[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 55 - Deathmoor

[SGamerz]

And that seems a wimpy ogre we just offed, even with the free hit.

Generic Ogres are Sk 8 St 10 in Out of the Pit, so it's slightly less skilled than average.

Actually, in an alternative encounter, the text tells us that we're fighting it in a cramped condition and inconvenient for the big weapon it uses, which is why its SKILL is below normal value. However, there is no such mention here, but the SKILL is still the same. Could have been editorial error, but not one serious enough to get much attention.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Minor oversight aside, that’s actually pretty nice attention to detail. Like I’d be fine with no explanation or if some numbers were just different from Out of the Pit since I don’t know how many authors actually checked that book when using monsters in gamebooks.

Anyways, I’m always in favor of looting bodies.

[Queen of Swords]

Agreed, loot the body.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to search the body and eat a Provision.

[SGamerz]

While Waluigi stops to search the body of his recent victim...

Have you already dealt with the gardener? If you have, turn to 32, otherwise, turn to 128.

Nope, we've never met the gardener here...

Alerted by the sounds of the struggle, the Dark Elf gardener creeps up behind you while you're rummaging among the Ogre's blood-soaked clothing and swings his scythe at you. A brilliant light flares in your head and then all is darkness - for ever.

And here Waluigi meets his first untimely end!

He doesn't have sufficient gold for an extra life, but he's able to trade away his scarlet pearl for one.

Now you can choose to:

a) Proceed from here by going through the window.
b) Proceed by going through the hatch.
c) Use a Cape Feather boon and rewind to an earlier spot of your choice.
d) Use both Cape Feather boons to make sure that you automatically rewind to a spot where you may have missed something essential earlier.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to use a Cape Feather to go to the Bushel this time.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Agreed.

[Queen of Swords]

Sure, let's try that.

[SGamerz]

We rewind back to the point shortly after we just got the letter from Fang-zen and left that tavern...and promptly enter another one, because Waluigi is an alcoholic.

(Note that gold spent on items earlier will be reverted, but anything spent on purchasing an extra life will be gone for good.)

The Bushel is a rather up-market establishment, where the bar-girls wear uniforms and the seats are covered in mock Lizardine leather. Entry is 2 Gold Pieces, but thereafter the food and drinks appear to be free. You can pay and go in, go to the bar across the road instead, or call it a day?

I'm assuming you want to pay and go in, so we can skip the voting here.

Deduct 2 Gold Pieces from your Adventure Sheet, but restore up to 4 lost STAMTNA points because of the food you eat in the Bushel. After eating, you take time to look around at the rest of the clientele. Raised voices attract your attention to a group at one of the tables. Guarded by a couple of henchmen who are at least half Troll, a couple of swarthy, well-to-do criminals have been treating their girlfriends to a night out, but it looks as though officers from the City Guard have tracked them down and are questioning them.

"You accuse me of arranging murder?" you hear one of the men shout 'We are just honest plumbers - eh, Igiul?"

"Right, Oiram," the other man agrees "We've been here all evening. There are plenty of witnesses - just look around." Will you stay here, to be questioned by the guards, or leave, knowing that as you've only just arrived in the bar you cannot help them If you leave, you can either pop in to the bar across the road or call it a day.

Since I don't think you chose to rewind all the way here just to leave and do the same things as last time again, I assume we stay:

"What's going on?" you ask the guard who has come to your table. "'There's been a murder on the other side of town," the guard replies. "A "business rival of those two villains over there was conveniently trampled by a horse. No witnesses, and our only clue is a bit of torn handkerchief which the victim was clutching."

A name pops into your mind; you think you might have overheard who the murderer may be. Will you say:

Anfold?
Twygarl?
Marinus?
Pengarl?
Elfbane?
Penfold?

For some reason, we are under some obligation to give him a random name if we don't possess sufficient information to give him the correct answer. There's no option to not give them any names.

Do we think we overheard the real name? Which one do we give them?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Waluigi
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 16/16
LUCK 10/11
Equipment: Sword, leather armour, Potion of Fortune, King Jonthane's letter (number '88')
Provisions: 10
Gold: 9
Boons: Cape Feather (x1), Magic Mushroom (x1)
[/spoiler]

[Dogopolis]

The guy in the first picture has a torn hankie

"...or my name's not Pen-" the man talking to the barman says.
All you hear him say is the end of the man's name, "...garl, see you then."

Pengarl.

[Thaluikhain]

Well spotted.

