[AD&D Gamebook] The Sorcerer's Crown (Kingdom of Sorcery, book 2 of 3)

[Joshua Randall]

Interlude - More Game Mechanics

Let's flip back to the gamebook introduction to go over Carr's "Spellbook and Spells". We are informed that the entire adventure takes place in "one exhausting week of game time" during which Carr will not have time to restudy the spells he already knows. That's harsh, because the AD&D magic-user is assumed to be able to refresh his memorized spells every DAY. (On the plus side, we get to prepare far more than the 4/2/2 1st/2nd/3rd level spells suggested by our level -- more on this below.) In any event, this gamebook ain't usin' those complexicated AD&D rules; it's usin' the simpler and better gamebook rules, so we'll have to put up with it.

These spells we have prepared are the ones listed under BOOK OF LESSER SPELLS and we have to check each one off as we use it "because it's gone until you begin this adventure again."

Early in the adventure, Carr will collect some of his father's more powerful incantations in a "Traveling Book of Greater Spells" as shown on the Stats Card. These are spells he does not know yet, but which he --may-- be able to use as if the parchment pages were magical scrolls. As soon as the words are read --once--, however, the magical writing will vanish from the pages forever and that spell may not be used again in the same adventure. When you use one of these spells, check it off as you did the other spells.

---

The gamebook also gives us a description of each spell. To these I have appended the AD&D spell level so that we can use this information to power future rants. [To be clear: other than the spell level incitation in parentheses in the lists below, what follows is a verbatim quote from the gamebook.]

---

Book of Lesser Spells

Offensive Spells:

• Friends (1st level) - Manipulates others by making them like the spellcaster.
• Burning Hands (1st) - Shoots flames from fingertips at target.
• Sleep (1st) - Causes victims to fall immediately into a deep slumber.
• Magic Missile (1st) - Fire torpedo-like missiles of energy at victim.
• Hold Person (3rd) - Freezes victim in place so that he is unable to move.
• Fireball (3rd) - Hurls a ball of fiery magical energy at target.
• Lightning Bolt (3rd) - Shoots a bolt of lightning at target.
• Suggestion (3rd) - Enable user to plant ideas in victim's head.

Defensive Spells:

• Spider Climb (1st) - Allows magic-user to climb sheer walls and cling to ceilings.
• Feather Fall (1st) - Changes weight of spellcaster to that of a feather when falling.
• Wizard Lock (2nd) - Seals doors and other openings even from other magic-users.
• Fly (3rd) - Permits spellcaster to levitate and move through the air.
• Armor (1st) - Hardens spellcaster's skin against most cutting and penetrating weapons.
• Hold Portal (1st) - Secures doors and other openings against nonmagical beings.
• Protection from Evil (1st) - Helps to guard spellcaster from evil forces.

Special Spells:

• Read Magic (1st) - Permits spellcaster to read magical codes.
• Detect Magic (1st) - Allows spellcaster to sense the presence of magical auras, or dweomers.
• Dispel Magic (3rd) - Cancels the magical power of spells.
• Deeppockets (2nd) - Enchants pockets of a garment to allow room for more contents.

NOTE: Read Magic and Deeppockets are permanently cast for you throughout THE SORCERER'S CROWN.

Traveling Book of Greater Spells

• Enchant an Item (6th) - Casts a spell on weapons and other articles.
• Contact Other Plane (5th) - Permits the spellcaster to speak with beings on other planes.
• Polymorph Other (4th) - Changes targets of spell into other creatures or things.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Commentary:

Let's see, we have our list of "Lesser" spells that we can only use once each (even though this adventure lasts a week, because reasons); and then we have an entirely separate set of "Greater" spells that we can only use… once… each….

There is no game mechanical difference here! Every spell functions the same way:

• Choose the spell you want to cast.
• Make an INT test to see if it works or not.
• Either way, mark off the spell and you cannot use it again "in this adventure."

It doesn't matter if that spell was the very powerful Enchant an Item from the "Greater" list or the lowliest of the low Light spell from the "Lesser" list.

Maybe if this gamebook series actually tracked your progress from one book to the next, then we would be more cautious with the "Greater" spells and not want to use them up in this book, knowing that would lock us out of using them in the next book. But it won't; book 3 will reset us once again. Thus there is no functional difference in the spell lists, and we can cast whatever we want with no long-term downside.

---

A word about the "Traveling Book of Greater Spells" that Carr "--may-- be able to use as if the parchment pages were magical scrolls."

