Sister Angela's Veil (Issue #16 Adventure)

[The Editor (Alex B)]

Talk here about Mark Lain's mini adventure in Issue #16.

[champskees]

After reading the introduction and the first few paragraphs, I was looking forward to this adventure. I love adventures with a mystery thematic where you play detective and find clues and so the concept of the veil and the location where the adventure is set i.e. the chapel seemed like it would work well.

Overall, I found the adventure underwhelming. I felt as though there was so much potential that was simply not utilised well. I don’t want to spoil the story, but I thought most of the characters were pretty two dimensional and many of the paragraphs were just not needed i.e. there is a section where the reader is asked if they would like to continue or go back about five or six times in a row. Another issue is the ‘codes’ that are used for two doors. A reader could incorrectly try to use the Door 1 code on Door 2 and nothing in the text would indicate that they are wrong.

By the way the first opponent you can encounter is a Sk 12 warrior. Yeah. There are also a few ‘Gotcha!’ moments where the author includes information solely to mislead the reader i.e. Para 189 suggests that the helpful Templar ‘has a sinister look in his eye’. What? There is also a situation where you see a baby in a crib and the text asks whether you would like to run it through with a blade or crush its skull. I am not joking.

Design wise, it is fairly difficult and has a narrow path to victory. It is an adventure that does require a Skill score of at least 10, and a high Luck score, as there are several ‘Test Luck successfully or lose’ rolls on the optimal path.

Only found one error: Para 198 leads to 143, when it should lead to 145 if I’m not mistaken.

You start with:

- Sword.
- Backpack.
- Leather Armour.
- 5 Provisions.

- Examine the parchment.
- Leave your sword as requested & turn the handle to open the door.
- Lose Sword (-3 Skill in combat whilst unarmed).
- Agree and follow him in.
- Sit as he asks.
- Trust him with the truth of your reason for visiting the convent.
- Add Note: Find Father Grandier.
- Take Flask.
- Take his advice and head for the north transept.
- Take Holy Water.
- Humour him and see what he has to say.
- Add Note: Avoid the Dortoir.
- Go to the south transept that will lead to the convent interior.
- Sit at the seat.
- Restore 2 Stamina.
- Open the pouch.
- Examine the pouch’s contents.
- Take a sip.
- Take Potion of Invisibility.
- Test Luck.
- If fail:
        o 2 Damage.
        o Lose Holy Water.
        o Lose Potion of Invisibility.
- This otherwise empty ceremonial room is of no interest to you.
- Try the left hand door.
- Scour the shelves to see if any books might yield any useful information to aid you in your quest.
- Read ‘The History of the Order’.
- Add Note: 176 – the second of the two.
- Add Note: next provision consumed will only restore 1 Stamina instead of 4.
- You have visited the library.
- Do not take a mask.
- Fight Sk 6 St 5 Bats.
- Go through the newish looking door made from a mahogany coloured wood.
- Search the kitchen.
- Take Meat Cleaver (-1 Skill when used in combat).
- Eat some of the cooked duck.
- Restore 4 Stamina.
- Take 1 Provision.
- Leave the kitchen.
- You approached from the cloister.
- Go through the windowed door that gives onto a small garden.
- Examine the plants.
- Eat one.
- Restore 2 Stamina.
- Try eating some of the herb.
- Swallow them.
- Restore 1 Luck.
- Go back to the kitchen.
- Open a large door with a metal cross nailed to it.
- Leave by one of the doors you can see around the walls.
- Go through the small door with a ‘W’ painted on it.
- Test Luck. If fail: You lose (you need this essential piece of information).
- Reply that you seek the bather’s help.
- Offer him a provision (lose 1 Provision).
- Add Note: Grandier’s Secret ‘128’.
- Restore 2 Luck.
- Try the door.
- Attack it.
- Fight Sk 7 St 8 Calacorm.
- Lose 1 Luck.
- Enter the room.
- Do as she asks.
- Add Note: Door 1 ‘141’.
- Give her a provision (lose 1 Provision).
- Restore 1 Luck.
- Bend down and touch the metal floor.
- Try to creep around the statue.
- Test Luck.
- If fail:
        o Fight Sk 10 St 12 Metal Warrior.
        o -1 Attack Strength during fight.
        o If you roll a double and win an attack round: Enemy defeated.
- Try door 1.
- The code is 141. Turn to Para 141.
- Examine the basket.
- Take a closer look at its contents.
- Decide to kill it.
- Break its skull with a cleaver.
- Restore 1 Luck.
- Explore the dead Changeling’s room.
- Take Magic Sword (+2 Attack Strength when used).
- The code is 176. Turn to Para 176.
- Take a closer look at the newer wall.
- Pull more bricks away to create an opening to step through.
- You have a magic sword.
- Fight Sk 12 St 11 Wight Priestess.
- Try to smash the mirror.
- Smash it with the pommel of your sword.
- Ask her to identify herself.
- Use Grandier’s Secret. Turn to Para 128.
- Test Luck. If fail: Death.
- Success!

[a moderator]

May 30, 2018 3:38:42 GMT champskees said:

Para 198 leads to 143, when it should lead to 145 if I’m not mistaken.

I thought so too when playtesting the adventure. Funny, that.

[a moderator]

I've spotted a minor error in your solution, Champskees. 

SPOILER: Click to show

The text only permits you to take the cleaver if you have no weapon.

The simplest course of action would be to start by reading the parchment and doing as instructed (a character with the Skill necessary for the final fight should have little trouble against the bats even without a weapon).

Otherwise, it'll be necessary to go all the way through the garden and cellarium and get the warhammer.

[a moderator]

May 30, 2018 3:38:42 GMT champskees said:

There is also a situation where you see a baby in a crib and the text asks whether you would like to run it through with a blade or crush its skull. I am not joking.

As one of the playtesters, I ought to have raised a question about this before publication. Maybe repeatedly playing through that stage desensitised me to it.

It very belatedly occurs to me that offering an option to try baptising the baby with Holy Water would have been a much better way of safely exposing the infant's true nature.

Unless making the reader do something which appears abhorrent was the point, but if that is so, I'm not perceptive enough to get what the author was trying to say there. Are we missing something, malthusdire ?