[AD&D Gamebook] Sceptre of Power (Kingdom of Sorcery, book 1 of 3)

[Joshua Randall]

Most gamebook targets aruond this age, at least in theme (it used some very obscure word of being targetted at a younger age).

I’m trying to remember how things were categorized at “The Owl and the Pussycat” bookstore in Lexington, Kentucky, where I acquired all these books as a kid. I can remember the specific shelf that had the CYOAs and other gamebooks: you’d go through the front door of the house-converted-into-bookstore, heads towards the back, take a right as you entered the back room, and the shelf with the gamebooks was again on your right. That’s where I found my first Lone Wolf book so it is seared in my memory.

That nostalgia trip aside, I want to say there were terms like “young readers” for little kids who had just learned to read for themselves; some interim term I can’t recall; then “young adults” for teenagers. Beyond that in a normal bookstore things were shelved by type (best sellers, mystery, horror, whatever) rather than by age group.

Fire*Wolf where the starting premise is that you're exiled from your tribe for bonking the chief's daughter despite being of a lower caste... I am not sure it's a message 13 years old would understand).

That sounds awesome. It reminds me conceptually of a Conan the Barbarian gamebook I have with, in my recollection, some mature-ish themes.

if I wanted to conceal my spellbook, I'd bind them into a book titled "Zoning regulations and in ancient Rome: an in-depth case law review" and put it in the university's library

Perfect.

There are a weirdly large number of spells in AD&D to allow for disguising books, trapping them, putting guardian monsters on them… I guess that may have been a bigger element of the game in its early PVP days?

 

[Joshua Randall]

181

Thanks to our past "interview" with Beldon, we know just where Landor's quarters are: directly above us in the tower. In fact, we can see the window to his room from our position on the ground.

"The Kandian bard" (Dalris) looks at the "filthy tower window" that is "several stories" above us, nods grimly, and states she can climb the wall.

But can we?
(230) if we have Spider Climb in our spellbook;
(168) if we instead rely on our mountaineering skills; or
(146) to try the front door.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Commentary:

That's not a slip of the pen: Dalris is a bard, the AD&D character class. Strap in while I drop some four-decades-old knowledge.

Page 117 of the AD&D Players Handbook presents the bard class.

To even qualify for the bard class you needed MINIMUMS of Strength 15, Dexterity 15, Constitution 10, Intelligence 12, Wisdom 15, and Charisma 15.

There is no way you rolled those ability scores on 3d6 in order unless you cheated like a madman.

But even with “I got amazingly lucky (wink)” ability scores, the bard wasn't a normal class that you enter as a fresh 1st level character. Oh no. Not even close. The bard was effectively the first Prestige Class or Paragon Path: you had to work your way up to it.

First you began play as a fighter until at least level 5.

Then you switched to thief ("rogue") until at least level 5 of that class.

You were at that point a level 10 character overall.

THEN you took training with a druid. But that actually made you a bard. As a bard you got druid spells and bard abilities. (Mostly the same ones you get today: inspire your allies; counteract sound-based magic; know a little about a lot of things.)

You could thereafter advance in character level as a bard, up to level 23 where you capped out. (Why level 23? Because that's where the bard's progression table reached a nice round 3,000,000 XP.)

Let's get back to Dalris.

To be described by the book as a bard, even a bard-in-training (like Carr is a magic-user in training), Dalris would previously have to be AT LEAST a level 5 fighter AND a level 5 thief. Level 10 overall.

She would then need a druid to teach her druid-y stuff. Conveniently her father Perth could do that.

So at that point the grizzled Swashbuckler (5th level fighter title) / Robber (5th level thief title) / Rhymer (1st level bard title)... also decided to study magic-user magic with Landor for some reason? For goodness sake, woman, WHY? It's not like you needed to fritter away your XP on yet another character class!

And let's ask again: how old is Dalris?

Suppose she began her fighter-ing at age 16, the absolute youngest age a 1st level human fighter could be according to the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide (page 12). She's a prodigy when it comes to fighter-ing and reaches level 5 in just 1 year.

She goes off to be a thief. She's also a prodigy at thief-ing and reaches level 5 in that class in just 1 more year. She's now 18, one year YOUNGER than the minimum 1st level human thief age according to the DMG, but we’ll allow it.

Dalris then studies druid magic with her dad and due to nepotism and favoritism, passes her bard classes in a week (hey, it worked for Carr with magic-user classes!), so she's still only 18.

