[Let's Play] Grailquest 3: The Gateway of Doom

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

Moderator: Moderators

Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

Does it make a difference if we take it or not? Can't we throw it away later?

Try attacking the thing?
Omegonthesane
Prince
Posts: 3680
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2009 3:55 pm

Post by Omegonthesane »

Take the gem if we can just toss it no questions asked at a later point.

Attack the thing for variety's sake.
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.

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath, Justin Bieber, shitmuffin
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

True, there's really no harm in picking up everything we find as long as we still have free slots, since we can drop items later. Pip swipes the ruby.

Pip then bravely attacks the Thing. Let's hope the other members of the Fantastic 4 don't show up to attack us!
'Have at you, foul beast of Hades! I, Pip, the adventurer, will smite you into oblivion and gave your guts for garters!' you cry heroically as you launch yourself upon the Thing.

Which runs away.

Can you believe that? The horrifying Thing just up and ran away! Not so much as a snap in your direction!

Excitedly you run after it, still hurling abuse and heroic jibes.

Which is possibly a big mistake, as you may discover when you turn to 59.
Yep, it makes no difference whether we attack here or not....

INTO THE GHASTLY KINGDOM OF THE DEAD!
That's done it! That's torn it and no mistake! You are in a vast, gloomy underground chamber, measuring 40 feet square. The floor, walls and ceiling are composed of large black granite slabs. The only light is a single flickering torch set in a bracket on the north wall.

There is nothing in the room (except you, of course) and most upsetting of all, there is no door out!!

Is this it? Is this the end? Is this where the brave adventurer ends up, wasting slowly in some dank chamber of the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead, lonely, miserable, cold, unhappy, facing no brighter prospect than the final solemn journey to the dreaded 14? No, of course it isn't. Pull yourself together. If you look in the southwestern corner you'll find a scrap of ancient parchment on which there is a map. Go to 65 and study it carefully. It may show you a way out of this mess. (And probably into an even worse one, but that's a different story.)
And we're back in familiar territory:
Now there's something to get your teeth into! This looks as though it might turn into an interesting adventure after all. The scrap of parchment seems to be a map of the ghastly place you're in (see Appendix p.219). You'll notice 65 is marked as a 40' x 40' room, exactly as you've discovered it to be. But the map shows no less than four secret doors out. Two of those doors lead into rooms, two into corridors. And the various rooms all have section numbers so you'll know where to go.

(Don't do anything yet, Pip--it's dangerous to rush into things down here.)

At the bottom of the parchment somebody has scrawled a message in blood, or possibly tomato ketchup:

'I have opened the Gateway and hidden the Key! Find it if you can, Sucker!'

Yours in Chivalry,

The Black Knight of Avalon.

So that's where the trouble started. The dreaded Black Knight of Avalon, the most wicked noble in the Realm. Looks as though he was the one who opened the Gateway to the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead and let loose that Brass Dragon you killed a while ago. He must have used this map to find his way around the Ghastly Kingdom, so maybe you can do the same until you discover where the Key is hidden.

Now turn the parchment over--there may be something on the back.

There is something on the back: a set of instructions for adventuring in the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead. The handwriting is different to that of the Black Knight, so you should be able to trust what they say. What they say is this:
LEVEL 1

Study the map carefully. You start from the room marked 65. You may pick any of the four secret doors shown as your exit. If a door leads directly into a room, turn to the section number shown to discover what you find there.

If a door leads into a shaded area, you will find yourself in a gloomy 10' wide, 10' high corridor with worked stone walls and stone slabbed floor.

For every 60' (6 squares) you have to travel along a corridor to reach wherever you are going, you must roll two dice to find out if you have encountered any Wandering Monsters. Check the result on the Table headed 'Level 1 Wandering Monsters' in the Appendix.

Sometimes the roll will show you meet no Monsters. Sometimes it will show you do. Wandering Monsters are too stupid to be bribed, and too bad tempered ever to give you a Friendly Reaction, so when you meet any, you must fight to the death.

If you kill the Wandering Monsters, you may continue along the corridor (still checking every 60' in case you meet some more.)

If the Wandering Monsters kill you, then it's off to 14 to re-equip and roll up new LIFE POINTS. But--and this is important--if you are killed anywhere in the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead, you do NOT have to start the whole adventure again. Instead you return to 65 and start from there. (Or rather here, since this is 65.)

One more thing. The torch in the wall bracket of this 40' x 40' chamber is almost burned out. If you have no torches, lamps or other light sources in your equipment, you must travel in the dark. You'll be able to find your way all right, but you will not fight nearly so well as usual. You will score damage normally, but you will need to roll an 8 or better to hit, even if you're using EJ.

That's the bad news about Wandering Monsters. The good news is that they usually carry a bit of gold around with them and if you manage to kill them, you can add their gold to your own store. The Table shows how much gold each class of Wandering Monster usually carries.

That's it for the corridors. Now the rooms.

What you'll find in the rooms is anybody's guess.

