[Let's Play] Virtual Reality Gamebooks: Twist of Fate

[Darth Rabbitt]

a.k.a. Critical IF: Once Upon a Time in Arabia, but there was no way in hell that both were fitting in the title.

Twist of Fate cover:

Once Upon a Time in Arabia cover:

And the map:

For the purposes of this LP, I'm using the Once Upon a Time in Arabia edition. The only true Virtual Reality books I have are the two that weren't re-released as part of Critical IF.

So we can either create our own character or pick a pregenerated one. Character creation requires picking 4 skills from a list of 12. We start with any items needed for the skill in question, 10 Life Points, and 12 dinars. We have 8 inventory slots (which the items needed for skills count towards).

ARCHERY
A long-range attack skill for both hunting and combat. You must possess a bow to use this skill.

AGILITY
The ability to perform acrobatic feats, run, climb, balance and leap. A character with this skill is nimble and dexterous.

CUNNING
The ability to think on your feet and devise clever schemes for getting out of trouble. Useful in countless situations.

FOLKLORE
Knowledge of myth and legend. Such knowledge is power, and you know the best way of dealing with any supernatural menace.

LUCK
The general ability to 'fall on your feet.' Your natural good fortune will help you in all sorts of situations.

MAGIC
The ability to summon a jinni to do your bidding. You must possess a ring to use this skill.

ROGUERY
The traditional repertoire of a thief's tricks: picking pockets, opening locks, and skulking unseen in the shadows.

SEAFARING
Knowing all about life at sea, including the ability to handle anything from a rowboat right up to a large sailing ship.

STREETWISE
With this skill you are never at a loss in towns and cities. What others see as the squalor and menace of narrow cobbled streets is home to you.

SWORDPLAY
The best fighting skill. You must possess a sword to use this skill.

WILDERNESS LORE
A talent for survival in the wild—whether it be forest, desert, swamp or mountain peak.

WRESTLING
You know how to handle yourself in a brawl, winning victory with armlocks, holds, leg sweeps and forearm jabs. You need no weapons—your own body is the weapon.

So Archery requires a bow, Magic requires a ring, and Swordplay requires a sword. If we have any of those skills, we start out with their respective items.

Pregenerated characters:

The Warrior
Skills: ARCHERY, FOLKLORE, SWORDPLAY and WRESTLING
Profile: You must live your life by the high ideals of the military code. You accept wounds to your body without flinching, but never a wound to your honour.
Life Points: 10
Possessions: Bow, sword
Money: 12 dinars  

The Wizard
Skills: CUNNING, FOLKLORE, LUCK and MAGIC
Profile: You are a student of sorcery and mystery. The stars of your birth guarantee you a charmed life.
Life Points: 10
Possessions: Ring
Money: 12 dinars  

The Thief
Skills: AGILITY, CUNNING, ROGUERY and STREETWISE
Profile: Born and bred in the dark crannies of Baghdad's slums, you believe your knavish skills are equal to any challenge.
Life Points: 10
Money: 12 dinars  

The Ranger
Skills: ARCHERY, SEAFARING, STREETWISE and WILDERNESS LORE
Profile: You have no fear of any peril that nature can throw at you. The only true evil in this world resides in the hearts of selfish men.
Life Points: 10
Possessions: Bow
Money: 12 dinars  

The Merchant
Skills: LUCK, ROGUERY, SEAFARING and SWORDPLAY
Profile: In your youth you were fascinated by the strange journeys of Sinbad. Now you have the chance to outdo them.
Life Points: 10
Possessions: Sword
Money: 12 dinars  

The Nomad
Skills: AGILITY, FOLKLORE, MAGIC and WILDERNESS LORE
Profile: Your true home is among the desert dunes. You know that city dwellers are not to be trusted.
Life Points: 10
Possessions: Ring
Money: 12 dinars  

The Beggar
Skills: CUNNING, LUCK, STREETWISE and WRESTLING
Profile: All pious men should give generously to the poor, but in your experience many disregard this. No matter--if you aren't offered charity, you'll simply take it.
Life Points: 10
Money: 12 dinars

So, what kind of character do we make? Also pick a name if you have one.

[SlyJohnny]

Luck, Magic, Streetwise, Swordplay.

[SGamerz]

I love how the Beggar is as rich as every other character.

We definitely should take magic. How often do we get the power to summon genies constantly throughout a game!

