Cover
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[/spoiler]Welcome, everybody. After a couple of days of deep internet diving and some assistance from Beroli, I managed to compile a functional copy of book #26, which will be the subject of this newest Let’s Play. And holy Christ, is this the granddaddy of hard books. In fact, following the optimal path with a character with maximum stats gets you a 0.5% chance of winning without using any cheats. Yep, you have a 1 in 200 chance of making it through this nightmare if you do everything right. Fortunately, we will be playing this adventure with some adjustments in order to have an experience that is hopefully rewarding, at the very least. Anyone brave enough to join this battle is welcome. The plan is to update this series on a twice per day basis, with the exception of Sundays, where I will try to update more frequently on these days. However, my work duties will probably cause adjustments to this proposed schedule, since I am heading towards a rather busy season here.
Preface
Colour map by Leo HartasAn ancient evil is stirring in the bowels of the earth, and the land is blighted. The dread sorcerer Razaak has been re-awoken and is poised to fulfill his dreams of death and tyranny. He is vulnerable only to his long-lost sword, but he has an awesome range of powers. It will be an epic quest to find the sword, defeat the forces ranged against you and face Razaak himself. There are artefacts to find, without which failure is certain, and there are friends on the way; but above all you will need to find your own courage and resourcefulness. Do you dare to travel the wastes and forests of Allansia, and ultimately to battle Razaak in his lair?
Two dice, a pencil and an eraser are all you need to embark on this thrilling adventure, which is complete with its elaborate combat system and a score sheet to record your gains and losses.
Many dangers lie ahead and your success is by no means certain. YOU decide which routes to follow, which dangers to risk and which adversaries to fight!
Ian Livingstone is the co-founder, with Steve Jackson, of Games Workshop, the hugely successful chain which specializes in fantasy games of all kinds.
Introduction
For the purposes of this thread, the Adventure Sheet will be hand-made and will be periodically displayed.Before embarking on your adventure, you must first determine your own strengths and weaknesses. Use dice to determine your initial scores. On pages 16-17 there is an Adventure Sheet which you may use to record the details of an adventure. On it you will find boxes for recording your SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK scores.
You are advised either to record your scores on the Adventure Sheet in pencil, or make photocopies of the sheet to use in future adventures.
Skill, Stamina and Luck
Normally, I would make the appropriate rolls and modifications to generate our hero’s Skill, Stamina, and Luck. However, I have also explained that the chances for winning the adventure are hard enough as it is for players with maximum stats. Because I have no interest in adding yet another obstacle to an already fiendish book, I will set our hero’s initial scores to the maximum values allowed to do everyone a favor. Our hero thus starts with the following scores:Roll one die. Add 6 to this number and enter this total in the SKILL box on the Adventure Sheet.
Roll both dice. Add 12 to the number rolled and enter this total in the STAMINA box.
There is also a LUCK box. Roll one die, add 6 to this number and enter this total in the LUCK box.
For reasons that will be explained below, SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK scores change constantly during an adventure. You must keep an accurate record of these scores and for this reason you are advised either to write small in the boxes or to keep an eraser handy. But never rub out your Initial scores.
Although you may be awarded additional SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK points, these totals may never exceed your Initial scores, except on very rare occasions, when you will be instructed on a particular page.
Your SKILL score reflects your swordsmanship and general fighting expertise; the higher the better. Your STAMINA score reflects your general constitution, your will to survive, your determination and overall fitness; the higher your STAMINA score, the longer you will be able to survive. Your LUCK score indicates how naturally lucky a person you are. Luck – and magic – are facts of life in the fantasy kingdom you are about to explore.
SKILL: 12
STAMINA: 24
LUCK: 12
Battles
Fighting More Than One CreatureYou will often come across pages in the book which instruct you to fight a creature of some sort. An option to flee may be given, but if not – or if you choose to attack the creature anyway – you must resolve the battle as described below.
First record the creature’s SKILL and STAMINA scores in the first vacant Monster Encounter Box on your Adventure Sheet. The scores for each creature are given in the book each time you have an encounter.
The sequence of combat is then:
1. Roll both dice once for the creature. Add its SKILL score. This total is the creature’s Attack Strength.
2. Roll both dice once for yourself. Add the number rolled to your current SKILL score. This total is your Attack Strength.
