Cover
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[/spoiler]Salutations, everyone. I was able to secure a copy of Fighting Fantasy book #31 earlier this month, as it was one of the more engaging titles that I read several years ago. Since nobody appears to have run this book yet and I believe that it hits plenty of right notes, it will therefore be the subject of this Let’s Play. Anyone wishing to join in is welcome. The plan is to update this series on a twice per day basis, with the exception of Sundays, where I will try to update more frequently on these days. However, my work duties will cause adjustments to this proposed schedule, since right now is crunch time in the workplace. This is especially true for the upcoming Fourth of July weekend, where I will be out of town and not have access to the Internet then.
Preface
MapAfter six years of constant bombardment from the forces of the mighty Lizard Man Empire, your beloved city of Vymorna lies in ruins, yet its battered and war-weary troops still hold out. Fighting alongside your mother, Queen Perriel, you know the situation is desperate. It is surely a matter of time before the city must fall into the hands of evil ... unless the divine powers come to its aid.
Then the great Lord Telak, god of courage, appears in a dream. YOU are the one chosen to carry out the mission to bring victory to your people. Only YOU can seek out the weapon which will aid you and your city against the dark forces. Your mission will take you through enemy lines and will be fraught with danger but you must succeed. YOU are Vymorna's last chance ...
Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are all you need to embark on this thrilling adventure, which is complete with its elaborate combat system and a score sheet to record your gains and losses.
Many dangers lie ahead and your success is by no means certain. YOU decide which routes to follow, which dangers to risk and which adversaries to fight!
Your Character
For the purposes of this Let’s Play, the Adventure Sheet will be hand-made and be periodically displayed.You are about to embark on a momentous quest that will decide the fate of not just yourself but a whole city, and possibly an entire country. Before embarking on your great adventure, you must first determine your own strengths and weaknesses. Use dice to discover your Initial scores. On pages 18-19 there is an Adventure Sheet which you may use to record the details of an adventure. On it you will find boxes for recording your SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK scores.
You are advised either to record your scores on the Adventure Sheet in pencil, or to make photocopies of the sheet for use in future adventures.
Skill, Stamina and Luck
Making the appropriate rolls and modifications yielded the following initial scores:Roll one die. Add 6 to this number and enter this total in the SKILL box on the Adventure Sheet.
Roll two dice. Add 12 to the number rolled and enter this total in the STAMINA box.
There is also a LUCK box. Roll one die, add 6 to this number and enter this total in the LUCK box.
For reasons that will be explained below, SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK scores change constantly during an adventure. You must keep an accurate record of these scores and for this reason you are advised either to write small in the boxes, or to keep an eraser handy. But never rub out your Initial scores.
Although you may be awarded additional SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK points, these totals may never exceed your Initial scores, except on very rare occasions, when you will be instructed on a particular page.
Your SKILL score reflects your swordsmanship and general fighting expertise; the higher the better. Your STAMINA score reflects your general constitution, your will to survive, your determination and overall fitness; the higher your STAMINA score, the longer you will be able to survive. Your LUCK score indicates how naturally lucky a person you are; it may only be through good luck that you survive! Luck – and magic – are facts of life in the war-torn lands of Southern Allansia though which you will soon be travelling.
SKILL: 9
STAMINA: 22
LUCK: 10
Battles
Fighting More Than One OpponentYou will often come across pages in the book which instruct you to fight an opponent of some sort. An option to flee may be given, but if not – or if you choose to attack the opponent anyway – you must resolve the battle as described below.
First, record your opponent’s SKILL and STAMINA scores in the first vacant Encounter Box on your Adventure Sheet. The scores for each opponent are given in the book each time you have an encounter.
The sequence of combat is then:
1. Roll both dice once for your opponent. Add its SKILL score. The total is your opponent’s Attack Strength.
2. Roll both dice once for yourself. Add the number rolled to your current SKILL score. This total is your Attack Strength.
3. If your Attack Strength is higher than that of your opponent, you have wounded it: proceed to step 4. If your opponent’s Attack Strength is higher than yours, it has wounded you: proceed to step 5. If both Attack Strength totals are the same, you have avoided each other’s blows – start the next Attack Round from step 1 above.
