The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (revised) - Attempt 1, Part 1

In my last post, I mentioned that Warlock Magazine #1 contains the first half of a revised version of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain.  I am a huge fan of WoFM.  If I had to nominate the book that has had the most influence on my life, it would be right up there.  That said, I can't get much more out of it at this point.  I've scoured every nook and cranny of Firetop Mountain, and I know all of its secrets.

That's why I'm so excited to play the revised edition.  It's basically the same book, but the keys needed to open the Warlock's treasure chest have been placed in different areas of the dungeon.  To succeed I'll have to ignore the path to success that I have etched in my memory.  When I was a child, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain felt mysterious and frightening.  I felt like it had secrets that I could never discover or understand.  In later years I did discover those secrets, but now that feeling of mystery and danger has returned (albeit less powerfully than before, but that's the way of adulthood).  I get to explore Firetop Mountain all over again, and I couldn't be more stoked about it.

The introductory illustration, as drawn by Tim Sell

While the text of the adventure might have been altered from the original, the rules remain exactly the same.  It even retains WoFM's particular idiosyncrasies, the rules that appeared there and nowhere else: you can only eat provisions one at a time, and only when instructed by the text; and whichever potion you choose to take on your adventure has two doses.

The Background section has been completely rewritten from the original.  It begins with the hero travelling across the Pagan Plains, where he meets an old man pushing a handcart.  The old man talks about his village's failing crops, and blames it on the evil emanating from Firetop Mountain.  He says that the mountain is ruled by a Warlock, who has loads of treasure, and that the villagers would be grateful if the hero could get rid of him.  The hero travels to the village (named as Anvil, which is cool; I'd always seen Anvil on the map from Out of the Pit and wondered where it came from).  From there the Background follows the same path as the original: the hero gathers rumours about the Warlock, and the womenfolk cry when he leaves for the mountain.  I like the expansion of the Background.  It ties the book closer to the rest of the series, and gives the reader a slightly more heroic reason for invading the Warlock's home.

Okay, time to roll my character: Skill 10, Stamina 19, Luck 8.  That's a more than viable character for this book, at least in its original form.  As long as none of the monsters have been altered, I should be fine.  I chose the Potion of Fortune, as usual.  Now, let the adventure begin!

Russ Nicholson re-interprets the entrance to Firetop Mountain.  So much menace!

The re-written Firetop Mountain still begins with the same old familiar T-junction.  I went east, bashed down the door at the end of the passage, and fell into a pit (reducing my Stamina to 18).  Nothing's changed here, I see.

Heading west, I encountered the Orc asleep at his post.  I failed the Luck test required to sneak past him (reducing my Luck to 7), and had to fight, but the Orc was easy pickings.  Again, this is just like the original book.

I entered a door further along the passage, and stole a wooden box from the Orc sleeping within (requiring a successful Luck test that reduced my score to 6).  As expected, the box contained a single gold coin and a mouse, which I released.  At least my Luck got restored back to 8.

The next door I entered was an uninhabited sleeping chamber, containing yet another box.  Upon opening the box I was attacked by the snake inside, and swiftly dispatched it.  I was expecting to find a key in here, perhaps with a different number than in the original book.  To my delight, I instead found 6 gold pieces.  (This was the point at which I realised that the key locations had been changed, and my interest in this revision increased a great deal.)

From there things progressed much as expected: I killed a pair of drunken orcs (learning the Dragonfire Spell afterwards), and fought the Orc Chieftain and his servant.  The servant actually hit me twice, which is somewhat embarrassing.  The trap on their chest caused me to lose a further 3 Stamina, which left me with a meagre total of 11.  The chest contained the usual 25 gold pieces (raising my total to 32), a Potion of Invisibility, and a black silk glove.  What was new was the key hidden under the glove, engraved with the number 125.  I ate one of my provisions (leaving me with 9, and raising my Stamina to 15) before continuing.

From there I went through two junctions, and killed five more Orcs in a kitchen (which reduced my Stamina back to 11; I also used a Luck point to kill one of the Orcs instantly, which reduced my score to 7).  I didn't find any new keys or items, but the bow known as the Giver of Sleep was still there, and that's nothing to scoff at.  I also got a nice Stamina bonus for my bravery (restoring my score to 16), and a Luck bonus that restored me back to 8.

