[Let's Play] Blood Sword V - The Walls of Spyte

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SGamerz
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Post by SGamerz »

Starmaker wrote:I think the "use an item" option redirects here and the authors considered it good design to avoid redirecting to a deja vu text dump.
Nope:
Which item will you make use of now? Choose carefully, as the fate of the world literally hangs in the balance. The Horn of Heroes, a chunk of rock salt or the Blood Sword itself? If you have none of these, or decide they would do no good, you can either free the captives or attack the evil disciples.
There were already 3 votes to use the Horn, so let's proceed:
The horn Gjall produces a note that can be heard throughout the Nine Worlds. Crashing against the heavens, it produces an echo like a low peal of thunder. The tower quivers under you and - incredibly - a crack appears across the night sky, through which the celestial radiance shines dazzlingly.

The disciples gasp and fall to their knees. At the same instant the multi-coloured flames that pent their captives gutter and go out, allowing the captives to flee. Record the codeword DELIVERANCE on your Character Sheet(s).

You are able to attack the disciples as they rise. They are trying to resume the chant to summon their unearthly lords, but the shock of hearing Heimdall's horn so close has unnerved them. They are visibly shaken, and for the first time a glimmer of fear shows behind the fanatical zeal in their eyes.

Image

Disciples of the Magi
Psychic Ability: 9
Armour Rating: 5
Endurance: 15

(They are not really so heavily armoured, but the defensive spells they have prepared beforehand have the effect of armour.)

The ritual is taking all their concentration, so they cannot fight back or even defend. After six rounds, note your positions and current wounds and then turn to 543. If you kill them all before six rounds are up, turn to 190.
5 on 5, how convenient. 6 rounds should be more than enough to finish them off. In fact, I'd be shocked if this lasts beyond 3 rounds.

Direct the mass slaughter!
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Darth Rabbitt
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

I'll wail on one with my magic staff.
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angelfromanotherpin
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

Not much of a choice here. Beat down the dude in front of me. If necessary, move to and beat down a different dude.
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Post by Shiritai »

They cast defensive spells? Heretics!

I'll nemesis bolt the one that Pepito and Benedict don't engage, and then swordthrust whichever has the highest endurance.
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Post by Starmaker »

Pick one no one is attacking, engage and hack at him (with Quick Thinking).
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Post by SGamerz »

Let's bravely murder the guys who can't fight back!

COMBAT LOG:
Round 1 ... FIGHT!

Awareness 11 acts ...

Karunaz fights Disciple #1. Damage = 22-5 = 17. Disciple #1 is killed.

Awareness 9 acts ...

Trickster moves next to Disciple #5.

Awareness 8 acts ...

Warrior fights Disciple #2. Damage = 12+3-5 = 10. Disciple #2 has 5 END left.

Warrior fights Disciple #2 with off-hand. Damage = 5+3-5 = 3. Disciple #2 has 2 END left.

Enchanter casts Nemesis Bolt on Disciple #4. Damage = 26+7-5 = 28. Disciple #4 is killed.

Awareness 7 acts ...

Sage engages Disciple #3.

Quick Thinking bonus:

Trickster fights Disciple #5. Roll = 4. (Hit!) Damage = 18+1-5 = 14. Disciple #5 has 1 END left!

Round 2

Awareness 11 acts ...

Karunaz moves next to Disciple #3. (Sage probably needs more help than anyone else).

Awareness 9 acts ...

Trickster fights Disciple #5. Roll = 5. (Hit!) Damage = 12+1-5 = 8. Disciple #5 is killed.

Awareness 8 acts ...

Warrior fights Disciple #2. Damage = 7+3-5 = 5. Disciple #2 is killed.

Enchanter casts Swordthrust on Disciple #3. Damage = 15+3-5 = 13. Disciple #3 has 2 END left.

Awareness 6 acts ...

Sage fights Disciple #3. Roll = 2. (Hit!) Damage = 10+2-5 = 7. Disciple #3 is killed.
Cool, everyone got a kill each!
There is insufficient power in the Summoning spell for the Magi to manifest themselves. The unearthly music from the Five Stars becomes a cacophony, building in pitch until it is audible only as an ethereal shriek. Suddenly the Stars explode in a shower of prismatic sparks. For a moment you fancy you glimpsed the faces of giants against the sky - faces contorted in expressions of ultimate horror. Then there is only silence and the stillness of the night. You watch the glowing debris from the Five Stars fall and go out in the darkness like dying embers.