Magic, Luck Cunning, Folklore

EDIT: I genuinely didn't realize that I'd picked the exact skills that the Wizard has. Lol

[Thaluikhain]

Apparently Dave Morris was invited to be a guest of honour at Sentieri Tolkieniani in Turin, despite never reading LotR.

This doesn't help choose skills, though. Not having any idea of what the book is about, but having seen some Harryhausen films, I'd go for Swordplay, Seafaring and Cunning. And magic because everyone else seems to want it.

[Darth Rabbitt]

I love how the Beggar is as rich as every other character.

I have to wonder if that was different in the Virtual Reality edition. Some of the pregen characters in Green Blood and The Coils of Hate have less money but more health.

Apparently Dave Morris was invited to be a guest of honour at Sentieri Tolkieniani in Turin, despite never reading LotR.

He's a good fantasy writer and worldbuilder so I could see an argument for inviting him to that kind of thing.

Counting the votes:
Magic is a definite at 3 votes.
Luck, Swordplay, and Cunning all get 2.
Seafaring, Folklore, and Streetwise get 1.

So that gives us 4 skills with majority votes: Magic, Luck, Swordplay and Cunning. Basically the Wizard with Swordplay instead of Lore. On to the LP:

PROLOGUE

After many days on the road, it is with a quickening of the blood that you breathe in and catch the ripe, enticing scent of Baghdad’s canal-irrigated orchards in the distance. Cresting a hill, you rein in your horse and gaze down on the city of your birth. There is a haze in the air that, filtering the shafts of morning sunlight, makes the gardens and marble palaces seem as though flecked with gold. Beyond the city walls, the River Tigris laces between the green fields and the woodland of the hunting parks like a vein of liquid fire.
The horse whinnies and tugs at the reins.
‘You like the look of that fresh grass, eh, Antar?’ You pat his mane and dismount, leading him to a spot where he can graze in the shade. Then you lie back to bask in the warm sun. Bees drone lazily amid the flowers. You set out early this morning and have made good speed. Why not enjoy a nap before riding on into the city?
Yet sleep does not come. You are too excited. When you set out a month ago to attend your uncle’s funeral, you were contented but poor, with few prospects for the future. You never dreamt that your uncle, whom you hardly knew, had made you his heir. He left you his fine stallion Antar, who has already become a firm friend. And in your saddlebags are bars of gold that will allow you to set yourself up in whatever enterprise you wish.
As you muse on what you will do with your new-found fortune, you become aware of voices on the other side of the hill. Antar is still contentedly chewing the grass. Moved by curiosity, you make your way through the bushes and look down to see a group of servants laying out a picnic. Nearby stand soldiers, obviously the guards of a plump nobleman in elegant robes who has a hawk that he sends swooping down the hill. Each time the bird falls on a field mouse, the nobleman’s ample belly quakes with cruel laughter.
One of the soldiers comes up to the nobleman and salutes him. You are close enough to hear him say, ‘Lord Jafar, shall we set up your pavilion?’
You know that name. Jafar is the Grand Vizier of Baghdad, who advises the Caliph on every detail of state policy. You decide to remain out of sight. It is not prudent to attract the attention of one so rich and powerful. He could easily decide you are trespassing and have you flogged or enslaved.
Jafar nods, then waves the soldier away and beckons over a thin servant clad in black who had been standing aloof from the others. The servant hovers beside Jafar with a fixed grin on his face, like a worshipper waiting to hear the word of his god.
Jafar sends the hawk aloft and watches it. Then he says thoughtfully, as though to himself, ‘Every night, the Caliph puts on ordinary clothes and has me lead him by means of secret passages to explore the streets outside the palace walls. In this way, he hopes to learn the true will of the people.’
‘It’s all too easy for a ruler to get out of touch,’ puts in the black-clad servant.
Jafar nods. ‘Precisely. Lately I have been leading the Caliph to very select venues — inns and houses where I have previously planted my own agents. They talk of rebellion, and the Caliph hears their talk, and gradually he begins to believe that his subjects hate him.’
‘Oh, a scheme of rare cunning, if I may say so, your excellency,’ says the servant. ‘But where’s it leading, may I ask?’
‘The Caliph, fearing rebellion, each day grows more cautious, more paranoid. He intensifies the rule of law and deals harshly with those whose loyalty is in question. And so, by fearing rebellion, each day he brings it closer.’
The servant claps his hands in delight. ‘You are the Prince of Guile, my lord! So the populace will come to hate the noble Caliph…’
‘And then, when the time is ripe, I’ll overthrow him. How the people will cheer! Despite my humble protests, they’ll insist that I take the place of the despot. Can you see it, Natar?’
‘I can, excellency!’ cries the servant. ‘And when you are Caliph, what then?’
He waits with an expectant smile which fades as he sees the dark look in Jafar’s eyes.
‘And then?’ says Jafar grimly. ‘Then the whole world shall tremble.’ You’ve heard more than enough.
This many secrets can get a person killed. You are edging back into the bushes when one of Jafar’s guards comes around the hill. Outrage leaps like fire into your blood. The guard is leading your horse.
‘See what I found, excellency,’ he says, taking the horse over to Jafar. ‘Thank you,’ purrs Jafar, patting Antar’s neck. ‘A fine gift.’
This is too much to bear. Striding down the hill, you raise your hand and call out. ‘Wait! That’s my horse.’
Jafar flicks his gaze vaguely in your direction, looking through you as though you are nothing. ‘I believe the horse is mine, and yet I seemed to hear a voice raised in protest. How can the Grand Vizier of Baghdad be mistaken?’
You are almost choking with emotion. You lunge, seizing Antar’s reins. ‘This is outright theft!’
Now Jafar glares. His eyes, like tiny crystals of ice, focus on yours. You shudder at the sudden palpable wave of evil. ‘Justice is not for the likes of you,’ he spits. ‘I make the law here.’ The servant, Natar, peers at you and then speaks anxiously to his master: ‘This wretch may have overheard us, lord. Shall I..?’ He draws his knife half out of its sheath.
Jafar nods. Before you can react, one of the guards clubs you across the back of the neck. Your legs give way and they catch you under the arms. Natar pushes the knife towards you.
‘Not here,’ snaps Jafar. ‘You’ll get blood over the picnic things. Do it by the river, then throw the body in.’
You are half-led, half-dragged towards the riverbank. You’re groggy but you fight to stay conscious, knowing that if you black out now you will never awaken. The river surges past below. Natar’s face swims close through waves of nausea. The knife approaches your throat.
You muster a burst of strength and break free of the guards holding you. Natar only laughs. ‘So, you still have some fight left in you. Good.’
You seize his wrist, but you know you don’t have the strength to disarm him. Instead you let your legs give way, using your dead weight to drag you both over the side of the bank.
Icy cold water engulfs you. Natar’s grin has become a mask of hatred and alarm. By luck you twist the knife around, and you think you managed to cut him. He is swept away and you tumble with the current, spinning down and down into a black sink of oblivion.
You are revived by the last rays of the sun. You are lying in river mud near to some fishermen’s hovels on the outskirts of the city. Ignoring the throb in your skull, you drag yourself to your feet and stumble along the warren of streets, your only thought being to stay hidden. Jafar’s agents may already be looking for you. With what you have learned, your days are numbered. Unless you can expose Jafar as the villain he is.

