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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 21, 2021 20:10:36 GMT
Simple idea: There are a lot of amateur adventures on this forum and elsewhere, many written by people on this forum and certainly which are familiar to them. A lot of these are well worth the time to playthrough, but it's hard to know which are best and there's less reason to try when there may not be anyone to chat with about them after. So I was thinking: How about a rolling challenge of amateur adventures: either simply to complete one by the rules or do some more specific challenges within them. The winner each round would be the first person to post a brief account of their winning playthrough – after perhaps a minimum time of let's say a week to allow a few people to have a go. If no one has completed the challenge after a set time (picked by the challenge-setter, say 2 or 3 weeks) then they can pick a failing playthrough as the winner instead – the closest to succeed, the unluckiest not to or just the funniest write-up. Failing playthroughs can be posted at any time. The prize? Justifiable smugness and getting to set the next challenge. People are likely to want to plug their own adventures which is fine (but hopefully people won't do that every single time). Any interest? Minimal commitment will be the rule. Edit:Now that this is up and running, I think I'll put some quick links to the challenges here in case this becomes a long thread.
4. A Princess of Zamarra by kieran (set by tyrion) 10. Escape from Firetop Mountain by Gabe Fandango (set by Per)
The Everlasting Scroll of Glorious Accomplishment (Challenges completed)
THREE - TWO ONE
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,547
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Mar 21, 2021 20:30:32 GMT
Sounds interesting
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Post by daredevil123 on Mar 21, 2021 21:15:21 GMT
I'm in - particularly if it means mine gets played more
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Post by tyrion on Mar 21, 2021 22:08:01 GMT
Well if it means someone playing mine, I'm in as well.
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Post by stevendoig on Mar 22, 2021 18:23:17 GMT
Yes. A nice idea. Up for that.
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Post by petch on Mar 23, 2021 11:28:42 GMT
I'll play. I keep meaning to play the amateur adventures on here and then don't get round to it, so hopefully this challenge will give me the kick up the bum to actually do it!
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sylas
Baron
"Don't just adventure for treasure; treasure the adventure!"
Posts: 1,744
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy, Way of the Tiger
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Post by sylas on Mar 23, 2021 22:29:02 GMT
Interested to see how this might pan out.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 24, 2021 21:46:46 GMT
OK, great! So I'm just going to go ahead and set one of my minis for the first challenge. This feels a bit self-serving but then that's probably going to be part of the motivation for several people taking part. I thought I'd set a dual challenge to start with based on my Scorpion Swamp parody/pastiche/improvement Murderous Mire. Either Simply complete the adventure any way you like - roll for stats as normal or Complete the adventure in Shadechukker's study - re-roll any '1's when you roll your stats. I'm quite interested to see how people get on with the second challenge as I don't think anyone has done that yet, but don't want to limit people if this is their first time playing the adventure. (It's definitely possible to complete the adventure on minimum stats. It's unlikely you'd complete the specific challenge with minimum stats, but you shouldn't need absolute blowout max stats either. If you feel you do you may be missing a trick.) The first winning playthrough posted after midnight UK time beginning April 2nd wins the challenge. Winning playthroughs posted too early will not be considered until after noon on April 2nd. If there are no winning playthroughs posted by April 6th, losing playthroughs will be considered. Losing playthroughs may be posted at any time.
I did create a pdf version of the adventure (though it lacks the copyright-busting images). It might be handy to have the spells separate even if you're playing it on the forum.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,547
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Mar 25, 2021 14:13:12 GMT
The first winning playthrough posted after midnight UK time beginning April 2nd wins the challenge.
Winning playthroughs posted too early will not be considered until after noon on April 2nd. If there are no winning playthroughs posted by April 6th, losing playthroughs will be considered. Losing playthroughs may be posted at any time. When you say playthrough, how much detail is required?
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 25, 2021 16:22:39 GMT
The first winning playthrough posted after midnight UK time beginning April 2nd wins the challenge.
Winning playthroughs posted too early will not be considered until after noon on April 2nd. If there are no winning playthroughs posted by April 6th, losing playthroughs will be considered. Losing playthroughs may be posted at any time. When you say playthrough, how much detail is required? I find that a tricky question to answer – I don't require an essay-length thing (certainly not as long as hynreck's magnificent 3,500 word review!) but it should be reasonably clear which encounters you had and whether you handled them with spell, sword or neither as any of those decisions might make a sharp change to your fortunes. Also it depends how much of the mire you cover.
Perhaps aim for something between 50 and 150 words...?
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Post by petch on Mar 28, 2021 0:24:53 GMT
My first attempt ended in heroic failure. Marked for spoilers for the sake of anyone else attempting the challenge: Sk 10 St 21 Lk 9
Picking up Mudworm's gauntlet, my aim is to try to complete the adventure in Shadechukker's study (figuring I would have plumped for this quest anyway, the Grimslade quest being my favourite route through Scorpion Swamp).
I decide to throw caution to the wind and pick 5 utility spells rather than any restorative ones, going for Wither, Curse, Kindness, Illusion & Ice.
My first encounter in the mire is against the Pool Beast. Figuring I'm only just setting out on my quest, I decide to conserve my magic and rely on steel. After losing 10 stamina points in the fray, I begin to regret not using that Ice spell.
Next up I run into the Mistress of Flightless Birds (Rod Hull looks a great deal more attractive than I remember him in that pic, there). Using a charge from my ring I determine that she's a good sort, so decide to trust her. No amulet, but I gain some useful info and a cute flippered companion.
Following her advice, I head east to try to find the next Master (managing to avoid being bored to death by the Dull Beast on the way and only suffering minimal stamina loss), and upon entering his domain and finding it populated with creepy crawly creatures pulled from my own worst nightmares, I instantly decide that I want to stay on his good side and so use a Kindness spell. A wise decision as it transpires, providing me with an uncomfortable sounding bug-borne lift close to the residence of what I am assuming is the mire's final Master.
