RPG Gamebooks

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Down Among the Dead Men Prologue


This pirate gamebook is also by Dave Morris, and the mechanics are similar to those of Heart of Ice.  The Life Point and Possession system is exactly the same.  As for the Skills, here are the ones that appear with the same names in both books:


AGILITY
CUNNING
ROGUERY
STREETWISE


Other Skills recur, but have different names:


BRAWLING=CLOSE COMBAT
FOLKLORE=LORE
MARKSMANSHIP=SHOOTING
SEAFARING=PILOTING
WILDERNESS LORE=SURVIVAL


Then there are Skills that may not have an equivalent in Heart of Ice.  The magic system is the most noticeable change.  Instead of ESP and PARADOXING that both run on a Psionic Focus, Down Among the Dead Men has CHARMS and SPELLS.  CHARMS requires a Magic Amulet, and appears to be a defensive Skill.  SPELLS needs a Magic Wand, and includes "illusions, elemental effects, commands and summonings".  SWORDPLAY is described as superior to BRAWLING, but you need a sword to use it.  Heart of Ice only has 1 melee Skill.



One minor difference between Heart of Ice and Down Among the Dead Men is that in the latter, you start with 10 Doubloons instead of 30 Scads.  I don't know if this means money will be scarce in the pirate book, or whether there's more focus on earning more throughout the adventure as opposed to starting with most of your funds.


The prologue begins with a dream that the evil Captain Skarvench on the Belle Dame is attacking your ship.  After a fight that your crew loses, Captain Skarvench says "Got to kill you again, 'ave I?" before shooting you. Then you wake up.  This is a recurring dream.


The player character has been on the Belle Dame for 2 years.  "Skarvench deemed you too insignificant to ransom and too close to death to be worth pressing into service".  But the carpenter Old Marshy saved your life, and you now serve as a seaman in the "Carab Sea".  You're forced to climb the rigging, where you see a small ship with unarmed monks.  The monks say they don't have treasure, and want to preach to the "heathen" in the New World. Skarvench says "Is that so?  Well, I know of no place more heathen than the ocean bed".


Old Marshy is too religious to rob or kill monks, so he throws his hammer at Skarvench.  Skarvench proceeds to beat his brains out.  Several other members of the crew, Grimes, Oakley, and Blutz, plan to take their chances and leave the Belle Dame on a small "jollyboat" for Port Leshand 500 leagues away.


The setting seems to be a fantasy world based on the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean, called the "Hesperidian Ocean" and the "Carab Sea" here.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Down Among the Dead Men "Wizard" Playthrough Part 1


I never messed around with the custom character options in Heart of Ice, so I'll try it in Down Among the Dead Men.  Here's the character sheet for my stupid "Wizard" class.


Life Points:  10
Doubloons:  10
Possessions:  Magic Amulet, Magic Wand
Skills:  FOLKLORE, CHARMS, SPELLS, SEAFARING


LORE is useful in Heart of Ice, and the FOLKLORE description promises it will be good for fighting vampires and werewolves.  CHARMS and SPELLS are there for the Wizard's spells.  I have a feeling SEAFARING will be more important in this maritime game than the luxury PILOTING Skill from Heart of Ice, where you mostly travel on land.  Besides, all player characters start as seamen, so it's not like you can say the Wizard lacks experience on ships.


Our story begins when Skarvench asks his men a rhetorical question about the fastest way to get rich.  They agree that it's piracy.  He says the most profitable kind is holding the wealthy for ransom.  "Even you daft lubbers must've heard how Tolliver Crimp earned himself a thousand doubloons last summer when he ransomed the Viceroy's nephew".


Skarvench plans on kidnapping "that pretty young Queen Titania of Glorianne" before she can survey her colonies.  There is a problem with this plan.  Queen Titania has the competent admiral Lord Calidor and the mage Dr. Wild to protect her. 


CHOICE #1 is to either eavesdrop on Skarvench some more, look for supplies, or head to the deck.  I'm a Wizard, not a ROGUERY type, so I'll head to the deck to avoid pushing my luck.  I should already have the starting Possessions that I need.


Grimes, Oakley, Blutz, and I climb onto the jollyboat and set sail.  "The moon slips below the western horizon, leaving the night studded with stars.  There is no wind and the sea is as flat as a pane of glass.  As the sounds of jollity fade into the distance, only the soft splash of your oars remains to disturb the eerie quiet".


