[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 16 - Seas of Blood Redux

[Beroli]

Of the Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks that were attempted and not completed before, two are currently jumping out at me as worth revisiting. Both aquatic. The evil one first.



...yeah no. You are most definitely not the hero in this book.

The city of Tak at the northern end of the Inland Sea is the greatest den of thieves, pirates and cut-throats that the civilized world has ever seen. In this city of scum, there are two pirates infamous for their ruthless greed, their daring raids and their countless skirmishes with deah. One of these is one Abdul the Butcher. The other is YOU!

Only one of you can be King of the Pirates, but which will it be? A wager is made that the first to reach the distant isle of Nippur with the greatest amount of fold wins the crown. But beware! These are treacherous seas and many dangers await you. Powerful adversaries are ranged against you and at times your only choice is to kill or be killed!

INTRODUCTION

You are the captain of the pirate vessel Banshee. Together with your band of seasoned cut-throats, you must scourge the lands of the Inland Sea, searching for gold and slaves in a race against your greatest rival, Abdul the Butcher. The two of you have cut a swath of infamy across the civilized world, and are recognized as the two greatest pirate captains in existence. Now, however, you must contest to discover who is the greatest.

But before you can begin your journey, you must determine the strength and weaknesses of yourself and your crew.

You have no Provisions or potions. For each day you choose to spend resting, you can restore 1 Stamina. Of course, your bet with Abdul has a time limit...

You have 20 gold and this map: .

The city of Tak, at the northern end of the Inland Sea, is the greatest den of thieves, criminals and cut-throats the civilized world has ever seen. Every form of vice and illicit activity is not only permitted, but even encouraged, in this city of scum. This, your home town, is where your adventure begins.

Of the numerous pirates drawn to Tak, you and Abdul the Butcher are recognized by all as being the kings in daring and greed. However, neither of you are particularly wealthy, as your love of gambling consumes all the riches that you bring back from your journeys against the enemy cities of Lagash, Marad and Kish.

The infamy that the two of you have bred is also the source of a great rivalry; you each try to outdo the other in increasingly dangerous but breathtakingly successful raids. Your goal--the title of King of Pirates, the Sacker of Cities, which is never bequeathed, but only earned.

One evening, while dicing against each other in one of Tak's gambling pits, somebody suggests that the two of you should have a contest to determine, once and for all, who is the greatest pirate. The idea appeals instantly to your audacious spirits. "Yes," says Abdul, "let us have a race of speed and treasure."

You agree upon the terms of the contest. Each will take only one ship and, sailing from Tak on an appointed day, will head for the distant isle of Nippur, which lies deep in the great Southern Sea. The journey must be completed within fifty days and, at the end, whoever has the greatest amount of gold wins the bet.

With shaking of hands all round and much toasting, the deal is sealed. Your journey is about to begin.


On the day appointed for the beginning of the race, you take the Banshee out of the towering granite bay of Tak and into the Inland Sea, Abdul the Butcher's Haveldar cuts quietly through the water beside you. Far to the east is the hostile but rich port of Lagash; to the west is the Scythera Desert, across which the caravan routes to the cities of Kish, Calah and Assur run. To the south is the mountainous isle of Enraki.

As usual, one die + 6 equals your Skill. Two dice + 12 equals your Stamina. One die + 6 equals your Luck. And in this book, one die +6 equals your Crew Strike, which acts as Skill for ship battles, and two dice + 6 equals your Crew Strength, which acts as Stamina for ship battles. Your rolls are: 6 1 1 4 6 2 2. How will you distribute them?

Also, vote for your character's name.

And finally:

Head towards Lagash for a dangerous but daring raid against its coastal shipping?
Travel to the Scythera Desert to plunder the rich desert caravans?
Patrol the Inland Sea via the isle of Enraki?

[Dogopolis]

12 Skill
12 crew strike
10 luck
10 crew strength
14 stamina

Go to Lagash

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote for the following stats:
12 Skill
12 Crew Strength
12 Crew Strike
8 Luck
14 Stamina

I next vote for Jack Sparrow for the name, and to head to the Inland Sea via the Isle of Enraki, as I feel that having no description beyond that means that there could be a hidden bounty.

[deaddmwalking]

If we go to the desert there are 3 more cities we can loot.

Vote for Dogopolis's stats but vote foe the desert. 3-way tie?

[Thaluikhain]

12 Skill
12 crew strike
10 luck
10 crew strength
14 stamina

Go to Lagash

I second the stats, and also going to Lagash.

Sinbad seems an appropriate name, although he was less evil, his name contains two worse for bad.

[Beroli]

You set off for Lagash. Roll three dice and compare to Crew Strength; 9 is lower (barely). Add 5 days to the LOG.

You sail towards Lagash, on the Eastern Rim, keeping a keen eye out for any of the numerous merchantmen that are attracted to this city. Fortune is running against you, however. Two triangular red sails appear on the horizon in front of the Banshee and sweep down towards you. They are Lagashian warships, decks crowded with marines, battle banners streaming in the wind. You heel the Banshee about and try to outsail the intruders. Roll three dice and compare to Crew Strength; 13 is higher.

The Banshee is too slow. The warships cut rapidly through the sea and pull abreast, one on either side. They open fire with arrows and cast grappling-irons into the Banshee's rigging. You will have to fight.

