[LP] Virtual Reality Adventure Book: Down Among the Dead Men

Stories about games that you run and/or have played in.

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Sirocco
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Post by Sirocco »

Half a vote for ship, because I predict yadm (yet another dick move) that will close this option off if we don't pick it right now...
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

I think we should ask about his work for Skarvench (it might give us a weakness of Skarvench's ship that we can exploit), but if we need to avoid a tie I'll agree to ship.
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Post by SlyJohnny »

Ask about Skarvench. We're not leaving here without a ship, one way or another, so I doubt it'd close off the option to trade in the deed for one.
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Post by SGamerz »

Kemp nods. 'Just recently finished. Skarvench took delivery of her two days ago: a fine galleon of forty guns which he means to name Moon Dog. Got some queer features to her, though.'

You press him on the point. 'Such as?'

'Well, first off he had me install gunports along the keel. "The ship'll sink," says I, but Skarvench would have none of it - just chortled like an old crow and showed me the designs he'd brought. "Along the keel," he insists, "and mind you fit the masts thus and so; they've a fair load to lift".'

'Eh?' You're puzzled. 'What did he mean by that?'

Kemp sighs. 'My own guess is worthless, so doubtless your own is better. It's not how I've built any ship before, and I've built hundreds. The timber was too light also - pine is easily split by cannon - but Skarvench only laughed fit to burst and said, "It depends where the cannons be pointing!" So in the end, since his gold was good, I did it the way he wanted. I have other customers to attend to, so I'll bid you good day.'

'Where to now?' says Oakley as you walk back to town.

You think for a moment. 'We'll take rooms at the Sweat o' the Brow inn. If Skarvench shows his face anywhere in Selenice, it'll be there.'

You have never spoken a truer word, for no sooner have you stepped through the doorway of the inn than you are rooted to the spot in shock. There the fiend stands, large as life in front of you. A rum bottle is clutched in his hand and his crew throng the tap-room around him, cowering as he subjects them to one of his thunderous drunken rants.

Then his eye alights on you. His snarling voice is cut off in mid-sentence. A thin line of spittle runs down into his beard as his teeth show shark-like in a vicious grin. It is the moment you have waited for: face to face with your dearest foe...
But he can't hurt us, right? Now weapons allowed in Selenice, remember? He can't touch us!
A look of thunder flickers behind Skarvench's eye.

'Still alive, eh? Come and drink with your old cap'n!' He waves the rum bottle as if inviting you to take it, but you'd sooner put your hand in a wolf's mouth.

Blutz's blood is up at the sight of your hated foe. 'God rot your one eye, villain!' he screams. 'I'd like to take that bottle and -' There is a crash of breaking wood and Blutz falls with a groan. Glancing to one side, you see he has been hit over the head with a stool. Curshaw stands there grinning, then puts his boot into the unconscious Blutz's ribs. He drops the broken leg of the stool beside him.

Oakley and Grimes stand face to face with the closing circle of Skarvench's men. You whirl to face the pirate captain himself. 'Enough, Skarvench; your quarrel's with me, not them'.

Image

He crows with laughter. 'Ah, that's a right noble sentiment and no mistake! See here, though: my quarrel's with all who'd try'n scupper my plans. I'm aimin' to bag me a queen, no less, an' then sell her to the highest bidder. So I'm goin' to have to do away with you, mate - which I should've done long ago, but I guess my old heart's just too soft!'

His hand goes to his belt. You realize he's reaching for a weapon, and your own fingers close instinctively on something on the table beside you. You raise it, and Skarvench gives a screech of laughter — you're holding only a corkscrew. He has a musket. 'I'll be the wealthiest man on the seven seas,' he boasts. 'And he who would that wealth deny, down among the dead men let him lie!'

There is a flash as he fires. Smoke fills the air and the musket-ball thuds into your chest. You feel an instant of searing pain, then everything goes black...
And that's it! Thanks for playing, everyone!

......

......ok, just kidding, moving on:
If you have a pocket-watch, a crucifix or a magic amulet, lose 3 Life Points and (if still alive) turn to 242. If you have none of these items, turn to 324.
We just bought a pocket watch!
Which just saved us from insta-death!
You sit up suddenly with a groan. Your chest feels as though you've been kicked by a horse, but by rights you ought to be dead. Shaking your head to clear it, you look down and discover that Skarvench's bullet was deflected by the article hanging at your breast.

Instead of hitting your heart, it glanced off the metal and only left a long red gash.

Grimes' face comes into focus. 'How long have I been out cold?' you ask him, each breath making you wince in pain.

'At least quarter of an hour, skipper.'

Quite a crowd has gathered around you. As you stagger groggily to your feet, you find you're still holding the corkscrew. (Note it on your Adventure Sheet if you want to keep it.) 'A fat lot of good this did me,' you mutter.

Oakley cracks a grin, relieved to see you're all right, 'dunno, you might've had his remaining eye out with it if you'd been a bit closer.'

An elderly pirate steps out of the crowd. You recognize him as a respected man in the disreputable community of Selenice. 'Skarvench broke the Brethren's law,' he says. 'He's an outcast now. No port on the Carab will give him shelter.'

