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

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

Moderator: Moderators

Ikeren
Knight-Baron
Posts: 849
Joined: Sat Jan 08, 2011 8:07 pm

Post by Ikeren »

I'll vote slow and careful as well.

And also, lawls.
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 »

Be careful.
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 »

angelfromanotherpin wrote:
Thaluikhain wrote:(So it's never explained why it's always 14?)
I have a vague recollection that it's because 13 would be 'too cliché.'
Incidentally, 13 is the section we'll be heading to right now!

But before that, I realized I missed the picture for the Wild Boar because it was on the next page to the corresponding section in the book:
Image
And now to the dreaded Section 13:
You notice a series of holes in the tunnel above your head and by keeping close to the walls, manage to avoid the boiling oil which sudden pours through them. You reach the portcullis in one piece and thus gain entry to 32.
A Lucky 13!
You have entered a vast open courtyard, its unflagged floor composed of beaten earth. Fifty metres north are closed wooden double doors set in the far wall of the courtyard. Over by the eastern wall are two carts, six crates and about a dozen wooden barrels. Stone steps on the western wall lead upwards to the battlements and towers. There are about a hundred Chickens, scratching about in the courtyard.

If you run directly towards the double doors in the north wall, turn to 15.
If you move east to examine the carts and barrels, turn to 18.
If you move west to climb the steps to the battlements, turn to 29.
If you stop to have a little chat with the Chickens, turn to 27.
Where do we start?
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

Chat to the chickens, says I.
Ikeren
Knight-Baron
Posts: 849
Joined: Sat Jan 08, 2011 8:07 pm

Post by Ikeren »

I also vote chat with chickens.
Omegonthesane
Prince
Posts: 3680
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2009 3:55 pm

Post by Omegonthesane »

Clearly, talk is our most pressing objective.
Kaelik wrote:Because powerful men get away with terrible shit, and even the public domain ones get ignored, and then, when the floodgates open, it turns out there was a goddam flood behind it.

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath, Justin Bieber, shitmuffin
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

Dumb move, Pip. These are Savage Chickens. The Wizard Ansalom breeds them as courtyard guards.

The Savage Chickens fling themselves on you (savagely) and though each peck only does 1 LIFE POINT of damage, there are so many of them that they could easily kill you. Roll two dice to find out what happens.

Score 2-6 and the Savage Chickens peck you to death. Go to 14.
Score 7-10 and you escape with half your current LIFE POINTS. Go to 32 and reconsider your options.
Score 11 or 12 and you manage to fight off the Savage Chickens without injury. Go to 32 and reconsider your options (the Chickens won't attack again).
Roll = 5! AAAARRRRGHHH!
You're dead. Dead as a coffin nail. Finished. Done for. The late Pip. Draw a thick black border round this Section for future reference. You may be back here again before you're much older.

Most people get deaded sooner or later the first few times they try to get through this adventure. Don't get too depressed about it. What you have to do now is go back to the beginning of the forest, where the King's Guard left you, and try again. You'll rescue the Queen sooner or later. What's more, you can safely ignore the monsters and villains you have killed the first time round, since these. will only be harmless ghosts and illusions when you go in again.

When you go back, you'll need to roll up your LIFE POINTS again. No good trying to return to your adventure with no LIFE POINTS. So roll them up exactly as you did the first time. And here's a tip. Draw a map as you go along. Especially a map of the Wizard Ansalom's Dark Castle. It will help you find your way around a lot better the second time. Make a note on the map of what you encountered. Second time around, a map is as good as an extra sword - even an extra Fireball.

Now back you go to the beginning of the forest, Pip. With luck you won't be seen round here again.
Well, that didn't take long....

In Grailquest, because the enemies that are already killed stay dead and we can easily re-tread the old path back to where we died, the only really annoying thing is that we lose any useful items we pick up during the adventure. Fortunately, this is right at the beginning of the book, so we have nothing to lose yet (I'm assuming we still keep all the default equipment we started with). The only thing we have to do re-roll our Life Points again!

1st roll = 7
2nd roll = 7
3rd roll = 6

Unfortunately, we roll a lower LP this time round (7x4 = 28...which happens to be the score we had when we met those Savage Chickens! Those were clearly vampiric chickens who sucked 4 points of permanent LP off us).

As I said, we can simply take the exact same route (without having to fight the Boar again...and yes, we still keep that Exp point) and just start at the courtyard where we left off. Do we want to do that?

So our choices:

1) Check out carts and barrels in courtyard
2) Check out the battlements
3) Go straight to the double doors
4) Start at the beginning again and this time take the right path

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

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) 18 doses
Healing Salve (heals 3 LP) 5 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

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

EXPERIENCE POINTS: 1
ENEMIES DEFEATED:
Wild Boar
PUZZLES SOLVES:

No. of Deaths:
1. Pecked to death by Ansalom's Savage Chickens
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

Hmmm...carts and barrels, perhaps?
Ikeren
Knight-Baron
Posts: 849
Joined: Sat Jan 08, 2011 8:07 pm

Post by Ikeren »

Wow. Lawls. That was brutal. Carts and Barrels, sure.
Omegonthesane
Prince
Posts: 3680
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2009 3:55 pm

Post by Omegonthesane »

Carts and barrels.
Kaelik wrote:Because powerful men get away with terrible shit, and even the public domain ones get ignored, and then, when the floodgates open, it turns out there was a goddam flood behind it.