The concept of the Travelling Spellbook was introduced in Unearthed Arcana (the 1985 AD&D version, that is) as a smaller, lighter, and slightly less costly version of the magic-user's full spellbook.

The size and weight/encumbrance differences were dramatic: 16x12x6 inches weighing 150 GP with encumbrance value 450 GP for a standard book compared to 12x6x1 inches weighing 30 GP with encumbrance value 60 GP for a travelling book. For the low-Strength magic-user, the difference in weight/encumbrance was enormously useful.

The downside was that a travelling book could only hold one-fourth the number of spells as a standard book.

The traveling spellbook allowed the magic-user to limit the risk of carrying his single most valuable item (the book containing all the spells he had ever learned) onto dangerous adventures.

The same chapter of Unearthed Arcana also introduced "Casting spells directly from books", where we were informed that "in extremis, the DM may allow a magic-user to cast a spell directly from any sort of book just as if the book were a scroll."

There were two significant downsides to casting directly from a book:

1. "Direct casting of a spell from a spell book automatically destroys that spell." You're destroying your own incredibly valuable equipment! (Or destroying incredibly valuable loot, if you recovered a spellbook from a defeated enemy and then cast directly from it.)
2. "There is also a 1% chance per level of the spell that the spells immediately preceding and following the spell cast will likewise be destroyed." So a 1%-9% chance you just wiped out TWO MORE spells from that book.

Per AD&D rules by-the-book, for Carr to take his father's "Greater Spells" with him to use like scrolls is ludicrously costly and risky. We could say this is an example of Carr's WIS 3 at work, but we could also say it illustrates the seriousness of the situation.

However, as stated before, there is no lasting downside here. In book 3 Carr will have a new selection of spells, and it won't matter if he burned through Enchant An Item, Contact Other Plane, and Polymorph Other here in book 2.

---

From the list of Carr's Book of Lesser Spells we see that the highest spell level is 3rd, which suggests he is a 5th level magic-user. One might argue for 6th level, given that Perth refers to him as "magus", close the Level Title of Magician; and a 6th level magic-user would still be casting 3rd level spells at best.

Let's give Carr the benefit of the doubt and say 6th level. It has been FIVE YEARS since the events of the first book, at which point he was (narratively) a 1st level magic-user. That is an absolutely TERRIBLE rate of advancement and whomever is playing Carr should be ashamed of his utter lack of AD&D game prowess.

Maybe Carr's player is one of those non-dedicated people with a "real life" who is "too busy" to join the group for the regular game sessions, and only shows up when he has "nothing better to do." Bah! We normally wouldn't allow such a poor excuse for a D&D player along on this adventure, but we need a wizard ever since Thayne decided to commit suicide-by-sceptre.

---

Finally let us contemplate Carr's selection of spells.

• He has not one, but two different spells for sealing doors (Hold Portal and Wizard Lock). For the love of Wendel's ancestral spirits, WHY?!
• He has not one, but two different spells for manipulating people (Friends and Suggestion). At least here you can make an argument that the lower-level spell can be used on less dangerous out-of-combat situations while the higher-level spell has combat utility.
• And he has not one, but two different low impact offensive spells (Burning Hands and Magic Missile) that barely do enough damage to be worth using against enemies at their expected level here.

That's WIS 3 at work: waste a bunch of prepared spell slots on crap that isn't worth casting. Except I'm sure it will be, because presumably the gamebook wouldn't give us this stuff and never let us use it. Right?

RIGHT?!

 

[Joshua Randall]

Commentary and belated rant from section 121 wherein Carr gets his equipment on.

I unironically enjoy this gear-up scene. It's a fun part of D&D. However….

We enter the FREE HUT that was formerly Landor's and now ours and sit down at the same table where our dad "conducted his research into the magic of his ancestors, the sorcerer-kings of Bhukod."

We know from book 1 that Bhukod was a kingdom of ELVEN sorcerers who flourished throughout Kandia up until they stopped flourishing 500 years ago. We made a lot of hay in that book's thread about how Dalris could claim to be descended from Bhukodian royalty when she is human, but ultimately decided her elven blood could be sufficiently dilute that Dalris counts as human in game terms.

Here in book 2 we find out that Landor ALSO claims that his ancestors were Bhukodian. Therefor Landor and Carr also have some elven blood.

IS THERE ANYONE IN THIS DARNED SERIES WHO ISN'T A POINTY-EARED TREE-LOVING ELF?

