[Let's Play] GrailQuest 1: The Castle of Darkness

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Ikeren
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Post by Ikeren »

Make friends! Make friends!
ashimbabbar
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Post by ashimbabbar »

Pip makes his biggest, friendliest smile ( especially as with the Luckstone our chances should be seriously improved )
Last edited by ashimbabbar on Sun Aug 06, 2017 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
SGamerz
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Post by SGamerz »

ashimbabbar wrote:( especially as with the Luckstone our chances should be seriously improved )
Well, in a normal Friendly Reaction test it's our 1D6 roll vs the opponent's 3D6, so even with the Luckstone the chances aren't too great.

However....
You're certainly an optimist. Roll two dice.

Score 2-9 and go to 115.
Score 10, 11 or 12 and go to 120.
......it turns out that this is not a normal FR test.

Dice roll = 8 (+3 w/ Luckstone) = 11!

Already the Luckstone is paying its dividends!
Image
The darkness vanishes and your torch abruptly lights up a smallish chamber. Lying on the floor, carefully extracting his teeth from your ankle, is a Leprechaun!

'Sure and begorrah,' says the Leprechaun with a thick Irish brogue (you wouldn't expect him to come from Israel, would you?). 'Isn't it sorry I am to be after biting your poor ankle, but wasn't I thinking you might be a monster or that wicked Wizard Ansalom and didn't I launch meself without thinking. But I could tell from the taste you had good decent blood in ye, so let me make amends for the damage.'

With which he hands you a small leather purse and, in the manner of Leprechauns, vanishes.

Go to 114 to discover what is in the purse.
If we'd used a Firefinger or Fireball, it lights up the place so that we can see what we're dealing with, and it gives us and option that grants us the Friendly Reaction without a dice roll.
What's this? More gold! It is, you know--fifty Gold Pieces and a double-headed copper coin. What a bit of luck!

But there's more! Tucked away in the bottom of the purse is a parchment scroll. There's something very familiar about this type of scroll. It looks very similar to the scrolls lying about in Merlin's log castle: the ones he uses to write spells on. Get your dice rolling quickly, Pip, to find out what is written on the scroll.

Score 1 or 2 and go to 113.
Score 3 or 4 and go to 88.
Score 5 or 6 and go to 83.
Score 7 or 8 and go to 106.
Score 9 or 10 and go to 93.
Score 11 or 12 and go to 98.
Leprechaun gold? Let's hope they're not like JK Rowling's version where they disappear after some time.

Dice roll = 6! (I didn't use the Luckstone this time, since both sections lead to reward, and one isn't necessarily better than the other)
The scroll contains a Teleportation Spell!

Not many of those around, Pip. It's the sort of spell that might come in handy in dire emergencies. Once you use it, you are instantly teleported right back to the dreaded 14, except that you are alive and well this time, with all your booty and treasure intact. So all you need do is retrace your steps carefully and avoid the particular danger that threatened you.

You can only use this spell once, but should it be unused at the end of your journey you can take it on future quests. Pack the scroll away carefully. Since there are no exits to this chamber, return to 75 and reconsider your options.
Definitely useful, and I will probably use it if we're ever in danger of getting killed in combat (it doesn't say it can't be used in combat).

We're directed back to 75, but as I said we've checked every branch in that junction. So it's back through the zombie room and up the stairs next!
You climb the stone stairway. At least you climb the first five steps. The remaining steps, like the door, are, unfortunately, an illusion created by the Wizard Ansalom. You discover this by the simple process of falling through them once you reach step six. You plunge downwards into sudden darkness and even your own torch goes out abruptly as you strike the bottom somewhere below the level of the floor of the room you have just left.

As you lie winded in the darkness, roll one die to find out how many LIFE POINTS you lost in the fall. (If this loss kills you, go to 14.) Then go to 46.
Dice roll = 6! Ow! Life points is now at 43/28.
If you use your rope and spikes to climb out of this black pit, go to 45.
If you decide to relight your torch and explore the pit, go to 43.
Do we explore the pit?

