Crystal of Storms (book)

Fighting Fantasy Gamebook
Outline
Location:	Pangaria, Titan
References:	400
Publication Details
Author(s):	Rhianna Pratchett
Illustrator(s):	Eva Eskelinen
Puffin
Wizard (Series 1)
Wizard (Series 2)
Scholastic
Cover illustrator:	Eva Eskelinen
First published:	October 1 2020
Number	17
ISBN:	ISBN 1-407199-68-4
Previous Book:	Return to Firetop Mountain
Next Book:	The Seven Serpents

Crystal Of Storms is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Rhianna Pratchett, illustrated by Eva Eskelinen and originally published in 2020 by Scholastic Books. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 17th in the Scholastic series (ISBN 1-407199-68-4).

Background

“	PART STORY, PART GAME - YOU ARE THE HERO Are YOU brave enough to explore the Ocean of Tempests, on the hunt for the floating isle of Nimbus which suddenly crashed down out of the sky? There will be storms and sea beasts to battle in your mission to raise Nimbus from the deep... hunted by demonic harpies, rabid rats and even a Great White Squark, you'll need every ounce of courage and quick wits to survive. MAY YOUR STAMINA NEVER FAIL!	”
—Crystal of Storms - Back Cover

Rules

The book in general follows the original rules set down in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (see Game System).

Uniques Rule

• The rule section add a Test your Stamina rule. This is a 3d6 roll, with the rolled amount equalling or being less than the player's current stamina score marking a successful roll.
• At the beginning of the adventure, you are asked to choose your origin island among three of the six floating islands of the Pangaria archipelago. This will determine the starting point of the adventure. In addition, you will have the help of a companion on your home island: Silas for Cirrus, Nemi for Altos, and Dav for Cumulus. The presence of the companion will improve your combat characteristics: damage suffered will be decreased by 1, damage done will be increased by 1 and your Attack Strength will be increased by 2.
• During a late part of the adventure, the player will be allowed to drive a Bathysphere: the Barnacle. The stamina of the Barnacle is 20, and the skill is equal to the player skill minus 1. The player will be able to find various feature enhancements for the bathysphere.

Equipment List

• Short Sword
• Backpack
• Lantern
• 10 Gold Pieces

Cover and Illustrations

Main article: Crystal of Storms (illustrations)

Covers

The cover was designed and illustrated by Eva Eskelinen.

Crystal of Storms Cover Variants

2020

Scholastic Circle

£6.99

Illustrations

The interior illustrations were by Eva Eskelinen. There were 20 full page illustrations and 6 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the text. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: 10, 30, 50, 70, 90, 110, 129, 150, 168, 190, 210, 230, 250, 270, 290, 311, 327, 344, 370 and 392. The full-page illustrations in the book were accompanied with a caption giving a short extract from the text.

The Hungarian edition was given new illustrations by István Lakatos. There were 23 full page illustrations and 5 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the text.

The Danish edition was given new illustrations by Bjørk Mathias Friis.

Main Characters

YOU: Hero of Crystal of Storms

• Bal - Officer
• Boreas - Stormborn
• Caleb - Fisherman
• Daxa - Aeronaut
• Dav - Baker
• Ferris - Officer
• Flapps - Canidor
• Galen Hillcroft
• Grax
• Halleck - Captain
• Hazi - Apprentice of Vizigg
• Krazic - Chief Engineer
• Kritch
• Malia
• Matix
• Mattias Talliman - Commander
• Maude
• Methedus - Stormborn
• Nemi - Cloudkin Farmer
• Nix
• Pangara - God of the wind
• Paxlo
• Pox
• Samuel - Giant Scorpion
• Seacrest - Private
• Silas
• Tideus
• Vizigg - Elder Technomancer
• Yurik

Locations

• Altos
• Asperitas
• Cirrus
• Cumulus
• Incus
• Nimbus
• Ocean of Tempests
• Pangaria

Encounters

• Amphibious Spinefish
• Canidor - Flapps
• Chest Creature
• Clawbeast
• Dragon Fruit Tree
• Giant Cockroaches - Queen
• Giant Crab
• Giant Electric Eel
• Giant Metal Hand
• Giant Scorpion
• Giant Toad
• Giant Wasp
• Grapes of Wrath
• Great White Squark
• Goblin War Golem
• Harpies
• Howl Cat
• Human - Galen Hillcroft
• Hydra
• Kokomokoas
• Lightning Serpent
• Mudclaw
• Rabid Rat Horde
• Octobeast
• Octoman
• Saltwater Crocodile
• Scarecrow
• Sea Giant - Tideus
• Sea Troll
• Shark-Kin
• Stormkind
• Tunneller Beast
• Wheelies
• Winged Gremlin
• Wraithfish

Errors

• In the intro, it says "If you are new to Fighting Fantasy..." and to read pages 255-262. It should actually be "pages 269-276", as this is the section with all the Fighting Fantasy rules.
• Page 10 is a missing space between "Provisions." and "Also".
• (20) is missing the instruction that Nemi remains behind on her home isle if you leave (unlike other similar passages for your other possible companions).
• (35) refers to your "Gold Bag" which is a "Coin Bag" elsewhere.
• (68) says "It's a rather cluttered, but cosy", which should be "It's rather cluttered, but cosy", or perhaps "It's a rather cluttered, but cosy room".
• It is possible (if extremely unlikely) to reach (88) without any Gold Pieces, but the options make no allowance for this possibility.
• (92) says "If you stomach has taken control" rather than "your".
• (104) says "We Stormborn we very concerned", which should be "We Stormborn were very concerned".
• (140) says "If you had Nemi with you, she will stay on Cumulus...". This is almost certainly incorrect as all the other companions state they stay on their home island when you leave. The text should read "If you had Nemi with you, she will stay on Altos..."
• (115) is missing a period in "turn to 6 If..."
• (172) says "cackling with elemental energy", which should be "crackling".
• (278) says "This would seem completely normally...", which should be "normal"
• (281) says "a permeant resident", which should be "permanent".
• (294) says "If you want to try ramming the door again" but doesn't offer any alternative.
• (309) says "defect the darts", which should be "deflect".
• (323) is missing the possibility to stay on Cumulus, after you defeat the Lightning Serpent and got the aeronaut's helmet.
• (352) says "and discover its locked", which should be "it's".
• (366) says "your exasperating signing", which should be be "sighing".
• (373) says "stairs spirally downwards", which should be "spiralling".
• The caption for the illustration accompanying (110) is a quote when the Sky Watch recruit is wielding a sword, but the illustration itself shows them wielding a burning log from the fire instead, as at the start of (110) when they ask who the Hero is.
• Companions only accompany you the first time you visit your home island, which leads to logical errors such as (15) assuming that Silas is with you, even on a subsequent re-visit.
• Similarly, (340) allows for the possibility of Silas being with you, which is impossible if you have obtained either item required to reach (340).
• The floating island Nimbus is inconsistently referred to as "the Nimbus", as if it were a ship.
• The "Fighting more than one creature" section of the rules generically says that instructions will be given on each encounter's page, but they are not.
• Page 274 is missing a period in "score A Magic Weapon..."
• Page 276 is missing a period in "lucky Details are given..."
• The equipment list at the back of the book seems to have been copy and pasted without being adapted to this book. It says that you start with a "fine sword", while in the book you only add your "trusty short sword" after landing on your home island. It lists travelling clothes, while Sky Watch officers have a specific uniform instead. It also lists a backpack and lantern as "basic tools of your trade", which seems to apply more to adventurers than Sky Watch officers.

Dedication

To Mum and Dad.
Who showed me magic every day.