Then for some reason Dalris studies magic-user magic with Landor. Maybe she doesn't get very far or maybe Landor dies soon after she starts, so maybe only another week has passed. Dalris is still just over 18 years old.

But that was FIFTEEN YEARS AGO. So she's 33 years old now. And this is assuming the most favorable possible advancement rates imaginable.

Although I will note that per the AD&D DMG, the minimum age of a 1st-level human magic-user is 26, and Carr is only 15, so we're not playing by the rulebook when it comes to character ages in this series.

---

An addition with the benefit of hindsight that will be seamless to readers, but was actually written several days after the above.

One of my old-timer friends pointed out that it didn't take anywhere near two years to reach level 10 or 11 in an AD&D character class. With regular play, assuming your character didn't die, and pretty much all you did was enter the dungeon, kill monsters, grab loot, rest in town, repeat -- you could easily reach level 5 in a couple of weeks of game time and level 10 within several months.

Thus, plausibly Dalris could start her bard training six months after she began her adventuring career. Which could've been just a bit before Carr.

That just leaves her claim to have studied magic with Landor. As my friend pointed out, maybe Dalris exaggerates this claim the same way she exaggerates her claim to be a direct descendant of Bhukodian / Kandian royalty. "Studied magic with Landor" might mean that baby Dalris drooled on the pages of Landor's spellbook while she cooed on his lap, or maybe toddler Dalris looked at pictures while Landor was preparing his spells for the day.

Or, heck, maybe Dalris was an incredible prodigy like John Stuart Mill, who was taught Greek at age 3! So she could have studied magic at a very young age, then Landor died, then some years later she spent six months getting ready to be a bard, then she just got her bard certificate last week. Which would make her maybe no more than 18 years old "now".

---

As for the tower climb: the specifically described window means that anyone could use that window of Landor's room to bypass the murder door to gain access to the ultimate magical power stored within.

In a gamebook path we didn't take, Beldon uses the Fly spell. Beldon didn't need to wait fifteen years after Landon’s death for Carr to show up to get into Landor's quarters. Beldon could've entered Landor's quarters fifteen MINUTES after Landor’s death.

---

We'd better stop asking questions before we fail a bunch of Sanity checks and have our Wisdoms reduced to 3 like Carr.

 

[Joshua Randall]

146

Why make things difficult with climbing or magicking? We lead Dalris to the front door of the college, the college at which we are a student, free to come and go as we please outside of class.

And find the door "shut fast and glowing with a faint bluish light". So much for our freedom to move about the campus.

We are flummoxed by the dweomer, which causes Dalris to scoff: "Some magic-user you are!" She correctly identifies the effect as a Wizard Lock and tells us to cast the Knock spell. Unfortunately for our pride and our desire to impress the hot older woman, we haven't learned that spell yet. [There isn't any way in this book to learn any spells higher than level 1.]

We'll have to find another way in. And because we don't know the Spider Climb spell either, that leaves…

(168) our mountaineering skills.

---


168

Dalris is halfway up the wall before we've even started. Show off.

We make a DEX test.

(208) if 17 or more, or
(190) if less

We never increased our Dexterity [I don't think there is any way to do so], so we're rolling with a base 12.

We roll a 3 and a 1 for a total of 16. Gulp.

 

[Joshua Randall]

190

The tower is sloped slightly inward which makes the climbing easier than it could otherwise be. We're able to find tiny gaps between the basalt rocks to stick our fingers into.

Above us, Dalris continues to make this look easy.

"Suddenly [our] left foot slips while [we're] watching Dalris!"

We flail for a handhold but find none.

Our only chance is to cast the Feather Fall spell (28). But if we haven't learned that spell, our quest for Landor's spellbooks and the Sceptre of Bhukod "ends on the basalt porch over fifty feet below."

DEATH COUNT: 3

[Gorramit, Carr! This is what you get for looking up at Dalris's butt instead of paying attention to your climb.]

 

[Joshua Randall]

168, redux

This time we roll a 5 and a 6 for a total of 23.

---

208

We flatten ourselves against the stone wall and call upon what we learned from our days in the mountains. We reach the parapet where we find Dalris has already opened the trapdoor that leads from the battlements to the landing below.

[Hang on. We're NOT going in through the window? Why not?]

We follow Dalris to Landor's door and once again contemplate the words:

"ONLY FOR THE ONE WHO WOULD FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF LANDOR."

