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Post by thealmightymudworm on May 4, 2024 1:56:33 GMT
Location: Enchanted Garden, Hachiman (sort of, there's a portal) Eyes: Brown Hair: Black Body type: Slim Race/Skin tone: Pale, with a tattoo of a dragonfly Style: Robes Religious outlook: (Prefer not to say) Hobbies: I am a passionate entomologist and also enjoy humming lullabies. Hesitating to do this, but there's no use in standing around feeling petrified. I'm finding myself stuck and just need someone to get me to move on. I don't need to be swept off my feet. Not sure I'm ready for a long relationship, but I've a lot of love to give to someone who can help me out. Turn ons: Knights in shining armour. (To clarify, I have no interest in being paired with a gleaming knight. When a knight in shining armour goes into battle for me, I am drawn to the guy standing next to him doing nothing.) Turn offs: Guys who are permanently horny, bondage, involvement with the occult. Ideal first date: Not fussy – perhaps out in the open air, near a river. Really anywhere except the Pit of Demons or anywhere there's sea dragon.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on May 2, 2024 4:35:58 GMT
I’m not sure. 🤔 I could see being an over the top cackling villain out on some quest being a fun novelty. I very much enjoy playing a villain in Scorpion Swamp on the Grimslade Quest, stealing those amulets from the Masters and often murdering them in cold blood to do so. What I don’t like is playing as the hero who does outright evil acts to complete his quest. In addition to Caverns of the Snow Witch there is the old fellow you can murder during the heist in the Temple of Fell-Krinla. It is very beneficial to do so, even appearing as the correct option in Champskees solution. Yet I ALWAYS spare him on my play-throughs. Because on that quest I AM THE HERO. Hypocritical? Probably. I generally spare him too. Playing an FF adventure is partly a matter of finding your way through to the win, but it's also creating and reading an account of your own actions in a fantasy world. Participating in straight-up murder for marginal advantage is too jarring. I wonder whether it was deliberate to make cold-blooded killing statistically preferable. The reason it is, is because whilst you lose a LUCK point if you allow the murder, if you don't the alarm is raised, meaning that you have to Test your LUCK (costing a LUCK point as always) and if you're Lucky, you get an extra fight before Hawkana (a failed roll takes you to one of the dead-but-not-really save points). It reminds me of economists and philosophers arguing about the distinction between a fee and a fine. The LUCK point deduction indicates pretty clearly that the decision you made was shameful and regrettable, whereas the point lost by Testing your LUCK is implicit – just a standard cost. I'd say that it's a reasonable assumption that whenever (an) author(s) 'fines' you a LUCK point for being heartless or dishonourable, that's not the way they want you to play. However... In my book brutally having to kill The Bonekeeper in Crypt Of The Sorceror is at least as evil as the same's difficulty curve, especially as there is no clue at all for you to do so, not to mention Livingstone possibly hypocritically admonishes you after you kill him and deals you a multi-point Luck loss. But, of course, he a travelling salesman\shopkeeper, so . Compare this - or drinking the poison, not even a choice in Eye Of The Dragon - with a Steve Jackson gamebook such as Creature Of Havoc, House Of Hell or Citadel Of Chaos where encounters and enemies tend to feel more nuanced, with characterisation, more logic and so on. ...Ian Livingstone might be an exception to that!
(Of course, there is a way of easing the Bonekeeper dilemma if you play Decrypting of the Sorcerer. Not that I'm looking for opportunities to mention it or anything. It's still probably not on the statistically optimal solution, but letting him live need not necessarily be the near suicidal decision to add a whole extra layer of difficulty to CotS's essential cruelties.)
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Post by thealmightymudworm on May 1, 2024 1:41:52 GMT
I've added a win tally to the opening post. This is specifically for players who succesfully completed a challenge as set while it was ongoing, regardless of who set the next challenge.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on May 1, 2024 0:06:32 GMT
I did suggest using the new Lindenbaum entries for the new challenge, but now I'm starting to wonder if it should be a book I'm more familiar with, since it makes it possible to set challenge conditions more appropriate to the book in question, and I haven't read any of the entries myself yet. Should I pick an older book? Or if you don't mind more waiting, spend a few days reading through at least 1 of the entries a few times before setting it? Probably the guideline here is just to do whatever you can do with enthusiasm. E.g. do you want to commit to reading one or more new adventures in the next few days? Most of the challenges on the thread so far have just been to try to win, and they haven't all been adventures the setter was familiar with.
-If you set an adventure blind and it turns out to be a slog, that's not your fault. -If you want to make sure you set something good with a specific challenge, people will wait. -If you have a good challenge ready with a familiar book and want to leave it to someone else to set a Lindenbaum entry, that's fine too.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 29, 2024 17:19:00 GMT
Well, if the bag of black pearls is intended to be a single item, them I certainly have more than enough resources to trade for the Zombie-Warding amulet to skip the STAMINA test!
I did indeed forget about the Trail test. If I'm allowed to make the check without actually having to flip through all the earlier sections again, then the result I just got via my roll of virtual dice is a 6, which is more than enough for me to pass it. Absolutely (on both counts), I was wondering what to suggest if you'd failed the TRAIL roll, as in that case you might gain some limited benefit from being able to summon a skeleton or thassaloss and we'd have to decide whether you would have spent pearls to learn how to do that! As it is, I think you can be the first person that I'm aware of to turn to 167.
