[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 17 - Appointment with F.E.A.R.

[Darth Rabbitt]

I like Beroli’s plan.

[Thaluikhain]

Beroli's plan makes sense, go with that.

[JourneymanN00b]

Use Luck to increase damage until we reach 6 Luck and it becomes more likely to hurt us than help us.

WhenIf we die here, do we rewind to the first decision that made the gamebook unwinnable, or do we restore and keep on our current path?

If we run out of Stamina in the battle, we will use our only restoration, our initial and current Stamina will be set to 19, and the battle will continue. So any damage dealt to The Reincarnation would still be present.

[JourneymanN00b]

Massive apologies for another delay. Work kept me busy literally until now. Votes registered, Jean Lafayette will use Luck to increase damage until 6 Luck is reached.

The fight:
[spoiler](The Reincarnation has 7 Skill due to being tangled by the Micronet)
Round 1: The Reincarnation Attack Strength: 10, Player Attack Strength: 13;
Luck Roll: 5, Player is Lucky and deals 2 additional damage
The Reincarnation Stamina: 8, Player Stamina: 5, Player Luck: 8
Round 2: The Reincarnation Attack Strength: 13, Player Attack Strength: 20;
Luck Roll: 11, Player is Unlucky and only deals 1 damage
The Reincarnation Stamina: 7, Player Stamina: 5, Player Luck: 7
Round 3: The Reincarnation Attack Strength: 13, Player Attack Strength: 15;
Luck Roll: 9, Player is Unlucky and only deals 1 damage
The Reincarnation Stamina: 6, Player Stamina: 5, Player Luck: 6
Round 4: The Reincarnation Attack Strength: 13, Player Attack Strength: 16;
The Reincarnation Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 5
Round 5: The Reincarnation Attack Strength: 19, Player Attack Strength: 13;
The Reincarnation Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 3
Round 6: The Reincarnation Attack Strength: 17, Player Attack Strength: 13;
The Reincarnation Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 1

(The Reincarnation breaks free from the Micronet and now has 10 Skill)
Round 7: The Reincarnation Attack Strength: 20, Player Attack Strength: 10;
The Reincarnation Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: -1

Player is killed, restoration used to restore Stamina to 19. Initial Stamina is now 19.

Round 8: The Reincarnation Attack Strength: 17, Player Attack Strength: 15;
The Reincarnation Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 17
Round 9: The Reincarnation Attack Strength: 17, Player Attack Strength: 14;
The Reincarnation Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 15
Round 10: The Reincarnation Attack Strength: 14, Player Attack Strength: 12;
The Reincarnation Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 13
Round 11: The Reincarnation Attack Strength: 18, Player Attack Strength: 14;
The Reincarnation Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 11
Round 12: The Reincarnation Attack Strength: 14, Player Attack Strength: 13;
The Reincarnation Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 9
Round 13: The Reincarnation Attack Strength: 16, Player Attack Strength: 20;
The Reincarnation Stamina: 2, Player Stamina: 9
Round 14: The Reincarnation Attack Strength: 14, Player Attack Strength: 11;
The Reincarnation Stamina: 2, Player Stamina: 7
Round 15: The Reincarnation Attack Strength: 15, Player Attack Strength: 19;
The Reincarnation Stamina: 0, Player Stamina: 7[/spoiler]

Ooof. Two of Jean Lafayette’s first three strikes against The Reincarnation were Unlucky, and Jean Lafayette also got hit in the fifth and sixth combat rounds. That led our hero to be killed and necessitated the use of our one and only restoration. As such, it is not until Jean Lafayette got reduced to 7 Stamina that The Reincarnation finally was knocked unconscious for two days.