Good luck.
LEVEL ONE MAP:
Image
Again, we start at 65. The only secret door that we haven't tried from there is the one in the southwest, which leads to 90, so let's proceed there

Going there, however, we have to go through exactly 6 squares in the dark corridor, and we no longer has the Luckstone to help us avoid random encounters. How will we fare now?

Dice roll = 7! We just managed to avoid an encounter.
Well, at least there's an exit door in this 50' x 20' chamber. There's also a funny-looking sort of mound in the middle of the floor. Curious, you move forward to inspect it, giving it a little poke with EJ.

Now there's trouble. You've disturbed a colony of ants!

Roll two dice and multiply the answer by 10 to find out how many are attacking you. Each has only one LIFE POINT, but is very hard to hit so you will need to score 8 or better to squash it. The ants, in their turn, score on a 6 and do 1 damage each successful strike, irrespective of what damage the dice show.

If you want to try for a Friendly Reaction, you must roll for each ant separately, so it hardly seems worth the trouble. Of course, if you happen to be carrying an Artificial Aardvark in your backpack, it will eat 20 ants every time you wind it up, which you can do by rolling a 6 or better.

If the ants kill you, go to 14.
If you survive, you may leave by either door.


It's not very clear about whether the Ants collectively do 1 damage or that they do 1 damage each. From the way the text puts it, it looks like the Ant's damage ignores armour protection. I'm going to rule that they do 1 damage collectively, since if they do cumulative damage then rolling 5 or more on the initial dice roll (which means 50 ants or more) can pretty much guarantee a 1HKO from the ants!

Dice roll = 11. Yikes! We have to face 110 Ants!

Fortunately, we also brought the Aardvark!

The ants roll 9, Pip rolls 4. The Ants strike first! I think this is the first time our enemy got the first strike in this series.

COMBAT LOG:
The Ants roll 7 and hit for 1 damage. Pip is at 44.
Pip winds up the Aardvark and rolls a 6 (Success!). 90 Ants left.
The Ants roll 2 and miss.
Pip winds up the Aardvark and rolls a 3 (Fail).
The Ants roll 7 and hit for 1 damage. Pip is at 43.
Pip winds up the Aardvark and rolls a 9 (Success!). 70 Ants left.
The Ants roll 4 and miss.
Pip winds up the Aardvark and rolls a 3 (Fail).
The Ants roll 5 and miss.
Pip winds up the Aardvark and rolls a 11 (Success!). 50 Ants left.
The Ants roll 8 and hit for 1 damage. Pip is at 42.
Pip winds up the Aardvark and rolls a 9 (Success!). 30 Ants left.
The Ants roll 3 and miss.
Pip winds up the Aardvark and rolls a 5 (Fail).
The Ants roll 6 and hit for 1 damage. Pip is at 41.
Pip winds up the Aardvark and rolls a 5 (Fail).
The Ants roll 4 and miss.
Pip winds up the Aardvark and rolls a 9 (Success!). 10 Ants left.
The Ants roll 7 and hit for 1 damage. Pip is at 40.
Pip winds up the Aardvark and rolls a 11 (Success!).
All the ants have been eaten!
Even though getting rid of 110 ants can be tedious, it's also rewarding: y the book's rule, we should gain 110 Exp for 110 enemies defeated!! That equates to 5 Permanent LP already! And we can gain another once we earn a further 4 more Exp!

There're 2 doors from this room, but we've already looked at all the rooms from the north side, so off to 110 next:
Make one Wandering Monster roll in this 10' x 10' chamber. If the dice show no monsters present or you win through the encounter, you may leave by any of the three doors shown.
Dice roll = 5. No random encounter.

There're 2 other doors from 110. Which one do we take from here? (we came from 90)

QUEST JOURNAL:
Pip's LIFE POINTS: 45/51
Permanent Life Points: 7

SPEED: 12/22

EQUIPMENT CARRIED:
1. Excalibur Jr. (hits on 4, damage +5)
2. Dragonskin Jacket (damage taken -4)
3. Double-headed Copper Coin (can be used to win any gambling games)
4. Artificial Aardvark
5. Blue powder
6. Lamp
7. Healing Potion (6 doses)
8. Healing Salve (5 applications)
9. Magic coin (+5 damage to successful physical attack or spell, once per combat)
10. Ruby (worth 500 GP)
11.

MONEY: 139 GP

MAGIC:
PANIC 3/3
POW 3/3
PILL 3/3
PAD 3/3
PIP 3/3
PIN 3/3
PiR2 3/3
INVISIBILITY 1/1
Firefingers 21/21 (must spend 3 LP to re-cast the spell to use the last 10)
Fireballs 2/2
PLoP 3/3
PID 3/3
PALS 3/3
PIL 3/3
POPS 3/3

EXPERIENCE POINTS: 16
ENEMIES DEFEATED:
Giant Danish Spider
3 Ghouls
110 Ants
PUZZLES SOLVES: 2

No. of Deaths:
1. Suffocated in smoke-filled room
Last edited by SGamerz on Tue Dec 05, 2017 2:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

Should that be we've been from 90? If so, I vote 95, if not, I'm lost.
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

Thaluikhain wrote:Should that be we've been from 90? If so, I vote 95, if not, I'm lost.
Oops, yes you're right.
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

On to 95.....
Image
There is only one door to this 30' x 30' chamber (the one you came in) and it swings tight shut behind you. Not that this should bother you greatly since your attention is taken up by the fact that the floor has just opened up beneath you, dropping you into a 20' deep pit. Deduct a double dice roll of damage from your LIFE POINTS (and go to 14 if this kills you) then sit down on the floor of the pit, which is littered with the dried bones of previous adventurers, and try to figure your best way out.