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath, Justin Bieber, shitmuffin
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

The carts are in a pretty broken-down condition and more or less unusable. Two of the crates contain old sacks, one is full of rotten apples and the rest are empty. Three of the barrels contain cider, the rest wine.

If you drink any cider, turn to 12.
If you drink any wine, turn to 16.
If you leave this load of rubbish and go to the double doors in the north wall, turn to 33.
If you move west to climb the steps to the battlements, turn to 29.
Do we want to drink anything?

(On a side note, choosing the double doors now lead to a different section number.....)
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

Ah, but can we take an old sack? In two other books in this series, taking seemingly useless items turned out to be valuable...albeit one of them was a "cross off one item of your choice" variety.

Two options, presumably not both are bad...try cider?
User avatar
SlyJohnny
Duke
Posts: 1418
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:35 pm

Post by SlyJohnny »

The rotten apples makes me wonder if the cider is bad. Try wine.
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

Oh, that's a point, yeah, try the wine instead.
Ikeren
Knight-Baron
Posts: 849
Joined: Sat Jan 08, 2011 8:07 pm

Post by Ikeren »

DRUNK TEENAGERS! Chug some wine!
Omegonthesane
Prince
Posts: 3680
Joined: Sat Sep 26, 2009 3:55 pm

Post by Omegonthesane »

Wine is the drink of the bourgeoisie, so wine it is.
Kaelik wrote:Because powerful men get away with terrible shit, and even the public domain ones get ignored, and then, when the floodgates open, it turns out there was a goddam flood behind it.

Zak S, Zak Smith, Dndwithpornstars, Zak Sabbath, Justin Bieber, shitmuffin
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

The wine tastes funny. This is because it's poisoned. Roll two dice to see how it affects you.

Score 2-6 and writhe in agony before dropping stone dead. Go to 14.
Score 7-12 and you get sick as a parrot, losing half your current LIFE POINTS. Stagger back to 32 and reconsider your options.
Dice roll = 11! We survive this time, but our LP Is down to 14!

We are directed back to the centre of the courtyard, so if we pick double-doors from there we will be going to 15. Of course, there's nothing to stop us from coming back to the barrels again and heading to the double doors from there. This book allows us to revisit sections that we've already been to (although naturally nobody would want to go to the Chickens again) so our choices are:

1) The battlements.
2) Straight to the double-doors from the centre of courtyard.
3) Back to the barrels and drink the cider.
4) Back to the barrels and then detour to the double-doors

Oh, and let me know if you want to use some healing potion/salve.
User avatar
SlyJohnny
Duke
Posts: 1418
Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 4:35 pm

Post by SlyJohnny »

Well, that was a terrible idea. Sorry guys!

Maybe try the cider now? It'd be a dick move for both to be poisoned.
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

Sick as a parrot?

But yeah, two options, presumably not both are bad...try cider?
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

Good cider. Don't take too much or you'll get drunk. Go to 32 when you've finished and decide what you want to do now.
It's not bad....but nothing actually good happens, either.

1) The battlements.
2) Straight to the double-doors from the centre of courtyard.
3) Back to the barrels and drink the cider.
4) Back to the barrels and then detour to the double-doors
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

Is option 4 the same as option 2, but circling up to them instead of crossing an open space?

I favour going to the battlements.
Ikeren
Knight-Baron
Posts: 849
Joined: Sat Jan 08, 2011 8:07 pm

Post by Ikeren »

Wow, this one is harsh. I'll vote battlements as well.
ashimbabbar
Journeyman
Posts: 147
Joined: Mon Feb 29, 2016 10:54 am

Post by ashimbabbar »

I would vote straight to the double doors, also quaff a healing potion
SGamerz
King
Posts: 6293
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 11:45 am

Post by SGamerz »

Thaluikhain wrote:Is option 4 the same as option 2, but circling up to them instead of crossing an open space?
They lead to different section numbers, that's why I present them as different options. The battlements is the same section no matter where you go there from.
Ikeren wrote:Wow, this one is harsh.
Yeah, unfortunately arbitrary random dice rolls with a chance of death are quite a thing in this series. The good news is that (I think) this courtyard might be the harshest part for this book. It gets (slightly) better once you find the way past this portion.

You climb the stone steps to the battlements and...
Good grief! The battlements and towers are guarded by a horde of Archer Insects! These horrifying creatures are nearly two metres tall, each one looking for all the world like a giant Preying Mantis, each one armed with a bow and a quiver of twenty arrows. There are hundreds of them skulking up here! No chance to fight so many. Roll two dice to find out if you can make it safely back down the steps to the yard.

Score 2-4 and you're skewered with 750 arrows, killing you instantly. Go to 14.
Score 5-8 and you're wounded by three arrows (total damage 10 LIFE POINTS) but make it back to the yard. Return to 32 and reconsider your options.
Score 9-12 and you reach the yard safely without being wounded. Return to 32 and reconsider your options.
At least this time the auto-death chance is less than 50%.....

Dice roll = 9! We (barely) escape damage!

We're really only left with the double doors now. The question is which way to approach it?
Thaluikhain
King
Posts: 6153
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm

Post by Thaluikhain »

I'd favour going via the barrels.
Post Reply