This book was recommended to me as a gamebook that was published in 2012, and might have innovated the form. I don't think it really did. It's been a decidedly mixed bag, and I even posted a short rant about it in the 'Totally Lost You' thread. However, while The Legion of Shadow is gravely flawed, that doesn't exactly set it apart from (most of) the other books we've LP'd. Also, I think it's pretty interesting, because it definitely does have it's good points as well. I'll be commenting on good and bad as we go along, and I hope you will too.
The System
The stats are: Brawn, Magic, Speed, Armor, and Health. Health starts at 30, all others start at zero. Sometimes you must test a stat, which involves rolling 2d6+stat against a TN, like Climb the Cliff (Speed 9).
Careers
There are three careers that might become available to your hero. Warriors are associated with Brawn, rogues with Speed, mages with Magic. When you train as one of them, you'll get associated special abilities.
Gear
Your character has sixteen item slots: Cloak, Head, Gloves, Main Hand, Chest, Left Hand, Talisman, Feet, Necklace, Ring x2, and Backpack x5. You can only carry one item per slot; putting an item in an occupied slot destroys the previous occupant. You can only carry an item in a slot that matches its kind.
The currency of the realm (Valeron) is gold crowns, which don't take up a slot.
Combat
A combat round is resolved by opposed 2d6+Speed rolls. Damage is 1d6+(higher of Brawn or Magic)-(opponent's Armor). Combat usually continues until one person has Health ≤0 and is defeated. After combat, you fully recover immediately.
That would be pretty dry by itself, so there are a lot of combat abilities. In a single round you can drink one potion, use one Speed ability, one Combat ability, any number of modifier abilities, and must use all Passive abilities.
'Death'
Unless otherwise stated, being defeated just bounces you back to the main map, so savescumming is basically the assumed play style.
The knight's legacy
You are thrown from the dream, kicking and flailing. It is some seconds before you can catch your breath, images of black-scaled monsters and sharp fangs still swimming before your vision.
As your surroundings slowly come into focus, you find yourself lying on your back against the soggy ground, a steady patter of rain beating on the dead leaves and dirt. Above you, a full moon streams garish light through the treetops, picking out the charred twisted remains that encircle you.
Bodies.
Corpses.
Frantically, you scramble to your feet, the cold rain making the ground slippery with mud. As you stand, an angry pain causes you to stagger, thumping against the inside of your head. Putting a hand to the back of your scalp, you feel for a wound or bruise. To your surprise, you find nothing.
All around you, the ground is scorched and smoking, forming a crater with you at its center. Sprawled around its edge are over a dozen bodies – each one burnt beyond all recognition. You close your eyes, struggling to remember what happened... how you came to be here.
You look down at your tattered clothing, rain soaked and smeared with mud. A splatter of blood covers one sleeve. Tentatively, you pull back the cloth, your eyes widening in surprise when you see the purple mark branded into the skin. The design is detailed and intricate, showing three diamond-bodied serpents intertwined in a dizzying pattern of spirals. Around them, a number of strange sigils glow with a soft purplish light.
You hear a groan coming from the trees ahead. Covering the strange mark, you stagger through the mud towards the sound. Instinctively, your hand goes to your belt, looking for a weapon. But there is none there. You are unarmed. Scanning the mud, you find a rusty-looking dagger next to one of the scorched bodies. You crouch down and pick it up, before heading into the dark trees.
A man is lying with his back against one of the trunks – no, a boy, not much older than fifteen. He is clad in plate armor, his thick mud-scattered cloak bunched up around his shoulders. The shaft of an arrow protrudes from his lower chest, having pierced through the links between the metal plates.
The boy looks up as you approach, his face deathly white and dripping with rainwater. A trickle of blood seeps from the corner of his mouth.
'What... what happened?' you ask, kneeling beside the wounded knight.
The boy fixes his watery eyes on your own. 'You don't remember?' he rasps hoarsely.
You say nothing, your attention shifting to the black-fletched arrow. 'Who did this? Who are those... people?' You gesture back towards the clearing, where the scorched bodies lie in twisted repose.
'Brigands. Thieves,' gasps the boy, grimacing with pain. 'They attacked our camp.'
'Our camp?' you ask. You close your eyes, struggling to remember what happened – to find that part of yourself, that corner of your mind where some memory or trace of who you are might still remain. There is nothing – only a chill darkness, as cold and impenetrable as the night. When you open your eyes, they are misted with angry tears. 'I don't remember... I don't remember anything.'
The boy gives a pained gasp as he struggles to raise one of his hands. With a trembling finger, he points to your head. 'You took a blow. Right before you killed those men.'
You draw back, inhaling sharply. 'I... I did that... back there?' Images of the charred, ruined bodies flash before your eyes. 'How?'
'Some magic,' whispers the boy. 'It came from the... that mark on your arm.'
