Taking a break from OSE and the Borderlands (while on travels) to play a dungeon gamebook, Necromancer by Rex Talionis.
Necromancer solo - intro & start | finish | all season 4 | all dungeon solo
Disclosure - I'm a DriveThru RPG affiliate
Necromancer Thoughts
necromancer thoughts | gamebooks as solo | playthroughs
Adding to the initial intro of Necromancer.
Necromancer is a solid gamebook. Furthermore, it's a solid first gamebook by a new author.
There's a few routes through. There's ways to pick up information that help you make your choices. There's items to upgrade your gear, you get better as you level up, it's well written but not too long, the art that's there is well done and in a similar style to the Fighting Fantasy books (classic gamebooks. check Fighting Fantasy articles for more).
I haven't reached the end, and I suspect I've reached about halfway. The combat is ok. It's only got a couple of tactical choices, such as whether to use ranged or melee and which foe to attack when there are multiple opponents. But that's more than most gamebooks. Combat isn't a reason to play most gamebooks, beyond a few specialist ones such as DestinyQuest, From the Ashes, Way of the Tiger or Blood Sword series.
The dungeon is an old-school fantasy one where it doesn't make particular sense, but it's fun to wander around and speak to (or fight) people and try to advance the various quests / opportunities / areas / NPCs. There are parts of it that could have been condensed and there's quite a lot of go North/South/West/East with little information about what might lie in the direction. Like many fantasy dungeons, especially in gamebooks.
As a Solo Dungeon opportunity, it's a solid choice. There's puzzles, combat, upgrades, spells. And choices, but not too many choices!
I aim to get to the end and check out the next book (Permafrost) by the same author. It has a Necromancer as a villain...
Gamebooks as Solo RPGs
necromancer thoughts | gamebooks as solo | playthroughs
Adding to Gamebooks as Solo Games from the intro.
I'll be returning to OSE and Return to Keep on the Borderlands, as well as other solo rpgs for future Actual Plays (such as Ker-Nethalis, Shadowdark and Colostle for Season 4). But I might return to do another gamebook actual play in the future, most likely if on travels or one of the open-world gamebooks (which are my preferred format).
In the Solo RPG spaces, many newbies are asking what solo games to play or for recommendations or how to start. And for many I think gamebooks are the best way in. Play a couple gamebooks, get used to playing solo, character sheets, rules and choices, then go onto other solo rpgs or stick with gamebooks!
In gamebooks there is a coherent story, some game mechanics, some stats to track and choices to make, but it's not overwhelming. There's no journalling/writing to do (but you could make a story of your adventure), no spark tables to interpret, only a few (if any) rules to learn and the choices are restricted.
One part of the gamebook experience is mapping. In many gamebooks it's an advantage to make your own map of the choices and options available. The map doubles as your record of your solo game. There's also artists who specialise in gamebook maps, such as Quatlas.
And gamebook have other benefits. They can be played physically, as for many solo rpgers they want to get away from screens for a bit. They are portable, all the rules and game are in one book (with a few exceptions) and many have a digital format if you prefer that. They also have a defined end to your story. You can even take your gamebook character and use them in future solo rpgs (some made for it, such as Advanced Fighting Fantasy).
There are also many types of gamebooks. There are old classics (Lone Wolf, Fighting Fantasy), puzzles (Usborne Gamebooks), series with the same characters (Lone Wolf, Way of the Tiger), open-world series (Fabled Lands, Sunfall), openworld rpg-like experiences (Legendary Kingdoms, Steam Highwayman) and Diceless gamebooks (Critical IF, Choose Your Own Adventure) and combat-focused crawlers (DestinyQuest, From the Ashes) and Graphic Novels.
They also cover genres outside fantasy, such as Science Fiction (the Altimer, Space Brigade), Horror (Nightshift, Ghosts of Craven Manor), Post-Apocalypse (Heart of Ice, Freeway Warrior), Modern (Citadel of Bureaucracy, Lost in the City) and Zombies (Infected!)
If you're interested in gamebooks, join the 100 Endings Book Club or check out the Gamebook articles.
Beyond the Great Hall
necromancer thoughts | gamebooks as solo | playthroughs
Following on from the game start(s) of Necromancer.
Another two characters have followed the initial ones. As in many gamebooks, you often get further by learning from the mistakes of your previous plays. Often over the (remembered) corpses of your previous failures.
Hamilcar the Histronic
The murderous Hamilcar chose to follow Barat, god of power. Hamilcar discovered the trader, explored some caves, defeated a ghost and brute forced his way through the traps of the Great Hall. Beyond that he found a sprawling dungeon (and I started making a map). Parts of it were tedious to explore, discovering a river, shrine, lucky coin, and slaying a paladin. Next was a goblin trader with some helpful items. But the tale of Hamilcar ended when slain by bandits for something he was wearing (in an instadeath!)
Aadoer the Learned
A devout follower of Hish, god of Knowledge, Aadoer is helped by the ghosts (playthroughs) of 3 previous necromancers. He's keeping a far more detailed map, noting the trader, some secret sections, learning thievery from a foe and talking to a ghost to find the best route through the Great Hall. Here he's found a goblin trader, talked to a paladin and been blessed by his god. His explorations are still continuing in a quite different path to that of Hamilcar...
End. (of the actual play. I'll no doubt finish Aadoer's quest through Necromancer!)
Aadoer paused, considering what had brought him here so far.
Knowledge and patience. A a lack of hastiness. That's what had brought him further than others who had perished in these halls. Now he had parts of the secrets to take him further. There was a library with secrets to uncover, the tomb of a long dead sorcerer to find and the Lich Mortis to defeat on the path to becoming the ultimate ruler of this place...
Finishing Up
And so next time it's back to OSE and Return to Keep on the Borderlands.
