[Let's Play] Fighting Fantasy 6: Deathtrap Dungeon Redux

[JourneymanN00b]

My intent was to choose to fight the Minotaur. Apologies for the confusion.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Minotaur. We’ve already dealt with one venomous creature.

[Beroli]

Fighting the minotaur and not trolling the dwarf wins 2-1.

You call out to the Dwarf that you are ready to fight the MINOTAUR. The wooden door rises slowly and you see the fearsome beast, half man, half bull, step into the arena. Steam blows from his nostrils as he works himself up into a rage, ready to attack. Suddenly, he rushes forward, swinging his double-headed axe.

MINOTAUR Skill 9 Stamina 9

Round One: Hai Tien 22, Minotaur 15. Minotaur is at 7 Stamina.
Round Two: Hai Tien 17, Minotaur 14. Minotaur is at 5 Stamina.
Round Three: Hai Tien 19, Minotaur 19.
Round Four: Hai Tien 20, Minotaur 20.
Round Five: Hai Tien 16, Minotaur 16 (seriously?).
Round Six: Hai Tien 19, Minotaur 18. Minotaur is at 3 Stamina.
Round Seven: Hai Tien 16, Minotaur 18. Hai Tien is at 16 Stamina.
Round Eight: Hai Tien 22, Minotaur 17. Minotaur is at 1 Stamina.
Round Nine: Hai Tien 22, Minotaur 15. Victory.

The Dwarf calls down from the balcony, congratulating you on your victory. He throws a sack down into the arena and tells you to relax and regain your strength for the final part of the test. Then he walks off, saying he will return in about ten minutes. You open the sack and find a jug of wine and a cooked chicken.

Eat and drink the Dwarf's offerings?
Ignore them, sit down and await his return?

Adventure Sheet:
Hai Tien
Skill 12/12
Stamina 16/18
Luck 9/9
Gold Pieces 3
Provisions 6/10
Sword
Leather armor
Shield
Backpack
Potion of Fortune
Rope
Hollow wooden tube
Left emerald eye
Ring of demon banishing
Dagger
Ruby
Mallet
10 iron spikes
Sapphire
Iron key
Amulet of strength (worn)
Immune to melting-point temperatures
Will detect hidden traps

[Darth Rabbitt]

Eat his food. It's too obvious to be a trap.

[Queen of Swords]

I like how the Dwarf assumes we’ll only need ten minutes to down an entire chicken and a jugful of wine.

Eat up. If he really wanted us dead he wouldn’t need to be this subtle about it.

[SGamerz]

Okay, one of you was just making a ridiculous nitpick, the second might have been trolling,

It wasn't trolling. It was a long time since I last read the book, so I forgot that the book actually gave a section to turn to for those who can't decipher the words and not just to choose one or the other, because you apparently took the liberty of editing parts of the text out again. If you're going to do things like that, the onus is on you to give extra instructions to make that clear to the players what they are choosing between exactly. The fact that 3 people questioned this/had this misunderstanding supports this. It didn't make sense for players to be able to pick between 4 passwords in House of Hell if they have zero information about it, but it can be done anyway, so it's not unreasonable for players to assume that they can pick a choice blindly here.

I like how the Dwarf assumes we’ll only need ten minutes to down an entire chicken and a jugful of wine.

Never said we have to finish everything though. This is not an eating trial where we fail for not finishing the food. Besides, he has no reason to care if we have enough time or not. He's not an ally trying to help us.

(Also there are a few gamebooks where we are given the option to wolf down a meal in 30 seconds. Which should give us heartburn rather than heals us, but still...)

****

Eat up.

[Beroli]

Okay, one of you was just making a ridiculous nitpick, the second might have been trolling,

It wasn't trolling. It was a long time since I last read the book, so I forgot that the book actually gave a section to turn to for those who can't decipher the words and not just to choose one or the other, because you apparently took the liberty of editing parts of the text out again. If you're going to do things like that, the onus is on you to give extra instructions to make that clear to the players what they are choosing between exactly. The fact that 3 people questioned this/had this misunderstanding supports this.

You are more than free to stop participating in any Let's Play I run. In the meantime, as I just indicated, I do not believe either

'If you rearrange the letters of the words, you will find the names of two creatures. You may choose which one to fight in my Arena of Death.'

(everything the dwarf says in the book, which is also everything I wrote him saying here)
or

What do you say you wish to fight?

(what I said to indicate your choice)

logically leads to "Ruin Moat is the answer the dwarf is looking for." You can play a "you didn't actually say I needed to translate, just that I could!" game, but that's trolling him, if not me. Thinking in terms of what you remembered in the book and ignoring what I posted might lead to you thinking you only need to pick one and not translate it...but, again, "I can't/won't translate" is absolutely an answer you can give and the gamebook supports it (and gives you an immediate Game Over for it, of course). If you believe the onus is on me to warn you when a decision you've posted which is one of the available decisions is bad and will lead to an immediate game over, you really should stop bothering to read Let's Plays I post.