You turn to go, but as you reach the staircase a blue radiance flares up behind you. 'You are quick to write off your oldest foe ...' whispers an unearthly voice.

You spin around, chilled to the marrow of your bones. 'Blue Moon ...'

'Magus Tor,' corrects the manifestation before you. It is like a tall robed shadow, glowing with pallid blue light around a core of cold blackness. 'By dint of your efforts, my brethren have been destroyed. No matter. I remain, and now the millennium that is to come will be ushered in by me alone.'

For a moment you are too stunned to do anything. 'How did you survive?' you gasp. 'The spell of reincarnation was disrupted. We saw the Stars explode ...'

'I shall delight in explaining my victory,' replies Magus Tor, 'as my explanation will be the last thing you hear in this life.' His voice, you notice, is getting stronger, and the blue light radiating from his shadowy form is getting brighter. 'In truth I was destroyed with the others. But I was able to create this virtual self, this phantasm you see before you. Momentarily I exist only as an illusion - but mine is the power to turn illusion into reality!'

If Karunaz is here and still alive, turn to 364. If not, turn to 44.
Hmmm....as far as I can tell, it was never made clear whether Tor, Kalugen (Plague Star) and Uru (White Light....and also Icon's employer in Book 1) had been the personification of the True Magi all along or that they were later killed off and their bodies possessed by the spirits. The fact that you could release Skrymir in Book 1 and let him squash half the Magi (including Kalugen and Uru) seem to point to the latter, but I guess that ending wasn't supposed to be 'canon'. I also don't remember whether the names of the other 2 were ever mentioned I the books.

And of course, Karunaz is still alive. At this stage, the only way he could have been dead would be if the heroes attacked him earlier. Even if the Disciples had been able to fight back they'd barely have scratched him before they get cut in half by that overpowered sword.
'He lives only in our imagination,' says Karunaz. 'Our minds are his gateway to the world! If we die before he can convert his illusory self into reality, he will be destroyed.'

If you do what Karunaz seems to be suggesting, turn to 45. If you're not prepared to sacrifice yourself without a fight, turn to 44.
From mass murder to mass suicide.....this is what happens when you get involved with religious fanatics.

Who's up for suicide? (I'm tempted to rule that this ought to be an unanimous decision, but then again, I guess mass suicide via peer pressure has actually happened in real life.....)
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Post by Starmaker »

He's high. I'm not. Fight.
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

Suicide is impious. Fight!
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Fight this loser.
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Post by SGamerz »

'It is futile to oppose me,' says the Magus. 'You have no hope of victory now.'

You spit. 'Victory or defeat are irrelevant. Opposing your evil is the only purpose. That long ago became the only thing that mattered.'

'I almost pity you,' he says with an icy laugh. 'Your quest has transformed you into as much a creature of Fate as I.'

Image

Magus Tor
Fighting Prowess: 12 Psychic Ability: 8
Awareness: 12 Damage per blow: 8 Dice
Armour Rating: 0 vs the Blood Sword, 3 vs other weapons
Endurance: 50

He can hurl cyanic Mirage-Bolts that count as Blasting spells, inflicting seven Dice damage (less armour) on a single target. He does not have to roll to cast these. Naturally he will concentrate the Mirage-Bolts on a player holding the Blood Sword, but if this player is a Warrior he or she will take only half damage from the bolts.

Each round, add one to Magus Tor's Psychic Ability and twenty-five to his Endurance.

If you win, turn to 550.
At least we seem to have succeeded in preventing Karunaz from killing himself via peer pressure.

This is the last fight! Strategies?

