[LP] Fighting Fantasy: Creature of Havoc

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angelfromanotherpin
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[LP] Fighting Fantasy: Creature of Havoc

Post by angelfromanotherpin »

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From the back cover:
Are you ready for the most unusual Fighting Fantasy adventure yet?

You begin this adventure not knowing where you are or who you are. All you know is that you are some kind of creature of instinct, understanding little. During the course of the adventure, it may be possible for you to begin to control your bestial nature, to find out more about yourself, and even to learn your destiny. But even if you know all this, success is by no means certain, for the traps and terrors of Trolltooth Pass are many... Are you ready – to become the Creature of Havoc?
So, this book is kind of a legend among FF fandom. It's very strange. It's very harsh. And those are intentional. From an interview with the writer: 'Creature of Havoc was another attempt at doing something different - setting the reader as a monster instead of a hero. And the feedback we were getting from readers is that they liked the adventures to be tough, so I made it as difficult as I could. Turns out readers found it more difficult that I thought!'

Now, some of that difficulty was due to actual misprints in the book which made the starting dungeon literally inescapable. And some of it was due to Steve putting a bunch of the book's dead-end endings several references (and in some cases, a few choices) past the actual point of no return, to mess with the players who usually avoided such things by keeping their place one or two choices back. Which is kind of a dick move, really.

But the book was a big success anyway, even making it to the digital age with an app version. The lore was really creepy and intriguing, and the whole experience was very similar to the kind of amnesiac horror experience that would make a bunch of first-person video games so popular. And yes, more than many other FF books, this one is a horror game; and while it does have House of Horror's creepy pacing and atmosphere, it also has personal horror, body horror, and some other things.

From the frontispiece:
Evil is festering in Trolltooth Pass. The necromancer Zharradan Marr is close to stealing the secrets of Elven magic, which will make him invincible. Nothing could then prevent him and his legions of Chaos from taking over the whole of Allansia, which is his foul purpose...

But what does the Creature of Havoc know or care about all this? It is a creature of instinct, ruled by hunger and rage. It is unable to speak and the speech of others is incomprehensible. It has a taste for fighting and for the flesh of other creatures.
One of the big themes of the book is that there's this whole thing going on, which the player gets a fair amount of frontloaded information on, but which in play the creature gets only the barest glimpses. This is really well done to make the player feel like a confused beast in a much larger event.

The majority of the rules are bog-standard FF stuff, except for this:
Instant Death


As you learn more about yourself during the adventure, you will realize that you are an extremely powerful creature, capable of killing most opponents with a single blow. If you roll a double when rolling for your Attack Strength, then you have landed such a death-dealing blow. Your opponent will die instantly, without the need to resolve the particular attack round you are in.
Yeah, each of your attacks has a 1-in-6 chance of winning the fight. That's pretty sweet.

Next up is that frontloaded information I mentioned, and man, there is not a little of it. Again, I think it's supposed to be overwhelming, and also mostly irrelevant to your actual play. But from time to time you'll encounter something in the game that rings a bell, and maybe come back here to try to see how it pieces together. That sense of solving a mystery was a lot of fun for me, and it was also frustrating because it was clear that the Creature (not having this infodump) was in no position to solve any such thing. I've also included the map, for all the use it is.
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(Yes, Zharradan's schoolmates were the antagonists in Warlock of Firetop Mountain and Citadel of Chaos, books 1 and 2 in the series. Stature.)
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While you're hopefully digesting at least some of that, I'll start working on the first entry.
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

The pain is unbearable! Summoning up all your energy, you open your eyes – first one, then the other. They narrow to slits as they adjust themselves to the strain of trying to see once more, then relax as they make out familiar shapes in the dim light: a dirt floor, rocky walls... then the pain takes over. Your head rocks, Your eyes submit and close tightly in an agonized grimace. Instinctively you raise your hands to cup your face, and a low moan mingles with the rasping sound as your rough fingers rub the scaly skin above your eyes.

