[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 38 - Vault of the Vampire

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Which of the below should be the official name of our hero?

Blade Belmont von Alucard
3
43%
Blade Bellend von Alucard
1
14%
Blade Bellendmont von Alucard
2
29%
Blade Bellerophont von Alucard
1
14%
 
Total votes: 7

SGamerz
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Post by SGamerz »

Mean guys drink too, don't they? So they may have alcohol in their coffins too! Right? Right?
You open the door, to gaze on a horrid scene: the stone sarcophagus in this bare room has been smashed open, and a half-rotting green thing, which may once have been human is crouched close by the door, gnawing on a bone. Immediately it leaps, snarling, to attack you. An overwhelming stench of rotting flesh nauseates and weakens you. Will you fight this creature or try to get out and shut the door, locking the thing inside?
I guess it shouldn't be surprising that the meanest guy remains mean even in death. Re-kill the bastard or bravely run away?
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Sirocco
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Post by Sirocco »

Damn, a ghoul. I hate those diseased mofos.

I'm sensing a SKILL penalty from the stench and/or diseased touch. Plus, nothing indicates noteworthy loot in this room...

Yeah, I think we're done here. Slam the door in his face.
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Darth Rabbitt
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Yeah, the other room had booze, so I doubt this room will have anything but Douchey McNoble here. Let him wallow in his own filth; Blade doesn't penetrate anything that dirty.
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Post by SGamerz »

Oops wrong door, don't trouble yourself, ghoul, I'll find my own way out....
This is a foolish decision! The monster was already close by the door, and you have no time to flee in this way. The Stench Ghoul hits you: lose 2 STAMINA points.
Okay, that was a dick move by the author.
Your FAITH is useless against this Stench Ghoul, a creature fired by a malice that has grown insatiable over years of imprisonment, so you must fight! Because of the nauseous stench, you must subtract 2 from your SKILL for the duration of this combat only.

STENCH GHOUL SKILL 8 STAMINA 9

If the Stench Ghoul hits you three times, turn at once to 127. If you win, turn to 180.
That was the same section we'd go to if we'd gotten hit by that other Ghoul 3 times, so we know what happens. Yep, and SKILL penalty too, as anticipated.

In protest of the author's dick move, I'm not going to count that cheap shot from behind as one of the 3 paralysing blows.

COMBAT LOG:
Ghoul 12, Blade 15. Ghoul is at 7.
Ghoul 16, Blade 16. Tie.
Ghoul 17, Blade 16. Blade is at 5 (hit once!).
Ghoul 13, Blade 17. Ghoul is at 5.
Ghoul 11, Blade 14. Ghoul is at 3.
Ghoul 14, Blade 16. Ghoul is at 1.
Ghoul 15, Blade 16. Ghoul is destroyed!
We down another meal to bring STAMINA up to 9.
Wiping the last of the slime from the Stench Ghoul off your sword, you take a quick look around and find a leather bag in the sarcophagus. This contains 5 Gold Pieces, which you add to your Treasure. Now you can try to open the tomb of Boris the Drunkard, if you haven't already investigated it, or head down the corridor to the T-junction.
We've already got the booze from Boris, onwards!
At the eastern end of the corridor is a black door with heavy iron bands; at the sides, to north and south, are small side-passages which also end in a black wooden door. Checking them swiftly, you find that the northern door has a plaque which reads: 'Doktor Pieter Faustus, Physician to Count Wilhelm Heydrich'. The other doors have no decorations. Will you open:

The north door?
The east door?
The south door?
Wilhelm Heydrich, if you guys remember, is the Count's mad cousin. If his physician is now lying in the Crypts, I guess one shouldn't wonder that it hasn't done his sanity any good.

Which way now?

Adventure Sheet:
Name: Blade Belmont von Alucard
SKILL 9/10 (10 in combat!)
STAMINA 9/21
LUCK 5/8
Faith: 12
Possessions: Sword, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, Garlic, Magic Sword, Shield of Faith, Silver Mirror, Silver Key, Book of Swords, Silvered Stake, Castellan's Keys, Ring of Regeneration (+2 STAMINA after each battle won), Crypt Key, Crucifix, Siegfried's Magic Chainmail (+1 SKILL in combat), Brandy (+4 STAMINA).
Provisions: 3
Afflictions: None
Gold Pieces: 9
Treasure: assorted ornaments & jewellery (worth 7 gp), crystal birds (worth 3 gp), silver pin (worth 2 gp), small trinkets (worth 4 gp)
Clues: "Forward and back" (clue to something the Count has hidden with magic lock)
No. of coffins destroyed: 2
No. of Deaths: 2
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Darth Rabbitt
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Check out Faust's room, although I'd recommend eating another meal first.
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

Nom a meal, check on the good Doktor.
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
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Post by SGamerz »

We eat another meal in preparation of possible nasty encounters before entering the late physician's tomb:
You enter a mausoleum containing a sarcophagus amd some wall-shelves and tables, covered with a bizzare array of items. You notice surgical equipment, blades, bottled specimens and freaks of nature, jars of fluids, and a number of severed limbs and heads which appear to be in perfectly preserved condition. This is rather disturbing, so will you:

Search this chamber?
Leave and open the east door?
Leave and open the south door?
They not only gave him his own tomb, they gave him a whole lab even after his death! All those preserved severed limbs rather suggest that he wasn't the nice sort of physician when he was alive. I'm starting to wonder whether poor Wilhelm went mad in spite of having a physician or because of it....