Of course you can now set a new challenge whenever you like.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 29, 2024 4:29:36 GMT
For some of the adventures it's a matter of interpretation how good your character is. In Demons of the Deep for example, your success is measured by the extent of your revenge and how much gold you can hang on to. No one could really say that your wish to take out the pirates is unjustified, but it's not as though your character is doing any handwringing over stopping them before they do the same to others that they did to you. In Lich Lord you are clearly on a noble quest, but the text has you tell someone (Elindora, I think) that you're there for the money.
As to whether I'd be interested in FF with unpleasant or downright evil protagonists... mostly not. I could imagine an adventure in which you are one of many amoral characters and you try to kill them before they kill you. That could be fun if done well. More easily, an adventure in which you start as an amoral person but become a better one (although isn't that sort of what The Crimson Tide is about?) But a noble quest gives you more of a sense of purpose and conversely slaughtering innocents doesn't strike me as fun.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 28, 2024 14:45:17 GMT
Great stuff Playthrough: Rolled up stats of 10/23/9. Good start.
Transported by the Aleff first into what's apparently the world of FF5, I was first accosted by the tattooed protagonist of that adventure. My first attempt on the game ended quickly after giving him the wrong answer which provoked a fight with a SKILL-11 foe, so this time, I know which is the right one to give. He offered me the unused items from his last adventure in exchange for my sandwiches. It's actually not entirely clear whether a single sandwich can be traded for a whole bag of black pearls or just a single pearl, but the wording "each of these items" make me more inclined to believe the latter, so I traded my sandwiches for just a single black pearl and the ring that dispels illusion. This is the second time this thread has shown up a less generous way to interpret something in one of my adventures than I intended: No! The bag is an item, you get the whole bag! Given that you've made a lot of effort to play this and thoroughly write it up when only a failure was needed to set the next challenge, I really want you to get to the win. (Especially as I'm thinking of logging wins on this thread from now on.) However! There's a small wrinkle here: When the Aleff returns you to paragraph 1, your TRAIL score is automatically increased by 1, so even if it was on 0 before, it's now possible for the test at para 101 to go differently. If you check that and it goes as before, then perhaps your path from para 1 to para 172 can be taken as statistically clear (I can't remember and will take your word for it) and you may turn straight there, apply the house rule and turn to the relevant paragraph, providing that you promise to imagine your repeat journey in montage form, inspired by 8-Bit Theatre and/or South Park. Even if the roll goes differently I doubt it will add more than a few minutes to your journey, though you might die which would be a shame.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 28, 2024 0:13:34 GMT
Continuing the theme of working out (approximate) win rates, let's consider the chances of Jack Bates, Carrie Torrance and Norman White. Who are they? They're the standard pre-rolled characters given at the back of the Wizard HoH book.
Jack Bates (Sk 11, St 19, L 9, F 11) KK limited by SKILL – just over 11.3%KK as Attack Strength – virtually 100%
Carrie Torrance (Sk 10, St 23, L 8, F 9) KK limited by SKILL – just under 1.6%KK as Attack Strength – ~ 99.9%
Norman White (Sk 9, St 21, L 12, F 8) 0%
That's right, not a negligible chance rounded down to zero, a literal zero chance because of Mr White's Max Fear score. I'm going to assume that it was cluelessness rather than cruelty that led to the folks at Wizard including a character who simply cannot win. Perhaps SJ himself still hadn't noticed.
Interesting choice of names. I can't help thinking that Norman White and Jack Bates would be outclassed by Norman Bates. The man would probably bring his own knife and is quite handy with it, plus it's difficult to imagine him getting scared too easily, at least not by blood, screaming or the presence of skeletons...
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 27, 2024 18:49:41 GMT
House of Hell is a book I came to late so I don't know it as deeply as some do, but I don't have much patience with the idea that the Kris knife's bonus is limited by your initial SKILL score.
Following on from Wizard Slayer, I'd say that the variations on SKILL rules are just bad. Making the fight handicap with no weapon a SKILL deduction rather than -3 to Attack Strength is perhaps more eye-catching, but it's treating SKILL as if it's a combat only stat and that's just not how it's used.
Using initial SKILL for the tests seems to be pretty clearly a bodge to avoid the immediate ridiculousness of "...it's really hard for you to barge down the door because you're not holding a letter opener" but it doesn't make much sense either. If you lose a current SKILL point due to e.g. drinking the wrong colour liquid, that should apply to SKILL tests just as much as combats.
As for the Kris knife in particular... Most of us on here like to play by the rules at least some of the time. Sometimes that involves analysing those rules and making a judgement call on how harshly to interpret them in order to avoid cheating without descending into needless masochism. One thing this involves is weighing up a literal reading of the text against the possible intentions of the author. There has to be an immersion-breaker element to this. The idea that the way the Kris knife is supposed to function is that it has no benefit against the hell demon above normal combat if you're healthy, but that if you've suffered a crippling injury like losing a foot (that's plausibly -3 to SKILL), you can fight as normal... that's not something I can even pretend to make sense of, far less believe it was intentional.
Besides which I'm inclined to agree with the view that it's not even the correct literal reading of section 109, which is: "You may add 6 points to your SKILL score while using this weapon."
While you can't increase your SKILL past its initial score without specific instruction, it's an interpretation that it's an increase to your SKILL score at all. Why can it not mean that your SKILL score remains the same, but you add 6 points (just a number, not SKILL points) to it before adding the result of the 2d6 to it?