239
There is no one about to help you. What can you do? Simply leave the creature where it lies? You decide the best thing to do is to place it back in its grave and cover it until you can bring the police to dispose of the Reincarnation more effectively. You cannot gain any Hero Points for this encounter, as no one has seen you defeat it! Such are the rewards of a devotion to public service … Now you continue by setting off once more for your aunt’s. Turn to 76.
[spoiler][/spoiler]

76
Your Aunt Florence is overjoyed to see you, but wonders why you are looking so untidy. She fusses about, making you tea and offering you cream cakes. You are exhausted by the day’s activities and are happy to let her fuss. You decide to spend the night there, rather than face the long journey home. Next morning is, thank goodness, a Saturday. No work – if indeed you still have a job left to go back to at all! You leave your aunt’s and you must now decide where you will go. There is an exhibition of ‘Home Appliances of the Future’ at the Whirl’s Court Exhibition Centre. You may go there by turning to 425. Or you may go to watch the presidential cavalcade on 7th Avenue; the President is coming to Titan City (turn to 21). Alternatively, the Titan Tigers are playing a friendly football game against the Metro Mohawks. If you want to go and watch this, turn to 114.
[spoiler][/spoiler]

Please vote before 9:00 AM PDT or a choice gets a 4-vote majority to guarantee that it will be counted.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Jean Lafayette
SKILL: 8 Initial Skill = 8
STAMINA: 7 Initial Stamina = 19
LUCK: 6 Initial Luck = 9
CLUES:
Alchemists will raid a branch of Cleveland Bank, at 4 a.m, and then another branch on the corner of 128th Street and 10th Avenue
Tormentor’s name is Richard Storm, has a contact named Susan at 555-9999
Ice Queen’s name is Sylvia Frost
Dr Macabre’s name is Marcus Buletta, will rob a chemist after breaking out of jail
When the President is due to arrive, add 100 to the reference to apprehend the killer
Creature of Carnage is Illya Karpov, a known agent of F.E.A.R.
SUPER POWER: ETS
HERO POINTS: 6
BOONS:
2 Rewinds[/spoiler]

[Beroli]

Well we have a clue about the President...twice.

I therefore vote that we go to Home Appliances of the Future.

(But will change my vote to the Presidential cavalcade, should that make the difference in that winning over the football game.)

[Thaluikhain]

We got reincarnated fighting the Reincarnation, makes sense.

Anyway, we know that the President is going to be kidnapped, so we don't have to kidnap them ourselves and can go to Home Appliances, yeah.

EDIT: Changed to half vote to avoid tie.

[Queen of Swords]

Save the President from the assassin.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Damn, so the Reincarnation is just a Stamina sink then.

Anyhow, I figure the Silver Sentinel wants to save the President, and I assume we have to go to the cavalcade to do that.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes marked up, Jean Lafayette will head to the presidential cavalcade on 7th Avenue, since that choice barely won by a 2-1.5 vote.

21
The citizens of Titan City have turned out in their thousands to greet the President. They line both sides of 7th Avenue six deep, and the presidential car is still not due to arrive for half an hour. Spirits are high. There is much flag-waving and bands are playing in the streets as a prelude to the arrival. Will you spend the next half hour in a coffee bar waiting for the main procession to arrive (turn to 100), or will you find a place in the crowd which offers a decent view (turn to 7)?

As the president is due to arrive, please vote on what to do then before 11:00 AM PDT to guarantee that it will be counted.

[Thaluikhain]

Find a place to have a good view (though waiting at a coffee bar for the procession does remind me of Gavrilo Princip).

[JourneymanN00b]

Vote registered, Jean Lafayette will find a place in the crowd which offers a decent view.

7
You fight your way through the crowd until you reach a spot where you can just about see the cars arrive up the avenue over the heads of the crowd in front of you. Twenty minutes later, the cavalcade arrives and cheers go up from the crowd. As the President’s car approaches, you catch sight of a man in front of you struggling with something. His hand comes free – he is holding a gun and is preparing to point it at the President! You are in your street clothes and cannot use your super powers, but you must do something to prevent the man getting a shot at the President. You leap on him from behind:

Assassin SKILL 7 STAMINA 6

After the second round of combat, turn to 359.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

The fight:
[spoiler]Round 1: Assassin Attack Strength: 16, Player Attack Strength: 19;
Assassin Stamina: 4, Player Stamina: 7
Round 2: Assassin Attack Strength: 16, Player Attack Strength: 20;
Assassin Stamina: 2, Player Stamina: 7[/spoiler]

Jean Lafayette flawlessly subdues the Assassin in the first two combat rounds.

