Post by pip on May 9, 2020 11:37:58 GMT
« This is a particularly tricky Grail Quest. » warns the author at the beginning of Book 7. He is not kidding. The bulk of the book takes place in a labyrinthine dungeon with countless dead ends, missable secret passages, booby traps, teleporting rooms and red herrings. Prepare to get trolled from start to finish. The sheer complexity and difficulty of this volume make it a memorable adventure, but also, precisely for these reasons, it can be a frustrating one. In fact, this book is so tricky that, upon dying, the rules even allow you to start over in the last section you were in (after ticking a box on the Deathometer).
As with the previous book, there is an oddity here. You may visit the Poetic Fiend and get yourself a Death Ode for Grott, which supposedly counters his ability to block your magic, along with a -3 damage penalty to your hits. However, when you do face Grott, this ability is not mentioned at all, making the Death Ode irrelevant. In this solution, I will consider this to be a mistake and will optionally walk you through a harmless path to obtain the Death Ode.
Should you fail a secret passage roll when I mention one, visit the same section back and forth until you succeed. There are many mandatory LP losses here and few options to heal, so you will probably have to rely on Dreamtime if you want to survive.
SOLUTION
- Get a recap of the rules if you need to.
- Merlin gives you your starting equipment. The spell book makes a comeback here, and you are definitely going to need your offensive spells in this adventure. Use them as needed during fights.
- Check out the map if you want to.
- Go north.
- Enter the forest.
- Take the path to Honeysuckle Cottage.
- Hack your way to the ruin and lose 2d6 x 2 LP.
- Take a golden key.
- Return south.
- Go south.
- Go into the second entrance.
- Try the door.
- Open the double doors.
- Lose 2d6 LP. Try the doors again.
- Lose 2d6 LP. Try the doors yet again.
- Take 3 doses of healing potion. Take a closer look at the archway.
- Walk through the archway.
We are now going to obtain the Death Ode, which is, going by what’s written in the book, irrelevant (see above). If you are not bothered by this, skip to the next section.
- Go northwest.
- Go through the western door in the south wall.
- Go through the last-mentioned door into the east wall.
- Compose the ode yourself.
- Write your poem.
- Go to the northernmost corridor west.
- Go to the southern corridor to the west.
- Roll for secret passages and take the passage.
- Go to the western corridor.
- Take a closer look at the archway.
- Walk through the archway.
We are back to the same place we were in before we went Death Ode hunting.
- Go northeast.
- Fight the Lizard (35 LP, +2 damage, makes you miss a round on a roll of 3, 6, 9 or 12).
- Fight four more Lizards (35 LP, +2 damage, make you miss a round on a roll of 3, 6, 9 or 12).
- Search the lizard droppings.
- You now smell so bad your enemies will have a -3 damage penalty for your next three fights.
- Roll for secret passages and take the passage leading to section 96.
- Roll for secret passages again and take the passage.
- Squeeze through.
- Fight the Spider (55 LP, hits with 5+, +3 damage, instantly kills you on a roll of 12). Despite having E.J. with you, you need 6+ to hit and only get +1 damage.
- Examine the altar and gem before touching them.
- Try your skill at disarming the trap.
- Roll 2d6 for the trap, then 2d6 for yourself:
o Your roll < the trap’s roll: You become poisoned and will lose 10 LP for each new section you visit until you are cured, but do not drink any healing potions as you will be cured right away. Take the gem.
o Your roll > the trap’s roll: You may take the gem without getting poisoned.
You are now immune to poison (and are cured if you were poisoned), and immune to magical fireballs.
- You are back to the previous room with the multiple secret passages, this time take the passage leading to section 143.
- Take a closer look at the cave.
- Continue towards the pit.
- Fight the Demon (30 LP, hits with 5+, +3 damage, -2 against your damage).
- Throw the corpse down into the pit.
- Take a hellfire halfpenny. Retrace your steps.
- Retrace your steps.
- Go north.
- Lose 3d6 LP (you are immune to poison, so it’s 3d6 and not 5d6). Roll for secret passages and take the passage.
- Go down the steps.
- You have the golden key. Turn the statue north.
- Roll 2d6:
o 7+: You are hit by a magical fireball, then another. Thankfully, you are immune.
o 6-: You are hit by a magical fireball. Thankfully, you are immune.
