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

[Jfdlsjfd]

At 15, Carr could live off 4 gp a day (or 4,000...) until the end of his life carousing and womanizing. There is a worse prospect for a teenager without any parental supervision... But with WIS 3, no, he prefers to focus on finding his father's inheritance.

I agree that the two events are totally intertwined, especially since Marla forbade use to inquire about magic.

With regard to the level, I think even in UK public school, they have an unchanging uniform by grade, since it's supposed to convey some sense of uniformity and belonging to the same group. I think it mimics the classical Catholic Church better (priest = black robe, bishop = purple robe, cardinal = crimson robes, pope = white robe).

 

[Joshua Randall]

The say the best revenge is a life lived well, and on 4 GP at-will, Carr could live life very well indeed. He could disappear for a while, amass a fortune, then re-appear like Gully Foyle (or should I say Geoffrey Fourmyle of Ceres) to revel in his nouveau riche persona. Carr could then befriend Beldon, perhaps even become a patron of the school, maybe get his own statue in the lobby. I suppose he'd need to alter his appearance so Beldon doesn't recognize him, but that should be trivial once Carr is infinitely rich. Heck, he could even study magic under his assumed identity: I'm sure it wouldn't be the first time a moneyed dilettante wanted to learn the arcane arts for pure amusement.

Meanwhile Carr could worship diligently at whatever church Archcleric Oram presides over. And donate generously there as well.

Eventually Carr would amass prestige, influence, and POWER. When the time is right he could reveal his true identity to Oram and Beldon and while their jaws are open in shock, pronounce the spellword to a Disintegrate or two.

Y'know. Hypothetically.

---

The robe color analogues to the Catholic Church make a lot of sense now that you mention it. I am (in real life) woefully ignorant of most religions.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

I suppose that, like the cutlass, the pouch will probably be an item that keeps disappearing from the book despite his world-bending power. I hope at least we will never need any money in a later book of the series!

 

[Joshua Randall]

81

We've done well with cautious deceit thus far, so we say nothing about the Sceptre nor the missing spellbooks, "in case Thayne was right" about Beldon.

Instead we claim that ever since we were old enough to understand what magic is, we've wanted to become a wizard. However, our mother forbade us even to mention our father's profession.

"And now that my dear sister is dead, you're free to learn magic!" Beldon beams. He always thought it was "criminal" of her to hold us back.

[Yeesh! Cold. Marla is not even two weeks dead and Beldon already speaks ill of her.]

We ask if this means we can study magic with the advanced students. Beldon replies that it means more than that and says he will show us something that has frustrated him for many years.

He leads us up a circular staircase to a stone landing "no more than fifteen feet across".

[Note the re-use of the same number that was just used ("fifteen" feet across), when any arbitrary number would do. This is a common writing error that irritates me to no end. Either use a different number, or simply don't write about the dimensions of the landing, because it doesn't matter at all to the story.]

The staircase continues up to the tower's battlements above where we can see "the gray light of dawn" around the edges of a trapdoor.

[We must be far north of this world's equator if it is just now dawn, some time after 8:00 AM.]

There are also two doors to either side of the staircase on this level, and Beldon steps up to one of them. Like the other doors we have seen, this one has a runic inscription on it. Beldon explains that the language is "High Elvish script used by Bhukodian sorcerers for centuries", which we must someday learn to read. [Language matters!]

We ask what it says, and Beldon methodically traces the runes with his forefinger.

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

This was Landor's private chamber until he "disappeared".

[The book can't seem to make up its mind whether Landor was murdered, went missing, or disappeared (perhaps literally given magic is involved).]

The door is trapped with powerful magic and all who have attempted to open it have died. (Cool! Err… wait….) Beldon thinks the inscription is meant for us alone as Landor's sole heir.

We are filled with trepidation tinged with anticipation. Could Landor "or whatever is left of him" still be in that room? We step towards the door only for Beldon to stop us.

He advises that we confront this powerful magic only when we have learned enough to handle it. He only showed us the door so we would know where our father's secrets are waiting when we feel ready to claim them.

