[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 64(?)-Night of the Necromancer

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

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply

Who do we want to play as?

Anvus Ravalan, Nightsbane & Remorseless Hunter
0
No votes
Evrain Peredur, the Zombie Killer
1
17%
Isolde Laodegan, Shield Maiden of Libra
5
83%
Create our own character
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 6

SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 64(?)-Night of the Necromancer

Post by SGamerz »

For those of you who may be wondering about the book number I assigned in the title....well, there wasn't enough space in the topic title to really specify that this book was one of the brand new books (amidst several old ones) in the second series published by Wizard Books , so I just assigned a book number by counting the sequence of the new books in the order they were published (Bloodbones, Eye of the Dragon, Howl of the Werewolf, and Stormslayer making up Books 60-63). Officially, Night of the Necromancer (written by Jonathan Green....just like all but one of the above new books) is the 8th book in the new publication series.

During the last playthrough, I've been looking for something that moves away from the standard premise, and I think this is one of the books that has an interesting enough plot an setup, and hopefully will give us a more fun playthrough. Let's look at what the back cover tells us:
Returning to your castle home, Valsinore, after three years away crusading against the forces of darkness, it seems as though evil has been laid to rest. But then, out of nowhere, you are cut down in the final stages of your journey.

Caught between the living world and the Lands of the Dead, your ghostly form must battle to uncover the most malignant evil of all that has taken root in the heart of Valsinore. Before the night is out you must have your revenge or face a fate even worse than death itself.
So yes, we'll be playing a ghost who attempts to find our murderer and gain our revenge! Also, we're apparently a warrior/knight Lord of some sort with our own castle and household staff.....and we would be searching among them for both murderers as well as allies.

As usual, with regards to the rules, there's always the following Standard FF Boilerplate Rules!:

Skill, Stamina, & Luck
SKILL score: Roll one die. Add 6 to the result.

STAMINA score: Roll two dice. Add 12 points to the result.

LUCK score: Roll one die. Add 6 to the result.

SKILL score reflects your expertise in combat, your ability with weapons, and your dexterity. STAMINA is your general constitution and "Life points" . LUCK score shows how lucky you are. None of them may exceed their Initial score unless specifically stated.

Eating a meal restores up to 4 points of STAMINA; you may only eat one meal at a time.

Testing your Luck: When instructed by the book to Test your Luck, roll two dice. If the result is equal to or less than your current LUCK score, you are Lucky. If the result exceeds your current LUCK score, you are Unlucky. Whatever the outcome, you must deduct one point from your current LUCK score every time you Test your Luck. The more you use your LUCK, the less likely you are to be Lucky.
Combat:
SKILL and STAMINA scores are given in the text for each adversary that you face.

The combat sequence is then:
1. Roll two dice for your opponent. Add the total rolled to its SKILL score. This is the Attack Strength of your enemy.
2. Roll two dice and add the total to your own current SKILL score. This is your Attack Strength.
3. If your Attack Strength is the higher, you have wounded your opponent: deduct 2 points from your opponent's STAMINA..
If your opponent's Attack Strength is higher, it has wounded you: deduct 2 points from your own STAMINA.
If both Attack Strengths are equal, you have avoided each other's blows.
4. Begin the next Combat Round, starting again at step 1. This procedure continues until either you or your opponent has a STAMINA score of zero. If your opponent's STAMINA score reaches zero, you have killed it and can continue with your adventure.

Often you will have to fight more than one opponent at a time. Sometimes you will treat them as a single opponent; at others, you will be able to fight them one at a time; and sometimes all of them will be able to attack you, while you defend yourself and may attack only one of them. Specific instructions will be given whenever you meet more than one opponent.

Using Luck in Combat

You can use your LUCK in combat to inflict a particularly serious wound, or to minimize a wound that has been inflicted on you.

Whenever you wound an opponent, you may Test your Luck. If you are Lucky, you have inflicted a severe wound: deduct an extra 2 points from your opponent's STAMINA. If you are Unlucky, you have merely grazed it, and you deduct 1 point less than normal from its STAMINA.

