[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy #54 - Legend of Zagor!

[SGamerz]

A huge, glowing goblet emerges from the lip of the wand, rises over Grool's head and pours a cascade of steaming acid on to him! The Ogre shrieks in pain as he loses 12 STAMINA points@ Turn to 166 to continue fighting, reducing his STAMINA score accordingly.

We nailed it!

We now only have to hit it once to reduce its STAMINA to 8, after which we are directed to another section.

If we somehow kill it outright before reducing it to 8, we are directed to another section.

Of course, the only way to do the latter is to use a Death Spell.....which we have JUST enough Magic points for (we'll have none left if we use the spell).

Do we want to try for insta-kill, or risk whatever happens when it reaches 8 STAMINA?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Jallarial
SKILL 11/11 (+1 from Ebony Wand)
STAMINA 15/23
LUCK 6/9
MAGIC: 3/9 (+2 from Ebony Wand)
Equipment: Staff, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, knife, rope, Iron rod (-1 to Die roll when opening doors via Skill Test), Potion of Invisibility (opponent -2 Attack Strength if drank before combat), Flask of Herbal Restorative/Liqueur x3 (+4 STAMINA), Golden Talisman (x2), Silver Dagger (x7), Magical Oil of Enchantment (enchants non-magical weapons for one combat), Jailor Keys (70), Wand of the Hawk, Vials of Acid (does 4 STAMINA damage if used during combat), Onyx Staff, Oatmeal x3 (counts as 1 meal each), Potion of Luck (restores 1-3 LUCK), Orc-slaying Sword, Plague Antidote, Neckerchief of Invisibility (1 charge remaining, opponent -2 Attack Strength if used before combat), Bottle of Fluid from dragon egg
Provisions: None
Treasure: 4 GP
No. of Deaths: 1

Additional bonus from Wand of the Hawk: 1) +2 Attack Strength once Jallarial's entered Great Tower, 2) enchants weapons, 3) restore Magic OR STAMINA to full once

[SlyJohnny]

Continue fighting. Death spell seems a waste when we've got him on the ropes, he's unlikely to do that much damage to us to justify 3 magic points.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Yeah, take the risk and save the MP.

[SGamerz]

Straight fight it is!

COMBAT LOG:

Grool 17, Jallarial 22. Grool is at 8!

The wily brute rubs a ring on his left hand and disappears, only to reappear a split second later, at the top of the tower, standing on the wooden platform! Straining his muscles and sinews, the huge monster is trying to wheel the ballista - a huge, spear-flinging device - around to face you! One strike from such a weapon would inflict enormous damage on you, perhaps even kill you outright. If you want to flee, Grool will lob a rock at you as you go; turn to 377. If you want to continue fighting, you have the following choices: you can fire a bow or catapult at Grool, or cast spells at him (turn to 96 to do either), make for the stone steps and try to climb up on to the platform (turn to 123), or use a Potion of Flying (if you have one) to reach the platform at once.

We don't have a Potion of Flying, and we know fleeing is not an option. Spells now, or run for the steps?

[Omegonthesane]

No teleporting? Not that we had the magic for it anyway.

Climbing time I guess. If we pop a death spell now all the shit we did to get here will be for nothing.

[SlyJohnny]

Climb up and knock his block off!

[SGamerz]

Rushing to the stone steps, you will be able to evade the ballista, since the Ogre can't point it al you. However, now he will try to drop rocks on your head from a pile on the top of the platform. It will take three Attack Rounds for you to get to the top of the stone steps (four Attack Rounds if you are Stubble). In each Attack Round you must Test Grool's SKILL; if he is successful, he catches you with a rock and you must lose 2 STAMINA points If he fails, the rock sails harmlessly past your head. You have no time to do anything except race up the steps, but, if you are still alive after Grool's rock-hurling exploits, turn to 172.

Now that's a mechanism you don't see too often: testing the opponent's SKILL. And a pretty dangerous one, at that!

Round 1 = Grool rolls 8 and hits! Jallarial is at 13 STAMINA.
Round 2 = Grool rolls 8 and hits (again)! Jallarial is at 11 STAMINA.
Round 3 = Grool rolls 11 and misses.

As you arrive at the top of the platform, Grool lets a potion vial fall from his lips; the crafty monster has drunk a healing draught. Roll one dice and add 1 to the number rolled; the total is the number of points of lost STAMINA he has regained. Raising his club above his head, the Ogre prepares to fight to the death. If you win, tum to 252.