Compare line 2 in the instructions for Battles in the original Puffin HoH (oddly the Wizard rules are phrased slightly differently): "Roll both dice once for yourself. Add the number rolled to your current SKILL score." No one yet has been quite masochistic enough to say that this means that someone with an initial SKILL of 9 has a maximum Attack Strength of 9.
That is: it's a cack-handed explanation of an Attack Strength bonus but that's what it is just the same.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 27, 2024 18:26:03 GMT
Yeah this is the second or maybe third time I've seen this: (It wasn't this tiny. Click to see it lifesized.)
The first time was a matter of days ago. I prefer the blue bear.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 26, 2024 15:47:16 GMT
I was intending to post here to ask if there was a different adventure that people actively wanted to play as it's been nearly 3 months.
However, while there might be some valid reasons why the Aleff might be objected to – e.g excluding myself, 2 of the other 13 people who've contributed to this thread wrote bits of it and might be reluctant to play it even though it would still be a challenge – I doubt that's it. It's just that a thread like this needs 5 or 6 people actively engaged or it loses momentum.
If you were thinking about taking part, please do!! Give the Aleff a whirl (note the House Rule), post your results, and either that will spark a competitive playthrough from someone else or you can set a new challenge and that might get things moving again.
I'd give it a try, although I don't know how long it'll take before I get a winning attempt since I've never played that one, so it'd be good if there's more than one player interested to do so. Well at this point a failing playthrough would be acceptable, so you could play once, fail, tell us what went wrong and be entitled to set the next challenge. (Perhaps if you die in the first 5 sections you could give it a second go!)
I think everyone would be happy with that. I'd hugely prefer it to switching the challenge without anyone making an attempt on this one.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 25, 2024 9:06:03 GMT
Yikes, I came back to see if I can take part in whatever challenge that's going on here (sadly the only reason I have some time to do so now is because I'm unemployed at the moment), but it looks like no one tried the last one since I last posted. Anymore interest in this? With the Lindenbaum contest up recently, maybe a new round can start with some of the all-new entries there? I was intending to post here to ask if there was a different adventure that people actively wanted to play as it's been nearly 3 months.
However, while there might be some valid reasons why the Aleff might be objected to – e.g excluding myself, 2 of the other 13 people who've contributed to this thread wrote bits of it and might be reluctant to play it even though it would still be a challenge – I doubt that's it. It's just that a thread like this needs 5 or 6 people actively engaged or it loses momentum.
If you were thinking about taking part, please do!! Give the Aleff a whirl (note the House Rule), post your results, and either that will spark a competitive playthrough from someone else or you can set a new challenge and that might get things moving again.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 19, 2024 1:24:20 GMT
Despite a flicker of interest on here and on Facebook, I can't see much evidence that anyone has actually played through the Decrypted Crypt of the Sorcerer. So I've created a pdf version with the numbers properly scrambled in the hope that makes it easier.I have neatened it up a tiny bit too.
Let me know if the link doesn't work for you, or anything like that.
If people are thinking that even with substantially improved odds they can't be bothered to commit to repeated playthroughs, try the easier version and include that in a full max-stat playthrough. I'm confident that playing on 12/24/12 with 12 discs should be enjoyable even if only for novelty value.
I'd be interested to see which items other people think are essential/the most useful, or if there are any which people like what they allow you to do even if they aren't statistically the best.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 18, 2024 2:25:54 GMT
This may be in danger of boring people, but having pointed out the overlap between Sword of the Samurai and Knightmare: Fortress of Assassins in the 'riddle' riddle, there is also a character named Seigneur des Mouches who might make an appearance in the latter. (I'll assume everyone can either make or guess the translation!)
Unlike SoS, this is definitely in the sense that Peter Byrdie mentions of Beelzebub. There's a smell of brimstone, you can partially control him by casting salt over your left arm, a crucifix is invaluable and if you aren't careful he will drag you to your sulphurous doom.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 16, 2024 13:48:05 GMT
In a Let's Play thread on rpg.net, "riddle" and "secret" got equal votes from the participants, and the moderator helpfully selected the correct answer for them. Amusingly, before either of those were suggested as answers, people proposed "illusion", "mirage", "question" and "mystery". The secret of Singing Death cannot be shared "freely", so you solve this conundrum by having someone tell you under compulsion. Does that mean you could have forced it out of the Shogun by somehow making it a point of honour that he grant you any favour, or would the magic have seen through that? Clearly it's assumed you can demonstrate knowledge of the secret to claim the sword while potentially in the presence of people who may not know it, so could the Shogun have acted it out even without the blade present, or does each wielder only get to say it once? "So, I'm not saying this is or isn't related to any sacred weaponry, just that if a horde of demons happened to assault the throne room and I had the sword, you might have seen things go down something like... *ahem* HARMONY!" *dramatic gesture towards imaginary scabbard* After all if, say, Moichi was with you and he didn't know the secret, would the sword have "disappeared from the world of men" as soon as you called out to it? The Shogun appears to think Ikiru doesn't know the secret, and that if he did, he would be able to gain the sword's power. The Dai-Oni, who knows the secret, implies that Ikiru does as well, and that only a second condition of a "noble heart" prevents him from using it - but adds a "yet", as if that could change. Ikiru himself is meditating on the sword, and if we rule out that he's trying to become noble and presumably much less of a problem, he might be thinking there is a deeper secret that, if uncovered, makes the sword fine with being used for evil, or that the enchantment could be brute-forced. Which appears most likely? The brass key isn't used, is it? 313 does say the penalty applies until you find new armour, however 105 does not. In one of the Knightmare gamebooks Granitas asks a riddle where his preferred answer is "feather" but if you answer "kite" you lose some life force but he accepts it after some sympathy from Treguard (I don't have the book with me, unfortunately). Doing that in a more teen-orientated gamebook would - might - take away from the atmosphere, although I could imagine either being fully acceptable (like outwitting the Holy Grail guard of the bridge). I remembered the reference when you mentioned it, and whilst the book is elusive I managed to access a pdf: it's in Fortress of Assassins (para 31). Most of the puzzles in Knightmare work on what might be called the basic Honesty Box mechanism: you consider the answer to a puzzle, turn to another paragraph and are asked whether your answer is something (clearly the right answer) and to turn to a paragraph accordingly. (Here if of interest:) The Honesty Box mechanic only pops up occasionally in FF. If you haven't worked out the answer it's a bit of an immersion breaker to simply have it waved at you and means that you can only be stumped on a puzzle for exactly one playthrough.