If you have been wounded, you can Test your Luck in exactly the same way. If you are Lucky, the wound upon you was only a glancing blow and you can deduct 1 less point of STAMINA than usual. If you are Unlucky, the wound is serious: deduct 1 extra point from your STAMINA.
You'd have noticed that I hadn't rolled for SKILL, STAMINA or LUCK yet. That's because the new series (or at least, the new books, since I only bought Stormslayer and this one and am not sure about the rest) come with pre-created characters and background! Yes, we don't even have to come up with a new name (Phallic-related or otherwise)! More on those later. Before that, there's one more little new stat for this book:

WILL: Your WILL is "a measure of your determination and strength of purpose". It always starts at 6, but is not limited by Initial score. It also cannot fall below 1.

Another special note about this book is with regards to Equipment.....we don't start out with Provisions or other normal equipment like most other books because....well, we're dead, after all, and we lack a material body to carry anything. The only exception is that we somehow can wield a spiritual equivalent of our magic sword, Nightslayer, even in death. Depending on the circumstances, we may be able to pick up stuff in later parts of the book.

Because of the lack of Provisions, the book usually tries to balance this somewhat by allowing us to "absorb" energies of defeated opponents to regain STAMINA points. Also, because of the unique set-up for this book, losing a battle does not automatically equate to death Game Over (can't really reveal more without spoiling parts of the book).

Now, for the pre-created characters, there are 3 of them. One of them (Evrain Peredur) is apparently supposed to be the PC in Knights of Doom (FF 56, another Jonathan Green book).
Name: Anvus Ravalan
SKILL: 8
STAMINA: 21
LUCK: 9
WILL: 6
Equipment: Nightslayer

Known to some as Nightsbane, to others as the Remorseless Hunter, Anvus earned himself a fearful reputation during the Bathorian Crusade as a warrior who was relentless in his pursuit of the forces of darkness. The first into the fray, always the last to leave the battlefield, he put many a vile Darkspawn to the sword and led the final charge at the Battle of the Fang Rock.

Luck has had its part to play in Anvus' success, as has his great strength. Serious and prone to dark moods, some say that he is not that different from his enemies in his nature - but never within the earshot of the humourless warrior! But it may be true, in part, as Anvus has made the study of the agents of evil his life's work that he might understand his enemies better, learn of their weaknesses and thereby put an end to them all the more ruthlessly.
For such a supposedly enthusiastic combatant, his SKILL looks a little lacking....
Name: Evrain Peredur
SKILL: 10
STAMINA: 17
LUCK: 11
WILL: 6
Equipment: Nightslayer

Having trained with the Knights of Telak, Evrain serves for some years within the Demonkeep Outpost on Ruddlestone's border with Brice, before taking up the mantle of the Lord of Valsinore, following the death of his father under suspicious circumstances. Early in his career he distinguish himself when he single-handedly thwarted the plans of the Sorcerer Belgaroth, who sought to conquer the kingdom of Ruddlestone with an army of Beastmen and Chaos Knights that he was raising in the southern Banarask Hills.

During the Bathorian Crusade he added to his list of noteworthy achievements by earning himself the title Zombie Killer. A skilled swordsman and a skilled horseman too, it would seem that Evrain is blessed by the gods themselves, such is his ability in escaping from seemingly impossible predicaments at the very last minutes by the skin of his teeth.
I haven't read Knights of Doom, but from what I've heard of that particular book, "escaping from seemingly impossible predicaments" sounds about right with regards to its difficulty.
Name: Isolde Laodegan
SKILL: 12
STAMINA: 19
LUCK: 7
WILL: 6
Equipment: Nightslayer

Isolde Laodegan, the Shield Maiden of Libra, swore her life to the service of Good following the death of her mother. She has trained at abbeys, monasteries and temples all across the Old World becoming equally proficient with the sword, bow, spear, and mace. Through physical exercise and spiritual meditation she has honed her body to perfection so that she is just as adept an athlete as she is a deadly sowrdswoman.

However, a curse seems to hang over her family line, both her parents dying before their time and in recent years Isolde has begun to feel that some ill fate awaits her, dogging her every step, waiting until it can bring her down too and have its final, villainous victory.
No flashy title or nickname for the only female character? Oh well....

