Friday Filler: Big Trouble

Although the ‘Choose Your Adventure’ style of gamebooks had been around by the time The Warlock of Firetop Mountain was published in 1982, the first Fighting Fantasy title was groundbreaking. It allowed gamers to play in their own time, complete with a solid set of rules so that it felt like a roleplaying adventure, and the success of the series meant the adventures were readily available in bookshops and high street shops rather than in just speciality shops. In comparison, the Endless Quest series, published by TSR, Inc. were no match, for whilst their stories took place in the worlds of the publisher’s various settings, they were all text, did not come with any mechanics, and so did not feel like a game. TSR, Inc. published two series of the books and its successor, Wizards of the Coast also published its own beginning in 2008. Now the publisher has returned to the series with a new quartet of titles, all tied with Dungeons & Dragons and all set in its default setting of Faerûn in the Forgotten Realms.

Written by Matt Forbeck—best known as the designer of the roleplaying game, Brave New World—each of the quartet focuses upon a core Class and a core Race found in Dungeons & Dragons. So there is a title involving a Cleric, a Fighter, a Rogue, and a Wizard and a title involving a Dwarf, an Elf, a Halfling, and a Human. These are combined into the classic pairings found in Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, so the four books in turn tell of the adventures of a Dwarf Cleric, an Elf Wizard, a Halfling Rogue, and a Human Fighter. Each comes as a sturdy little hardback, illustrated in full colour with artwork drawn from the current version of Dungeons & Dragons, including lots and lots of monsters. Each book contains some sixty or so entries and is written for a young teenage audience, so they are suitable for those coming to Dungeons & Dragons for the first time. This does not mean that there is nothing of interest for veteran players of Dungeons & Dragons to be found in the pages of these solo adventures. Being set above, below, and across Faerûn, the protagonists of each book will have the opportunity to visit various locations familiar from both the novels set in the Forgotten Realms and the game supplements too.

Having explored the adventures of the Human Fighter in the underworld in Escape the Underdark, the adventures of a Dwarf Cleric in Into the Jungle, and the adventures of a Halfling Rogue in To Catch a Thief, you follow the adventures of an Elf Wizard in Big Trouble. As the protagonist, you are a young Elf living with your younger brother and parents in the Ardeep Forest where you are studying to be a wizard. Unfortunately, your idyll is broken by the crashing and cracking of trees as your home comes under attack by some quite voracious giants! In the aftermath of the attack—as with the previous books in the series—you are given two fundamental choices. In this case, which parent to go after, as both are missing! Go one way and you will find yourself at the home of the giants and dealing with a creature that is so greedy, so vile, he is worthy of a Roald Dahl story. Go the other way and you run into some good company along the way to Eye of All Father in search of help. In between, there are encounters with kobolds and goblins, dragons and barbarians, and more, including with one of the greatest figures in all the Forgotten Realms. Indeed, greater than that encountered in To Catch a Thief.

In many ways, Big Trouble is very different to the other titles. The protagonist is not some lone adventurer trying to escape, on an assignment for the organisation he works for, or forced on a mission to pay for his crimes, but rather a wouldbe adventurer searching for his family. This makes the quest far more personal and important and it makes the choices presented seem all the more difficult and all the more desperate. It should be noted that not all of the choices offered end in the protagonist’s death, but whilst many do, there are many that also end, if not on a happy note, then not on an unhappy one either. Even with the most positive of outcomes the story does not have a truly happy ending either, the single splitting path structure of the Endless Quest format prevents the reader from switching back to the search for the other parent. On the plus side, the protagonist does get to cast some spells, just as a wizard should and some of them are recognisable as Dungeons & Dragons spells.

Big Trouble takes the protagonist into the wilds north and south of the Ardeep Forest, so unlike To Catch a Thief, the locations visited in the main, are less familiar than those of Waterdeep. Like the other books in the series, the book is very nicely illustrated with art taken from an array of Dungeons & Dragons books. It also contains some memorable encounters, both good and bad, though the bad are of course, the most entertaining ones.

