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Mini Fighting Fantasy Adventures
Outline
Location: The Lost Land, The Flat Lands
References: 200
Publication details
Author(s): Ruth Pracy

Illustrator(s): Paul Campbell, P. Challenger, Dave De Leuw, Mark Dunn, Frank Frazetta, Gary Harrod, and Alan Hunter
Proteus14
First published: September 18 1987
Publication: Proteus (Issue 14)
Previous Mini-FF: The Temple of the Pharaoh
Next Mini-FF: none
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In Search of the Lost Land is a single-player role-playing mini adventure written by Ruth Pracy, and illustrated by Paul Campbell, P. Challenger, Dave De Leuw, Mark Dunn, Frank Frazetta, Gary Harrod, and Alan Hunter. It was published in 1987 in Proteus Issue 14 by Wimborne Publishing. It has not been reprinted since.

Creation[]

This was obviously originally intended for publication in Warlock at some point prior to the magazine folding with issue 13 as The Land of Changes notes at the end: "The next part of this epic will be published in Warlock in a few months time."[1]

Background[]

THIS is not a story about our modern world, but one of long ago, when strange creatures roamed the land, and Sorcerers possessed great power. As an adventurer, your Wisdom, Strength, Courage and Agility have brought you safely through many daunting quests in the past. And when you begin this adventure, you will need all these qualities.[2]


After staying for some time in the company of Gether, the player finally decides to undertake the mission placed upon them by the Moss Maiden (see The Land of Changes).

Rules[]

In Search of the Lost Land does not follow the standard Fighting Fantasy rules. Instead the player has the following three attributes: wisdom, dexterity, and strength.

  • Perhaps because this was originally planned for publication in Warlock, the rules governing these attributes as well as that of combat are identical bar the change of names. For dexterity read skill and for strength read stamina.
  • wisdom appears to replace luck yet isn't actually utilised much in the adventure. Unlike the the other scores that follow Fighting Fantasy dice rolls, wisdom is a 1d6 roll with odd numbers rounded up to nearest even number and then the result is halved. Added to this, the wisdom score cannot decrease, reflecting the gaining of wisdom as the adventure progresses.
  • Provisions appear in the form of "meals" which restore 5 strength and can be consumed at any point besides combat.

Equipment List[]

  • 6 Meals

No other equipment is listed, but it is assumed that the player begins with at least a backpack and a sword.

Illustrations[]

The illustrations were by Paul Campbell, P. Challenger, Dave De Leuw, Mark Dunn, Frank Frazetta, Gary Harrod, and Alan Hunter. There were 20 full page (or equivalent) illustrations (the illustration at ("Background") was also repeated later in the adventure) and 21 minor illustrations (3 of which were repeated) scattered throughout the text. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: Background, 5, 10, 27, 35, 66, 77, 80, 84, 86, 881 116, 119, 122, 138, 148, 162, 165, 171, 173, 1951 and 196.

  1. The illustration in this instance is placed some "distance" from the paragraph in question probably due to reasons of layout.

The cover for that issue of Proteus, by Keith Berdak, also belongs to the adventure, depicting the scene at (151).

Intertextual References[]

Prequels[]

Warlock published two prequels to this adventure, The Floating City in issue 8 and The Land of Changes in issue 11.

Main Characters[]

YOU: Hero of The Floating City

  • Gether - Lord of the Lower Kingdom
  • Heimdal
  • Modgud
  • Skrymir

Locations[]

  • Bifrost Bridge
  • Ginnungagap aka Space of Magic Deceit
  • The Lost Land
  • The Lower Kingdom
  • The Stupa of the Lost Land
  • The Underlands

Encounters[]

Further Notes[]

  • The final paragraph, (200), hints that a further sequel was planned.
  • Despite being a sequel, it is not indicated that the player can carry their character over from The Land of Changes as they could when moving from The Floating City to The Land of Changes.

Errors[]

  • Having fallen into a "large, circular cave" you find yourself in a "tiny cave".
  • You can loop through (183)-(170)-(145)-(183) and lose a lantern over and over again.
  • (20)-(28)-(12)-(115)-(64)-(16)-(94)-(17)-(72)-(20) is another loop, though this one seems intentional.
  • The labour in (41) costs you on average 17.51 strength points, which is possibly more than the author intended.
  • As an alternative to the lantern you can make use of your wisdom score, but you are never told what that involves.
  • (133) should say "emerald ring", not just "emerald".
  • If you go with Skrymir far into the mountains from the ice plain, when you part with him you are inexplicably back on the plain.
  • (6) points to (7).

See Also[]

Reviews[]

External Links[]

References[]

  1. Warlock Issue 8 - p.45
  2. Proteus Issue 14 (September 1987) - p.2
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