[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy #54 - Legend of Zagor!

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Thu Jun 30, 2016 6:44 pm

Let's explore a bit first. Silver crown door.

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Thu Jun 30, 2016 10:57 pm

Silver crown door, yeah. I'm still pissed that we arbitrarily missed all that cool stuff from the first floor by going down a corridor.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Fri Jul 01, 2016 11:50 am

Opening the door, you find yourself in a ransacked room with another silvered door in the west wall. Standing in the middle of room, carrying a sack, is a leather-clad. Elf. He's tall and slim, and he reacts swiftly to your presence, drawing a long dagger dripping with an oily green liquid. He has a strange, crooked smile, and a livid red scar runs down the right side of his face. He wears a plain grey cloak which shimmers oddly and, as you look at him, it seems as if his body is swimming in and out of focus. If you have a thief hireling with you, turn to 87. If you haven't, turn to 140.

We don't......

The Elf looks you up and down, and doesn't seem the least bit afraid of you. If you want to talk to him, turn to 315. If you decide to attack him for the bag of treasure he is carrying, tum to 157.

Talk or murder for loot?

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Fri Jul 01, 2016 12:52 pm

Give peace another chance. Second time's the charm (re: Elves).

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Sat Jul 02, 2016 5:16 pm

Talk this out like reasonable metahumans.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sun Jul 03, 2016 1:39 am

Perhaps the capricious Elf will talk to you, but maybe he prefers not to. Roll two dice. Add 2 to the total rolled if you are Stubble (since the Elf doesn't like Dwarfs much), and subtract 1 if you have a thief hireling with you. If you bribe the Elf with some gold, he is more likely to talk; you must offer him 4 Gold Pieces (in which case you can subtract 3 from the number rolled) If the final total is 8 or higher, turn to 239 lf the total is 7 or less, turn to 9.

Do we want to offer a bribe before we roll for his reaction?

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Jul 03, 2016 3:49 am

Bribe him. Chances are that if he doesn't accept our offer he'll get hostile, in which case we can just get our gold back by killing him.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Sun Jul 03, 2016 6:21 am

Agreed.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Sun Jul 03, 2016 9:49 am

We offer 4 Gold Pieces to the elf....

Dice roll = 7-3 = 4.

Turns out the bribe wasn't really needed.....

'l am Elrarel, Master Thiel. This is one of my old haunts, Castle Argent. I've lifted more pleasing little items from round here than you could possibly count up. Not much left these days though, not with these stinking Orcs around. They've looted so much of the place, and vandalized the rest. This is probably my last visit. Time to teleport home, I reckon....That is, unless you d be interested in buying a little something? Information, perhaps? Maybe some Orcbane?' You haggle a little with the Elf, and finally agree to a list of prices for the help he's prepared to offer. To consider the items he has for sale, turn to 65, To consider the information he could give you, turn to 22.

Since you can switch between the two, I'm just going to post both "shopping lists".....

For information:

'Good information doesn't come cheap, you know,' Elranel grins. You must pay him 2 Gold Pieces for the chance to ralk about each of the following topics (he will tell you about one subject free of charge if you bribed him to talk):

Magical weapons in Castle Argent
Tower Chests and where to find them
Healing (or Plague Antidote)
General information about this castle level
How to get into the Great Tower where Zagor lies

In each case, pay the Elf then turn to the paragraph noted. You must subtract payment from your Treasure for each choice, of course( Elraneal accepts both Gold Pieces and any valuable items of treasure you have taken from the castle - except armour, which he won't buy). Next, if you contemplate buying any items Elranel has for sale, tum to 66. If you've completed your dealings with Elranel, turn to 239. If you get greedy and attack him in the hope of taking his excellent treasures, turn to 157.

So, since we paid 4 GP bribe earlier, we get 1 free question....so basically the -3 insurance modifier effectively costs only 2 GP, which isn't too bad.

