[Let's Play] ACE Gamebook 01 – Alice’s Nightmare in Wonderland

[Dogopolis]

Agree with feather, no opinion on marmalade

[JourneymanN00b]

Using the Gryphon’s Feather received 2 votes, so Alice will do this. She will also eat her last portion of marmalade, as requested.

356

“I wish you were here, dear Gryphon, to return the favour you owe me now,” Alice says, finding herself stroking the golden feather in her pocket.

Suddenly there is a great squawking cry, a furious flapping of wings, and the Gryphon flies into the throne room.

“Come on! Climb onto my back!” says the Gryphon and Alice is not inclined to argue, given her current situation.

“Don’t let them get away!” shrieks the Red Queen as the Gryphon takes off again with the child on his back.

“I couldn’t kill her!” Alice cries as her emotions overcome her. “I tried, but I couldn’t do it!”

“There is a way,” the Gryphon says. “There is a weapon, so legend says, that has the power to slay anyone and anything.”

“What weapon?” Alice asks, a glimmer of hope entering her heart.

“Its name has gone down in legend as the Vorpal Sword,” the Gryphon replies, “but it lies many leagues from here, on the island of the Jabberwock.”

“How do we get there?” Alice asks, her question a desperate plea.

“There might be a way,” the Gryphon says swooping through a door into a bare stone chamber and setting Alice down in front of the large, heart-shaped mirror hanging on the far wall.

“I’ll hold off the Queen as best I can,” the brave creature says. “You find the sword!” And with that it flies out through the door again, ready to do all it can to stop the vampire catching up with Alice.

As Alice looks at the mirror, the reflection of the room dissolves, revealing a dismal wood beyond the looking-glass. It hardly appears to be the most inviting place but surely anywhere would be better than where she is now, hunted by the blood-thirsty Red Queen, just so long as she can actually pass through the mirror.

If you want Alice to try to reach the sinister forest beyond the looking-glass, turn to 155. If not, turn to 196.

Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

Alice’s Adventure Sheet
AGILITY: 10
LOGIC: 10
INSANITY: 2
COMBAT: 10
THE PEN IS MIGHTIER: 0 uses
CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER: 2 uses
ENDURANCE: 17
EQUIPMENT:
Scissors (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Golden Key
Shrinking Potion
Bread-Knife (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Mallet (Deals 3 damage in combat if 2-10 is rolled, knocks out opponent if 11-12 is rolled)
Spade (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Slug Pellets
Bloom’s Patent Plant Provender
Tin of Red Paint
Club (Deals 3 damage in combat if 2-10 is rolled, knocks out opponent if 11-12 is rolled)
Gryphon’s Golden Feather
Executioner’s Axe (Deals 3 damage in combat, -1 Combat)
RESURRECTIONS: 2

[Dogopolis]

enter the looking glass

[deaddmwalking]

Through the looking glass. I'm down for question for a vorpal blade. Snicker-snack!

[JourneymanN00b]

Trying to reach the sinister forest beyond the looking-glass received 2 votes, so Alice will walk through the looking-glass.

155

Standing before the glass, her pulse racing, Alice takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and steps forward…

She feels only the slightest resistance, like a gauzy veil against her face, and the solid stone floor gives way to a squelchy quagmire underfoot. Slowly, she opens her eyes…

Record the word ‘Portal’ on Alice’s Adventure Sheet, write the number ‘233’ next to it, and then turn to 145.

145

Alice is standing at the heart of a tangled forest. The grey-black trunks of the trees are contorted into shapes that speak of torment and pain, their branches clung with moss and snaking creepers. The air is redolent with the aroma of a compost heap and a sour yellow mist hangs in the air. Beads of moisture condense on Alice’s skin, sucking the warmth from her body. Strange animal hoots and shrieks echo between the trees and have Alice looking all about her, wondering from where the next threat to her life might come.

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!” Alice mutters under her breath. “Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the frumious Bandersnatch!”

