Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2015 2:01 am
Thirded.
Welcome to the Gaming Den.
http://www.tgdmb.com/phpBB3/
Our Luck is at 13 (again). When is the last time we actually have to roll for a test (we're immune to Resolve, Luck and Alarm test failures at the moment)?You creep cautiously along the gallery, fearing that at any moment you may step upon a creaky floorboard. Test your Luck. If you are Lucky, turn to 44. If you are Unlucky, turn to 204.
This is starting to feel like a walk in the park (famous last words, huh?).Hardly daring to draw breath, you finally reach the far end of the gallery. Your fingers find the door-latch in the gloom and you slowly edge it open.
Pretty cool that we're being told that our character actually had some confidence in winning a 50-on-1 fight. Alas, there's no option to try the "impossible" by attempting the 200-on-1 battle. Would have been a cool visual, if nothing else.You step through the doorway and have to feel your way along, as very little light. Penetrates the closed casements in the outer wall and you dare not risk kindling a torch. As your eyes adjust to the darkness, you discern a door and a narrow flight of steps that must wind down to the great hall. Briefly you consider your chances of defeating all two hundred Knights of Alptraum, should you goad them into attacking you up the narrow stairs. Were there only fifty, you might manage it, fighting them one at a time and with the advantage of height. But the sheer weight of numbers, coupled with their tireless sinews, would prevail against you in the end. Instead, you turn your attention to the door directly ahead of you which, you discover, leads on to the east battlements.
If you go out on to the battlements, turn to 124. If you return to the east tower and climb further up the staircase, turn to 377.
There might have been just a slight chance of us failing this roll if the instruction were to subtract 4 from the number we rolled.You reach the door leading to the apartments at the top of the tower This door has Mortis's seal upon it, and it is with some trepidation that you swing it open. As you do so, an ominous creaking sound comes from its hinges, carrying into the dark stillness beyond. Roll two dice and add 4 to the total rolled. If this number is less than or equal to your Alarm Value, turn to 76. If it is greater, turn to 315.
Hmmmm.....doesn't exactly look like the prison we're looking for, does it?You edge forward into the space beyond the door and find yourself in a vestibule hung with musty black drapes. Double doors lead to a chamber beyond this. As your eyes get accustomed to the darkness, you see that a forbidding emblem has been etched like a bloodstain across the doors: the outline of a horned skull. If you wish to flee back down the stairs and out of the castle, tum to 396. If you have the courage to throw open the doors, turn to 374.
Frankly, I'd be impressed with anyone who managed to gain that much attention.It your Alarm Value is 9 or more, turn to 56. If it is 8 or less, turn to 48.
For once, we face a dice-roll test that we may actually fail if we choose to take it.You burst into the apartment - to discover Lord Mortis sitting on an ornate throne awaiting nightfall. He is clad in tarnished silver armour of a style not worn for many centuries, and in his hand he balances a heavy flanged mace. lf you have the Ivory Spear of the hero Qadarnai, you can either hurl it at him, or use it in melee. Should you decide to throw it, roll two dice. If the total rolled is less than or equal to your SKILL, your spear missile hits him turn to 208. If the total rolled is greater than your SKILL, you miss. In this event, or if you do not have the Ivory Spear or choose not to throw it, you must do battle with him hand to hand- turn to 28.
Considering this guy got out of his coffin after being dead for a few centuries, I think it's fair to count him as Undead.....we do know he's vulnerable to the Spear, at least, so the double-damage should apply. What I'm not too certain about is the shield bonus....I'm not so sure if he seems like the kind of guy who will flinch from his own reflection.Through the arrow-slits behind him, you see the last rays of daylight drain out of the sky. 'Night has fallen,' Mortis says in a voice filled with triumph. 'You cannot hope to stand against me now.' You must fight him.
LORD MORTIS SKILL 11 STAMINA 20
If you win, turn to 400.
Victory! And we didn't die a single time in this playthrough. Its reputation of being one of the easiest book is certainly well-deserved.Your Ring of Communing crackles into life, even though you believed you had used up all its energy. Against the backdrop of your imagination you can see General Chaideshu's gruff, battle-scarred features suspended in a void. 'You have the thanks of us all,' says his voice in your mind. 'Without Mortis at their head, the Chaos pirates will soon scatter before our fleets. But the linchpin of our victory has been the battle you fought today.'
You feel pride at his words - but you don't let him sense it. 'Fine,' you imagine yourself replying. 'Now, how about sending a ship to get us off this godforsaken island!' You can look forward to a hero's welcome in Port Kanthos.
For a moment you panic you cannot remember the words - then they come back to you and you recite them in a spirit of uncanny calm. Immediately a crackling sound comes from the dam of bones: it reminds you of the sound of a frozen pond melting in the morning sun. The whole structure shifts alarmingly; you have to jump for your life on to a spur of rock just as the dam gives way and a torrent of water surges down towards the keep. Lord Mortis himself is engulfed, and almost at once you lose sight of his flailing limbs amid the debris of bone and shrouds that is swept down from the hills.
You make your way back to the keep, to find the castellan and his mother safe outside it. 'I was able to free my son while the evil one's attention was elsewhere,' she explains. You look towards the castle, now once more surrounded by a moat of fresh water which Mortis' undead troops cannot cross. They cluster on the walls, blind faces staring out hopelessly for some sight of their lost lord. Then a terrible soft moan rises into the night sky from a thousand unloving throats, and you see the glimmer of torches. Suddenly, sparks shoot up the sides of the great east tower. 'They're setting fire to the keep!' you say. 'Why?'
'Perhaps they prefer destruction to remaining as they are,' mutters the castellan.' Who would not?'
The three of you stand and watch all thrugh the night as a great conflagration spreads through the castle, casting a hot red light like spilled blood across the hills. By morning all that remains of Bloodrise Keep is the hollow, smouldering shell of the walls. Then you behold a miraculous sight: a flock of white birds, perhaps a thousand or more, rises up from the ashes of the ruins and soars into the silvery morning sky.
'The souls of those whom Mortis made undead,' says Lady Iola. 'Thank the Goddess, his destruction has liberated them at last.'
Turn to 400.
Far as I can tell, the halberd doesn't do anything special. It's possible I might have missed an encounter where it gets used, but I doubt it'll be anything important.Shiritai wrote:What about the halberd? Was that a complete red herring too? And was the Elixir of Lhyss a luck potion as suspected?
Nothing much, really. When asked which door to take he will say something vague: 'it depends on whether you know how to get two things out of one, and how to make sense out of a mix-up.', which probably is some sort of hint, but one that I can't really make head or tails out of, personally. Maybe you guys can figure it out better.Darth Rabbitt wrote:What happens if you talk nice to the Jester?
Judging__Eagle wrote:This has been a fun read, good work.
While between D&D groups for years, the closest thing that I had to RPGs was a collection of various book-games including a few dozen FF books, they were an amazingly broad variety of genres: Science Fiction, Low Magic, High Fantasy, Horror; it helped to show me that any sort of story can work as a game.
Hah, I have no idea either. I only went with the tree because trees don't kill people, snakes and swords kill people.SGamerz wrote: Nothing much, really. When asked which door to take he will say something vague: 'it depends on whether you know how to get two things out of one, and how to make sense out of a mix-up.', which probably is some sort of hint, but one that I can't really make head or tails out of, personally. Maybe you guys can figure it out better.