3. If your Attack Strength is higher than that of the creature, you have wounded it. Proceed to step 4. If the creature’s Attack Strength is higher than yours, it has wounded you. Proceed to step 5. If both Attack Strength totals are the same, you have avoided each other’s blows – start the next Attack Round from step 1 above.
4. You have wounded the creature, so subtract 2 points from its STAMINA score. You may use your LUCK here to do additional damage (see over).
5. The creature has wounded you, so subtract 2 points from your own STAMINA score. Again you may use LUCK at this stage (see over).
6. Make the appropriate adjustments to either the creature’s or your own STAMINA scores (and your LUCK score if you used LUCK – see over).
7. Begin the next Attack Round by returning to your current SKILL score and repeating steps 1-6. This sequence continues until the STAMINA score of either you or the creature you are fighting has been reduced to zero (death).
LuckIf you come across more than one creature in a particular encounter, the instructions on that page will tell you how to handle the battle. Sometimes you will treat them as a single monster; sometimes you will fight each one in turn.
For the purposes of this Let’s Play, the attack rounds will be resolved all at once. I will generally only consider using Luck in battles if the character has less than 7 Stamina points. For such battles, I will ask whether Luck should be used to improve the odds of winning the fight. In battles where escape is an option and the character has less than 7 Stamina points, I will also ask whether the character should escape from the battle, and if so, under which conditions to do so.At various times during your adventure, either in battles or when you come across situations in which you could either be lucky or unlucky (details of these are given on the pages themselves), you may call on your luck to make the outcome more favourable. But beware! Using luck is a risky business and if you are unlucky, the results could be disastrous.
The procedure for using your luck is as follows: roll two dice. If the number rolled is equal to or less than your current LUCK SCORE, you have been lucky and the result will go in your favour. If the number rolled is higher than your current LUCK SCORE, you have been unlucky and you will be penalized.
This procedure is known as Testing your Luck. Each time you Test your Luck, you must subtract 1 point from your current LUCK score. Thus you will soon realize that the more you rely on your luck, the more risky this will become.
Using Luck in Battles
On certain pages of the book you will be told to Test your Luck and will be told the consequences of your being lucky or unlucky. However, in battles, you always have the option of using your luck either to inflict a more serious wound on a creature you have just wounded, or to minimize the effects of a wound the creature has just inflicted on you.
If you have just wounded the creature, you may Test your Luck as described above. If you are lucky, you have inflicted a severe wound and may subtract an extra 2 points from the creature’s STAMINA score. However, if you are unlucky, the wound was a mere graze and you must restore 1 point to the creature’s STAMINA (i.e. instead of scoring the normal 2 points of damage, you have now scored only 1).
If the creature has just wounded you, you may Test your Luck to try to minimize the wound. If you are lucky, you have managed to avoid the full damage of the blow. Restore 1 point of STAMINA (i.e. instead of doing 2 points of damage it has done only 1). If you are unlucky, you have taken a more serious blow. Subtract 1 extra STAMINA point.
Remember that you must subtract 1 point from your own LUCK score each time you Test your Luck.
Restoring Skill, Stamina and Luck
Please keep all spoilers covered out of respect to those of us who want to have a blind experience. Any ties will be broken by me based on my personal instincts.Skill
Your SKILL score will not change much during your adventure. Occasionally, a page may give instructions to increase or decrease your SKILL score. A Magic Weapon may increase your SKILL, but remember that only one weapon can be used at a time! You cannot claim 2 SKILL bonuses for carrying two Magic Swords. Your SKILL score can never exceed its Initial value unless specifically instructed.
Stamina
Your STAMINA score will change a lot during your adventure as you fight monsters and undertake arduous tasks. As you near your goal, your STAMINA level may be dangerously low and battles may be particularly risky, so be careful!
Unlike other Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks, you do not start your adventure with Provisions. However, during the course of the adventure, there will be opportunities for you to regain STAMINA points in various ways.
Remember also that your STAMINA score may never exceed its Initial value unless specifically instructed on a page.
Luck
Additions to your LUCK score are awarded through the adventure when you have been particularly lucky. Details are given on the pages of the book. Remember that, as with SKILL and STAMINA, your LUCK score may never exceed its Initial value unless specifically instructed on a page.
As I said in the introduction, I will be making quite a few adjustments to adjust this adventure’s difficulty to a reasonable level. Chief among these adjustments will be to give our hero 6 resurrections. Upon dying, our hero will use a resurrection to be sent back to the point where the first critical mistake was made in order to make the adventure winnable once more. The Adventure Sheet will also be reverted to what it was at that point in the story upon use of a resurrection. This makes resurrections more powerful than rewinds employed in several previous Let’s Plays.