Die roll = 3+1 = 4. Grool is at 12 STAMINA.

And the fight continues!

COMBAT LOG:

Grool 14, Jallarial 16. Grool is at 10.
Grool 16, Jallarial 17. Grool is at 8.
Grool 16, Jallarial 14. Jallarial is at 9.
Grool 16, Jallarial 18. Grool is at 6.
Grool 18, Jallarial 18. Tie.
Grool 15, Jallarial 22. Grool is at 4.
Grool 17, Jallarial 20. Grool is at 2.
Grool 16, Jallarial 19. Grool is killed.

And finally, it's down!

Your reward for overcoming Grool is a Tower Chest, plus a table laden down with looted castle wines and preserved food (add 5 to your Provisions)on the ballista platform. There is also a set of Dragonbone keys here; 116 of them in all, although you spot one huge one that is clearly the master key. If you are Anvar or Braxus, turn to 393. Otherwise, you clamber down the stone steps here and head to the main passage outside the tower to explore elsewhere; turn to 52.

Luck Test = 7. Jallarial loses 3 STAMINA and is at 6.

Die roll = 4. We find another Silver Dagger (we've got 8 now, and only 2 Gold Talisman).

Anvar and Braxus get a new weapon here.....mostly Anvar, since Grool's axe is his "ideal weapon". Braxus can use it but doesn't get additional bonus.

It's time to move on. We've explored the entire wing, and I'm sure you want to search the opposite wing, so let's head directly there:

You push open the double doors leading to the west wing of the castle and find yourself gazing down a long, long passageway that stretches before you - but a malign, undead presence awaits you here! The maddened shade of a castle knight, who has been tortured most horribly by servants of evil, is now too crazed to distinguish you from one of its old tormentors. You will not be able to flee; the Spectre will chase you anywhere you go. If you do not have a magic weapon to fight the Spectre and if you have no other means of destroying it by magic, you will perish here, since non-magical weapons have no effect upon this creature.

SPECTRE SKILL 10 STAMINA 14

If you win but the Spectre hit you even once, you must roll one dice. If you roll any number other than a 6, you must lose 1 point from both of your Current and Initial SKILL through the life-draining touch of the monster. You walk forward some forty metres to reach the mid-way point of this long western passageway in order to take your bearings; turn to 36.

The potential penalty of being hit by it even once is kind of harsh....

Do we want to try any item/magic or engage normally?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Jallarial
SKILL 11/11 (+1 from Ebony Wand)
STAMINA 6/23
LUCK 6/9
MAGIC: 3/9 (+2 from Ebony Wand)
Equipment: Staff, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, knife, rope, Iron rod (-1 to Die roll when opening doors via Skill Test), Potion of Invisibility (opponent -2 Attack Strength if drank before combat), Flask of Herbal Restorative/Liqueur x3 (+4 STAMINA), Golden Talisman (x2), Silver Dagger (x8), Magical Oil of Enchantment (enchants non-magical weapons for one combat), Jailor Keys (70), Wand of the Hawk, Vials of Acid (does 4 STAMINA damage if used during combat), Onyx Staff, Oatmeal x3 (counts as 1 meal each), Potion of Luck (restores 1-3 LUCK), Orc-slaying Sword, Plague Antidote, Neckerchief of Invisibility (1 charge remaining, opponent -2 Attack Strength if used before combat), Bottle of Fluid from dragon egg, Dragonbone Keys (166)
Provisions: 5
Treasure: 4 GP
No. of Deaths: 1

Additional bonus from Wand of the Hawk: 1) +2 Attack Strength once Jallarial's entered Great Tower, 2) enchants weapons, 3) restore Magic OR STAMINA to full once

[Omegonthesane]

Given how harsh the penalty is and how close the skills involved are, full vote for the Skill spell AND half a vote for Neckerchief of Invisibility.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Agreed on both counts.

[SlyJohnny]

Agreed. Maybe leading with acid would increase our odds further, too? And two herbal liqueurs in case it goes bad.

[Sirocco]

^ All sound ideas.

[SGamerz]

Two doses of herbal liqueur later, Jallarial's STAMINA is up to 14.

We then cast the SKILL spell and make ourselves invisible, giving us a +4 advantage in this fight:

I won't use the acid. Even though the book doesn't explicitly say so, I doubt the spectre can be hurt by it, since there's no material body. Besides, I'm pretty sure acid falls under "non-magical" category, and the text says non-magical weapons don't hurt it.

