[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 23 - Masks of Mayhem!

pragma · Post by **pragma** » Thu Jan 14, 2021 7:12 pm

Ignore seems good to me.

JourneymanN00b · Post by **JourneymanN00b** » Thu Jan 14, 2021 9:35 pm

My vote is to eat a Provision and carry on struggling through.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Thu Jan 14, 2021 10:06 pm

Put the snake on Ignore.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Fri Jan 15, 2021 3:01 am

Deciding that he enjoys the reptile bondage, Arthur wolfs down a meal before continuing (STAMINA raised to 14).

If your STAMINA is less than 12, turn to 197; if it is 12 or more, turn to 15.

I've actually kind of forgotten that when he first started writing FF books, Waterfield's brevity of words in his descriptions rivals that of Luke Sharp.

You struggle to the other side of the pool, where it is easy to dispatch the Snake with your sword. Thanking your lucky stars that it was not poisonous as well, you carry on for several more kilometres. If you have not stopped to rest and eat a Provisions so far during your underground journey, you must reduce your STAMINA by 2 points.

The monotonous single tunnel eventually comes to a fork. Will you take the left branch or the right branch?

Once again, I must resist the urge to skip the votings and have Arthur take an automatic left turn...

JourneymanN00b · Post by **JourneymanN00b** » Fri Jan 15, 2021 5:41 am

King Arthur’s STAMINA was at 11, and he has a fresh water flask. So his STAMINA should be 15.

Oh, and my vote will be to take the left branch, of course. There is absolutely no reason to indulge in fascism right now.

Queen of Swords · Post by **Queen of Swords** » Fri Jan 15, 2021 6:32 am

Since we always go left, let's go left.

pragma · Post by **pragma** » Fri Jan 15, 2021 8:28 am

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sat Jan 16, 2021 5:28 am

As you trudge down this seemingly endless tunnel, the light fades from the shafts: it is night. But eventually you head ahead of you the chuckling of a spring and, to judge by the lack if echo, it is not enclosed, but out in the open. The tunnel is coming to an exit! However, you also start to head the shuffling of a large creature of some kind. It is impossible to tell in the darkness how far ahead it might be. Will you press on stealthily, or risk a spring for the open air?

Sneak or rush?

Queen of Swords · Post by **Queen of Swords** » Sat Jan 16, 2021 5:49 am

Press on stealthily. I'd rather not risk jumping on the creature, whatever it is.

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Sat Jan 16, 2021 6:38 am

Sneak on

JourneymanN00b · Post by **JourneymanN00b** » Sat Jan 16, 2021 1:06 pm

My vote is to press on stealthily. Having the element of surprise is always a good thing.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sun Jan 17, 2021 4:23 am

You find that the tunnel curves. You peep around the corner and see a monstrous silhouette against a star-spangled night sky, visible through the tunnel mouth. Test your Luck. If you are Lucky, turn to 33; if you are Unlucky, turn to 6.

Yes, as you can probably guess, choosing to rush means we go smack into the turn/curve in the tunnel.

Dice roll = 10.

Ack, we wouldn't have passed that even at MAX LUCK.

You tread on something, probably a bone, since that is what it sounds like.

We would have encountered a SKILL test to avoid stepping on the bone even if we'd passed this roll, but at SKILL 12 we would have been guaranteed to pass it.

The noise you made has alerted the creature, and you head it lumbering towards you. An easily recognizable grunt soon lets you know what you are up against - a Nandibear. It must have been using the entrance to the mine as its den. Then it is upon you. Reduce your SKILL by 1 point for this fight, because of the darkness.

NANDIBEAR SKILL 9 STAMINA 11

If you win, turn to 222.

COMBAT LOG:

Nandibear 12, Arthur 18. Nandibear is at 9.
Nandibear 14, Arthur 16. Nandibear is at 7.
Nandibear 13, Arthur 14. Nandibear is at 5.
Nandibear 21, Arthur 21. Tie.
Nandibear 15, Arthur 13. Arthur is at 13.
Nandibear 20, Arthur 15. Arthur is at 11.
Nandibear 15, Arthur 21. Nandibear is at 3.
Nandibear 15, Arthur 22. Nandibear is at 1.
Nandibear 18, Arthur 14. Arthur is at 9.
Nandibear 16, Arthur 21. Nandibear is killed.

Our toughest fight thus far, and the SKILL-penalty caused us to take an additional wound (in the round where the scores were tied. Without the penalty we would have finished it 2 rounds earlier), but Arthur was able to overcome it at the end.

You decide to spend the night in the Nandibear's cave. You use your flints and tinder to start a fire out of sticks and logs which you find in and around the cave, and make yourself comfortable. If you met the Doragar family in the mine, turn 112; otherwise, turn to 121.

Oh no, has the widow and her orphans brought some extended family members to track us down for vengeance?

You decide to inspect the items you acquired in the Doragar's lair. You soon find that some of the items are just what they seem. But if you have:

A Snattacat's tusk Turn to 301
A leather pouch Turn to 331
A statuette Turn to 30
None of these Turn to 121

Thankfully, it's just checking us for loot. Let's take a look at the tusk:

On close inspection, the tusk turns out to have eleven tiny dragons intricately engraved on it; it also has a lid, which you screw off. Inside you find eight identical seeds - they look like apple pips to you. Somebody has gone to a lot of trouble over them, so you decide to hand on to them. Return to 112 and choose again.

Now the statuette:

On the base of the statuette are runes which give the goddess's name as Cholumbara, a minor agricultural deity of Khul.

