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Fighting Fantasy #21
Trial of Champions
At last – a return to Deathtrap Dungeon!The warped, twisted mind of Baron Sukumvit has completely redesigned the deadly labyrinth of Fang. New traps and terrors, mazes and monsters, await you at every turn. And even before you can enter the labyrinth, you must endure the gladiatorial games of Lord Carnuss, the Baron's evil brother, whose unwilling slave you are. Can you survive this trial of Champions and free yourself from slavery?Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are all you need for this adventure. YOU decide which route to follow, which dangers to risk and which monsters to fight.
208 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 26, 1986
4 people are currently reading
205 people want to read
About the author
Steve Jackson
67 books156 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Steve Jackson (born 20 May 1951) is a British game designer, writer, and game reviewer, who is often confused with the American game designer of the same name.
Along with Ian Livingstone, he is the creator of the Fighting Fantasy books. The US Jackson also wrote three books in the Fighting Fantasy series, which adds to the confusion, especially as these books were simply credited to "Steve Jackson" without any acknowledgement that it was a different person.
See also:
Steve Jackson, US game designer
Steve Jackson, author of works on crime
Steve Jackson, Scottish thriller writer
Steve Jackson (born 20 May 1951) is a British game designer, writer, and game reviewer, who is often confused with the American game designer of the same name.
Along with Ian Livingstone, he is the creator of the Fighting Fantasy books. The US Jackson also wrote three books in the Fighting Fantasy series, which adds to the confusion, especially as these books were simply credited to "Steve Jackson" without any acknowledgement that it was a different person.
See also:
Steve Jackson, US game designer
Steve Jackson, author of works on crime
Steve Jackson, Scottish thriller writer
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
March 1, 2017
Read when I was a kid and completely loved. Will look to pick up and re-read again shortly. Review to follow shortly x
October 18, 2017
Sequel to Deathtrap Dungeon, Trial Of Champions is a good book/role playing game but I thought Deathtrap Dungeon was much better. I think as I got older the books although still great did not excite me as much as when I first started reading them. It maybe because of that jump from 12 to 13 or 14. I was still playing these games but back then I started taking more interest in the music scene and girls. Well it was the ear!y 1980's.
February 17, 2016
Back to Deathtrap Dungeon
31 July 2012
Here we return to Deathtrap Dungeon, which has been completely overhauled after some lucky (or skilful) adventurer managed to complete it a couple of years previously. I guess the idea is that nobody is supposed to know how to get through Deathtrap Dungeon so when somebody manages to do it then suddenly all of the thrill of the dungeon (as well as all of the monsters having been killed) has worn off. Thus the Baron of Fang (I am not going to attempt to spell his name, and I am too lazy to look it up) has to go to all of the trouble of creating a new dungeon with new traps, tricks, and monsters.
However this book is somewhat different. You do not begin as some free adventurer trying his (or her) luck in the underground labyrinth but rather you are a slave who has been thrown in there against his will so that your owner might receive the prestige and the glory of the victory. Obviously this guy is some sort of wet sock simply because he does not seem to be willing to risk his life to venture into the dungeon, but is more than happy to take the glory off of his chosen champion. Fortunately he gets it in then neck at the end.
The first part of the book involves you surviving the slave pits on the Island of Blood, and if you manage to do so you are rewarded with a chance to attempt to explore Deathtrap Dungeon. In a way this first part highlights the brutality of the medieval world, a world were life is cheap and powerful men claim the glory off of the hard labour of his slaves. This actually happens all the time, even in our days. Take for instance the employed researcher who invents a revolutionary product will not necessarily see any reward beyond her (or his) weekly pay. However, the employer will see all of the profits and reap all of the glory for this work of this individual. Who invented the Iphone? Was it Steve Jobs or was it the Apple employees. Okay, in situations like this you generally have teams working on the products, however the employee does not get the glory, the company and the executive does.
Anyway, back to the book. I noticed in the Fighting Fantasy books that the correct route generally takes longer than the incorrect route, and this is very noticeable here. If you take the wrong route you will make your way to the next junction after two or three encounters, however if you take the correct route you will have five or six. The other tricky thing is that not only do you need to collect all of the gold rings, but also the three set numbers to complete the quest. The catch is that sometimes you have to walk in one direction, and once you have the ring, turn around and walk in the opposite direction. You need nine rings to complete the adventure and not all of them are obvious to find (I found them simply because of a map that I had access too).
31 July 2012
Here we return to Deathtrap Dungeon, which has been completely overhauled after some lucky (or skilful) adventurer managed to complete it a couple of years previously. I guess the idea is that nobody is supposed to know how to get through Deathtrap Dungeon so when somebody manages to do it then suddenly all of the thrill of the dungeon (as well as all of the monsters having been killed) has worn off. Thus the Baron of Fang (I am not going to attempt to spell his name, and I am too lazy to look it up) has to go to all of the trouble of creating a new dungeon with new traps, tricks, and monsters.