CHOICE #2 offers a tiered list of checks.  First is SEAFARING/Book of Charts, then CHARMS "if not", and SPELLS "if you have none of the above".  There's another option if you have none of these, which is probably a Death.


Fortunately, my custom Wizard has SEAFARING, so let's see if he can navigate by the stars or something.


The next page says going due west would be dangerous because of "stormy seas".  Going south leads to a westward current, so perhaps we could reach Port Leshand that way, assuming our food and water doesn't run out first.  The middle route is to go between islands, with the risk of "hostile natives".


CHOICE #3 is another tiered list of checks:  CHARMS, then SPELLS, then nothing.  The Wizard gets to see for the first time how his CHARMS will work.  


Worms have eaten holes in the jollyboat, and timbers "are sun-dried and warped".  The power of an incantation and magic words keep the boat seaworthy.  Blutz is disappointed when he learns there's no "keep us from dying of thirst" CHARM. 


CHOICE #4 is a SPELLS check.  It's almost as if Dave Morris anticipated I would build a character like this. 


"What about your magic?' Blutz asks you.  'Can't you keep him off our stern?  Conjure up a tempest to blow the Belle Dame far out to sea!"


The rest of the page mentions that the spell might use up too much of my strength, and weather magic like this could go out of control.  CHOICE #5 is whether to do it or not.  It wouldn't be a Herman Gigglethorpe playthrough without bad decisions, so let's imitate Prospero and summon a tempest.  Also, abstaining from casting the spell goes to the same page as failing the checks in CHOICEs #2 through #4.


"Raising your arms to the heavens, you commence the incantation.  At first the apparent gibberish coming from your lips gives your three companions cause to smile.  But the smiles soon fade, to be replaced by wide-eyed awe, when they see black storm clouds piling up against the eastern sky at your command.  The faint glow of sunrise is drowned in fresh darkness.  Thunder cracks from far off, like distant cannonfire, sending a dull and ominous rumble across the world".


A SPELL this powerful breaks my wand, so I can't use the Skill again until I get a new one.  This is an interesting difference from Heart of Ice, where you can never run out of PARADOXING or ESP or lose the Psionic Focus.  To record this, I get the first codeword:  Prospero.  The book predicted I would make the same reference before making that CHOICE. 


The next page is 289, the same as doing nothing in CHOICEs #2 through #5.


Character Sheet
 
Wizard
 
Life Points:  10
Doubloons:  10
Possessions:  Magic Amulet
Codewords:  Prospero
Skills:  FOLKLORE, SPELLS, CHARMS, SEAFARING

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Down Among the Dead Men "Wizard" Playthrough Part 2


According to my Word document, all roads from CHOICE #2 lead to CHOICE #6 regardless of what you do.  The only exception is the Prospero codeword incident.


CHOICE #6 is to either sail due west, go between the Smoking Islands, or stay to the south.  SEAFARING tells you the dangers of each route.  I would have picked the islands if I hadn't listened to Blutz and broken my wand.  It's harder to dazzle the "hostile natives" without SPELLS.


Let's go south.  "The sky is cloudless, giving no respite from the sun that beats mercilessly down from dawn to dusk.  By night a cool wind leaves you huddled, shivering, inside your ragged clothes".  One mechanic shared between Heart of Ice and Down Among the Dead Men is Life Point penalties mitigated by SURVIVAL/WILDERNESS LORE.  Without that, the Wizard loses 2 Life Points.


On Day 2, we see an uncharted island 100 paces wide.  This coral island may have rainwater and insects.  The possibility of eating bugs disgusts Blutz.  CHOICE #7 is to either stop on the island, continue, or go to the Smoking Islands.


Prospero the Wizard will stop on the coral island to see how he can die of POIsonous wildlife. 


We smell something like honey when we stop, which is odd because no bees could live here.  We could get food by fishing if necessary.  Another thing that should alarm Prospero is a rock pool with salt water. . .above the high tide level.


CHOICE #8 is a FOLKLORE check, along with either gathering food, going to the Smoking Islands, or sailing west.  Good thing I'm a custom Wizard!


This "island" may actually be the giant crab Pusat Tassek according to FOLKLORE.  It stays in the middle of the ocean and attracts fish with its honey-like smell.  I'm then booted back to CHOICE #8.