Blutz is nursing a lump on his head. His nostrils flare in rage as he cries, 'If Skarvench succeeds in abducting Queen Titania he'll be rich enough to buy his own port!'

'He won't,' you say in a voice laced with icy determination. 'We'll stop him.'
That's right, our new shiny watch just literally stopped a bullet! And apparently still works, since we're not told we have to cross the item off. That's one durable watch.

Before we move on, please decide whether you want to drop anything for the corkscrew.

Adventure Sheet:
Name: Long Dong Silver
Profession: Swashbuckler
Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, STREETWISE and SWORDPLAY
Life Points: 7
Possessions:
1) Sword
2) Healing Potion (restore all Life Points)
3) Monkey
4) Letter of Marque
5) Feather Shield
6) Deed of ownership
7) Ship in a bottle
8) Pocket Watch
Money: 8 doubloons
Codewords: Mammon, Horal
No. of Deaths: 2
No. of rewinds/retcons: 3
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

I say we should drop either the monkey or the feather shield for the corkscrew.
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Post by SlyJohnny »

I think the feather shield has outlived it's usefulness.
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Post by SGamerz »

We swap out the feather shield for our brand new lucky charm in the form of a corkscrew....
You make your way outside, where there are more onlookers attracted by news of the shooting. 'Are you the one Skarvench shot?' asks an old man, seeing the blood on your chest.

'Aye,' you say, and you tell him the tale of your lucky escape.

He looks at the article that saved your life. 'A valuable investment. I must buy one myself.'

Blutz chips in: 'Listen, old man, did you see where Skarvench went?'

'Less of the "old" if you please, fatty,' says the old man, bristling. 'And to answer your query, he and his men went chortling their way down this very street in the direction of the waterfront.'

Oakley cries out an oath. 'They'll have set sail! We need a ship of our own.'

If you have both a ship in a bottle and a corkscrew, turn to 261. If not but you have a conch-shell horn, turn to 280. Otherwise, perhaps you have a deed of ownership (turn to 318) or diamonds with which to buy a ship (turn to 299)?

If you have none of these items, you have no hope of catching Skarvench and your adventure grinds to an abrupt end.


We have the ship in a bottle and just picked up a corkscrew. We also have a deed of ownership, but in this case, from the wording of the text, the ship in a bottle definitely has priority over the deed. For good reason, too, as you will soon see:
You look at the corkscrew in your hand. 'Of course! This is how we'll get our ship!'

The others watch you with rekindled concern. 'Maybe you ought to lie down for a bit, skipper?' suggests Blutz. 'You took a nasty knock back there.'

In answer you give only a triumphant laugh, setting out towards the harbour with a determined stride they are hard-pressed to match. Now you see clearly that it was divine providence that guided your hand to the corkscrew - the same divine providence that deflected the bullet and saved your life. The force of conviction bears you on like a gale until you stand on the quayside, a smile playing on your lips as you gaze at the lapping waves.

The others come up just as you are withdrawing the cork from the bottle. The gasp in astonishment to see a weird green vapour billow out, spreading to liek in a thick fog-bank beside the quay. A wind rises, stirs the fog, then dissipates it like a puff of steam.

Someone mutters an oath. Where the green fog hung a moment before, a ship now lies moored - a fine gilded galleon with a figurehead in the shape of a lion's head. Cannons fashioned to resemble leonine paws adorn her flanks. Her furled sails blaze like sunlit clouds against the azure of the sky.

'A magic ship!' breathes Blutz. 'What'll we call her?'

'She's the Providence,' you reply. 'Gentlemen, shall we go aboard?'
Even though the text doesn't say so (which I think is an oversight), I think it's reasonable to say that we can safely cross the bottle off our list of possessions. Not sure about a corkscrew. Let me know if you still want to keep it.
Record the name of your vessel on your Adventure Sheet. (She does not count against your limit of possessions, of course, because you don't have to carry her!) Next to the name, put a number of stars as indicated here - one star if you're sailing aboard the Lady of Shalott, and so on:

The Lady of Shalott*
The Shivered Timber * *
The Queen's Ransom or the Faerie Queen * * *
The Meteor or the Octavius * * * *
The Providence or the Calypso * * * * *

Having done that, turn to 320.
Yep, we just got one of the best ships we could have possibly gotten in this book.
The deed of ownership would have gotten us Lady of Shalott (Mister Capstick did say it was only a small sloop)...although we would get a chance to upgrade our ship before we go after Skarvench.
Selenice is a veritable haven for pirates, and a large and experienced crew flocks to your cause. Some have heard of your exploits and are eager to join the quest for gold and glory. Others, having learned of your hatred of Skarvench, take grim pleasure in joining the battle against him; they, like you, have old scores to settle.

While you are signing on the last few crewmen, Blutz comes bustling along the dock full of urgent news. 'I met a bloke in a tavern,' he manages to pant out, leaning on a stanchion to recover his breath. 'He was employed as pilot to steer Queen Titania's convoy past the Smoking Islands. He told me the convoy's heading for Port Tudor where they'll sit out the hurricane season.'

