[LP] Lesser-Known Gamebooks: One Thing After Another

[Starmaker]

Screw the blue thing then, get into the hovercar and let the world-hopping commence.

[Omegonthesane]

Thirding the change of decision - though I will want a summary of the "boring" path when this is over.

[Starmaker]

offtopic

So this is my current gamebook collection. I still have some money and a couple of weeks left until my storage subscription expires - any (in)famous cheap titles I should pick up?

[Darth Rabbitt]

You actually have all of the titles I'd recommend. You have Blood Sword, and Lone Wolf is legally free online. So unless you really liked Way of the Tiger or Sagard the Barbarian then I have no real suggestions.

[angelfromanotherpin]

You push the raised stud on the red sphere and find yourself inside a strange vehicle. You reach for the small red sphere suspended in mid-air before you, take a deep breath, and press a second stud that has appeared there.

Suddenly, your world is turned upside down. You feel yourself stretching and twisting like a superhuman moebius strip. You fight off a feeling of vertigo and hold tight.

You feel a strange, gut-wrenching sensation as you activate the device you found in the Watcher's home. Sheesh, you think, if Detroit ever tried ta sell a car that bucked like this bronco, they'd be outta business in a week! You pass through spaces that aren't spaces, times that aren't times. You see colors the likes of which you've never imagined and see sights that make those in the Watcher's home look ordinary. But eventually, you sense that you've popped back into normal space.

You press the stud on the control ball of the Watcher's device, and you find yourself standing on the streets of New York. You're back home! Looking around, you see that you're on Yancy Street – your old stomping grounds. A wave of dizziness threatens to knock you off your feet – the Ghost's disease must be taking its toll. Subtract 1 from your Health.

You've barely had time to get both feet on terra firma when you hear people shouting: "It's him! It's... the Thing!"

Well, awright! you think. Sometimes bein' a celebrity ain't half bad. Just wish I had time ta sign some autographs, but I got work ta do.

Even as these thoughts form, though, it strikes you that the people shouting and running don't seem happy to see you. Actually, it's a brick that strikes you, right in the back of the head.

"What the–? If that was some Yancy Streeter, I'm gonna tear the old neighborhood apart!" But before you can turn on your attacker, several more people begin pelting you with debris, trash cans, pop bottles, and anything else that comes to hand.

• Fight the angry mob?
• Find a hiding place?
• Make a dash for 4 Freedoms Plaza?

Health: 34/35
Karma: 7

[Darth Rabbitt]

We're a huge guy made out of orange rock, it's kind of hard to hide on short notice. We also don't want to lose Karma by fighting the mob. So I suggest running; hopefully it involves an Endurance check and not an Agility check.

[Starmaker]

We're a huge guy made out of orange rock, it's kind of hard to hide on short notice. We also don't want to lose Karma by fighting the mob. So I suggest running; hopefully it involves an Endurance check and not an Agility check.

This. We know the mob is angry for a reason, and while hiding could give Ben an opportunity to reassess the situation and come up with a plan of attack on the supervillains lair which is most likely located on 4 Freedoms, we also know he's not exactly stellar at both hiding and planning.

[Omegonthesane]

We're a huge guy made out of orange rock, it's kind of hard to hide on short notice. We also don't want to lose Karma by fighting the mob. So I suggest running; hopefully it involves an Endurance check and not an Agility check.

This. We know the mob is angry for a reason, and while hiding could give Ben an opportunity to reassess the situation and come up with a plan of attack on the supervillains lair which is most likely located on 4 Freedoms, we also know he's not exactly stellar at both hiding and planning.

Make that three votes for all the reasons listed.

[angelfromanotherpin]

You figure your best bet is to find the Fantastic Four of this world. The Thing of this world will surely offer you some blood when you explain what it's for. And what better place to hide from an angry mob than in 4 Freedoms Plaza?

Luckily, the back alleys of the Yancy Street area are unchanged from your days here as a youth. You duck from alleyway to alleyway and eventually shake your pursuers. Finally, you peer out from an alley at... an old warehouse where 4 Freedoms Plaza should be!

Forgetting about the effect you seem to have on people in this world, you walk dazedly towards the strange building. Pedestrians scatter as you approach, and you hear the squeal of brakes as you cross the street, oblivious to traffic signals. You walk right up to the front door, and there above the door you read the words 'VVD Enterprises.'

VVD Enterprises? What the heck is that? Where's 4 Freedoms Plaza? Where's the Fantastic Four?

You hear footsteps behind you and, spinning, see a man with a baseball bat creeping up on you. You grab him by the lapels and lift him high above your head.