After some time the pain begins to ease. You open your eyes once more and peer out from between your gnarled fingers. You seem to be at the dead end of a passageway. Your surroundings are barely visible, but a dull glow is coming from the northern extent of the passageway, which stretches before you. A sound is also coming from this direction – of irregular breathing. Something alive is up there! You heave your great bulky body to its feet. Along your back, the spines bristle. Swinging your heavy head slowly from side to side, your progress is decided: northwards is the only option open to you. Muscles strain and succeed in raising a lumbering foot, which thuds loudly down on the ground in front of you, first with one foot, then the other. After four steps the motion has become automatic. You are moving more quickly and more quietly up the passage. When you reach the end, your eyes are drawn to a huddled shape lying on the ground in front of you.

The small figure lies on its side, facing away from you. It is shrouded in a dirty brown cape tied around its neck and it lies in a puddle of thick red liquid. Its body rises and falls irregularly with each breath. Some unidentified feeling swells within you. Is it anger? Hate? Fear? Curiosity? Hunger? Or even sympathy? You bend down towards the little creature, uttering a meaningless grunt as you do so.

The sound rouses the figure, which rolls slowly over to face you. The creature's dirty face is light-skinned, though barely visible under the thick hair which shades its closed eyes and almost totally obscures its mouth. From its chin the hair rolls abundantly down its chest in a grey, unruly mass. Underneath the body, and now exposed by the creature's movement, is a sharp, shiny shaft and this catches your attention.

As you stand there staring, the creature's eyes flick open! They focus on your bulky shape and a look of terror streaks across the creature's face. In spite of its pain, it fumbles for and grasps the shiny shaft, holding its pointed end out towards you and baring its teeth.
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The wounded Dwarf you have found is evidently in need of help.

• Show him you mean no harm?
• Try to talk to him?
• Bring your foot down heavily on his neck?
SKILL: 10
STAMINA: 17
LUCK: 11
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Post by Avoraciopoctules »

It's already been established that we cannot talk, and we could always kill the dwarf later. Show him you mean no harm, for now.
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Don't we also take less damage than normal, or am I imagining that part? Anyways, I recall this choice, so it's not fair for me to vote on it. I didn't get very far in this book at all, though.

And finally, I suggest that our character be named Dirk Dinobot II. Because we're a FF character (hence Dirk), a superpowered reptilian monster of questionable sentience who will gain intelligence and humanity over the course of the adventure, and will foil the BBEG's plot at a critical juncture and save the world in the process (hence the Dinobot II), and also both because of this (NSFW).

Damnit, Shrapnel's rubbing off on me, isn't he?
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Post by Starmaker »

Avoraciopoctules wrote:It's already been established that we cannot talk, and we could always kill the dwarf later. Show him you mean no harm, for now.
This.
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Post by rampaging-poet »

I've played this book years ago, and I remember this scene well. Show him we mean no harm.
Pretty sure it doesn't make any difference what we actually do here. Killing him is referred to later, so I think we end up fighting him no matter what.
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

Darth Rabbitt wrote:Don't we also take less damage than normal, or am I imagining that part?
No, you're totally correct. Concealed in the combat procedure is the part where your successful hits deal 2 STAMINA to your opponent, but your opponent's successful hits only deal 1 STAMINA to you. Yeah, the fights really aren't supposed to be the challenging parts of this book.
You reach down with your hand to help him to his feet. But as you move, the little creature strikes and his sword cuts into your forearm. Luckily the tough scales prevent it from doing any real harm, but you must still lose 2 STAMINA points. Considering your size in comparison to his, his action was understandable.

Now, instead of reaching for his arm, your hand opens and grips the Dwarf's neck. You struggle to control your actions, but to no avail. Your sharp talons dig into the unfortunate creature's flesh. His eyes bulge and he tries to scream. Frantically, he hits you again with the sword, but the blow lacks power. Deduct 1 more STAMINA point. Then his body goes limp.

Your tremendous strength put the poor creature out of its misery, but the incident has left you feeling very strange. Although you wished to help the Dwarf, you have helped him only to an early grave.