'The hurricane season!' scoffs Oakley. 'The hurricane's not due for a month.'

Blutz shakes his head. 'This bloke I was talking to said they think it's going to hit early this year. Apparently the Queen's wizard cast a horoscope and he's sure of it.'

Grimes grabs you by the shoulder. 'Skipper, you know what this means. If Skarvench intends to go through with his attack on the Queen's convoy, he'll have to do it before they reach Port Tudor!'

'By thunder, you're right! All hands to their posts. We sail for Port Tudor, and there isn't a moment to lose!'


A strong breeze stretches your ship's sails wide against the sky, driving you on towards your destiny. But you have no time to brood on what the future may hold; you have a ship to command. Seeing the way her prow cleaves the water, and the jaunty courage of your crew as they go about their chores, your heart brims with optimism. Soon Skarvench will see his last sunset in this life - of that you feel sure.

More than a week goes by, and you can recover 2 Life Points if injured. On the ninth day, you stand on the deck watching the sun slide out of the sky. Long blazing beams of orange light turn the green waves to liquid gold. And then - in the blink of an eye - this idyllic scene is transformed. A purple murk rises from the western horizon, blotting out the afternoon sun behind thick thunderclouds. A cold gust blows in your face, setting the sails to a pensive fluttering like frightened birds. You know well the taste of that chill wind; it is the harbinger of the hurricane.

'This is but the twitch of the lion's tail compared with what will come,' mutters Grimes. 'We'll have to put about.' He calls to the crew: 'Strike the main topsail.'
You turn. 'Belay that striking order! Lash it!'

Oakley stares at you. 'Skipper, the hurricane'll tear us apart.'

The first rain spits into your face, icily intense. 'We're going in, hurricane or not. God is master of the heavens and all the world - but, by all that's holy, I'm master of this ship!'

You can use a thundercloud fan (18), an amulet with CHARMS (37), or SEAFARING (397). If you have none of those, turn to 75.
We're back up to 9 Life points....but it looks like something bad is about to happen due to our lack of approriate Skills/items.....
The storm fills the sky and your ship is just a speck in its grip. The rain lashes down out of a darkness blacker than night, drumming the deck. Waves as high as cliffs sweep past, flooding over the side and forcing each man to cling on for dear life. Your orders are drowned out by the palpable roar of the wind, which strains the sails to bursting point. You take the whipstaff yourself and push the prow into the onrushing tumult, seeking the hurricane's heart.

Grimes rushes back, his face contorted with fear. 'Skipper!' he cries. 'The hurricane must have scattered the Queen's fleet! There's a Gloriannic warship dead across our bows, and the wind's sweeping her straight towards us!'

You can see the ship between billowing sheets of rain. Her mast is broken and she is careening out of control towards you. You have only seconds in which to avoid a collision! Will you tilt the whipstaff to port or starboard?
Which random direction do we want to turn?
Having any of the above item or skill would allow us to skip this option.
Adventure Sheet:
Name: Long Dong Silver
Profession: Swashbuckler
Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, STREETWISE and SWORDPLAY
Life Points: 9
Possessions:
1) Sword
2) Healing Potion (restore all Life Points)
3) Monkey
4) Letter of Marque
5) Corkscrew
6) Deed of ownership
7) Pocket Watch
8)
Money: 8 doubloons
Ship: The Providence (*****)
Codewords: Mammon, Horal
No. of Deaths: 2
No. of rewinds/retcons: 3
Last edited by SGamerz on Thu Oct 16, 2014 5:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Sirocco
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Post by Sirocco »

Coin toss says starboard.
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Starboard is fine by me.
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Post by SGamerz »

The Gloriannic ship goes rushing past, helpless in the grip of the storm. You catch a brief glimpse of tiny figures scurrying across her deck. Then a wave crashes down, obscuring all sight of her, and when you look
again she is gone.

'God help the Rose if she's out in that...' gasps Oakley, staring into the teeth of the hurricane. You do not answer. It takes every ounce of your strength to hold the whipstaff and keep your own ship on an even keel. As the thunderclouds spit molten light into the darkness all around you, fracturing the heavens with their fury, you strike on implacably towards your goal.
We made a lucky choice there. Turning port will lead to collision and knock a few stars off our ship (and would have sunk Lady of Shalott).
It seems like hours. At last the storm blows over. The full moon appears - a blazing white beacon. The clouds go draining away like pools of quicksilver in the vast dark blue dish of the sky.

'Ship ahoy!' cries the lookout. 'She's the Rose!'

It is indeed the Queen's proud flagship, her spars snapped and rigging torn from the storm she's just weathered. Even so, she is a daunting oaken fortress on the slow swell of the ocean. There is no sign of the escort fleet - presumably scattered or sent to the deeps by the recent hurricane. You order a cautious approach, wary in case the Rose's gunners open fire on you out of panic.

But this uncanny night still has surprises in store, it seems. As you draw closer to the drifting Rose, thick white fog boils out from nowhere and spreads rapidly across the sea. Within a minute it has entirely obscured your view of the ship. You gaze out at the blanket of fog, luminous in the moonlight, sitting on the waters like a malevolent entity. Tendrils drift across your own deck, and the crew look up at you with expressions of confusion and fear.