4. You have wounded your opponent, so subtract 2 points from its STAMINA score. You may use your LUCK here to do additional damage (see over).
5. Your opponent has wounded you, so subtract 2 points from your own STAMINA score. Again you may use LUCK at this stage (see over).
6. Make the appropriate adjustments to either your opponent’s or your own STAMINA score (and your LUCK score if you used LUCK – see over).
7. Begin the next Attack Round by returning to your current SKILL score and repeating steps 1-6. This sequence continues until the STAMINA score of either you or your opponent has been reduced to zero (death).
LuckIf you are involved in a fight with more than one opponent, at the start of each Attack Round you must decide which single opponent to attack. After choosing one, roll both dice to determine the Attack Strength of all the combatants individually. Resolve your own attack against your chosen opponent as usual. Next, compare your current Attack Strength with those of all your other opponents except the one you’ve just fought. Any opponent with a higher Attack Strength than yours will score a hit against you, with the usual loss of 2 STAMINA points. Remember: you can score hits only against the opponent you chose at the start of the round.
For the purposes of this Let’s Play, the attack rounds will be resolved all at once. I will generally only consider using Luck in battles if the character has less than 7 Stamina points. For such battles, I will ask whether Luck should be used to improve the odds of winning the fight. In battles where escape is an option and the character has less than 7 Stamina points, I will also ask whether the character should escape from the battle, and if so, under which conditions to flee.At various times during your adventure, either in battles or when you come across situations in which you could be either Lucky or Unlucky (details of these are given on the pages themselves), you may call on your LUCK to make the outcome more favourable. But beware! Using LUCK is a risky business and if you are Unlucky, the results could be disastrous.
The procedure for using your LUCK is as follows: roll two dice. If the number rolled is equal to or less than your current LUCK score, you have been Lucky and the result will go in your favour. If the number rolled is higher than your current LUCK score, you have been Unlucky and you will be penalized.
This procedure is known as Testing your Luck. Each time you Test your Luck, you must subtract 1 point from your current LUCK score. Thus you will soon realize that the more you rely on your LUCK, the more risky this will become.
Using Luck in Battles
On certain pages of the book you will be told to Test your Luck and will be told the consequences of your being Lucky or Unlucky. However, in battles you always have the option of using your LUCK either to inflict a more serious wound on an opponent you have just wounded, or to minimize the effects of a wound your opponent has just inflicted on you!
If you have just wounded the opponent, you may Test your Luck as described above. If you are Lucky you have inflicted a severe wound and may subtract an extra 2 points from the opponent’s STAMINA score. However, if you are Unlucky the wound was a mere graze and you must restore 1 point to your opponent’s STAMINA (i.e. instead of scoring the normal 2 points of damage you have now scored only 1).
If your opponent has just wounded you, you may Test your Luck to try to minimize the wound. If you are Lucky you have managed to avoid the full damage of the blow. Restore 1 point of STAMINA (i.e. instead of doing 2 points of damage it has done only 1). If you are Unlucky, you have taken a more serious blow. Subtract 1 extra STAMINA point.
Remember that you must subtract 1 point from your own LUCK score each time you Test your Luck.
Hints on Play
Please keep all spoilers covered out of respect to those of us who want to have a blind experience. Any ties will be broken by me based on my personal instincts.Skill
As you are already a battle-hardened warrior with many fights behind you in defence of your besieged city, your SKILL score is above average. It will not change much during your adventure, and you may only change it if specifically instructed. As SKILL is a measure of combat prowess, it can be reduced, for instance by losing your weapon or by the effects of something like poison. Acquiring an enchanted weapon could increase your SKILL – but remember that you can only use one weapon at a time.
Stamina
Your STAMINA will change more frequently as your journey continues, as you suffer wounds and exhaustion and then, hopefully, recover. At various times you will be given opportunities to eat some of the supplies you carry with you. Eating 1 Provision restores up to 4 STAMINA points; you may eat only 1 Provision at a time, even though you may have more (you can carry up to 4 Provisions at any one time). Your STAMINA may never exceed its Initial value.
Luck
The eyes of the Gods are upon you in your quest. Your patrons will attempt to help you, but their rivals will set deadly enemies and traps in your path to thwart their plans. You will need to use your LUCK wisely and sparingly if you are to survive and vanquish the forces of Evil. There may be occasions when your LUCK will improve and you can recover some points, but the score may never exceed its Initial value.