Once you’re done getting hit by fireballs, go northwest.
- You may think you need to avoid Draculina’s coffin here, but you actually need to find it, so open coffin 2.
- Fight Draculina (40 LP, hits with 4+, once she hits you you lose 3 LP per round on top of dice damage).
- Fight the Werewolf (25 LP, +3 damage, -2 from your damage). If you have a silver sword, you can ignore that -2 protection, but the path leading to that silver sword was absolutely not worth it, so I skipped it.
- Fight the Werewolf again (25 LP, +3 damage, -2 from your damage).
- Take the golden garlic clove. Go through the door.
- Pull the lever.
- Does this place feel familiar yet? Go to the western corridor.
- Take a closer look at the archway.
- Walk through the archway.
- (Optionally, you can go northeast to search the lizard droppings again, then come back here).
- Go north.
- Lose 3d6 LP (unless you consider that you won’t fall for this trap repeatedly, but the text doesn’t mention anything like that). Take the secret passage once again.
- Go down the steps.
- This time, turn the statue south.
- Roll 2d6:
o 6-: Proceed.
o 7+: Lose 2d6 x 10 LP (with rolls of 11-12 counting as 1), then proceed.
- Go southeast.
- You have the golden garlic clove so you can avoid the vampires.
- Face the last vampire.
- Take the vampire ring.
Now that you’re here, you can optionally try to get a healing item. The item is good, but there is no guarantee you will get it, and you will necessarily lose LP in the process. It’s worth trying for as long as you don’t risk dying from the LP losses, since the item will restore your life when you find it. If you’re not interested, skip to the next section.
- Backtrack to the southwestern corridor.
- Walk on the slab.
- Lose 10 LP.
- Investigate the trapdoor.
- Roll 1d6 for you, then 1d6 for the trapdoor:
o Your roll <= the trapdoor’s roll: You fail to open the trap. Backtrack to the southwestern corridor if you want to try again, otherwise skip to the next section.
o Your roll > the trapdoor’s roll: Proceed.
- Try lassoing the casket.
- Roll 1d6:
o 1-4 : Roll 2d6:
o 5-: Proceed
o 6+: Lose your roll x 2 LP, then proceed.
o 5-6 : Proceed.
Take the pearl which will restore all your LP now and then twice more when needed.
Back to the main part of the solution.
- Backtrack to the southeastern corridor.
- The vampires are gone.
- From here, you can go back to the statue at section 90.
- This time, turn the statue west.
- Lose 10 LP.
- Go northwest.
- Insert your hellfire halfpenny into the coin slot.
- Fight Fido (30 LP, hits with 4+, +1 damage, attacks twice per round).
- Cast PIN successfully or you die. Cast it on the left-hand mirror.
- Go through the door behind the right-hand mirror.
- Take the pewter medallion.
- Back to that same place again! Go to the western corridor.
- Take a closer look at the archway.
- Walk through the archway.
- (Optionally, you can go northeast to search the lizard droppings again, then come back here).
- Go north.
- Lose 3d6 LP (unless you consider that you won’t fall for this trap repeatedly, but the text doesn’t mention anything like that). Take the secret passage once again.
- Go down the steps.
- Turn the statue west again.
- Lose 10 LP.
- Go southwest this time.
- Hand the vampire ring to the Lounge Lizard.
- Walk between the pillars.
- Restore all your LP. Place the pewter medallion.
- Step into the room.
- You have the golden garlic clove.
- Take the golden vampire with you as a fighting ally.
- Fight the Floating Skull (18 LP, automatically hits with 10 damage).
- Decode the message here. The part between brackets replaces letters with their number in the alphabet, and reads “(Five displaced. Read backwards after decoding.)”. This refers to the rest of the message, which, once decoded, reads: “??In the wall a secret door leading to two ‘or’(oh) four.” Go to section 204.
- Fight the two Flying Wyrms (15 LP, hit with 6+, +2 damage, you need to roll 7+ to hit them), then Fight Grott the Hoddle (25 LP, hits with 5+, +3 damage, has access to all of your spells). With the help of the golden vampire, this fight should be no trouble. You are not told how Grott should be using the spells, so how this fight will play out is strangely up to you. Remember you are immune to magical fireballs.