Also two options begin with "Pen", (and it's the only option that appears more than once) and both of those end with endings used in another name. And multiple choice questions tending to work a certain way (correct answer is the one most like the others), Pen should be the first part of the name. Unfortunately, by the same logic it could end with fold or garl.

[SGamerz]

"Him?" the guard says. "Oh yes, we know him. And he regularly works for those two over there. You could have been a great help. Come to our station first thing tomorrow morning. You'll find me in room 56: take a note of the number. If your information has led to an arrest there'lI be something in it for you." Will you now go to the Elfbane Bar across the road or call it a day?

Do we still want to go to the Elfbane Bar? We now know that the crone is a crook, but do we want to try the gambling wheel this time?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Waluigi
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 16/16
LUCK 10/11
Equipment: Sword, leather armour, Potion of Fortune, King Jonthane's letter (number '88')
Provisions: 10
Gold: 9
Boons: Cape Feather (x1), Magic Mushroom (x1)
Notes: Visit the City Guard station at room 56 next morning to check if the murderer has been arrested.
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

Might as well check out the gambling, I guess.

[JourneymanN00b]

Sure, I vote to check out the gambling wheel.

[SGamerz]

Waluigi decides to also pay a visit to the Elfbane Bar in this alternate timeline, because there's nothing more important that tasting the ale in every single bar he can find in town.

A skein of geese in V-formation wings its way overhead as you tum into the bar - maybe this is a good omen. You sit on a high stool at the bar and try to engage the landlord in conversation, but he is too busy to do more than grunt. Mind you, your neighbour tells you that that's the most intelligent comment he's heard from the landlord in years. You swivel around on your stool to survey the scene. At that moment a vile-lookrng old crone walks into the bar, clutching some withered sprigs of heather She is clearly a well-known figure, because she hardly has lime to utter, "Buy my lucky heather," before the landlord has hustled her out through the door, prodding her with the brush end of a broom. Will you follow the horrid crone out into the street or investigate the gambling wheel at the back of the tavern?

Heading for the gambling wheel this time...

The huge, gaudy gambling wheel stands upright against a wall at the back of the tavern. If you pay her a Gold Piece, the innkeeper's beautiful assistant will spin the wheel for you If the wheel stops at the number you bet on, you win double your stake; if not, you lose. Tonight your luck is in, Roll one dice. This is the number of Gold Pieces you win at the Wheel of Fortune. If you won 5 or 6 Gold Pieces, turn t o 329; otherwise, turn to 388.

I'm not sure why the author even bothers telling us the rules, since we don't get to decide how much we bet, and we automatically win anyway.

Die roll = 2.

Oh well, at least we got back what we spent at the Bushel.

Rolling 5 or 6 is actually not a good result here.

After with that, we leave the inn and return to our boat for the night again:

You return to your boat for the night. In the early hours of the morning, two fish-like shapes pull themselves over the side of your boat. Scarlet pearls are sacred to Pelagines, and they have sent a raiding party to recover the one you 'stole' (as they see it) from Takio. Under their law, this crime is punishable by death. Pelagines are an amphibious race, equally at home on land or under water. Their fish like heads belie cunning and intelligence, and the scales that cover their humanoid bodies are like armour plating. You can inflict only 1 STAMINA point of damage on them (unless you use LUCK too) in each Attack Round that you win. The male wields a trident, while the female advances tossing a coral-handled dagger from one hand to the other. In the narrow confines of your cabin, they have to approach one at a time.

PELAGINE SKILL 7 STAMINA 8
PELAGINETTE SKILL 6 STAMINA 5

If you win, you decide to slay awake for the rest of the night. In the morning, will you leave Arion to seek out Telessa's kidnappers or will you remain in the city for a while longer?

(Waluigu actually no longer has the scarlet pearl due to using it to purchase an extra life, but the entire item was completely useless anyway other than being used as a flavour explanation for why these 2 creatures attack us. That's why I decided to make it a tradable/spendable item. I'm not sure why Waterfield decided that we should have it on our Adventure Sheet.)

COMBAT LOG:
Pelagine 14, Waluigi 17. Pelagine is at 7.
Pelagine 11, Waluigi 17. Pelagine is at 6.
Pelagine 16, Waluigi 17. Pelagine is at 5.
Pelagine 15, Waluigi 16. Pelagine is at 4.
Pelagine 12, Waluigi 20. Pelagine is at 3.
Pelagine 9, Waluigi 17. Pelagine is at 2.
Pelagine 15, Waluigi 17. Pelagine is at 1.
Pelagine 14, Waluigi 15. Pelagine is killed.
Pelaginette 15, Waluigi 16. Pelaginette is at 4.
Pelaginette 15, Waluigi 15. Tie.
Pelaginette 13, Waluigi 14. Pelaginette is at 3.
Pelaginette 9, Waluigi 16. Pelaginette is at 2.
Pelaginette 12, Waluigi 14. Pelaginette is at 1.
Pelaginette 9, Waluigi 11. Pelaginette is killed.