Ever since we acquired Landor's stuff "five years ago", we've been translating from his coded scrawls into… our own coded scrawls, apparently, because we are making our own spellbook which is a subset of the spellbooks we inherited from Landor.

As mockworthy as this sounds, this is how AD&D spell acquisition worked for captured spellbooks. You had to cast Read Magic, "translate" the spells, then scribe them into your own spellbook (at significant cost in GP and time) so you have them available for daily memorization.

We then take up our father's cloak with its permanent Deeppockets enchantment….

A cool flavorful enchantment for any magic-user’s robes, Deeppockets was introduced in Unearthed Arcana. The spell allows one pocket of a specially prepared "gown or robe of high-quality material (at least 300 GP value)" to hold "1000 GP of weight (5 cubic feet of volume)." And, furthermore, "there will be no discernible bulge where the special pocket is."

Don't look at me that way! I don't write the suggestive Gygaxian prose; I just report it.

Of course, this being AD&D, Deeppockets had a significant "screw you for trying to use this spell for its intended purpose" downside:

If the spell duration expires while there is material within the enchanted pockets, the wearer must make a saving throw versus spell. Failure indicates the material in those pockets has gone from extradimensional space to astral space -- lost forever. Success indicates the material suddenly and totally appears around the wearer and immediately falls to the ground.

So after 24 turns + 6/level, you either lose all your stuff permanently or it all BAMFS around you and falls to the ground meaning your adversarial Gygaxian DM likely calls for saving throws for every fragile component you own, or more likely your DM just decides all your stuff crashes to the ground and is ruined, not that this ever happened to me and no I’m not still bitter.

Thus, a permanent Deeppockets is a highly useful solution and we must reluctantly tip our hat to Landor (whose robe this is) for thinking of it and for doing it. Permanency costs the magic-user 1 point of Constitution, umm, permanently, so that's a painful price in personal puissance. Good on you, Landor.

Looking back at Carr's list of spells, he also has permanent Read Magic. Which is impossible because Permanency is an 8th level spell, WAY beyond Carr's ability to cast.

"As a final measure of magical power," we locate a loose sheaf of our father's "original" spells.

The three spells we take with us are not "original"; they are by-the-book magic-user spells. Unless the book is trying to say that Landor is the one who invented these spells in this gameworld, in which case: Cool!

It's a magical bronzewood staff banded with iron that, upon command, will double in length from six feet to twelve feet.

I would like each reader to step outside his or her house, head to the local home improvement store, and purchase a tree-pruning tool which is available in a length of 12 feet. Now go back home, grip your tool firmly in both hands, and swing that thing around like you’re defending yourself from angry goblins.

Assuming you return from the emergency room with your limbs intact, you will have realized that a twelve foot long stick is totally unusable as a weapon. So of course that is what WIS 3 Carr chooses to carry.

Then we open up a pouch to check on our three poisoned darts.

Ah, the humble dart. The most overpowered magic-user weapon ever created. Why, you ask? Because of this table:

With a Fire Rate of 3, the dart is 50% faster than every other weapon in the Player's Handbook (and Unearthed Arcana for that matter). There are lots of weapons with a Fire Rate of 2 (daggers, bows) but literally only the dart can be fired 3 times per round.

The poor magic-user still has to suffer through the worst attack bonus in the game, but! As Joseph Stalin said about his lifetime as a dart-chucking wizard, "Quantity has a quality all its own." Throw enough darts and you will eventually hit your target. And if your darts are coated in a soporific poison? One hit is all it takes.

Speaking of darts. We don't use the Manticore's tail spikes to enchant our darts here. Is anyone even remotely surprised?

We toss everything on top of the cloak, along with a small dagger for good measure, and then fall asleep still trying to decide whether to begin our mission in
(95) Saven or
(137) Seagate Island.

I promised to do a close reading of all information on this choice, which will warrant its own post.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

Interlude - More Game Mechanics

Since you get dibs at ranting, I'll wait for your commentary before reacting to the former section.

These spells we have prepared are the ones listed under BOOK OF LESSER SPELLS and we have to check each one off as we use it "because it's gone until you begin this adventure again."

So basically, when starting his training 5 years ago, he decided to write on his first spellbook "Book of Lesser Spells". Usually, students are very proud of their relatively small academic achievements. Carr would most probably have titled his basic spellbook the Book of Almighty Spells.

Early in the adventure, Carr will collect some of his father's more powerful incantations in a "Traveling Book of Greater Spells" as shown on the Stats Card. These are spells he does not know yet, but which he --may-- be able to use as if the parchment pages were magical scrolls. As soon as the words are read --once--, however, the magical writing will vanish from the pages forever and that spell may not be used again in the same adventure. When you use one of these spells, check it off as you did the other spells.

