[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 43 - The Keep of the Lich-Lord

Shiritai · Post by **Shiritai** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 1:03 am

Gonad needs a suitable polearm; go for the spear.

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Mon Feb 02, 2015 2:22 am

Unless he brought the spear into the cave with him and intended to dual-wield it with his sword, this guy found it here, and died seconds after touching it. Also, maybe it's the sun-bright spear that killed the necromancer and contains his soul or something. I vote examine the tomb.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 2:45 pm

........Tie break, anyone?

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 3:18 pm

We have a really good weapon already, but fuck it, Gonad cannot resist having a long spear to penetrate his foes with.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 4:20 pm

Gonad gotta have that long, hard shaft!

You pick up the spear; it feels good in your hands, as if imbued with a powerful force of its own. The spear is useful in combat against the Undead. Whenever you fight undead foes with the spear, you may double all the damage you inflict. It has no other properties you know of yet. Note the Spear of Qadamai on your Adventure Sheet. Then your gaze flicks to the corpse of the adventurer - you could have sworn it twitched! To your horror, its eyes snap open and it sits up with a jerk. Its milky-white, dead eyes stare at you hungrily. It comes at you with its sword. You must fight the creature.

UNDEAD TOMB-ROBBER SKILL 6 STAMINA 8

lf you win, turn to 252.

Apparently, the former grave-robber doesn't appreciate us touching his rod.

Want it back? Sure....we'll shove it right back in your face! (he's undead so we're definitely using the Spear here for double-damage)

COMBAT LOG:

Undead Tomb-Robber 14, Gonad 19. Undead is at 4.
Undead Tomb-Robber 15, Gonad 16. Undead is...back to being dead?

Another flawless with our SKILL 9 hero!

The undead creature collapses in a heap, truly dead this time. Will you use the Ring of Communing to report back to General Chaideshu or leave the hills and take the road to Siltport?

Do we want to report back this time?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Gonad the Penetrator
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 18/18
LUCK 11/11
RESOLVE: 8 (9 for next test)
Equipment: Sharpened Sword (+1 damage), Leather Armor, Ring of Communing (3 charges remaining), Spear of Qadarnai (double-damage when fighting undead)
Provisions: 8 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Gold: 50
Codeword: PIRATE

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 5:29 pm

"We got some intel and a badass undead-slaying spear, do you know anything about it and where should we go next?" seems like enough of a reason to report back.

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Tue Feb 03, 2015 8:53 pm

We have three charges and he might know useful stuff about the spear, let's call it in.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Wed Feb 04, 2015 12:45 am

You stare fixedly at the jewelled ring and concentrate on the face of the old general. After a moment or two his craggy face appears in your mind 'What have you to report?' he enquires. The sound of his voice in your head gives you an eerie feeling. You tell him what has happened. 'Good, good, you have done well. The tomb-robber evidently discovered the body of Mortis with the Spear of Qadarnai still embedded in his chest. Foolishly, he must have removed it, thus enabling the necromancer to reanimate his body and escape. Mortis slew the robber with ease, no doubt, and must have turned the corpse into a Zombie that the spear kept inactive until you took it from his dead hand. Keep the Spear of Qadarnai, for it will prove most harmful to Mortis. Now, good luck and report back when you have further news!' The link with Chaideshu is broken (remember to subtract 1 from the charges the Ring of Communing possesses on your Adventure Sheet). You leave the tomb and make for the road that leads back to Siltport.

'The spear that killed Mortis and kept him dead for a few hundred years will be useful against him again!' Thank you, Captain Obvious. Might have been useful if you told us before we left for the mission so we knew what to look for, ya know?

Still, the fact that he didn't scream at us meant that it was the 'right' place to use the ring.

And apparently, just being in contact with the Spear was enough to keep the Undead Tomb Robber inactive. Although I guess Mortis isn't your normal undead so we'd probably have to do it the good old fashion for penetrating his heart again to keep him down.