Still a tedious dragged-out fight due to their scales (and Waluigi bizarrely kept rolling the same Attack Strength for most of the rounds in the first half of the battle), but this time Waluigi gets a flawless win!

Assuming you have nothing better to do, will you go to the market-place or hang around the docks?

Oh, but this time we do have something better to do! We have an appointment with the City Guards at their office!

You present yourself at the guardsman's office. "Good work," he says. "Good observation. Your one-eyed chappie broke down (with a little help from our resident torturer) and confessed. Anytime you want a job, just come and talk to me. In the meantime, you can choose one of these three rewards: a Truthstone, 25 Gold Pieces, or a shield. Which do you want?" If you decide on the Truthstone, turn to 95; if you go for the money, turn to 357; if you choose the shield, turn to 381.

Good to know we have an open job offer available if we screw up the princess-rescue mission (although I'm not sure the king would allow us to work in this kingdom if we fail and get his daughter killed).

Choose your reward!

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Waluigi
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 16/16
LUCK 10/11
Equipment: Sword, leather armour, Potion of Fortune, King Jonthane's letter (number '88')
Provisions: 10
Gold: 11
Boons: Cape Feather (x1), Magic Mushroom (x1)
Notes: Visit the City Guard station at room 56 next morning to check if the murderer has been arrested.
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

The Truthstone sounds like the most interesting item, and the one we’re least likely to find elsewhere.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to get the Truthstone for Waluigi's reward.

[Thaluikhain]

Truthstone.

(Eh, again in keeping with the book, we can stop bothering with princess rescuing and get a permanent job instead)

[SGamerz]

(Eh, again in keeping with the book, we can stop bothering with princess rescuing and get a permanent job instead)

They can even afford to pay out rewards worth more than 4 kingdoms, so it doesn't look like a bad deal.

Waluigi might even have considered it if he hadn't already gotten the letter from Fang-zen. But now that he can't let Fang-zen take all the blame for the princess' death, he'd probably have to go through with it or risk being banned from Arion for life by Jonthane for not fulfilling the quest.

Anyway, Waluigi picks the Truthstone as his reward...

The Truthstone can be used once and once only. It glows with an unearthly blue light which forces a creature with any intelligence (that is, not a plant or a rock for instance) to tell the truth.

That's straightforward enough. Although if they were just going to give this away to some guy who gave them the clue to solve a murder, couldn't they have just used it on Oiram or Igiul to get them to confess?

You can now either go to the market-place, or hang around the docks for a while.

Since we know we can still go to the docks after going to the market, I'd assume you want to go to the former first again:

There are various articles you can buy from the stalls in the market and each costs 2 Cold Pieces. Choose as many as you like but you would be advised not to spend all you have. Remember to deduct the appropriate amount of money from your Adventure Sheet as you accumulate items.

a large phial of sallow-seed oil
a needle and some thread
2 meals' worth of Provisions
a tinderbox and flint
a pair of old boots
an antique gilded arrow
a lodestone
two silver pearls
some rope
a throwing knife
a fishing net
a copper pendant

Once you have finished shopping, you can leave Arion to begin your quest or you can make your way down to the docks.

This time round, we have 1 extra gold to spend...except everything here costs 2 gold, so it doesn't mean anything here.

Do we want to change our shopping list this time round? The only additional info we have is that the oil can be useful, but failing the check for it is not lethal.

Also, let me know whether you still want to go to the docks again after the purchases.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Waluigi
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 16/16
LUCK 10/11
Equipment: Sword, leather armour, Potion of Fortune, King Jonthane's letter (number '88')
Provisions: 10
Gold: 11
Boons: Cape Feather (x1), Magic Mushroom (x1)
Notes: Visit the City Guard station at room 56 next morning to check if the murderer has been arrested.
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to buy a needle and thread, lodestone, tinderbox and flint, and a large phial of sallow-seed oil this time around. According to a trusty source, we could possibly need to make a compass using the lodestone and needle and thread.

[Queen of Swords]

I agree, let’s buy those items.

