The Crown of Kings is the fourth and final book of Steve Jackson's Sorcery!, Jackson's four-volume epic, arguably the pinnacle of the solo gamebook format, and Jackson really goes to down on making it as difficult as possible. One of the author's favourite tricks for cheat-proofing his books is reference modifiers -- at certain sections, there will be a nonstandard action you can take if you have a certain item or piece of knowledge by modifying the number of the section you are on to discover a secret, otherwise unknowable section. Players not in possession of this will not have a clue the option is even there.
Jackson had been developing this idea across his Fighting Fantasy books House of Hell and Appointment with F.E.A.R., as well as the second and third Sorcery! books, but The Crown of Kings is where he really perfects the idea, and the book is stuffed with them. But there are three I want to highlight in particular.
There is a special bonus if you killed all of the titular tuataras in the preceding book, The Seven Serpents. As the Serpents were bringing the Archmage of Mampang a message warning him about you, laying waste to all of them means no word of your mission has reached the Fortress and you have the element of surprise on your side.
This is deployed with the following mechanic: if you ever reach a reference where a character refers to you as 'the Analander', you should deduct 40 from the number of that section and turn to the new number for an alternate version of the encounter where you are not recognised. This is largely very cleverly realised; I particularly enjoy one scenario where you accidentally give the game away by telling someone where you come from and have to stop using the modifier. (This is even more devious than it first appears: there is a secret order of rogue elements elsewhere in the Fortress whom it is a good idea to tell you are from Analand.) Several encounters in the book can be simplified or bypassed entirely in this way, although there is one rather curious part where crucial information you need to win the game can only be found in a way that makes logical sense if you have the not-recognised bonus.
After you have gone so far in the adventure, you meet a character that calls you 'the Analander', and duly subtract 40 from the current section's number...
Your mission, and your identity, are known to your host. Although you have concealed your journey thus far, it is now common knowledge that you have penetrated the Fortress's defences.
With which, you are duly dumped back at the reference you were on before.
Obviously this is at least in part because Jackson didn't really want to write an alternate version of the endgame where the Archmage doesn't recognise you. From a gameplay perspective the book is complicated enough, and from a writing perspective it wouldn't be terribly satisfying for the villain of the piece to not have a clue who you are or why you've come here.
But Jackson plays this absolutely correctly, and turns it into a strength -- suddenly, in the very heart of the Mampang Fortress, midway through an encounter, you find out your identity has been discovered without your knowledge! To the preteen me, at least, this was chilling stuff.
* * *
Secondly, before you reach the Fortress itself, you have a vision of your goddess, Libra, who warns you she cannot help you whilst you are inside the Fortress, but she does know a secret password which can unlock a hidden door somewhere within. When you are in the vicinity of the secret door, you should deduct 92 from the number of the reference you are currently on and turn to that number.
(If you were forced to renounce your goddess in The Seven Serpents, then you will not see this vision... and the entire book is unwinnable, right from the start, or to be precise from halfway through the previous book. This may seem harsh, but the game rules do warn you that renouncing your goddess is not desirable.)
There is another door you can attempt to use this password on -- the first of the three Throben Doors, all of which you must pass through to reach the inner sanctum, and each of which has its own puzzle you must solve to get through it. When you reach the first Throben Door, you are given a choice of three different passwords. Anyone suspecting it couldn't be that simple given Jackson's penchant for stopping cheaters may attempt to use the password Libra gave them here... and there is not only a proper secret section written in for doing so, but using the password activates the door's magical defence system and wipes the Analander's mind blank, the same as if they'd used one of the wrong passwords. It is as simple as choosing the correct password from the three options given; the trick is that the character who knows the correct password will try and trick you and give you one of the incorrect ones, and you have to be careful to make sure he shows you proof that it is the correct password.
I find it interesting that Jackson specifically went out of his way to penalise people for overthinking things here.
* * *
Finally, when you reach the top of the fortress, you meet a character called Farren Whyde, who claims he is a prisoner of the Archmage and shows you a secret, invisible tower which is the Archmage's true home. Should you reach this tower and promptly get thrown in prison, you can learn from another character that Farren Whyde was in fact the Archmage in disguise (the implication being the Archmage is actually a demon who possesses humans and gets them to do his bidding, which is oddly prescient of Stranger Things):
"Farren Whyde is no 'weapons specialist' at all," he sniggers. "This man was the Archmage himself in disguise! And what a crafty demon he is. He has persuaded you to enter his own prison and become his prisoner -- almost of your own accord!" You cannot believe your ears. You have already met the Archmage -- and you have let him go! This is valuable information. Should you once again meet Farren Whyde, you will know his secret. Deduct 111 from the reference you are at if you come across him again and turn to this new reference to expose him.
The twist is that you can only escape the Archmage's prison tower by being sent back in time -- and when you come back to the same section where you met Whyde for the second time, that is when you should use the reference modifier.
A year or so after The Crown of Kings was published in 1985 came the twenty-fourth Fighting Fantasy book, Creature of Havoc -- which would be Jackson's last adventure gamebook until he penned Secrets of Salamonis for the FF range's 40th anniversary in 2022. Jackson is clearly looking to up his game from even The Crown of Kings, and he goes one step further in hiding a secret section, building on the methods from his previous book.
You can meet Grog the Half-Orc, who becomes your temporary companion. If you ever come to a section whose number ends in 7 whilst Grog is with you, you should deduct 52 from the number of the reference you are on and turn to the new number for Grog's reaction to the events of this section; the book advises that the two references should be read together. Whilst mostly he offers you titbits of advice, you will eventually reach section 287...
As the Toadman staggers and falls, you see more of the creatures hopping out from the reeds. What can you do against so many? A stabbing pain in the back reminds you that you will not have much choice in the matter. One of the creatures is behind you, jabbing you with a trident. Another steps forward and speaks to you. "None may enter the fens of the Toadmen," he announces. "Our marsh and our herb gardens are holy. They are for no eyes but our own. There is only one punishment for disobeying this law. That is DEATH..."
There is nothing you can do against so many of the creatures. You may fight and you may even slay a few of the Toadmen. But their numbers will overwhelm you. And when they have subdued you, you will be dropped into the muddy Sinkpits of Bu Fon Fen to die.
But we've got Grog with us, and this is a section that ends in a 7, so...
In the heat of the battle, you have forgotten all about the little Half-Orc, who has disappeared. Then your attention is captured by his familiar figure making its way through the reeds behind the Toadmen. Grog is creeping round the back of the circle. You glance around. No one has noticed him! From the corner of your eye you watch as he takes off his knapsack and lays it on the ground by the trail, then steps stealthily through the reeds towards the Toadman leader. When the time is right, he takes a flying leap! As fate would have it, one of the Toadmen notices the Half-Orc at that very moment, and his trident flies through the air and sinks into Grog's neck mid-flight. The Half-Orc dies instantly.
But the trident does not prevent his body from continuing through the air to collide with the Toadman leader, who tumbles into the Sinkpit in the middle of the clearing! When this happens, the Toadmen forget all about you and rush about, trying to prevent their leader from sinking. You take advantage of the situation and creep round the outside of the clearing. You pick up the poor Half-Orc's knapsack and make off along the trail.
Simple, yet brilliant. If you don't meet Grog, then you will have no idea that the fens of the Toadmen aren't a dead-end that should be avoided. Even people familiar with Jackson might not guess that you'd need to use a reference modifier at a section that ends in your death (especially given the huge number of genuine dead-ends Creature boasts).
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