Assault on the Clone Master

This article is about the 1980 adventure. For the 2017 remake, see Assault on the Clone Master (Dechant).

Assault on the Clone Master
◄Eamon adventure #9►
Author	Donald Brown
Released	1980
Revised	21 June 1985
EAG number	9
EDX number	02-04
EDX set	The Donald Brown Adventures
Native format	Apple DOS 3.3
File	Eamon 9 - Assault on the Clone Master.dsk

Assault on the Clone Master is an Eamon adventure written by series creator Donald Brown probably in 1980. The adventure is notable for being one of the earliest in the series and as one of the first to use wandering monsters.

Premise

The adventure's introduction describes the unexpected mission:

You were walking away from the Main Hall when you felt that unpleasant wrench in your stomach again. You are in another universe. This time, you have your normal body and weapons. You just need to find your way back.

You came upon a group of people who knew of your plight. They are rebels, and can return you to your world. They will show you the way, if you will only first go with some of their men on a raid in the fortress of the dreaded Clone Master.

When they inform you that they will kill you if you don't go along, you agree.

Before the rebels will return you home, you must do two things — kill the Clone Master and destroy the device that keeps him in power — the Clonatorium!

Three of their men will accompany you.

As the game begins you're standing with a party of rebel bowmen near the Clone Master's mountain fortress.

Walkthrough

Fortress map by Dr. William Trent, 1990. (See a text version.)

You begin just north of the entrance, in the company of three rebels who will join you on your mission: Natty of Nickleton, Nevil the Gnasher, and Norwood the Nervous. The base is simply arranged and consists of a long, straight central corridor that extends south into the mountain, crossed by three smaller, east/west tunnels. You'll encounter various numbered guards along the way that you'll need to defeat — likely multiple times, thanks to the Clonatorium. You'll also meet some of the Clone Master's servants who tend to be friendlier and more willing to join your party.

1. Go south to the first intersection. Heed your companions' warning not to touch the glowing boxes that provide light throughout the fortress — they're very hot and you'll burn yourself if you attempt to take them.
   • The east branch leads to the servants quarters where you can find a valuable silver serving tray.
   • The west branch ends in a storage room containing blankets, jugs of water, and a roast boar.
2. Proceed south to the next intersection.
   • The east tunnel ends with rooms to the north and south, both labeled "1". The north is an unguarded armory containing a single axe. The south is a guard chamber inhabited by several guards where you can obtain some gold.
   • The west tunnel is similar, though labeled "2": the armory to the north has a bow and a halberd, and the guard room to the south a bronze statue.
3. Proceed south again to the last intersection.
   • The east tunnel leads to the Clone Master's bedroom, with one obvious side chamber to the south. Defeat his pet lion, take his Apple computer, and EXAMINE the room to find a secret exit that leads north. The hidden north room is a safe containing a few valuable pieces: a statue of Buddha, a diamond, and a strange painting. The south room is the Clone Master's harem chamber, inhabited by three less-than-friendly harem girls.
   • The west tunnel is a roughly-hewn passage that leads only to a dead-end where five dwarven miners are laboring.
4. Go south again and find yourself in the base's great hall where a number of guards wait.
5. Go south once more and you'll reach the innermost chamber of the base, the Clone Room, where you'll find the Clone Master himself, a little man in horn-rimmed spectacles. Just as importantly, you'll also find his sinister Clonatorium machine, busily producing copies of the numbered guards. (They'll spring periodically from the machine and engage you in combat.) Defeat the guards, kill the Clone Master, DESTROY the Clonatorium, and your mission is complete! Pick up the Clone Master's dropped weapon — a strange device called a "gun" — and return north along the hallway to the exit.

Upon your successful return, the rebels throw you a party that lasts three weeks, reward you handsomely, and show you to the space-time flaw that sends you home.

Adventure map by Frank Black

Reviews

Reviewer Tom Zuchowski gives Assault on the Clone Master a rating of 4/10 (with an average rating by four reviewers of 3.8). He notes the simplicity of the adventure, from its basic map to its easy combat and the absence of puzzles, and describes it as a hack'n'slash scenario "with no mental effort required." However, Zuchowski praises Brown's "wandering monster" feature, in particular the fact that monsters realistically move from room to room rather than simply jumping randomly. He also writes that the cookie-cutter monsters humorously fit the cloning theme. Zuchowski notes that the adventure would be suitable for younger players.

Remake

Developer Keith Dechant rewrote Assault on the Clone Master in 2017 and published it as part of his web-based Eamon Remastered game system. The new adventure, also titled Assault on the Clone Master, is based on Brown's original story and shares some features with it, but includes many additions to the map, changes to characters and their descriptions, new effects and puzzles, and an altered premise.

Trivia

• In describing the effects of the space-time rift, Brown writes that "this time you have your normal body and weapons" — a reference to his previous adventure The Death Star in which the adventurer assumes the persona of Luke Skywalker and wields a lightsabre.
• Signs in the guardroom motivate the guards with the promise of resurrection through cloning: "Good guards are reborn," and "Guards who die in duty will return."
• Brown describes one of the Clone Master's treasures as "a very, very odd painting in an old frame. You can't quite make out the name, something like 'Pickleman'?"

External links

• Eamon Adventurer's Guild Library Master List
• The Interactive Fiction Database: Assault on the Clone Master
• Interactive Fiction Reviews: Assault on the Clone Master