Heeding the warnings given to me by the previous Masters I have run into, I decide that the Master of Gardens isn't the affable chap he was in the original Scorpion Swamp and go straight on the offensive. Wither seems like the obvious spell choice here, which seems to work a treat, breaking through his verdant defences and allowing me to engage. It seems like a tough fight: his Skill matches my own and I don't like the look of that instruction 'if you are still fighting after five rounds' so I decide to use Luck to finish him off as soon as possible. Fortunately for me some lucky rolls end the fight in 3 rounds and I am able to claim my prize...finally, after my third Master encounter, an amulet!
I briefly consider retracing my steps to see if can gather further amulets for my sponsor, but quickly decide that I don't want to harm the nice bird lady or bug man and so start the trek back through the mire with a solitary amulet in my possession. On the way, I use a charge from the amulet to Wither some Scorpion Grass, have a short chat with a friendly Giant, and finally, being smarter than the average bear, I use my Illusion spell to wrongfoot and make short work of a duplicitous picknicker (and help myself to some grub from his pickernick basket).
Back at Shadechukker's, he offers me a reward for my endeavours, but not trusting him in the slightest I pull out what I hope is my trump card: that Curse spell I've been holding on to the whole adventure. Unfortunately for me, he's protected by a magical barrier, my plan fails and I'm promptly dumped into a pit trap full of bityfish. More luckily though, my penguin chum that that sexy Rod Hull lady gave me comes to my rescue and I get to face off against my former benefactor.
Noting the option to confront him in his study, I realise the culmination of the challenge Mudworm had set was in sight and go for it.....
Ah. Aaaah. I now see why Mudworm said that no one else has completed it this way as yet. Despite using the extra spell gem I picked up from the Pool Beast to cast a Health spell and fully restore my Stamina, I'm simply no match for my fearsome employer-turned-nemesis and am hacked down in his study, on the brink of victory. All being well, I'll give it another go tomorrow. Thoroughly enjoyed that by the way Mudworm, am pleased I signed up for this challenge already
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Post by tyrion on Mar 28, 2021 10:07:02 GMT
I've died three times so far, one for a failed roll and twice because I was making stupid decisions. Is there a challenge for managing to be the most inept adventurer?
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 29, 2021 5:02:31 GMT
My first attempt ended in heroic failure. Marked for spoilers for the sake of anyone else attempting the challenge: Sk 10 St 21 Lk 9
Picking up Mudworm's gauntlet, my aim is to try to complete the adventure in Shadechukker's study (figuring I would have plumped for this quest anyway, the Grimslade quest being my favourite route through Scorpion Swamp).
I decide to throw caution to the wind and pick 5 utility spells rather than any restorative ones, going for Wither, Curse, Kindness, Illusion & Ice.
My first encounter in the mire is against the Pool Beast. Figuring I'm only just setting out on my quest, I decide to conserve my magic and rely on steel. After losing 10 stamina points in the fray, I begin to regret not using that Ice spell.
Next up I run into the Mistress of Flightless Birds (Rod Hull looks a great deal more attractive than I remember him in that pic, there). Using a charge from my ring I determine that she's a good sort, so decide to trust her. No amulet, but I gain some useful info and a cute flippered companion.
Following her advice, I head east to try to find the next Master (managing to avoid being bored to death by the Dull Beast on the way and only suffering minimal stamina loss), and upon entering his domain and finding it populated with creepy crawly creatures pulled from my own worst nightmares, I instantly decide that I want to stay on his good side and so use a Kindness spell. A wise decision as it transpires, providing me with an uncomfortable sounding bug-borne lift close to the residence of what I am assuming is the mire's final Master.
Heeding the warnings given to me by the previous Masters I have run into, I decide that the Master of Gardens isn't the affable chap he was in the original Scorpion Swamp and go straight on the offensive. Wither seems like the obvious spell choice here, which seems to work a treat, breaking through his verdant defences and allowing me to engage. It seems like a tough fight: his Skill matches my own and I don't like the look of that instruction 'if you are still fighting after five rounds' so I decide to use Luck to finish him off as soon as possible. Fortunately for me some lucky rolls end the fight in 3 rounds and I am able to claim my prize...finally, after my third Master encounter, an amulet!
I briefly consider retracing my steps to see if can gather further amulets for my sponsor, but quickly decide that I don't want to harm the nice bird lady or bug man and so start the trek back through the mire with a solitary amulet in my possession. On the way, I use a charge from the amulet to Wither some Scorpion Grass, have a short chat with a friendly Giant, and finally, being smarter than the average bear, I use my Illusion spell to wrongfoot and make short work of a duplicitous picknicker (and help myself to some grub from his pickernick basket).
Back at Shadechukker's, he offers me a reward for my endeavours, but not trusting him in the slightest I pull out what I hope is my trump card: that Curse spell I've been holding on to the whole adventure. Unfortunately for me, he's protected by a magical barrier, my plan fails and I'm promptly dumped into a pit trap full of bityfish. More luckily though, my penguin chum that that sexy Rod Hull lady gave me comes to my rescue and I get to face off against my former benefactor.
Noting the option to confront him in his study, I realise the culmination of the challenge Mudworm had set was in sight and go for it.....
Ah. Aaaah. I now see why Mudworm said that no one else has completed it this way as yet. Despite using the extra spell gem I picked up from the Pool Beast to cast a Health spell and fully restore my Stamina, I'm simply no match for my fearsome employer-turned-nemesis and am hacked down in his study, on the brink of victory. All being well, I'll give it another go tomorrow. Thoroughly enjoyed that by the way Mudworm, am pleased I signed up for this challenge already I'm not expecting that we'll need to fall back on a non-winning playthrough, but if we do this will be hard to beat. A lot of good work and good thinking there, and fun to read. Thanks for adding spoiler tags too, I forgot to suggest that.
