Let's Play Fighting Fantasy #1: Warlock of Firetop Mountain

[Omegonthesane]

Whoever heard of a murdering hobo who backed down? Finish it!

[Darth Rabbitt]

He now stands just under two meters tall. He advances towards you. His body is hairy. His teeth are pointed. His eyes flash. His fingernails are sharp claws. His nose has become a rat-like snout. He is a WERERAT!

WERERAT SKILL 8 STAMINA 5

(Again, an option to Escape that I know we won't take.)

Combat Log:

Wererat 14, Henderson 19. Wererat is at 3.
Wererat 17, Henderson 18. Wererat is at 1.
Wererat 14, Henderson 21. Wererat is dead.

The Wererat slumps to the ground. You search his body and find 2 Gold Pieces, his fare from the last crossing. You curse him for trying to overcharge you. Add the 2 Gold Pieces to your Gold and row yourself across the river. Add 2 LUCK points. As you moor the boat on the north bank you look back at the body. It has vanished!

You are on the north bank of a fast-flowing river in a large underground cavern.

Facing northwards, the rock face is smooth and glistening with moisture. Moss of many different hues grows on the surface. There is an eerie silence punctuated only by the splashings of the river as it flows behind you. You have three options:

A passage runs off to the north west. Take this route?
A large timber door is directly in front of you in the middle of the rock face. Open the door?
Another passage runs out along the river eastwards. Follow this along the riverbank?

Old Man Henderson Jr.
SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 16/16
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Gleaming Sword, Leather Armor, Crescent Shield (when hit, roll a d6; on a 6 reduce damage by 1), Cursed Bronze Helmet
Provisions: 9 (+4 STAMINA each)
Potions: Potion of Skill (restores SKILL to Initial value, 2/2 uses left), Potion of Invisibility (1 use)
Gold Pieces: 8
Keys: Bronze Key #99
Items: Silky Black Glove, Bow and Silver Arrow, Cheese, Burnt-Out Blue Candle

[Chamomile]

Change in SOP: Take skill potion if we ever drop to 9 or lower. I want to stay at least 2 points ahead of our opposition and it looks like the ante just got upped.

Let's follow the riverbank.

[Korgan0]

East.

[Omegonthesane]

I say we open the door.

[Darth Rabbitt]

(OK, it's 2-1 to go east.)

The passageway runs eastwards. Ahead of you, you can see that a solid-looking door blocks the passage. You step up to investigate.

A sign above the door reads "Boat House." The door is firmly locked but a small barred window allows you to look inside. You can see a number of Skeleton-men working on building a boat of some sort. They move in a series of quick, jerky actions, rather insect-like.

If you have a key clearly labeled "Boat House"
If you want to try to break the door down
If you want to return to the riverbank and try another route

(I do admit a fondness for using mindless undead for menial tasks. So I think it's awesome that there was already a fantasy setting in 1982 where people use Skeletons for simple manual labor.)

[Chamomile]

Break down the door and fight cheap stop-motion skeletons.

[Darth Rabbitt]

There is no way you are going to charge the door down, as it is twelve centimeters of solid oak! You bruise your sword arm at the attempt - lose 1 SKILL point, You can only get through the door if you have the Boat House key (if you have this key, more fool you for not using it straightaway). Otherwise you will have to return to the riverbank and try again.

(I don't know if I think it's kind of fair that we can't break down every door, or that it's a total gyp that we can't.)

You return to the riverbank and decide to try the door in the middle of the rockface.

(What? Fuck that shit. I doubt we're going left but this isn't even "the limited format of this book prevents us from letting you go back the other ways you could have came from the riverbank", this is "for no reason we don't just prompt you to go back to the other section where you got 3 choices but prompt you to go to the center door because Ian Livingstone loves railroading.")

Facing northwards, the rock face is smooth and glistening with moisture. Moss of many different hues grows on the surface. There is an eerie silence punctuated only by the splashings of the river as it flows behind you. You have three two options:

A passage runs off to the north west. Take this route?
A large timber door is directly in front of you in the middle of the rock face. Open the door?
Another passage runs out along the river eastwards. Follow this along the riverbank?

