I just finished replaying Curse of the Azure Bonds offline, so I can also replay this game offline before starting a Let's Play of Pools of Darkness -- because, as Aulddragon pointed out late in my previous playthrough of Secret of the Silver Blades, my dual-classed paladin and ranger weren't getting the number of attacks per combat round they should have been getting for their character level. So I recreated the paladin and ranger as new single-classed characters at the beginning of Curse (with the same names their dual-classed twins had). They started out a couple of levels below the characters imported from Pool of Radiance, but ended the game only 1 level shy of their level caps. Not bad for new characters! (And it gave me an excuse to spend more time playing Gold Box games . . .) Totally agree as to how boring the Mines are. The first time I tried playing SOTSB after installing it as a DOSBox game, I took a long (several months) break halfway through the Mines, because I was so bored. (Using the cluebook to concentrate on just the important bits of the Mines seems to help minimize the tedium -- except when the cluebook fouls up the maps sometimes!)
Hi there DOSBoxMom! I hadn't heard from you in ages! Glad you're still here. :) Wow, that's a lot of patience to go back through with the new characters like that.
Curse didn't take as long to get through again as I'd feared it would. I know Secret is a longer game, though, so I'll want to keep reminding myself to be patient.
Good to see a new review from you! The reused graphics aren't very surprising. I always thought these "Gold Box Games" looked more like expansions/modules, not separate games.
Thanks, and I'm glad to hear you enjoy them! I did some research on Darklands the last time you mentioned it. It is definitely one I will be reviewing. So many games, so little time! :)
Love these videos, but was wondering if you ever planned on reviewing Pools of Darkness? It would be great to see your summary of the new spells included.
@@dfortaeGameReviews That was the old school Advanced Dungeons and Dragons version 1 rule for delayed blast fireball, and I assumed the gold box games implemented it correctly. This is just going from my memory, I must have read it in the old pen and paper player's handbook or something. I just checked the Sliver Blades manual, and it's unclear. It calls it 'a more powerful version of fireball that will go through a minor globe of invulnerability'. I remember playing the game long ago and it 'feeling like' the delayed blast versions did more damage on average.
It took longer than I thought to find a source, here we are: Delayed Blast Fire Ball (Evocation) Level: 7 Components: V, S Range: 10" + 1"/level Casting Time: 7 segments Duration: Special Saving Throw: ½ Area of Effect: 2" radius globe Explanation/Description: This spell creates a fire ball with +1 on each of its dice of damage, and it will not release its blast for from 1 to 50 segments (1/10 to 5 rounds), according to the command upon casting by the magic-user. In other respects, the spell is the same as the third level Fireball spell That's from pandaria.rpgworlds.info/cant/rules/adnd_spells.htm
I really appreciated that the monsters would flee if your party was a lot stronger than them. But to be honest I kinda had my fill of these games when it was released. The forest where the party is starving and looking for food almost drove me insane. Strange things also happened when traveling the world map. At one point my party died without any warning. The text simply stated "You rot" :) ??
Hmmmm, sounds strange... Which particular game told you "you rot"? I don't think Secret of the Silver Blades had a world map, so were you referring to Pool of Radiance???
Just a small gripe but why don't you put a bit of music in the background of your videos just to alleviate the silence between your sentences, just be sure it's at a minimum percent volume so it doesn't overlap with your voice.
Good to see you making videos again!
Glad to see you are back!
You know getting home work and seeing you made another review always makes my day. Thanks!
Good reviews. I always considered these games to be better than some of the modern rpg games. That combat system is just the best for my taste.
I just finished replaying Curse of the Azure Bonds offline, so I can also replay this game offline before starting a Let's Play of Pools of Darkness -- because, as Aulddragon pointed out late in my previous playthrough of Secret of the Silver Blades, my dual-classed paladin and ranger weren't getting the number of attacks per combat round they should have been getting for their character level. So I recreated the paladin and ranger as new single-classed characters at the beginning of Curse (with the same names their dual-classed twins had). They started out a couple of levels below the characters imported from Pool of Radiance, but ended the game only 1 level shy of their level caps. Not bad for new characters! (And it gave me an excuse to spend more time playing Gold Box games . . .)
