[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 38 - Vault of the Vampire

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 12:13 pm

DEATH TO THE GREEN EYES!

Do you have a Magic Sword?

Yep.

The woman laughs and produces an ice-blue dagger from the folds of her dress. Fight her normally; she has a SKILL of 10. If you manage to hit her four times, turn to 226.

Ok, this is not good. Not only does she has a higher SKILL, but she has no STAMINA given, so using LUCK to speed up the fight doesn't work here. And looking at the format of this combat, I highly doubt hitting her 4 times is going to kill her. This is probably going to hurt us more than it hurt her...

COMBAT LOG:

Katarina 19, Blade 17. Blade is at 14.
Katarina 17, Blade 16. Blade is at 12.
Katarina 15, Blade 18. Katarina is hit once.
Katarina 18, Blade 16. Blade is at 10.
Katarina 17, Blade 12. Blade is at 8.
Katarina 18, Blade 15. Blade is at 6.
Katarina 17, Blade 20. Katarina is hit twice.
Katarina 17, Blade 19. Katarina is hit thrice.
Katarina 17, Blade 19. Katarina is hit 4 times!

We got lucky at the end.

Katarina laughs at you again but this time her cat-like eyes flare with anger! Roll one die and add 4. If the total is less than or equal to your FAITH, turn to 286. If the total is greater than your FAITH, turn to 331.

We roll a 5 + 4 = 9 (= our FAITH, another close call!)

You strike one final blow at your enemy, but she has disappeared! Before your eyes she vanishes, leaving only the ghost of a laugh behind. Obviously she has achieved some magical escape.

You make only the briefest of searches here, aware that she could return as surprisingly as she left. You take gold ornaments and jewellery worth 7 Gold
Pieces (add this to your Treasure) and you also find in a desk a magical potion of healing which you take (add this to your Possessions). This potion can be drunk at any time, except during combats, and will restore 4 lost STAMTNA points. Now you leave and return to the corridor, following it south.

At least there's some reward here (although not exactly making up for what we've lost). And we've lost the opportunity to check out the other 2 doors in this corridor, for some reason...

The corridor turns south, and there are four doors before you: two to the east, one to the west and one at the end of the corridor, facing you.

Will you:

Open the first door to the east, nearest you?
Open the second easterly door?
Open the door at the south end of the corridor?
Open the door to the west?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Blade Belmont von Alucard
SKILL 9/10
STAMINA 6/21
LUCK 7/8
Faith: 9
Possessions: Sword, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, Garlic, Magic Sword, Shield of Faith, Silver Mirror, Book of Healers, Silver Key, Book of Swords, Potion of Healing (+4 STAMINA)
Provisions: 3 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Afflictions: Curse of the Healer
Gold Pieces: 3
Treasure: assorted ornaments & jewellery (worth 7 go)

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 1:34 pm

Eat, and go to the nearest (east) door.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Mon Jul 14, 2014 6:39 pm

Seconded.

Silent Wayfarer · Post by **Silent Wayfarer** » Tue Jul 15, 2014 2:44 am

Westward! But since we're going east it makes no difference.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Tue Jul 15, 2014 9:54 am

We chow down another meal (down to our last 2, although we now having a Healing Potion too) before heading for the nearest east door:

You open the door into a small linen store and see a large and possibly poisonous spider lurking among the starched cloth! You shut the door quickly. Back in the corridor, will you:

Open the second door to the east?
Open the door at the south end of the corridor?
Open the door to the west?

.....ok, that was a rare utterly-pointless section in this book. I wonder if the author had a couple of sections to fill here when he finished the book.

Name: Blade Belmont von Alucard
SKILL 9/10
STAMINA 10/21
LUCK 7/8
Faith: 9
Possessions: Sword, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, Garlic, Magic Sword, Shield of Faith, Silver Mirror, Book of Healers, Silver Key, Book of Swords, Potion of Healing (+4 STAMINA)
Provisions: 2 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Afflictions: Curse of the Healer
Gold Pieces: 3
Treasure: assorted ornaments & jewellery (worth 7 gp)

Silent Wayfarer · Post by **Silent Wayfarer** » Tue Jul 15, 2014 9:58 am

Westward!