Elranel can offer you the following items:

Potion of Stamina 8 Gold Pieces
Pohon of Luck 5 Gold Pieces
Vial of Orcbane 5 Gold Pleces
Scroll of the spell Fast Hands 4 Gold Pieces
Scroll of the spell Fireball 7 Gold Pieces
Magic Ring 5 Gold Pieces

'All an absolute bargain,' he says sadly.' My wives and children will surely starve to death if I'm forced to sell at these prices. By all the gods and goddesses, I'm too soft-hearted a soul, truly I am.' The Potion of Stamina, when drunk, restores lost STAMINA equal to half your Initial score (round fractions up). The Potion of Luck, when drunk restores 1-3 lost LUCK points (roll one dice and round fractions up). Either Potion can be drunk at any time, except during a combat. The Orcbane can be applied to any edged weapon (axe, sword or dagger) before you fight Orcs and, for the first six Attack Rounds, any hit you achieve will cause 2 extra points of STAMINA (this damage works on any type of Orc, including their chieftains, and Mutant Orcs too!) If you decide to buy anything, adjust your Adventure Sheet accordingly; Elranel accepts either Gold Pieces o\r any valuable treasures you have taken from Castle Argent (except for armour which is of no use to him). Next, if you want to buy some information, turn to 22. If you've completed your dealings with Elranel, turn to 259 lf you get greedy and attack him, in the hope of taking his excellent treasures, turn to 157.

His treasures don't really look that excellent enough to warrant an attack, methinks. The only unique stuff is the Orcbane.

What do we want to but?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Jallarial
SKILL 11/11 (+1 from Ebony Wand)
STAMINA 11/23
LUCK 6/9
MAGIC: 3/9 (+2 from Ebony Wand)
Equipment: Staff, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, knife, Potion of Stamina(restores half your Initial STAMINA), rope, Iron rod (-1 to Die roll when opening doors via Skill Test), Flask of Herbal Restorative/Liquer x3 (+4 STAMINA), Golden Talisman (x2), Silver Dagger (x5), Magical Oil of Enchantment (enchants non-magical weapons for one combat), Jailor Keys (70), Wand of the Hawk, Vials of Acid (does 4 STAMINA damage if used during combat), Lava Sphere (does 1D6 damage to all opponents in a room when used in combat), Onyx Staff, Oatmeal x3 (counts as 1 meal each)
Provisions: 1 Meal
Treasure: 29 GP, Fine Silk Tapestry (worth 4 GP)
No. of Deaths: 1

Additional bonus from Wand of the Hawk: 1) +2 Attack Strength once Jallarial's entered Great Tower, 2) enchants weapons, 3) restore Magic OR STAMINA to full once

Omegonthesane · Post by **Omegonthesane** » Sun Jul 03, 2016 11:29 am

We'll take How to get into the Great Tower pre-paid, Tower Chests and General Information for the Fine Silk Tapestry, a vial of Orcbane for 5gp, maybe Healing if we don't think we have enough of it to hand.

Part of me is tempted to blow everything on anything useful in doubt that we'll get another chance to go shopping, but my instincts were not primed for this genre.

Mr Shine · Post by **Mr Shine** » Sun Jul 03, 2016 2:15 pm

If we assume he only has one of each item:

Ask about everything except magic weapons (6GP)

Buy PoL, PoS, Orcbane and Magic Ring (19GB plus tapestry)

If we assume he has reserves ask for same info except tower chests, but buy PoS and 4 magic rings.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Sun Jul 03, 2016 7:15 pm

Mr Shine wrote:If we assume he only has one of each item:

Ask about everything except magic weapons (6GP)

Buy PoL, PoS, Orcbane and Magic Ring (19GB plus tapestry)

If we assume he has reserves ask for same info except tower chests, but buy PoS and 4 magic rings.

Good thinking. Agreed.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Jul 03, 2016 7:34 pm

I'll agree to that plan.

If it's intentional, Orcbane is a great callback to Beneath Nightmare Castle.

