[Let's Play] Fighting Fantazine Adventure #2 - Shrine of the Salamander

[Queen of Swords]

Thirded.

[SGamerz]

John Constantine consumes a meal and restores his STAMINA to 20, and heads north.

You are advancing down a cave-tunnel leading north when you notice that the walls around you appear to be shaking and trembling violently. Suddenly, with a loud cracking noise, one of the tunnel walls is torn asunder and a gigantic insect-like monstrosity with a spoked carapace and a long, grasping claws erupt out of the very rock itself. The sound of your footsteps has attracted the attention of a BADDI-BEETLE, a ferocious predator that infests the Baklands of Kakhabad! Without warning, the creature spits a viscous blob of acid in your direction. Roll two dice and Test your Luck. If you are Lucky, turn to 101. If you are Unlucky, turn to 135.

Dice roll = 9 (Lucky).

The creature's acidic saliva misses you and hits a wall, where it begins to sizzle and dissolve its way through the rock. Meanwhile, the beetle heaves its black chitin-clad bulk out from its burrow and scuttles down the tunnel to attack you with its serrated and claw-like mandibles! Defend yourself!

BADDU-BEETLE SKILL 7 STAMINA 9

If you wish to flee from the Baddu-Beetle and Escape by running northwards up the tunnel, turn to 45. Fight the battle as normal, except that every time you wound the beetle, it will respond by angrily spitting virulent acid at you. Roll one die and consult the following table to see whether this acid spit hits you:

Roll Effect
1 - Hits you in the face. Lose 3 STAMINA points and 1 LUCK point.
2 - Hits your weapon arm. Lose 2 STAMINA points and 1 SKILL point.
3 - Hits your other arm. Lose 2 STAMINA points.
4 - Hits your leg. Lose 1 STAMINA point.
5-6 - Misses.

If you slay the Baddu-Beetle, turn to 80.

An opponent with the same SKILL level as us, but with a potentially very dangerous special attack. Do we want to use LUCK for this battle?

[Queen of Swords]

Use Luck to increase the damage we deal the beetle, so we can take it out in the fewest possible attach rounds.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to use Luck to increase damage.

[Thaluikhain]

Every time we hurt it it has a 50% chance of hurting us worse, (and a 1 in 6 chance of hurting us, but not as bad). Nah, leg it.

[SGamerz]

COMBAT LOG:
Baddu-Beetle 13, John Constantine 16. Luck test roll = 4 (Lucky). BB is at 5.
BB uses acid spit: die roll = 1. JC is at 17 STAMINA, 7 LUCK.
BB 14, JC 11. JC is at 15.
BB 15, JC 13. JC is at 13.
BB 16, JC 11. JC is at 11.
BB 15, JC 9. JC is at 9.
BB 15, JC 12. JC is at 7.
BB 9, JC 14. Luck test roll = 6 (Lucky). BB is at 1.
BB uses acid spit: die roll = 3. JC is at 5 STAMINA.
BB 16, JC 17. BB is killed!

A very costly fight, but John Constantine manages to survive (good thing he didn't take any SKILL penalty from the acid).

Restore 1 LUCK point for slaying the Baddu-Beetle - a truly difficult foe! You see that the creature's tunnelling has churned up plenty of material here that is useful for casting spells. Add any of the following to your Adventure Sheet if you wish: four small pebbles, stone dust, and some sand. You head north along the tunnel.

'Difficult' is almost an understatement. We definitely need that LUCK bonus too, since we lost 3 during the battle. It is now at 7 after the bonus.

And more of the stock spell components that can be found at the central hub. Well, at least it is more realistic than Sorcery that we're able to find sand and pebbles far more frequently.

The tunnel ends abruptly at a vertical sinkhole that leads up to the surface and down to the depths. In fact it ends so abruptly that you teeter for a moment on the edge, in serious danger of falling down into an unknown doom. Roll two dice and Test your SKILL. Add two to the result if you have just Escaped from the Baddu-Beetle. If you are successful, turn to 103. If you are unsuccessful, turn to 119.

So yes, there would actually have been an extra penalty if we'd fled from the battle earlier.

Dice roll = 4 (Success). Well, turns out we'd have passed it even if we'd Escaped from that beetle.

