[Let's Play] GrailQuest 4: Voyage of Terror

[SGamerz]

Okay, so Pip and the Argonauts go back down below the decks to face the 12 guards. This will be harder than the last fight: it's 14-on-12 this time, the guards wear armour, and some of the Argonauts are still injured. I will run this fight the same way I did the previous one.

Guards roll 5, Pip rolls 7. Pip and his army get first strike!

COMBAT LOG:

Round 1:

Pip throws his spear at Guard #1. He rolls 8 and hits for 0+10-2 = 8 damage! Guard#1 is at 7.
Hercules throws his spear at Guard#2. He rolls 3 and misses.
Achilles rolls 7 and hits for 5+1-2 = 4 damage. Guard#3 is at 11.
Achilles rolls 6 and hits for 4+1-2 = 3 damage. Guard#3 is at 8.
Generic Argonaut#1 throws his spear at Guard#4. He rolls 4 and misses.
Generic Argonaut#2 throws his spear at Guard#5. He rolls 7 and misses.
Generic Argonaut#3 throws his spear at Guard#6. He rolls 12 and hits for 4+10-2 = 12 damage! Guard#6 is at 3 and is knocked out.
Generic Argonaut#4 throws his spear at Guard#7. He rolls 9 and hits for 1+10-2 = 9 damage! Guard#7 is at 6.
Generic Argonaut#5 throws his spear at Guard#8. He rolls 11 and hits for 3+10-2 = 11 damage! Guard#8 is at 4 and is knocked out.
Generic Argonaut#6 throws his spear at Guard#9. He rolls 5 and misses.
Generic Argonaut#7 throws his spear at Guard#10. He rolls 9 and hits for 1+10-2 = 9 damage! Guard#10 is at 6.
Generic Argonaut#8 throws his spear at Guard#11. He rolls 3 and misses.
Generic Argonaut#9 throws his spear at Guard#12. He rolls 8 and hits for 0+10-2 = 8 damage! Guard#12 is at 7.
Generic Argonaut#10 throws his spear at Guard#1. He rolls 12 and hits for 4+10-2 = 12 damage! Guard#1 is killed.
Jason throws his spear at Guard#2. He rolls 11 and hits for 4+10-2 = 12 damage! Guard#2 is at 3 and is knocked out.
Guard#3 rolls 6 and hits for 1+2-2 = 1 damage. (Armour check = 7 - doesn't shatter). Achilles is at 29.
Guard#4 rolls 2 and misses.
Guard#5 rolls 8 and hits for 3+2 = 5 damage. Generic Argonaut#2 is at 11.
Guard#7 rolls 4 and misses.
Guard#9 rolls 6 and hits for 1+2 = 3 damage. Generic Argonaut#6 is at 13.
Guard#10 rolls 4 and misses.
Guard#11 rolls 8 and hits for 3+2 = 5 damage. Generic Argonaut#8 is at 15.
Guard#12 rolls 6 and hits for 1+2 = 3 damage. Generic Argonaut#9 is at 17.

4 Guards went down after the first spear volley. A good start!

Round 2:

Pip rolls 7 and hits for 1+1-2 = no damage.
Pip rolls 5 and misses.
Hercules roll 6 and hits for 0+1+4-2 = 3 damage. Guard#4 is at 12.
Hercules roll 6 and hits for 0+1+4-2 = 3 damage. Guard#4 is at 9.
Generic Argonaut#1 rolls 7 and hits for 1+3-2 = 2 damage. Guard#4 is at 7.
Generic Argonaut#2 rolls 8 and hits for 2+3-2 = 3 damage. Guard#5 is at 12.
Generic Argonaut#3 rolls 8 and hits for 2+3-2 = 3 damage. Guard#5 is at 9.
Generic Argonaut#4 rolls 8 and hits for 1+3-2 = 2 damage. Guard#7 is at 4 and is knocked out.
Generic Argonaut#5 rolls 5 and misses.
Generic Argonaut#6 rolls 10 and hits for 4+3-2 = 5 damage. Guard#9 is at 10.
Generic Argonaut#7 rolls 10 and hits for 4+3-2 = 5 damage. Guard#10 is at 1 and is knocked out.
Generic Argonaut#8 rolls 8 and hits for 2+3-2 = 3 damage. Guard#11 is at 12.
Generic Argonaut#9 rolls 7 and hits for 1+3-2 = 2 damage. Guard#12 is at 5 and is knocked out.
Guard#3 rolls 6 and hits for 1+2-2 = 1 damage. Achilles is at 28.
Guard#4 rolls 11 and hits for 6+2 = 8 damage. Generic Argonaut#1 is at 12.
Guard#5 rolls 7 and hits for 2+2 = 4 damage. Generic Argonaut#2 is at 7.
Guard#9 rolls 6 and hits for 1+2 = 3 damage. Generic Argonaut#6 is at 10.
Guard#11 rolls 7 and hits for 2+2 = 4 damage. Generic Argonaut#8 is at 11.

