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Challenge it is! Also, in somewhat good news, my physical copy of this book finally arrived. I lost the original a long time ago, and had been going off the PDF, which had a misprint; I couldn't remember if the misprint was unique to the PDF or what, so I ordered a copy of the book to find out. Turns out it totally is, so we dodged a potential bullet there! 462 posted:
Oh boy, this isn't a great situation. With our somewhat lacking protection, the first guy hits us on anything but an automatic miss, and the second isn't going to have much trouble either. Fighting here might mean burning through a lot of honour, and even then, victory is far from assured. Should we attempt to flee? Or, if we battle, should it be to the death, or surrendering when our health is low? Our own stats, for reference: Character Sheet posted:
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Oct 30, 2015 16:30
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| # ? May 18, 2024 19:21 |
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Death
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Oct 30, 2015 16:44
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Fight, amicable Altheus! For everlasting death!
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Oct 30, 2015 17:14
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Welp, it's only 2 votes, but in the interest of keeping things moving, I'm going with the thus-far unanimous decision. Time to be less than Amicable! Man, we need a good battlecry. 'Wisdom for the Wisdom God!' doesn't really have much of a ring to it. 462 posted:
Altheus: Wounds: Healthy Might: 4 + 5 = 9 Protection: 11 - 3 = 8 Bandit 1: Wounds: Healthy Might: 4 + 2 + 1 = 7 Protection: 10 Bandit 2: Wounds: Healthy Might: 4 + 2 = 6 Protection: 10 Round 1! Altheus: 5 + 5 + 9 = 19. Bandit is hit, and becomes wounded. Bandit 1 : 2 + 6 + 7 = 15. Altheus is hit, and becomes wounded. Round 2! Altheus: 5 + 4 + 9 = 18. Bandit is hit, and becomes Seriously Wounded. He withdraws from combat. Altheus burns 6 honour (the average of 2d6 + 6 = 13, this puts us at 14, so on average, we should come out okay.) Honour Remaining: 5 Bandit 2: 6 + 1 + 6 = 13. Altheus' dodges through the power of honour! Somehow! Round 3! Altheus: 5 + 6 + 9 = 20. Bandit 2 is hit, and becomes wounded. I don't burn honour. We have a pretty good chance of hitting even with just 1d6 + our strength, so even if we're Seriously Wounded, we should be fine. Bandit 2: 1 + 2 + 6 = 9. Altheus remains Wounded; a roll of 2-3 is an automatic miss. My stinginess pays off even better than expected! Round 4! Altheus: 3 + 6 + 6 = 15. Bandit two is hit, and becomes Seriously Wounded, withdrawing from the fight. Despite my doubts, we actually win! Man, I probably didn't even need to burn that honour mid-battle. Eesh. Was not expecting them to roll an auto-miss, but what's done is done! It's sometimes tough to know when to burn honour and when not to; with the way you burn it before attacks are made, saving it for when you're seriously wounded is a huge risk, because a bit of bad luck means you're dead. This does illustrate my issue with this system of combat, there's no real way for Altheus to have much health. You're always a few bad rolls away from death! It keeps things tense, if nothing else. Anyway, to us, the spoils! On to 600! 600 posted:600 Note that, despite not being explicitly stated here, the base rules of the gamebook state we can take weapons and armour from our fallen foes. Also, while it mentions that we can only carry one spare set of armour, it doesn't mention any such restrictions on weapons, so we can grab a Long Knife (might 2, protection 0) here; much less impressive than our axe, but also less likely to get us killed. The choice is yours as to which we wield! The choice is yours as to whether we want to take a hint here or not, too. Either way, I think this shows off the game's combat system a little better than Procrustes did. He was a bit of a pushover. Character Sheet posted:
100percentjesusfree fucked around with this message at 23:16 on Oct 30, 2015 |
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Oct 30, 2015 22:50
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Man. We didn't die! Go to 216.
