Let's Play the Grailquest series! (If this kills you, go to 14.)

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Ghostwoods: May 9, 2013; Say "Cheese!"

We'd never get to keep the loot, but heck, let's fight her anyway!

# ? May 27, 2015 21:07

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# ? May 14, 2024 05:51

Mikl: Nov 8, 2009; Vote shit sandwich or the shit sandwich gets it!

Alright, it's time to kill us a gorgon!

First, though, you'll forgive me if I use the healing snuff, I want to be in top shape for this fight.

Healing snuff roll: 2 + 1 + 2 + 6 = 11 LIFE POINTS recovered, we're back to 30 near our max ot 32 so I think that's enough for the fight.

Section 136 posted:

What a brave decision! A little greedy, perhaps, but brave.

Now for the bad news. The Medusa has 100 LIFE POINTS. She can turn you to stone any time she gets two successful hits against you in a row. She needs to roll an 8 or better to hit. If you decide to use your Invisibility spell during this fight, she can still get you, but she will need to make THREE successful hits in a row. Good luck.

Well, I hope you're satisfied guys :shepicide:

Serious threat analysis: there's no way Medusa can kill us via LIFE POINT depletion, since she can do a maximum of 4 damage and we have 6 worth of protection. It's the petrification that's the real danger, though: two hits in a row and we're done.

Nothing to do but to get rolling. I'll be using magic too, since I seriously doubt we'd make it without.

Pip's initiative roll: 3 + 1 = 4
Medusa's initiative roll: 5 + 4 = 9

Medusa attacks! 4 + 1 = 5, missed.
Pip casts PiRsquared! 3 + 6 = 9, Pip is down to 27 LIFE POINTS but now will move twice as fast!
Medusa attacks! 1 + 1 = 2, another miss.
Pip casts Fireball! 1 + 4 = 5, the spell fizzles and Pip is down to 24 LIFE POINTS.
Pip casts Fireball again! 6 + 1 = 7, Pip is down to 21 LIFE POINTS but now we have two Fireballs of our own :getin:

Medusa attacks! 4 + 3 = 7, yet another miss.
Pip launches a Fireball! 1 + 2 = 3, a chest explodes in the background far behind Medusa.
Pip launches another Fireball! 3 + 5 = 8, Medusa is hit squarely in the chest for 75 LIFE POINTS and is down to 25!
Medusa attacks! 4 + 5 = 9, Pip is hit (first time)!
Pip casts a Firefinger lightning bolt! Medusa is thunderstruck for 10 LIFE POINTS and is down to 15.
Pip puts some distance between himself and Medusa and casts PAD! 3 + 3 = 6, the spell fizzles and Pip is down to 18 LIFE POINTS, but Medusa is too far away and skips a round!
Pip casts a Firefinger lightning bolt! Medusa is electrocuted for 10 LIFE POINTS and is down to 5.
Pip casts another Firefinger lightning bolt! Medusa is burnt to a crisp for 10 LIFE POINT and falls down dead.

:woop:

Honestly, we were quite a bit lucky with Medusa's dice rolls, since she only hit us the one time. I'm not complaining. We used up quite a bit of magic though.

Let's see what rewards await us in the treasure piles!

Section 136 posted:

If the Medusa kills you, go to 14.

If you kill the Medusa, you will find you can comfortably carry treasure worth 200,000 Gold Pieces.

There are two passages leading out of the cave. They go to 138 and 128. Take your pick.

I don't think there's a :signings:

big enough for this.

Let's hope we don't lose it all by mistake. In fact, I'll use the magic snuff again just to be sure.

Magic snuff roll: 1 + 2 + 5 + 1 = 9, we're back up to 24/32 LIFE POINTS.

Onwards to 138!

Section 138 posted:

The passageway opens abruptly so that you find yourself standing on the rocky shore of a vast, underground lake. There is no road around these still, dark waters. But there is, at least, a rather battered, leaky rowboat tied up only a few metres away from you.

If you have previously discovered on this adventure that you can swim, you might like to try swimming the lake. (If you don't know whether you can swim, don't risk it.) To attempt to swim, go to 123.
If you want to risk that rowboat (although it does look very leaky) it will take you, via a corridor, to 102.

Here we're forced to take the boat, since we don't know if we can swim. (We find this out at the very beginning of the book, where we died the first time: if we hadn't fallen to our death, we would have ended up at the bottom of the ravine, where we would have had to roll to cross the river, and on a failed roll we would have had discovered we can't swim.)

This is a supreme dick move on the book's part, by the way, since it's forcing us to go through 102. What's in 102, you may ask? Well...

Section 102 posted:

The corridor takes you without mishap to a small, apparently empty cave. The exits are:

South to 108.
North-west to 99.
East to 112.

