The Sorcerer's Cave

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The Sorcerer's Cave
A game of exploration, magic, and adventure
Designer Terence Donelly
Publisher Ariel, Philmar, Gibson
Players 1–4
Setup time 1–5 minutes
Playing time 1 hours
Random chance High (Dice, card drawing, luck)
Skills required Dice rolling
Luck

BoardGameGeek entry

The Sorcerer's Cave, a game of exploration, magic, and adventure is a fantasy board game designed by Terence Peter Donnelly and first published in 1978. It was inspired by the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.[1] The players take the parts of members of a group of adventurers who enter a randomly generated maze, fight monsters, meet allies, find treasure and ultimately escape with their riches or find their doom.

Contents

[edit] Playing

The players start by choosing several generic character types, such as Man, Woman, Dwarf or Giant, differentiated by their Strength and Magic abilities to join their party based on a points system. Once selected, a marker is placed on the central "Gateway" tile. The party then explores the cave by drawing cave tiles. If the tile is a chamber, the player then draws a number of smaller 'encounter' cards depending on the cave level they are on, and encounter the cards there.

The encounters can range from treasure and artifacts (which may help the player defeat monsters) to monsters themselves. In the case of strangers, they are first tested for a reaction, which may be friendly – in which case they join the party; indifferent – in which case they do nothing; or hostile – in which case they attack. Combat is resolved by rolling a normal six-sided die and adding the number to the parties total strength or magic characteristic depending on the nature of the creature. Multiple enemies are dealt with by splitting the party as the player sees fit to fight the monsters simultaneously.

The winning player is the one who escapes the cave with the most treasure.

Rules for both solo play and competitive play are given, with several variations, based on The Lord of the Rings and the Greek myth Orpheus, which have appropriate victory conditions.

[edit] Inspiration and intentions

Donnelly wrote that, after trying Dungeons & Dragons, that "while I had enjoyed being a participant in a fantasy role-playing adventure, I wasn't ready to do the work needed to set one up... if only the concept could be translated into a format that would require no laborious set-up and no referee—a game that could be taken out of the box and played instantly, yet be different every time."[1] (similarly, Talisman creator Bob Harris wrote that, after being introduced to Dungeons & Dragons, he "had it in mind to come up with a way we could have all the excitement of a role-playing adventure without all the hard work of creating characters and drawing maps.") [2]

[edit] Critical reaction

Ian Livingstone said of the Sorcerer's Cave "As a family game, for the hour or two playing with the kids type market The Sorcerer's Cave works, and works well, but real Fantasy buffs will be disappointed by its simplicity when compared to D&D and the like."[3]

[edit] Computer versions

Donnelly has created a version of The Sorcerer's Cave for Microsoft Windows computers, which is available from his website.[4] The ZX Spectrum computer game, Goblin Mountain, by Martin Page (from Sinclair User 63 - Jun.1987) also has clear similarities (especially the Friendly/Indifferent/Hostile reactions by strangers).

[edit] Expansion and sequel

An expansion set called The Sorcerer's Cave Extension Kit, containing 30 extra cave tiles and additional cards, was published in 1980. Mystic Wood, another somewhat different randomly-generated maze game designed by Donnelly, is a spiritual successor to Sorcerer's Cave set in a forest with each player having their own specific quest.[5]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b A memoir by the designer of The Sorcerer's Cave and Mystic Wood from BoardGameGeek
  2. ^ Talisman, the background by Bob Harris from his author's website
  3. ^ Livingstone, Ian. "Open Box Review". White Dwarf (#7). 
  4. ^ The Sorcerer's Cave computer game for Microsoft Windows from Donnelly's website.
  5. ^ Davidson, Andy. "Open Box Review". White Dwarf (#20). 

[edit] External links