- Fight Grott the Hoddle again (25 LP, hits with 5+, +3 damage, has access to all of your spells).
- Fight Grott the Hoddle again (25 LP, hits with 5+, +3 damage, no spells this time).
- You return to Merlin with the money Grott owed him, and more importantly you are finally told what your mission really was about.
As with the previous book, there is an oddity here. You may visit the Poetic Fiend and get yourself a Death Ode for Grott, which supposedly counters his ability to block your magic, along with a -3 damage penalty to your hits. However, when you do face Grott, this ability is not mentioned at all, making the Death Ode irrelevant. In this solution, I will consider this to be a mistake and will optionally walk you through a harmless path to obtain the Death Ode.
Should you fail a secret passage roll when I mention one, visit the same section back and forth until you succeed. There are many mandatory LP losses here and few options to heal, so you will probably have to rely on Dreamtime if you want to survive.
SOLUTION
- Get a recap of the rules if you need to.
- Merlin gives you your starting equipment. The spell book makes a comeback here, and you are definitely going to need your offensive spells in this adventure. Use them as needed during fights.
- Check out the map if you want to.
- Go north.
- Enter the forest.
- Take the path to Honeysuckle Cottage.
- Hack your way to the ruin and lose 2d6 x 2 LP.
- Take a golden key.
- Return south.
- Go south.
- Go into the second entrance.
- Try the door.
- Open the double doors.
- Lose 2d6 LP. Try the doors again.
- Lose 2d6 LP. Try the doors yet again.
- Take 3 doses of healing potion. Take a closer look at the archway.
- Walk through the archway.
We are now going to obtain the Death Ode, which is, going by what’s written in the book, irrelevant (see above). If you are not bothered by this, skip to the next section.
- Go northwest.
- Go through the western door in the south wall.
- Go through the last-mentioned door into the east wall.
- Compose the ode yourself.
- Write your poem.
- Go to the northernmost corridor west.
- Go to the southern corridor to the west.
- Roll for secret passages and take the passage.
- Go to the western corridor.
- Take a closer look at the archway.
- Walk through the archway.
We are back to the same place we were in before we went Death Ode hunting.
- Go northeast.
- Fight the Lizard (35 LP, +2 damage, makes you miss a round on a roll of 3, 6, 9 or 12).
- Fight four more Lizards (35 LP, +2 damage, make you miss a round on a roll of 3, 6, 9 or 12).
- Search the lizard droppings.
- You now smell so bad your enemies will have a -3 damage penalty for your next three fights.
- Roll for secret passages and take the passage leading to section 96.
- Roll for secret passages again and take the passage.
- Squeeze through.
- Fight the Spider (55 LP, hits with 5+, +3 damage, instantly kills you on a roll of 12). Despite having E.J. with you, you need 6+ to hit and only get +1 damage.
- Examine the altar and gem before touching them.
- Try your skill at disarming the trap.
- Roll 2d6 for the trap, then 2d6 for yourself:
o Your roll < the trap’s roll: You become poisoned and will lose 10 LP for each new section you visit until you are cured, but do not drink any healing potions as you will be cured right away. Take the gem.
o Your roll > the trap’s roll: You may take the gem without getting poisoned.
You are now immune to poison (and are cured if you were poisoned), and immune to magical fireballs.
- You are back to the previous room with the multiple secret passages, this time take the passage leading to section 143.
- Take a closer look at the cave.
- Continue towards the pit.
- Fight the Demon (30 LP, hits with 5+, +3 damage, -2 against your damage).
- Throw the corpse down into the pit.
- Take a hellfire halfpenny. Retrace your steps.
- Retrace your steps.
- Go north.
- Lose 3d6 LP (you are immune to poison, so it’s 3d6 and not 5d6). Roll for secret passages and take the passage.
- Go down the steps.
- You have the golden key. Turn the statue north.
- Roll 2d6:
o 7+: You are hit by a magical fireball, then another. Thankfully, you are immune.
o 6-: You are hit by a magical fireball. Thankfully, you are immune.
Once you’re done getting hit by fireballs, go northwest.
- You may think you need to avoid Draculina’s coffin here, but you actually need to find it, so open coffin 2.
- Fight Draculina (40 LP, hits with 4+, once she hits you you lose 3 LP per round on top of dice damage).