The use of 'If Numbers were Letters' mechanism as in Sword of the Samurai is usually more satisfying, but the SoS example shows that it can go wrong if the answer is ambiguous: the 'egg' puzzle works well (what else could the answer be?) but the 'riddle' one less so. The kite/feather puzzle shows one respect in which the Honesty Box system is superior to the Numbers as Letters: it's easier to include more than one right (or not-total-failure) answer. (If anyone's interested and hasn't seen it, there is a thread trying to list off the hidden number mechanisms used throughout FF.) There's another wrinkle here: when I was browsing through Fortress of Assassins, what did I find but that exact same puzzle! On paragraph 51, a woman asks you for help with her husband's riddle, beginning "What is it that is something wwhen you don't know what it is...". (It feels a bit less high stakes than when facing the Tatsu!) Perhaps it's not that surprising that the riddle riddle appears in both. I'm guessing that neither it not the egg one were created for either book. (Does anyone know their origins?) Also, it's possible, just possible, that the author of Knightmare (Dave Morris) has met Jamie Thomson and Mark Smith at some point, so they may have thrown around ideas for puzzles in different gamebook series. I remember feeling quite satisfied about working out the egg puzzle, but don't remember anything about working out or struggling with the riddle riddle. Possibly I encountered the Knightmare book first in spite of it having been published later, and it was already familiar.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 7, 2024 0:46:02 GMT
I reviewed the first one in issue 17. Is the review online anywhere? :-) Issue 17 is available to download here. The review is on page 97. (I presume it's not online anywhere else.)
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Apr 2, 2024 23:53:38 GMT
Final reminder for this
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 31, 2024 1:31:01 GMT
Yes, Jatang if you need advice on how to get started on your project and/or guidance on how it's going so far, there are probably people here who will be happy to help you.
If you're just expecting someone to do it for you we can admire your chutzpah, but unless you're making a guarranteed cash offer it's safe to say that's not happening.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 26, 2024 15:10:32 GMT
Is it actually possible to beat the last book while playing as a Warrior? It's been a while since I dusted off my copies of the Sorcery! series, but my memory was that finishing Crown of Kings was dependent upon using the ZED spell. Nothing to add to Kieran's reply, just wanted to acknowledge scramblehead's post since it's the first since the start of the UK's Covid lockdown when we were all sharing round Boris Johnson's Matt Lucas impression (or was it the other way round? I forget). Good to see you on the other side.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 26, 2024 14:58:11 GMT
This is great Thealmightymudworm, it makes more sense than Ian Livingstone's original! Only, 406 & 414 make mention of 2 layers of salve, which it looks like you can't get - is that a red herring, exposition, unintentional or am I wrong? Thanks At the moment, you can buy as many of an item as you have discs to pay for, e.g. two life force salves (four discs), two Potions of Dexterity (two discs), a Potion of Fortitude and a gecko. I have some misgivings about this as this means that someone can e.g. spend all their discs on STAMINA boosts allowing them to become near immortal in regular combat rounds, but CotS is so silly that you would be very unlikely to win doing that. Equally, someone could spend all their discs on life force salve, in which case if they luck their way through to Razaak he will make a rather puny opponent.
I'm open to feedback following people's playthroughs and might edit in a maximum limit on some or all items if it's a genuine problem, but equally I definitely want players to be able to buy more than one of some things because: - Someone who rolls 7 for SKILL (but decent LUCK/STAMINA) can buy 2 or 3 Dexterity Potions and still have a better chance of winning than a 12/24/12er on the original CotS. - It's a serious question as to whether someone might want to spend more than one disc on reducing the Harpoon Flies roll by more than one. - The first time you play this version, you risk buying more than one item when the second is useless/near useless.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 26, 2024 4:38:25 GMT
As she says Klea has been on here for some time. She was actually the 19th person to join this forum over 10 years ago – I was the 20th just a few hours later. When I posted my first amateur adventure ( Creature of Hangover) soon after, she was the first to suggest it would be most fun to play if the sections were spoilered. I'm still waiting hopefully for her playthrough though!
