[Let's Play] Lost in the Mountains of Death

[SGamerz]

We've finally gone through all of the old Fighting Fantasy gamebook titles that were published under Puffin at least once each. A few remain uncompleted and may be worth another venture in the future, but in the meantime, is anyone interested in another venture into a different gamebook series?

Let's take a look at the books in this poll:

1) Middle-earth Quest — Treason at Helm's Deep

angelfromanotherpin did an LP for the previous book in this series. However, while you can theoretically play/carry the same character across multiple books, there are really no connections between each one, and each has a significantly different background (even though they are all supposedly set in Tolkien's Middle-earth). As you can see, in the previous book the PC is Saruman's apprentice, while for this book, the PC is actually a watchman at Helm's Deep (the events in the book take place before and during the Battle for Helm's Deep). The story centres around the PC spotting what he suspects to be a meeting between a traitor in the keep with an enemy agent of Saruman, and has to find evidence to expose the treason.

Note: the individual books are also written by different authors, so the while the basic mechanisms between the books are the same (character creation, stat assignments, etc), the design can be significantly different between the book. In the last one, there was a unique style of navigation where 90% of it is done via the map. This system is not used for this book, which is navigated more "normally" like most other gamebook.

2) Marvel Super Heroes Adventure — The Uncanny X-Men: An X-cellent Death

angelfromanotherpin also ran an LP for another book in this series. As you can tell from the series title, the player plays the role of a Marvel Superhero in each of these books. And this book is about the Uncanny X-Men.

This book is unique from the others in the series in the sense that it's the only book with more than one PC. No, it's not a multi-player gamebook. The player is still the same person, but the PC's POV switches between 4 characters: Wolverine, Storm, Rogue and Nightcrawler. Each of them has their own stats to keep track of, with different skills and specialties to be tested. The Karma system that is used for all the book in the series is still present here, but here the Karma pool is shared by all 4 of them. Also, any of the 4 getting killed results in a failure overall.

The story centres around the team of 4 investigating mysterious disturbances on an island where some project was being done by the US government. Despite the shortness of the book (there're 201 sections, so about half the length of an average FF book), I think there's decent replayability for this one, with multiple degrees of success and certain information only revealed in the most successful ones.

3) Lost in the Mountains of Death

The one other book in this series with an LP on this board was done by me, not too long ago (at least relative to the 2 by angel mentioned above). Unlike the previous 2 series I talked about earlier, all books in this one are by the same author, so you can at least expect consistency in the style. Most what you see in the other LP probably applies here: no intricate rules, mostly plays like a plain CYOA book, but with individual sections that offer legit survival tips and information for the relevant environments, hazards, plus local flora & fauna mentioned between the accompanying "story" sections. If you enjoyed the previous book, you are likely to enjoy this one. The premise of this book is, of course, exactly what the title says. Not much explanation needed.

4) Stephen Thraves Compact Adventure — Footsteps in the Fog

This series hasn't been done on this board before, as far as I know. Again, all books in the series by the same author, with a relatively simple game mechanism shared by all. Each book generally has 3 attributes to keep track of:

1) The "scoring". This can come in many forms, depending on the book's premise. For a book about murder mystery, it can be a checklist of how many clues you collect. For a monster-slaying treasure hunt, it can be the number of precious jewels you pick up. For this book, which is about you (who plays the assistant to an amateur private detective) trying to track a political assassin, the score is basically the pieces of evidences you find of his guilt.

2) The "life". Not every wrong choice will lead to you getting killed, but the major ones will each take a "life" off you, and if you run out, it's Game Over.

3) The "accessories". It's actually quite standard here, usually 3 items of accessories to be found for each book. There are no elaborate equipment rules, so these 3 would be the only possessions you really need to use. They come in various forms, but there's a map (to help you navigate) for almost every book. The other 2 accessories vary according to the individual book's premise. These accessories essentially provide you the information to make the right choices to usually either earn a "score" or avoid losing a "life", so finding them usually makes all the difference in whether you're playing on "easy" or "hard" mode!

