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{{Short description|1984 single-player roleplaying gamebook}}
{{Infobox book
{{Infobox book
⚫
|image= FF9 Caverns of the Snow Witch.jpg
|image=
|caption=The original [[Puffin Books]] cover of ''Caverns of the Snow Witch''
|caption=
|authors=[[Ian Livingstone]]
|author=[[Ian Livingstone]]<ref name="HW"/>
|illustrator=[[Gary Ward]]<br>[[Edward Crosby]]
|illustrators=[[Gary Ward (artist)|Gary Ward]]<br>Edward Crosby
|cover_artist=[[Les Edwards]] (UK)<br>[[R. Courtney]] (US)<ref name="HW"/>
|coverillustrator=Les Edwards
| genre = Fantasy<br />Location: Allansia, Titan
|year=1984
⚫
| series = [[List of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks|Fighting Fantasy]]<br />{{unbulleted list
⚫
|ISBN=ISBN 0-14-031830-5
| Puffin number: 9
| Wizard number: 10
}}
|published=Puffin (UK): 1984<ref name="HW"/><br>Dell/Laurel-Leaf (US): 1985<ref name="HW"/>
|media_type = Print ([[Paperback]])
⚫
|isbn=0-14-031830-5
|isbn_note=(Puffin)<br>{{ISBN|1-84046-432-1}} (Wizard)
}}
}}
'''''Caverns of the Snow Witch''''' single-player [[roleplaying]] [[gamebook]], written by [[Ian Livingstone]], illustrated by [[Gary Ward]] and [[Edward Crosby]] and originally published in 1984 by [[Puffin Books]]. It was later republished by [[Wizard Books]] in 2003. It forms part of [[Steve Jackson (UK)|Steve Jackson]] and [[Ian Livingstone]]'s ''[[Fighting Fantasy]]'' series. It is the 9th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-031830-5) and 10th in the modern Wizard series (ISBN 1-84046-432-1).
'''''Caverns of the Snow Witch''''' is a single-player [[roleplaying]] [[gamebook]], written by [[Ian Livingstone]], illustrated by Gary Ward and Edward Crosby and originally published in 1984 by [[Puffin Books]]. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2003. It forms part of [[Steve Jackson (UK)|Steve Jackson]] and [[Ian Livingstone]]'s ''[[Fighting Fantasy]]'' series. It is the 9th in the series in the original Puffin series ({{ISBN|0-14-031830-5}}) and 10th in the modern Wizard series ({{ISBN|1-84046-432-1}}).


==Creation==
==Creation==
A short version of the adventure was first published in ''[[Warlock (magazine)|Warlock: The Fighting Fantasy Magazine]]'' in two parts, originally as separate adventures. Livingstone later combined both parts and expanded the adventure to create the final book.
The story was first published in ''[[Warlock (magazine)|Warlock: The Fighting Fantasy Magazine]]'' as a shorter 190-section adventure. Livingstone later expanded the plot to create the final story.


==Story==
==Story==
''Caverns of the Snow Witch'' is a fantasy adventure scenario in which the character is a guard working in the caravan of a merchant in the frozen land of Allansia, and hunts a dangerous beast.<ref name="HW">{{cite book|last=Schick |first=Lawrence|authorlink=Lawrence Schick|title=Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games|publisher=Prometheus Books |year=1991|isbn=0-87975-653-5|page=366}}</ref>
{{Quotation|On the trail of a hideous creature that is terrorising the northern trade routes, you find its last victim – still alive, but barely. With his dying breath he lays a great burden on your shoulders...<br><br>After years of searching he has found the entrance to the Crystal Caves of the evil Snow Witch, high up in the Icefinger Mountains. She must be destroyed before her dark powers bring on another [[ice age]] and Allansia slips under her dominion forever. But time is running out. Can you slay the vile Snow Witch before she becomes all powerful?}}


