[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 51 - Island of the Undead (Take 2)

[SGamerz]

Another significant figure in FF history passed away in May, earlier this year - Russ Nicholson, the artist who drew the interior art for the very first FF (and also several other) gamebook, this next LP will be dedicated to him.

Like my tribute FF LP for Martin McKenna, extra lives can be "unlocked" by each piece of full-page interior art we come across during the playthrough. Of course, since that previous tribute LP was for a Luke Sharp book, where there're generally no real true path, it was a lot more straightforward, with each extra life allowing us to proceed where we died after a full STAMINA recovery. For this next one, I will offer rewinds in exchange for multiple unlocked illustrations (which we will probably need for either of the 2 books in the poll).

Since we'd already been through every single FF gamebook published by Puffin, both of the choices for this one will be 2nd takes, and there are only 2 books left uncompleted that were illustrated by Nicholson. Any interest in finally completing either of these?

[JourneymanN00b]

Going to vote for Island of the Undead.

[Queen of Swords]

Yeah, Island of the Undead.

[SGamerz]

The votes are unanimous, so Island of Undead it is!

You probably all know the rules by now, since everyone who voted also participated or hosted the first LP, but I will post the rules here for other potential readers anyway, if any.

Standard FF Boilerplate Rules:

Skill, Stamina, & Luck
[spoiler]SKILL score: Roll one die. Add 6 to the result.

STAMINA score: Roll two dice. Add 12 points to the result.

LUCK score: Roll one die. Add 6 to the result.

SKILL score reflects your expertise in combat, your ability with weapons, and your dexterity. STAMINA is your general constitution and "Life points". LUCK score shows how lucky you are. None of them may exceed their Initial score unless specifically stated.

Testing your Luck: When instructed by the book to Test your Luck, roll two dice. If the result is equal to or less than your current LUCK score, you are Lucky. If the result exceeds your current LUCK score, you are Unlucky. Whatever the outcome, you must deduct one point from your current LUCK score every time you Test your Luck. The more you use your LUCK, the less likely you are to be Lucky.[/spoiler]

Combat:
[spoiler]SKILL and STAMINA scores are given in the text for each adversary that you face.

The combat sequence is then:
1. Roll two dice for your opponent. Add the total rolled to its SKILL score. This is the Attack Strength of your enemy.
2. Roll two dice and add the total to your own current SKILL score. This is your Attack Strength.
3. If your Attack Strength is the higher, you have wounded your opponent: deduct 2 points from your opponent's STAMINA..
If your opponent's Attack Strength is higher, it has wounded you: deduct 2 points from your own STAMINA.
If both Attack Strengths are equal, you have avoided each other's blows.
4. Begin the next Combat Round, starting again at step 1. This procedure continues until either you or your opponent has a STAMINA score of zero. If your opponent's STAMINA score reaches zero, you have killed it and can continue with your adventure. If your own STAMINA score reaches zero, you are dead.

Using Luck in Combat

You can use your LUCK in combat to inflict a particularly serious wound, or to minimize a wound that has been inflicted on you.

Whenever you wound an opponent, you may Test your Luck. If you are Lucky, you have inflicted a severe wound: deduct an extra 2 points from your opponent's STAMINA. If you are Unlucky, you have merely grazed it, and you deduct 1 point less than normal from its STAMINA.

If you have been wounded, you can Test your Luck in exactly the same way. If you are Lucky, the wound upon you was only a glancing blow and you can deduct 1 less point of STAMINA than usual. If you are Unlucky, the wound is serious: deduct 1 extra point from your STAMINA.[/spoiler]

For this meatgrinder, especially since this is the second time we're attempting it, I will roll an extra dice and let you decide the number rolled on that dice to whichever stat you choose.

SKILL roll 5+6 = 11.
STAMINA roll = 6+12 = 18.
LUCK roll = 5+6 = 11.

Extra Dice roll = 3

Turns out that we rolled near perfect scores for SKILL and LUCK anyway! Let me know where you wish to assign the extra 3 points.

Unique to this Book:

Presence:

Roll one die then halve the number rolled, rounding fractions up. Add 4 to this new number to set our starting PRESENCE. Unlike the above 3 stats, Presence can exceed its Initial value.

This is a measure of our force of personality. High PRESENCE score is more likely to create a favourable impression with people but also makes us more likely to attract unwanted attention of evil, life-hating creatures.