"Gee," you say with a snarl, "I sure do hate it when pip-squeaks sneak up on me like they're gonna clobber me, ya know? It just gets my dander up. Now, suppose ya tell me what VVD Enterprises is and where the Fantastic Four might be?"

The small man's eyes bug out in terror, but he manages to stammer out an answer. "I...I...I thought you was pea-braind, an' that you was bigger. I mean, lots bigger... I, uh, I... oh, never mind. I mean, I'm sorry, Mr. Thing. Oh god, oh god, oh god..."

"Sonny boy, quit yer yammerin' and get on with the explanation or this could get ugly."

"Ye–ye–yes, sir. VVD Enterprises. Victor Von Doom Enterprises. Where Doctor Doom works. And I don't know any Fantastic Four. I ain't never heard of the Fantastic Four. Honest."

"No Fantastic Four? But there's a Thing? This gets stranger by the minute. Now, what gives with Doc Doo–"

But before you can get an answer from the little fellow, he faints dead away. You set him down on the now deserted sidewalk and walk through the front door.

"Heck," you say, "might as well just barge right it. Things couldn't get any stranger."

You pass a snoring guard and check out the building directory on the wall by a bank of elevators. Two listings interest you very much.

• The Cosmic Radiology lab sounds as if it might provide a cure for the disease that afflicts you and your teammates.
• The Office of the President sounds as if it might lead to Doctor Doom, and that might lead to all sorts of things...

Yeah, I think there's a continuity glitch in this section. First, 4FP has been replaced by an old warehouse, but it seems to have the interior you'd expect from the towering office building it usually is. I think there were two ideas here – pure unfamiliarity vs distorted mirror – and 'editing' didn't catch that both wound up in one entry. By 'editing,' I mean that there's no editing credit, but an editor is mentioned in the dedication. Make of that what you will.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Cosmic Radiology sounds much more likely to lead us to our objective, but Office of the President sounds much more fun to go to (and probably has some useful information and/or items that will be needed in the lab.)

So let's go visit the President.

[Korgan0]

Radiology.

[Omegonthesane]

President I say!

[Starmaker]

(Good, a tiebreaker. We need to collect the local Thing's blood into the green tube, the contents of the radiology lab aren't going to cure us. But either location is equally good for phat loot and exposition.)

[angelfromanotherpin]

Office of the President... sure sounds like the place to find Doom. Maybe Doom will have answers to some of your questions. You bound up the stairs four at a time and prowl the halls of the VVD Enterprises building. The odor of chemicals and the sound of heavy machinery are everywhere, but you see no one.

Finally, you reach the President's Office. You push open the door and bull your way past a very shocked receptionist. Then, you're in the office of Dr. Doom. Doom whirls at your sudden entrance, unruffled, assured, ready for anything.

You're ready for just about anything, anything but what you see: The Victor Von Doom you've come to know and hate, the mad armored supervillain, isn't here. In his stead, you see the Victor you knew in college – arrogant, to be sure, but brilliant, handsome, and definitely unarmored!

Regaining your composure, you say: "Hope you got some answers for me, pal, 'cause I got some friends ta save back home, an' it looks like they may need some help here, too. What have you done with the Fantastic Four?"

"Now, my orange friend," Doom says, "who or what are you talking about? Fantastic Four? Perhaps you'd care to enlighten me?"

"I'll enlighten you, all right. The Fantastic Four – Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic... Sue Richards, the Invisible Woman... Johnny Storm, the Human Torch. An' o' course, me, Ben Grimm, the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing. Back home, in my world, we beat you into the ground more times'n I can remember, but you always managed to come back fer more."

"Well, well, well, that's quite a tale," Doom says, chuckling. "But in my world, Sue Storm and her younger brother died years ago in a tragic accident caused by the unpreparedness of that fool Richards. He sent them to their deaths in an untested rocket ship. I'm sure, in your world, you and they 'beat me into the ground,' but here, only you survived the crash of that rocket; 'you' are the menace, my friend – you, not I. Which brings me to the reason I've allowed you to insult me... and live. I believe you can assist me, Mr. Grimm."

Make an Intuition FEAT roll. (1d6+2; TN 5)

• Spend Karma?

[Starmaker]

Harsh.

Hold the karma.
(1) He speaks enough truth (well, he could've sabotaged the rocketship himself, but the supervillain armor would've stayed),
(2) fuck this world anyway, it's superheroically unsalvageable with the possible exception of a replacement goldfish, and
(3) it's probably an intermission check to break up the infodump and let us guess what he wants, and we the players already know this (capture and/or kill the local Thing).

