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Post by a moderator on Feb 4, 2022 17:35:59 GMT
I'm going with Return to the Icefinger Mountains as my entry for this week's challenge. Sk 11 St 21 L 12
Fights won: 2 Snow Wolves 2 Toa-Suo Snow Owl Orc Zombie Servant of the Snow Witch
I gained the knowledge necessary to translate the crucial inscription, and shoved the Snow Witch into the chasm before she could be raised. This week alerted me to a potential issue with one aspect of the challenge that should be resolved before we go any further. If I'd gone with my attempt at Demons of the Deep, I would have tied with peasantscribbler for highest number of fights won (unless there's a last-minute-ish entry with an even higher score). It's quite possible that at some point during the year, there will be a tie in that category. The simplest thing to do in such a circumstance would be to give the bonus to all the tied players. However, it would also be possible (though more work) to compare the lists of fights won (assuming they're not identical) to work out which player faced a greater challenge, and give just them the bonus. For example: Peasantscribbler and I mostly fought the same fights, the exceptions being that he fought the Lionfish and the Kraken, while I fought Sharkspear and the Sea Spider.
Sharkspear and the Lionfish both have Sk 9 St 12, but the fight against Sharkspear is not to the death.
The Sea Spider has Sk 7 St 10, while the Kraken has Sk 10 St 30.
So peasantscribbler won a more dangerous fight, and later defeated a much more powerful opponent, and would thus gain the bonus. Anyone want to express a preference for either option?
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Post by a moderator on Feb 4, 2022 13:19:42 GMT
I tried Demons of the Deep. Skill 9 Stamina 20 Luck 9 - about as average a character as you can get. So I took a chance on visiting the Mer-people's sauna, and became... Skill 8 Stamina 17 Luck 7
Fights won: 3 Barracuda 2 Skeletons Moray Eel Sharkspear Sea Spider Bloodworms
And I got killed by the Devilfish.
No need to list equipment and information gained, as terrysalt and kieran have logged wins for this week. Hoping to fit in an attempt at Return to the Icefinger Mountains (and to do better at that one), but I'm logging this outcome regardless so I can also remind nathanh, schlendrian and the almightymudworm that the deadline is less than 35 hours away.
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Post by a moderator on Feb 3, 2022 18:06:26 GMT
For absurdity related to items which provide Skill bonuses, it's hard to beat what can happen with the chainmail coat in City of Thieves.
Say you've made it as far as the blacksmith without losing any Skill points, and buy the coat in the mistaken belief that it might reduce combat damage. Alas, it only provides +2 to Skill, which is of no use to you. Later on, you try to evade Sourbelly and Fatnose, and are forced to discard the chainmail coat during your escape bid. Ditching it causes you to lose 2 Skill, so getting rid of it leaves you in worse condition than you were before you put it on.
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Post by a moderator on Feb 3, 2022 14:41:42 GMT
There's also a reference to Grimslade/Stratagus in 657.
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Post by a moderator on Feb 3, 2022 12:43:25 GMT
Is 'Stratagus' the name of the evil wizard from Scorpion Swamp in the French translation? In the original, his name's Grimslade.
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Post by a moderator on Feb 3, 2022 12:41:18 GMT
The rules don't really say anything about it either way. I don't see any issue with keeping item-derived Skill bonuses 'in reserve', so they don't allow you to exceed your Initial score, but can be used to compensate for penalties incurred after acquiring the item.
Something like the magical boost to stats provided by the old man if you solve the statue riddle is a different matter: if you're already at maximum, that bonus is just wasted.
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Post by a moderator on Feb 3, 2022 2:00:03 GMT
Interesting and impressive.
I did spot a mistake in the Citadel of Chaos map: you have 131 leading to 248 when it should go to 348.
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Post by a moderator on Feb 1, 2022 20:45:56 GMT
In The Vulcanverse Books were do I find A Conch Horn?, A Green Pearl? and A Baby's Rattle? We've got a Vulcanverse thread (I started it myself ), possibly this message should be in there? I agree. I agree.
