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bexrecca's review against another edition
4.0
A fun concept - choose your own adventure and learning tabletop role playing games - all in one. Love the message of learning to get along and the nonbinary rep.
oliviak07's review
5.0
Drawn in by the title and illustrations, and completely onboard due to the plot(s), Brian McLachlan's "Complete the Quest: The Poisonous Library" is a must for anyone who is interested in or already plays RPGs.
My fiancé and I both play RPGs, and I am will be a Dungeon Master (DM) for the first time later this year. Even if I did not have prior knowledge of or experience with RPGs, I would have still found this graphic novel fun, entertaining, and engrossing!
One feels nostalgic for the "Choose Your Own Adventures" series (in my case, the Goosebumps take on the format) when playing this GN. The maps, each with puzzles, riddles, and challenges that offer players a chance to critically think of how they would surpass each barrier in their way, add a new and enjoyable layer. Although I read the campaign of the GN once, and by means of the path that Bard Harmony leads the reader(s) through, I would absolutely get a copy of this book again for another take on the tale (and to meet the other NPCs).
My favorite thing about McLachlan's GN is how from start to end it explains how RPGs are played, and encourages creativity on the part of the reader. If this is the only time that they interact with RPGs, it is a positive and inclusive one given how McLachlan breaks down the steps to immersing oneself in the game's storyline. If they want to know more, he offers ways to start your own RPG party in real life. This will be a game changer for those who want to play, but do not know how to begin.
A GN I plan on sharing with as many people and players as possible, I hope you too enjoy this journey(s) you are about to embark on!
My fiancé and I both play RPGs, and I am will be a Dungeon Master (DM) for the first time later this year. Even if I did not have prior knowledge of or experience with RPGs, I would have still found this graphic novel fun, entertaining, and engrossing!
One feels nostalgic for the "Choose Your Own Adventures" series (in my case, the Goosebumps take on the format) when playing this GN. The maps, each with puzzles, riddles, and challenges that offer players a chance to critically think of how they would surpass each barrier in their way, add a new and enjoyable layer. Although I read the campaign of the GN once, and by means of the path that Bard Harmony leads the reader(s) through, I would absolutely get a copy of this book again for another take on the tale (and to meet the other NPCs).
My favorite thing about McLachlan's GN is how from start to end it explains how RPGs are played, and encourages creativity on the part of the reader. If this is the only time that they interact with RPGs, it is a positive and inclusive one given how McLachlan breaks down the steps to immersing oneself in the game's storyline. If they want to know more, he offers ways to start your own RPG party in real life. This will be a game changer for those who want to play, but do not know how to begin.
A GN I plan on sharing with as many people and players as possible, I hope you too enjoy this journey(s) you are about to embark on!
graypeape's review
5.0
I had a lot of fun with this book, and as someone who has never played a TTRPG, I'd say it's a good introduction to the process of playing a game (I do nerd vicariously through a friend who plays TTRPG's, and I play RPG video games). The reader is taken through selecting an adventure party, each of whom has different skills and abilities to consider, creating back stories for them, and starting on their quest- to find five ingredients to create a potion to heal the Queen, who has been poisoned. There are several ways to achieve this, and the reader must make choices about which way to go. Each quest map has at least two paths to follow, with monsters to defeat and items to find that will be immediately helpful, or useful in the future. Each monster can be defeated by one of the party member's skills at the beginning, regardless of which characters have been chosen; however, the difficulty level gets harder the further the reader gets into the book, and often, more creative methods must be thought of. The prompts encourage creativity, planning, and story telling throughout, encouraging the reader to fill in details about the story- when they stay at an inn for the night, for example, what foods do they eat for their meal? How do they get along with each other? Do they sleep well? The way the story is structured throughout gets the reader used to working with a GM, and reacting to the environment they find themselves in. Additional characters can be recruited, as well as creatures befriended that can be helpful, items can be traded, mini quests performed in exchange for items, information, etc, new spells learned- there's all kinds of things that can help the reader along the way. At one point, near the end, the possibility that one of the reader's party will die comes up, depending on if certain conditions are met, but otherwise, the danger level is set by the reader, and how they imagine the story going. There are many adventures awaiting the reader here, depending on what characters they choose for their party, what choices they make, what items or additional party members they acquire, etc. I enjoyed my adventure, and I would feel more comfortable trying a game with others after going through this book a few times. I can imagine this would definitely be fun for the intended audience, kids about 8-12. Of course, middle-aged geeks/nerds could have fun with this too!
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