A flicker at the corner of your eye! You spin round, but there is nothing there. Another flicker. You turn again. Still nothing there. Something touches your left arm, chilling it to the bone. For the briefest instant you are staring into the glowing, ethereal eyes of a Wraith. Then the creature vanishes instantly.

A Wraith? Those things are deadly. And they can only be fought with spells: physical weapons do them no damage whatsoever. The Wraith is attacking you, Pip. That single touch cost you 10 LIFE POINTS! (If this kills you, go to 14.) You must use your spells! The Wraith has 25 LIFE POINTS. It will strike back successfully on a roll of 6 or better, scoring +3 damage at a touch.

If you kill the Wraith you may choose your exit.

If the Wraith kills you, go to 14.

...It forces us through a right bastard of a fight. Now we have 14 LIFE POINTS and we have to do battle.

Pip's initiative roll: 5 + 2 = 7
The Wraith's initiative roll: 2 + 1 = 3

Pip casts Firefinger lightning bolt! Wraith is down to 15 LIFE POINTS.
Wraith attacks! 5 + 3 = 8, Pip is hit for 2 + 3 - 6 = no LIFE POINTS.
Pip casts Firefinger lightning bolt! Wraith is down to 5 LIFE POINTS.
Wraith attacks! 5 + 5 = 10, Pip is hit for 4 + 3 - 6 = 1 LIFE POINT and is down to 13.
Pip casts PAD! 5 + 4 = 9, Pip is down to 10 LIFE POINTS but the Wraith is hit for 10 LIFE POINTS and dissipates.

If you'll excuse me, I'll use the snuff again. Gotta keep our strength up.

Magic snuff roll: 3 + 6 + 5 + 5 = 19 (!) LIFE POINTS, and we're back up to our max of 32.

Now, we've seen both 108 and 99, so let's go to 112.

Section 112 posted:

The passageway opens abruptly so that you find yourself standing on the rocky shore of a vast underground lake. There is no road around these still, dark waters. But there is, at least, a rather battered, leaky rowboat tied up only a few metres away from you.

If you have previously discovered on this adventure that you can swim, you might like to try swimming the lake. (If you don't know whether you can swim, don't risk it.) To attempt to swim, go to 123.

If you want to risk that rowboat (although it does look very leaky) go to 117.

Section 112, you may note, is exactly the same as 138, except for the Section it points us to when we pick the boat.

Let's start rowing and go to 117.

Section 117 posted:

You climb into the rowboat and fish out the oars from the scummy pool of water in the bottom, fit them into the rowlocks and pull away from shore. The dark water swallows up the light from your torch, which you have jammed at the prow, so that you seem to be rowing through an endless night. Water from the boat's many leaks is already lapping around your feet as you strive to cross the lake before this old tub sinks. Roll two dice to find out if you make it safely.

Score 2 - 4 and go to 124.
Score 5-12 and go to 132.

Roll: 3 + 6 = 9, lucky or unlucky?

Section 132 posted:

Glug ... glug ... glug ... glug

That's the sound of you drowning, Pip. Want to hear it again?

OK:

Glug ... glug ... glug ... glug

The reason you're drowning is that the boat has sunk. So what are you going to do now? Your P. A.N. I.C. spell (if you still have it and can work it) will cast a bubble around you with enough air to keep you alive long enough to get to 124.

Alternatively, there is a slim chance you may leam to swim terribly quickly (some people are fast learners when they have to be). Roll dice exactly as if you were rolling for your LIFE POINTS all over again. If your new score is better than your old, you may keep it as your new maximum and add swimming to your abilities.

Finally, you might just get lucky. Roll 11 or 12 on two dice and you've made it. (Use your Luckstone if you have one.)

Providing you can survive this mess by any of the three possible methods, go to 124.
If none of them worked, go to 14.

Unlucky! Let's take the easy way out and cast PANIC! Roll: 2 + 3 = 5, down to 29 LIFE POINTS and a fizzle! Let's try it again! Roll: 2 + 5 = 7, down to 26 LIFE POINTS but just made it. On to 124.

Section 124 posted:

You have strong arms, Pip. Or maybe just a lot of luck. Whichever way, you made it! You squelch off across the cavern floor to the entrance of an exit passageway to the east.

Enter the passageway and go to 130.

130, you may remember, is the Section where we found the treasure hoard. This means the book has had us going around in circles :argh:

I'll spare you the time to think about where to go: we have to backtrack to the Minotaur's den and pick a different direction. At first we had 114, 137 and 128 available, and we've fully explored all that can be reached from 128, so now we have to pick something else.

Do we go to 114 or to 137?