So apparently the reason everyone has the same amount of money is that they had a huge inheritance in gold (and a horse) that Jafar stole, and the dinars are just their pocket money.

Nightfall finds you walking aimlessly through the narrow back streets of the city. From off in the main plaza you can hear the hubbub of street entertainers and night-time revellers. Torchlight flares from braziers set up for the festival. Here the street is hushed and dimly lit. You shrink back into the shadows, preferring to be alone with your bitter thoughts.
A beggar sits in a doorway, unnoticed by the few passers-by. He is an old dervish with a streaked grey beard. He reaches out his tin cup, startling you, and you flinch at the sight of his scabrous hands. Then you see the green turban that marks him as a hajji — one who has made the arduous pilgrimage to Mecca.
‘Alms for the love of God,’ he mutters.
Ashamed at the feeling of loathing that swept across your face at first, you fish in your pocket and give him a dinar. It rattles in his cup and for a moment he peers at it as though it were a wondrous vision. He gestures up at the heavens and says, ‘You have only to lift your head: there is a sight to banish misfortune. Under the wide sky, God sees all and guides the worthy to a just reward.’
The remark seems filled with portent. You gaze up past the rooftops at the stars: a thousand lights sharp as jewels on the cloth of the night. A feeling of awe at their beauty takes the breath from your body. By the time you look back, the dervish is shuffling away.
You follow him to the end of the alley, but lose sight of him as he slips through a crowd of people who are gathered to hear a storyteller. As the storyteller finishes his tale, the crowd begins to break up. Some move off towards a troupe of acrobats from distant Cathay whose oiled flesh gleams like amber in the flaring torchlight. Others go to buy sweetmeats from stalls around the plaza. The storyteller sits back on his mat, beaming at the mound of coins he has earned.
You are standing outside an astrologer’s shop. A man emerges, brushing past you, nodding with a smile as he catches your eye. The tattoo on his chest suggests he is a sailor.
Remember to cross off the dinar you gave the dervish.

