[LP] Virtual Reality Adventure Book: Down Among the Dead Men

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

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Silent Wayfarer
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

I vote for the ship in the bottle and the kite.
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
Mr Shine
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Post by Mr Shine »

Drop the Shark-tooth sword. It''s done a job, I doubt it'll have any more and I expect it's more fragile than a good steel blade. Also drop the charts, I don't think we need them any more.

Take all 3 items.
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Post by SGamerz »

There's one more thing I forgot to add earlier. There's another way to get the Shark's-tooth sword and the feather shield even without having any Skills that are applicable here, but the way it's presented is weird:
Remember when we had the chance to offer them gifts and they still attack us after that? Well, if we chose to walk away first, we get another chance to offer them gifts (which we didn't since we used CUNNING). We are then given the exact same list of items that we are told can satisfy them But this time, if we give up one of those items, instead of attacking us after taking the gifts they offer us the shield and sword in exchange. Yeah, this part is just bizzare.

Either way though, walking away from the start was the optimal choice, since we're given options that we weren't given before.
Anyway, out of the 3 voters we have 1 vote for taking taking everything and dropping 2 items, one vote for taking 2, and one vote for just taking one without dropping anything. 3-way tie....I think I'll take the compromise option of drinking the potion on the spot like Sirocco suggested since we're at half our Life points, and taking the other 2 (so we have to drop 1 item).

Mr Shine voted to drop Shark-tooth sword and charts. I'll wait a bit more to see if anyone casts a tiebreaker vote or make a decisive vote on which single item to drop. If there's none, I'll drop the first item mentioned (sowrd) and take both bottle and kite.

Any objections, shout!
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Darth Rabbitt
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

If the shark-tooth sword counts as a sword for the purpose of our skill I'd suggest dropping our normal sword. If it doesn't, I guess we should drop the shark-tooth sword.

Definitely drop the charts, and grab the potion, bottle, and kite.
Pseudo Stupidity wrote:This Applebees fucking sucks, much like all Applebees. I wanted to go to Femboy Hooters (communism).
SGamerz
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Post by SGamerz »

Ok, the decision now is to definitely drop the charts, and grab everything. It's actually never explicitly mentioned whether the Shark-tooth's sword counts as a substitute sword. Since there was already one vote to specifically drop the Shark's tooth, I'll go with dropping that and keeping our normal sword. We grab all the loot except the wand.
Swept onwards, your little craft starts to spring leaks. If you earlier used CHARMS to keep it afloat then there is no cause for alarm. Otherwise, note the codeword Detrude.

Thirst, hunger and the heat become your bitter foes. Petty quarrels break out as conditions worsen. Each man is nearing the end of his tether. Lose 1 Life Point. If you have any provisions, cross one off and turn to 156; if you have none, turn to 175.
I don't like the sound of that codeword.... Down to 4 Life points, and 1 unit of provisions.
The most westerly of the islands comes in sight. It is a large golden-shored jungle island with many welcoming coves. 'Others have put in here, when blown north off the main shipping route,' Grimes recalls. 'The natives are said to be hospitable.'

You stare into the west. Leshand is still two hundred leagues off, and it might be wise to reprovision before you undertake that long haul. And
yet worry gnaws at your mind: 'Hospitable when faced with gifts and muskets and a sea-going vessel of ten cannon, perhaps. But how will they greet a handful of starving wretches in a ramshackle craft?'

It's up to you. You can put in here or sail on without stopping.
We haven't met any decent folk on the island, so far....but we probably need the provisions. Stop here or not?

Adventure Sheet:
Name: Long Dong Silver
Profession: Swashbuckler
Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, STREETWISE and SWORDPLAY
Life Points: 4
Possessions:
1) Sword
2) Healing Potion (restore all Life Points)
3) Monkey
4) Provisions
5) Feather Shield
6) Black Kite
7) Ship in a bottle
8)
Money: 10 doubloons
Codewords: Detrude
No. of Deaths: 2
No. of rewinds/retcons: 3
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Post by Starmaker »

SGamerz, please check your PMs asap, kthx.
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Post by SGamerz »

Starmaker wrote:SGamerz, please check your PMs asap, kthx.
Much appreciated! Thanks! :)
Silent Wayfarer
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

Long Dong likes to put it in.
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
SGamerz
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Post by SGamerz »

You row in towards the island, beaching your vessel on the deserted shore. Oakley gives a cry of delight as he spots a pineapple that has fallen from a tree at the top of the beach. Its juice stings his sun-cracked lips, but he chews ravenously at it all the same.