Try climbing out without ropes. To do this you roll two dice. Score 11 or 12 and you will succeed in getting safely to the top. Anything else and you fall, with a double dice roll of damage.

Use a rope if you've brought one. To do this, roll two dice. Score 2 to 10 and you make it out of the pit; 11 or 12 and you fall with a double dice roll of damage.

If you climb out safely, you may leave through the door.

If you kill yourself, go to 14.


Oh dear, we did bring a rope the last round, but this time, we didn't!

Fortunately, this isn't an insta-death trap.

Damage roll = 9. Pip is at 36/51.

We have to roll 11 or 12 to climb out, but if we succeed we get out without damage.

I think the PIL levitation spell should work here, but since we're indoors we'll lose half of our LP for hitting our head on the ceiling in the process. Either way, we're likely to need healing after this.

How do we get out? Levitation for better chance (but also guaranteed damage), or try to risk climbing without aid?
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

Hasty maths give about a 1 in 4 chance of not dying by just trying to climb out. I think.

So assuming we are trying to survive...oh, hang on, do spells we've used come back when we die, or are they gone forever? If the are lost, recommend trying to climb out and saving levitation for later.
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

Thaluikhain wrote:Hasty maths give about a 1 in 4 chance of not dying by just trying to climb out. I think.
Failing to climb out doesn't kill us outright though, just more damage. There's nothing to stop us from keeping ourselves alive by popping heals and keep trying until we succeed (or run out of heals).
Thaluikhain wrote:So assuming we are trying to survive...oh, hang on, do spells we've used come back when we die, or are they gone forever? If the are lost, recommend trying to climb out and saving levitation for later.
My ruling (Brennan is ambiguous on that as usual) is that spells don't get restored after death/restarts.
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

No other votes, so I guess we try to climb out the hard(er) way.

Climb roll = 4 (Fail). Pip loses (Damage roll =) 5 LP and is at 31/51.

Climb roll = 9 (Fail). Pip loses (Damage roll =) 4 LP and is at 27/51.

Climb roll = 11 (Success). Pip escapes from the pit.

With no other exits, we go back to 110, where we have to make another Wandering Monster roll:

Dice roll = 9! We run into 2 Nerds!

Nerds roll 9, Pip rolls 6. Nerds strike first!

COMBAT LOG:
Nerd#1 rolls 2 and misses.
Pip rolls 11 and hits for 7+5 = 12 damage! Nerd#1 is killed.
Nerd#2 rolls 9 and hits for 2+2-4 = 0 damage.
Pip rolls 11 and hits for 7+5 = 12 damage! Nerd#2 is killed.
Very good rolls for this fight, and Pip slays both Nerds without a scratch. He didn't even have to use his magic coin. He also picks up 20 GP from the dead bodies (10 each).

Pip then enters the dark corridor leading to 105, passing through 8 squares, so he has to make another Wandering Monster roll:

Dice roll = 4. No encounter. Pip reaches 105 safely:
There are two archways in this 20' x 30' chamber, neither of which is closed off by a door. The room is empty, but you must make one Wandering Monster roll to cross it.


Dice roll =12! We meet a Creeping Jello!

Creeping Jello rolls 7, Pip rolls 4. the Jello strikes first (Pip seems to be losing all the first strikes since losing the Luckstone).

COMBAT LOG:
Creepng Jello rolls 12 and hits for 7+4-4 = 7 damage. Pip is at 20.
Pip rolls 3 and misses(!).
Creeping Jello rolls 8 and hits for 3+4-4 = 3 damage. Pip is at 17.
Pip rolls 8 and hits for 4+5+5 (from Magic coin) = 14 damage. Creeping Jello is at 16.
Creeping Jello rolls 7 and hits for 2+4-4 = 2 damage. Pip is at 15.
Pip rolls 8 and hits for 4+5 = 9 damage. Creeping Jello is at 7.
Creeping Jello rolls 7 and hits for 2+4-4 = 2 damage. Pip is at 13.
Pip rolls 7 and hits for 3+5 = 8 damage. Creeping Jello is killed.
Pip wins (picking up 30 GP) but is now pretty low on health. He dinks a dose for healing potion.

Healing roll = 7. Pip is now at 20/51. I think it's safer to drink another before entering the dark corridor that leads to 82.

Healing roll = 3. Bad roll. Pip is at 23/51.

