Monthly Challenge

[Blackheart]

Hail to all of you who fight for glory and treasures!

Is anyone interested in a monthly challenge?

We used to have a lot of fun in the old forum.

[philsadler]

Sounds good!

[a moderator]

We had them for a while, but people lost interest.

The last one was here.

Still, if you want to try reviving the challenges, I'd be up for it.

[thealmightymudworm]

I've never tried taking part in these before, but could probably give one a go. I'm not expecting to be especially busy after Christmas.

[Blackheart]

Suggestion: As we are now four people, everybody could name one book and a bonus mission for the January challenge. We could set it up in a few days and like this give people more time to participate in the first contest.

What do you think?

[philsadler]

Well the books I have in my "too play" section are:

Bloodbones
Stormslayer
Siege of Sardeth
Tower of Destruction
Spectral Stalkers
Black Vein Prophecy
Master of Chaos
Fangs of Fury
Slaves of the Abyss
Masks of Mayehm

[Blackheart]

We may choose four of these. That's all right with me. Any objections, greenspine, thealmightymudworm?

I'd choose MOM and MOC. You may name the other two, philsadler.

[philsadler]

Spectral Stalkers
Black Vein Prophecy

[a moderator]

Dec 21, 2016 17:49:27 GMT Blackheart said:

We may choose four of these. That's all right with me. Any objections, greenspine, thealmightymudworm?

Fine by me. And since you and Phil chose the books, is it okay if mudworm and I set the bonus challenges?

If so, I have challenges in mind for Master of Chaos and Spectral Stalkers. Though I could probably come up with something for either of the others if mudworm prefers one or both of these.

[thealmightymudworm]

Dec 21, 2016 22:17:28 GMT a moderator said:

Dec 21, 2016 17:49:27 GMT Blackheart said:

We may choose four of these. That's all right with me. Any objections, greenspine, thealmightymudworm?

Fine by me. And since you and Phil chose the books, is it okay if mudworm and I set the bonus challenges?

If so, I have challenges in mind for Master of Chaos and Spectral Stalkers. Though I could probably come up with something for either of the others if mudworm prefers one or both of these.

Well that depends... although I haven't played any of them very recently I used to know MoC very well and SS fairly well. The other two I'm much less familiar with (Masks of Mayhem in particular isn't ringing any bells at all - except that I recall Cameron Diaz was pretty hot in it). So I don't think I could set bonus challenges for those two.

That said, I don't mind not setting any. If you have a couple ready to go, perhaps we should go with those and Messrs Heart and Sadler could come up with one each?

[Blackheart]

Dec 21, 2016 22:17:28 GMT a moderator said:

Dec 21, 2016 17:49:27 GMT Blackheart said:

We may choose four of these. That's all right with me. Any objections, greenspine, thealmightymudworm?

Fine by me. And since you and Phil chose the books, is it okay if mudworm and I set the bonus challenges?

If so, I have challenges in mind for Master of Chaos and Spectral Stalkers. Though I could probably come up with something for either of the others if mudworm prefers one or both of these.

Of course, greenspine. We would be pleased if you could set up all bonus challenges. Thank you!

[Blackheart]

Dec 22, 2016 2:34:58 GMT thealmightymudworm said:

The other two I'm much less familiar with (Masks of Mayhem in particular isn't ringing any bells at all - except that I recall Cameron Diaz was pretty hot in it).

Please, Mr. Worm, amuse me and point out the reference that accompanies the illustration of Cameron Diaz!

[thealmightymudworm]

Well I can't remember the reference number, but it was the first time Jim Carrey spots her across the room...

Cameron Diaz

She reacted angrily and unleashed a golem at him, I think.

[kieran]

Alright if I throw my hat into the ring too?

[Blackheart]

Dec 23, 2016 12:34:33 GMT kieran said:

Alright if I throw my hat into the ring too?

A frantic crowd welcomes kieran on "The Walk"!

[a moderator]

Apologies for the delay in posting bonuses. I was with family, and away from my gamebook collection.

Masks of Mayhem
Restore the old woman to sanity.

Master of Chaos
Travel from Ashkyos to Kabesh by land.

Black Vein Prophecy
Kill the maddened criminal.

Spectral Stalkers (you must obey the rules on eating Provisions - only when the text offers the option, and only one portion at a time)
Go straight from the Library to the Ziggurat World and defeat Globus.

