[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 48 - Moonrunner

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 2:40 am

We don't want to stand out and attract attention. He clearly expects to be obeyed, so that's probably what the real zombies are programmed to do. Do as he orders.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 2:42 am

Yeah, nothing indicates these zombies can lift 1 ton blocks of stone, so this is probably just him making us do busy work. So we should be fine in trying to lift it.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Sat Jun 28, 2014 7:46 am

Thirded.

Silent Wayfarer · Post by **Silent Wayfarer** » Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:54 am

Maintaining a Zombie-like silence, you lift the rock and struggle with it towards the tower. It is a commonly known fact that Zombies do not feel pain; people disguised as Zombies, however, certainly do! Your legs ache, your arms ache, everything aches, and soon you are being driven by sheer willpower alone - deduct 2 points from your Stamina. When you reach the tower you drop the stone on a pile of rocks and pause to catch your breath. As your strength returns, you look up at the vast structure. Of all the many ways into the place, two gates look especially promising. lf you have the Tracking Special Skill, turn to 132. If you do not, will you enter the gate on the left (tum to 114) or the gate on the right (turn to 199)?

Willie Johnson, Private Dick, Liberator of the Insane, the Merciful, Cop-killer

Skill 11/11
Stamina 21/21
Luck 10/10
Gear: Sword, backpack, clothing, Inmate's Locket, 2 Provisions, 25 Golds
Skills: Acrobatics, Climb, Disguise, Lockpicking.
Special:
- may visit Alcham Lugosh at Priestsgate by turning to page 64 (SPOILER: it sucked)
- Freed the inmates of Craven Asylum
- Rotkod
- Lishek's Warning
- Kehsil
- The Skull of Mora Tao
- The Shroud of Angevin
- The Hand of Glory (Q'Yann)
- The Mask of Belthegor

Death Count: 1
- Drowned in the embrace of a dozen corpses at the doorstep of Alcham Lugosh.

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Sun Jun 29, 2014 6:32 am

Left for no reason.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:48 pm

Left sounds good to me.

Ancient History · Post by **Ancient History** » Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:51 pm

Dante always went left.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 11:51 am

Blind choice is blind.

Left sounds as good as any.

Silent Wayfarer · Post by **Silent Wayfarer** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 4:16 pm

The gate opens into a vast hall, where you discover Radu addressing fhe entire Cabal. The Magus is speaking from a high balcony at the far end of the chamber, so no one notices you listening to his words at the back of the hall. "You are here to witness the fruition of the Grand Design. Using lhe mystic art of Notura, our master has created the Ethereal Projector". He indicates a bizarre contraption by his side. "With this, we can rain death on any area we choose. And we will start straight away by killing every living being in Royal Lendle." The Cabal roars its approval/ You must find some way to stop Radu before he can activate the Ethereal Projector! If you are disguised as either an Orc rogue or a Zombie, turn to 82; if you have an Alchemical Sphere, turn to 304; but if none of these situations apply to you, turn to 237.

So, Radu is also known as the Magus of the Master, a highup in the Cabal of the Werewolf. Had we gone to Zombie Village, we would have met him, along with Gruul.

As Radu outlines his programmes for world domination, you make your way across to two ornate columns which support the balcony, some thirty metres above the ground. "Look!" cries a woman. "The Bounty Hunter!" It is Eviron from the Last Octopus, and she has seen through your disguise. Shouts of hatred fill the hall and four hundred weapons are drawn in anger. If you have the Lock Picking Special Skill, turn to 208, if you have the Climb Special Skill, turn to 249; but if you have neither of these skills, turn to 122.

Hey, we're pretty well-equipped for this. Let's go with Climb.

There is only one thing for it: you swarm up one of the broad stone columns, using the decorative carvings as fingerholds. At first your enemies look on in frustration, but then Radu directs some of them to a concealed staircase that leads up to the balcony. Turn to 300.

The Cabal are still only half-way up the stairs when you seize Radu and demand that he tell you where you will find his master. "You wish to face Karam Gruul?" he sneers. Then, to your astonishment, he grows and grows until his body bursts. His skin splits from head lo foot, and out of the discarded carapace steps Karam Gruull 'There was never any such person
as Radu the Magus," he laughs. "And now I shall destroy you."

It has come to this: you must suffer the effects of Gruul's magic until he is too tired to use any more. You may not eat any Provisions, or do anything else to restore your attribute scores, until Gruul is done. To find out how many Notura points Gruul has, roll one die and add 6 to the number rolled (make a note of this total on your Adventure Sheet) Then roll one die to see which spell Gruul casts first. Turn to the appropriate paragraph, following the instructrons, then return here and roll again to find out which spell Gruul casts next - Keep doing this until either you are dead or Gruul has no Notura points left. If Gruul's last spell costs him more Notura points than he has left, the spell still works. Now, if you roll:

1; turn to 335
2; turn to 67
3; turn to 242
4; turn to 257
5; turn to 356
6; turn to 273

If you survive Gruul's mystic onslaught, turn to 30.