Just in time, you step back from the abyss, breathing deeply in relief. A couple of rocks clatter down the sinkhole, dislodged by something above. You look up, and the creature you see floating down the hole towards you is so nightmarish that it freezes you to the spot! The thing resembles a gigantic jellyfish, with a bloated sac-like body studded with numerous jet-black eyes, and a writing host of tentacles, all tipped with various stings, barbs, and hooks. This loathsome horror is a Skurasha, and normally a servant of the Demon Princes. What this one is doing here is anyone's guess, but it has now found you and demands your flesh as sustenance! The battle commences.

SKURASHA SKILL 8 STAMINA 11

If you wish to flee from the Skurasha and Escape by entering a jagged crack in the wall leading eastwards, turn to 70. If you ever roll a double one for your Attack Strength, you have slipped and fallen down the sinkhole - turn to 119 immediately. If you defeat the Skurasha, turn to 62.

Two dangerous opponents in a row that we somehow don't have the option of using magic against! This one has higher SKILL than us, and we're low on STAMINA. Do we want to Escape, use LUCK, or hope for the best in combat?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: John Constantine
SKILL 7/7
STAMINA 5/23
LUCK 7/10
Equipment: Warhammer, Lantern, Cloth SkullCap, Small Pebbles (x13), Sand (x3), Rope, Galehorn, Lumps of coal (x5), Crystal Jar, Stone Dust (x3)
Provisions: 4
Gold: 0
Boons: Galehorn, SkullCap, Giant's Tooth, Potion of Firewater
Notes:
1) Anyone entering the maze of tunnels that forms the mine itself, must first turn left and then travel in a clockwise direction if they wish to remain safe.
2) Xak may be the name of the Croaking Caves Salamander? If in future we have the chance to speak the name Xak, add twenty to the paragraph number we have turned to, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
[/spoiler]

[Queen of Swords]

I think we should try escaping from this one.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to escape, and eat all four Provisions to recover Stamina.

[SGamerz]

John Constantine flees from the Skurasha, taking a wound as he disengages (STAMINA down to 3).

The tunnel you have been following enters a circular chamber whose sandy floor is completely flat and featureless. Three other corridors, all similar to the one you have been trekking down, also enter this chamber, but on the northern wall, looking rather incongruous amidst these shadowy caverns, is a door fashioned from driftwood. You stride across the chamber towards it and immediately realize your mistake. The floor is a treacherous stretch of quicksand, and you have already started sinking up to your knees! Quickly, what will you do? Use some Rope (if you have some), and turn to 136. Or cast a magic spell:

HUF
ROK
MUD

If you do not have any Rope, and cannot cast a spell, then you perish here in the Tunnels of Ooze, sucked beneath the quicksand to suffer a horrible fate. Your adventure is over...

And the crisis keeps coming...

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: John Constantine
SKILL 7/7
STAMINA 3/23
LUCK 7/10
Equipment: Warhammer, Lantern, Cloth SkullCap, Small Pebbles (x13), Sand (x3), Rope, Galehorn, Lumps of coal (x5), Crystal Jar, Stone Dust (x3)
Provisions: 4
Gold: 0
Boons: Galehorn, SkullCap, Giant's Tooth, Potion of Firewater
Notes:
1) Anyone entering the maze of tunnels that forms the mine itself, must first turn left and then travel in a clockwise direction if they wish to remain safe.
2) Xak may be the name of the Croaking Caves Salamander? If in future we have the chance to speak the name Xak, add twenty to the paragraph number we have turned to, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to use the rope and to eat the four provisions.

[Queen of Swords]

Seconded.

[Thaluikhain]

Agreed.

[SGamerz]

John Constantine somehow manages to wolf down all his food to restore his STAMINA to 19 even while he's taking out his rope...while sinking into quicksand...

Even though you are sinking slowly but surely into the depths, you calmly fashion your Rope into a lasso of sorts, and attempt to snare the door-handle on the northern wall, so that you can clamber up the rope to safety. Roll two dice and Test your Skill. Add two to the result if you are wearing or carrying a Chainmail Hauberk. If you are successful, you manage this feat; reach the door, open it and step through. If you are unsuccessful, turn to 88.

Thankfully, we don't have any chainmail hauberk on us...

Dice roll = 9 (Fail!)

Your Rope lasso fails to snag the door-handle and you spend some time fitfully thrashing about in the quicksand attempting to steady yourself for another go. Not only is this making you sink quicker, but it is also exhausting. Deduct 1 STAMINA point for your exertions. Now, will you try again to use the Rope as a lasso, or will you instead cast a spell (in which case return to 70 and choose a magic spell option given there)?

