[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 64(?)-Night of the Necromancer

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Tue Jan 05, 2016 3:31 pm

I think going down will give us the chance to go back up later so let's go back to the ground floor for now.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Wed Jan 06, 2016 11:51 am

Outside the Barbican gatehouse once more, choosing something you haven't tried already, will you:

Attempt to pass through into the Inner Ward of the Castle?
Climb the staircase beyond the left archway?
Climb the staircase through the right archway?
Find another way into the Inner Ward?

Well, the text states that we should choose "something we haven't tried", so we can't use the left stairway again, but the right is still available.

"Find another way" just means "go in through the toilet", btw.

MisterDee · Post by **MisterDee** » Thu Jan 07, 2016 2:53 am

Try the right archway.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Jan 07, 2016 11:52 pm

Sure, why not?

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 1:07 am

Mm, well now if we're to see the upper areas, the right staircase is the only way. And while I'm no longer sure if the animated armor exposition we got earlier was opportunity or warning, I think it's worth looking for anyway.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 1:03 pm

Ascending the spiral staircase you enter the Barbican's guardroom located on the first floor. And there are three guards waiting for you within - three more of the dread knights you met guarding the portcullis. Silently, the undead warriors unsheathe their accursed weapons and surround you, blocking off an easy means of escape. In the confines of the guardroom fight these Dread Knights two at a time.

First DREAD KNIGHT SKILL 8 STAMINA 8
Second DREAD KNIGHT SKILL 8 STAMINA 9
Third DREAD KNIGHT SKILL 9 STAMINA 8

If a If a knight wounds you, roll one die; on a roll of 5-6 the knight's cursed blade will cause you 3 STAMINA points of damage. If you battle with the knights ends badly for you, write the number 20 on your Adventure Sheet and turn to 100. If you manage to defeat them, turn to 59.

Okay, this doesn't look too good. Even though they're all weaker than Isolde, the Shield Maiden only has 5 STAMINA left, and the extra damage rule means that two hits from them may be enough to take us down!

Let's hope the dice favours us...

COMBAT LOG:

Dread Knight #1 12, Isolde 22. DK#1 is at 6.
Dread Knight #2 15, Isolde 23. Isolde avoids DK#2's attack.
DK #1 16, Isolde 23. DK#1 is at 4.
DK #2 15, Isolde 20. Isolde avoids DK#2's attack.
DK #1 12, Isolde 21. DK#1 is at 2.
DK #2 15, Isolde 20. Isolde avoids DK#2's attack.
DK #1 16, Isolde 17. DK#1 is defeated.
DK #2 13, Isolde 16. Isolde avoids DK#2's attack.
DK #2 15, Isolde 22. DK#2 is at 7.
DK #3 12, Isolde 20. Isolde avoids DK#3's attack.
DK #2 17, Isolde 18. DK#2 is at 5.
DK #3 19, Isolde 18. Isolde rolls 3 and takes 2 damage. Isolde is at 3!
DK #2 11, Isolde 20. DK#2 is at 3.
DK #3 12, Isolde 20. Isolde avoids DK#3's attack.
DK #2 16, Isolde 21. DK#2 is at 1.
DK #3 14, Isolde 22. Isolde avoids DK#3's attack.
DK #2 12, Isolde 18. DK#2 is defeated.
DK #3 18, Isolde 22. DK#3 is at 6.
DK #3 17, Isolde 15. Isolde rolls 3 and takes 2 damage. Isolde is at 1!
DK #3 18, Isolde 20. DK#3 is at 4.
DK #3 15, Isolde 19. DK#3 is at 2.
DK #3 13, Isolde 16. DK#3 is defeated.

We literally just survived with 1 STAMINA left!

As the last of the knights falls to the floor, a noxious black gas rising from the pile of armour and black cloth that is all that is left of its physical form, you cross the chamber to another archway that leads to another spiral staircase. However this one ascends and descends through the tower. If you want to go up, turn to 166. If you want to go down, turn to 115. If you would rather return to the ground floor and the portcullis gate, turn to 20.