You sniff the air. 'There's a smell of sorcery here, my lads,' you say to the others.

'Look up there!' cries one of the sailors, and suddenly there is a moan of awestruck amazement from everyone on deck. You lift your eyes towards the sky and feel a sudden chill of supernatural dread. Sailing down out of the scattered clouds, her silver sails filled with lunar light, comes Skarvench's enchanted galleon: the Moon Dog.

If you have the codeword Horal and a pocket-watch, turn to 189. If you have a bat-shaped talisman and want to use it, turn to 151. If you have a black kite and want to use it, turn to 170. Failing any of those options, turn to 208.
We gave away our black kite.......but fortunately we still have our trusty bullet-proof watch and had a nice conversation with a scholar about the upcoming Lunar Eclipse!
You take out your pocket-watch and glance at it. The glass was cracked when it stopped Skarvench's bullet, but it is still working. 'Midnight,' you say, and close the case with a click.

There is a gasp from the sailors. One man almost falls out of the rigging in shock. Staring at the sky, they watch as an encroaching arc of darkness closes in front of the moon. "Tis doomsday!' cries the bo'sun. 'First an unseasonal hurricane, then becalmed in fog, then flying ships — an' now a dragon devours the moon!' A low moan of dread escapes the crew's lips. 'Stand fast, you timid swabs!' you thunder down at them from the poopdeck. 'Have you never seen an eclipse of the moon before?'


I really like the fact that they brought up how the glass was cracked by the bullet it deflected earlier. Although this part doesn't completely make sense because
somehow the Lunar eclipse only happen if you have a pocket watch.
Also the black kite
can be used to magically block out the moonlight, thereby temporarily denying the Moon Dog its power source.
Without the lunar wind to fill her sails, the Moon Dog drops quickly. You hear her splash down some distance off your starboard bow.

'Now Skarvench's seaborne like us,' says Oakley with a fierce smile. 'If not for this damned fog, we could give him a battle he'd not soon forget!'

If you have a thundercloud fan and want to use it, turn to 265. If you want to disperse the fog with a wand and SPELLS, turn to 284. If neither option is open to you, turn to 303.


The thundercloud fan seems to be the most-checked item in the book....although we could not have picked it up due to picking the islands route.
'The Rose is at the centre of Skarvench's web,' you realize. 'That's where we'll find him.'

You cannot safely steer your ship on into the fog. Instead, you take a small party in one of the cutters and begin to row as quickly as possible towards the centre of the fogbank. 'It seems to be issuing from the Rose herself,' says Oakley. 'And I've never seen fog so thick. I can barely see Blutz sitting in the stern back there, and he's not easy to miss!'

'Stow that personal talk, if you please, Mister Oakley!' protests Blutz from the back of the boat. Despite the grim danger you are facing, every man in the cutter allows himself a chuckle.

'The moonlight is returning,' points out Grimes seriously. 'The Moon Dog will be airborne again by now. Let's hope we're in time.'

The Rose looms ahead. You catch hold of her access ladder and secure your cutter, then lead the way up. If you have a bronze helmet and want to use it now, turn to 190. If not, turn to 209.


Another magic item that was never on the route we picked from the beginning......
The deck is deserted. Barrels and splintered booms lie scattered all around. Fog drifts through the torn rigging, reminding you of the slow unfolding of undersea plants. 'What happened to the crew? The soldiers guarding the Queen?' whispers Blutz as he climbs over the rail behind you.

'Perhaps stunned by the storm,' you reply, also in a whisper. 'They must have taken a fearful battering. Also they must be expecting trouble.'

The end of a rope lashes down onto the deck. You glance up. A vast grey shadow is hovering overhead, buoyed up by nothing but mist and moonlight: the Moon Dog.

If you have AGILITY and want to climb the rope to the Moon Dog, turn to 228. If you have CUNNING and want to try out a plan, turn to 247. If you have neither skill, you must wait at the bottom of the rope until your enemies come to you, turn to 266.
Finally, a Skill check that is available to us! In fact, we have BOTH of these skills! Which one do we want to use?
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Post by Sirocco »

We are cunning like a fox who is appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University.
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Long Dong Silver will use his cunning linguistics.
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Post by SGamerz »

Darting quickly over into the hold, you break open a travelling chest bearing the royal seal. You scatter the packed clothes and jewels that are inside until you find what you are looking for: one of the Queen's voluminous gowns. Pulling this on, you hurry back on deck, drawing amazed stares from your comrades.

'Good grief, skipper!' says Oakley with a wry smile. 'You makes a bloomin' pretty queen, and no mistake!'

'Get out of sight, all of you,' you tell them. Then, lying in wait behind the overturned water-barrel, you watch until the rope begins to stir. Someone is descending. You see him slide down the rope as loathsome as a great black spider — Skarvench himself! Choking back the urge to attack him at once, you wait until he reaches the deck before pretending to stumble out of your hiding-place.

'Oho!' he cries. 'The precious baggage herself! It's right handy of you to make my job so easy, yer majesty.' So saying, he reaches out and hefts you over his shoulder. 'Whuf! You're a weighty lass. But a spell on biscuit an' water'll soon take some o' that ample flesh off your bones. That an' the cat, o' course!'

