Scorpion Swamp

Scorpion Swamp is a single-player adventuring gamebook written by Steve Jackson (the American game designer, rather than the series co-creator), illustrated by Duncan Smith and originally published in 1984 by Puffin Books. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 8th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-031829-1). There are currently no announced plans to republish this book as part of the modern Wizard series.

This was the first Fighting Fantasy book to be written by an author other than the two series co-creators. The book has three different successful endings and unlike most of the other Fighting Fantasy books the 400th reference does not contain an ending to the adventure.
Contents
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* 1 Story
o 1.1 Quests
o 1.2 Setting
* 2 See also
* 3 References

[edit] Story

You're no fool. All your life you've heard tales of Scorpion Swamp and how it is criss-crossed with treacherous paths leading to the haunts of its disgusting denizens. One step out of place spells a certain and lingering death. But now, the swamp holds out the lure of treasure and glory – and you cannot resist the challenge!

Having acquired a magic Brass Ring from a mysterious old woman, which allows the player to detect evil and always know which way is north, the player enters the notorious Scorpion Swamp.

Unlike other Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, Scorpion Swamp allows the player to choose one of three quests – each from a patron who is either good, evil or neutral. The gameplay has a non-linear design, allowing the user to explore the swamp at will and return to locations previously visited, a first for the series. It an innovative book in another aspect of its format, in that it employed a grid system of locations to explore.
Whereas in other Fighting Fantasy books, a player who followed the options to go North, West, South then East was in no way guaranteed to end up where they started (one direction leading to a ten-mile walk, another taking them just a few yards), in Scorpion Swamp each location was equidistant from the others and roads only led in the four primary compass directions. Upon entering a location, the player was asked if they had been there before, and instructed accordingly. This combination of a cell system of locations, and the freedom to re-visit them, was closely modelled on the basic structure of most early computer adventures, with their arrays of locations which could be roamed around freely.
[edit] Quests

Players choose from one of the following quests.

* Good: A powerful magic plant is known to reside within the confines of the swamp. The player must locate it and bring back a sample to the good wizard Selator.
* Evil: A group of powerful wizards, known as Masters, have taken up residence in the swamp. These wizards each bear a magic amulet which is the source of their power. The evil warlock Grimslade pays the player to retrieve as many of these amulets as possible.
* Neutral: A local trader by the name of Poomchukker wants to send caravans through the swamp to Willowbend. Doing so would save weeks of travel time, but he needs a map. The player must make his way from the southern side of the swamp to the northern end, and return a map to Poomchukker showing him the route.

[edit] Setting

This is the first Fighting Fantasy gamebook set in the continent of Khul, although this was not alluded to until the release of Titan – The Fighting Fantasy World.

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