[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 17 - Appointment with F.E.A.R. (Take 2)

[Thaluikhain]

Yeah, if we still don't want to visit our aunt we need to check the morgue, and why wouldn't we do that anyway?

[SGamerz]

An obliging attendant is happy to show you the body of the mysterious man. He looks up a file and reaches for the handle on a cadaver drawer. His eyes open wide as he pulls the drawer out. It is empty! He double-checks the number and shakes his head. "I can't understand it." he says. "I put him in here myself! And I've been here all the time except for...my coffee break." The trail ends here. There are no clues as to the whereabouts of the missing body. You can leave the hospital by turning to 226.

Isn't the Reincarnation resting in that cemetery near our aunt's house? Did this dead guy steal his gimmick, or is it a case of stolen body? Frustratingly, we seem to give up each time the case begin to look like an actual crime.

Where will you head for now? If you wish to make that visit to your aunt, turn to 134. If you prefer to go downtown to see if you can get tickets for a special concert that Georgie Boy and the Vulture Club are giving, turn to 122.

Third time we're given the option to go visit our aunt...

[Queen of Swords]

The story is starting to feel random at this point.

Go to aunt's house, I suppose.

[Thaluikhain]

I vote for not the aunt, in this case to Georgie Boy and the Vulture Club.

Agree on how random this seems.

[SGamerz]

Your aunt lives in Cockney Green, a pleasant suburban district to the east of the Titan Centre. The bus drops you off at Cockney Cemetery, leaving you with a five-minute walk to her house. Will you take a leisurely stroll around the outside of the cemetery, or will you take a short cut through it?

We found out what happened the last time in an alternate timeline when Silver Crusader takes the short cut, but do we want to do it here anyway?

[Queen of Swords]

Let's go around the outside of the cemetery this time.

[SGamerz]

Oh dear, I was in a hurry to leave for work this morning, and apparently completely misread Thaluikhain's post in my haste. It looks like the votes were actually tied between visiting aunt and going for concert. At least, nothing was spoiled since you'd already seen this section before in the previous LP.

Sorry for the mistake. I will leave the voting open on the previous choice for another night to see if there's a tiebreaker.

[Queen of Swords]

I'll change my vote to going to the concert.

[SGamerz]

Crowds of disappointed fans are milling around Addison Square Gardens. Tonight's concert has been cancelled: Georgie Boy is suffering from facial dermatitis. You decide instead to go home and rest. You may add 6 STAMINA points for the evening's rest. Next morning you do not have to go to work. Will you go instead to 7th Avenue to watch the arrival of the President, who is paying a visit to Titan City, or would you rather to go Whirl's Court, where a special exhibition of 'Home Appliances of the Future' is opening?

That was random alright. But at least we can certainly do with the STAMINA restore.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Jean Lafayette
SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 17/23
LUCK 7/7
Super Power: Psi-Powers
Hero Points: 13
Clues:
1) A young boy, Timothy Grant, known as the Brain Child, has extremely vivid dreams which seem to come true In certain instances. He lives on 100th Street.
2) Daddy Rich, an eccentric millionaire who has everything money could buy, gets his kicks by murdering innocent victims and revels in their fear. He has very expensive tastes and lives in a penthouse apartment at 113, 58th Street.
3) Man wearing gold watch is trying to keep some dark secret from the Silver Crusader that involves a pawnbroker's shop that is next to a diner.
4) A man in control of wild animals is using them to get some sort of revenge. He has a secret room under a lion's cage. Add 50 to the reference we are on at the time when we arrive at a lion's cage and turn to new reference to find the secret room.
5) There will be an assassination attempt on the President during his visit to Titan City. A decoy will be planted in the crowd. The real killer will be on the roof of the Regent Hotel. Add 100 to the reference we are on at the time when the President is due to arrive and turn to this new reference to apprehend the killer.
6) The Creature of Carnage is Illya Karpov, a known agent of F.E.A.R.
No. of failures thus far: 0
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Go save the President's life.

[Thaluikhain]

Might want to save the President, yeah.

[SGamerz]

The citizens of Titan City have turned out in their thousands to greet the President. They line both sides of 7th Avenue six deep, and the presidential car is still not due to arrive for half an hour. Spirits are high. There is much flag-waving and bands are playing in the streets as a prelude to the arrival. Will you spend the next half hour in a coffee bar waiting for the main procession to arrive, or will you find a place in the crowd which offers a decent view?

[Queen of Swords]

We were given a clue about the real assassin being on the roof of the hotel, so let's go to the roof of the hotel.

[SGamerz]

Following the advice you were given, you change into the Silver Crusader and climb the fire-escape on to the roof of the Regent Hotel. You arrive just as the President's car is about to pass in the street below. Sure enough, in the far corner, a man is squatting. He is leaning over the edge of the roof and adjusting the telescopic sight of a high-powered rifle! If you have Super Strength, turn to 236. If you have Energy Blast, turn to 57. If you have Psi-Powers, turn to 177. If you have ETS, turn to 194.

