Let's Play Fighting Fantasy #25: Beneath Nightmare Castle

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 7:03 am

Darth Rabbitt wrote:(Very well. I'll start it after we finish this LP.)

(I mean, if it's unfun, I can just play it myself and swear a lot. Forest of Doom first.)

Stab the lock.

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 7:47 am

put it in

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 4:07 pm

(OK, I'll run Forest of Doom. And Angel, I'd love to see that.)

The truncated trident almost crackles with energy as you insert one of its points into the keyhole. To your surprise, the lock begins to twist and sag, turning molten even though there is no source of heat. You push against the door and it opens a little. Replacing the head of the trident in your backpack, you grip your weapon and walk through the doorway.

(What weapon? We're unarmed. At least things are getting interesting again.)

A flight of stone steps leads downwards just inside the doorway. The first few steps are illuminated by the red glow from the passage, and far below you can make out the bottom of the stairway, dimly lit by a blue radiance spilling through a doorway. Most of the stairway is in complete darkness, and you descend carefully. Halfway down, at the darkest point, you halt in mid-stride: a voice is addressing you. 'Halt, stranger! State the name of my master or do not dare to approach me!' You cannot detect the source of the voice.

If you decide to say nothing and continue to tiptoe down the steps
If you reply, write down the name you choose to call out

(If you want to reply to the authoritative disembodied voice, also post the name you want to reply with.)

MisterDee · Post by **MisterDee** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 4:38 pm

Reply "Oiden". Maybe this is the lost priest?

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Fri Jan 10, 2014 8:18 pm

I don't like that the voice sounds authoritative on the stairs suspended above the void. Therefore Xakhaz.

I also don't like that we're descending, because we were explicitly told to find the Talisman of Lulz before going to the lower caverns. Would it have hurt to implement an "oh shit a staircase let's try another door"?

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:40 am

(What's funny is that we're tied between the two answers that have unique effects. I'll roll to break the tie. Odd is Oiden, even is Xakhaz. Rolled 6, we say Xakhaz.)

Before the echoes of your cry have died away, the staircase is flooded with light. Small crystals set in crevices in the rock wall are glowing brightly. There is one very near you, level with your left shoulder.

If you want to pry it from its place
If you would rather continue down the steps

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 6:10 am

Continue. Greyhawking is for Greyhawk.

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 6:40 am

Pry it

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 7:51 am

We're impersonating an evil cultist AND we already have two sources of light. We don't need evil LEDs.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 12:12 pm

As you near the bottom of the stairway, you can see that one of the steps is different from all the others. It is not carved out of the surrounding rock, but from stone that gleams in the light of the glowing crystals. You avoid stepping on it and continue to the end of the stairs. Restore 1 point of LUCK, if you need to, for evading a particularly unpleasant trap.

At the foot of the staircase is an open doorway through which you can see into a small chamber. The blue light that fills the room emanates from within an open-topped stone sarcophagus that lies in the middle of the floor. As you approach you see that there is a skeleton in the open tomb; across its ribs rests a length of blue metal, intricately wrought with bulbous protuberances and strange engravings. It is from this that the pale light pulses.

If you decide to snatch it from the coffin
If you think it would be prudent to dismember the skeleton first

Adventure Sheet
Holden McGroin, a.k.a Fukkerjack
SKILL 9/11 (until another weapon is found)
STAMINA 19/19
LUCK 9/9
WILLPOWER 9/11
Equipment: Armor, Three-Pronged Blue Spearhead, Green Glass Globe
Provisions: 3 (+4 STAMINA each)
Gold Pieces: 0
Running Total of Deaths: 1

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 12:22 pm

Evil cultists don't fuck with evil skeletons. Take it, repair the trident, get our eleventy back, then stab the skelly if it comes to this.

OgreBattle · Post by **OgreBattle** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 1:02 pm

grab it

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 2:40 pm

You pick up the misshapen shaft of blue metal. It is surprisingly light, as if it is hollow, and despite its unusual shape it fits snugly into your hand. One end of the shaft terminates in a screw thread, so it is clear that whatever it is, it is incomplete. (Holden has a three-pointed spear head.)

