Hi all! I'm sorry for the late post. Gearing up for work is happening and then I've almost finished the sections for a gamebook (I'll do a post on that another day!) and I got a little too focused on finishing it.
This post is about the Savage Realms gamebook series. This is to coincide with a new release in the series called Balance of Fate.
This post contains information about Savage Realms, Balance of Fate and the artwork here is from Balance of Fate.
You can currently get a pdf of Balance of Fate from Drive Thru RPG.
Here are other Savage Realms links:
Savage Realms Gamebooks | Facebook
Savage Realms Gamebooks (@gamebook_adventures) • Instagram photos and videos
Savage Realms Gamebooks (@SGamebooks) / Twitter
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| Keep an eye out for it. |
Balance of Fate is 715 pages long with over 80 illustrations and fillustrations combined. It is the culmination of over 3 years of writing for me so I'm very excited to finally be sharing it with the world.
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He never gets invited to parties because
he has nobody to go with. |
Here is an except from the book:
It is late afternoon when you unexpectedly stumble upon the remnants of a long and forgotten city from a bygone era. The crumbling ruins have long since been invaded by the forest, and with the exception of a few miniature, boar-like creatures darting in and out of hiding, the place appears to be deserted. An uncanny and unsettling silence hangs heavily over the place, even more so than what you experienced in the forest.
With little alternative but to continue moving forward, you pick your way through what was obviously the city’s gates at one time. Before you and flanked on both sides by the advanced architecture of the ancient and long-dead metropolis, is a broad, paved avenue that seems to run right through the middle of the city. Almost immediately, you are confronted with the uncomfortable sensation that you are being watched. Looking up, you are startled to discover that the rooftops and upper story windows of every building are literally lined with monkeys. What makes this even more disturbing and unsettling, is the fact that every one of them is just sitting there motionless and staring down at you in silence.
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| A story with a sting in the tail. |
A short time later, the avenue finds its end and you find yourself standing at the edge of a large, circular plaza and what seems to be the very heart of the city itself.
Suddenly, a shrill, pulsating hum fills the air and begins to reverberate throughout the city. Quickly finding cover inside a nearby building, you watch in terrified astonishment as a large, saucer-shaped object descends from the sky above, coming to rest in the air just above the plaza. Its appearance is like that of liquefied metal and as it hovers in midair, its mirror-like surface reflects the entire panorama of the sky, the city, and even the surrounding forest. Even as you stand there transfixed and wondering what manner of sorcery this is, an opening materializes in the bottom of the floating phenomenon and a flat, disc-like object emerges and gently lands in the plaza.
For several moments you wait, watching intently from your place of hiding, but nothing happens...
Pressing on, you have not ventured far when the passage makes an abrupt swing to the left, and it is here that the way forward becomes significantly smaller and more narrow. Worse still, the tunnel begins to dip down and is now partially submerged underwater ― no doubt caused by massive flooding within this particular area.
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| Jawsome |
Deciding the best course of action is to keep moving forward, you slowly and cautiously step down into the crystal-clear, knee-deep water with Avril-Lyn close behind you. It soon becomes apparent as you plod along that, although gradual, the water is definitely getting deeper. By this time, the water level has reached your waist and with the ceiling rapidly getting closer and closer with each passing moment, you quickly realize at this rate, the passageway will soon be beneath the water entirely. It is not long before you find yourselves standing neck-deep with the ceiling now just barely above your heads.
“Looks like we’re going for a swim,” says Avril-Lyn wryly. “Fortunately, it just so happens I have a spell for such an occasion as this...”
The sorceress utters an incantation, and much to your complete surprise and utter amazement, gills instantly appear on both sides of your neck and on Avril-Lyn’s as well! Slipping beneath the surface of the water, you marvel as the filaments within your newly-formed gills immediately begin extracting the dissolved oxygen from the water, enabling you to breathe with ease as you resume your path forward.