3 more guards down, and all Argonauts still standing!

Round 2:
Pip rolls 6 and hits for 0+1-2 = no damage.
Pip rolls 7 and hits for 1+1-2 = no damage.
Hercules roll 6 and hits for 0+1+4-2 = 3 damage. Guard#4 is at 4 and is knocked out.
Hercules roll 12 and hits for 6+1+4-2 = 9 damage. Guard#9 is at 1 and is knocked out.
Achilles roll 11 and hits for 9+1-2 = 8 damage! Guard#3 is killed.
Achilles roll 8 and hits for 6+1-2 = 5 damage. Guard#11 is at 7.
Generic Argonaut#1 rolls 3 and misses.
Generic Argonaut#2 rolls 5 and misses.
Generic Argonaut#3 rolls 3 and misses.
Generic Argonaut#4 rolls 7 and hits for 1+3-2 = 2 damage. Guard#5 is at 7.
Generic Argonaut#5 rolls 11 and hits for 5+3-2 = 6 damage. Guard#11 is at 1 and is knocked out.
Generic Argonaut#6 rolls 6 and hits for 0+3-2 = 1 damage. Guard#5 is at 6.
Generic Argonaut#7 rolls 3 and misses.
Generic Argonaut#8 rolls 7 and hits for 1+3-2 = 2 damage. Guard#5 is at 4 and is knocked out.

Victory for Pip and gang, which is somehow still at full force (though a couple are badly injured). Pip also gains another Permanent LP through this additional 12 kills.

Where do we go now?

SEA CHART:

QUEST JOURNAL:

Pip's LIFE POINTS: 48/54
Permanent Life Points: 14

EQUIPMENT CARRIED:
Rusty Dagger (+2 damage)
Sword (hits on 6, damage +3)
Spear (hits on 6/thrown 8, damage +5/thrown +10, only attack once every 2 rounds/thrown once every 3 rounds)
New Dagger (hits on 6, damage +1, attack twice per round)
One-piece armour (worn) (damage -2, shatters on 12 after taking the 1st hit in every combat)
Spare armor x2 (damage -2, shatters on 12 after taking the 1st hit in every combat)
Rope (50ft coil)
Grappling hook
Backpack
Flint and steel (for lighting fires)
Ceramic lamp
Box of biscuits
Wallbanger Ritual Spell Scroll (Appendix, p.217)
Healing Potion (+2D6 LP, 6 doses)
Jar of Salve (+3 LP, 5 applications)
Magical Quinine (cure for malaria)
Poison Stiletto (damage +1, poison causes 2 LP loss every combat round, additional hits are cumulative, 11/12 doses)

MONEY: 620 GP

EXPERIENCE POINTS: 1
ENEMIES DEFEATED:
Old Sea Dog (2x)
Poisonous Spider
Ship's Cook (2x)
16 Guards
10 Scoundrels (2x)
PUZZLES SOLVES:

No. of Deaths:
1) LP drained by Shadows on Skull Island

[Omegonthesane]

Let's try Dragon Island.

[SGamerz]

Sailing for Dragon Island....

Cross-Eyed Navigation roll = 9. (Success)

Since the name of this island strikes terror into the hearts of the Argonauts, you decide to explore it alone. And as the great ship sails into the natural harbour at the south of the island, you can scarcely blame your crew for their trepidation. Dragon Isle is a volcanic husk rising out of the waters, without a single hint of vegetation. The vast, contorted rock is honeycombed with caves and fissures, clearly discernible even before you dock.

