| Fighting Fantasy Gamebook | |
|---|---|
| Outline | |
| Location: | Allansia, Titan |
| References: | 480 |
| Publication Details | |
| Author(s): | Steve Jackson (UK) with Jonathan Green |
| Illustrator(s): | Tazio Bettin |
| Puffin | |
| Wizard (Series 1) | |
| Wizard (Series 2) | |
| Scholastic | |
| |
| Cover illustrator: | Tazio Bettin |
| First published: | September 1 2022 |
| Number | 20 |
| ISBN: | ISBN 1-40-718849-6 |
| Previous Book: | The Crown of Kings |
| Next Book: | Shadow of the Giants |
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Secrets of Salamonis is a single-player role-playing gamebook written by Steve Jackson (UK) with Jonathan Green, illustrated by Tazio Bettin and was originally published in 2022 by Scholastic Books. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 20th in the Scholastic series (ISBN 1-40-718849-6).
Background[]
“ PART STORY, PART GAME - YOU ARE THE HERO!
Travelling to the ancient city of Salamonis to make your fortune, YOU must decide whether to join the Strongarms guarding the merchant caravans that criss-cross Allansia, or study at the famous Halls of Learning. Will you enter Bu Fon Fen in search of Cauldronweed, or rid King Salamon's Mine of the pests that plague it? Will you bring Cardinal Zyn to justice, or set off in search of the horn of the Black Unicorn? And just who is the Shivering Man, and what does he have to do with the mystery of the screaming sky?
It is down to YOU to uncover the secrets of Salamonis!
MAY YOUR STAMINA NEVER FAIL!” —Secrets of Salamonis - Back Cover
Rules[]
The book in general follows the original rules set down in The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (see Game System).
As the hero is completely inexperienced at the start of the book, they start at Skill 6, Stamina 12, Luck 6. There is a separate score called "Amonour", representing experience. At times these points can be redeemed to increase the hero's stats, and some quests will not become available unless the hero's Amonour score has reached a certain requirement.
Cover and Illustrations[]
Cover[]
The cover was designed and illustrated by Tazio Bettin.
| 2022 | |
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| £7.99 |
Illustrations[]
The interior illustrations were by Tazio Bettin. There were 20 full page illustrations and 10 minor repeated illustrations scattered throughout the book. The paragraphs with a full page illustration were: 3, 27, 52, 76, 102, 120, 144, 170, 196, 219, 245, 268, 295, 321, 345, 371, 394, 418, 447, and 470. The full-page illustrations in the book were accompanied with a caption giving a short extract from the text.
Intertextual References[]
- The reader can encounter a dream sequence recreating an early portion of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.
- One mission takes the Hero into the Forest of Yore, where if they decide to remain, are recognized for their potential and can be taken as a student by the Grand Wizard of Yore. This ending mentions Balthus Dire, implying they go on to become the Hero of The Citadel of Chaos.
- One ending has the Hero be taken aboard the Galleykeep and become a victim of Zharradan Marr, suggesting the book takes place shortly before Creature of Havoc as well.
Other Media[]
Main Characters[]
- Hero of Secrets of Salamonis
- Asrel - Goddess of Love and Beauty
- Atlan - Messenger of the Gods
- Balthus Dire - Lord of the Black Tower
- Benboy - Son
- Billick o'Doone - Servant of Logaan
- Bodras Irongrim - Miner
- Courga - Goddess of Grace
- Deyna - Daughter
- Dog - Dog
- Eadel Sommer - Villager
- Ethilesse - Queen of Eren Dûrdinath
- Farrigo Di Maggio - Wizard
- Fourga - God of Pride
- Frannish and Mannish - Two-Headed Ogre
- Gascon - Author of Gascon's Bestiary of North-West Allansia
- Gaya Inuriel - Queen of Eren Dûrdinath
- Gerick Quitch - Historical Prospector
- Glantanka - Goddess of the Sun
- Hamaskis - God of Learning
- Healing Hans - Healer
- Jeskan Stovec - Guildmaster of the Adventurers' Guild
- Jowler - Co-Owner of the Slime and Swine Guttery
- Julena Vallesto - Mother
- Kalivan - Archpriest of Asrel
- Libra - Goddess of Justice and Truth
- Lissa - Servant
- Logaan - God of Tricksters
- Longbeard - Author of Longbeard's Legends of the Windward Plains
- Ludo Jaimes - Alchemist
- Luquin Garreau - Caravan Owner
- Midnight the Immortal Nightmare - Mastiff
- Nanoc - Barbarian Strongarm
- Noreth Janagen - Polymath
- Odious Pinchpenny - Tax Collector
- The Oracle - Spelling Voice
- Oran Flintforge - Retired Explorer
- Picky - Miner
- "Pigboy" Snouter - Owner of the Slime and Swine Guttery
- Rodriguez - Trickster
- Ruznik Ullsen - Seller of Maps
- Salamon III - Previous King
- Salamon LVII - Current King of Salamonis
- Scarface - One of the Bruise Brothers, Purveyors of Weaponry and Armour
- Sindla - Goddess of Luck
- Snorri "Picky" Olafsson - Miner
- Shivering Man - Mysterious Guy
- Tabatha - Wife
- Tanner Hyde - Villager
- Telak - God of Warriors
- Thugruff - Recruiter
- Vagan - Beggar
- Velenore Musek - Caravan Owner