At least failure is not an inta-death.

So, using the rope again sends us back to the previous section, which means we can keep trying until we run out of STAMINA...

But do we want to do that? Or should we try a spell and see if it works better? If so, which spell do we use?

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: John Constantine
SKILL 7/7
STAMINA 18/23
LUCK 7/10
Equipment: Warhammer, Lantern, Cloth SkullCap, Small Pebbles (x13), Sand (x3), Rope, Galehorn, Lumps of coal (x5), Crystal Jar, Stone Dust (x3)
Provisions: 0
Gold: 0
Boons: Galehorn, SkullCap, Giant's Tooth, Potion of Firewater
Notes:
1) Anyone entering the maze of tunnels that forms the mine itself, must first turn left and then travel in a clockwise direction if they wish to remain safe.
2) Xak may be the name of the Croaking Caves Salamander? If in future we have the chance to speak the name Xak, add twenty to the paragraph number we have turned to, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
[/spoiler]

[Thaluikhain]

Odd are with us using rope lasso, try that again.

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, try again.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to try the rope again.

[SGamerz]

Trying the rope again:

Dice roll = 10 (Fail). John Constantine is at 17 STAMINA.

Dice roll = 8 (Fail). John Constantine is at 16 STAMINA.

Dice roll = 8 (Fail). John Constantine is at 15 STAMINA.

Dice roll = 4 (Success). Finally, John Constantine succeeds in lassoing the door handle on his fifth try.

Beyond the quicksand room is another large chamber, though this one contains a broad pool of limpid black water surrounded on all sides by a sandy beach. The rest of the cavern is completely full with all kinds of weird subterranean fungi - mushrooms, toadstools, puffballs, and the like. Before you can do anything however, a surprisingly cold wind blows in from nowhere, swirling the sand from the beach all around you. As you watch, the spiralling current of air becomes a focused column and forms a recognizable shape. Standing on the underground beach in front of you is a two-metre tall humanoid composed entirely of sand. With great clenched fists and a malevolent red glow in its eyes, the SAND GOLEM advances on you!

You can fight this magical guardian, or cast a spell:

HOT
HUF
MUD

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: John Constantine
SKILL 7/7
STAMINA 15/23
LUCK 7/10
Equipment: Warhammer, Lantern, Cloth SkullCap, Small Pebbles (x13), Sand (x3), Rope, Galehorn, Lumps of coal (x5), Crystal Jar, Stone Dust (x3)
Provisions: 0
Gold: 0
Boons: Galehorn, SkullCap, Giant's Tooth, Potion of Firewater
Notes:
1) Anyone entering the maze of tunnels that forms the mine itself, must first turn left and then travel in a clockwise direction if they wish to remain safe.
2) Xak may be the name of the Croaking Caves Salamander? If in future we have the chance to speak the name Xak, add twenty to the paragraph number we have turned to, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

I half vote to cast HUF.

[Queen of Swords]

Try the Galehorn, because we haven't had much use for it so far.

[SGamerz]

because we haven't had much use for it so far.

It actually would have been good against that previous obstacle.

Deduct 1 STAMINA point. Do you have a Galehorn with you? If not, return to 26 and choose again. If you have a Galehorn, you cast your spell and blow a not on the instrument. Immediately, a tremendous wind rushes out from the end of the Galehorn and blows the Sand Golem completely apart, scattering its constituent grains of sand to the far corners of the cavern. You have defeated the magical creature - turn to 112.

Well, that was a nice and effective 1-shot.

You are in a cavern full of giant fungi clustered around a dark pool. Aside from the door you came through, the only other exit is an adjoining sinkhole that leads up to the surface and down to the depths. Rather than go back the way you came, you decide to ascend via the rocky walls of the shaft.

Although there are plenty of hand-holds, climbing up the sinkhole will not be an easy task. Roll two dice and Test your Skill. If you have some Rope, which you can use to help you make the climb, deduct 2 from the dice roll. If you are successful, you reach the entrance of the shaft, which is on a cliff-top of the Earth End Coastline. You find a narrow path and follow it back down to the beach - turn to 100. If you are unsuccessful, you slip and fall (turn to 119 and cross the Rope off your Adventure Sheet if you were using it).

Well, at least the fact that we were told to cross off the Rope probably means that failure doesn't lead to an auto-death section - although something redundant like this actually has happened in certain FF books before, so it's not altogether impossible.