******************************************

[Beroli]

The food and drink are excellent, and you feel much better. Add 2 STAMINA points. Fully satisfied, you sit down and await the Dwarf's return.

After about twenty minutes the Dwarf reappears on the balcony. He calls down to you, saying, 'Well, I do have an interesting problem on my hands. Prepare to fight your next opponent.' The wooden door rises once again and you are surprised to see a familiar face. It is Throm! He is cut and badly bruised, and doesn't seem to recognize you. He is clearly delirious as he staggers forward with his axe raised to attack you. The Dwarf laughs and says, 'The cobra bit him, but he has the strength of an ox and managed to carry on, even though most men would have died. Now you must fight him to decide finally which of you will continue the Trial of Champions.' You shout abuse at the Dwarf, protesting against the cruelty of such a contest. He merely laughs, and you have no option but to defend yourself against poor Throm.

THROM Skill 10 Stamina 12

Despite his wounds, Throm is immensely strong, and so I stop there for votes on how and if to use Luck.

Adventure Sheet:
Hai Tien
Skill 12/12
Stamina 18/18
Luck 9/9
Gold Pieces 3
Provisions 6/10
Sword
Leather armor
Shield
Backpack
Potion of Fortune
Rope
Hollow wooden tube
Left emerald eye
Ring of demon banishing
Dagger
Ruby
Mallet
10 iron spikes
Sapphire
Iron key
Amulet of strength (worn)
Immune to melting-point temperatures
Will detect hidden traps

[SGamerz]

Okay, one of you was just making a ridiculous nitpick, the second might have been trolling,

It wasn't trolling. It was a long time since I last read the book, so I forgot that the book actually gave a section to turn to for those who can't decipher the words and not just to choose one or the other, because you apparently took the liberty of editing parts of the text out again. If you're going to do things like that, the onus is on you to give extra instructions to make that clear to the players what they are choosing between exactly. The fact that 3 people questioned this/had this misunderstanding supports this.

You are more than free to stop participating in any Let's Play I run. In the meantime, as I just indicated, I do not believe either

'If you rearrange the letters of the words, you will find the names of two creatures. You may choose which one to fight in my Arena of Death.'

(everything the dwarf says in the book)
or

What do you say you wish to fight?

what I said to indicate your choice:

logically leads to "Ruin Moat is the answer the dwarf is looking for." You can play a "you didn't actually say I needed to translate, just that I could!" game, but that's trolling him, if not me. Thinking in terms of what you remembered in the book and ignoring what I posted might lead to you thinking you only need to pick one and not translate it...but, again, "I can't/won't translate" is absolutely an answer you can give and the gamebook supports it (and gives you an immediate Game Over for it, of course). If you believe the onus is on me to warn you when a decision you've posted which is one of the available decisions is bad and will lead to an immediate game over, you really should stop bothering to read Let's Plays I post.

******************************************

Logically, the player can choose NO CROP IS thinking that he wants to fight some breed of giant Proconis moths too, and the book doesn't give them a game over for making that choice. There's a difference between hosting an RPG and a gamebook LP. Why even use the gamebook if you're not going to give players what the author is willing to give them? There are plenty of ready-made DD RPG modes anyway. It is one thing to implement your own interpretation or rules if the original material are ambiguous, or makes the book unplayable (and even when that's the case, one owes the original author the basic courtesy of making it clear what is coming from the host himself, and not the original material), it's another to remove material unnecessarily to satisfy your own need for creative editing or save yourself the trouble of typing a few more words (except it didn't really, since the choice was so clear that 3 players didn't vote the way you expected them to).

Like I said, I wasn't alone. If MORE THAN HALF the participating players had misunderstandings or questions (and the remaining didn't even respond before you take the time to explicitly explain everything), then the presentation is the issue, not the players. But whatever makes it more fun and immersive for the host, I guess.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to use Luck to increase damage and reduce damage when Hai Tien's Stamina reaches 6, just like the last time that the opportunity for using Luck in battle was offered.

[Thaluikhain]

Second that. Lucky we had lost exactly as much Stamina as we get from eating the food.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Yeah, thirded.

[Beroli]

Round One: Hai Tien 19, Throm 19.
Round Two: Hai Tien 23, Throm 13. Throm is at 10 Stamina.
Round Three: Hai Tien 20, Throm 21. Hai Tien is at 16 Stamina.
Round Four: Hai Tien 19, Throm 19.
Round Five: Hai Tien 19, Throm 21. Hai Tien is at 14 Stamina.
Round Six: Hai Tien 15, Throm 17. Hai Tien is at 12 Stamina.
Round Seven: Hai Tien 20, Throm 18. Throm is at 8 Stamina.
Round Eight: Hai Tien 18, Throm 12. Throm is at 6 Stamina.
Round Nine: Hai Tien 15, Throm 16. Hai Tien is at 10 Stamina.
Round Ten: Hai Tien 19, Throm 16. Throm is at 4 Stamina.
Round Eleven: Hai Tien 15, Throm 14. Throm is at 2 Stamina.
Round Twelve: Hai Tien 21, Throm 19. Victory.

