[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 23 - Masks of Mayhem!

[Omegonthesane]

Remain silent.

[JourneymanN00b]

My vote is to carry on trudging through the snow. Calling out is just asking for this to happen, which will result in a Game Over.

[SGamerz]

The figure shortly disappears from sight, and you see no living creature, human or otherwise, for two days - though at night the howling of wolves is often too close for comfort. The peaks of Krill Garnash are now so close that they seem to hang over you, like some vast primeval monster. There are two passses. Will you take the one which heads towards the west of Krill Garnash, or the one which heads towards the east?

2 days and no Provisions spent. And no living creatures to hunt for food (and probably not much edible plants in the snowy region either). The food consumption rate in this book is inconsistent as hell.

East or west?

[JourneymanN00b]

My vote will be to take the pass that heads towards the west, of course. There is no good reason to go right, as King Arthur still needs to take a stand against fascism and all the evil it represents.

[pragma]

Sure, west seems fine. I don't feel like we've received any information on this.

[Queen of Swords]

West seems as good a choice as any.

[SGamerz]

The western pass is narrow and choked with snow. If you are not wearing snow-shoes, you may decide to retrace your steps and try the eastern pass; if you remain in the western pass, turn to 123.

The wording is weird, and despite the apparent item check, we're told that we may retrace our steps, implying that failing the check doesn't automatically force us to turn back.

Does Arthur allow his lack of appropriate footwear to force him to turn to the path of fascism?

[JourneymanN00b]

Sigh... the fact that there is an item check before we actually head down the snow-filled path seems to indicate that an instant death may be in store for us there, since we do not have any snow-shoes.

I absolutely abhor this, but my vote is to retrace King Arthur's steps and try the eastern pass. It is sad that he has to compromise his values by embracing the evils of fascism, but a pro-fascist Arthur is still better than a dead Arthur. Hopefully there will be redemption for him soon to atone for his sin.

[pragma]

Polite of the book to give us a double check here. Take the eastern pass.

[Queen of Swords]

I'm tempted to stay in the western pass just to see if we get killed for the lack of snowshoes alone.

[SGamerz]

I'm tempted to stay in the western pass just to see if we get killed for the lack of snowshoes alone.

There is an alternative item that serves the same purpose, but yes, we would have failed both checks and died.

As you are walking through the pass, you see a large snowball rolling down the eastern slope, nd getting larger all the time. The snowball comes to a halt at the foot of the mountain, in front of you. Then, to your surprise, the snowball disintegrates, and out steps an Ice Hulk. These moronic creatures are mutant Yetis (the mutations consisting mainly in the disappearance of the Yeti's already tiny brain). This one probably tripped over its own feet and tumbled down the mountainside! It stares at you uncertainly for a few moments, and then obviously decides that you are edible. You will have to defend yourself, unless you have a Cloak of Invisibility, in which case you can avoid this encounter, if you want to (turn to 267, but cross the Cloak off your Adventure Sheet, as its power only work once). Since the Ice Hulk is not evil, just stupid, the Horn of Hever has no power over it.

ICE HULK SKILL 6 STAMINA 12

The first time you win an Attack Round, turn to 392. If you win, turn to 267.

COMBAT LOG:

ICE HULK 14, Arthur 20. IH is at 10.

Since the Ice Hulk has no brain to speak of, it wakes quite a time for the creature to register the pain of the wound you have inflicted on it. You withdraw your sword from its side, expecting at leas to slow the beast down, and are therefore unprepared for it to continue coming at you, swinging its great paws like claw-tipped mallets. Test your Luck. If you are Lucky, turn to 182; if you are Unlucky, turn to 60.

Dice roll = 7 (Lucky).

Fortunately, snow falling from the nearby tree distracts the creature at the last moment. Its claws merely grazes you for the loss of 1 STAMINA point. Return to 142 and continue the fight.

COMBAT CONTINUES:

IH 14, Arthur 15. IH is at 8.
IH 12, Arthur 18. IH is at 6.
IH 18, Arthur 16. Arthur is at 12.
IH 13, Arthur 18. IH is at 4.
IH 10, Arthur 20. IH is at 2.
IH 16, Arthur 20. IH is killed.

Even with the massive SKILL gap, Arthur had a couple of really horrendous rolls and ended up getting hit a second time before he prevailed.

The pass you have taken veers until it joins the other one; Morgana allows only one way to and from her stonghold. As you begin to climb the slops of Krill Garnash itself, you feel certain that the way is defended. You're not wrong. And Ice Dragon thunders out of its cave and swoops down on you, blasting ice from its nostrils. If you have a Cloak of Temporary Invisibility and want to use it, turn to 46; otherwise, turn to 241.

You face a truly formidable foe.

ICE DRAGON SKILL 10 STAMINA 14

If you win, will you search its cave, or push straight on for Krill Garnash?

I don't have the official FF Monster book close at hand, but as I recall, these are pretty tame states for Titan dragons. I guess this one isn't a full adult yet. There isn't even any breath weapons being mentioned, so it's less of a threat even than most young dragons mentioned in Out of the Pit. Still, this is one of the few foes that might actually hurt Arthur a bit. Thankfully, it's evil enough to fear the Horn.

