Terror stalks the night as Zanbar Bone and his bloodthirsty Moon Dogs hold the prosperous town of Silverton to ransom. YOU are an adventurer, and the merchants of Silverton turn to you in their hour of need.
Your mission takes you along dark, twisting streets, where thieves, vagabond and creatures of the night lie in wait to trap the unwary traveller. And beyond lies the most fearsome adventure of them all - the tower stronghold of the infamous Zanbar Bone!
Ah, the sweet smell of generic fantasy, how I've missed you. No space ships here, no arbitrary mazes that lie in the interstices between dimensions, no foolhardy flight down the mouth of a black hole. It's a return to the basics, with swords, orcs, gold pieces, and various combinations of the three. It's good to be back.
City of Thieves, written by Ian Livingstone and illustrated by Iain McCaig, is the fifth in the Fighting Fantasy series. I've played this one a lot, so it's pretty familiar to me. I feel like I should be able to knock it off quickly, unless I roll some really bad scores.
BACKGROUND
The back-story is a simple one. Zanbar Bone, the Night Prince, is terrorising the town of Silverton, sending his Moon Dogs to attack every night. He wants the mayor's daughter (for "dark rituals"), but the mayor has refused, and now the town is at Bone's mercy.
That's where the hero comes in, already a famous slayer of dragons. He is passing through Silverton in the evening, and notices that the townsfolk are rushing inside and barricading their doors and windows. The hero enters the local tavern, where he is tracked down by Owen Carralif, the mayor. Carralif entreats the hero to seek out the reclusive wizard Nicodemus, who now dwells in Port Blacksand. Nicodemus was a friend of Carralif's, and has magical powers that might defeat Zanbar Bone. Of course, Port Blacksand is the titular City of Thieves, and a dangerous place. Carralif offers the hero 30 gold pieces, and a magnificent broadsword, as payment, and the hero sets off on his adventure. (The reaction of the hero to this sword is quite amusing. Taken in combination with the background from The Forest of Doom, there's a somewhat sociopathic pattern forming with Livingstone's heroes. Dudes love their swords.)
(At this time, I feel the need to point out the absurdity of Zanbar Bone, the Night Prince. What a name! It's exceedingly camp, but so much so that it becomes awesome. Or it could just be that I've read this book so many times over the last two-and-a-half decades that I'm inured to it. Either way, it's a hell of a moniker.)
THE RULES
Mercifully, City of Thieves uses the same rules from The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, with no additions. I always get a nice cosy feeling from the books that stick to the basics. They're not necessarily any easier, but they are comfortingly familiar.
The hero begins with the broadsword mentioned above, leather armour, a backpack, 30 gold pieces and 10 provisions. He also gets to choose one of a Potion of Skill, a Potion of Strength or a Potion of Fortune; these are the same as those given in Warlock, except that they are only good for a single dose.
For my first character I rolled a Skill of 9, a Stamina of 16, and a Luck of 9. A mediocre adventurer (how he attained the renown he had in the Background section is anyone's guess), but one who could still scrape through this book. I chose the Potion of Fortune, as I usually do; in addition to restoring Luck it also adds one to my initial value, and that's too good to pass up. I probably have a 50/50 shot with these stats, provided that I don't do anything stupid.
THE ADVENTURE BEGINS
I approached Port Blacksand on foot, travelling some fifty miles from Silverton, but when I tried to enter the city a rad-looking guard stopped me at the gate. (Seriously, check out that dude's helmet. It's the best.) It seems that security at Blacksand is tight; I would have expected the so-called City of Thieves to be a little more relaxed. The guard demanded to know my business in the city, but rather than tell him that I was looking for Nicodemus, I lied and said that I wanted to sell some stolen chalices. When the guard asked to see the chalices, I wove an astounding story, saying that the chalices were cursed and should only be examined by a mage. I don't think the guard bought it, but he let me in anyway, and even offered to sell me some advice for 3 gold pieces. I took him up on his offer, and he told me that the city's ruler, Lord Azzur, was a mean man, and that if I were caught without a pass I would be as good as dead.
I left the guard and made my way into the city, soon arriving at a four-way junction. To the west was Key Street, to the east was Clock Street, and to the north was Market Street. I chose Market Street, and continued my mission. (I remember this portion of the book quite well. Market Street is the way to go if you want loads of gold pieces.)
