History Literature / CryptOfTheSorcerer

Everything seems to be going well in Allansia, when your home village of Chalice hears of dreadful news from the far east: tales of invasions, plagues, blight and terror are creeping westward. Worried, you decide to consult your old friend, Yaztromo the Wizard, who tells you that the dreaded Chaos Sorcerer Razaak was freed from his tomb, and now he's free to unleash hell on Allansia just like he tried to do when he was alive. There's only one way to oppose him, and that would be finding the legendary Sword of Razaak, which was used once to kill him and then was lost somewhere in the east. Of course, it's up to you to start an extremely dangerous quest: you must travel east, unearth the Sword, find a way to pierce through Razaak's magical defenses and then destroy the evil Sorcerer once and for all, saving Allansia from his grasps.

* AimForTheHorn: The mighty Gargantis will die once it's horn is severed. The difficult part comes from trying to ''reach'' it's horn because of the monster's size - [[spoiler:a Rod of Paralysis should do the trick]].

Everything seems to be going well in Allansia, when your home village of Chalice hears of dreadful news from the far east: tales of invasions, plagues, blight and terror are creeping westward. Worried, you decide to consult your old friend, Yaztromo the Wizard, who tells you that the dreaded Chaos Sorcerer Razaak was fred from his tomb, and now he's free to unleash hell on Allansia just like he tried to do when he was alive. There's only one way to oppose him, and that would be finding the legendary Sword of Razaak, which was used once to kill him and then was lost somewhere in the east. Of course, it's up to you to start an extremely dangerous quest: you must travel east, unearth the Sword, find a way to pierce through Razaak's magical defenses and then destroy the evil Sorcerer once and for all, saving Allansia from his grasps.

On paper, it sounds like your standard ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' gamebook, right? Well, not quite. This book is infamous for being probably the most frustating ever written by Livingstone: the linearity of the path which is Livingstone's SignatureStyle is taken UpToEleven, forcing you to walk a very narrow path to victory, collect a specific series of clues and items without knowing what they're going to do which will allow you to survive the series of gruesome deaths waiting for you behind each corner. Last but not least, the FinalBoss is probably the hardest one ever put in a gamebook, and not in a good way.

* NintendoHard: Infamously so, kinda like ''Literature/CreatureOfHavoc''. At least there the FinalBoss wasn't that difficult... Someone apparently ran the numbers and determined that a player with maximum stats has a 5.5% chance of victory in the final battle. And even before the final battle, your chances of failure are determined with random dice rolls independent of your stats. As with most Ian Livingstone gamebooks, cheating throughout the paragraphs is the only recommended way to win without frustration, and much more so for this gamebook.

* NintendoHard: Infamously so, kinda like ''Literature/CreatureOfHavoc''. At least there the FinalBoss wasn't that difficult... Someone apparently ran the numbers and determined that a player with maximum stats has a 5.5% chance of victory in the final battle.

* OurElvesAreBetter: Averted with the unique encounter with three Wild Elf women: they're primitive, tattooed savages with fur clothes and flint weapons and have filed teeth.

* PlayingWithFire/ ShockAndAwe: Razaak can conjure magic fireballs and thunderbolts at you; you'll need to have breathed in a puff of magic smoke and obtained a magic shield to prevent those attacks from killing you outright.

* TouchOfDeath: What makes Razaak so cheap: not only he has a Skill score of 12 and Stamina of 20, but if he lands two hits on you, you're dead. The chances of winning this battle fair and square are really low.

''Crypt of the Sorcerer'' is the twentysixth entry of the ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' gamebook series, written by Ian Livingstone.

!!''Crypt of the Sorcerer'' contains examples of:

* ChekhovsGun: Well, pretty much three-quarters of the items you run across (the remaining quarter are traps); special mention goes to the easily missable information about [[spoiler:the Troll's current record of eaten Hobbit Ears and the number tattooed on Razaak's zombie miners]], which are both essential to enter the Crypt. Even more special mention goes to [[spoiler: Razaak's guardian asking you the price of a warhammer in Port Blacksand.]] The answer is something a companion just tells you in conversation at one point. Not something he found out that you need to know to get past the wizard's defenses, just a random factoid he tosses out when talking on the way to the next objective.

** [[spoiler: In the very end, Yaztromo uses his magic to break the curse of Razaak's Sword, which means that you won't have to become its latest skeletal guardian on the bottom of a lake.]]

* FromNobodyToNightmare: To the point that when Razaak finally sent words to the rulers of Allansia to surrender to his armies, he wasn't taken seriously because no one ever heard of him. After his onslaught though...

* NintendoHard: Infamously so, kinda like ''Literature/CreatureOfHavoc''. At least there the FinalBoss wasn't that difficult...Someone apparently ran the numbers and determined that a player with maximum stats has a 5.5% chance of victory in the final battle.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Yaztromo popping out in the crypt with good manners and a helpful smile? Razaak, you're not fooling anyone, and [[spoiler: you still need an item to see his real form and avoid another stupid death.]]

In short, it's Livingstone's take on ''TabletopGames/TombOfHorrors''.

* BadassInDistress: Halfway through, you run into ''Yaztromo'' tied to the ground and threatened by demons summoned by Razaak.