COMBAT LOG:

Ice Dragon 18, Arthur 23. ID is at 12.
ID 15, Arthur 14. Arthur is at 10.
ID 16, Arthur 16. Tie.
ID 13, Arthur 16. ID is at 10.
ID 17, Arthur 18. ID is at 8.
ID 13, Arthur 23. ID is at 6.
ID 20, Arthur 20. Tie.
ID 19, Arthur 22. ID is at 4.
ID 19, Arthur 17. Arthur is at 8.
ID 19, Arthur 17. Arthur is at 6.
ID 12, Arthur 18. ID is at 2.
ID 14, Arthur 15. ID is killed.

It's situations like this, when the SKILL levels are close enough for the foe to be a threat, where the Horn really makes a difference, saving us from 2 hits and allowing us to score 2 of our own! Without it, we might well have lost this one. As it is, we emerged with less than half our original STAMINA in what is Arthur's most hard-fought battle to date.

Do we check out the dragon cave?

Adventure Sheet:

Name: King Arthur Anric
SKILL 12/12
STAMINA 6/15
LUCK 7/9
Equipment: Sword, Leather Armor, Backpack, Potion of Fortune (+1 to Initial LUCK, restores LUCK to new Initial value), Helmet, sorrels, Iron Sceptre ("There should be just one ruler"), Copper Nugget, Pick-axe head, Snatta-cat's Tusk (11 dragons engraved),Water Flask, Tiger's Claws, Hever's Horn (-1 SKILL to opponents), rusty nail, Bejeweled Choker, Orb ("Twenty-one is the number of the ruler's sway.")
Provisions: 4
Treasure: Nil
Notes: 1) When allowed to call on Galrin's help, turn to section 100. 2) Page 208 - Vashti's lair: oak for in and apple for out.
Number of failures:
1) Randomly shot in the back by a random Blackheart in some random mine shaft.
2) Fell down a chasm of unknown depths in the same random mine shaft

[Thaluikhain]

Check out the cave.

Also, I think we'll not tell people we killed a random Ice Hulk that fell on top of us, killing evil dragons is more heroic.

[Omegonthesane]

I forget, can we just nom one Provision per section no questions asked? 'cause that's how I remember the standard rules being and I think it'd be a good idea to eat our way to slightly more Stamina.

And yes, check out the cave. Missing a diversion in an FF book seems like a bad idea.

[JourneymanN00b]

My vote will be to search the dragon’s cave, and eat just one provision. I feel that the latter vote is justified since 6 stamina is far too low for comfort, and I am willing to risk some inefficiency to get King Arthur’s stamina levels back up to a decent score.

[Queen of Swords]

Yes, let's eat a provision and explore the cave.

[pragma]

Eat and explore.

[SGamerz]

I forget, can we just nom one Provision per section no questions asked? 'cause that's how I remember the standard rules being and I think it'd be a good idea to eat our way to slightly more Stamina.

Technically, yes, as long as there's no combat in the sections we pass through. So we would eat in the next section (this current option is in the same section as the combat).

When you reach the Dragon's cave, you find that it does not extend very far. After all, what need does an Ice Dragon have for protection against cold? At the back, it narrows into a slit. You go through the slit and find yourself on a ledge, which runs along the mountainside. The ledge is wide enough fir you to pass safely along it, until it ends at the mouth to a tunnel.

King Arthur gulps down another meal to bring his STAMINA to 10.

This must be the entrance to Morgana's domain. Guttering torches line the walls, which stretch away in a straight line into the gloom ahead. You summon up all your courage and step into the tunnel. The torches do little to dispel the freezing cold and even thought you can see your way, you cannot shake off a sense of blackness. For here Morgana rules, and her heart is cold and black. The tunnel ends with a choice of three doors, next to one another on the northern wall of a small cavern. Will you take the wooden door in the middle, the stone door or the iron door?

What looked like a diversion in the dragon's cave in fact turns out to be a short-cut.

Which door do we take?

[Thaluikhain]

Stone door is the B chalice? Try that.

(Also, non-magical torches don't last long, must have just been lit. Or running on gas, I guess)

[Queen of Swords]

From before : "You will come to three doors," he says. "Be sure to take the wooden one."

[Thaluikhain]

Changing my vote to the wooden door then, totally don't remember that.

[JourneymanN00b]

The Juja said take the wooden door when we reached the three doors, so I vote to take the wooden door in the middle.

[pragma]

Wooden door. Thanks, Juja who we found by accident!

[SGamerz]

The door creaks open on rusty hinges, but not immediate danger confronts you. You hear the click of rats' claws across the stone ground as you advance up the tunnel, but you ignore them. There is only one way for you now - forward - and everything else is a distraction. However, the tunnel forks like a serpent's tongue. Will you go left or right?

The fascist way turned out to be the right way last time, would it be the same again this time?

[JourneymanN00b]

Why is there so much encouragement for King Arthur to go fascist? You know what folks? Fine. My vote is to go right, and let King Arthur turn into a fascist. See where that takes us.

[Queen of Swords]

OK, let's go right and see what happens (fingers crossed it's not an insta-death).