Dice roll = 7-2 = 5 (Success)! We make it back to the beach.

Once again you find yourself standing on the sands of the Earth End Coastline, pondering a way onwards. You also notice plenty of material here that is useful for casting spells. Add any of the following to your Adventure Sheet if you wish: three small pebbles, stone dust, and some sand. Then, choose - where will you go? Bear in mind you cannot return to any place you have already visited, no matter how briefly.

The Under-Temple of Throff
The Crystal Mines
The Tunnels of Ooze
The Croaking Caves

Unfortunately, the visit to the tunnel has been nothing but perilous and fruitless. And of course, there's only one location we hadn't yet visited.

The entrance to the Croaking Caves, lair of the Horntoads and shrine of Furkakk the Frog God, is a wide cavern-mouth that reeks with an especially foul odor. Yellow slime drips from the walls, and small crabs and black isopods skitter away into the darkness. No sooner have you entered the cavern than a deep, doom-laden voice croaks out: "Intruder! Intruder!". You have been spotted by Horntoad guards!

Two of them half-hope, half-run towards you on powerful limbs, brandishing immesne double-bladed halberds. They are disagreable creatures to look at, resembling enormous toads with brown-grey warty skin. A spiny crest runs down their backs, and a pair of horns grows outwards from the top of their heads.

You can fight them, offer them a Jar of Bees, drink a Potion of Transformation, or cast a magic spell:

PEP
TEL
HUF

We know where a Potion of Transformation can be found, but we didn't have enough gold to buy it. And we did have a jar, and did encounter some bees, but never captured any in the jar. So our choices are limited to just spells or straight fight.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Name: John Constantine
SKILL 7/7
STAMINA 14/23
LUCK 7/10
Equipment: Warhammer, Lantern, Cloth SkullCap, Small Pebbles (x16), Sand (x4), Rope, Galehorn, Lumps of coal (x5), Crystal Jar, Stone Dust (x4)
Provisions: 0
Gold: 0
Boons: Galehorn, SkullCap, Giant's Tooth, Potion of Firewater
Notes:
1) Anyone entering the maze of tunnels that forms the mine itself, must first turn left and then travel in a clockwise direction if they wish to remain safe.
2) Xak may be the name of the Croaking Caves Salamander? If in future we have the chance to speak the name Xak, add twenty to the paragraph number we have turned to, and consult this new paragraph number instead.
[/spoiler]

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to cast TEL to see whether there is a way to avoid fighting them.

[Queen of Swords]

Sure, use TEL, but if that doesn't help, try the Galehorn again.

[Thaluikhain]

Sounds reasonable

[SGamerz]

Deduct 1 STAMINA point. Do you have a Cloth Skullcap with you? If not, return to 87 and choose again. If you have a Cloth Skullcap, you cast your spell, close your eyes and concentrate, trying to detect the thoughts of the two Horntoad guards. Their minds are like wide empty pools of swamp-water and difficult to read properly. Their prime concern is currently dealing with you, but you also detect an undercurrent of longing for a delicious meal of tasty bees, preferably still alive and buzzing. If you have a Jar of Bees and wish to give it to the Horntoads, turn to 15. Otherwise, your only other option now will be to fight them.

The clue, unfortunately, isn't much good to us, since we'd already failed the item check for the Jar of Bees.

Unlike the Dark Goblin encounter, the Horntoads have already seen us, so we don't have the opportunity to cast a second spell.

Although somewhat slow and clumsy, Horntoads are also big, strong, and powerful. In addition, not only are these two skilled with the use of their halberds, but they also have plenty of natural weaponry in the form of clawed fists, curving horns, and a gaping mouth full of sharp tusks. This will be a difficult battle!

First HORNTOAD GUARD SKILL 9 STAMINA 8
Second HORNTOAD GUARD SKILL 8 STAMINA 9

You cannot Escape. They will both attack you at the same time. Roll for your own Attack Strength and roll once for each of the two creatures. If your Attack Strength is higher than either of theirs, you may choose which creature you inflict the wound on. If one of their Attack Strengths is higher and the other lower, you will wound the lower one, but be hit by the higher one. If both their Attack Strengths are higher, they will both wound you. If you kill both the Horntoad guards, turn to 102.

Ok, this is bad. Both are more SKILLed than us, we have to fight both at the same time, and we can't escape.

Do we use LUCK here? How do we use it?

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to use Luck to deal extra damage.