Gruul has... 7 Notura points. Now rolling for first spell...

Just when you think you may be able to lay a hand on Gruul, he closes his eyes and conjures up a Force Wall. Your hands crash into the barrier and start to burn. Deduct 1 point frorn Gruul's Notura. If you have the Mask of Belthegor, you pull your hands away and the burning stops without doing you any harm. But if you do not have the mask, you clutch your hands in agony; deduct 1 point from your Skill. Have you made a note of the word "Esproc" on your Adventure Sheet? If you have, turn to 188; if you haven't, return to 300.

Rejected! Gruul's Notura count: 6/7

Gruul's eyes... they're piercing the depths of your very soul. You waver on your feet as strange words filter insidiously into your mind. Deduct 5 points from Gruul's Notura. If you do not have the Hand of Glory, make a note of the word "Rennur" on your Adventure Sheet. If you do have the hand, but the word "Q'yann" is not wriitten on your Adventure Sheet, turn to 217. If you have both the Hand of Glory and the word "Q'yann" on your Adventure Sheet, you are protected from Gruul's magic. Whatever the outcome, your mind suddenly becomes clear again. If the word "Esproc" is written on your Adventure Sheet, turn to 188. Otherwise return to 300.

It's good to follow instructions! This sets up a cruelly ironic DNS later on if you aren't fully protected.

Anyway, Gruul has 1 point of Notura left.

Gruul has had enough of your tiresome meddling; he conjures up a murderous sac of black gel that comes twitching and wobbling through the air towards you. Deduct 6 points from Gruul's Notura. If you do not
have the Skull of Mora Tao, the giant amoeboid jerks forward and absorbs you into its amorphous depths; your adventure ends here But if you do have the skull, the apparition backs off at yhe last moment and
disappears. If the word "Esproc" is written on your Adventure Sheet, turn to 188. Otherwise return to 300.

Wow, good thing we went through all that trouble for the Skull. -5 Notura left.

Exhausted, Gruul tries to kill you with the Ethereal Projector, but you push him aside and turn the device on the Cabal. Most of your enemies perish beneath the deadly rays, but some flee, leaving the way clear for you to drag Gruul out to a small courtyard. There, you tie him over the back of a horse, then ride at full speed across the desert. Zombie slaves and Cabal
members are everywhere, but they are in disarray and can do nothing to prevent your escape. As you ride, you tell Gruul just who you are: "l first came here as a prisoner-of-war. Because I was an officer in the Gallantarian army, you tumed me into some kind of nocturnal creature with strange powers. But I had no will of my own and you forced me to
betray my comrades. I found a cure for my body soon after the war ended, but I still haven't found a cure for my nightmares."

"So. A Moonrunner, eh?" Gruul purrs. He closes his eyes and you start to feel a little dizzy. If the word "Rennur" is written on your Adventure Sheet, turn to 147. If it js not, roll two dice and add the numbers rolled together. If the total is less than or equal to your current Stamina, turn to 169. If the total is higher thany our current Stamina score, turn to 147.

This is an interesting motivation, but is it really wise to tell the evil mastermind wizard that you were once a totally obedient slave of his? Willy has more than 11 Stamina, so there is no way he can fail this check.

Gruul is trying to hypnotize you! But your will is too strong. You strike him and warn him not to try it again.P erhaps he won't have to: his extra weight is slowing you down, and the remnants of the Cabal have rallied and are coming after you. But wait! Just over the next rise you encounter a Gallantarian patrol. Their captain rides forward to greet you. "We came to escort you back to Royal Lendle, but we had better make a stand against the Cabal here and now. There's around thirty of them and only ten of us. Will you stay and help?"

"Yes," mocks Gruul, "will you waste time here, playing soldiers with your friends (turn to 388), or will you desert them, so as to get me to Royal Lendle that little bit sooner (tum to 99)?"

Willie Johnson, Private Dick, Liberator of the Insane, the Merciful, Cop-killer

Skill 11/11
Stamina 21/21
Luck 10/10
Gear: Sword, backpack, clothing, Inmate's Locket, 2 Provisions, 25 Golds
Skills: Acrobatics, Climb, Disguise, Lockpicking.
Special:
- may visit Alcham Lugosh at Priestsgate by turning to page 64 (SPOILER: it sucked)
- Freed the inmates of Craven Asylum
- Rotkod
- Lishek's Warning
- Kehsil
- The Skull of Mora Tao
- The Shroud of Angevin
- The Hand of Glory (Q'Yann)
- The Mask of Belthegor

Death Count: 1
- Drowned in the embrace of a dozen corpses at the doorstep of Alcham Lugosh.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 4:23 pm

If this was heroic fantasy, we should totally stay; but since this is horror genre, someone has to make the doomed last stand while we complete the mission. Desert them.

