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Robot Commando

 Robot Commando
type
TVTItem
 Robot Commando
label
Robot Commando
 Robot Commando
page
RobotCommando
 Robot Commando
comment
Robot Commando is the 22nd book in the Fighting Fantasy series of interactive gamebooks. It was written by the American game designer Steve Jackson, and has a feel somewhat similar to his earlier Scorpion Swamp.The player lives on a far-off planet where they make a living as a dinosaur rancher. This is made safer via the ranchers piloting Humongous Mecha dubbed "cowboys", and giant robots are used for numerous other heavy-duty tasks as well.The story begins one morning when the player finds all their fellow workers mysteriously dropping into a sleep from which they can't be roused. A little inspection of the media quickly makes one thing clear: the people's ancient enemies, the Karosseans, have used a biological weapon to make everyone in the nation fall asleep so they can easily invade. Through some quirk of fate only the player remains awake to launch a stealth mission in hopes of finding a way to stop them from conquering the nation with their robot army while the player's countrymen sleep helplessly.Largely the book feels like an attempt to adapt the Fighting Fantasy rules to a BattleTech-like setting. Unlike most books in the Fighting Fantasy range, Robot Commando is a Wide-Open Sandbox letting the player go where they choose any time they choose, with multiple different ways to thwart the invasion.
 Robot Commando
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2023-06-15T13:12:47Z
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2023-06-15T13:12:47Z
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DBTropes
 Robot Commando / int_1aa08f77
type
Multiple Endings
 Robot Commando / int_1aa08f77
comment
Multiple Endings: Unusual for the series in having more than one way to win. Although the usual "hunt down and kill the Big Bad" option's still there.
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Robot Commando / int_1aa08f77
 Robot Commando / int_1b7d59b6
type
Death by Materialism
 Robot Commando / int_1b7d59b6
comment
Death by Materialism: At one point you can take a gold-hauling robot if you need a new one, and you're given the option to take some of the national treasury while you're at it. Doing so gets you caught by the invaders and unceremoniously thrown in prison. You kind of deserve it for stealing from your own helpless people.
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 Robot Commando / int_2760ce0
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Mech vs. Beast
 Robot Commando / int_2760ce0
comment
Mech vs. Beast: Any of the scuffles between a mech you're piloting and a dinosaur.
 Robot Commando / int_2760ce0
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 Robot Commando / int_2b706ca
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More Dakka
 Robot Commando / int_2b706ca
comment
More Dakka: King Minos' robot has so many guns firing at you, yours will still take a little damage every round you fight him—even if you win the round.
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Rank Scales with Asskicking
 Robot Commando / int_3441859b
comment
Rank Scales with Asskicking: The ruler of the Karosseans is, unsurprisingly, an extremely formidable fighter himself, and drives a mech so nasty yours still takes damage every round even if you're the one who wins that exchange.
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 Robot Commando / int_3df9c288
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Keystone Army
 Robot Commando / int_3df9c288
comment
Keystone Army: Surprisingly averted. There's one ending where the player sneaks in and assassinates the Karossean king before his soldiers bring the player down, but it's not acknowledged as a victory. Instead the player needs to find a way to kill him that the enemy officers will recognize as a defeat. Probably the only Fighting Fantasy book where the big threat is an invading army, that doesn't say killing the leader will make his evil legions turn on each other and do the player's job for them.
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 Robot Commando / int_3fca462c
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Deus ex Machina
 Robot Commando / int_3fca462c
comment
Deus ex Machina: There's no explanation for why you're the only person in the country unaffected by the sleep weapon, other than because then there'd be no adventure.
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 Robot Commando / int_4b4ac0ca
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Homing Projectile
 Robot Commando / int_4b4ac0ca
comment
Homing Projectile: You can find a homing missile to attach to your robot that does automatic damage when you decide to use it.
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 Robot Commando / int_53407671
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Action Survivor
 Robot Commando / int_53407671
comment
Action Survivor: Unlike books such as Space Assassin or The Rings of Kether, your character is just a rancher who's doing his best to deal with an enemy invasion.
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 Robot Commando / int_59e0c863
type
Animal Mecha
 Robot Commando / int_59e0c863
comment
Animal Mecha: There's a robot Tyrannosaurus rex built by your people's scientists that apparently will rampage when activated. There are also mechs the player can pilot based on a snake, a hedgehog, a crab and a dragonfly "complete with buzzing wings".
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 Robot Commando / int_5c3c800f
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The Immune
 Robot Commando / int_5c3c800f
comment
The Immune: Your character is immune to the sleeping sickness that took down your entire nation.
 Robot Commando / int_5c3c800f
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 Robot Commando / int_5eb2313a
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Sonic Stunner
 Robot Commando / int_5eb2313a
comment
Sonic Stunner: Well... in this case, it's a limited charge sonic blaster and it's mounted on the tank robot you can find. This weapon gives you a huge advantage against any mech or dinosaur you fire it at.
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 Robot Commando / int_6134738
type
Find the Cure!
 Robot Commando / int_6134738
comment
Find the Cure: Other than defeating the enemy leader, this is the other major way to win. If you can create a cure to the sleeping agent and find a way to distribute it to the whole country, your people wake up and chase off the invaders without much issue.
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 Robot Commando / int_66f69cd4
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Invisibility Cloak
 Robot Commando / int_66f69cd4
comment
Invisibility Cloak: You find out one exists by playing an arcade game, of all things.
