The Gaming Den

Yeah, Essence of Expertise sounds like it might restore skill, and ours doesn't need restoring, so Infusion of Fate.

The Infusion of Fate is a Potion of Fortune. Add 1 to your Initial Luck and then restore your current Luck to that number.

Drink the Essence of Expertise?
Leave the wizard's cell?

Name: Bonnie Blood
Sex: Female
Age: 22
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 17/20
Luck: 11/11
Weapon: Sword
Backpack contents: Lantern, Tinderbox, Shark's Teeth Bracelet, Magic Compass, Rope, 3 Gas Globes (when you choose to smash one before an enemy at the start of a battle, that enemy fights the battle with a -2 Attack Strength, provided they are not immune; Undead, Demons, and magical creatures are immune), Throwing Dagger (Test Skill before a fight to do 2 damage), Crab Doubloon, 8 Meals, candle, 2 dice, burned letter, diamond necklace, Bottle of Rum (+4 Stamina), Map of Bone Island
Spells: Insect Repellent (will repel any number of insects of any size for the duration of one encounter; inflicts 2 damage on caster when cast)
Gold Pieces: 38
Time Elapsed: 7 Hours

I vote to leave the Wizard's cell, as I don't think the Essence will be helpful to a Skill 12 player.

Agreed.

Yeah, at best likely useless, at worst it's a trap. Quit while ahead and leave.

Chopping your way onwards through the sweltering jungle, you become lulled into a false sense of security. Slowly you are alerted to the presence of something moving in the trees above you. You freeze and look up into the canopy. There, clinging to the branches by its eight legs, is a monstrous, red spider with a scorpion's tail and sting arched over its back. The spider-scorpion hybrid instantly shoots a sticky silk-like substance from its mouth directly at you. Test your Skill; a 7 succeeds.

You dodge the silk strand, throwing yourself out of the way at the last second. Having wasted its spit attack, the Scarachna drops down from the trees and advancs on you, trying to bite you with its mandibles and sting you with its tail.

SCARACHNA Skill 11 Stamina 12

If the Scarachna wins an Attack Round, roll one die. If you roll a 6 something will happen. If the Scarachna reaches 7 Stamina something will happen. Vote on whether and how to use Luck accordingly.

(Neither a scorpion nor a spider is an insect.)

Name: Bonnie Blood
Sex: Female
Age: 22
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 17/20
Luck: 11/11
Weapon: Sword
Backpack contents: Lantern, Tinderbox, Shark's Teeth Bracelet, Magic Compass, Rope, 3 Gas Globes (when you choose to smash one before an enemy at the start of a battle, that enemy fights the battle with a -2 Attack Strength, provided they are not immune; Undead, Demons, and magical creatures are immune), Throwing Dagger (Test Skill before a fight to do 2 damage), Crab Doubloon, 8 Meals, candle, 2 dice, burned letter, diamond necklace, Bottle of Rum (+4 Stamina), Map of Bone Island
Spells: Insect Repellent (will repel any number of insects of any size for the duration of one encounter; inflicts 2 damage on caster when cast)
Gold Pieces: 38
Time Elapsed: 7 Hours

I vote to use luck to deal extra damage once.

Sure, let’s try that.

I wonder is using a gas globe is worth it, it has almost as much skill and I don't like the roll 6 when it hits thing.

Use luck to increase damage, though. If we can use our throwing dagger (it sounds like it pounced us) we might get it down to less than 7 stamina before it hits us.

Throwing Dagger does 2 damage to Scarachna.
Round One: Bonnie Blood 19, Scarachna 16, Luck Test Succeeds with a 5. Scarachna's Stamina is 6.

Finding you more of a challenge than its usual prey the Scarachna desists from its attack and retreats back into the jungle canopy leaving you free to continue yow trek unhindered.

The Scarachna did not sting you, and you don't have poison antidote anyway.

It is about time you decided exactly where you are going. At present you are travelling in an easterly direction. Consulting your map of Bone Island again, will you:

Continue east?
Head southeast?
Change course and go southwards?