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Post by a moderator on Feb 1, 2022 0:44:49 GMT
Unfair poll. All 3 deserve to go through It's a counterbalance to the 'Best Martin Allen gamebook' poll.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 31, 2022 22:07:10 GMT
I've seen Freeway Fighter described as a Mad Max rip-off, but not a tie-in or a novelty product. And Starship Traveller gets called a rip-off of Star Trek (or even a less good version of Star Trek: Voyager).
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Post by a moderator on Jan 30, 2022 2:07:32 GMT
An unexpected success at Return to the Icefinger Mountains! (Major spoilers in my write up) Sk8 St20 Lu12
As I suspected in my previous attempts, there was a trick to translating the message on the coffin. To be honest, I'm not sure I found all the necessary hieroglyphs to really make sense of the message (or possibly I just failed to recognise some of them) as what I was able to translate told me nothing much but it did tell me to turn to 144. Not sure if I inadvertently cheated but the text only says I have learnt enough to know Denati isn't being fully truthful which I guess is accurate. Anyway I tumbled the witch's coffin down the ravine which seems to be a success of sorts.
Kills: Snow Wolf Toa-Suo Orc Zombie
No guide used Congratulations. Good work on managing it with just 8 Skill. If you knew enough to be able to translate the hidden direction, it's reasonable to assume that your character was able to spot that Denati had translated 'and' as 'unless' (and that the glyphs for the two words were too dissimilar for that to be a genuine error).
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Post by a moderator on Jan 29, 2022 23:09:46 GMT
Tried Battleblade Warrior, barely got out of Vymorna That suggests that you won fewer than 26 fights, so I think I can figure out the scoring without the specifics. Week 4 scoring1st: greenspine - 16 (stats bonus 1 + most fights won bonus 5 + victory bonus 10) 2nd: terrysalt – 5 (stats bonus 5) 3rd= schlendrian – 4 (stats bonus 4) 3rd= thealmightymudworm - 4 (stats bonus 4) 3rd= vastariner - 4 (stats bonus 4) 6th= nathanh - 2 (stats bonus 2) 6th= peasantscribbler - 2 (stats bonus 2) 8th: kieran – 1 (stats bonus 1) Running totals1st: greenspine - 32 2nd: terrysalt - 26 3rd: nathanh – 23 4th: kieran - 17 5th: schlendrian - 14 6th: thealmightymudworm - 13 8th= peasantscribbler - 12 8th= vastariner – 12 Well, the combination of high stats, strategy, and occasional reckless self-endangerment paid off for me this week, but we're only a month into the year, so there's still plenty of potential for things to change.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 29, 2022 13:53:05 GMT
I went with Demons because I knew it was pretty easy. Starting stats: Skill 9 Stamina 18 Luck 12 Final stats: Skill 11 Stamina 18 Luck 13 Items: Crystal of unmelting ice, lucky charm Knowledge: How to summon skeletons from black pearls Fights: 3 barracuda, 2 skeletons, 1 statue, 1 kraken and two rounds against a grouper Guide: Champskees Hotel: Trivago Was the Skill increase a reroll or a bonus?
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Post by a moderator on Jan 29, 2022 13:46:57 GMT
Bob Baker & Dave Martin (who wrote The Claws of Axos, The Mutants, The Three Doctors, The Sontaran Experiment and several stories Kieran has yet to see) were always coming up with ideas way more ambitious than 1970s FX and budgets could handle. If they'd been able to write for the modern series, the end product could have been epic.
