Let's Play Fighting Fantasy 41: Master of Chaos

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 8:54 am

Whenever you go shopping, you must keep careful track of how much money you spend and adjust your Treasure accordingly; any purchases you make should be added to your Possessions. There are several shops you may care to visit. Do you wish to try:

Food shops?
Bokhannon's Stables and Travel Shop?
Ali Haji-Sheikh's Weapons Store?
Hotsalt the Herbalist?
Sukifiri's Magic Shop?

Adventure Sheet

Huge Nuge

SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 17/17
LUCK 12/12

Notoriety: 3/8

Skills: Blindsight, Acute Hearing, Tracking

Equipment: 2/4 Provisions
Boots with hidden coin compartments
55gp (including 2 hidden)
Silver Whistle

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 9:42 am

I think we need weapons.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 11:57 am

This the order I propose:

1. Weapons Store - Arm ourselves and get rid of Skill penalty
2. Magic Shop - This is the most likely place to find plot coupons/quest items
3. Herbalist - Healing stuff, you can never have too many of those
4. Food shops

Stables and Travel Shop - I'm not sure we should go here. If we buy a mount, we'll probably need Animal Wisdom to take advantage of it, and we don't have that.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 1:36 pm

Agreed with SGamerz' plan.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 1:58 pm

Sounds like a solid plan.

MisterDee · Post by **MisterDee** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 5:21 pm

We should probably have a look at the travel store anyway, too.

Also, if the format of the shops allows visiting them more than once, maybe we should first look at the content of all of them before committing money?

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 7:57 pm

I'll post the weapons and the magic shop first, because there's a consequence to repeated visits to the magic shop:

Ali Haji-Sheikh keeps a good range of weapons and other useful supplies for the seasoned adventurer. His prices are:

Backpack 2 Gold Pieces
Crossbow 4 Gold Pieces
Crossbow Bolts (5) 1 Gold Piece
Lantern (with oil) 4 Gold Pieces
Leather armour (with shield) 8 Gold Pieces
Sword 5 Gold Pieces

Ali is a fair man and will also include a waterskin with a backpack (or with any purchase over 2 Gold Pieces). You can have anything you pay for, but you may carry only one of each item shown (except tor crossbow bolts; you can carry up to 10 of these). The crossbow is, of course, useless without bolts to shoot! lf you buy a crossbow and bolts, you must keep track on your Adventure Sheet of how many bolts you use. Ali is also prepared to buy certain items from you, should you want to sell for any reason: he offers 3 Gold Pieces for a sword and 2 Gold Pieces or a lantern, and in this case you are allowed to carry an extra item of this type if you find one and want to bring it here for sale. Certain purchases, however, attract attention! For buying each of the following items you gain 1 NOTORIETY point: a crossbow, leather armour and a sword.

'Suki', as the diminutive female Elf who runs the magic shop is known by her customers, does not carry a great range of items, and they are expensive - there is huge demand for the artefacts she sells. The prices she charges for items are listed below. If you want to discover what a particular article does, tum to the paragraph next to the item to read about it.

Luck Ring 6 Gold Pieces

The Luck Ring call be used just once. When you use it, roll one die and halve the number rolled (rounding fractions up); this is the number of LUCK points you regain through using the ring. You can perform this action at any time except during a combat.

Potion of Stamina 7 Gold Pieces

When drunk, the Potion of Stamina will restore STAMINA equal to half your Initial score (rounding fractions up). If you have, say, an Initial STAMINA of 19, drinking this Potion will restore up to 10 lost STAMINA points. You may drink this at any time except during combats.

Ring of Endurance 9 Gold Pieces

The Ring of Endurance helps you to resist the effects of extreme cold and also - more importantly in Khul - extreme heat, which would normally sap your STAMINA. If you buy this article, later references will instruct you on the precise effects the ring has.

Boots of Stealth 12 Gold Pieces

The Boots of Stealth act in the same way as the Move Silently Skill: they give you the ability to sneak quietly around in places where you would rather not be heard!

lf you buy two or more items in one visit, Suki will knock 2 Gold Pieces of the total price. However, each time you visit Suki's shop, you gain 1 Notoriety point, beginning with this visit!

Adventure Sheet

Huge Nuge

SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 17/17
LUCK 12/12

Notoriety: 4/8

Skills: Blindsight, Acute Hearing, Tracking

Equipment: 2/4 Provisions
Boots with hidden coin compartments
55gp (including 2 hidden)
Silver Whistle

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 8:27 pm

Buy the boots and the ring of Endurance.

