TSR, $2.95, ISBN 0-88038-285-6
Fantasy, 1986

Greetings, you Raistlin Majere-wannabe! You are young Carr Delling, a mage or soon to be, anyway. You will need to pass all kinds of tests first. You don’t even have any spell to use when this campaign begins.

But first, you have to bring your very ill mother back to Delmer, the village where the folks drove her away for marrying your father, a powerful archmage. Who knows why you need to go all the way there to get the help of a cleric, as every Dungeons & Dragons setting is brimming with them, but your mother dies anyway (no saving roll, as the plot trumps all), and you can make one noble choice and then die a hilariously ignoble death for wanting to be kind.

All alone, you will head out to discover your heritage and even pick up some allies and, naturally, enemies along the way. The Sceptre of Power, you’re coming for it!

Actually, it’s called the Sceptre of Bhukod, but using that as a title for this campaign may lead people to think that there is a cuss word on the cover.

Anyway, the setting for this one is likely an original one, as Tikandia doesn’t show up in any existing settings from Dungeons & Dragons. It’s a place where magic is viewed with suspicion, so while Perth is also mentioned, you have strong doubts that this one is set in medieval Australia.

You will likely enjoy this one, not because of the difficulty and challenge rating, but rather because Morris Simon has created an immersive zero to sort-of-hero journey here. The storytelling element is the greatest strength of this campaign.

Even when the campaign opens, it can hit the feels hard. You are rushing against time, hoping to save your mother, and no matter what choices you make, the result is a gripping, poignant tale that sets a very credible stage for you to craft the personality of your very own Carr. Will your Carr still be optimistic and wanting to see the best in everyone, or will he be mistrustful of the world around him, seeing it as a cruel and harsh place where only survival matters?

Incredibly, the rest of the campaign allows ample wiggle room in your head to play or rationalize Cal’s decision as per your Cal’s personality. This only makes your character feel even more dear to you, a character that is uniquely yours. There is a quality to this campaign that is comparable to BioWare games during the golden years of that game developer, like Dragon Age: Origins, where you may be picking preset options for your character’s next moves, but each choice still allows you to feel a considerable amount of agency over your character.

The gameplay is somewhat balanced. You may need a few tries to figure out an optimal route to victory, but there is nothing here that feels inherently unfair. Again, that’s another good thing to appreciate. Some gamebooks are horribly tough and even unfair (ahem, ahem) but when they feel so much fun and rewarding to play, then all is forgiven because the journey is amazing. Well, the journey here is definitely well constructed and narrated to be one to remember.

You will come across some issues, of course. There are some continuity problems here and there, when the campaign assumes that you have an item or you have done something that you actually don’t. Also, a bulk of the campaign will see you learning and mastering cantrips, but it doesn’t let you let loose with them. However, this could be due to this campaign being the first in a trilogy; perhaps your lessons can be carried over to the next campaign, who knows.

At any rate, Sceptre of Power is arguably as good a story to read as it is a campaign to play, and that’s a good thing actually. It’s easily the best entry into this line so far, and you’d likely be very impatient to rampage through the sequel campaign with all your mastered cantrips.