Adventure Sheets:

WARRIOR:
NAME: Dame Caecilia Wither-Stoat
RANK: 6th

Battle Order: 1

Fighting Prowess: 12
Psychic Ability: 7
Awareness: 8
Endurance: 39/50
Damage: 2 Dice +3

*Extra Notes: Takes no FP/damage penalty when fighting unarmed, +1 Armour Rating from Potentiation on top of normal armour bonus

Items:
1 Sword
2 Sword
3 Plate Armour (Armour Rating four)
4 Money pouch (empty)
5 Potion of Diminution
6 Potion of Diminution
7 Horn of Heroes
8 Kraken's Elixir
9-10 Empty slots
TRICKSTER:
NAME: Benedict of the Crimson Spires, Honourable Duelist
RANK: 6th

Battle Order: 2

Fighting Prowess: 10 (+3 from Blood Sword)
Psychic Ability: 7
Awareness: 9
Endurance: 38/42
Damage: 4 Dice +1 (+2d6 Damage from Blood Sword)

Items:
1 Blood Sword (+3 FP, +2d6 Damage)
2 Studded Leather Armour (Armour Rating 2)
3 Money Pouch (empty)
4 Bow
5 Quiver (2 arrows)
6 Quiver (6 arrows)
7 Potion of Diminution
8 Book (looted from crystalized corpse) - turn to 493 if read
9 Healing herbs (+2d6 END)
10 Torque of Reanimation
SAGE:
NAME: "Pepito" Cascadero, Master of the Mystic Way
RANK: 6th

Battle Order: 3

Fighting Prowess: 9 (+1 from magic gold ring, +1 from Staff of Might)
Psychic Ability: 8
Awareness: 7
Endurance: 11/36
Damage: 2 Dice +2

Items:
1 Staff of Might (+1 FP, +1 Damage, can cast Volcano Spray once per combat at 10 PA)
2 Studded Leather Armour (Armour Rating 2)
3 Money Pouch (empty)
4 Magic Bow (+1 FP when using Archery)
5 Enameled Quiver (1 magic arrow - does 1d6 +3 damage)
6 Quiver (5 arrows)
7 Potion of Diminution
8 Magic Gold Ring (+1 FP)
9 Dead Hermit's Amulet
10 Empty Slot
ENCHANTER:
NAME: Enchanter Reed, Ninth of the Inverted Tower
RANK: 6th

Battle Order: 4

Fighting Prowess: 1
Psychic Ability: 15
Awareness: 8
Endurance: 27/36
Damage: 1 Die +3

Items:
1 Sword
2 Studded Leather Armour (Armour Rating 2)
3 Money Pouch (empty)
4 Quiver (6 arrows)
5 Potion of Diminution
6 Potion of Diminution
7-10 Empty Slot
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angelfromanotherpin
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

There's not a lot of strategy to be had, unfortunately. Engage, pound, pray for the random factors to align.
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Post by Starmaker »

Use herbs if I survive the blast, move and attack with Quick Thinking.
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Post by Shiritai »

Well that's rough. I'll nemesis bolt, swordthrust, then repeat nemesis bolt. If we're decently lucky we should be able to burn him down quickly enough. I wonder if we can use the zombie torque during combat...
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Post by Starmaker »

Shiritai wrote:I wonder if we can use the zombie torque during combat...
Yeah, I should put it on straight away and just keep fighting once dead. :biggrin:
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Crap, I should've healed.

Anyways, I fire my last magic arrow at this guy. Assuming I survive the next round I use my magic staff to Volcano Spray him. After that it's just arrow shooting time.
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Post by SGamerz »

Starmaker wrote:
Shiritai wrote:I wonder if we can use the zombie torque during combat...
Yeah, I should put it on straight away and just keep fighting once dead. :biggrin:
Note that a zombie isn't good for anything other than absorbing damage. Since all its abilities (besides END) will be at -1, it can't hit anything.
Darth Rabbitt wrote: Assuming I survive the next round I use my magic staff to Volcano Spray him. After that it's just arrow shooting time.
Oh, you'll definitely survive the first round. The only person who has to worry about the first round is Benedict, because he's holding the Blood Sword, so he'll be a Mirage-bolt magnet. :biggrin:

In fact, the rest of you probably won't have to worry for a few rounds, since Tor will be targeting Karunaz after Benedict (he has the other OP sword), and he'll last a couple rounds at least with that 100 END.

There's really not too much danger of losing this fight (although Benedict will probably die) unless BOTH Karunaz and Reed continuously get really crappy rolls. Karunaz's sword also has the same property as the Blood Sword, which means it may auto-destroy the Magi (whom the text at the beginning of the book states to count as undead). Of course, Magus Tor's PA grows every round, so for this to work Karunaz needs to get lucky early in the fight.

