# Herald of Oblivion



## Shadow Walker (Jun 10, 2010)

http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/herald-of-oblivion.html 

I thinking about buying it but still have doubts. Will it be playable more than one time? Is it worth the price? Has anybody played another of BL's gaming books - Hive of the Dead? If any of you has experience with that kind of gaming books please share it


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## Jon Green (Jul 8, 2012)

Shadow Walker said:


> http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/herald-of-oblivion.html
> 
> I thinking about buying it but still have doubts. Will it be playable more than one time?


Hi Shadow Walker

Yes - the game is playable more than once.

Due to the design of the game it is possible to explore certain areas of the Space Hulk in a different order each time you play. Unique linking passages ensure that there's always something new to discover every time you play.

There are also three levels of successful completion - Bronze, Silver and Gold.


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## Shadow Walker (Jun 10, 2010)

Big thanks Jon


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## Brother Subtle (May 24, 2009)

So it's a choose your own adventure type thingy?


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## Jon Green (Jul 8, 2012)

Brother Subtle said:


> So it's a choose your own adventure type thingy?


Absolutely. Only with more shooty-death-kill and xenos-gribbliness.


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Playing it now but I'm not really enjoying it. Either there are mistakes in the book or I'm missing the same thing after backtracking my steps three times in a row. Either could be true but I don't think its me anymore.


LotN


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## Corporal Punishment 69 (Jul 8, 2012)

.....BL doing new choose-your-own-adventure? Cooooool, I'm still having the first 5 books of this from Ian Livingstone/Steve Jackson, how I started with theese thing of gaming!!


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Shadow Walker said:


> http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/herald-of-oblivion.html
> 
> I thinking about buying it but still have doubts. Will it be playable more than one time? Is it worth the price? Has anybody played another of BL's gaming books - Hive of the Dead? If any of you has experience with that kind of gaming books please share it


I have spent the last four hours playing Herald of Oblivion and honestly, no I would not recommend it.

The segments of the Necron tomb ship are slow-paced and infuriatingly repetitive. The same passageways are used and seem to just lead back to the same areas over and over again. And as I finally found the right path, I had missed an earlier path that I cannot fathom how to find and I reached a dead end with no chance of victory.

The other two paths are enjoyable but I am convinced that there is a number missing that prevents you from doing anything but the Tombship first, and as the Tombship is in my opinion too difficult to be any fun it really sucks the enjoyment away from the adventure. After I attempted the Ork ship first and succeeded I survived the Voidraven crash only to be asked for a number that I had not received, I backtracked through my entire playthrough three times looking for the number but I still could not find it. I might be wrong, but I think it isn't there.

Melee does not really feel very useful either. As a Guardsman in _Hive of the Dead_ I could understand that but as a Space Marine it feels cheap that you can only do one wound whereas with the Storm Bolter you can hit 4 per attack. And the advanced melee weapons are not much of an improvement, barely being any better than the base Power Fist. Through the book I never felt like a Space Marine, I could have been a Guardsman and the difference would have been negligible. And the book does not make any mention of the player's armor abilities, I had to look on GW's website for what armor save Terminators have and just assume that that was the correct value in the game.

The story is interesting and I skipped to the end to find out what happened when my compulsion to find a way through was no longer enough to keep me trying at it, and no I still haven't found a way through the Tombship, and it was a very good ending and the story is definitely worth a read. But the adventure was not to my liking and alas the story is not enough to make up for that since the entire purpose of the book is the adventure.

So no I would not recommend _Herald of Oblivion_ based on my experience these last few hours. But it might be that i'm just crap at Game Books, this is my first one, and that you can figure it out where I could not. So if you really want it, go for it.


LotN


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## Shadow Walker (Jun 10, 2010)

I ordered it and it will arrive in few days [I hope]. Your review makes me little worry but I will try to play it with open mind and then I will write about my experience with HoO.


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## tabbytomo (Aug 12, 2008)

I found i died quite frequently in hive of the dead, and the start of the book got quite repetative, until of course i got the hang of it then...waheyy  great stuff. im gettin herald fo' sho' lol


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## Jon Green (Jul 8, 2012)

Anyone still umming and ahhing about purchasing HERALD OF OBLIVION, if you order it today (Friday 13 July 2012) you'll get it shipped anywhere in the world... for free!


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## Shadow Walker (Jun 10, 2010)

I am playing it now and already regret buying it. rules for fighting are clumsy at best. with power fist damage of 1 killing 6 genestealers, each with 5 wounds took forever. and it seems that terminator cannot use his armour save but his enemies can.


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Shadow Walker said:


> I am playing it now and already regret buying it. rules for fighting are clumsy at best. with power fist damage of 1 killing 6 genestealers, each with 5 wounds took forever. and it seems that terminator cannot use his armour save but his enemies can.


Just wait until you get to the Tombship.


LotN


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## Jon Green (Jul 8, 2012)

Hi LotN (and others)

A set of Errata and Advanced Rules have been posted on the Herald of Oblivion product page on the BL site that sorts out the problems you mentioned.

You'll find the Errata here: http://www.blacklibrary.com/Downloads/Product/PDF/H/herald-errata.pdf

And the Advanced Rules set here: http://www.blacklibrary.com/Downloads/Product/PDF/H/herald-advanced-rules.pdf

Hopefully you'll be able to enjoy the book again now.


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## Jon Green (Jul 8, 2012)

Lord of the Night said:


> I still haven't found a way through the Tombship
> LotN


The Tombship is perfectly mappable. You just have to remember that the Necrons are the masters of warping time and space... :wink:


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## Doelago (Nov 29, 2009)

How many hours of material would you say that there is in this book?


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## Jon Green (Jul 8, 2012)

Doelago said:


> How many hours of material would you say that there is in this book?


Well it took me a couple of months to write. Does that help? :wink:


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## Jon Green (Jul 8, 2012)

I thought some of you gamebook fans might like to know about my History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, currently seeking funding on Kickstarter.

You can find out more (and help fund the project yourself) here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1412864360/you-are-the-hero


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