• Put these thoughts out of your mind and leave the area?
• Try to hide the body?
• Examine the body?
SKILL: 10
STAMINA: 14/17
LUCK: 11
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Post by rampaging-poet »

Examine the body.
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

I see no reason not to examine the body.
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Post by OgreBattle »

step on his neck
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Post by Starmaker »

D'aww. Examine the body and hope we can nom it for HP gain.
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

Your hands relax and the sharp claws retract into your fingers. You clumsily fumble through the Dwarf's dirty vestments. Your fingers will not fit into the pockets, but you do succeed in snapping the thongs of a large leather pouch which the creature has around its waist. As the ties break, the pouch spills its contents on the ground in front of you. It contained several circular pieces of shiny metal and a piece of hide, which unfolds as it drops out of the pouch. It is light in colour and has markings all over one side. You pick it up awkwardly and look at it, but it makes no sense at all. You become quite fascinated by this piece of leather. You turn it round, rub it with your hands and throw it in the air. You place it on your arm and on your head. You decide to take the leather with you. Unknown to you, the message on the hide may be useful later in your adventure.
'Swjnfb fbrd apfo yprf. Ypvuh bvf ebffne fpv ndugvj ltyi pfot hf ecr j mfep fowjlf vlub ndab lj cjpvs ub rsp no bamps to sfrjp vsupff fncfej n it hfed ryerf gj pnsop fo sblbmpnjs. Bsap vnjsh mf nte ypvu br fesfnt fncfde tpovnd frt bkfebap frjl pvs umjss jpn opfo rfcpvfry. Y pvum vstut rbv flen prthwbrds abndaf ntfreth fev nd frgrpvnd ud pmb j nip fozhb mb dbriam brra thfr fetpos ffkep vtubn darf cp vfref lbsks a cpnt bjnjng is wjrlj ngivbp pvrs. Th fsfeb rfeth fevbp pvrs upfost jttlf ewpbd. Y pvum vstuf jnd i thf ethrff eflbsk sacp n tbjnjngi thfs fevb p pvrsu bnda rftv rn uthf me tpoth jsic pvrt. PNON POB C CPVNT UMVST UT HFYEB FEP PFNFD. T hjs ijsi t hfe sfn tfncfe pfot hf ecp vrtu bnda thfe gfbs a hb sa bf fnecb st. Th jsij si ypvru pvn jshmf nt. Yp vumvs tusvc cf fde jni vpvr umjs sjp noprod jfe jn i thfeb t tfmpt.'

Underneath this is writing is more, but written in a different style: 'Vb ppvr upfoknpwlf dgf / - Flb xfnmb nfe p fosj lvfrtpn =/- Wjngfdeh flmft.
That's not Welsh, but a rather devilish cypher, specifically designed to defeat all the techniques that might be found in A Young Spy's First Codebook or similar tools available to the target audience. Once I could read it by eye, but those times are long gone. If/when we find the key, I'll come back and translate any such text we've passed.
As you may have realized by now, your own wishes have little effect on your reactions as a creature. You have only glimpses of what you are like and what you are capable of. Although this will change as the adventure progresses, at this stage you are at the mercy of your own whims and instincts. You are standing at a junction where you may go either east or west.
(At this point, we roll a die to see what happens next. The die is a 2, which means...)
You travel west along a twisting passageway. Several times you bump clumsily into the walls and grunt in annoyance. But your tough scales protect you from damage. The temperature drops noticeably and each breath sends steamy snorts from your nostrils. After narrowing slightly, the passage widens as it leads towards a chamber. A sound from ahead and a flickering light warn you to take care. But rather than making you stop to listen, the prospect of an encounter seems to excite you! You bare your teeth and your claws and stride forward into the chamber.
Roaring like an enraged Demon, you rush into the open chamber, ready to take on whatever is inside. Terrified shrieks come from the small party of adventurers huddling round a makeshift campfire in the center of the area. Three figures are warming themselves by the fire. One wears shiny clothes that clink as he moves. Another is dressed in red and also grows long dark hair from his chin. The third is a tiny creature with polished hide on his chest. He has no hair on his chin, but has plenty on his feet, which he has been holding up to warm at the fire. Your eyes fix on the smallest of the three. Your breathing gets heavier and a feeling of pure hatred grips you. Without hesitating, you stomp across and grab the miserable Hobbit with your claws. The other two are caught off balance and are slow to react. The Hobbit has no weapon and should be an easy victim:

HOBBIT: SKILL 5, STAMINA 6
Yes, totally an actual infringing hobbit. No idea how they got away with it, but I'm pretty sure it was a choice intended to disturb the reader.
Round 1: Creature rolls double 3s, instant death!
(The fight did not last more than 3 rounds)
As the creature dies, you sink your teeth into its arm to taste its juicy flesh. But then you remember the other two adventurers. The red-robed figure is facing you, pointing the little finger of each hand at you and mumbling. The shiny human has grabbed a sword – similar, you remember, to the Dwarf's, but larger – and is shouting to the other: 'Cpn tr plojt simjn dishbmbn! Jtim by abfeb blfe tp olf bda vsu
Unfortunately, at this point my pdf seems to be missing a page, so I don't have the precise text. I guarantee the rest of the gibberish is not relevant, though. It ends with a prompt to Test Your Luck. (6 succeeds.)
Your reaction is immediate. The red-robed human is deep in thought and looks an easy target. You step forward and swipe viciously at him with you claws! He screams and fall to the ground, clutching at his face. You look down at the undefended wretch and prepare to deliver the death-blow. But at that moment, you feel a terrible sting in the back, which causes you to bellow and swing round. The remaining adventurer has lunged at you with his sword and succeeded in piercing the scales and flesh on your back! You must lose 2 STAMINA points for the wound, and then you can face the Knight in plate-armour.

ARMOURED KNIGHT: SKILL 8, STAMINA 9
Creature 13, Knight 11; Knight at 7
Creature 18, Knight 15; Knight at 5
Creature rolls double 3s, instant death!
You deliver the death-blow and the Knight drops to the ground. With the danger now over, your thoughts turn to food. The smell of the still-warm Hobbit reaches your nostrils and your mouth begins to water. You snatch the creature in one hand and eagerly sink your teeth into its sweet flesh. But this will merely provide a snack for you. Inside his armour, the Knight is an impossible meal, but the red-robed Wizard groaning on the floor may be a new taste for you to savour. You silence his miserable whimpers with a single deadly slash from your claws. For the tasty meal you may restore your STAMINA to its Initial level.
Yep, that's what we get instead of Provisions.
After you have eaten, you rummage through the adventurers' belongings. Their packs have little to interest you. The Hobbit carried a miniature sword and you find a rolled up piece of thin parchment in the Wizard's robe. All three humans carried odd-shaped lumps of a doughy substance – perhaps food, although it smells of nothing to you. They all also have small hide pouches containing round, flat objects of shiny metal. You cannot think what these may be for, so you toss them aside. You must now continue your journey. Passages lead off from the chamber to the north, east, and west.

You decide to take the passageway to the west. You leave the chamber, your way ahead lit by the flickering fire. Eventually, the fire's light becomes too distant to help and you are groping your way in pitch-blackness. Suddenly a high-pitched twittering sound comes from above you, followed by others. You have disturbed a group of flying creatures, which are now squeaking in alarm as they dart about around you! You swipe at them blindly and catch one or two of them as they dive at you and scratch you with sharp claws. But your scales protect you from any serious harm and you are soon further along the passage, where these creatures evidently do not venture. The passage turns north. You follow it around the bend to the right and stop in front of a wooden door. There is no other way forward. Will you heave at the door with your shoulder, or is there something else you wish to do?
Another die roll. A 5 sends us to...
The door cracks under the force of your blow. A hole appears and you rip the timbers away until it is large enough for you to pass through. Torches are mounted on the wall of the room inside and there are two doors, one to the east and one to the west. There is no furniture to speak of, but some remains – perhaps of a table and chair – litter the floor among a thin covering of dirty straw. The wood has been broken in what appears to have been a furious battle, the result of which lies before you.

In the centre of the room is a familiar sight. Casting your mind back to the battle you have just won, you recognize the figure of an armoured Knightlying face down in the straw. His face is hidden under an elegant helmet decorated with wings coming from above each ear. A dark-bladed sword has entered his body through a gap in his armour between his arm and shoulder. Lying next to the Knight are three other figures. One is similar in stature, but wears a tough leather tunic and helmet. A bloody stain around his belly indicates how this adventurer came to grief. The other two figures are not so familiar. They are shorter than the others, and are dressed in armour of scaly brown hide. They have gnarled, pug-nosed faces with vicious teeth set in their lower jaws. All four bodies are long dead.