More familiar territory: I saved the crazy man from imprisonment, and listened to his tales of Firetop Mountain.  I wasn't able to break down the door to the armoury, so I'm not sure if there's anything new in there (and my Stamina was reduced to 15 in the bargain).  I killed the two Goblins in the torture chamber easily enough, and claimed the cheese from their pockets.

Once through the portcullis, I opted to turn left at the junction.  Normally I would go right, but with the path to victory changed for this version it made sense to choose the alternate path.  Unless Jackson and Livingstone are trying to swerve me, and make me think I need to take a different path, when in actual fact the same old path will lead to success...  They are devious buggers, I wouldn't put it past them.  Still, left I went, and into territory that I have yet to detail in the blog.

I soon came to another junction, and opted to go north.  The passage ended at a cavern, with no path through.  At the sound of footsteps I hid in a crevice, and watched as an Ogre entered the cavern.  Not wanting to leave his pockets unrifled, I attacked the Ogre, and quite an epic battle ensued.  We had three drawn rounds, and he wounded me thrice before I could kill him (reducing my Stamina to 9).  I used my Luck twice during the battle to kill him faster, reducing my score to 6.  It hardly proved worth it, as all he had in his possession were 3 gold pieces.  I pilfered them nonetheless (raising my total to 35).

Back at the junction I turned west, then turned north.  I passed a narrow passage heading west and decided to take a look.  It didn't go anywhere; instead it just got narrower and narrower, as a ghostly voice laughed at my predicament.  I returned to the passage and continued north.  (I've often wondered if this section was thrown in just to pad the book out to 400 paragraphs.  It doesn't serve any other purpose.)

I came to yet another junction, but this one had a recess where I could sit and eat provisions, which I did (leaving me with 8, and restoring my Stamina to 13).  I chose the west passage, which later turned sharply north.  As I continued the floor collapsed beneath me, and I had to test my Luck in order to avoid falling in.  I was Unlucky (reducing my Luck to 5 and my Stamina to 12), and tumbled into the pit.  At the bottom there were two passages, but from the southern one emerged a Troll.

One of my favourite Russ Nicholson illustrations.  It's a shame the scan I got is terrible.

I was able to avoid the Troll with my Potion of Invisibility, and escape through the north tunnel.  (I didn't have a choice as to whether to use the potion or not.  I always worry when I skip a battle like this.  What if the Troll had something I need to win?  Ah well, the escape granted me a Luck bonus that restored my score to 7).

I ascended a flight of stairs, presumably bringing me back up to the main level.  There was a door at the top, and beyond it I could hear scratching.  When I opened it, I was confronted by a trio of Giant Rats.  Not to worry though, I was able to distract them with my cheese, and run through the room unharmed (restoring my Luck to 8).  (Again, I worry that I've missed something.)

At another junction I chose the north passage, which ended at a large cavern.  This cavern was home to a Giant, over three metres tall.  (In a lovely touch of verisimilitude, Ian and Steve make sure to include a hole in the ceiling, so that the Giant can actually leave his cavern.  Good thinking, lads.)  I attacked the Giant, but before I could close on him he flung a dead pig at me.  I was Lucky, however, and the carcass missed me (but my Luck was reduced to 7).  The Giant proved a strong foe, and he hit me three times before he went down (reducing my Stamina to 6).  It was all worth it, though, because in his belt I found 8 gold pieces (raising my total to 43) and a metal key engraved with the number 9 (a stroke of good fortune which restored my Luck back to 8).  (At this point, I'd like to point out that the Ogre has a higher Stamina than the Giant.  That doesn't seem right, does it?)

Back at the junction I turned east, and at another junction the book forced me to go north.  I came to the bank of an underground river, where I decided to rest and eat provisions.  But before I could take a bite, there was a turbulence beneath me, and I was attacked by a Giant Sandworm.

Russ Nicholson can't draw sand.

I only had 6 Stamina left, so this was a tense battle.  I used my Luck to kill the Sandworm more quickly (reducing my score to 7), and came through unscathed.  I was able to finish my meal (leaving me with 7 provisions, and restoring my Stamina to 10), and I also decided to take a swig from my Potion of Fortune (raising my Luck score to 9).  Then I entered the river and swam downstream.

