[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 58: Revenge of the Vampire

[Thaluikhain]

I vote for staking the place out from outside.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to leave but keep watch.

Oh, and I think we have 1 gold left, not 8 like the Adventure Sheet currently says.

[Beroli]

Indeed, I neglected to update that; it's updated now.

There isn't much cover for keeping watch on the inn, so you have to hide yourself as best you can in a roadside gully. However, you are desperately tired from riding through the night, and you soon fall asleep. You wake up later, stiff and uncomfortable; deduct 1 point from your STAMINA, and you must now eat a Meal. Turn to 379.

By the time you wake up it is almost dark! The Vampire will surely be up and about again soon. You pick up all your equipment and make for the stables. <spoiler elided> Turn to 108.

As you approach the stables, the dark coach with its horseman bolts from inside. The horses gallop away like the wind. You race for your own horse, but two burly stablemen stand in your way. "Ere, we fed and watered 'im,' one of them says. 'Ate almost his own weight, he did, greedy devil.' You stare, dismayed, at a very smug, fat-bellied and probably slow horse. 'Cost yer a gold, that will.'

Do you:

Pay 1 Gold to get your horse back? Turn to 17.
Fight the stablemen? Turn to 59.
Leave without the horse? Turn to 279.

Please vote by midnight EST to be sure it will be counted.

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Eric Cross Brooks
Skill: 8/8
Stamina: 21/24
Luck: 12/12
Faith: 6
Blood Points: 10
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor, Shield, Backpack, Lantern
Provisions: 5 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Gold Pieces: 1
Special Notes:

[JourneymanN00b]

My vote is to pay the gold to get our horse back.

[Darth Rabbitt]

A slow horse is still probably faster than a tired person, and our Skill is low enough that these guys could hurt us. So spend our last Gold Piece on the horse.

[Thaluikhain]

Paying seems fair.

[Queen of Swords]

Fighting the stablemen won't gain anything, and leaving without the horse means it'll be that much more difficult for us to get anywhere. So, pay up.

[Beroli]

Your horse is still willing but he is slower than last night and he cannot keep up with the fleeing Count. You ride on slowly until dawn, then stop to take breakfast. You must now eat a Meal. <spoilers elided>

Not far from the coaching inn the road leads northeastwards and you have a long journey ahead of you. You ask everyone you meet about the coach, and from time to time someone tells you they have seen the infernal carriage. You can only hope that you are still on the right track. You have a horse and thus need to eat two Meals along the road (not the five you would have to eat if you were on foot). Eventually you find yourself in a small hamlet, where you may buy supplies if you have any money to pay for them. You can buy Provisions; 1 Gold Piece will buy enough for 3 meals. If you wantto sell your horse (if you have one!), a farmer will give you 4 Gold Pieces for him. It's daylight robbery, but you have little choice. No one here will sell you a horse, though: they're in short supply, except for clapped-out nags that no one in their right mind would want to own. If you want to ask about healing or scholars or any magician who may be living in the area, tum to 334. If you want to press on, tum to 89.

I need votes on: Whether to sell the horse, how many if any Meals to buy (only if you sell the horse), and whether to look for a scholar or magician or keep going. Please vote by 6 PM EST to be sure it will be counted.

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Eric Cross Brooks
Skill: 8/8
Stamina: 21/24
Luck: 12/12
Faith: 6
Blood Points: 10
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor, Shield, Backpack, Lantern
Provisions: 2 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Gold Pieces: 0
Special Notes:

[Thaluikhain]

I'd recommend pressing on if we keep the horse as healing or scholars or magicians sound like they'd want paying.

[Queen of Swords]

We're not selling the horse. Let's ask about scholars and magicians, just in case we do get this information for free.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Agreed with Queen of Swords. We’ve paid too much for this horse to give it up, and we might get information for free.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote not to sell the horse, and ask about scholars and magicians.

[Beroli]

The occupants of this hamlet are mercenary wretches. 'Give us a gold and I'll tell you what you want to know,' is all that any of them will say.

Do you:

Forget the scholar/magician and head on (turn to 89)?
Spend a day doing manual labor to earn a Gold Piece and pay for information (lose one Blood Point and turn to 358)?
Spend a day doing manual labor to earn a Gold Piece and head on (lose one Blood Point, gain one Gold Piece for future use, turn to 89)?

Please vote by 6 AM EST to be sure it will be counted.

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Eric Cross Brooks
Skill: 8/8
Stamina: 21/24
Luck: 12/12
Faith: 6
Blood Points: 10
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor, Shield, Backpack, Lantern
Provisions: 2 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Gold Pieces: 0
Special Notes: A horse.

[JourneymanN00b]

Hmmm, this is a tough one. I say forget the scholar/magician and head on, as I doubt their information is worth a Blood point, and it is not worth wasting Blood Points for gold.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Yeah, I’m leaning towards the same.

