Wizards Warriors & You

Wizards Warriors & You was a series of children's gamebooks, inspired by Dungeons & Dragons and early text adventure games like Zork and Colossal Cave, published by Avon Books in the 1980s. The books all starred a nameless Wizard and Warrior, and began with the reader choosing which of the two characters (s)he would "play", with the other character providing a supporting role. If the reader chose the Warrior, he would then choose which three weapons listed in the back of the book to take with him on the adventure. If the reader chose the Wizard, he had access to all of the spells listed in the back of the book. The two characters' paths through the book were independent of one another, diverging after the introduction, and only reconverging at the end.

The books followed the standard "Choose Your Own Adventure" formula (i.e., "You're standing in front of a castle. If you go though the front door, turn to page X, if you go around to the side, turn to page Y"), but also featured "flagged" choices that were determined by choices earlier in the book (i.e., "If you already have the Bottomless Basket of Ravencurse, turn to page X, otherwise, turn to page Y." or, in the Warrior's story, "if you brought along the Whistling Mace, turn to page X. Otherwise you'll have to use your trusty sword and turn to page Y.") The books attempted to introduce a further "RPG-like" element with the inclusion of randomization to determine events such as the outcome of a battle or success of a spell, which would be influenced by the reader flipping a coin, rolling a die, or by the current day of the week. These RPG-like elements were designed for young readers, and were thus very simple, as opposed to the complex mechanics of the teen-oriented Fighting Fantasy and Lone Wolf series of gamebooks.

Many of the books in the series were written by R. L. Stine, who later rose to fame for his Goosebumps series of children's horror novels.

The Warrior's choice of weapons, and the Wizard's repertoire of spells, changed every six books.

Books in the Series

#"The Forest of Twisted Dreams" (1984)
#"The Siege of the Dragonriders" (1984)
#"Who Kidnapped Princess Saralinda?" (1984)
#"Ghost Knights of Camelot" (1984)
#"The Haunted Castle of Ravencurse" (1984)
#"Revenge of the Falcon Knight" (1984)
#"Challenge of the Wolf Knight" (1985)
#"Conquest of the Time Master" (1985)
#"The Dragon Queen's Revenge" (1985)
#"Tournament for Terror" (1986)
#"The Imposter King" (1986)
#"The Scarlet Shield of Shalimar" (1986)
#"Cavern of the Phantoms" (1986)
#"Carnival of Demons" (1986)
#"Invaders from Darkland" (1986)
#"Attack on the King" (1986)
#"Conquest of the Barbarians" (1986)
#"Warrior Women of Weymouth" (1986)

Weapons available to the Warrior

Books 1 through 6

*1) Sword of the Golden Lion - An unbreakable sword forged by the same blacksmith who created Excalibur. It is carried by the Warrior at all times, regardless of other weapon selections.
*2) Battle-Axe - A heavy weapon which can be used when there is insufficient room to wield a sword properly.
*3) Triple Crossbow - A special crossbow that fires three bolts in three separate directions at once.
*4) Lance - The preferred weapon for combat when fighting on horseback (although prone to breaking).
*5) Morning Star - A spiked ball attached by a chain to a handle, perfect for breaking the heads of foes without helmets.
*6) Longbow with Poison-tipped Arrows - As the name implies, although the poison is magically enchanted to never lose its potency.
*7) Flail - Similar to the Morning Star, although with a stick at the end of a cord, rather than a ball at the end of a chain.
*8) Double-pointed Mace - A long mace with sharp points on both sides, usable as a spear or club.
*9) Devil's Dagger - A small weapon with a thin blade, often used for finishing off wounded or downed foes.

Books 7 through 12

*1) Sword of the Golden Lion
*2) Two-handed Battle Sword - A devastatingly large sword, but heavy, requiring two hands to wield.
*3) Cutlass of Cornwall - A magical cutlass, able to keep fighting even if the Warrior falls in battle. Unfortunately, it can also turn against him.
*4) Triple Crossbow
*5) Bludgeon - A solid piece of wood with sharp spikes jutting out from it, usually used against unarmored opponents.
*6) Flail
*7) Whistling Mace - A mace with a faceted head that makes a whistling noise when swung, supposedly the voice of an enchantress trapped in the mace. In "Conquest of the Barbarians", the mace is broken and the enchantress is freed.
*8) Devil's Dagger
*9) Flying Spear - This was an ordinary spear until it was enchanted by the Wizard. Now it can be thrown 5 times farther, after which it will fly back to your hand. A weapon that has been known to shock and terrify entire armies, the Flying Spear must be thrown accurately or it could fly back at you with disastrous results.

