Fighting Fantasy: Caverns of the Snow Witch [Game over :(]

[undo]

Fighting Fantasy: Caverns of the Snow Witch

by Ian Livingstone

Fighting Monsters

Before embarking on your adventure, you must first determine your own strengths and weaknesses. You have in your possession a sword and a backpack containing provisions (food and drink) for the trip. You have been preparing for your quest by training yourself in swordplay and exercising vigorously to build up your stamina.

To see how effective your preparations have been, you must use the dice to determine your initial SKILL and STAMINA scores.

Spoiler: Skill, Stamina and Luck

• Roll one die. Add 6 to this number. This is your initial SKILL score.
  
• Roll both dice. Add 12 to this number. This is your initial STAMINA score.
  
• Roll one die. Add 6 to this number. This is your initial LUCK score.

For reasons that will be expained below, SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK scores change constantly during an adventure. But although you may be awarded additional SKILL, STAMINA and LUCK points, these totals may never exceed your lnitial scores except on very rare occasions, when you will be instructed on a particular page.

Your SKILL score reflects your swordsmanship and general fighting expertise; the higher the better.
Your STAMINA score reflects your general constitution, your will to survive, your determination and overall fitness; the higher your STAMINA score, the longer you will be able to survive.
Your LUCK score indicates how naturally lucky a person you are. Luck -- and magic -- are facts of life in the fantasy kingdom you are about to explore.

Spoiler: Battles

You will often come across pages in the book which instruct you to fight a creature of some sort. An option to flee may be given, but if not -- or if you choose to attack the creature anyway -- you must resolve the battle as described below.

The sequence of battle is:

1. Roll both dice once for the creature. Add its SKILL score. This total is the creature's Attack Strength.
   
2. Roll both dice once for yourself. Add the number rolled to your current SKILL score. This total is your Attack Strength.
   
3. If your Attack Strength is higher than that of the creature, you have wounded it. Proceed to step 4. lf the creature's Attack Strength is higher than yours, it has wounded you. Proceed to step 5. If both Attack Strength totals are the same, you have avoided each other's blows -- start the next Attack Round from step 1 above.
   
4. You have wounded the creature, so subtract 2 points from its STAMlNA score. You may use your LUCK here to do additional damage (see over).
   
5. The creature has wounded you, so subtract 2 points from your own STAMINA score. Again you may use LUCK at this stage (see over).
   
6. Make the appropriate adjustments to either the creature's or your own STAMINA scores (and your LUCK score if you used LUCK -- see over).
   
7. Begin the next Attack Round by returning to your current SKILL score and repeating steps 1-6. This sequence continues until the STAMINA score of either you or the creature you are fighting has been reduced to zero (death).

Spoiler: Escaping

On some pages you may be given the option of running away from a battle should things be going badly for you. However, if you do run away, the creature automatically gets in one wound on you (subtract 2 STAMINA points) as you flee. Such is the price of cowardice. Note that you may use LUCK on this wound in the normal way (see below). You may only

Escape

if that option is specifically given to you on the page.

Spoiler: Fighting More Than One Creature

If you come across more than one creature in a particular encounter, the instructions on that page will tell you how to handle the battle. Sometimes you will treat them as a single monster; sometimes you will fight each one in turn.

Spoiler: Luck

At various times during your adventure, either in battles or when you come across situations in which you could either be lucky or unlucky (details of these are given on the pages themselves), you may call on your LUCK to make the outcome more favourable. But beware! Using LUCK is a risky business, and if you are unlucky, the results could be disastrous.

The procedure for using your LUCK is as follows: roll two dice. If the number rolled is equal to or less than your current LUCK score, you have been lucky and the result will go in your favour. If the number rolled is higher than your current LUCK score, you have been unlucky and you will be penalized.

This procedure is known as

Testing your Luck

. Each time you

Test your Luck

, you must subtract one point from your current LUCK score. Thus you will soon realize that the more you rely on your LUCK, the more risky this will become.

