3) The Forest of Doom Solution

[champskees]

I was surprised that you only have to fight three enemies in this book to complete the adventure! With this method, minimum starting stats would easily win this book. One of Livingstone’s better planned books, very memorable for me as it was the first FF book I ever bought.

- Take the Potion of Fortune.
- Follow him up the stairs.
- Purchase Holy Water, Glove of Missile Dexterity, Armband of Strength & Garlic Buds (-10 gold pieces).
- Go east.
- Ignore the crow & turn north.
- Hide in the bushes.
- Continue walking northwards.
- Examine the cave.
- Throw a rock at the ogre
- You possess a glove of missile dexterity.
- Get a closer look at the creature in the cage.
- Unlock the cage door.
- Fight Sk 5 St 4 Goblin. Use luck once.
- Take ‘G’ Handle (+1 Luck).
- Leave the cave and continue northwards.
- Test Luck. Fail = Lose 5 Gold Pieces.
- Use Potion of Fortune here (+1 Initial Luck).
- Continue walking north.
- Go west.
- Go west.
- Face the oncoming pack of dogs.
- Start a conversation with him.
- Carry on the conversation.
- Take the Belladonna.
- Keep going west.
- Enter the hut.
- Accept the challenge.
- You possess the Armband of Strength.
- Take Dust of Levitation.
- Go east.
- Ignore the vulture & continue north.
- Cross the river via the stepping stones.
- You possess Garlic Buds.
- Continue north down the hill.
- Test Luck. Fail = 3 damage.
- Attack the Wild Hill Men.
- Fight Sk 7 St 5 Wild Hill Man. Use luck here.
- Fight Sk 6 St 4 Wild Hill Man. Use luck here.
- Take Silver Key.
- Head east.
- Continue your walk east.
- Continue east.
- Walk past him with a nod of the head.
- Head west.
- Examine the building.
- You possess a Silver Key.
- Descend the stairs.
- Light the candle.
- Lift the slab.
- You have Dust of Levitation.
- You possess Holy Water.
- Take 25 Gold Pieces & ‘G’ Head.
- Hurry north along the path.
- Give them what they want (-5 Gold Pieces).
- You possess both the Hammer Head & Handle.
- Your quest is now over and you are wealthy beyond your wildest dreams.

[johnbrawn1972]

There is something not right about Champskees solution as surely it is better to use the Potion of Fortune just before the Wild Hill Men. This means the percentages are 72% and 58% which are on your side.

If you follow his solution the percentages will be much lower.

[champskees]

Apr 27, 2018 15:03:38 GMT johnbrawn1972 said:

There is something not right about Champskees solution as surely it is better to use the Potion of Fortune just before the Wild Hill Men. This means the percentages are 72% and 58% which are on your side.

If you follow his solution the percentages will be much lower.

You are not taking into account the potential 3 damage from the bow attack.

[bloodbeasthandler]

The rod of water-finding is a complete red herring yes?

Anyone know if it was meant to be used but Ian ran out of paragraphs and just cut the encounter that it would have been useful for?

Is it then a pure coincidence that it would have been incredibly useful in the deserts in Temple of Terror? (The third book in what I saw at the time as a sort of trilogy - Caverns of the Snow Witch -> Forest of Doom -> Temple of Terror).

[tyrion]

Just completed this after mapping it first. An absolute joy to map, lovely and straightforward. After I'd finished the book, thought I'd see if my way was the same as champskees, which it was.

Are there any other books, other than coc, that can actually be done on minimum stats? I seem to remember the optimal route for bnc involved only weak enemies.

[a moderator]

There's a successful path through Starship Traveller on which you don't have to make any rolls.

With a bit of luck, it's possible to win Spectral Stalkers with minimum stats.

[champskees]

Hi Tyrion,

Idk if you're aware, but I have calculated the odds for every book in the series up to this point and put it all in an excel file, here:

FF Stat Book

Based on your question I think you would find this resource rather useful.

[vagsancho]

The feeling of getting out of those trees... My god.. And those kruchling bandits coming in the very last whisper... The desire for blood.. The desire for kill... I killed all.. All but one... And i stare calmly in his sickly eyes for about ten minutes...

[sylas]

Oct 27, 2019 20:58:23 GMT tyrion said:

Are there any other books, other than coc, that can actually be done on minimum stats? I seem to remember the optimal route for bnc involved only weak enemies.

Citadel Of Chaos
Forest Of Doom
Creature Of Havoc
Portal Of Evil
Demons Of The Deep
Spectral Stalkers
Fangs Of Fury
Beneath Nightmare Castle
Keep Of The Lich-Lord
Dead Of Night
Moonrunner
Magehunter
Robot Commando
Daggers Of Darkness
Appointment With FEAR (if you choose Super Strength)
Starship Traveller
Howl Of The Werewolf
Night of the Necromancer
Gates of Death
Sorcery! series (1-4 as Wizard, and 2-4 as Warrior)

Legend of the Shadow Warriors too, technically, but you need to make 2 good dice rolls at vital moments.

Obviously some books will be harder than others using minimum stats. but victory can be achieved with all of them. So about a third of the entire series are 'Easy'. Don't know what people are complaining about

[Hanky]

Nov 1, 2019 0:25:38 GMT sylas said:

Oct 27, 2019 20:58:23 GMT tyrion said:

Are there any other books, other than coc, that can actually be done on minimum stats? I seem to remember the optimal route for bnc involved only weak enemies.

