Title: Temple of
Terror
Author: Ian
Livingstone
Illustrators: Christos
Achilleos (cover), Bill Houston (interior)
Published: 1985
Level of previous
knowledge: I remember having to collect little dragon miniatures along the
way or fail the quest (well, it’s Ian Livingstone after all). Also that there
are a couple of different ways to get to the dungeon in the first place. Oh and
who could forget the happy little fellow, the Messenger of Death…
Plot summary: A rather nasty chap called Malbordus was
brought up by dark elves in Darkwood Forest, so of course has grown up to be a
complete sociopath. For his eighteenth birthday he wanted five dragons, and
found out that if he could retrieve the dragon artefacts from the lost city of
Vatos, his wish would come true. The wizard Yaztromo says it’s unlikely that Malbordus
would use such pets for anything other than evil, so it’s down to the brave
warriors of Stonebridge to step up and explore Vatos en masse in order to find
the artefacts before Malbordus does. No? OK, I’ll go by myself then.
Rules: Standard rules with no potion, but a box for
Spells on the adventure sheet.
Attempt #1
Stats rolled: SKILL
10, STAMINA 18, LUCK 7
Following Yaztromo
directly through the Forest of Doom, I questioned how he could pass through
with so little difficulty, given the fate that so many adventurers met here in
the past. Yaztromo remarked that the creatures of the forest don’t dare mess
with him, and it was actually more dangerous going around the perimeter of the
forest as the wild hill men out there didn’t have any respect whatsoever. Wondering
why Yaztromo didn’t just find the darn hammer parts himself instead of sending
adventurers to die in the Forest of Doom, I eventually arrived at his tower,
where Yaztromo offered to teach me a few spells before I embarked on my
journey. Picking spells that seemed like they would be useful in a deserty
ancient city kind of environment (Create Water, Fire, Read Symbols and Open
Door) I was soon on my way, led for the first stage of my trip by the wizard’s
pet crow, which I named Vel.
I was led to a
bridge where some unsavoury types were loading a barge which looked far too
small to accommodate me, so I decided on the other option, crossing the bridge
and heading for the desert overland. Vel the crow didn’t stick around and callously
abandoned me at this point, so I headed vaguely south and hoped for the best. Heading
towards some smoke rising a short distance away, I arrived just in time to
witness a couple of dark elves setting fire to a hut with flaming arrows,
flushing out their quarry and filling him with more arrows. I had no idea who
their victim was but this seemed a bit mean so I taught them a lesson they
forgot instantly, because they were dead. A quick rummage earned me two gold
pieces and a bow, which I thought might be useful if that damn crow ever showed
up again.
Conclusion: Failure.
Number of combats:
2
Attempt #2
Stats rolled: SKILL
7, STAMINA 20, LUCK 7
Surprisingly this
adventure ended not as a result of my pitiful stats, but because once again the
giant eagle failed to fend off the pterodactyl’s attack. This was despite my
Magic Arrow spell which sunk into the pterodactyl’s belly, for some reason only
reducing its SKILL by 1 point and not affecting its STAMINA at all.
Conclusion: Failure.
Number of combats:
0
Attempt #3
Stats rolled: SKILL
9, STAMINA 19, LUCK 11
The pterodactyl wins
again.
Conclusion: Failure.
Number of combats:
0
Attempt #4
Stats rolled: SKILL 11,
STAMINA 19, LUCK 8
The eagle wins!
Flapping valiantly onwards, it soon landed to allow me to find shelter for the night.
By the morning it had flown off again, thereby fulfilling its destiny as a
giant eagle, by disappointingly being not as useful as it could have been.
Entering the desert
proper, I soon found the Create Water spell to be useful, and wondered if Yaztromo
was also a master of the Create Sun Lotion spell. Eventually arriving at a
worryingly large skeleton of an unknown creature, I spotted a box among the
remains, which I dug up to find a mirror and a clay pot. The mirror seemed
useful, and being an experienced adventurer I assumed the clay pot was not, and
left it alone.
Spending a night out
in the open desert (Create Tent, anyone?) I awoke thirsty, and rather than
simply cast Create Water again I decided to hunt around until I found a
dangerous-looking spiky plant, which I was offered the opportunity to cut open.
Declining, I was then offered the chance to cast the spell, and moved on. As I
progressed I was grabbed by a pair of tentacles which emerged from the sand,
intent of dragging me into a nearby gaping toothy maw. Despite prevailing
easily over the tentacles I lost a SKILL point as a result of the unprovoked
mauling my leg received.