Totally agree as to how boring the Mines are. The first time I tried playing SOTSB after installing it as a DOSBox game, I took a long (several months) break halfway through the Mines, because I was so bored. (Using the cluebook to concentrate on just the important bits of the Mines seems to help minimize the tedium -- except when the cluebook fouls up the maps sometimes!)
Hi there DOSBoxMom! I hadn't heard from you in ages! Glad you're still here. :) Wow, that's a lot of patience to go back through with the new characters like that.
Curse didn't take as long to get through again as I'd feared it would. I know Secret is a longer game, though, so I'll want to keep reminding myself to be patient.
Thank you! I'm glad to hear the reviews are motivating you to get into RPGs!
Good to see a new review from you! The reused graphics aren't very surprising. I always thought these "Gold Box Games" looked more like expansions/modules, not separate games.
Love your videos, have done for a long time. Keep up the excellent reviews!
Great review, I am sure glad your back!
Thanks, and I'm glad to hear you enjoy them! I did some research on Darklands the last time you mentioned it. It is definitely one I will be reviewing. So many games, so little time! :)
I'm happy it helped! Yeah, the definitions were quite vague. I don't even know WHAT to think about Barkskin LOL!
Love these videos, but was wondering if you ever planned on reviewing Pools of Darkness? It would be great to see your summary of the new spells included.
Yes, I will definitely be reviewing Pools of Darkness in the future. Thanks!
9:00 Delayed blast fireball does more damage than regular fireball. 1d6 +1 per level, instead of 1d6 per level.
You might be thinking of a different game. No, it does the exact same damage 1d6 per level.
@@dfortaeGameReviews It's supposed to do 1d6+1 in all the gold box games, but I admit I haven't tested the numbers.
@@MrHarumakiSensei Where did you hear that? Do you have a source? I never heard it was supposed to be a 1d6+1.
@@dfortaeGameReviews That was the old school Advanced Dungeons and Dragons version 1 rule for delayed blast fireball, and I assumed the gold box games implemented it correctly.
This is just going from my memory, I must have read it in the old pen and paper player's handbook or something. I just checked the Sliver Blades manual, and it's unclear. It calls it 'a more powerful version of fireball that will go through a minor globe of invulnerability'.
I remember playing the game long ago and it 'feeling like' the delayed blast versions did more damage on average.
It took longer than I thought to find a source, here we are:
Delayed Blast Fire Ball (Evocation)
Level: 7 Components: V, S Range: 10" + 1"/level Casting Time: 7 segments Duration: Special Saving Throw: ½ Area of Effect: 2" radius globe
Explanation/Description: This spell creates a fire ball with +1 on each of its dice of damage, and it will not release its blast for from 1 to 50 segments (1/10 to 5 rounds), according to the command upon casting by the magic-user. In other respects, the spell is the same as the third level Fireball spell
That's from pandaria.rpgworlds.info/cant/rules/adnd_spells.htm
Glad ato see a new review! Good stuff.
Glad to hear it! Thanks!
Thank you Varpushaukka82.
Glad you enjoy them!
Another great review.
Because if you I'm beginning to get into rpg's (thoughnot the D&D ones, I feel they always need a background understanding).
This seems like it would be more interesting as an actual tabletop module.
Thanks! Yeah, they used the same engine for some of them (but not all).
Glad you enjoyed it.
I really appreciated that the monsters would flee if your party was a lot stronger than them. But to be honest I kinda had my fill of these games when it was released. The forest where the party is starving and looking for food almost drove me insane. Strange things also happened when traveling the world map. At one point my party died without any warning. The text simply stated "You rot" :) ??
I think you're talking about a different game.
@@MrHarumakiSensei You are quite right. I must have been thinking of Dark queen of krynn.
@@JonasRosenven Oh yeah, and Dark Queen was the last in a long line so they were really struggling to come up with something new by that stage.
Thank you!
Hmmmm, sounds strange... Which particular game told you "you rot"? I don't think Secret of the Silver Blades had a world map, so were you referring to Pool of Radiance???
Thanks!
Just a small gripe but why don't you put a bit of music in the background of your videos just to alleviate the silence between your sentences, just be sure it's at a minimum percent volume so it doesn't overlap with your voice.
I did not enjoy this game..
Thank you!
Thank you!