kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 1, 2022 15:10:37 GMT
Less said about my attempt at Legends of the Shadow Warriors the better so let's go with Bloodbones: Sk12 St18 Lu9 Go23 I made it on to Cinnabar's ship but previously cutting my hand on a desk trap and being weighed down by my chainmail meant I only just failed a Skill check to escape and ended up tortured by Dr Malefact.
Kills Pirate x2 Half-Ogre Devotee x2 Crivens Wrecker x3 Tentacles Giant Octopus Nine-Tails
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Post by a moderator on Jul 1, 2022 23:03:37 GMT
A Skill of 8 is not enough for a reasonable chance of success at Bloodbones. My kill list may provide a hint as to how my attempt ended.
Enemies killed First Pirate 24-hour warning for nathanh, peasantscribbler and thealmightymudworm. Week 27This century - Caverns of the Snow WitchLast century - Ghost Road ( The Adventures of Goldhawk 4)
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Post by peasantscribbler on Jul 2, 2022 0:19:53 GMT
I didn't get far this week. In Legend of the Shadow Warriors, I died in my first fight (it was against the First Shadow Warrior). In Bloodbones, I died fighting the Half-Ogre. I think my stats for Legend are worth more points, so I'll go with Legend. Initial Stats: Skill=8, Stamina=16, Luck=7, Gold=22
Fights Won (0)
Items Acquired four provisions Chameleon Cloak mirror Ring of Agility lantern and 3 skins of oil chainmail armour rope and grapple
Information Gathered Hegmar's warning.
Didn't use a guide.
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Post by terrysalt on Jul 2, 2022 3:30:21 GMT
Ouch, I think it's safe to say I won't be winning this one. Skill: 9 Stamina: 15 Luck: 10
items: potion of stamina, 7 provisions fights: 2 snow wolves info: Yetis are tough
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Post by a moderator on Jul 2, 2022 17:36:20 GMT
8 Skill isn't much help in Shadow Warriors, either. Though I know that based on previous attempts: today I never got into any fights, and it was a combination of low Luck, mediocre finances, and poor decision-making at the blind left-or-right turnings that led to my indefinite imprisonment for non-payent of taxes.
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Post by CharlesX on Jul 2, 2022 18:08:10 GMT
8 Skill isn't much help in Shadow Warriors, either. Though I know that based on previous attempts: today I never got into any fights, and it was a combination of low Luck, mediocre finances, and poor decision-making at the blind left-or-right turnings that led to my indefinite imprisonment for non-payent of taxes. Awesome though LOTSW is, you have to learn the translation code at some point to reach Voivod, and even though there is maybe more than two ways to do that, it's still slightly linear and restrictive. The tax collector is one of the humorous things about LOTSW, if you try to bribe him he doesn't bother lowering his voice and straight tells you his terms!
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Post by nathanh on Jul 2, 2022 20:44:00 GMT
I failed the first Luck test in Bloodbones, so went on a killing spree. Unfortunately I forgot to buy the shark tooth item, so the spree was shorter than it could have been. Sk 11 St 20 Lu 8 Gold 22
Kills: 2 PIRATES, HALF-OGRE, 2 DEVOTEES, CRIVENS, 3 WRECKERS, GUNK, SEWER SNAKE, ANCHOR MAN, SILAS GALLOWS, WU-LIN, NINE-TAILS
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jul 2, 2022 22:53:34 GMT
Took a shot at Legend of the Shadow Warriors but this book is another one I'm not really familiar with.
SKILL: 10 STAMINA: 16 LUCK: 9 Gold: 22
I make the rookie error of taking a ranter's musing about the need for a defender of the meek too seriously and thinking "what would Jesus do?" gallantly dive in front of a 'fireball' which is meant for a woman, and get changed into a frog.
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Post by a moderator on Jul 3, 2022 12:52:52 GMT
Week 26 scoring 1st: terrysalt – 10 (stats bonus 0 + victory bonus 10) 2nd: nathanh - 7 (stats bonus 2 + most fights won bonus 5) 3rd= peasantscribbler – 4 (stats bonus 4) 3rd= thealmightymudworm - 4 (stats bonus 4) 3rd= vastariner - 4 (stats bonus 4) 6th: kieran – 2 (stats bonus 2)
Running totals 1st: terrysalt - 225 2nd: nathanh – 212 3rd: vastariner – 181 4th: peasantscribbler - 140 5th: kieran - 131 6th: thealmightymudworm - 117 7th: The Count - 85 8th: schlendrian - 52
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 3, 2022 14:33:52 GMT
Regarding the bonus points for Ghost Road. I picked up two ghost vines and didn't end up using either - would that be worth 1 point or 2?
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Post by a moderator on Jul 3, 2022 16:31:55 GMT
They can be used separately, so I think it reasonable to treat them as two items.
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Post by vastariner on Jul 6, 2022 9:05:34 GMT
CotSW Sk: 7 (may as well give up now) St: 18 Lu: 11 Potion of Skill then.
Victims:
Snow Wolf 1 Snow Wolf 2
Loot:
War hammer Spear
Very easily marmelized by the yeti, the dice against me to such an extent even the initial spear-throw missed.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 8, 2022 14:10:05 GMT
Probably won't get a chance to play CotSW so will go with Ghost Road for this week: I lost quite a few Skill points which meant even with Ghoulbane, I couldn't beat the Ghouls.
Kills None!
Unused Items Ghost Vine x2 Statue of a Night Elf
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Post by a moderator on Jul 8, 2022 23:36:28 GMT
My computer froze at an inopportune moment, so I lost the notes I made, but I can still remember the most important details of how I fared in this week's books. Even a Skill of 11 is less than ideal for playing Caverns, but I did pretty well until one of Ian's beloved totally random rolls forced me to try and open the serpent-handled casket, costing me a Skill point as well as a Provision's worth of Stamina. I still managed to make it as far as the two-against-one fight with the Dwarf and Elf Zombies, but in the end the Elf Zombie got too many high rolls.
My attempt at Ghost Road started poorly, but I rolled well when it mattered, killing the Ghouls and stealing the right wedding present, so I managed a win (with, IIRC, no unused items at all). 23-and-a-bit-hour warning for the usual suspects. Week 28
This century - City of ThievesLast century - The Temple of the Pharaoh ( Warlock 13)
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Post by terrysalt on Jul 9, 2022 4:30:04 GMT
Hey, I might actually be in with a shot here. Skill: 10 Stamina: 16 Luck: 10
Items: 36 gold, 8 provisions, merchant's pass, helmet, iron spike, silver flute, chalk, eye patch, black pearls, knucklebones, garlic, silver arrow, hag's hair, lotus flower, owl talisman, ring of the golden eye Fights: madman, goblin, 3 rats, 3 vagabonds, leaf beast, ape man, 2 moon dogs, mummy, 2 death hawks, 3 skeletons Info: Ben Borryman makes silver items and lives on Clog Street, Hags disappearing down sewers, tattoo of unicorn
The rats and vagabonds actually hit me a few times so I was worried the dice would betray me but Luck saved the day against the moon dogs, greatly shortening the fight. Once the moon dogs were dead it was smooth sailing to the finish line.
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Post by nathanh on Jul 9, 2022 8:18:00 GMT
I took the wrong choice in the first reference and died to a MAMMOTH.
Sk 8 St 22 Lu 8.
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Post by peasantscribbler on Jul 9, 2022 16:42:06 GMT
I made an attempt at Caverns of the Snow Witch. I rolled what should be excellent initial stats, but I figured that they wouldn't get me through the tough fights in CotSW. However, in the end, I didn't die in combat. When I got to the Puffin cover scene, I figured I was going to make it out of the caverns. I attempted to smash the crystal ball with my sling, but I rolled double sixes in the Skill test and failed to hit. I couldn't remember what to do if you miss, so I tried the sling again. This time, I rolled double fives, which, with my loss of one Skill point from the previous miss, was enough to make me miss again. I was out of ammo, so I had to choose one of the other options. I figured that one of those would be an instant death, and I was right.
Initial Stats: Skill=10, Stamina=19, Luck=11
Fights Won (9) First Snow Wolf Second Snow Wolf Yeti Mountain Elf (reduced to 2 Stamina points) Neanderthal Zombie Sentinel Cave Man Brain Slayer
Items Acquired 150 gold cloak magic flute rune stick Amulet of Courage sling with 3 iron balls magic gold ring garlic 4 dragon eggs jar of ground minotaur horn circular metal disc star-shaped metal disc square metal disc shield
Information Gathered spell against Air Elementals.
Didn't use a guide.
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Post by a moderator on Jul 9, 2022 19:07:15 GMT
Probably won't get a chance to play CotSW so will go with Ghost Road for this week: I lost quite a few Skill points which meant even with Ghoulbane, I couldn't beat the Ghouls.
Kills None!
Unused Items Ghost Vine x2 Statue of a Night Elf Can you remember how much gold you had left at the end? Unless mudworm manages a win (or you do manage to squeeze in a successful go at Caverns), I'm going to have to figure out who gets the 'closest to victory' bonus, and that might be determined by whether or not you could afford the cost of not having a wedding invitation.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 9, 2022 20:07:09 GMT
Can you remember how much gold you had left at the end? 3gp
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Jul 9, 2022 22:42:21 GMT
Ditto to NathanH really.
I'm not that familiar with CotSW. Not that it would have mattered, frankly. This matches my Stealer of Souls performance: 1 decision, beaten to death.
SKILL 7 STAMINA 19 LUCK 7
"Fifty gold pieces?" says Big Jim feigning a concerned face, "Well, I suppose if it's the only way to convince the greatest warrior in Allansia to help us." "I'm afraid so." replies the bold adventurer, "I owe a wizard money after I broke a leg getting out of bed, plus I ran up a gambling debt betting the Sun would shine on the day there was an eclipse, then the rock I was living under burnt down."
Big Jim waits until the adventurer is gone before rolling around on the ground, crying with laughter.
Figuring that the ice bridge might not be reliable, I take the scenic route and make the mistake of calling a creature 'hairy big nose'. Turns out, in this world I'm the one at greater risk of extinction.
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Post by a moderator on Jul 10, 2022 12:35:24 GMT
When playing City of Thieves, a Skill of 12 is a good thing. A Luck of 7, not so much. I chose the Potion of Fortune, of course, but ultimately it didn't matter. I rolled 7 for the climactic Test your Luck, so I'd have been successful even if I hadn't boosted my Luck beforehand.
Enemies massacred 2 Guards 2 Goblins 2 Thieves Wolf Fire Imp Snakes 2 Wild Dogs Pirate Goblin 3 Giant Rats Giant Centipede 3 Vagabonds Leaf Beasts Sourbelly Fatnose Orc 2 Moon Dogs Mummy 2 Zombies 2 Death Hawks 3 Skeletons
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Post by a moderator on Jul 10, 2022 12:54:51 GMT
Week 27 scoring 1st: peasantscribbler – 12 (stats bonus 2 + most fights won bonus 5 + closest to victory bonus 5) 2nd= terrysalt – 5 (stats bonus 5) 2nd= thealmightymudworm - 5 (stats bonus 5) 4th= nathanh - 4 (stats bonus 4) 4th= vastariner - 4 (stats bonus 4) 6th: kieran – 3 (unused item bonus 3)
Running totals 1st: terrysalt - 230 2nd: nathanh – 216 3rd: vastariner – 185 4th: peasantscribbler - 152 5th: kieran - 134 6th: thealmightymudworm - 122 7th: The Count - 85 8th: schlendrian - 52
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Post by vastariner on Jul 14, 2022 11:34:43 GMT
Decided to give Temple of the Pharaoh a go. I never saw Warlock 13 in the shops at the time; I think I must have got my copy from ebay, perhaps 20 years ago now, only recently having found out via tinternet that Warlock did indeed go to 13.
I don't think I looked much at it at the time, mostly the adverts to see what gamebooks I had missed, so here one goes. Modern(ish) day adventure.
Sk 9 St 22 Lu 12
Starting with 3 prov, and an axe.
OK, I may inadvertently have blown the stats out of the water, because my first fighty opponent is 36 rats...albeit that in essence is 3 fights.
Other victims:
2 dazzled statues Swarm of bats
Loot: Mirror Camera case which I assume has the camera and flashgun inside it 50 shekels' worth of jewellery Statue of Ra
Notes: bad things through statue-guarded door entrance through the arcade gets one to the great hall then one stands before throne room; need to break tallystick first (cool) Low skill is fatal in this - got done by a Creature with Sk10 St14 not long after surviving another Sk10 fight by denuding luck.
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Post by nathanh on Jul 15, 2022 16:29:48 GMT
A narrow win in City of Thieves. Was reduced to 1 STAMINA by the MOON DOGS. Sk 9 St 17 Lu 8
Fights won: MAD MAN, OGRE, 3 RATS, LEAF BEASTS, CAVE TROLL, 2 MOON DOGS, 2 DEATH HAWKS, 3 SKELETONS
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Post by peasantscribbler on Jul 15, 2022 21:57:13 GMT
This may have been my best week in the Fortieth Frenzy all year. City of Thieves is my favourite gamebook (mostly due to nostalgia). The dice decided to play along. I played it a little riskier than usual to up my kill count. Plus, I actually won. Lots of fun. Initial Stats: Skill=12, Stamina=16, Luck=11
Fights Won (30) City Guard Mad Man Ogre Snakes First Wild Dog Second Wild Dog Pirate Goblin Giant Centipede First Rat Second Rat Third Rat First Vagabond Second Vagabond Third Vagabond Serpent Queen Leaf Beasts Sourbelly Fatnose Ape Man First Moon Dog Second Moon Dog First Zombie Second Zombie First Death Hawk Second Death Hawk Mummy First Skeleton Second Skeleton Third Skeleton
Items Acquired helmet +1 2 gems golden flower with 10 petals climbing rope lantern Potion of Mind Control silver flute chalk eye-patch 6 black pearls garlic knucklebones silver arrow mirror Hag's hair chainmail armour Lotus leaf tattoo bow owl talisman shield Ring of the Golden Eye
Information Gathered I didn't really keep track, but I gathered a bunch of info about locations of items.
Didn't use a guide.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,472
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Jul 15, 2022 22:53:45 GMT
City of Thieves Sk9 St17 Lu7
Picked up a cursed glove, got mugged by dwarfs then took a poison pill.
Kills City Guard x2 Mad Man Ogre
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Post by a moderator on Jul 15, 2022 23:00:04 GMT
The details of items and information gathered are only to help determine who came closest to victory in a week where nobody wins. With three victories already claimed, this is obviously not one of those weeks.
24-hour warning for thealmightymudworm.
Week 29 This century - Legend of Zagor Last century - Space Assassin
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Post by terrysalt on Jul 16, 2022 4:19:21 GMT
Let's go with the shorter of the two boring books. Skill: 8 Stamina: 20 Luck: 11 Armour: 7 Weapons: 2 Guide: Champskees Items: electric lash, 2 energiser tablets, security keys, energy bars, gravity bomb, nerve gas, pan-dimensional homing device, assault blaster kills: guard robot, laser globe, bivalve, 2 sentinels, Cyrus info: read book on molluscs The very first fight went abysmally. It fully depleted my armour and took half my life. The fight against the bivalve was the other stumbling block and took a massive chunk out of my energiser tablets. Luckily the dice hated Cyrus more than me and I took him down in 2 shots.
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Post by nathanh on Jul 16, 2022 17:15:24 GMT
Oooh, I've rolled Sk 12 St 21 with Braxus. I'd better start the adventure immediately so I have a chance of finishing by next Saturday!
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Post by a moderator on Jul 16, 2022 20:04:58 GMT
OK, I may inadvertently have blown the stats out of the water, because my first fighty opponent is 36 rats...albeit that in essence is 3 fights.
The rats count as just three fights. Any other approach is just asking for trouble. My stats for this one were all slightly worse than yours. Consequently I got killed by the inappropriate collective noun of bats.
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