Kicking your feet and using your hands and arms to maneuver, you are astonished by how clean and clear the water is. The very same bluish-green crystals that illuminated the passages before now light the way forward with a ghostly underwater glow, at the same time, allowing you to see quite some distance ahead.
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| He's not 'armless |
The watery passage continues its downward slope, simultaneously meandering back and forth in true aimless fashion. After a span, it begins to rapidly expand, and before long, you find yourselves in a massive, underwater grotto teeming with an abundance of life, both plant and animal. You quickly realize what you initially thought was just a flooded passageway is actually part of a much-larger and vibrant, underwater ecosystem fed by an underground spring. Schools of fish swim in
synchronicity as they zigzag as one through the water, while still other, more solitary individuals dart in and out of the aquatic flora growing copiously all over the floor of the cave. You also see several strange, bioluminescent, tentacled creatures closely resembling jellyfish hovering in place as if suspended from above by an invisible line. Fascinated, you stretch out your hand to touch one, but it quickly glides away.
Carefully assessing your underwater surroundings, you notice at least three passages diverging from the cavern you and Avril-Lyn are currently in. A mysterious light source emanates from the passageway to your immediate right. In addition, there is also a passageway almost directly above you and the opening of another just ahead on the cavern floor...
No words will ever accurately convey the horrific scene that now meets your eyes as you enter the throne room. It is a sight so grisly and so ghastly as to make even the bravest of adventurers grow faint of heart. Thousands of human skulls adorn the walls in a grotesque exhibit of the macabre ― a mass grave literally put on display in this gruesome chamber of horrors! The very same, knee-deep, supernatural mist swirls about the entire room and a low, ethereal hum only adds to the frightening reality of the moment now before you.
At the far end of the immense and elongated chamber, and rising up and out of the mist like a mountaintop breaching the clouds, is a massive throne composed completely out of skulls. Seated on the throne is the Dark Overlord himself, the Lich Lord, Sineus ― his withered hands clutching a staff pulsating with dark and evil magic. You can also see the skeletal remains of his many victims scattered about the dais and stairs before him.
“Foolish mortal!” the Lich Lord sneers from his throne, his voice resonating throughout the chamber. “By your own hand, you have sealed your fate on this day! But your pain will not end with your death, for my wrath will be cruelly exacted upon your soul!”
Erupting into maniacal laughter, the Lich Lord slams the butt end of his staff to the floor, and then, raising it towards the ceiling, launches a devastating blast of energy at you…
You can currently get a pdf of Balance of Fate from Drive Thru RPG.
Other links:
Savage Realms Gamebooks | Facebook
Savage Realms Gamebooks (@gamebook_adventures) • Instagram photos and videos
Savage Realms Gamebooks (@SGamebooks) / Twitter
History of Savage Realms
There were two Savage Realms books that were created by Brian Henson and Troy Anthony Schermer. Troy is now doing gamebooks as a solo effort.
Its current releases are:
Labyrinth: The Lich Lord's Lair: 1 (The Legorian Kings Saga): Amazon.co.uk: TroyAnthony Schermer, Brian Henson and, Shkipin, Ilya: 9781092418386: Books
Not only can it be played as a solo quest, but it can also be modified to be a 4-player co-op, with each of the multiple storylines contained within culminating in the final, climactic confrontation with the Lich Lord, himself!
Escape from Darkmoor Keep: Amazon.co.uk: TroyAnthony Schermer, Brian Henson and, Shkipin, Ilya: 9798564564748: Books
Killing the Lich Lord was just the beginning.... Now, with no memory or knowledge of how you got there or even why, you find yourself trapped on the mysterious and savage island of Darkmoor Keep. But can you survive long enough to solve the mystery, or will you become just another one of the island's many casualties?
Savage Realms Gamebooks | Facebook
Savage Realms Gamebooks (@gamebook_adventures) • Instagram photos and videos
Savage Realms Gamebooks (@SGamebooks) / Twitter