Search or not?
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

Search it. Though we might find a frankensteinian flesh golem...
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
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Sirocco
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Post by Sirocco »

Investigate.
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Post by SGamerz »

We loot the place in the hopes of finding the formula to create our own Frankenstein Monster.....
You look around for anything that may be of value, but as you search the shelves you hear a strange bubbling, gulping sound behind you. Spinning around, you see a disgusting, greenish yellow, seething monstrosity, slithering from the sarcophagus and barring your way to the door. Most horrible of all, in the depths of the foul, slimy mess you can see what could just be the remains of a human face! It slides along the floor towards you, stretching out with limb-like pseudopods to reach you. You must fight this horror!

NECROTIC JELLY SKILL 7 STAMINA 9

If the Necrotic Jelly wounds you, turn at once to 367. If you overcome the horror turn to 184.
At least, for once, we face an enemy that's both significantly weaker and brings no additional SKILL or other penalty...no immediate penalty, anyway, since it looks like there may be worse in store if it manages to wound us. Let's hope for a flawless on this....

COMBAT LOG:
Jelly 12, Blade 15. Jelly is at 7.
Jelly 11, Blade 16. Jelly is at 5.
Jelly 14, Blade 19. Jelly is at 3.
Jelly 14, Blade 17. Jelly is at 1.
Jelly 13, Blade 19. Jelly is destroyed!
Our second flawless combat in this book!

I just remembered that I forgot to give us back 2 STAMINA for the Ring of Regeneration after killing the Stench Ghoul, so in addition to getting back another 2 here, our STAMINA (thanks to the meal we consumed before we entered the lab) is now a solid 17!
Having destroyed the loathsome remains of Doktor Faustus, do you want to:

Finish searching the room?
Leave here and open the eastern door?
Leave and open the southern door?
Do we still have the stomach to search further?

Adventure Sheet:
Name: Blade Belmont von Alucard
SKILL 9/10 (10 in combat!)
STAMINA 17/21
LUCK 5/8
Faith: 12
Possessions: Sword, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, Garlic, Magic Sword, Shield of Faith, Silver Mirror, Silver Key, Book of Swords, Silvered Stake, Castellan's Keys, Ring of Regeneration (+2 STAMINA after each battle won), Crypt Key, Crucifix, Siegfried's Magic Chainmail (+1 SKILL in combat), Brandy (+4 STAMINA).
Provisions: 2
Afflictions: None
Gold Pieces: 9
Treasure: assorted ornaments & jewellery (worth 7 gp), crystal birds (worth 3 gp), silver pin (worth 2 gp), small trinkets (worth 4 gp)
Clues: "Forward and back" (clue to something the Count has hidden with magic lock)
No. of coffins destroyed: 2
No. of Deaths: 2
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

Well, we found Faustus and the thing that killed him. It should be safe to search.

Plus, 17 Stamina.
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
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Sirocco
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Post by Sirocco »

Loot time!
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Post by SGamerz »

We won't be statisfied until we find loot!
As you rummage around, one of the arms on the shelves suddenly grabs your arm and holds it quite firmly. It is not hurting you, but it won't let go. You can try to hack at the limb with your sword, since it isn't grasping your sword arm, or just stay put and see what happens.
Getting spookier by the minute!
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

It might be an undead honey that needs the Blade Bellend. Let it hold on.
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
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Post by SGamerz »

Whilst waiting for more votes, I thought I'd just put up some of the pictures I missed out earlier.

Here's the Chest containing the Magic Chainmail:
Image
Here's a look at the inside of Doktor Faustus' lab/mausoleum:
Image
And here's the Doktor himself....in slime form!
Image

And for those of you wondering what happens if we got hit by the jelly,
having Curse of the Bat leads to Gamer Over as Blade gets transformed into a bat! Having the Curse of the Healer means that the jelly aggravates the wound in our neck, and we start bleeding STAMINA every round. Having no Afflictions at all leads to a -1 SKILL penalty. All in all, a pretty nasty little horror that we were lucky to avoid.
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Post by Laertes »

It sounds like a trick question to me. The only reason to ask us whether we want to hack it or not is because hacking at it is detrimental in this instance. Thus, I say hold on.