Die roll = 3/2 = 2+4 = 6.

Equipment:

We start with only a knife, a waterskin and enough Provisions for 12 meals in our backpack. Our simple fisherman’s clothes and leather jerkin, are as good as leather armour.

As long as we lack a sword or a shield for self-protection, we will suffer combat penalties. Without a sword, we must roll one die each time we hit an enemy in combat. If we roll 1-4, we inflict only 1 point of STAMINA loss. If we do not have a shield, we must deduct 1 point from your SKILL when fighting.

A special feature of this adventure is that we keep track of empty potion bottles after we have consumed their contents, because the bottles may come in handy as containers later on. We should record ‘empty potion bottle’ on the Adventure Sheet after we consume a potion.

House Rules/Extra Lives

As stated, extra lives will be awarded whenever we come across a piece of full-page interior art. However, there is more for this particular book.

When I had previously considered possible extra lives mechanisms for the remaining books that hadn't yet been run, I had considered tying into the theme of the book, and use an idea that I'd once suggested for Blood of Zombies (x number of zombies killed = extra lives), and have us gain extra lives by keeping count on the amount of undead creatures we killed (which would make it kind of like a classic arcade shooter game). I'm going to combined the idea with the interior art mechanism: if the interior art features an undead creature we gain 2 extra lives instead of just 1.

Extra lives can be used the following way when we reach a bad ending;

- Using 1 extra life allows us to get a full STAMINA restore if we die in combat or STAMINA loss, OR a since-choice rewind if we hit an auto-death section.

- Using 2 extra lives allows the players to decide wherever they wish to rewind to.

- Using 3 extra lives will auto-rewind the PC to the last option he made that doomed his quest.

****

And before we proceed further, please vote on how to assign the 3 points on the extra dice to your stats.

As as usual, feel free to suggest a name for our fisherman.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to add 1 point to Skill, 1 point to Luck, and 1 point to Stamina, to name our hero Fred to keep to the Scooby Doo on Zombie Island theme from the previous run, and finally to head northeast along the coastline after the introductory fight.

[SGamerz]

Alright, so our fisherman begins the adventure with SKILL 12, STAMINA 19, LUCK 12.

Background

Life isn’t easy in the small fishing towns along the coast facing the Strait of Knives in Allansia. The poor soil of the land, together with the heat and droughts, doesn’t yield much in the way of crops to sustain life. Still, it’s better than living on the far side of the Glimmering Sea and having to suffer the predations of marauding Lizard Men from the swamplands of Silur Cha. And the fishing here is good; it’s how most people make a living. In the past, howling winds whipped the sea into massive waves and whirlpools along the coastline, and violent storms could brew up in an hour or less, until the wizards came to Solani Island.

Why the magicians chose Solani as their home, no one is certain. Perhaps they liked the solitude, since they had to share their island with just a small community of monks, who didn’t bother them. The wizards were specialists, using the magic of the elements in their studies. They soon came to an arrangement with the folk of the fishing villages which benefited everyone. The fisherfolk left the wizards alone and kept them regularly supplied with food, wine, cloth, tools – and with those raw materials for their magical experiments which couldn’t be found on the island: balls of sulphur, vials of quicksilver, pure silver and bronze. The villagers are poor people and normally cannot afford such rarities, but the wizards’ part of their bargain more than recompensed them for their offerings: in return, the wizards used their power to calm the elements. Storms and gales no longer afflicted the coast and the waters now were calm and offered excellent fishing. With such rich pickings available to them, and able to fish every day, the villagers could sell their excess catch to passing ships, to sell on to others along the coast who could not rely on such good harvests from the sea. The wizards let it be known that they would not take kindly to others coming in and stealing the fish from your home waters, and other folk were wise enough not to incur the wrath of the wizards! The wizards were held in high esteem; why, they even set up a magical beacon of light in the old lighthouse on Solani, to protect ships approaching from the open sea.

Recently, though, something has clearly gone wrong. A bad storm a week ago drowned all the men on board one fishing vessel, the first loss of people to the seas for some years. There have been rumours of a dead man being washed ashore from the wreck; they said that the corpse walked on the sands and killed two goatherds before it was destroyed by fishermen. Then, just last night, a freak wave swept in along the shoreline and overwhelmed two more fishing boats, killing a dozen men.

Something is wrong in Solani, and the livelihoods of many hundreds of people are threatened. That includes you! Although you have listened to seamen’s tales and you have longed for a life of adventure in the strange and wonderful lands they speak of, you still support your family by fishing with your father and brothers.