It takes 4 squares to get to 82 from 105, but we crossed 8 in the previous corridor, so the leftover 2 from the last adds up to 6, requiring yet another random encounter roll:

Dice roll = 10! This time it's 2 Orcs.

Orcs roll 7, Pip rolls 7 too. I guess we roll again.
Orcs roll 9, Pip rolls 4. It looks like without the Luckstone we really lost luck.

COMBAT LOG:
Orc#1 rolls 5 and misses.
Pip rolls 6 and hits for 2+5 = 7 damage. Orc#1 is at 5.
Orc#1 is knocked out.
Orc#2 rolls 12 and hits for 6+2-4 = 4 damage. Pip is at 19.
Pip rolls 3 and misses.
Orc#2 rolls 9 and hits for 3+2-4 = 1 damage. Pip is at 18.
Pip rolls 6 and hits for 2+5 = 7 damage. Orc#2 is at 5.
Orc#2 is knocked out.
That's been a lot of combat. On the bright side, with these 2 kills, Pip's current Exp just went beyond 20 again, earning him yet another Permanent LP! We also loot 30 GP in total from the Orcs!

Entering 82:
An empty 10' x 10' room with two doors. Nice surprise: you don't even risk a Wandering Monster.


Which is a good thing, since we're not too healthy. Drinking another dose of potion:

Healing roll = 6! Pip is at 26/52.

There's only one exit here, so it's on to 97:
There is a door in each wall of this 10' x 10' room. There is also a funny smell, similar in many respects to fish and chips.

Although the room seems quite empty, you search diligently and eventually discover in a crack in the floor, a cricket engaged in the unusual occupation of frying up a fish supper. (A very small fish supper--plankton mainly--since crickets have small appetites.)

If you happen to have a clickstick with you, go to 68.

Otherwise you may use any of the four doors since the cricket will certainly not launch a vicious attack on anything your size.


Alas, we don't have a clickstick!

We do have 3 exits to choose from: 120, 100, and 115.

Which one do we pick?

QUEST JOURNAL:
Pip's LIFE POINTS: 26/52
Permanent Life Points: 8

SPEED: 12/22

EQUIPMENT CARRIED:
1. Excalibur Jr. (hits on 4, damage +5)
2. Dragonskin Jacket (damage taken -4)
3. Double-headed Copper Coin (can be used to win any gambling games)
4. Artificial Aardvark
5. Blue powder
6. Lamp
7. Healing Potion (3 doses)
8. Healing Salve (5 applications)
9. Magic coin (+5 damage to successful physical attack or spell, once per combat)
10. Ruby (worth 500 GP)
11.

MONEY: 219 GP

MAGIC:
PANIC 3/3
POW 3/3
PILL 3/3
PAD 3/3
PIP 3/3
PIN 3/3
PiR2 3/3
INVISIBILITY 1/1
Firefingers 21/21 (must spend 3 LP to re-cast the spell to use the last 10)
Fireballs 2/2
PLoP 3/3
PID 3/3
PALS 3/3
PIL 3/3
POPS 3/3

EXPERIENCE POINTS: 1
ENEMIES DEFEATED:
Giant Danish Spider
3 Ghouls
110 Ants
2 Nerds
Creeping Jello
2 Orcs
PUZZLES SOLVES: 2

No. of Deaths:
1. Suffocated in smoke-filled room
Omegonthesane
Prince
Posts: 3680
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2009 3:55 pm

Post by Omegonthesane »

120 on the basis that it's a direction.
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.

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath, Justin Bieber, shitmuffin
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

Image
Trouble. There's a Shark in here, Pip. You discover it by falling into the pool which comprises the whole of this eccentric chamber.

You now have several interesting problems, Pip.

First roll one die to see if you drown. Score 1, 2 or 3 and you do. (Off to 14.) Score 4, 5 and 6 and you don't.

Next roll one die to see if you freeze, the water being very cold. Score 1 or 2 and you do. (Off to 14.) Score anything else and you don't.

Finally, see if you can cope with the Shark, which has 20 LIFE POINTS, hits on a 5 or better and bites +4 chunks of damage out of you. If the Shark kills you, go to 14. If you kill the Shark, don't forget to pull its teeth which, when powdered, are a sure cure for poison.
Triple death-trap! That shark's fin isn't really worth all that risk, but it's too late to turn back!

1st dice roll = 6. Pip doesn't drown.

2nd dice roll = 4. Pip doesn't freeze.

Shark rolls 2, Pip rolls 6. Pip strikes first.

COMBAT LOG:
Pip rolls 7 and hits for 3+5+5 (magic coin) = 13 damage. Shark is at 7.
Shark rolls 3 and misses.
Pip rolls 5 and hits for 1+5 = 6 damage. Shark is at 1.
Shark is knocked out.
We snag the Shark's tooth and grind it to powder before taking putting it into our last inventory slot.

There's no other exit, so we go back to the cricket room.

115 or 100 now?