(This actually comes from section you're led to if you don't have the spear-head, but it still works here, albeit for a much briefer moment.)

The metal shaft fits perfectly into the three-pointed spear-head. Before you can inspect this strange weapon more closely, you are appalled to see that the skeleton is moving. With many creaks and clicks it stands upright in the coffin, moves its jaws in a gruesome parody of speech and lurches towards you. You thrust at it with your newly acquired weapon, and are surprised and delighted to find that as soon as the points touch it, the skeleton begins to fall apart. Within seconds there is nothing left but dust. There are no further disturbances while you examine the remarkable weapon.

The weapon that is glowing in your hands is the Trident of Skarlos, forged with long-forgotten enchantments far to the north. It is made entirely of a metal with a blue sheen, and every surface is covered with intricate engravings. The head of the weapon—three barbed points running together into a cylindrical shaft—is small and elegant; by contrast the handle is bulky and has asymmetrical protuberances, in spite of which it is easy to hold with one hand. The handle is its power source—now that the weapon is whole again, the light given off by the separate parts is fading rapidly.

In addition to being easy to use, the Trident is powerful. It delivers a bolt of energy as well as wounding in the normal way. When using it, add 2 points to your SKILL. Against human opponents the Trident will cause an extra 2 points of STAMINA loss when you wound with it; but it was designed for fighting sorcerous and undead creatures, and therefore against non-human opponents you will cause an extra 4 points of STAMINA loss each time you wound. Its magic gives you strength and purpose: restore up to 2 points of WILLPOWER, if you are below your Initial score. Lastly, restore 1 LUCK point for finding such an effective weapon! With renewed confidence you return to the red passage.

(Fuck yeah, this trident kicks ass. Magic weapons in this book can exceed your Initial SKILL when used in combat, so this means we effectively have a 13 SKILL when fighting.)

At the top of the stairway you emerge into the weird ruby glow of the main passage. You pause to consider your options.

At the far end of the passage there are two other doors. The massive metal one is secured with three locks; if you have not yet been through it (we haven't), and you have a set of three keys on an iron ring (we don't), you can use the keys to open the door. The small wooden door does not appear to be locked. If you have not already done so, you can open this door and step inside. The only other alternative is to return down the side tunnel to your dungeon cell.

Adventure Sheet
Holden McGroin, a.k.a Fukkerjack
SKILL 11/11 (13/13 in combat)
STAMINA 19/19
LUCK 9/9
WILLPOWER 11/11
Equipment: Armor, Trident of Skarlos (+2 SKILL, +2 damage vs. humanoids, +4 vs monsters), Green Glass Globe
Provisions: 3 (+4 STAMINA each)
Gold Pieces: 0
Running Total of Deaths: 1

EDIT: added illustration

DOUBLE EDIT: fixed image tags

MisterDee · Post by **MisterDee** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 2:41 pm

Agree with the grabbing.

Out of curiosity, and just in case I forget to ask later, what would have happened if we'd gone with the Oiden answer?

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:16 pm

...
...

All is forgiven, Peter Darvill-Evans.

We've just been through one "good" door, and the other is locked so it must be "good", too. The third is probably a trap, but it's better than doing nothing.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:19 pm

Yeah, we're in jail, so explore all options.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 6:30 pm

(You are cursed for uttering the name of a rival deity; -3 LUCK until you leave the chamber. Also you don't get the light so there's a chance to trigger that stair trap based off of a LUCK test...which you will probably suck at after losing 3 LUCK. And it's a deathtrap. If you say any other name, there's no light but no curse either.)

As soon as you touch it, the little wooden door swings open. You stoop to peer into the room beyond, but can see very little. Gripping your weapon, you advance through the doorway.

A short dark tunnel leads into a chamber carved out of the rock. There is no floor: instead there is a deep pool of still liquid, in the depths of which shines a pale luminescence which begins to rise to the surface while you watch. Around the perimeter of the pool is a narrow ledge, and hanging on hooks on the wall opposite are two sets of keys on iron rings. Will you:

Stay where you are and await further developments?
Start to edge along the side of the pool?
Agitate the liquid with your hand?

