[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 61(?) - Howl of the Werewolf!

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SGamerz
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As you make your way along the barely perceptible track, spindly branched trees enroach further onto the path, until you are picking our way between distended knotty holes and half-protruding roots. The sun sinks, veiled behind heavy grey clouds and the dark silhouettes of trees. A carrion bird croaks hoarsely into the dusk and then is ominously silent. You wonder where you should make camp for the night, as the air is getting noticeably colder around you. In fact the chill feels more like what you would expect of a midwinter night. You take another step forward, your booted heel crunching on a thick layer of ground frost. Hearing a perceptible crackling in the air around you, you watch as feathery tendrils of ice spread across the trunks and naked skeletal branches of the gnarled trees, covering everything in a hoar frost. Icicles form on the ice-heavy boughs and your breath mists in clouds before your face. This sub-zero scene sparkles, glitters and glows under the ghostly luminescence of a moon near full. Some battle of the seasons is taking place at this spot but that is not the only change that is occurring at this moment. Write the number 103 at your Adventure Sheet and turn to 20.
From the way the text puts it, I don't think this will be the only time we will be turning to that section.....
The lycanthropy is steadily spreading throughout your body and changes are being wrought at the core of your being. In fact, perversely the curse of the werewolf is making you physically stronger and more adept. Increase your current and Initial SKILL score by 1 point and your current and Initial STAMINA score by 2 points. You must also increase your CHANGE score by 1 point. And there are other changes you are becoming aware of, too, which might not be altogether unbeneficial. Roll one dice and turn to the paragraph indicated. Remember each of the following may occur only once. If you roll a number you have rolled before, roll again.

Dice roll 1 Turn to 51
Dice roll 2 Turn to 248
Dice roll 3 Turn to 469
Dice roll 4 Turn to 106
Dice roll 5 Turn to 305
Dice roll 6 Turn to 354
While coming to this section t many times isn't good in the long run, for now we get some nice power-up!

SKILL is now at 11/11
STAMINA is now at 12/17
CHANGE is now at 3

Dice roll = 1!
The Call of the Wild - You have gained a howl like a wolf, which those you fight will find very unnerving. When you use this new ability in battle you may reduce the Attack Strength of your opponent by 1 point. However it will not affect magical creatures, artificial constructs or the Undead. Make a note of this special ability on your Adventure Sheet and then turn to the paragraph with the same number as the one your were last instructed to write down.
Handy.....that means we effectively fight with a SKILL of 12 against certain opponents.
Image
Tearing you eyes away from the cold gaze of the moon, you pull your cloak tighter about you in an attempt to keep out the freezing chill. Deciding it would be easier !o keep moving for fear of succumbing to hypothermia, you continue onwards through the icy night. And then you catch sight of something darting through the wintry woods. But when you turn your head to get a clearer view of the glittering figure it is gone again. Folklore has it that the wild, untamed places of this accursed land are haunted by elemental spirits, not evil as such but capricious, their intention unknowable and therefore jut as dark ed unsettling. With another sharp drop in temperature around you, the being reveals itself, leaping onto the path. It is no more than three feet tall and looks like it is made entirely out of ice. Its hair consists of spiky upstanding icicles, its nose and chin are pointed and sharp, its arms and legs stick-thin. The creature's hands and feet end in glinting talons of ice and its mouth is spread unnaturally into a shark-like grin. The sprite cocks its head to one side, and fixes you with its penetrating ice-blue gaze. Its teeth are never still, chattering constantly. All the while it gibbers to itself: 'Icicle nose and frozen toes, shudder and judder to come to the snows. Silvers of ice and frost are ice, leave the hearth and pay the price!' The curious creature continues its caper about on the frozen path in front of you, effectively blocking your way. If you think you know the ice sprite's name, turn to 118. If not how will you proceed from here? If you want to threaten the creature to make it leave you alone, turn to 218. If you would rather try another, less aggressive, approach, turn to 265.
I don't think we've come across any way to learn an Ice Sprite's name so...threaten or not?