QUEST JOURNAL:
Pip's LIFE POINTS: 43/28

EQUIPMENT CARRIED:
Excalibur Jr. (hits on 4, damage +5)
Dragonskin Jacket (damage taken -4)
Dagger (hits on 6, damage +2)
Healing Potions (heals 2d6 LP) 10 doses
Healing Salve (heals 3 LP) 3 applications
Bully-beef sandwiches, two apples & some garlic
Parchment, quill and ink for mapping
Mirror made from polished metal
Hammer, nails and a saw.
Lodestone & twine to make a compass
Diamond Ring (heals 25 LP OR +1 Firefinger, worth 170 GP)
Tingling Silver Ring
Magic Wooden Duck (turn to 119 when used, best used when in danger from evil magic)
Luckstone (modifies all of Pip's dice rolls by 3 in his favour)
Double-headed Copper Coin
Scroll of Teleportation Spell (sends Pip to section 14 without losing LP or equipment)

MONEY: 148 GP

MAGIC:
Firefinger Lightning Bolts (10 damage) - 8/10
Fireballs (6 to hit, 75 damage) 2/2

EXPERIENCE POINTS: 15
ENEMIES DEFEATED:
Wild Boar
Not-Friendly Animated Skeleton
2 Hounds
Old Watchman
Compost Heap
6 Zombies
PUZZLES SOLVES: 3

No. of Deaths:
1. Pecked to death by Ansalom's Savage Chickens
ashimbabbar
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Post by ashimbabbar »

exploration time !
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Post by Thaluikhain »

Explore the pit, yeah.
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Post by SGamerz »

Actually, I forgot that we can use the Luckstone to modify the damage we took to 3. So our LP should be 46/28. :)
It takes a little while to get your torch lit again. (Torches are never easy, especially in an emergency.) And when you do get it lit, you discover something very disturbing. You are not alone in the pit!

Crawling towards you across the rough stone floor, no more than two or three metres away, is a giant Spider. This great hairy monster is the size of a Great Dane. A big Great Dane. Swiftly you draw Excalibur Junior. Bravely you leap towards the monster.

'Hey, wait a minute!' screams Excalibur Junior. 'We can't fight a thing that size! I hate spiders.'

So there you are, faced by a giant Spider the size of a big Great Dane and probably poisonous if the truth be told, with a shivering cowardy-custard sword in your hand, a torch that looks as if it might go out any second, and no easy escape.

Isn't this exciting?

If you're mad enough to try to make friends with the Spider, go to 70.
If you decide to force EJ to fight the Spider, go to 64.
If you fancy your chances of climbing up out of the pit, go to 66.
OMG, EJ worst nightmare just got real! What shall we do?
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angelfromanotherpin
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

Friends!

edit: To add some reasoning: we're not going to be able to fight our weapon's specific weakness, and we're not going to be able to outclimb a frickin' spider. Making nice seems like the best of the bad options.
Last edited by angelfromanotherpin on Tue Aug 08, 2017 11:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
Thaluikhain
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Post by Thaluikhain »

Yeah, try friends.
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Try to befriend the spider.
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Post by ashimbabbar »

Power of Friendship !
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Post by SGamerz »

OK lunatic, roll!

If you get a Friendly Reaction, go to 68.
If not, go to 64.
The "lunatic" is his word, not mine....

Ok, this seems to be just a regular FR test, so this won't be as easy as the Leprechaun....

Spider rolls 3.
Pip rolls 14-3 = 11.

The Spider is not Friendly...
Nothing for it but a fight, whatever EJ thinks. The Spider has 33 LIFE POINTS, strikes on a 4 or better and scores +3 damage. Worse still, it really is poisonous, so every third time it hits you, you need to see if the poison gets you. Roll two dice again. Unless you score 6 or better, you're dead from Spider venom.

If the Spider kills you, go to 14.
If you kill the Spider, go to 80.
That poison ability is annoying, although our Luckstone means that we only need to score 3 of better to avoid insta-death. It can hit us pretty easily, though.

Do we want to use magic for this fight?
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Post by ashimbabbar »

Firefingers would be 10dmg but with the Luckstone EJ hits every time for an average of 11dmg. So no Firefinger. And I don't think it's worth wasting a Fireball on.
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Just sword the spider dumb enough to not want to be our friend. The Luckstone means that we'd have to roll snake eyes to actually die from the poison, and despite its fear of spiders EJ probably kills it in 3 rounds.
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 SGamerz »

I recall there's actually one book in the series where Pip encounters a spider and has to fight it without EJ because the latter was too frightened to fight, but apparently in this particular case EJ manages to overcome his fears enough to pull his weight.