Sadly, I think Klea's posts still represent something like 20-30% of the contributions from women/girls on here. I hadn't realized it was that many years! Most of my books and gaming stuff is still packed away. All I've got to hand are 3 FF books, and I've no idea where my dice are. I suppose I could make do with an online dice roller, but it's just not the same.Still, I made a promise and shall keep it (albeit far too many years later, for which I sincerely apologize). On first reading this, I was going to say that I'm now so used to using random.org or the dice roller app on my desktop that I don't need to have dice handy any more, before realising that I literally had some in my pocket at that moment (and still do). Anyway, just to mention that smithyrob on here made the adventure into an audio project on YouTube in case you fancied playing it in a different format (but please leave any comments on the forum thread). It won't solve the dice problem though.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 26, 2024 4:02:58 GMT
*Read Crypt of the Sorcerer through the Background and paragraph 1 up to the end of the explanation of the healing tots, and then read below* The old wizard bids you farewell as you prepare your belongings for ease of access, adjust your armour and attend to your horse. But the moment you mount it and ready yourself to move, you see the wizard has reappeared and is waving for you to dismount again. There are tears in his eyes. "It's no use." he says, "You stand no chance at all without powerful help right now. I shudder to think of the cost, but it is the only way." He is holding a piece of woollen fabric like a scarf – simple and yet you sense steeped in magic – in which eight black obsidian discs are slung, and he clearly wishes you to scoop them up. He does not seem to wish to touch them himself. Will you pick them up? If so, turn to 401. If you refuse, despite the wizard's protestations, you ride off east towards Moonstone Hills...[rejoin paragraph 1] 401 The moment that you gather the discs in your hands, the forest begins to dissolve around you. You find yourself seated in a soft chair covered with black silk in what feels like an underground cave. It is little wider or longer than you are tall and there is no space to stand up, nor visible ways in or out. There is too little light to clearly see the walls – you are not sure why there is any light at all – but there is a stone table in front of you with several objects on it.
Seated across from you is a figure in dark robes. You cannot see its face, or any part of its body, but you sense somehow that it is grinning. Despite the comfort of the silk and the lack of any threat from the figure, the atmosphere is intensely malevolent and you feel desperate to leave.
There are no written descriptions of the objects, yet whenever you look at one you simply know what it is and what it costs. Whenever you pick one up, another instantly appears in its place so you may buy as many as you can afford.
The items are: A large flask of 'Earthquake Oil' A tiny flask of 'Antidote to Tabanic Poisons' A Potion of Dexterity Life Force Salve A Potion of Fortitude A Locket of the Hills (this contains a tiny engraving of a figure clutching his head) A Potion of Avoiding Doom A pot of grease described as 'Armour Armour' An Amulet of Recuperation A Ring of Snowstorms A knife with an elegantly carved bone handle and most bizarrely A pickled gecko in a jar of vinegar
All the items cost one disc each, except from the Life Force Salve which costs two. You pass them across when you are ready.
The moment you release the last disc, the surroundings begin to fade and it's as much as you can do to snatch up your new possessions. Though your ears hear only silence, your mind hears "The Dark Seer has enjoyed your trade." followed by a long peal of laughter. Turn to 402.
402.
You find yourself at the foot of the hills where Silver River flows out towards Chalice. It seems to be the next morning and you are somehow halfway through eating bread and cheese next to a spent fire.
The time since you left Yaztromo feels like a dream, but the items you bought are real. Some of them are now accompanied by scraps of parchment.
To find out what any item you bought can do, make a note of this paragraph and turn to... 403 for Earthquake Oil 404 for Antidote to Tabanic Poisons 405 for Potion of Dexterity 406 for Life Force Salve 407 for Potion of Fortitude 408 for the Locket of the Hills 409 for Potion of Avoiding Doom 410 for Armour Armour 411 for the pickled gecko 416 for the Amulet of Recuperation 417 for the Ring of Snowstorms 420 the bone-handled knife
Once you have finished inspecting your items, you climb onto your horse and decide which way to head. If you wish to wade across the river and ride east into the hills, turn to 255. If you would rather follow the river north up into the hills, turn to 146.
403 You are not sure what you were expecting from Earthquake Oil but the parchment seems underwhelming. "Created by a wizard who waged war on Earth Elementals, this heavy oil is infused with spells to tear apart creatures and demons of the ground."
There seems no reason to think that this will be useful, but you resolve to anoint any weapons you use with the oil. There is enough in one flask for as many as you are likely to handle.
If you ever battle a creature described as being "...as though just dug out of the ground" as soon as you hit it for the first time turn to 412.
Return to 402
404 A scrap of parchment advises you that the antidote counteracts the effects of certain specific insect poisons, especially those related to gadflies and the like.
On encountering Harpoon Flies you should immediately swallow as many doses of antidote as you have, and when you are asked to roll a die, deduct 1 from the roll.
Note that: if you actually achieve 0 or fewer after adjusting for the antidote, proceed as if you had rolled 1-2, but ignore references to losing STAMINA or fruitless use of healing potion.
Return to 402
405 The Potion of Dexterity raises your initial SKILL by 2 up to a maximum of 12 and (then) restores up to 2 points to your current SKILL as well. It can be drunk at any time when not running, climbing, tied up or in combat.
Note that the potion cannot restore SKILL points lost due to damaged armour, and whilst it can compensate for a paralysed limb, that is not by restoring it.
Return to 402
406 Wrapped in thick leaves and contained within a box of rigid wickerwork, life force salve is a near-white substance which seems to shimmer slightly and remains warmer than its surroundings. The parchment accompanying it notes that you should apply it to your exposed skin "before the time when death reaches for you".
Make a note of when you apply it – it restores 1 STAMINA point, but if you are submerged in water or sleep for a night, it will be washed or rubbed off and have no additional effects.
If you are still wearing a layer of it if/when you read the phrase "touch you with his fingers", note the paragraph you are on and turn to 414.