However this book is somewhat different. You do not begin as some free adventurer trying his (or her) luck in the underground labyrinth but rather you are a slave who has been thrown in there against his will so that your owner might receive the prestige and the glory of the victory. Obviously this guy is some sort of wet sock simply because he does not seem to be willing to risk his life to venture into the dungeon, but is more than happy to take the glory off of his chosen champion. Fortunately he gets it in then neck at the end.
The first part of the book involves you surviving the slave pits on the Island of Blood, and if you manage to do so you are rewarded with a chance to attempt to explore Deathtrap Dungeon. In a way this first part highlights the brutality of the medieval world, a world were life is cheap and powerful men claim the glory off of the hard labour of his slaves. This actually happens all the time, even in our days. Take for instance the employed researcher who invents a revolutionary product will not necessarily see any reward beyond her (or his) weekly pay. However, the employer will see all of the profits and reap all of the glory for this work of this individual. Who invented the Iphone? Was it Steve Jobs or was it the Apple employees. Okay, in situations like this you generally have teams working on the products, however the employee does not get the glory, the company and the executive does.
Anyway, back to the book. I noticed in the Fighting Fantasy books that the correct route generally takes longer than the incorrect route, and this is very noticeable here. If you take the wrong route you will make your way to the next junction after two or three encounters, however if you take the correct route you will have five or six. The other tricky thing is that not only do you need to collect all of the gold rings, but also the three set numbers to complete the quest. The catch is that sometimes you have to walk in one direction, and once you have the ring, turn around and walk in the opposite direction. You need nine rings to complete the adventure and not all of them are obvious to find (I found them simply because of a map that I had access too).
December 6, 2024
The most difficult book I have yet read in the Fighting Fantasy series. How comes that enemies skill level is so high? You barely get through the first part of the book and you need at least 10 in skill just to survive not to mention that you also need a high luck score if you want to survive the first and second part of the book. Most enemies have a skill of at least 10 though this might not be a problem if there were alternatives to defeat the enemies but there isn't any alternative. You can't raise your skill level making battle impossible to win if you hit a low skill score from start. The premise is interesting but the execution is terrible. The book ends up being merely an average game-book.
February 5, 2019
Basically Deathtrap Dungeon except not as good. The dungeon isn't as memorable, the artwork is inferior (I mean it's still good, it's just not Iain McCaig), and there's a bunch of gladiator games at the beginning that do a good job at making you hate the villain, but don't add all too much gameplay-wise. I think you're allowed a bit more freedom at where you go, though: I'm fairly sure you don't need to collect all the coins to win. But don't quote me on that.
I had a good enough time, but once I finally won the book, I didn't look back.
I had a good enough time, but once I finally won the book, I didn't look back.
October 16, 2017
Again, this book got a lot of play through by a young me.
June 8, 2018
I loved these books as a kid. Must go back and re-read them to make a proper review. But just look at that art work too... amazing!
October 23, 2022
Fantasy Squid Game, ami aztán átmegy Trimágus Tusába, és a legvégén jól megszivat.
June 13, 2018
One of my fav FF books
August 26, 2020
This gamebook is a sequel of sorts to Fighting Fantasy #6, Deathtrap Dungeon. The idea behind Deathtrap Dungeon is that Baron Sukumvit (great fantasy name, no notes) wanted to revitalize his town's tourism, and so opened an attraction he named Deathtrap Dungeon. The idea is that he'd let in six adventurers per year into the dungeon, and if they made it through, then they get a cash reward. Most just die. Despite the fact that there was no apparent means of observing the adventurers in dungeon, people flocked in to see it, thus achieving the Baron's goals. I like that as a premise; you're not fighting a great evil so much as participating in a fantasy medieval game show. Trial of Champions adds a wrinkle to that: before even getting a chance to go the dungeon, you're captured by the Baron's brother, who's insanely jealous of his sibling and decided to sponsor a champion to beat the dungeon, because that'll show him. And by sponsor, he enslaves 40 people, and forces them to fight to the death until the single survivor gets entered into the contest. So even before the dungeon part starts, you're fighting through a battle royale.
It adds some intrigue to a premise that's somewhat "book 6 but again," at least in theory. In practice, the battle royale constitute a significant portion of the book, and there's no nonlinearity to it. So whenever you die--and you will die a lot--you have a lot of book to go through before you can get back to the dungeon. The dungeon portion is what's become typical Livingstone at this point. There's a lot of walking dead paths--that is, you chose the wrong direction at a crossroad, and thus missed a vital item, so you're walking dead until that item comes up. And there's over a dozen such vital items in the gamebook which doesn't leave much margin for error. In fact, that's what I remember most about the book: the feeling of doom when I realized that I hadn't found any vital items in a few passages, and most likely had already failed. There's no particular unity to the dungeon, which raises questions about Sukumvit's construction that never really get resolved. It has the feel of a particularly nasty D&D dungeon, which I suppose caters to the book's roots. But its harshness and repetition of the early parts make it a more frustrating experience.
