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"The Confessions of BoB"
or
Secrets of the Books of Blood
p a r t t h r e e
========================= by //. i d n i g h t ==========================
- foreword -
*************
After Finishing the Chapter 1 "walk-through" (First Blood!)
I was exhausted and wanted to get back into making some
New DM modules and didn't know for sure if I would even
continue my Confessions of BoB "Series", but the Tournament
Version of Chapter 2 (Arena of Blood!) is Very Difficult
and demands some sort of Guide or Walk Through to get going.
The "Epic" version starts you in the Arena Grounds while the
Tournament Version starts you in the Warrior's Haven.
This Guide will focus on the Tournament Version Strategies
and virtually all these can be applied to the Arena in BoB.
*************
===================== THE ARENA OF BLOOD! TOURNAMENT ======================
THE WARRIOR'S HAVEN: Getting Started
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You begin in the Warrior's Haven with the Best Weapon (the Blood Sword),
the Best Helment (money can buy), the Small Shield (5 Mystic Shield charges)
and Chain Mail. Winning your first fight and advancing a few levels will
be not be easy so you need to spend a little time preparing yourself....
and what better way than to do a little Drinking and Gambling!
The Tavern:
^^^^^^^^^^^
Drinks are on the House! Go into the Tavern and Drink all the Free Drinks
you can. A refreshing brew much better tasting than the Warm Beer in the
Training Grounds of First Blood and Never BITTER!
Once you've got a good "Buzz" if you wander around in the Tavern you'll
bump into some of the other contestants and find a few "Bar Coins". You can
only carry as many as you have space in your inventory and if you hang out
in the Tavern too long you just might Pass Out!
Once you have a few Bar Coins it's time to visit the Gambling Hall.
The Gambling Hall:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
With Bar Coins in your Inventory you'll now be able to Gamble.
Even without Coins you can go through the motions, but there is no chance
to win unless you have one, and one will be taken every time you try.
Forget the Coin Toss.... thou it has the Best Odds the returns are only
$100 Gold... Roll the Bones (IMHO) is the Best Bet though Spin the Wheel
gives the Best Return and pays more often than you'd think it would.
The Equipment Shoppe:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Once you've got some Gold to work with Upgrade Your Armor to Plate Mail
and Buy a Scroll of Protection, (You may want to Upgrade that Shield too).
The Scroll of Protection is probably the single most Useful Item to Have.
It has 5 charges of the Ancient "Guardian Angel" Spell which is much more
powerful than the Mystic Shield Spell and Last much longer too.
You'll more than likely have to use it to win your first fight and it is
Very Handy later on when you start fighting in the Arena.
Now it's time to start Training and gain some experience and Levels.
Combat Training:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The Combat Training provides 5 random encounters a day so you can gain
the experience you need to raise levels and prepare yourself to enter the
Arenas. Winning your first fight at level one will require some luck as
far as drawing an "easy" fight and getting a good AC bonus from using the
Small Shields special power or the Scroll of Protection.
If you don't have a Ressurection the Combat Trainer will provide you with
one since you can be Killed in Training. It's likely you may die often
in the beginning but Don't Give Up! (and if worse comes to worse there is
a way to get 1500 experience a day in the Arena Grounds without fighting
but it isn't without risk....)
Once you start winning a few fights you'll be able to advance the first few
levels Very Quickly (and probably need to keep Gambling Daily to Afford
Spell Procurement...)
If you win ALL 5 random encounters in a day go back through the door and
talk to the Trainer, he has something that Might come in handy...
Health Spa:
^^^^^^^^^^^
The Health Spa is reserved for those who have completed one of the Trials
in the Arena. Return here when you've completed a Trial, but you must
make it back on the same day of you Victory or your "reservation" will have
been canceled. Be sure to walk into the back after your "Massage".
(Special Note: If Movement Points are Limited you'll need to use as few
steps as possible getting to the Arena...the WING Spell will reduce the
number of movement points used and each time you win a fight in the Arena
you'll gain 2 points...)
The Closed Doors:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
There are Four Doors in the Haven you can't open. Each time you Complete
a Trial a door will become accessable. Each one has something that can
help you in the Arena. There are also 2 other doors that won't appear until
you've attempted the 5th trial, though the items you find aren't required
to complete the Game you'll want to Equip them and Use them!
The Mysterious Man:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
At the Western End of the Warrior's Haven is a portal to the Arena Grounds.
If you haven't completed the first Trial he will stop you with a Warning
about entering the Arena Grounds.
***********************
THE ARENA GROUNDS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Surrounding the Arena are the Arena Grounds.
There are a number of characters that you'll encounter if you wander much.
Most probably the first you'll meet are the City Guards. If you have the
Scroll of Blood simply show it to them and they'll let you pass. It also
serves as your pass into the Arena. If you do not have one you'll have a
few other options. If you bribe them they'll let you pass but they are a
greedy bunch and will keep wanting more.
You must have a Scroll of Blood to enter the Arena. If you don't have a
Scroll there is a way to get one in the Arena Grounds if you're Asked the
Question "What is the Easy Way Out?"
Until you pass the Trial of the First Arena (and learn the Password for
Portal Access) the only way out of the Arena is Death!
