The Gaming Den

THE LEGENDS OF SKYFALL

Monsters of the Marsh

The planet of Skyfall is lush, beautiful - and untamed. The humans who have settled there only control small areas of this fabulous land. Vast tracts of forest, desert and mountain are inhabited by unknown tribes and fantastic creatures. Even within the borders of Delta, your own country on the shores of the Sea of Storms, there lives a race of intelligent and dangerous animals that capture and kill travellers in armed raids. Their home is in the huge swamps of the Deltan interior.

You are a young adventurer of Skyfall. Your father has vanished on a river trip through the dreaded marshes. You must set out on a journey to discover his fate, and confront the monsters that await you in the grim swamps.

In the Skyfall series of Advanced Fantasy gamebooks, you must immerse yourself in the exciting world of your character. If you reason logically from the information given to you at each turn of the plot, your chances of succeeding in your mission will be greater.

No dice-rolling is needed to play this book. Instead, a unique, quick and convenient game system using the heads and tails of coins has been introduced.

Are you ready for Skyfall and the monsters of the marsh!

Take up the challenge and prepare for adventure!

Skyfall

The kingdom of Delta is the setting for all the adventures in this series. It lies in the northern hemisphere of a planet far from our own where refugees from an exhausted and ravaged Terra survived the crash-landing of their colony ship thousands of years ago. They named the planet Skyfall, but although some Terran names survive, no one now remembers their origins.

The humans are not alone on Skyfall, although they have multiplied until they now outnumber the other intelligent races. Some of these live in peace and harmony with humans, while others are distinctly antagonistic. Almost all science has been lost over the centuries, but Magic has developed to take its place. And Magic, in Delta, is of three types.

Arcane magic, the most spectacular, is learned at great personal cost by Magicians, Sorcerors, Warlocks and Necromancers who undertake a life-long search for knowledge. Although many settle for a living by entertaining the public with simple illusions and harmless spells, a few survive the perils of meddling with the occult to master spells that make even Kings tremble at their power.

Clerical magic, mainly of the healing and supportive type, is practised by priests and bishops of the various religions flourishing amongst the human and non-human inhabitants. The village priest combines the duties of spiritual leader and doctor.

Druidical magic is quite rare and its proponents tend to live in the depths of the forests or similar lonely areas. The Druids have amazing powers over animals and all types of plants, including crops, and are fiercely protective of them.

Although the human colonists brought the flora and fauna of Terra with them, many species could not survive on Skyfall and are now extinct. In some cases, however, local plants and animals have been given Terran names due to some real or imagined similarity to the original. Of the forest trees, only the oak, ash and holly flourish on Skyfall, and are accorded considerable reverence by the Druids as a result.

One notable difference between Skyfall and Terra is the absence of a moon. Nights, as a result, are dark and fearsome times when wise folk stay indoors or close to a camp-fire. There are no tides, and winds and weather are stable and predictable.

In Delta, this has helped the development of the Doone River as the major commerce route of the country. Barges ply regularly between the main port of Starport and the capital at Tan-Delta, using the current for the downstream journey. Going upstream, the prevailing south-west wind enables them to sail through the Dunmarsh, and for the remainder of the journey they are horse-drawn.

Delta is a rich and fertile country, bordered by mountains to east and west, the Sea of Storms to the south and, a few hundred miles to the north, by the great icefields. Other settled regions lie mainly across the sea, but there are civilized countries beyond the lands of the Barbarians to the east and some hundreds of miles to the west, across the Great Void Desert. The area between Lake Fraki and the icefields is mainly tundra, roamed by animals and non-human tribes of low intelligence.

Delta is self-sufficient in food, wool and timber, but must export the gems and precious metals from its mines to obtain the iron, copper and luxury items, like silks and scents, wines and spirits which it does not produce.

Life has been good for the Deltans, and Starport is a prosperous town, with none doing better than the barge-owners.