The story takes the form of a campaign: the player must first locate the correct path to the lair of the Snow Witch, defeat the villain and her minions, and finally after escaping with allies find a means of overcoming a potentially fatal curse.
The book is split into three distinct parts:
*In the first part, the reader is hired to kill a [[yeti]] that has been disrupting trade routes in the Icefinger Mountains of Allansia. After killing the yeti, the player finds a dying trapper who tells him of the great riches to be found in the caverns of the Snow Witch, an evil sorceress who dwells in the mountains. The player sets off to investigate the caverns, fight his way through guards and monsters, and find and kill the witch (who is really a [[vampire]]).
*In the second part, the player must escape the witch's lair while being pursued by her minions, alongside tqwo new companions: Redswift the Elf and Stubb the Dwarf. Along the way they encounter many traps, several guards and even the spirit of the late Snow Witch herself.
*In the third part, the three escape from the caverns and return to civilised, temperate parts of Allansia, when it is revealed that both the reader and Redswift are succumbing to the effects of a Death Spell, activated by the reading of a parchment. After Redswift perishes, the reader must seek out Pen Ty Kora, a reclusive healing wizard, to cure him of the spell, while his Stamina score gradually dwindles away. If the reader has certain items from the Snow Witch's cavern, and can pass a series of ordeals, he will be cured of the spell and successfully complete the gamebook.


==Reception==
Whilst ''Caverns of the Snow Witch'' was originally the ninth book in the series, it is the chronological [[prequel]] of ''[[Forest of Doom]]'', the third book. The quest for King Gillibran's warhammer, which is the basis of the plot of ''Forest of Doom'', begins in this book.
[[RPG.net]] stated the concept was "substantially better than The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, and certainly more novel than your typical dungeon crawl."<ref name="RPG">{{cite web|url=http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9359.phtml|title=Review of Caverns of the Snow Witch - RPGnet|accessdate=23 August 2014}}</ref>


==Criticism==
==In other media==
The gamebook was converted into a 40-page [[d20 System]] role-playing adventure by Jamie Wallis. It was published by Myriador in 2003<ref name="RPG"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfandfantasy.co.uk/php/detailsm.php?reference=78020|title=SFandFantasy.co.uk - Caverns of the Snow Witch. 2003|accessdate=23 August 2014}}</ref> and reissued in [[pdf]] format by Greywood Publishing in 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/61687/caverns-snow-witch|title=Caverns of the Snow Witch - RPG Geek|accessdate=23 August 2014}}</ref>


A digital version was developed by Tin Man Games available for [[Android (operating system)|Android]] and [[iOS]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fightingfantasyapps.com/books/caverns-of-the-snow-witch/|title=Tin Man Games – Caverns of the Snow Witch|accessdate=20 August 2014}}</ref> A PC Steam version was also released.
''Caverns of the Snow Witch'' is regarded by some fans as one of the weaker books in the Fighting Fantasy series.<ref>"This book is Ian Livingstone at his worst: a linear sequence of excessively difficult but not especially interesting encounters complete with a stupid, luck-based guessing game poorly disguised as a climactic battle."[http://www.gamebooks.org/show_item.php?id=46]</ref> It was originally published as a short adventure in [[Warlock (magazine)|''Warlock'' magazine]] and later expanded to a full adventure.
⚫
==Footnotes==
⚫
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
The book also contains a minor inconsistency with ''[[The Warlock of Firetop Mountain]]'' in that the game ends with the player climbing to the top of the eponymous mountain, but section 1 of the original book states that climbing to the top of the mountain "must surely be impossible".
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140515030056/http://www.fightingfantasy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=9 Caverns of the Snow Witch at the Wizard Books Fighting Fantasy website]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150919033023/http://fightingfantasy.com/index.php?%20option=com_content&view=article&id=86&Itemid=37 Index to ''Warlock'' magazine]


{{Fighting Fantasy}}
==See also==
⚫
*[[List of Fighting Fantasy gamebooks|List of ''Fighting Fantasy'' gamebooks]]


