Taking a break from OSE and the Borderlands (while on travels) to play a gamebook, Necromancer by Rex Talionis.
Necromancer solo - intro | finish | all season 4 | all dungeon solo
Disclosure - I'm a DriveThru RPG affiliate
A Gamebook Solo Actual Play
gamebooks | necromancer intro | setup | game start(s)
I'm away from home, so taking a break from Old School Essentials and Return to the Keep on the Borderlands. Instead I'm playing dungeon gamebook Necromancer by Rex Talionis.
I usually avoid gamebooks for the rolling solo actual plays. But on travels gaamebooks are a great option for solo rpgs and wanting to play off-screen. Rand Roll has lots of Gamebook articles and we even have a monthly gamebook club.
Gamebooks are a type of solo rpg, with the best known being Fighting Fantasy, Lone Wolf and Choose Your Own Adventure. You progress by choosing from a limited number of choices such as "to continue down the sloped passage turn to 12, to return to the last junction turn to 125, to investigate the groaning behind the door turn to 89."
Gamebooks have minimal prep and less mental load than other types of solo rpg. You make choices from a small list of options and usually everything is contained in the single book. Some books are part of an ongoing series. (And open-world gamebooks such as Fabled Lands and Legendary Kingdoms are their own thing!)
Game Introduction - Necromancer by Rex Talionis
gamebooks | necromancer intro | setup | game start(s)
Necromancer by Rex Talionis is a dungeon-delving gamebook, the first (so far only) in the EldritchQuest series. It has 200 pages, 600 gamebook passages and fits the Season 4 theme of Dungeons. You play a necromancer entering the Necropolis, seeking power and immortality by uncovering the secrets of Aether.
In the actual play I'll be giving an idea of what happens to my characters without any specifics that actually help you in playing the game. Detailed playthroughs are best done on video or podcast, such as Fantastic Fights.
To start you read a few pages of rules, make a couple of decisions to make your character, read two pages of prologue and get started in passage 1. Your first choices are to eat a blindfish or throw it back into the water...
Combat uses a simple grid system, allowing for multiple foes. You have ranged attacks and close combat attacks and one-shot items that add a small tactical element. You attack by rolling on a d6 combat grid for you or foes, giving results including "miss", "exact hit", "reduced hit" and "critical hit".
You start at level 1 and can progress up to level 5 through the book. As a necromancer you can also cast from four spells, with the text indicating when you are in a situation you can cast spells. You add or deduct a fixed number to the current passage depending on the spell you want to cast, then turn to that passage to see what happens (so to cast Repel Undead you add 18 to the current passage).
Game Setup for Necromancer
gamebooks | necromancer intro | setup | game start(s)
Gamebooks are easy to start with as you have everything you need in the book. Some require character creation but others don't.
Necromancer has a couple of choices to make. You choose from two skills (Swimming and Climbing) and then choose from one of 5 gods, which grants a stat boost or a Skill. Then you note your stats, your birch staff, emerald focus, cloak, healing potion, rations, 2 torches, 10 reagents for your spells and 30 gold.
Then you're ready to go!
Getting Started with Necromancer (twice)
gamebooks | necromancer intro | setup | game start(s)
It's common in gamebooks to take several attempts to complete a gamebook, with failed attempts ending in bad ways. Necromancer is one of these books.
Often you'll make a map on your playthroughs of a gamebook, especially in dungeons. I opted for lazy mode, trying to remember where I'd been in my head.
Negrag the Magnificent
My first character followed Taph, god of stealth. Negrag found a shrine to his god, killed a bird, found a secret door, entered the Great Hall and promptly got killed by lightning as he blundered around.
Paulina the Pale
Character 2 chose Ked, goddess of beauty. It did her little good as she found a trader and then soon after got trapped in another dimension.
Oh well, it's been fun so far!
Finishing Up
Next time is seeing if I get any further into the dungeon.
Have you played Necromancer?
