Legacy of Llylgamyn is the third entry in the Wizardry series. It was developed and published by Sir-tech Software in 1983 for the Apple II and would eventually be ported to twelve other game systems. It is another first person, six level dungeon crawl. The dungeon is actually a volcano so the party journeys upwards rather than downwards.
The City of Llylgamyn and surrounding lands are threatened by the violent forces of nature. Earthquakes and volcanic rumblings threaten to endanger everyone. A party must be assembled to seek the dragon L’Kbreth and obtain the mystical Orb of Earithin.
Characters must be imported from Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord or Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds. However since the game is set a generation later, the characters are actually descendants of the original characters. They keep the same name and class, can select a new alignment, and are then reset back to level one.
Softline in 1983 praised Llylgamyn, stating that it “wasn’t written; it was composed…the dungeon feels like a living, breathing entity” and concluded that the game “is the best Wizardry yet.”
Robert Reams reviewed the game for Computer Gaming World, and stated that “The Legacy of Llylgamyn is an example of the maturing and improvement of an already excellent product. This new adventure will challenge all who accept this quest and will leave you looking for the two sequels which follow in its path”.
Philip L. Wing reviewed Legacy of Llylgamyn in The Space Gamer No. 72. Wing commented that “Wizardry III: Legacy of Llylgamyn is the best scenario of the series yet. It has a solid story, with riddles, appropriate to the scenario. This game is recommended for those who have the original, but characters with solid stats from the first two games are required.”
In 1984 Softline readers named the game the second most-popular Apple program of 1983, behind Lode Runner. Computer Gaming World’s Scorpia in 1991 and 1993 called the game “Wizardry I all over again, with a few bells and whistles added”. She stated that other than the novelty of playing two separate groups of adventurers, one good and one evil, “there is little to distinguish it from the previous two games”.
When you travel back through time and play these older games using an emulator, importing characters from previous games can be a tricky affair. I did play the previous two installments but experienced complications importing those characters. Luckily there was a collection of characters on the Llylgamyn disk I was playing from so I chose six different characters to go through the “legacy” process. I once again chose to forego a thief and my party makeup consisted of three fighters, a priest, and two wizards.
When I first began writing this blog I wrote an entry entitled; The Meaning Behind A Name in which I describe how I normally choose names for my characters in these games. I am always enthralled to read what names players choose for the characters that comprise their parties. Are they names from literature that I recognize or famous characters from games or film or simply the names of family and friends? I normally choose names from literature that I’ve read.
Listed above are the names of the six characters that make up my Llylgamyn adventuring party.
Bruenor Battlehammer is a fictional character in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting that first appears in the Icewind Dale trilogy by author R.A. Salvatore.
Fost Longstrider is a fictional character from Robert E. Vardeman’s excellent and campy War of Powers series.
Niall is taken from Niall of the Far Travels who was a Conan clone created by prolific author Gardner F. Fox. All 10 short stories were finally collected from various sources and can now be read in one volume.
I named my priest character Cadderly from Cadderly Bonaduce from the excellent Cleric Quintet by R.A. Salvatore. Better known for his Drizzt Dark Elf series this series is just as enjoyable for fans of Salvatore and the Forgotten Realms.
The name Mordred is taken from Arthurian legend and while Mordred was technically a druid I love using this name ever so often as a go to name for a spellcaster.
Lastly Khelben Blackstaff is a fictional character of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting and brainchild of creator Ed Greenwood. He is one of the more powerful spellcasters in the game.
Having chosen my characters I then eagerly set out to map and explore the first dungeon level.
The character classes, combat system, and overall gameplay mechanics are very similar to the first two installments of the series. The dungeon maps are still confined to a 20 x 20 grid system which I certainly appreciate as it makes manually mapping by hand an easier affair to manage.
I did notice that in this third installment that you do not seem to get a lot of experience points for the enemies that you encounter. It has made “leveling up” much more difficult than in the previous installment of the series. Grinding and acquiring new spells and more hit points has been harder so far.
The first dungeon level is not a dungeon at all but it is supposed to represent a tower built into the side of the volcano. There is a moat and a lake to contend with as well. If you do not have this contextually built into your mind this first dungeon level may seem a bit strange.
There has not been much variety thus far in this first level where denizens are concerned. I have encountered Giant Anacondas, Moat Monsters, Poltergeists, and Garian Guards throughout the first level. There have been no clues or anything that points me in the right direction; however I have encountered two sets of stairs. I am forbidden from going down up one set of stairs while the other set of stairs has taken me to the second level of the dungeon which I am now starting to map out.
I currently have each of the six characters up to 7th level and have recently acquired 4th level spells which consist of greater healing capabilities for my priest as well as the ability to cure poison. My wizards acquired offensive blast spells which affect entire groups. I feel comfortable enough now to begin to explore the second dungeon level. I will update you as soon as I’ve finished mapping and exploring that level.
I usually look at my pets and try to imagine what race/class they would be if they became RPG characters. It usually leads to some odd combinations.