[These words are written in High Elvish that we can't read, so here and now, Language DOESN’T Matter.]

Dalris says the inscription "may" mean that only we can enter.

"The only thing to do is try," we say. Our trembling hands reach out to touch the door.

[We absolutely trust our lives to this woman we just met who says the inscription "may" apply to us.]

We turn to (186).

 

[Joshua Randall]

186

When we touch the murder door, we -- don't die. Instead we feel like we're disintegrating and that the molecules of our body are being drawn through the wood. (Cool!)

We're no longer outside on the landing. We are now in our father's dusty, dark chamber.

We fumble for the door latch and pull it open. The hinges creak loudly and we hope we didn't just wake the entire college. Dalris hurries into the room, shuts the door, and lights a lamp. [Miraculous how the lamp oil didn't evaporate over the past fifteen years.]

She rummages through drawers and cupboards while we wonder aloud where Landor's spellbooks could be.

"Forget the lousy spellbooks!" Dalris says. "Help me find the Sceptre of Bhukod before your uncle realizes we've breached the door."

Hey! Those "lousy" spellbooks are our father's "only" legacy to us. Well, that and the magic money pouch. And the Sceptre of Bhukod. And our finely chiseled features.

Dalris's expression softens. She admits that she lied to us about the spellbooks, which are safe on the mainland at her father's sacred grove. "You'll be able to study them at your leisure as soon as we find the Sceptre of Power."

Our feelings are hurt and we ask if Dalris lied to us just to use us to get through the door.

"Yep," she says.

[Not her exact words.]

She, her father, and Thayne thought the spellbooks would be more of a lure than the sceptre.

Before we can complain about being played for a fool, we hear the sounds of footsteps below us in the tower. Someone has raised the alarm.

"You're the only human who can touch the sceptre and live!" Dalris cries. She volunteers to stall the wizards with some magic of her own while we find the sceptre.

Dalris pulls out her bard flute, steps outside the door, and plays a haunting melody. Soon the tramping footsteps cease; she's bought us some time.

We look on our father's desk for clues to the sceptre's location. Our attention is caught by a crystal cube with three scrolls suspended within it, like a miniature gelatinous cube ate some correspondence. [I may have embellished the book's description.]

When we pick up the crystal cube, it immediately disintegrates, and the three scrolls fall towards the floor. We grab two of them, one bound with a red ribbon and the other with a black ribbon, but the third scroll hits the floor, bursts into flames, and is reduced to ash before we can do anything.

Turn to (120).

 

[Joshua Randall]

Commentary:

Why are we looking for the sceptre in Landor's room when we already know it's in the crypts below the tower, as Dalris told us when she met us? We should be looking for a way into the crypts, not the sceptre itself.

---

The spellbooks have been in Perth's druid grove all along, and everyone knew this, including Thayne. Which means he also lied to us when he met us in the bazaar.

So let's review the plan from Team Good Guys based on what we currently know.

• Recover Landor's spellbooks after his death. (How?)
• Take them to the druid grove.
• Somehow figure out the Sceptre of Bhukod is in the crypts beneath the tower. (How?)
• Do nothing while Beldon repeatedly throws expendable students at the door to Landor's quarters.
• Search for Carr but fail to find him. (facepalm)
• One day fifteen years later, send Thayne to hang out in the bazaar in Freeton just in case Carr shows up.
• When Carr does show up, Thayne should withhold key information and instead of insisting that Carr accompany him back to the druid grove, allow Carr to go off to the college where he might get suborned by Beldon. (double facepalm)
• Send Dalris to break into the college, but don't tell her that Carr is there. (She was surprised to meet him outside the tower.)
• Have Dalris also lie to Carr about the spellbooks, even though Thayne already told Carr about the sceptre and how important it was to Landor, which means the sceptre would be a fine lure on its own.
• Make sure the lie is vague: Perth, Dalris's father, "thinks" the spellbooks might be in Landor's room, but he's not sure. This is no way to sell a lie! You sell a lie with confidence.
• Once you trick Carr into opening the door, have Dalris search Landor's room for the sceptre. Which Team Good Guys already knows is in the crypts beneath the tower.

I… I just can't. I don't have the energy to rant about this nonsensical plan. But apparently Carr is not the only character in this book with WIS 3.

---

Dalris's comment that the druid grove is "on the mainland" means the search for Carr on Seagate Island may have been slightly more difficult than my previous complaints implied. It's still inconceivable how no-one could find Carr in fifteen years of searching.