And then the strange sounds of the forest are silenced by a blood-curdling howl that cuts through the tulgey wood, threatening to send an already anxious Alice over the edge.

Take an Insanity test and if Alice passes, turn to 367. If she fails the test, turn to 347.



Rolling the dice yielded a 10, so Alice passed the Insanity test.

367

Wondering what could have created such a chilling sound, Alice decides that the longer she stays where she is, the more likely it is that the monster will find her.

She can make out a vague path through the wood ahead of her and so, with nowhere else to go, sets off along it. However, the ground underfoot steadily becomes softer and softer until Alice is picking her way through a stinking bog. Fat-bodied flies hum overhead, only to be plucked from the moist air by warty, amphibian creatures squatting, half-submerged in their brackish pools.

Suddenly a pair of creatures pull themselves from the slime and onto the narrow path Alice is precariously following through the marsh. They look like a cross between a lizard and a salamander, but their sinuous bodies are marked with distinctive black and white stripes, and their claws are curled like corkscrews. The creatures hiss as they stalk towards the wretched child, opening their mouths to expose myriad sharp pointed teeth.

How do you think Alice should resolve her current predicament?

Try to leap over the creatures and hurry on along the path beyond? Turn to 459.

Attack the newt-like creatures? Turn to 275.

Try to think her way out of this situation? Turn to 383.

Alternatively, Alice could use the Curiouser and Curiouser ability, if that option it still available to her (turn to 509).

The Curiouser and Curiouser ability is still available to Alice. Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

Alice’s Adventure Sheet
AGILITY: 10
LOGIC: 10
INSANITY: 2
COMBAT: 10
THE PEN IS MIGHTIER: 0 uses
CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER: 2 uses
ENDURANCE: 17
EQUIPMENT:
Scissors (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Golden Key
Shrinking Potion
Bread-Knife (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Mallet (Deals 3 damage in combat if 2-10 is rolled, knocks out opponent if 11-12 is rolled)
Spade (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Slug Pellets
Bloom’s Patent Plant Provender
Tin of Red Paint
Club (Deals 3 damage in combat if 2-10 is rolled, knocks out opponent if 11-12 is rolled)
Gryphon’s Golden Feather
Executioner’s Axe (Deals 3 damage in combat, -1 Combat)
Portal 233
RESURRECTIONS: 2

[deaddmwalking]

Thinking has been successful before, I give that a half-vote. I'm open to something else if someone else feels strongly about it.

[Thaluikhain]

Half vote for trying to jump over the monster, because we don't get to do that too often.

[JourneymanN00b]

Thank you for voting. I will break the 0.5-0.5 tie by having Alice try to think her way out of this situation.

383

“Think!” Alice bullies herself. “There must be a way out of this pickle I’ve got myself into.”

Take a Logic test. If Alice passes, turn to 411. If she fails, turn to 275.

Rolling the dice yielded a 4, so Alice passed the Logic test.

411

Alice considers that she might have something that she could use to defend herself against the strange creatures in the pocket of her dress, but what exactly?

Some Slug Pellets? Turn to 438.

Mr Bloom’s Patent Plant Provender? Turn to 449.

If Alice possesses neither of these items, she will have to try a different approach (turn to 275).

Alice possesses Slug Pellets and Mr Bloom’s Patent Plant Provender. Please make your votes before 9:00 AM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[Thaluikhain]

Slug pellets, I guess.

[Dogopolis]

Yeah, slug pellets seem most appropriate here.

[deaddmwalking]

Agree with slug pellets.

[JourneymanN00b]

Using the slug pellets received 3 votes, so Alice will do this.

438

Pulling the jar from her pocket and unscrewing the lid, Alice empties its contents over the slimy bodies of the creatures. They hiss even louder but they also start to writhe about as if in pain, almost tying themselves in knots in the process. Repelled by the stinging pellets, the creatures slip back into their watery hole, leaving Alice free to pass by unmolested.