QUEST JOURNAL:
Pip's LIFE POINTS: 26/52
Permanent Life Points: 8

SPEED: 11/22

EQUIPMENT CARRIED:
1. Excalibur Jr. (hits on 4, damage +5)
2. Dragonskin Jacket (damage taken -4)
3. Double-headed Copper Coin (can be used to win any gambling games)
4. Artificial Aardvark
5. Blue powder
6. Lamp
7. Healing Potion (3 doses)
8. Healing Salve (5 applications)
9. Magic coin (+5 damage to successful physical attack or spell, once per combat)
10. Ruby (worth 500 GP)
11. Powdered Shark Teeth (cures poison)

MONEY: 219 GP

MAGIC:
PANIC 3/3
POW 3/3
PILL 3/3
PAD 3/3
PIP 3/3
PIN 3/3
PiR2 3/3
INVISIBILITY 1/1
Firefingers 21/21 (must spend 3 LP to re-cast the spell to use the last 10)
Fireballs 2/2
PLoP 3/3
PID 3/3
PALS 3/3
PIL 3/3
POPS 3/3

EXPERIENCE POINTS: 2
ENEMIES DEFEATED:
Giant Danish Spider
3 Ghouls
110 Ants
2 Nerds
Creeping Jello
2 Orcs
Shark
PUZZLES SOLVES: 2

No. of Deaths:
1. Suffocated in smoke-filled room
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

115 looks like a dead end, so check that out first.
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

There's a chest in here, oak by the look of it, with brass banding. Want to open it? If so, roll two dice. Score 2 to 6 and go to 73. Score 7 to 12 and go to 134. If you decide not to open the chest, you can leave through the door by which you entered.
Open the chest or not?
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

Open the box!
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

Dice roll = 6.
Mmm. Seems the chest was trapped, Pip.

Nothing serious - just a poison needle. It certainly hasn't killed you; not yet. The problem is you will now lose 1 LIFE POINT for every 10' you travel until you can find some sort of anti-poison or spell. Successfully Sleeping or a healing potion will restore LIFE POINTS but not cure the poison.

As a small consolation, the chest contains 50 gold pieces, a hunk of cheese and an old booth (left foot).

Return to 115 and take it from there.
Oh dear, this is most definitely the bad roll.
Rolling a higher number means we can find a permanent Light spell that we can retain even after we're killed! That would have permanently saved us an inventory slot (since it doesn't take up a slot) for light source).
We actually have an anti-poison spell (PIP)....but it only works if we cast it before we get poison. You guys might want to keep that in mind the next time we're given the option to open some unknown chest/door/drawer/etc.

The Powdered Shark Teeth is supposed to be a cure for poison, so I think it works here. Do you guys want to use it now or save it for something potentially more lethal?

Also, our inventory slot is now full. Do you want to take the cheese or the boot (or both)? What will we drop for them?

QUEST JOURNAL:
Pip's LIFE POINTS: 26/52
Permanent Life Points: 8

SPEED: 11/22

EQUIPMENT CARRIED:
1. Excalibur Jr. (hits on 4, damage +5)
2. Dragonskin Jacket (damage taken -4)
3. Double-headed Copper Coin (can be used to win any gambling games)
4. Artificial Aardvark
5. Blue powder
6. Lamp
7. Healing Potion (3 doses)
8. Healing Salve (5 applications)
9. Magic coin (+5 damage to successful physical attack or spell, once per combat)
10. Ruby (worth 500 GP)
11. Powdered Shark Teeth (cures poison)

MONEY: 269 GP

MAGIC:
PANIC 3/3
POW 3/3
PILL 3/3
PAD 3/3
PIP 3/3
PIN 3/3
PiR2 3/3
INVISIBILITY 1/1
Firefingers 21/21 (must spend 3 LP to re-cast the spell to use the last 10)
Fireballs 2/2
PLoP 3/3
PID 3/3
PALS 3/3
PIL 3/3
POPS 3/3

EXPERIENCE POINTS: 2
ENEMIES DEFEATED:
Giant Danish Spider
3 Ghouls
110 Ants
2 Nerds
Creeping Jello
2 Orcs
Shark
PUZZLES SOLVES: 2

No. of Deaths:
1. Suffocated in smoke-filled room
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

Reading the poison spell rules, if Pip casts it now does it remain in play until Pip finds something poisonous? Maybe on his next life, or is that pushing it?

I vote for using the teeth and going to 100.
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

Thaluikhain wrote:Reading the poison spell rules, if Pip casts it now does it remain in play until Pip finds something poisonous? Maybe on his next life, or is that pushing it?
Originally I wanted to rule that it only lasts for one encounter, but on second thoughts, I think I can allow it to last all the way until Pip runs into something poisonous.

But I don't think it should last after death.

Pip uses the Powdered Shark Teeth to remove the poison. Since there're no votes to take anything, Pip leaves the cheese and the old boot where they are.

He then moves back through 97 to 100:
There's a little old lady in here, Pip.

She's sitting in a rocking chair in the middle of this 30' x 30' stone-lined chamber, her little old feet resting on a sea chest and a long strip of Aran knitting trailing down from her lap. (She must be working on a scarf by the length of it. Either that or she's forgotten to cast off.)