The elders of the villages met and decided that a group of men must go to Solani in the strongest, stoutest boat the village can muster. The morning weather looked set fair, sunny and calm, a beautiful summer’s morning with the gulls crying and swooping over the azure waters. Everyone aboard took a weapon and strapped on leather armour, uncertain what menaces Solani Island might present. The boat made it half-way across the strait before a wave rose almost vertically upwards from a placid sea and smashed down over it. Men were swept overboard; two were crushed as the single mast broke across their backs, and the boat keeled over and soon sank.

You were swept into the raging current of the now-boiling sea, desperately holding your breath to stop yourself from drowning. You struggled against an inexorable force that was dragging you down, and your eyes saw only red before them as your heartbeat thumped in your ears. You couldn’t hold your breath any longer, as you passed out you knew you were going to die ... and you woke up lying on the shore and coughing brine from your sodden lungs. Mercifully, most of what you carried seems to be with you, and your food, wrapped in waterproof cloth, still looks fit to eat. Checking by the sun, you guess that you have been washed up on the western coast of Solani Island. You can’t see anyone else along the beach. Perhaps you are the only survivor of the wreck. Now it is up to you alone to solve the mystery of Solani and discover what terrible fate has befallen the wizards.

Now turn to paragraph 1.

Summoning what strength you have left, you get painfully to your feet and walk along the shoreline, looking for anything washed ashore from your ship. You’re almost ready to abandon the effort when you spot a ragged figure lying, face down, in the sand. You rush over to see if you can help the man and turn over his body. You recognize him: he was the navigator. Suddenly his muscles twitch, the dead eyes open and his hand claw at your throat! His corpse has been animated by some fell magic, and you will have to fight for your life!

SEA ZOMBIE SKILL 6 STAMINA 7

If you win, you clamber up the sandy incline in order to get a better view around you. You notice some driftwood and planks being washed up by the tide from the north-east, although you saw no wreck when your boat sailed towards the bay. To your east is an expanse of barren, high moorland with jagged rocky outcrops scattered here and there. To the south, a fair expanse of woodland, starting in the near distance, extends well into the centre of the island and towards a western promontory. On the eastern edge of the woods a hillock rises; it would certainly make a good vantage-point for looking round the island. Lastly, just to the north of east, across the moorland, you can make out the white tower of a lighthouse. Will you head:

North-east along the coastline? Turn to 351
South towards the woodland? Turn to 57
East into the moorland? Turn to 90
South-east towards the hillock? Turn to 186
Towards the lighthouse? Turn to 333

And with that, starting off with a full-page picture of an undead zombie, we open the game with 2 extra lives.

COMBAT LOG:
Sea Zombie 18, PC 17. PC is at 17.
SZ 13, PC 18. Die roll = 1. SZ is at 6.
SZ 14, PC 16. Die roll = 6. SZ is at 4.
SZ 12, PC 21. Die roll = 1. SZ is at 3.
SZ 11, PC 14. Die roll = 1. SZ is at 2.
SZ 12, PC 18. Die roll = 5. SZ is defeated.

Not having a sword makes this fight a bit of a slog, but the wide SKILL advantage means that we weren't in any danger, taking only a single hit.

EDIT: Redid the combat log, missed out on roiling a die after each hit to determine damage output.

Where do we go after this?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: ??
SKILL 12/12 (unarmed, 11 in combat)
STAMINA 17/19
LUCK 12/12
PRESENCE: 6
Equipment: Knife, Backpack, Waterskin, Leather Jerkin
Provisions: 12/12
Gold: 0
Extra Lives remaining: 2/2
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

I reiterate my vote to head northeast along the coastline.

[Queen of Swords]

Sure, NE along the coastline.

[Thaluikhain]

May as well.

[SGamerz]

You stride along the slowly ascending line of the cliff, through scrub grass and thick-leaved plants that are hardly enough to resist the head and the salt spray which whips in from the bay. Soon you can see the wreck of a middling-sized rowing boat, lying on some rocks just off the shoreline, some distance below you. You guess it may have come from your ship and could well have some supplies in it. A steep pebbled path leads down from the cliff-face there. Will you:

Walk down the path to get to the wreck?
Veer off to the east and into the main moorland?
Head towards the lighthouse?

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go down the path to get to the wreck.