Turn to 286.

286

The ground beneath her feet becomes firmer, mud giving way to hard ground, as Alice eventually reaches the far side of the swamp.

The path Alice is following through the tulgey wood forks in front of a gnarled leafless tree, which has a particularly pronounced, bulging root bole. Standing before the tree, Alice considers which way to proceed.

To the right, the path becomes a rocky trail as it climbs between tumbled boulders into a range of scarred crags beyond. To the left, the path winds and wends its way between looming oaks into a denser region of the forest.

Alice feels weary after trudging through the swamp, and everything that came before that. If you would like Alice to rest awhile here, at the foot of the tree, turn to 297. If you think it best she doesn’t delay and should be on her way again, should she follow the path to the left (turn to 364) or the path to the right (turn to 22)?

Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[deaddmwalking]

We don't often get the option to rest. I'm inclined to do so. I suspect that the Cheshire Cat is due to turn up, and don't really see any reason to choose left over right or vice versa. Call it 9/10 of a vote.

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, seconding resting.

[Dogopolis]

Rest

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered; resting at the foot of the tree.

297

Alice is quite happy to rest awhile beneath the leafless tree, and consider what might await her at the end of either path. (Regain 2 Endurance points.)

However, as in uffish thought she sits, the sounds of the tulgey wood encroach on her position again, a whiffling, and a burbling, and the clip-clop of a horse’s hooves somewhere far off through the mist and murk.

Alice looks up at the tree with its overhanging branches and the cracks in its pitted bark that she could almost believe form eyes and a mouth. “Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?” Alice asks, addressing the tree.

At that, the bark of the trunk splits and opens like a mouth, lined with teeth made of huge wooden splinters.

“Oh no!” exclaims Alice. “This won’t do at all!” And tries to take a step back from the snarling tree. But she can’t move.

While she has been resting in the shadow of the Tumtum Tree, the pernicious plant’s roots have snared her feet. Tentacle-like tendrils shoots out of the trunk, wrap around Alice’s arms and start pulling her towards the gaping, splinter-lined maw. Straining with all her might, Alice starts to fight back.

Take an Endurance test. If Alice passes, turn to 307; if she fails, turn to 317.

Rolling the dice yielded a 21, so Alice failed the Endurance test.

317

The Tumtum Tree has Alice in its clutches now, and will not easily give her up; and Alice considers a future in which she becomes fertilizer for the pernicious plant.

If Alice is still able to use The Pen is Mightier ability, and you want her to employ that power now, turn to 337. If not, turn to 358.

Alice is no longer able to use the The Pen is Mightier ability.

358

As its vine-like limbs drag Alice closer and closer to the tree’s champing maw, she manages to free first one arm and then the next, and starts to fight back against the pernicious plant (which has the initiative in this battle).

TUMTUM TREE COMBAT 8 ENDURANCE 10

If Alice defeats the tree she has not killed the plant, but only cut herself free of its clutches – turn to 307.

The fight:
Round 1: Alice’s Combat Rating: 3+10 = 13, Tumtum Tree’s Combat Rating: 11+8+1 = 20;
Alice’s Endurance: 17, Tumtum Tree’s Endurance: 10
Round 2: Alice’s Combat Rating: 7+10 = 17, Tumtum Tree’s Combat Rating: 12+8+1 = 21;
Alice’s Endurance: 15, Tumtum Tree’s Endurance: 10
Round 3: Alice’s Combat Rating: 11+10 = 21, Tumtum Tree’s Combat Rating: 9+8+1 = 18;
Mallet Roll: 7, Alice’s Endurance: 15, Tumtum Tree’s Endurance: 7
Round 4: Alice’s Combat Rating: 7+10+1 = 18, Tumtum Tree’s Combat Rating: 6+8 = 14;
Mallet Roll: 5, Alice’s Endurance: 15, Tumtum Tree’s Endurance: 4
Round 5: Alice’s Combat Rating: 3+10+1 = 14, Tumtum Tree’s Combat Rating: 6+8 = 14;
Tie Roll: 5, Alice’s Endurance: 15, Tumtum Tree’s Endurance: 4
Round 6: Alice’s Combat Rating: 10+10 = 20, Tumtum Tree’s Combat Rating: 6+8 = 14;
Mallet Roll: 4, Alice’s Endurance: 15, Tumtum Tree’s Endurance: 1
Round 7: Alice’s Combat Rating: 6+10+1 = 17, Tumtum Tree’s Combat Rating: 3+8 = 11;
Mallet Roll: 6, Alice’s Endurance: 15, Tumtum Tree’s Endurance: -2