'Heads up,' Grimes says tersely. 'We got company, shipmates.'

You turn your head. A large group of Carab natives has emerged from the woods and is coming across the sand towards you. 'Welcoming party,' you mutter under your breath, noticing the spears.

If you have the codeword Scrip, turn at once to 253. Otherwise you can attack - either with a pistol and MARKSMANSHIP, or in hand-to-hand fighting. Or you might prefer to parley, or to put to sea before they reach you.
Déjà vu? Scenario looks familiar.

Fight, parley or run (unlike the first island, the wording here implies that we leave the island straight rather than just calmly walk away)?
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Sirocco
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Post by Sirocco »

I'm inclined to say "parley", but we're likely to end up in a boiling cauldron or something...
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Post by SGamerz »

The natives bring you baked root-bread, fruit and gourds full of fresh water. You can take enough provisions for two meals. Note these as possessions on your Adventure Sheet, and cross one meal off whenever you are told you need provisions.

They also take a look at your battered craft and help to patch up any damage, demonstrating amazing skill with no tools other than bamboo and woven leaves. If you have the codewords Detrude or Peccant, delete them.

With the help of sign language, the chief explains to you that not many ocean-going vessels visit this island. If you were to stay here you might be marooned for months. On the other hand, he offers to escort you southwards to the main shipping-lane, where you might meet up with a ship bound for civilization. You soon realize that this would not be a free service, however - he expects a gift of some kind.

If you give the chief a gift in return for being escorted south, turn to 310. If you'd rather head on towards Leshand without his help, turn to 177. Or you could stay on the island and wait for rescue, in which case turn to 329 if you have a book of charts, or to 348 if you do not.
Whaddya know! Actually finding some decent folks on the island!

To save time, I'll just show what kind of gifts will work:
You must give the chief one of these items: a sword, a pistol, a wand, an amulet, a ship in a bottle, a conchshell horn, a bat-shaped talisman, a black kite or all your money. Delete one of these from your Adventure Sheet. (If you do not have one of these items, or do not want to give one away, turn to 272 and choose again.)
Do we want to give them a gift in exchange for their help (now that I think about it, maybe we should have taken the useless wand and give it away here)? Strike out on our own (they already repaired our boat and gave us food, at least), or stay and wait?

Also, we have one free slot in our pack, so we'll take one of their meals automatically. Do we want to drop something else to make room for the second meal?

Adventure Sheet:
Name: Long Dong Silver
Profession: Swashbuckler
Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, STREETWISE and SWORDPLAY
Life Points: 4
Possessions:
1) Sword
2) Healing Potion (restore all Life Points)
3) Monkey
4) Provisions
5) Feather Shield
6) Black Kite
7) Ship in a bottle
8) Provisions
Money: 10 doubloons
Codewords: Detrude
No. of Deaths: 2
No. of rewinds/retcons: 3
Silent Wayfarer
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

Give them le money. Failing that, le kite.
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
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Sirocco
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Post by Sirocco »

We're gonna need money when we strike civilization.

I say give the kite, or keep our stuff and carry on on our own, in that preference.
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Post by Mr Shine »

I'd say thanks, but any of those items seem too useful to give away. i vote to just head off. If we have to give something, then money, kite, ship in order of preference.
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Post by SGamerz »

Exact 3-way tie on 1st choice.... -_-

Gonna assign points to break them via fuzzy logic:

Give money: 1st choice - 1 vote (Silent Wayfarer), 2nd choice - 1 vote (Mr Shine)

Give Kite: 1st choice - 1 vote (Sirocco), 2nd choice - 1 vote (SW), 3rd choice - 1 vote (MS)

No gifts: 1st choice - 1 vote (MS), 2nd choice - 1 vote (Sirocco)

Give Ship: 4th choice - 1 vote (MS)

Assigning 4 points to 1st choices and 1 less in descending order for each of the others:

Give money: 4+3=7
Give Kite: 4+3+2=9
No gifts: 4+3=7
Give ship: 1

We give the Kite. >.>

We also grab both meals, since we now have another free backpack slot.
Then, with two well-stocked canoes accompanying you, you strike south from Pandanus Island. After only a few days, you are delighted to see a ship appear on the eastern horizon. Gradually taking shape out of the morning haze, she draws closer until you can make out her comely gilded figurehead and the name painted across her bows: the Jewel of Heaven. Grimes is more interested in the colours she's flying. 'A Gloriannic ship, by God's grace! We're saved!'

