It is wise to ask for feedback about a project once it is done and that is what the Tossing it Out blog has done, so I thought I would be helpful and provide some feedback. I will copy this blog in its format of breaking down the aspects of the contest.
On my education.
Going through my gamebook collection and researching villains has been a great way for me to find out how to make a good villain for a story. The different villains have different styles, but good villains make themselves known to the hero through henchmen, traps and diabolical schemes. In a gamebook, you have to make the reader want to get this villain. You want the villain to be the reader's nemesis and not some tough fight at the end of the gamebook. The villain needs individuality. They need something for the reader to remember them by. The villain also needs to not pull any punches. James Bond Villains have lost their X factor for me because you know that even when they capture Bond they will just have dinner with him for a bit before tryin to kill him and then they don't do it effectively like shooting him. I think Dr Evil from the Austin Powers movies sums it up perfectly:
"No Scott, I have a better idea. I'm going to place him in an easily escapable situation involving an overly elaborate and exotic death."
Back to what the challenge did for me - it made me go out there and do a lot of research into an integral part of gamebooks. Thanks for that.
On posting
I did all of the posts in advance, so this was OK. This was also the first time I scheduled my posts, so I learnt to do that because of my challenge.
In case you're wondering how to schedule posts, go to post options, then enter a time and a date, then click publish (I clicked save now at first which still saves it as a draft). Your post will appear at the designated time and date.
On visiting
I visited a few blogs. I visited the people who visited me and then clicked a few at random on the Tossing it Out list. My efforts dropped off as the month went on though.
On following
I am now following more blogs that I like to keep up with. Some are about gaming, some arene't but I find them all interesting. Most of the blogs that I am following from the A to Z challenge belong to people who took the time and effort to comment on my blog. I think following a blog is a lot about building relationships.
On comments
I'd like to thank all the people who commented on my blog, especially the ones who confessed to knowing very little about my posts. I guess that gamebooks are quite a niche subject but I would like to open it up which is why I did a call for questions on my gamebooks for dummies post. I would love to have a bigger audience (what blogger wouldn't) and I would love all of them to understand what I was writing about so that they can get as much from gamebooks as I have.
Overall, the challenge has been extremely beneficial for me. April has provided me with a record number of viewings, thirteen extra followers, some more blogs for me to absorb knowledge from and a deeper understanding of gamebooks. My only regret is not visiting many other blogs. I started out with good intentions but it got tiring for me. Of course I am planning a wedding and working a full time job at the moment so that may be the reason. There is just too much good stuff out there and I'd like to thank Tossing it Out for providing a window into that.
Finally, this post has three other challenges that you could take part in. Due to the aforementioned wedding planning, I am not taking part in them. However, a challenge is always good to test your limits so I recommend doing something of the kind.
Here are all of the blogs that are doing a reflective post on the April A to Z:
Sunday, May 1, 2011
No more villainous posts..?
I'm glad that I did it. I have discovered a lot of great blogs that I wouldn't have found otherwise and I shall be following them with interest from now on.
I have learnt a lot from making these blogs. First of all, I have had a good analysis of what makes a good villain. Villains seem to be integral to a story, sometimes even more so that heroes.
Alfred Hitchcock said 'The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture' and this certainly rings true for the gamebook villains that I have analysed. The gamebook villains that have come top have been within inches of victory or already have cities or countries under their control and a horde of henchmen to foil your every move.
Villains also seem to hold an attraction with others. Many other blogs have focused on villains or named villains as part of their posts such as:
Adventures that score
Coffee Thoughts
The Waiting is the Hardest Part
Breaking Fantasy
Also, Jonathan Green has written numerous posts with villains as the theme:
B is for Baddies
Q is for Quezkari
Z is for Zagor
Guess the Book Cover (where Jonathan has a lego version of one of his book covers showing one of his villains)
Guess the Villain ( where Jonathan has made a lego version of one of his villains)
Lego Fighting Fantasy Villains (where Jonathan gives you step by step instructions on how to make your own lego Belgaroth).
Of course, there were probably posts about heroes too. I don't know who would get more posts about them - heroes or villains?
But enough with the analysis. Here's the final ranking of the villains and next week, I will write about what I have learnt makes a good villain.
So without further ado, here are the rankings for the April A to Z League of Gamebook Villains...
So there we have it! Gnaag is the best (worst?) villain out of the 26 villains we profiled. This is due to the fact that he was a constant thorn in the side to Lone Wolf over several books, managed to conquer most of Northern Magnamund and kept control over the other Darklords who are a violent backstabbing bunch at the best of times. Congratulations!
