I had a lot less to do with the writing of the fifth book than the rest of the series. Oliver Johnson was supposed to write it, but ran out of time. Luckily Jamie Thomson was on hand to step in, but necessarily it was a rush job so he didn't have time to read the earlier Blood Sword books. I came in right at the end to tie up the last 40 sections or so.
Patreon backers can see how I'd have liked the series finale to pan out. Tambù's Blood Sword 5e campaign and rulebook drew on those notes, and I have a feeling so will Prime Games' forthcoming CRPG.
Various player-characters guest starred in the Blood Sword books, in a manner of speaking. This time it was the turn of Zaraqeb (Zara in the book) and Karunaz, who were played in my and Steve Foster's Empire of the Petal Throne campaign by Gail Baker and Paul Mason. The original PCs weren't a lot like their gamebook incarnations, incidentally. The real Zaraqeb wasn't a sorceress and wasn't that nasty; the real Karunaz was neither posh nor noble, though he was a much more interesting kind of hero because of that.
Mr Morris, it really is a real treat to have all of these stats for Dragon Warriors. So, thank you. Now we just need Blood Sword Classes to be tackled! :)
ReplyDeleteThat's where it gets tricky. The warrior is easy enough, but is the sage a mystic? The enchanter a sorcerer? And the trickster... maybe an assassin? Or one of the new professions in the Players Guide? (I can't comment on those as I was never sent a copy of it.)
DeleteYes, Mr Morris, the Trickster would be quite difficult as he had so many abilities - as far as I recall.
ReplyDeleteIt largely depends on the player. If they are glib of tongue and good at thinking on their feet, that will cover 90% of what the trickster does in the Blood Sword books. Then they can add in the profession-specific abilities of an assassin for any sneaking around they need to do.
DeleteThat is a great way to look at it. Thank you, Mr Morris.
ReplyDeleteI do recall Karunaz having the Demon's claw at his waist in the original illustration. And Zara having multiple tattoos from which she could summon demons....
ReplyDeleteCertainly that was the legend, though I don't think she gets time to summon any demons in the book.
DeleteThe original PCs were both heavily tattooed because they were Livyani, and tattoos are used in their culture to denote clan, lineage and religious affiliation. But that wouldn't have been consistent with Ta'ashim society generally, so the book version of Karunaz lacks any tattoos.