Using Luck in Battles

On certain pages of the book you will be told to

Test your Luck

and will be told the consequences of your being lucky or unlucky. However, in battles, you always have the option of using your Luck either to inflict a more serious wound on a creature you have just wounded, or to minimize the effects of a wound the creature has just inflicted on you.

If you have just wounded the creature, you may

Test your Luck

as described above. If you are Lucky, you have inflicted a severe wound and may subtract an extra 2 points from the creature's STAMINA score. However, if you are Unlucky, the wound was a mere graze and you must restore 1 point to the creature's STAMINA (i.e. instead of scoring the normal 2 points of damage, you have now scored only 1).

If the creature has just wounded you, you may

Test your Luck

to try to minimize the wound. If you are Lucky, you have managed to avoid the full damage of the blow. Restore 1 point of STAMINA (i.e. instead of doing 2 points of damage it has done only 1). If you are Unlucky, you have taken a more serious blow. Subtract 1 extra STAMINA point.

Remember that you must subtract 1 point from your LUCK score every time you

Test your Luck

.

Spoiler: Restoring Skill, Stamina and Luck

Skill

• Your SKILL score will not change much during your adventure. Occasionally, a page may give instructions to increase or decrease your SKILL score. A Magic Weapon may increase your SKILL, but remember that only one weapon can be used at a time! You cannot claim 2 SKILL bonuses for carrying two Magic Swords. Your SKILL score can never exceed its
  Initial
  value. Drinking the Potion of Skill (see later) will restore your SKILL to its
  Initial
  level at any time.

Stamina and Provisions

• Your STAMINA score will change a lot during your adventure as you fight monsters and undertake arduous tasks. As you near your goal, your STAMINA level may be dangerously low and battles may be particularly risky, so be careful!
  
  Your backpack contains enough Provisions for ten meals. You may rest and eat at any time except when engaged in a Battle. Eating a meal restores 4 STAMINA points. When you eat a meal, add 4 points to your STAMINA score and deduct 1 point from your Provisions. Remember that you have a long way to go, so use your Provisions wisely!
  
  Remember also that your STAMINA score may never exceed its
  Initial
  value. Drinking the Potion of Strength (see later) will restore your STAMINA to its
  Initial
  level at any time.

Luck

• Additions to your LUCK score are awarded through the adventure when you have been particularly lucky. Details are given on the pages of this book.
  
  Remember that, as with SKILL and STAMINA, your LUCK score may never exceed its
  Initial
  value. Drinking the Potion of Fortune (see later) will restore your LUCK to its
  Initial
  level at any time, and increase your
  Initial
  LUCK by 1 point.

Equipment and Provisions

You will start your adventure with a bare minimum of equipment, but you may find or buy other items during your travels. You are armed with a sword and are dressed in leather armour. You have a backpack to hold your Provisions and any treasures you may come across.

In addition, you may take one bottle of a magic potion which will aid you on your quest. You may choose to take a bottle of any of the following:

• A Potion of Skill -- restores SKILL points
  A Potion of Strength -- restores STAMINA points
  A Potion of Fortune -- restores LUCK points and adds 1 to
  Initial
  LUCK

These potions may be taken at any time during your adventure (except when engaged in a Battle). Taking a measure of potion will restore SKILL, STAMINA or LUCK scores to their

Initial

level (and the Potion of Fortune will add 1 point 10 your

Initial

LUCK score before LUCK is restored).

Each bottle of potion contains enough for

one

measure, i.e. the characteristic may be restored once during an adventure.

Remember also that you may only choose

one

of three potions to take on your trip, so choose wisely!

---

FORUM GAME RULES

• In this forum version of the game, all players are on the same team and must work together to achieve victory.
  
• Each time I post, players will be offered two or more options to continue their adventure. Players will have to discuss and decide which option they want to take. If a consensus can't be reached, the majority's decision will be taken into account.
  
• When one player is confident about her/his decision, (s)he shall formalize it by bolding the option (s)he would like to follow. For example, if given the options to "fight, flee or surrender", the player who chooses to fight may write "I want to
  fight
  " to officially submit her/his decision.
  