You step forward to get a better look. Suddenly you hear a chomping sound coming from somewhere in the room – in fact several places – but you cannot see anything which might make such a noise. Your eyes pass over the adventurer in leather armour and you suddenly freeze: while you are watching, a chunk of flesh disappears from his thigh! You watch incredulously for a few moments more. Not only does more flesh disappear from the adventurer's leg, but you also notice the body of one of the pug-nosed creatures twitch as its forearm suddenly loses a fleshy lump. The scene is worrying and you must decide what to do next. Roll one die.

• 1, 2, or 3; you decide to investigate the bodies further.
• 4, 5, or 6; you head quickly for the door to the east.
(3, investigate)
You approach the smaller of the two pug-nosed creatures and prod it with your foot. Its lifeless body shrugs and lies still. But a similar prod on the leather-armoured adventurer's leg produces a startlingly different result. A shrill screeching sound shocks you to attention! As if this were some kind of signal, something starts to happen in the room. Three shapes begin to materialize in front of you.
Your eyes widen as three scrawny creatures form before you. They are thin and angular and move in quick, jerky motions. Although their bodies are covered in a scraggy dark fur, their bony faces are bald, with tiny eyes. In the centre of each face is an oversized, protruding mouth, rimmed with sharp teeth. These vicious little Flesh-Feeders live on carrion. While feeding they make themselves invisible to avoid being caught unawares. But in between meals they are both visible and quick-tempered. They now face you, furious that their meals have been interrupted, and you must battle the creatures. They attack together:

First FLESH-FEEDER: SKILL 6, STAMINA 6
Second FLESH-FEEDER: SKILL 6, STAMINA 7
Third FLESH-FEEDER: SKILL 6, STAMINA 6
Focusing on 1st first, 3rd second, 2nd last...
Creature 18, 1st 11, 2nd 10, 3rd 13; 1st at 4
Creature 15, 1st 10, 2nd 13, 3rd 12; 1st at 2
Creature 18, 1st 17, 2nd 15, 3rd 13; 1st out
Creature 16, 2nd 11, 3rd 11; 3rd at 4
Creature rolls double 4s, instant death for 3rd! 2nd 16
Creature 19, 2nd 13; 2nd at 5
Creature 17, 2nd 15; 2nd at 3
Creature 16, 2nd 13; 2nd at 1
Creature 15, 2nd 10; 2nd out
You rest for a few moments to catch your breath and then you survey the room. Your curiosity overcomes you, and you begin to investigate the seven bodies in the room. The pug-faced Orcs are dirty and smelly. You try a mouthful of flesh, but spit it out in disgust. Around their waists they carry small bags which, when ripped open send a shower of small bones flying across the room. The two adventurers are not much more interesting. Similar pouches contain those round pieces of shiny metal which you came across before. They scatter on the floor and you ignore them. The pack on the back of the adventurer in the winged helmet is decorated and attracts your attention. One of the straps breaks as you rip it off his back and grope clumsily inside: you feel something solid. As you fumble angrily with the rucksack, a hard wooden casket drops to the ground and falls open! Inside is a clear smooth flask which contains swirling purple gas. Your curiosity is captured and your huge clawed hand tries to grasp the delicate flask. But this turns out to be hopeless. Eventually, you pick up the casket and drop it on the ground. As luck would have it, the flask jumps in its cradle and lands in such a way that the stopper flips out of the flask! The purple gas within swirls tempestuously and its vapours seep slowly from the neck of the flask.
The gas drifts from the flask, but rather than spreading out, it pulls itself together into a purple cloud and billows up before you. You watch open-mouthed as a shape begins to form in the cloud, and eventually turns into a face, which stares deep into your eyes. The face is human-like, but thin and with jagged features. The pupils of its eyes are not round, but are instead serpent-like. Its thin-lipped mouth opens and speaks: 'Jib mar flfbsf defr pmo myorf st. Fpv lucrb tvrf ewhbtadpo ypv uk npwop fothfe fprcfsew jthi w hjchiy pvutb mpfr. Bvt unpnf thfl fssemye pvr ppsfe jsipr db jnfd. Jibfstpwop n oypv uthfe ppw frepfo rfbs pn. Frp monp wo pnoyp vubr fej nicp ntr plop foypvr upwnodfs tjny. Bnd anpwemby ajir ft vrn utp omyo pfbcf fv lurfste vntj lip ncfem prfethfeh fbv fnsetb kfeth fj ri ppsj tjpns.'