You wait until he has carried you halfway up the rope. You may as well let the brigand wear himself out before you kill him. Now you are suspended in a weird misty void between sea and sky, with just the faint haze of moonshine to light your final confrontation. You wrest out of his grasp, seize the rope, and throw off your disguise.

'You!' gasps Skarvench.
'I don't know how you escaped my bullet,' growls Skarvench, 'but this time I'm going to make sure of the matter. I'll chop off your head and stick it on a marline-spike to look at as I go to sleep each night!'

You give him no answer. Clutching hold of the rope with one hand, you save your strength for the most desperate struggle of your life. If you have SWORDPLAY or MARKSMANSHIP (and the necessary weapon) lose 2 Life Points; if you have only BRAWLING lose 3 Life Points; if you have no combat skills you must lose 5 Life Points. If you are still alive, turn to 342.
We have more than enough Life points to survive the fight, especially since we're using SWORDPLAY.
Skarvench utters a single cry like the croak of a crow, then goes plunging down to his death on the deck below. You climb back down not a moment too soon, for the rope is suddenly jerked out of your hands and goes coiling up into the mist.

'They've had enough, now their captain's dead,' says Grimes as you watch the outlines of the Moon Dog recede up into the sky.

'I'd have liked to get that Curshaw - and Porbuck as well,' mutters Oakley. 'I've still got scores to settle with those two.'

You clasp their arms and nod towards the broken body of Skarvench lying on the deck. 'Don't be downcast, lads. Tomorrow's another day, and no doubt we'll catch up with those villains sooner or later, but we've done sterling work tonight!'

'Indeed you have,' says an aristocratic voice. You turn to see a tall distinguished-looking Gloriannic gentleman who can only be Admiral Calidor, commander of the Queen's navy. Behind him is a squad of royal marines. 'If you hadn't shown up,' he continues, 'who knows if we would have been able to cope with those pirates. We've only just managed to subdue their accomplice, the wizard Mirabilis.'

'My lord,' you say, bowing, 'they were after the Queen herself.'

Calidor smiles. 'I know. And, speaking of the Queen...'
Ooooh yeah.....we just killed our arch-nemesis wielding a sword while hanging halfway up the rope with one hand...and took only minimal damage from the fight! Long Dong finished this with style....

....well, except for that part where he dressed up in a woman's gown.
You are taken to Queen Titania's cabin in the aft gallery of the Rose. You are amazed at the sight of such luxury aboard a ship: there is a thick carpet, velvet drapes and even a gilded throne.

The Queen is younger than you expected, slim as a colt and palely pretty, with hair of autumn flame. But there is the ring of purebred royalty in her voice as she greets you. 'You have saved us from a fate that does not bear contemplation,' she says. 'You have our thanks - and not only thanks, but also material reward. Such a valiant mariner should not live a pirate's cruel life. Will you accept a title and a grant of land in Glorianne?'

'And there's a commission in the navy waiting for you, too, if you want it,' puts in Admiral Calidor. He turns and bows to the Queen with his hand to his chest. 'Your pardon, Majesty.'

Not at all, Calidor.' The Queen smiles - a vivacious radiant smile, quite at odds with the stuffy panoply of courtly etiquette that surrounds her. Turning back to you, she adds: 'Our esteemed admiral is quite right. You would make a welcome addition to our navy. Well?'

You are momentarily lost in a private reverie. The offer is tempting, but you have got used to a life of exhilarating adventure. Did you run up against El Draque? You may not have seen the last of him if so. Did you make other enemies along your way? And are there mysteries still for you to explore on the Carab Sea?

You look up at Queen Titania. She is waiting for your answer. 'If Your Majesty pleases,' you say with a twinkle in your eye, 'let me think about it.'
This is the end of the playthrough, although as you can see there are plenty of other content in the book that we didn't get to see due to the design of the book and the path we took (like that El Draque guy mentioned in that last section....he actually gets brought up quite a bit in the book, but we happened to miss all of that).

I'll post more about that and about the other stuff we've missed tomorrow. As usual, any questions or requests are welcome.

Thanks to everyone for playing!

Final Adventure Sheet:
Name: Long Dong Silver
Profession: Swashbuckler
Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, STREETWISE and SWORDPLAY
Life Points: 7
Possessions:
1) Sword
2) Healing Potion (restore all Life Points)
3) Monkey
4) Letter of Marque
5) Corkscrew
6) Deed of ownership
7) Pocket Watch
8)
Money: 8 doubloons
Ship: The Providence (*****)
Codewords: Mammon, Horal
No. of Deaths: 2
No. of rewinds/retcons: 3
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

For all we know, Long Dong looked fabulous in that dress.