It's tempting to comment of course, but I mustn't do that until this challenge has been resolved. Glad you're enjoying it, and good luck for a successful playthrough
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Post by vastariner on Mar 29, 2021 15:57:46 GMT
It's no wonder I became a Hero. With a skill of 11 and stamina of 20 I was well above the natural human level. But there was one problem. My nickname at Warrior Class was Jinx. If anything could go wrong, it did. My paltry luck of 7 was always going to be something that would inhibit me. My adventuring tutor suggested that I should stay at home and work on training rather than go out into the world. Unluckily, I did not follow his advice. My love of the margins could not hold me back from Scumtown. A hive of stench and villainy and barely-evolved humans. It is however a step up from Wolverhampton so it held no fears. As befits the place I headed for a cold spot, the mansion of Shadechukker, and despite his seemingly expecting me, I boldly offered him tickets to my gun show as proof that the Mire would be a mere trifle. I was almost insulted when Shadechukker enlarged a rat as a challenge. A piffling matter. The rodent launched a strong first attack but I had scarcely ever struck with such accuracy. It seemed to cow the animal instantly as its next two attempts were feeble and gained it more wounds. It tried to rally but in an instant I was wiping rat blood from my scimitar, untouched, unharmed, unbothered. Was Shadey impressed? Enough to offer five spell gems. I'm heading for a mire so Wither looks a good option. My general ill-luck suggests that a Fortune spell would be most welcome as well. Curse satisfies my gambling side and Fire would be a great threat to plantlife. One of each. And...well, let's try a little kindness. Five hundred shinies to get amulets from mire-dwellers is my target. Where now? 21 looks a lucky number, north-west it is. It...was not. A lumbering oaf of a pool beast. But even the rat was a doughtier fighter. Although its first flollop caught me somewhat off guard and it was all I could do to dodge its bulk. I did finish it off, but it got me a couple of times (ST 16). Disappointing, my adventuring tutor would not have been best chuffed. But as expected my luck was in. A spell gem! For some reason I had forgotten my packed lunch so the Health spell was most welcome.
North by north-west is not a compass direction but I took it anyway. I am in an ornithologist's paradise. I am not sure how the penguins are surviving the murderous heat and foetid swamp stench, and while I am pondering this I realize I have lost the chance to attack the Mistress of Flightless Birds. But she offers me a penguin. I can't get the wrapper off so I have a Sk5 St5 waddler after me. Anyway, onwards and upwards. I'm startled to see a Dull Beast and am so stunned by its beigeness that it manages to bite me. Its second attack is just as ferocious but I manage to sidestep and sideswipe it. And it gets me again. Blimey, what's wrong with me? I felt like I was going backwards. I got it to within a swipe of victory and the blessed thing got me again. Suddenly I feel like the marsh is dragging me in, I cannot move with my usual fluency, and somehow as it lurches on top of me I manage to find a blow that pierces its lung. (ST 10) I stagger into another clearing and meet the Master of Bugs. These wretched beastlings are holding off me enough to launch an attack. But would that not be fatal? Death by a thousand stings? I come up with a better solution. CURSE. Ugh. I manage to dart out of the way but it still mostly gets me (SK9 ST5). Time for the Health spell (SK10 ST11). God, I'm more of a regular human now. But at least I have an amulet. I stagger into an area new to me. With a Giant. Great. Maybe I could sweet-talk him? He mutters something about pixies and tells me to extradite myself. Fair enough. I pick a random direction in panic and hear a clickerclacker of grass. That's not normal. Let's WITHER them and just ease my way through. What have I left? Fortune, Fire, and Kindness.
I find a green circle. The penguin is NOT impressed. Who am I to disobey a sphenisciform? Let's just go. And just before I spot the Master of Gardens I gain a Stamina point (ST12). I've not lost any luck so there's a spare Luck point going, which I pass to Eric. Waste not want not. The Master of Gardens. Augh, I bet Wither would have marmelized him easily. I decide to have a little chat but he sends a bloody bush after me. Right, mate, that's it. Eat flame. I cast Fire and just about to dodge the burning bush to get at the Master. But it looks like I will have to finish him off without any delay at all...after we exchange blows four times, I am on ST10 and he is on ST3, with Eric being nothing but nuisance value, so it is all or nothing with a total banzai attack. I hurl myself at him with what I think is the Spitting Fly, and miss him entirely. I never get up. Anyway, that's how I met my death, I'm sorry Grizelda got the wrong number...but if you want to try to get Aunty Gladys you're going to have to dial again.
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Post by petch on Apr 2, 2021 11:16:34 GMT
I achieved victory on my 2nd attempt, albeit not in the study (I went for the good guy quest to mix things up), and my meta-knowledge of the mire from my first playthrough came in very handy! 9 / 17 / 11 Kindness / Growth / Fire / Ice / Illusion
Met the Pool Beast first again. This time I did use Ice and had a much easier time of it - should have done that first time around! Collected that very handy all-purpose spell gem as a reward.
Encountering the Picknicker again, not really possessing another spell suitable for the situation and figuring it worked well enough on my first playthrough, made short work of him with the help of an Illusion and helped myself to his goodies. Passed the Master of Bugs without incident.
I headed east from here, knowing from my previous experience that I was holding an item of interest to the Giant. I loved the cunning disguise of the true nature of that 'silk slingshot' here...turns out the Picknicker was not only a thief and a scoundrel but a pervy Brobdingnag fetishist as well! Got a whole bunch of very handy items in exchange.
At this point I came across an encounter I'd not stumbled upon on my first go, another nice tip of the hat towards Scorpion Swamp here with the Mace Trees. The only plant based spell in my possession being Growth, not really knowing whether it would be advantageous or not to cast it I thought what the hell and gave it a go. Very pleased I did, and the description of the blossom obscuring their vision 'like floppy haired children' gave me a good laugh!
In the next clearing was the herb I sought as the object of my quest. It struck me that Growth would once again come in handy here so I used the Pool Beast's gem, which worked very nicely and allowed me to bypass that nasty-looking black hole trap.
Not wanting to meet the Master of Gardens again I started the trek back to the entrance. The Scorpion Grass blocked my progress and lacking the Wither spell to bypass it this time around, I used Fire this time to clear a path. I failed the Skill check on negotiating my way through the treacherous foliage and took some heavy damage but luckily that didn't matter as from here I just needed to retrace my steps through clearings I had already been through so had a clear path back to Smilemister and victory!
I did have a few more goes at the study challenge but without success. On my first attempt I foolishly decided to tell Shadechukker about the true nature of my magic ring just to see what would happen - that particular adventure didn't last long and rather irritatingly I had rolled up quite a strong character that time! Second go I was slain by the Master of Gardens (turns out I was right on my first playthrough about it not being a good thing letting the combat go on for in excess of five rounds!). Third and fourth times I did make it back to the climactic encounter with Shadechukker in the study...I'm guessing the trick to it that Mudworm was alluding to is somehow linked to that tantalising option to sprint to his spell gem cabinet, but I just couldn't win/draw the two consecutive Attack Rounds necessary to do so despite using the 'life-saver' charm from the Giant to auto-draw a round (which I'm assuming would be a legitimate use of said object). By the way, I meant to say before that I thought the spell system Mudworm employed here is brilliant, I think it's actually a better designed system than any of those used in the official series. I loved the way you used magic intuitively rather than having an option offered to you by the text - it's very clever, and enormously satisfying when you realise you've cast a spell at a wise juncture.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 3, 2021 3:56:05 GMT
I achieved victory on my 2nd attempt, albeit not in the study (I went for the good guy quest to mix things up), and my meta-knowledge of the mire from my first playthrough came in very handy! 9 / 17 / 11 Kindness / Growth / Fire / Ice / Illusion
Met the Pool Beast first again. This time I did use Ice and had a much easier time of it - should have done that first time around! Collected that very handy all-purpose spell gem as a reward.
Encountering the Picknicker again, not really possessing another spell suitable for the situation and figuring it worked well enough on my first playthrough, made short work of him with the help of an Illusion and helped myself to his goodies. Passed the Master of Bugs without incident.
I headed east from here, knowing from my previous experience that I was holding an item of interest to the Giant. I loved the cunning disguise of the true nature of that 'silk slingshot' here...turns out the Picknicker was not only a thief and a scoundrel but a pervy Brobdingnag fetishist as well! Got a whole bunch of very handy items in exchange.
At this point I came across an encounter I'd not stumbled upon on my first go, another nice tip of the hat towards Scorpion Swamp here with the Mace Trees. The only plant based spell in my possession being Growth, not really knowing whether it would be advantageous or not to cast it I thought what the hell and gave it a go. Very pleased I did, and the description of the blossom obscuring their vision 'like floppy haired children' gave me a good laugh!
In the next clearing was the herb I sought as the object of my quest. It struck me that Growth would once again come in handy here so I used the Pool Beast's gem, which worked very nicely and allowed me to bypass that nasty-looking black hole trap.
Not wanting to meet the Master of Gardens again I started the trek back to the entrance. The Scorpion Grass blocked my progress and lacking the Wither spell to bypass it this time around, I used Fire this time to clear a path. I failed the Skill check on negotiating my way through the treacherous foliage and took some heavy damage but luckily that didn't matter as from here I just needed to retrace my steps through clearings I had already been through so had a clear path back to Smilemister and victory!
I did have a few more goes at the study challenge but without success. On my first attempt I foolishly decided to tell Shadechukker about the true nature of my magic ring just to see what would happen - that particular adventure didn't last long and rather irritatingly I had rolled up quite a strong character that time! Second go I was slain by the Master of Gardens (turns out I was right on my first playthrough about it not being a good thing letting the combat go on for in excess of five rounds!). Third and fourth times I did make it back to the climactic encounter with Shadechukker in the study...I'm guessing the trick to it that Mudworm was alluding to is somehow linked to that tantalising option to sprint to his spell gem cabinet, but I just couldn't win/draw the two consecutive Attack Rounds necessary to do so despite using the 'life-saver' charm from the Giant to auto-draw a round (which I'm assuming would be a legitimate use of said object). By the way, I meant to say before that I thought the spell system Mudworm employed here is brilliant, I think it's actually a better designed system than any of those used in the official series. I loved the way you used magic intuitively rather than having an option offered to you by the text - it's very clever, and enormously satisfying when you realise you've cast a spell at a wise juncture. Congratulations You win and get to set the next challenge.
Glad you got to get stoned with Smiley. I think you've pretty much got the technique for dealing with Mr Shadey in his study nailed down though, so I'm slightly surprised that you haven't finished it that way. (Perhaps the dice just had it in for you.)
A brief comment on that: You're right that the easiest way to defeat Shadechukker involves dodging to the cabinet. I'm really happy that you spotted how useful the giant's life-saver is for that because I deliberately made it something which has a very modest use in most battles that would be easy to forget about. I haven't worked out the maths but I think it should give an adventurer with a SKILL of 8 or 9 a pretty good chance in the study – certainly if they have decent STAMINA and/or LUCK – whereas without it they're probably toast. The best way to use it is to try to win or draw a round without it, and once you do then declare you've drawn the following round – is that how you were trying?
In case you get round to trying this again, I'll just give you one heads-up: there's nothing useful at the cabinet. It's written as if it's a red herring. However if you've read the opening sentences of the scene in the study carefully you might be/have been inspired to give a discarded plan another shot... Glad you found and enjoyed that way of dealing with the Mace trees – one of the things about writing the adventure with this spell system and various "if you have been here before..." variations is that there are a quite a few paragraphs that only a very small percentage of players will encounter. That's especially true of the Masters' clearings.
Speaking of the magic system, pleased you enjoyed that too. There are a lot of FF books that I haven't read so I didn't consider all possible systems, but in Keep of the Lich Lord near the end you may be told of the 'Charm of Destruction' which works in that way. I liked the unprompted nature of it, like you said, and thought "Why not just have this for 7 different spells and 1 magic ring which can be used in almost every scene throughout an adventure? What could possibly be difficult about that?" Well there's now a straitjacket with my nametag sewn into it – but my lasting concern was that it was stodgy to plan as well as create, so it's good to hear when it works for someone.
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Post by petch on Apr 3, 2021 10:52:12 GMT
You're right that the easiest way to defeat Shadechukker involves dodging to the cabinet. I'm really happy that you spotted how useful the giant's life-saver is for that because I deliberately made it something which has a very modest use in most battles that would be easy to forget about. I haven't worked out the maths but I think it should give an adventurer with a SKILL of 8 or 9 a pretty good chance in the study – certainly if they have decent STAMINA and/or LUCK – whereas without it they're probably toast. The best way to use it is to try to win or draw a round without it, and once you do then declare you've drawn the following round – is that how you were trying?
Aaargh - no it wasn't, how frustrating! I was just using it on the first Attack Round that I lost. Now that you've pointed out your much more sensible solution, it should have been screamingly obvious but it just didn't occur to me at the time. Nicely designed puzzle there with a solution that really requires the player to think...let's see if anyone else was smarter than me & worked it out
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Post by petch on Apr 3, 2021 10:59:51 GMT
Congratulations You win and get to set the next challenge.
Wahey! As the original deadline was the 6th, I'll give it until then to give others the chance to post their playthroughs / thoughts on Murderous Mire...enjoyed Vastariner's very much so hope there are more! In the meantime, I'll be thinking of the next challenge to set.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 6, 2021 6:42:27 GMT
I've died three times so far, one for a failed roll and twice because I was making stupid decisions. Is there a challenge for managing to be the most inept adventurer? What were the roll and decisions in question? Did you feel you were getthing close in the end?
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 6, 2021 7:07:31 GMT
It's no wonder I became a Hero. With a skill of 11 and stamina of 20 I was well above the natural human level. But there was one problem. My nickname at Warrior Class was Jinx. If anything could go wrong, it did. My paltry luck of 7 was always going to be something that would inhibit me. My adventuring tutor suggested that I should stay at home and work on training rather than go out into the world. Unluckily, I did not follow his advice. My love of the margins could not hold me back from Scumtown. A hive of stench and villainy and barely-evolved humans. It is however a step up from Wolverhampton so it held no fears. As befits the place I headed for a cold spot, the mansion of Shadechukker, and despite his seemingly expecting me, I boldly offered him tickets to my gun show as proof that the Mire would be a mere trifle. I was almost insulted when Shadechukker enlarged a rat as a challenge. A piffling matter. The rodent launched a strong first attack but I had scarcely ever struck with such accuracy. It seemed to cow the animal instantly as its next two attempts were feeble and gained it more wounds. It tried to rally but in an instant I was wiping rat blood from my scimitar, untouched, unharmed, unbothered. Was Shadey impressed? Enough to offer five spell gems. I'm heading for a mire so Wither looks a good option. My general ill-luck suggests that a Fortune spell would be most welcome as well. Curse satisfies my gambling side and Fire would be a great threat to plantlife. One of each. And...well, let's try a little kindness. Five hundred shinies to get amulets from mire-dwellers is my target. Where now? 21 looks a lucky number, north-west it is. It...was not. A lumbering oaf of a pool beast. But even the rat was a doughtier fighter. Although its first flollop caught me somewhat off guard and it was all I could do to dodge its bulk. I did finish it off, but it got me a couple of times (ST 16). Disappointing, my adventuring tutor would not have been best chuffed. But as expected my luck was in. A spell gem! For some reason I had forgotten my packed lunch so the Health spell was most welcome.
North by north-west is not a compass direction but I took it anyway. I am in an ornithologist's paradise. I am not sure how the penguins are surviving the murderous heat and foetid swamp stench, and while I am pondering this I realize I have lost the chance to attack the Mistress of Flightless Birds. But she offers me a penguin. I can't get the wrapper off so I have a Sk5 St5 waddler after me. Anyway, onwards and upwards. I'm startled to see a Dull Beast and am so stunned by its beigeness that it manages to bite me. Its second attack is just as ferocious but I manage to sidestep and sideswipe it. And it gets me again. Blimey, what's wrong with me? I felt like I was going backwards. I got it to within a swipe of victory and the blessed thing got me again. Suddenly I feel like the marsh is dragging me in, I cannot move with my usual fluency, and somehow as it lurches on top of me I manage to find a blow that pierces its lung. (ST 10) I stagger into another clearing and meet the Master of Bugs. These wretched beastlings are holding off me enough to launch an attack. But would that not be fatal? Death by a thousand stings? I come up with a better solution. CURSE. Ugh. I manage to dart out of the way but it still mostly gets me (SK9 ST5). Time for the Health spell (SK10 ST11). God, I'm more of a regular human now. But at least I have an amulet. I stagger into an area new to me. With a Giant. Great. Maybe I could sweet-talk him? He mutters something about pixies and tells me to extradite myself. Fair enough. I pick a random direction in panic and hear a clickerclacker of grass. That's not normal. Let's WITHER them and just ease my way through. What have I left? Fortune, Fire, and Kindness.
I find a green circle. The penguin is NOT impressed. Who am I to disobey a sphenisciform? Let's just go. And just before I spot the Master of Gardens I gain a Stamina point (ST12). I've not lost any luck so there's a spare Luck point going, which I pass to Eric. Waste not want not. The Master of Gardens. Augh, I bet Wither would have marmelized him easily. I decide to have a little chat but he sends a bloody bush after me. Right, mate, that's it. Eat flame. I cast Fire and just about to dodge the burning bush to get at the Master. But it looks like I will have to finish him off without any delay at all...after we exchange blows four times, I am on ST10 and he is on ST3, with Eric being nothing but nuisance value, so it is all or nothing with a total banzai attack. I hurl myself at him with what I think is the Spitting Fly, and miss him entirely. I never get up. Anyway, that's how I met my death, I'm sorry Grizelda got the wrong number...but if you want to try to get Aunty Gladys you're going to have to dial again.
Did you have any success against the Master of Gardens in the end? Or try completing it without taking him on? If you were wondering whether it's worth trying for extra amulets it's certainly possible to complete a mission against Shadechukker with the MoB's amulet alone, though the MoG's amulet is more powerful for certain purposes. You certainly brought that attempt to life so I'm curious as to whether there were any more.
There was a certain logic as to when it was most dangerous to use a Curse spell btw. (This may or may not qualify as interesting.)
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Post by tyrion on Apr 6, 2021 11:16:08 GMT
I've died three times so far, one for a failed roll and twice because I was making stupid decisions. Is there a challenge for managing to be the most inept adventurer? What were the roll and decisions in question? Did you feel you were getthing close in the end? First attempt, I tried fleeing the pool beast and failed my luck roll. Second attempt, I made it to the master of trees but died. Third attempt, I didn't listen to Eric. At this point I decided I better pay more attention to my spells and also where I was going! Eventually made it through. I enjoyed all the playthroughs, the encounters were good fun. I particularly liked the idea about what the thief had stolen, and also the mistress of birds picture and caption.
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Post by petch on Apr 6, 2021 15:42:33 GMT
Right, I suppose I had better set the next challenge then! Not being familiar with any of the amateur adventures, I've had a quick peruse of the threads here. Vagsancho's 'The Resurrection of Razaak' grabbed my attention (because the thread title was all in capital letters, you see), and my interest was piqued even more by Vag's claim that it had been written by none other than God Himself. Sadly, the Almighty doesn't seem to have got any further than writing the Background at the moment, which I guess is understandable as I suppose He'll have His hands full what with the whole pandemic thing and that. I'm sure that once all this is over, finishing it up will be the very next thing on His list of priorities. His literary output has been somewhat lacking since His last bestseller a couple of thousand years back, after all. So until then, I'm going to go with Tyrion's latest, Village of the damned, instead. I don't know it so I am going to play it myself (but for obvious reasons I'm not eligible to win this particular challenge!), and so I'm not going to set any fancypants challenges - however if Tyrion as its creator would like to set anything then please do feel free! If Tyrion would not like to set anything then the challenge is simply to complete the adventure as normal. Similarly to before: The first winning playthrough posted after midday UK time Saturday 17 April wins the challenge. Winning playthroughs posted too early will not be considered until after noon on Sunday 18th. If there are no winning playthroughs posted by Tuesday 20th, losing playthroughs will be considered. Losing playthroughs may be posted at any time.
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Post by tyrion on Apr 6, 2021 18:10:22 GMT
Thanks petch. Here's the pdf and the forum post. There is an error In the pdf which I will fix when I'm at my pc (I'm currently on holiday!): In section 7, the text should read: 'If it succeeds, then to 98'. In terms of a challenge, might I suggest one of these: 1. Minimum stats (the 'one true path') 2. Paul Mason style 3. Average stats, but a different route to minimum stats if you've already completed that 4. Max stats, bulldozer style, minimum number of paragraphs (you miss out on a lot of encounters obviously) votd - ff.pdf (699.44 KB) Here's the thread link
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 8, 2021 12:46:57 GMT
Thanks petch. Here's the pdf and the forum post. In terms of a challenge, might I suggest one of these: 1. Minimum stats (the 'one true path') 2. Paul Mason style 3. Average stats, but a different route to minimum stats if you've already completed that 4. Max stats, bulldozer style, minimum number of paragraphs (you miss out on a lot of encounters obviously) View AttachmentHere's the thread link
Are these are optional challenges – i.e. any win will do? What is 'Paul Mason style'? Does that mean reversing all the numbers to turn to for pass/fail when rolling against stats?
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Post by tyrion on Apr 8, 2021 13:58:15 GMT
I would have thought any win would do, these are just suggestions. Paul Mason style refers to The use of hidden words, seemingly arbitrary decisions and an almost complete disregard for stats.
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Post by petch on Apr 9, 2021 12:02:26 GMT
What is 'Paul Mason style'? Does that mean reversing all the numbers to turn to for pass/fail when rolling against stats? I wondered that too, until a failed Luck test caused me to stumble upon the code word 'Subtract', at which point I thought 'Aah, I see where we're going with this'!
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Post by petch on Apr 12, 2021 18:24:21 GMT
As I've disqualified myself from winning this challenge thought I might as well get my thoughts in early: Took me 5 attempts to get a win on this one:
First go - Killed by the Toll Collector after spending all my gold at the market and not having any left to pay the toll. Second - After being forced to forge a path through the forest having blocked my path with a rockfall trap by pulling a lever in the Duergar's cave system, follow a mysterious light directly into a dark elf pit trap. Third - Decide to see what would happen if I tried tracking the Barghest to the south rather than the north of the village this time. Torn to pieces. Regret my decision. Fourth - Died in almost exactly the same way as my second attempt. Rolled a really strong character this time so tried to go for the brute strength, shortest route to victory path and went to directly forge a path through the forest, bypassing the caverns entirely. This time chose to run away from rather than follow the light, and blundered into another dark elf pit trap. Like the deadly SJ-esque path of no escape in this section!
From the different routes I'd tried on my previous attempts, I had a pretty good lay of the land for the early part of the adventure and on my fifth go used that knowledge to pick up the 5 code words needed for the Paul Mason style victory. I did have another go at winning by another route too: won through in a more combatty style by finding Renshaw's hidden magic sword and making good use of it against the Annis in the climactic fight.
Thanks for writing Tyrion, a really fun adventure - hope this challenge means it gets it the more playthroughs and comments it deserves. Like that there were multiple paths to victory, but none were especially easy to find, and the insta-deaths (several of which I came a cropper of) added to the challenge but never seemed unfair. It was enlivened by some snappy dialogue (I especially liked Renshaw and the Abbot), and some gloriously gruesome death paragraphs.
I did wonder if you were laying a trap with the code words for players who had missed the word 'squared', but deducting the four without squaring it at the appropriate reference didn't lead anywhere. I did notice one technical error in ref 7 - the instruction for the Annis failing her Skill test seems to direct you to an incorrect paragraph.
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Post by tyrion on Apr 12, 2021 18:38:33 GMT
Thanks for the kind words petch. I'm glad you enjoyed it. In response: There is a way through the woods, but you have to pass a luck roll to find it (and make the right choice to get there). You're right though, I did want a sequence where it didn't matter what you did, you'd die.
There are clues as to which end of the village to look for the barghest, so hopefully shouldn't be a random 50/50 live/die choice.
I'm glad you found both the 'Paul Mason' route and the one with Renshaw's sword - it's nice to see someone exploring it in such detail!
Hopefully you enjoyed the death paragraphs! If you're going to die, at least I can try to make it entertaining!
Thanks for pointing out the error. I'll sort this out. Petch has pointed out an error: In section 7, the text should read: 'If it succeeds, turn to 98'.
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Post by vastariner on Apr 14, 2021 17:24:28 GMT
Fickling born and Fickling bred Fick in the arm and fick in the 'ed Golby Strongarm was well-named. His skill of 8 showed he was not in the top rank of adventurers. But his stamina of 23 was amongst the best of even his competitive field. And what he lacked in skill he made up for in luck. Nobody had ever been so lucky. If he fell in a barrel of thumbs, he'd come out sucking a tit. It was no wonder he attracted attention in Whitford, he was twice the size of the average villager. Hence his recruitment for the hunt of the black beast. But with a meagure 7gp his shopping trip had to be eked out. Before buying stuff he thought to speak to the Hamaskian priests, but, on going in, there was only one there, so he thought a quick prayer would work. His luck, as ever, was in, spotting a silver cross and finagling it away without the one, totally loopy, priest making anything of it (Luck 11). But was it luck that a zombified corpse then lurched at him? Nothing good ever came from a shambling undead, so Golby went straight for it, knocking it for six. But after the first blow it was surprisingly even, Strongarm just managing to nick it a couple more times by the barest of margins, sending it back to the demonic planes without injury. (Luck 12) With a silver cross plus his gold, Strongarm decided to get supplies before heading to the monastery, but there was nothing of much use; one provision, one rope, one lantern, leaving him with 3 GP. He couldn't sell the cross, so showed it to the abbot at the monastery, who nearly had a fit; maybe this is not a beneficial cross. Nevertheless Strongarm got lucky, again, as one of the monks gave him two healing sprigs AND let him have a shufti at the scriptorium, which had a primer on curses, nothing particularly out of the ordinary. On the way to Thorpe, Strongarm spotted a beggar. By convention giving a GP to beggars always brings beneficial clues. (2GP) Aaaand the clue is there's a nice shiny sword under an oak archway that will be beneficial for dealing with invisible dogs (-25 reference clue). (maxed out luck) Another gold piece was demanded by some weird creature. Strongarm knew he would regret it, but gave the thing a shiny anyway (1GP). Thorpe is a bit rundown and wrecked, and with 1GP Strongarm decided to leave the inn till last. Back to the religion and to the church. The priest suggests a faery has been active a creature is in the woods behind the church. Hm. Oak arches?
A little wander through the woods brought Strongarm to a stone circle, and an aggressive boggart. The boggart got in a couple of wound before Strongarm could get any success, but then onwards it was all Strongarm. The last round saw the boggart stumble and impale itself fatally on a hawthorn branch (Stamina 19). They say success brings its own rewards, but this time it brought as well more provisions (2), plus a brass candlestick and the word INSIDE.
Strongarm repaired to the inn, where he got back to Stamina 23 and got a free stay. Albeit interrupted by some howling. Tripadvisor would get to hear about this. Free dogfight? Strongarm charged downstairs whereupon a great black dog stared at him. And vanished. When in doubt, thought Strongarm, head north. And there's the son of a bitch. Strongarm and the Barghest were evenly-matched, but Strongarm had the stamina advantage. A rubbish first attack nevertheless caught the Barghest by surprise; the second was a bit better. With great vim and vigour Strongarm hurled himself at the Barghest. A stupid move - yet, luckily, successful, as the dog was so bemused that it bit its own leg. With only three Stamina left it went on a beserker frenzy and got four big bites in before an inspired swipe by Strongarm finally finished it off (Stamina 17).
The wretched corpse vanished but the villagers had seen enough of it. Strongarm got himself back up to St19 before the innkeeper, probably pushing his luck a bit, dropped a very strong hint that Matilda Hopkins had somehow got herself kidnapped. Not eloped? This adventure was taking random twists. Some yellow cloth led the way to the secret scary woods woods that nobody dared go into, almost literal clews, and as Strongarm stopped to enjoy the silence, a big beastie headed towards him. No coward, Strongarm stood his ground as a wild boar plunged towards him. Lacking a spear, Strongarm jumped clear, and with his customary luck (Luck 11) he only got nicked by the tusk (Stamina 17) before the Quorn Hunt charged after it. Yes, the secret scary woods that nobody dared to go into was occupied by Hooray Henrys. Another clew, but an ambiguous one. Never follow the norm, thought Strongarm, let's go after the narrow path. Strongarm came across two huts. The small single storey hut had some odds and ends, and a bucket of what, on closer inspection, turns out to be blood. Strongarm felt that this gave him free rein to steal what was in the box, luckily there were no traps, so he helped himself to knucklebones, a key, and some more gold pieces (3GP). Now then. There is green liquid. Normally Strongarm would imbibe heartily, but there was something about a hut with a bucket of literal blood that suggested even to his slow intellectual synapses that whoever lived here was probably a little bit toxic.