Bidding farewell to the islanders who have brought you this far, you are grateful to be taken aboard the Jewel of Heaven. Even so, Blutz speaks for you all as he watches your little craft, now abandoned, go drifting off across the swell. 'She brought us through it against all the odds, mates. You can never say more for any vessel.' And, to the. bewilderment of the sailors, you raise your arms to salute the ramshackle craft bobbing off into the distance.

Image
Looks like we might not need the extra meals after all...
The captain of the Jewel of Heaven is a bluff good-natured man who roars at his crew with gusto. For their part they seem devoted to him - and perhaps a little overawed by his forceful nature and matchless knowledge of the sea. You spend several pleasant evenings sitting in his cabin, where the rum flows free after a good supper. 'Hark to that!' he is wont to say listening to the water lapping against the hull. 'Did you ever hear a mother with babe in arms sing such a sweet lullaby? Ah, the sweet sighing of the sea - it's a sound to seal the hushed casket of a man's soul, my merry lads!'

'Here aboard your fine ship, I'm happy to agree,' laughs Oakley. 'When we were drifting in our boat, though, the sea sang us a more mournful tune!'

The captain is glad to have educated company, and you can strike up conversations on various topics. You can ask for his opinion on pirates, on the war between Glorianne and Sidonia, on Queen Titania's visit to the New World colonies, or for information about Port Leshand.
Exposition time! What do we ask about?

Adventure Sheet:
Name: Long Dong Silver
Profession: Swashbuckler
Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, STREETWISE and SWORDPLAY
Life Points: 4
Possessions:
1) Sword
2) Healing Potion (restore all Life Points)
3) Monkey
4) Provisions
5) Feather Shield
6) Provisions
7) Ship in a bottle
8) Provisions
Money: 10 doubloons
Codewords: Detrude
No. of Deaths: 2
No. of rewinds/retcons: 3
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Sirocco
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Post by Sirocco »

Queen's visit
Information
Pirates
War

in that order, if available.
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Darth Rabbitt
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

I'm good with Sirocco's plan.
Pseudo Stupidity wrote:This Applebees fucking sucks, much like all Applebees. I wanted to go to Femboy Hooters (communism).
Silent Wayfarer
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

I'll third Sirocco's scheme.
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
SGamerz
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Post by SGamerz »

Asking abut the Queen's visit.....
He pauses in the act of raising his cup to his lips and glares at you from under beetling brows. 'Eh?' he demands. 'What do you know of that? It is supposed to be a secret, and you'd do well not to blab such delicate matters. A wagging tongue is a tongue worth cutting!' He fingers his sword-hilt, glowering at you sidelong.

If you explain about overhearing Skarvench's plan to kidnap the Queen, turn to 11. If you keep quiet about the matter, turn to 108.


We have a new option here. Tell him everything.
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Sirocco
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Post by Sirocco »

Sure, expose Skarvench's plan.
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Darth Rabbitt
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Tell him about Skarvench.
Pseudo Stupidity wrote:This Applebees fucking sucks, much like all Applebees. I wanted to go to Femboy Hooters (communism).
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

Spill the beans, though I have a bad feeling about this.
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
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Post by SGamerz »

'I see,' he says soberly when you have told him all you know. He sets his cup aside and goes to make sure no one is listening at the cabin door. Returning, he drops his voice and says, 'Keep this to yourselves. It may be that we shall yet foil Skarvench's scheme, but we'll have no hope of catching him if word gets out that we're forewarned. Listen now: once you are settled in Leshand, come to my house on Halyard Street. Ask for Master Capstick — that's me. There we'll make our plans to catch that sea rat!'
This should probably have been the last question we asked him, since it closes off the option of asking him other questions. We would also get the chance to tell him about Skarvench's plot by asking about the war. The other 2 questions will give us some info before giving us the option to ask other questions.
The days pass, balmy and full of ease after your long deprivation. With rest and food you recover quickly from your ordeal. You can now restore up to 2 Life Points (but your Life Points score cannot exceed its initial value).