[kieran]

Are we doing a point system like before? Think this was the system we were using last time:
- 10 points for beating a book
- 5 points for completing the bonus challenge
- 1 point for each enemy you defeat
- 1 point x (6 - average of initial dice rolls). So if you rolled Sk10 St20 Lu10 you would get 2 points

Don't mind if people want to change these or keep them. I have mixed feelings about the points for kills since it rewards engaging in fights you'd otherwise be better avoiding. Though it does add something of a risk-reward element.

[Blackheart]

Dec 30, 2016 10:21:28 GMT kieran said:

Are we doing a point system like before? Think this was the system we were using last time:
- 10 points for beating a book
- 5 points for completing the bonus challenge
- 1 point for each enemy you defeat
- 1 point x (6 - average of initial dice rolls). So if you rolled Sk10 St20 Lu10 you would get 2 points

Don't mind if people want to change these or keep them. I have mixed feelings about the points for kills since it rewards engaging in fights you'd otherwise be better avoiding. Though it does add something of a risk-reward element.

I would like to keep them. I have just played MOM and I have not "seen" the orb. Therefore I was happy to make some points by slaughtering.

What do the others think?

[a moderator]

I've managed to track down the points system.

You get points for your attributes - the weaker your character, the higher you score. Take the average of all the dice you roll to generate your character (plus the crew if you're playing Seas of Blood, or the car if it's Freeway Fighter) and score as follows:



Average Points

1 7

2 5

3 4

4 2

5 1

6 0



You get an additional point for every enemy you kill or overcome in combat (though there are edge cases that get argued about). Endlessly respawning opponents as in a couple of parts of Creature of Havoc only count once.



A bonus challenge is usually set for each book. Completing that is worth 5 points (unless the bonus specifies otherwise).



Winning a book is worth 10 points.

If we want to revise anything, now would be a good time to start discussing it.

[kieran]

I'm ok with sticking with those then. Sure we can always review a bit later if we like.

[Blackheart]

Let the sport commence!

[kieran]

Didn't do very well:

Masks of Mayhem
Sk11 St21 Lu11 - 1 point
Result: Went a bit wrong in the forest and ended up getting the infamous lost in the mist forever ending
Bonus: No
Kills: 7
Score: 8 points

Master of Chaos
Sk10 St24 Lu10 - 1 point
Result: Killed by the necromancer
Bonus: Yes
Kills: 7
Score: 13 points

Black Vein Prophecy
Sk7 St23 Lu12 - 1 point
Result: Killed by the shael-beast
Bonus: Yes
Kills: 2
Score: 8 points

Spectral Stalkers
Sk8 St21 Lu10 - 2 points
Result: Killed by the conjuror
Bonus: No. Experimented a bit in the library and thereby missed hearing of the Ziggurat World and figured it would be cheating to decide to go to a place I didn't know about.
Kills: 3
Score: 5 points

Grand total: 34 points

[thealmightymudworm]

I haven't got very far yet, but as the forum is deafeningly quiet atm here's a WIP:

Masks of Mayhem:

Rolls: 3+6+1+1= 11 (therefore 4 points?)
Bonus mission: Yes
(I gave her a bit of a slap. That fixes all women and TV sets.)
Kills: 6
I'm pretty sure this was the first time I've ever played this book. Might comment on it in its thread.
Could have gone worse - I picked up an obviously essentially iron sceptre before being burned to death in a fire - but I'm pretty sure some crucial things had passed me by.
Never really recovered from being duffed up by a kraken.

Score: 4+5+6=15


Belated edit: Final results for the other three:

Master of Chaos

Skill 7 Stamina 19 Luck 8
Considering how well I used to know this one, this was pretty disastrous.
Beat up a tentacle, sold a boat and calmed a mule with a flying hug.
However, due to overcautious delaying of gaining notoriety points I ended up heroically scrambling upstairs after a footpad only to realise that I'd forgotten my fighting kit and had to do it in my vest and pants. He probably had to stifle sniggers after gutting me like a fish.
Score: 10/4 = 2.5 (round up to 3? So 4 points?)
Kills: 1
No win or bonus
Total = 5 points


Black Vein Prophecy

Skill 7 Stamina 21 Luck 12
Can't remember playing this before. Didn't have much clue about what was going on for the first bit. Skimming Champskees's solution afterwards it doesn't seem I was too far off the path (at least I correctly fondled the horseman), but was doomed from the start once I'd rolled a LUCK of 12. Anyway I killed bubble boy but then yielded my sword to the bandits, which was probably a stupid decision. It was quite depressing going into battle with decent STAMINA against something with a Skill of 6 (Shael Beast) knowing that with an effective SKILL of 3 I had no chance.
Scores: 6, 4, 5, 1 = 4, therefore 2 points
Kills: 1
Bonus: yes (my one kill)
Win: no
Total = 8 points