As it turns out, Alice takes 4 Endurance points of damage before she can escape from the Tumtum Tree.

307

Breaking free of the carnivorous tree’s thorny grasp and without delaying a moment longer, choose a path – any path – so that Alice might escape the lair of the Tumtum Tree. But which way should she go?

Left? Turn to 364.

Right? Turn to 22.

Please make your votes before 9:00 AM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

Alice’s Adventure Sheet
AGILITY: 10
LOGIC: 10
INSANITY: 2
COMBAT: 10
THE PEN IS MIGHTIER: 0 uses
CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER: 2 uses
ENDURANCE: 15
EQUIPMENT:
Scissors (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Golden Key
Shrinking Potion
Bread-Knife (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Mallet (Deals 3 damage in combat if 2-10 is rolled, knocks out opponent if 11-12 is rolled)
Spade (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Bloom’s Patent Plant Provender
Tin of Red Paint
Club (Deals 3 damage in combat if 2-10 is rolled, knocks out opponent if 11-12 is rolled)
Gryphon’s Golden Feather
Executioner’s Axe (Deals 3 damage in combat, -1 Combat)
Portal 233
RESURRECTIONS: 2

[Dogopolis]

Right is right. (Unless anybody has any reason for their choice)

[deaddmwalking]

Right is fine. That's up into the rocky ridge, so maybe we'll get a good view of our options.

I thought we were going to be able to use our plant provender, but I guess not. Net loss of 2 Endurance for resting is a shame.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered; going right.

22

Alice follows the path as it becomes steeper and steeper, climbing higher and higher into the range of crags that rise above the tulgey wood, eventually passing the limit of the treeline.

Soon Alice is high enough to look down upon the forest. On the other side of the crags she can see the crumbling ruins of a white stone keep, while beyond the limits of the forest she can see the sea. She is on an island!

Continuing on her way through these uplands, Alice catches sight of an untidy nest higher up the side of a particularly precipitous crag, that is little more than a ramshackle collection of branches, and her curiosity is piqued at once. What could have made a nest so large and so high up on the island?

If you want Alice to climb up to the nest to investigate further, turn to 32. If you think she should leave well enough alone and make for the castle beyond the crags, turn to 17.

Please make your votes before 7:00 AM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

[deaddmwalking]

I like climbing into giant nests. It's probably not wise, but it is fun. I vote (32).

[Dogopolis]

Doesn't seem wise, but also may be essential. Got to try it.

[JourneymanN00b]

Climbing up to the nest to investigate further received 2 votes, so Alice will do this.

32

Taking her courage in both hands, putting her trust in her ability to negotiate the near-sheer cliff safely, Alice commences her climb.

Take an Agility test. If Alice passes it, turn to 422. If she fails the test, turn to 52.

Rolling the dice yielded a 3, so Alice passed the Agility test.

422

The climb is harder, and takes Alice longer, than she had anticipated, but finally she reaches the ledge upon which rests the ramshackle nest. It is even bigger up close than it appeared when she was standing at the bottom of the cliff-face.

