City of Thieves (Fighting Fantasy)

Product Information

A different setting - this volume takes place in a town, which is a welcome change from the dungeon-crawling of the early FF books. The worst idea in the book - and possibly in any FF book ever - comes right at the very end, where you have to make a choice out of three.

Well, I suppose I had to encounter the naked pirate earlier… some mental images you just don’t want to live with. I liked the design of the book better - discovering the city, in general, was a lot more interesting than what the previous entry offered. My trouble began at the city gates, where one of the city’s guards refused to let me into the city until I’d bribed him.I've still awarded 5 stars, because Port Blacksand itself is so intriguing and evocative and the bulk of the book is magnificent, the very best a gamebook can be. Lediglich das Ende fand ich eher mau: Die Gegner sind plötzlich knüppelhart und ich bin nicht hardcore genug, um wegen ein bisschen Würfelpech am Schluss das ganze Ding nochmal von vorne durchzurauschen. Sure enough, when I got to the bridge, there he was – a gruff old wizard who told me to bugger off because he didn’t want to help me. So yeah - if the endgame had been a bit fairer and had required a bit more skill/luck/battling/dicerolls over just pure guesswork, I'd have been happier, and awarded an extra star.

And beyond lies the most fearsome adventure of them all — the tower stronghold of the infamous Zanbar Bone! But theres enough fans out there that i know one day some wise ass will do this and it will be fucking awesome. I think I must have bought a larger backpack too, because I would soon be carrying a great number of items. However, there is a little twist because when you do find Nicodemus, he simply tells you that he is too old to go off adventuring so he tells you how to kill Zanzar Bone and sends you on your way. In 1995 he led the merger of computer games company Domark with Eidos, the name behind the Tomb Raider computer games, where he is now Creative Director.In the Wizard "Series 2" edition, instead of rolling the stats for a character as per tradition in Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, the player has the option of choosing a pregenerated character from three choices (see "Further Notes" below for choices). It is so well developed and ceaselessly entertaining that it shames those that came before and most of those that came after. And it was so easy to obtain, I didn’t need to kill any trolls or solve any puzzles, I just had to ask for it. I feel future entries in the series will struggle to match City of Thieves for atmosphere, playability and excitement. There are several paths through Port Blacksand, and as you play and re-play the book, you will meet many charming and bizarre creatures, some of which will help you, others annoy, and many attack you either frontally or with stealth.

Unfortunately Cian decided to walk past some dangerous city guards and when we couldn't bribe them we had to kill them, leading to an escape from the city which we could not enter again.Whenever we are lacking in inspiration for a session or campaign, spending time with a Fighting Fantasy book is not only fun and satisfying, but also a helpful window into the mind of some of the most reknowned fantasy authors of all time, acting as your personal GM.