[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 17 - Appointment with F.E.A.R.

[Darth Rabbitt]

I'm also in favor of the slightly ajar door. But I don't want to drag this down with a tie.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes tallied, Jean Lafayette will try room number three, since that room got 2 votes, while the other two each had only 1 definite vote.

250
[spoiler][/spoiler]

You enter the room and interrupt a struggle. Lola Manche is punching and kicking her would-be kidnapper, who is attempting to push her out of the window to escape from the theatre! Judging by the mess all around the dressing-room – clothes are strewn about and jars of make-up lie broken on the floor – the struggle has been going on for some time, but the Serpent has almost succeeded in getting her through the window. You must leap in quickly before it is too late:

THE SERPENT SKILL 8 STAMINA 8

The Serpent has a powerful secret weapon – his poisonous bite. Each time he hits you, roll one die. A roll of 1 or 2 indicates a bite and the poison will take effect. Deduct 1 SKILL point each time you are bitten. However, the effects of the bite are only temporary. You will recover your SKILL after one full day. If you defeat the villain, turn to 432.

The fight:
[spoiler]Round 1: The Serpent Attack Strength: 18, Player Attack Strength: 15;
Poison Roll: 6
The Serpent Stamina: 8, Player Stamina: 7
Round 2: The Serpent Attack Strength: 12, Player Attack Strength: 20;
The Serpent Stamina: 6, Player Stamina: 7
Round 3: The Serpent Attack Strength: 11, Player Attack Strength: 17;
The Serpent Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 7
Round 4: The Serpent Attack Strength: 16, Player Attack Strength: 11;
Poison Roll: 3
The Serpent Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 5[/spoiler]

Okay folks, so the fight is at the point where The Serpent has 4 Stamina, and Jean Lafayette has 5 Stamina, prompting the question on whether Luck should be used to improve our hero’s chances of surviving the rest of the fight. Jean Lafayette has fortunately not taken any bites and is still at 8 Skill. If Luck should be used, should we use it to reduce the damage that Jean Lafayette takes or to inflict additional damage?

Please vote on how Luck should be used to resolve the rest of the fight before 6:00 PM PDT to guarantee that it will be counted.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Jean Lafayette
SKILL: 8 Initial Skill = 8
STAMINA: 5 Initial Stamina = 21
LUCK: 9 Initial Luck = 9
CLUES:
Alchemists will raid a branch of Cleveland Bank, at 4 a.m, and then another branch on the corner of 128th Street and 10th Avenue
Tormentor’s name is Richard Storm, has a contact named Susan at 555-9999
Ice Queen’s name is Sylvia Frost
Dr Macabre’s name is Marcus Buletta, will rob a chemist after breaking out of jail
When the President is due to arrive, add 100 to the reference to apprehend the killer
SUPER POWER: ETS
HERO POINTS: 4
BOONS:
2 Rewinds
1 Restoration[/spoiler]

[Beroli]

Use Luck to do damage, twice if the first time fails, in order to finish the fight quickly.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Agreed with Beroli.

[SGamerz]

Hang on, remember that we're not encouraged to kill in this superhero book, so the fights are supposed to end when enemies are down to 2 or 1 STAMINA, and in fact if we somehow kill them we actually lose Hero points, so there's no reason to ever use LUCK to increase damage in combat when they are at 4 STAMINA. Maybe use LUCK to reduce damage done on us, yes, but not for extra damage.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Oh, good point. Use Luck to reduce damage taken.

[Beroli]

Oh. We're at "if we win one more round we win unless we use Luck for no good reason and fail."

That being the case: don't use Luck.

[JourneymanN00b]

I looked at the votes, and it seems the general consensus is for Jean Lafayette to use Luck only to reduce any further damage that he takes.

The rest of the fight:
[spoiler]Round 5: The Serpent Attack Strength: 13, Player Attack Strength: 16;
The Serpent Stamina: 2, Player Stamina: 5[/spoiler]

Fortunately, Jean Lafayette manages to land another hit, which is enough for The Serpent to give himself up.