Adventure Sheet:
Name: Wolfgang W. Wolfenstein (a.k.a Triple W)
SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 12/17
LUCK 9/12
CHANGE: 3
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor, Lantern & Tinderbox, Signet Ring, Flintlock Pistol
Gold: 0
Provisions: 7 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Codewords: Avokez, Egarts, Dloterof
Special Abilities: The Call of the Wild (Reduce opponent's AR by 1 in combat, does not work on magical beings, artificial constructs, or undead)
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Post by Thaluikhain »

Try a less aggressive approach, preferably not a rhyme battle.
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

I don't know, Triple W is a wayy better rapper name than Ice Sprite, which makes me think we'd kick their ass in a rhyme battle.

But yeah, try a less aggressive approach.
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Post by SGamerz »

As the curious being darts over the sparkling ground you desperately try to wrack your brains for any way you can possibly think or to rid yourself of the icy sprite. You now need to test one of your abilities, either by Testing your Skill or Testing your Luck. If you Test your Skill and are successful, turn to 287. If you Test your Luck and are Lucky, turn to 299. If you fail, no matter which ability you test, in desperation you pull your sword from its scabbard.
Our SKILL is at 11, and we don't need to "spend" a point for SKILL tests, so I don't think a vote is needed here: we test our SKILL.

Dice roll = 5 (success)!
Of course, it seems so obvious to you now. The elemental is a creature of ice and cold, so heat would be a natural defence against it. Quickly, you pull out your tinderbox from your backpack. Using the kindling you carry with you, you light a small fire and are able to get a dry tree branch to burn. Waving your burning brand in front you, you force the sprite back and out of your way. 'Frost and snow and chill winds blow, the warming come away we go!' the creature shrieks and then seems to evaporate into thin air. Regain 1 LUCK point and turn to 314.
Fire melts ice pokemon! It's super-effective!

Our LUCK is up to 10.
With the rising of the sun, the ice melts again and the forest is free once more of the attentions of Winter's minion. The trees begin to thin until you emerge from the woods and cross a tussocky heath, dotted with the standing stone markers of some ancient and long-forgotten tribe. Your path descends through this purple and green landscape of heather-thick heathland until you come in sight of another village.
Before you even come in sight of Maun you see the tower that looms over it, looking like a black clutching claw against the blank canvas of the sky. Keeping a wary eye on the tower, and the tiny ragged shadows flitting about its turrets, you follow the road down into an enclosed valley, which holds the crumbling buildings of Maun. The pale-faced peasants you see struggling to till the land appear possessed of a morbid lethargy. Their homes are in a state of disrepair, the thatched roofs saggy and green with moss. The whole place seems to lie under a shadowy pall, even though dusk is still some hours away. If you have the codeword Nethcir recorded on your Adventure Sheet, turn to 391. If not, turn to 413.
No codeword...
Walking through the village, seeing the zombie-slack sad expressions of its populace, your honourable adventurer's nature wishes there something you could do to help. But what is the problem? You can see a blacksmith working at his forge and a priest doing his rounds. Do you want to talk to the blacksmith, the priest, or would you rather press on and leave Maun?
Who do we talk to (if anyone)?
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Post by SlyJohnny »

Blessed weapons worked before. Priest.
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Post by SGamerz »

Normally I wait for 2 votes minimum before an update, but I won't be around for this upcoming weekend, so an early update today:
Engaging the priest in conversation you soon turn to the topic of the derelict state of the village. 'It's the Lady of Maun,' he confides. 'I once thought she shad our best interests at heart but now I'm not so sure. It's why I'm still here; I want to do all I can to help. If there is evil at work in this place, its source lies within Maun Tower. What we need is a brave adventurer to challenge the cruel Countess in her lair. Will you take up that quest?' If you will, you must keep track of how much advance warning the Countess has that you are coming by means of an ALARM rating. Write down on your Adventure Sheet that your ALARM rating is currently 0 and turn to 56. If you do not want to take up the quest, you decide it is time to quit the village altogether.
Uh.....kind of vague there. Jonathan Green is usually pretty detailed in his story-telling, but there's really no explanation of exactly how the villagers are suffering, and the priest isn't making it clear exactly what he suspects the Countess to be doing. Using magic to make everyone feel depressed? Sending out monsters to terrorize the place? Or just levying a high tax rate on the village?