Buy a backpack and a lantern. Don't buy weapons yet.

Visit the herbalist's and the food shop next.

Dr_Noface · Post by **Dr_Noface** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 8:33 pm

Seconded.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Oct 31, 2014 9:46 pm

Thirded.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sat Nov 01, 2014 12:44 am

I'm tempted to buy everything from the magic shop, but I guess they're too expensive. Either way, I don't think we should go back there anymore until we're ready to leave the city.

I think we can spare 1 Notoriety to buy some armour. Weapon can wait, since it'll just slow down combat rounds a bit, but I really don't like that Skill penalty from lack of armour.

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Sat Nov 01, 2014 11:38 am

Alright! Buying everything listed. Skill penalty gone, but we still don't have a sword.

Hotsalt the Herbalist can sell you any of the following items:

Medicinal herbs 2 Gold Pieces per bag
Preservative spices 2 Gold Pieces per bag
Potion of Healing 4 Gold Pieces

You can buy, and carry, a maximum of two of each item. The single Potion of Healing will restore 5 points of STAMINA when you drink it, and you can do this at any time except during combat.

There are many food shops selling small sweet cakes, good bread, hot slices of peppered beef in poppy-seed buns, and other delicious foods. They also sell preserved food for adventurers. 1 Gold Piece will buy you enough food for 2 meals - but don't forget: you cannot carry more than 12 Provisions in a backpack (and only 4 if you don't have a backpack!)

We do now have a backpack. I guess we'll go to the travel shop for the sake of completeness, as the book maybe doesn't make it clear, but that guy is also our one stop shop for ferry tickets, so we may or may not want to deal with him even if we have no interest in camels. There's a map in the start of the book I'll post now, as well. Hiking with or without a camel is an option, and the ferry won't take us all the way.

Bokhannon offers travel services of various kinds. He can sell you passage on a riverboat heading for Rahasta, the last town in the wastelands, not very far from Kabesh. This costs 10 Gold Pieces; after you have paid you may leave by boat at any time by turning to 243 (make a note of this paragraph number). He can also sell you a camel for overland travel, which could take you all the way to Kabesh. The camel has the advantage that you can carry an extra 12 Provisions in the beast's saddle-bag (included in the price) above your usual maximum of 12 in a backpack. However, Bokhannon wants 18 Gold Pieces for a camel! He is sorry that he cannot offer you a cheaper animal, say a mule, but these have been in great demand lately for mule pies. If you want to buy the camel (and you have the money to pay for it), tum to 329. If you don't want to buy the camel - or if you don't have enough money for it - you can either continue shopping or go to another part of town.

So! Twenty two gold pieces left, Notoriety up to 5 now (we've not done anything illegal, unless foreigners can't own magic or weapons, but we've hung out with a talking mongoose, we've killed a gladiator champion in the arena, we've purchased a suit of leather armour and a shield and we've visited a magic shop.)

What other purchases do we want to make, and then, where do we want to go? Also, remember we can leave Ashkyos voluntarily at any time, if you think there's nothing more to be gained by staying here.

Adventure Sheet

Huge Nuge

SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 17/17
LUCK 12/12

Notoriety: 5/8

Skills: Blindsight, Acute Hearing, Tracking, Move Silently

Equipment: 2/12 Provisions
Boots with hidden coin compartments
22gp (including 2 hidden)
Silver Whistle
Backpack
Waterskin
Leather armour and shield
Lantern
Ring of Endurance
Boots of Stealth

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sat Nov 01, 2014 11:45 am

I vote to buy everything from the Herbalist.

The rest are tricky. If we fill our backpack with food or buy anything from the travel shop after that we won't have enough for a sword afterwards.

Since these shops don't gain us Notoriety for coming in (unlike the magic shop), I vote that we come back later and head for the Old Quarters first.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Nov 02, 2014 2:44 am

I'll agree to that plan.

Mr Shine · Post by **Mr Shine** » Sun Nov 02, 2014 11:34 am

I wouldn't bur the Potion of Healing: at 5 STAMINA per 4 gold piece, it'ts inferior to standard provisions at 32 STAMINA per 4 gold piece.