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| I'd like to thank Naar who spawned me... |
Not surprisingly, most of the bottom rankings are held by servants and henchmen who, by definition of their roles scored very low on ambition. Most of them also scored low on prominence because they were hardly in the book apart from the scene where you kill them. However, my sympathies to poor Ikiru for scoring lower than Darramous. He must be sulking in his pit right now.
Next week, I'll go over what makes a good villain from what I've learnt about this lot. But for now it's...
On the other hand, there are plenty of other gamebook villains that I haven't covered purely because their name starts with a popular letter of the alphabet, so I will be doing more villain posts in the future. If you have any suggestions for villains, please leave a comment.
Onwards to May. Arion games is releasing Advanced Fighting Fantasy 2nd Edition. I've pre ordered my copy and I will do a review on it at some point, probably in late June as May is going to be a very busy time for me this year and although I've scheduled all of May's posts, I won't be on the blog much as I've got a lot on. I will go into detail about what on May 29th's post.
Have a good week!
Have a good week!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
April A to Z - Z is for Zharradon Marr
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| He needs to feed his pets properly. |
Background: Zharradon Marr is one of the Demonic three. After his apprentiship ended with the murder of his master, he managed to get ownership of a gold mine and with the gold, he bought a training ground for his soldiers and mananged to capture a flying ship. He is currently experimenting with creating new creatures with the aim of making a perfect monster for war.
Prominence: Creature of Havoc has a very in depth background which highlights a lot of people from Marr's life. You can meet most of these people in your wanderings. 9/10.
Hardness: You cannot kill Zharradon Marr and if you annoy him, he will use his magic on you. you can only win if you have a crystal club and the vapours of life. And even then, you don't kill him. you only destroy the portal to his dimension. 10/10.
Ambition: Marr wants to conquer Allansia 9/10.
Style: Zharradon Marr has worked hard to get a smooth operation and a big organisation. He has a cool flying ship, a castle in a forest and a gold mine. His most trusted henchmen are very individual with the half troll Thugruff, the sadistic Darramous and the sick and wrong Quimmel Bone amongst many others. 8/10.
Diabolical genius: Marr can create life forms. You are his creation and your whole quest is a test of your abilities. Marr has several sadistic traps such as a portal that creates endless chaos warriors, a robe that causes hunger and a zombie that shoots flames out of its eyes. 9/10.
Total score: Marr is a tough adversary to get the better of and you don't actually kill him in the end. You can only destroy his portal. 45/50.
Friday, April 29, 2011
April A to Z - Y is for Yourself
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| He's not a nice man. If you meet him, you may feel cut up about it. |
Appears in: Crimson Tide (Fighting Fantasy 47) by Paul Mason.
Summary: The mercenary leader wears a demonic mask and leads a band of mercanaries. They raze your village, kill your father and carry off your mother to be a slave. The aim of the book is to avenge them.
Prominence: The leader and his men appear a few times in the book before the showdown, including in your mind as well. 5/10.
Hardness: The mercenary leader has a skill of 12 and a stamina of 18, making him very hard. He is heavily armoured. There is not much chance of slaying him in combat although he is vulnerable to magic. 7/10
Ambition: He just wanders around the country causing trouble. Of course, he may be some aspect of your dark side so it's pretty hard to tell. 5/10.
Style: It's all about the mask. Is it magical? does it represent you being taken over by your rage and hatred? If you put it on, a crimson tide descends forever. Your opponent has a face similar to yours when you finally see it. Beyond the mask, he's just a tough warrior. 4/10
Diabolical genius: He's probably a good tactician but he has no grand plan. 4/10
Total score: You should be glad that your dark side is just basically a powerful warrior with nothing else to do. 25/50
So that is 'yourself'. However, there are plenty of times when you are your own worst enemy in gamebooks and in a future post, I will list stupid decisions that you can make in gamebooks.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
April A to Z - X is for Xakhaz
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| I'd hate to be his tailor. |
Appears in: Beneath Nightmare Castle (Fighting Fantasy 25) by Peter Darvill-Evans.
Background: Was an archmage of the despicable gods of Zagoula. He was defeated three centuries ago and his spirit was sealed beneath the city of Neuberg. He has been awakened by a sorceress who has gained control over the ruler of Neuberg, Baron Tholdur and has moved into his castle. He is now sending lots of disgusting beasts into the town and killing innocents.