Books 13 through 18

*1) Sword of the Golden Lion
*2) Mirror Shield of Zarkan - A reflective shield that reverses the nature of whoever looks into it, making the evil become good and vice versa. Its own power can be turned against the user if another reflective surface is held up to it.
*3) Rejuvenating Battle Sword - A good weapon for lengthy battles. The blade repairs itself. If the blade is broken off, a new blade will spring forth in its place. Thus the weapon is indestructible. However, legend has it that the second blade may turn upon he who holds it.
*4) Triple Crossbow
*5) Whistling Mace
*6) Dragon-Tooth Dagger - A dagger made from a tooth of the dragon Jebbarra (who appeared several times throughout the series). It is so sharp it can kill most enemies with one touch.
*7) Flying Spear
*8) Triple Flail - A custom flail with three chains, featuring a studded ball on the end of each. It is useful against multiple opponents at once.
*9) Battle-Axe

pells available to the Wizard

Books 1 through 6

*1) Shift Shape - Allows the Wizard to assume the shape of any animal, plant, or object, within plain view. Also allows the Wizard to change the appearance of others.
*2) Move Time Back - Moves the Wizard backwards in time by a random amount, ranging from five minutes up to an hour.
*3) Momentary Darkness - Conjures a sudden darkness for five seconds during which the Wizard can take action to flee or attack.
*4) Invisibility - Allows the Wizard to make himself or another invisible for a random period of time. This duration can be anywhere from a few seconds to a few weeks.
*5) Invisible Shield - Conjures an immobile shield around the Wizard and his companions. The shield lasts as long as desired, and cannot be penetrated by normal weapons, although it can be destroyed by fire.
*6) Mirror Image - Cast upon a foe, this spell causes everything to appear reversed to that individual, as if looking through a mirror. This can cause confusion at key moments, such as during combat.
*7) Sorcerer's Sleep - Allows the Wizard to put one or more foes to sleep for a random period of time. As with other such spells, the duration cannot be predicted in advance, and can range from a few seconds to a few days.
*8) The Wind - Calls forth a powerful hurricane. Care must be used with this spell, though, as once summoned, the Wizard has no control over the storm.
*9) Merlin's Fire - Sets an object (but not a plant or animal) on fire. The flames cannot be extinguished until the spell expires or is removed.
*10) Visions - Causes a foe to see visions of things which are not there, or to fail to see things which are. There is, however, a risk that this spell will backfire on the caster.
*11) Shrink - Shrinks the target in size, although as with other such spells, the duration of the effect is random.
*12) Combat Magic - A powerful spell that dispels all magic in the area, generally used as the Wizard's ace in the hole at the climax of a book. It is so powerful, however, that the Wizard loses his ability to cast spells for a full twenty-four hours afterwards (i.e., generally the remainder of the adventure). Usually this is presented as simply not being able to weave magic during the following twenty-four hours, but in one book not casting spells within twenty-four hours of casting Combat Magic is a sacred law.

Books 7 through 12

*1) Move Time Forward - Moves the Wizard forward in time by a random amount, ranging from five minutes up to an hour.
*2) Forest Imp's Freeze - Freezes one or more foes in their tracks for a brief period of time.
*3) Conjurer's Confusion - Causes confusion in the mind of a single enemy upon which it is cast. Note, though, that if there is a reflective surface nearby, the spell backfire onto the Wizard!
*4) Invisibility
*5) Sorcerer's Sleep
*6) Command Animals - Grants the Wizard the ability to speak with animals and command them. In some cases, though, animals can refuse orders or can even become hostile.
*7) Shift Shape
*8) The Wind
*9) Flight - Allows the Wizard to fly for a distance of up to a hundred miles. This spell can only be cast once per adventure.
*10) Merlin's Fire
*11) Shrink
*12) Combat Magic

Books 13 through 18

*1) Double or Half Size - Doubles or halves the size of the target individual. Note that this spell may have both a random duration and a random effect (i.e., unexpectedly enlarging someone when the intended result was to shrink them instead).
*2) Truth Turner - Causes the person upon whom the spell is cast to tell the truth, if they are lying. However, if the person is already telling the truth, this spell causes them to tell lies!
*3) Shift Shape
*4) Invisibility
*5) Wind Flight - Allows the Wizard to rise up into the air and ride upon the currents. This allows quick travel, but can sometimes result in unexpected complications, because the wind may change direction or intensity.
*6) Move Time Back
*7) Command Animals
*8) Sorcerer's Storm - When correctly invoked, calls forth a storm of thunder and lighting under control of the Wizard. When the spell is botched, the summoner can himself be trapped in the conjured winds and rain.
*9) Mind Reader - Causes the Wizard to be able to read the thoughts of those nearby. Unfortunately, because this is such an exhausting spell, no further spellcasting is possible for up to a day afterwards.
*10) Conjurer's Confusion
*11) Momentary Darkness
*12) Forest Imp's Freeze
*13) Combat Magic

External links

* [http://www.gamebooks.org/show_series.php?id=185 Wizards Warriors & You at Demian's Gamebook Webpage]