Spectral Stalkers

Skill 12  Stamina 22  Luck 8
I haven't played this this millennium but I remembered liking it. Met Mr Prank at the library but made no attempt to travel straight from there. Encountered Syzuk, the evil innkeeper, the potter, the conjurer, the dark age elves and the haunted tower before getting very annoyed with the maze of Semeion. Finally thanks to advice, the clown ball and Baratcha's sacrifice I triumphed. In this case having a high SKILL and high STAMINA was very useful, whilst a mediocre LUCK score was no problem at all.
Rolls: 6, 4, 6, 2 all ÷ 4 = 4.5 (so round up to 5? 1 point)
Kills: 6 (skeletal warrior, Syzuk, two goblins, two elves)
Bonus: no
Win: yes
Total = 17 points


Overall total: 45 points

[Blackheart]

MOM
6/8/6 ---> 1 PT
Mission: Failure (No orb, no oaks! No oaks, no awareness!)
Bonus Mission: Success (I slapped that witch and gave her a present!)
Kills: 22
Total: 28 PTS

BVP
5/6/2 ---> 4 PTS
Mission: Failure (Drowned! No comment!)
Bonus Mission: Failure
Kills: 0
Total: 4 PTS

MOC
6/6/5 ---> 2 PTS
Mission: Failure (Tortured to death by a Fire Demon!)
Bonus Mission: Success (Arrived with Stamina 1 in Rahasta!)
Kills: 11
Total: 18 PTS

SS
3/2/6 ---> 4 PTS
Mission: Failure (Didn't survive the pressure of the lightbeam...)
Bonus Mission: Failure (To travel in silence by a long and circuitous route...)
Kills: 0
Total: 4

GRAND TOTAL: 54 PTS

[a moderator]

Masks
Sk 9 St 14 L 8 = 5
Kills = 8
Bonus: Never encountered her.
Mission: Died fighting the Nandibear.
Total: 13

Master
Sk 11 St 22 L 8 = 2
Kills = 14
Bonus: Did it.
Mission: Success.
Total: 31

Prophecy
Sk 8 St 23 L 7 = 2
Kills = 2
Bonus: The first of the abovementioned kills.
Mission: Found out when not to use Biantai.
Total: 9

Stalkers
Sk 11 St 20 L 7 = 2
Kills = None, despite being told that I slew an unspecified number of Black Shadows.
Bonus: Managed it, would probably not do again.
Mission: Also crushed by the lightbeam.
Total: 7

Overall: 60

[kieran]

Guess Greenspine wins then, congrats!

Should Greenspine set the next challenge then or should it be Blackheart since Greenspine set the last one?

[Blackheart]

It's Mr. Greenspine's duty, as he has won the challenge.

Another question: should we stay with four books? People seem to have some trouble to battle through four books during a month.

And another question: IS IT POSSIBLE TO CORRECT THAT TYPO IN THE TITLE OF THIS THREAD? :^(

[kieran]

Is it bad that I didn't even notice the typo?

Happy to drop it down to 3 books if people like.

[thealmightymudworm]

Feb 2, 2017 13:03:36 GMT Blackheart said:

It's Mr. Greenspine's duty, as he has won the challenge.

Another question: should we stay with four books? People seem to have some trouble to battle through four books during a month.

And another question: IS IT POSSIBLE TO CORRECT THAT TYPO IN THE TITLE OF THIS THREAD? :^(

Have you tried editing the post (edit button at top right)? I just tried that with a thread I started and it looked like the title could be changed. If not, Greenspine will be able to help.

I am still intending to post a full set of results btw (sorry for lateness), but I'm not likely to beat Greenspine.

[Blackheart]

Feb 2, 2017 15:18:28 GMT thealmightymudworm said:

Feb 2, 2017 13:03:36 GMT Blackheart said:

It's Mr. Greenspine's duty, as he has won the challenge.

Another question: should we stay with four books? People seem to have some trouble to battle through four books during a month.

And another question: IS IT POSSIBLE TO CORRECT THAT TYPO IN THE TITLE OF THIS THREAD? :^(

Have you tried editing the post (edit button at top right)? I just tried that with a thread I started and it looked like the title could be changed. If not Greenspine will be able to help.

I am still intending to post a full set of results btw (sorry for lateness), but I'm not likely to beat Greenspine.

Excellent, Mr. Worm, it worked!