One issue with Big Trouble—and thus the Endless Quest series—is the lack of replay value. Once read through, the lack of variability that a set of rules or mechanics, means that there is no longer the challenge to be found in the book and thus a strong issue to read it again. To be fair, mechanics or rules were never a feature of the Endless Quest series and so there is no expectation that they should be in this new series. Just that in comparison with other solo adventures, they are not as sophisticated and so are suited to a younger audience.

In terms of tone, Big Trouble is not as dour or as grim as either Escape the Underworld or Into the Jungle, nor is there the devil may care attitude to be found in To Catch a Thief. There is an air of desperation to its story though and the protagonist is understandably earnest and desperate to find his family. The personal nature of the story means that the reader can more readily identify with the protagonist than he can with the protagonists of the other three new Endless Quest titles. In addition, the lack of familiarity to the places it takes the protagonist to means that it is not as good an introduction to the Forgotten Realms as Escape the Underworld or To Catch a Thief are. Nevertheless, Big Trouble is an adventure that the older reader will enjoy and which should provide inspiration for when they get to the gaming table and play Dungeons & Dragons for real.

Friday Filler: To Catch a Thief

Although the ‘Choose Your Adventure’ style of gamebooks had been around by the time The Warlock of Firetop Mountain was published in 1982, the first Fighting Fantasy title was groundbreaking. It allowed gamers to play in their own time, complete with a solid set of rules so that it felt like a roleplaying adventure, and the success of the series meant the adventures were readily available in bookshops and high street shops rather than in just speciality shops. In comparison, the Endless Quest series, published by TSR, Inc. were no match, for whilst their stories took place in the worlds of the publisher’s various settings, they were all text, did not come with any mechanics, and so did not feel like a game. TSR, Inc. published two series of the books and its successor, Wizards of the Coast also published its own beginning in 2008. Now the publisher has returned to the series with a new quartet of titles, all tied with Dungeons & Dragons and all set in its default setting of Faerûn in the Forgotten Realms.

Written by Matt Forbeck—best known as the designer of the roleplaying game, Brave New World—each of the quartet focuses upon a core Class and a core Race found in Dungeons & Dragons. So there is a title involving a Cleric, a Fighter, a Rogue, and a Wizard and a title involving a Dwarf, an Elf, a Halfling, and a Human. These are combined into the classic pairings found in Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, so the four books in turn tell of the adventures of a Dwarf Cleric, an Elf Wizard, a Halfling Rogue, and a Human Fighter. Each comes as a sturdy little hardback, illustrated in full colour with artwork drawn from the current version of Dungeons & Dragons, including lots and lots of monsters. Each book contains some sixty or so entries and is written for a young teenage audience, so they are suitable for those coming to Dungeons & Dragons for the first time. This does not mean that there is nothing of interest for veteran players of Dungeons & Dragons to be found in the pages of these solo adventures. Being set above, below, and across Faerûn, the protagonists of each book will have the opportunity to visit various locations familiar from both the novels set in the Forgotten Realms and the game supplements too.

Having explored the adventures of the Human Fighter in the underworld in Escape the Underdark and the adventures of a Dwarf Cleric in Into the Jungle, you follow the adventures of a Halfling Rogue in To Catch a Thief. As the protagonist, you are an independent thief working the streets of the city of Waterdeep, but tonight you have overreached yourself and attempted to pick the pocket of Laeral Silverhand, the Open Lord of Waterdeep. Caught red handed, you are given a choice. One is to suffer the consequences of your actions and be thrown into gaol, the other is to undertake a difficult and probably dangerous task for Laeral Silverhand. This is to recover a baby griffon which has been stolen from her and not just by any thief. No, the thief in question is the Xanathar, the leader of the city’s powerful Thieves’ Guild, and right now, the Xanathar just happens to be none other than a Beholder!