- Fight the Werewolf (25 LP, +3 damage, -2 from your damage). If you have a silver sword, you can ignore that -2 protection, but the path leading to that silver sword was absolutely not worth it, so I skipped it.
- Fight the Werewolf again (25 LP, +3 damage, -2 from your damage).
- Take the golden garlic clove. Go through the door.
- Pull the lever.
- Does this place feel familiar yet? Go to the western corridor.
- Take a closer look at the archway.
- Walk through the archway.
- (Optionally, you can go northeast to search the lizard droppings again, then come back here).
- Go north.
- Lose 3d6 LP (unless you consider that you won’t fall for this trap repeatedly, but the text doesn’t mention anything like that). Take the secret passage once again.
- Go down the steps.
- This time, turn the statue south.
- Roll 2d6:
o 6-: Proceed.
o 7+: Lose 2d6 x 10 LP (with rolls of 11-12 counting as 1), then proceed.
- Go southeast.
- You have the golden garlic clove so you can avoid the vampires.
- Face the last vampire.
- Take the vampire ring.
Now that you’re here, you can optionally try to get a healing item. The item is good, but there is no guarantee you will get it, and you will necessarily lose LP in the process. It’s worth trying for as long as you don’t risk dying from the LP losses, since the item will restore your life when you find it. If you’re not interested, skip to the next section.
- Backtrack to the southwestern corridor.
- Walk on the slab.
- Lose 10 LP.
- Investigate the trapdoor.
- Roll 1d6 for you, then 1d6 for the trapdoor:
o Your roll <= the trapdoor’s roll: You fail to open the trap. Backtrack to the southwestern corridor if you want to try again, otherwise skip to the next section.
o Your roll > the trapdoor’s roll: Proceed.
- Try lassoing the casket.
- Roll 1d6:
o 1-4 : Roll 2d6:
o 5-: Proceed
o 6+: Lose your roll x 2 LP, then proceed.
o 5-6 : Proceed.
Take the pearl which will restore all your LP now and then twice more when needed.
Back to the main part of the solution.
- Backtrack to the southeastern corridor.
- The vampires are gone.
- From here, you can go back to the statue at section 90.
- This time, turn the statue west.
- Lose 10 LP.
- Go northwest.
- Insert your hellfire halfpenny into the coin slot.
- Fight Fido (30 LP, hits with 4+, +1 damage, attacks twice per round).
- Cast PIN successfully or you die. Cast it on the left-hand mirror.
- Go through the door behind the right-hand mirror.
- Take the pewter medallion.
- Back to that same place again! Go to the western corridor.
- Take a closer look at the archway.
- Walk through the archway.
- (Optionally, you can go northeast to search the lizard droppings again, then come back here).
- Go north.
- Lose 3d6 LP (unless you consider that you won’t fall for this trap repeatedly, but the text doesn’t mention anything like that). Take the secret passage once again.
- Go down the steps.
- Turn the statue west again.
- Lose 10 LP.
- Go southwest this time.
- Hand the vampire ring to the Lounge Lizard.
- Walk between the pillars.
- Restore all your LP. Place the pewter medallion.
- Step into the room.
- You have the golden garlic clove.
- Take the golden vampire with you as a fighting ally.
- Fight the Floating Skull (18 LP, automatically hits with 10 damage).
- Decode the message here. The part between brackets replaces letters with their number in the alphabet, and reads “(Five displaced. Read backwards after decoding.)”. This refers to the rest of the message, which, once decoded, reads: “??In the wall a secret door leading to two ‘or’(oh) four.” Go to section 204.
- Fight the two Flying Wyrms (15 LP, hit with 6+, +2 damage, you need to roll 7+ to hit them), then Fight Grott the Hoddle (25 LP, hits with 5+, +3 damage, has access to all of your spells). With the help of the golden vampire, this fight should be no trouble. You are not told how Grott should be using the spells, so how this fight will play out is strangely up to you. Remember you are immune to magical fireballs.
- Fight Grott the Hoddle again (25 LP, hits with 5+, +3 damage, has access to all of your spells).
- Fight Grott the Hoddle again (25 LP, hits with 5+, +3 damage, no spells this time).
- You return to Merlin with the money Grott owed him, and more importantly you are finally told what your mission really was about.