You leave your ship to tearful (and rather worrying) farewells from your crew and move to a looming cave mouth which will give you entrance to the honeycomb. To your surprise, you see signs that others have been here before: a dried-out, cracking water-sack and a rusty, useless dagger both lie near the cave mouth. But you press on grimly and eventually reach 199.

I find it hard to believe that the word 'Dragon' would strike fear in the heart of Hercules, who's killed at least one of those during his labours. Of course, this is just a cheap excuse for the book to separate Pip from his army.

This is interesting. You have entered what appears to be at first glance to be a natural cavern, but strewn across the floor here are scores of broken and rusted mining tools--spades, picks, chisels, baskets and so forth. And scattered among them are the shattered remnants of close on a hundred dwarven skeletons.

The cavern is unnaturally quiet, like some vast mausoleum, but everywhere you look, you can see the signs of extreme violence which took place sometime in the distant past. Your imagination begins to paint a grim picture of a dwarven mining crew surprised at work by some unimaginable creature which slaughtered them wholesale where they stood. But what sort of creature could do such damage? And, more important, could it still be here, lurking in the warren of interconnected caverns you have entered?

You can, of course, still return to your ship and pick a new destination.

But if you decide to go on, a tunnel leading east from the cavern will take you to 162, while a tunnel leading north-west will take you to 169.

East, northwest, or turn back?

If you want to turn back, please vote for which island to sail for next.

[Omegonthesane]

East.

[RogueOne]

Hi all,

I've been reading through these LPs for the last several months and have finally caught up! So I've decided to jump on in.

A brief intro: I first stumbled onto FF as a kid, and quickly became obsessed. I would scour second-hand book shops for these gamebooks. It was a beautiful day when I found out that the FF series was being reprinted.

I read Grailquest 2 several times, but could never find others from the series. So now on to adventure!!!!

A second vote for East.

[SGamerz]

Hi all,

I've been reading through these LPs for the last several months and have finally caught up! So I've decided to jump on in.

A brief intro: I first stumbled onto FF as a kid, and quickly became obsessed. I would scour second-hand book shops for these gamebooks. It was a beautiful day when I found out that the FF series was being reprinted.

I read Grailquest 2 several times, but could never find others from the series. So now on to adventure!!!!

A second vote for East.

Welcome aboard (actually appropriate here since this particular adventure involves a sea voyage!)!

The smell in here is absolutely abominable and the cause is not difficult to find: slap bang in the middle of the floor is the largest heap of luminous green monster manure you have ever seen. Fortunately the monster which deposited it doesn't seem to be about right now.

There are two exits from the cavern, one leading north to 183, the other leading northeast to 177. You may take either, or search the manure heap by going to 154.

Alternatively, you may return the way you came to 199.

Brennan loves his "sift through crap" options.

What now?

[Omegonthesane]

Pip's too old for this crap. North.

[Thaluikhain]

Half vote for searching manure.

In-universe I don't see a good reason for that, though.

[SGamerz]

North due to the full vote:

The bad news is this cave leads nowhere. The corridor you took brought you into a cavern with the only exit being the way you came in.

The good news is that this cave was once mined by somebody or other (perhaps the poor dwarves slaughtered at 199) and there are rich nuggets of gold lying all over the place.

Roll two dice and double the result to determine how many nuggets you find. Now roll again and multiply the result by 50 to find the value of each nugget.

When you have collected up your booty, your only option is to return to 162 and pick another option.

Dice roll = 4.

Number of nuggets found = 4x2 = 8

2nd dice roll = 6.

Value of each nugget = 6x50 = 300.

Assuming the unit value is in terms of gold pieces, Pip now has an additional 8x300 = 2400 GP!

Pip heads back to the previous junction where he can:

1) Go northeast.
2) Search the manure.
3) Backtrack further to the dwarf skeletons and go northwest.

[Omegonthesane]

That is some very random loot.

Northeast.

[Darth Rabbitt]

I'm a bit late to reply, but welcome to the forum, RogueOne!

Search the manure.

[SGamerz]

Tie in the votes, but fortunately, these aren't mutually exclusive choices.

Manure search first (since there was already another half-vote for it earlier):

Even your best friends wouldn't tell you how you smell right now. Searching a heap of monster manure is not a bowl of cherries. You pong to high heaven and your skin has turned the same luminous green as the manure. All in all, you are not a pretty sight. Worse still, the only thing you found under the manure was more manure. Now stop messing about and return to 162 where hopefully, you will make a more sensible decision about what to do next.