She glances up at you as you enter, peering short-sightedly over the top of gold-rimmed bifocals. 'Hello, young stranger,' she greets you in a quavering voice. 'Who might you be then?'

'I am Pip the Adventurer, sent here by command of King Arthur and his wise advisor, the Druid Wizard Merlin, to close the Gateway to the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead and thus rid the realm of foul emanations,' you reply long-windedly. Then, remembering that you have not been formally introduced, you add politely, 'May I have the honour of learning who you are, Ma'am?'

'I'm the Little Old Lady Monster,' says the little old lady. 'It is my duty to guard this chest which contains a great many valuables. I suppose, as an adventurer, you'll be trying to steal it, won't you?'

'Oh no, Ma'am,' you reassure her. 'Nothing of the sort. I would never dream of such a thing.'

'Even if it happened to contain the Key to open the Gateway?' asks the Little Old Lady Monster slyly.

Which is an interesting point.

'Does it contain the Key?' you ask curiously.

'Not telling you!' says the Little Old Lady Monster smugly. 'Now you'll have to try to steal the chest. Come on, then--I haven't had a good punch-up in ages.' With which she produces a rolling pin from underneath her knitting and leaps up from her rocking chair shouting 'Banzai!!!'

So much for the Age of Chivalry. They don't seem to have learned the rules down here. But you're stuck with the fact of the matter and it's a nastier fact than you might have imagined, since that is a lethal rolling pin with +3 damage. The Little Old Lady Monster hits on only 3 first round, but needs a 6 thereafter on account of her eyesight. She has 50 LIFE POINTS and will batter you to death if she can.

If you survive the Little Old Lady, you can move on to 136 to open the chest. If not, you can think things over in 14.


The Little Old Lady Monster rolls 7, Pip rolls 10. Pip strikes first!

COMBAT LOG:
Pip rolls 9 and hits for 5+5+5 (Magic coin) = 15 damage. Little Old Lady Monster is at 35.
Little Old Lady Monster rolls 8 and hits for 5-4 = 1 damage. Pip is at 25.
Pip rolls 5 and hits for 1+5 = 6 damage. LOLM is at 29.
LOLM rolls 5 and misses.
Pip rolls 8 and hits for 4+5 = 9 damage. LOLM is at 20.
LOLM rolls 8 and hits for 2-4 = no damage.
Pip rolls 5 and hits for 1+5 = 6 damage. LOLM is at 14.
LOLM rolls 6 and hits for 0 damage.
Pip rolls 8 and hits for 4+5 = 9 damage. LOLM is at 5.
LOLM is knocked out!
Thanks to her short-sightedness, the Little Old Lady Monster is unable to do any damage to Pip after the fist hit.
Image
There's a key in here!

A huge brass key, attached to a huge brass keyring, with a huge brass plaque on which is engraved, in huge brass letters, 'Key to Gateway of the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead.'

You've found the key! (Without even having to fight the dreaded Black Knight either.) This is incredible! This is fantastic! The very Key you were looking for and here it is in the chest of the Little Old Lady Monster! Now all you have to do is zip out and lock the Gateway, get back to Camelot and pig yourself stupid at the festive banquet while everybody tells you what a good class of adventurer you turned out to be!

Wait a minute. You still have to get back to the Gateway. Wonder which way that is?

The doors in this room open (north) into 97 and (east) into a corridor.


Since we just used up the Powdered Shark Teeth, we have an open slot, and Pip grabs the key.

Unfortunately, we can just backtrack our way to the Gateway entrance....we'll have to find another way out of the Ghastly Kingdom before we can use the key.

There's only 80 on the map left unexplored.....which is 30 steps away! That means 5 Wandering Monster rolls on the way!!

1st roll = 8 (Animated Skeleton).

Skeleton roll 6, Pip rolls 4. Skeleton strikes first.

COMBAT LOG:
Animated Skeleton rolls 2 and misses.
Pip rolls 11 and hits for 7+5+5 (Magic coin) = 17 damage!
Animated Skeleton is knocked out.
A OHKO for Pip thanks to the Fiend's magic coin!

2nd roll = 9 (Nerds x2).

Nerds roll 8, Pip rolls 5. Nerds strike first.

COMBAT LOG:
Nerd#1 rolls 8 and hits for 1+2-4 = no damage.
Pip rolls 7 and hits for 3+5 = 8 damage. Nerd#1 is at 3.
Nerd#1 is knocked out.
Nerd#2 rolls 11 and hits for 4+2-4 = 2 damage. Pip is at 23.
Pip rolls 7 and hits for 3+5 = 8 damage. Nerd#2 is at 3.
Nerd#2 is knocked out.
At this rate we may come out of this book with the full 20 Permanent LP that we're allowed to carry over every book!

3rd roll = 11 (4 Kobolds!)

Kobolds roll 10, Pip rolls 12. Pip strikes first!