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Sun Nov 02, 2014 8:47 pm

Okay, vote is for buying out the herbalist, leaving 10 gold remaining. Mr Shine definitely has a point, though the one thing about the potion that makes it arguably better than buying 8 provisions is that it doesn't count against our "one meal at a time" limit, so we could potentially drink it in addition to a meal, if we ever need 9 STAMINA back in a hurry.

Anyway. Onward, to the Old Quarter.

(We haven't been to the Old Quarter before).

The Old quarter is a seething morass of degeneracy and moral turpitude. You sit watching leprous beggars, Man-Orcs, hunchbacks and shady-looking merchants with their brutish bodyguards wandering round the streets. All human life is here – and quite a lot which isn't exactly human, too. You are just looking around to check up on the names of streets and bars when suddenly a group of men comes running towards you, chasing a runaway mule which is heading straight towards you! Will you try to stop the mule or get out of the way?

Adventure Sheet

Huge Nuge

SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 17/17
LUCK 12/12

Notoriety: 5/8

Skills: Blindsight, Acute Hearing, Tracking, Move Silently

Equipment: 2/12 Provisions
Boots with hidden coin compartments
10gp (including 2 hidden)
Silver Whistle
Backpack
Waterskin
Leather armour and shield
Lantern
Ring of Endurance
Boots of Stealth
Medicinal herbs, 2 bags
Preservative spices, 2 bags
Potion of Healing, 4 Gold Pieces

Dr_Noface · Post by **Dr_Noface** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 12:11 am

Even without animal wisdom, we could probably take down this mule. I smell an award!

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 2:58 am

Stop the mule.

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Mon Nov 03, 2014 2:43 pm

Stop the pigeon mole mule.

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 12:33 am

(We haven't got the Animal Wisdom skill.)

You must try to drag the mule down and stop it lashing out at you with its hoofs, which isn't easy. Treat this action as a combat - one which you have to fight with a penalty of 2 points temporarily deducted from your SKILL. You are trying to subdue the mule; it is trying to kick your brains in. The mule has a SKILL of 7. Each time the mule wins an Attack Round, it delivers a kick at you causing 2 points of damage to your STAMINA, but when you have the higher Attack Strength for two consecutive Attack Rounds, you subdue the mule. If at any time you decide to give up trying to restrain the mule, turn to 141. If you manage to subdue it, turn to 288.

Combat Log

Huge Nuge 15, Mule 17. Huge at 15
Huge Nuge 16, Mule 15. Mule held for one round.
Huge Nuge 20, Mule 14. Mule subdued.

We got lucky out of this one!

Deftly, you grab the mule round the neck and bring it stumbling to the ground, subduing it. With a few words and neck-rubs, you render it docile again.

The grateful merchant rewards you with 4 Gold Pieces for your efforts.

Settling down in your place again after all the excitement, you continue your observations, keeping one eye open for any chance to make some money! After a while, as it grows late, you notice that three places in particular seem to be attracting many comings and goings, so you decide to pay a visit to one of them. Koyala's Bar is notable for the bottles of wine in the window, the bunches of grapes over the door, and the airs and graces affected by the customers who drift in and out - clearly it isn't a place where beer is served! Will you visit:

Koyala's Bar?
Kanstrin's Guursh Bar?
Stavian's Gambling Hall?

Adventure Sheet

Huge Nuge

SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 15/17
LUCK 12/12

Notoriety: 5/8

Skills: Blindsight, Acute Hearing, Tracking, Move Silently

Equipment: 2/12 Provisions
Boots with hidden coin compartments
14gp (including 2 hidden)
Silver Whistle
Backpack
Waterskin
Leather armour and shield
Lantern
Ring of Endurance
Boots of Stealth
Medicinal herbs, 2 bags
Preservative spices, 2 bags
Potion of Healing, 4 Gold Pieces

Dr_Noface · Post by **Dr_Noface** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 4:19 am

Kanstrin's, assuming that was the place we heard about.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 8:44 am

Agreed.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 11:41 am

Kanstrin is where the kidnap plot was planned.

Stavian's is where Vesper told us someone is hiring graverobbers.

Kidnap plot first.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 1:39 pm

Kidnap plot only. I don't think Huge Nuge takes to grave robbing.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Tue Nov 04, 2014 2:18 pm

I think Huge Nuge will take to the possibility of finding a +2 Magic Sword or some other precious magic artefact in some rich nob's tomb.