Do we accept the vague quest?
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Post by Mr Shine »

A quest with enough depth it has its own rating has to be important/essential. Take the quest.
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Post by SlyJohnny »

Take it.
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Post by SGamerz »

The Tower of Maun, forbidding fortified domain of the Countess Isolde, stands on a blasted escarpment overlooking the village, which appears almost to cower under its ever-present shadow. The sun has already set by the time you reach the tower and your are surprised to find the gatehouse unmanned. However, something makes you feel uneasy, goose-flesh rising on your arms and the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end. Crossing the bridge - which spans a chasm-rift in the cliff in front of the tower - unhindered, you enter the high-walled courtyard that stands beneath the looming tower. The sudden snarling that greets you makes you start but is not entirely unexpected. Two large, lean and hungry-looking dogs bound out of the gathering shadows, halting a few feet from you. The animals are wearing heavy spiked iron collars, their fur matted with dried blood. The dogs fix you with red-eyed stares, their lips curling back threateningly, revealing horribly elongated canine teeth. There is something evil and other-worldly about these creatures: in the next moment they bound forward to attack. If you have the Call of the Wild special ability and wish to use it now, turn to 71. If not, you will have to meet the dogs' dreadful teeth and claws with the keen edge of your blade.

First FANG HOUND SKILL 7 STAMINA 6
Second FANG HOUND SKILL 6 STAMINA 7

If you win your battle with the bloodthirsty dogs, you are free to approach the entrance to the tower itself (by turning to 102). However, before you do so, if the battle lasts longer than six Attack Rounds, add 1 to your ALARM score. Also, if you suffer more than 3 wounds add 1 to your CHANGE score.
A chance to use our new werewolf power! Do we want to use it now?

I should be back around next Tuesday....
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Post by SlyJohnny »

Let's howl. Hopefully it won't raise our alarm score.
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Try out howling.
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Post by SGamerz »

How can we not choose to howl in a gamebook literally named "Howl of the Werewolf"?
The howl rises from deep inside your chest and reverberates around the walls of the courtyard. Hearing the sound, the Fang Hounds break off their attack and run whimpering back to their den beneath the walls. If you have the codeword Nethir written on your Adventure Sheet, turn to 89. If not, you are able to approach the tower unhindered.
We don't have the codeword....
That's a companion check....and this particular companion would turn on us if we use our werewolf power in front of him!
You climb a broad flight of stairs up to the grand entrance of the tower. Testing the double doors you find that they are not locked and so, cautiously push them open. You enter a large, circular entrance hall, its floor polished white marble inlaid with darker stones to produce the heraldic crest of the noble house that rules the people of Maun. But what a house it must be, for the crest is that of a human skull surmounted by a bat with wings outstretched. A sudden gust of wind rises from nowhere, sweeping through the hall and slamming the door shut behind you. Torches in wall-sconces burst into flame in its wake. You try the doors but they are now locked, and no amount of struggling on your part can force them open again. You shudder at the prospect of what might await you within the Tower of Maun, but there is no going back now. On the other side of the entrance hall a broad, polished stone staircase spirals both up to the top of the tower and down to a cellar level and beyond. On first inspection it appears that the staircase gives access to seven floors above, as well as a cellar and crypt below. You have no choice but to explore this dark domain further. Where will you explore first?

The crypt?
The cellar?
The ground floor (where you are now)?
The first floor?
The second floor?
The third floor?
The fourth floor?
The fifth floor?
The sixth floor?
The seventh floor?
Where do we start?
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Crypt first for maximum spoopiness.
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Post by Omegonthesane »

Crypt
Kaelik wrote:Because powerful men get away with terrible shit, and even the public domain ones get ignored, and then, when the floodgates open, it turns out there was a goddam flood behind it.