 Robot Commando / int_66f69cd4
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 Robot Commando / int_7215c26c
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Man-Eating Plant
 Robot Commando / int_7215c26c
comment
Man-Eating Plant: The Man Trap Plant in the jungle, big enough to be a threat to your mech.
 Robot Commando / int_7215c26c
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 Robot Commando / int_8344209e
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BFG
 Robot Commando / int_8344209e
comment
BFG: The tank mech has one that does crippling damage, but only holds three shots.
 Robot Commando / int_8344209e
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 Robot Commando / int_850258ca
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I Know Mortal Kombat
 Robot Commando / int_850258ca
comment
I Know Mortal Kombat: Doing well at a video game will make you a better pilot of real mecha.
 Robot Commando / int_850258ca
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 Robot Commando / int_881b90be
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Bling of War
 Robot Commando / int_881b90be
comment
Bling of War: The Karosseans' king wears a uniform with lots of gold ornamentation.
 Robot Commando / int_881b90be
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 Robot Commando / int_980f0816
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Adventure Towns
 Robot Commando / int_980f0816
comment
Adventure Towns: The different cities you can visit to look for advantages in your mission.
 Robot Commando / int_980f0816
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 Robot Commando / int_a247c4bf
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A Mech by Any Other Name
 Robot Commando / int_a247c4bf
comment
A Mech by Any Other Name: In the interests of making it clear they count as your mech, any vehicle you can ride in is a "robot"-whatever. Including cars, construction vehicles and jets. This leads to the book going out of its way a few times to explain that human-sized, autonomous robots (because all the human security guards who might get in your way are asleep) you fight don't use the mech-combat rules, despite also being called "robots".
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 Robot Commando / int_a5e02e9e
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Infinity +1 Sword
 Robot Commando / int_a5e02e9e
comment
Infinity +1 Sword: The mechs you can find are usually pretty awesome, but the only way to get ones meant for actual combat is to find out how to get to the secret military base.
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 Robot Commando / int_a6275bef
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Cool Sword
 Robot Commando / int_a6275bef
comment
Cool Sword: The Sword of State, the country's symbol of power, turns out to have actually been made for use in combat and gives the player a bonus in non-mech fights if they can steal it from the invaders. It also allows you to automatically win the argument that you stand as a representative of your people and demand Combat by Champion with the enemy leader.
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 Robot Commando / int_a6aa5c35
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Fragile Flyer
 Robot Commando / int_a6aa5c35
comment
Fragile Flyer: The Mosquito Fighter is very lightly armored, but its speed grants a huge SKILL boost to its user.
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Final Boss
 Robot Commando / int_ad4a45be
comment
Final Boss: Two of them! You can either challenge the enemy leader to Combat by Champion with swords, or assault their base in a mech, resulting in the enemy leader taking on your mech in his Super Tank.
 Robot Commando / int_ad4a45be
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No OSHA Compliance
 Robot Commando / int_b47d95be
comment
No OSHA Compliance: For some reason an extremely dangerous Tyrannosaurus rex mech is an exhibit at a public museum. The invaders inspect it a little too closely and next thing you know, the damn thing wakes up and immediately attacks everything in sight.
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 Robot Commando / int_b6ae5569
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Transforming Mecha
 Robot Commando / int_b6ae5569
comment
Transforming Mecha: Some military mechs can change from robots into fighter jets. This book was written early enough, Land-Air-Mechs were a thing BattleTech was still trying.
 Robot Commando / int_b6ae5569
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 Robot Commando / int_cd809603
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Tank Goodness
 Robot Commando / int_cd809603
comment
Tank Goodness: The most powerful mech the player can get is basically a tank with a human torso sticking out of the top. Then again, the same's true of the villain's personal mech too.
 Robot Commando / int_cd809603
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 Robot Commando / int_ddcc22c3
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Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age
 Robot Commando / int_ddcc22c3
comment
Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age: For some reason, everyone fights non-mech combat with swords.
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 Robot Commando / int_f068cba
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Oddball in the Series
 Robot Commando / int_f068cba
comment
Oddball in the Series: For numerous reasons. The free-flow exploration, the multiple successful paths to victory, and, of course, piloting giant mecha.
 Robot Commando / int_f068cba
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 Robot Commando / int_f0864fd9
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Combat by Champion
 Robot Commando / int_f0864fd9
comment
Combat by Champion: If you manage to convince the invaders that you represent your entire people, you can demand single combat with the enemy leader according to their own Proud Warrior Race traditions, and if you win you can command them to leave the country.
 Robot Commando / int_f0864fd9
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 Robot Commando / int_fbec00a4
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Good Luck Charm
 Robot Commando / int_fbec00a4
comment
Good Luck Charm: There's a scientifically-verified one in a museum. It sounds so useful the player's character takes it and has to fight a security robot for it with no input from the player. That's beyond even the usual level of Kleptomaniac Hero expected in these books.
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Descriptiveville
 Robot Commando / int_fd6335eb
comment
Descriptiveville: Every city in Thalos is named after its central feature. City of Knowledge, City of Industry, City of Pleasure, City of the Jungle...
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Robot Commando

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Robot Commando
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Archaic Weapon for an Advanced Age / int_9811f621
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Fragile Flyer / int_9811f621
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Gamebooks / int_9811f621
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Murderous Malfunctioning Machine / int_9811f621
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