Sorcery! Attempt 11 - Books 1 & 2

After my absurdly short attempt at The Crown of Kings, it's back to the very beginning of the Sorcery! saga. I don't mind, to be honest. It's been a few years since I've tackled the series, and it'll be nice to hit book 4 with a character that I still have some connection to.

For my eleventh attempt, I rolled a Skill of 6, a Stamina of 16, and a Luck of 8.  There are times when rolling four of the same number would be a cause for celebration, but rolling four twos isn't one of them. I was already worried about that low Skill score.

My first bit of bother happened during The Shamutanti Hills. I investigated the Schanker Mines, and the battles with the blind Goblin and the Ogre brought me all the way down to 1 Stamina. With rest and food I was eventually able to get my strength back, and beat the book. I took the route past the witch Alianna, and got from her the Armband of Swordmastery to increase my Skill in combat.

Things started well in Khare - Cityport of Traps, as I was able to remember how to get the first two lines of the spell to open the North Gate. Getting the third. from the tomb, was where I hit real trouble, in the form of the Deathwraith.

The Deathwraith has a Skill of 9 and a Stamina of 8, which isn't too difficult, but it can only be killed with a silver arrow. To hit the wraith requires not only beating it in a regular combat round, but also rolling two dice and scoring under your Skill. With a Skill of 6, I wasn't able to do either. and the Deathwraith killed me easily.

THE POST-GAME
Now I'm starting to wonder if I've been beating this encounter fairly. I had a sword that gave me a +1 bonus to Attack Strength, and a further +2 bonus from the Armband of Swordmastery. Obviously neither of those are relevant when it comes to fighting something with a bow. The question is, have I been applying those bonuses to this fight in the past? I can't remember, but it seems likely. From now on, unless I have a high Skill, I think I'll have to save up my prayer to Libra so that I can get past this encounter without any problems. I'd used it already this time, to escape from Red-Eye prison, so it wasn't an option.