2H means 'toss the coin twice and count the number of heads'. (0, 1 or 2)
3T means 'toss the coin three times and count the number of tails'. (0, 1, 2 or 3)
4H-T means 'toss the coin four times, count the number of heads and deduct the number of tails'. (The resulting number could be anything from +4 to -4)

Usually the result of coin-tossing will modify another score, for instance:
E+4H means 'toss the coin four times, count the number of heads and add that number to your Expertise score'.
10+4H-T means 'toss the coin four times; count the number of heads and add that number to 10, then subtract the number of tails for your answer'
(the result here could be 6, 8, 10, 12 or 14).

Combat
Inevitably, during your quest, you will have to fight evil creatures which oppose you or stand in your way. The combat procedure is very simple and runs in well-defined steps:

STEP 1: Is SURPRISE indicated in the text? If not, go straight to STEP 2. If so, 3T is subtracted from the defender's E score (the defender is the one being surprised!) for the first round of combat. Then go to STEP2.

STEP 2: Evaluate E + 4H for yourself, then E + 4H for your opponent. If your result is greater than your opponent's, go to STEP 3. If your opponent's result is greater than yours, go to STEP 4. If the two results are equal, ignore them and start STEP 2 again. (This procedure may occasionally be varied in the text if you are fighting a group of monsters.)

STEP 3: You have hit your opponent; subtract your normal weapon damage from your opponent's V score. If you wish, you may spend one Fortune (not more) to do one more damage. Then go to STEP 5.

STEP 4: Your opponent has hit you; subtract the appropriate number of Damage Points (given in the text) from your V score. If you wish, you may spend as much Fortune as you like to take one less damage per Fortune point spent; this will be automatic if the hit would otherwise kill you and you have Fortune greater than 0. If you reduce a hit's damage to 0 you no longer count as having been hit. Then go to STEP 5.

STEP 5: If you or your opponent is dead, that is the end of the combat, otherwise return to STEP 2 and repeat the procedure. Each series of five steps represents one round of combat. As soon as your opponent's V score reaches 0, you have killed it and combat is over. If your V score reaches 0, your character is dead (and I'll rewind to somewhere you had a chance to complete the adventure).

Weapon Damage

A dagger does 1 Point of Damage when it hits, and a sword 2 Points. Other weapons, and animals attacking with tooth and claw, will do damage as detailed in the text.

You always start an adventure with your Sword, a Dagger and a light leather backpack containing enough provisions (food and drink) for two days. You also have fifty feet of rope, some torches, flint, steel, and a tinderbox.

You also have three draughts of a Potion of Healing at the start of your adventure. One draught may be taken at any time (except during combat) and will heal up to 8 damage.

When the text gives you the option to eat, you may do so, reducing your Provisions by 1 day's worth and healing up to 4 damage. Apparently humans on Skyfall have mutated to eat one huge meal a day. You cannot eat multiple days' worth of food at one time.

When traveling overland, each day you automatically eat one day's Provisions, and spend 14 hours traveling. The other 10 hours go to sleeping, eating. etc.

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Okay so. This is a four-book gamebook series which, as far as I can tell, hasn't been played here before. It uses coins as effectively two-sided dice. The book acknowledges that some people can make a coin land on whichever side they want and cautions the reader that the flips are supposed to be random; as I'll be using a random number generator instead of actually flipping a coin that's not a concern.

You have three stats: Expertise, which is used in combat. Vitality, which is your health. Fortune, which is similar to Luck in Fighting Fantasy gamebooks except that it is spent rather than rolled. That is, a given passage will say something like, "Something happens that could be good or bad depending on your luck. Do you have the ability and desire to spend two Fortune points to get the good result? If so, reduce your Fortune by 2 and turn to [passage where the good result happens], if not turn to [passage where the bad result happens]."

Expertise: 12 to start, can change infinitely in either direction
Vitality: 20 to start and at maximum; if it reaches 0 you're dead
Fortune: 10+3H-T to start, can change infinitely up or down to 0; starting roll is (HTT) 9 Your senses sound an alarm as soon as you land at the docks in Starport. Things have changed in the months of your absence from the city, and not for the better. The dock area has never been so quiet, with knots of men standing around conversing quietly instead of working on the river barges which lie largely empty and deserted at the quays.