Anyone interested so far? Which (if any) do we play as?
Mr Shine
Knight-Baron
Posts: 740
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:02 pm

Post by Mr Shine »

I like the idea of pregen characters. One of FF's main weaknesses has been the fact that the very first die you roll can so effectively screw you over. Of the 3 Anvus just looks crap, Isolde's bad LUCK looks dangerous, Evrain looks like he has the best rounded stats.
User avatar
angelfromanotherpin
Overlord
Posts: 9745
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by angelfromanotherpin »

Isolde. If a failed LUCK thing kills us, I'd be willing to start over as Evrain, but usually high SKILL prevents more deaths than low LUCK causes.
User avatar
Darth Rabbitt
Overlord
Posts: 8869
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:31 pm
Location: In "In The Trenches," mostly.
Contact:

Post by Darth Rabbitt »

I'd go with Isolde, personally. SKILL is generally the most useful stat.
Pseudo Stupidity wrote:This Applebees fucking sucks, much like all Applebees. I wanted to go to Femboy Hooters (communism).
Dr_Noface
Knight-Baron
Posts: 777
Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2010 12:01 am

Post by Dr_Noface »

Half a vote for Evrain.
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

Wow, Evrain and Isolde are tied in the polls, while votes via post puts Isolde only half a vote in the lead.

I'm going to proceed to start the book now, but because of how close the votes are, I'm leaving the voting open until we have our first stat test or combat (which, given how the book starts, would be sooner rather than later).

The traditional FF gamebooks generally start with a 'Background' section. In this book, Jonathan Green calls it 'Dead Reckoning'....

DEAD RECKONING:
As the sun sets - a ball of molten iron sinking into the chill waters of the Diamond Sea - you catch sight of Valsinore at long last. With a shout of 'Yaah!' you kick your heels ito your horse's heaving flanks and spur it on towards the distant castle. By nightfall you will be home.

You have been away a long time, three years on fact. Three years following the crusading banner of the Knights of Telak. Three years spent in the accursed land of Bathoria, domain of demons and the Lords of Night. Three years fighting the forces of darkness.

In that time you have faced all manner of evils and found yourself in all kinds of life-threatening situations. In fact you almost lost your life on more occasions than they care to remember. But you survived everything that the forces of darkness could throw at you - from ambush by a pack of werewolves to the seductive enchantments of the Sepulchral Sisterhood - thanks in part to your knightly skills and prowess in battle, but also thanks to your sanctified, charm-wrought sword Nightslayer.

And now, at last, your home is in sight once more. Three years ago you set out from Valsinore Castle on the northern coast of Ruddlestone to join in the crusade to purge Bathoria of the malign influence of the Cult of Death. With the defeat of the Death-Mage Thanatos, your sworn oath fulfilled, you were free to return home. As you recovered from your last battle at a hospice of the White Lady, you sent letters by messenger ahead of you telling of your imminent homecoming, writing one to your sister, Oriana, who was anxiously awaiting news of your safe return, and another to your chamberlain, Unthank, who you had left to look after your estates and safeguard the people of the Sourstone peninsula while you were away. And there is one other who you are eager to see again after so long - your faithful hound who you left to watch over both the castle but more particularly Oriana.

The sky purpling like a bruise as dusk descends, you guide your steed down off the bleak moorland road towards Valsinore Castle, not once taking your eyes off your ancestral home. It is clearly visible now, an imposing silhouette of rising battlements and looming towers. You can also see the village of Sleath that lies close to the castle, in the shadow of the fortress and before that, to the west, the brooding expanse of Wraith Wood. To east the bleak, windswept moors continue as far as the eastern cliffs of the Sourstone promontory.

But before you reach home, the Moot Road takes you through the desolate wilderness that the ancient tribal people of people of these lands once called home. Northern Ruddlestone still bears the marks left by these ancient warrior clans; burial mounds dot the landscape along with the time-worm druidic stone circles. You gallop past one such circle of standing stones - known locally as the Nine Maidens - as the dusk continues to deepen around you, desperate to be home now after such a long time away. But it is in this treacherous twilight that the trap is sprung.

Three men - dark hoods pulled up over their heads to hide their faces - burst from their hiding places among the standing stones and come at you, armed with swords and axea. Your steed whinnies and rears up on its hind legs in surprise. Exhausted after your long ride, you are thrown from the saddle and land hard on the cold ground. Your horse panics and gallops away as your attackers bear down on you, weapons raised.