The adjustments also involve providing our hero additional benefits and reducing stat penalties at certain sections encountered in the book. Whenever I make such a change, I will do so under an Important Note: heading and provide a corresponding vote to either have the change stay in place or remove it and stick to the original text. Any ties will have the change in question stand, as I believe that any changes I propose are reasonable and will preserve the book’s essence.
Background
NOW TURN OVERChalice is a small town lying on the banks of Silver River at the base of Moonstone Hills. It has grown from being merely a cluster of cabins and huts to its present size mainly because it became an important trading centre for prospectors seeking gold in the hills. It was the first safe haven for merchants who had travelled west from the Flatlands on their way to Silverton. In Chalice they could rest and do business without fear of attack. There are plenty of inns and places of entertainment, and it used to be among the most boisterous towns of Allansia.
But now, as you look out of the window of your upstairs bedroom at the Lion inn, there is no sign of merriment. For three weeks the sky has been dark and menacing. People recently arriving in Chalice from the east have told of pestilence, plague, disease and famine moving ever closer to the west.
Only yesterday a story spread like wildfire through the town that someone had discovered where the source of evil lay. An Elf, flying south on his Giant Eagle over the southern edge of Moonstone Hills, noticed a deep fissure in the ground, out of which rose a putrid-smelling vapour. All around the fissure the grass was blackened and the trees were stunted and leafless. As he flew over the fissure, the Elf said, he saw a scorched and withered hand rise out of the gap, its claw-like index finger pointing up at the eagle. An energy bolt shot up from the tip of the finger and burned a hole straight through the poor creature. It crashed to the ground, but the Elf escaped with his life and walked to Chalice to tell his tale.
You are a friend of the old wizard Yaztromo, who lives on the southern edge of Darkwood Forest, and you decide to visit him and relate the Elf’s tale. In the now familiar dusky light of day, you spur your horse northwards to Yaztromo’s tower and before nightfall you reach the overgrown path that leads to it. You dismount quickly, stride up to the huge oak door and ring the brass bell that hangs in the stone archway. There is no reply, but suddenly you are tapped on the shoulder and you whirl around, reaching for your sword.
‘There’ll be no need for that!’ grunts the old man who stands before you, shaking his finger in admonishment. ‘What are you doing here anyway, disturbing my peace and quiet? I haven’t laid eyes on you for over a year, and now you just turn up unannounced, walk straight through my herb garden and ring my bell long enough to wake the dead. Well, what do you want?’
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You smile to yourself, while you watch the grumpy old wizard displaying his usual hospitality. ‘And what’s so funny?’ he asks. Your expression immediately changes and Yaztromo frowns when he sees the concerned look on your face. ‘I think we should go upstairs so that you can tell me what is troubling you. I presume something is troubling you, as I am sure you wouldn’t visit me for any other reason – and I can guess that it has something to do with this infernal dark sky!’
When you have finished telling Yaztromo the Elf’s tale, he remains sitting silently in his old oak chair, his face as sombre as a grave. At last he speaks, sighing with every word. ‘Then my worst fears are realized. The necromancer has risen. Those fools! Their greed might now bring an end to life in Allansia. Unless...’ Completely puzzled by Yaztromo’s mutterings, you ask him to explain. As if describing a horrible nightmare, Yaztromo recounts the legend of the evil necromancer Razaak, who threatened Allansia one hundred years ago.
Although he first learned his skills as an apprentice to a Lawful wizard, Razaak was attracted early on in life by the dark power of Evil. He realized that he could become a great sorcerer who would one day be able to command everyone to obey him. He had no desire or intention to use his magic to help Allansia – he wanted the kingdom to be brought to its knees. He travelled to a remote part of eastern Allansia and there he practised his arcane acts. He quickly progressed through the levels of dark magic from lowly apprentice to wizard, and then sorcerer, so that at last his powers were so great that he became a necromancer, having spent the last forty years in solitude. Razaak then sent messages to all the nobles of Allansia, demanding that they acknowledge him as their ruler. At first they ignored him, for none had heard of him. Razaak took umbrage, and in retaliation brought plague and pestilence to the nobles’ provinces, giving them until the next full moon to recognize his leadership.