Prominence: Almost all of the encounters in the book are because of Xakhaz. The swordsmen are there because they want to raise Xakhaz from the dead. The Lovecraftian monsters are Xakhaz's creations. There are many other sadistic encounters such as being attacked by Baron Tholdur's daughter who is wearing a crazed suit of plate mail or by a crazy goo driven robot who calls himself Skarlos (the hero who slew Xakhaz three centuries ago). Xakhaz clearly likes to revel in his insanity. 9/10
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| It's not a barrel of laughs. |
Ambition: Wants to become lord of all Khul. 9/10
Style: Xakhaz is Lovecraftian through and through. Neuberg Keep his not his place, but he's making it his own with his tentacled horrors, diseased mutants, 'head juice' to drink and general terror that could snap you sanity at any point. Unlike most other sorcerers, he is a huge mound of limbs and other body parts that have been sewn together. Great. 9/10.
Diabolical genius: Xakhaz's ways are defeating you are unique in the sense that death is one of the better options. Madness is his main weapon. Xakhaz has also created his own unique monsters that can drive someone insane as much as tear them to pieces. In fact, Xakhaz doesn't kill many people unless he wants some body parts. He's actually quite efficient. He also has a sick sense of humour. Instead of locking up the baron's daughter he puts her in a suit of plate mail which attacks people. He lets Senyakhaz control the baron's mind and he creates a mockery of his former killer. What a joker. 9/10.
Total score: Xakhaz is great. Most evil sorcerers like to cause terror and mayhem but most evil sorcerers also prefer to have the boring bipedal body structure and just employ orcs to do their dirty work. Most evil sorcerers are also not completely insane. These sorcerers have a lot to learn from Xakhaz. 44/50
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
April A to Z - W is for The Winter King
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| He thinks he's so cool. |
Summary: The Winter King lives in the tower of Frostfinger which also holds the Spirit Stone, gem which holds the souls of many people. The Spirit Stone can be used by you as a powerful weapon against Unthank, but the Winter King will not just let you take it.
Prominence: He owns his own tower, but he plays no other part in the book. 2/10
Hardness: His tower is tough to infiltrate. If you can't fly, you have to fight several ice ghosts to get across a frozen lake to the tower. When you enter the tower, you climb stairs which seem to take an eternity to cross and then you may have to fight a hellhorn, a coldclaw and a hellhorn champion. When you do get the spirit stone, you then have to face the Winter King himself who first sends 1-6 ice ghosts against you before fighting you himself. He has a skill of 11 and a stamina of 14, which makes him a tough opponent. In addition, being killed by the Winter King means that your adventure is over for good, unlike most combats in Night of the Necromancer where you get another chance. 8/10
Ambition: He really wants to keep the Spirit Stone, live in his tower and stay king of winter but that's about it. 5/10
Style: He ccertainly fits the 'winter' bill. Less so with the king thing although you may have just caught him in his armour rather than his royal gear that day. Ice based villains occur quite often. The Winter King has the added extra of an army of ghosts, so bonus points there. 6/10
Diabolical genius: He basically sends lots of creatures to fight you and then fights you himself. 1/10
Total score: The Winter King is a strong opponent but we don't really get a wider picture of his power beyond trying to steal the Spirit Stone. 22/50
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
April A to Z - V is for Vonotar the Traitor
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| It's a blast. |
Background: Vonotar was a member of the wizards' guild of Toran but he betrayed them for the magical power of the Darklords' wizards. He then ends up in Kalte, controlling the mind of the ice barbarian chieftain. You catch him and Vonotar is thrown into the shadow gate which leads to another dimension. You also get thrown into the shadow gate a few years later where you come across him again. And he's annoyed.
Prominence: Vonotar or his servants are not prominent in any of the books, but he is one of the few recurring gamebook villains. Bonus marks for this. 6/10.
Hardness: With a power ring he wields, Vonotar has a combat skill of 30 and an endurence of 21. He is immune to Psi surge and mindblast. His endurance is quite low, but his combat skill is quite high for an ordinary wizard (I expect the power ring improves it). He also manages to blast you and damage you for five endurence points before the combat and before you get near to him, you have to fight five notorious criminals from Sommerlund which have a combat skill of 38 and and endurance of 46 together. Killing him and the five criminals is a pretty tough job even with all of the combat skill raising weapons and skills you have. 7/10.
Ambition: Vonotar's orginal ambition is more magical power, but then he tries to take over ice barbarian tribes. His ambition in the Prisoners of Time is to get home. Ultimately, Vonotar is a lackey to the Darklords and so can't get too high a score in ambition. 4/10
Style: Quite typical wizard with a typical modus operandi of wizards. 4/10
Diabolical genius: He manages to get the Kai Lords killed but after his initial betrayal, his genius kind of stops there. 4/10
Total score: When it comes to Lone Wolf's enemies, Vonotar is a small fish that resurfaces more than once. 25/50.
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