Return to 402
407 The Potion of Fortitude raises your initial STAMINA by up to 4 points to a maximum of 24, and restores up to 8 points to your current STAMINA. It can be drunk at any time when not running, climbing, tied up or in combat.
Return to 402
408 There is no parchment with the locket so you can only hope whatever purpose it has will reveal itself.
If you encounter someone dressed in 'grubby animal skins' and they throw something at you, make a note of the paragraph you are on and turn to 415.
Return to 402
409 The potion of Avoiding Doom increases your initial LUCK score by two points up to a maximum of 12, and your current LUCK score by up to four points. It can be drunk at any time when not running, climbing, tied up or in combat.
Return to 402
410 The parchment says simply that if the grease is applied to armour it will repel any attack directed at it rather than its wearer. You feel none the wiser as to how or why that would be happening, but nevertheless resolve to apply it to any armour you wear. There is enough in one pot that you can reapply it if you change your armour.
If you read the phrase "However it is not your flesh that it feeds on..." turn immediately to 413
Return to 402
411 Accompanying the bizarre item is a scrap of parchment which states that eating the pickled creature will prepare the human body if a person is attempting to take on any reptilian abilities. This sounds ...puzzling.
Regardless, if you swallow the pickled reptile it has the nutrition of a small piece of food and will restore 2 STAMINA points. If, later on, you encounter the phrase 'tentatively dab' followed by a single die roll, add two to the number rolled. Furthermore, if the resulting number is over 6, turn to 418
Note: the strange pickled morsel takes a little time to take effect. If you have not eaten it by the time you encounter the word 'dab', it is too late.
Return to 402
412 Your sword bites into the golem and you immediately set your feet in a stance to drag your weapon back from the dense, resilient clay – but cracks are speeding out from the cut in half a dozen directions. The next instant you fall back shielding your face as the golem is blasted asunder.
You notice that there is a gold ring set with a large jewel lodged in one of the chunks of clay. If you wish to put the ring on your finger, turn to 102. If you wish to leave it and ride on towards the lake, turn to 339.
413 When the Iron-Eater is just an inch from landing on your armour, there is a loud crackling sound and something akin to lightning sweeps all over the metal. The creature is blasted and flung away from you instantly.
Satisfied that you finally know why the grease is useful you prepare to continue on your way and... what is that delicious smell?
The Iron-Eater has been instantly cooked and the scent is somewhere between roast mutton and suckling pig. Instinctively you scoop it up and devour it in four or five bites.
Symm and Borri stare at you. You don't care. Restore 5 STAMINA points and 1 LUCK point, and turn to 151.
414 As Razaak's bony hands reach for you, you notice that the life force salve is having a slight but unmistakeable repulsion effect on them.
Deduct 1 point from Razaak's SKILL for this combat and add 1 to the number of consecutive attacks he needs to make in order for you to turn to another paragraph.
(If you have more than one layer of salve, each will have the same effect in addition.)
Return the paragraph you came from.
415 When the giant raises the rock to aim it at you, he seems unsteady and clutches his head just like the figure in the locket. He looks around as though the familiar slopes are rolling like a ship at sea.
When he throws the rock it is more in hope than expectation, but it's still coming close...
Return to the paragraph you came from, but instead of rolling one die, roll two and subtract 1 from the total. (If the result is above 6, treat it as 6.) Note also that if you face the giant in combat you may reduce his SKILL by 3 points.
416 The Amulet of Recuperation can restore 10 STAMINA points on one occasion. To activate it you only need to touch it for an instant and call on it, so it can be used at almost any time. It would not automatically take effect if you were attacked whilst asleep, but you could use it whilst running. You can even use it in combat unless you have lost the most recent round. That is: if you win a round of combat you can activate the amulet in addition to striking your opponent.
Return to 402
417 A scrap of parchment tells you that the Ring of Snowstorms was forged by a wizard who sought isolation by living on a cold and stormy mountain. It protects both against thunderbolts stabbing down from the sky, and the cold in general.
If you read the phrase "a lightning bolt shoots down from the sky" and are asked to test your LUCK, do not roll dice nor deduct a LUCK point, simply act as though you have been lucky.
In addition, if you encounter an undead being with the instruction "don't let it touch you as it floats by", you may deduct 2 from any rolls against your SKILL, and if you roll greater than it, turn to 419 rather than the number specified.
Please note that the ring's power to protect from cold at any one time is limited and may fail if tested to excess.
Return to 402
418 Thanks to the effects of swallowing the prepared reptile, you have absorbed powers from the chameleonites beyond those usually available to humans. In addition to any specific mentions of camouflage, your skin shimmers through colours similar to your surroundings during battle. Every opponent you fight will suffer 1 point deducted from their Attack Strength through the fight for every round except the first one.
Add two LUCK points for this stroke of fortune. You point your horse East and ride. Turn to 180.
419 Shocking cold shoots down through your body, but the ring still provides some protection. Deduct 4 STAMINA points for each time your roll was higher than your SKILL and turn to 243.
420 The blade of the knife appears well-made: it is blemish-free and remarkably sharp at both edge and point. However it is the handle which is the more remarkable. There are exquisitely carved swirls resembling whirlpools and amongst them detailed figures carrying out rituals of some kind.
You could use this weapon to fight with, but it seems too good for that purpose. Perhaps a collector would enjoy owning it. If you are given the chance to trade a knife for something and wish to offer this knife in particular, turn to 421.
Return to 402
421 The Bonekeeper's eyes widen more and more as he inspects the extraordinary, lethal piece of craftwork. "This is the finest piece of carving I have seen anywhere in my life" he breathes, "I cannot accept it in return for just one ring. If you are gracious enough to offer me this, I must be generous in return."