It adds some intrigue to a premise that's somewhat "book 6 but again," at least in theory. In practice, the battle royale constitute a significant portion of the book, and there's no nonlinearity to it. So whenever you die--and you will die a lot--you have a lot of book to go through before you can get back to the dungeon. The dungeon portion is what's become typical Livingstone at this point. There's a lot of walking dead paths--that is, you chose the wrong direction at a crossroad, and thus missed a vital item, so you're walking dead until that item comes up. And there's over a dozen such vital items in the gamebook which doesn't leave much margin for error. In fact, that's what I remember most about the book: the feeling of doom when I realized that I hadn't found any vital items in a few passages, and most likely had already failed. There's no particular unity to the dungeon, which raises questions about Sukumvit's construction that never really get resolved. It has the feel of a particularly nasty D&D dungeon, which I suppose caters to the book's roots. But its harshness and repetition of the early parts make it a more frustrating experience.
October 3, 2020
Because the main character in an FF gamebook is YOU, a sequel that continues his or her (or YOUR) story is fairly meaningless. In fact, because the main character is ALWAYS you, each book could be considered a sequel to the previous one, in that the main character is you again. Therefore, as close as a gamebook can get to being a sequel is when it is set in the same location as another one. Trial of Champions (#21), set in Sukumvit’s labyrinth, is a sequel to Deathtrap Dungeon (#6).
After a short section gladiatorial games section, Trial of Champions shifts to dungeon crawl-mode, offering a similar experience to the one that comprises the whole of the earlier book. The gladiatorial section is interesting and somewhat novel but, because your stamina is restored at the end of it, and because it’s set in a location entirely removed from the dungeon crawl section, its inclusion makes the book seem disjointed.
The dungeon crawl itself is strong, with memorable creature encounters, some tricky puzzles and, most importantly, a non-linear layout (which I found tough to map).
However, it’s not the equal of the beautifully-written Deathtrap Dungeon, which seems bigger, makes more sense in layout terms, has even better encounters, and is lit by Ian McCaig’s superb artwork (some of the best in the entire series). Deathtrap Dungeon is a hard book to live up to, though, and just because Trial of Champions doesn’t, doesn’t make it a bad book by any means. It’s also hard. I died six times and have put it aside for now. If I could just find that iron file to get myself out of the gas trap...
After a short section gladiatorial games section, Trial of Champions shifts to dungeon crawl-mode, offering a similar experience to the one that comprises the whole of the earlier book. The gladiatorial section is interesting and somewhat novel but, because your stamina is restored at the end of it, and because it’s set in a location entirely removed from the dungeon crawl section, its inclusion makes the book seem disjointed.
The dungeon crawl itself is strong, with memorable creature encounters, some tricky puzzles and, most importantly, a non-linear layout (which I found tough to map).
However, it’s not the equal of the beautifully-written Deathtrap Dungeon, which seems bigger, makes more sense in layout terms, has even better encounters, and is lit by Ian McCaig’s superb artwork (some of the best in the entire series). Deathtrap Dungeon is a hard book to live up to, though, and just because Trial of Champions doesn’t, doesn’t make it a bad book by any means. It’s also hard. I died six times and have put it aside for now. If I could just find that iron file to get myself out of the gas trap...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 25, 2020
Bogen er umulig at gennnemføre. For det første er alle modstandere ufatteligt stærke, så med mindre du ruller nær perfekt i alle kategorier, er du selvdød. Hvis du har evne under 10, kan du lige så godt starte forfra.
For det andet er der en fejl i den danske udgave, der betyder, at du ikke kan finde det fornødne udstyr - der må være sket en fejl i oversættelsen. Jeg har i hvert fald ikke kunnet finde det efter 9+ gennemspilninger med højst muligt evne- og heldtal, hvor jeg har vendt hver en sten og nedfældet hele labyrinten på et hjemmelavet kort.
Derfor: Hvis du vil udsætte dig selv for et alt for svært eventyr, så gør dig selv den tjeneste at tilføje 2 guldringe til din udstyrsliste fra Prøvens start - selv da kræver det flere gennemspilninger at vinde. Du kan principielt vinde ved +1 guldring, men det er bogstaveligt talt ikke muligt at vinde med de oprindelige 0 guldringe.
Ud over at være umulig at gennemføre har bogen givet anledning til en del times hygge. Jeg er ikke vred, jeg er skuffet.