At last you catch sight of land, and after tacking along the coast for a few hours you arrive at Leshand harbour. A forest of masts sways along the wharf, and the sharp smells of tar and fish waft on the air. As the Jewel of Heaven ties up at the quayside, you are anxious to gather your few belongings and go ashore. 'Dry land...' says Oakley, in the tone of a man greeting his long-lost sweetheart. 'I never thought to see it again!' The captain and crew are busy unloading their cargo. You thank them, shaking each man's hand as you press across the deck and make your way down the gangplank.

The dock is a confused bustle, with longshoremen and sailors teeming around and wagons trundling to and fro. Pushing through the milling crowds, you head along a narrow alley in search of an inn.
We're up to 6 Life points.....and we needed that.
If you have the codeword Chancery, turn to 406. If not, delete all codewords and turn to 423.


Nope. And we don't really have any codewords left, at any rate.
Leshand is a busy port of narrow half-timbered houses with small leaded windows and peaked roofs of olive-green tiles. The town is overlooked by the massive stone garrison fort on the hill above the harbour. It is well known that the governor prefers to rule the colony with a light touch, exercising his authority in as leisurely a manner as possible, openly encouraging buccaneers to put into dock here and spend their loot. But things are different at the moment, and you are struck by subtle but noticeable changes since your last visit. The buccaneers are here as usual, but in fewer numbers and on markedly better behaviour. The soldiers of the city militia are adorned in clean new tabards, which they wear with expressions of pride. There are even a handful of street-cleaners whom you pass scrubbing at the accumulated grime on the cobblestones.

A good meal and a bath go a long way to refreshing you after your weeks at sea. You can now recuperate 3 Life Points (up to the limit set by your initial Life Points score).

If you have STREETWISE, turn to 127. If you have met Master Capstick and want to pay a visit to his house now, turn to 69. Otherwise, decide what you'll do next: visit a chandler's for supplies (12), seek out someone who can identify strange items (31), apply for a letter of marque (turn to 50 if you have ROGUERY, 409 if not), or listen for rumours (88).

Image
And we're almost up to full Life points (9)!

And finally STREETWISE gets to show his stuff in civilization:
You soon learn that the governor recently ordered preparations for a state visit by Queen Titania. Sitting in a harbour tavern with an old acquaintance of yours, Black Danny McClintock, you watch amazed as the scar-faced rogue orders a jug of spiced milk instead of his usual shot of strong rum. 'We've been warned off causing any affray, under threat of Moses' Law on our bare backsides,' he explains. 'I'm playing it safe by doing no drinking or gambling for the duration.'

You nod, hiding a smile. Moses' Law is thirty-nine strokes of the birch, but what this pack of dockside villains fear more than the pain is the public humiliation. After strutting like bantam cocks around Leshand's byways for so long, they hate having to knuckle under to the law. Doubtless that's why you can see your old friend Snake-Eyes Johnson in the street just outside helping an old lady with her shopping basket - and not even filching so much as an orange while he does it.

The others listen with interest when you meet up later to tell them what you've learned. "This state visit,' ponders Blutz. 'It must be someone pretty important to cause a clampdown like this.'

If you are to have any hope of catching up with Skarvench you will have to move on soon. He would never show his face around Leshand, with so many murders to his name. But you also have a feeling it might be worth spending a little while digging out more rumours. If you decide to do so, turn to 88.

Otherwise you can visit a chandler's to buy supplies (12), look for someone who can identify unusual items (31), apply for a letter of marque (turn to 50 if you have ROGUERY, 409 if not), or pay a visit to Master Capstick if you met him previously (69).

If you have now completed all your business in Leshand, turn to 107.
Ok, even though there's a blue option available, there's something about the way about this is structured that I don't like, so I'm going to post a little spoiler:
Visiting Master Capstick will close off the other options and take us straight to 107 after the visit, so that should be left to the last.
Where do we want to go first?

Adventure Sheet:
Name: Long Dong Silver
Profession: Swashbuckler
Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, STREETWISE and SWORDPLAY
Life Points: 9
Possessions:
1) Sword
2) Healing Potion (restore all Life Points)
3) Monkey
4) Provisions
5) Feather Shield
6) Black Kite
7) Ship in a bottle
8) Provisions
Money: 10 doubloons
Codewords: Detrude
No. of Deaths: 2
No. of rewinds/retcons: 3
Silent Wayfarer
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Post by Silent Wayfarer »

Go identify items!
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
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Sirocco
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Post by Sirocco »

Sure, identify items, why not.
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