The Battlepits of Krarth

Blood Sword #1

by Dave Morris, Oliver Johnson, Russ Nicholson (Illustrator)

THE BATTLEPITS OF KRARTH is the first title in the Blood Sword series. It can be played solo like a traditional gamebook, or it can be played by a team of up to four people. Combining the best of role-playing, gamebooks, novels and boardgames, the Blood Sword series builds into a sweeping fantasy epic that delivers the most exciting challenge yet in interactive adventure. Every thirteen lunar months the Magi of Krarth hold a desperate contest to see which of them will rule that bleak and icy land. Teams of daring adventurers are sent down into the labyrinths that lie beneath the tundra, each searching for the Emblem of Victory that will win power for their patron. Only one team can prevail. The others must die.

Genres: Gamebooks, Fantasy, Fiction, Role Playing Games

274 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This gamebook is a multi-player dungeon crawler adventure with an excellent combat system. The adventure is quite linear and I didn't find the dungeon particularly exciting. Nevertheless, I think that the possibility of picking the wizard to represent as a champion at the beginning of the adventure was quite innovative.

[Tazio Bettin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading and loving this series when I was a kid, and now I know why. Big nostalgia trip, a series wonderfully written with some really innovative and interesting mechanics. Now that the series has been reprinted it's a must buy/must have!

[Scott Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is something a little different for a classic 1980s gamebook, as you manage a party of adventurers. Not only does this make combats more interesting, with various options for each of up to 4 characters, but also provides more of a tabletop RPG experience than most other gamebooks. The setting is high fantasy but with a dark tone. The quality of the writing is very high, as you'd expect from Dave Morris, and the Russ Nicholson illustrations are excellent - almost on a par with his very best work. The adventure itself has a dungeon crawl format, but begins with an interesting lead in, borrows at least as much from classical (Greek/Roman) mythology as it does from pseudo-medieval fantasy, and features enough interesting characters to feel like a lived-in environment rather than a D&D-style dungeon.

[Who · Rating 3 out of 5]

The reviews had me believe this gamebook was mindblowing, but playing with a party fo 4 it didn't feel that way. The quality of the writing is too longwinded and verbose for a busy party, most of the dungeon-crawl choices are cryptic, meanspirited, and arbitrary. Map-based combat sounds great, but the rules are unfleshed. Party dynamics are unbalanced as well- our wizard consistently racked all the kills while the warrior had basically no major role to play even while in combat.

Deaths are routine and arbitrary, but if you take them at their word the designers would honestly have you remove players from the game permanently, even though the consequent unbalancing would all but tip the balance away to any hope of survival. Naturally we didn't play like that

Bloodsword has a lot of good ideas and comes from an author (morris) whose system I LOVE, but it's still basically a one-player adventure

[Ангѣлъ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Така и не харесах тази поредица и така и не разбрах, защо я харесват - може би заради липсата на „културно“ (сиреч класическо касапско) фентъзи на български език. Играта беше мудна и на моменти объркваща. Може би защото бях свикнал повече да играя, отколкото да чета и по-големите произведения ми доскучаваха, а и западните не бяха като българските книги-игри - не бяха писани за българския придричив читател.

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una delle prime serie di librogiochi "multiplayer" arrivati in Italia.
In pratica se si era in 4 giocatori era quasi come una partita a Dungeons & Dragons senza Master, inoltre se qualcuno moriva potevamo sempre barare! :D

[Kjeld · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great gamebook!, almost same plot as Deathtrap Dungeon from the Fighting Fantasy series, which is not bad at all. and with the possibility to play either as a solo hero, or in a party up to 4 characters.
If the hero(es) succeed, they can continue into book #2.

[Noi LeggiAMO Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un librogame molto interessante, la trama è molto interessante, rigiocabile tantissime volte con mille strade possibili fin dall'inizio. Questo librogame può essere giocato in solo o con altre persone, calibrando la forza in base al numero di partecipanti. Nonostante sia calibrato bene giocato in solo può risultare difficile per la capienza della borsa, che è limitata, se si gioca con più personaggi la borsa raddoppia, come anche le chance di salvarsi... o forse no... Ti salverai solo se farai le scelte giuste.
Scorrevole, ben scritto, divertente e longevo. Un librogame che consiglio vivamente, uno dei miei primi che mi hanno fatta innamorare di questo genere, scelte punitive a volte ma che permettono di rendere realistico il viaggio che il personaggio che stiamo impersonando. Ogni run sarà diversa sia per le scelte sia per i personaggi. Cambiando l'eroe che stiamo impersonando ma facendo le stesse scelte della run precedente, avremo risultati diversi proprio perché i personaggi hanno caratteristiche differenti, con uno magari si muore, con uno si sopravvive e magari con un altro ancora si apre una strada mai vista prima.
Munitevi di un D6 e partite per il labirinto che vi farà vivere tante avventure diverse.
Un D6, un libro e tante strade.
Recensione completa sul blog noi_leggiamo, anche su instagram e facebook.
Ari

[Andy Fletcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Battlepits of Krarth is the first in the Bloodsword gamebook collection. As with most gamebook series, the first isn't necessary the best. However, whilst it's a little derivative, it does set the scene for the rest of the series and is still very well written and avoids the clichés and problems that besets most gamebook series. The only drawback from the series was the complex combat system. But that is easily solvable, just don't bother with it. The book stands up on the quality of the writing alone.

I owned many gamebook series back in the day but culled most of them from my collection. Bloodsword is the collection I regret getting rid of the most, hence me purchasing it again. On a more positive note, at least the authors got paid twice over. There are probably around ten stand out gamebook series in total, this being one of them. One or both of the authors being involved in three or four of the others (more if you allow for Jamie Thomson's cameo role in book 5). But then you probably know that already if you're reading this.

[Al Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved these as a kid. Wasted a lot of time playing them repeatedly.

[Chris R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good story too hard died many times.