Now, if you were fight ALL 5 of the Magi....

COMBAT LOG:
Round 1 ... FIGHT!

Awareness 12 acts ...

Magus Tor hurls Mirage-Bolt at Trickster. Damage = 25-2= 23. Trickster has 15 END left.

Awareness 11 acts ...

Karunaz moves next to Magus Tor.

Awareness 9 acts ...

Trickster uses healing herbs. Roll = 7. Trickster has 21 END left.

Awareness 8 acts ...

Warrior moves next to Magus Tor.

Enchanter casts Nemesis Bolt. Damage = 22-3 = 19. Magus Tor has 31 END left.

Awareness 7 acts ...

Sage shoots magic arrow at Tor. Roll = 7. (Hits) Damage = 3+3-3 = 3. Magus Tor has 28 END left.

Quick Thinking bonus:

Trickster moves next to Magus Tor.

Round 2

Magus Tor gains 25 END and 1 PA and is now at 53 END.

Awareness 12 acts ...

Magus Tor fights Trickster. Damage = 26-2= 24. Trickster is killed!

Awareness 11 acts ...

Karunaz fights Magus Tor. Psychic Ability roll = 4. (Pass - Magus Tor survives the Sword of Death). Damage = 26. Magus Tor has 27 END left.

Awareness 8 acts ...

Warrior fights Magus Tor. Damage = 10+3-3 = 10. Magus Tor has 17 END left.

Warrior fights Magus Tor with off-hand. Damage = 7+3-3 = 7. Magus Tor has 10 END left.

Enchanter casts Swordthrust. Damage = 15-3 = 12. Magus Tor is destroyed!
We won.....at the cost of Benedict's life. Although at least his animated zombie is still standing around. (This is one of the reasons why the book recommends that the Warrior holds the Blood Sword. He takes only half-damage from Tor, so he might have survived. Also, if Karunaz dies and the Warrior wields both swords, he gets an ever more awesome boost).
The Magi have been defeated forever. Your quest ends in victory.

The Last Trump sounds throughout the world as midnight brings the End of Time. All those who have died in all the earth's history are awakening from the sleep of death. All of your companions and adversaries live again. You see the troubadour who gave you the fragment of the Blood Sword and set you on your quest. He greets you with a smile as he plucks at the strings of his harp, drawing forth a tune of supernatural beauty. In that instant you know him for who he is - no mere mortal, but an incarnation of the Archangel Abdiel, who forged the Swords of Life and Death. He descended to middle-earth to choose mortals who could undertake the holy quest on behalf of all mankind. And he chose you ...

A golden light spreads up from the horizon. It is not the dawn - or, at any rate, no ordinary dawn. For it comes from all around, and the light it brings to the world will never fade. You feel ecstatic, filled with a vigour and purity of understanding that you have never known. The Creator of All is coming to judge His children - and to be judged by them, for that has been the purpose of all time to this moment. You know that you have done God's will, and Paradise will be your reward. But better than this, you did what you knew to be right.

Your knowledge of that fact, and your awareness of your identity in the scheme of things - this in itself is Paradise.
I'm pretty sure Icon did what he knew to be right, too. I guess we'll see him in Paradise!

And finally, this is the end! Thank you for patiently sticking through with this (and putting up with my often-sloppy GMing) for the past 5+ months! Hope you still had fun despite that! :biggrin:

And I just realized I've done 8 Dave Morris books in a row. Time to take a break from that! (at least there's no danger of getting another for the next LP, since he only ever wrote one FF book)

Wrapping this up with my usual what-did-we-miss post in a couple of days (including that mass-suicide option, which, believe it or not, leads to an AUTO-WIN!)

Any more questions on the series before the final wrap-up?
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

What did the book we never read do? What was the shrinking potion for?
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

I knew mass suicide would either be an autolose or an autowin. I decided that good Christians True Faithers wouldn't commit suicide though.