Enter the astrologer’s shop?
Talk to the sailor?
Go over to the storyteller?
Go in search of the elusive dervish?

Also pick a name for our character if you want. Interestingly enough, this is the only gamebook I can think of where the character's gender is checked at one point, which I forgot to mention earlier. So we have to pick that.

Adventure Sheet:

Name: ??
Gender: ??
Skills: CUNNING, LUCK, MAGIC and SWORDPLAY
Life Points: 10
Possessions:
1) Ring
2) Sword
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
Money: 11 dinars

[Thaluikhain]

Does the evil Vizier have a beard? I bet he does.

Half vote for looking for dervish.

[SGamerz]

I think the dervish option might still be there later. The others probably won't once we leave the spot.

Storyteller.

[Thaluikhain]

Oh, that makes sense, change my vote to storyteller.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Does the evil Vizier have a beard? I bet he does.

Definitely.

The storyteller invites you to sit with him and take a cup of tea. Soon you find yourself blurting out the whole day’s sorry tale, ending with your encounter with the dervish.
He listens with a sympathetic smile. ‘Truly, there is wisdom in the words of a holy man.’
You shrug. ‘If so, I lack the wisdom to discern it. What can he have meant? It seemed from his tone that he was issuing a prophecy.’
‘He spoke of the rokh,’ says the storyteller, raising a finger to the sky. ‘It is a bird as large as a whale. The beating of the rokh’s wings moves the clouds above our heads. Its eyrie pierces the vault of heaven, and elephants are its prey.’
‘What is that to me? The mere stuff of idle yarns.’ He shakes his head. ‘This is a story that has its basis in truth. It is said - though only God is all-knowing - that the egg laid by the rokh is of pure diamond. One fragment would make a man as rich as a prince. If you seek wealth, find the rokh’s nest.’
The storyteller is ready to entertain another audience, so you thank him for the tea and say goodbye. The sailor you saw earlier is standing nearby, watching a street magician pull coloured ribbons from a young girl’s ears.

Go over and introduce yourself?
Go off to ponder your next move?

[Thaluikhain]

Talk to the sailor.

[Omegonthesane]

This being a gamebook that was published, I assume that for the purpose of mechanics we are restricted to binary cisgender. So female on principle.

And talk to the sailor.

[Darth Rabbitt]

This being a gamebook that was published, I assume that for the purpose of mechanics we are restricted to binary cisgender. So female on principle.

That would be correct.

The sailor greets you in the name of God and walks beside you across the plaza. ‘Ah, I am glad to be back in the City of Peace after my long travels,’ he says. ‘And on such a night, when merriment fills the air from dusk to dawn. But what of you, my friend? Your face seems a stranger to joy. Are sighs and long looks your stock-in-trade? If so, you’ll find no taker for your wares in fair Baghdad.’
Despite your woes, you muster a smile at his whimsical way of speaking. ‘Yesterday I was as light of heart as you, my friend,’ you say, and before long you have blurted out your tale.
When you mention what the dervish said, the sailor claps you on the back and gives a whoop of jovial laughter. ‘Why, these holy beggars are truly steeped in wisdom!’ Seeing your blank look, he goes on, ‘Surely you realize what he meant. Why, he has gifted you with the key to restoring your fortunes – and all for a mere dinar. Oh, for such a bargain to enrich my own business!’
You are getting quite tetchy by now. ‘Enlighten me, O Vessel of Profundity,’ you say through gritted teeth. ‘In what way can I profit by the dervish’s words?’
‘He spoke of the stars, which guide those like myself who venture out onto the ocean in search of distant ports. You seek treasure? Then you have only to go to the docks, take ship, and sail to find your destiny.’

Accompany the sailor to the docks?
Take your leave of him?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: ??
Gender: Female
Skills: CUNNING, LUCK, MAGIC and SWORDPLAY
Life Points: 10
Possessions:
1) Ring
2) Sword
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
Money: 11 dinars

[SlyJohnny]

Try another call to adventure.