Starmaker · Post by **Starmaker** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 8:05 pm

Rule #14: don't touch any liquids that are explicitly described as "liquids".

Stay where we are. None of that "since you're stuck on a narrow ledge, if the demon hits you, go to 117. 117: you get knocked off the ledge into the slime and die get devoured alive and you're fully conscious during the process, thanks for playing, sweet dreams, dearie".

Also, if the book makes us pick one set of keys to take, there will be hell to pay. "All is forgiven" doesn't apply going forward.

Korgan0 · Post by **Korgan0** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 8:11 pm

Wait.

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sat Jan 11, 2014 8:50 pm

Dubious liquid is dubious. Wait.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:18 am

You watch the glowing blob rising through the liquid. It fills the cavern with weirdly rippling red light. It reaches the surface, assuming humanoid shape, and then erupts into a dripping, shining form, hovering above the surface of the pool. The Vitriol Essence bares his vulpine fangs, flexes his vast, claw-tipped hands and hisses: 'Who dares disturb my centuries of slumber?' Without waiting for a reply, he attacks.

VITRIOL ESSENCE SKILL 8 STAMINA 6

This isn't even worth spoilering:
Essence 13, Holden 24. Essence takes 6 damage because it's a non-human opponent and dies.
(The fight ends if you reduce his STAMINA to 2, but we just fucking murdered that bastard. The Trident of Skarlos fucking rules.)

Raging, snarling and flicking drops of liquid from his claws, the Vitriol Essence sinks below the surface of the pool. You watch as his luminosity descends to the depths; the cavern returns to deep gloom.

(There's a choice to turn back, but I know we won't take it given we just ended a centuries-old glowing slime demon with one blow. So we sidle around the perimeter of the pool and collect the sets of keys.)

As you inch along the narrow ledge, you glance into the pool and notice with horror that the fiery glow of the Vitriol Essence is beginning to rise slowly from the depths. Snatching the keys and completing your perilous circuit of the pool before the creature reaches the surface will require nimble footwork and good fortune. Add together your current SKILL and LUCK. Roll five dice. (19; the total is just under our combined SKILL and LUCK.)

Moving as quickly as you dare, you edge along the right-hand side of the pool. You keep your back to the wall and your eyes on the slowly rising glow. When you reach the corner, you have to spend some time turning around, and you shuffle along the back wall facing the uneven rock. Halfway along, you are obliged to waste more valuable seconds finding outcrops to cling as you reach up to collect the keys. By the time you have returned to the entrance to the cavern, the Vitriol Essence is erupting out of the liquid. He stretches his grossly elongated arms towards you, but he cannot move beyond the pool and you are out of his reach. He howls in fury as you leave.

(I'm mostly astonished he's not dead. Peter Darvill-Evans clearly didn't think of someone with the Trident fighting this guy.)

Back in the rubescent passage you inspect the keys. It is obvious that the set of three heavy keys on a thick iron ring must fit the massive metal door near the cavern you have just left; the single key should, therefore, give access to the wooden door at the other end of the passage. You can use these keys to open either of the two doors, but you must choose to open a door that you have not already been through.,

(Again, it seems general consensus is that we should go to the metal door.)

Enough red light seeps through the open doorway to enable you to see that you are in a vast armory. Rows of swords, shields, spears and pikes disappear into the gloom. You have never seen so many weapons in one room. They are all of antique design and, you judge, are of southern origin. They have been stored here for centuries, but you can see very little corrosion on them; in fact, they are hardly dusty. In front of you, between the stacked rows, there are three stone slabs. On each slab rests one weapon. You cannot decipher the carvings on the stones, but it is clear that each of these weapons is special in some way.
If you are content with the weapon you have, there is nothing of interest to you in this room. If you want to exchange your weapon for one of the three on the slabs, you can choose between:
A richly decorated scimitar
A black mace with silver-tipped spikes
A thin brass tube

(Somehow I'm sure we're content with our super badass artifact weapon that destroys giant acid monsters in one hit. But at least one of these weapons is really fun, which I'll talk more about once we finish this LP.)