It is much easier for Alice to climb into the nest, using the branches from which it has been randomly constructed to aid her. The interior is lined with feathery down, which looks like is comes from a very large bird indeed, and swags of moss. However, there are no eggs in the nest, only the bones of whatever its inhabitant last ate.

Alice starts, as a discordant cry echoes over the island’s peak and she turns in time to see the nest’s owner returning.

The bird is massive beyond all measure – “Like something out of the Arabian Nights!” exclaims Alice. As the bird swoops down to land, its terrible tearing talons raised ready to strike, Alice finds herself in fear of her life once again.

If you want Alice to use The Pen is Mightier ability, and she still can, turn to 419. If not, turn to 451.

Alice can no longer use the The Pen is Mightier ability.

451

Arming herself as best she can, Alice prepares to battle the bird, wondering if how she is feeling now was how St George felt when he fought the dragon. (The Jubjub Bird has the initiative in this fight.)

JUBJUB BIRD COMBAT 10 ENDURANCE 12

If Alice defeats the Jubjub Bird, turn to 408.

The fight:
Round 1: Alice’s Combat Rating: 7+10 = 17, Jubjub Bird’s Combat Rating: 4+10+1 = 15;
Mallet Roll: 9, Alice’s Endurance: 15, Jubjub Bird’s Endurance: 9
Round 2: Alice’s Combat Rating: 5+10+1 = 16, Jubjub Bird’s Combat Rating: 5+10 = 15;
Mallet Roll: 7, Alice’s Endurance: 15, Jubjub Bird’s Endurance: 6
Round 3: Alice’s Combat Rating: 10+10+1 = 21, Jubjub Bird’s Combat Rating: 7+10 = 17;
Mallet Roll: 4, Alice’s Endurance: 15, Jubjub Bird’s Endurance: 3
Round 4: Alice’s Combat Rating: 11+10+1 = 22, Jubjub Bird’s Combat Rating: 6+10 = 16;
Mallet Roll: 12, Alice’s Endurance: 15, Jubjub Bird Knocked Out

To some mild surprise, Alice manages to flawlessly subdue the Jubjub Bird.

408

Alice is just about to leave the Jubjub Bird’s crag-top eyrie, when she spots something lying in the bottom of the nest. Moving aside some of the moss and feathers, whilst being careful not to touch any of the manky bones, Alice finds a rucksack. Inside are some dry biscuits and a wedge of strong-smelling hard cheese. (There is enough food for two snacks, each of which will add 4 Endurance points.)

Deciding that she has risked spending enough time here already, Alice begins her descent of the cliff-face. Reaching the bottom without further mishap, the child begins to make her way back down through the crags, towards the treeline, watching out for any loose stones that might send her tumbling down the side of the peak, or uneven rocks that might have her going over on her ankle.

Eventually, her descent is done and Alice finds herself re-entering the tulgey wood, although now she can see the battlements of the ruined fortress over the tops of the unhealthy-looking trees.

Turn to 512.

512

And so at last the trees part and Alice finds herself standing before the ruined walls of the ancient fortress. Cautiously she steps through the open gates of the crumbling gatehouse and surveys the tableau that awaits her within.

The castle is manned by stone statues of men in armour, some of them even on horseback; an entire army turned to stone. What could have petrified these warriors, leaving them as silent sentinels of this forgotten fortress?

On the other side of the courtyard stands the keep, its walls the colour of ivory.

If you want Alice to pass between the ranks of petrified warriors in order to climb the steps to the entrance to the keep, turn to 447. If you think she should explore the courtyard first, turn to 479.