At least there's no harm done. Unless that green skin turns out to be the sign of being poisoned later....

Now to the northeast:

A dead-end cavern--and empty by the looks of it. What a long way to come for a grotty dead end. Still, you weren't the only one. Somebody has scrawled something on one of the walls.

You study the graffiti, frowning. It reads:

'The contents of the box are plain to see
But opening it requires great ingenuity.
Regard the rainbow. Note the order of its colours
Then follow them to make your choice, otherwise death
Awaits you.'

A dire warning and quite possibly helpful advice, except there is no box here. Or anything else for that matter.

Nothing else for it but to make your way back to 162 and pick another direction.

Nothing more at this junction. Do we want to backtrack to the skeletons and check out what's in the northwest?

[RogueOne]

One vote for northwest from the skeletons.

And thanks for the welcome everyone!

[Omegonthesane]

Agreed.

[SGamerz]

You reach another cavern with all the signs of having been cut out from the volcanic rock, or at least artificially enlarged. The floor of the cavern is strewn with rubble and rotting wooden props support the ceiling in half a dozen places. It does not, frankly, look terribly safe to cross.

Nor is it. In fact, this particular cavern is trouble all the way. As you step forward, a squat, heavily muscled Rock Thern emerges from the shadows and skeeters aggressively towards you. This creature, which stands about as tall as an armadillo (and looks vaguely like one) has only 15 LIFE POINTS, but heavy scales across its entire body surface form a natural armour which subtracts 6 full points from any damage caused by every blow scored against it. The Rock Thern is a slow fighter, so you will get in two blows for every one it can manage. As against that, it is extremely strong with a natural +5 on any damage it manages to score. The Thern hits successfully on 5.

As if all this were not bad enough, any fight in here is very liable to bring down the roof. For each blow struck, you should throw two dice. A score above three indicates the fight can go ahead safely (well, as safely as fights ever are). But a score of 2 or 3 indicates that you inadvertently knock out a roof prop. The resultant cave-in will send both you and the Thern to 14.

If you survive, the passage north leads to 191, the passage east to 199.

Ok, no way our dagger is going to work in this fight. Its -6 armour means that we can only deal 1 damage even if we roll a 12!

Do we use our sword (with which we get to attack twice for every attack it gets but have to roll above 9 to hurt it) or spear (which we can use to attack normally due to its slowness and only needs 8 or higher to deal damage) for this fight? Or do we try a spear-throw/sword combo and throw once every 3 rounds to aim for the +10 bonus?

[RogueOne]

Brennan has seen some very large armadillos! (Or perhaps this cave just has a really low ceiling).

That armour adjustment is nasty. Even our fine sword only does 3 damage if we roll a 12.

Using our spear in melee puts us nearly on par with the Thern, which we make up for with our higher LP. But I think we have slightly better odds going for the spear-throw/sword combo.

Can we start by striking twice with the poison stiletto, once with the sword, and then grind it out with the spear/sword combo (hoping it succumbs quickly to the poison)?

[Darth Rabbitt]

Can we start by striking twice with the poison stiletto, once with the sword, and then grind it out with the spear/sword combo (hoping it succumbs quickly to the poison)?

I like this plan, although I'd suggest chucking the spear immediately after poisoning it.

[RogueOne]

I like this plan, although I'd suggest chucking the spear immediately after poisoning it.

Ah, that's what I meant.

I should have specified: since the Thern moves slowly and allows us double hits on it, our first action would be 2 dagger swipes PLUS 1 sword swipe (since using the spear takes the full action, we wouldn't be able to use it if we first used the dagger).

[SGamerz]

Can we start by striking twice with the poison stiletto, once with the sword, and then grind it out with the spear/sword combo (hoping it succumbs quickly to the poison)?

Just in case you weren't aware, the way I've been interpreting the use of poison is that it's only inflicted if Pip actually does damage with the stiletto. Which means Pip can only poison the Rock Thern if he hits it by rolling a 12.

Obviously, the rule is open to interpretation (like most rules in this series....Brennan's not very good at hard-and-fast-rules), but that's the way I've been doing for the previous fights, since it made sense that the poison wouldn't enter the bloodstream if it fails to penetrate the armour.

