House of Hell (preview) - Attempts 4 to 6

Here I am with three more attempts at the House of Hell preview from Warlock Magazine, the first three cracks at it that I've had since May.  For anyone wondering how successful I've been, well...  I've failed at least twice, haven't I?  It makes writing about attempts 4 and 5 a bit pointless, but I'm going to do it anyway, because I'm nothing if not pointlessly thorough.  So let's do it!  (As usual with later attempts, I'll be skimming past things I've covered previously, so check earlier posts if I reference something you're not familiar with.)

Attempt 4

My stats for this game were a mixed bag: Skill 7 (reduced to 4 due to a lack of weapons), Stamina 17, Luck 12 and Fear 9.  With a character like this I'd usually exercise caution, but that's not what's needed right now.  What I need to do is explore the options I haven't checked out yet, and that means that caution can bugger off.  It's time to go looking for trouble.

So, at the front door of the house I rang the bell and was greeted by Franklins the butler.  While waiting for him to fetch the master of the house, I looked at the one portrait in the entry hall that I had yet to check: the old woman.  It was a portrait of 'The Duchess of Brewster: 1777-1845', a woman so old and ugly that Our Hero was found wondering how she ever landed a husband.  Keep it classy, Fighting Fantasy.

He's not wrong though.

The portrait was otherwise without interest (and really, why is the least relevant portrait the one that gets an illustration?), so I waited for the arrival of the Earl of Drumer, after which we ate together.  I avoided the red wine and the cheese, thus making it through the meal without being drugged, and was then led to a bedroom by Franklins.  (This bedroom is the Fortesque Room, which is curiously absent from the landing outside once you begin exploring the house.)

The room had a single bed, and the windows were barred.  I decided to look through the window before going to bed, and what I saw was a shock: hanging by his neck from a tree was the old man from the village, the very same one who had given me the directions that led me to the house.  (This raised my Fear by a whopping 3 points, a full third of my total.  Seems a bit of a harsh punishment for simply looking out a window, but it ain't House of Hugs, is it?)

Vest. Shirt. Skullet. No trousers.

I fled from the room onto the landing, and turned right to meet the ghost bride, find out a bit about the house, and watch her get eaten by ghost dogs.  (Seeing her also raised my Fear to 4.  Ghost dogs?  Not scary at all.)

Heading back along the landing I ignored the Albemarle Room and went into the Rousseau Room.  Inside were a lot of crates covered by sheets.  One of the sheets rose into the air, making me think it was a ghost, but on further inspection I saw that it was being pulled up on a string.  (I'm pretty sure now that neither of these rooms has anything worthwhile in them.)

I ignored the stairs heading down, and continued to a junction where I turned left.  At the end of the passage was the 'Lucretia Room', which I entered to find an old lady sleeping in a bed.  I say sleeping, but when I touched her she was dead.  (Which raised my Fear to 6.)  Suddenly her eyes flicked open, and she sat up.  I decided to stick around and see what she would do.  She demanded that I leave, but instead I interrogated her about the house.  As far as she was concerned it was no business of mine, and at her signal a wall slid open to reveal a pair of Great Danes.  (I like to imagine that this is Scooby-Doo and one of his terrible cousins, having switched sides in the war against the supernatural.)

Alone and unarmed, I faced off against a pair of Great Danes, and to be honest I fared better than I would have expected.  It went right down to the wire: in the last round the second Great Dane had 2 points of Stamina remaining, and I had 1.  The dice betrayed me though, and I was mauled to death by, like, Scooby-Dum or one of those other ridiculous late additions to the franchise.

Attempt 5

This game saw me with stats of Skill 12 (reduced to 9 due to a lack of weapons), Stamina 14, Luck 9 and Fear 10.  Normally I'd be stoked with a Skill of 12, but it's somewhat irrelevant in House of Hell.  I'd much rather swap the Fear and Skill scores around.  (Sometimes when I'm playing Fighting Fantasy books I don't roll the dice in order; instead I'll roll the number of dice I need and arrange the numbers as I like.  Never for the blog, though.  The blog is a sacred no-cheating zone.  Except I might do it for Crypt of the Sorcerer.)

Okay, this time I rang the bell, ignored the paintings, and made it through the meal with the earl without being drugged.  In the bedroom I went to bed instead of looking through the window, and had dreams about being chased by an asphyxiating cloud.  When I woke up, I found that I was being smothered to death by my pillow and bed-sheets (which raised my Fear to 2).  I had to fight my way out (by rolling under my Skill on two dice), and once I escaped I wasted no time in running out of the room and onto the landing.