Questions off of the top of my head:
Anything interesting we missed by avoiding further penetrating the garden?
What would've happened if we turned down the old man's quest, or went down one of the other 4 corridors?
What do the curseboots or the cursed axes do if equipped?
angelfromanotherpin wrote:What did the book we never read do? What was the shrinking potion for?
Also these.
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Post by SGamerz »

angelfromanotherpin wrote:What did the book we never read do?
It gives us a warning about the very next encounter - the Crystal Gaze of those Death Angels. So yeah, it was a waste of space if you don't read it immediately.
angelfromanotherpin wrote:What was the shrinking potion for?
Like the book, it's used to resolve something that's almost right next to it: the shaft which we found the dead body from which we looted the potions. Basically, it's an airshaft, but the air blowing up from below isn't quite strong enough to break our fall if we choose to jump in to investigate. Drinking a potion will enable a character to lose enough weight to float down to the bottom gently. The Sage is the only one who doesn't need the potion, since he can Levitate. The party can also be split up here (although the group that stays behind doesn't get t do anything, and just waits for the investigating players to get back).

There are 6 potions, and we'd only need 3 to get down, so why would there be a need to split the party? Because to get back up the same way, you need to be even lighter, and therefore need 2 drinks each to float back up! Of course, thee are ways to get around that. There's a hidden path below that allows the players to find their way back up to the top if they find it. The Sage again, doesn't need any of the potions to get back up. Finally, there's a spot below with 5 seats that each gives one player a 1-shot spell (if a player takes the same seat more than once, or if more tan one player takes that seat, he gets a penalty depending on which seat it is....some of them are lethal), and one of them is a Flying spell that allows 1 player to fly back up. That spell can also be used to allow the entire party to flee from one combat.

Like I mentioned, there were 5 seats, which means 4 other spells. One of them is a Super Prediction spell that allows the players to see into the future...namely, he can read ahead ALL the options he's given in any one section where he uses the spell. I think the best place to use that would probably be when we're asking the Homunculus about the 5 rooms....which means we get to find out about all 5 rooms at once. :biggrin: That's where I always use the spell, at least.

Another spell is the Blade Sharpening spell, which adds 1d6 Damage to any one physical weapon permanently. It can be used on both melee and missile weapon.

The 4th spell is Magic Enhancement. It maximizes the effect of any one spell cast (it also allows the spell to be auto-cast without the need to roll any dice, although Reed can pretty much auto-cast anything he wants anyway). This means that a Nemesis Bolt (7d6+7) automatically does 49 END damage! That would have made short work of even a True Magi.

The last spell is basically a free Nemesis Bolt. Like the previous spell, it can be auto-cast without having to roll, but it does normal damage. Otherwise the only difference is that any player who sits on the seat can use the spell, not just the Enchanter.

So, as you can see, lots of nice power-ups and boosts we missed in the early parts of the game. As I mentioned before, the 5 entrances right at the beginning of the book offers different paths to the spot where you find the airshaft, garden and stairs. The one we took (through the giant's carcass) happened to be one of the least profitable, if also least dangerous. Blue Moon's Portal, as mentioned before, steals all of our equipment (besides Blood Sword), but also takes us past a Dragon's lair, where we get the chance to kill/free it for some treasure. The most profitable one is probably the one that takes us past an armoury where we can find a set of magic equipment including a magic bow (does 2d6 damage), magic javelin (3d6 damage but with more limited range than bow), magic shield (absorbs damage on a roll of 1/6), magic faerie ring (summons Faltyn without penalty) and even a sword that auto-casts Sheet Lightning. Those were probably there in case we couldn't ruin the ritual in time and had to take on al 5 Magi (and we'd certainly need it then!)
Darth Rabbitt wrote:Anything interesting we missed by avoiding further penetrating the garden?


Not really. There's a fairly long sequence of sections used for the garden, and most of it involves the player risking all sorts of punishments from poison to wasting diseases that cripple their stats as they proceed deeper, as if to discourage them from proceeding further. If the players persevere and reach the heart of the garden, they find a fountain where they can drink from......which cures them of all the afflictions they just picked up.

So yeah, mostly a trap (if you turn back too early, you'd pick up the penalties for nothing), and a waste of sections.
Darth Rabbitt wrote:What would've happened if we turned down the old man's quest, or went down one of the other 4 corridors?


Nothing...we just miss the side quest and go straight to the 5 doors with the 5 rods.
Darth Rabbitt wrote:What do the curseboots or the cursed axes do if equipped?