The hills rise up to your left this time as you follow the dusty trail back to Siltport. The guards at the gate are surprised to see you . One of them appears to be cursing, and you see money changing hands. You move on, following the road leading south.

Apparently, the guards were betting on whether they'd see Gonad come back alive.

This is one example of the little minor touches I tend to like about Dave Morris' writing, the simple little things that adds a 'life' to his characters and scenes.

The road takes you south for some way, then it turns east, rising up into the rocky hills. Soon you find yourself walking through a shallow pass between two peaks. If you have the word 'PIRATE' on your Adventure Sheet, turn to 201.

We do! Will our careless blabbing earlier bring about our downfall?

Suddenly an arrow thuds into the ground beside your foot! You look up to see three figures with bows shooting at you from behind a boulder, a little way up the side of the pass. You recognize one of them as the shady- looking man you saw leaving the Sword of the Samurai inn at Siltport; the other two look like buccaneers or Chaos Pirates. An arrow grazes your shoulder - deduct 1 point from your STAMINA. Will you charge up the hill at the pirates or try to make a run for it down the pass?

No insta-death, just a 1-STAMINA loss. Like I said before, the authors here tend to be more generous with reward bonuses and less so with punishments.

Charge or run?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Gonad the Penetrator
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 17/18
LUCK 11/11
RESOLVE: 8 (9 for next test)
Equipment: Sharpened Sword (+1 damage), Leather Armor, Ring of Communing (2 charges remaining), Spear of Qadarnai (double-damage when fighting undead)
Provisions: 8 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Gold: 50
Codeword: PIRATE

CapnTthePirateG · Post by **CapnTthePirateG** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 1:03 am

Punish pirates per penetrating prowess.

Shiritai · Post by **Shiritai** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 3:54 am

Yeah, charge those cheeky churls!

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 3:55 am

Gonad will plunder the pirate's booty. With his long, sharp sword (since the pirates are undead it doesn't make sense to use the spear)

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 5:05 am

Gonad plunges straight into the trio with his enhanced penetrator!

Shouting a war-cry, you charge straight up at your ambushers. Their eyes widen in surprise; desperately they try to shoot you before you can reach them. Instinctively, you dodge and weave to avoid their arrows. Test your Luck. If you are Lucky, turn to 341. If you are Unlucky, turn to 301.

Dice roll: 2+4=6 (Lucky!)

Incredibly, you manage to reach them unscathed. Cursing, they drop their bows, and draw their cutlasses.

They've shot a load of blanks, and now it's time to embarrass them further with the superiority of our penetration implement and techniques!

You must fight the pirates.

First CHAOS PIRATE SKILL 6 STAMINA 6
Second CHAOS PIRATE SKILL 7 STAMINA 5
Third CHAOS PIRATE SKILL 8 STAMINA 7

You must fight the first two together - the third awaits the outcome and will then fight you singly. If you win, turn to 241.

Oops, forgot to mention earlier that multiple-opponent rules apply in this book. We'd need to pick a target every round and compare our Attack Strength to both opponents, but can only damage the one we target.

Since the first 2 pirates' stats are pretty close and we can kill both in the same number of rounds, I'll just routinely try to take down the first pirate to start.

COMBAT LOG:

Chaos Pirate #1 14, Chaos Pirate #2 14, Gonad 17. Pirate #1 is at 3.
Pirate #1 11, Pirate #2 17, Gonad 15. Pirate #1 is killed! But Gonad is at 15 (hit by Pirate #2).
Pirate #2 14, Gonad 18. Pirate #2 is at 2.
Pirate #2 10, Gonad 16. Pirate #2 is killed.
Pirate #3 15, Gonad 20. Pirate #3 is at 4.
Pirate #3 15, Gonad 13. Gonad is at 13.
Pirate #3 14, Gonad 17. Pirate #3 is at 1.
Pirate #3 14, Gonad 16. Pirate #3 is killed.