COMBAT LOG:
Pip rolls 8 and hits for 4+5 = 9 damage.
Kobold#1 is killed.
Kobold#2 rolls 12 and hits for 5+1-4 = 2 damage. Pip is at 21.
Pip rolls 6 and hits for 2+5 = 7 damage.
Kobold#2 is knocked out.
Kobold#3 rolls 6 and misses.
Pip rolls 6 and hits for 2+5 = 7 damage.
Kobold#3 is knocked out.
Kobold#4 rolls 4 and misses.
Pip rolls 6 and hits for 2+5 = 7 damage.
Kobold#4 is knocked out.
Pip rolls the exact same to hit for 3 straight rounds. Fortunately it doesn't take much to OHKO each Kobold.

4th roll = 8. Another Skeleton!

Skeleton rolls 6, Pip rolls 7. Pip strikes first.

COMBAT LOG:
Pip rolls 9 and hits for 5+5+5 (Magic coin) = 15 damage!
Animated Skeleton is knocked out.
Another OHKO!

5th roll = 2 (no encounter). Finally, Pip reaches 80 safely.

Pip also looted a total of 60 GP off all the wandering monsters he just killed!
You find yourself in a dingy, rather cramped 20' x 20' room, stacked floor to ceiling with broken furniture (none of it particularly good-looking even when it was new, so far as you can judge.)

Since there are no apparent exits, you turn to leave. But some instinct urges you to search around a bit.

Good instinct, Pip. You've found another piece of parchment with another map! (see Appendix, p. 221) And this map not only shows you two secret doors in Room 80, but also shows you a good few other rooms and corridors that weren't on your first map.

Looks like the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead is a bigger place than you imagined. Study your new map, decide where to go... and good luck.


Congratulations! You've cleared Stage One of the Ghastly Kingdom and entered Stage 2!

LEVEL ONE MAP 2:
Image
Since we've checked all the places in the last map, the only directions to move forward are the secret door on the right, to 72, or the secret door on the left, into the dark corridor towards 133.

QUEST JOURNAL:
Pip's LIFE POINTS: 21/52
Permanent Life Points: 8

SPEED: 11/22

EQUIPMENT CARRIED:
1. Excalibur Jr. (hits on 4, damage +5)
2. Dragonskin Jacket (damage taken -4)
3. Double-headed Copper Coin (can be used to win any gambling games)
4. Artificial Aardvark
5. Blue powder
6. Lamp
7. Healing Potion (3 doses)
8. Healing Salve (5 applications)
9. Magic coin (+5 damage to successful physical attack or spell, once per combat)
10. Ruby (worth 500 GP)
11. Key to the Gateway of the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead

MONEY: 329 GP

MAGIC:
PANIC 3/3
POW 3/3
PILL 3/3
PAD 3/3
PIP 3/3
PIN 3/3
PiR2 3/3
INVISIBILITY 1/1
Firefingers 21/21 (must spend 3 LP to re-cast the spell to use the last 10)
Fireballs 2/2
PLoP 3/3
PID 3/3
PALS 3/3
PIL 3/3
POPS 3/3

EXPERIENCE POINTS: 11
ENEMIES DEFEATED:
Giant Danish Spider
3 Ghouls
110 Ants
4 Nerds
Creeping Jello
2 Orcs
Shark
Little Old Lady Monster
2 Animated Skeletons
4 Kobolds
PUZZLES SOLVES: 2

No. of Deaths:
1. Suffocated in smoke-filled room
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

Looks like 72 is a dead end, so there first.
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

Through the secret door merrily and into a huge 30' x 80' chamber full of pot plants.

Pot plants?

That's what they look like. Rubber plants and ferns and creepers, the occasional flowering cactus and stuff like that, all laid out neatly in aisles like some sort of underground greenhouse. The ceiling of the chamber has crystal globes imbedded--blue, green, pink and white--shining down on the plants to give them a bit of light.

This could be quite a pleasant place if it wasn't for the scruffy looking old fool shuffling towards you with a pitchfork.

You can either leap on him vigorously and get an automatic surprise attack by going to 103.

Or take a chance that he might be harmless (harmless!) at 132.


Attack the old man or not?
Omegonthesane
Prince
Posts: 3680
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2009 3:55 pm

Post by Omegonthesane »

I assume given Pip's previously demonstrated naivety and lack of evidence that he's learning from it that "take a chance that he might be harmless" means "show literally no caution at all until he's stabbed us in the kidneys".

And despite that I'm voting we don't murder an old man until we're sure he deserves murdering. 'Cause if he does he might be prepared for a "surprise" attack.
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.

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath, Justin Bieber, shitmuffin
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

Take a chance and don't murder random old guy just yet.
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

What be 'e doing here, young adventurer?' asks the scruffy old man, setting his pitchfork down carefully on account of his bad back.

'I seek to find the route that will forever close the Gateway to this Ghastly Kingdom, Scruffy Old Sir,' you declaim politely.

'Ahr, that be what most of them be arter right enough. Does 'e like pot plants?'

'Ahr,' you reply, which he takes, quite correctly, to be an affirmative reply.