As for questions: Off the top of my head, what would've happened if we used Agility? Also, is there any way to get Skarvench's henchmen? Finally, what would have Greymalkin told us, or if we used Cunning on the ruffians back in the bar?
Pseudo Stupidity wrote:This Applebees fucking sucks, much like all Applebees. I wanted to go to Femboy Hooters (communism).
SGamerz
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Post by SGamerz »

Darth Rabbitt wrote:For all we know, Long Dong looked fabulous in that dress.
I refuse to entertain the idea that Long Dong can possibly look good in any form of garments that obscures the size of his Dong! :tongue:
Darth Rabbitt wrote:As for questions: Off the top of my head, what would've happened if we used Agility?
Same, fight, actually, except we climb up the ropes to meet Skarvench in mid-air ourselves, minus the bit where we play dress-up.
Darth Rabbitt wrote:Also, is there any way to get Skarvench's henchmen? Finally, what would have Greymalkin told us, or if we used Cunning on the ruffians back in the bar?
Yes. Actually, not using either of the Skills in that last choice would have led to the pirates boarding the ship and a group fight breaking out. We would still fight Skarvench 1-on-1 with pretty much the same odds (he even makes the same speech about sticking our head on a pole before the fight), but when we win the texts mention that the pirates are rounded up and surrender after their captain is killed. But before the fight, we will encounter Mirabilis ourselves and have to deal with him. More on that in the next post.

Also, if we had the magical means (the fan or SPELLS) to clear the fog and find the Moon Dog before he gets airbourne again, there will be a ship battle (that's where the quality of our ship comes into play), and after we disable the Moon Dog, our crew will board it and launch a direct assault at the pirates. Skarvench will try to blow us away with his 'basilisk' cannon, but if we had the Skill or item to avoid it (or simply survive it) we'll again fight him 1-on-1, which leads to the same section where we'd go if we defeated him on board the Rose (not on the rope), where his crew surrenders.

So yeah, we took one of the only 2 options that allows his crew to get away
Darth Rabbitt wrote:Finally, what would have Greymalkin told us, or if we used Cunning on the ruffians back in the bar?
Using CUNNING simply means we use another tactic to scare the ruffians away, and the scholar gives us the same exposition bit. In this case, we will pretend to recognize the scholar as 'Captain Skarvench's newly-hired surgeon', and offer to give their names to Skarvench for the 'hospitality' they showed to his new surgeon.

Using our sword would have been the bad option there, thanks to the No-weapons law the book warned us about. Interestingly, using MARKSMENSHIP would actually work here, since the ruffians will run away without us actually firing the shot (hence we wouldn't actually have to break the law).

Greymalkin would have given us some info about Skarvench's new 'basilisk' cannon installed on his new ship. Which we would not have encountered anyway because we lacked the means to board the Moon Dog. He'd also give us vague clues about the new ship and the connection with the moon.....not that we could have done anything with that information if we didn't have the right items, though (i.e. the kite or the bat-shaped talisman).
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Post by SGamerz »

Stuff we Missed:

I don't think it's possible for me to go through everything in this book that we might have encountered, but here's a rough outline:

The routes to Leshand:

Out of the 3 initial routes we could have chosen upon leaving Skarvench's ship the islands route that we took in this playthrough can be considered the least punishing if we chose to play it safe and only stop for provisions. Like the text suggests, both of the other 2 routes don't give us much of an opportunity to collect provisions along the way, so one thing we would have had to go through a lot is the slow but consistent draining of Life points, to the point that we would really, really have been tempted to eat the Monkey. The direct route west, if my memories serve me right, is harsher than the detour south.

So what are the attractions on the other 2 routes? Well, for a start, the route west can take us to this mermaid:
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Blutz (of all people) will try to catch her. Having FOLKLORE will allow our character to know that mermaids cannot lie to anyone who has a physical grip on her. If we take advantage of this and question her about our route, she can either give us warning about a certain cursed ship ahead (which we will meet if we maintain the route west) or advise us to change our course and head for the islands.....and give us clues about how to defeat Ejada. On the other hand, if we decide to release her, she can actually help pull our boat to Ejada's island herself.

Other using the Shark's tooth sword, most of the other ways of defeating Ejada involve exploiting this major weakness: her power comes from the earth, so to defeat her we need to get her off the ground! BRAWLING would have allowed us to try and wrestle her and lift her off her feet (and reveal the roots the join her to the ground), SPELLS allow us to conjure up a whirlwind to do the same.

The mermaid isn't the only one who could have given us this cue. I think having FOLKLORE at a certain point in the book could have told us that as well. Also, we actually DID find a clue in our playthrough, although it's not as obvious as the rest.

Remember this graffiti we found on the cannibals' island?
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This essentially gives us a hint on what to expect on each island (order from right to left). The second picture shows a volcano, the third shows a woman with roots growing under her feet in the ground.

Anyway, other than Ejada, the other big Loot-pile in this book is on the cursed ship mentioned earlier. If we chose not to follow the mermaid's advice (or didn't get it), we would have encountered the cursed ship named the Lamassos. Once again, having FOLKLORE will give us some warning of the dangers. Apparently, the captain and crew of the ship have been cursed to sail for all eternity by Dionysus for looting one of his shrines. By the time we get on board (if we choose to), the captain would be the only one left, as all the rest of the have eventually found a way to escape. Desperate for company, the captain will do his best to convince us to go on board and share his curse.