On the left side of the street was a herbalist's shop, and I made my way inside. The shop-keep was a half-orc, but I tried not to hold that against him, and asked to see his wares. He had some pipe-weed on offer, but instead I paid him 4 gold pieces for some healing herbs, which would restore 1 die of Stamina when used. There would be plenty of time for pipe-weed once my mission was complete.
Further north I saw a tavern called 'The Spotted Dog'. It was crowded inside: besides the innkeeper there were three dwarfs playing dice, two arguing goblins, and three men sitting around and sticking daggers between their fingers. I chose to sit with the goblins, though I'm not sure why. Perhaps I was simply proud of the tolerance I'd shown that half-orc herbalist, and wished to extend the same courtesy to some goblins? Whatever my reasons the goblins had no interest in my company, and ceased their quarrelling to attack me with swords. I made quick work of them, and set about looting their corpses. They had 9 gold pieces and an ivory skull necklace; I took both, and left the tavern.
I had barely set foot in the street when two black-robed thieves set upon me. I killed them both without a scratch, but I was starting to believe that the stories of Port Blacksand might all be true. I found 16 gold pieces in their pockets, as well as a phial of green liquid, which I drank. (It's always my policy to use any item I find if I don't know what the result will be. I couldn't remember the effect of this potion, so down the hatch it went.) It was a Potion of Misfortune, which reduced my Luck by 3 points. I considered using my Potion of Fortune at this point to restore my Luck, but I decided to save it for later; perhaps some other means of restoring it would present itself.
Further along the street a large house was set back from the terraces, and guarded by a large kennel. I decided to approach, and as expected a huge black wolf came charging at me. (Well, I was actually expecting a dog, but close enough.) At this point I had to Test My Luck, but with a score of 5 I failed, and the wolf's chain snapped. It bit me on the arm before I could kill it with my sword. I found an iron key inside the kennel (which restored a Luck point), and used it to unlock the house.
Inside the house was opulently furnished. Searching the front room, I found three upturned goblets on a table, marked A, B and C. I picked up goblet A, and was surprised when a scorpion darted out from underneath to sting my hand. I failed the requisite Luck test, and the poison caused me to lose 4 Stamina and 1 Skill. (Losing Skill is the worst. Stamina can be restored with ease, and Luck bonuses aren't too difficult to obtain, but getting Skill back can be a real bastard.)
Undeterred, I picked up goblet B, and found 12 gold pieces. Flush with good fortune, I decided to try goblet C. I should have known better, as it transformed into a burning coal in my hand, causing me to lose 2 Skill and 2 Luck. With a measly score of 2 for Luck, I decided to drink my Potion of Fortune, and raise my score to 9. I could risk no further mishaps!
I went into the back room, and found a wooden chest, securely locked. I was able to pick the lock with a bent wire, but the chest was trapped, and two poisoned darts flew out at me. I had to Test my Luck once for each dart, and one of them hit me in the arm. I feared the worst, but it wasn't so bad; I only lost 2 points of Stamina. At this point I had been reduced to 7, so I used the healing herbs that I had bought earlier, and rolled a 6 for the number of points restored. Finally, something was going my way. Inside the chest were 25 gold pieces, and a shield that would give me a +1 bonus to Attack Strength in combat.
I decided to explore upstairs, because this place was obviously full of valuable stuff. While I was doing so, I heard the owner walk in the front door and release some kind of pet. Drawing my sword, I waited, and I was soon attacked by a Fire Imp. The little thing was skillful, but not strong, and I was lucky to kill it quickly. I made my way cautiously downstairs, and the owner was there, a fat man in fine clothes. He was angered at the death of his pet, and tried to kill me with lightning from his fingers. Luckily I was wearing the skull necklace that I had earlier taken from the goblins. It absorbed the lightning, and I left the house, heavy with loot but weaker for the experience.
I came to another four-way junction, where Clock Street and Key Street joined up with Market Street again. I ignored the other paths, and continued along Market Street towards a cheering crowd. (I hate it when gamebooks force me down a path like this, but I can see the necessity of it from a design perspective.)
The street ended at a market square, where a man in a pillory was being pelted by the crowd with eggs and rotten fruit. An old lady offered me two eggs to throw, but as I was hurling them she stole a gold piece from my pocket. I didn't know about it, or I would have murdered the crone. Instead I moved on to the stalls.