COMBAT LOG:

Spectre 17, Jallarial 19. Spectre is at 12. (would have taken a hit right there without all our boosts!)
Spectre 16, Jallarial 23. Spectre is at 10.
Spectre 14, Jallarial 19. Spectre is at 8.
Spectre 15, Jallarial 16. Spectre is at 6.
Spectre 14, Jallarial 18. Spectre is at 4.
Spectre 14, Jallarial 20. Spectre is at 2
Spectre 17, Jallarial 20. Spectre is destroyed.

The Neckerchief and spell saved us no less than 3 times in this fight!

Standing in the middle of the long passageway of the west wing, the layout is clearly symmetrical. To the north there is an unmarked door near the exit from the west wing and, much further along to the west, another door with the design of a plain, black shield and a glowing sun etched upon it. To the south, there is an unmarked door close to the exit, and a door some way to the west bearing the image of a silver crown upon it. To the east of you, double doors lead back to the great passage known as the Bronze Stride; far to the west, broken-down doors opened into the ruins of the destroyed west tower, so you judge that little is lo be gained from entering there. You should try a door you have not opened before (except the east doors which return you to the Bronze Stride - you can open them at any time). Will you open:

The east doors?
The plain door to the north?
The north door with the shield on it?
The unmarked door to the south?
The south door with the crown on it?

Which door do we try first?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Jallarial
SKILL 11/11 (+1 from Ebony Wand)
STAMINA 14/23
LUCK 6/9
MAGIC: 2/9 (+2 from Ebony Wand)
Equipment: Staff, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, knife, rope, Iron rod (-1 to Die roll when opening doors via Skill Test), Potion of Invisibility (opponent -2 Attack Strength if drank before combat), Flask of Herbal Restorative/Liqueur (+4 STAMINA), Golden Talisman (x2), Silver Dagger (x8), Magical Oil of Enchantment (enchants non-magical weapons for one combat), Jailor Keys (70), Wand of the Hawk, Vials of Acid (does 4 STAMINA damage if used during combat), Onyx Staff, Oatmeal x3 (counts as 1 meal each), Potion of Luck (restores 1-3 LUCK), Orc-slaying Sword, Plague Antidote, Bottle of Fluid from dragon egg, Dragonbone Keys (166)
Provisions: 5
Treasure: 4 GP
No. of Deaths: 1

Additional bonus from Wand of the Hawk: 1) +2 Attack Strength once Jallarial's entered Great Tower, 2) enchants weapons, 3) restore Magic OR STAMINA to full once

[Sirocco]

Nice!

Let's start with the plain door to the north.

[SlyJohnny]

Saved us from three hits and prevented a draw. Looks like that gamble paid off, a SKILL loss would've sucked.

Man, the difficulty curve is all over the place in this book. At times it seems to put beatable opponents guarding important loot or plot coupons, so you see how you could cautiously sneak around if you paid attention to hints about where the essential stuff is, but then there's an unavoidable "oh, you rolled low SKILL? fuck you" opponent guarding a whole area. Having to win attack rolls to fire off spells means the Wizard generally can't make up his skill deficit, either, and the paucity of magic points means he has to ration it anyway.

Anyhow, I agree with the door choice.

[SGamerz]

A gruesome trophy room lies behind the door here. Rows and rows of severed heads line the walls; servants of the Bone Demon decapitated many of the castle's defenders in the jails, and one of Mungus the Jailer's hobbies was shrinking and preserving them. In this ghoulish auditorium, one row of heads seems to have been exalted above the others, since there are four heads individually mounted on wall plaques, with their names etched upon them. They are (or were): Chanquin the Court Jester, Field Marshal Rabellan, Count Reindrech of Cabaal and Dorrick the Castellan. If you want to use a Magic Point to see whether you can communicate with these heads in some way, choose one to try lo summon, then turn to 24. If you cannot, or don't wish to, do this, turn to 36 to explore elsewhere in the west wing, or turn to 7 to return to the Bronze Stride.

Note that we have 2 Magic points left. Do we want to spend one here?

If yes, please remember to vote which head you want to communicate with.

If no, please proceed to vote for which door we should open next in the west wing.

[Sirocco]

Well, we have one refill for when we run out of MP. These guys might have something interesting to say.

I'm divided between the jester and the castellan. The jester might have heard a couple of things, since he probably was around the king all the time, but for the castellan, it was his job to know stuff around the castle. The other two don't seem like they would know much.

