building, turn to 92.

I'm just going to assume nothing here changes anyone's mind about inside vs outside escape.

7 For a short moment your bare feet dig their claws into the stone windowsill as you defeat your fear and leap against the wind into the darkness, your landing point on the tree trunk held firmly in your gaze.

Turn to 91.

91 With the courage of a Wantor mountain cat on the hunt, you leap out, arching through the air. Leaves rustle, branches snap. But the noise of your fall through the Raan tree's canopy of leaves is swallowed by the roar of the storm. Faced with your certain fall, you try to drive your claws into the groaning trunk, but you only scratch the bark and crash to the ground.

When you awaken, some minutes seem to have passed. Dazed, you stare at your claw-like hands. On the back of your right hand you see a symbol like a tattoo or a brand. Your left hand is covered in wrinkly scars and cruelly disfigured.

>This symbol... is it Ugar's sign, the moon? What is the meaning of all this?<

Then you become conscious again of the situation you are in.

Turn to 65.

65 From the shadow of the Raan tree you let your eyes roam nervously about the palace of the priest emperor, which surrounds the courtyard. Meanwhile, dozens of soldiers and servants are darting past the windows or looking out. The news of the Hierarch's death has obviously spread like wildfire.

>They'll kill me if they find me!<

Searching desperately for an escape route, you sight an imposing archway on the opposite side of the monumental building, and behind it a steep ramp. It appears to be the only route connecting the uppermost level of the gigantic step pyramid with those below. The palace yard itself is an intricately laid-out park of narrow twisting gravel paths flanked by exotic trees, artfully trimmed bushes, and flowers. In its center stands a magnificent temple of Kar.

If you want to hide under the large Raan tree, turn to 50.
If you want to flee without losing any more time, turn to 11.

[SGamerz]

Under the tree.