• At any time during the adventure, players may also choose to use Provisions, Potions, and other selectable items. Likewise, these will only take effect if the majority is in agreement.
  
• To avoid unnecessary stalling, battles will be automatically resolved by me -- which means the option to use luck in battles will be "disabled".
  
• I will keep track of every change in Skill, Stamina, and Luck values, as well as equipment, provisions and gold, and include all relevant information in every post I make.
  
• In case of death, you will be given the option to start the game over, to restart from an earlier point, or to simply quit.

Other important notes

• There are a lot of walkthroughs for these games on the Internet. I trust you're playing this game to have fun and won't need to resort to those.
  
• This forum game is "beta", so to speak. I apologize in advance for any unexpected issue that may arise and I appeal to your understanding.

[undo]

Initial SKILL

Original Roll String: 1d6+6

1 6-Sided Dice: (4)+6 = 10

Initial STAMINA

Original Roll String: 2d6+12

2 6-Sided Dice: (4, 1)+12 = 17

Initial LUCK

Original Roll String: 1d6+6

1 6-Sided Dice: (4)+6 = 10

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You may now choose your Potion

[Burning_Earth]

I think we should have the stamina potion.

[Burning_TowN]

Stamina

I'm B_E

[Thurhame]

I believe the

Potion of Strength

(stamina) to be an excellent idea. Mainly because I've never played this game before and have no idea how likely Skill is to go down. Not really worried about luck since part of its usage is disabled. If it weren't for that, I'd go for the luck potion, given its excellent initial roll and strong combat potential.

[YurikoJasmine]

Ok this is a stupid question, but are we in the same team? Shall we vote for which portion to take?

[Burning_Earth]

we're all the same person

[undo]

Ok this is a

stupid

question, but are we in the same team? Shall we vote for which portion to take?

That's it, you are all working together.

I've updated the forum rules to clarify this, and also to include the option of using Provisions/Potions at any time.

And if you have any further questions/doubts, please do ask!

[DiplomatDC]

So this is a book which doesn't let you start with 10 Provisions?

[undo]

It does! It's right there under the section "Restoring Skill, Stamina and Luck".

During the adventure you (the players) may choose to use your 10 Provisions as you see fit.

Right now you only have to select which Potion you want to take. There are already two votes on the Potion of Strength; it will take one more to choose this Potion definitively.

[DiplomatDC]

Oohh... in that case I'd actually say the luck potion; from what I -think- I know Luck fluctuates just as often, and in general you don't want your luck to be too low; else you'll see yourself in a spiral of ever-decreasing Luck rolls.

[Thurhame]

Hm... ok, lets go with that then.

Potion of Fortune

.

[DiplomatDC]

Potion of Fortune

forgot to bold

[Equinox]

Those are some good rolls.

But yeah, Potion of Fortune sounds good, so no objection here.

[undo]

But yeah, Potion of Fortune sounds good, so no objection here.

I'm going to consider this your vote. In the future, though, please don't forget to bold your decisions so that I can officially take them into account!

The Potion of Fortune was chosen (by Thurhame, DiplomatDC, Equinox)

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BACKGROUND

Winters in northern Allansia are always cruel and bitter. The snow falls thick and the icy wind blows hard, chilling everybody to the bone. For the past few weeks you have been hired by a merchant called Big Jim Sun to protect his trading caravans as they roll their way slowly north to the frozen outposts. The horse-drawn carts are laden with cloth, utensils, weapons, salted meats, spices and tea, which are traded for furs and ivory carvings made from mammoths' tusks. Big Jim is not usually worried about travelling north, as bandits only attack his caravans on the return journey -- he is not alone in recognizing the value of the northern goods.