359
You temporarily release your grip on him and he manages to shove you aside, just as the President’s car draws past. He aims the gun and shoots! The President falls! You leap on him again to finish off the battle (he was SKILL 7, STAMINA 6). If you defeat him, turn to 374.

The Assassin’s Stamina was already reduced to 2 by this point, so he is now defeated.

374
You haul the unconscious assassin out of the crowd towards the President’s car. Swarms of police are surrounding the car and, in the distance, you can hear an ambulance’s siren approaching. One of the President’s bodyguards is listening for a pulse. He looks up and shakes his head. In your street clothes, you cannot get near the body, but the police listen to your story and take the assassin from you. One of them talks to another, who talks to another standing in the car. They seem to be considering your story. Word gets back to you: ‘Something strange is going on. You say this guy fired at the President as he fell? Then how come the bullet that killed him came from a high-powered rifle, not the Magnum your man was carrying?’ You are as mystified as they are and agree to go downtown to answer their questions. But one thing is clear. Your assassin’s bullet did not kill the President. Was he merely a decoy? You puzzle over this as you leave the station and head for home. Turn to 311.

311
You set off home to take some well-deserved rest. The prospect of the F.E.A.R. meeting is weighing heavily on your mind, but for the moment you are well advised to relax for the evening. You may gain 6 STAMINA points for taking it easy. Next morning, you are woken, not by the alarm clock, but by your Crimewatch: beep – beep – beep. This time the message is longer than normal and it repeats itself: ‘RELIABLE INFORMATION. FEAR MEETING TODAY. WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN!’ You spring out of bed. Today! Do you have any clues as to where the meeting is? Where will you go:

Parker Airport? Turn to 349
Stay in town? Turn to 70
Head towards the waterfront? Turn to 290

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Please vote before 1:00 PM PDT to guarantee that it will be counted.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Jean Lafayette
SKILL: 8 Initial Skill = 8
STAMINA: 13 Initial Stamina = 19
LUCK: 6 Initial Luck = 9
CLUES:
Alchemists will raid a branch of Cleveland Bank, at 4 a.m, and then another branch on the corner of 128th Street and 10th Avenue
Tormentor’s name is Richard Storm, has a contact named Susan at 555-9999
Ice Queen’s name is Sylvia Frost
Dr Macabre’s name is Marcus Buletta, will rob a chemist after breaking out of jail
When the President is due to arrive, add 100 to the reference to apprehend the killer
Creature of Carnage is Illya Karpov, a known agent of F.E.A.R.
SUPER POWER: ETS
HERO POINTS: 6
BOONS:
2 Rewinds[/spoiler]

[Beroli]

Gah. I wasn't around to say "follow the clue we got TWICE."

Head toward the waterfront.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Damn, I would have voted to turn to 100. Hopefully this isn’t enough of a setback to require a rewind.

Anyways, go to the waterfront.

[JourneymanN00b]

Votes registered, Jean Lafayette will head towards the waterfront.

290
Are you anticipating this meeting? If so, you will know what time you ought to arrive to catch the meeting in progress. Add this time to today’s date (do you know what this is?) and turn to the reference corresponding to this number. If the resulting reference makes no sense, turn to 368.

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Jean Lafayette does *not* know what time to arrive to catch the meeting in progress.

368
It is hopeless. You do not know where F.E.A.R. is holding its meeting and you have no chance of finding it in such a short time. You find a convenient spot, change into your street clothes and hail a cab. The driver has his radio on. As he chats away, the radio splutters and fizzles. The music dies and an unscheduled announcement interrupts the programme. Turn to 292.