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 4:47 pm

I say we SAVE now, ignore the genre and stand and fight. If it leads to a DNS, we load the previous save.

Mr Shine · Post by **Mr Shine** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 5:57 pm

Stand and fight. Use mask for Combat and use shroud to heal.

Edit: we're already at full stamina so don't bother with shroud.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 6:40 pm

WTF, they should totally be like "Ride on and save the day, we shall delay them as much as we can", and we should be like "your sacrifice will never be forgotten" and so on... what is this? abandon the mission, that we can aid some random mooks outnumbered just 3 to 1?

Regular troops vs. bashibozuks and they need our help? Hrmph.

Ride on.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Mon Jun 30, 2014 9:21 pm

I suggest it's time Willie wasn't here. Staying and fighting might offer Gruul a chance to escape. Leave the cavalry to fight and die a heroic death, while we bring in the BBEG.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 11:46 am

What a stroke of luck, Gruul cast the exact spells that we had protection for! (although we had the 2 most important wards anyway, so we'd likely have survived regardless)

Ride on. Those Gallantarian soldiers are probably wearing bright red uniforms and we need to stay the hell away from them so our shirt doesn't get tainted by their blood.

And in the unlikely event that there's enough votes for us to stay and fight, I'm anti-voting using the mask to cancel out the vote for suggesting to use it. We need to hold the mask until the book actually checks for a skill we may not have, then use it to get the skill. That may save Willie's life for all we know.

Silent Wayfarer · Post by **Silent Wayfarer** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 5:04 pm

Three days pass - three days of constant travel, three days of Gruul's enmity, three days of hunger and tiredness - but finally you come to the East Gate of Royal Lendle, capital of Gallantaria. The City Guard there rush out to welcome you; you fall into their arms, exhausted.

Over the next month, Karam Gruul has to stand trial before the Ruling Council and the leaders of Femphrey, Brice and the Northlands. The list of Gruul's crimes is almost without end, and the verdict is unanimous:
guilty! Gruul is sentenced to imprisonment for the rest of his unnatural life. People must never be allowed to think that such evil acts will go unpunished, no matter how long ago they occurred. As Gruul is led from the Council Chamber, he glowers at you a final time. You shrug. You cannot make good the wrongs he forced you to commit as a Moonrunner, but you have stopped him from ruining the lives of thousands of others The King of Gallantaria turns to you and asks you whether you will be willing to lead an army back to Hope's End. You refuse, the Cabal is already beaten, the tower is but an empty dungeon, and you have seen enough bloodshed of late to last you a lifetime That night, you leave the city to rejoin your family in Narbury. For you the war is finally over.

And that's a win. Kind of low-key, but works pretty well, especially if you think of it as a horror movie.

I have to say that the more I reread this book, the more I thought of a Warhammer Fantasy setting. Plot holes surfaced as I go through the stuff again, but all in all, I remembered why I liked it so much; mainly the wordplay, which was quite impressive to me twenty years ago.

And the final roundup of Willy:

Willie Johnson, Private Dick, Liberator of the Insane, the Merciful, Cop-killer

Skill 11/11
Stamina 21/21
Luck 10/10
Gear: Sword, backpack, clothing, Inmate's Locket, 2 Provisions, 25 Golds
Skills: Acrobatics, Climb, Disguise, Lockpicking.
Special:
- may visit Alcham Lugosh at Priestsgate by turning to page 64 (SPOILER: it sucked)
- Freed the inmates of Craven Asylum
- Rotkod
- Lishek's Warning
- Kehsil
- The Skull of Mora Tao
- The Shroud of Angevin
- The Hand of Glory (Q'Yann)
- The Mask of Belthegor

Death Count: 1
- Drowned in the embrace of a dozen corpses at the doorstep of Alcham Lugosh.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Tue Jul 01, 2014 9:16 pm

Awesome. Are you going to have a Q&A session?

Silent Wayfarer · Post by **Silent Wayfarer** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 12:42 am

Yep. Just didn't know how to phrase it. Also, 2 AM.

So, what do you guys want to know? I can safely say that we skipped two fairly big sidequests (Jason expy and the village of plague zombies), but oddly enough, the Skull of Mora Tao wasn't as much of an albatross as one might have expected. It actively hampers you on any skulduggerous venture.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 4:23 am

OK, so any more details on the two sidequests?
Other questions (will ask more if I think of any more):
What would've happened if we stayed and fought instead of leaving with Gruul immediately?
How much easier would this have been if we had all of those damn costumes?

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 6:04 am

Is there any way to get all 6 artefacts?