Up or down? Or back? (Yes, it's still lame that Isolde has no idea exactly where the stairs are supposed to lead to despite this being her own castle)

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 1:12 pm

Up. Man, what happened to post-fight regen?

Mr Shine · Post by **Mr Shine** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 7:43 pm

SGamerz, are you figuring our doggy pal into these battles? Although spooky, these knights seem to have a physical form.

Let's go up.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Jan 08, 2016 8:36 pm

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 2:07 am

Mr Shine wrote:SGamerz, are you figuring our doggy pal into these battles? Although spooky, these knights seem to have a physical form.

You're right! I went back and re-calculated the exchange of the last two fights using the same rolls.....and I think Isolde was short-changed for a total of 6 STAMINA points due to my oversight.

So we're now at a comparatively healthier level, with 7 STAMINA.

The stairs end before a heavy-looking oak door, painted black and inlaid with ornately-tooled silver filigree that marks out esoteric symbols within the wood. The door has a handle but lacks a keyhole. Instead, in the middle of the door is a set of three tumblers, each one bearing the digits 0 to 9 upon their knurled surfaces. Obviously, to be able to open the door you need to know the code to the combination lock. But even if you do possess such knowledge, its useless to you if you cannot move the tumblers.

If you think you know the combination and you have the Poltergeist special ability, turn to 411. If you have the combination but not the ability, but you still want to try to force the tumblers to move, roll two dice. If the total rolled is less than or equal to your WILL, roll three more dice; if this second total is less than or equal to your STAMINA score, write the number 411 on your Adventure Sheet and turn to 120. If you fail either roll, you are unable to operate the combination lock; you will either have to leave this wing of the gatehouse, or use the Apparition special ability to try to get round the problem, if you both have that special ability and you want to use it here.

Although we do have Poltergeist, we haven't come across any numerical code combinations in this book, so that's out.

Do we think Apparition works here?

Choosing to leave now means that we're directed back to the ground floor (without the option to take the previously flight of stairs down, for some reason).

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Isolde Laodegan
SKILL: 12/12
STAMINA: 7/19
LUCK: 7/7
WILL: 12
Equipment: Nightslayer
Abilities: Apparition, Poltergeist, Shade, Spook
Codewords: Ironheart, Barking, Best Friend, Steed, Gateway

Note: When fighting opponents with physical forms, opponents' Attack Strength is reduced by one while Korzen ("Best Friend") is with us.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 2:25 am

On the one hand, I vaguely recall the old FF fluff saying that silver exists on both the material and ghostly planes at the same time, which is why silver weapons are key to fighting a number of incorporeal enemies in earlier books. So that silver filigree could be there to block us or seriously mess us up if we try to apparate through. On the other hand, I'm willing to wager that cross-book consistency is pretty weakly enforced.

Half a vote for Apparation...ing.

Mr Shine · Post by **Mr Shine** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 4:13 pm

It's asking us wheter we want to use power 1 with plot token or power 2 withouth. I'd guess that option 2 without the plot token is going to be bad.

No vote though, as I don't want to cancel out angel, and quarter votes would be getting silly.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Jan 09, 2016 5:19 pm

I'll suggest Apparating.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sun Jan 10, 2016 2:48 am

Instinctively closing your eyes, you take a confident step forward. Immediate and inexplicable pain courses through your body like an electric shock and you are thrown back from the door, unable to pass through it. Roll one die and add 1; this is the amount of STAMINA damage you suffer. If this has finished you off. write the number 20 on your Adventure Sheet and turn to 100. If you are still alive, as it were, unless you think you know the combination and want to try to open the door, there is nothing you can do but leave the tower, or descend the staircase to the bottom, if you haven't already done so, by turning to 115.

Yikes, that might be (just) enough to "finish us off:....

Dice roll: 6+1 (what are the chances!!) = 7! Whatever was on the door (whether it was the silver or not) reduced our STAMINA to 0!

And then you are no longer upon the Earthly Plane and the Dead Winds are carrying you over to the Other Side of the veil that exists between the world of the dead and the world of the living...

Before you lies a barren expanse of grey rock and sand. Above, the sky is as grey as the ground, and full of dark storm clouds in turmoil. Thunder rumbles over distant mountains that rise to jagged black peaks that seem to claw at the storm-wracked sky.