You scramble to your feet, Nightslayer already in hand. Ruffians like these shouldn't give you any real trouble, even in your weary state. But as the men close in on you with murder on their minds, you notice the fourth member of their band for the first time as he appears to coalesce from out of the gathering darkness.

He is dressed from head to toe in long black robes, his face hidden behind a grotesque skull-mask. The man does not appear to be armed but in one hand he is holding a glowing sphere of amethyst that seems to swirl with gathering storm clouds. You have encounteed his kind before, during your crusade to Bathoria. He is an acolyte of the Priesthood of Death himself.

As you keep a watch on him out of the corner of your eye you prepare to meet the would-be assassins' assault. They are no match for your knightly skills and you have soon dealt all of them flesh wounds. In a few moments the battle will be over. But before you can finish the fight, the death-mask cultist casts his spell.

A ball of crackling black light explodes from the acolyte's crystal, forms into a spear of energy that flashes past the beleaguered murderers and hits you full in the chest. You experience a moment of intense pain like you have never known before as the spell hurls you back onto the road again. And then the pain is gone leaving you feeling numb and cold. Who has done this to you and why, when you were so close to home at last?

You waste no time in getting to your feet and bringing your sword to bear once more. Your assailants suddenly stagger away from you, expressions of abject fear on their faces. Only the Death Acolyte appears unperturbed. You are used to intimidating your enemies but you have never received quite such a reaction before.

One of the men keeps looking down at the ground and then back up at you again, a look of utter, disbelieving horror on his face. In fact, he looks like he's seen a ghost. Curious to know what it is that has the thugs so shaken, you glance down at the ground too.

Bathed in an eerie luminescence is what appears to be a body. Judging by the scorched ragged hole in the middle of the chest you would guess that it is dead, for how could anyone survive such a grievous injury...? It is only then that you realise that the body you are staring at aghast is your own.

Standing over your dead body, you are a glowing ethereal copy of yourself. Your ghostly form is dressed in the same apparel as your corpse and you are even wielding a phantasmal duplicate of your sword Nightslayer, although the real thing is still lying on the ground next to your lifeless body.

The shock you feel at realising that you are dead is nothing compared to the rage and desire for revenge that consumes you now. There will be a reckoning this night, when all those responsible for your untimely death will be made to pay for the evil they have perpetuated against you. Screaming like a banshee, you move to engage your murderers in battle.
And we proceed to section 1....
As you stalk towards the murderous thugs one of the men gives voice to a terrified scream, his face draining of all colour. turns tail and flees. Another drops his weapon in shock, while the third lets out a whimper of fear and collapses to his knees, sobbing like a baby. Only the Death Acolyte appears to be holding things together, his hand moving over his crystal ball, his lips forming the words of some esoteric invocation, no doubt.

These men are responsible for your death and you will have vengeance upon them. But which will you confront first, the three terrified murderers or he spell-casting Death Acolyte?
Who do we go for first?
User avatar
Darth Rabbitt
Overlord
Posts: 8869
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:31 pm
Location: In "In The Trenches," mostly.
Contact:

Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Go for the squishy wizard who isn't freaking out. The thugs will probably keep shitting themselves.
Pseudo Stupidity wrote:This Applebees fucking sucks, much like all Applebees. I wanted to go to Femboy Hooters (communism).
Mr Shine
Knight-Baron
Posts: 740
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:02 pm

Post by Mr Shine »

Darth Rabbitt wrote:Go for the squishy wizard who isn't freaking out. The thugs will probably keep shitting themselves.
Agreed. I will retract my vote for Evrain.
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

As the three murderers flee in in fear, you turn on the individual who actually dealt the killing blow against you. If you want to strike the acolyte down immediately, without showing him any mercy after what he did to you, turn to 114. If you want to demand some answers from him in an attempt to discover who it was that ordered your death, turn to 84.
Kill or interrogate?
Mr Shine
Knight-Baron
Posts: 740
Joined: Tue Jan 07, 2014 9:02 pm

Post by Mr Shine »

I very much doubt he's likely to say anything we want to hear. Strike him down before he casts some anti-ghost spell at us.
User avatar
angelfromanotherpin
Overlord
Posts: 9745
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by angelfromanotherpin »