You may find the Skull of a Dead Warrior that will give you the option to
take "The Easy Way Out", if you choose yes you will be given a Ressurection
and have your Hit Points drained. You'll loose some experience and gold but
be back in the Haven when you are ressurected.
Besides the Arena, there is a Jail, Review Board, Healers Temple, Equipment
Shoppe and a Hidden Guilde. There are also some wandering Merchants, Druids,
a Mysterious Man, a Seductress, and Guards Everywhere. Becareful, you never
know for sure if these characters will help or hurt you.
BUILDING UP EXPERIENCE FAST!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I realize this module is very difficult, but with a little luck, patience,
and determination you can raise levels quickly. After you've gained 4-5
levels the Combat Training in the Haven becomes very easy and you won't
gain enough experience to advance as quickly as you'd like to.
However, there is a way to "force" encounters almost every step you take
with escape but a "side-step" away.
When you encounter the City Guards choose R) Run and you'll be back to the
point where you first entered the Arena Grounds. From the message describing
what you see in the Arena Grounds any step east or west will force a Random
Encounter with much tougher and many more monsters than in the Haven.
For several steps east or west you can force a random encounter almost every
step of the way with one step North providing an "escape" route.
These encounters will be a good indicator as to wheither or not you're ready
to enter the Arena. If you're winning them you'll gain alot of experience
and be able to raise levels quickly. However, once you've been declared
"Fair Game" don't venture into the lower part of the Arena Grounds or the
Arena until the City Guards start asking to see you "Papers" again or you'll
get yourself thrown in Jail!
The Arena Trials:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
To pass each of the Arena Trials you must win a pre-determined number of
random encounters. It's luck that determines just what you'll have to fight
but after each successful fight (or groups of fights) the Breath of Life is
cast to restore some of your hit points if you need healing. You may attempt
to Run from an encounter in hopes you'll "draw" an easier fight or restore
some Spell Points but be warned, if you run too many times the Trial will be
ended and you'll be booed out of the Arena in disgrace.
You are only allowed to enter the Arena once per day and if you try and stay
in the Arena overnight you'll be kicked out the next day. So be sure you
have at least 10-50 movement points and enough time left before you enter!
Each Trial is a little more difficult than the last with the Final Trial
quite a bit different than all the rest.
Fighting Tips:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Most of these tips are obvious (or at least I think so) but in cast they
aren't here are a few recommendations:
1) Use Spells, Scrolls, and Armor to get your AC as low as possible with
LO being the ideal level. Also be aware that if the Shield ICON isn't
being displayed in the Spell Window it Isn't Active and your Status
Window is displaying FALSE Information!
Try to Keep a Shield Icon Active at All Times!
2) If possible keep the Exorcision of Possession Spell Active at All Times.
There are a number of creatures that will try to Possess you and if you
get possessed you won't be able to use all your attacks if any. Even
with the XXXX Spell active you may get possessed for a round or two but
if it's active in the spell window you won't stay possessed for long.
(You can Use the Holy Water for the Same Effect but you won't know when
it quits working...)
3) Keeping the Accuracy Aid or Adrenalize Spells Active will help you to
hit the creatures harder and more often and will last for several fights.
(You can Use the Scroll of Strength for the Same Effect but, like the
Holy Water, you won't know when it quits working...)
4) Learn to use you Offensive Spells (and items that can be Used to cast
Offensive Spells) effectively. Thou it doesn't actually damage you enemy
the Scream of Insantiy can be a very effective spell, with Acid Rain and
Storm Strike being the best Spells that can be used alone or together to
devastate your enemy! (Take note that occasionally these spells stay
active into your Next encounter!)
5) Know the Enemy! The Spell Casters can be Some of the Most Dangerous Foes
you'll Face since they can hurt you from the back of the Pack. Depending
on what creatures are in the front, you should pick off the one that can
Cast Spells First... especially the Sorceress since she cast Acid Rain
which may continue to hit you even after she's been killed and sometimes
continue hitting you even after the fight is over!
General Fighting Summary:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
1. Watch Your Shield ICON
2. Keep XXXX Active
3. Keep ACCA or ADRN Active
4. Use your offensive Spells and Items
5. Know Your Enemy
MAJOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TOURNAMENT VERSION & THE "EPIC" BoB VERSION
===========================================================================
First of all the Tournament Version Starts you in the Haven where as in the
"Epic" Version you cannot reach the Haven until you've completed the First
Trial in the Arena and Learned the Password for access to the Portal.
The "Epic" version has a higher difficulty setting than the Tournament in
both the Haven and the Arena.
Map Version Dungeon Level Wander Difficulty
HAVEN Epic 5 6
HAVEN Tournament 2 4
ARENA Epic 6 6
ARENA Tournament 4 6
============================================================================
- parting words -
This concludes the Tips for the Arena of Blood...
The next installment will cover the Final chapter
of BoB: The Labyrnth of Blood! The stand alone version
is still under construction and is so different from
BoB: chapter 3 that it will be covered separately
once it has been completed.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have Fun!
--//. i d n i g h t
============================================================================
Books of Blood DM Series
by Mike Collard
BoB Basics | First Blood! | Arena of Blood! | Into the Abyss!
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