Thursday, April 21, 2011

April A to Z - R is for Razaak

Seven heads are better than one.
Appears in:  Crypt of the Sorcerer (Fighting Fantasy 26) by Ian Livingstone.

Background:  Was once an apprentice to a lawful wizard but turned away from that and demanded that several nobles relinquish their power to him.  When they didn't he, sent lots of plagues and tormented them until a warrior killed him.  He was sealed in a tomb but it was decreed that the tomb should not be opened for one hundred and ten years or Razaak will return and destroy all life (which idiot did that?  Shouldn't they have just decreed that Razaak will be dead for all eternity).  Someone didn't get the memo.

Prominence:  Razaak's servants are all over the place, causing havoc for you or anyone who lives in Allansia.  His servants include a dragon so he has some serious firepower.  Most of your encounters are caused by Razaak.  8/10

Hardness:  Razaak has several spells that will instantly kill you if you don't have the correct items. He also has a skill of 12 and a stamina of 20 making him a formidable warrior, but the kicker is that if he hits you twice in a row, you automatically die.  He can also only be killed by one weapon which will turn you into a skeleton eventually.  It is not for nothing that people say that Crypt of the Sorcerer is unfair. 11/10

Ambition:  The destruction of all life.  10/10

Style:  He lives in a bog standard evil sorcerer crypt and he has a horde of everyday chaotics but he has also recruited Ungoth, the Skeleton King (he must be good if a king is taking orders from him), a dragon and lots of undead.  5/10.

Diabolical genius:  Strapping Yaztromo to a pentagram, sending a dragon against you, having an undead skeleton king ask you weird questions are all part of Razaak's repertoire (I've just made him sound like a stage magician).  Most of Razaak's servants just attack you, however and if he was really clever, he would have had one of his own servants find his sword first and not have left it in a lake for anyone to take.  5/10.

Total score:  An powerful and almost indestructable sorcerer has recruited powerful and almost indestructable servants to destroy all life.  He could have worked harder on some details but killing Razaak is an almost impossible challenge.  39/50.

1 comment:

  1. sounds like an interesting RPG. Too bad I don't have time to play. sigh.
    Great meeting you through the a-z!

    nutschell
    www.thewritingnut.com

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