Or possibly a massively self-indulgent train-wreck (their original outline for Axos purportedly included an giant skull-shaped spaceship crash-landing in Hyde Park, and an astronaut mutating into a carrot), but it would have been spectacular either way
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Post by a moderator on Jan 29, 2022 1:42:23 GMT
I decided to take on Battleblade Warrior. I got off to a decent start, but it all ended rather abruptly. One failed Skill test, and I ended up inside a freaking T. Rex! I died the same way (though thanks to a failed Test your Luck) when I tried playing Battleblade Warrior yesterday. So I'll be sticking with my more successful performance at Island of the Lizard King.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 29, 2022 1:22:24 GMT
How about now?
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Post by a moderator on Jan 29, 2022 0:29:07 GMT
Just under a day to get results in for week 4 if you haven't already.
Week 5 The randomiser picks two adventures with more than one way to win.
This century - Return to the Icefinger Mountains (Fighting Fantazine 9) Last century - Demons of the Deep
In Return, reaching section 49 or 275 will be considered a victory.
A few points regarding Demons: If you take advantage of the opportunity to reroll your stats, you must list both sets of rolls. If you fight Cyrano, you may not count the fight as a win unless you are first to strike three blows (even though that produces a less favourable outcome). Reaching section 189, 236, 238 or 277 will be considered a victory.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 28, 2022 22:25:39 GMT
It looks like it has a serpentine neck so is it one of the hydra heads? It's a possibility. A bit of an unusual choice if so, but it wouldn't be the oddest pick of encounter to put on the front of a FF reissue.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 28, 2022 22:10:03 GMT
I suspect that bloodbeasthandler is right about the cover of Serpents showing a curiously bipedal Snattacat. Crown could be depicting the Netherworld Demon emerging from Farren Whyde's corpse. That was my initial idea but I discounted it because I thought [hoped] that they knew that we've already got an illustration of that creature in the book, and that Scholastic cover doesn't look anything like it. Don't the Scholastic books have new interior illustrations? If they're not reusing John Blanche's artwork, they may not feel obligated to stick with that image for the creature. And if the cover illustration of the Scholastic Kharé is supposed to show the same creature as the Penguin and Wizard covers (and I'm not sure what else it could be), they already have form for deviating from established appearances.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 28, 2022 19:52:06 GMT
I suspect that bloodbeasthandler is right about the cover of Serpents showing a curiously bipedal Snattacat. Crown could be depicting the Netherworld Demon emerging from Farren Whyde's corpse.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 28, 2022 19:00:33 GMT
If you reread section 87, you'll see that he attacked us.
I certainly didn't waste a Luck point on him.
About 29 hours to go, kieran, schlendrian, peasantscribbler and thealmightymudworm.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 27, 2022 1:35:57 GMT
I doubt it! He lives in one of the most run-down parts of town near the docks, has lost his front door, and is the sort of person who spits on his own floor. When he wakes up he thinks he's being burgled and goes for you with a knife. The man's a mess, a crackhead, or off his head on whatever it is they smoke in Kallamehr. I don't rate him as a literary critic so pay no attention to him. Yes, but he's not a literary critic: he's the one telling the story!Isn't there some form of literary criticism inherent in deciding which story to tell?
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Post by a moderator on Jan 25, 2022 13:05:31 GMT
Not sure if it's already been addressed but with the Jon Green books that were rebalanced in the Wizard releases, are people with the Puffin copies compensated for the increased difficulty at all? Or is it assumed that even rebalanced, they're absurdly difficult so everyone's dying quickly anyway? I'm not sure the edits to Spellbreaker make enough of a difference to matter. Curse tones down an early fight, which could affect progress and kill count, so any player who only has the Puffin edition will be allowed to fight the affected opponents at Wizard edit level (as long as they can prove that they already know what a telescope does).