Strike him down, possibly we can interrogate his ghost.
User avatar
Darth Rabbitt
Overlord
Posts: 8869
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:31 pm
Location: In "In The Trenches," mostly.
Contact:

Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Kill.
Pseudo Stupidity wrote:This Applebees fucking sucks, much like all Applebees. I wanted to go to Femboy Hooters (communism).
Silent Wayfarer
Knight-Baron
Posts: 898
Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2009 11:35 am

Post by Silent Wayfarer »

Annihilate! Kill! Kill!
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

Resisting the pull of the Death Acolyte's spell you rush at the black-robed spell-caster, shrieking in fury. A shocked expression enters the man's eyes and he starts to back away from you. But he is not done with his magic yet. Still holding the crystal ball in one hand he begins another conjuration. Not waiting to see what he is attempting to cast now you join in battle with the Death Acolyte.

DEATH ACOLYTE SKILL 7 STAMINA 7

If the acolyte wins an Attack Round, turn to 186. If you reduce the Death Acolyte's STAMINA score to 3 points or fewer, without him wounding you once, turn to 156.
His stats definitely looks 'squishy'.....especially since Isolde has now definitely won the votes, giving us a SKILL of 12! Hopefully, we don't have to find out what happens if he hits us....

COMBAT LOG:
Death Acolyte 13, Isolde 18. DA is at 5.
DA 14, Isolde 19. DA is at 3.
Since we only have to hit him twice, that was easily a flawless.
As the Death Acolyte starts to succumb to the force of your wrathful vengeance a look of panic enters his eyes. He abruptly quits his spell-casting and instead hurls the crystal ball at your feet. The amethyst sphere explodes with the force of the black energies bound within it. For a moment everything goes black and then the light of the rising moon returns and the world appears once more around you, limned in its monochrome radiance. But of the Death Acolyte there is no sign.

With the murdering magic-user gone, you are still no closer to understanding why you were killed. You return to your body and gaze down upon the cooling corpse. It is a strange feeling to be looking at your own dead body. You know that you will not be able to rest now until you have solved the mystery of your own murder and exacted your revenge against the one who wanted you out of the way. But where will you go first in your search for answers?

You gaze out across the wind-swept promontory towards the distant Valsinore Castle. Ahead of you, directly to the north, lies the village of Sleath, the castle a black shadow now against the horizon behind it. To the north-west lies the tangled expanse of Wraith Wood where, rumour has it, a Wisewoman dwells. Perhaps she could help you in your search for answers. To the north-east, the moors peter out at the edge of the sea, where - when you were here last at least - a hermit dwelt, down on the seashore. Perhaps he might be able to help you. However to the east you can see the dark hills of the burial mound and you can and you feel a strange pull to this place that you cannot explain, just as you do in fact to the stone circle of the Nine Maidens where you were attacked. Will you:

Approach the burial mound?
Succumb to the lure of the Nine Maidens?
Explore one of the other options open to you?
At least we're not doomed to forever haunt the spot of our murder scene, like some of the other poor murdered souls in the legends.

Soooo......check out the murder scene some more? Enter the burial ground to seek out some other dead dudes? Or....something else?
User avatar
Darth Rabbitt
Overlord
Posts: 8869
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:31 pm
Location: In "In The Trenches," mostly.
Contact:

Post by Darth Rabbitt »

I don't want to investigate anything described as a "lure," and other options are too vague. And while the burial mound might have nasty undead...we're undead now so that's not nearly as scary as it would be otherwise.

Check out the mound.
Pseudo Stupidity wrote:This Applebees fucking sucks, much like all Applebees. I wanted to go to Femboy Hooters (communism).
User avatar
angelfromanotherpin
Overlord
Posts: 9745
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by angelfromanotherpin »

Yeah, 'succumb' sounds like a YA vocab check to punish the less literary.
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

Darth Rabbitt wrote:I don't want to investigate anything described as a "lure," and other options are too vague.
In this case, while I agree the description is sort of vague, the "other" option simply refers to leaving and checking out one of the other places already described in the text earlier (the village, the woods, etc), which will be listed as option in a separate section.
The barrow has stood on this promontory since ancient times, since long before there was even a kingdom of Ruddlestone. Its ancientness reverberates deep within your soul and, at the same time, you sense that something festers within. Turf covers the man-made mound which is sealed by a large, flat stone. Despite walking the entire circumference of the barrow you cannot see another way inside. Will you:

Leave the barrow?
Try to move the stone so that you might enter the barrow?
Persist with trying to find another way in?
How do we enter....if we do so at all?
Silent Wayfarer
Knight-Baron
Posts: 898
Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2009 11:35 am

Post by Silent Wayfarer »

Find another way in, someone might have set a trap on the rocky door.
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
User avatar
Darth Rabbitt
Overlord
Posts: 8869
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:31 pm
Location: In "In The Trenches," mostly.
Contact:

Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Persist.
Pseudo Stupidity wrote:This Applebees fucking sucks, much like all Applebees. I wanted to go to Femboy Hooters (communism).
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

As you are busy searching fir another way into the barrow a thought strikes you. You are no longer a corporal being of flesh and blood; that part of you now lies dead on the road behind you. You have to stop thinking of yourself in those terms. You are a ghost now, and since when have walls or doors ever been a problem for ghosts?

Nervously you approach the stone door and place a spectral hand upon the cold stone. 'I am a ghost', you repeat, over and over to yourself. 'I am a ghost. I am a ghost.'

Roll two dice. If the total is less than or equal to your WILL, turn to 265. If it is greater, turn to 371.
Dice roll = 5 (Success!)
'I am a ghost,' you say again, and then you feel your hand sink through the stone door of the barrow. Closing your eyes, you take a step forward - and pass right through, into the dank earth tunnel beyond. Write the number 215 on your Adventure Sheet and then turn to 90.
Being dead certainly has its advantages!
You are able to pass through solid objects, such as walls and doors, as if they were there at all. Record the Apparition special ability on your Adventure Sheet and turn to the paragraph with the same number as the one you were just instructed to write down.
We've just unlocked the first of our ghostly powers. There are several potential abilities to unlock, and more than one opportunity to unlock each of them, that's why we were told to write down a section number, since every ability has a fixed section number that we'll be directed to no matter where we unlock them. If we'd chosen to lift the stone to enter the barrow instead, we'd have unlocked (or rather, have a chance at unlocking....we'd still need to pass a WILL and STAMINA test for that) a different power.
Moving on to 215.....
The faint phosphorescence of your own ghostly form illuminates the interior of the barrow. It is cold and damp and you can see worms, centipedes and beetle larvae writhing about in the rich loam of the earth-cut passageway. The malign presence you felt outside the barrow permeates the atmosphere like a fog of evil intent. But despite its nature, it still draws you onwards, deeper into the mound.

You emerge from the tunnel into the burial chamber itself. A vile stench hangs in the stagnant air of the chamber and seems to be coming from the thing slumped in a stone throne on the far side of the chamber. It is the grey-green rotting corpse of the ancient king that was buried here hundreds of years ago with all his worldly possessions.

You cannot help noticing that most of the dead king's possessions have rotted away over time and that what treasures do remain are tarnished with the patina of eons. You also can't help noticing the piles of mouldering bones surrounding the king's throne. The bones appear to be human, and some of them appear to have been gnawed down to the marrow.

Suddenly the dead king's eyes flicker open, 'An intruder!' the corpse hisses, a forked tongue darting out from between fleshless lips. 'Is this another villain come to steal my crown?'

The corpse springs to its feet; it is surprisingly agile for a mouldering corpse. The dead king fixes you with its putrid green stare.

'No, not a common thief,' it hisses, 'but a noble knight, a knight of the living dead.' Warily you unsheathe you spectral sword. 'A vengeful spectre, one who would rid the world of its own kind,' the ghoulish creature gowes on. 'But you are too late, noble knight. The Lord of Shadows comes and none shall stand in his way. He shall reap such a harvest of souls that soon the world shall know his name.'

What is the dead king talking about? Whatever it is, his doom-laden prophecy fills you with a sense of doubt and foreboding. (Lose 1 LUCK point and reduce your WILL score by 1.)

'Silence, grave-worm!' you cry, raising your phantom sword high above your head. 'Take your vile prophecies with you into the next world.' With that, the ghoul king leaps at you with filth-encrusted talons raised.