432
As the young starlet picks himself up and thanks you, the Serpent moans and pleads for mercy. He can offer you some information and wants to do a deal. He will tell you what he knows if you will release him. But you have sworn to uphold justice and can agree to no such deal. You explain that you can only suggest that helping you by relating this information may make the judge a little easier on him. Reluctantly he agrees. He tells you two pieces of information. First of all, you learn that the Creature of Carnage is in fact Illya Karpov, a known agent of F.E.A.R. Also he has heard that there will be an assassination attempt on the life of the President when he visits Titan City. The killer will be hiding on the roof of the Regent Hotel. If you decide to watch the President’s arrival, add 100 to the reference you are on when you arrive to apprehend the assassin. You may add 2 LUCK points for this information. After you have handed him over to the police, turn to 79. You may add 2 Hero Points for rescuing Lola Manche.

79
After a good night’s sleep, you set off for work the next morning. To your great relief, your Crimewatch does not sound at all and you actually arrive before Jonah Whyte, who is astounded to find you hard at work when he arrives. You may add 2 LUCK points, as the danger of losing your job has now passed. At five o’clock, you leave. Will you change into the Silver Crusader and visit police headquarters to find out why so little has been happening on the crime front all day (turn to 245), or will you pay a surprise visit on your aunt who lives out in the suburbs (turn to 134)?

Please vote before 9:00 AM PDT or a choice gets a 4-vote majority to guarantee that it will be counted.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Jean Lafayette
SKILL: 8 Initial Skill = 8
STAMINA: 5 Initial Stamina = 21
LUCK: 9 Initial Luck = 9
CLUES:
Alchemists will raid a branch of Cleveland Bank, at 4 a.m, and then another branch on the corner of 128th Street and 10th Avenue
Tormentor’s name is Richard Storm, has a contact named Susan at 555-9999
Ice Queen’s name is Sylvia Frost
Dr Macabre’s name is Marcus Buletta, will rob a chemist after breaking out of jail
When the President is due to arrive, add 100 to the reference to apprehend the killer
Creature of Carnage is Illya Karpov, a known agent of F.E.A.R.
SUPER POWER: ETS
HERO POINTS: 6
BOONS:
2 Rewinds
1 Restoration[/spoiler]

[Darth Rabbitt]

I'm guessing the police will be like "we don't know" while our aunt will have some oddly vital clue to success.

[Beroli]

Police headquarters.

[Queen of Swords]

Man, after work all I want to do is relax and unwind, but here we are ready to do more investigatin'.

Police station (and fingers crossed that the aunt isn't going to play a vital role in the story).

[Thaluikhain]

Recommend the aunt, but only half vote to avoid tie.

Also just noticed our boss in named Jonah Whyte.

[SGamerz]

Police.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes counted, Jean Lafayette will visit police headquarters, since that option won by a 3-1.5 vote.

245
[spoiler][/spoiler]

Lieutenant Wojak shakes your hand enthusiastically as you enter police headquarters. ‘Crusader! Hi! Good to see you. Come into my office …’ He tells you that, apart from the usual muggings, break-ins and auto-thefts, he has just had some disturbing news. There has been a well-organized jail break at Woodworm Scrubs, the high-security prison. Marcus Buletta, who was serving a fourteen-year sentence, climbed over the wall with a rope-ladder and escaped in a waiting van disguised as an ambulance. Also, Central Hospital has just reported a strange admission, someone named Winston Woods, whose head and hands are rough and hairy, like those of a great ape. Do you wish to investigate the strange case at the hospital (turn to 190), will you go shopping (turn to 94), or will you tell the police to keep you informed and go to visit your aunt (turn to 134)?