On this particular trip you are walking ahead of six carts across a frozen lake. In the distance you can see the snow-capped peaks of the Icefinger Mountains jutting out of low cloud. Your destination lies at the base of the mountains where the Northmen meet to trade. Snow is falling, but not too heavily. You stop to prod the ice with your sword to make sure it can bear the weight of carts, when suddenly the shrill call of a hunting horn breaks the silence. You stand up and run back to the carts to talk to Big Jim. He is sitting next to the driver of the second cart, puffing on a long briar pipe. A huge man, with a great bushy beard, Big Jim is obviously a man to be reckoned with. His bright blue eyes scan the horizon, searching for signs of life. ln a deep voice he says, 'Sounds like it came from the outpost. Reckon you better go and investigate. Could be trouble. And get back quick.'

You set off straight away towards the outpost at the base of Icefinger Mountains. You arrive two hours later at a scene of ugly camage. The snow is red with blood and all the wooden huts are smashed and torn down. Six men lie dead, their bodies slashed, their axes at their sides in the snow. Judging by the size of the footprints, the creature that attacked the outpost must have been enormous. There is nothing you can do for the unfortunate Northmen, so you head back towards Big Jim's caravan to report the news. You reach them in an hour, just as the daylight is fading, and relate the terrible events that have befallen the outpost. Big Jim orders the carts to be drawn into a circle to protect his men during the night. A large fire is built into the centre of the circle and you sit down beside it to talk to Big Jim. Everybody is nervous and a guard is posted to watch for signs of movement outside. In a low voice, Big Jim asks you I if you will hunt the terrible creature, for otherwise his business will be ruined forever. You smile and reply that you will trade down the beast, but only
for a purse of 50 Gold Pieces. Big Jim's jaw drops open, and it takes a great deal of persuasion before he agrees to your demand. The snow finally stops falling as you settle down for the night; sleep is a long time coming, for your mind is active with thoughts of the impending hunt.

When you wake just after dawn, the fire is reduced to dying embers. Wisps of smoke rise gently into the morning mist and not a sound is to be heard. You walk over to where Big Jim is sleeping and tap him on the shoulder. He wakes with a start and you tell him that you are setting off and hope to be back later in the day. You wave to the guard as the snow starts to fall again, and make your way back to the outpost.

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1

By the time you reach the outpost again, the bodies are blanketed with snow and the beast's footprints are covered over. The visibility is poor as you set off towards the mountains where you hope to find the abominable killer beast. The snow on the mountainside is soft and you sink in up to your knees as you climb slowly up. You soon find yourself at the edge of a crevasse which is spanned by an ice bridge.

Do you wish to

cross the crevasse by the ice bridge

or would you rather

walk around the crevasse

?

SKILL

11 |

STAMINA

21 |

LUCK

12

GOLD

0 |

PROVISIONS

10

JEWELS

None |

POTIONS

Potion of Fortune

EQUIPMENT

• Sword
  Leather armor

[YurikoJasmine]

Are there any deadlines?

[undo]

Not for now, as I think it shouldn't be necessary, but I may impose deadlines if activity falls short.

[Thurhame]

I don't suppose there's an option to test the ice bridge first? Meh, if it's a bridge it'll probably hold. Visibility is probably too poor to tell how far the crevasse extends, so no way to predict how long it will take to go around.

I vote for the

Bridge

Wait. What the heck is an ice bridge doing here? Who the heck would (or

could

) make a bridge out of ice? I bet it's the front gate to something.

I vote for

skirting the crevasse

.

[Burning_Earth]

Because the obvious option is walking around it, we must follow the first rule of these games and

Cross the bridge

(to avoid the probable EVIL MONSTER that we'd encounter skirting the bridge)

[Thurhame]

To me, crossing the bridge is the obvious option. That's what made me stop and think. Because as you said, the obvious option tends to be the wrong one in fiction, esp. mystery-type fiction.

[YurikoJasmine]

Cross the bridge

It should be cold enough for it to not break. Plus if the monster is so huge it may not go onto the bridge.

[YurikoJasmine]

To me, crossing the bridge is the obvious option. That's what made me stop and think. Because as you said, the obvious option tends to be the wrong one in fiction, esp. mystery-type fiction.

What a classic WIFOM