Also, that ooze is nasty!
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Post by SGamerz »

There's no need for panic or violence, right? I mean, getting groped by some preserved severed limb in some mad scientist's tomb happens all the time, right?
The index finger of the hand is raised, painfully slowly, and it gestures towards the south. Out of the corner of your eye you see a bottled human head opening and closing its eyes, apparently trying to speak, but it can say nothing. Again the finger gestures to the south, and for an instant you think you can hear a whispering voice say, 'Help.' Then the arm falls back lifelessly from you, and the head does not move. This is unnerving; you must lose 1 FAITH point, and you abandon your search straight away. Will you now open the south door at the T-junction or the east door?
Choosing not to hack the limb was actually
the better option, as attacking costs us a Luck point in addition to the Faith point.
The severed limb pointed to the south.....but do we want to go there?
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Sirocco
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Post by Sirocco »

I think the east door with the iron bands moves us forward, so let's sidetrack for a bit to the south.
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Post by Laertes »

Agreed. Sidetrack south. We have the stamina, we can afford it.
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Post by SGamerz »

We followed the direction pointed out to us by the nice broken arm.
You insert the key into the lock and push the door open. Inside, there is a row of simple tombs with no markings or decorations, all identical. You have a strange sensation; your nerves are tingling, and a bead of sweat drips from your brow into one eye, making it sting. You rub your eyes to clear your vision, and when you look again you can see a pale, ghostly figure drifting towards you, gesturing to you to come forward. The apparition - seemingly a woman - is young, gaunt of face, and looking very determined! You can either flee or walk towards her.
Approach the ghostly chick?
Last edited by SGamerz on Wed Jul 23, 2014 12:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Darth Rabbitt
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

No "stand your ground?" Out of the two, I suppose we should walk, since Blade doesn't run from anything.
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Sirocco
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Post by Sirocco »

Flee? Nevar!
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

Approach the ghostly grill.
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
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Post by SGamerz »

We walk up close to the ghost to get a better look at her. This is what she looks like:
Image
The ghostly girl communicates with you by telepathy. I am Jandor, one of Katarina's victims, she tells you. I was caught off guard and my magic could not help me before I was bled t death. You shiver, contemplating such a terrible end. There's no time for that. My tomb - she gestures - my magical ring of spell-storing is in it. It will help you in your quest. All those buried here have been consumed by the Heydrichs over the years. Bring us our revenge. You nod grimly to her; you seek nothing more!

The youthful wizard's ghost watches as you open her tomb and take the plain gold ring from her skeletal hand. The ring originally had six spells stored in it, but now only three remain. Each spell is usable only once. Roll one die three times to get three different numbers between 1 and 6, then consult the list below to see which spells the ring has within it for you. (Re-roll any duplicated numbers.) For each spell, turn to the paragraph which describes that spell; you will then be referred back to this paragraph.

Die roll of 1, spell is FORCEWALL
Die roll of 2, spell is GREATSTRIKE
De roll of 3, spell is JANDOR'S BOLT
Die roll of 4, spell is LUCKSPELL
Die roll of 5, spell is SHATTER
Die roll of 6, spell is TRUEHEAL

When you have determined the three spells in the ring, record them in the Spells box on your Adventure Sheet. You leave with the ghost's blessing.
This is probably the most awesome loot we've found so far! Let's take a look at what spells we've got:

Die roll: 5 - SHATTER!
SHATTER is a spell which will destroy any one creature that is made almost entirely of bones, such as a Skeleton. You may cast it at any time during a combat with such a creature.
Should be useful in a castle of undead - in fact we could have used it when we fought that thing guarding the magic chest!

Die roll: 2 - GREATSTRIKE!
GREATSTRIKE is a spell that is usable in combat when you wield a sword. You cast the spell before you strike and, if you have the higher Attack Strength and land a blow on your enemy in that Attack Round, your blow- does 4 extra points of damage. If you do not land a blow in the Attack Round when you use the spell, though, the spell is useless. And you must decide if you want to use this spell before you throw the dice to find out who has the higher Attack Strength.
So, a one-shot power-up for 6 STAMINA damage.....cn be useful for shortening fights with time limits or extra penalty if we get hit.

Die roll: 3 - JANDOR'S BOLT!
JANDOR'S BOLT is a powerful spell which creates a glowing bolt of white energy that will deliver 6 points of damage to the STAMINA of any one undead creature. You can use it at any time during combat.
It's a spell personalized with the wizard's name! Would be nice to zap Reiner or Katarina with it.....almost as if she's striking a blow of vengeance through us!

Now, we leave the tomb:
You slam the door behind you. As you look northwards, you see a slimy trail of greenish yellow muck seething from under the door to the north! You open the eastern door quickly and slip through.
Since we were there before, we were probably the one responsible for that muck....
You open the great black door to the east and step into a dank corridor in which there is an almost palpable sense of evil. Your light-source shows gleams reflecting ahead, and you see the yellowed bones of the guardian which is moving swiftly towards you. The huge, four-armed skeletal creature - a Major Thassaloss - carries a massive black scythe; great, green, glowing eye-sockets glower above the mindlessly grinning, slack jawbone of the skull. You may either fight the thing or, if you can, cast a spell at it.
Already, a chance to use our newly-acquired spells! Oh, and if you think this monster sounds familiar, yes we killed its little brother Minor Thassaloss (whom I dub Major Staminaloss) not too long ago!

Fight or magic?
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

Shatter its ass!
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
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