Not too bad for a 3-on-1, considering our SKILL is only average.

A cursory search of the bodies reveals a pouch on the belt of one of the pirates. Inside you find 25 Gold Pieces (note them on your Adventure Sheet). You continue down the road, which leads east out of the hills.

So basically, our careless blabbing resulted in us getting a relatively easy fight (thanks to our enhanced penetrator) and some easy Loot! Nice!

The road leads you past an old quarry, long disused, which has been dug out of the foothills. You notice that part of one of the quarry rock-faces has crumbled away, revealing a fissure-like cave entrance. If you wish to enter this cave, tum to 17. To ignore the distraction and press on, tum to 94.

Penetrate this random opening or not?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Gonad the Penetrator
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 13/18
LUCK 10/11
RESOLVE: 8 (9 for next test)
Equipment: Sharpened Sword (+1 damage), Leather Armor, Ring of Communing (2 charges remaining), Spear of Qadarnai (double-damage when fighting undead)
Provisions: 8 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Gold: 75
Codeword: PIRATE

Shiritai · Post by **Shiritai** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 2:30 pm

Being impulsive has served us well so far. Fortune favors the bold; enter the cave!

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 9:27 pm

Cave, spelunking, sexual penetration joke, etc etc.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Feb 05, 2015 10:57 pm

^ This.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Fri Feb 06, 2015 12:34 am

Lighting a torch, you clamber in through the black, yawning fissure. Inside, your torchlight reveals that you have entered an ancient building which must have stood here, buried, for centuries and now uncovered by a chance rock-fall! You realize that you are standing at a huge doorway. Inset in the floor in letters of red stone are the words: 'The Temple of Lhyss, Goddess of Luck and Fortune'. At the far end of this huge vaulted chamber you can just make out some sort of altar. Five fluted columns line the walls to either side of you, forming small cloisters Ahead, a wide marble corridor leads to the altar Something glints on the altar in the flickering torchlight. Will you walk up the central passageway, take the left colonnade, or the right colonnade, or turn your back on the Temple of Lhyss and continue on your way?

Classic random blind directional choices! (Well, to be fair, since we're in the Temple of the Goddess of Luck, a random luck-based choice does seem appropriate here.)

Which way do we go? Left, right, centre.....or back?

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Fri Feb 06, 2015 12:38 am

Centre because fortune favours the bold, I guess?

Shiritai · Post by **Shiritai** » Fri Feb 06, 2015 1:50 am

My lucky die says.... right. Fight random chance with random chance!

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Fri Feb 06, 2015 4:14 pm

Left, for the three-way tie and resolution by die roll.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Feb 06, 2015 8:48 pm

I'll break the tie in favor of left because this is a blind choice in a book not written by UK Steve Jackson or Ian Livingstone (The Loneliest Manticore doesn't count, OK?)

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 4:54 am

You edge your way along the left-hand colonnade. You are just passing the third column when a blood-chilling wail assaults your ears. Out of the darkness ahead of you ghostly apparitions streak towards you like nightmarish visions from hell itself. Test your Resolve, subtracting 1 from the total rolled. lf you succeed, turn to 8 If you fail, tum to 39.

Dice roll: (3+2)-1 = 4 (Success!)

These visions have no power to harm you, and you cut at them boldly with your sword. With an eerie wail, they fade away. You step up to the altar.

There was basically no right or wrong choices there, each will involve a different stat test. Centre was probably the best choice for us because it would have been a Luck test, and that's our highest stat, but all successful tests lead to the same section. The right path involves a SKILL test.

The altar is a block of black stone draped in red velvet, tattered and decayed On it are laid a scroll case, an ornate golden whistle and a potion labelled 'Elixir of Lhyss'. You may take one of these from the altar or leave the temple without taking anything.

