[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 17 - Appointment with F.E.A.R. (Take 2)

[SGamerz]

Attacking wins by half a vote...

You land a fair blow on the creature. But rather than being knocked back, the Mummy's chest collapses under the blow and then re-forms. Your punch has done nothing! Staring in disbelief, you are off-guard as the creature fastens its hands around your neck. Your struggles are futile, as its hands tighten their grip. This is the end of your career as the Silver Crusader...

Even Super Strength can't hurt it directly, but he can win by overpowering the Mummy long enough to trap it inside a coffin. Only Energy Blast can straight up beat it.

And we just hit a second premature ending. What do we do now?

Spending 1 Hero point means that you rewind back 1 option and try to escape from the Mummy instead.
Spending 3 Hero points means you also need to vote on how far back to rewind.
Spending 5 Hero points means you get to find out whether you took the wrong path again this time round, and get put back on the right track.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Jean Lafayette
SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 15/23
LUCK 7/7
Super Power: Psi-Powers
Hero Points: 20
Clues:
1) A young boy, Timothy Grant, known as the Brain Child, has extremely vivid dreams which seem to come true In certain instances. He lives on 100th Street.
2) Daddy Rich, an eccentric millionaire who has everything money could buy, gets his kicks by murdering innocent victims and revels in their fear. He has very expensive tastes and lives in a penthouse apartment at 113, 58th Street.
3) Man wearing gold watch is trying to keep some dark secret from the Silver Crusader that involves a pawnbroker's shop that is next to a diner.
4) The F.E.A.R. meeting will be on 5th Avenue.
5) Watch for the sign of the Mantrapper - a metal slug with a letter M engraved on it. Add 60 to the reference you are on at the time and turn to this new reference when we find evidence of the Mantrapper's activities.
6) If we come across Mustapha Kareem, we may question him about his activities by doubling the reference number we are on at the time and turning to this new reference.
7) Deduct 30 from the reference we are on when given the opportunity to search for the Poisoner, and turn to this new reference.
No. of failures thus far: 2
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Sheesh. OK, we have twenty Hero Points. Might as well spend five of them to be put on the right track.

[Thaluikhain]

That makes sense, yeah.

[JourneymanN00b]

I will also vote to spend five Hero Points to put our hero back on the winnable path.

[SGamerz]

So, we basically missed an important clue at the point of Drew Swain's kidnap. The correct choice for us was to ask questions at the bakery:

You rush into the bakery and ask questions about their last customer. But it seems there was nothing unusual about him. He bought a loaf of wholemeal bread and two custard tarts, The staff doesn't know anything more about him. If you have Psi-Powers, you attempt to read their minds. If you have Super Strength, you may chase after the van. Otherwise you may go outside to the scene of the crime and see if there are any other clues to be picked up.

You scan the minds of the people in the shop. They are not lying: they know nothing about the kidnapping. However, while you are there, the delivery-boy comes up into the shop from downstairs. His mind has a rather different aura about it. In fact, as he arrives, his mind is not on his job. He is thinking of an important meeting. Reading his mind, you can picture a street corner: the sign reads '209th Street'. And a final image makes you glare hard at the boy. The emblem of F.E.A.R. flashes up in his mind! But what has such a youngster to do with F.E.A.R.? When he realizes what you are up to he dashes out into the street. You rush after him, but he is very quick. Moments later, he has disappeared, leaving you to puzzle over his thoughts. What will you do now? If the millionaire is inside the runaway van, you cannot hope to catch it - but you could phone the details through to the police and hope that they can track it down; then turn 428. Otherwise you can search for other clues outside the shop.

A delivery-boy knows the details of the F.E.A.R. meeting but the assassin didn't. Sounds like a fairly unique hierarchy in this organization.

Do we want to follow up on the kidnap case (phoning the police is basically the same section you go to after you try and fail to chase down the van, so it basically means we hand everything over to the cops and wash our hands of the matter).

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Jean Lafayette
SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 9/23
LUCK 7/7
Super Power: Psi-Powers
Hero Points: 15
Clues:
1) A young boy, Timothy Grant, known as the Brain Child, has extremely vivid dreams which seem to come true In certain instances. He lives on 100th Street.
2) Daddy Rich, an eccentric millionaire who has everything money could buy, gets his kicks by murdering innocent victims and revels in their fear. He has very expensive tastes and lives in a penthouse apartment at 113, 58th Street.
3) Man wearing gold watch is trying to keep some dark secret from the Silver Crusader that involves a pawnbroker's shop that is next to a diner.
4) The F.E.A.R. meeting will be held on 5th Avenue.
5) Watch for the sign of the Mantrapper - a metal slug with a letter M engraved on it. Add 60 to the reference you are on at the time and turn to this new reference when we find evidence of the Mantrapper's activities.
6) If we come across Mustapha Kareem, we may question him about his activities by doubling the reference number we are on at the time and turning to this new reference.
7) The F.E.A.R. meeting will take place at 209th Street.
No. of failures thus far: 2
[/spoiler]

[Darth Rabbitt]

I can only assume the mummy is meant to give clues to a Silver Crusader with Super Strength or Energy Blast.