Silent Wayfarer · Post by **Silent Wayfarer** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 7:00 am

Darth Rabbitt wrote:OK, so any more details on the two sidequests?
Other questions (will ask more if I think of any more):
What would've happened if we stayed and fought instead of leaving with Gruul immediately?
How much easier would this have been if we had all of those damn costumes?

The first sidequest has to do with the traitor in the Watch, Conrad Zaar. He stays at Weathern Mill, and we would have gotten the hint about him if we had chosen to examine the drawer, or look at the window, then the drawer. Zaar is a decent fight, but after you defeat him, his corpse gets struck by lightning and gets back up. His keyword is "Darnoc", and he is an unstoppable Jason clone who would have shown up again at the Chamber of Horrors (incidentally killing that loudmouth patron).

The second sidequest is very obscure. You need to have 1) chased the assassin 2) taken the Distraction Carriage 3) rode it into the river 4) befriended a beggar after washing up (who would have given you an antidote for the poisoned letter in Silas Entador's house) 5) opted to chase the beggar's killer after finding him shocked to death. All this gives you the chance to hunt the Shocker when given the chance (HP gated; you automatically give up on it if you roll more than your Stamina on 3 dice). If you fight and kill it, you instantly learn Gruul's location.

If you had stayed and fought, there would be a brief combat sequence, and then you get the chance to flee again. If you don't flee, everyone except Gruul dies instantly to the Ethereal Projector.

I doublechecked, and you can only get one of three costumes: vampire costume, orc rogue costume and Brician noble costume. Vampire costume lets you scare Hogg and Kilmarney into working for free (but calls in a lynch mob which could kill you and wastes a lot of time). Orc rogue costume lets you walk around Gruul's tower with little difficulty. Brician noble costume is probably the most useful, it gives you an in with the Rosichalcians and lets you go to Penkhull, or plague zombie village.

Sirocco wrote:Is there any way to get all 6 artefacts?

Yes, actually.

Kiennar's Curiosity Shoppe gives you the Blood of Baron Milescu. Takes 1 hour.

Chamber of Horrors gives the Angevin Shroud, takes 1 hour.

The Old Gaol gives the Chain of Argolis, takes 2 hours.

The Mask of Belthegor is obtained from tbe Shrine of Belthegor and takes 2 hours.

Gallows Square gives the Hand of Glory, which only takes 1 hour to obtain, but another 1 hour to activate, so 2 hours total.

The Skull of Mora Tao takes 3 hours to obtain, 4 hours if you get caught by the lynch mob.

So yes, the first 5 add up to 8 hours and the last one pushes you over for a total of 11 to 12 hours.

Mr Shine · Post by **Mr Shine** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 8:38 am

Silent Wayfarer wrote: Yes, actually....

...Gallows Square gives the Hand of Glory, which only takes 1 hour to obtain, but another 1 hour to activate, so 2 hours total.

Reference [b]190[/b] wrote: Every part of your subconscious self begs you not to enter the Door Beyond... ..Now add 3 Hours and return to 200

Is there a more efficient way to do this then?

Silent Wayfarer · Post by **Silent Wayfarer** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 10:13 am

Huh. I must have misremembered. So it seems like it's impossible, after all.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 12:45 pm

Yeah, I was wondering about your remark about it being possible to gain all 6 wards. 5 is the best anyone can do.

The skull and the Hand are the ones that potentially protect us from insta-deaths, but they take up the most time. That's why I voted to get one of them at the first opportunity (skull) but then voted to delay the other one till later. Our best chance was to leave one of the 3-hr wards to the last.

I'd wanted to skip the curiosity shop, because the ward we get there isn't useful on its own and is not vital for our survival. It's a phial of dried vampire blood that has a random chance of releasing a vampire lord to attack us every time we're in combat, so would likely be more hindrance than help to us. All the other wards (besides the skull, which is also a hindrance but protects us from insta-death against Gruul) are useful on their own (e.g. the mask gives us extra skill, etc)

The theatre where we could have found the 3 costumes is also where we could have found a Theatre Phantom (Corpse Master) who is Gruul's ally, but with the right skill we could have turned him against Gruul, and he'll show up during the final encounter to weaken Gruul (giving him only one chance to cast a spell at us before he's forced to use up all his remaining Notura against the Corpse Master so that we'd only need 1 ward out of 6).

Silent Wayfarer · Post by **Silent Wayfarer** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 1:56 pm

The Blood of Baron Milescu protects you from losing all your Special Skills when Gruul magics you, but the impact of actually losing all those skills can be completely avoided by the right choices. I mean, pretty much none of the choices leading to the good end require special skills at all, just Stamina checks, and the blood doesn't help with that.

The Hand and the Skull are the most important, but the Skull is a huge pain in the ass when sneaking or stealing. The Hand is quite crucial because it blocks the Rennur keyword, which turns you back into a Moonrunner and Gruul's loyal slave.