Further on I
encountered a legendary basilisk, who suffered from the typical villain trope
of stashing the weapon that is their greatest weakness, somewhere nearby. In
this case I whipped out the mirror I found earlier and the basilisk turned to
stone. I then came across the corpse of a man who had a terrified, agonised
expression on his face, and stole his water bottle. Good times.
Later on I came to
the camp of a nomad, who invited me in and gave me food and water. I would have
felt bad if I left without buying any of his goods, so I simply bought one of
everything, except a mirror because I already had one, and vanity wasn’t my
thing. With a pack full of potentially useful items, I was feeling good about
life until a giant sandworm emerged from the sand in front of me, and despite
my protests that I knew nothing about any spice, attacked without mercy. It was
a close fight but the creature’s sheer perseverance overcame the power of my
annoyance, and I succumbed to its onslaught.
Conclusion: Failure.
Number of combats:
2
Attempt #5
Stats rolled: SKILL 8,
STAMINA 21, LUCK 11
Knowing I stood
little chance of making it through the desert this time, I decided to explore
the other route to Vatos, buying passage on the barge to Port Blacksand after
some minor haggling. Arriving at the city, I sensibly decided to wander the
streets of the City of Thieves as dusk set in. Ignoring a highly dodgy-seeming
offer from an old man who claimed to have a spare bed for the night, I pushed
on and soon found myself at the infamous Black Lobster where I paid for a room
and some information about a ship setting sail in the morning. I was directed
to the captain who took the princely sum of 10 gold pieces for passage on the Belladonna,
first thing in the morning. On the way to my room, I crashed into a rather
grumpy fellow and spilled his pints. I thought it best to avoid confrontation
and paid yet more money for new drinks.
In the morning I
made my way to the ship and was quickly informed that I was to take the place
of one of the ship’s gunners, who hadn’t survived the night in Port Blacksand.
Knowing what this would lead to, I waited until the inevitable man-of-war
appeared on the horizon and hunted us down, firing cannonballs mercilessly
until our ship sank. Swimming towards the attacking ship, I was relieved to
find it crewed by dwarves who believed my story when I told them I was working
for King Gillibran of Stonebridge, and offered to take me the rest of the way
to the desert. Two days later I was deposited on a sandy shore somewhere near
the desert with no idea which direction I should take.
Conclusion: Failure.
Number of combats:
1
Attempt #6
Stats rolled: SKILL 10,
STAMINA 20, LUCK 12
Pterodactyl.
Conclusion: Failure.
Number of combats:
1
Attempt #7
Stats rolled: SKILL 8,
STAMINA 21, LUCK 9
Pterodactyl.
Conclusion: Failure.
Number of combats:
1
Attempt #8
Stats rolled: SKILL 7,
STAMINA 20, LUCK 12
Eaten by the
sandworm.
Conclusion: Failure.
Number of combats:
1
Attempt #9
Stats rolled: SKILL
10, STAMINA 22, LUCK 12
Pterodactyl.
Conclusion: Failure.
Number of combats:
3
Attempt #10
Stats rolled: SKILL 12,
STAMINA 19, LUCK 10
Pterodactyl.
Seriously, this is daft.
Conclusion: Failure.
Number of combats:
2
Attempt #11
Stats rolled: SKILL
7, STAMINA 21, LUCK 12
Pterodactyl. Not
that it matters.
Conclusion: Failure.
Number of combats:
0
As I’ve had 10
attempts and it’s obvious that the giant sandworm will eat at least 50% of
characters, not the mention the pterodactyl fight (anyone worked out the odds
on that?), and I haven’t even reached Vatos yet, this could easily go over 100
attempts. From now on I’m rolling four dice and allocating them as I like for
stats.
Attempt #12
Stats rolled: SKILL
9, STAMINA 15, LUCK 8
Oh, FFS.
Choosing the sea
route, I pulled off a miraculous win against the sandworm this time. Stumbling
onward through the desert, I ignored an oasis on the basis that I could conjure
water from thin air instead and not take any risks. Investigating a pile of
rocks I was predictably stung by a scorpion but rewarded for my efforts when I
found a sack, in which was glass ball containing some kind of sprite. After he
was released he sprinkled some lucky dust on my head and told me to make a
headscarf out of the sack. Because I was the least well-equipped person to ever
attempt a desert crossing.
Later on I finally
arrived at my destination – the lost city of Vatos! Opening the gates with a
simple spell I walked until I found myself in an empty square and looked
around. A dark stone archway looked promising, so in I went, heading down the
stairs into the darkness. At the bottom of the stairs was an icon casket, so
fully expecting a trap of some kind, I was bemused when it contained a
well-made iron helmet, and more bemused when wearing it didn’t cause my brain
to melt or anything.