Since I'm a kind soul, I'll give you a warning:

:frogsiren:

For maximum bullshit, one of those two is the way forward, the other leads to instant death, no saving throw. :frogsiren:

Choose wisely.

Pip's Stat Block posted:

LIFE POINTS: 26/32
EXPERIENCE POINTS: 3
INVENTORY:
E.J. (hits on a 4 or higher, +5 damage, +10 damage against dragons), dragonskin jacket (-4 damage), leather armour (-2 damage), dagger (+2 damage), food pack, backpack, waterbag, rope (15 metres), torch x12, healing potion x24 (heals two dice rolls), sack x6, climbing spike x12, roll of bandages (15 metres), tinderbox, container of oil, fish hook x12, carpentry hammer, blanket, horn, dragon cavern scroll (head to Section 101 to read it), horseshoe x1, tinglering x1, large key x1, bottle of SNAKE VENOM ANTIDOTE x1
MAGIC:
Pip's First Spellbook (costs 3 LIFE POINTS per spell, maximum 3 uses per spell, need roll 7 or higher on two dice or spell doesn't work, used: PANIC x2, PAD x2, PiRsquared x1, Fireball ), The Wizard Ansalom's Globule Wand (roll 6 or higher on two dice, holds enemy for four rounds, five charges), ~~Firefinger Lightning Bolt x5~~ , magical snuffbox (heals four dice's worth of LIFE POINTS, can be used only once per Section)
MONEY AND VALUABLES:
Gold and other valuables, worth 200,000 Gold Pieces (!!!)

Roll of the Dead posted:

Death the first: got dizzy while climbing down a chasm (worst possible time to discover a fear of heights...)
Death the second: slowly strangled and digested by creepers (who grows creepers indoors anyway?)
Death the third: ate from a poisoned banquet
Death the fourth: buried under a collapsed cottage
Death the fifth: buried under a cave-in

# ? May 27, 2015 22:45

idonotlikepeas: May 29, 2010; This reasoning is possible for forums user idonotlikepeas!

Weeellll poo poo.

Let's go to 137.

# ? May 27, 2015 23:15

inflatablefish: Oct 24, 2010

Yeah, let's not go to the section with a 14 in the number. 137!

# ? May 27, 2015 23:47

The Shame Boy: Jan 27, 2014; Dead weight, just like this post.

So what does a map of this place even look like at the moment? I mean i get we were going around in circles just now but i'm just curious as to how it's all laid out.

Regardless i have a good feeling about 137

# ? May 28, 2015 05:44

Ghostwoods: May 9, 2013; Say "Cheese!"

idonotlikepeas posted:

Weeellll poo poo.

Let's go to 137.

Sure. What's the worst that could happen?

# ? May 28, 2015 14:23

Ratatozsk: Mar 6, 2007; Had we turned left instead, we may have encountered something like this...

I have a bad feeling about 137. Let's do it.

# ? May 28, 2015 16:41

Carbon dioxide: Oct 9, 2012

Just caught up with the thread.

I am really wondering what would've happened if you'd decided to stay with the monks in the village.

Also, another mistake in the book. It speaks of the smell of burning sulfur and about a new smell: the unmistakable smell of methane.

Methane has no smell whatsoever. Most sources have some sulphuric component added to it, either naturally, or artificially to make it easier to detect leaks. So, I don't know what Pip smelled but it certainly wasn't methane.

# ? May 29, 2015 09:15

Mikl: Nov 8, 2009; Vote shit sandwich or the shit sandwich gets it!

HOOLY BOOLY posted:

So what does a map of this place even look like at the moment? I mean i get we were going around in circles just now but i'm just curious as to how it's all laid out.

It looks like this!

(Marvel at my terrible handwriting!)

Carbon dioxide posted:

Just caught up with the thread.

I am really wondering what would've happened if you'd decided to stay with the monks in the village.

Also, another mistake in the book. It speaks of the smell of burning sulfur and about a new smell: the unmistakable smell of methane.

Methane has no smell whatsoever. Most sources have some sulphuric component added to it, either naturally, or artificially to make it easier to detect leaks. So, I don't know what Pip smelled but it certainly wasn't methane.

It's dragon farts :ms:

You'll see what happens if we choose to stay with the monks in the post-book wrap up, just like you'll see what the death trap we had to avoid here looks like... Supposing we do manage to avoid it.

Everybody seems to be in agreement about 137!

You chose...

Section 137 posted:

This cavern is completely lined with metal! Floor, walls and ceiling! And the whole north wall is taken up with bank upon bank of truly massive machinery! This was never made by dragons! Or by anybody else in the time of King Arthur. If you weren't really a young person from the twentieth century occupying another body, you might be tempted to think it was magic. But you are a young person from the twentieth century, so you know perfectly well you are facing some strange sort of giant machine. But who made it? How did it get here? And what does it do? What a mystery.