Soon I was washed up on another beach.  Here there was a bridge, and a sign advising me to ring the bell to summon the ferryman.  I rang the bell, paid him 3 gold pieces (leaving me with 40), and he ferried me to the opposite bank.  (I'm wondering if I should have killed him.  He might have had a key. This book has me feeling guilty for not murdering people.)

(At this point, I want to point out something that's been annoying me about The Warlock of Firetop Mountain for decades.  The southern bank of the river is paragraph 218, and the northern bank of the river is paragraph 214.  As a youngster I would often reach the northern bank, then turn to 218 and find myself inexplicably back on the southern bank, in a bizarre time loop.  It doesn't trick me any more, and the problem was undoubtedly my own stupidity, but could it have hurt Ian and Steve to separate these two paragraphs a bit?)

I had two passages to choose from, and door in front of me.  I chose the north-west passage, which led to a foul-smelling room where a sleeping man was being guarded by his dog.  I coughed to wake him up, and asked what he knew about the Warlock's treasure.  This made him angry, which made his dog angry.  I tried to pacify them, but they were having none of it.  I killed the fire-breathing dog (although it burned me once, reducing my Stamina to 9) but the old man (who was actually a Werewolf) hit me twice (reducing my Stamina to 5).  I used my Luck twice to deal more damage to the Werewolf: once successfully, and once unsuccessfully (leaving me with a Luck of 7).

After the battle I ate provisions (leaving me with 6, and restoring my Stamina to 10).  On a hook on the wall I found a set of keys marked 'Boat House', and another key engraved with the number 111.  (Another key in a different location).  I raided the Werewolf's pantry, claiming a jar of pickled eggs worth two provisions (raising my total to 8), then returned to the river bank.  Normally I go through the door to the north at this point, but this time I headed east towards the boat house.

Using my keys I entered the boat house, where a large number of Skeletons were busily constructing boats.  I tried to bluff my way through, claiming that I was their new boss.  They didn't believe a word of it, and I found myself face to face with five Skeletons.  The first attacked me by himself, but the others came in pairs.  I was able to win through unscathed, much to my surprise.

I could hear more Skeletons approaching, but I had time for a quick search, and decided to look in the bench drawers.  In the original book there's a key hidden here, but in this version I found a silver throwing dart.  I had to discard an item to take it (I left the black silk glove), but it was worth taking, as it can be thrown before any battle, with a die roll of 1-4 indicating a successful hit.

I left through the north door, hiding from Skeleton reinforcements (and gaining a Luck bonus that restored my score to 9).  While hiding I ate some provisions, leaving me with 7 (and restoring my Stamina to 9).

Further on I entered a room, where a hideous-looking man was asleep (or dead) in the corner.  There was a box on a table nearby, and I tried to tiptoe across to take a look.  The creature's eyes flicked open, and it advanced on me.  The creature was a Wight, and the first blow I struck proved to be ineffectual; as an undead creature it was immune to my normal sword.  I armed myself with the 'Giver of Sleep', and with a successful Luck test (reducing my score to 8) I was able to kill it instantly with the silver arrow.  Inside the box I found 18 gold pieces (raising my total to 58), and I also received a Luck bonus that restored my score back to 9.  Before continuing I ate another provision (leaving me with 6, and restoring my Stamina to 13).

I left the room through the north door, and the passage soon bent around to the west.  Some way along there was a narrow opening the led north, and I squeezed through.to find a staircase heading downwards.

And that's where the adventure ends, for now.  My character, as it currently stands, is as follows:

Skill 10, Stamina 13, Luck 9

Gold Pieces: 58
Provisions: 6
Gear: Sword, Leather Armour, Backpack, Lantern, Potion of Fortune (one dose left), Shiny Key '125', Bow, Silver Arrow, Metal Key '9', Boat House Keys, Key '111', Silver Dart

I'm happy with this so far.  My stats are still good, I have plenty of resources left, and I've already found three keys to the Warlock's chest.  For all I know, these could be the three I need.  I suppose we'll find out when I tackle Warlock Magazine #2.