WARSHIPS STRIKE 10 STRENGTH 14

The Banshee Attack Strength: 17, WARSHIPS Attack Strength: 12. WARSHIPS's Stamina is 12
The Banshee Attack Strength: 17, WARSHIPS Attack Strength: 15. WARSHIPS's Stamina is 10
The Banshee Attack Strength: 14, WARSHIPS Attack Strength: 13. WARSHIPS's Stamina is 8
The Banshee Attack Strength: 16, WARSHIPS Attack Strength: 15. WARSHIPS's Stamina is 6
The Banshee Attack Strength: 19, WARSHIPS Attack Strength: 21. The Banshee's Stamina is 8
The Banshee Attack Strength: 22, WARSHIPS Attack Strength: 21. WARSHIPS's Stamina is 4
The Banshee Attack Strength: 19, WARSHIPS Attack Strength: 20. The Banshee's Stamina is 6
The Banshee Attack Strength: 21, WARSHIPS Attack Strength: 18. WARSHIPS's Stamina is 2
The Banshee Attack Strength: 20, WARSHIPS Attack Strength: 19. WARSHIPS is dead.

Your crew overrun the two vessels, defeat the Lagashian marines and then search for loot. They discover a total of 68 Gold Pieces and save 3 of the marines to sell as slaves. You cut the Banshee free from the warship's grapples. Lagash is obviously a little too dangerous.

Sail back into the inland sea, toward Enraki?
Journey down the coast of the Eastern Rim, towards the Rivers of the Dead?


Adventure Sheet:
Jack Sinbad
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 14/14
Luck: 10/10
Crew Strike: 12/12
Crew Strength: 6/10

Gold: 88
Slaves: 3
Log: 5

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote the coast of the Eastern Rim towards the rivers of the dead.

[Thaluikhain]

Seconded.

[deaddmwalking]

I'm a little confused about how much wealth matters to the win condition compared to being first. But might as well continue along our chosen course rather than change directions or head back.

Rivers of the dead it is.

[JourneymanN00b]

I'm a little confused about how much wealth matters to the win condition compared to being first. But might as well continue along our chosen course rather than change directions or head back.

Rivers of the dead it is.

If I recall correctly from when I first played this adventure many years ago, our hero needs to have at least a minimum number of gold pieces in addition to making the 50 day deadline to get to Nippur to win.

[Thaluikhain]

I'm a little confused about how much wealth matters to the win condition compared to being first. But might as well continue along our chosen course rather than change directions or head back.

Rivers of the dead it is.

If I recall correctly from when I first played this adventure many years ago, our hero needs to have at least a minimum number of gold pieces in addition to making the 50 day deadline to get to Nippur to win.

Yeah, that's the case.

[deaddmwalking]

But we don't know what amount we need to be successful?

[Thaluikhain]

I do, from playing this before:

It's 400, you turn to the multiple of 100 that you have, and 400 is the standard win paragraph anyway.

[Dogopolis]

I do, from playing this before:

It's 400, you turn to the multiple of 100 that you have, and 400 is the standard win paragraph anyway.

Actually if I recall correctly,
It's 800 as you halve it first

[Dogopolis]

Let's try the rivers.

[Beroli]

In 50 days, you meet up with Abdul and compare how much money each of you has. If you have more, you win. If you have less, you lose. If in 50 days only one of you is at the meeting place, the other one forfeits. You can't know how much you need to have without knowing how much Abdul will have, and of course you can always hope he'll get eaten by a kraken and so you'll win just for showing up.

(That's all on a Watsonian level. Of course on a Doylist level, since Abdul is entirely scripted, someone who's read the book can know exactly how much you need.)

You sail onwards, to the Rivers of the Dead. Roll three dice; the result is 7, equal to or greater than your Crew Strength, so add 6 days to your Log. Dropping anchor by the mouth of the largest river in the group, you disembark with most of your crew and march inland, looking for settlements or caravans to raid. After a few hours you come to a small range of steep stony hills, crazed with gullies, narrow valleys and dry waterways.

Climb over these hills?
Search a few of the gullies in case they are hiding something?

Adventure Sheet:
Jack Sinbad
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 14/14
Luck: 10/10
Crew Strike: 12/12
Crew Strength: 6/10

Gold: 88
Slaves: 3
Log: 11

[Thaluikhain]

Hmmm, maybe try looking at the high ground, over the hills.

[deaddmwalking]

If this wasn't a binary choice I would think taking the high ground would make sense - if the gullies are dangerous you would be able to look down and rain hell on your enemies. But going on to the hills so you can enter the gullies safely isn't really what they're offering.

I'm thinking maybe we could find some buried pirate treasure in the gullies so half vote for that. We've used up more than 20% of our time so we need a major cash infusion. We should also probably buy a lottery ticket.

[Dogopolis]

Half vote for high ground.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to climb over these hills.

[Beroli]

Climbing over the crumbling surface of these devastated hills, you stumble across a corner-stone from a piece of monumental masonry. Getting your crew to dig the earth and rocks away from around this, you find an ancient stone entrance to what may be a buried crypt, temple or mansion. Pulling away the stones that block the portal reveals a narrow but straight tunnel, plunging at a steep angle into the hill.

Go down the tunnel with a few of your best men?
Close up the tunnel and continue over the hills?

Adventure Sheet:
Jack Sinbad
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 14/14
Luck: 10/10
Crew Strike: 12/12
Crew Strength: 6/10

Gold: 88
Slaves: 3
Log: 11

[Thaluikhain]

In the olded days of the forum, the cliche was "penetrate every hole", advice which surely is wise here.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go down the tunnel.

[deaddmwalking]

I'm generally in favor of penetrating every hole, so that's clearly the right choice here.

But what if there are three holes of various sizes? How does one choose then?

[Thaluikhain]

In that case, the middle one, in a B chalice problem.