36) Armies of Death Solution

[champskees]

Another Livingstone book. Onto the positives then. I like the continuation from DD to ToC to this. I like the idea of controlling an ‘army’. Most of the individual combats are pretty fair. Unfortunately you need to collect a whole list of items... and this time you need to know the exact price of the things you buy. You cannot purchase food along the way, so your health is limited. The army choices and luck rolls etc don’t even matter; you will have enough troops regardless. You can buy everything you need with your starting gold. Oh and one of the items requires a successful 50/50 roll. Thanks Ian. I recommend a Skill of 11+ and decent Stamina (18+) for this adventure, because you do not have any provisions to restore stamina.

Total troops before 100+ check: 157-237

- Sail on the Flying Toucan (-50 Gold).
- Sail on without stopping.
- Test Luck. Fail = Lose 5 Troops.
- Test Luck. Fail = Lose 5 Troops.
- Let the raiders climb aboard.
- Take Shield (+1 Skill, +1 Luck) & 10 Troops (River Raiders).
- Sail on without stopping.
- Sail over to the man to investigate.
- Hire the Northmen (-100 Gold)
- Take 10 Troops (Northmen).
- Accept the gift.
- Take Yeti Tooth.
- Go ashore & find some long grass to sleep.
- Roll D6.
        o 1,2,3: Lose 10 Troops (Warriors, -1 Luck).
        o 4,5,6: Lose 5 Troops (Warriors, -1 Luck).
- Turn the Flying Toucan towards the north bank (+1 Luck).
- Pick up the Gold Ring.
- Fight the axeman.
- Fight Sk 8 St 8 Axeman.
- Take Axe.
- Take Gold Ring ‘45’.
- Run off with only the gold ring.
- Sit with a drunken rogue.
- Challenge him to a bet.
- Bet 50 Gold.
- Roll D6. 1-3 = Game over (you need the brooch). 4-6 = +1 Luck.
- Take Golden Brooch ‘89’.
- Go and sit with the three vagabonds.
- Tell them about your mission.
- You are willing to pay 100 Gold (-100 Gold).
- Add note: You need to visit the Oracle to defeat Agglax.
- Enter the pet shop.
- You would like a special creature.
- Buy the Hopper (-50 Gold).
- Add note: Hopper invisibility ‘111’.
- Take Hopper.
- Enter the shop.
- Take Brass Owl (-10 Gold).
- Take Green Vase (-20 Gold).
- Walk on.
- Walk on up the street.
- Enter the building.
- Pay Max the price she wants (-200 Gold).
- Take Troops (+10 Marauders).
- Spend the night at ‘Helen’s House’ (-2 Gold).
- Be patient & listen to the man’s story.
- See a drawing of the crew.
- Add note: There are eight people in the picture.
- Take Sword (+1 Skill).
- Go right (+2 Stamina).
- Turn left.
- Help the dwarf.
- Fight Sk 10 St 10 Shapechanger.
- Take Sensu Bean (+8 Stamina when used).
- Take Gold Seal ‘332’.
- Cross the River Kok & march south.
- Head south with 15 hand-picked warriors.
- Give her a Gold Piece (-1 Gold).
- Add note: Make sure you drink the water of the gods.
- Keep heading south towards Karn.
- Enter the Blue Pig Tavern.
- Tell him you want to go to the Starstone Caves.
- Reply ‘Yes’ (-30 Gold).
- Add note: Turn right at every junction & avoid ‘4s’.
- Go right.
- Try Key #93. Go to Para 93.
- Go right.
- Drink some water from the fountain.
- Put nothing in the box.
- Go through tunnel #273. Go to Para 273.
- Go right.
- You drank the water from the fountain earlier.
- You have a Brass Owl. You paid 10 Gold for it. Go to Para 10.
- You have a Green Vase. You paid 20 Gold for it. Go to Para 20.
- Test Luck.
        o Success: Reply ‘Libra’.
        o Fail: 8 Crew on the Harem. Go to Para 8.
- You own a Hopper.
- Use invisibility. Go to Para 111.
- You possess a gold brooch. Go to Para 89.
- Add note: Crystal of Light ‘Three, two, one – begone’.
- Pick it up and read it.
- You are carrying the Hopper.
- Add note: No right turns on the way out of the caves.
- You have a Gold Seal. Go to Para 332.
- Go left.
- Fight 10 Centaurs with 15 Warriors. Skirmish Battle.
- You have Thog with you.
- March on.
- Walk through the clearing.
- Go south along the path.
- Walk through the clearing.
- Keep walking.
- Lose 3D6+2 Troops.
- Chase your attackers through the undergrowth with 10 Warriors.
- You possess a shield.
- Give chase.
- You have an axe. Chop the tree down.
- Gesture that you want treasure.
- You have a gold ring and wish to put it on the finger. Go to Para 45.
- Take Crystal of Light.
- Follow it north.
- Hear the question.
- Reply ‘Yaztromo’.
- Take 5 Troops (White Knights).
- You are wearing the Tooth of the Yeti.
- You have Elven Archers left alive.
- You have 50 Elven Archers remaining. All Fire Imps are shot down.
- Lead your Knights into battle.
- Your Knights include 5 White Knights.
- Lose 4D6 Troops.
- Lose 4D6 Troops.
- You have 100+ Troops.
- Fight Sk 9 St 10 Hill Troll.
- Fight Sk 8 St 7 Mountain Orc.
- Roll D6.
        o 1-2: Lose 40 Troops.
        o 3-4: Lose 30 Troops.
        o 5-6: Lose 20 Troops.
- Help the warrior on your right.
- You hired Max’s Marauders.
- Fight Sk 5 St 5 Goblin.
- Fight Sk 5 St 6 Goblin.
- Distract the enemy by throwing all your gold into the air.
- Use a crystal.
- Fight Sk 10 St 10 Elite Fanatic.
- Chant the rhyme. Go to Para 321.
- Agglax is defeated. You march your army back to Fang in triumph.

[Axel Mageblood]

But how long will it be before a new peril threatens our beloved Allansia? Except for the absurd bar bet where a 50/50 die roll can spoil the outcome of a perfectly played game, this is an excellent book once one knows the correct path!

[Jon]

I still haven't figured out the money on Titan. A brass owl costs 10 gold pieces, a green vase costs 20 gold pieces and commissioning a castle costs 14000??

[vastariner]

If 1GP = £10, and one assumes the traders hike up the price for someone who has famously just become rich, it sort of works.

[a moderator]

The vase and owl have price tags on them, and the contents of the pawnbrokers' are described as being dusty, so it seems unlikely that the prices have just been inflated to take advantage of the hero's sudden wealth. Nor is there anything to suggest that the people of Zengis knew that the victor of the second Deathtrap Dungeon was visiting anyway.

[Sunil]

I think sleeping on the deck of the Toucan is easier than sleeping in the grass, sure you need SKILL and LUCK but you don't lose any troops if the rolls are successful.

[daredevil123]

Losing troops makes no difference though, you will have enough anyway.

[CharlesX]

A very rough % chance of completing an FF worked out by extrapolating Champskees Table Skill, 3 permutations for Stamina and Luck.

Armies Of Death Odds of Victory 16.62%

Technically 16.62(27recurring)%, but there won't be rounding up because of the ridiculous 50 50 game over roll.

I would prefer this were somehow handled differently - maybe a second chance by rolling three dice against Luck with the reference "You watch with interest as the fly buzzes away from the blob, but then it hesitates, making up its mind". This might be more in keeping with new Sir Ian who seems to believe in second chances and not-so-linear adventures.