---

How did the inhabitants of the college know that someone broke into Landor's room specifically? They heard a creaky hinge and instantly knew it was that one door in particular, rather than any of the other doors?

 

[Joshua Randall]

120

We open the red-ribboned scroll and see that it is not a spell, but a letter from our father.

Landor writes that he knows Marla must be dead if we're reading this because she never would have allowed us to enter Beldon's "house" while she was alive. And, if anyone other than Carr tried to read this, they would have activated Landor's trap card.

Landor explains how he's stuck in his own "house", that "assassins" have infiltrated the academy, and that his own death is only "hours away." Landor vaguely writes about the great power of Bhukodian sorcery and how Carr must be willing to sacrifice everything up to and including his life to prevent Beldon from discovering the hiding place of the greatest relic of "ancient Tikandia", the Sceptre of Bhukod.

[Tikandia is the modern day name for what was in the past called just Kandia, so "ancient Tikandia" is an oxymoron.]

Because with the "wand", Beldon could spread his evil to every corner of the continent.

Landor next writes that he couldn't trust any human with the sceptre's hiding place. Only his familiar, Rufyl, can guide us; one of the other scrolls will summon Rufyl. [Hope it wasn't the one that fell to the floor and burned to ash.]

The last remaining scroll will protect us against Beldon's greed "for wealth and power." [Hope it wasn't the one that… err… guess we're screwed out of at least one scroll no matter what.]

In closing, Landor drops an oh-by-the-way, my spellbooks are with Perth the archdruid. We should take the sceptre to the druid grove where it will be safe.

"Guard our secrets with your life, as I did with mine. Your loving father, Landor."

Instead of feeling sadness, curiosity, or love towards dear old dad, we get angry and wrench open the last scroll, the one that will summon Rufyl, our father's familiar, "who will become [our] instrument of vengeance against Beldon." [Somehow we know it's THAT scroll, and not the OTHER one that fell to the floor and burned to ash.]

On to (240).

 

[Joshua Randall]

Commentary:

Ohhhhhkay.

One. The College of Arcane Sciences isn't anyone's "house". One might say that Landor in the past and Beldon in the present were "housed in" the tower, but nobody would describe a multi-story basalt tower that also contains a dining hall, basement training room, and various other people's living areas as their "house".

Two. How was Landor, the ARCHMAGE whose power filled the GODS THEMSELVES with fear, not able to protect himself against his wife's younger brother and some unspecified assassins? And were those character-class assassins, as in the thief subclass? Or did Landor mean the "fighters" or "paladins" sent by Archcleric Oram? (Who hasn't been mentioned at all since Thayne's info dump.)

Three. If Landor was under threat from within the college, why didn't he magic himself into the crypts that no-one knew how to enter other than his familiar, Rufyl?

Four. Why did Landor give his familiar such a goofy name?

Five. What evidence do we have up to now of Beldon’s evil? In the course of this book, Beldon has:

• taken in his penniless nephew,
• asked everyone in the college to respect Carr,
• allowed and encouraged Carr to skip the cantrips and go straight to the more advanced spell classes,
• prevented a fight between Arno and Carr,
• and warned Carr away from the door of death.

We, the readers, know that Beldon is evil because Thayne and Landor say so, but Beldon doesn't seem to have done anything wrong other than bad-mouthing his dead sister and perhaps not strongly warning other non-Carr wizards away from the door.

If the book wants to set up Beldon as this evil mastermind who must be stopped at all costs, it needs to do far more to show us some of that evil. What is Beldon's goal? What plots does he have in motion that are only one Sceptre of Power away from fruition?

An obvious step to demonstrate Beldon's evil would be for Landor to call out Beldon specifically as his murderer: "Dear son. If you're reading this, your mother is dead, and so am I. Beldon killed me. Don't ask how I'm writing this after already being dead. P.S. My spellbooks are with Perth the Archdruid."

Alternatively, one can imagine a plot wherein Beldon and Landor fought a Gandalf-vs.-Saruman style wizards' duel that left Landor mortally wounded. Landor barely managed to escape, then barricaded himself in his room and had just enough time to write the letter before he succumbed to his wounds.

Or perhaps one of Beldon's assassins poisoned Landor (poison being one of the AD&D assassin's signature abilities), and Landor had just enough time, etc.

Six. Did I notice any of this nonsense as a child? I can't remember.