Do we still think Fortune favours the Bold?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Gonad the Penetrator
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 13/18
LUCK 10/11
RESOLVE: 8 (9 for next test)
Equipment: Sharpened Sword (+1 damage), Leather Armor, Ring of Communing (2 charges remaining), Spear of Qadarnai (double-damage when fighting undead)
Provisions: 8 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Gold: 75
Codeword: PIRATE

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 6:17 am

Vote to take one, and vote to take the scroll case.

Shiritai · Post by **Shiritai** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 7:39 am

Agreed.

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 9:48 am

SGamerz:

Centre was probably the best choice for us because it would have been a Luck test, and that's our highest stat, but all successful tests lead to the same section.

Not unless it gave us the Luck point back.

Take the scroll case.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 10:07 am

You are about to pick up one of the items when a disturbance of the air distracts you. Looking up, you see an opaque crimson gas swirling and coalescing into human shape before your very eyes. Seconds later, a tall being stands where moments ago there was but empty air: it is covered from head to toe in armour fashioned out of scarlet metal, antique in style but uncorroded. Two pinpricks of ruby light sparkle behind the visored helm. A deep voice resonates from within: 'l am the Temple Guardian. The Gifts of Lhyss are not so easily won, mortal adventurer. First you must defeat me!' Its hollow laughter echoes through the vaulted chamber as it brandishes its weapons - a long thin sword in each hand. You must fight.

TEMPLE GUARDIAN SKILL 9 STAMINA 10

Each time you succeed in wounding the Guardian, roll another die. On a roll of 1-4, your blow is slightly deflected by some ludicrously unlucky event, and you must subtract 1 point from the damage you do. On a roll of 5 or 6, your blow is rendered more effective by some equally preposterous stroke of fortune: add 1 to the damage you inflict. lf you win, turn to 368.

That mechanism could have made the combat pretty inconvenient for us.....except that we have our enhanced penetrator that allows us to do extra damage, meaning that we'll be doing either normal (2) or double (4) damage every round! With the same SKILL stat, the odds in this fight is definitely in our favour.

COMBAT LOG:

Temple Guardian 17, Gonad 13. Gonad is at 11.
Guardian 14, Gonad 13. Gonad is at 9.
Guardian 16, Gonad 17. Gonad rolls a 2 and does 2 points of damage. Guardian is at 8.
Guardian 11, Gonad 16. Gonad rolls a 5 and does 4 points of damage. Guardian is at 4.
Guardian 11, Gonad 13. Gonad rolls a 5 and does 4 points of damage. Guardian is defeated.

Your last blow seems to cut through thin air as the Temple Guardian dissipates into nothingness. You pick up the Golden Whistle from the altar (note it on your Adventure Sheet). The scroll reads: 'Blow the whistle at the Finger of Lhyss to win great power.' You may also take the Elixir of Lhyss. Whenever you wish to drink the potion, note the number of the paragraph you are currently reading, then turn to 35. Once you have finished, return to the paragraph you have noted and read on. You also find a pouch containing 25 Gold Pieces.

To leave the temple, turn to 382. If you wish to use the Ring of Communing and ask General Chaideshu what he knows about the Finger of Lhyss, turn to 96.

So, it turns out that we don't have to pick only 1 item. We automatically take the Whistle. I don't think we need to keep the scroll now we have read the information. And we now have a grand total of 100 gold!

1) Do we drink the potion now?
2) Do we want to use another charge on the Ring?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Gonad the Penetrator
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 9/18
LUCK 10/11
RESOLVE: 8 (9 for next test)
Equipment: Sharpened Sword (+1 damage), Leather Armor, Ring of Communing (2 charges remaining), Spear of Qadarnai (double-damage when fighting undead), Golden Whistle, Elixir of Lhyss.
Provisions: 8 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Gold: 100
Codeword: PIRATE
Misc Notes: 'Blow the whistle at the Finger of Lhyss to win great power'