[SGamerz]

We didn't take Seafaring, so try another way.

[Thaluikhain]

Going to the docks would probably prove me right in suggesting seafaring, so lets do that.

[Darth Rabbitt]

2-1 in favor of leaving the sailor be:

You walk down by the river, where the moon’s reflection lies like a sunken scimitar in the black depths. Some distance off, whispering couples glide between the trees. Blinkered by love, they take no notice of the brooding figure on the river bank.
You contemplate your future. The life of a beggar promises nothing but misery, hardship, sickness and an early death. You burn with outrage at the way Jafar treated you as beneath contempt because of your humble birth. The Caliph himself, you believe, is a good man who should be warned of his Vizier’s evil plot. But an ordinary subject like yourself can hardly demand an audience with the ruler of the civilized world. It would be different if you were wealthy. ‘The scales of justice are balanced by a little gold,’ as the saying goes.
Go straight to the Caliph’s palace? If you decide instead to set out in search of adventure and riches, will you go by sea, or join a merchant caravan heading overland?

[Thaluikhain]

If not by sea, an overland caravan.

[angelfromanotherpin]

Yes, the caravan.

[SlyJohnny]

Sure.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Arriving at the market in early morning, you see two teams of camels loaded for long journeys. Porters rush along the line, checking the wares are securely strapped. The camels growl like consumptive old men and glower disdainfully at their handlers, rising to their feet reluctantly as the first caravan moves off.
A merchant approaches you and asks if you will hire on as a caravan guard. ‘I will pay you ten dinars. Come, be quick about your answer – those are my camels you see traipsing towards the eastern gate.’
‘Ten dinars to brave the blades of a thousand bandits!’ scoffs another man who has overheard this. He takes your arm and points to the other caravan, now making ready to set off. ‘Why weigh your lifeblood against a pouch of gold? Come with us to Egypt. It’s a safer route by far than this slave-driver takes.’
The first merchant stares at him in express amazement. ‘Safe, you claim? Your tongue is more wretched than a dog’s tail! Is it safe to fling one’s life at the mercy of the desert sun?’ He turns to you. ‘Let this rogue pay you in water. You will need it more than my gold, if you take the route to Egypt.’
Decide. Will you join the first caravan, heading east through the Peaks of the Slayers, for the sum of 10 dinars, or the second caravan across the desert to Egypt for the sum of 6 dinars? Remember to add your pay to the money on your Character Sheet.

[angelfromanotherpin]

While Egypt is notoriously full of wealth, that route signals that it will reward Wilderness Lore, while the other will reward some sort of combat skill. We have some sort of combat skill, so Peaks of the Slayers.

[SlyJohnny]

Yeah, let's fight bandits.

[Darth Rabbitt]

For the first week you have nothing to do but walk along beside the camels and steady the swaying bundles on their backs. At Kermanshah, a town in the foothills, Abdullah exchanges the camels for donkeys. When he unwraps the bundles, you are astonished to see that they are just rags.
‘Is your head on backwards?’ you ask him. ‘You cannot think they’ll pay you much for those in the east.’
‘Trade is not my true mission,’ he reveals. ‘Stitched inside these bundles are secret messages that the Caliph has told me to deliver to the commanders of his forts beyond the mountains.’ He peers hard at you. ‘Breathe no word of this to another, as you value your life.’
You do not need to be told twice. The next day you start your ascent into the mountains, guiding the donkeys up steep flinty paths until you reach a brooding forest. The slanting rays of the sun hang in the misty air, against which the shadows of the leaves remind you of naked blades.
A gazelle comes racing through the trees. You hear the pounding of hoofs and realize that it is being hunted, but before you can say anything one of the donkey-handlers has brought the gazelle down with his own spear. ‘We’ll eat well tonight!’ he calls merrily to the others.
You look up. Against the backdrop of mist, four armed riders take ominous shape between the trees. Will you hide or wait to see what they want?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: ??
Gender: Female
Skills: CUNNING, LUCK, MAGIC and SWORDPLAY
Life Points: 10
Possessions:
1) Ring
2) Sword
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
Money: 21 dinars

[angelfromanotherpin]

Our employer needs help with the whole 'secret' mission thing, but hey, a mission for the Caliph might turn out to be a decent in. Anyway, we are not Roguery, don't even try to hide.

[Omegonthesane]

Agreed on the second count - hiding will likely require we contort into a position not conducive to the face stabbing that may have to follow.