Series - Catacombs Solo Quest

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Language:	English
Publishers:	TSR -- United States Wizards of the Coast -- United States (eBook)
Categories:	Complexity Level : Advanced (Full Game System) Format : eBook Format : Paperback Game System : Combat Game System : Inventory Management Game System : Randomization Method : Dice Game System : Randomization Method : In Book Game System : Scores Game System : Skill Selection Game System : Visual Puzzles Genre : Adventure Genre : Science Fiction Product Family : Dungeons & Dragons Target Age Group : Adults Target Age Group : Teenagers Writing Style : Present Tense Writing Style : Second Person

These large-format gamebooks were one of TSR's last forays into the form. Each book contains about 150 pages and numerous illustrations. Three of the books are set in various Advanced Dungeons & Dragons settings, while two (including the unpublished fifth volume) are inspired by the Top Secret/S.I. role-playing game. Rules vary from book to book, but each volume includes some extra items used during play (multiple character bookmarks for the AD&D adventures and a flap full of "clues" like computer printouts and maps for the Top Secret book) and a combat system. The AD&D adventures use twelve-sided dice while the Top Secret one uses ten-sided ones; in either case, dice rolls are printed on the bottoms of the pages so that players without dice may flip through the book at random to generate numbers. The Top Secret book features the most complex rules, with the option of creating a new character (consisting of randomly-rolled attributes, skills whose values are derived from those attributes, and "advantages" chosen using a point distribution system) instead of using the pregenerated one. The second book in the series was released as a free eBook by Wizards of the Coast years after its original publication.

Gamebooks

1. Faerie Mound of Dragonkind
2. Gnomes-100, Dragons-0
3. The Final Bug
4. Knight of the Living Dead
5. Foul Play at Fool's Summit

Related Documents

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Catacombs #1: Faerie Mound of Dragonkind
from Dragon #122, page 86

Catacombs #4: The Final Bug
from Dragon #132, page 23

Play Aid

Catacombs #1 Bookmarks

Catacombs #4 Bookmarks

Related Links

Dungeons & Dragons Downloads
Gnomes-100, Dragons-0 from the Catacombs series can be downloaded here (see the Dragonlance section).
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/downloads (last verified: 2004-07-12)

User Comments

This was one of TSR's last forays into the gamebook genre, following Endless Quest, Advanced D&D Adventure Gamebooks, and less successful spin-offs (debuting in 1987). They came in large A4 sized booklets, resembling the D&D module format, with heavy emphasis on the artwork, often trying to incorporate the artwork into the gameplay (e.g. looking for clues, etc). The sections were relatively short and must have required a lot of mapping on the author's part. It also tried to incorporate gimmicks like a random encounter bookmark, but overall the series didn't really last long enough to develop many distinctive characteristics. However, the final published entry, Knight of the Living Dead, showed a lot of promise, at least storywise.

--Kveto