⚫
[[Category:1984 fiction books]]
==References==
<div class="references-small">
* {{cite web
| title=Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks on gamebooks.org
| url=http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=11}}
* {{cite web
⚫
| title=Caverns of the Snow Witch on gamebooks.org
| url=http://www.gamebooks.org/show_item.php?id=46}}
* {{cite web
| title=Caverns of the Snow Witch on the Internet Archive record of the old fightingfantasy.com site
| url=http://web.archive.org/web/20051127132124/www.fightingfantasy.com/ffb9.htm}}
Official sites:
* {{cite web
| title=Caverns of the Snow Witch on the official Fighting Fantasy website
| url=http://www.fightingfantasygamebooks.com/ff10.htm}}
* {{cite web
| title=Caverns of the Snow Witch on the Wizard Books website
| url=http://www.iconbooks.co.uk/wizard/wbook.cfm?isbn=1-84046-432-1}}
</div>

⚫
===Footnotes===
⚫
{{Reflist}}

⚫
[[Category:1984 books]]
[[Category:Books by Ian Livingstone]]
[[Category:Books by Ian Livingstone]]
[[Category:Fighting Fantasy]]
[[Category:Fighting Fantasy gamebooks]]

[[pt:As Cavernas da Feiticeira da Neve]]

Latest revision as of 21:04, 2 December 2024

Caverns of the Snow Witch
The original Puffin Books cover of Caverns of the Snow Witch
AuthorIan Livingstone[1]
IllustratorsGary Ward
Edward Crosby
Cover artistLes Edwards (UK)
R. Courtney (US)[1]
SeriesFighting Fantasy
  • Puffin number: 9
  • Wizard number: 10
GenreFantasy
Location: Allansia, Titan
PublishedPuffin (UK): 1984[1]
Dell/Laurel-Leaf (US): 1985[1]
Media typePrint (Paperback)
ISBN0-14-031830-5 (Puffin)
ISBN 1-84046-432-1 (Wizard)

Caverns of the Snow Witch is a single-player roleplaying gamebook, written by Ian Livingstone, illustrated by Gary Ward and Edward Crosby and originally published in 1984 by Puffin Books. It was later republished by Wizard Books in 2003. It forms part of Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy series. It is the 9th in the series in the original Puffin series (ISBN 0-14-031830-5) and 10th in the modern Wizard series (ISBN 1-84046-432-1).

Creation

[edit]

The story was first published in Warlock: The Fighting Fantasy Magazine as a shorter 190-section adventure. Livingstone later expanded the plot to create the final story.

Story

[edit]

Caverns of the Snow Witch is a fantasy adventure scenario in which the character is a guard working in the caravan of a merchant in the frozen land of Allansia, and hunts a dangerous beast.[1]

The story takes the form of a campaign: the player must first locate the correct path to the lair of the Snow Witch, defeat the villain and her minions, and finally after escaping with allies find a means of overcoming a potentially fatal curse.

Reception

[edit]

RPG.net stated the concept was "substantially better than The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, and certainly more novel than your typical dungeon crawl."[2]

In other media

[edit]

The gamebook was converted into a 40-page d20 System role-playing adventure by Jamie Wallis. It was published by Myriador in 2003[2][3] and reissued in pdf format by Greywood Publishing in 2008.[4]

A digital version was developed by Tin Man Games available for Android and iOS.[5] A PC Steam version was also released.

Footnotes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. p. 366. ISBN 0-87975-653-5.
  2. ^ a b "Review of Caverns of the Snow Witch - RPGnet". Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  3. ^ "SFandFantasy.co.uk - Caverns of the Snow Witch. 2003". Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  4. ^ "Caverns of the Snow Witch - RPG Geek". Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  5. ^ "Tin Man Games – Caverns of the Snow Witch". Retrieved 20 August 2014.
[edit]
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