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Post by a moderator on Jan 25, 2022 12:57:40 GMT
I decided to take a punt at Island of the Lizard King. Sk 11 St 23 L 11 - pretty much ideal for the challenge:
Fights won: Giant Crab 3 Headhunters Hydra (left head) Hydra (right head) Giant Water Snake Giant Lizard Spit Toad Crocodile Delirious Prisoner Lizard Man Lizard Man Lizard Man Orc Guard Hill Troll Cave Woman Hobgoblin Styracosaurus Mutant Lizard Man Hobgoblin Cyclops Shapechanger Two-Headed Lizard Man Black Lion Lizard King
No need to list items held or information learned, as I won. Good thing I chose a Potion of Strength at the outset, or I'd have died by attrition. Time permitting, I might also have a go at Battleblade Warrior for completeness' sake, but I doubt that I'll do better at that.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 25, 2022 11:16:26 GMT
Midnight (GMT) on the threshold between Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th January.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 25, 2022 11:14:14 GMT
Warrior's Way is slightly better - it also features one of my favourite instant deaths in the series. Which is that?
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Post by a moderator on Jan 23, 2022 17:28:42 GMT
The uninformed 50/50 [or worse odds] choices are mainly what I am talking about. The more there are of these choices which have to be made on a purely random basis, the more difficult the book. [Edit: Of course when you make a bad choice in one playthrough you'll know better for the next one and make the right choice this time.] That depends on how immediately obvious it is that a wrong choice is wrong. One afternoon back in the mid-1980s I 'GMed' multiple attempts at Trial of Champions by a school friend - I read out the text, he made the decisions. His strategy following each failure was 'do the same as before for every decision except the last one I made', so he never repeated any immediately fatal mistake. However, the first time he reached the dungeon, he went the wrong way at the first junction. And he continued to take the wrong turning on every subsequent attempt until we ran out of time, because it's not until very close to the end of the book that survival depends upon having an item found on the path he kept avoiding, and he kept finding other ways of getting killed before he got far enough to learn that he'd missed an essential pick-up by going left instead of right early on.
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Post by a moderator on Jan 23, 2022 17:07:48 GMT
If I'd turned left instead of right, I think I'd have had a good chance of winning I picked Tracking as one of my Special Skills to be sure of not making that mistake. Week 3 scoring
1st: terrysalt – 14 (stats bonus 4 + victory bonus 10) 2nd: nathanh - 12 (stats bonus 2 + victory bonus 10) 3rd: greenspine - 9 (stats bonus 4 + highest kill-count bonus 5) 4th= kieran – 5 (stats bonus 5) 4th= thealmightymudworm - 5 (stats bonus 5) 6th= schlendrian – 4 (stats bonus 4) 6th= vastariner - 4 (stats bonus 4) 8th: peasantscribbler - 2 (stats bonus 2) This does illustrate one of the limitations of the system for establishing stats bonuses: thanks to the rounding off of fractions, vastariner scores the same as schlendrian depite a two-point Skill advantage. Not much that can be done about that, short of devising a significantly more complex algorithm. Running totals
1st = terrysalt - 21 1st = nathanh – 21 3rd = kieran - 16 3rd = greenspine - 16 5th = peasantscribbler - 10 5th = schlendrian - 10 7th: thealmightymudworm - 9 8th: vastariner – 8
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Post by a moderator on Jan 22, 2022 0:10:36 GMT
Just under 24 hours for schlendrian, vastariner and thealmightymudworm to post results for week 3.
Week 4 The randomiser seems to be in the mood for some saurian slaughter, as there's a definite theme common to both of this week's picks.
This century - Island of the Lizard King Last century - Battleblade Warrior
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Post by a moderator on Jan 21, 2022 23:31:21 GMT
I tried both, and did appallingly at Six-Gun Friday. As for Moonrunner...Sk 9 St 19 L 11 GP 18
Fights won: Furneaux 2 Guards 4 Inmates Dark Elf Assassin Argolis Zombie Slave Eviron the Landlady Rat Man Brician Warlord Orc Stoat-Strangler
Listing equipment and clues is only really necessary to help determine who was closest to success if nobody wins. Since two players won the book, I won't bother going into detail. Suffice to say that one item I did not possess was the Skull of Mora Tao, which turned out to be what I needed to keep from being swallowed up by the blob which Gruul summoned.
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