The cursed axe mind-controls the player. If the player is alone, he's dead, as he can't fight back when more black knights arrive. If the player is in a group, AND one of his companions is the Warrior, then he can be saved as the Warrior can carry him while running away. Otherwise, he's still dead as his companions are forced to leave him behind.

The shoes themselves actually don't do any harm. The problem was the path you are walking on. What wasn't revealed (unless you take the boots) is that you were actually walking over the body of a sleeping giant. Anyone wearing those boots while walking over him will wake the giant up.

Here's what the giant's stats look like:
Snorrid the Giant
Fighting Prowess: 11
Psychic Ability: 11
Armour Rating: 10
Endurance: 950
Damage per blow: 20 Dice
Awareness: 11
Yes, he's even stronger than Thor! He'd totally have wiped out Susurrien's pet gods, too! Hell, he could have taken on the True Magi!

At least the book allows you to flee from him.....although bizarrely, it also gives you a section to turn to if you actually claim to win the fight. Not that you actually gain anything by cheating and claiming you won fairly, though. There's no rewards at all.

I think the above mostly covers the stuff we bypassed. Once we reach the 5 rooms, the path becomes quite linear.

The Horn of Heroes basically made the last encounter a lot easier, because it frees all the sacrifice captives AND give you double the usual time to kill off the Disciples before the ritual completes. Without it, it's still doable, but it won't be as easy.

Basically, if we can't kill the Disciples before they complete the ritual, then we'd have to roll dice to calculate Sacrifice points. Every person that des after the ritual is completed adds one dice of Sacrifice (that includes dead Disciples, dead heroes, and dead captives). If the captives aren't freed, they add 5 Dice worth of Sacrifice point.

There are basically 4 "levels" of results depending on the total Sacrifice. The lowest level is basically what we went through: the Magi are destroyed but Blue Moon makes a last-ditch attempt for comeback. The highest level is basically Game Over as the Magi come back in full force. The 2 'mid-level' points are where the Magi return, but are still weak enough that we can still attempt to fight and kill them before they regain all the powers.

Each Magus is basically like Magus Tor: same stats, and their END and PA increase every round during battle, so they need to die fast. At the second-highest level of Sacrifice, they start with 75 END each. At the second-lowest, they start with 55.

If Karunaz dies, and the Warrior dual-wields both swords, his END gets doubled and he gets a +3 PA boost, and if he hits an undead (including a Magi) with both swords (pretty much guaranteed thanks to the FP bonus), the enemy needs to roll against PA on FOUR dice and gets auto-killed if they fail (thus making it possible to auto-kill them even if their PA grows beyond 12)!

You may have noticed that the flavor of the writing for most of this book doesn't feel quite the same as the last 4. From what I heard although this series was originally meant to be co-written by 2 guys, Oliver Johnson ended up being engaged in a different project, and Dave Morris pretty much wrote all the first 4 books. Oliver Johnson put all his input into this one, and Dave just came in and wrapped this up by writing the last scene (probably where we meet Karunaz) to tie it back to the first 4 books. Allegedly, Oliver only knew the rough plot and hadn't read any of the other 4 books when he wrote this. :biggrin:

Last but not least, here's the "mass suicide" martyr ending (it leads to the same ending section as if we fight Tor/the 5 Magi):
You compose your thoughts and hurry over to the edge of the roof. 'Allah is great!' cries Karunaz, and launches himself off into space. He falls without a sound until he is swallowed up in darkness.

Breathing a last prayer, you jump after him. Behind you, Magus Tor gives a long, low groan of despair. Ironic that in his final moment he desired above all else that you, his greatest foes, should not die.

The wind whistles up past you. You do not feel your impact with the ground. Your oblivion spells doom for the resurrected Magus, whose existence in reality is still just a flickering illusion. With no other mind to take root in, he is destroyed.

Your sleep of death does not last long. A trumpet note awakens you. Karunaz is beside you. 'We live again,' he says, sitting up. 'As do all the dead, for it is now the Day of Judgement and we are called by our Maker to stand before Him.'
It seems like the heroes just broke Jesus' record! They don't even need 3 days!

And that's a wrap. Again, thanks for playing, and hope you've had fun!
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