Getting Started
Read the introductory tale, which begins on page 21, then turn to paragraph 1. It is recommended that you make notes and draw a map as you travel. There is a way of successfully completing the quest that involves only minimal risk of failure or death, but you will need all your SKILL – and LUCK – to find it. Be warned: the object of your quest is never fully revealed to you, so to be successful you must make use of the clues presented to you to deduce just what it is you need to find.
Although this adventure is easier than a couple of the previous scenarios that I recently hosted, it can still be a challenge to win. I will thus allow our hero to have up to 4 boons from the following list to make things fair:
Rewinds: If our hero dies from any cause other than Stamina loss, the story will be reverted to a previous choice, with the Adventure Sheet being modified to what it was at that point in the story. A rewind will be used for each decision away from the death that we choose to send our hero back to. For example, if our hero starts with 4 rewinds, we can rewind to a maximum of 4 choices before the death occurred. This mechanic is to ensure that we remain careful in our decisions, as rewinds are not able to take our hero too far back from the death.
Restorations: If our hero’s Stamina falls to 0 in any way, it will be restored to its initial score after reducing initial Stamina by 2. This penalty is to ensure that we act sensibly when it comes to maintaining Stamina should our hero take a restoration or two.
Curare Darts: These poison-coated darts can be used during combat to reduce the enemy’s Skill by 1 point per dart. The option to use them will only be provided if our hero has less than 7 Stamina points.
Vymorna Besieged!
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As the might of the Lizard Man Empire smashed like an ocean breaker against its walls once more, the besieged city of Vymorna shuddered – but held. Along the ragged lines of its shattered walls desperate men and women fought, though they were dying on their feet. Their energy sapped by six years of starvation and malnutrition, the battered troops held firm through sheer will-power. For every pace the reptilian troops gained, the defenders vowed a hundred lizard corpses would lie. But the Lizard Men could bear such losses, and more, for the might of the Lizard King’s armies was colossal. Soon, very soon, the evil humanoids would break Vymorna’s last ring of defences, even if they had to dismantle the city stone by stone, brick by brick. The Empire of the Lizard Kings would not rest until all the lands of Southern Allansia were ensnared under its cruel dominion.
Troubled DreamsAll this you know, for your mother is Queen Perriel, the lion-hearted woman who now commands Vymorna’s defences. Your father, Alexandros the Second, was struck down by a poisoned javelin in a counter-attack to keep the reptilian hordes from the outer wall of the castle at the centre of the city. His death made a warrior of your mother, but this, and years of constant bombardment, has changed her beyond belief. Where once she was beauty and grace, she is now thin-lipped sternness, her eyes red-ringed through lack of sleep and the side-effects of her sorcerous searches for supernatural aid. Night after night the Queen pleads with the gods and their servants for divine help against the overwhelming odds, and each night she receives no answer. It is as if there is a war in the heavens as well as on Titan, and the forces of Evil and Chaos are winning there, too.
Your father’s death also made a warrior of you, and now you ride into battle alongside your mother. Between raids and wall duties you help tend the sick, arrayed in rows in the Great Hall of the castle. There are wounded warriors by the score, but also a great many women and children, injured by flying missiles or simply suffering from malnutrition. Food is now very scarce and strictly rationed, and it is only owing to good planning that it has lasted so long.
The Task of TelakWhat is perhaps worse than the lack of food is the constant lack of sleep. It would be hard enough to sleep, anyway, with the bombardment of rocks and exploding balls of sulphur, but each night the enemy conjure up spirits and demons, which howl around the towers of the castle until dawn. Their screaming, often joined by sorcerous thunder and lightning, would keep all but the most desperately tired awake.
However on this night even you sleep. You spent most of the evening helping to put out a massive fire blazing in the south tower of the castle, started by a flaming brand, which had hurtled into the city from one of the many giant catapults stationed just out of reach of the city’s archers. When the fire was out you didn’t bother returning to your quarters in the main keep, but just found an empty corner, pulled your stained cloak over yourself and slept.