Old Man Henderson Jr.
SKILL 10/11
STAMINA 16/16
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Gleaming Sword, Leather Armor, Crescent Shield (when hit, roll a d6; on a 6 reduce damage by 1), Cursed Bronze Helmet
Provisions: 9 (+4 STAMINA each)
Potions: Potion of Skill (restores SKILL to Initial value, 2/2 uses left), Potion of Invisibility (1 use)
Gold Pieces: 8
Keys: Bronze Key #99
Items: Silky Black Glove, Bow and Silver Arrow, Cheese, Burnt-Out Blue Candle

[Korgan0]

Northwest,

[Darth Rabbitt]

The short passage begins to narrow and ends a few meters ahead at a doorway. Do you wish to go through this door or decide against this direction and go back to the river?

(This book is so padded it makes Space Assassin look fast-paced by comparison.)

[MisterDee]

Door.

[Shrapnel]

.rooD

[Darth Rabbitt]

You are in a small, foul-smelling room. You notice two doors: one to the west and one behind you to the south. The furniture in the room is sparse and has been made mostly from bits of old boats. There appears to be nothing of value in the room, but a bunch of keys hangs on the wall. An old man in ragged clothes is slumped asleep on a "bench" made from half a rowing boat, snoring loudly. Next to him is a vicious-looking brown dog with red eyes and black teeth, whom you have awakened and who now is eyeing you suspiciously. You may:

Tiptoe an exit through the south door
Bang on the door behind you and cough a few "Ahem's" to wake up the old man
Leap across the room with sword drawn to cut down the dog

EDIT: spoilered image.

[Omegonthesane]

Wake up the old man, it's less likely to end badly than waking him up with the sounds of battle against his battle-ready puppy.

[Darth Rabbitt]

The old man's eyes flutter open. He sees you and grabs for a half oar lying by his bench. You tell him you mean him no harm but he remains on guard and eyes you cautiously. Although he looks harmless enough, his dog could be dangerous. The man's boots are undone. Will you:

Rush the dog with your weapon drawn?
Ask the man questions regarding your quest?
Tell him his boots are undone?

[Omegonthesane]

Boots. Start small.

[Darth Rabbitt]

The old man thanks you and rather sheepishly ties up his boots. You explain that you mean no harm and he calms down, calling off his dog. He tells you that this area is the only passageway through to the inner chambers. Some years ago the river swelled after a particularly severe spring thaw and cut off supplies from the outside world. All the area's inhabitants starved to death but the Master, realizing that he needed defenses against the outside world, put a curse on the area. The last remaining creatures became the Undead and now guard the passageways through.

He starts to inquire about you. Will you:

Be straight with him and tell him of your quest?
Thank him for the chat and leave through the south door?
Try to grab the keys and go for the nearest door?

(The Undead also apparently build boats. Not exactly sinister there, Warlock.)

[MisterDee]

Keep talking.

[Darth Rabbitt]

When the old man learns of your quest for treasure he becomes angry and bids you begone - he'll have nothing to do with fortune-hunters. His dog senses his anger and snarls menacingly. You may either smile, thank him and exit through the south door or you may stay to try to pacify him.

[Chamomile]

Try to pacify him. He's white, so negotiation is probably the way to go here. Certainly we don't want to leave empty-handed.

[Darth Rabbitt]

He will not be pacified. As you shift uneasily around the room, he shouts a word at the dog.

The dog springs as you move. Its hideous black teeth are coming straight for your throat! Two meters from you, a blast of fire shoots from its mouth right at your face! You duck just in time but must now fight the beast.

DOG SKILL 7 STAMINA 6

In addition to its normal attack, throw one die every Attack Round for its fiery breath. On a roll of 1 or 2, it scorches you for 1 point of damage - subtract from your STAMINA - but on a roll of 3-6, you avoid the blast. You may use your LUCK against the fire. The only Escape open is through the south door.

(I know we won't Escape; given how good our stats are it makes more sense to keep fighting.)