Using a spellbook as a scroll seems like the worst possible allocation of resources. That's really a WIS 3 idea, so Carr is acting consistently so far. Too bad it's OUR Carr and we need to assume paternity for him...

The gamebook also gives us a description of each spell. To these I have appended the AD&D spell level so that we can use this information to power future rants. [To be clear: other than the spell level incitation in parentheses in the lists below, what follows is a verbatim quote from the gamebook.]

There are some spells I think should be hire level that you postulate.

Book of Lesser Spells

Offensive Spells:

• Friends (1st level) - Manipulates others by making them like the spellcaster.

A spell that makes someone like Carr is either Baleful Polymorph or Feeblemind. I assume those are higher than 1st level.

• Magic Missile (1st) - Fire torpedo-like missiles of energy at victim.

Magic missile is usually described as firing dart-like missiles. Having them be torpedo-like reminds me more of Meteor Swarm.

Defensive Spells:

• Spider Climb (1st) - Allows magic-user to climb sheer walls and cling to ceilings.

Because people are better defended when hanging from the ceiling. This is a UTILITY spell, Carr, not a defensive spell. His spellbook is a mess!

• Feather Fall (1st) - Changes weight of spellcaster to that of a feather when falling.

I'd surmise this is a level 0 trick since it does absolutely nothing. Mass isn't a factor when describing the free fall of an object. You could argue about the drag from air slowing the fall to terminal velocity, but I'll counter by saying that drag is like convection: it doesn't exist in fantasy settings.

• Armor (1st) - Hardens spellcaster's skin against most cutting and penetrating weapons.

Mage armour in the days of yore and AD&D was useless against bashing damage?

• Hold Portal (1st) - Secures doors and other openings against nonmagical beings.

So Rufyl can moves around freely through the portal.

Special Spells:

• Read Magic (1st) - Permits spellcaster to read magical codes.
• Detect Magic (1st) - Allows spellcaster to sense the presence of magical auras, or dweomers.
• Dispel Magic (3rd) - Cancels the magical power of spells.
• Deeppockets (2nd) - Enchants pockets of a garment to allow room for more contents.

NOTE: Read Magic and Deeppockets are permanently cast for you throughout THE SORCERER'S CROWN.

Well, if our cloak casts Deep Pockets and Read Magic constantly, why not don the cloak and translate ALL of our father's magical code that have eluded us for the last five years? Is the free hut too warmed by the hot fireplace to wear your coat? GO STUDY OUTSIDE IF THAT'S THE CASE !!!1!

Traveling Book of Greater Spells

• Contact Other Plane (5th) - Permits the spellcaster to speak with beings on other planes.

Boeing-to-Airbus communication is a nice feature.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

The size and weight/encumbrance differences were dramatic: 16x12x6 inches weighing 150 GP with encumbrance value 450 GP for a standard book compared to 12x6x1 inches weighing 30 GP with encumbrance value 60 GP for a travelling book. For the low-Strength magic-user, the difference in weight/encumbrance was enormously useful.

The downside was that a travelling book could only hold one-fourth the number of spells as a standard book.

So the 12x6x16 standard book held 4 times the spell as the 12x6x1 travel book. The latter is a sixteenth of the former in on dimension and a fourth of the spell can be written inside. So basically, it's safe to assume that spells are written 4 times smaller in the travel book. Why on Earth do wizard write so BIG in their main books?

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

It's a magical bronzewood staff banded with iron that, upon command, will double in length from six feet to twelve feet.

I would like each reader to step outside his or her house, head to the local home improvement store, and purchase a tree-pruning tool which is available in a length of 12 feet. Now go back home, grip your tool firmly in both hands, and swing that thing around like you’re defending yourself from angry goblins.

Assuming you return from the emergency room with your limbs intact, you will have realized that a twelve foot long stick is totally unusable as a weapon. So of course that is what WIS 3 Carr chooses to carry.

I am torn because of my hazy recollection. Having an extending staff is the hallmark of San Goku. The manga slightly predates the gamebook. But I can't remember if the extending staff was inspired by the, much older, Sun Wukong of the Journey to the West. I am pretty sure he had a magical cloud, but I can't remember about the staff... Which book was pilfered for this idea of an extending staff? And will we find a magical cloud?

 

[Joshua Randall]

I'll wait for your commentary before reacting to the former section.