'So does I, ahr. Friendly things, pot plants, if 'e doesn't mess with them. Not like people, nahr. Nor monsters neither. Closing the Gateway, is it?'

'Ah--I mean, yes.'

'Won't manage that here, young 'un, nahr. The way be guarded. Guarded by the Black Knight hisself, ahr. But take this bottle of my patent weed-killer and rub some on your sword, ahr. It gives 'e double damage the first time 'e hits a vegetable monster and there be enough in the bottle for three applications, ahr.'

Which was, you must admit, a nice gesture on his part, and potentially a very useful gift if you happen to meet any vegetable monsters. Stow it away carefully in your backpack for now and return through the secret door to 80.


If we want to take the Weed-killer, we'd need to either drop something or take a combat penalty for being encumbered.

Since there's no other exit from this room, Pip goes back to the previous room and takes the remaining secret door into the dark passage towards 133. On the way, he needs to make 2 Wandering Monsters roll:

1st roll: 10! We encounter 2 Orcs.

Please vote on whether we took the Weed-killer and whether we dropped anything for it before I carry on, since we need to determine whether we're taking any combat penalties for the upcoming fight!
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

Take the weedkiller. IIRC, the Artificial Aardvark already came up in a section, and it seems unlikely to be useful more than once, so drop that.
Omegonthesane
Prince
Posts: 3680
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2009 3:55 pm

Post by Omegonthesane »

Agreed (the aadvark came up earlier this page).
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.

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath, Justin Bieber, shitmuffin
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

Pip traded the Aardvark for Weedkiller before heading back to 80 and enter the dark corridor. He fights 2 Orcs on the way.

Orcs roll 3, Pip rolls 10. Pip strikes first.

COMBAT LOG:
Pip rolls 5 and hits for 1+5+5 (Magic coin) = 11 damage. Orc#1 is at 1.
Orc#1 is knocked out.
Orc#2 rolls 3 and misses.
Pip rolls 2 and misses(!).
Orc#2 rolls 5 and misses.
Pip rolls 6 and hits for 2+5 = 7 damage. Orc#2 is at 5.
Orc#2 is knocked out.
Pip loots 30 GP from the Orcs' bodies and continues his way towards 133, making another Wandering Monster roll on the way.....
'
Dice roll = 8(Animated Skeleton).

Skeleton rolls 4, Pip rolls 11, Pip strikes first.

COMBAT LOG:
Pip rolls 10 and hits for 6+5+5 = 16 damage. Skeleton is at 4.
Animated Skeleton is knocked out.
Pip loots another 10 GP.

We finally reach 133:
***

This 30' x 30' chamber looks as though it might have been used as some sort of reception room at some time, although the few scraps of wooden furniture are in a pretty ragged state now.

All the same, it's not entirely disused. There are two armoured guards at the door in the southern wall and, when you look carefully, you can see why--the door has a notice saying 'TREASURE ROOM'.

The only way through that door is past the guards, Pip. They don't look particularly strong--15 LIFE POINTS each, which suggests somebody forgot to feed them for some time. As against that, they are each armed with swords and the armour they are wearing is very high quality, subtracting 3 from any damage scored against them.

The guards will not attack if you leave them alone, so you have a choice of simply returning back into the corridor. If you want to go to 66, however, you're into Bribery or a fight, or both.


First time we're given the opportunity to bribe someone.....except 3 ***s means we need 1000 GP each, which we don't have.

Do we want to fight the guards? If we don't, that means we don't get to explore 66 either, since it can only be entered through 133.

QUEST JOURNAL:
Pip's LIFE POINTS: 21/52
Permanent Life Points: 8

SPEED: 11/22

EQUIPMENT CARRIED:
1. Excalibur Jr. (hits on 4, damage +5)
2. Dragonskin Jacket (damage taken -4)
3. Double-headed Copper Coin (can be used to win any gambling games)
4. Weed-killer
5. Blue powder
6. Lamp
7. Healing Potion (3 doses)
8. Healing Salve (5 applications)
9. Magic coin (+5 damage to successful physical attack or spell, once per combat)
10. Ruby (worth 500 GP)
11. Key to the Gateway of the Ghastly Kingdom of the Dead

MONEY: 369 GP

MAGIC:
PANIC 3/3
POW 3/3
PILL 3/3
PAD 3/3
PIP 3/3
PIN 3/3
PiR2 3/3
INVISIBILITY 1/1
Firefingers 21/21 (must spend 3 LP to re-cast the spell to use the last 10)
Fireballs 2/2
PLoP 3/3
PID 3/3
PALS 3/3
PIL 3/3
POPS 3/3

EXPERIENCE POINTS: 14
ENEMIES DEFEATED:
Giant Danish Spider
3 Ghouls
110 Ants
4 Nerds
Creeping Jello
4 Orcs
Shark
Little Old Lady Monster
3 Animated Skeletons
4 Kobolds
PUZZLES SOLVES: 2

No. of Deaths:
1. Suffocated in smoke-filled room
Post Reply