For det andet er der en fejl i den danske udgave, der betyder, at du ikke kan finde det fornødne udstyr - der må være sket en fejl i oversættelsen. Jeg har i hvert fald ikke kunnet finde det efter 9+ gennemspilninger med højst muligt evne- og heldtal, hvor jeg har vendt hver en sten og nedfældet hele labyrinten på et hjemmelavet kort.
Derfor: Hvis du vil udsætte dig selv for et alt for svært eventyr, så gør dig selv den tjeneste at tilføje 2 guldringe til din udstyrsliste fra Prøvens start - selv da kræver det flere gennemspilninger at vinde. Du kan principielt vinde ved +1 guldring, men det er bogstaveligt talt ikke muligt at vinde med de oprindelige 0 guldringe.
Ud over at være umulig at gennemføre har bogen givet anledning til en del times hygge. Jeg er ikke vred, jeg er skuffet.
January 14, 2023
L'année passée pris d'une nostalgie soudaine je découvrais l'oubli total dans lequel avaient plongé les LDVELH dont j'étais fan quelque 20 ans plus tôt. Je n'avais jamais lu/joué à L'épreuve des champions et l'expérience fut mitigée. Pour une fois nous n'incarnons pas un aventurier mais un esclave qui doit d'abord triompher de ses pairs avant d'être lâché dans un labyrinthe mortel. Ce parcours en deux temps est particulièrement difficile, les adversaires ont une habileté qui ne laisse aucune chance à un lecteur dont les dés n'ont pas donné une habileté à deux digits. La pertinence du choix d'entrer ou non dans une cellule, d'aider ou non une créature rencontrée semble complètement aléatoire ce qui est assez frustrant et l'addition d'un nombre d'anneaux à récupérer implique l'existence d'un parcours vainqueur unique. Comme tous les autres LDVELH L'écriture est indigente et le procédé d'immersion désuet à l'heure des films 3D et RPGs en 1080p. Reste un plaisir coupable à l'intérêt limité qui doit rester ponctuel pour conserver une quelconque saveur.
May 2, 2022
This was a real nostalgia-fest when I found this during a clear out and decided to re-read it since I used to love these books when I was a kid. That said, I remember this particular book was never a favourite, being generally repetitive; you pass a door, open it or not? You pass another door, open it or not?
That aside I have a lot of love for the ingenuity of the concept in general - but in hindsight if you roll poorly during the character creation section at the start you have next to no chance of making it very far into the book. On the flip side you can be absolutely bossing it and then decide to make a poor choice and get instantly killed for your efforts, pushing you all the way back to the beginning again.
For me, overall this gets 3/5 for the novelty of the Fighting Fantasy concept (definitely check the books out if you’ve never tried one) but ToC itself loses points for being unnecessary and randomly difficult at times.
That aside I have a lot of love for the ingenuity of the concept in general - but in hindsight if you roll poorly during the character creation section at the start you have next to no chance of making it very far into the book. On the flip side you can be absolutely bossing it and then decide to make a poor choice and get instantly killed for your efforts, pushing you all the way back to the beginning again.
For me, overall this gets 3/5 for the novelty of the Fighting Fantasy concept (definitely check the books out if you’ve never tried one) but ToC itself loses points for being unnecessary and randomly difficult at times.
August 17, 2023
An average entry in the Fighting Fantasy franchise. The illustrations are just okay; the same goes for plot and pacing. Honestly, it just makes me want to replay Deathtrap Dungeon (DD). The intro was interesting but then tried to hit all the same beats as DD, which only ever ensures a lackluster clone. This book should have been called Blood Island, and all about Lord Carnuss trying to one-up his brother with his own unique and brutal championship. Missed opportunity.
August 6, 2025
A trio down memory lane with this one, albeit a very bloody trip. I was a big FF fan as a kid, and this is one of the books that sticks out in my memory. It's a return to Deathtrap Dungeon, but with the added fun of a gladiatorial contest before you even get to the dungeons. It's not quite as good as Deathtrap Dungeon, and it's much harder if you're playing it properly. Still an impressive and classic entry in the original FF series.
March 25, 2019
Nice gamebook, will give it another try.
April 9, 2020
I really enjoyed. this one, plenty of those to fight, loads to collect and work out and a twist at the end!!
Much better imho than Deathtrap Dungeon!
Much better imho than Deathtrap Dungeon!
January 7, 2023
Unappealing sequel to Deathtrap Dungeon. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
October 23, 2021
Single player d&d, niet lezen voor het verhaal. Wel omdat je wilt ontsnappen uit het doolhof :).
June 23, 2021
Livro/jogo viciante. Enquanto vc não ganha não desiste! Muito bom passar o tempo
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews