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Post by a moderator on Feb 26, 2022 22:21:41 GMT
Does anyone who knows the book reasonably well want to comment here? That 'likely' suggests that the fights could be less one-sided, and I don't know how much permitting use of the deathstone would change the difficulty level of the book, so I'd welcome input from the better-informed. Well, input other than suggesting a bonus for destroying the book rather than playing it. The ending of the book is a mess. It seems probable that, at one point in the writing process, authorial intent was that you can't take anything with you beyond the Gates except a khopesh. This intention was clearly forgotten, and the book is unwinnable if you stick to it. I think the best approach is to allow the player to take all possessions beyond the Gates (even if this makes no narrative sense). Unless I'm missing something, the book never directly instructs the player that you can't bring your possessions beyond the Gates. You learn that you cannot takes possessions beyond the Gates when you read the Book of the Dead, but perhaps the author of the Book of the Dead was misinformed. Unless anybody wants to raise an objection, I'm willing to go with this.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Feb 26, 2022 23:19:26 GMT
I took a pop at Seas of Blood. This was short and frankly quite tedious. initial stats: Skill 8 Stamina 17 Luck 8 Crew Strike 10 Crew Strength 12
Final booty: (original) 20 gold + 1 slave Log: 20
Aimed for Scythera desert, attacked village and defeated Mercenaries but got a bit duffed up in the process. Headed to Assur to replenish crew, but encountered a Kisian warship that I thought I'd better flee. Forced to aim for Inland Sea but killed by Hydra.
Rolled 3 times against Crew Strength and 2 times against LUCK, failing every time (predictably after the first for the CS)
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Post by terrysalt on Feb 27, 2022 1:04:24 GMT
I made a couple of deviations from the guide but followed it closely enough that it should count against me. A victorious Gates of Death run thanks to peasantscribbler's solution to the endgame fiasco.
skill 8, stamina 23, luck 11 Items: 7 smoke vials 9 gold pieces Pretty as a picture potion Collywobbles potion Dragon’s breath potion Healing ointment Hard sausage Sneaky sword Horn of plenty Silver star ring Map of trolltooth pass (173) Swift silver boots Bier goggles Bronze star Bronze compass Cold sausage Cookbook Nostalgia potion Book of the dead Cleaver 3 seeds of mastery 3 seeds of power Bronze-coloured jewel Weakwater potion
Kills: bum-faced monster, obsidian giant (the second giant killed me allowing me through the gate)
A problem I have with all the Scholastic-only books is the pointlessly bloated inventory. I guess it works well for this thread but it's annoying to manage while playing.
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Post by a moderator on Feb 28, 2022 14:11:10 GMT
Week 8 scoring1st: greenspine - 11 (stats bonus 1 + most fights won bonus 5 + closest to victory bonus 5) 2nd: The Count - 5 (stats bonus 5) 3rd= kieran – 4 (stats bonus 4) 3rd= nathanh - 4 (stats bonus 4) 3rd= schlendrian – 4 (stats bonus 4) 3rd= thealmightymudworm - 4 (stats bonus 4) 7th= peasantscribbler – 2 (stats bonus 2) 7th= terrysalt – 2 (stats bonus 2) 7th= vastariner - 2 (stats bonus 2) Running totals1st: terrysalt - 66 2nd: greenspine - 61 3rd: nathanh – 51 4th: kieran - 41 5th= schlendrian - 36 5th= thealmightymudworm - 36 7th: peasantscribbler - 34 8th: The Count - 30 9th: vastariner – 27 On determination of the 'closest to victory bonus: Using the solution threads as a rough guide, it would appear that schlendrian, who got furthest in Seas of Blood, was no more than half way through the book, while greenspine, who (narrowly) got furthest in Crystal of Storms was at least two thirds of the way through.
Additionally, a reasonably thorough check of Seas of Blood suggests that victory is impossible if you haven't gained over 300 gold pieces (treating slaves as 15GP each, as that's the highest price that can be had for them) by the time you reach the Shoals of Trysta, so schlendrian didn't have the loot for a win, while it doesn't look as if greenspine had missed anything absolutely essential prior to failing. If, in the wake of schlendrian's query, the 'closest to victory' bonus is to be awarded for both titles in weeks where nobody wins, an additional 5 points go to schlendrian, and both kieran and greenspine gain 5 extra points, back-dated to weeks 1 and 2. What do other players think about this potential amendment to the rules?
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Post by vastariner on Feb 28, 2022 16:34:04 GMT
Gates of Death, on the basis that VotV is in a pile somewhere. Sk 8 St 19 Lu 9 The instructions suggest you start off naked. Hm. Oh, and I'm down to St14 before I even start. Found I had 10 GP and 10 vials of smoke thingy.
GPs picked up: 3
Potions picked up:
Collywobbles Dragon's Breath Nostalgia Poison antidote Pretty as a Picture Thick as Thieves
Other stuff:
Deathstone Healing ointment Horn of plenty Jewelled warhammer Nicodemus' robe
Info:
Mapmaker in Salamonis Excitus spell
Provisions collected: 1
Kills: Two sniffer dogs
...but the third did for me. ETA: my own fault - underestimated the difficulty of fighting 3 opponents with similar skill levels. Should perhaps have tried a potion.
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Post by terrysalt on Feb 28, 2022 20:53:35 GMT
If, in the wake of schlendrian's query, the 'closest to victory' bonus is to be awarded for both titles in weeks where nobody wins, an additional 5 points go to schlendrian, and both kieran and greenspine gain 5 extra points, back-dated to weeks 1 and 2. What do other players think about this potential amendment to the rules? You said yourself that changing the rules part way through was akin to opening Pandora's Box so I'm going to vote against it because I sense it will probably do more harm than good.
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Post by peasantscribbler on Mar 1, 2022 2:33:21 GMT
If, in the wake of schlendrian's query, the 'closest to victory' bonus is to be awarded for both titles in weeks where nobody wins, an additional 5 points go to schlendrian, and both kieran and greenspine gain 5 extra points, back-dated to weeks 1 and 2. What do other players think about this potential amendment to the rules? I'm against the potential rule change, mostly because I think that, thus far, it's been clearly and fairly determined which attempt was closest to victory. However, I'm not strongly against the idea, and I would support it if it's what the majority want to do.
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Post by vastariner on Mar 1, 2022 9:04:06 GMT
I don't think it matters that much, really, it's only a bit of fun.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,462
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Mar 1, 2022 9:30:01 GMT
I'm mildly against too. Like you said, I got barely anyway in Sky Lord so I don't really merit points simply for playing the book most other competitors couldn't be bothered with!
Although it might be difficult to decide who got the furthest when comparing 2 different books so there is some merit in the idea from that point of view.
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Post by schlendrian on Mar 1, 2022 9:45:14 GMT
I'm in favour for two reasons:
First, until now it has been easy to decide, but there might come books where it's harder to conclude who got further in two totally different books.
Second, while I'm absolutely fine with playing the challenge as is, I'm of the opinion that it would be positive to have more options to get points for actual progress rather than rolling up stats beforehand.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,462
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Mar 1, 2022 11:57:34 GMT
I'm in favour for two reasons:
First, until now it has been easy to decide, but there might come books where it's harder to conclude who got further in two totally different books.
Second, while I'm absolutely fine with playing the challenge as is, I'm of the opinion that it would be positive to have more options to get points for actual progress rather than rolling up stats beforehand.
These are good points. Maybe if we apply it from now on but not retroactively it would be fairer (because perhaps others would have attempted Sky Lord if they'd known 5 points were still up for grabs)?
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Post by nathanh on Mar 1, 2022 15:32:15 GMT
I don't have a problem whatever is decided, but I think it would be a good change. I would probably even go as far as separate the books entirely, so one person winning book A wouldn't mean there wasn't a closest-to-victory prize available for book B. It's a bit of a meh week if you only have one of the two books and it's a really hard one and the other one is easy, and you're just hoping to roll 7 14 7 because that's the most profitable return. But I don't mind whatever.
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Post by nathanh on Mar 3, 2022 13:00:26 GMT
I tried Vault of the Vampire but got greedy and tried to fight an ANIMATED ARMOUR and managed to die, despite being at 20 stamina. I believe I missed a coffin anyway. Skill 8 Stamina 20 Luck 8 Faith 7 (ended at 9).
Ending gold: 4 Enemies killed: BAOBHAN SITH, TIGERSKIN RUG, 2 ZOMBIES Acquired: magic sword, shield of faith, book of swords, silver stake, crucifix.
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Post by a moderator on Mar 5, 2022 0:29:27 GMT
A little under 24 hours for greenspine, kieran, peasantscribbler, schlendrian, thealminghtymudworm and The Count to post results for week 8.
Week 10 This week the randomiser was in a mood for adventures featuring retired heroes.
This century - Sister Angela's Veil (Fighting Fantazine 16) Last century - Phantoms of Fear
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Post by terrysalt on Mar 5, 2022 7:36:43 GMT
A successful run at Phantoms. Not sure which fights officially count towards the tally so I marked the abnormal ones. Skill 10 Stamina 21 Luck 9 Power 14 Items: 9 provisions, boar tusks, antler horn Enemies killed: bear, wild boar, roots, komodo lizard, 6 dark elves, harpy*, clawbeast*, wraith*, Morpheus**, Ishtra** Guide: Champskees
* This was a power fight rather than normal combat ** This was a normal fight with stamina replaced by power
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Post by schlendrian on Mar 5, 2022 10:41:51 GMT
I have neither of this week's books.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,462
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Mar 5, 2022 15:11:02 GMT
I had a go at Vault. I'd kinda forgotten how little combat there is in the early stages, particularly if you have a high Faith score. It meant I managed to get fairly far in despite a crap Skill. Sk8 St22 Lu12 Fa9 Took the coach up to the castle which I don't think I've ever actually done before and it was a lot less deadly than expected. I got Mikhail's sword and then blundered round the castle, hemorrhaging Skill points before falling to the Baobhan Sith. Despite her 6 Skill advantage, I did hit her once at least.
Kills: Wilhelm Heydrich Wraith
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Post by peasantscribbler on Mar 5, 2022 20:47:50 GMT
I took a stab at the dreaded Gates of Death. I was getting a little bored, so I picked a few unnecessary fights. This turned out to be my downfall. I was killed by a Demon Maid.
Starting Stats: Skill=9, Stamina=22, Luck=11
Fights Won: First Demon Soldier Second Demon Soldier
Didn't use a guide.
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Post by a moderator on Mar 5, 2022 20:49:51 GMT
I tried both, and in both I got a rubbish Skill and good stats where it didn't matter because with that Skill I had no chance anyway. Vault
Skill 7 Stamina 22 Luck 12 Faith 6
Kills 2 Zombies
No point in listing equipment, because I also fell to the Baobhan Sith
In Gates I was killed by Demon Brother Tobyn.
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Post by The Count on Mar 5, 2022 20:54:37 GMT
Played Vault as it is one of my favourites, and I know most of the book, so I was tempted to go for the extra kills at the start... Skill 12
Stamina 14
Luck 9
Faith 8
With only minimum Stamina, I decided against fighting Valdresse and the Bear or attacking the Forester even though this would mean 5-6 fewer kills but meant I could gain some extra provisions while walking through the forest. Inside the castle, exploring as many rooms as possible, and in as far as I could remember the best order, making sure I went up the tower and visited as many of the castle residents as possible, collecting assorted magical swords and the belongings of Siegfried, sampled some lovely white wine and some life saving brandy. Successful Faith rolls meant some Zombies were left alone. I ignored the charms of the Baoboan Sith and the voluptuous crone Katarina. However, Wilhem attacked me meaning I should have taken the "kill them all" option at the start... Destroying all the coffins meant that despite a long battle with the Count, he couldn't escape, and his scheming sister was slain and I returned to town with the rescued Natassia.
Enemies: First Wolf Second Wolf Shadow Wilhem Heydrich Giant Raven Wraith Huge Ghoul Baobhan Sith First Zombie Second Zombie Third Zombie Tigerskin Rug First Zombie Second Zombie Minor Thassaloss Vampire Mist Wood Golem Animated Armour Organ (not a fight, including for completeness) Horned Vampire Bat Stench Ghoul Necrotic Jelly Major Thassaloss Count Reiner Heydrich Katarina Heydrich
Items collected: Garlic Magic Sword Crystal Vial Shield of Faith Silver Mirror Book of Healers Silver Key Book of Swords Crucifix Potion of Healing Castellans Keys Silvered Stake Elven Amulet Ring of Restoration Crypt Key Siegfrieds Chainmail Holy Water x 2 Brandy x 2 Glass of White Wine Jandors Ring Nightstar
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Post by terrysalt on Mar 5, 2022 22:15:20 GMT
I have neither of this week's books. I think it should be okay to use the guide as a substitute for the book. The ones by Champskees are detailed enough to fill in though obviously far less satisfying than reading the actual book. Greenspine may want to give an official ruling on if it's allowed but if all you need is to be able to submit a run for the challenge, it works.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 5, 2022 22:47:08 GMT
By my standards I took my shot at Vault quite early (last night), but forgot to post and am now on the way to the pub. Not sure more details than my stats and the fact I didn't win are needed, but will add later anyway.
Skill 10 Stamina 21 Luck 11 Faith 8
Final possessions etc: Provisions: 12 Gold: 0 Inventory: garlic, 2 measures brandy (4 St), silver mirror, Book of Healers (returned), silver key with 378 engraved (used), Book of Swords with page 188, crucifix* Notes: something good towards centre of North wall of castle, need stake or Nightstar to finish Reiner (and other similarly obvious things) Afflictions: none
Easy trip through the forest, save for the trigger-happy ranger. A trundle round the castle and a FAITH check suggests something good to the North, so with little recollection of the location of various items I just powerstomp off in that direction. This was probably a mistake. Anyway, I collected enough gold to pay the Sage to let me into the library (because what gold-hungry adventurer can resist a library?), gave a book back to Gunthar the healer (who was frankly a bit more useless than I'd remembered) and triumphed against the weird skeleton-thing defending what I know to be Siegfried's armour. My inventory was starting to look like that of a proper vampire-hunter. Sadly I then encountered a floating, rosy, vampyric mist with tentacles (?) defending a coffin and got throttled because I had no magic sword. Perhaps I should have tried swatting it out of the air with The Book.
It's still great. I need to refresh my memory of it and then have a good romp through. I was surprised by how often I had food shoved in my direction, like a child visiting their doting grandparents. Also, Gunthy baby, if you're going to have a meltdown over how I might need to persuade Katarina to help me with The Book and yet her price might be horrific, you might Tell Me What Room She's In so I can make a considered choice about meeting her.
Fights won: Tigerskin rug 2 x zombie Minor Thassaloss
* Following the great Barry Cryer's recent passing, I was reminded that his definition for 'crucifix' was 'religious glue'.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 6, 2022 3:27:06 GMT
I have neither of this week's books. Couldn't you just download a dodgy pdf? (Obviously it's a bit late for the Vault/Gates week but in future.) Four of the books in this challenge so far have been ones I've never owned, and one of them I can't find.
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Post by a moderator on Mar 6, 2022 13:09:14 GMT
Week 9 scoring 1st: The Count - 19 (stats bonus 5 + victory bonus 10 + most fights won bonus 5) 2nd: terrysalt – 12 (stats bonus 2 + victory bonus 10) 3rd= nathanh - 4 (stats bonus 4) 3rd= vastariner – 4 (stats bonus 4) 5th: peasantscribbler – 2 (stats bonus 2) 6th= kieran – 1 (stats bonus 1) 6th= thealmightymudworm - 1 (stats bonus 1)
Running totals 1st: terrysalt - 78 2nd: nathanh – 55 3rd: The Count - 49 4th: kieran - 42 5th: thealmightymudworm - 37 6th= schlendrian - 36 6th= peasantscribbler - 36 8th: vastariner – 31
In view of people's evident concerns about my neutrality, I have withdrawn from the contest.
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Post by a moderator on Mar 6, 2022 15:58:05 GMT
While I am no longer scoring, I am still playing the adventures, and will post my results. A mediocre Skill got me killed by a Wild Boar early in Phantoms.
Not that I did a whole lot better at Veil...
Sk 9 St 16 L 7
Fights won Bats
I was killed by a Metal Warrior, but by then I'd already failed a crucial Luck roll and missed out on an essential item.
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Post by peasantscribbler on Mar 7, 2022 3:28:21 GMT
In view of people's evident concerns about my neutrality, I have withdrawn from the contest. Wait, were people really concerned about that? I wasn't. I've kind of been pulling for you to win this thing.
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Post by terrysalt on Mar 7, 2022 4:23:06 GMT
I understand where the accusation is coming from. The person in charge of scoring is also competing, that's going to invite accusations of bias no matter how fairly Greenspine adjudicates. To be clear, I think the accusation is unfounded. I've seen no reason to question his integrity whatsoever. But I DO understand why someone might not trust his impartiality.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,462
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Mar 7, 2022 10:36:02 GMT
In view of people's evident concerns about my neutrality, I have withdrawn from the contest. Seems a bit unfair on you - you're only applying the rules you set out and whenever there's been a point of contention, you've thrown it open to the floor.
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kieran
Baron
Posts: 2,462
Favourite Gamebook Series: Fighting Fantasy
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Post by kieran on Mar 8, 2022 20:19:34 GMT
Pretty rubbish attempt at Phantoms of Fear Sk7 St21 Lu11 Po15 After getting my face raked by a bird, I got mauled to death by a bear when looking for some grub. Kills: Giant Bloodhawk
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Post by vastariner on Mar 9, 2022 16:17:07 GMT
Sister Angela's Veil, a new one for me.
Sk 7 (ffs)
St 18
Lu 9
Starting with 5 provs, a backpack, and a sword. Info:
Veil is likely to be deep within the abbey Need to find Father Grandier Bless oneself with the North Transept holy water Avoid dortoir [which is where Monk 1 likes to stay...]
Loot: Flask Holy water inside flask
Then I get my first fight, a tomb guardian. Which should be a piece of cake because I have holy water and all I need is to pass a luck test that's on my side to defeat it.
I roll 11.
And am therefore faced with a fight with someone whose skill is 2 above mine to start with.
And then I have to apply a penalty of -3 because of leaving sword at the entrance.
And so, yet again, I lose my very first fight.
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