As I wandered down
the corridor, I was tapped on the shoulder and turned to meet an extremely
attractive fellow who whispered the word ‘Death’ into my ear before
disappearing into the darkness. Instinctively I knew that if I came across all
the letters of the aforementioned word during my quest my life would be drained
away. Groovy.
Undaunted, I
indulged my exploratory tendencies by pulling open a pair of drapes and was
almost disappointed to find nothing but a door, which I opened to find an odd
room containing nothing but an ice bucket hanging from the ceiling. Oh, and a
massive centipede that attempted to eat my legs. Oh wait, it succeeded.
Conclusion: Failure.
Number of combats:
2
Attempt #13
Stats rolled: SKILL 12,
STAMINA 18, LUCK 11
A high SKILL score
gets me past the giant sandworm (although still not without serious injury) and
I made it to Vatos without much trouble. Heading into the tunnels, I made
straight for the giant centipede’s room and exacted revenge before pulling the
bucket down from the ceiling, which contained a bone dragon artefact. Woohoo!
In the next corridor
I found my path blocked by some kind of spiky floating eye, which floated
menacingly in my direction. Fumbling in my backpack for something useful, I
pulled out an onyx egg at random, which was apparently too dark for the eye to
handle, so it went to sleep and allowed me to pass. Clearly I wasn’t thinking
about my return journey, or I would have chopped it to bits right then. Further
along I came to an iron grille which I decided not to investigate too
thoroughly as distant alarm bells rang in my memory.
Arriving at a
T-junction (how many times does that happen in Ian Livingstone books?) I chose
a direction at random, following the tunnel until I noticed the floor was
covered in broken glass. A shadowy figure appeared, giggled madly and threw a
bottle at me which fell to the ground and shattered. The bottle had contained a
parchment which I declined to read because you know, possible death and all
that. Judging from all the broken glass everywhere, I wasn’t the first to
receive this message.
Chasing after my
assailant, I soon realised the effort was futile and eventually arrived at
another T-junction. I was rewarded for my shrewd choice by an encounter with
two skeleton warriors, easily reduced to a pile of bones. At the end of the
corridor was a door, behind this door was a room, in this room was a clay
goblet, and in my backpack the clay goblet went. Heading back to the junction I
took the other tunnel and opened a door to a smelly room which happened to be
the lair of someone’s ill-trained (or possibly well-trained) pet dog, which
attacked me after bounding in after some meat that ‘someone’ threw in as I
arrived. Putting the hound down, I peered into the small dark tunnel that led
off the room. Shrugging, I got on to my hands and knees and crawled into the
blackness. Sensing danger (thanks, sixth sense) I cast a Detect Traps spell to
find myself staring right at a crossbow trap, which I managed to avoid
triggering and stepped into another room.
As I made my way
across the dusty room my mind was suddenly filled with horrific images of the
room in flames, my body burning endlessly. Eventually coming to, I realised it
was all an illusion, but that did not prevent the loss of 3 SKILL points.
Flipping ‘eck. I then encountered some giant fireflies which I was still too
skilled to be bothered by, but then walked in front of a stone golem which took
exception to my presence and literally took a bit of a hammering. The next room
was flooded, and I waded in fully cognizant of the likely outcome, which arrived
in the form of giant tentacles. Luckily they were repelled by the crappy
bracelet I guilt-purchased from the nomad in the desert, and I was able to
escape unstrangled.
At the next junction I headed towards some
tapestries, admiring one in particular, that of a phoenix rising from the
ashes. I tore it from the wall and shoved it into my backpack, which seemed
like an oddly disrespectful way to treat such a work of art, but it might have
been worth something to a certain desert nomad. Further down the tunnel I came
to a chair shaped like a sphinx. Grimacing uncertainly, I took a seat, half
expecting spikes to emerge from the wall, but was pleasantly surprised when it
turned out to be one of those vibrating massage chairs, and I stood refreshed
and energised. Further down the corridor I came to a room containing some
herbal liquid with which I bathed my remaining wounds, healing me back to
maximum health and spurring me on.
With no way to
continue in this direction I headed back to the junction. Admiring the murals
on the tunnel walls, I nearly jumped out of my skin when a voice behind me
asked if I enjoyed his work. Responding that his horrifying work was indeed
suitably horrific, I had a conversation for the first time since arriving at
Vatos (‘Here doggie doggie argh’ is not a conversation). The artist told me
he’d never heard of Malbordus, but perhaps Leesha, the High Priestess, would be
entertaining him. Her sanctum could be found behind a golden sho—err, curtain
of golden rain. Leaving him behind, I continued until I heard the obvious
sounds of torture happening behind a door. Still feeling heroic, I charged in
and made short work of the perpetrator, rescuing the victim who was fortunately
still in a reasonable condition. He advised me that he’d seen someone matching
my description of the Messenger of Death, putting something in a golden casket.