Rolling for first strike:

Pip rolls 3+3 = 6
Spider rolls 1.

Pip goes first!

COMBAT LOG:
Pip rolls 10+3 = 13 and hits for 9+5 = 14 damage! Spider is at 19.
Spider rolls 7 and hits for 3+3-4 = 2 damage. Pip is at 44.
Pip rolls 8+3 = 11 and hits for 6+5 = 11 damage. Spider is at 8.
Spider rolls 6 and hits for 2+3-4 = 1 damage. Pip is at 43.
Pip rolls 9+3 = 12 and hits for 8+5 = 13 damage. Spider is killed.
Indeed, we were able to down it in 3 rounds.
What a mess! Legs all over the place. Still, you killed the Spider, Pip, which is better than the Spider killing you.

If you want to search this pit again, go to 73.
If you decide to climb back out, go to 45.
Last time we searched we found a spider. Do we want to keep searching?

QUEST JOURNAL:
Pip's LIFE POINTS: 43/28

EQUIPMENT CARRIED:
Excalibur Jr. (hits on 4, damage +5)
Dragonskin Jacket (damage taken -4)
Dagger (hits on 6, damage +2)
Healing Potions (heals 2d6 LP) 10 doses
Healing Salve (heals 3 LP) 3 applications
Bully-beef sandwiches, two apples & some garlic
Parchment, quill and ink for mapping
Mirror made from polished metal
Hammer, nails and a saw.
Lodestone & twine to make a compass
Diamond Ring (heals 25 LP OR +1 Firefinger, worth 170 GP)
Tingling Silver Ring
Magic Wooden Duck (turn to 119 when used, best used when in danger from evil magic)
Luckstone (modifies all of Pip's dice rolls by 3 in his favour)
Double-headed Copper Coin
Scroll of Teleportation Spell (sends Pip to section 14 without losing LP or equipment)

MONEY: 148 GP

MAGIC:
Firefinger Lightning Bolts (10 damage) - 8/10
Fireballs (6 to hit, 75 damage) 2/2

EXPERIENCE POINTS: 16
ENEMIES DEFEATED:
Wild Boar
Not-Friendly Animated Skeleton
2 Hounds
Old Watchman
Compost Heap
6 Zombies
Giant Spider
PUZZLES SOLVES: 3

No. of Deaths:
1. Pecked to death by Ansalom's Savage Chickens
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Post by Thaluikhain »

Search, maybe there's another spider.
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Or something cool. Search.
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 ashimbabbar »

search

by the way, did you roll to see if we were dead by poison ? it's not mentioned in the combat log
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Post by Thaluikhain »

ashimbabbar wrote:search

by the way, did you roll to see if we were dead by poison ? it's not mentioned in the combat log
Only poisons on every third hit, for some reason, and only hit Pip twice.
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Post by ashimbabbar »

oops ! I had misread, I thought it was every time :sad:
Last edited by ashimbabbar on Wed Aug 09, 2017 8:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
SGamerz
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Post by SGamerz »

Actually, I checked the section where we climb back up and it turns out that since the rest of the stairs and the door above are illusions, there's nowhere else to go, and we get directed back to the zombie room. So it turns out that I shouldn't have waited. Since we've investigated every other route so far, I guess the way to proceed further can only be in this pit!

Searching further...
Image
Will you never learn? You've found a Snake now! A little thing, but deadly poisonous. (You can tell by the skull and crossbones markings on its back.) No chance to make friends here--it's trying to bite you already.

The Snake has only 12 LIFE POINTS so it's not too difficult to kill. But it only needs to hit you once (by rolling 6 or better) to kill you. Roll to see who gets first strike. And best of luck.

If the Snake kills you, go to 14.
If you kill the Snake, go to 79.
Yeah, someone took the trouble to tattoo this snake with skull-and-crossbones.....

Similar to the spider, but this one has low LP, so we should (hopefully) down it in one hit.

Pip rolls 3+3 = 6
Snake rolls 5.

Thanks to our Luckstone, we get the initiative, which may very well save our life!