There're a few ways to escape from the ship, but not all are without penalty. The one where everyone would be able to use (not reliant on Skills) is to take a meat cleaver we find on the ship and cutting off our right hand (and thus losing the Skill AGILITY if we have it). Basically, that's the way all the rest of the crew had taken, symbolically "chopping off the hand that done the deed" (of looting the shrine). We will find a barrel full of skeletal hands that'll give us the hint.

Alternatively, if we have the right Skill we can deal with it more efficiently, namely using CHARMS to protect ourselves against it. That's the most painless way to escape from the ship.

Using CUNNING, we can subvert the curse by sawing off the board of the deck under our feet, so that we can get off the ship without our feet ever leaving the deck of the ship. :) The consequence is that we'll be encumbered by the wood under our feet forever and lose the ROGUERY skill.

For something drastic, we can summon Dionysus himself with SPELLS, whereupon we can convince him to get us go....but only if we are "his type of people", in which case we'll be forced to substitute 2 of our Skills BRWLING and ROGUERY.....but the upside is that he'll teleport us straight to land and we can skip the rest of the voyage.

Of course like I said, the biggest loot-pile is on that ship, so that helps to off-set all the conveniences somewhat. We can choose to go for wealth (diamonds) or magic items, which would give us a choice of 2 items from several of those that we could have asked Scriptor to identify for us.

So what do those items do? The conch-shell can help us get the other 5-star ship in the book (I'll get to that later); the Dragon Ring is actually a dangerous artifact that we will be ill-advised to use (Scriptor will tell us to get rid of it) as it summons Leviathon....which we will not be able to control; the bronze helmet temporarily gives us fighting abilities (SWORDPLAY and BRAWLING), which would help characters who started without any prepare for the endgame fight against Skarvench.

There's one other magic loot that we can get from the ship, and that is the often-checked and highly useful thundercloud fan.

And the bat-shaped talisman? That's actually not gotten from the ship. We will get it via another route: the detour south.

Speaking of the south route, there are likewise 2 main attractions. And like the west route, we would also get the opportunity to change course for the islands mid-way....which would also lead us to Ejada's Island.

So in short, if we want the best loot we can possibly get, we should have gone west to the cursed ship, and ten change course south and get to Ejada's island (although backpack space will be running out very quickly)!

One of the 2 main attractions of the south route is this 4-star ship Octavius, that we would only be able to obtain later:
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Because it's stuck in a massive iceberg, we wouldn't be able to use it immediately, but after we reach Selenice, if we have no other ways of getting a better ship than Lady of Shalott, we will be able to take advantage of this earlier encounter and go back to find this ship.

Also on the southern route, we have the chance of going on an island that turns out to be a giant crab in disguise, and get eaten:
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Last but not least, we can meet this guy:
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His name is Mortice, and he's a vampire. He'll come sailing to us in his own small boat and offer to share his food (which we would desperately need). Again, there are various ways we can avoid or escape the encounter, depending on what Skills are available to us. As you can see from the picture, running a vampire through with a sword is not the most effective way...

He's also the one who will first tell us about the infamous legendary vampire pirate known as El Draque, whom we will have the chance to encounter later. The Cold Grue, incidentally, is the name of El Draque's ship.

More to come:

How to get the other ships, El Draque, and a chance to do a little piracy of our own (the Letter of Marque is there for a reason, after all!)
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Post by SGamerz »

The ships:

Here's a brief outline on how we could have gotten each of the ships:

The Lady of Shalott*

As already mentioned, this is what Mister Capstick's deed would have gotten us. However, as you saw earlier, there was also the options of us purchasing a ship using diamonds. There are 2 places we could have gotten diamonds, the first being the afore-mentioned cursed ship, where we could have gotten several or those; the 2nd is on Mortice's boat, but there's only one of that.

Spending 1 diamond will also get us The Lady of Shalott.

However, that's not the end of it. If the Lady of Shalott was the best and only ship we had access to.....we would get the chance to use it to go out to sea to find ways to either get a better ship, or gain enough wealth to buy another one. Ways to do that including piracy, or looking for El Draque's treasure.

These options will only be available if we don't already have a better ship (like the rovidence, which we did).

The Shivered Timber * *

This will be one of the possible ships we could have "upgraded" from Lady of Shalott via piracy. More on that below.

The Queen's Ransom or the Faerie Queen * * *

We can purchase the Queen's Ransom using 2 diamonds, or Faerie Queen via good piracy or With El Draque's treasure.

The Meteor ****

We can purchase this using 3 diamonds. If we do, Oakley will suggest a name change because he thinks the name might be unlucky due to the previous owner who ordered the ship being executed. FOLKLORE will tell us that this is a load of bull, and in fact will have the opposite effect, and we will refuse. If we agree, this actually weakens the ship, because we'd name it the Queen's Ransom, effectively turning it into a 3-star ship.

We can also purchase this ship using Neptune's emerald tear (see below on Calypso)

The Octavius * * * *

As mentioned above, we will have the option of sailing out on Lady of Shalott to find this ship if we took the south route in the beginning and bypassed it inside an iceberg. Lady of Shalott comes with its own cargo of salt, which Blutz will cleverly suggest we use to melt the ice and free the ship.