I thanked him for the top tip and we parted ways.
With a pep in my
step I continued down the tunnel to be presented with a choice of two doors.
Opening one, I found myself in a storeroom where I was set upon by a horned,
red skinned, fire-breathing beast which was not a dragon but some kind of
disappointing demon. Dispatching it easily, I searched around, finding only a
dodgy-looking necklace which I declined to wear, leaving the room and opening
the door opposite. The room within contained another door with some kind of
donation box attached to it. Wondering if they were trying to raise funds for a
new pet centipede, I rummaged in my pockets for a coin – but alas, I was
penniless. Shrugging, I moved on into pitch blackness, wondering if the box was
actually some kind of primitive electricity meter. Unable to see, I was injured
by some kind of blade trap before panicking and running heedlessly for the
exit.
The next room
contained little but a wooden carving of some giant sandworms attacking a city.
Examining it more closely, I found an ebony dragon artefact hidden in one of
the cracks. Weird, but woohoo! Opening another door I found myself in a large
hallway occupied by three fanatical men in robes who moved to attack. I
convinced them that I came bearing gifts for the Great and Ever Wonderful High
Priestess Leesha. Handing over the gift (I could choose anything, so I gave
them the key to the previous room!) I entered an archway at the other end of
the room, into a narrow corridor, protruding from the walls of which were stone
arms wielding swords. I wasn’t sure if sword arms were any weirder than sword
trees, but they were certainly less dangerous and I swashbuckled my way through
without a scratch. At the far end I stepped through the golden curtain of rain as
advised by the mural artist earlier.
Beyond was an
opulent room adorned with paintings, but I had no time to enjoy them as I was
attacked by a bare-chested balding guard with unfeasibly large feet. After
defeating them I suddenly felt a bit thirsty and fatigued, bizarrely deciding
to drink from a bowl in the room when I could have easily cast Create Water any time I liked,
and then settling down for a nice lay down on the cushions. Thankfully given
the option to stay awake, I was interrupted by the sound of someone approaching
the room, so I hid behind some drapes, which I was then informed were
semi-transparent. Luckily the man who entered the room had very poor eyesight,
and after checking on the guard’s corpse he simply ran off again.
Another tunnel,
another door, and I found myself entering a treasure chamber. Forewarned about
the golden casket, I avoided it and helped myself to a golden statuette
instead, which would either make me a rich man or a looter’s dream. Further
along I took a turning and came across some grapes on a marble column. Assuming
they were intended for someone important not therefore not likely to be
dangerous, I scoffed the grapes to discover they had healing properties. This was fortunate, because immediately
afterwards I came into contact with two talking skeletons who insisted on
poking me full of holes with their spears. I prevailed over them however, and
entered the large chamber beyond, which happened to be the inner temple of the
High Priestess Leesha.
Seeing no sign of the
High Priestess I decided to empty out my backpack to count my dragon figurines.
1…2…3…4! Gleefully eyeing my collection I was distracted when a clap of thunder
sounded, and through the window I saw none other than Malbordus himself
departing in true villain fashion, on the back of a dragon’s back. Apparently
he had found the fifth dragon and I had failed in my mission. Gah.
Conclusion: Failure.
Number of combats:
14
Attempt #14
Stats rolled: SKILL 10,
STAMINA 15, LUCK 10
Eaten by the giant
sandworm.
Conclusion: Failure.
Number of combats:
3
Attempt #15
Stats rolled: SKILL 12,
STAMINA 19, LUCK 11
This time taking a
slightly different route through the tunnels of Vatos, I encountered a gnomish
scavenger who had a fetish for brass. He offered to take a brass telescope off
my hands in exchange for something from his hoard of goodies. Handing it over, I
was delighted to find a crystal dragon artefact amongst his belongings, and
grabbed it gleefully. After a brief encounter with a pair of rat men I was back
in familiar territory, and knowing that the same path as last time would result
in obtaining the rest of the dragons, I stuck to it carefully, with the
exception of the room of terrifyingness that cost me several SKILL points last
time.
Conclusion: Success!
Number of combats:
15
Review
Writing: Ian
Livingstone is back in his element with this one, a large part of the book
being set in a comforting, familiar, deadly dungeon-type environment where he
can use his imagination to its best effect. The Messenger of Death in
particular is a great story device, leaving you in fear of investigating
anything too closely throughout the dungeon.