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Post by SGamerz »

As you descend the staircase the shadows deepen, as the wall-mounted torches peter out. The crypt itself is pitch black and you will need a lantern if you are to progress any further. If you have a lantern, the Night Creature special ability or the codeword Nethcir written on your Adventure Sheet, you can enter the crypt safely. If you don't have any of the above, but still want to risk entering the crypt, turn to 309. If you don't want to enter the crypt after all, turn to 7 to choose another floor of the tower to explore.
"Night Creature" is one of the 6 random special werewolf powers we could have picked up earlier, and as you can probably tell, it would have given us night vision.

Although we don't need it, as we still have the lantern we started the game with.
The crypt extends beneath the foundations of the tower, the vaulted roof supported by a series of stone arches. Between the columns stand numerous stone sarcophagi. Moving towards you between the tombs are four shambling corpses, their rotting flesh covered by filthy grave-shrouds. You will be able to escape from the crypt before the zombies ever reach you, if you leave immediately. However, if you would rather face the undead in battle, in the confines of the crypt you can face them one at a time.

First ZOMBIE SKILL 5 STAMINA 6
Second ZOMBIE SKILL 6 STAMINA 5
Third ZOMBIE SKILL 5 STAMINA 5
Fourth ZOMBIE SKILL 6 STAMINA 6

If you defeat the undead crypt stalkers, add 1 to your ALARM score and turn to 333.
There's an option to escape, but since these are pretty puny opponents (especially against SKILL 11 Triple W) I assume you want to go ahead and fight....

COMBAT LOG:
Zombie#1 12, Triple W 18. Z1 is at 4.
Z1 13, Triple W 21. Z1 is at 2.
Z1 12, Triple W 17. Z1 is defeated.
Zombie #2 14, Triple W 22. Z2 is at 4.
Z2 17, Triple W 15. Triple W is at 10.
Z2 10, Triple W 16. Z2 is at 2.
Z2 14, Triple W 15. Z2 is defeated.
Zombie #3 15, Triple W 21. Z3 is at 4.
Z3 9, Triple W 15. Z3 is at 2.
Z3 14, Triple W 19. Z3 is defeated.
Zombie #4 11, Triple W 17. Z4 is at 4.
Z4 11, Triple W 20. Z4 is at 2.
Z4 14, Triple W 18. Z4 is defeated.
Almost a flawless, but Zombie#2 got in a lucky hit.
With the zombies dead you are able to explore the crypt without fear of further hindrance. Among the broken tombs and mouldering sarcophagi, you find a blackwood coffin, furnished with brass fittings, resting on a polished granite plinth. It is open and empty, lined with red velvet, but it must be here for a reason. If you want to destroy the coffin make a note of the fact that you have done so on your Adventure Sheet. There is nothing of any use to you that you can take away from the crypt, so you head back to the spiral staircase and set about climbing the worn step once again.
Shades of Vault of the Vampire! Although I'm not sure why destroying the coffin listed as an option rather than a given, since it's pretty clear what we'll be going up against here. I'm going to consider it destroyed unless there're any objections from you.
Being mindful not to return to anywhere you have already been, which floor will you now explore?

The crypt?
The cellar?
The ground floor?
The first floor?
The second floor?
The third floor?
The fourth floor?
The fifth floor?
The sixth floor?
The seventh floor?
Where do we search next?

Adventure Sheet:
Name: Wolfgang W. Wolfenstein (a.k.a Triple W)
SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 10/17
LUCK 10/12
CHANGE: 3
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor, Lantern & Tinderbox, Signet Ring, Flintlock Pistol
Gold: 0
Provisions: 7 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Codewords: Avokez, Egnarts, Dloterof
Special Abilities: The Call of the Wild (Reduce opponent's AR by 1 in combat, does not work on magical beings, artificial constructs, or undead)
ALARM: 1

Destroyed a coffin in the crypts of the Tower of Maun
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Post by MisterDee »

Eat a meal, go to the cellar to refill Provisions.
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Post by SGamerz »

One meal down, STAMINA at 14, and we head down to the cellars:
The candlelit cellar houses and extensive wine collection, racks and bottles thick with dust. Many of the bottles stored here are centuries old - completely undrinkable and yet worth a fortune to the right collector. But you are not here as a connoisseur. One a table, however, you find a number of dusty bottles of red wine and some of a clear spirit, a number of them already uncorked. Do you want to drink some of the red wine, some of the clear spirit or would you rather leave the wine cellar and look elsewhere?
Well, we didn't find any food to refill Provisions, but there's beverages! Do we want any?
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Post by Mr Shine »