If you have the codeword Endgame written on your Adventure Sheet, turn to 400. If you have the codeword Judgment on your Adventure Sheet, turn to 279. If you have the codeword Devourer, turn to 327. If you have non of these codewords recorded on your Adventure Sheet, turn to 78.

We don't have any of those codewords....

The Dead Winds pull you over the bleak and rugged terrain towards the edge of a mighty gulf that bisects the scarred landscape. In the distance in the shadow of the rumbling storm clouds you can see and arched gate, made from monolithic blocks of obsidian. An avenue of standing stones forms a processional path that ultimately leads to the gate. You Yu can feel yourself being inexorably drawn towards it. but you cannot shake the feeling that if you pass beyond that stone arch there will be no going back. You begin to rail against your fate; you have unfinished business in the mortal realm. You will not go willingly into the Lands of the Dead knowing that your murderer has yet to be brought to justice in the world above. Roll two dice. If the total is less that or equal to your WILL score, add the codeword Devourer to our Adventure Sheet and turn to 46. If it is greater, turn to 327.

Our WILL is at 12, so we automatically passes!

You will not go willingly into the dark; you have yet to avenge your untimely death! You feel the pull of the Dead Winds lessen and then a sensation as of rising from the depths of some fathomless ocean overwhelms you and you are floating upwards towards a brightening light high above you. The light is blinding, forcing you to close your eye.

The sensation of upward motion ceases and you open your eyes to find that you are back in the real world. You have been given another chance and, more than that you have been revilatised. Restore your SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK scores to their Initial levels and add 1 to your WILL score. Now turn to the paragraph with the number you wrote down before you found yourself at the very threshold of the afterlife.

Back from Hell at full stats and WILL is now 13!

Outside the Barbican gatehouse once more, choosing something you haven't tried already, will you:

Attempt to pass through into the Inner Ward of the Castle?
Climb the staircase beyond the left archway?
Climb the staircase through the right archway?
Find another way into the Inner Ward?

We've explored both stairways now. Are we ready to go through the gate now? Or do we still want to go through the toilet?

Since we still have all our codewords, I'm assuming our "Best Friend" Korzen had the sense to go back to the ground floor and wait for our return.....

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Isolde Laodegan
SKILL: 12/12
STAMINA: 19/19
LUCK: 7/7
WILL: 13
Equipment: Nightslayer
Abilities: Apparition, Poltergeist, Shade, Spook
Codewords: Ironheart, Barking, Best Friend, Steed, Gateway, Devourer

Note: When fighting opponents with physical forms, opponents' Attack Strength is reduced by one while Korzen ("Best Friend") is with us.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sun Jan 10, 2016 3:17 am

Gate.

Mr Shine · Post by **Mr Shine** » Sun Jan 10, 2016 4:13 pm

Yep, through the gate.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Jan 10, 2016 5:52 pm

Gate.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 1:45 pm

As you can probably guess, the door with the combination lock leads to that Automation armour your were all looking for. It requires 2 sets of clues to solve, though, and we missed both of them, one in the Barracks and the other right below the Barbican (downstairs). Fortunately, as difficult as it is to gain, we don't actually need the armour to win the game. In fact, it may not necessarily be the best option, in Isolde's case.

You approach the portcullis with trepidation. If you have the codeword Gateway written on your Adventure Sheet, turn to 5.

The gateway is apparently still open after our brief trip to Hell...

And so you find yourself within the Inner Ward of Castle Valsinore. To your left, against the western wall, stands the castle cookhouse which abuts onto the grand structure of the Lord's Feast Hall where many mighty banquet was held in your father's time.

At the far end of the impressive courtyard you can see the gatehouse that stands before the sea-moat, beyond which lies a bridge that leads to the black stone Keep. You fancy you can see something fiery flickering in the darkness there, like sparks rising from a furnace, but before you even get as far as the gate you can see that a wooden scaffold has been constructed at the centre of the courtyard.