To Catch a Thief sets up an entertaining challenge, one that is played out over what will be familiar territory to many a fan of the Forgotten Realms. They will recognise various locations around Waterdeep, notably the Yawning Portal Inn and likewise, the teeming hive of evil that is the Port of Shadows which lies below the city in Undermountain. There are encounters too with some of the famous inhabitants of Waterdeep, plus a very cleverly done encounter with the most famous figure in the Forgotten Realms. Thus, To Catch a Thief is tied in with a pair of books for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition. One is Tales from the Yawning Portal, the other is the more recent Waterdeep: Dragon Heist, but then given the wealth of support for the Forgotten Realms setting over the years, To Catch a Thief is full of nods to lots of books.

Of course, before our Halfling Rogue gets to rush off and search for the Xanathar and the missing Griffon, there is a decision to be made—will she do the task or not? A good part of the first half of the book is devoted to her doing other things in order to avoid doing the job. This leads to the happy-go-lucky protagonist of To Catch a Thief doing a lot of running around and giving her prospective ‘employers’ a great deal of run around, which for the most part, results in her wriggling out of her newly acquired task and leaving Waterdeep. Which feels perfectly in keeping with the roguish nature of the character and story and which actually feels different to the previously reviewed new Endless Quest titles where there is a greater chance of the protagonist meeting an unfortunate end. This is not to say that she never dies in To Catch a Thief, it is just not as frequent.

Once the reader and the Halfling Rogue decide to undertake the task, the action switches as you attempt to find out where Xanathar might be holding the stolen baby griffon and how to get there. The trail leads downwards and will see the protagonist running into pirates, slavers, and worse. Getting back out thankfully, is not as challenging as getting in and there are some enjoyable scenes with the baby griffon along the way. In general, To Catch a Thief is tonally not as grim as either Escape the Underworld or Into the Jungle. This is not to say that it avoids dealing with grim subjects, where the tone of Into the Jungle was Dwarven and dour, this is much lighter, reflecting the happiness of Halfings and the devil may care attitude of the Rogue Class. As a Rogue, the protagonist is never portrayed as being totally amoral or lacking in conscience, though the later may take a nudge or two to actually work!

One issue with To Catch a Thief—and thus the Endless Quest series—is the lack of replay value. Once read through, the lack of variability that a set of rules or mechanics, means that there is no longer the challenge to be found in the book and thus a strong issue to read it again. To be fair, mechanics or rules were never a feature of the Endless Quest series and so there is no expectation that they should be in this new series. Just that in comparison with other solo adventures, they are not as sophisticated and so are suited to a younger audience. 

To Catch a Thief joins Escape the Underdark in being quite familiar in terms of its settings, Waterdeep being one of the most visited cities in fantasy roleplaying and fantasy fiction. The familiarity means that the older reader will get a strong sense of nostalgia from this solo adventure, whilst for anyone new to the Forgotten Realms it serves as a good introduction—to Waterdeep in particular, as well as perhaps, inspiration for when they get to the gaming table and play Dungeons & Dragons for real.

Friday Filler: Into the Jungle

Although the ‘Choose Your Adventure’ style of gamebooks had been around by the time The Warlock of Firetop Mountain was published in 1982, the first Fighting Fantasy title was groundbreaking. It allowed gamers to play in their own time, complete with a solid set of rules so that it felt like a roleplaying adventure, and the success of the series meant the adventures were readily available in bookshops and high street shops rather than in just speciality shops. In comparison, the Endless Quest series, published by TSR, Inc. were no match, for whilst their stories took place in the worlds of the publisher’s various settings, they were all text, did not come with any mechanics, and so did not feel like a game. TSR, Inc. published two series of the books and its successor, Wizards of the Coast also published its own beginning in 2008. Now the publisher has returned to the series with a new quartet of titles, all tied with Dungeons & Dragons and all set in its default setting of Faerûn in the Forgotten Realms.