...Well. Trap avoided, good job goons.

Section 137 posted:

What a puzzle. What a glorious opportunity to poke around a bit and get yourself into no end of trouble!

You might be sorely tempted to walk directly to that control panel on the north wall were it not for one small thing. The machinery is being tended by no less than a dozen hunchbacked Dwarves of evil countenance. Twelve of them, Pip! Could even an adventurer of your reputation and experience fight them all? The choice is yours.

You may use your Invisibility spell here to get away safely. (Although that means going back the way you came, since there are no other exits to this place.)

You may try to creep away quietly. If so, roll two dice. Score 2-8 and you made it without any of the Dwarves noticing. Score 9-12 and they spot you and hurl themselves upon you shrieking evilly, in which case you're stuck with a fight so go to 131.

You may hurl yourself upon the Dwarves and hope to hack them to pieces. If so, go to 131.

Nothing else to do but fight!

Section 131 posted:

Each nasty Dwarf has 10 LIFE POINTS. They are slow movers, so you can certainly have the first strike against some of them. Roll two dice to find out how many you can hit first. (If you manage a 12, it means you can take one bash at every one of them before any of them gets to strike you back.) When you have taken your first hit or hits, the Dwarves will strike you back in sequence. They aren't particularly good fighters and need 8 or better to hit. As against that, they are armed with swords which do +3 damage.

If the Dwarves kill you, go to 14. If you manage to kill ten of the Dwarves, the other two will run off in the direction of the Minotaur's cave, leaving you to do what you will in this cavern. Go to 134.

Roll: 6 + 5 = 11 :getin:

Pip attacks! 1 + 4 = 5, Dwarf 1 is hit for 1 + 5 = 6 LIFE POINTS, is down to 4 and falls down unconcious.
Pip attacks! 6 + 6 = 12, Dwarf 2 is hit for 8 + 5 = 13 LIFE POINTS and is chopped in half.
Pip attacks! 4 + 4 = 8, Dwarf 3 is hit for 4 + 5 = 9 LIFE POINTS and slumps to the ground with 1 LIFE POINT left.
Pip attacks! 5 + 1 = 6, Dwarf 4 is hit for 2 + 5 = 7 LIFE POINTS, is down to 3 and crumples to the floor.
Pip attacks! 6 + 2 = 8, Dwarf 5 is hit for 4 + 5 = 9 LIFE POINTS and joins his pals on the floor of the cave.
Pip attacks! 5 + 5 = 10, Dwarf 6 has a brief moment to contemplate how fleeting life is before being hit for 6 + 5 = 11 LIFE POINTS and being killed.
Pip attacks! 2 + 5 = 7, Dwarf 7 is hit for 3 + 5 = 8 LIFE POINTS and is knocked out.
Pip attacks! 4 + 2 = 6, Dwarf 8 is hit for 2 + 5 = 7 LIFE POINTS and blacks out from the pain.
Pip attacks! 6 + 5 = 11, Dwarf 9 is hit for 7 + 5 = 12 LIFE POINTS and hits the floor. A few seconds later his head hits the floor too.
Pip attacks! 5 + 4 = 9, Dwarf 10 is hit for 5 + 5 = 10 LIFE POINTS and is dead. Nothing spectacular, just dead.

Dwarf 11 and Dwarf 12 exchange a brief glance, then turn tail and run for dear life.

Now we're free to tinker with the machine.

Section 134 posted:

Picking your way carefully over the bodies of dead Dwarves, you reach the bank of controls on the north wall. Inlaid in the gleaming metal floor beneath your feet is a blue metal plate. You test it carefully, but it seems secure to stand on. Before you are three large levers, surmounted by a notice in red. The notice reads:

PLACE KEY IN SLOT
BEFORE ACTIVATING LEVERS.

Beside the notice is a slot big enough to take quite a large key. The levers are numbered 1, 2 and 3. You can see that each one may be pushed upwards or pulled downwards. Make your choice carefully when you decide what to do with these levers because they will obviously determine the course of the remainder of your adventure. Here are your various options:

If you have a key to place in the slot, then the following results will arise:

Push all three levers up and go to 139.
Push all levers down and go to 141.
Push one lever up and two dovm and go to 144.
Push two levers up and one down and go to 147.

If you do NOT have a key to put in the slot, then the following results will arise:

Push all three levers up and go to 142.
Push all levers down and go to 145.
Push one lever up and two down and go to 148.
Push two levers up and one down and go to 149.

Which way do we push the levers? (After inserting the key, of course. We could for extra hilarity not insert the key, but I honestly do not recommend it.)