You have no time to use your Psi-Powers, as the assassin is about to fore. You leap on him from behind and the two of you struggle on the roof:

ASSASSIN SKILL 9 STAMINA 8

If you defeat him, turn to 258.

I would have thought delivering a psychic blow with our mind would have been faster than rushing him physically. From the encounter with the kid at the candy shop earlier, we apparently don't even need him in our line of sight to attack him (although we do need it if we wish to read his mind).

COMBAT LOG:
Assassin 16, Silver Crusader 18. Assassin is at 6.
Assassin 13, SC 16. Assassin is at 4.
Assassin 15, SC 17. Assassin is at 2 and gives in.

You pick the assassin up by the collar and demand to know who he is working for. He realizes that the game is up and admits that he works for F.E.A.R. You threaten him with more punishment unless he tells you the whereabouts of the meeting you know is about to take place, but he sweats he knows nothing more than that it is due to take place tomorrow. Perhaps he is telling the truth. You hand him over to the police and head for home. You have saved the President's life and may award yourself 6 Hero Points.

I don't know why F.E.A.R., an organization that employs at least some super-villains if not more, only sent a mundane guy with a rifle to assassinate the President. It's like they're not even trying.

You set off home to take some well-deserved rest. The prospect of the F.E.A.R. meeting is weighing heavily on your mind, but for the moment you are well advised to relax for the evening. You may gain 6 STAMINA points for taking it easy. Next morning, you are woken, not by the alarm clock, but by your Crime Watch: beep - beep - beep. This time the message is longer than normal and it repeats itself: 'RELIABLE INFORMATION. FEAR MEETING TODAY. WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN!' You spring out of bed. Today! Do you have any clues as to where the meeting is? Where will you go:

Parker Airport?
Stay in town?
Head towards the waterfront?

Somehow, the Silver Crusader sill seems to be surprised by the information that the meeting is today, even if the assassin already confirmed that this would be the case yesterday.

STAMINA is back to max, at least.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Jean Lafayette
SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 23/23
LUCK 7/7
Super Power: Psi-Powers
Hero Points: 19
Clues:
1) A young boy, Timothy Grant, known as the Brain Child, has extremely vivid dreams which seem to come true In certain instances. He lives on 100th Street.
2) Daddy Rich, an eccentric millionaire who has everything money could buy, gets his kicks by murdering innocent victims and revels in their fear. He has very expensive tastes and lives in a penthouse apartment at 113, 58th Street.
3) Man wearing gold watch is trying to keep some dark secret from the Silver Crusader that involves a pawnbroker's shop that is next to a diner.
4) A man in control of wild animals is using them to get some sort of revenge. He has a secret room under a lion's cage. Add 50 to the reference we are on at the time when we arrive at a lion's cage and turn to new reference to find the secret room.
5) There will be an assassination attempt on the President during his visit to Titan City. A decoy will be planted in the crowd. The real killer will be on the roof of the Regent Hotel. Add 100 to the reference we are on at the time when the President is due to arrive and turn to this new reference to apprehend the killer.
6) The Creature of Carnage is Illya Karpov, a known agent of F.E.A.R.
No. of failures thus far: 0
[/spoiler]

[Darth Rabbitt]

We passed over Parker Airport earlier, but I remember it not being the waterfront from last time. I guess go to town, and hope we can find either the lion's cage or the pawnbroker's shop.

[SGamerz]

We passed over Parker Airport earlier, but I remember it not being the waterfront from last time.

The meeting is in a different location for each Superpower. That's why this book has higher replay value than most FF.

If you are staying in town, you will already be making your way towards F.E.A.R.'s secret meeting-place, which lies along one of the avenues. Which avenue are you heading for? Multiply its number by 10 and turn to that reference. If the result makes no sense, turn to 368.

Unfortunately, we haven't really found out any clues about the meeting's location.

It is hopeless. You do not know where F.E.A.R. is holding its meeting and you have no chance of finding it in such a short time. You find a convenient spot, change into your street clothes and hail a cab. The driver has his radio on. As he chats away, the radio splutters and fizzles. The music dies and an unscheduled announcement interrupts the programme.

A steely voice with a sinister tone speaks slowly and clearly: ‘Citizens of the world,’ it announces, ‘do not attempt to retune your receivers. This message is being broadcast on all frequencies simultaneously in all languages to all areas of the globe. My name is Vladimir Utoshski. I am known as the Titanium Cyborg. My organization is known to you as the Federation of Euro-American Rebels. My message is this. We have taken control of the “Star Wars” satellite which orbits the earth. We demand the unconditional surrender of all your governments and military establishments and the submission of all citizens to our leadership. Any resistance will be dealt with harshly. Our satellite will obliterate, one by one, the major cities of the earth. As proof of our power, Titan City will be exterminated in exactly thirty seconds …’ Your heart sinks. You have failed to stop the fateful meeting of F.E.A.R. The whole world must now pay the penalty …

And it's Game Over! We do, however, have 19 Hero Points from this playthrough, so we have more than enough for multiple rewinds. Do you guys want to spend 5 points to find out where your path first went wrong? Or just spend 3 points and choose your own rewind point?