Combat Log:

Dog 11, Henderson 17. Dog is at 4. Fire Breath: 5, miss.
Dog 18, Henderson 20. Dog is at 2. Fire Breath: 5, miss.
Dog 17, Henderson 20. Dog is dead. Fire Breath: 2, hit. Test Luck: 3,4=7; Lucky. No damage taken.

The old man watches the fight but does not move unless you kill his dog. If you kill the dog, you may Escape through the south door, but you will not have time to take anything with you. (I assume we wish to stay.) Add 1 LUCK point anyway.

(And yes, that's why I bothered testing LUCK there, since the above is all one section in the book so there's no reason not to know that you will regain 1 LUCK at the end of the battle.)

The old man is furious at your killing his dog! His eyes turn white with anger. He slowly rises from his seat and as he stands he appears to gain in size and stature. He is changing in front of your eyes. He sprouts hair on his face and forearms. His nose lengthens and becomes dog-like. His teeth are pointed. He is a WEREWOLF and he advances towards you.

You can Escape only through the door behind you to the south. Otherwise you must fight him:

WEREWOLF SKILL 8 STAMINA 8

(Again, I assume we stay and fight.)

Combat Log:

Werewolf 14, Henderson 22. Werewolf is at 6.
Werewolf 12, Henderson 18. Werewolf is at 4.
Werewolf 17, Henderson 17. Tie.
Werewolf 17, Henderson 15. Shield: 1, failed. Henderson is at 14.
Werewolf 16, Henderson 20. Werewolf is at 2.
Werewolf 16, Henderson 14. Shield: 1, failed. Henderson is at 12.
Werewolf 14, Henderson 21. Werewolf is dead.

(This guy rolls well and Henderson rolls poorly. Only opponent to hit us twice, and one of two to hit us in normal combat. Well played, old man.)

Add 1 point to your LUCK for defeating the Werewolf. You may rest and eat Provisions if you wish. As you look around the room there appears to be little of use, although the bunch of keys looks interesting, particularly the one marked "Boat House." None are numbered. You may take the keys if you wish. There are doors to the west and south. Do you open the west door or do you want to go south?

(I assume we rest and eat since the Werewolf actually did 4 damage to us, and we have so damn many Provisions. I also assume we take the keys, since we are not required to drop anything for them and we know what at least one of them goes to.)

Old Man Henderson Jr.
SKILL 10/11
STAMINA 16/16
LUCK 10/10
Equipment: Gleaming Sword, Leather Armor, Crescent Shield (when hit, roll a d6; on a 6 reduce damage by 1), Cursed Bronze Helmet
Provisions: 8 (+4 STAMINA each)
Potions: Potion of Skill (restores SKILL to Initial value, 2/2 uses left), Potion of Invisibility (1 use)
Gold Pieces: 8
Keys: Bronze Key #99, Boat House Key, Ring of Unmarked Numberless Keys
Items: Silky Black Glove, Bow and Silver Arrow, Cheese, Burnt-Out Blue Candle

[Omegonthesane]

To the boathouse!

[Chamomile]

Well obviously it's time to head for the boathouse and chop up the spooky skeletons.

[MisterDee]

Yeah, boathouse.

[Darth Rabbitt]

The door opens and you find yourself in the passage leading back to the riverbank. You return to the river and may now either go for the door in the middle of the rockface or go down the passage running off eastwards along the riverbank.

(We want to go back east.)

The passageway runs eastwards. Ahead of you, you can see that a solid-looking door blocks the passage. You step up to investigate.

A sign above the door reads "Boat House." The door is firmly locked but a small barred window allows you to look inside. You can see a number of Skeleton-men working on building a boat of some sort. They move in a series of quick, jerky actions, rather insect-like.

(Old Man Henderson Jr has a key labeled "Boat House.")

The key fits the lock and opens the door. You find yourself in a large boathouse. Various boats, in different stages of construction, are lying around. Apart from the door behind you, there is another in the north wall. As you enter, the Skeletons stop their work and crane their bony necks around to look at you. They pick up planks of wood and hammers and advance towards you. There are five of them. Do you:

Smile nervously and back out of the door into the passage?
Tell them you've come about buying a boat?
Tell them you're their new boss and order them back to work?
Draw your sword and prepare for battle?