So he headed for the second hut. The key opened the door, curious that someone would need to lock up against a neighbour, unless it both huts belonged to the same...thing. A boathouse. With a screaming goblin. A stone just brushed against Strongarm's hair and the bizarre creature charged at him. It was surprisingly skilled, if too wiry to be a serious threat, and Strongarm sacrificed an attack to get his silver cross out. One blow later and the Redcap was dead. (Stamina 15) Strongarm earned a PENTAGRAM for his unusually tactical victory and decided to go for a little sail. Libra knows why, given he was meant to be after a kidnap victim, who would probably be stashed away somewhere, but Strongarm spotted a clearing that looked as if it had some arched oaks. Jackpot. The beggar's sword was a belter. +2 A/S and 3ST damage. With a golden pommel and a ruby. (Luck 12) It was a particularly useful find as a giant dragonfly, for some inane reason, thought that Strongarm was a decent meal. Nevertheless Strongarm was so surprised that the impertinent insect harpooned him once before a couple of swift blows finished it off. (Stamina 13, using a healing sprig (one healing sprig) bringing it back to 17). Which Strongarm thought was a good omen, as the number 17 for some reason kept floating in his mind. Strongarm however had got bored with sailing and parked up at a jetty. A quick wander brought him to a clearing against a cliff face and a weirdly ungeometrical hut (Luck maxed out). But it seemed as if this is where little Mattie was. Not being the thinking type, Strongarm blundered in, heard something to his left, and saw the girl in some sort of magical cage (Luck 11). Unable to help, Strongarm tried the room opposite, and noted a pentagram chalked on the floor. He had the word, he had a brass candlestick, but he had no idea what to do, if anything. So he went to the last remaining door. Against the wall was an old woman. Strongarm's brain tried to comprehend this. Had he travelled in time? Was this still little Mattie? Should he try to get the woman out? Was she a witch? Strongarm only knew one thing about old women. WITCH!!! He drew his sword, and, quite right, this thing was a shapechanger. And this was going to be a brutal fight. Even with the beggar's sword, Strongarm was only just a match. He might just have to get very lucky. Strongarm had never been so dextrous. It was amazing. Hit, was hit, hit, hit, hit. Down to 15 Stamina but one final blow dismembered the hideous hag.
And...that was it. That was actually it. The creature had bound the cage with magic and Tilly was free.
Strongarm took her back to Thorpe. The villagers offered him a reward. Strongarm declined. The glory was enough.
Yes, definitely fick in the head.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 15, 2021 3:34:47 GMT
I've given this a shot. Things seemed to be going OK ...and then I was shredded. Generating a hero that couldn't be described as slick (Skill 9, Luck 8) but perhaps didn't need to be (Stamina 22), I steered the big lunk towards the church for some tips on battling curses.
Trying to pray, but finding the gods blocked by radio interference, I spot a nice shiny cross and find myself immediately defending myself against the accusation that I'm trying to steal it. (I totally am – if you leave silver stuff lying around the pews you're just asking for it). Fortunately the priest believes my lies and I leave.
Less fortunately, a ghoul comes clambering out of a plot in the churchyard as I'm leaving. I always think that shoddy grave-digging work is partly to blame here. A minimum of six feet and a sturdy coffin as standard should mean that it's hard to tell whether the dead have stayed dead or not. Anyway if there's one thing I know about a ghoul it's not to let it linger, as it's the sort of thing that can really end up biting you on the bum. So I charge it down and make fairly short work of it, taking just one clout, which my lumbering bod shrugs off. I then relieve him of his 3 gold which he'll be upset about if the deadness wears off again.
As I now have 9 gp in total, it seems a good time to head to the market. Deciding that the spear is a rip-off, I buy a lantern, rope and four provisions. Then onto the monastery.
I'm introduced to the abbot, who turns out to be an emo kid with a speech impediment. I show my silver cross to him which turns out to be a dick move as he is tremendously phobic. The monk who introduced me to him shows me some 'gleave balm' herb, as effective for restoring health as eating a pie. Then onto the library where I discover that the curse is probably witches or something. Figures.
Then it's time to head to Thorpe. I give a beggar a gold piece because I'm still feeling bad about scaring the emo kid. He's happy (yay!) and keen to chat (d'oh!). OK better be polite. He likes rats. Great. He's seen a disappearing dog. Huh. He used to have a sword, it was *spreads arms* this long. OK. He buried it to see if it would grow into a sword tree. That makes no sense, stinky man. Onward.
I'm feeling on a roll till a troll demands toll. Not having a billy goat to hand, I decide to give him my last shiny. He's probably saving up to buy that spear.
Into Thorpe, where I decide to continue my tour of local churches. The priest tells me that some creature causing trouble has rushed out the back of the building so I give chase, slipping and falling in the river on the way. This proves to be a good move as I find a bronze helmet at the bottom of the stream and, like a maniac, immediately put it on for an AS bonus. I then make mincemeat of a water snake and a boggart, finding a provision, a blanket and a candlestick. Also the word 'inside'. Somehow this doesn't seem like the first word it's possible to find and note.
I return the candlestick to the priest. He tells me the faery folk do sometimes run off with things. "That's liberal education for you – how low do you have to be to steal things from a church?" I say, whilst stuffing my silver cross a little deeper in my pocket.
Then to the inn. Alfred greets me and I get food, finally counteracting the ghoul-slap. As I killed the boggart a room is offered to me for nothing, which is the exact amount I am able to pay. During the night the big dog appears outside. I can't throw a spear at it. I don't care. I'm all beefed up. I have a cool helmet. My Luck is, well, no worse than it ever is. I have two sprigs of magic herbs and five provisions to help my body recover. Bring. It. On.
I race outside. The dog vanishes. Coward. I hear it this way and that, but I am not fooled. This is clearly illusion or distraction. I stay put, certain that it will return.
The narrator is frankly a bit rude about this strategy. One Luck point dribbles away. Fine. North to the dead crops or South to the forest. Well it seems more likely to be from, or controlled by something from, the forest. So I charge that way to see if I can find it. I do.
Legend says that villagers found one of my arms clutching some herbs and the other trying to stuff a pie into my severed head.
Intriguing and enjoyable adventure so far. I don't feel close to cracking it though.
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