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Oct 30, 2015 23:33
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Take the hint to
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Oct 31, 2015 00:31
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100percentjesusfree posted:Man, we need a good battlecry. 'Wisdom for the Wisdom God!' doesn't really have much of a ring to it.
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Oct 31, 2015 01:23
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I'm okay with taking a hint here, though I'm suspicious of this book now and maybe all that'll happen is our hero will accidentally defile the bodies and take another shame hit or something.
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Oct 31, 2015 05:22
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The traditional battle-cry of Athena's worshippers is "Alalalala!", an ululation supposed to sound like owls. EDIT: But yeah, sure, let's try the hint.
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Oct 31, 2015 12:09
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Ghostwoods posted:The traditional battle-cry of Athena's worshippers is "Alalalala!", an ululation supposed to sound like owls. If only she granted the power to turn your head 180 degrees, too. It'd be neat at parties, at the very least. Anyway, hint! Let's hope the authors didn't decide to be assh- 620 posted:620  what!?I swear there are good hints. Just a shame Athena doesn't protect us from the worst of the poo poo ones, of which there are entirely too many. Anyway, with our newfound point of shame for... absolutely nothing, really, we move on.  216 posted:
Welp, looks like another two-on-one situation, with bandits once again. Should we handle it the same way, and fight? Try to run away? (Feel free to suggest whether you'd prefer to see us fight to the death, or surrender if the chance comes up, too, along with a suggestion for what weapon to take into the fight. If no one comments, I'll just keep our axe. We do need to be careful, we've racked up a good few Shame points already, and while we won't die in combat from Shame exceeding Honour, there's nothing to say it won't become a fatal problem once the fight is over. Character Sheet posted:
100percentjesusfree fucked around with this message at 14:33 on Oct 31, 2015 |
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Oct 31, 2015 14:27
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Hahaha gently caress, why.  That axe was kind of risky in two-on-one combat, so use the long knife, and fight!
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Oct 31, 2015 14:38
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The last time turned out all right, let's do it again! Fight with the long knife, to the DEATH.
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Oct 31, 2015 17:25
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Long knife fight, to the DEATH!
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Oct 31, 2015 20:01
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Knife fight! ALALALALALALALALALALA!
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Oct 31, 2015 21:46
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Hooting like some kind of deranged owl, we charge into combat, knife in hand!388 posted:
...Well then. This isn't going to be pleasant We have to inflict 8 Wounds, while receiving 4 or less, against people with equal or better stats. Fortunately, we have the power of Honour! Whether we'll have any left at the end of this fight is another matter entirely. Altheus: Wounds: Healthy Might: 6 Protection: 11 Bandit 1: Wounds: Healthy Might: 7 Protection: 11 Bandit 2: Wounds: Healthy Might: 6 Protection: 11 Round 1 Altheus: 6 + 4 + 6 = 16. We're off to a good start, bandit 1 is Wounded. Spend 3 points of Honour to put us at 14, with similar logic to before, albeit with me being a little stingy because we don't have a huge pool. This leaves us with 7 honour remaining. Bandit 1 : 4 + 2 + 7 = 13. The bandit misses due to our honour expenditure! Altheus remains healthy. Round 2 Altheus: 5 + 4 + 6 = 15. The bandit is Seriously Wounded. He now only rolls one die to hit. Bandit 1: 1 + 7 = 8. He misses again! Round 3 Altheus: 2 + 3 + 6 = 11. We just hit, the first bandit is dead. We have a bit of leeway, thanks to lucky rolls. so I don't blow any honour for now, hoping for some bad rolls on the bandit's part. Bandit 2: 1 + 2 + 6 = 9 My faith in Athena/The heart of the Round 4 Altheus: 4 + 1 + 6 = 11. The bandit is wounded. Once again, no honour expenditure. We can hopefully just about get by... Bandit 2: 5 + 5 + 6 = 16. Altheus is wounded. Nuts. Round 5 Altheus: 5 + 2 + 6 = 13. The bandit is Seriously Wounded. He only rolls one dice, we're not far off now. Surely we don't need to spend any honour here... Bandit 2: 5 + 6 = 11. Ah. Crap. Altheus takes the hit, and is seriously wounded. Round 6 I spend some honour here. 2 more points of honour means we have a good chance of hitting! Unfortunately, it also means we have only 5 honour remaining. We're one point away from suicide! Altheus: 4 + 8 = 12. The bandit is dead. Fortunately, we win! Enemies that battle to the death are a pain in the neck. We just about pulled it off, though, somehow! 163 posted:
We... we totally did it. We won, we get to steal some greaves, Asclepius is pleased with us, AND we made a (minuscule) profit in Honour. We also beat four guys in decidedly unfair fights, and, last but not least, we have a chance to take a Hint here. We got screwed by the last one, so it should balance out to be something great, right? Either way, things are looking up for Amicable Altheus. Chronicle Sheet posted:
100percentjesusfree fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Oct 31, 2015 |
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Oct 31, 2015 23:03
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At this rate, I'm fully expecting taking a hint to result in Altheus pissing in the healing fountain or something for no reason before committing honorable Greek seppuku, which is why we should take a hint.