Your anger mounts and you swipe at the cloud. But your hand passes right through the gas without even disturbing it. The mysterious face blinks slowly and the colour of the cloud flashes momentarily from purple to white, and back to purple again. Then the face disappears and the cloud is sucked down back into its flask. Once safely inside the flask, the stopper replaces itself in the neck and the bottle settles into its cradle in the wooden casket. An instant later, the casket and its contents have faded to nothing!

You decide you have had enough of this room, but you may add 2 LUCK points for your find. Will you leave through:

• The door to the west?
• The door to the east?
SKILL: 10
STAMINA: 17
LUCK: 11

marked piece of hide
Last edited by angelfromanotherpin on Sat Jan 11, 2014 9:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Starmaker »

I'm mapping, but it's absolutely of no help. I don't mind getting lost because of not having access to compass directions so that a "twisty" passage which leads north from one room may enter another room from the west, but not having accurate info on which door we went through and how many doors are in the room is just ricockulous. This kind of stuff makes nominally blind choices actually blind. It's no wonder that the two FF books most liked so far are Scorpion Swamp (with free exploration) and Spectral Stalkers (whose plot is actually linear, with a 50% chance of having an optional encounter before each mandatory encounter, with free exploration and a map in its single dungeon).

Let's try to capitalize on our success by choosing the direction which wouldn't have been possible if we had got scared of the 'feeders. West.
Last edited by Starmaker on Sat Jan 11, 2014 11:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

OK, so we're past the point where I figured out what to do when I tried to do this book. Going west tends to be bad in these books, but going to passages that you would be railroaded into being missed is almost always good. Let's go to the west door we could have missed.
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Post by Starmaker »

Holy shit I figured it out with Angel's hint.

ZOMG HINTS
So we know the following things about the cypher:

one, that Steve Jackson designed it and likely intended for it to be somewhat more difficult that ye olde substitution cypher,

two, that it doesn't depend on alignment and weird reading directions (except possibly sdrawkcab), since Angel posted it as a single flowing paragraph,

three, that there are (probably) continuous sentences with correct punctuation, because one is italicized and one is IN ALL CAPS,

four, that it becomes human-readable by the time you're done with the book, which means no math or pair substitution or mangling words too hard or anything of the sort. AH has a relevant short story here.
ZOMG SOLUTION
So the first thing ever that should be done is to check whether the last two words are a code for "Zharradan Marr". Probably not. Too bad.

Then the text is full of rarely encountered letters. V especially sticks out a lot - but are the letters evenly distributed and the weirder letters stand out a lot in comparison to normal text (which would suggest math shenanigans and weird encoding), or does it actually stand for a frequent letter?
Image
Yay? Yay. The consonants seem to be themselves, except those immediately following vowels which moonlight as vowels. V is twice as high, though - do they work as themselves, too?

Let's look for familiar words (in either direction), starting with the all caps part, because it's probably a sentence:
ON NO ACCOUNT MUST THEY BE OPENED.
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And the italicized:
These are the vapours of Stittle Woad.
Vowels are spaces, and spaces are traps.

(Okay, I can't read more of it easily. Search and replace time.)
parchment on the dorf wrote:'Swinebeard of Yore. You have been found guilty of the crime of wilful and malicious arson, a most serious offence in the dry regions of Salamonis. As punishment you are sentenced to undertake a perilous mission of recovery. You must travel northwards and enter the underground domain of Zharradan Marr there to seek out and recover flasks containing swirling vapours. These are the vapours of Stittle Woad. You must find the three flasks containing these vapours and return them to this court. ON NO ACCOUNT MUST THEY BE OPENED. This is the sentence of the court and the geas has been cast. This is your punishment. You must succeed in your mission or die in the attempt. '

'Vapour of knowledge/-Flaxenmane of Silverton=/-Winged helmet.' (huh?)
famous last words wrote:'Control its mind, shaman! It may be able to lead us--'
im in ur akount sharding ur purplz wrote:'I am released from my rest. Foul creature, what do you know of the forces with which you tamper? But, nonetheless, my purpose is ordained. I bestow on you the power of reason. From now on you are in control of your own destiny. And now may I return to my peaceful rest until once more the heavens take their positions.'
This must have been hell without the internets.
Last edited by Starmaker on Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:39 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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angelfromanotherpin
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

