History Literature / BloodSword

''Blood Sword'' is a series of [[Main/ChooseYourOwnAdventure gamebooks]] created by Oliver Johnson and Dave Morris and published by Knight Books in the late 1980s. It is set in the invented fantasy world of "Legend", the authors' own fantasy world, which was the setting for their ''Dragon Warriors'' role-playing game too. The storyline involves a group of [[AnAdventurerIsYou adventurers]] who, after emerging victorious from a grueling adventure in the Battlepits of Krarth, [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive stumble by pure chance]] upon the plot of the five True Magi, evil entities who were thought to have been destroyed during a catastrophic magic explosion centuries before, and are now trying to reincarnate on Earth and bring about eternal damnation. After surviving an attack from a couple of henchmen of Blue Moon (the eldest and most powerful of the Magi), the adventurers are given the scabbard of Blood Sword, the only weapon the True Magi actually fear, by an old man mortally wounded in the attack... and from thereon, begin their quest to reunite the pieces of the sacred sword and stop the True Magi before the end of the Millennium and the coming of [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Judgement Day]].

!!''Blood Sword'' provides examples of the following tropes:

UPDATE: There is currently a Kickstarter for the reprinting of the 5th book as of mid-February 2019. As of April 16th, 2019; it met its goal. Estimated printing will be roughly October 2019.

UPDATE: There is currently a Kickstarter for the reprinting of the 5th book as of mid-February 2019.

* FakinMacGuffin: Necessary for the dubious honor of fighting Prince Susurrien's Avatars, as even if you somehow win; he'll have gotten away with no way to follow.

* AFateWorseThanDeath: In Sheol, you can encounter a village of souls who are pestered by undeads called "Dead Eaters" that come each day to drag them away, presumably to such a destiny.

** It's mentioned in the last book that killing a demon sends it to Hell for 100 years... however, if you succeed in your quest; no demon will ever enter the physical plane again.

* GenreShift: The series starts as a typical SwordAndSorcery, moves into AllMythsAreTrue, and then MessiahCreep has the last book somewhat remniscient of ''[[Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia The Last Battle]]''.

* HighlyVisibleNinja: The assassins from Book 1 are all black body suits, throwing stars and, according to a victorious barbarian, jump kicks. Of interest is that they are likely NOT from Yamoto. In the Dragon Warriors rpg (which Bloodsword evolved out of), yes Yamoto has the assassin class, but they stay in Yamoto. Assassins encountered are either locals or from the world's expy of India or Arabia.

* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Blood Sword, the sword created by the Archangels to destroy the living dead. It starts off as the SwordOfPlotAdvancement; (and just losing the pieces gives a NonStandardGameOver) but once you complete it; the game admits you are now strong enough to challenge the True Magi without it. Indeed, it is possible to beat the final book without ever using it; but only if you do everything perfectly. That said, you want to have the Blood Sword. It has the greatest bonuses out of any weapon you can find and better yet, if you are a Warrior you can have it and its twin for double the effects.

* LightIsNotGood: One of the true Magi, White Light. Underlinded by the guardian of his sanctuary, a life-consuming HumanoidAbomination.

* OneHitKill: If you can get the CharmPerson spell; Servile Enthralment; to work; unless you command that character to attack its friends (which requires another roll), it will not attack you anymore and you can kill it at your leisure. Latter book "boss" enemies are explicitly immune.
** One should note; the fight against three avatars of evil gods summoned by Susurrien is possible when you consider two of them are not immune; but it would take rolls higher than 9 or 10 to succeed.
** Some enemies can do the same on you, including Nasu an avatar of a disease god. His touch can instantly kill you by infecting you with an insta-kill disease, unless you resist it.

* OurOrcsAreDifferent: The first fight of the final book is with a small patrol of classic, ordinary Tolkienan orcs... But with the amusing twist that, although they're meant to be {{mooks}}, since they've been scaled to still be a bit of a challenge at this point, they would wipe the floor with any character or group from the beginning of the series.

* TheUndead: Blood Sword is particularly effective against them... and the True Magi are among their number!

* DiscOneNuke: Multiple Adjust scrolls, (found early in the first dungeon), can make the Enchanter able to keep in mind and cast the best spell in the game in both the first 2 rounds of a combat with negligle chance of failure. One shot will kill almost anything, 2 will kill everything except Angvar.