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Oct 31, 2015 23:32
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take a hint This ought to be fun.
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Nov 1, 2015 00:24
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Jesenjin posted:take a hint !!FUN!!
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Nov 1, 2015 00:36
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Hyper Crab Tank posted:At this rate, I'm fully expecting taking a hint to result in Altheus pissing in the healing fountain or something for no reason before committing honorable Greek seppuku, which is why we should take a hint. I'm still trying to wrap my head about the two shame hit from executing the xenia-violating mass murderer. I mean, ok, the book did warn us that we'd get penalized if we tried anything that a musclehead from mythological Greece couldn't possibly know how to do, and that includes thinking, but it is getting
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Nov 1, 2015 00:46
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Hint it is! Brace for Altheus to ruin everything, gain a thousand shame points, and get smote by Zeus for daring to take advantage of the features of the books!183 posted:
...or not. This sort of illustrates one reason Apollo is such a great god; some of the hints are absolutely spectacular, but it can be hard to justify taking advantage of them, knowing a nasty Shame penalty can be lurking just around the corner. Either way, this is fantastic! We have a huge advantage against whatever poor sap fights us next. Bit of a shame we can't choose when to use it, but hey, it's free. 536 posted:
I know beggars can get a bit passive-aggressive, but this lady takes the cake. All the same, my reaction to these choices remains the same as it was the first time I read these books: Haha, what? I've not played too many gamebooks, but I can't think of any others that allow us to be quite the level of spectacular rear end in a top hat that's offered up here.
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Nov 1, 2015 00:50
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Since we had such a great time with hints so far, I am all for the hint before act.
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Nov 1, 2015 01:00
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Jesenjin posted:Since we had such a great time with hints so far, There's no hint on this page. Help the old woman across. This is exactly the sort of situation where refusing to help gets you divine punishment and/or being eaten by bears.
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Nov 1, 2015 01:04
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I think we're getting ahead of ourselves here. If we're going to be perpetually (near)shameful murderers using axes and long knives we should look the part. Let's go back to the temple, cut off one of the defiler's faces and wear it as a mask. Then if the lady still wants a ride we can carry her across.
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Nov 1, 2015 01:36
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So not only are we not-Theseus, we're not-Jason now, too? Better carry that old lady across, she might turn out to be a god or something! 
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Nov 1, 2015 01:45
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I SO want to throw that old hag in the water, because that's what ancient Greek Heroes DO, but we will nice and carry her across. And I bet you she will complain the entire time.