Exhausted by your long duel, you fall to your knees. As you stare at Throm's still body, a bitter loathing for the Dwarf fills your heart. Somehow, you will avenge Throm. Engulfed in your hatred, you do not notice the Dwarf enter the arena until he is standing right in front oi you, a loaded crossbow, aimed at your chest. 'I know what you are thinking,' he says calmly, 'but remember that only I know the way out of here. Get up, it's time for you to leave.' Once on your feet, the Dwarf indicates that you should walk ahead of him. Back in the chamber, he crosses over to the northern wall and pushes against one of its stones. A door-like section of the wall swings out, opening into another crystal-lit tunnel. With his crossbow still aimed at your chest, the Dwarf smiles, saying, 'Good luck.'

Walk into the tunnel?
Try to take the dwarf by surprise and attack him?

Adventure Sheet:
Hai Tien
Skill 12/12
Stamina 10/18
Luck 9/9
Gold Pieces 3
Provisions 6/10
Sword
Leather armor
Shield
Backpack
Potion of Fortune
Rope
Hollow wooden tube
Left emerald eye
Ring of demon banishing
Dagger
Ruby
Mallet
10 iron spikes
Sapphire
Iron key
Amulet of strength (worn)
Immune to melting-point temperatures
Will detect hidden traps

[Queen of Swords]

Walk into the tunnel. I don't want to take the risk of him not being surprised.

[Thaluikhain]

Walk into the tunnel.

(And, FF companions tend to meet tragic ends, but I always thought that was a sad one)

[Darth Rabbitt]

Flip him off, eat a meal and walk into the tunnel. As satisfying as it would be to kill this guy I don’t think it’s wise, and from a role playing perspective if we can beat the dungeon we can avenge Throm during the subsequent celebrations. Can’t imagine the baron will mind losing another employee.

[Beroli]

You eat a meal, ignoring the dwarf's crossbow pointing at you the whole time, and leave.

The tunnel soon divides into two. You hear a buzzing sound coming from the western branch.

Walk west toward the noise?
Continue north?

Adventure Sheet:
Hai Tien
Skill 12/12
Stamina 14/18
Luck 9/9
Gold Pieces 3
Provisions 5/10
Sword
Leather armor
Shield
Backpack
Potion of Fortune
Rope
Hollow wooden tube
Left emerald eye
Ring of demon banishing
Dagger
Ruby
Mallet
10 iron spikes
Sapphire
Iron key
Amulet of strength (worn)
Immune to melting-point temperatures
Will detect hidden traps

[Queen of Swords]

Buzzing sound, like bees?

Let's walk towards the noise and find out.

[Darth Rabbitt]

Investigate the buzzing.

[JourneymanN00b]

I vote to walk west towards the noise to make another stand against fascism.

[Beroli]

There is a large panel of glass in the left-hand wall of the tunnel. Through it you can see a bright, torchlit room teeming with GIANT INSECTS of every possible description. Bees, wasps, beetles, ticks--even the mites are over six centimetres long. The noise is threatening. In the middle of the room, a jewelled crown lies on top of a small table. What looks like a large diamond is set in the middle of the crown.

Break the glass and try to snatch the crown?
Continue west?
Return to the junction and head north?

Adventure Sheet:
Hai Tien
Skill 12/12
Stamina 14/18
Luck 9/9
Gold Pieces 3
Provisions 5/10
Sword
Leather armor
Shield
Backpack
Potion of Fortune
Rope
Hollow wooden tube
Left emerald eye
Ring of demon banishing
Dagger
Ruby
Mallet
10 iron spikes
Sapphire
Iron key
Amulet of strength (worn)
Immune to melting-point temperatures
Will detect hidden traps

[JourneymanN00b]

I don't think we have any way of producing smoke or some other type of insect repellent, so I vote to leave the crown alone and continue west to further Hai Tien's stand against fascism and avoid an instadeath.

[Darth Rabbitt]

“What looks like a large diamond” sounds like bait to me. Continue west.

[Queen of Swords]

“What looks like a large diamond” sounds like bait to me.

Good point. I doubt a bunch of insects could do immediate serious harm to us, but let’s keep going west.

[Beroli]

Ahead in the far distance you hear the sound of slow footsteps coming towards you. Unsure of who or what might be approaching, you look around for a place to hide. You find a large crack in the tunnel wall which lies in shadow.

Stand your ground with your sword drawn?
Hide in the shadows?

Adventure Sheet:
Hai Tien
Skill 12/12
Stamina 14/18
Luck 9/9
Gold Pieces 3
Provisions 5/10
Sword
Leather armor
Shield
Backpack
Potion of Fortune
Rope
Hollow wooden tube
Left emerald eye
Ring of demon banishing
Dagger
Ruby
Mallet
10 iron spikes
Sapphire
Iron key
Amulet of strength (worn)
Immune to melting-point temperatures
Will detect hidden traps