Please vote before 6:00 PM PDT to guarantee that it will be counted.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Jean Lafayette
SKILL: 8 Initial Skill = 8
STAMINA: 5 Initial Stamina = 21
LUCK: 9 Initial Luck = 9
CLUES:
Alchemists will raid a branch of Cleveland Bank, at 4 a.m, and then another branch on the corner of 128th Street and 10th Avenue
Tormentor’s name is Richard Storm, has a contact named Susan at 555-9999
Ice Queen’s name is Sylvia Frost
Dr Macabre’s name is Marcus Buletta, will rob a chemist after breaking out of jail
When the President is due to arrive, add 100 to the reference to apprehend the killer
Creature of Carnage is Illya Karpov, a known agent of F.E.A.R.
SUPER POWER: ETS
HERO POINTS: 6
BOONS:
2 Rewinds
1 Restoration[/spoiler]

[Darth Rabbitt]

So we have to keep an eye out for a chemist being robbed.

Investigate the hospital.

[Thaluikhain]

Hmmm, visiting aunt is the same section as last time, so we've not changed that by coming here.

Vote to visit the aunt.

[Beroli]

How would Central Hospital be a job for us? "Guy who's been admitted. Stop having ape parts!"

Go shopping.

[Darth Rabbitt]

I was running under the assumption that the hairy guy showing up at the hospital would have useful information for us.

[JourneymanN00b]

Since the listed votes result in a very rare three-way tie, I will break it by voting to visit Jean Lafayette’s aunt.

134
Your aunt lives in Cockney Green, a pleasant suburban district to the east of the Titan Centre. The bus drops you off at Cockney Cemetery, leaving you with a five-minute walk to her house. Will you take a leisurely stroll around the outside of the cemetery (turn to 219), or will you take a short cut through it (turn to 85)?

Please vote before 9:00 AM PDT or a choice gets a 4-vote majority to guarantee that it will be counted.

[Beroli]

Outside of the cemetery.

[Thaluikhain]

Through the cemetery. Though undead would seem out of character for this book, you never know.

[Queen of Swords]

I agree with going through the cemetery. Might spot something interesting.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Yeah, through the cemetery.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes counted, Jean Lafayette will take a short cut through the cemetery, since that choice won by a 3-1 vote.

85
[spoiler][/spoiler]
The sky clouds over as you enter the cemetery and, by the time you are halfway across, the atmosphere is decidedly spooky. A scraping noise to your left attracts your attention. The noise is coming from a recently dug grave and you step over to get a closer look. Your eyes widen as you see a movement in the soil on the top of the grave. Something is trying to get out! A hand reaches out of the soil and you are frozen to the spot as a huge shape lifts itself out of the pit. You recognize the creature: you have come across him once before. The webbed claws of the grey-skinned beast flex as it steps towards you. The Reincarnation! The beast that cannot be killed! Why on earth has he been buried in an ordinary grave? Probably some idiot official didn’t believe the stories. But one thing is certain. The Reincarnation must not be allowed to stalk Titan City again on its mission of destruction. If you have ETS, turn to 332. If you have Psi-Powers, turn to 422. If you have Energy Blast, turn to 352. If you have Super Strength, turn to 373.

Jean Lafayette has ETS.

332
[spoiler][/spoiler]
You draw a Micronet from your Accessory Belt and cast it over the creature. The tough fibres tangle its limbs, but it is not strong enough to hold for long. Turn to 373 to fight the Reincarnation, but deduct 3 points from its SKILL for the first six rounds of combat.

373
The Reincarnation is a powerful creature which may not be killed. But you may be able to knock it unconscious; if you reduce its STAMINA to zero, it will remain so for two days. Resolve the battle:

THE REINCARNATION SKILL 10 STAMINA 12

If you defeat the creature, turn to 239.

Yikes. We are about to fight The Reincarnation, which will have 7 Skill for the first six rounds, with our hero at only 5 Stamina. If we should use Luck to improve Jean Lafayette’s chances of survival, should we use it to reduce the damage that he takes or to inflict additional damage?

Please vote on how Luck should be used to resolve the fight before 6:00 PM PDT to guarantee that it will be counted.

[Beroli]

Use Luck to increase damage until we reach 6 Luck and it becomes more likely to hurt us than help us.

WhenIf we die here, do we rewind to the first decision that made the gamebook unwinnable, or do we restore and keep on our current path?