When you left for a winter's adventuring in the wanner lands of Skyfall to the South, the docks wore the same bustling, hectic air you had known all your life, for your father's business is shipping goods to and from the interior of Delta on his small fleet of river barges. Now you have returned to spend the late summer with him, only to find this puzzling change.

Some of the idlers are well known to you, but when you move towards them they turn away to engage someone else in conversation, or pointedly avoid your glance. Eventually you spot a close friend who looks dismayed to see you, but reluctantly halts his hurried departure at your hail. A few questions soon reveal a sinister and tragic state of affairs.

Several barges, with their crews and cargoes, have disappeared without trace in the last two months, and all within the Dunmarsh area. They were making the journey down the great Doone River from trading posts in the northern territories. At first the losses were put down to natural disasters, but a disturbing pattern soon emerged - barges carrying relatively mundane cargoes were being ignored, even if they were manned only by the bargees, but valuable cargoes have been disappearing regularly. Now anyone trying to gain safe passage for a barge carrying costly goods to or from Starport has to man it with so large a force of guards that virtually all the expected profit is exhausted by the increased wage bill.

Most of the missing barges were on the downstream run. One carried valuable timbers - ebony and sandalwood; one was loaded with hides and casks of salted meat; another carried almost the entire winter's output of the snowfox trappers' trading posts, and three more were loaded with ores of platinum, gold and gemstones. Only two barges on the inward route have been affected so far, but these, too, were valuable; one, the first barge to vanish, bore a consignment of new weapons for the Royal Armoury, while the second, manned with a dozen guards, bore in supposed secrecy twenty chests of newly-minted gold pieces for the Deltan Treasury! It is obvious that there is some form of intelligent organisation at the root of all this, but so far no-one has discovered a single clue.

There have been occasional skirmishes with the Marsh creatures in the past — small bands of Lizardmen or Frogmen have tried to board barges from time to time, but their lack of weapons and organisation has always prevented success. One or two proficient armed guards are considered sufficient protection, and the barge crews themselves are tough and able fighters. Throughout this narrative you sense that your friend is in some way being evasive and holding back some information, but you cannot pin him down. Eventually he excuses himself and leaves you to stroll pensively along the quay and into the residential area of Starport.

You recall that all river traffic is controlled by the Guild of Bargemasters, of which your father Kandow is a respected and senior member. Quite apart from the sorrow caused by the loss of the crewmen and guards, these recent developments will be causing serious business problems for the Guild and local traders. Anxious to learn how your father's business has fared, you go directly towards your home without stopping to pass further time of day with friends and acquaintances. When you get there, the house is shut! On enquiring at your neighbour's house you are horrified to learn that Kandow himself disappeared with one of his ore-barges ten days ago. The neighbours locked the house for safety and now give you the key. Now you know what your friend was keeping from you - he could not bring himself to tell you of your father's disappearance. You thank your neighbours and return to the empty house. Sadness and anger intermingle in your thoughts as you sit staring at the ashes in the hearth of your home. The Guild's troubles have suddenly become your own per sonal problem. As you eat a lonely and apparently tasteless meal, you resolve to do something about it.

Methodically you go through the motions of tidying up after your meal, all the time thinking hard about your future actions. You must go to the rescue of your father, of that you have no doubt, and it seems likely that the mystery of the barge disappearances can be solved if you are successful.

Evening is drawing in, and you decide to start your quest tomorrow, after what may well prove your last chance of a good night's rest in a proper bed for some time.

Your actions tomorrow will depend on a decision you will have to make during the night.

Set out on a secret search of the Dunmarsh on your own without informing anyone?
See if the Guild of Bargemasters can provide any information or assistance?

Also, vote on sex and name for your character.


Name: ?????
Sex: ?????
Expertise: 12
Vitality: 20/20
Fortune: 9
Equipment: Sword, dagger, fifty feet of rope, some torches, flint, steel, tinderbox, 3 doses Potion of Healing (+8 Vitality).
Provisions: 2 days

We've played as a woman of late, but historically I think men were still more common, so I think we should be a woman this time, too. If our father's name is Kandow our name should be something similarly 'fantasy'. I suggest 'Galdra'.

First, I vote to talk to the Guild of Bargemasters, since information is probably vital, and any assistance will be appreciated.