And that's all we have.

Which is good, because the pouch is a death-trap item.

You rest, eat Provisions, and drink fresh water from the nearby spring. If you have no Provisions, restore only 2 STAMINA points for the rest and drinks; otherwise, restore the full 4 STAMINA points. In either case, you may add 2 LUCK points for surviving the deadly mine. In the morning you reluctantly leave this haven.

STAMINA is back up to 13, and LUCK is up to 8. Provisions down to 7.

You set your course by the sun for Fallow Dale. If you have two or fewer lots of Provisions left, turn to 376. Otherwise, turn to 200.

We run out of Provisions and take STAMINA penalty if we don't have enough Provisions left...but the weird part about this check is that we are NOT told to deduct any Provisions at all if we have more than 2...

The remainder of the journey to Fallow Dale is uneventful, apart from the occasional skirmish with a wild beast.

At least it's somewhat nice that the book assumes the PC can handle himself against normal random wild beasts and does have to roll for combat.

As you descend into Fallow Dale, you recall what you know about this place. Several villages are located there, and the population is a mixture of human and other intelligent species. The village are bound into a loose federation under a single overlord, who occupies a fortified castle in the middle of the Dale. Hever is the present lord of Fallow Dale, and his proud boast is that the fortifications of his castle are purely for external enemies: his villages live at peace with one another and with him.

Apart from this, you have little reliable knowledge: the people of Arion never travel far from their familiar word, and certainly not as far as Fallow Dale; and few traders have passed form Hever's land to yours. You can see the castle a few kilometres away. Your route could take you through a village, or you could bypass the village by crossing a large ploughed field.

Apart from the Wood Elves of Affen Forest, this seems to be the nearest civilization of non-evil people in this direction, so the lack of knowledge about this place hints at really inefficient/complete lack of intelligence and diplomatic departments in Arion. Then again, maybe if the people Arion knew about this place, most of them might have migrated here from their shoddily-ruled homeland long ago.

Do we want to visit the locals here?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: King Arthur Anric
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 13/15
LUCK 8/9
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor, Backpack, Potion of Fortune (+1 to Initial LUCK, restores LUCK to new Initial value), Helmet, sorrels, Iron Sceptre ("There should be just one ruler"), Copper Nugget, Pick-axe head, Snatta-cat's Tusk (11 dragons engraved), Apple Pips (x8), Stone Statuette of Cholumbara, Water Flask
Provisions: 7
Notes: 1) When allowed to call on Galrin's help, turn to section 100.
Number of failures:
1) Randomly shot in the back by a random Blackheart in some random mine shaft.
2) Fell down a chasm of unknown depths in the same random mine shaft

JourneymanN00b · Post by **JourneymanN00b** » Sun Jan 17, 2021 5:23 am

My vote is to check out the village, as King Arthur could maybe get some clues there.

Queen of Swords · Post by **Queen of Swords** » Sun Jan 17, 2021 12:03 pm

Sure, let's check out the village. Hopefully less dangerous than our recent trek through a mine.

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Sun Jan 17, 2021 12:07 pm

It specifically says the route around the village is through a ploughed field, so that makes me wonder what's going on there, but check out the village anyway.

pragma · Post by **pragma** » Sun Jan 17, 2021 8:20 pm

Go through the village.

I think the plowed field just makes us very highly visible. A risk!

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sun Jan 17, 2021 8:22 pm

I oppose entering the village on the grounds that we might receive assistance.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Mon Jan 18, 2021 11:42 am

There are few people out in the street. An old woman weaving baskets outside her front door eyes you curiously, and the blacksmith, a hulking man with at least a few pints of Troll blood in his veins, stops working while you pass. Will you go into the village inn, or are you so badly hurt and wounded that you ask the blacksmith for the way to the local healer?

We're not badly hurt, but despite the funny wording here (including why we have to ask the blacksmith and not the basket-weaver), I'm pretty sure we're NOT prohibited from visiting the healer here if we choose to.

Inn or healer?

Queen of Swords · Post by **Queen of Swords** » Mon Jan 18, 2021 2:26 pm

Go inn.

pragma · Post by **pragma** » Mon Jan 18, 2021 5:18 pm

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Mon Jan 18, 2021 6:08 pm

Inn. Arthur, King of the Britons, doesn't need healing and inns have rumors and exposition.

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Tue Jan 19, 2021 2:17 am

Inns are typically where stuff happens, so go there.

JourneymanN00b · Post by **JourneymanN00b** » Tue Jan 19, 2021 3:01 am

My vote is to head to the inn. Maybe we get an important clue there.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Tue Jan 19, 2021 8:41 am

For 1 Gold Piece you can buy food and drink that will restore 2 STAMINA points. Do so, if you can and want to; then you leave the village.

Yeah, if there were a list of "Most Boring Inns in FF Gamebooks" this has to be somewhere near the top.

And we can't even use this to replenish our STAMINA, since this king is also a pauper.

The healer doesn't offer anything really interesting either, but at least we don't need gold there - she will give us a +4 heal if we have some sorrels which she can use to make the healing lotions...which we do have. That's the only use for them in this book!

Will you continue along the road, or turn to cross the ploughed field you saw earlier?

Given how uninteresting this village has been, do we want to change our route?

Thaluikhain · Post by **Thaluikhain** » Tue Jan 19, 2021 9:53 am

A ploughed field probably has linear grooves dug in it, which is more interesting than the village.