The Seven Serpents

YOU continue becoming the hero as your trek across Kakhabad continues. You’ve escaped Khare and continue your trek across the plains and desert. But seven magical serpents have found out about your mission, and are on their way to Mampang to tell the Archmage that you’re coming. You should kill off as many of these serpents as you can on your way through the desert plains, so the Archmage has as little information about you as possible.

Review and Opinion

A large and engrossing adventure.

This one has an interesting twist in its core plot mechanic. When you get to the end, you won’t instantly lose if you didn’t kill all of the serpents. You’ll be asked how many serpents you defeated, and will have a permanent bonus or penalty depending on your success here. The results range from anything from a +1 skill and a full heal, to losing skill points because of shaken confidence and the Archmage’s increased preparedness.

The Seven Serpents are really brutal enemies if you fight them fairly, but you can get advice from people along the way which gives you one-hit kills on most of them. So that’s really nice, too.

The map is pretty large and interconnected, covering a large geographic area too: desert, lake, and forest.

Errors

On 155 if you do not have the means to make a fire to fight the Moon Serpent, you should back turn to 143. The book doesn’t mention that.

On 461 when you encounter the snake, the text offers to let you leave it alone. But there isn’t such a choice.

On page 84, against the death wraith there is an option to use a silver weapon. The only silver weapon in the series is your bow, and they don’t give rules for using it here. I went by the rules back in Khare: use your skill, you only have 10 arrows to win the fight, and you get your arrows back afterward.

On 211, in the pit while fighting the Earth Serpent, the text doesn’t say what to do if you roll greater than your skill.

Maps

Tips and Spoilers

To cross Lake Ilkala, you need the ferry whistle, which you get from Fenestra the sorceror.

• Air  Serpent weakness: When it leaves its body, kill the body.
• Earth Serpent weakness: Blow it off the ground with a galehorn that you picked up early in the book.
• Moon serpent weakness: If you can make a fire, such as with a tinderbox, it will fight with 7 skill instead of 12.
• Fire Serpent weakness: A galehorn will weaken it. Sand will kill it.
• Sun Serpent weakness: Water. But this serpent is already imprisoned.
• Water Serpent weakness: Oil will kill it instantly. You can get oil from Fenestra.
• Time Serpent weakness: A spell you learn from the marsh goblins.

Publication

Written by Steve Jackson

Illustrated by John Blanche

1984

Book 3 in the series

Other Players and Links

• The Seven Serpents page at Titannica
• Richard Tongue plays The Seven Serpents
• Fighting Dantasy plays The Seven Serpents
• Seven Fourteen Seven plays The Seven Serpents
• Champskees best path walkthrough at FF Proboards
• Buy the digital version on Steam