The general premise is that the PC answered an advertisement to hire a detective's assistant under the mistaken assumption that it was posted by Sherlock Holmes because the address was in 221 Baker Street. It turns out that the hirer is another amateur who set up shop across where the famous detective lives, and is pretty inexperienced and unknown, and apparently a bit of an impersonator who dresses like Holmes. When a client finally shows up (because Sherlock Holmes wasn't available and it was an urgent matter that needs immediate attention), the PC essentially takes over the main role and makes all the important decisions as the pair tries to track a political assassin and prevent his next kill.

5) Storytrails 6 — The Stone of Badda

I've run a few books in the series by now. This is another one with no complex rules and mechanisms, and mostly straight CYOA, except written in the first person POV instead of the usual second like other series. Most of the books have a relatively "modern" and real-life setting and background (although several with supernatural flavour). This is the only book where Allen Sharp goes into actual fantasy, with the PC being a sword-wielding guy who goes on a quest to the Underworld to collect magic stones to dispel Demons who had invaded his home valley. He also has a talking raven companion.

I will leave the poll running for 3 days. If there are sufficient interest in any of the books, I will start the LP this weekend.

[Thaluikhain]

I liked previous the survival one, because it was less arbitrary in what is a good or bad decision than most.

It also covers some of the same material as various old dramatised instructional movies on youtube I've seen, so it was fun sometimes spotting the point the author was making in advance.

[JourneymanN00b]

I will tentatively vote for Lost in the Mountains of Death, as I have an affinity for survival handbooks that have real-life tips in case something similar happens in real life.

[Queen of Swords]

I enjoyed the one where we were lost at sea, so I also voted for the mountain survival game book.

[SGamerz]

So, there's a clear favourite (both in the poll and the posts), so we will proceed with Lost in the Mountains of Death!

Something ice cold splashes onto your face and you wake up with a start. You blink water from your eyes, sit up, and look out across a sparkling mountain landscape covered in freshly fallen snow. You're lying between some rocks with your backpack covering you. It's cold, but you are wearing warm layers.

It takes you a moment to remember where you are and what has happened. You were trekking with friends in the Andes, South America's spectacular mountain range, when an unseasonal snowstorm blew up and you were separated from the rest of your group. You look at your watch. It's eleven o'clock. The storm blew up hours ago! You must have banged your head and passed out. You are lucky to be alive.

Yo stand up and shout for your friends. Your voice echoes around the tall peaks that surround you. You strain your ears for a reply, but there isn't one You try again, anyway. Nothing, except the drip of melting snow. High above you in the clear blue sky, a condor circles. You are completely lost - and entirely alone.

In your backpack, you have a number of useful things: crampons (to attach your shoes so you can walk on ice), two thermal foil blankets, a container for boiling water, matches in a waterproof container, a couple of spare thermal T-shirts, a Swiss Army knife, a towel, and a flashlight. You hoist your backpack onto your back and with no other option set off into the mountains.

How will you survive? Turn to page 8 to find information you need to help you survive.

So, yeah, the format is similar in all the books, so the next 2-page spread is a geographical info-dump about the region:

The Andes are the longest mountain range in the world, stretching more than 4500 miles (7000 km) along the western coast of South America. They stretch from the tropical rainforest in Venezuela, on the northern coast of South America, to the southernmost tip of Chile. The Andes are the highest mountains in the world outside of Asia. They're a vast and inhospitable environments, and many people have become lost in the Andes, never to return. If you're going to survive, you'll need to have your wits about you.

Patagonian Andes

You are in the Patagonian Andes, and area of about 386000 square miles (1 million sq km) of spectacular scenery with high mountains, glaciers, and sparkling lakes. You came at the very beginning of the trekking season, which runs from November to April. This is summer in the southern hemisphere. But the weather here can be unpredictable and changeable, and you've been unlucky. Patagonia is a region, not a country, at the southern tip of South America, shared by the countries if Chile and Argentina.

Perils of the Andes

The temperature is one of the perils you will have to contend with, along with cold winds and the possibility of more snowstorms. Other dangers in the mountains are pumas, altitude sickness, steep drops, difficult terrain, avalanches and earthquakes, which are common to this area,

Extreme Andes

The Andes span seven countries: Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. Because the Andes cover such a long distance, and the mountains are so high, the Andes mountain range is a land of extremes.