''Blood Sword'' is a series of gamebooks created by Oliver Johnson and Dave Morris and published by Knight Books in the late 1980s. It is set in the invented fantasy world of "Legend", the authors' own fantasy world, which was the setting for their ''Dragon Warriors'' role-playing game too. The storyline involves a group of [[AnAdventurerIsYou adventurers]] who, after emerging victorious from a grueling adventure in the Battlepits of Krarth, [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive stumble by pure chance]] upon the plot of the five True Magi, evil entities who were thought to have been destroyed during a catastrophic magic explosion centuries before, and are now trying to reincarnate on Earth and bring about eternal damnation. After surviving an attack from a couple of henchmen of Blue Moon (the eldest and most powerful of the Magi), the adventurers are given the scabbard of Blood Sword, the only weapon the True Magi actually fear, by an old man mortally wounded in the attack... and from thereon, begin their quest to reunite the pieces of the sacred sword and stop the True Magi before the end of the Millennium and the coming of [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Judgement Day]].

* FantasticCatholicism: Unlike the ''FightingFantasy'' series, this setting shows heavy traces of this at work. For example, in book 2 you can repeal some [[TheFairFolk Elves]] with a silver crucifix, as they are soulless, while a later book allows you to dissolve some ogres with holy water, and you're frequently pitted against entities that could be described as heathen deities and win.

* FightingAShadow: It's mentioned in the last book that killing a demon sends it to Hell for 100 years. ...however, if you succeed in your quest; no demon will ever enter the physical plane again.

* NighInvulnerability: In Book 4, your characters can imitate Achilles and take a dip in the river Styx. This has a chance of killing you instantly, but if you are lucky (roll a 5 or a 6 on one die, otherwise you're dead.) then you have a 1 in 6 chance of taking no damage from an attack when you are hit in battle. You then have the option of bathing in the Styx again. Your chance of dying goes up (you must roll a 6 one one die), but if you succeed then you get a 2 in 6 chance of being immune to a strike. If you are still greedy for more invulnerability, well 3rd time in the Styx is automatic death.

** Snorrid will istantly squash the player who walked on his body with the shiny new boots, and likely will do the same in the following combat to the rest of the party.

* FakinMacGuffin: Necessary for the dubious honor of fighting Prince Surrien's Avatars, as even if you somehow win; he'll have gotten away with no way to follow.

* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: The True Magi; the "real" wizards who practiced a form of magic [[LostTechnology lost]] to the present; escaped from a botched SummoningRitual to become [[CelestialBody Celestial Bodies]], stars/comets in the sky that affect the word. [[spoiler: They actually did it on purpose to learn [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow The Music Of The Spheres]]]]

* MasterOfIllusion: Blue Moon.
* MatryoshkaObject: The final boss of the 3rd book, is a semi-divine statue called the Seven-in-One. It lives up to its name as each time you kill it, it breaks apart to reveal a smaller but much quicker statue inside.

* OurGiantsAreBigger: There's at least one opponent of this type in every book: Skrymir in Book 1, Thanatos in 2, the female cyclops in 3, Typhon and Garm in 4, Snorrid in 5.

The series has been reprinted by Fabled Lands publishing, with the first 4 having been done so far.

* UpdatedRerelease: The Fabled Lands Publishing reprint has a few corrections made. One of the reasons the 5th book is taking longer is that it will have the most updates, according to WordOfGod.

* OneHitKill: If you can get the CharmPerson spell; Servile Enthralment; to work; unless you command that character to attack it's friends, it will not attack you anymore and you can kill it at your leisure. Latter book "boss" enemies are explicitly immune.

** Technically, the only thing "preventing" you from beating him is his high Endurance; 950. Using the returning throwing Axe of Heraklos from the second book combined with the enchanted mask that gives you two moves per round; you could step away from Angvar and throw the axe indefinitely, [[LoopholeAbuse per the rules of combat.]] This is not considered.

* NighInvulnerability: In Book 4, your characters can imitate Achilles and take a dip in the river Styx. This has a chance of killing you instantly, but if you are lucky then you have a 1 in 6 chance of taking no damage from an attack when you are hit in battle. You then have the option of bathing in the Styx again. Your chance of dying goes up, but if you succeed then you get a 2 in 6 chance of being immune to a strike. If you are still greedy for more invulnerability, well 3rd time in the Styx is automatic death.

*** The rules do state though that you can only move to either engage someone or flee.

* ShoutOut: In the first book; you encounter a group of Barbarians who comment that the Battlepits aren't as hard as Deathtrap..., he doesn't finish; but it's likely ''[[Literature/FightingFantasy Deathtrap Dungeon]]''.

* InfinityPlusOneSword: The Blood Sword, the sword created by the Archangels to destroy the living dead. It starts off as the SwordOfPlotAdvancement; (and just losing the pieces gives a NonStandardGameOver) but once you complete it; the game admits you are now strong enough to challenge the True Magi without it. Indeed, it is possible to beat the final book without ever using it; but only if you do everything perfectly.

* ScarsAreForever: In the 3rd book, if you are still on the djinn when the cult casts a powerful fire-based spell on it, your party will be badly burnt and scarred leading to a permanent reduction in your hit points. [[spoiler: Permanent until you are brought back from the land of the dead with completely new bodies.]]