COMBAT LOG:
Pip rolls 5+3 = 8 and hits for 4+5 = 9 damage! Snake is at 3 LP!
Snake has been knocked unconscious!
Going to search again?

If so, go to 69.
If you've had more than enough of this pit, climb out and go to 45.
Like I said, we explored all the alternatives, so we search again....
You've found a secret door, Pip. Well done.

Go to 91
Image
A secret door, Pip!

What an extremely sneaky place to put it. An adventurer could wander around for ages and never think of looking for a secret door down here. Well, well. Always worth looking behind a secret door, Pip. The thing is, can you open it? They aren't always easy. Roll your dice quickly.

Score 6 or below and go to 94.
Score above 6 and go to 118.
I'm assuming it's 2 dice, even though the text doesn't make it clear. That's one of Brennan's flaws, a lot of the rules in his book tend to be open to reader's interpretation. Hard-and-fast rules are not his strong suit.

Like, when rolling for initiative before combat, the text always says "roll dice to see who gets first strike without specifying, so there were a couple of fights earlier when I mistakenly used 2 dice.....but in those cases it should have been 1 dice. The only fight where that is specified, however, is the tutorial fight against Mean Jake, so if you forget about that, you may end up using 2 for the rest of the book. It's not even listed in the Rules card.

Anyway, let's roll 2 dice here, since the text states you can roll above 6, so it can't be 1 (but can possibly be any other number).

Dice roll = 10+3 = 13.
You've got a knack with doors, Pip. It opened so quietly. Which is just as well since there are two Guards on the other side, nasty big men with leather armour and swords.

Since you opened the door quietly, you have the advantage of surprise which gives you the first blow against each of them. Go to 86.
Nice!
* * B (Each)

You're into a fight, Pip, whether you like it or not. Each Guard has 15 LIFE POINTS. Their swords do +2 damage and their leather armour subtracts 2 from any damage scored against them.

Remember from 118 who gets first strike. When rolling the dice to decide the outcome of this fight, take the two Guards together when you're working out the sequence. Now go to it!

If the Guards kill you, go to 14.
If you kill the Guards, go to 107.
**B means they can each be bribed with 500 GP, which of course we do not have. So it's going to be a fight. Fortunately, our initiative, extra LP buff and Luckstone, and better arms gives us a pretty good advantage altogether.

COMBAT LOG:
Pip rolls 8+3 = 11 and hits Guard#1 for 7+5-2 = 10 damage! Guard#1 is at 5 LP.
Guard #1 is knocked out!
Pip rolls 6+3 = 9 and hits for 5+5-2 = 8 damage. Guard#2 is at 7 LP.
Guard#2 rolls 5 and misses.
Pip rolls 6+3 = 9 and hits for another 8 damage.
Guard#2 is killed.
Pip flawlessed the duo without breaking a sweat!
Now that you have time to look around you, you find you are in a small anti-room with a single well-lit corridor running off northwards. The whole feel of this place is very different to the parts of the Wizard Ansalom's Dark Castle that you have already visited: it feels lived in. If you listen carefully, you can even hear distant sounds. Better move quietly, Pip, and keep a careful look-out.

You creep along the corrdior for fifteen metres until you arrive at a T-junction with a second corridor running east/west. A quick glance both ways tells you this corridor is empty for the moment, although you have a feeling someone might happen along at any second.

If you decide to move west along the new corridor, go to 105.
If you decide to move east, go to 96.
If you decide to risk searching for another secret door (and you never know your luck), go to 99.
And finally we're faced with another choice.....

QUEST JOURNAL:
Pip's LIFE POINTS: 43/28

EQUIPMENT CARRIED:
Excalibur Jr. (hits on 4, damage +5)
Dragonskin Jacket (damage taken -4)
Dagger (hits on 6, damage +2)
Healing Potions (heals 2d6 LP) 10 doses
Healing Salve (heals 3 LP) 3 applications
Bully-beef sandwiches, two apples & some garlic
Parchment, quill and ink for mapping
Mirror made from polished metal
Hammer, nails and a saw.
Lodestone & twine to make a compass
Diamond Ring (heals 25 LP OR +1 Firefinger, worth 170 GP)
Tingling Silver Ring
Magic Wooden Duck (turn to 119 when used, best used when in danger from evil magic)
Luckstone (modifies all of Pip's dice rolls by 3 in his favour)
Double-headed Copper Coin
Scroll of Teleportation Spell (sends Pip to section 14 without losing LP or equipment)