I think we should try following up on the kidnapping case.

[Queen of Swords]

Search for other clues outside the shop.

[SGamerz]

Outside you find a single clue to the kidnapping - a metal slug with the letter M engraved on it. If this means anything to you, you will know how you can investigate it. Otherwise you have come to a dead end. You may give your information to the police and let them take over.

And with that clue, we can identify the villain known as Mantrapper as being the culprit behind the kidnap...

You arrive at a disused warehouse in the industrial district. The door is open and you can hear voices coming from upstairs. Will you creep slowly up the stairs, ready for action, or will you get up on the roof and swing through the window to surprise them?

I'm not sure how we found the hideout, considering the clue only gave the villain's name but mentioned nothing about how to find him, but I guess his information is already in our database?

How do we carry out the rescue?

[Darth Rabbitt]

I feel like windows are less likely to be trapped than stairs and that’s the only hint that we have on this guy’s abilities.

[Queen of Swords]

I agree with the window approach.

[SGamerz]

You time your swing perfectly. The Mantrapper and two henchmen are sitting just inside, with Drew Swain tied up on a chair nearby. Smashing through the glass, you land in the centre of the group, your feet catching both henchmen. One topples over backwards and rolls into a self-locking cage, which slams shut, trapping him inside. The other rolls over to the stairwell and crashes through the banister to land with a thud at the bottom of the stairs. Now it's just you against the Mantrapper:

MANTRAPPER SKILL 8 STAMINA 7

If you defeat him, turn to 16.

COMBAT LOG:
Mantrapper 12, Silver Crusader 16. Mantrapper is at 5.
Mantrapper 19, SC 20. Mantrapper is at 3.
Mantrapper 15, SC 15. Tie.
Mantrapper 10, SC 13. Mantrapper is at 1 and gives in,

The Silver Crusader was actually low on health, but fortunately managed to win here without taking a single hit.

You tie the three of them up and release Drew Swain, then summon the police on your Crimewatch. While you wait for them to arrive, you peruse the Mantrapper's fiendish traps. Apart from the bath trap which has made him famous (when the victim pulls the plug, the plug-hole opens up to swallow both him and the water), you are particularly impressed by a handkerchief net. When held by one corner and shaken, the handkerchief turns into a strong nylon net big enough and strong enough to trap and man. You run through the miscellaneous bric-a-brac which litters his work-bench and come up with what may provide useful information: you have found a diary. Reading through it, you learn that he has been in contact with Sidney Knox, a research assistant at the Murdock Nuclear Laboratories. Knox is a peaceful type who spends his spare time watching migratory birds from a tall observation tower at the Laboratory. But he is under the Mantrapper's control and will do his bidding. With this knowledge you may locate him easily should the need arise. if you are offered the opportunity to search for Knox, deduct 40 from the reference you are on at the time and turn to this new reference to locate him. You may add 1 LUCK point for this information. Eventually the police arrive and take charge. You may award yourself 3 Hero Points.

That handkerchief net actually does sound useful, and apparently not only simple to use but also does its job without doing any direct harm to its victim. Sounds like a perfect weapon for a Superhero, so why didn't we loot it for our own use?

(In fact, there has been no loot at all in this book so far...)

You resume your shopping-tour downtown. Will you make for 'Verging Records' to go and have a look at what new albums have come out recently, or will you have a look in the window of Epiphany's, the famous jeweller's?

We'd been here before, and we know we'd find a clue regarding the Poisoner at the jeweller's, but do we want to check what we may find with the other option this time?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Jean Lafayette
SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 9/23
LUCK 7/7
Super Power: Psi-Powers
Hero Points: 18
Clues:
1) A young boy, Timothy Grant, known as the Brain Child, has extremely vivid dreams which seem to come true In certain instances. He lives on 100th Street.
2) Daddy Rich, an eccentric millionaire who has everything money could buy, gets his kicks by murdering innocent victims and revels in their fear. He has very expensive tastes and lives in a penthouse apartment at 113, 58th Street.
3) Man wearing gold watch is trying to keep some dark secret from the Silver Crusader that involves a pawnbroker's shop that is next to a diner.
4) The F.E.A.R. meeting will be held on 5th Avenue.
5) Watch for the sign of the Mantrapper - a metal slug with a letter M engraved on it. Add 60 to the reference you are on at the time and turn to this new reference when we find evidence of the Mantrapper's activities.
6) If we come across Mustapha Kareem, we may question him about his activities by doubling the reference number we are on at the time and turning to this new reference.
7) The F.E.A.R. meeting will take place at 209th Street.
8) If we are offered the opportunity to search for Sidney Knox, we can deduct 40 from the reference we are on at the time and turn to this new reference to locate him.
No. of failures thus far: 2
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Sure, we might as well try the record store.

