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Daggers of Darkness

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Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks
Outline
Location: Khul, Titan
References: 400
Publication Details
Author(s): Luke Sharp
Illustrator(s): Martin McKenna
Puffin
Figfan35
Cover illustrator: Les Edwards
First published: October 10 1988
Number 35
ISBN: ISBN 0-14-032675-8
Previous Book: Stealer of Souls
Next Book: Armies of Death
Wizard (Series 1)
N/A
Wizard (Series 2)
N/A


Daggers of Darkness is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Luke Sharp, illustrated by Martin McKenna and originally published in 1988 by Puffin Books. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 35th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-032675-8). There are currently no announced plans to republish this book as part of the Wizard series.

Contents

CreationEdit

“ My first regular paid illustration work ... was with Games Workshop, and my main contact there at the time was John Blanche. He recommended I send some samples to the then editor at Puffin, in the hope of getting a spot of work. Not long after that I was given Daggers of Darkness to illustrate. Being pretty much a novice at the time (and only 16, going on 17), I was a bit daunted by the task, and the end result shows my lack of confidence and experience.[1] ”

BackgroundEdit

“ Evil threatens the Great Throne of Kazan!

Dark forces are massing in the wild and ancient land of Kazan. Unless you reach the Great Throne in time the murderous vizier Chingiz will take power. Who knows what evil will flow from Kazan if his vile schemes succeed.

But time is running out. You must face Chingiz before it's too late: the destiny of Kazan is in YOUR hands.

Part story, part game, this is a book in which YOU become the hero! Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are all you need. YOU decide which routes to take, which dangers to risk and which foes to fight.[2] 		”

The book begins with the player being attacked by an assassin and scratched by a Death Spell Dagger. The player must travel to the Great Throne to defeat the Evil Chingiz, handing back the dagger to defeat its magic. This book features the second appearance of the wizard Astragal, who is a recurring character in Luke Sharp's books. The player must collect Medallions during this adventure. The player must go through trials to obtain these. Like many of Luke Sharp's books, there is a large emphasis on random dice rolls, obtaining one of the Medallions even involves a kind of board game.

How to Fight the Creatures of KazanEdit

The book in general follows the original rules set down in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain. (see Game System)

Unique RulesEdit

  • Daggers of Darkness features the attribute of poison which marks the spread of the poison from the Death Spell Dagger. On the Character Sheet this is represented by a human figure divided into 24 units. Throughout the game the player is instructed to mark off these units to show the spread of the poison, and all 24 units shaded represents death at the hands of the poison. In effect this is simply another way of measuring time during the playing of the game.
  • The game also features several Medallions which can be collected. A player who possesses one can walk away from a total of 3 combat encounters that they have lost. If the player chooses to do this (instead of dying at the hands of their combatant and restarting the adventure from the beginning) the player can restore their stamina score to 4, as well as reducing their skill and luck scores by 1 point each, and marking off 3 poison units.

Equipment ListEdit

Cover and IllustrationsEdit

Main article: Daggers of Darkness (illustrations)

Cover

The original cover of the book was designed and illustrated by Les Edwards.

Daggers of Darkness through the years
1988 1989 1990 1993
Figfan35 Ff35
Dragon Format Dragon No No. No. Spine Only No Bronze-Foil
£2.251 £? £3.502 £?
  1. Price of 1st Impression
  2. Price of 4th Impression

Illustrations

The interior illustrations were by Martin McKenna. There were 30 full page illustrations and 6 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the text. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: 1, 14, 28, 42, 56, 70, 84, 98, 114, 130, 143, 155, 172, 187, 200, 215, 230, 245, 260, 270, 285, 298, 310, 322, 334, 346, 358, 370, 381, and 396.

The colour map on the inside front cover was by Leo Hartas.

Intertextual ReferencesEdit

  • Astragal from Chasms of Malice returns, the region of Kazan in Khul being the area directly to the west of Gorak which is where Chasms of Malice was set.

Other MediaEdit

Main CharactersEdit

YOU: Hero of Daggers of Darkness

LocationsEdit

EncountersEdit

Further NotesEdit

  • This is the last gamebook till Deathmoor to offer the player one of the three generic potions at the start of the adventure.

ErrorsEdit

  • (179) should say to deduct 3 stamina points for using Treffilli instead of 1.
  • You can't know how to use Treffilli in (243), so (10) is unreachable. This leaves just two places where you can use it, meaning you can exhaust no more than half of your original supply; yet there are three places where you can acquire more Treffilli, one of them on a path where you can't know how to use it.
  • You can't have Darkfight in (317). You can't not have Darkfight in (3) or (135). And those are all the fights that reference Darkfight, so the book shouldn't ever have to ask if you have it!

DedicationEdit

To the Return of the Hero
with help from
Colin Meikle
Michael Bishop
Karl Johan Durr Sorenson
and A.I.B.

See AlsoEdit

ReviewsEdit

External LinksEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. ↑ Interview with Martin McKenna at the Internet Archive record of Advancedfightingfantasy.com
  2. ↑ Daggers of Darkness - Back Cover ("Golden Dragon" Edition)
Retrieved from "http://fightingfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Daggers_of_Darkness?oldid=68409"
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