(What I've discovered here is that you're actually better off being drugged.  The worst that happens to you there is a slight loss of Stamina, or a point of Luck.  Here you're guaranteed to gain at least 2 Fear points, and that's far more detrimental.)

From there I encountered the ghost bride (Fear raised to 3), then ignored the Albemarle and Rousseau Rooms and headed downstairs to explore the library.  In the library I saw a ghost pen writing a cryptic message (raising my Fear to 4): "Beware the astorbed".

I decided to peruse some of the books, and was given a choice between a volume on black magic and one on hypnotism.  Having read the black magic book on a previous attempt, I chose the book about hypnotism.  On the front was a detailed drawing of an eye, and when I looked at it my head was filled with screams of agony (raising my Fear to 6.)  I was compelled to keep staring at the eye, but with great will (and a roll under my Skill on two dice) I was able to wrench myself away.

After that I fled from the library and back upstairs, where I once again checked out the old dead lady in the 'Lucretia Room'.  Rather than touch her gently, I instead opted to attack her reposing form before she could get the drop on me.  She shot up before I could bludgeon her with a classic overhead double-fisted chop (raising my Fear to 9).  Once again it led to me fighting a pair of Great Danes, but this time I killed them with some god-damn kung fu.  The old lady continued uttering threats, but I ignored her and got to looting.  I found some garlic and some belladonna, both of which are handy in a horror setting.

Heading back down the other passage, I entered the 'Gordelia Room', a bedroom strewn with women's clothing.  After a quick search of the room I found a box on the mantel, and an old photo in the fireplace.  I bent over to look at the photo, but before I could grab it, a pot plant was smashed over my head (reducing my Stamina to 11).

When I got to my feet, there was a rustling from the curtains.  They opened!  Then they shut!  The horror!  Anyway, it was enough to raise my Fear to 10, which meant that I dropped dead.  Because of some opening curtains.  As great as this gamebook is, the Fear mechanic means that it has some of the dumbest ways to die in the entire series

Attempt 6

In my final attempt for this post, I rolled a Skill of 8 (reduced to 5 due to a lack of weapons), a Stamina of 19, a Luck of 11, and a Fear of 9.  Good, ordinary scores.  After two failures, I was keen to really go off the beaten path, so rather than ring the bell at the beginning, I yanked the bell-pull and was sent tumbling through a trap-door and into a pile of hay in an underground cellar.  (This raised my Fear to 1, and after a Luck test to avoid serious injury, it also reduced my Stamina to 17 and my Luck to 10.)

I could hear shuffling coming from outside, so I quickly searched the room for a weapon.  Luck wasn't with me though, and I found nothing (and my Luck was reduced to 9.)  Quickly I hid in a corner as a hunchback entered the room.  Already stressed out from my car crash and a surprise fall through a trap-door, I decided to take out my frustrations on the hunchback, and leaped to the attack.  He was stronger than me (injuring me four times and reducing my Stamina to 9), but I was able to outlast him and knock him unconscious.  There was nothing to loot on his body, though, so I left the cellar and ran down a hallway.

I decided against entering a door to my left, due to some muttering coming from behind it, and continued into a chamber with stairs leading up.  That wasn't the only thing in the room though: it was also home to colony of bats.  The bats swarmed around me, and I had to cover my head and run up the stairs (raising my Fear to 2.)

I emerged in a hallway lined with stuffed animal heads, but I decided not to look at them and instead climbed another stairway leading up to a first floor balcony.  I was able to climb the stairs without making a noise (with a successful Luck test that reduced my Luck to 8.)  From downstairs I heard a door open, so I ducked into the nearest room to hide.  The room was full of shelves containing all sorts of everyday objects.  I searched the shelves, and found a meat-knife which I could take to use as a weapon.  I also found a bottle of red liquid, which I avoided.  (It was probably red wine or blood, and neither of those are good to drink in House of Hell.)

There was a door at the back of the storeroom, which I opened.  I screamed as a corpse tumbled out (raising my Fear to 5), and fled from the room.

Collar. Cuffs.  Pants.  If he teamed up with the hanged guy, they'd have a full outfit.

Outside of the room I bumped into Franklins the butler, who angrily marched me back downstairs and ran off to fetch his master.  This is where the book gets back on track, and I went through the usual motions of dining with the Earl of Drumer (being sure to drink some sherry to reduce my Fear to 4).  I then chose to drink the red wine, which resulted in me being drugged and waking up in an empty room with my hands bound.  One broken window later (and an injured hand that reduced my Stamina to 7), I had cut my bonds and was free to explore the house.