If you’re referring to the rant about the gear-up scene — it’s there!

A spell that makes someone like Carr is either Baleful Polymorph or Feeblemind.

Hahahahaha! Given what happens when Carr uses Polymorph Other — but I’ve said too much already.

Magic missile is usually described as firing dart-like missiles. Having them be torpedo-like reminds me more of Meteor Swarm.

I do agree that “torpedo” is a weird analogy for 1d4+1 damage.

I'd surmise this [Feather Fall] is a level 0 trick since it does absolutely nothing. Mass isn't a factor when describing the free fall of an object.

You would have fit in PERFECTLY at the AD&D game table in the 1980s.

Mage armour in the days of yore and AD&D was useless against bashing damage?

You made me go look up the spell. It “serves as if it were leather armor (AC 8)” [in AD&D, lower AC was better; so this is like AC 12 nowadays]. I think whomever wrote up these spell blurbs took the “as if” + “leather armor” and brought in the weapon type vs. armor rules….

You’re going to want me to look those up to, aren’t you?

sigh

(I don’t mind. Will report back later.)

So Rufyl can moves around freely through the [hold] portal. [but not wizard lock]

The blurb for Hold Portal uses sloppy shorthand. Per the spell description, it is only extraplanar creatures (“demon, devil, elemental, etc.”) that can “shatter” the Held Portal. There to model the balrog who gets past Gandalf’s spell, I assume.

Wizard Lock (Arcane Lock nowadays) has this sentence: “Creatures of extra-dimensional nature do not affect a wizard lock as they do a held portal (see hold portal).” I am quite disappointed this sentence did not use a “q.v.” when it could have.

[snip math] spells are written 4 times smaller in the travel book

You would have fit in PERFECTLY at the AD&D game table in the 1980s.

Which book was pilfered for this idea of an extending staff? And will we find a magical cloud?

It’s gotta be one part Journey to the West and one part Dungeons and Dragons cartoon in which Diana the [thief-] acrobat has a javelin/quarterstaff that changes size.

Also how cute is it that Carr and Dalris now have matching extend-o-weapons?

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

You would have fit in PERFECTLY at the AD&D game table in the 1980s.

Once, a GM wanted to limit the potential abuse of the helm of teleportation we looted and offered us a version that was limited to teleport within sight, thinking it could be a cool tactical asset but nothing campaign-breaking. Our first use was... Reminding her about the 500 ft fall by round max speed and we just teleported up, far up, so we could see far enough to teleport half the continent by teleporting laterally each round. We then tried to calculated how far one could see 30,000 meters up (we had cast resistance from Energy to handle the cold and knew we could hold our breath for more rounds than we had charges into the helm anyway).

It’s gotta be one part Journey to the West and one part Dungeons and Dragons cartoon in which Diana the [thief-]acrobat has a javelin/quarterstaff that changes size.

Oh, yes, that cartoon! fond memories

Also how cute is it that Carr and Dalris now have matching extend-o-weapons?

I am sure Dalris will be delighted when she learns that we have magic to make our staff double its size.

 

[Joshua Randall]

We toss everything on top of the cloak, along with a small dagger for good measure, and then fall asleep still trying to decide whether to begin our mission in
(95) Saven or
(137) Seagate Island.

Here’s everything I was able to find about Saven vs. Seagate Island in the lead-up to this decision. In these extended quotes I have added emphasis (bold italics) to key verbs and other time-based words.

---

From (68) when Thayne tells his story.

[Carr, interior monologue] You vividly remember [Arno] from your brief stay at College Arcane after recovering the Sceptre of Bhukod and before you came to Wealwood.

[Thayne] ”The situation is graver than you know. The paladins have left their guard posts in the marshes, thus freeing the monsters they were guarding. Those evil creatures now control all of Seagate’s ports, including Freeton. I had to sneak through their barricades to leave the island.”

[Carr, interior monologue] Thayne’s tale sends chills through you. The strategic position of Seagate Island in the straits called Pirates’ Alley could allow the hordes of bloodthirsty humanoids such as ghouls and orcs to blockade the continent of Tikandia’s main port of Saven! Even more disturbing is the news of the paladins’ desertion of their posts in the swamps. The Knights of Blessed Dylan would never have surrendered their position willingly!

[Carr] “What does Arno have to do with all of this?” you demand, sensing occult designs behind these events.

[Thayne] ”We believe that Arno has discovered a source of evil magical power as great as that of the Bhukodian sceptre,” Thayne whispers ominously, “and that he’s somehow using that power to control the paladin guards. Even now, Arno is at the cathedral in Saven, urging the arch cleric to move the Holy Guard against your Kandian tribes!”