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Tue Jul 15, 2014 12:13 pm

Sure, west this time.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 12:05 pm

We enter the west door:

You enter a large chamber, lit by a magical globe of light hanging in the air. The room is crammed full of objets d'art. Paintings, crystal ornaments, vases, antiques and other valuables stand on plinths and shelves or are affixed to the walls here, A fortune - but you cannot carry it! You begin to look around for anything small which you could carry and take as treasure. As you are doing this, one of the wooden sculptures shakes itself and advances to attack you, it is between you and the door, so you must fight!

WOOD GOLEM SKILL 8 STAMINA 6

If you win. turn to 168.

Finally, we face a relatively weak opponent without suffering from a SKILL penalty....

COMBAT LOG:

Golem 12, Blade 17. Golem is at 4.
Golem 13, Blade 15. Golem is at 2.
Golem 16, Blade 20. Golem is destroyed.

Our first flawless victory in this book! And of course, we get all the good rolls just when we least need it. :/

Having overcome the guardian here, you snatch up a couple of silvered crystal birds which are small enough to carry. These are worth 3 Gold Pieces for the pair (add them to your Treasure). Now Test your Luck. If your are Lucky, turn to 385. If you are Unlucky, tum to 270.

We roll a 7 (just barely lucky!)

You make a lucky find: a tiny silver elven amulet on a chain of prayer-beads. Gain 1 LUCK point for finding this lucky charm. Now you leave, and you can try the east door along the corridor to the south or the south door at the end of the same corridor.

I suppose that is a lucky find in that we avoid losing any more Luck (which we can hardly spare), but all we really gained was getting back the Luck point we spent on the Luck Testing. The book doesn't tell us to add the beads to your Possession.

Where to next?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Blade Belmont von Alucard
SKILL 9/10
STAMINA 10/21
LUCK 7/8
Faith: 9
Possessions: Sword, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, Garlic, Magic Sword, Shield of Faith, Silver Mirror, Book of Healers, Silver Key, Book of Swords, Potion of Healing (+4 STAMINA)
Provisions: 2 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Afflictions: Curse of the Healer
Gold Pieces: 3
Treasure: assorted ornaments & jewellery (worth 7 gp), crystal birds (worth 3 gp)

Laertes · Post by **Laertes** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 12:14 pm

Bravo for the kill!

Unless I've gotten turned around we came from the East door so we need to go South.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 2:01 pm

South sounds good.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 2:04 pm

Normally I'd wait for another vote to confirm, but since I know what's ahead, and update's been slow lately, I'd speed this up.....

EDIT: Well, the second confirming vote came in while I was posting anyway.

The large door here is locked. Do you have the Castellan's Keys? If you do, turn to 87. If you don't, you can't open this door, so you give up and try the east door near by.

Watch out! Railroad ahead!

You open the door and stride into a spartan room with just a couple of tables and plain chairs, a bunk bed, and similar humble furnishings - a small chest of drawers, a plain wardrobe, and the like. Looking up from his writing-desk is a tall, well-built man in his early thirties with light brown hail and brown eyes. His crooked smile greets you as you enter. 'Greetings, stranger, are you lost that you have come to this wretched place?' he asks. If you are charmed, you must attack him; otherwise, you can choose to attack him or talk with him.

No green eyes this time, no evidence of him being another Heydrich. We're not charmed/compelled to attack him, but do we want to do that anyway?

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 2:11 pm

The fact that there's an option that forces you to attack him makes me think that we should talk him up.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 2:16 pm

I agree with this reasoning.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 2:40 pm

We finally revert to our old "let's ask some questions before we shoot" policy.

Have you met Katarina Heydrich yet? lf you have, and you agreed to kill Lothar for her, tum to 345. If you have, and you refused to do this (or attacked her), tum to 291, lf you haven't met her, tum to 247.