That led to the ghost bride (raising my Fear back to 5), and from there I ignored the stairs down and turned right at the junction.  When faced with a choice of two doors, I ignored the "Gordelia Room" and entered the unmarked door.  The room inside had one wall covered in a strangely bulging curtain, and a box on the mantelpiece.  I wanted to open the box, but instead I investigated the curtain first.  (I was pretty nervous about curtains given my death in Attempt 5.)  I was prepared for something horrible, but not prepared enough, as a Zombie punched me from behind the curtain and knocked me over (reducing my Stamina to 5 and raising my Fear to 7).  It struck me another blow (leaving me with 3 Stamina), but I was able to finish it off with my meat-knife.

For some unknown reason I then ignored the box and tried to leave the room, but the door was locked (which raised my Fear to 8. Shouldn't my guy be getting used to this shit by now?)  Now I looked in the box, where I found the key to unlock the door, and another key marked with the number 114.  A numbered key you say!  I'll be having that.

Following the passage further, I came to the 'Astor Room' and the 'Master Suite'.  I checked out the Astor Room, which was empty except for a bed and a dressing table.  There was music playing from an unknown source, so I decided to search the room.  I didn't find anything, but soon there were footsteps from outside.  I hid behind the door to pounce on anyone who entered. the door-handle turned, but then whoever it was had second thoughts and left.  I decided against having a quick nap, and entered the 'Master Suite'.  (Perhaps this is the "astorbed" that the phantom pen in the library was warning me about.)

This room was plush, with a large chair facing a smouldering fireplace.  I entered the room, and someone spoke to me from the chair: "So! Our visitor is inquisitive, eh?  Perhaps our hospitality is not to your liking. Maybe you would like to see some more - shall we say - amusements?"

I realise that I typed this speech out in an earlier post, but I had to do it again.  Because it raised my Fear score to 9.  Which killed me.  Killed, by a spooky voice in italics.  Like I said above, this adventure has the dumbest ways to die, bar none.

THE POST-GAME

While I didn't have any concrete success, I feel like I've explored most of the options in the early going, and have the best path figured out.  What I need to do is this:

• Pull the bell-cord at the beginning if my Skill is low.  It results in a bit of Stamina loss, and 1 Fear point, but getting a weapon is vital in order to fight the great danes
• Get myself drugged by the Earl of Drumer, to avoid the Fear penalties in the Fortesque Room.
• Talk to the ghost bride.
• I probably should go downstairs to the library to claim the pentacle that protects against cultists.  There's a Fear penalty here as well, but I reckon it's worth it.  I'm not sure if I need to rescue the Man in Grey from his cell, though.
• Wake up the dead old lady in the Lucretia Room, kill her great danes, and claim the garlic and the belladonna.  There's a vampire ahead, so the garlic is a necessity.
• Ignore the Gordelia Room and enter the unmarked room with the Zombie to claim the numbered key.  Numbered keys are not to be left behind.
• Confront the vampire and his spooky italic voice with some garlic at the ready.

From there I'm in the dark, but it's good to know that I have the early going sorted out.  It seems to me that this version of the adventure is a lot more linear than than the book, which suits me fine at this point.  I'm hoping that the latter parts are straightforward as well, because I'm ready to move on.  My only concern is with the number of Fear points I'll rack up following this plan.  If I do everything on the list, that's already 9 points (I think).  I can cut out the trip through the cellar and the library, which reduces it to 7, which is more manageable, but I'm still worried that there are lots of Fear penalties to come after that.

House of Hell (preview) - Attempt 3

I'm back!  After several months of emotional hardship and too much pro-wrestling, it's well past time for me to start blogging again.  That's the catch with writing and feeling depressed - the writing makes me feel better, but feeling depressed makes me less inclined to write.  And regardless of my emotional state, it's always difficult to get back in the saddle after time off.  Luckily for me I have a bit of a leg-up: I already had a post half-written before my hiatus began.  Besides, you came here to read about gamebooks, which are no place for these things that humans call emotions.  I doubt that Steve and Ian have ever written about any emotion states deeper than "adventure" and "treasure".  So without further prevarication, I present to you my third attempt at completing the preview of House of Hell from Warlock #3.

This one will be short, because I did very poorly.  It almost seems pointless to write a post about such a short adventure, but I suppose that I must chronicle my failures along with my triumphs.  My many, many failures.  Let's get it over with.