He produces two rings: one with a skull carved into the top of it (the Bonekeeper will not explain what powers it offers, only saying that he senses it is woven into your fate) and another with a full moon as the symbol used. The Bonekeeper is proud of the latter, claiming that it will protect the bearer from werewolves. "Just point it at the werewolf and say ''One, two, three, turn and flee." he explains.
The Bonekeeper hesitates and then moves over to a slab of rock which he overturns, muttering, "Perhaps one more...". He produces a final ring which has a bizarre symbol carved on it, appearing to show a fish's tail, a clawed foot, a bird's wing and a horse's hoof blending together. "This ring assists you against monstrosities" the Bonekeeper tells you, "particularly those of which their parts are properly found in different, natural creatures."
In combat, the ring guides your hand and you may add 2 to your Attack Strength when facing a manticore, griffin, mermaid, centaur, rat man, esquilax or similar.
Carefully sharing the rings across your hands, you bid farewell to the Bonekeeper, who is gazing in fascination at the knife again. Restore 1 LUCK point and turn to 369.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 26, 2024 4:02:24 GMT
The year is 1986 and the universe is not this one. In a small room, a number of children briskly read proof copies of the same book. The only sounds are the light clack of dice rolling and the sksksk sound of pencils on paper. Suddenly a low moan escapes a small girl and that moan evolves into a shriek of rage as she raises her book high, flings it to the floor and begins to jump up and down on it. The other children stop and stare at her, whilst the only adult present, eyes widened, rushes to a telephone... Minion: Mr Livingstone! There's a problem at the Crypt of the Sorcerer playtesting! IL: Son, I told you not to bother doing that. Now I'm very busy ripping off Paul Mason's idea for an army-themed FF book... M: But Sir, a little girl is losing faith in Fighting Fantasy! IL: Good Lord!! [Later] IL (pacing up and down): How to remedy this travesty... perhaps some sort of random, mysterious insert will help. Minion: Sir, I'm all for random, mysterious insertions, but couldn't we just assume that everybody cheats and an FF book that is unplayable by the rules is fine? IL: NO!
Back in this universe of course Ian Livingstone never got round to fixing Crypt of the Sorcerer so I thought I'd have a go. This may be a questionable choice because I don't actually know CotS that well – I didn't own a copy until recently and am reluctant to play it in earnest as I resent not being able to do so by the rules. (Also I somehow wasn't initially aware that Sylas had already created a revised edition, though it's a bit of a different thing.) But I remembered that not only was there a solution to it but that Champskees had created a programme to simulate playthroughs, revealing the most relentless causes of death. So I thought it might be worth simply giving the player an opportunity to alleviate some of the harshest points in the book. If you try it a few times with eight discs and it's still too frustrating, in place of the word 'eight' substitute in 'several discs (roll 1 die and add 6 to determine how many)' and that should tip the balance a little more from 'challenging' to 'fun'. Please be constructive in feedback and remember this is an attempt to fix a book that I didn't write! Further edits may be made down the line, plus the scrambling of paragraphs if a pdf version is made.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 16, 2024 3:25:22 GMT
This is at the British Library (again), but streamed online. You can watch it for 48 hours afterwards if you've booked an online ticket.
"The story of one of the most influential games of all time. This event takes place in the British Library and will be simultaneously live streamed on the British Library platform. Tickets may be booked either to attend in person, or to watch on our platform (online) either live or within 48 hours on catch up. Viewing links will be sent out shortly before the event.
Created in 1974 and now played around the world Dungeons and Dragons is the blueprint for half a century of role-playing games and its success changed the landscape of fantasy film, fiction and gaming forever more. The game continues to inspire with 2023 marking the release of the blockbuster movie Honor Among Thieves and smash hit video game Baldur’s Gate 3. We will be celebrating the life and legacy of Dungeons and Dragons, from its humble beginnings 50 years ago to the present day. Join Sir Ian Livingstone as he shares the tale of bringing the little-known American game to a new generation of RPG fans in the 1970s. Then enjoy a panel of enthusiasts chatting about the myriad of ways the original concept has been reinterpreted and innovated, featuring the UK’s biggest D&D streamers High Rollers."
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 8, 2024 4:36:28 GMT
Welcome, everyone. Hi Klea! Hope you enjoy this site. As she says Klea has been on here for some time. She was actually the 19th person to join this forum over 10 years ago – I was the 20th just a few hours later. When I posted my first amateur adventure ( Creature of Hangover) soon after, she was the first to suggest it would be most fun to play if the sections were spoilered. I'm still waiting hopefully for her playthrough though!
Sadly, I think Klea's posts still represent something like 20-30% of the contributions from women/girls on here.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Mar 6, 2024 12:48:21 GMT
I was looking for a thread about license and i think i will add my doubt at this one already because i think its very related. Otherwise i can open a new one just in case some one advises me. Im developing a RPG mini-system that is a FF derivative. But my doubt about the license thing is: Im not using the name or type of any specific FF creature, location or character of any FF book. But im using to generate characters the stats: skill/stamina and mental. Should i have to change the names of skill or stamina?