* DeusExMachina: On the way home from the Gargantis' pit, your hot balloon is attacked by a Red Dragon, and the only way to make it through is to invoke Suma. Of course, you must know how to invoke the help in the first place...

* VillainTeamUp: Invoked, your cover story for Ungoth is that you were sent to Port Blacksand to persuade [[TheDreaded Lord Azzur]] to ally himself with Razaak and send weaponry to his armies.

* ChekhovsGun: Well, pretty much three-quarters of the items you run across (the remaining quarter are traps); special mention goes to the easily missable information about [[spoiler:the Troll's current record of eaten Hobbit Ears and the number tattooed on Razaak's zombie miners]], which are both essential to enter the Crypt. Even more special mention goes to [[spoiler Razaak's guardian asking you the price of a warhammer in Port Blacksand.]] The answer is something a companion just tells you in conversation at one point. Not something he found out that you need to know to get past the wizard's defenses, just a random factoid he tosses out when talking on the way to the next objective.

* ChekhovsGun: Well, pretty much three-quarters of the items you run across (the remaining quarter are traps); special mention goes to the easily missable information about [[spoiler:the Troll's current record of eaten Hobbit Ears and the number tattooed on Razaak's zombie miners]], which are both essential to enter the Crypt.

* CoolSword: Razaak's own sword, despite formerly belonging to a sorcerer, makes the joy of any warrior, as it never dulls and can cut through demons like a hot knife through butter. It's also the only weapon capable of killing him.

On paper, it sounds like your standard ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' gamebook, right? Well, not quite. This book is infamous for being probably the most frustating ever written by Livingstone: the linearity of the path wich is Livingstone's SignatureStyle is taken UpToEleven, forcing you to walk a very narrow path to victory, collect a specific series of clues and items without knowing what they're going to do which will allow you to survive the series of gruesome deaths waiting for you behind each corner. Last but not least, the FinalBoss is probably the hardest one ever put in a gamebook, and not in a good way.

* ChekhovsGun: Well, pretty much three-quarters of the items you run across (the remaining quarter is a trap), special mention goes to the easily missable informations about [[spoiler: the Troll's current record of eaten Hobbit Ears and the number tattooed on Razaak's zombie miners]], which are both essential to enter the Crypt.

* DemBones: Both skeletons and the recurring Demonic Servants, demons so weak you can istantly kill them if you land as much as two consecutive hits on them.

* EverythingIsTryingToKillYou: Probably meant to be the result of the advancing forces of Chaos, but this can get ridicolous as you run in pretty much an hostile creature every two or three paragraphs while on your way to the sword.

* GottaCatchThemAll: Starting with Razaak's Sword and passing through a ridicolous amount of items that will save your hide later on, or that will allow you to proceed on the right path. (The one where you stay alive)

* TooDumbToLive: Razaak decided to keep a Gargantis as a future living weapon for his armies, in spite of the fact that its horn is the only thing capable of putting him down forever. While getting the horn, taking it to Razaak and put him in the condition of staking his heart with said horn is a long, arduous and difficult process, killing the Gargantis off would have made him truly unstoppable, or at least gave him a chance of reviving again in the future to start his plans again.

* GuideDangIt: As usual, you have no way to know (immediatly) which item will be useful or which way to go without skipping important items for later in the gameplay, which leads to a frustrating TrialAndErrorGameplay. A big iconic example include a vital clue written on a boulder in the middle of nowhere which you can ignore.

* OurElvesAreBetter: Averted with the unique encounter with three Wild Elves women: they're primitive, tattooed savages with fur clothes and flint weapons and have filed teeth.

* DarkActionGirl: There's an hostile barbarian girl riding a Gryphon and near the end you can fight three wild Elves women who are busy clubbing a man to death.

* OhCrap: Downplayed, Razaak becomes slightly worried if you manage to survive all of his spells. Given how though he is, this is probably the biggest reaction you can get out of him.

* NintendoHard: Infamously so, kinda like ''Literature/CreatureOfHavoc''. At least there the FinalBoss wasn't that difficult...

* EvilMakesYouMonstrous: Razaak's descent into Chaos and evil left him with a hideously deformed, hunch-backed body with deformed limbs and an eye nearly bulging out of the skull.

* NightOfTheLivingMooks: If you have one of the Master of Bones' rings when you enter the cemetery, you will attract a gang of living Skeletons, but also unearth an item useful to your quest.

* OhCrap: Downplayed, Razaak reacts slightly worried if you manage to survive all of his spells. Given how though he is, this is probably the biggest reaction you can get out of him.

* UnwillingSuspension: You can meet an half-elf maiden trapped in such a fashion. She's not hostile and will heal you if you free her.

* GuideDangIt: As usual, you have no way to know (immediatly) which item will be useful or which way to go without skipping important items for later in the gameplay, which leads to a frustrating TrialAndErrorGameplay. A big iconic example include a vital clue written on a boulder in the middle of nowhere.
* KickTheDog: You're given the chance of killing the harmless Master of Bones to loot his magical ring. [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment You lose 3 Luck Points if you do.]]
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: The fact that Razaak can be killed with the very sword he owned long ago.

* SchmuckBait: Plenty of opportunities, the most blatant is the chance of lowering yourself in a dark pit in the Gargantis' nest: [[spoiler: Good news, you found the Gargantis! Bad news: [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe you need to find a new lower abdomen and pair of legs.]]