Since the adventure involves Skyfall, I vote for either Andrew Bond if our hero is a man, or Monique Bond if our hero is a woman to pay tribute to one of the better movies of the last decade.

I vote for our hero to be male this time.

Talking to the Guild is my vote, too. I have no objection to JourneymanN00b's suggestions. We can go with that.

You are aware that those members of the Guild in town usually meet in their Hall shortly before lunch on working days, so you rise late the next morning, breakfast leisurely and, looking your smartest, present yourself to the half-dozen Bargemasters present at the meeting.

They duly sympathize over your loss and are interested to learn of your proposed quest. They urge caution as (you learn) a well-armed group of experienced fighting men accompanied by a Magician had already been hired for a similar mission. Since they set off into the Dunmarsh in a swift-oared craft over two weeks ago nothing more has been heard from them.

As they know you well they are prepared to give you one further piece of information. The next barge-load of valuable ores is about to start downriver from the capital, Tan-Delta, on board the Sultan's Favourite with a heavily armed escort and two Magicians. If you leave soon you would be able to meet it at Howard's Crossing on the other side of the Dunmarsh, and either follow it or join the guards.

Say you wish to join the guards, after which the Guild will give you a letter of authority and arrange passage to Howard's Crossing on another barge which is due to set off upriver this afternoon?
Say you wish to play a lone hand, after which the Guild will provide and equip a sturdy canoe for your use?

Name: ?????
Sex: ?????
Expertise: 12
Vitality: 20/20
Fortune: 9
Equipment: Sword, dagger, fifty feet of rope, some torches, flint, steel, tinderbox, 3 doses Potion of Healing (+8 Vitality).
Provisions: 2 days

Join the guards.

I vote to join the guards.

Joining the guards seems safer.

Soon after lunch you board the Pride of Starport at the main quay, for the journey upstream to Howard's Crossing. You carry your normal equipment and are interested to see that all the crewmen and passengers are also carrying arms. And not just the usual ornamental daggers. Swords and axes are much in evidence, and one cowled figure, probably a monk, carries a massive morningstar.

The other passengers are a portly, middle-aged merchant; his younger wife; a youth scarcely out of his teens, with a wispy beard and a small sickle strapped to his pack, probably indicating a druid; and two soldiers in the uniform of the Margrave of Syrania, whose lands lie to the South across the Sea of Storms. These latter two keep themselves apart from the rest of you during the journey.

Most barges would set off earlier in the day, wishing to make the halfway moorings by nightfall, but the Pride of Starport is a new boat with larger sails and a clean bottom, and is quite the fastest barge on the river. Even so, darkness has descended on the Doone before you see the twinkle of cooking fires on the shore and the riding lights of the few moored barges up ahead.

The halfway point on the journey along the Doone between Howard's Crossing and Starport is fortunately marked by one of the few stretches of firm ground within the Dunmarsh. Even in peaceful times few Bargemasters care to travel at night in the marsh, if only for fear of running aground. This stretch, commonly referred to simply as 'Halfway House' has, therefore, become the customary overnight stopping point for craft on both their up and downstream journeys.

Tonight there are only four barges before your arrival. Two of those are coming down the river, and you find an opportunity to talk to their masters during the next hour. There have been no new developments of interest, and it is now nearly three weeks since the last barge was lost. One or two voices suggest hopefully that the danger may be past.

The night passes without incident and the next day the journey is resumed. Again the barge makes good time, soon leaving behind the other two heading upstream, and you reach Howard's Crossing in the late afternoon.

Howard's Crossing seems to have grown every time you see it. As well as a regular night-time stopping point for the river barges, it is quite a riverport in its own right. There are stockyards up river where the herds driven overland from the Pola River Valley are held before being processed through the slaughterhouse, and two timber yards where timber is delivered after a long haul around the Dunmarsh from Centaur Forest. The town boasts several inns and a particularly prosperous-looking (and stoutly built) bank.

There are several boat yards with a variety of craft for hire.

Acquire and provision a craft for a solitary investigation of the marsh, and set out?
Await the arrival of the Sultan's Favorite, due later today?