Beldon's "pale lips are pursed in an amused expression" as he observes and, apparently, enjoys our inner conflict. We are torn between…

(160) open the door now, or
(143) wait until we know enough magic to protect ourselves.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Commentary:

Beldon is a patient and devious villain. For fifteen long years he's had an office just below Landor's room and he's managed to resist the impulse to try the door. I like to imagine that Beldon has made a similar speech to other ambitious students:

"Behind this door are the secrets of the most powerful mage since Ancient Bhukhod. The door is trapped, and everyone who's tried it has died, but when YOU feel strong enough, well, now you know where it is."

I can imagine that some of the students attempt the door immediately. Others go off, learn more magic, and come back for a later attempt.

But they've all failed, and died.

So year after year, student after student, Beldon entices someone else to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Beldon must be inwardly rubbing his hands with glee that Carr showed up.

---

As for the story, my memory -- confirmed by some reading ahead (don't judge me!) -- is that if Carr opens the door now, that shortcuts huge sections of the book and sends us straight to the endgame.

But I don't want to shortcut the plot, because the most fun part of the book is the spell learnin', so I'll choose that path.

At the end of the story, we can come back to this juncture (or any other) and investigate alternate realities.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Yeah, there is no need to rush the game. I'll also like to see what Thayne would have in store for us if we had bypassed the "main quest" that seems to be revolving around the university.

 

[Joshua Randall]

143

Beldon's warning about the door being trapped with magic that has KILLED MULTIPLE PEOPLE convinces us to delay an attempt to open it. It has waited fifteen years already, so it can wait until we feel ready.

Beldon says this is a wise choice. He takes us back to his office where he gives us "a small scroll and a book". He tells us to take it back to our quarters, choose our first spell, and study that spell in the manual and in class "until you either learn it or fail."

Turn to (16).

 

[Joshua Randall]

16

COLLEGE OF ARCANE SCIENCES
Spring, 822 C.E.
Catalog of Spells

The following spells are available to all students during the spring term. Interested novices must arrange for instruction and testing with senior novice Arno.

1. Armor (41)
2. Light (136)
3. Detect Magic (223)
4. Read Magic (45)
5. Sleep (151)
6. Find Familiar (4)

Students may attempt a spell only once each term, except by special permission.

Failure will result in the appropriate penalties.

---

We read the list of spells to see which one appeals most to us "for tomorrow's lesson". By the time we're finished, it is "nearly midnight".

---

To "choose" a spell to learn, we roll a die. (If we roll one we've already learned, roll again.) "The result is the number of the spell you may attempt to learn by turning to the indicated section."

[So there's no actual "choice" here. It is purely random.]

Once we've marked a total of three spells in our spellbook, we turn to (26).

We could also turn to (26) early if we need a break from our studies. By applying basic logic, we realize that (26) is how we advance the plot, which we don't want to do before we learn some spells.

Google rolls us a '2', which is Light. One of the Strong spells per our bookmark / character sheet.

We turn to (136) to finally, FINALLY learn some damn magic!

 

[Joshua Randall]

Commentary:

From the plaque on the tower we know that the college was founded in 784 C.E.

According to the catalog of spells it is now 822 C.E.

822 − 784 = 38 years.

But Landor supposedly founded the academy "more than 40 years ago".

38 < 40. Not 38 > 40.

Bzzt. Math fail.

---

Novices who want to learn 1st-level spells learn them from Arno, the "senior novice". That seems like the blind leading the blind!

This feels like one of those real-world scam software development boot camps where someone who just went through the robust three-week course is now "teaching" the new crop of suckers -- I mean, students.

---

The Spring term list consists of all six of the Strong Spells from the bookmark.

We bypassed the Cantrips.

But how does one learn the Weak Spells? (Friends, Unseen Servant, etc.) That, dear reader, involves another path we did NOT take.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Beldon says this is a wise choice. He takes us back to his office where he gives us "a small scroll and a book". He tells us to take it back to our quarters, choose our first spell, and study that spell in the manual and in class "until you either learn it or fail."

I am not knowledgeable with the earliest D&D editions, but reading this struck me as strange, as if magical knowledge was binary. Either your succeed in learning or you'll never be able to learn it ever again. I remember there was some rule like that for copying scroll, is that's what they are reflecting here? Because "learn you multiplication tables until you either know them of fail to understand multiplication, like, forever, sounds strange.

Or maybe studying the spell involves the risk of being snatched by extradimensional beings happy to feast on our souls, which would reduce the number of rich dilettante studying it for fun.