The setting is interesting, a return to fantasy after the
departure in Freeway Fighter, but with the desert-themed twist. The story is
set up pretty well, with Malbordus built up to seem like a genuinely dangerous
magic user who is a real threat to Allansia, and you as the hero in a race
against time to find the dragon artefacts before he does. Sadly this never
really pays off – at no point does it really feel like Malbordus is nearby
trying to find the artefacts and the only sign of his existence before the very
end of the book is a ‘trap’ medallion supposedly left by him out in the desert
(on the ‘wrong’ path). The final confrontation is a big let down – Malbordus is
supposedly a powerful wizard but after one easily-defeated trick the conclusion
is a simple sword fight. No spells, no cataclysmic dragon-riding duel in a
magical thunderstorm, just a fight in a room that looks like a toilet.
As is often the case with FF, there are many things that
don’t make much sense. Why send a single adventurer when the fate of the world
is at stake? Why not provide the eagle ride from the beginning? Where did
Leesha go and what was the purpose of the character in the first place? Why wasn’t
Malbordus hounding me at every step, or making more effort to find the dragon
artefacts, most of which I found just lying around? Why was he waiting in a pit
for my arrival? Why did I suddenly decide to destroy the dragons when I arrived
in the unremarkable room at the end?
Also – stop telling us things we don’t know! “Unknown to
you, the golden rain has drained your magic powers” is up there with “Unknown
to you, you just drove through a minefield without exploding”…
Writing: 3/5
Artwork: There
are some decent illustrations in this one but I found them mostly unmemorable,
except the drawing of Malbordus, for all the wrong reasons. Instead of setting
up a final confrontation with a depiction of an all-powerful evil wizard on the
verge of greatness, we get a skinny unwashed guy emerging from a toilet (no, I
can’t let it go!). The cover is very nice, and I have nothing bad to say about it because Christos Achilleos signed my copy of the book!
Artwork: 3/5
Design: This is a
pretty tough book to complete because it has a classic shopping list of dragon
artefacts, but this is hard to criticise too much because it’s the main premise
of the book. The one thing that bugged me slightly was the crystal dragon,
which is not only extremely missable (see attempt #13) but can only be obtained
if you trade a copper telescope for it, which in turn can only be obtained if
a) you pick the correct route to Vatos, thus rendering the other one and all
its content pointless) and b) you make a stupid decision which gets you robbed,
and then find the telescope on the robbers’ corpses. It’s a shame the desert
route is a ‘wrong’ path for this reason, because otherwise it would have been a
perfectly viable way to get to Vatos, albeit significantly tougher.
Otherwise this is a pretty well-designed adventure, often
with multiple ways to succeed in different situations (the large array of
spells and obtainable items helps with this) and a dungeon which feels
dangerous at every corner. However it’s a bit linear in places and there are a
lot of unavoidable combats which will wear down all but the most skilled
adventurers. The final encounter is also disappointing mechanically as well as
storywise.
Design: 3/5
Fairness: This
book isn’t quite as tough as many later ones in the series, but I’d say a
minimum SKILL of 10 is required to stand any real chance here, and probably 11.
The giant sandworm is a big ability check, denying you entry to the second half
of the book if you’re not up to scratch. The Messenger of Death mechanic, while
fun, does make it entirely random when you search anything, whether you find a
useful item or one of the deadly letters. This unfairness is justified by the
story, however. My biggest annoyance in my early attempts was the fight between
the giant eagle I was riding and the pterodactyl attacker. The fight is rigged
heavily towards the pterodactyl even if you successfully shoot it with an
arrow, and you have no influence whatsoever over the fight itself, which more
often than not results in your untimely doom. I was glad when I realised that
the desert wasn’t necessarily the correct route (especially considering another
couple of nasty encounters there) but this fight seemed unnecessarily harsh.
Overall the book is learnable within a few attempts if your stats are up to
scratch.
Fairness: 3/5
Cheating index: 1
Razaak (stat dice allocation) 
Average enemy stats
Successful path: 26 enemies, SKILL 7.0, STAMINA 7.0
Entire book: 46 enemies, SKILL 7.5, STAMINA 7.5
Instant death
paragraphs: 23
Any player can win no
matter how weak initial dice rolls: Yeah, that’s a LIE.
Final thoughts: An enjoyable adventure that doesn’t quite
live up to its own story, it’s nevertheless good fun to explore a new kind of
setting in Fighting Fantasy. If you’re in a rush, roll D3+9 for your SKILL…
Final score: 6/10