(...)
Appointment With FEAR (if you choose Super Strength)
(...)

Yes, technically in this book, with Super Strength, the worst skill score you can have is 13.

When you 'minimal skill character' always has the advantage against every max stat character from all the other books.

[MarioBR]

Is there only one WAY to Win? Or so many few of them?

[CharlesX]

Nov 17, 2021 6:03:33 GMT MarioBR said:

Is there only one WAY to Win? Or so many few of them?

There is one true path to win, with quite a few traps, dangers and the odd power-up & such, although in this book getting the power-ups isn't close to worth the cost. You're allowed a second shot at the book if you fail the first time, if you can test your luck successfully. The words "so many few of them" is a bit badly-worded. 

[a moderator]

Even if you disregard the 'second shot' option, there's some freedom of action once you've got the Dust of Levitation. While getting the Silver Key is helpful, it's not essential, so any path which ultimately takes you to the building with the Ghoul in is workable.

If you're willing to face the unneccessary risks, you can detour to the subterranean mushroom farm, the Gremlin tunnels, or assorted smaller-scale non-essential encounters and still have a decent shot at winning on just one pass through the forest.

[CharlesX]

Nov 17, 2021 9:11:37 GMT CharlesX said:

Nov 17, 2021 6:03:33 GMT MarioBR said:

Is there only one WAY to Win? Or so many few of them?

There is one true path to win, with quite a few traps, dangers and the odd power-up & such, although in this book getting the power-ups isn't close to worth the cost. You're allowed a second shot at the book if you fail the first time, if you can test your luck successfully. The words "so many few of them" is a bit badly-worded. 

Uh, I meant to say, There is one true path to win, with alternate paths having quite a few traps, dangers and the odd power-up & such. Looks like I was the one with bad wording.

[Akharis]

There's a cool map here for forest of doom that means you'll never have to struggle again in Darkwood forest...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forest_of_Doom

[Dungeoneer]

Jun 15, 2019 9:43:08 GMT bloodbeasthandler said:

The rod of water-finding is a complete red herring yes?

Anyone know if it was meant to be used but Ian ran out of paragraphs and just cut the encounter that it would have been useful for?

Is it then a pure coincidence that it would have been incredibly useful in the deserts in Temple of Terror? (The third book in what I saw at the time as a sort of trilogy - Caverns of the Snow Witch -> Forest of Doom -> Temple of Terror).

You could give the rod of water-finding to the gnome at 378 in exchange for his information ;-)

[johnbrawn1972]

The Forest Of Doom 7-14-7. Potion of Fortune.
-Follow him up the stairs
-Holy Water 3gp
-Armband of Strength 3gp
-Glove of Missile Dexterity 2gp
-Garlic Buds 2gp
-To go east
-Ignore the crow and turn north
-If you would rather hide in the bushes to let them walk by
-If you prefer to continue walking northwards up the path
-If you want to examine the cave
-Pick up a rock and throw it at the ogre
-If you possess a Glove of Missile Dexterity
-Take a closer look at the creature in the cage
-If you want to unlock the cage door
-Goblin sk5 st4
-handle +1 luck. If you want to leave the cave and continue northwards
- 2d6 <=luck=ok >luck=-5gp
6L
-If you wish to continue walking north
-If you want to go west
-If you wish to go west
-If you wish to face the oncoming pack of dogs
-Start a conversation with him
-Carry on the conversation
-belladonna
-keep going west
-If you wish to enter the hut
-If you wish to accept the challenge
-If you possess an Armband of Strength
-dust of levitation
-continue east
-If you wish to ignore the vultures and continue walking north
-Cross the river by the stepping stones
-If you possess any Garlic Buds
-continue north down the hill
- 2d6 <=luck=ok >luck=-3 stamina 
9 meals 14st-11st-14st 5L
-If you want to attack(Drink Potion of Fortune)
8L
-1st Wild Hill Man sk7 st5(use 1 luck for extra damage)2nd Wild Hill Man sk6 st4
14st-10st-8st 7L
-silver key
-If you want to head east
-If you would rather continue your walk east
-If you wish to continue east
-Walk past with a nod of the head
-If you wish to head west
-If you wish to examine the building
-If you do
-If you wish to descend the stairs
-light the candle
-If you wish to try to lift the stone slab
-If you do
-If you do
- 25gp. head
-If you wish to hurry north along the path
-If you wish to give them what they want
- -5gp
-If you do

[gerontius]

I recently posted my solution to House of Hell (book 10) in the form of a directed, hierarchical graph or a "puzzle dependency chart".

I decided to do there same for Forest of Doom, and here are the relevant links if you want to read more!

Puzzle dependency charts introduction: dreamsofgerontius.com/2019/06/01/puzzle-dependency-charts/
House of Hell article and solution - updated to include links to the Forest of Doom solution: dreamsofgerontius.com/2022/12/13/graphing-fighting-fantasy-favourite-house-of-hell/
Forest of Doom solution: drive.google.com/file/d/1o1T9JHlnZObshOdX5rCiV76k9lSuZMFq/view?usp=share_link
yEd live browser editor for viewing the graphml file: www.yworks.com/yed-live/

Thanks for reading

G

[CharlesX]

A very rough % chance of completing an FF worked out by extrapolating Champskees Table Skill, 3 permutations for Stamina and Luck.

Forest Of Doom odds of victory 96.5%

Technically 96.501(81recurring)%

So probably around 96.75% if you allow for the extra average Stamina point Champskees table doesn't incorporate.