- Vermithrax Moonchaser - Wizard
- Zenib Attito - Buyer
- Zharradan Marr - Wizard
- Zyn - Chief Member of the Sisters of the Brotherhood
Locations[]
- Bu Fon Fen
- Dree
- Eren Dûrdinath
- Forest of Spiders
- Forest of Yore
- Half-Darned Lane
- King Salamon's Mine
- Salamonis
- Shazâar
- Silver Pool
- Slime and Swine Guttery
- The Half-Darned Sock
- Whitewater Landing
Encounters[]
- Black Unicorn
- Chaos Spawn
- Dire Wolf
- Goblins - Hill/Regular
- Grannits
- Gretch
- Human - Beggar/Cardinal Zyn
- Jib-Jib
- Man-Orc
- Mastiff
- Orcs - Blood/Chieftain/Regular/Servant
- Rattapillar
- Rhino-Man
- Rock Grub
- Shriekers - Queen/Swarm
- Snake - Regular/Swampsnake
- Toadman
- Tooki
- Two-Headed Ogre
Further Notes[]
Ruznik Ullsen character is a tribute to Russ Nicholson.[1]
Errors[]
- In the intro, "If you have played Fighting Fantasy before..." on page 8 doesn't mention the special rules about starting scores on page 356.
- (10) says that going to the mine takes eight days, inconsistent with (34), (60) and (84) which take no time. Returning from the mine only takes one day at (233).
- (12) says "the Vagan's network", which should be "Vagan's network", or perhaps "the beggar Vagan's network".
- Paying taxes at (55) does not remove the word 'Wanted' from your Adventure Sheet the same way that it does at (56), which can result in you later getting arrested for not paying your taxes even though you have now paid them.
- The instruction to write down "120" on your Character Sheet at (70) is redundant, as the only way to reach this paragraph is by first turning from (427) to (446), which already instructs you to write that number down. The following options needed to reach (70) don't override this.
- (102) misspells "collapesed". (This error is not present in the original source text.)
- (110) asks about the "Forest of Spiders" and sends you to Ruznik. But this can be learned from Nanoc at (222), without ever hearing it from Ruznik.
- It's possible to be in a situation where you have insufficient AMONOUR to take two of the quests at (120) and to have already attempted all the other possible quests, leaving you stuck with no valid options.
- (202), (222) and (242) note paragraphs to visit for additional training "later", but it is ambiguous when to do this. (115) should clarify "Or if you know of somewhere else to train, you may go there now."
- Paying your taxes and the fine at (221) probably should remove both the words 'Wanted' and 'Criminal' from your Adventure Sheet, as otherwise you may end up getting re-arrested for the same crime repeatedly.
- (284) says you can ignore the Attack Strength penalty, but no penalty is mentioned later at (366).
- (288) has no options available if you've already been to the temple district, haven't visited the half-darned sock and don't want to or can't pay the beggar. It should probably provide the option to try and find the Sisters of the Brotherhood with the information you've gathered already by turning to (413).
- (297) and (389) explicitly limit the possible score increases, but this is unnecessary given the maximum possible AMONOUR by this point.
- (337) gives you Trinket that allows you to meet a talking dog and potentially gain +2 AMONOUR, but as this Trinket is not removed during this encounter, it is actually possible to repeat this encounter and the bonus a second time (specifically, one must go to the docks and obtain the Trinket but leave without attempting begging, which leads to the first dog encounter. When given the chance, one must then travel to the Guttery, which, once complete, will lead you to encounter the dog a second time.)
- (388) misspells "solider".
- (400) says to "turn to the section with the same number as you wrote down before visiting the Bazaar.", but this is a little misleading as, if you've been following instructions, you may well have written down several. Instead, the instructions should say "turn to the section with the same number as you last wrote down before visiting the Bazaar."
- It is possible to visit the docks twice and have the same encounters all over again, despite (415) (after the events at the Guttery) seeming to have been designed to prevent this and (54) explicitly preventing you from returning if you've been there before. This is because (415) only checks if you have a Beggar's Mark and prevents you from returning to the docks if you do. However, there are a number of ways of leaving the docks without getting a Beggar's Mark.
- (434) gives the letters "V___S" but the correct solution does not use the trailing "S".
- [446] Whilst not technically game breaking, the way the Bruise Brothers have been implemented seems like an error. They sell a lot of expensive endgame stuff, including the Carnax which is essential yet you can only encounter them the first time you enter the Bazaar, (which you are encouraged to do early) If you don't have 13 (or 14 if you are wanted) GP the first time you go it's an immediate game fail. Logically [446] should lead to [70] not [400] on subsequent visits.
Dedication[]
none
See Also[]