You leave the room along a passageway which runs west, your thoughts still dwelling on the mysterious smoke creature. After a short time, you find that the passage is bending this way and that through the rocky earth. But your progress is aided by the strange blue glowstones which are set into the roof of the passage. As you progress, glowstones ahead of you light up and bathe the area in an eerie blue light. When you look behind, you can see that they magically turn themselves off. Suddenly a distant echo reaches your ears and you stop dead in your tracks. Again you hear the sound – and it is coming closer! Footsteps and muffled voices are heading towards you. You are fortunate in having the advantage that your own footsteps are virtually silent, so you continue ahead, ready for a fight with anything that may come along. You approach a bend...

A shrill scream pierces the air and for an instant you are not sure whether it came from your own throat or that of the terrified adventurer with whom you suddenly found yourself nose to nose, when you turned the bend! But you recover quickly and slash furiously at this hapless human, who is still trying to compose himself after his fright. You catch him across the skimpy leather armor he wears on his chest, and send him crashing into the rocky wall where he loses his grip on the sword he is carrying. His two companions are close behind, so you must finish off the Strongarm without delay:

STRONGARM: SKILL 7, STAMINA 8
Creature 18, Strongarm 17; Strongarm at 6
Creature 17, Strongarm 17; no result
Creature 17, Strongarm 11; Strongarm at 4
Creature 16, Strongarm 16; no result
Creature 13, Strongarm 17; Creature at 16
Creature 21, Strongarm 13; Strongarm at 2
Creature 13, Strongarm 12; Strongarm out
As their leader falls, the other two adventurers rush to attack. One is a female warrior and one is a thief. Both are carrying shields and both attack you at the same time:

WARRIOR: SKILL 7, STAMINA 7
THIEF:SKILL 8, STAMINA 6
Targeting the Thief first...
Creature 17, Warrior 13, Thief 13; Thief at 4
Creature 15, Warrior 14, Thief 14; Thief at 2
Creature 17, Warrior 18, Thief 20; Creature at 14
Creature 21, Warrior 17, Thief 17; Thief out.
Creature double 4s, instant death!
You poke around the bodies of the three dead ruffians. Something shining on the wrist of the third adventurer catches your attention. Clumsily you rip at the clothing of all three, eventually exposing three objects of interest. The leading adventurer wore, around his neck, a pendant made of a dull, dark metal on a leather thong. The third adventurer wore two wrist bracelets of a shining yellow metal. The other carried a pouch containing 12 small flat discs of a shiny metal. Which of these is of the most interest to you:

• The dull metal pendant?
• The two wrist bracelets?
• The pouch containing the discs?
SKILL: 10
STAMINA: 14/17
LUCK: 11

marked piece of hide
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Post by Starmaker »

(Edited in the solution above.)

The dude's pendant might be wearable. A woman's bracers probably aren't (edit: reading fail, it's the thief's bracers - still probably useless), and the money is obviously useless. Pendant.
Last edited by Starmaker on Sat Jan 11, 2014 4:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Darth Rabbitt
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Yeah, human-sized golden bracers probably won't fit on our monstrous clawed limbs, and the Creature still has no idea how currency works. But I think the Creature has a neck, so it should be able to wear a pendant. Hopefully the pendant's not cursed.
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Post by rampaging-poet »

The pendant sounds good to me.
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angelfromanotherpin
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