It started reasonably well: I rolled a Skill of 11 (adjusted down to 8 because I have no weapons), a Stamina of 19, a Luck of 7 and a maximum Fear of 9.  They weren't great stats (the Luck in particular), but they were certainly workable.  I felt reasonably confident of at least making some genuine progress in unraveling the mysteries of the house.

At the front door, I ignored the bell-pull; it does open up a new area and provide a meeting with the hunchback, but it also results in an increase in Fear, so I rapped the knocker instead.  While waiting for the butler to fetch the master of the house I investigated the paintings, but instead of looking at the beautiful young woman, I investigated a painting of a portly, middle-aged gentleman.  His portrait was labelled 'The Duke of Brewster 1763-1828', and I was sure that his eyes were moving.  Sure enough, his eyes directed my attention to the front door of the house.  I tried the handle, and (as in a previous attempt) I received an electric shock (reducing my Stamina to 17).

The Earl of Drumer arrived and he offered me a meal.  I'd tried most of the options before, so this time I decided to refuse to eat altogether.  The Earl was outraged, and when I continued to refuse he ordered his butler to deal with me, which he did by activating some restraints on my chair and knocking me out with some chloroform.

I woke up in an empty room with my hands bound, but I was able to break a window and cut myself free.  (You can use Luck to avoid being damaged, but this time I opted not to bother, and sucked up the loss of 2 Stamina, which reduced my score to 15.)

On the landing outside, the book forced me to head right (apparently because I heard a squeaking noise coming from the left).  I encountered the ghost bride (raising my Fear to 1), but this time I decided to ignore her and turn back.

I could hear footsteps coming, and rather than return to the ghost bride I stood my ground. The footsteps got louder, until I was sure that whoever it was should be right in front of me, but I couldn't see anything.  (This raised my Fear to 2.) Suddenly there was a pain in my chest: my invisible foe was squeezing my heart! I had to fight this "Invisible Enemy" in order to break free and escape.  His Stamina was only 4, but with a Skill of 10 he managed to drain my Stamina all the way down to 5 before I was able to escape.

I ignored the 'Albemarle Room' and the 'Rousseau Room', and also opted not to go downstairs.  At the next junction I turned left, and was faced with two doors: one with no name-plate and another called the 'Gordelia Room'.  I entered the 'Gordelia Room', and found that it was a bedroom strewn with women's clothes.  On a mantelpiece I found some small boxes, and I also noticed a photo in the coals of the fireplace.  In the boxes I found a gold ring studded with rubies, with an inscription: "To dearest Margaret from George: 1834".

Suddenly the curtains started to rustle, and the window opened and shut of its own accord (increasing my Fear to 3).  As I was puzzling over it, I went to lean on the bed, but it moved and sent me sprawling to the floor (increasing my Fear to 4 and reducing my Stamina to 4.)  A chair suddenly rocketed towards me, and after a failed Luck test it banged into my shin (further increasing my Fear to 5, and leaving me with but 2 points of Stamina).  I fled from the room to escape the Poltergeist.

Aside from the unmarked room, I now had the option of continuing further along the passage; why couldn't I do this before?  Anyway, I took it, and came to two more doors: 'The Astor Room' and 'The Master Suite'.  I couldn't resist the 'Master Suite', which was an elegantly decorated bedroom with a smouldering fireplace.  As I entered, I heard a voice: "So! Our visitor is inquisitive, eh? Or are you trying to leave the house? Perhaps our hospitality is not to your liking. Maybe you would like to see some more - shall we say - amusements?"  Those italics must have been real scary, because this raised my Fear to 6.  I decided to stay and confront the owner of the voice, who it turned out was concealed in a high-backed chair facing the fireplace.

Dude has an evil haircut.

The man was pale, wore a cape and had a widow's peak, which are three of the four major signs of Vampirism (the other being unnaturally white teeth).  He asked me to step forward, but instead I decided to fight him.  (I wasn't given the option to run, which is what I should have done given my Stamina score.)  I looked through my items to see if any would be useful, and was pleased to see that my gold ring was an option.  I wasn't pleased for long, though; the ring granted him complete control over my mind, and he forced me to walk forward so that he could open my jugular with those unnaturally white teeth of his.

Well, another failure.  Surprisingly, it had nothing to do with my Fear score, which is the most common way to die in this adventure.  Having the ring was bad luck, but almost fortunate in a way: I would have lost a fight regardless, and now I know that I should ignore it.

I feel like I'm making zero progress.  Sure, I'm gradually exploring the rooms, and learning which ones to avoid, but I haven't gathered any important clues.  I've got no idea where the Kris Knife is (assuming it's not in the same spot it is in the book version).  I'm not exactly stumped, but I don't really know if I'm on the right track or not.

