Creature Of Havoc
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''Creature of Havoc'' is a single-player roleplaying
gamebook A gamebook is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Each narrative typically does not ...
written by British game designer Steve Jackson (not to be confused with the US game designer of the same name), illustrated by Alan Langford and originally published in 1986 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2002. It forms part of Jackson and
Ian Livingstone Sir Ian Livingstone (born 29 December 1949) is an English fantasy author and entrepreneur. Along with Steve Jackson, he is the co-founder of the '' Fighting Fantasy'' series of role-playing gamebooks, and the author of many books within that ...
's fictional ''
Fighting Fantasy ''Fighting Fantasy'' is a series of single-player role-playing gamebooks created by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone. The first volume in the series was published in paperback by Puffin in 1982. The series distinguished itself by mixing Choo ...
'' series, and is the last ''Fighting Fantasy'' gamebook written by Jackson. It is the 24th in the series in the original Puffin series () and 4th in the modern Wizard series ().


Gameplay

There are two small additions to the rules given the story circumstances: damage to the creature (the player) is reduced by 1 STAMINA point due to its tough hide, while rolling a double on the dice when determining the player's attack strength will instantly kill an enemy. The player begins the adventure as the "creature of havoc" of the title, an unidentified, violent beast with no concept of who or where they are. Because the creature cannot make its own decisions, it is governed by instinct, and die rolls are initially used to determine which pages to turn to, rather than the player's own choice. This changes once the character finds a particular item early in the game which allows the player to make choices.


Story

The book begins with an extensive background section detailing the recent history of an area of Allansia known as the Trolltooth Pass. A necromancer named Zharradan Marr has been gathering a small army and is particularly feared as a practitioner of marrangha, a type of black magic that involves the transformation of limbs and organs from one creature to another. Three "Vapours" have been stolen from an elven village. These vapours are benevolent spirits which bestow the gifts of reason, languages and elven magic. The player begins the adventure as the titular "creature of havoc", an unidentified, violent beast with no concept of who or where they are. The creature gradually recovers the ability to reason and communicate and must learn what has happened and why. Because the creature cannot make its own decisions, it is governed by instinct. Once it finds the Vapour of Reason, it is able to make choices. The creature proceeds through the dungeon, killing a number of adventurers before finding the Vapour of Languages, which allows the creature to understand what others are saying. The creature escapes from the dungeon, killing Darramouss, one of Marr's allies, in the process. The creature then elects to help a group of witches by collecting a particular root. Whilst doing this, it saves the life of a Half-Orc named Grog, who eventually returns the favour by saving the creature, at the expense of his own life. The creature picks up the bag that Grog was carrying and finds a box similar to the one which the Vapours of Reason and Language were encased in. As a reward for retrieving the root, the witches lead the creature to an elf, the original thief of the Vapours, whom the creature can extort for information on how to access the ''Galleykeep'', Marr's flying vessel. Aboard the ''Galleykeep'' Marr reveals the creature's identity and demands that he surrender Grog's box, which contains the Vapour of Elven Magic. If the creature is able to defeat Marr by destroying his portal, the necromancer is banished from the world of the living and the creature reverts into their previous human self, returning to his position as commander of the ''Galleykeep''. If the creature fails, Marr takes the vapour by force and it is implied that Marr uses it to conquer the world of Titan with the creature either as Marr's second-in-command or slaughtered by his crew. There are several diversions, such as the Testing Grounds where crew for the Galleykeep are recruited, but although they have a long decision tree all paths lead to death or failure.


Reference 213

At one point in the story the character finds a pendant that allows the player to locate secret passageways when used, achieved by adding 20 to any reference when it begins with the phrase "You find yourself..." Reference 213 commences with "You reach...", but adding 20 leads the player to a paragraph that states a secret door has been found, thereby allowing game progression. It is unknown as to whether this was an error or Jackson's deliberate attempt to encourage lateral thinking - just as the bestial protagonist is forced to do within the narrative. Reviewer Stephen Bond stated that this feature was unique in that it was the only aspect of a story in the ''Fighting Fantasy'' line or any other that offered the player a chance to make a truly original choice, as opposed to taking one of several pre-programmed options.


Reception

Lawrence Schick Lawrence Schick is a game designer and writer associated with role-playing games. Early life and education Schick attended Kent State University in Ohio. Career Schick, as the head of design and development at TSR, brought aboard Tom Moldvay ...
refers to ''Creature of Havoc'' as "One of the more interesting later entries in the series", and SciFiNow named it one of the best offerings in the ''Fighting Fantasy'' series. ''
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (''SFE'') is an English language reference work on science fiction, first published in 1979. It has won the Hugo Award, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus and BSFA Award, British SF Awards. Two print editions appea ...
'' comments on the experimental nature of some of the later volumes in the ''Fighting Fantasy'' series, naming ''Creature of Havoc'' as an example. Jackson and Livingstone attributed the gamebook's popularity to its difficulty.


Other media

In 2010, an electronic version of the title was released for the
iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
and
iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...
by Big Blue Bubble and was discontinued in 2012, when Big Blue Bubble's license on the ''Fighting Fantasy'' series expired. New ''Fighting Fantasy'' app games were later licensed and released on Android and iOS storefronts by Tin Man Games. In 2018, the audio company FoxYason Music Productions, known for their work with
Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and radio drama, audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'' ...
announced that they would be releasing an original, full-cast audio drama based on ''Creature of Havoc'' in CD boxset with '' The Forest of Doom'', '' The Citadel of Chaos'' and ''
Deathtrap Dungeon ''Deathtrap Dungeon'' is a single-player Gamebook#Adventures, adventure gamebook written by Ian Livingstone, and illustrated by Iain McCaig. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1984, the title is the sixth gamebook in the ''Fighting Fantasy'' ...
'' for summer 2018. It will be written by David N. Smith, directed by Richard Fox and will feature Rachel Atkins returning to the role of Vale Moonwing from FoxYason Music's first release based on ''
The Warlock of Firetop Mountain ''The Warlock of Firetop Mountain'' is a single-player adventure gamebook written by Steve Jackson (UK game designer), Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone, and illustrated by Russ Nicholson. Originally published by Puffin Books in 1982, the titl ...
'', sub-titled The Hero's Quest.


References


External links

* * * * * {{Fighting Fantasy 1986 fiction books Fighting Fantasy gamebooks Books by Steve Jackson (British game designer)