Dawn breaks and you awake, savouring the warmth of your corner and the light on your eyes before opening them. But the castle is somehow different. You lie still for a moment, before sitting up with a start. There’s nothing but silence! Everywhere is quiet, so quiet you can hear your breath coming in short gulps as you rub the sleep from your eyes with your dirty fists to find yourself alone in a corner of the Inner Hall. All you can see are the bare, rubble-strewn flagstones, the first traces of weeds poking up between them as if stretching for the sunlight, which beams through the gaps in the shattered roof. ‘By Telak’s golden sword!’ you exclaim aloud, using the oath your mother always forbade you to utter in those far-off days before the siege. The siege! you remember. The siege ... and Mother! What in the name of all the heavens is going on?
‘Indeed you may ask,’ comes a voice from behind you. You spin round and look up in wonder. Atop the ruined wall above you stands a glowing figure, a hefty warrior armed for battle and clad in brilliant golden armour. About his feet stalks a lion, which must be fully grown though it is dwarfed by the radiant figure. ‘Know you not who I am, my child? You called on me just a moment ago, though in truth I was here awaiting you,’ the warrior intones in a voice that rumbles like thunder round a distant mountain. His gleaming emerald eyes stare deep into yours, flashing with supernatural power.
The MissionYou drop to your knees, more out of amazement than respect, for you know now that the figure before you is Telak, the Swordbearer, Lord of Courage and patron of all who bear arms against Evil. ‘My lord,’ you stammer, ‘what would you have of me?’
‘Do not be afraid,’ rumbles the heavenly voice, ‘for you must listen carefully to what I tell you. The dark forces that oppose both of us are gathering for a final assault. Even as I speak, demonic legions begin to batter at the gates of my ethereal palace, just as they batter at the very doors of yours. What is needed is an Earthly victory against Evil, and soon, to divert the Lizard King’s deathless masters away from my door so I can properly come to Vymorna’s aid.
‘Know you of a place called the Durtelakin, Telak’s Mount? It is one of twin peaks in the Lion Heights, far to the north-east of Vymorna. You must go there and find a weapon which will aid you and your city against Evil. Seek out the man they call Laskar.’ The golden warrior’s voice fades, as if his attention were elsewhere, and the lion at his legs growls. ‘I must depart to secure my own gates. Go, and serve me well. Wheresoever I can I will aid you, for you are a warrior now, and under my protection.’
The golden warrior and his lion fade away ... and a rough hand is shaking you awake. Through the musty gloom of the Inner Hall you can see others rising and shaking themselves. From all around you comes the sound of coughing, stamping, chattering, mingled with the distant sounds of battle.
1‘It is decided, then. All the omens are with you. You must depart as soon as you are able.’ Your mother looks stern, but you know from her eyes that she is dreading your leaving on such a dangerous mission. Around the room, everyone shares Queen Perriel’s mingled look of trepidation and resolve, but all nod their heads at the decision. ‘You will leave a few hours before dawn, to give you the best chance of crossing through the enemy’s encampment. In the darkness you may be able to pass through their lines, though I still fear for you.’
‘I was chosen, Mother,’ you state simply, and leave to prepare for your journey. Turn to 1.
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[/spoiler]Dawn is not far away. All night the bombardment of the city has continued, but somehow you managed to rest and relax a little in preparation for your journey. Now, with the moon set and the first few glimmers of light on the horizon, you are in the secluded room of your mother, Queen Perriel, making your final preparations for your journey. You are dressed in sturdy clothes, but with minimal armour so you can move quickly. You have a strong cloak to protect you from the elements and to keep you warm at night. There is a large rucksack filled with supplies (4 Provisions), and your trusty sword and hunting-knife.
While you are getting leady, the Queen goes to a chest and pulls three items from it. ‘These belonged to your father,’ she says, ‘and I know he would want them to be put to good use.’ You may take two of the objects by going to the appropriate paragraphs; make a note of those you choose on your Adventure Sheet. There are a bow and three silvered arrows (turn to 13), a bottle containing a pale liquid (turn to 388), and a small glass globe filled with a swirling cloud of dust specks (tum to 31).
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[/spoiler]In addition to the above choice, what name do you want to give our hero, and how many boons of each type should we take? Please make your decisions before 9:00 AM PDT to guarantee that they will be counted.
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