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The Seven Serpents (book)

From Titannica

Sorcery! Gamebook
Outline
Location Kakhabad, Old World, Titan
References 498
Publication details
Author(s) Steve Jackson
Illustrator John Blanche
Puffin
Cover illustrator John Blanche
First published 1984
Number 3 (in Sorcery! series)
ISBN ISBN 0-14-031809-7
Previous Book Kharé - Cityport of Traps
Next Book The Crown of Kings
Wizard
Cover illustrator Mel Grant
First published 2003
Number 13 (in main series)
ISBN ISBN 1-84-046435-6
Previous Book Trial of Champions
Next Book Armies of Death


For other uses of The Seven Serpents, see The Seven Serpents (disambiguation)

The Seven Serpents is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Steve Jackson, illustrated by John Blanche, originally published in 1984 by Puffin Books, and is the third book in the Sorcery! epic. Upon completion of Kharé - Cityport of Traps, the player finds themselves standing at the beginning of the Baklands, a bleak and empty wasteland which must be crossed in order to reach Mampang Fortress. While travelling the player must locate the titular Seven Serpents, messengers of the Archmage travelling to Mampang to warn him of the player's presence. The degree of success achieved by the player in this will have a direct impact upon the challenges faced in the final book. This is the most linear entry in the series and the most challenging so far, as the player must defeat as many of the seven serpents as possible, though not all of them need to be defeated. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It was unnumbered in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-031809-7), but is 13th in the modern Wizard "Series 1" (ISBN 1-84-046435-6).

Contents

[edit] Creation

[edit] Background

“ The fate of the land of Kakhabad is in YOUR hands!

Seven deadly and magical serpents speed ahead of you to warn the evil Archmage of your coming. Will you be able to catch them before they get there?

Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are all you need for this adventure – YOU decide which paths to take, which dangers to risk and which monsters to fight.

Complete with all the magical spells you will need, The Seven Serpents can be played either on its own, or as part of the whole epic.[1] 		”

[edit] Rules

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

[edit] Unique Rules

  • The introductory rules offer the reader a choice of a "simple" (where no magic is used and fights are run according to standard Fighting Fantasy combat) or an "advanced" game (which relies heavily on magic).
  • The player has a series of magic spells that can be used, each costing between 1 and 4 stamina points.
  • The player may also call upon the help of Libra, the goddess of Justice, once in the adventure (she may not be called upon again till the events of The Crown of Kings). In calling on her the player may ask for "Revitalization" (restoration of skill, stamina, or luck points to their Initial level; "Escape" which allows you (when the text offers it) to escape a situation; or "Removal of Curses and Diseases" which can take place at any time and removal all curses or diseases that the player labours under at the time.

[edit] Equipment List

The list below is what the player begins with if they start this book having not played Kharé - Cityport of Traps, otherwise they begin the adventure with what they had left over from the end of that book:

[edit] Covers and Illustrations

Covers

The original cover of the book was designed and illustrated by John Blanche.

When the book was republished by Wizard the cover was re-worked by Mel Grant.

The Seven Serpents through the years
1984 1987 1993 2003 2003
Zig-Zag Banner Dragon No Bronze-Foil Wizard "Special
Limited Edition" 		Wizard
£1.951 £? £4.502 £5.99 £5.99
  1. Price of 1st~4th Impressions (Puffin printing and incorporating The Sorcery Spell Book)
  2. Price of 11th Impression

Illustrations

The interior illustrations were by John Blanche.

[edit] Intertextual References

[edit] Other Media

[edit] d20 System Conversion

Main article: The Seven Serpents (d20)

There is a D20 System conversion by Myriador called Sorcery 3: The Seven Serpents.

[edit] Main Characters

YOU! - Hero of Sorcery!

[edit] Locations

[edit] Encounters

[edit] Further Notes

  • The Sorcery! series originally began publication under the main Penguin Books brand rather than the Puffin imprint. This was the first to first be published by Puffin Books. In the United Kingdom it was therefore never published by Penguin. However, in the United States of America the book was published by Penguin, with the same cover illustration (the only main difference being that the Adventure Gamebooks banner was not used in the US, being a Puffin brand. Instead Penguin continued with the Coloured Number format in the US for the Sorcery! series, with this book having the number 3 in a blue triangle in the top right hand corner.

[edit] Errors

  • What colour is the snake that turns into the Serpent of Fire? It is red, as at (117), or yellow, as at (148)?
  • It is not possible to arrive at (393) without having defeated at least two Serpents (Air and Time), yet the reference asks if you have killed or incapacitated only one serpent or none at all.
  • The player can obtain a small vial of gas from Dintainta to aid against the Sleepless Ram. Upon reaching Mampang, the "gas" has become a small vial of "liquid".
  • You can get stuck on the shore of Lake Ilklala if you don't know how to summon the Ferryman, yet not be able to call on Libra for assistance even if you haven't called on her before during this part of the Epic.

[edit] Dedication

To Margery, Harry ... their own special creation!

[edit] See Also

[edit] Reviews

[edit] External Links

[edit] References

  1. ↑ The Seven Serpents - Back Cover ("Adventure Gamebooks" Edition)
Steve Jackson
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain
 The Citadel of Chaos
 Starship Traveller
 The Shamutanti Hills
 The Sorcery Spell Book
 Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-playing Game
 Kharé - Cityport of Traps
House of Hell
 The Seven Serpents
 The House of Hell
 The Crown of Kings
 Appointment with F.E.A.R.
 Creature of Havoc
 The Riddling Reaver
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