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Blood Sword is a series of gamebooks created by Oliver Johnson and Dave Morris and published by Knight Books in the late 1980s. The books were illustrated by Russ Nicholson and the maps suplied by Geoff Wingate. It was set in Legend, the author's own fantasy world, which was the setting for their Dragon Warriors role playing gamebook series.
The world of Legend
The world of Legend has noticeable parallels with our own in the late 10th century AD, with strong elements of Christian, Greek, Roman, Viking and Arabian mythology. Crusaders of the 'True Faith' (an analogue of Christianity) have conquered the land of Outremer (equivalent to 'The Holy Land'). Millenialist fever grips many.
The year is around 1000AD and the Judgement Day is nigh. You retrieve the Blood Sword, to save the world from the coming of the True Magi, who were killed in a Cataclysm 1000 years ago and now want to rule the world on their return. Only the Sword of Life - the Blood Sword, can stop them, apparently by giving life to that which is dead (or more precisely, undead).
Gameplay
The book series differed from many of the Fighting Fantasy and Choose Your Own Adventure type books of the era by being designed for multi-player, co-operative play (though there was also a single-player option, and one player could control more than one character at a time).
A party could consist of up to four players, with each player being either a Sage, Enchanter, Trickster or Warrior. Each of the classes was well-balanced and offered a different playing style from the others. Characters advanced in level, gaining power as the series progressed, and were carried forward from book to book, giving the experience of one long story. Players reported they felt they had engaged in more of a roleplaying game session than "merely" a gamebook.
Each player was autonomous - often paragraphs would be for one player's eyes only, and he would be privy to some information that he was free to withhold from the rest of his party.
Combat
Combat took place on mini-maps consisting of squares, with players able to use tactical combat options to defeat their foes. This added a dimension of realism to the game, for players had to move to their enemies before fighting them, and if they were surprised their enemies would start near or next to them.Sometimes there would be impassable obstacles on maps which characters would have to get around, or squares impassable to players but usable by monsters (eg Burning hot coals).
Classes
Warrior: Your typical bash-and-hack bravo. He fights well and is a damage absorber Trickster: A thief, despite the nice sounding title of "Trickster", albeit one with a heart Sage: Warrior-monk sorts with mystical powers Enchanter: The obligatory mageAttributes
Fighting Prowess: A measure of how powerful a fighter the character is Psychic Ability: An indicator of the character's resistance to attack spells and (in the case of an Enchanter, his or her aptitude for magic) Endurance: Measures the character's state of health; wounds are deducted from Endurance, and if it reaches zero then the character diesAttributes are dependent on your level. This makes for simpler gameplay and admittedly has a certain charm about it, but you cannot "customise" your character by, say, making him a slightly better fighter.
Books in the series
The series consisted of five books:
1 : The Battlepits of Krarth "Every thirteen lunar months the Magi of Krarth hold a deadly contest to see which of them will rule that bleak and icy land. Teams of daring adventurers are sent down into the labyrinths that lie beneath the tundra, each searching for the Emblem of Victory that will win power for their patron. Only one team can survive. The others must die."
2 : The Kingdom of Wyrd "From the Palace of Eternal Dusk, the Warlock-King holds his realm in thrall. His tyrannized subjects live in perpetual fear, for they know their evil monarch can see into the minds of others and slay them in their dreams. Only outsiders from beyond the boundaries of Wyrd may slay the tyrant - and they will need all the courage and skill that mortals ever can possess."
3 : The Demon's Claw "Will you survive the perils of the desert city of Crescentium? The wandering ghouls and assassins? The half-human monsters? The dreaded Seven-in-One? For this is a land of sorcery and treachery - where you will encounter terrors and wonders more fabulous than you had ever dared imagine - the great Roc, the three wishes, the ship of the Pirate-King, the flying horse, the magic of the beautiful Psyche. And who shall win the Sword of Death, the Demon?s Claw itself?"
4 : Doomwalk "Of all the desperate adventures, this is the most desperate - and the most vital. Only two years remain before the year 1000, when the Magi's power will have waxed full and the moment of their reincarnation will be at hand! All is not lost; if you can recover the fragments of the Blood Sword, the Magi can be opposed. But to do do, you must travel to the land of death..."
5: The Walls of Spyte "In the darkening sky above, five ominous stars have come into conjunction for the first time in 200 years. Out of the vault of the sky they cast their baleful influence across the frozen landscape. They are the disembodied spirits of the last of the Magi seeing the return to the mortal world at midnight and ushering in a new era of terror. You wield the sole force in the world capable of destroying the Magi. The Sword of Life is mankind's only hope but it is no guarantee of victory. The Magi have had 2 centuries of exile to plan their reincarnation. To stop them you will need greater courage and strength than ever before?"
Decline
The books are considered advanced game books, being a little more involved than the majority of the genre. Many players at the time of their release were moving away from the gamebook and toward fuller RPGs; this led to the later books becoming quite rare and sought after for their nostalgia value, and by people rediscovering the joy of gamebooks after a hiatus.
Links
"Blood Sword"