SlyJohnny · Post by **SlyJohnny** » Sun Jul 03, 2016 9:23 pm

Do we HAVE an edged weapon, though? I thought we had our staff and a -1 dagger. Maybe skip the orcbane.

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Sun Jul 03, 2016 11:19 pm

Huh, good point. I thought we had a sword because almost every other FF character does for some reason.
Replace the Orcbane with another Magic Ring (if we can buy multiples) or a Luck potion (if we can't.)

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Mon Jul 04, 2016 12:17 pm

The dagger counts as an edged weapon, so the Orcbane can be used.....although I guess we'd only want to use it if our staff can't be used during a certain combat for some reason.

Again, the text is not too clear about the rules, but I'm ruling that we only buy 1 of each item.

Since there's no consensus on the items yet, I will post all the information first (spending 6 GP).

Tower Chests and where to find them:

'Hmm. Well, of course, they've appeared here just recently.' I've only been able to get at one myself.' Elranel flourishes a Silver Dagger; if you want to buy this, it will cost you 6 Gold Pieces! Whether you buy or not, Elranel continues: 'There's certainly one in the treasury behind the Throne Room, and Grool, the monstrous Ogre in the east wing, he has one too. I believe there is one in the west wing, guarded by the greatest of the Hellhorns - vile things, they are. Beware their whips and poison!

Healing (or Plague Antidote):

'Thulu, the Orc chieftain in the Throne Room, holds a Healer prisoner. The jail cell lies behind the west wall. He's the only way you could heal plague, if you've caught it. Oh, unless you pay the hag, but her price would be high. She's one of the king's old White Witches, corrupted by the Demon's magic many years ago. To get to her, you'd have to get past the Hellhorns guarding the Throne Room. Mind you, that's a lot easier than getting through the Throne Room. And beware her cat - it's extremely dangerous.'

General information about this castle level:

'Well, if you leave here and turn north, going eastwards takes you to the Orc barracks, so watch out. Mind you, if you go westwards, you'll get to the Hellhorn guards and the Throne Room itself. More monsters in there than you can shake a stick at. Get through there and you're into the Bronze Stride; from there, there are doors to the east and west wings and the doors to the Great Tower. Grool rules the east wing from the old war tower; the west ring is very dangerous, with the Hellhorn Champion and all those severed heads - gives me the creeps. Beware the Spectre there!'

How to get into the Great Tower where Zagor lies :

The Eli flinches at the mention of Zagor's name. 'I really wouldn't use the Z-word round here. Walls have ears, you know- More importantly, there are things that can creep out of walls if they hear that word. Well, to find you-know-who atop the Great Tower, you've got to get past the Dragon Doors, north of the Throne Room, along the Bronze Stride. And to do that, you have to have the Dragonbone Keys. There's one set in both the east and west wings. Grool has one set, for sure.'

So Zagor is the Voldemort of Amarillia?

This Grool guy is mentioned in every single of the those section, so it's pretty obvious we'll be facing him in the future (not least because those keys that Elranel mention are almost definitely vital plot coupons).

Well, we have an extra items added to our shopping list (Silver Dagger, 6 GP). Do we want to add it to our shopping cart? Decide on the final list of items to buy before we move on.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Mon Jul 04, 2016 12:44 pm

Replace the Orcbane with the silver dagger.
So, PoL, PoS, magic ring & silver dagger.
ETA: Then try the room across the corridor.

ETA2: Updated map. I've taken some liberties with the locations (eg. the Bronze Stride north of the Throne Room etc.), but the rough of it should be like this:

Code: Select all

                   Great Tower
                        |
    WW    --------Bronze ---- Stride --------- EW
                        |
                        |
                        |
  Healer --    Hellhorn guards & Throne room ----------------------Orc barracks
                                                          |
                                                          |
                                                          |
   ShldD                                            Elf   | Wooden door                                                   
     |                                                    ^
OnxD | D                                                  |
     |                                                PIT TRAP
     |                                                    | 
     |                                                    | 
     \-----------111 --Passage--of-- 5 ---Hawks---------- 92 -----------| 
     D             \        WD       |        GD         / D &#40;art gallery&#41; 
                     \                |                 /  S &#40;lava sphere&#41; 
                     134 --------  399 ------------ 139 D &#40;dwarves&#41; 
                           D            D      D    
                         &#40;orcs&#41;      &#40;cstln&#41; &#40;lckd&#41;

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Mon Jul 04, 2016 1:39 pm

Once again I'm down with Sircocco's plan.