[Thaluikhain]

Check out the wreck.

[SGamerz]

Clambering down the precipitous path then wading and swimming out to the wreck, while avoiding getting snagged by sharp rocks, takes some ability! Test your Skill. If you are successful, you negotiate these obstacles without harm. If you fail, you must deduct 2 points from your STAMINA because you gashed your leg on the rocks during your descent. You do make it to the wreck, however. The little boat has been broken by some rocks that jut above the gentle waves of the incoming tide. The water is so clear that you can see some objects lying, scattered, on the sand, some eight metres or so below; you can see a small chest, a fishing net and a large glass bottle.

If you decide not to dive from the wreck, turn to 387. If you want to dive, decide which object or objects you want to dive for, and in what order. You get only one chance per item (chest, net, bottle). Determine whether your dives are successful or not as follows: each time you dive, roll four dice and total the numbers rolled. If the total is less than, or equal to, your current STAMINA, you have been successful and you may retrieve the item you dived for. If the total exceeds your current STAMINA, you have failed and don’t get the object you dived for. For your second dive, you must add 2 to the number rolled by the four dice, and for your third and final dive you must add 4 to the total rolled. After determining the success or failure of your diving exploit, turn to 152.

I made an edit to where I think it may be a misprint in the text: the text says to "roll your dice" for the STAMINA test without specifying the number of dice. I'm making the assumption that it's supposed to say "four dice", mostly because that's the usual number for STAMINA tests and corresponds to the maximum possible score for FF character STAMINA and because the spelling of "four" is closer to "your" than "three" (2 dice would be way too easy, since even characters with the lowest possible starting STAMINA will have more than 12), but also because rolling every single dice I own would make it close to impossible to succeed.

Anyway, having maximum possible SKILL score means that we can't fail the SKILL test (since it's unaffected by our lack of a shield), so we can go straight to the diving (if you want to - which I assume you do, since you'd played through this part before and there's no reason to come down here if you don't).

Please state your order of priority for the 3 items that we can dive for.

[Thaluikhain]

Hmmm...net, chest, bottle?

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote for chest, bottle, and net in that order.

[SGamerz]

Since the players didn't come to a consensus on the order of priority, the result of each successful dive will be randomly determined (1-2 = chest, 3-4 = net, 5-6 = bottle).

1st dive:

Dice roll = 6+5+4+5 (Fail!)

Item roll = 4 (net). We missed the net!

2nd dive:

Dice roll = 6+2+6+4(+2) = 20. Fail again!

Item roll (1-3 = chest, 4-5 = bottle) = 1! Oh dear, this means we missed quite a few stuff, including a sword that can speed up future battles.

3rd dive:

Dice roll = 1+1+2+4(=4) = 12 (Success). Somehow, despite this having the longest odd, it's the only one we succeeded in.

There's only 1 item left, so we manage to grab the bottle.

You are just coming back to the surface after your last dive when a pair of rubbery tentacles rises from the water and a jet of filthy blue-black gunk is squirted towards your face by a Squirting Octopus! You must Test your Luck. If you are Lucky, the gunk misses you. If you are Unlucky, you are splashed and partially blinded by the foul, inky mess, and you must deduct 1 point from your Attack Strength when you fight the Octopus. If you have a fishing net and want to use it here, turn to 305. Otherwise, turn to 77.

Our LUCK is still at max, so we auto-pass the roll to avoid the ink. Unfortunately, we didn't get the net.

The Squirting Octopus lashes at your face and limbs with its adhesive, grey-green-suckered tentacles – and, while the teeth in its beak may be small, they are razor sharp … and there are scores of them!

SQUIRTING OCTOPUS SKILL 7 STAMINA 9

If you win, you may retrieve your fishing net. If you have acquired a chest from your diving, turn to 202. If you have no chest, but you managed to bring up a bottle, turn to 279. If you obtained neither, turn to 387.

COMBAT LOG:
Squirting Octopus 18, PC 15. PC is at 15,
SQ 15, PC 17. Die roll = 5. SQ is at 7.
SQ 16, PC 17. Die roll = 3. SQ is at 6.
SQ 10, PC 20. Die roll = 5. SQ is at 4.
SQ 12, PC 23. Die roll = 5. SQ is at 2.
SQ 18, PC 18. Tie.
SQ 15, PC 19. Die roll = 6. SQ is killed.