So yes, we can try the strategy you suggest, but the odds of the poison working is very slim.

Also, keep in mind that for "each blow struck" we need to roll for possibility of insta-death cave-in.....

Pausing to see if you guys still want to try the stiletto.

[Omegonthesane]

Don't bother with plan poisoning if that's the logic, just throw-sword-sword on repeat.

[SGamerz]

Rock Thern rolls 5, Pip rolls 6. Pip goes first.

COMBAT LOG:

Pip throws his spear and rolls 4, missing.
Rock Thern rolls 6 and hits for 1+5-2 = 4 damage. (Armour check = 8 - doesn't shatter) Pip is at 44.
Cave-In check = 5 (safe).
Pip rolls 4 and misses.
Pip rolls 8 and hits for 2+3-6 = no damage. (Pip recovers spear)
Cave-In check = 6 (safe).
Rock Thern rolls 4 and misses.
Pip throws his spear and rolls 7, missing.
Rock Thern rolls 5 and hits for 0+5-2 = 3 damage. Pip is at 41.
Cave-In check = 8 (safe).
Pip rolls 3 and misses.
Pip rolls 10 and hits for 4+3-6 = 1 damage. Rock Thern is at 14. (Pip recovers spear)
Cave-In check = 4 (safe).
Pip throws his spear and rolls 11, hitting for 3+10-6 = 7 damage! Rock Thern is at 7.
Cave-In check = 7 (safe).
Rock Thern rolls 5 and hits for 0+5-2 = 3 damage. Pip is at 38.
Cave-In check = 6 (safe).
Pip rolls 11 and hits for 5+3-6 = 2 damage. Rock Thern is at 5 and is knocked out.

A couple of close calls with the cave-in checks, but Pip survived.

There's the option to backtrack here, but I guess you guys will want to proceed.....

There is a curious echo in this cavern, as if somebody was whispering to you: 'Go back... go back... go back...'

The cavern is, however, empty, so you may well decide to ignore the advice.

Exit tunnels from the cavern lead to 169 and 101.

......but do we want to heed this warning, or continue?

[Omegonthesane]

FORWARD!

[RogueOne]

Second attempt to get us to turn back??

Onwards!!

[Thaluikhain]

Forwards

[SGamerz]

B* Special

You can see you are in trouble the moment you enter this cavern. (And you can guess what it was that slaughtered those mining dwarves.) No wonder they call this Dragon Island, for while the creature is definitely not a dragon, it might easily be mistaken for one by an adventurer less experienced than yourself. The body is fully eighteen feet long, weighing perhaps thirty tons and ending in a scaly tail. The head, small in proportion, is nonetheless bigger than a horse's head and the mouth is remarkable well equipped with six-inch fangs. One glance is enough to tell you that you are facing something quite impossible, a Tyrannosaurus Rex!

All the books insist this most vicious of all dinosaurs became extinct millions of years ago, yet here one this one is, large as life and twice as nasty.

There is, however, a small chance that it might be asleep when you enter, since even the large lizards seem to kip a lot. Throw two dice. Score 9 or better and you can creep past (this time!) without disturbing it. Score anything else and your troubles are only starting.

The Tyrannosaurus Rex will not give a Friendly Reaction in any circumstances, but it is open to Bribery of a sort. You can offer everything you have with the sole exception of any tiny golden keys you may be carrying. This offer must include all weapons, booty, magical scrolls etc. you have collected. If the Tyrannosaurus accepts, you may leave its cavern by either of the passages leading to 191 or 115. If it refuses, you will have to fight it without magic or weapons.

Should this disaster actually come to a fight, you may as well know the Tyrannosaurus has 80 LIFE POINTS, strikes successfully on a roll of 4 or better, causes +7 damage on a successful hit and has such a thick hide that it acts as -5 armour. Losing the fight will, of course, send you to 14.

Note: If you do not succeed in killing this creature the first time around, it will be waiting should you return this way.

Crap....

Let's see if it's awake:

Dice roll = 11!

Thankfully, we don't have to fight it...this time.

Do we still want to proceed forward? We had to backtrack from the path from the skeletons, so there's a chance that we might have to pass through this section again on our way out if we press ahead now.

Or should we backtrack for now and come back later when we find something that can help us in this sort of fight?[/b]