Please make your votes before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

Alice’s Adventure Sheet
AGILITY: 10
LOGIC: 10
INSANITY: 2
COMBAT: 10
THE PEN IS MIGHTIER: 0 uses
CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER: 2 uses
ENDURANCE: 15
EQUIPMENT:
Scissors (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Golden Key
Shrinking Potion
Bread-Knife (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Mallet (Deals 3 damage in combat if 2-10 is rolled, knocks out opponent if 11-12 is rolled)
Spade (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Bloom’s Patent Plant Provender
Tin of Red Paint
Club (Deals 3 damage in combat if 2-10 is rolled, knocks out opponent if 11-12 is rolled)
Gryphon’s Golden Feather
Executioner’s Axe (Deals 3 damage in combat, -1 Combat)
2 Snacks (+4 Endurance)
Portal 233
RESURRECTIONS: 2

[Thaluikhain]

Explore the courtyard first.

[deaddmwalking]

Eat the cheese then explore the courtyard.

[JourneymanN00b]

Exploring the courtyard first received 2 votes, so Alice will do so. She will also eat a snack, as requested.

479

An eerie feeling comes over Alice as she explores the outer ward of the castle, as if a thousand eyes are fixed upon her. And yet, when she looks round, she sees nothing but the castle’s petrified defenders.

In the far corner of the courtyard, at the base of a corner tower, Alice stumbles across all that is left of a huge broken egg.

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall: Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King’s horses and all the King’s men, couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty in his place again,” Alice finds herself chanting under her breath.

The fractured shell is twice as tall as she is and it is empty. Alice can only wonder at what hatched from the enormous egg.

Deciding it best not to linger within the inner ward of the castle any longer, in case whatever hatched from the egg returns unexpectedly, she makes for the steps that lead to the entrance to the keep.

Turn to 447.

447

A keening wail howls about the battlements of the stronghold, as if the place is haunted by the spirits of those stony sentinels who now keep their eternal vigil over the fortress.

Alice makes it to the entrance to the keep without meeting any opposition and, heaving open the age-worn door, weathered to the colour of old teeth, makes her way inside. Finding herself at the bottom of a spiral stone staircase, Alice begins her ascent, making her way up through the tower.

Upon reaching the top of the staircase Alice passes through an arched doorway and into an eerie mausoleum-like chamber. The room has a sepulchral air to it, which is hardly surprising considering that resting atop a plinth at its heart is a white stone tomb. Upon the lid is the carving of a knight, with a carved white beard. He is holding a stone sword and also wears a coronet atop his helm.

An inscription circles the white marble sarcophagus:

     To win the sword, speak loud my name,
     My title and my piece the same.
     Kneel now, my ring to kiss,
     And answer me, whose tomb is this?

Alice starts, hearing footsteps on the stair she has just ascended. Someone, or something, is coming.

Take a Logic test, and if Alice passes it, turn to 487; but if she fails, turn to 497.

Rolling the dice yielded an 11, so Alice failed the Logic test.

497

This riddle is taxing indeed. Nonetheless, if you think you know the answer convert the word into numbers using the code A=1, B=2… Z=26. Add the numbers together, and then turn to the paragraph with the same number as the total.

If upon reading the paragraph you turn to it makes no sense (meaning you have got the answer wrong) or you are unable to solve the riddle at all, turn to 477.

You may also choose to use a resurrection to obtain the answer. Please make your votes on what to give before 7:00 PM PDT or a choice receives 2 votes to guarantee that they will be counted.

Alice’s Adventure Sheet
AGILITY: 10
LOGIC: 10
INSANITY: 2
COMBAT: 10
THE PEN IS MIGHTIER: 0 uses
CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER: 2 uses
ENDURANCE: 19
EQUIPMENT:
Scissors (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Golden Key
Shrinking Potion
Bread-Knife (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Mallet (Deals 3 damage in combat if 2-10 is rolled, knocks out opponent if 11-12 is rolled)
Spade (Deals 3 damage in combat)
Bloom’s Patent Plant Provender
Tin of Red Paint
Club (Deals 3 damage in combat if 2-10 is rolled, knocks out opponent if 11-12 is rolled)
Gryphon’s Golden Feather
Executioner’s Axe (Deals 3 damage in combat, -1 Combat)
Snack (+4 Endurance)
Portal 233
RESURRECTIONS: 2