So, in the interests of refreshing myself on the book and avoiding retreading familiar ground, I'm going to go through the various areas of the house in point form and assess whether I need to explore them or not.

• The knocker or the bell pull? Using the knocker takes you straight to a meeting with the Earl of Drumer, whereas using the bell-pull gets you there in a roundabout fashion that involves a meeting with a hunchback and an encounter with some growling stuffed animal heads. As far as I can tell these encounters serve no purpose except to drain your Stamina and drive up your Fear score, so I'm going to ignore them for now.  (Actually, the hunchback does let slip that the cheese is drugged, so I guess that's useful information.)
• The paintings. There are three paintings that can be investigated while waiting for the earl. The woman's painting warns you to avoid drinking the red wine, but it also increases your Fear score, which is something best avoided. The painting of the old man has eyes that move, but as long as you don't try the electrified door handle he's harmless. The third painting is of an old woman, and I'll take a squizz at that one on my next attempt, just to make sure she's not hiding any vital info.
• Dining with the Earl of Drumer. As far as I can tell, you end up in the same location regardless of whether you are drugged during the meal or not.  Still, it's probably better to get to that location without being tied up, and risking cutting your hands on broken glass to escape  I just need to remember to avoid the red wine and the cheese, because they're both drugged.  (I do love wine, though.  And cheese.  And drugs.  So much temptation.)
• The ghost bride or the invisible man? You have to encounter one or the other after stepping out of the first room, and the ghost bride is definitely the better bet.  Yes, she increases your Fear score by 1, but she also gives you some vital hints about the Kris Knife.  The invisible man also increases your Fear as well as attacking you with a very high Skill score, and provides no benefits at all. 
• The Albemarle Room. I'm pretty sure this is the room you wake up in/are escorted to after dining with the earl.  You can rest here and regain Stamina, but if you do you'll see a headless ghost that increases your Fear score by 2 points; if you stay and listen to what it has to say, it will increase your Fear by 4 points.  Best to avoid this one.
• The Rousseau Room. This room is full of boxes, and a white sheet on a string that you may mistake for a ghost.  I never found anything of use in here, but I'm not sure if I explored it fully. I'll have to try this one again.
• The study (downstairs). It's full of books, and you will also see a message written by an invisible hand: "beware the astorbed".  Seeing the message results in an increase of Fear, and is unavoidable if you enter the room. There's more to find here, though: a pentacle on a chain hidden inside a book, that apparently has power over devil-worshippers. I've yet to find a use for it, but it sounds like the sort of thing that's worth picking up.
• The secret passage. If you keep searching the study you'll find a secret passage that leads to two rooms. One contains a bunch of different kinds of food, none of which I tried. The other is a cell where you can rescue a former follower of the earl, and get into a fight with some cultists. The prisoner has some worthwhile information, but I'm not sure that he's worth the risk.  I should probably come back here and try some of the food though. 
• Gordelia Room. There's a ring on the mantelpiece in this room, the possession of which led to me being killed by the vampire as detailed above. There's also a photo in the ashes of the fireplace that I didn't get to investigate, because there's also a poltergeist that tries to strangle you with lady's undergarments.  Whether the risk is worth it is up to your own personal tastes, I suppose.
• Unnamed room opposite 'Gordelia Room'. This room has a box on a mantelpiece, and a Zombie hiding behind a curtain. The last time I came hear the Zombie frightened me to death, and I never found out what the box contained. I need to come back here.
• Lucretia Room. There's a dead old lady in a bed here, and investigating her body increases your Fear. Possibly there's more for me to discover, as I was frightened to death the last time I came here.
• Master Suite: The vampire's in here, which seems to make this a good place to avoid.  You never know, though, defeating him could be the key to victory. And I never could pass up a spot of vengeance...
• Paths not taken. It's possible that, by avoiding the hunchback, I could have done more exploration downstairs after using the bell-pull.  I'm quite sure that I've yet to explore the door opposite the Lucretia Room; it's also possible that the passage continues further in this direction, with the option only becoming available after exploring one of the two rooms.  There's also the Astor Room, opposite where the vampire lives.

So that's the extent of my exploration, which doesn't feel like much at all.  I feel like I needed to lay things out like this after so long away though, because otherwise I'd spend my next couple of games going over the same choices I had already made.  Now I have a plan of attack, and with any luck my next crack at House of Hell will be my last.  Stranger things have happened.