Name: ?????
Sex: ?????
Expertise: 12
Vitality: 20/20
Fortune: 9
Equipment: Sword, dagger, fifty feet of rope, some torches, flint, steel, tinderbox, 3 doses Potion of Healing (+8 Vitality).
Provisions: 2 days

Await the Sultan's Favorite

Sultan's Favorite sounds like a juicy target that will not make it. Waiting to find out seems wise.

I vote to wait for the Sultan's Favorite.

You decide to have your evening meal early, and are at the waterside to meet the Sultan's Favourite as she arrives shortly before dusk. Several armed men are on deck and they regard you with some suspicion.

When a gang-plank is produced and you move to board, swords are swiftly drawn and a call brings others from the deck house, among them an elderly but fit looking Elf with a wand held ready . . . obviously a magic user of some kind.

You produce your letter of introduction and the bargemaster comes forward to examine it and confirm your credentials. Most of those on the barge relax, though one or two still look doubtful, probably wondering what special talents you have to make your presence worthwhile.

The present guards and crew intend to stay aboard tonight, and they plan to cast off for the first part of the downstream journey through the Dunmarsh soon after first light tomorrow.

Whether you spend the night onboard or at an inn is immaterial, but the next morning you have a decision to make.

Travel aboard the Sultan's Favorite?
Trail the barge in a canoe?
Take a canoe separately?

Name: Andrew Bond
Sex: Male
Expertise: 12
Vitality: 20/20
Fortune: 9
Equipment: Sword, dagger, fifty feet of rope, some torches, flint, steel, tinderbox, 3 doses Potion of Healing (+8 Vitality).
Provisions: 2 days

I vote to travel aboard the Sultan’s Favorite.

Traveling with the ship guarantees we'll be there when the shit hits the fan. That could be really bad (like everyone falls asleep, no save), but missing the action would be bad, too. I vote we travel with the ship.

Travel on the ship.

You opt to follow in the footsteps where a number of people, including a dozen guards on one ship, disappeared without a trace, hopefully protected by plot armor.

The Sultan's Favourite drifts easily down the Doone, which seems particularly full and swiftly flowing today. The master tells you that all the signs indicated a storm was due further upriver yesterday, and that probably explains the state of the river today.

You are soon floating between the familiar muddy banks of the Dunmarsh, with the dreary fens extending as far as you can see beyond. Tributary streams are passed to right and left and shortly after midday you are approaching another on the right, when several of the fighting-men aboard start fidgeting.

Exclamations of annoyance give way to cries of alarm, and soon they are struggling with the buckles and straps of their armour. As you and the other unaffected people aboard go to their assistance you notice that all those in trouble are wearing chain mail hauberks. These are getting hotter by the minute, hot enough to blister skin and cause cloth and leather in contact to start smouldering. One unfortunate has a sheet-metal plastron beneath his hauberk and, maddened by the pain, he tears himself free and plunges overboard, disappearing immediately beneath the surface leaving only a wisp of steam to mark his passing.

As you debate whether to dive to his assistance or continue aiding those aboard, you become aware that some of your own equipment, notably your leather belt and sword and dagger scabbards, are also beginning to smoulder.

Wincing from the pain of scorched fingers, you throw off your belt and weapons. Before you can turn back to the assistance of your less fortunate colleagues, you are engulfed in a swarm of stinging insects which appears from nowhere to cover the barge and its occupants. Blinded and scarcely able to breathe, you blunder towards the deck house, but quickly become aware that the barge has been boarded. Large forms loom out of the swirling cloud of insects around you, and you are beaten to the deck. In short order your arms and legs are bound and, as quickly as it appeared, the swarm of insects vanishes again.

You are able to crane your neck enough to see that most of your companions are similarly bound, although a few, including both magic users, appear to be dead.

This, I regret to say, forms the end of the adventure for you this time. Captured by the marsh creatures you will endure an unpleasant voyage, a short, hard life of slavery and an early death. Salvation can only come from the efforts of another adventurer.

This gamebook series does not believe in plot armor.

Rewinding...