You leave the armory, return to the redly glowing passage, and decide where to go next. At this end of the corridor is the smaller of the two wooden doors. It has no lock, and if you have not already done so, you can try to open it. At the other end of the passage is the larger wooden door with the large metal lock. If you have not already opened this door and you have a key, you can use the key to open it. Otherwise, there seems to be no other choice but to return along the side-tunnel to your dungeon cell.

It seems as though several eternities pass as you shiver in the dank darkness of your cell. You sleep fitfully on the rotten straw and wake to find rodents gnawing at your toes. You feel hungry; if you have provisions, you have plenty of time to eat another meal. You begin to despair of anything ever happening. And then you hear light, hesitant footsteps approaching your door. A key grates in the lock. With infinite slowness the door opens, and in the doorway a human shape is silhouetted against the feeble light from the dungeon hallway's single cresset. The figure lifts its shortsword and says: 'Who are you?' Will you attack, say that you are one of Tholdur's men, wrongly imprisoned, or say that you are on a mission to cleanse Neuburg and its Keep of their infestation of evil?

(You don't lose STAMINA for not eating, we're at full health and we're not drunk anymore, so I see no reason to for us to eat. That being said, I apologize for all of the assumptions I made here but I'm pretty damn sure they're correct. Anyways, that just leaves the matter of the mysterious figure approaching.)

Adventure Sheet
Holden McGroin, a.k.a Fukkerjack
SKILL 11/11 (13/13 in combat)
STAMINA 19/19
LUCK 9/9
WILLPOWER 11/11
Equipment: Armor, Trident of Skarlos (+2 SKILL in combat; +2 damage vs. humanoids, +4 damage vs monsters), Green Glass Globe
Keys: 3 Keys to Armory, Key to Underground Chamber
Provisions: 3 (+4 STAMINA each)
Gold Pieces: 0
Running Total of Deaths: 1

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:36 am

Tell the truth. We're on a mission.

Korgan0 · Post by **Korgan0** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:41 am

From God. Tell the truth.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 3:03 am

(This illustration actually comes from the section if you attack him, but it works here too. There's a similar one with the Skeleton we roflpwned that I should probably edit in.)

As your eyes become accustomed to the deep gloom you see that your visitor is a slight young man in military clothing. He is clearly not a Southerner, however, and your answer seems to interest him. 'Shield your eyes!' he warns, and pulls aside his tunic. A ray of brilliant white light bursts from something on his chest. It is not too dazzling if you avoid directly looking at it. The youth beckons you to follow him out of the cell.

'My name is Cernic,' the young man stammers. 'I am a priest of Oiden from his temple in Neuburg. I came here secretly to explore, but I found southern soldiers everywhere, and worse in the depths. I could not risk the Talisman of Loth falling into the hands of Xakhaz, so I found a safe haven—this wretched dungeon—and have been praying for a warrior mightier than I to relieve me of the burden of carrying this responsibility. If you intend to destroy Xakhaz, this will be of help.'

He lifts the shining disc, on a leather thong, from about his neck and places it around yours. With some misgivings, you conceal it beneath your tunic. The young man is very nervous and plainly anxious to escape now that he has given away the Talisman. Will you let him go, and then follow him through the open door out of this dungeon hallway? Or do you decide to restrain him and demand more information?

(I have to wonder that it's coincidence that 'Loth' is one letter from 'Lolth.')

Adventure Sheet
Holden McGroin, a.k.a Fukkerjack
SKILL 11/11 (13/13 in combat)
STAMINA 19/19
LUCK 9/9
WILLPOWER 11/11
Equipment: Armor, Trident of Skarlos (+2 SKILL in combat; +2 damage vs. humanoids, +4 damage vs monsters), Green Glass Globe, Talisman of Loth
Keys: 3 Keys to Armory, Key to Underground Chamber
Provisions: 3 (+4 STAMINA each)
Gold Pieces: 0
Running Total of Deaths: 1

angelfromanotherpin · Post by **angelfromanotherpin** » Sun Jan 12, 2014 3:21 am

He seems legit. Let him go.

The Gaming Den

Let's Play Fighting Fantasy #25: Beneath Nightmare Castle

Which book should I run first?