[SGamerz]

Do we want to go to the docks again after that? And while we're at it, if we go there, please confirm if you still want to ask the fisherfolk the same question (about the princess kidnap). The alternative questions are about finding more scarlet pearls, about Fang-zen, or about the gold export.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go to the docks and ask them about the kidnapping again. I also vote to return to the Baron and make the same decisions up to the point where Waluigi climbed the western wall. I then vote to go southwards towards the Baron's garden, and return to the hatch door to see what benefits the oil provides.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Climb the southern wall this time, go to the garden and deal with the gardener this time.

[SGamerz]

Waluigi spends 8 gold on the shopping list suggested by JourneymanN00b and moves on to the docks:

The dockland area is a great place for gathering information. Boats put in here from all over Khul, and even from other continents. As an experienced sailor yourself, you have no difficulty in being accepted by a group of gnarled fishermen who are mending nets on one of the quays. You pass the time of day together discussing the weather before you turn to matters of wider interest. But the group is beginning to disperse: the tide is right for sailing You can ask them if they know anything about Princess Telessa's kidnap, where you can find some more scarlet pearls, whether Fang-zen has left Arion yet, or what they know about the gold-mining business.

He proceeds to ask the same question...

Two of the fishermen look at each other. "We can't help you," one of them says, but we know a man who can. You'd better visit Baron den Snau; he has a finger in every evil pie in north-east Khul, if you ask me." They give you directions to the Baron's mansion. If you think it's worth visiting the Baron, turn to 273; otherwise, you can visit the market-place, if you still need to, or leave Arion and go in search of the kidnappers.

...and once again decides to pay this Baron a visit:

You wait until evening before making your way to the Baron's mansion, as you figure that he's more likely to be in then; you also hope that the dark of night will enable you to move around more safely. The mansion is in the grand part of town where narrow alleys and busy streets and squares give way to leafy lanes and even the occasional field and copse. One such copse is unfortunately infested with Gutterlags: hyena-like scavengers which live in the suburbs but come down into the towns and cities at night to forage among the sewers for scraps of meat. Individually they prefer their meat cold and putrid, but a pack of Gutterlags, such as the one that is sneaking through the trees towards you, will attack live meat like yourself. You can fight the pack as if it were a single enemy because, once you have killed a few of them, the rest will scatter and slink back into the trees. But you cannot possibly defend yourself against all of them at once, and every even-numbered Attack Round you must reduce your STAMINA by 1 point, whatever else happens during that round.

GUTTERLAGS SKILL 7 STAMINA 16

If you win, turn to 310.

COMBAT LOG:
Gutterlags 11, Waluigi 18. Gutterlags are at 14.
Gutterlags 14, Waluigi 15. Gutterlags are at 12. Waluigi is at 15.
Gutterlags 10, Waluigi 13. Gutterlags are at 10.
Gutterlags 16, Waluigi 20. Gutterlags are at 8. Waluigi is at 14.
Gutterlags 13, Waluigi 15. Gutterlags are at 6.
Gutterlags 14, Waluigi 15. Gutterlags are at 4. Waluigi is at 13.
Gutterlags 14, Waluigi 18. Gutterlags are at 2.
Gutterlags 13, Waluigi 17. Gutterlags are defeated. Waluigi is at 12.

You are extra careful for the rest of your trek up to the Baron's house; the yellow sandstone of the mansion seems warm and welcoming in the glow of the late sun. The house is surrounded by a high wall. You can either pose as a businessman and approach the front gate boldly, or you can look for another way in.

Again, Waluigi looks for a back way in:

The wall surrounding the Baron's house offers an unbroken barrier. There are no side doors. You can either return to the main gate, if you haven't already failed to get in that way, or you can try to climb the wall.

And here the votes are divided:

On the western side, the Baron's house runs very close to the wall for some distance; to the south, the garden may give you cover once you're in the grounds. Will you climb the western wall or the southern wall?

We have 1 vote by JourneymanN00b to proceed by the same way as last time, but use the oil to avoid rousing the ogre. We also have 1 vote to climb in via the south wall instead and hopefully find the gardener and take him out this time. Others will need to break the tie.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: Waluigi
SKILL 9/9
STAMINA 12/16
LUCK 10/11
Equipment: Sword, leather armour, Potion of Fortune, King Jonthane's letter (number '88'), large phial of sallow-seed oil, a needle and some thread, tinderbox and flint, lodestone
Provisions: 10
Gold: 3
Boons: Cape Feather (x1), Magic Mushroom (x1)
Notes: Visit the City Guard station at room 56 next morning to check if the murderer has been arrested.
[/spoiler]