You are fascinated by the ugly pendant. You carefully hook the leather thong with a claw and pull it free of the adventurer's head. You turn it over in your hand and can see that it is circular, with a dull blue stone set in the centre. You stare at the pendant for some time, wondering what to do with it. Then you remember how the adventurer wore it. You are just able to squeeze it over your head and you carry the pendant proudly around your neck. The pendant has a secret, which will be revealed in due course. If you reach a reference which begins: 'You cannot see a thing...' deduct 20 from the reference number you are on at the time and turn to that number instead. You may add 1 LUCK point for this find.
Before you finally leave the adventurers, you may decide to feed on them. If you do, you gain 4 STAMINA points. Then you continue. All is silent as you walk carefully along the passage. Eventually, your ears pick up the sound of running water, and the air becomes moist and cool. The sensation would be quite refreshing if it were not for an unpleasant smell, which gets stronger as the sound of the water becomes louder. Soon you find yourself on a ledge in the face of a rocky cliff. Looking out, you can see you are high over a vast cavern through which a river flows. Leading down from your ledge into the centre of the cavern is a flight of rough-cut stairs. This precarious staircase spans the river and is the only way onwards, but the thought of descending the stairs is not one which fills you with enthusiasm. The narrow steps have been made for human-sized feet and your large pads will make your descent awkward. The smell, which was unpleasant before, is now horrendous and seems to be coming from the river itself. Its waters are murky and brown and the smell of excrement and decay is overpowering. Nevertheless, your only way on is downwards, so down you must go. Test your Luck.
10 is lucky! Also, let me know if you want to have chawed on those corpses, I'm not gonna assume.
The descent is dangerous and several times you lose your footing and stumble on the slippery steps. But your luck holds out and you finally arrive at the foot of the staircase. The stench of the river is especially foul to your sensitive nostrils and your eyes search desperately for a way out of the cavern. You discover two openings in the rock-face ahead of you. One leads to the west and the other to the north.

• Continue north?
• Turn west?
SKILL: 10
STAMINA: 14/17
LUCK: 10/11

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pendant with secret
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Post by Starmaker »

If I'm reading this correctly, north is away from the stinking river, while west is along it and also to the left. So north.

edit: nom an adventurer, there don't seem to be any negative consequences.
Last edited by Starmaker on Sat Jan 11, 2014 9:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

Agreed with Starmaker on both counts. We need to eat some manflesh to regain STAMINA, and we don't need any (literally) stinking rivers unless we need to use the little creatures' room.
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

A passage leads from the opening into the rock-face, and you follow it. But you find that, as you travel north, the light fades rapidly. There are no glow-stones in this passage and you must progress carefully, steadying yourself by running your hands along both walls. The ground underfoot is rocky and several times you stub your toes painfully on protruding stones. Later, you can no longer touch both walls at once. Although you are unable to see anything, you sense that you are entering a large chamber.
You cannot see a thing–
Pendant secret activate!
As you shuffle around the wall of the cavern, you suddenly notice a strange sensation coming from your neck. The pendant you picked up is beginning to vibrate slightly and is giving out a faint hum! But when you continue around the wall, the vibration fades until the pendant is once more still. You puzzle over this for a few moments and step back to where you were before. Again, the vibrations and humming come from the pendant and you pause to look at what is happening. The dull blue stone set in its centre is beginning to glow and you watch in amazement as its colour changes from blue to a living red, as though a fire were burning inside it! An instant later, a single beam of red light shoots from the stone to a point on the wall in front of you. Following its direction, you can see what seems to be a piece of rock hanging in mid-air! As if ordered by the pendant, you grasp the rock and pull. It is not hanging in mid-air, but is attached to a rope and your tug is answered by a rumble in the rock in front of you. A doorway is opening!

The pendant you have found is in fact a magic talisman which has a special power. It is able to detect hidden doorways. In future, it will warn you of the presence of secret doors, but you will have to watch for the warning signs! If you reach a reference which begins: 'You find yourself...' then you may look for a secret passage using the talisman's help. Add 20 to the reference you are on at the time and turn to this new reference. If a secret door is present, the new reference will make sense and the talisman will show you its secret (if the new reference makes no sense, then there is no secret door). If you are able to, you may add 1 LUCK point for finding the secret door.

• Enter the secret door?
• Not? (and continue the 'you cannot see a thing' reference)
This is one of the book's most sadistic methods. If you don't have the pendant, you're basically doomed to wander around the opening dungeon with no notice that you've missed something and literally cannot find the way onward. You become a wandering monster in someone else's story.
SKILL: 10
STAMINA: 17
LUCK: 11

marked piece of hide
secret door pendant
Last edited by angelfromanotherpin on Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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angelfromanotherpin
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Post by angelfromanotherpin »

Starmaker wrote:nom an adventurer, there don't seem to be any negative consequences.
Certainly there are no immediate consequences, but this book has several ways to bone you well in advance. Will using your just-acquired self-determination to feast on dead people come back to bite you in the ass? If so, how many choices later? I guess we'll find out.
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Post by Darth Rabbitt »

If not using our pendant leads to an infinite death spiral, why wouldn't we take the secret door?
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