[Queen of Swords]

I'll go along with that, but at the end, could you say what happens if we do some work for the gold and pay for information?

[Beroli]

Of course. Anything you don't see before the end of the Let's Play, I'll be happy to describe here.

Heading on wins 3-0.

As you set off on your way, the skies darken and peals of thunder can be heard coming from the north. Dark clouds scud across the sky and the wind lashes into your face. You almost have to close your eyes against the dust and dirt being blown into your face, so the first you know about the impending danger is when a Giant Raven pecks at yow neck! Fortunately it is only a glancing blow; deduct 1 point from your STAMINA. If you are walking, fight normally. If you are on horseback, it is hard for you to control your horse and swing a sword at the same time:subtract 1 from your Attack Strength. If you wish to, you can dismount and fight normally, but you must lose 2 more STAMINA points as the Ravens attack you while you are getting to the ground.

First GIANT RAVEN SKILL 7 STAMINA 6
Second GIANT RAVEN SKILL 7 STAMINA 6

If you win, did you fight on horseback for the entire fight? If you did, turn to 162. Otherwise turn to 118.

Hm. It doesn't say whether to fight them one at a time or together. Does this Gamebook--*turns back to the intro*--"If you come across more than one opponent in a particular encounter, the instructions on that page will tell you whether you must fight the creatures singly or all together." Except for the part where it doesn't. Sigh. This book desperately needed an editor. Since both the 1-point initial damage and the 2-point penalty for dismounting go better with "one of them hits you" than "both of them hit you," I'm going to read it as fighting First GIANT RAVEN and then Second GIANT RAVEN, but first I need votes on whether to dismount immediately, dismount under certain circumstances during the fight, or not dismount at all.

Please vote by 6 PM EST to be sure it will be counted.

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Eric Cross Brooks
Skill: 8/8
Stamina: 20/24
Luck: 12/12
Faith: 6
Blood Points: 10
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor, Shield, Backpack, Lantern
Provisions: 2 Meals (+4 STAMINA)
Gold Pieces: 0
Special Notes: A horse.

[Thaluikhain]

It looks like we might lose our horse if we get off, but our skill isn't great. Half vote for staying on.

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, if we find it difficult to control the horse when we're on it, I don't have a lot of hope that we can do so after we dismount and are busy fending off two enemies.

Stay on the horse and fight, though it's probably going to be a bloodbath with the Attack Strength penalty and our low skill.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Yeah, we’ve given up a lot to hold on to this horse, we might as well stay on it and hope we can soak up more attacks with our high Stamina.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote not to dismount in order not to lose the horse.

[Beroli]

Round One: Eric 14, Giant Raven One 14.
Round Two: Eric 16, Giant Raven One 16. I am not making this up.
Round Three: Eric 13, Giant Raven One 9. Giant Raven One Stamina 4.
Round Four: Eric 14, Giant Raven One 10. Giant Raven One Stamina 2.
Round Five: Eric 15, Giant Raven One 10. Flawless.

Round One: Eric 14, Giant Raven Two 9. Giant Raven Two Stamina 4.
Round Two: Eric 10 Giant Raven Two 12. Eric Stamina 18.
Round Three: Eric 13, Giant Raven Two 14. Eric Stamina 16.
Round Four: Eric 15, Giant Raven Two 11. Giant Raven Two Stamina 2.
Round Five: Eric 12, Giant Raven Two 16. Eric Stamina 14.
Round Six: Eric 17, Giant Raven Two 15. Victory.

There must be still quite some way to go to Heydrich's mansion house, if Henrik's sketch map is anything like accurate. After a long day's joumeying, you must now eat another meal. You decide to put in another hour or so of travel before the last day of the daylight fades and you notice that the road ahead of you is growing very misty and foggy. Strangely enough, the woodland to either side of the road does not appear to be covered by the thick mist at all. You don't like the look of this. Will you:

Continue through the thick mist on the road? Turn to 223.
Go to your right through the woods? Turn to 272.
Go to your left through the woods? Turn to 308.

I cannot imagine what would possibly affect this choice for anyone. Also vote on whether to eat your last meal. Please vote by 6 AM EST to be sure it will be counted.

Adventure Sheet:

Name: Eric Cross Brooks
Skill: 8/8
Stamina: 14/24
Luck: 12/12
Faith: 6
Blood Points: 10
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor, Shield, Backpack, Lantern
Provisions: 1 Meal (+4 STAMINA)
Gold Pieces: 0
Special Notes: A horse.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to go to the left through the woods, as misty and foggy areas are usually Bad, and we need to reject any notions of fascism. I also vote to eat our last provision.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Eat the last meal, and avoid the fog. Left path is fine by me.

[Queen of Swords]

Sure, eating the last meal and going left sound good. I hope we get more provisions soon though.