You flinch, clutching your arm protectively against your chest. The boy smirks at your reaction. 'you never mentioned it. I guess it was something you didn't want me to know about.'
'And this?' you ask, looking down at the black-fletched arrow.
'Assassin spitted me,' he grimaces. 'He was the only one to get away. Their leader... I think.' Where the arrow shaft meets the skin, you can see green poison bubbling out of the wound.
The boy reads your fatal expression. 'I know, it's... too late for me.'
Your shoulders sag. It is a grim thought – that this dying knight is the last remaining link to your past, to your previous life that is now forgotten. 'We know each other?' you ask hesitantly.
'We met yesterday,' rasps the boy. 'We were both traveling the same road... to Tithebury Cross.'
You shake your head. The name means nothing to you.
'I'm an academy knight,' the boy wheezes. 'Just graduated, top of my class. I was going to apprentice...' He stops as a wave of pain forces him to shudder. You put out your hand, gripping his shoulder and willing him to go on. 'I was going to apprentice with Avian Dale...' For a moment there is a flicker of life in his eyes, his pain forgotten as he stares wistfully up at the dark sky. 'It was my instructor's idea. He said I was the best in my year... Avian doesn't accept just anyone. I was special...' His face sours as he looks down at the arrow shaft. 'Now that life is over.'
Suddenly, from somewhere back in the forest, you hear a piercing shriek. You glance nervously over your shoulder.
'Harpies,' grimaces the boy. 'They hunt in packs. The scent...' he lifts his hands, revealing palms soaked with his own blood. 'It will draw them here. You must go.'
'But I can't just leave you, I must find out-'
'My pack. Fetch my pack.'
The boy tilts his head. Following his gaze, you see a brown backpack lying at the base of one of the trees. You quickly retrieve it, surprised at its lightness as you lift it out of the mud. The boy gestures for you to open it. Inside, wedged between a bundle of clothes, is a rolled-up sheet of parchment.
'Take it,' whispers the boy. 'It's my letter from... the academy.'
Unrolling the scroll, you see that it is covered in neat flowing script. It is addressed to an Avian Dale, outlining the merits of a young academy knigh. It ends in a seal of green wax, displaying the insignia of a winged dragon.
'I can't take this,' you protest, shaking your head.
The boy gives a wheezing cough, his body jerking painfully with the effort. 'It is... no good to me. Take it. Start a new life. He'll never know.'
A screech draws your attention skywards. Black shapes are circling overhead, their spindly feathered bodies silhouetted against the full moon. Harpies. Something inside you is urging you to flee. The mark olong your arm tingles as if sensing the same danger.
You roll up the scroll and stuff it into the pack. When you look over at the boy, you see that his head is now resting against his chest, his eyes closed. Death has finally taken him.
'I will find the assassin that did this. I promise.' You reach downand take the boy's sword. It is a well-balanced blade, the hilt and pommel studded with gems.
You have gained the following item: The apprentice (main hand: sword) +1 Brawn, +1 Magic.
Another bird-like screech tears through the night. There are answering calls from all around you, worryingly close. Quickly, you shoulder the knight's pack and then start running.
You find comfort in purpose, keeping to a fast pace as you weave between the withered tree of the dark forest. After what feels like an age of battling through the cloying mud and driving rain, you spy a cave in the hollow of a hill. Having found shelter, you sit and await the dawn, shivering with more than just the cold.
***
The wooden signpost points southwards, where the marshy forest gives way to green rolling hills. 'Tithebury Cross. 3 miles.' You take a deep breath of the warm morning air. 'A new life. A new start.' Peeling back your sleeve, you look down at the purple mark, glowing beneath your skin. Does this strange mark hold the key to your past?
And what of the future?
You scan the letter of introduction once again; a letter recommending a talented knight to apprentice with one of the grand masters of the profession. 'Avian Dale.' It should have been the young boy – this was his future, his dream...
'It is... no good to me... take it. Start a new life. He'll never know.'
no one will ever know. Carefully, you roll up the letter and return it to your pack, before setting off down the long dusty road towards Tithebury.
Turn to the first map to being ACT 1 of your adventure. As a novice adventurer you will want to start with the green quests first, as these are the easiest to complete. Return to the map when you want a new destination or quest. Good luck!
Map Key:
The House (6) is a town, safe area, shops, source of info.
Green swords (10, 15, 22) are easy quests.
Orange swords (4, 66) are average quests.
Blue swords (25, 111) are hard quests.
Red swords (87) are hardest quests.
Spiders (18, 29) are legendary monsters, entirely optional, hard to beat, sweet rewards.
The skull (97) is the boss monster; defeating it will move you to the next Act.
Speed: 0, Brawn: +1, Magic: +1, Armor: 0
Health: 30
Main Hand: The Apprentice (sword; +1 Brawn, +1 Magic)
Money Pouch: 10 Crowns