Voting for the castellan.

[SGamerz]

Again, seems like there's no other voters. Castellan it is, then...

If you choose Rabellan or Reindrech, there is no response, turn to 36 to explore elsewhere. If you tried to communicate with Chanquin, tum to 323. If you tried to communicate with Dorrick, turn to 308.

And it seems like Sirocco had the right idea about which characters are more like to have information....

Tall and silent, Dorrick's ghost stands solemnly before you. Dorrick fell on his own sword in order to avoid the dreadful tortures of the Demon; his spirit, though troubled, is not insane, unlike so many of the castle's ghosts. You tell Dorrick about your quest and what you have achieved. He is impressed, but he shakes his head sadly. 'Unspeakable evil lies in the Great Tower. Beyond the Crystal Doors lies not only the monster who is taking demonic form even as we speak, but also a mighty War Dragon. To overcome one would be the stuff of legend. To slay both - it is hard to believe that even one such as yourself could accomplish such a thing.' He ponders for a moment. 'But, perhaps, the Orb of the Templar...that might help. Listen: next door to this place the Grand Templar of the Court prowls the shadows still. He is a mindless thing, his heart and will destroyed by fell magic, and he is very powerful. If you search behind the fireplace in his chambers, you will find a secret compartment. Some power may still reside in the Orb. He always used it in battle to strengthen himself. That is all I can tell you.' The ghost fades slowly from view. If you have already been in the Templar's chambers, you set off there again now; turn to 348. lf you have not visited them yet, turn to 228.

In fact, Sirocco chose the best option. The jester actually has been driven mad, so Dorrick is the one we should talk to.

If you want to go to the Templar's rooms immediately, turn to 124. If you want to search elsewhere first, turn to 36. In either case, make a note that, if you slay the Grand Templar in his rooms, you should then turn to 348 to search for the secret panel Dorrick told you of.

Are we ready to confront the Templar's ghost yet? If not where do we go first?

The east doors?
The plain door to the north?
The north door with the shield on it? (Templar's rooms)
The unmarked door to the south?
The south door with the crown on it?

[SlyJohnny]

Let's grab the valuable item before we do something to lock us out of the option.

[Sirocco]

Slay Templar. Acquire Orb of power.

[SlyJohnny]

Nice work, btw, Sirocco. I was staying out of that one because I remembered the answer.

The jester is an invincible ghost driven mad by torture as I recall, and if you pick him, you get locked out of this wing permanently, so it's really good you went with the choice you did.

[SGamerz]

The black shield looks forbidding, even with the symbol of the warm sun on it; as you push open the door, you find a mighty enemy ready and waiting. Clad in black plate mail with the identical image of the sun on his breastplate, the creature that was once the Grand Templar of the kings court raises a huge, demonic axe lo fight you. His mind destroyed by magic and now become a pawn of the Demon, the Templar has changed into a Chaos Champion, and you will not be able to run from him. When the Chaos Champion wins an Attack Round, you must roll one dice: if you roll a 6, his demonic axe has caused you special damage, in addition to losing the normal 2 points from your STAMINA. Roll again, on the table below, to determine what that extra damage is.

CHAOS CHAMPION SKILL 10 STAMINA 15

Dice Roll Extra Damage
1-2 You lose 1 extra STAMINA point.
3 You lose 1 STAMINA point from Initial score.
4 You lose 1 SKILL point from Initial score.
5 You lose 1 Magic point from Initial score.
6 Frenzy! (see below)

If the Chaos Champion goes into a frenzy, he loses 3 STAMINA points himself, but you must lose two dice worth of STAMINA points! If you manage to overcome this terrifying enemy, turn to 372 348.

Enemies like that (with extra damages/punishments per blow) are really becoming the norm by this point.....

Any particular strategies other than a straight fight? Items? Magic (although we have only 1 point left)?

[Omegonthesane]

Skill spell and don't commit to anything else - this guy has a 1/18 chance of reducing an important stat maximum if he hits, instead of a 1/1 chance like that damn ghost.

[SlyJohnny]

I can get behind that. Acid might end him a turn earlier, but eh. 1/6 chance for a 1/2 chance of permanent damage for every hit he actually lands isn't too scary.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Agree on the Skill spell, but I'd be in favor of tossing the acid, too.

[Sirocco]

Skill spell for sure, no opinion on the acid.