[SGamerz]

You find there is a new Michael Blackson album called 'Willer', all about spooks and ghouls, and decide to buy it. You go straight home to listen to it.

No clue here, unfortunately.

At least we can be thankful that this book was published early enough that we can be sure Silver Crusader won't be hearing any pedophilia charges against this singer.

Next morning you leave for work early. You are sorely tempted to leave your Crimewatch behind; you dare not miss another day's work! But your fears are unwarranted. To your utter amazement, your Crimewatch is silent. You arrive at work early. Jonah Whyte cannot believe his eyes when he enters the office to find you hard at work at your desk. At lunch-time you catch up on the day's news on the teletext TV. Two stories catch your attention. One is of a strange attack in Audubon Park. A woman has been seriously mauled by what she calls 'a monster', but a specialist at the hospital thinks the claw-marks of an animal of some kind. The second story is of a man who had his chest crushed in the grounds of the Natural History Museum. There are no clues as to who or what was responsible. It is as if whatever caused the man's death simply walked away. Both incidents are being investigated by the police. You decided to do a little investigation of your own. You change into the Silver Crusader and set off to make your inquiries. Where will you head first:

The Natural History Museum?
Titan Zoo?
Warnum and Wailey's Travelling Circus?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Jean Lafayette
SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 15/23
LUCK 7/7
Super Power: Psi-Powers
Hero Points: 18
Clues:
1) A young boy, Timothy Grant, known as the Brain Child, has extremely vivid dreams which seem to come true In certain instances. He lives on 100th Street.
2) Daddy Rich, an eccentric millionaire who has everything money could buy, gets his kicks by murdering innocent victims and revels in their fear. He has very expensive tastes and lives in a penthouse apartment at 113, 58th Street.
3) Man wearing gold watch is trying to keep some dark secret from the Silver Crusader that involves a pawnbroker's shop that is next to a diner.
4) The F.E.A.R. meeting will be held on 5th Avenue.
5) Watch for the sign of the Mantrapper - a metal slug with a letter M engraved on it. Add 60 to the reference you are on at the time and turn to this new reference when we find evidence of the Mantrapper's activities.
6) If we come across Mustapha Kareem, we may question him about his activities by doubling the reference number we are on at the time and turning to this new reference.
7) The F.E.A.R. meeting will take place at 209th Street.
8) If we are offered the opportunity to search for Sidney Knox, we can deduct 40 from the reference we are on at the time and turn to this new reference to locate him.
No. of failures thus far: 2
[/spoiler]

[Thaluikhain]

Half vote for the circus

[Queen of Swords]

Traveling circus.

[SGamerz]

You arrive at the circus as preparations are being made for the evening's performance. Caravans are clustered around the huge big top and round the back are the animal cages. A dwarf dressed in a clown's outfit comes running over to you as you arrive. He cannot talk, but instead honks a bicycle horn excitedly, grabs your hand and pulls. He seems to want you to follow him. Will you follow him as he wishes? Or will you head for the lion cages or an important-looking caravan in the centre?

(Do note that we will not be able to take advantage of the lion cage hint which we only learned in another timeline. Silver Crusader had to miss the encounter with Timothy Grant in this one in order to pick up a more important clue from Tiger Cat.)

[Darth Rabbitt]

Since we don’t have the lion cage clue I suggest we follow the clown.

[Thaluikhain]

I guess so.

[SGamerz]

Honking furiously, he pulls you round to the far side of the circus towards a large, brightly coloured caravan. You walk up the steps and open the door. "Good afternoon, good afternoon!" says a plump lady behind a desk inside. "We have only a few seats left for tonight's performance, but I'm sure we can find you something suitable. How many tickets do you want?" You explain that you have not come for tickets. Will you ask her where you can find the owner of the circus and follow her directions, or will you ask her whether she knows anything about any escaped animals?

[Queen of Swords]

Escaped animals, I suppose.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Ask about the escaped animals.

[SGamerz]

"Escaped animals?" she asks. "I don't think any of our animals have escaped. But I'll just check for you, if you like." She picks up a land-line telephone and cranks a handle. "Hello, Mario? This is Nancy. Someone here wants to know whether any animals have escaped...No, I didn't think so. Thanks. Bye." She shakes her head and you leave. Where will you try now? You can try the zoo or the Natural History Museum.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to try out the Natural History Museum.

[SGamerz]

The curator of the National History Museum is very helpful and agrees to show you round the exhibits. Will you ask him to show you the model reconstructions of dinosaurs or the 'large mammals' section?

[Queen of Swords]

Large mammals section.