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Many warriors offered to try to slay Razaak, and many died in the attempt. But one brave man by the name of Kull succeeded, and saved Allansia. He owned a sword which he had found in the Moonstone Hills, gripped by a skeletal hand rising from a mist-covered lake, across which he was sailing a raft. Kull was mesmerized by the sword’s magnificent beauty. He immediately wanted it for his own and reached out for it. The skeleton made no attempt to prevent him, and simply slipped down into the muddy depths of the lake as soon as it released the sword. Kull was so overwhelmed with the sword that nothing else mattered to him. He steered his raft to the shore and began testing his new weapon. He discovered that nothing could dull its edge, and that he could cut through plate-mail armour with ease. He did not realize that the sword had once belonged to Razaak, and was the only weapon in the whole world with the power to slay him. Razaak, in order to become a necromancer, had had to relinquish all weapons, but there was no power strong enough to destroy his cursed sword. To try to rid himself of the sword, Razaak threw it into the lake, but it rose to the surface in the grip of the skeleton. For years the skeleton clutched the sword until Kull caught sight of it and took it for himself. And so a twist of fate took the invincible Kull to Razaak, and Razaak was slain at the hand of Kull by the sword that had once been his own. But the moment Razaak was slain, Kull’s flesh fell from his bones and lay in a pile of dust around his skeletal feet. Razaak’s magic had condemned him to an eternal nightmare as a skeleton, unable to release the sword.
He seized a hooded robe and fled into Moonstone Hills, and it is said that to this day he drifts constantly across the same lake on his raft, clutching the sword, unable to rest until someone takes it from him. Razaak’s body was placed in a stone sarcophagus and entombed in the fissure in the southern hills. The crypt was sealed by a Lawful sorcerer who decreed that it must remain unopened for one hundred and ten years, otherwise the necromancer would rise with a host of undead to destroy all life.
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‘I can only assume,’ concludes Yaztromo with a deep sigh, ‘that treasure-hunters found the necromancer’s crypt and opened it unknowingly. Razaak must be destroyed before it is too late. Oh, but it’s going to be so difficult. We’ll need to find Razaak’s sword and a number of talismans and amulets that will protect you from the necromancer’s magic ... I trust you will volunteer for this mighty task?’
Slowly you nod your head, although your brain is still spinning with Yaztromo’s tale of Razaak and poor Kull. ‘Good’, continues Yaztromo. ‘Now, don’t worry about the sword: I won’t let you become a skeleton. Just bring it back here and in the meantime I’ll be calling on a few people who can help us. There is no time to waste; you must find the lake in Moonstone Hills. Rest well tonight and leave at first light – what little of it there is…’
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1
You are woken, from a nightmare in which undead creatures attack you with swords, by Yaztromo tapping you on the shoulder. ‘Time to get up, it’s almost dawn’, he says in a sleepy voice. Within twenty minutes you are outside and mounted on your horse. Yaztromo smiles, ever optimistic in the face of danger, and hands you a small glass phial. ‘Healing Potion,’ he explains. ‘Enough for five tots.’ (Note this on your Adventure Sheet. The Healing Potion will restore 4 STAMINA points each time it is drunk. Make a note each time you drink a tot.) The old wizard then waves to you as you gallop off, heading east towards Moonstone Hills in search of the Lost Lake. By midday the hills rise up threateningly from the horizon, flanking you from north to south, and you wonder how you will ever find the lake. By nightfall you find yourself at the foot of the hills where Silver River flows out on to the Windward Plain towards Chalice. You decide to camp by the river and make a fire to keep you warm, and also to ward off any hunters of the night. The night passes without incident, and in the morning you wake feeling hungry. After eating bread and cheese from your backpack, you climb on to your horse and decide which way to head. If you wish to wade across the river and ride east into the hills, turn to 255. If you would rather follow the river north up into the hills, turn to 146.
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[/spoiler]Important Note: Each Healing Potion tot will restore 6 Stamina points instead of 4 Stamina points. Because there are no Provisions in this adventure, it is considerably harder to restore any lost Stamina that our hero takes, so I believe that our starting healing source should be much more effective than the equivalent of only 5 Provisions.
So the starting questions up for voting are the following:
Which way should our hero head?
What name do you want to give our hero?
Should the change to our hero’s starting Healing Potion remain in place?
Please make your decisions before 9:00 AM PDT to guarantee that they will be counted.
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