292
A steely voice with a sinister tone speaks slowly and clearly: ‘Citizens of the world,’ it announces, ‘do not attempt to retune your receivers. This message is being broadcast on all frequencies simultaneously in all languages to all areas of the globe. My name is Vladimir Utoshski. I am known as the Titanium Cyborg. My organization is known to you as the Federation of Euro-American Rebels. My message is this. We have taken control of the “Star Wars” satellite which orbits the earth. We demand the unconditional surrender of all your governments and military establishments and the submission of all citizens to our leadership. Any resistance will be dealt with harshly. Our satellite will obliterate, one by one, the major cities of the earth. As proof of our power, Titan City will be exterminated in exactly thirty seconds …’ Your heart sinks. You have failed to stop the fateful meeting of F.E.A.R. The whole world must now pay the penalty …

This is the bad part of the story’s ending caused by our hero’s failure to find the correct clues to the F.E.A.R. meeting. As such, this adventure has officially come to a devastating but legitimate end, which rewinding the story by two decisions would not fix.

Bonus death entry:
Jean Lafayette’s collapses in the taxicab’s seat in total despair. “Some luck I had ... where exactly was I supposed to get the clues? The world shouldn’t have to pay for my bad luck.”

As the “Star Wars” satellite unleashes a beam of destructive energy at Titan City, Jean Lafayette prepares to release his soul to the next world, bitterly wishing that it will have a better life for him. He manages to complete a final curse to himself for all of his ill luck that he encountered in his previous lives before the blast painfully vaporizes his body into oblivion.

And thus, this adventure tragically concludes. To answer what I feel is on everybody’s minds, following the president’s clue would not have helped us, as the critical mistakes were made much earlier in the Let’s Play. Each super power has a different location to the F.E.A.R. meeting and correct route that the hero must follow to find the meeting location. For the ETS superpower, the F.E.A.R. meeting was held in town. The pathway to the first of the two required location clues began at the beach, as fighting the shark would have given us a vital clue to head to the circus, which would eventually have seen our hero fighting the Ringmaster and the Ice Queen to get the correct avenue number as well as the necessary password. The second of the two required location clues would have been found by apprehending the train’s pickpocket, who would have dropped a Cigarette Packet with the correct building number upon further analysis with the hero’s home computer.

The life lesson that this adventure can teach us is that achieving victory sometimes requires us to do things that we do not personally like. I leaned that lesson in 2021 when I took a very exhausting night job and gave up my job search for anything better to pay the bills. Yes, it was sad to see that the mistakes that I made before then, most notably not having a good enough profile for job interviews before my unemployment gap was large, cost me dearly, but making painful decisions and sacrifices is a fact of life that we cannot escape.

Now that I have finished my (cringeworthy) lecture, I will be starting a new thread for the Fighting Fantasy book that I just got very soon. I am truly excited to start this particular Let’s Play, as this book was responsible for getting me into the Fighting Fantasy franchise so long ago. Thank you all for playing, and I hope to see you in my next thread when it is ready.

Adventure Sheet:
[spoiler]Jean Lafayette
SKILL: 8 Initial Skill = 8
STAMINA: 13 Initial Stamina = 19
LUCK: 6 Initial Luck = 9
CLUES:
Alchemists will raid a branch of Cleveland Bank, at 4 a.m, and then another branch on the corner of 128th Street and 10th Avenue
Tormentor’s name is Richard Storm, has a contact named Susan at 555-9999
Ice Queen’s name is Sylvia Frost
Dr Macabre’s name is Marcus Buletta, will rob a chemist after breaking out of jail
When the President is due to arrive, add 100 to the reference to apprehend the killer
Creature of Carnage is Illya Karpov, a known agent of F.E.A.R.
SUPER POWER: ETS
HERO POINTS: 6
BOONS:
2 Rewinds[/spoiler]

[Beroli]

Huh, I knew we were doomed when the day started (I apparently did not remember well enough where to look earlier, though), but I expected a rewind to kick in, and take us quite far back.

[Thaluikhain]

Huh, I was expecting a thing telling us it's not time to add our secret number when the president is going to arrive, similar with the one for the meeting. Oh well.