The combat system mechanics is actually the same: skill+ modifiers+ 2d6: attack strength.But the way of deal damage and everything from there is different. Is that having any chance of license issues? Because im already stating the system is a FF derivative like i see loads of RPG indies D&D derivatives and practically none of FF (at least here in Brazil). I have seen one called GNAT of a guy from here, forgot the name now, that i believe that i could call it FF derivative. Manny thanks in advance. Yes, just to add my two pence, I'd say you should. Using an obviously FF-derived system and keeping 'Skill', 'Stamina' and 'Attack Strength' is just asking for trouble. In particular 'Attack Strength' is quite specific to FF – it's not a stat that all RPGs have an equivalent for – and in general they are somewhat signature terms.
For example: when there was a radio programme about FF it was called Skill, Stamina & Luck because that uniquely identifies the series.
Personally I'd avoid using all three, but using 'Skill' alone is very unlikely to cause any trouble. I'm not sure about 'Stamina'. "May your Stamina never fail" is strongly associated with FF.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Feb 29, 2024 1:49:59 GMT
Quick question:
I now own this book, which I never did when younger, but am not that familiar with it and see no point in trying to play it as is. On the matter of self-daubing with chameleonite blood, is its only relevance avoiding a 2 STAMINA loss and a life-or-death SKILL roll against the Gargantis?
I notice that whilst Champskees's solution in this thread appears to advise against the daubing, his original solution inherited from TUFFF was in favour and he seemed to revert to that in his playthrough simulator. JB's solution has settled on avoiding the blood. Is it a question of how high the player's SKILL is, in weighing the SKILL roll against a single die roll which might doom the adventurer by rendering them unable to use the Defender?
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Feb 26, 2024 20:17:38 GMT
Hello, I'm trying to get some insights and inspiration about poison effects described in various FF books for a RPG derivative and could not find nothing on this matter here or elsewhere. Not counting on AFF stuff. And as I dont have a lot of books, if you happens to remember some of their effects or indicate to me the book to dig in and care to tell me I would highly appreciate the effort as it will help me a ton. Many thanks! Hi, Yes, it's difficult to give an overview as they are used in various different ways in different books. One example (in a book I don't know well at all) is in Curse of the Mummy in which the players have an actual Poison score starting at 0. It gradually increases through the book as the poison takes hold and the player dies if it reaches 18.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Feb 17, 2024 1:59:58 GMT
Before she dies, she tries to blackmail the Doctor about some secret she possesses about him. Not too sure what this could be or how on earth Lady Peinforte could have discovered it. I guess time will tell... I hadn't remembered this, but according to IMDB's trivia it was something that was supposed to be going somewhere but didn't.
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Post by thealmightymudworm on Feb 17, 2024 1:37:12 GMT
The Happiness Patrol
After a more down to earth story, we're back to wackiness with a capital W. Way back when I reviewed The Sun Makers, I complained that such a repressive government would never last more than 5 minutes. Well, compared to the government here, that in the The Sun Makers is chilling realism. I can live with an unbelievable high concept when writers really commit to it, but that's not the case here. The sets should be more garishly cheerful; the methods of enforcing happiness should be more than blobs of bright paint, sweets and lift music; and the ways for capturing sad people should be more insidious than an undercover agent who doesn't really reveal anything that the culprits weren't doing already and seems unnecessary given the Happiness Patrol can just kill anyone who isn't smiling at anytime anyway. The Doctor shouldn't be able to get away with so much by just yelling at people and a lot of the events just seem to be the Doctor having the same conversation over and over intercut with Ace being nearly executed, captured then nearly executed again. The Doctor is extremely annoying throughout while Ace is utterly dull here. The villains are a mixed bag. I actually thought the Happiness Patrol grunts were pretty entertaining and had good costumes. Helen A was well-played but her character was all over the place - the script couldn't decide whether she genuinely wanted to force people to be happy or if it was an excuse to lower the population and neither really makes sense as presented here. Her crying over Fifi could have been interesting if it was her undoing, but she was already beaten by that stage. Fifi was at least pretty creepy. The Kandy Man was just ridiculous - a sort of demented Bertie Bassett, and also pretty pointless. All he did was yell, get stuck in lemonade twice then melt himself with his own trap. His inventor had his moments, but he felt underdeveloped and I don't really know why Helen's husband abandoned her to flee with him - it doesn't feel there was enough setup to this. Oh, there's also some goblin-y things who serve next to no purpose and seem a waste of a good costume and a guy who plays a harmonica in lieu of having a personality. To be honest, I was pretty much done with this one by the time the Doctor started singing 'As Time Goes By' - three episodes certainly seemed to drag on. There's a common view that this is a political allegory though possibly not agreement on the details. People view Sheila Hancock's Helen A as very Margaret Thatcheresque.
I'd heard – and thought it was the standard interpretation – that this was specifically about Section 28. That is: Thatcher forcing people to repress their real feelings, except here instead of nobody being allowed to be gay, no one is allowed not to be gay. Gay meaning happy of course.
("I'm glad you're happy" – "I'm happy you're glad" is a close cousin of 'glad to be gay' after all.)
The idea of 'Don't tell people what's really going on. It's for their own good.' chimes with the condemned being allowed to think they've been pardoned before gunging execution by syrup smothering.
At the end they just decided: 'Sod the allegory, have her bloke fly off with another bloke'.
Regardless of the hidden meaning, the setup should lend itself to a sense of the sinister with overly nice things/people covering up real horror (with some nice philosophy and blues music in the background). I agree that they don't really nail it and the Kandy Man is very much a kids' birthday party level of threatening. It just never seems powerful or grotesque or even coordinated enough. Who's having nightmares about the Kandy Man the way they are about daleks, cybermen or, heck, even the cleaners in Paradise Towers? No one.
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