This should tell us who this guy is. Some of you might remember the name (at least I hope you do.....no one seemed to remember Gunthar's

). We met a forester earlier who told us about a possibly friend whom we might meet here. Good thing we chose not to attack this time!

You tell Lothar about Katarina and her evil nature, and he seems totally unsurprised. Looking very serious, he says he will tell you of the Heydrichs and how you maybe able to overcome them.

Convenient!

Lothar tells you to keep away from Katarina; she is dangerous, and taking on both her and her brother would be extremely difficult. He says that if you could destroy Reiner, then he and Gunthar, the healer who is Reiner's brother, could probably deal with Katarina. He says he also has some items of value to you.

Considering we already killed Gunthar, there might be some problems with his little plan. Although I can kind of understand that Blade chooses not to reveal that at the moment.

Lothar asks you to turn round while he gets something from a wall-alcove with a secret door. He comes back with a bunch of keys and a wooden stake with a silver-tipped point. 'These will get you into the Count's rooms,' he says, handing over the Castellan's Keys (add these to your Possessions). 'The Count sleeps in the Crypt, but the Crypt Key is in his rooms to the south. You'll need to go south and open the door at the end of the corridor outside.' The Silvered Stake, he explains, can destroy the Count as he sleeps in his coffin (add this also to your Possessions).

Lothar puzzles for a moment, then says to you, 'I've overheard the Count mutter to himself about something he's hidden not far away with a magical lock on it. "Forward and back," he said, "forward and back." He repeated that several times, and then laughed to himself. I don't know what he could have meant, but he surely meant something by it - he may be evil, but he isn't mad!' This story makes no sense to you now, but who knows what you may find later?

You thank Lothar for his invaluable help, wish him well, and follow his directions to the door at the south end of the corridor outside.

Important plot tokens and clue! We now head back to the door we were unable to open earlier. Once again, instead of repeating that section, I'll just skip to the section where we have the keys....

You push past the unlocked door, and find yourself standing on a stone balcony overlooking the courtyard. This balcony stretches to east and west of you, and also continues round towards the south at its eastern edge- 'there are three other doors leading away from the balcony. One door is to your right and clearly leads into a chamber next to the southwestern tower; if you want to open this door, turn to 128. A second door is halfway along the southern spur, on the east side, if you want to open this door, turn to 302. The final door is at the extreme south of the balcony, furthest away from you; if you want to open this door, turn to 244

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Blade Belmont von Alucard
SKILL 9/10
STAMINA 10/21
LUCK 7/8
Faith: 9
Possessions: Sword, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, Garlic, Magic Sword, Shield of Faith, Silver Mirror, Book of Healers, Silver Key, Book of Swords, Potion of Healing (+4 STAMINA), Silvered Stake, Castellan's Keys
Provisions: 2 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Afflictions: Curse of the Healer
Gold Pieces: 3
Treasure: assorted ornaments & jewellery (worth 7 gp), crystal birds (worth 3 gp)
Clues: "Forward and back" (clue to something the Count has hidden with magic lock)

Dr_Noface · Post by **Dr_Noface** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 8:18 pm

first durh

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 8:23 pm

Who's on first? Blade's on first!

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:19 am

Blade always plunges straight into the first opening he sees.

You unlock the rusty door and encounter darkness beyond; you need a light source here. Stepping in, you make out a number of suits of armour and military trophies round the wall - a stag's head with spreading antlers, the bristly head of a huge wild boar, and others. The room is dank and dusty and cobwebs hang everywhere. Suddenly there is a rusty clank and one suit of plate mail, armed with a bardiche, trundles towards you! You can stand and fight it or try to slam the door and lock it behind you, evading this magical creation.