Don't drink the blood, drink the other thing.
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Post by SGamerz »

More shades of VotV.......yes, the red wine is indeed blood (in this case it raises our CHANGE, because the wolf in us likes the taste of blood).
The vodka burns your mouth and throat as you take a swig, but it is soon filling your whole body with a radiant glow. You may restore up to 3 STAMINA points for drinking the spirit, but the next time you are instructed to Test your Skill you must reduce your SKILL by 1 point. That said, the vodka also fills you with renewed courage: for the duration of the next battle increase your Attack Strength by 1 point. Do you now want to drink some of the red wine or will you now leave the cellar?
A very minor but often-encountered scenario in FF: usually, drinking alcohol, in addition to restoring STAMINA, either makes you clumsy and results in SKILL loss, OR boosts your courage and gives you a combat bonus. I can't believe it took this long for an FF author to actually implement both simultaneously. (At least, this is the only FF book I actually remember the author doing that).

Anyway, that drink took us to full STAMINA! And since we're totally not touching the blood, it's time to pick a new location:

The crypt?
The cellar?

The ground floor?
The first floor?
The second floor?
The third floor?
The fourth floor?
The fifth floor?
The sixth floor?
The seventh floor?
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Post by SlyJohnny »

First floor.
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Post by Omegonthesane »

Second the first floor.
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Post by SGamerz »

Skipping the ground floor? Interesting, in an actual rpg game I thought that'd be the place most would start looking. I wonder what you guys expect to find there....
On the first floor you come upon a candlelit corridor lined with archaic suits of armour. Various weapons - swords and maces mainly - are mounted on the walls as well as shields bearing various heraldic designs. Do you want to take a mace, seeing as how you already have a sword, one of the shields or will you continue to explore the tower?
"Continue to explore" just takes us back to the previous section, so if you don't want to take anything, please pick another floor to explore!
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Post by MisterDee »

Personnally, I'd expect a random fight on the ground floor, with only an Alarm score increase to show for it afterward.

Grab a mace. I imagine immune-to-slashing-weapon skeletons abound in that setting.
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Post by SlyJohnny »

Part of me wants to search every floor for plot coupons, but yeah, ground floor is most likely to have servants or other house denizens who aren't the big bad, who will just delay us.
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Post by SGamerz »

You lift the mace down from its mountings and test its weight in your hand. It is heavy enough to break bone and stone with equal ease, causing conventional opponents 3 STAMINA points of damage. But because of its weight, if you wish to use the mace in battle, rather than a bladed weapon you might have, you must reduce your Attack Strength by 1 point. As you are getting used to the feel of the mace you hear an ominous grating sound behind you. You turn to see one of the suits of armour climb down from its pedestal, the iron plate clattering noisily as it does so. It too pulls a mace down from the wall and advances on you with slow clanking steps. (Add 1 to your ALARM score.)

ANIMATED ARMOUR SKILL 8 STAMINA 8

As with your mace, every time the suit of armour wins an Attack Round you will suffer 3 points of STAMINA damage. You may escape after two Attack Rounds by turning to 7. If you stay the fight and destroy the metal menace, it collapses on the carpeted floor of the corridor, now just so many pieces of battered armour. Will you now take down one of the shields from the wall or will you leave to explore elsewhere?
Not really a difficult opponent, but as you can see the only reward for winning the fight is that we get to take a shield too.

There's no Escape rules at the beginning of this book (unlike some other FF), which means there's no mention of us taking automatic damage if we escape, so there's no penalty. Do we want to stay and beat the armour and take a shield? Or just leave after 2 rounds?

And do we want to use the mace for this fight? And any suggestions on whether to use the mace in normal fights? Do we only use it against opponents who are immune/resistant to swords, or use it as our main weapon? Or use it when our opponent's stats are at a certain level?

Quite a few things to vote on!
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