[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 29 - Midnight Rogue

[JourneymanN00b]

Our thief is technically not a warrior, so I vote to leave the room before it frees itself.

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, let's leave the room.

[Beroli]

Continue to leave.

[pragma]

Run

[SGamerz]

Carmen Garrett tries to make his escape before the Shapechanger can break free (does whomever set this test have to repair the cage and re-cage the Shapechanger every time a thief gets to this point?):

Dice roll = 9 (Success).

Before the Shapechanger can free itself from the cage, you leave the room, slamming the door behind you.

You carry on down the passage. It narrows abruptly, and the dressed stone walls give way to rough-hewn rock again. Soon you see why. Both walls are dotted with small holes, the floor is littered with bones and other rubbish. A rat, disturbed by the light of your torch, skitters down the passage in front of you. As it goes, it disturbs some of the rubbish, and instantly a sharp-jawed, caterpillar-like creature - something like a Rock Grub, but smaller and faster - shoots from each of the holes, attracted by the noise. The rat doesn't stand a chance, and is quickly torn to pieces.

You wait for the Grubs to return to their holes, and then move forward cautiously. You must move absolutely silently in order to get past without disturbing them. Turn to 25 if you have SNEAK skill, 128 if you don't.

Nasty-looking trap...personally I always find traps involving numerous vicious hungry little critters to be scarier than some large menacing guardian.

Hardly daring to breathe, you pick your way through the bones and other debris. It seems like hours before you are past the holes, but finally make it. You let out a sigh of relief, and as you do so the Grubs shoot from their burrows again - you shudder to think how sensitive their hearing is.

A few yards further on, the passage widens again, and is faced with dressed stone as before. You come to a door in the right-hand side pf the passage. Will you listen at the door, try to open it, or ignore it and carry on down the passage?

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to ignore it and carry on down the passage, as our thief should avoid being drawn into the evils of fascism, especially in this dark time.

[pragma]

Listen at the door seems like an obvious invitation.

[Beroli]

Listen at the door.

[Queen of Swords]

I'm in favor of listening too.

[Thaluikhain]

Actually, if you'd read the AFF book Blacksand, asking him who the Master of the Guild is really isn't a fair question, although the PC as an apprentice thief probably wouldn't know that.

In Blacksand!, you have the option of playing this character in the adventure at the end, and if you do, it's explicitly stated that you'd been misled about this and learn about Rannik being 1 of 5.

Also a typo, but would work if you put a full stop before the last word:

He seems to grow. Bugger

[SGamerz]

You put your ear to the door, and are taken completely by surprise when a plank whips around and hits you! Lose 2 STAMINA points. The 'door' suddenly unfolds into a great humanoid shape: it is a Wood Golem, and you must fight it.

WOOD GOLEM SKILL 8 STAMINA 6

When you win a round of combat, turn to 123.

Owwie...

COMBAT LOG:
Wood Golem 17, Carmen Garrett 18.

What kind of weapon are you using? If you are using a magic weapon, turn to 53. If you are using a torch, turn to 98. If you are using any other kind of weapon, turn to 183.

A weird question to ask after the combat has already started, since the players have no reason to decide to fight with a different weapon other than their default best one (in our case the Magic Sword), and certainly no reason to use a torch as weapon unless they were told beforehand that it would be beneficial. Still the choices are there, and we have access to all 3, so please retcon vote on what we were using,

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Carmen Garrett
SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 13/16
LUCK 8/10
Special Skills: Spot Hidden, Sneak, Pick Pocket
Backpack Items:
1) Provisions
2) Potion of Fortune (+1 to Initial LUCK, restores LUCK to new Initial value)
3) Rope and grapnel (gives CLIMB Special Skill)
4) Bottle of Brandy (3 doses, +2 STAMINA each, worth 1 GP)
5) Heavy wire with hook
6) Stone Axe
Other Items: Shortsword, leather jerkins and leggings, torch, hand-lamp, tinderbox, dagger, lock-picks (gives PICK LOCK Special Skill), key marked with the letter 'L', Magical Longsword (+1 Attack Strength in the next round after winning a combat round), Bronze Helmet (+1 SKILL), throwing knife
Provisions: 10
Gold & Treasure: 39 GP, silver paper-knife (5 GP)
Clues:
1) Look in a place of sleep and a place of work to find dark place of death where we will find what we're looking for (section 289)
2) Brass recently bought a piece of land called Barrow Hill; the Wizard Barbantius "refitted" it according to Brass's instructions (section 90)
3) Wizard "fitted out" Brass's property on Barrow Hill. 'E.O.B' penciled on ledger of Barrow Hill's purchase by Brass (section 335)
[/spoiler]

[Darth Rabbitt]

Torch the monster made of wood.

[Queen of Swords]

I agree, burn it.

[Beroli]

Yes, use a torch. And I disagree that we have no reason to immediately think to use a torch against a wood golem.

[JourneymanN00b]

I also to vote using the torch, as fire has always worked against wooden entities, if classic tropes are anything to go by.

[SGamerz]

And I disagree that we have no reason to immediately think to use a torch against a wood golem.

I didn't say the question didn't make sense, I said it was weird to ask it after we'd already started fighting. It makes perfect sense to ask a player whether they want to use fire against wood before the combat started, but I'm willing to bet less than 1% of the players were thinking "I'm totally using my torch here" when he was rolling up Attack Strengths for the first round of combat. If the Magic Sword grants AS bonus in the first round, I'm sure he'd have already added that bonus in that round before he even read the question and then realized he shouldn't have done so if he were using the torch. And then probably cheat by pretending he never added that bonus unless he'd have lost the attack round without it.