The Calypso * * * * *

If we have the conchshell from the cursed ship, we can use it to summon a coracle drawn by a talking shark and a talking dolphin who will offer to take us to Neptune/Poseidon's harbor.
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If we accept the invitation, we then have the opportunity to ask Neptune for help. If we just ask for wealth, he will shed a tear which turns into a big emerald that's enough to buy us the Meteor. But that's actually not the best option. If we ask for a ship directly, he will invite us to enter the harbour and take our pick....but we'll have to find the key ourselves.

It is said that no man can see or touch the keys to the harbor......but there are a few ways we could have gotten past that. One of them is the Monkey (yes, he's actually useful for something other than as a food source), because he's not a man. Although the book will tell you that you fail miserably in your attempt to command it to do what you want, and Butz has to step in and coax it into getting the key. :biggrin:

Having CUNNING or a hornpipe would allow us to figure out that the invisible key is in fact a musical key.

Using SPELLS here is a trap option. We will attempt a counter-spell.....which counters ALL magic, and hence sends us back to Selenice, since we came to Neptune by magic and we broke the spell.

Another trap option here is using the afore-mentioned Dragon Ring, as we free Leviathon, thinking that it'd help has break into the harbor. It's so powerful that we're literally beneath its notice, and it crushes us while engaged in a titanic battle with Neptune.

Getting into the harbor will, of course, get us a 5-star ship, Calypso.

El Draque and piracy

As mentioned, we will get the chance to find a better ship if we only have Lady of Shalott. If we've heard about El Draque at any point during the adventure, we will get the option to look for him. Mortice would be our first opportunity to hear about him. More info about him can be gotten by listening for rumours in Leshand (with STREETWISE), and asking about him from the shipbuilder.

Of course, he's not going to make it easy for us!

Here's a picture of him and 2 of his vampiric crew:
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If we choose to take up piracy (which would be our only option anyway if we didn't know about El Draque or the frozen ship), we would get the option to decide whether we want to plunder all ships or only Sidonian ships. Mister Capstick could have told us more about this if we had asked him back on the sip. Basically, if we only lunder Sidonians, who are official political enemies of Glorianne, we can be considered "legal privateers" and will not be bothered by their marines........provided we have the legal documents.

Not having the Letter of Marque when we're boarded by the royal marines is an auto-fail, as is having plunder Gloriannic ships even with the Letter of Marque (although we can choose to run from them or fight them instead of letting them board). If we convince them that we're privateers, he will demand the "Queen's share of the plunder". Having CUNNING will allow us to trick them and retain our loot (enough to buy the Faerie Queen). Failing that, we'll either have to fight them to defend our loot, or give up most of it and retaining only enough to buy the Shivered Timbers.
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Last but not least this is Skarvench's half brother Mirabilis, whom we would have met if we chose not to use AGIITY or CUNNING in that final option:
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We would have had the option to defeat him with SPELLS. If we don't, have that Skill, Admiral Calidor arrives and shoots the wand out of his had with a musket, forcing him to flee, but he will do some minimal damage to us.

There are a few ways we could have found out about his relationship with Skarvench, as well as his elaborate plan to design an airship for Skarvench, summon a magical storm that scatters the Queen's fleet. and trap the Rose in the centre of a hurricane. As mentioned before, staying to eavesdrop on Skarvench at the very beginning of the adventure will reveal that, at the cost of our chance to grab some loot. Bumping into Skarvench on the island while he was digging out his treasure (which he intended to use to buy the new flying ship) was another opportunity if we had ROGUERY or SPELLS (and not have a Monkey that screws things up for us by revealing our position).

****

Overall, I have to say Skarvench is one of the more memorable gamebook villains I've read about. Not some vague powerful uber-wizard or uber-demon trying to conquer the world that we only meet in the last scene. He's human, with pretty human traits and a perfectly human and understandable motivation. We have a perfectly personal and legit reason to want him dead, he acts enough like a prick to make it easy for us to hate him, and the way it's possible to encounter him several times during the adventure where he pretty much just fucks with us or make us run time and again just adds on to the feel that he really is our nemesis.

Far from the most original character, but still by far one of the better antagonists in gamebooks that I know of, IMO.

Anyway as usual I'll be taking a couple days' break before I come back with my next FF LP. See you guys then!
SGamerz
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Post by SGamerz »

Just one more minor bit of news:

Thanks to Starmaker, I've managed to get my hands on the other 3 Virtual Reality gamebooks written by Dave Morris. Haven't had the time to read them yet, but when I have there might be more options for my future non-FF LPs, assuming there's still enough interest by then. :tongue: I still have a few other gamebooks in mind, so it might be a while before it comes to that....
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Post by Mr Shine »

Other than against Ejada, is there any difference between the swords?
SGamerz
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Post by SGamerz »

Mr Shine wrote:Other than against Ejada, is there any difference between the swords?
None that I know of. It seems to be the only section where we're offered the chance to use it. It doesn't specifically mention that we can use it as a substitute sword in any other situation, either, although I think it'd be a reasonable assumption to think it can.
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