Apeomancer's Topical Quest Collective - Part 8

Hi all! Apeomancer here, now in third year of university, and leading a life entirely composed of the letters A, G, C and T. Managed to escape avalanche of scrap paper masquerading as work long enough to write a review of the Dracula quest.

NB - 'Realism rating' refers to how many bugs, tricks and errors I find in the quest and how real the place feels to me. The main Land, tested to destruction and continuously improved over 20 years, is considered to be 10/10.

Dracula's Mansion

Author:	Pugsley the wizard (from mud2.com)
Method of entry:	A gothic mansion whose porch you can enter appears in the evil wood, to the east of the rough pasture.
Personae allowed:	Anyone
Risk level:	Low
Realism rating:	6/10 (decently described, and bit too simple for serious bugs to occur, but not much to get your fangs into)

Analysis: A rather small quest, first on display in these parts at Hawumph's Halloween Bash. The quest is based around the mansion of Count Dracula, and has a fairly typical house-type structure, with downstairs, upstairs, attic and cellar. Mobiles are also based around the Dracula theme, with Dracula's servant from the book and an evil vampire-child in the attic, as well as the skeleton of a priest wandering around. Some sinister animated toys also add to the spookiness considerably, though I'd be more scared of them if they attacked me (they'd be a bit more of a threat if they jumped to their young, bloodsucking owner's aid). Of course, the Count himself makes an appearance, but isn't as tough as all that - he doesn't even come back from the dead like in the movies (well, I guess it would've been tricky to code). On the other hand, I was pretty heavily kitted when I faced him. The other challenge facing you is getting free from the mansion, as those without magical powers may find it rather tricky ... Treasure isn't hugely abundant, though the Count is worth 350 pts to you when you deal with him. It should also be pointed out that usually, this quest will require two people to play. Overall, this quest makes a nice primer to introduce newer players to quests, and kept me entertained for half an hour. Its small size made it an ideal side-attraction during the Halloween festivities. However, it's probably a bit simple for most of us to really get a lot out of.

Have fun!

Apeomancer (aka Maxmage)