Your torch quickly ignites the Wood Golem, and it stumbles about, burning fiercely. You keep out of its way until it is destroyed.

With the Wood Golem destroyed, you are able to look through the doorway into the room beyond. It is a small room, barely ten feet square, and it is filled with a huge pile of gold and gems. None of the gems looks particularly big, but the Eye of the Basilisk might be in there somewhere. If you search through the treasure, turn to 46. If you ignore it and carry on up the passage, turn to 374.

[Beroli]

Is there a sign that says "THIS IS A TRAP" in the middle of the pile of gold and gems? No? An oversight, surely.

Carry on up the passage.

[JourneymanN00b]

I have a really strong feeling that the huge pile of gold and gems is a trap, and probably a lethal one. I vote to ignore it and carry on up the passage.

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, I don't think it'll be that easy to find the Eye of the Basilisk ("you search through the pile of gems like a pig rooting for truffles and ta-da!"). Keep going.

[SGamerz]

At last, the passage comes to an end. You had begun to think that it would go on for ever, but you find yourself peering into a huge cavern with no visible exits. Is this the hiding place of the Eye of the Basilisk? The cavern is featureless, and its rook is lost in darkness, beyond the range of torchlight. You move cautiously into the cavern, and start to check the walls for concealed doorways or hiding places.

Suddenly, your attention is caught by a rattling noise from above you. You raise your torch and look up, trying to see where the noise is coming from - and see an immense spider, fully five feet across the body, dropping like a stone towards you. Roll two dice. If the result is equal to your SKILL score or less, turn to 207; if not, turn to 304.

Dice roll = 7 (Success).

You throw yourself to one side as the Giant Spider crashes to the cavern floor, and barely have time to roll back to your feet before it is upon you. Fight the Giant Spider normally.

GIANT SPIDER SKILL 7 STAMINA 8

If you lose a round of combat, lose 2 STAMINA points and turn to 285. If you kill the Giant Spider without losing a single round of combat, turn to 353.

Due to there being an apparent special effect if we get hit even once, I'm pausing to see if you wish use LUCK for this battle.

[Beroli]

With Luck of 8, I'm saying no, don't use Luck here. We're far too close to the threshold of doing so being as likely to draw the fight out as to make it quicker, and I'm not sure we won't need Luck after this.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote not to use Luck as well, as I feel that we might need to pass a couple more Luck tests before this adventure is done.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Yeah, save luck for later.

[SGamerz]

COMBAT LOG:
Giant Spider 15, Carmen Garrett 15. Tie.
GS 17, CG 17. Tie.
GS 17, CG 14. CG is at 11!

3 straight rounds of mediocre/terrible rolls for Carmen, and he somehow takes the first hit despite his SKILL advantage!

The Giant Spider's great fangs strike home. Lose 2 STAMINA points and roll 2 dice. If the result is equal to your current STAMINA score or less, turn to 235; if not, turn to 312.

This is another -2 damage on top of the normal one that Carmen already took, leaving him at 9 STAMINA!

Dice roll = 8!

The Giant Spider's bite is poisonous, but you resist the worst of its effects. Lose 1 SKILL point, then turn back to 304 and carry on fighting.

We can't afford to take too many of these bites, so let's hope the dice favours us more from now...

COMBAT CONTINUES:
GS 15, CG 18. GS is at 6.
GS 19, CG 22. GS is at 4.
GS 12, CG 17. GS is at 2.
GS 13, CG 16. GS is killed.

Gave me a bit of a scare when the Spider actually rolled a double-6. Fortunately, Carmen rolled almost as well for that round, and manages to win without taking another bite!

Once the Giant Spider is dead, you are able to look around you. There are no passage leading out of the cavern apart from the one you came in by, so you decide to investigate the ceiling, which is lost in darkness. If you have CLIMB skill, turn 265. If you do not, turn to 399.

As you climb, you realize that the cavern is really a wide vertical shaft, and soon you reach the Giant Spider's web, strung right across the shaft from one side to the other. You shudder as you notice several silk-wrapped packages hanging in the web - each is about the right side and shape to be a human body. If you investigate the bodies, turn to 290; if not, keep on climbing.

Shall we check out the spider's food?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Carmen Garrett
SKILL 10/11
STAMINA 9/16
LUCK 8/10
Special Skills: Spot Hidden, Sneak, Pick Pocket
Backpack Items:
1) Provisions
2) Potion of Fortune (+1 to Initial LUCK, restores LUCK to new Initial value)
3) Rope and grapnel (gives CLIMB Special Skill)
4) Bottle of Brandy (3 doses, +2 STAMINA each, worth 1 GP)
5) Heavy wire with hook
6) Stone Axe
Other Items: Shortsword, leather jerkins and leggings, torch, hand-lamp, tinderbox, dagger, lock-picks (gives PICK LOCK Special Skill), key marked with the letter 'L', Magical Longsword (+1 Attack Strength in the next round after winning a combat round), Bronze Helmet (+1 SKILL), throwing knife
Provisions: 10
Gold & Treasure: 39 GP, silver paper-knife (5 GP)
Clues:
1) Look in a place of sleep and a place of work to find dark place of death where we will find what we're looking for (section 289)
2) Brass recently bought a piece of land called Barrow Hill; the Wizard Barbantius "refitted" it according to Brass's instructions (section 90)
3) Wizard "fitted out" Brass's property on Barrow Hill. 'E.O.B' penciled on ledger of Barrow Hill's purchase by Brass (section 335)
[/spoiler]

[Thaluikhain]

Investigating random thingies is more interesting than not.