Name: Bonnie Blood
Sex: Female
Age: 22
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 17/20
Luck: 10/11
Weapon: Sword
Backpack contents: Lantern, Tinderbox, Shark's Teeth Bracelet, Magic Compass, Rope, 3 Gas Globes (when you choose to smash one before an enemy at the start of a battle, that enemy fights the battle with a -2 Attack Strength, provided they are not immune; Undead, Demons, and magical creatures are immune), Throwing Dagger (Test Skill before a fight to do 2 damage), Crab Doubloon, 8 Meals, candle, 2 dice, burned letter, diamond necklace, Bottle of Rum (+4 Stamina), Map of Bone Island
Spells: Insect Repellent (will repel any number of insects of any size for the duration of one encounter; inflicts 2 damage on caster when cast)
Gold Pieces: 38
Time Elapsed: 7 Hours

I vote to change course and go southwards.

The tropical environment of the island is very different to the northerly, wind-lashed Port of Crabs. The day drags on as you stagger through the jungle, your clothes soaked with sweat. Entering a low valley, you come upon a scene of utter devastation. In a large clearing lies what is left of a tribespeople's village. The place has been razed to the ground and a deathly silence hangs over the place.

Quickly pass through the ruined village?
Pause to explore it?

Name: Bonnie Blood
Sex: Female
Age: 22
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 17/20
Luck: 10/11
Weapon: Sword
Backpack contents: Lantern, Tinderbox, Shark's Teeth Bracelet, Magic Compass, Rope, 3 Gas Globes (when you choose to smash one before an enemy at the start of a battle, that enemy fights the battle with a -2 Attack Strength, provided they are not immune; Undead, Demons, and magical creatures are immune), Throwing Dagger (Test Skill before a fight to do 2 damage), Crab Doubloon, 8 Meals, candle, 2 dice, burned letter, diamond necklace, Bottle of Rum (+4 Stamina), Map of Bone Island
Spells: Insect Repellent (will repel any number of insects of any size for the duration of one encounter; inflicts 2 damage on caster when cast)
Gold Pieces: 38
Time Elapsed: 7 Hours

Explore.

I vote to quickly pass through the ruined village, as I still remember what happened to King Arthur when he visited a ruined village in Masks of Mayhem.

Pause to explore.

Searching through the wreckage of the devastated buildings, you find nothing that has not been broken and destroyed. The curious thing is that there are no bodies among the destruction and no sign of the villagers in the surrounding jungle. Puzzled, you set off again south.

The trees soon begin to thin and in no time at all you find yourself at the edge of an expanse of marshland. The swamp is formed by a river delta where it meets the sea. As it is the only way onwards, you set off across it, wary of predatory swamp creatures. The going is quite easy through the marsh and, as dusk falls, you have almost reached dry land again. With the ground underfoot becoming firmer with every step you hear a loud buzzing getting closer too. And then the huge insect is there in front of you, its proboscis glistening with poison as it jabs at you. You must fight the Giant Mosquito.

GIANT MOSQUITO SKILL 7 STAMINA 6

Well, "you must fight it" is in fact quite wrong as it is an insect. The question is, do you want to cast Insect Repellant, taking two damage rather than fighting it? If it wins an Attack Round something will happen; vote accordingly (and on whether/how to use Luck if you choose to fight the big bug).

Name: Bonnie Blood
Sex: Female
Age: 22
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 17/20
Luck: 10/11
Weapon: Sword
Backpack contents: Lantern, Tinderbox, Shark's Teeth Bracelet, Magic Compass, Rope, 3 Gas Globes (when you choose to smash one before an enemy at the start of a battle, that enemy fights the battle with a -2 Attack Strength, provided they are not immune; Undead, Demons, and magical creatures are immune), Throwing Dagger (Test Skill before a fight to do 2 damage), Crab Doubloon, 8 Meals, candle, 2 dice, burned letter, diamond necklace, Bottle of Rum (+4 Stamina), Map of Bone Island
Spells: Insect Repellent (will repel any number of insects of any size for the duration of one encounter; inflicts 2 damage on caster when cast)
Gold Pieces: 38
Time Elapsed: 7 Hours

Fight it. I don’t think we need luck because our skill is 12.