(I just realized that we'd only had 1 Super-villain encounter so far throughout this playthrough - the Serpent. Other than that, we'd dealt with: a psychotic millionaire murderer who hires bodyguards but has no superpowers, a dream-created illusion, a boy with superpowers but without any villainous intent, a kid stealing candies, and a mundane rifle-wielding assassin. Kind of disappointing.)

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Jean Lafayette
SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 23/23
LUCK 7/7
Super Power: Psi-Powers
Hero Points: 19
Clues:
1) A young boy, Timothy Grant, known as the Brain Child, has extremely vivid dreams which seem to come true In certain instances. He lives on 100th Street.
2) Daddy Rich, an eccentric millionaire who has everything money could buy, gets his kicks by murdering innocent victims and revels in their fear. He has very expensive tastes and lives in a penthouse apartment at 113, 58th Street.
3) Man wearing gold watch is trying to keep some dark secret from the Silver Crusader that involves a pawnbroker's shop that is next to a diner.
4) A man in control of wild animals is using them to get some sort of revenge. He has a secret room under a lion's cage. Add 50 to the reference we are on at the time when we arrive at a lion's cage and turn to new reference to find the secret room.
5) There will be an assassination attempt on the President during his visit to Titan City. A decoy will be planted in the crowd. The real killer will be on the roof of the Regent Hotel. Add 100 to the reference we are on at the time when the President is due to arrive and turn to this new reference to apprehend the killer.
6) The Creature of Carnage is Illya Karpov, a known agent of F.E.A.R.
No. of failures thus far: 0
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

I'd be okay with spending 5 Hero Points to see where we first went wrong.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Yeah, I think we should spend 5 to be guaranteed a chance at the right track.

[Thaluikhain]

That makes sense, though I'm half expecting it to be the first or second decision we made.

[SGamerz]

though I'm half expecting it to be the first or second decision we made.

Actually, no, we may not have taken the optimal path before that, but we weren't quite doomed until the encounter after the candy shop robbery, where we chose to go to Radd Square. The 'right' option was to go to Cowfield Dairy like the Crimewatch prompted:

You change in a convenient alley and head for the Dairy. When you arrive at the gates, everything seems to be in order. Milk-floats are returning from their daily rounds and thousands of bottles are chinking their way along conveyers. There is no sign of danger. A short-tailed tabby cat - no doubt a stray - is trying to get in through the gates. You pick the hungry creature up and stroke it. As you wait, your ye catches a familiar-looking figure turning the corner and walking towards you. If us 'Chainsaw' Bronski, a well-known murderer who you thought was behind bars! Will you apprehend the villain, or does your first duty lie with the needy and will you instead take the cat to a Cats' Home?

I think the illustration is probably a flashback of the stuff that Bronski did in the past and was put behind bars for, since the text doesn't actually say he's currently doing anything besides walking round the corner.

(Adventure Sheet has been set back to the point of the rewind, except for Hero Point, which will remain current. Hero Points earned from old encounters will no longer be counted.)

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Jean Lafayette
SKILL 11/11
STAMINA 21/23
LUCK 5/7
Super Power: Psi-Powers
Hero Points: 14
Clues:
1) A young boy, Timothy Grant, known as the Brain Child, has extremely vivid dreams which seem to come true In certain instances. He lives on 100th Street.
2) Daddy Rich, an eccentric millionaire who has everything money could buy, gets his kicks by murdering innocent victims and revels in their fear. He has very expensive tastes and lives in a penthouse apartment at 113, 58th Street.
3) Man wearing gold watch is trying to keep some dark secret from the Silver Crusader that involves a pawnbroker's shop that is next to a diner.
No. of failures thus far: 0
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Apprehend the villain.

[SGamerz]

Ok, guys, I just realize I made a major screw-up at the beginning of the LP. Each Superpower (besides ETS) was supposed to have a default clue that they have access to, and then pick one other clue out of the 3 choices listed, but I missed that and had you choose 2 out of the listed 3 but left out the default one. You did that in the previous LP because ETS was the only Superpower that doesn't start with a predetermined clue.

This is probably the worst time to recall it, but this is the clue everyone should have gotten for getting Psi-Power, and it would be unfair to the players to not reveal it now:

A recent visitor from Metroville, the Tiger car has arrived in town. This extraordinary villainess is a fierce fighter, but can instantly disguise herself as a harmless pussy cat,

Since it was totally my fault that the players end up getting an extra clue, I won't be taking away whatever benefits you gained from either of the other clues previously. The Hero points you got from the Daddy Rich and Brain Child encounters will stay as they are.

Many apologies for the screw-up.

[Thaluikhain]

Then don't apprehend Bruce Campbell, apprehend the cat.

(I like how the chainsaw guy is shown chopping the head of a statue, chopping through the bars at a bank (that one is sorta coo) and dramatically posing. But the text says he's a murderer)

[Queen of Swords]

OK, this changes things. Get the cat instead.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Yeah, pick up kitty.