[Omegonthesane]

We've got better than evens success chances, it's not worth spending Karma to increase our odds to "less than 100%", and "what Starmaker said", so "what Starmaker voted".

[angelfromanotherpin]

(Test succeeds.)

Time passes as you tell Doctor Doom your story. When you're done, he says "I can help you get the blood you need, if you will help me in return. I have a device that will turn the Thing – the Thing of this world, that is – back into Ben Grimm. All we have to do is track him down and then get close enough to use the device. The first step is child's play – I simply tap into the police network from the terminals in this building."

Doom swivels in his chair and punches some buttons on the computer terminal on his desk. It seems mere moments before he turns back to you and says, "He's been spotted! He's heading for the Empire State Building... and he's carrying a girl!"

He gives you a device that looks like a flashlight and says, "This device can turn the Thing back into Ben Grimm, forever. It operates on principles you can't begin to understand. Suffice to say, its use is tied to the willpower of the wielder. I suspect your will is strong enough to activate the device. Go. Get your blood if you can, and then use the device on your monstrous counterpart. But remember, no effort of will can activate the device more than once, and its range is limited, so use it wisely."

Doom leads you to the roof of the VVD Enterprises building where you see... the Fantasticar! Doom notices the look of shock on your face. "Is anything wrong? I planned to offer you this vehicle as trandportation to the Empire State Building."

"No, no, nuthin's wrong. It's just, well, I been flyin' that baby back home fer years – Reed Richards designed it way back."

"Why, yes he did. Now take it, quickly. And god-speed."

"Well, ya don't have to tell me twice, Doomsie." You reach out to shake Doom's hand, something you thought you'd never do, and say "I'll take care o' your boy, Doc. Don't worry about a thing." Chuckling at your own pun, you lift off and head for the Empire State Building.

You reach the Empire State Building and circle the upper stories from some distance away. Your eyes strain to catch a glimpse of the monster and the girl. Suddenly, you spot them. But... no, it can't be – the girl, it's Alicia Masters, long the love of your life, now Johnny Storm's steady, at least in your world. In this dimension, it looks as if the Thing has other ideas.

And what a Thing! The Thing of this world is colossal. Looks like a regular Thing Kong. Must be 40 feet tall! And ugly...? Whew!



You're pretty far away, but you just might be close enough to get off a blast – the only blast – from Doctor Doom's flashlight device.

• Give it a shot?
• Wait for a better opportunity?

[Starmaker]

Wait. We try to de-mutate him now and either fail, or lose on blood and he drops the goldfish.

[Omegonthesane]

We need him "not a blood splatter" and would lose karma for recklessness.

[angelfromanotherpin]

I've only got one shot with Doc Doom's doohickie. Better make it a good one – an' this ain't it.

You have to get closer... but how? You can't fly any closer. You'll have to land and get to the top somehow.

Years of practice make landing the Fantasticar a piece of cake. The police and crowds of gawkers on the ground are shocked to see a second Thing in their midst, but you push past them, trying hard not to hurt anyone, but not slowing down much either.

You have to find a way to the top of the Empire State Building, and you don't have time to waste.

Make a Reason FEAT roll. (1d6+2; TN 5)

• Spend Karma?

[Darth Rabbitt]

This has the exact same odds as the previous roll with Doom, but this time the stakes seem much higher. I'm mildly in favor of blowing 1 point of Karma but could definitely be convinced otherwise.

[Omegonthesane]

If we're going to blow Karma, we blow 2 Karma and make it an autopass, anything less and we risk throwing money down the drain.

I vote karma.

[angelfromanotherpin]

It's actually not possible to spend only 1 Karma. If you spend any, it's 2 or more at a time.

(Test successful; 5 Karma remaining.)

You think about climbing up the outside, like your monstrous counterpart, but there's an easier way – the elevator!

You rush into the building, pushing policemen out of the way, and finally cornering one young cop whose job was to guard the elevator. "Take us to the top, sonny, and be quick about it!"

The young officer faints dead away, so you pick him up and set him down in the hallway. Then you make a hasty return to the elevator only to suffer through an agonizingly slow ascent.

To your relief, both the monster and Alicia are there when you reach the upper deck.

• Try talking some sense into your counterpart?
• Try to grab Alicia away from him before you do anything else? (Make a Fighting FEAT roll: 1d6+8; TN 13)

[Starmaker]

What a karma sink. Talk to Thing Kong.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Talk it out.