The Adventure of Troubadour Henri Leloup in Fabled Lands
Explore a spoiler-free gamebook adventure from the salty coasts to windswept mountains of Fabled Lands.
It’s been a long time since I even looked at my collection of Fabled Lands Gamebooks… But I picked up all of the large format editions years ago, and still haven’t gotten very far in the first book! Goodness. I made it a point to lug all of my materials to my game table. Time to go exploring and adventuring, even with the threat of gamebook death looming!
Game Overview
Game Name: Fabled Lands: The War-Torn Kingdom
Publication Year: 1995
Designers: Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson
Artists: Kevin Jenkins and Russ Nicholson
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
There they are! Lined up together, all 7 of the current gamebooks cover an entire world to explore. Even better? Everything is linked together so that a character can travel from book to book on a continued adventure! Many locations may also be visited multiple times, leading to fewer required steps and more of an open-world feel.
Riding Into Adventure
Hello, Calico Critters! I couldn’t resist not having some sort of physical version of my character. Meet the world’s greatest troubadour, Henri Leloup! And horse.
Do horses exist in these gamebooks for faster travel? I have no idea. So I just went with it. Ride on, troubadour!
Please note the excellent position of the reins in that little paw. It’s basically impossible to see… And I spent so long getting it just right. Oh, Henri! What a way to start.
No harm was to befall this duo. Or so I told them, because we all know how death just happens in gamebooks!
Exciting but Disappointing Progress
As promised, I have no spoilers to give anything away. I took many different paths that I hadn’t seen before… But keep in mind that I really haven’t played that often. My process is usually slow and deliberate, with endless notes. I kept up that tradition at first, yet abandoned it when I wanted to just have some fun! We’ll see how that goes in the future.
The only aspect that really started to get to me was rolling the dice. It was frustrating to fail over and over again, through no real fault of my own. Looking back, though, it made sense: This was a low-level character who had next to nothing. Actually, Henri lost all of his possessions at one point and basically started over. Yikes!
To the Northern Pass
Despite many setbacks, Henri learned of a secret location somewhere in the north. If that’s a spoiler, my apologies, though I won’t go into any other details! That’s all I’ll say.
He rarely used his troubadour skills, though. There were some really interesting events… But the dice made it clear that those mysteries would remain unsolved for Henri.
That’s one of the main strengths of these gamebooks. It’s rare to succeed all the time, so multiple plays are worth it!
It all looked to be going well. Even with practically nothing to his name, Henri Leloup was going to be amazing!
Session Overview
Play Number: 6
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
Required Play Space: 26″ x 12″
Setup Time: 5 Minutes
Play Time: 1 Hour & 45 Minutes
Outcome: Loss
No! Henri Leloup! I thought I knew what was coming when he failed multiple rolls in a row. It was in a spot full of dangers. The curious troubadour perished due to thirst. Somewhere. Once again, no spoilers! I even made it to a few other gamebooks, if only briefly. Light is important…
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
9
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
7
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
8
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
6
+ Pros (Positives)
- A character can begin in any of the gamebooks, making the beginning a little more variable than it might be.
- Each area of the world is contained within a gamebook, yet connected paragraphs allow for full exploration.
- There are 6 different professions that not only affect starting statistics but also play a role in paragraph options.
- The majority of paragraphs have decisions and allow a character to return, thereby creating an open world.
- With random rolls and many paths to explore, there are plenty of secrets to uncover during multiple plays.
- Several pieces of artwork add flavor to the text, and most paragraphs are interesting or action-packed.
– Cons (Negatives)
- Character death is extremely common, sometimes occurring for no other reason than bad luck or randomness.
- The dice mechanic can be annoying at times, particularly for new characters with few bonuses or equipment.
- Tracking keywords and visited paragraphs is vital, yet this can be annoying when a character dies early on.
- Playing through the same gamebook in quick succession can feel repetitive when reading the same paragraphs.
Continue the Conversation
How have your experiences been with the Fabled Lands Gamebooks? If you haven’t tried them out, did you know that there is a free and legal way to play digitally with Java Fabled Lands? I prefer physical gamebooks, although I appreciate how this option makes tracking details a lot easier! Farewell, Henri Leloup. May the next character fare better!
0 Comments