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Fighting Fantasy Gamebook
Outline
Location: Old World, Titan
References: 400
Publication Details
Author(s): Keith Martin

Illustrator(s): Martin McKenna
Puffin
FF58 Dragon No Foil
Cover illustrator: Les Edwards
First published: May 25 1995
Number 58
ISBN: ISBN 0-14-037245-8
Previous Book: Magehunter
Next Book: Curse of the Mummy
Wizard (Series 1)
Wizard (Series 2)
Scholastic


For other uses of Revenge of the Vampire, see Revenge of the Vampire

Revenge of the Vampire is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Keith Martin, illustrated by Martin McKenna and originally published in 1995 by Puffin Books. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 58th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-037245-8). There are currently no announced plans to republish this book as part of the Scholastic series.

Creation[]

"On one occasion the editor at Puffin Tippexed out some rivulets of blood I had running across a vampire lady's cleavage."[1]

Background[]

Count Heydrich, Vampire, is back from the dead!

A half-forgotten evil has arisen from the grave to stalk the Old World in search of fresh blood and new victims to enslave. Count Reiner Heydrich, undead Vampire Lord, is ancient beyond the reckoning of mortals. This time, however, there is someone on his trail, a brave hero who is determined that he shall not succeed in his evil plans. That someone is YOU!

FIGHTING FANTASY — THE WORLD'S MOST POPULAR ADVENTURE GAMEBOOK SERIES

Revenge of the Vampire - Back Cover ("Dragon" Edition)


Introduction[]

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

Unique Rules[]

  • The first choice given to the player is actually in the "Background" prologue, and play does not begin on section 1.
  • The attribute of faith returns (it had appeared in the Vault of the Vampire) and remains 1d6 plus 3 roll. Unlike the usual three scores, the faith score can exceed its Initial value. A player's faith is tested throughout the book in manner similar to Testing Your Luck.[2]
  • A variation on Testing Your Skill appears as Testing Your Spot Skill which is worked out the same way, but is used to determine if you notice something of interest or not.[3]
  • The book uses blood points to monitor the strength of the enemy and determines how powerful they are when the player fights them at the end of the adventure.[4]
  • The player can not carry more than 12 Provisions at any one time.[5]
  • The player can also get certain "Afflictions" during the adventure (although unlike Vault of the Vampire there is not a special box to record these).[6]

Equipment List[7][]

Cover and Illustrations[]

Covers[]

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

Revenge of the Vampire Cover Variants
1995
FF58 Dragon No Foil
Dragon ver.IV
£3.991

NOTES
  1. Price of 1st Impression

Illustrations[]

The interior illustrations were by Martin McKenna. There were 29 full page illustrations and 6 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the text. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: 13, 26, 39, 52, 66, 81, 96, 110, 125, 139, 151, 164, 177, 191, 206, 221, 233, 248, 262, 274, 285, 298, 313, 328, 343, 353, 365, 376 and 388.

The black and white interior map was by Jonathan Green.

Intertextual References[]

The location of Mauristatia was reused by Jonathan Green in Howl of the Werewolf.

Sequel[]

The book is a sequel to previous Fighting Fantasy book Vault of the Vampire, the only direct sequel to be written by an author other than the series' co-creators.

Other Media[]

Main Characters[]

YOU: Hero of Revenge of the Vampire

Locations[]

Encounters[]

Further Notes[]

  • Revenge of the Vampire makes extensive use of code names and code numbers. It is often the case that the player must convert the letters of a name into a number (the sum of A=1, B=2, C=3, etc.), or turn to a number (or some total involving the number) encountered earlier in the adventure.
  • Keith Martin uses non-standard, country dialect of English for the speech of a number of (lower-status) characters in Revenge of the Vampire.
  • Revenge of the Vampire is the only gamebook within the original FF series giving you an option of starting at a paragraph other than 1. However, if you make the wrong choice subsequently, this means it is possible to fail the adventure without actually reading paragraph 1!
  • Within the Heydrich Manor, the player may encounter two Vampyres. The accompanying illustration and the name for these adversaries have obviously been inspired by the 1974 UK horror film Vampyres by José Larraz.
  • Part of Revenge of the Vampire is set in The Shamutanti Hills, making it (to date) the only Fighting Fantasy gamebook outside the Sorcery! series to use Kakhabad as a location.

Errors[]

Unfortunately there are a number of errors and continuity problems in Revenge of the Vampire, and some of these may be fatal for finishing the adventure. These errors include:

  • You can go from (140) to (203) which, although not fatal, means that continuity is disturbed (you visit the coaching inn again). (140) perhaps ought to lead to (155) or (279). It's unlikely it leads to 155 as you must have the Codex to get to that paragraph, and you might not have it.
  • (5) gives the option of turning to (98). This should rather be to (166).
  • (322) gives the option of turning to (399). This should rather be to (393).
  • To get Sewarth's Codex the player needs to buy a Horse and then buy a room in the Inn. However, to buy a horse it costs all of the player's Gold Pieces, no matter how many they have (276), and with no opportunities to get gold on the trip, it is impossible to get into the inn. If you don't buy the horse, Reiner leaves the inn before you get there. Therefore, it is completely impossible to get Sewarth's Codex without cheating!
  • Page 8 refers to magic points but these do not feature in the gamebook. It should refer to the faith score.
  • The "Adventure Sheet" incorrectly features three boxes for skill and none for stamina or luck.
     
  • (8) says that to go to a previously unknown part of the monastery, convert its names into numbers and turn to that page. The indicated location is at (56), but the sum of the numbers is 57.
  • (368) says that if we've stolen the ring from Igor at (244) we should go to (210) where we meet with Igor – again. If we don't have the ring, we find the room empty. This suggests that the sections (210) and (142) were mixed up since we should encounter an empty room when we've already finished the servant. This is corrected in the second impression.
  • (278) starts as With a wave of your handyour should probably read his.
  • (121) the Mega Ghoul's skill score is 10.
  • (365) Harquay should read Harquar.
  • (379) has the option of turning to (108), or (140) if you have the ring [7 gems x 20]. But (140) doesn't have the option to use the Codex while (108) does. This suggests the paragraphs need to be swapped around since it's not possible to have the ring without the Codex.
  • (243) says to test your Faith to see if you get hypnotized. The test should fail if you roll higher than your Faith, not lower, because a high Faith should protect you from hypnosis.
  • (334) you must pay 1 Gold for the information and are given the option to work for the Gold. The wording implies that you should go to (89) if you work and earn the Gold, this should rather be (358).
  • (177) the huge Basilisk has two SKILL and no STAMINA. "SKILL 8 SKILL 10" should read "SKILL 8 STAMINA 10".
  • (87) "Test your Skill" should be "Test your Spot Skill" (do you spot the coach or not?). This error does not affect the gameplay because a Skill test is required in both cases.

Dedication[]

none

See Also[]


Reviews[]

External Links[]

References[]

  1. Interview with Martin McKenna at the Internet Archive record of Advancedfightingfantasy.com - Retrieved 2019-10-26
  2. Revenge of the Vampire - pg.8
  3. Revenge of the Vampire - pg.14
  4. Revenge of the Vampire - pg.17-18
  5. Revenge of the Vampire - pg.16
  6. Revenge of the Vampire - pg.19
  7. Revenge of the Vampire - pg.18-19
  8. Revenge of the Vampire - pg.15
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