Well, we're a rolling a lot of 5s and 6s so far in this book, which is good for us when determining our damage in combat, but terrible if we are rolling for stat tests, like those 2 dives that we failed earlier. Still, we got 1 out of 3:

The bottle contains almost a half a litre of best-quality olive oil. You’ve no immediate use for it, but you have a sneaking feeling that it may come in useful at some time in the future … turn to 387.

After wading back to land, where will you go? Will you head for:

The barren moorland to the east?
The distant lighthouse?
The southern woodland?
The hill in the middle of the island?

Where do we go next?

Also, if there are no other votes for name by the next update, our hero will be named Fred.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: ??
SKILL 12/12 (unarmed, 11 in combat)
STAMINA 15/19
LUCK 11/12
PRESENCE: 6
Equipment: Knife, Backpack, Waterskin, Leather Jerkin, Bottle of Olive Oil
Provisions: 12/12
Gold: 0
Extra Lives remaining: 2/2
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to head for the lighthouse.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, lighthouse.

And while Fred is a dull name, I can't think of a better one that is appropriate to this adventure.

[SGamerz]

Alright, Fred now heads for the lighthouse:

You set off towards the lighthouse and soon find yourself standing before a sturdy door, slightly open, at the base of a white stone tower with a glass cupola on the top of it. No light is visible within the glass, and everything behind the door is pitch dark. Now you’re close to the clifftop, you can see that a small sailing ship has been wrecked down in the bay, just to the east of you; the disappearance of the magical light from the lighthouse has already claimed a victim. A rowing boat has been smashed on the rocks a short distance from the main vessel. Angry waves break over the headland below and spray is whipped in by a fierce east wind. The door of the lighthouse is hanging open and it periodically bangs in the breeze; drawing closer, you gain a distinct impression of cold and evil lurking in the darkness beyond. Will you:

Open the door and enter the lighthouse?
Descend and investigate the wreck?
Leave the area and find somewhere else to visit?

[Thaluikhain]

Open and enter.

[Queen of Swords]

Enter the lighthouse, maybe we can find some garlic to go with our olive oil.

[SGamerz]

You peer through the open door into the circular room at the base of the lighthouse. Fortunately, just enough light is filtering down from the dome into the gloom to make general outlines just visible. Simple, plain stone steps cut in a spiral staircase lead upwards, while a wooden trapdoor shows that there is something below ground level. There is also a repulsive monster slobbering and drooling in the half-dark here! It looks like an obese, slime-dribbling giant maggot with several sets o{ human arms protruding from its segmented body, and its head has the vestiges of human features. With a vile shudder the Slimeworm expels a great gobbet of evil-smelling muck at you, then il squirms towards you, lunging with its surprisingly hard nails outstretched and extending the suckered, bony plates of its slobbering mouth. You may be able to evade combat here; will you:

Attack the Slimeworm?
Try to dodge the monster and run up the stairs?
Run away and descend to the wreck?
Run away and find somewhere else to visit?

Third extra life unlocked! This looks more like a mutant than an undead, so no double-life awarded unless the text verifies it to be undead later.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Fred
SKILL 12/12 (unarmed, 11 in combat)
STAMINA 15/19
LUCK 11/12
PRESENCE: 6
Equipment: Knife, Backpack, Waterskin, Leather Jerkin, Bottle of Olive Oil
Provisions: 12/12
Gold: 0
Extra Lives remaining: 3/3
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to attack the slimeworm.

[Queen of Swords]

Agreed, attack.

[SGamerz]

The gross, filthy horror advances towards you with a disgusting undulation, squelsching in its own acidic slime, eager to devour you!

SLIMEWORM SKILL 8 STAMINA 10

If you win, will you:

Climb the stairs?
Open the trapdoor?
Leave and make for the wreck?
Leave and find somewhere else to visit?

COMBAT LOG:
Slimeworm 12, Fred 15. Die roll = 2. SW is at 9.
SW 12, Fred 21. Die roll = 5. SW is at 7.
SW 12, Fred 21. Die roll = 6. SW is at 5.
SW 18, Fred 19. Die roll = 3. SW is at 4.
SW 18, Fred 21. Die roll = 2. SW is at 3.
SW 15, Fred 17. Die roll = 2. SW is at 2.
SW 12, Fred 20. Die roll = 5. SW is defeated.

Once again, not a particularly threatening opponent, but our lack of a proper weapon makes it a somewhat tedious process.

Where do we go now?