MONEY: 148 GP

MAGIC:
Firefinger Lightning Bolts (10 damage) - 8/10
Fireballs (6 to hit, 75 damage) 2/2

EXPERIENCE POINTS: 19
ENEMIES DEFEATED:
Wild Boar
Not-Friendly Animated Skeleton
2 Hounds
Old Watchman
Compost Heap
6 Zombies
Giant Spider
Poisonous Snake
2 Guards
PUZZLES SOLVES: 3

No. of Deaths:
1. Pecked to death by Ansalom's Savage Chickens
Last edited by SGamerz on Thu Aug 10, 2017 12:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Thaluikhain
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Post by Thaluikhain »

Search again.

(And good thing that snake was only poisonous, if it was venomous we might have been in trouble)
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Darth Rabbitt
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Pip actually does know his luck, it's in a magic stone and kicks ass. Search.
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ashimbabbar
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Post by ashimbabbar »

it's only the 1st volume, so I don't see Brennan trolling us with an instadeath. Search.
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SlyJohnny
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Post by SlyJohnny »

I think it's bait that the invitation to sit around and search for a secret door right after we're told that someone will probably happen along soon. Let'd go west.
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Post by SGamerz »

*** B

Trouble, Pip! While you were searching for that secret door, a Guard crept up on you. In the circumstances, he has the first strike.

The Guard has 20 LIFE POINTS, wears -2 leather armour and carries a + 2 sword. What's much worse, he is a particularly skilled swordsman, so only needs to roll a 3 or better to hit you!

If the Guard kills you, go to 14.
If you manage to kill the Guard go to 150.
He can apparently be bribed with 1000 GP, which is a lot of money that Pip doesn't have.

COMBAT LOG:
Guard rolls 11(!) and hits for 8+2-4 = 6 damage. Pip is at 37.
Pip rolls 5+3 = 8 and hits for 4+5-2 = 7 damage. Guard is at 13.
Guard rolls 9 and hits for 6+2-4 = 4 damage. Pip is at 33.
Pip rolls 10+3 = 13 and hits for 9+5-2 = 12 damage. Guard is at 1.
Guard is knocked out!
His attacks are indeed formidable, but Pip is tougher, and cuts him down.

Even more good news: with this kill, Pip now has a total of 20 Exp points, which he now trades for a Permanent Life Point! We're now a 33/29.
Another baddie bites the dust! You're doing rather well at the moment, Pip.

If you want to continue searching for a secret door, go to 134.
If not, return to 107 and reconsider your options.
Do we still think there's any secret door here?

QUEST JOURNAL:
Pip's LIFE POINTS: 33/29
Permanent Life Points: 1

EQUIPMENT CARRIED:
Excalibur Jr. (hits on 4, damage +5)
Dragonskin Jacket (damage taken -4)
Dagger (hits on 6, damage +2)
Healing Potions (heals 2d6 LP) 10 doses
Healing Salve (heals 3 LP) 3 applications
Bully-beef sandwiches, two apples & some garlic
Parchment, quill and ink for mapping
Mirror made from polished metal
Hammer, nails and a saw.
Lodestone & twine to make a compass
Diamond Ring (heals 25 LP OR +1 Firefinger, worth 170 GP)
Tingling Silver Ring
Magic Wooden Duck (turn to 119 when used, best used when in danger from evil magic)
Luckstone (modifies all of Pip's dice rolls by 3 in his favour)
Double-headed Copper Coin
Scroll of Teleportation Spell (sends Pip to section 14 without losing LP or equipment)

MONEY: 148 GP

MAGIC:
Firefinger Lightning Bolts (10 damage) - 8/10
Fireballs (6 to hit, 75 damage) 2/2

EXPERIENCE POINTS: 20 0
ENEMIES DEFEATED:
Wild Boar
Not-Friendly Animated Skeleton
2 Hounds
Old Watchman
Compost Heap
6 Zombies
Giant Spider
Poisonous Snake
2 Guards
PUZZLES SOLVES: 3

No. of Deaths:
1. Pecked to death by Ansalom's Savage Chickens
Last edited by SGamerz on Fri Aug 11, 2017 12:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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