[Dalris] ”How can that be?” (etc.)

[Thayne] “The evil that Arno has summoned to Seagate is more powerful than Archcleric Oran’s gods. Carr, you’ve got to use the Sceptre of Bhukod against this diabolical force! Haslum tried to combat Arno’s designs and he vanished in the attempt. Come back with me, Carr, and wield the sceptre against the evil Arno in your father’s name.”

[Perth] ”Why go to Seagate?” Perth interrupts. “The evil has already spread to the Tikandian mainland. Carr, you must go to Saven and confront this Arno with the sceptre. Such evil must not be allowed to grow another day.”

---

From (103) just before Thayne grabs our rod.

[Carr, explaining the limited number of protective charges] “So we shouldn’t be too anxious to use the wand except when it’s definitely worth the risk. I think we should consider another plan to get Arno out of the academy and save the sceptre as a last resort.”

 

[Joshua Randall]

Commentary:

What we have here is a bunch of confusing verb tense usage combined with confusing location-based confusion. Let's start with verb tenses.

Most of the story I quoted is told using the “helping verb” has (singular) / have (plural) plus the past tense of the verb being helped. Thus,

• The paladins have left their guard posts.
• Which they never would have surrendered willingly.
• Arno has discovered a source of evil magical power.
• And he has summoned something evil.
• The evil also has spread.

The grammar nerd name for this verb tense with the helping verb "has/have" is "perfect tense". But I can assure you the usage here is far from perfect.

In general -- and I am only an amateur grammar nerd, so I welcome corrections and "well actually" -- in general, the perfect tense is used to describe something that happened recently. As opposed to the preterite ("past tense" in common parlance) that is used to describe something that happened longer ago.

Examples:

• The Kansas City Chiefs have played in five Super Bowls since 2020 (recently).
  versus
• The New York Jets played in Super Bowl III (57 years ago).
  
  
• Joshua has written a long rant about Carr's spell choices (recently).
  versus
• Joshua wrote a story hour about his 3e game (21 years ago).

Now this being the English language, of course there are gray areas. You could legitimately write a sentence that reads "The Kansas City Chiefs have played in several Super Bowls", and fans of American football would know that includes Super Bowl IV back in 1969. Similarly, you could legitimately write a sentence that reads "Joshua has written many long rants", and fans of my work would know that includes that one time I ranted about the Magic the Gathering card Balance on Usenet back in 1994.

Returning to this gamebook, based on the context of the story, all of the following perfect tense sentences are meant to describe the recent past and definitely NOT the older past.

• The paladins have left their guard posts.
• Which they never would have surrendered willingly.
• Arno has discovered a source of evil magical power.
• And he has summoned something evil.
• The evil also has spread.

Contrast sentences like the following with preterite verbs used to describe the older past:

• The Empire of Bhukod flourished throughout Kandia. ( > 500 years ago)
• Landor founded the College Arcance. (40+ years ago)
• Marla birthed Carr. (22 year ago)

But confusingly, simple preterite tense can also refer to recent events, even VERY recent events:

• Carr and Dalris fought a manticore. (yesterday)
• Carr ate some FREE STEW for breakfast. (today, this morning)
• Carr tossed his equipment onto the bed. (just moments prior to "now")

The last example is how most normal stories are written. Gamebooks are weird because they use present tense and also second person rather than third person: "You [Carr] toss your equipment onto the bed."

---

In addition to the perfect tense, there are two statements that use present indicative to explain the current state of the gamebook world "now".

• The situation is graver than you know.
• Evil creatures now control all of Seagate’s ports, including Freetown.

And two that use present continuous: something is happening now and will continue happening into the future.

• Arno is using evil power to control the paladin guards.
• Arno is urging the archcleric to move the Holy Guard against the Kandian tribes.

And two that use present imperative, the "command form", wherein the command-ee is instructed to do this thing starting now and into the future.

• Come and wield the sceptre against the evil Arno in your father’s name. [from Thayne]
• Go and confront Arno with the sceptre. [from Perth]

And finally one that uses the full-on infinitive:

• We need another plan to get Arno out of the academy. (One could mentally rewrite this as: "We need to extract Arno from the academy." -- which avoids the awkward "to get Arno out" construction.)

"But what does this have to do with Saven vs. Seagate?"

I'm glad you asked.

So glad, that I will make you wait while I prepare my follow-up grammar and location rant.