The first stall was selling food, and I paid a gold piece to eat some and restore 2 Stamina. Close by there was a man playing a lyre, who said that for 3 gold pieces he would play me a song that would bring good fortune. I handed over the coins, and he sang a song that restored 2 Luck points.
Further along I encountered a muscular man who was asking for challengers from the crowd. The game was to play catch with a cannon-ball, and whoever dropped it first would pay the other 5 gold pieces. I had to accept. Just look at the smug prick, how could I not? The game is played by rolling a die for each participant in turn, and the first to roll a 1 would drop the cannonball. The game lasted for some time, but eventually I rolled the fateful 1, and had to fork over my gold. (The mechanics of the game imply that my character is just as good at catching cannonballs as the fellow pictured above, regardless of my stats. So either he's not as strong as he looks, or I am one totally jacked dude. I'm fine with either option.)
At the next stall a man was selling small weapons and equipment, and I bought the lot: a throwing knife, a climbing rope, a butcher's meat hook, an iron spike, and a lantern. It cost me 12 gold pieces, but I had plenty, and this was an Ian Livingstone book after all. Any or all of these items could be the difference between life and death, so I took every one of them.
Next was a the brightly-coloured tent of a clairvoyant, and I went inside to have my fortune read for the price of 2 gold pieces. "Madame Star" went into a kind of trance, and told me that the man I was looking for lived under a bridge to the north, and that he didn't welcome strangers. She seemed to be hiding something, but I didn't press the matter. How bad could it be?
At the end of the market, Bridge Street ran to the north, and I followed it as the rain started to fall. I may have been a brave adventurer, but I had never liked the rain, so I took shelter in a derelict house. I should have braved the rain, because the house was full of snakes. Or perhaps not; I killed the snakes easily with my sword, and no matter how much I swung there was no way I could kill the rain.
Further north I came to bridge over a filthy river. There were stairs leading under the bridge, and a one-legged man crossing in my direction. I waited for the old man to cross, and he offered to tell me where Nicodemus was for 2 gold pieces. I was happy to oblige him, as I was pretty heavily laden with coins at the time. He very smugly told me that Nicodemus lived under the bridge where I was now standing, but I didn't mind. He was probably going to be robbed and murdered pretty shortly, anyway.
At an east-west junction I went west into Harbour Street, and came across a beggar. I flipped him a gold piece, and got a Luck point restored for my trouble. It's a fair trade.
Further along the street was an alley, and I decided to check it out; I'm questing for items, after all. I didn't find any, and instead I was attacked by a pair of wild dogs, which I murdered with alacrity. If I had some magic flowers at this point I might have gotten something cool, but I didn't, so I got nothing. Stupid alley.
Further along the street, I heard a horse-drawn carriage rapidly approaching. I decided to stand my ground, and the driver told me to "Make way for Lord Azzur." Despite my near-suicidal curiosity, I leaped out of the way, but I was still whipped by the driver as he passed by. Jerk.
Soon I came to the docks, where I was given the option of boarding a pirate ship, but not the option of going into the Black Lobster Tavern. This hero has some weird priorities. Anyway, I boarded the ship by climbing a rope ladder, but that's where the curiosity I mentioned earlier got the best of me. There were some barrels on deck that I very much wanted to look inside, but there was also a guard that I would need to deal with. I tried to sneak up behind him, requiring a Luck test, but at that point I had a Luck score of 7. The odds were barely in my favour, but the dice were not. I stumbled on a coil of rope, and the pirate turned on me.
For some reason, I had been sneaking up on the pirate without my sword drawn, and I didn't have time to pull it out now. With a -2 penalty to my Attack Strength, I had an effective Skill of 5, versus his own skill of 7. I fought my hardest, but it went against me, and I died at the hands of a lowly pirate.
POST-MORTEM
As much as I talked up my knowledge of this book earlier, I let my curiosity get the best of me. There were a few key points that I couldn't quite remember, and even when I chose some options even though I was pretty sure they'd be detrimental. Sometimes I can't help myself, you know? I just have to explore. The real killer was the trio of cups; I should have quit as soon as I found the coins, because there's rarely more than one good choice in these situations. Next time I plan to play smarter, and take the path that I know leads to victory.
No comments:
Post a Comment