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Nov 1, 2015 02:07
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Hyper Crab Tank posted:So not only are we not-Theseus, we're not-Jason now, too? Better carry that old lady across, she might turn out to be a god or something! I think, in the initial draft of the OP, I described this series as being basically greek mythology fanfiction. I took it out because it felt a bit harsh, but uh... it does kind of fit, doesn't it? Unfortunately, no hint, so no nonstandard actions (and that means no face-stealing, alas.) We CAN do some carrying, though! 316 posted:
GASP, WHO COULD HAVE GUESSED? Also, yes, this does mean the book offered us the choice of trying to murder a goddess, or toss her into the water, for no real reason. If Hera was our patron, we would get a fantastic reward here, in the form of a free prayer to Zeus, albeit one you can only use to bring you back from the dead. She's not, though, so to 60! 60 posted:
Honestly? Also a pretty great reward, Free Honour is always nice, and having another god who likes us is could come in handy. 294 posted:
Altheus is quick to write off mysterious splashing sounds, and we have a choice here; Hint or no? Here's how our sheet's looking so far; we're definitely doing rather well for ourselves. Chronicle Sheet posted:
Also: Smiling Knight posted:Hyper Crab Tank here is alludingto the myth of Jason, who on the way to reclaim his father's kingdom helps a random old woman across a river. Surprise, it's Hera! Also, he loses a sandal in the process, fulfilling another prophecy. Well, we did hear a mysterious splash; perhaps we lost something of our own? This whole section seems like a (rather blatant) shout-out to that particular myth, really. Either way, thanks again! 100percentjesusfree fucked around with this message at 02:17 on Nov 1, 2015 |
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Nov 1, 2015 02:09
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Hyper Crab Tank posted:So not only are we not-Theseus, we're not-Jason now, too? Better carry that old lady across, she might turn out to be a god or something! Hyper Crab Tank here is alludingto the myth of Jason, who on the way to reclaim his father's kingdom helps a random old woman across a river. Surprise, it's Hera! Also, he loses a sandal in the process, fulfilling another prophecy.
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Nov 1, 2015 02:10
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Smiling Knight posted:Also, he loses a sandal in the process, fulfilling another prophecy. I'm betting that's what that splash was. Hint it up to make sure.
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Nov 1, 2015 02:16
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Yeah, a hint seems appropriate.
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Nov 1, 2015 02:28
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Hint to make sure we didn't drop our mom's jewelry.
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Nov 1, 2015 04:24
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I'm betting we'll lose something that we wouldn't have if we didn't take the hint. ... Hint anyway.
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Nov 1, 2015 06:28
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Take the hint we just lost something important.
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Nov 1, 2015 07:03
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314 posted:
Good call, thread! We managed to lose far worse than a sandal, though it fortunately doesn't stay lost, now. 266 posted:
We even finally managed to find an inn that isn't complete poo poo! Will wonders never cease? 3 posted:3 No hints or anything here, we just have to decide where we want to go. Here's the hilariously over-crowded map once again, but make your choice, thread; does Altheus seek out the more busy, bustling town, or head somewhere a little quieter? 
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Nov 1, 2015 10:50
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Well, we're going to Athens, aren't we? Corinth is in the other direction, so Cenchraea it is.
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Nov 1, 2015 10:53
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Hyper Crab Tank posted:Well, we're going to Athens, aren't we? Corinth is in the other direction, so Cenchraea it is. I like the way you're thinking. +1
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Nov 1, 2015 12:50
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Athens is great, but we need to see the world first. I am for Corinth.
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Nov 1, 2015 13:08
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Corinth is a cool place.
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Nov 1, 2015 14:47
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Hyper Crab Tank posted:Well, we're going to Athens, aren't we? Corinth is in the other direction, so Cenchraea it is.
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Nov 2, 2015 05:46
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It was close, but seems Cenchraea won out!589 posted:
Well, your choice again thread! Shall we risk a sea voyage? Poseidon isn't pissed at us or anything, but we're not in his good graces, either. Alternatively, we can just continue on the way we've been going so far, on foot.
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Nov 2, 2015 13:41
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100percentjesusfree posted:Well, your choice again thread! Shall we risk a sea voyage? Poseidon isn't pissed at us or anything, but we're not in his good graces, either. Alternatively, we can just continue on the way we've been going so far, on foot. I've never heard of anything good happening taking the road more traveled. Keep walking.
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Nov 2, 2015 13:43
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