I vote to fight it in the normal way as well.

Fight it, though I don't like that something happens if it wins a round.

You throw the dagger, doing 2 damage.

Bonnie Blood Attack Strength: 17, GIANT MOSQUITO Attack Strength: 14. GIANT MOSQUITO's Stamina is 2
Bonnie Blood Attack Strength: 18, GIANT MOSQUITO Attack Strength: 19.

You do not have antitoxin.

The Mosquito is carrying an accelerated and deadly form of malaria. Your death is agonizing, but fortunately not long.

Rewinding...

(While some earlier choices would be more optimal, they would require refighting some deadly fights, notably the great white shark and the scarachna, so I'll rewind only one step.)

Bonnie casts Insect Repellent, reflecting that it would be truly ironic to die here knowing that spell.

Regain 1 Luck point for avoiding the mosquito's deadly stinger. Safely out of the marsh at last, you settle down to sleep under the stars. After your encounter with the mosquito the night passes peacefully and you wake the next day feeling refreshed. (Regain 2 Stamina points.) Keen to find the pirates, you set off again at a brisk pace and soon enter a range of low, scrub-covered hills. Progressing further, you hear laughter coming from behind one outcrop. Climbing to the top you look down and are surprised to see a roughly made shelter. Dancing around in front of it, chuckling to himself, is a skinny old man with a long straggly white beard and large straw hat. His clothes are tattered and tom and he looks like he might originally have come from the Old World. Looking up he sees you and calls out, 'Ho, stranger! Lovely weather for the time of year.' The man then bursts out laughing again: he is obviously totally mad! 'You'll be looking for Blackscar's treasure then.' What is the old lunatic whittering on about?

Press him about the treasure?
Ask him about the island and its inhabitants?
Leave him to his ravings and explore the hills?

Name: Bonnie Blood
Sex: Female
Age: 22
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 17/20
Luck: 11/11
Weapon: Sword
Backpack contents: Lantern, Tinderbox, Shark's Teeth Bracelet, Magic Compass, Rope, 3 Gas Globes (when you choose to smash one before an enemy at the start of a battle, that enemy fights the battle with a -2 Attack Strength, provided they are not immune; Undead, Demons, and magical creatures are immune), Throwing Dagger (Test Skill before a fight to do 2 damage), Crab Doubloon, 8 Meals, candle, 2 dice, burned letter, diamond necklace, Bottle of Rum (+4 Stamina), Map of Bone Island
Spells: Insect Repellent (will repel any number of insects of any size for the duration of one encounter; inflicts 2 damage on caster when cast)
Gold Pieces: 38
Time Elapsed: 7 Hours
Deaths: Contracted fast-acting malaria from a giant mosquito

Treasure.

Also, how quickly are those malarial parasites breeding???

I vote to press him about the treasure.

Ask about treasure.

'I won't say any more unless you give old Scrimshaw a present,' the man says, giggling. He will accept any special items or artefacts you may have, including Grog or Rum, but not Provisions or Gold Pieces.

Give him something (vote on what)?
Do not?

Name: Bonnie Blood
Sex: Female
Age: 22
Skill: 12/12
Stamina: 17/20
Luck: 11/11
Weapon: Sword
Backpack contents: Lantern, Tinderbox, Shark's Teeth Bracelet, Magic Compass, Rope, 3 Gas Globes (when you choose to smash one before an enemy at the start of a battle, that enemy fights the battle with a -2 Attack Strength, provided they are not immune; Undead, Demons, and magical creatures are immune), Throwing Dagger (Test Skill before a fight to do 2 damage), Crab Doubloon, 8 Meals, candle, 2 dice, burned letter, diamond necklace, Bottle of Rum (+4 Stamina), Map of Bone Island
Spells: Insect Repellent (will repel any number of insects of any size for the duration of one encounter; inflicts 2 damage on caster when cast)
Gold Pieces: 38
Time Elapsed: 7 Hours
Deaths: Contracted fast-acting malaria from a giant mosquito