Written by Matt Forbeck—best known as the designer of the roleplaying game, Brave New World—each of the quartet focuses upon a core Class and a core Race found in Dungeons & Dragons. So there is a title involving a Cleric, a Fighter, a Rogue, and a Wizard and a title involving a Dwarf, an Elf, a Halfling, and a Human. These are combined into the classic pairings found in Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, so the four books in turn tell of the adventures of a Dwarf Cleric, an Elf Wizard, a Halfling Rogue, and a Human Fighter. Each comes as a sturdy little hardback, illustrated in full colour with artwork drawn from the current version of Dungeons & Dragons, including lots and lots of monsters. Each book contains some sixty or so entries and is written for a young teenage audience, so they are suitable for those coming to Dungeons & Dragons for the first time. This does not mean that there is nothing of interest for veteran players of Dungeons & Dragons to be found in the pages of these solo adventures. Being set above, below, and across Faerûn, the protagonists of each book will have the opportunity to visit various locations familiar from both the novels set in the Forgotten Realms and the game supplements too.

Having explored the adventures of the Human Fighter in the underworld in Escape the Underdark, Into the Jungle follows your adventures as a Dwarf Cleric. You are a member of the Harpers, the loose organisation found across Faerûn dedicated to the promotion of fairness and equality and to helping the weak, the poor, and the oppressed. One of its most famous members, Artus Cimber, has gone missing, and with him, the famed artefact, the Ring of Winter. This is why as Into the Jungle opens, you find yourself arriving at Port Nyanzaru on the coast of Chult, charging with locating the old man and determining whether or not the ring is safe. In terms of setting at least, this ties Into the Jungle in with Tomb of Annihilation, the seventh of the campaigns published by Wizards of the Coast for Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition.

In Chult—or rather the Chultan Peninsula—you have a lost world of tropical jungle inhabited by dinosaurs, Goblins, Pterafolk, missionary pioneers, and masses of the undead. Your character will certainly some of these in the course of his adventures. First though, your Dwarf Cleric will need to find some reliable guides as finding unreliable ones will lead you down a whole other path, and then it is off into the jungle itself. In his quest to locate the legendary Harper, you will have encounters with religious zealots, dinosaurs—some alive, some not, goblins, undead, strange old witches, and more. The latter including some very out of place visitors to the region! Along the way, your character will have to make several moral choices, many of which will strain your friendship with your guides to breaking point and beyond.

In comparison to Escape the Underworld, the protagonist in Into the Jungle gets to play up his Race lots and lots. So there are plenty of grumbles to be had about the unsuitability of Dwarves to be on the water, in the swamp, and so on. He does not though, get to do as much as his Class suggests he is capable of. Although the Dwarven Cleric is a devotee of Clangeddin Silverbeard, the dwarven deity of battle and honour in warfare, the character rarely does well in battle, his prayers to his deity go unanswered, and he never gets to cast any spells. Of course, just like Escape the Underworld, there are plenty of choices to be made in Into the Jungle, many of them leading very quickly to certain death or fates worse than that, but there are positive outcomes too. Some of these see your Dwarf Cleric not finding Artus Cimber or ascertaining the status of the Ring of Winter, so they are not quite as satisfying endings as the main mission.

One issue with Into the Jungle—and thus the Endless Quest series—is the lack of replay value. Once read through, the lack of variability that a set of rules or mechanics, means that there is no longer the challenge to be found in the book and thus a strong issue to read it again. To be fair, mechanics or rules were never a feature of the Endless Quest series and so there is no expectation that they should be in this new series. Just that in comparison with other solo adventures, they are not as sophisticated and so are suited to a younger audience. 