A Tigerskin rug, a wooden sculpture, and now a suit of armour. The Count sure likes his animated ornaments. Fight or run?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Blade Belmont von Alucard
SKILL 9/10
STAMINA 10/21
LUCK 7/8
Faith: 9
Possessions: Sword, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, Garlic, Magic Sword, Shield of Faith, Silver Mirror, Book of Healers, Silver Key, Book of Swords, Potion of Healing (+4 STAMINA), Silvered Stake, Castellan's Keys
Provisions: 2 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Afflictions: Curse of the Healer
Gold Pieces: 3
Treasure: assorted ornaments & jewellery (worth 7 gp), crystal birds (worth 3 gp)
Clues: "Forward and back" (clue to something the Count has hidden with magic lock)

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 12:03 pm

I'd down the Healing Potion and then attack it. There is a very good chance that at least one of our magic items is in here.

Mr Shine · Post by **Mr Shine** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 6:20 pm

I'd go for food, as its effects are the same in this situation, but there's a possibility that a "healing potion" could be useful for something else somewhere down the line. But definitely attack.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 8:26 pm

I assumed that food was off-limits since we're about to fight, but you're right; the combat music isn't playing so Blade can cram some salt cakes and jellied eels down his throat.

Laertes · Post by **Laertes** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 6:17 am

The fools, do they not realise that stuffing his face makes Blade invincible in battle? I'm imagining him less and less as a Castlevania hero and more and more as a Grand Sumo with a magic sword.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 8:36 am

Go for the eyes, Blade! Yeeeargh!

Silent Wayfarer · Post by **Silent Wayfarer** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 9:09 am

I'd scarf down some food because healing pots sound like they'll be used for clutch situations and we're not prohibited from eating now.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 12:38 pm

Darth Rabbitt wrote: There is a very good chance that at least one of our magic items is in here.

Personally, I think it'd be real rool if it turns out that Siegfried's armour is actually this animated suit we're facing, and we'd get to control it and make it fuight for us if we defeated it....

...sadly, and I don't it'll be too much a spoiler to say, this is not the case.

Anyway, we gulp down our 11th meal of the day!

FOOD! GLORIOUS FOOD!
BLADE'S STARVING TO TASTE IT!
TEN BIG MEALS A DAY!
OUR FAVOURITE DIET!
WHY SHOULD WE BE FATED TO
DO NOTHING BUT BROOD
ON FOOD
MAGICAL FOOD
WONDERFUL FOOD
MARVELLOUS FOOD
FABULUS FOOD
GLO-RI-OUS FOOOOOOOOOO!

The Animated Armour advances upon you and, while the cleaver-like bardiche blade is rusted, it still looks sharp enough to cause an unpleasant wound!

ANIMATED ARMOUR SKILL 8 STAMTNA 9

lf you win, there is nothing of value or interest here - all is rusted and useless. You can try the door on the east side across the balcony or the one at the far southern end of the balcony.

It's weaker than us, but only slightly, and it's not really a rewarding fight. Let's hope we can get through without getting hurt.

COMBAT LOG:

Armour 10, Blade 14. Armour is at 7.
Armour 13, Blade 20. Armour is at 5.
Armour 17, Blade 13. Blade is at 12.
Armour 18, Blade 19. Armour is at 3.
Armour 17, Blade 18. Armour is at 1.
Armour 15, Blade 17. Armour is destroyed.

We got nicked a bit.

Which door now?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Blade Belmont von Alucard
SKILL 9/10
STAMINA 12/21
LUCK 7/8
Faith: 9
Possessions: Sword, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, Garlic, Magic Sword, Shield of Faith, Silver Mirror, Book of Healers, Silver Key, Book of Swords, Potion of Healing (+4 STAMINA), Silvered Stake, Castellan's Keys
Provisions: 1 Meal (+4 STAMINA)
Afflictions: Curse of the Healer
Gold Pieces: 3
Treasure: assorted ornaments & jewellery (worth 7 gp), crystal birds (worth 3 gp)
Clues: "Forward and back" (clue to something the Count has hidden with magic lock)

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 12:41 pm

Let's open the east door.

The Gaming Den

[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 38 - Vault of the Vampire

Which of the below should be the official name of our hero?