Set out on a secret search of the Dunmarsh on your own, without informing anyone?
Accept a canoe from the Guild of Bargemasters?
Hire a canoe in Howard's Crossing?
Set out in a canoe the same morning as the Sultan's Favorite, but separately?
Trail the Sultan's Favorite in a canoe?

Well, that death runs counter to the common “safety in numbers” concept. With no chance to save our hero, I believe this tragic end firmly falls into the “bullshit deaths” category.

I vote to accept a canoe from the Guild of Bargemasters.

Yeah, canoe. I thought it would be at least a little more interesting than 'rocks fall, you all die'.

Canoe.

Also, boo!

Four of the five options mention a canoe so that's less than edifying, but I'll take the second and third votes as supporting the entirety of the first one.

The canoe provided is a large one, with shallow draft but ample carrying capacity for an extended stay in the Marsh. Even with only one paddler it can easily maintain the four-miles-per-hour speed of the normal river barge. An added bonus is that you have grown up using such craft for outings and races with your friends, and are thoroughly familiar with them.

There is room for seven days' provision on board, plus the two days' supplies normally carried in your pack and you will also be able to take a bedroll, small canvas tent, change of clothing and, of course, your weapons.

By the end of the day all is assembled and stowed to your satisfaction. If you leave at dawn the next day you should be able to make the rendezvous at Howard's Crossing, so you are able to have one more night at home.

Your father's house stands facing his dock, on the other side of the road used by much of the dock traffic. This road runs along the edge of the quays, and you moor your loaded craft at the foot of a handy flight of step almost opposite your door.

Shortly after you have finished your meal, there is a soft knock at your door. When you answer it, you find a slim, slight figure standing at the door wearing a long cloak with a raised hood.

'I too seek the downfall of those who make the marsh a place of peril.' Your visitor's voice sounds feminine, but oddly accented, with sibilants particularly drawn out. You assume she must be foreign. As if to overcome your hesitation, the figure takes a half pace forward. 'I am a Druidess,' she declares, 'and the Guild feel our chances will be enhanced if we join forces'.

Invite her in?
Advise her brusquely that you are determined to undertake the quest alone and close the door?

Name: Andrew Bond
Sex: Male
Expertise: 12
Vitality: 20/20
Fortune: 9
Equipment: Sword, dagger, fifty feet of rope, some torches, flint, steel, tinderbox, 3 doses Potion of Healing (+8 Vitality).
Provisions: 9 days
Deaths: Captured as a slave and worked to death

Invite her in.

(And, oops, yeah, meant accepting canoe from Guild of Bargemasters)

Yes. Make alliance with mysterious druidess. Little surprised that they felt druid is a term that requires a gender specification. When was this published?

Sure, I vote to invite her in.

You open the door wider and admit the newcomer. The cloak is so long it trails on the ground as she walks, so that she almost appears to glide into the room.

Approaching the table, she produces a rolled parchment from under the cloak. 'Spread this out and I think you will see something interesting,' she says. You move to obey using various items to hold down what appears to be a map of the lower reaches of the Doone, as it flows through the Dunmarsh. As you are so engaged her other hand emerges from beneath the cloak and strikes at you with a long curved dagger.

You are forced into combat. Your opponent has Expertise 10, Vitality 6 and her dagger does 2 Points of Damage. For the first round of combat she has Surprise and you have no weapon; thereafter you are able to draw your own dagger and fight on even terms. (You do not wear your sword in the house!)

Her dagger, you notice, has a groove down the blade, smeared with what looks like a brown, greasy substance.

She will fight to the death. If she inflicts any damage on you, something will happen. As a reminder, each time you win a combat round you can spend 1 Fortune to inflict an extra point of damage on her, and each time she wins a combat round you can spend 1 Fortune to take 1 damage instead of 2, or spend 2 Fortune to take no damage at all. Pausing for votes on how to use Fortune.

Name: Andrew Bond
Sex: Male
Expertise: 12
Vitality: 20/20
Fortune: 9
Equipment: Sword, dagger, fifty feet of rope, some torches, flint, steel, tinderbox, 3 doses Potion of Healing (+8 Vitality).
Provisions: 9 days
Deaths: Captured as a slave and worked to death