There is not quite the familiarity to Into the Jungle as there is to Escape the Underdark, but it does a good job of taking the reader across Faerûn to introduce him to the exotic peninsula of Chult. It also has some nicely done scenes which effectively do horror without actually being horrific, and the themes of friendship and duty well handled throughout. For the older the gamer there is not quite the sense of nostalgia to Into the Jungle as there is Escape the Underdark, but for the teenaged reader and gamer there is an adventure—or few—to be had here, as well as perhaps, inspiration for when they get to the gaming table and play Dungeons & Dragons for real.

Friday Filler: Escape the Underdark

Although the ‘Choose Your Adventure’ style of gamebooks had been around by the time The Warlock of Firetop Mountain was published in 1982, the first Fighting Fantasy title was groundbreaking. It allowed gamers to play in their own time, complete with a solid set of rules so that it felt like a roleplaying adventure, and the success of the series meant the adventures were readily available in bookshops and high street shops rather than in just speciality shops. In comparison, the Endless Quest series, published by TSR, Inc. were no match, for whilst their stories took place in the worlds of the publisher’s various settings, they were all text, did not come with any mechanics, and so did not feel like a game. TSR, Inc. published two series of the books and its successor, Wizards of the Coast also published its own beginning in 2008. Now the publisher has returned to the series with a new quartet of titles, all tied with Dungeons & Dragons and all set in its default setting of Faerûn in the Forgotten Realms.

Written by Matt Forbeck—best known as the designer of the roleplaying game, Brave New World—each of the quartet focuses upon a core Class found in Dungeons & Dragons. So there is a title each involving a Cleric, a Fighter, a Rogue, and a Wizard. Each comes as a sturdy little hardback, illustrated in full colour with artwork drawn from the current version of Dungeons & Dragons, including lots and lots of monsters. Each book contains some sixty or so entries and is written for a young teenage audience, so they are suitable for those coming to Dungeons & Dragons for the first time. This does not mean that there is nothing of interest for veteran players of Dungeons & Dragons to be found in the pages of these solo adventures. Being set above, below, and across Faerûn, the protagonists of each book will have the opportunity to visit various locations familiar from both the novels set in the Forgotten Realms and the game supplements too.

In Escape the Underdark, the protagonist is a Fighter. Within a page of reading the first entry, you as the Fighter find yourself duped, drugged, and chained in the Underdark. Over the next sixty entries, you will make every attempt to escape to the surface. There are two main strands to the story, one towards the great Drow city of Menzoberranzan, the other away from it. Both have diverging strands, just as you would expect, and what this means is that once you have read through the entries down the one story path, you can literally turn back to the first entry and go down the other. Along the way, you get make friends—some quite unexpected, forge and break alliances, make and break promises, go boating, get into fights, and more. There are plenty of choices to be made, some of them leading very quickly to certain death or fates worse than that.

Within half an hour of cracking open the Escape the Underdark, the reader will probably have died a few times, but by going back and exploring the other lines of adventure, will probably have made their escape to the Surface too. Within an hour, a reader is likely to have explored all of the possible storylines and outcomes. Of course, it will take a little longer for a less experienced or practised reader.

One issue with Escape the Underdark—and thus the Endless Quest series—is the lack of replay value. Once read through, the lack of variability that a set of rules or mechanics, means that there is no longer the challenge to be found in the book and thus a strong issue to read it again. To be fair, mechanics or rules were never a feature of the Endless Quest series and so there is no expectation that they should be in this new series. Just that in comparison with other solo adventures, they are not as sophisticated and so are suited to a younger audience. 

Escape the Underdark really works as an introduction to adventuring in the world of Dungeons & Dragons as much as it does the Forgotten Realms. It is a good read with some exciting scenes and includes some nice story twists that an older gamer will enjoy too. For the older the gamer there is a sense of nostalgia to Escape the Underdark, but the teenage reader and gamer there is an adventure—or few—to be had here, as well as perhaps, inspiration for when they get to the gaming table and play Dungeons & Dragons for real.