GHOUL KING SKILL 9 STAMINA 8

If the Ghoul King manages to strike you, he causes 2 STAMINA point of damage. He also drains a measure of the very essence of your soul to grant him greater power. For every three wounds the Ghoul King delivers you must lose 1 SKILL point as well and increase his SKILL score by 1 in return. If the Ghoul King kills you outright, reducing your STAMINA score to zero and granting you a second death, write the number 295 on your Adventure Sheet and turn to 100. If you slay the Ghoul King, knowing that nothing you could possibly want could be found within the dead king's foetid tomb, you escape from the barrow as quickly as you can. Turn to 295.
In most FF adventures getting hit by a ghoul 3 times means Game Over instantly. We just found another minor perk of being already dead! Still, the SKILL draining is a pretty nasty mechanism in itself, and this guy needs to die fast. Fortunately, Isolde is probably the best character to deal with this guy with her high SKILL....although the penalty on her already-low LUCK will probably screw us over later.

COMBAT LOG:
Ghoul King 15, Isolde 16. GK is at 6.
GK 16, Isolde 21. GK is at 4.
GK 20, Isolde 15. Isolde is at 17.
GK 19, Isolde 20. GK is at 2.
GK 18. Isolde 18. Tie.
GK 15, Isolde 24. GK is slain!
Picking the Shield Maiden as our character paid its dividends already....the Ghoul King rolled really well and both of the other 2 characters would have picked up SKILL penalty, but Isolde's higher SKILL is the difference maker!

Shame about the LUCK and WILL penalty....but at least we unlocked a power, so it wasn't a completely wasted trip.
Leaving the sinister burial mound behind, where do you want to start looking for clues tat will help you to solve the mystery of your own murder? Will you head:

North, towards the village and Valsinore Castle?
North-west, towards Wraith Wood?
North-east, over the moors towards the sea-cliffs?
Where to now.....visit the Wisewoman in the woods, the hermit at the seaside.....or head straight for home?

Adventure Sheet:
Name: Isolde Laodegan
SKILL: 12/12
STAMINA: 17/19
LUCK: 6/7
WILL: 5
Equipment: Nightslayer
Abilities: Apparition
Silent Wayfarer
Knight-Baron
Posts: 898
Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2009 11:35 am

Post by Silent Wayfarer »

Wraiths should go to Wraith Wood!

EDIT: Besides, a wise guy woman ought to be helpful.
Last edited by Silent Wayfarer on Sat Dec 12, 2015 1:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
User avatar
angelfromanotherpin
Overlord
Posts: 9745
Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:54 pm

Post by angelfromanotherpin »

I concur.
User avatar
Darth Rabbitt
Overlord
Posts: 8869
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:31 pm
Location: In "In The Trenches," mostly.
Contact:

Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Even if I didn't think Wraith Wood was the best option, I'd probably suggest we go there to make a "Isolde needs wood" joke.
Pseudo Stupidity wrote:This Applebees fucking sucks, much like all Applebees. I wanted to go to Femboy Hooters (communism).
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

Before long you are enveloped within the bounds of Wraith Wood. The trees grow thick and dark around you, although you can still make out the glowing orb of the moon between the leafless branches above you that look like the clawing talons of skeletal hands. Black thunderheads are starting to mass on the horizon, and the wind is picking up. You believe that the wise-woman's hovel lies at its heart, although some say that she is actually a witch. But, all things considered, if anyone can help you, probably a practitioner of the dark arts can.

The blaring note of a hunting horn suddenly breaks the unnatural stillness of the wood and you hear the pounding of hooves on the wind. Following the sound to its source, you look up to see ethereal riders galloping towards you out of the gathering storm clouds, their phantom steeds pounding the air while shimmering spectral hounds sprint ahead of them. This wild hunt appears to be heading directly towards you. Will you:

Stand your ground and unsheathe your phantasmal blade?
Try to hide from the hunt in the undergrowth?
Flee from the ethereal huntsmen?
Confront? Hide? Run?
Silent Wayfarer
Knight-Baron
Posts: 898
Joined: Sun Jun 21, 2009 11:35 am

Post by Silent Wayfarer »

We've already died once, fuck death (i.e. confront them)!
Last edited by Silent Wayfarer on Sat Dec 12, 2015 3:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
If your religion is worth killing for, please start with yourself.
Post Reply