Mr Shine · Post by **Mr Shine** » Mon Jul 04, 2016 2:00 pm

Sounds good to me.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Tue Jul 05, 2016 8:50 am

With all the purchases, we spend a total of 26 gold + the silk tapestry that's worth 4, leaving us with just 3 GP.

I'm using the Magic Ring immediately unless there are objections. We can also use the PoL now if you want, since we're at 6, but I'll leave it to you (or maybe you can vote use it immediately once our LUCK falls past a certain level?)

The Elf rubs a magical ring on his left hand and simply vanishes! He has teleported out of Castle Argent with his booty. Now all you can do is open the westerly door in this room, leave this room by the door you came in through and open the door opposite, if you haven't already done so, or leave and head north to the east-west passageway.

There were already votes to check out the other door opposite the one we came in by, but it turns out that there's another door we can check out in this room. Do we want to open that before we move on?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Jallarial
SKILL 11/11 (+1 from Ebony Wand)
STAMINA 11/23
LUCK 6/9
MAGIC: 4/9 (+2 from Ebony Wand)
Equipment: Staff, Leather Armor, Shield, Lantern, knife, Potion of Stamina x2 (restores half your Initial STAMINA), rope, Iron rod (-1 to Die roll when opening doors via Skill Test), Flask of Herbal Restorative/Liquer x3 (+4 STAMINA), Golden Talisman (x2), Silver Dagger (x6), Magical Oil of Enchantment (enchants non-magical weapons for one combat), Jailor Keys (70), Wand of the Hawk, Vials of Acid (does 4 STAMINA damage if used during combat), Lava Sphere (does 1D6 damage to all opponents in a room when used in combat), Onyx Staff, Oatmeal x3 (counts as 1 meal each), Potion of Luck (restores 1-3 LUCK)
Provisions: 1 Meal
Treasure: 3 GP
No. of Deaths: 1

Additional bonus from Wand of the Hawk: 1) +2 Attack Strength once Jallarial's entered Great Tower, 2) enchants weapons, 3) restore Magic OR STAMINA to full once

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Tue Jul 05, 2016 10:21 am

Check out the new door, since we can't come back here.

Mr Shine · Post by **Mr Shine** » Tue Jul 05, 2016 11:19 am

explore the new area.

SGamerz · Post by **SGamerz** » Tue Jul 05, 2016 2:22 pm

Once the laboratory of the alchemists of Castle Argent, this place has been transformed into one of unspeakable horror. It is littered with the preserved parts of mutant monsters and strangely designed equipment. A palpable sense of evil lingers in the air, though all is silent, save for a rhythmic slurping noise coming from under a door in the south wall. Taking a step or two closer towards that noise, the hairs on the nape of your neck rise in apprehension. Will you:

Search this laboratory more thoroughly?
Open the south door?
Leave and return to the northwards-leading passage?

And there's a new way out....

Search or not? And which way do we move on?

Darth Rabbitt · Post by **Darth Rabbitt** » Tue Jul 05, 2016 2:52 pm

If we roll well then the luck potion will restore us to full. It's more likely to restore 1 or 2 points. So I'd drink it now.

Search, and then take the new way out.

Sirocco · Post by **Sirocco** » Tue Jul 05, 2016 3:11 pm

Agreed on all counts.

The Gaming Den

[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy #54 - Legend of Zagor!

Which of the below meatgrinders do you prefer to play first?