- The cloud forests of the Andes are found in the tropical north, where the warm air of the rainforest meets the cold air high in the mountains. Clouds form at the treetops.

- The Atacama Desert, in northern Chile, is one of the driest places on Earth. It is the highest desert in the world.

- The Andes are on the Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates meet, often creating earthquake, volcanoes, hot springs, and geysers.

- There are hundreds of thermal springs in the Andes caused by volcanic activity. El Tatio is a geyser field high up in the Andes with more than 80 active geysers field in the southern hemisphere.

- The Tierra del Fuego archipelago is made up of one large island and lots of smaller ones. It is the world's most southern place where people live permanently. (People visit and stay in Antarctica, but they don't live there all the time.)

So, as stated, our adventure is set within the Patagonian Andes. But the author saw fit to give us a map of the entire South America. Not sure how relevant this will be to our adventure, but here it is:



And now, just like the previous book of this series that we played, right before we start the actual adventure, we are treat to a page of basic

Mountain Survival Tips:

Here are a few basic tips that might affect your chances of survival in the mountains.

- The right clothes are vitally important in cold weather. Wear layers of clothing: the layer next to your skin should be able to keep moisture away from your body, the next layer should be warm, and the outer layers should be wind-and waterproof. Fortunately, you are warmly dressed, and you're wearing a hat, gloves, and sturdy walking boots.

- Make sure you know how to start a fire and make sure you practice before you set out on a trip somewhere cold. It could save your life.

- If you get wet, take off your clothes and dry them and yourself before putting back on. The water will make your body temperature drop very quickly and, even if the temperature seems quite mild, you'll be in danger of hypothermia.'

- Don't try to climb steep inclines without the proper equipment and expertise.

- Making a shelter should be a priority when you're not walking.

Turn to page 11.

And of course, just like the other book, there are also references to other pages for more details regarding individual topics like building fires and shelters, but we will get to them when we hit the relevant story sections.

And now, finally, we begin:

You've been walking some time when huge, gray clouds come racing over the tops of the mountains. They block the sun, and soon there's no sign of the blue sky anymore. As the air turns colder, your heart sinks - another storm must be on the way. Should you set off in the hope of finding your friends? Or should you stop and make a shelter?

If you decide to walk, go to page 24.
If you decide to make a shelter, go to page 14.

[Queen of Swords]

Make a shelter.

[Thaluikhain]

Shelter. Not a hard decision.

[SGamerz]

The clouds look as though they could burst with snow at any moment, and the wind howls around you in icy gusts. You look around for something to help make a shelter with before the storm arrives.

There are some rocks and boulders that you could shelter behind, using your blankets as covering, which would make a very quick shelter. There's also a small forest a bit further down the slope where you could shelter in the trees.

If you opt for a quick shelter in the rocks, go to page 45.

If you choose to head for the trees, go to through page 35.

And the info-dump page opposite is, of course, about...

Shelter Building:

Which type of shelter you build depends on the conditions, how much time you have to build it (if it's getting dark, you'll have to be quick), how cold it is, or if there are dangerous wild animals around. Here are some general tips.

- If you're on high ground, head for somewhere lower down so that you're not so exposed to the wind. However, very low ground might be vulnerable to flooding, frost and mist, so avoid that as well.

- Forest shelters are fairly easy to make and the tree canopy will also provide shelter from the elements. But be careful of falling branches.

- If there's a thunderstorm, beware of sheltering under trees, which may attract lightning.

- Even a shallow depression in the ground will give you some protection. If it is raining, it will soon turn into a muddy puddle. If you are on a flat plain and a storm blows up, your only choice might be to sit with your back to the wind and pile your equipment around you.

- More permanent shelters can be made by forming walls from logs or stones piled between two parallel rows of upright sticks. But be very careful with stones, they could collapse. But you'll need plenty of time to make a more sophisticated shelter like this one.

And with that...where do we build our shelter?