The north-eastern quarter of the Inner Ward is taken up by the castle chapel an the private plot of the family graveyard used in more recent times. Beneath the chapel lie the extensive tunnels of the castle catacombs, constructed during the first age of the castle, centuries ago, by your ancient ancestors. You yourself have not explored their labyrinthine tunnels. Nurses' tales of giant rats and worse lurking in the dark kept you from ever going down there as a child. Castle legend has it that there is another way into the extensive the castle well, the stone-clad well-head of which lies to your right, in the south-eastern corner of the courtyard.

The last remaining feature worthy of note is the ruined east wall tower. Known as the Blasted Tower, its upper levels were destroyed long ago by a bolt of lightning that sent the top two storeys tumbling into the Diamond Sea far below. You just need to decide where you want to explore first. Will it be:

The castle kitchens?
The feast hall?
The chapel?
The Blasted Tower?
The well?

If you would rather not delay here at all, you can approach the last gatehouse that guards the entrance to the sea-moat bridge or, if you have the Spirit special ability, take to the air and try approaching the Keep directly.

And the second stage of our home-tour begins!

Mr Shine · Post by **Mr Shine** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 7:06 pm

The blasted tower, godammit.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Tue Jan 12, 2016 3:59 am

Go with the one that sounds like a Gauntlet level:

Sumner wrote:YOU ARE NOW ENTERING.... BLASTED TOWER

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Tue Jan 12, 2016 11:41 am

Entering the Blasted Tower through the open arched entrance at its base you start to climb the spiraling stairs beyond. Higher and higher you climb until the stairs abruptly run out as you reach what is left of its shattered summit. The cold sea-wind buffets your insubstantial body and whines through fissures in the brickwork. It would seem that there is nothing for you here.

And then another sound can be heard over the keening of the wind and the crash of breakers on the rocks far below. Someone is calling your name and as you watch a sphere of ethereal light forms in the air above you. Something is manifesting at the top of the Blasted Tower. If you want to wait and see what it is, turn to 200. If you would rather flee before whatever it is has time to form fully upon this plane, you run back down the ruined tower to the safety of the courtyard below.

Do we wan to confront this mysterious manifestation that knows Isolde's name?

angelfromanotherpin · Tue Jan 12, 2016 12:43 pm

If something's going through all this theatrical trouble to contact us, it would be rude to leave halfway through the show.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Thu Jan 14, 2016 9:15 am

Unable to take your eyes off the manifesting form, you watch as the ghostly luminescence assumes the shape of an older man, wearing the armour of a warrior-knight. You recognize it as your late father's armour, but then the ghost is that of your father.

'My child,' the ghost booms portentously, 'it grieves me to see you in the same state as I, but although my time is run, things are not too late for you. I come to warn you. Trust not the trusted, heed not the helpful and gird yourself against the night for the Lord of Shadows waits at the gate and death comes in his wake.'

Bewildered by your father's ghostly warning, you do not know what to make of his words as his ethereal form begins to break up on the wind and is carried away on the gusting wind. The last thing you hear before he's gone again for good are the words: 'Seek the sword under hallowed ground and the shield beyond the door.' And then there is nothing more.

Seeing your father again spurs you on to see your betrayers brought to justice and your own death avenged. Add 1 to your WILL score, 1 to your LUCK and then turn to 445.

I'm getting the impression that Isolde wasn't particularly close to her dad growing up. They certainly need to work more on this father-daughter communication issues....

Back in the courtyard of the Inner Ward, remembering to choose somewhere that you haven't been already, where would you like to explore next?

The castle kitchens?
The feast hall?
The chapel?
The Blasted Tower?
The well?

If you would rather not delay here at all, you can approach the last gatehouse that guards the entrance to the sea-moat bridge or, if you have the Spirit special ability, take to the air and try approaching the Keep directly.

Next stop?

Mr Shine · Post by **Mr Shine** » Thu Jan 14, 2016 9:25 am

We should seek the sword underneath hallowed ground.

To the chapel!

angelfromanotherpin · Thu Jan 14, 2016 12:41 pm

Yes, the chapel was the most comprehensible clue that babbling dunderhead came up with. What in the world is his motivation for speaking in riddles?

The Gaming Den

[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 64(?)-Night of the Necromancer

Who do we want to play as?