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to build a quick shelter in the rocks, as time seems to be running short, and we do not want to risk a thunderstorm frying our character if we chose the trees.

[Thaluikhain]

Could burst with snow any moment, so shelter in the rock, I guess.

[Queen of Swords]

Sure, stay among the rocks.

[SGamerz]

Your shelter is very basic, but it protects you from the snow and the extremely fierce wind. All you have to do now is stay as warm as you can under your blankets and wait out the blizzard.

It's not long before the wind stops howling and things sound much calmer. After a little longer, you're sure the storm is over, and you stick your head outside. The clouds are moving swiftly away, and you can make out a watery sun behind them.

Go to page 34.

No info-dump alongside this page, but no options either.

The clouds roll away across the mountains and the sun shines on the fresh snow. It's starting to melt already.

You're distracted from the spectacular view by a terrible headache. You feel tired, too, even though you've just had a rest. You're feeling a bit sick as well.

This would be a terrible time to get sick. But you don't feel that bad, you tell yourself. Maybe you should just keep going and and hope you feel better soon. On the other hand, you've heard that being high up can make you sick. Perhaps you should head for lower ground.

If you decide to head for lower ground, go to 44.
If you decide to keep going as you are, go to page 12.

No info-dump for this section either. Do we want to head for lower ground?

[Queen of Swords]

The storm is over, so let's head for lower ground.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to head for lower ground, since altitude sickness is not something to ignore.

[SGamerz]

You do start feeling better now that you're on lower ground. It's easier to breathe, and you don't feel so tired or sick. You were experiencing mild altitude sickness, which affects some people at higher altitudes and can develop into a life-threatening condition if you don't descend to lower ground.

You think you spot movement in the rocks ahead of you - something big. Should you go and investigate, or should you stay away in case it's a dangerous animal?

If you decide to investigate the movement, go to page 13.
If you decide to walk in a different direction, go to page 30.

There is a reference to a different section for readers who want to read more details about altitude sickness (presumably opposite the page where you die from it), but there's no info-dump section opposite this one.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to walk in a different direction, as looking for suspicious activity is never wise.

[Queen of Swords]

Agreed, "something big" sounds ominous.

[Thaluikhain]

This is the opposite of a FF book, so do the opposite of investigating everything and go in a different direction.

[SGamerz]

The sun has come out, and the tall peaks of the Andes look even more dramatic against the blue sky. But you're feeling jumpy and too nervous to enjoy the scenery. You realize there are many dangers in this remote part of the world.

Maybe you should stay here where it seems relatively safe, rather than risk rockfalls, avalanches, steep drops, and dangerous wildlife if you keep travelling.

If you decide to keep going, go to page 74.
If you decide to stay put and await rescue, go to page 98.

Once again, no infodump page opposite. We seem to keep missing those...

[Thaluikhain]

Stay put.

[Queen of Swords]

I don't think it can be as easy as staying there until we're rescued. I feel like we should be doing something, so keep going.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to keep going, as I do not believe that our hero will be rescued so soon by staying put.

[Darth Rabbitt]

From a survival perspective staying put seems pretty wise, but from a gamebook perspective I'm guessing we're not supposed to do nothing.

[SGamerz]

Staying put actually does lead to you getting rescued a week later. It might have made for the shortest successful gamebook LP here.

The ending does, however, end with this line: "But you can't help wondering if it might have been an even better adventure to keep going."

You have a sudden strange sensation as you walk. It feels as though the ground is vibrating slightly. Above you, a few small stones come skittering down the mountainside. The last of the stones bounce down, and everything is quiet again.

It must have been a very minor earthquake. You remember hearing that the area i prone to them. Maybe to be on the safe side, you should change direction and find somewhere to walk that isn't near possible falling rocks. On the other hand, it was a very small vibration, and the shaking has completely stopped now. It might be better just to carry on your way.

If you decide to find somewhere away from the mountainside, go to page 32.
If you decide to carry on as you are, turn to 36.

Yet another page with no accompanying info-dump sections...

[Queen of Swords]

Half a vote to find somewhere away from the mountains.