I'm not risking a boss fight without SPELLS, so I'll go west.  "A little rainfall helps to slake your thirst, but hunger still chews at your bellies and the constant blaze of the sun makes you dizzy."  This is a 1 Life Point penalty.


CHOICE #9 is to try to improvise some food with SEAFARING/WILDERNESS LORE, use the Monkey, or nothing.  (Is there the possibility of cannibalism to fit all the sea story cliches?)


With SEAFARING, I propose making a fishing line with a belt buckle and strings from boots.  For bait, we have to use our own poop.


"Oakley snorts with outrage.  'You expect us to fish using our own excrement?  Revolting!  Do we want to live like animals, or die like decent men?"


A man says "Ho there!  Who is it?  I hear your oars-speak up!"  CHOICE #10 is to either bring him on board to eat him later or be a true Wizard and listen to Oakley and ignore this desperate man's pleas for help.  We realize only too late that he might have had supplies.  


CHOICE #11 is to either turn north toward the Smoking Islands like Oakley and Grimes want, or continue like Blutz desires.  Blutz's suggestion broke my wand earlier, but hey, if I were going to the Smoking Islands, I would have done so already.  Blutz thinks the reason there are so few ships is because hurricane season is coming, but Oakley says they aren't due for 8 weeks.


"The sun stares balefully down from a sky of burnished steel, leeching your strength.  To prevent your brains being cooked in your skulls, you soak strips of torn cloth in the sea and wrap them around your brows.  The brine dries to hard salt which chafes your many sores, but by now you are past caring." Another Life Point is gone.  The beginning of Down Among the Dead Men feels like the Sahara crossing on foot in Heart of Ice.


CHOICE #12 is whether to eat a possibly rotten coconut.  Grimes and Oakley want to eat it, while Blutz thinks it floated from Domdaniel, an afterlife for drowned sailors.  "That would make it dead men's food, you see, and not for us".  I can either pass a WILDERNESS LORE check which I can't do, or "decide now whether you will eat some of the coconut and turn to 389".  If possible, I'll abstain.


Dave Morris tricked me.  I lose 1 more Life Point from NOT eating the coconut.


CHOICE #13 is to either sail south in hopes of finding icebergs and penguins like Grimes suggests, or staying the course.  This sounds just intriguing enough that I'll try it.


There is an iceberg, that looks like it has a ship frozen inside of it.  CHOICE #14 is to use SEAFARING/WILDERNESS LORE, row to the iceberg, or go west to Port Leshand.  SEAFARING tells me the iceberg is made of "old ice" that isn't salty.  I then go to the same page as sailing to the iceberg without the Skill. 


Blutz is more educated than most pirates because he "once drowned a school-teacher".  He says the ship is the Octavius.  I get the August codeword and have CHOICE #15 to either collect ice or not.


Once we gather some water, a brigantine named the Jewel of Heaven comes to help us.


Character Sheet
 
Wizard
 
Life Points:  5
Doubloons:  10
Possessions:  Magic Amulet
Codewords:  Prospero, August
Skills:  FOLKLORE, SPELLS, CHARMS, SEAFARING

[Gustaran]

This pirate gamebook is also by Dave Morris, and the mechanics are similar to those of Heart of Ice.  The Life Point and Possession system is exactly the same.  As for the Skills, here are the ones that appear with the same names in both books:


STREETWISE

I must admit, at the moment I wonder how useful that skill is going to be in a story where you sail with a small boat on the ocean...

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

This pirate gamebook is also by Dave Morris, and the mechanics are similar to those of Heart of Ice.  The Life Point and Possession system is exactly the same.  As for the Skills, here are the ones that appear with the same names in both books:


STREETWISE

I must admit, at the moment I wonder how useful that skill is going to be in a story where you sail with a small boat on the ocean...

STREETWISE checks will probably occur in Port Leshand, and maybe other settlements in the Carab Sea.


So far, it seems Down Among the Dead Men switches several stages of the game relative to Heart of Ice.  In the latter, the wilderness survival gameplay in the Sahara occurs once you're already done with towns and any use for STREETWISE.  Down Among the Dead Men begins with a desperate search for food and water before finding the first town, making STREETWISE more of a mid to late game Skill, at least if my predictions are correct.


Although the established classes already suggest STREETWISE will be less important in Down Among the Dead Men.  Only 3 (Mariner, Swashbuckler, Warlock) start with that Skill here, while 4 (Explorer, Bounty Hunter, Spy, Trader) have it in Heart of Ice.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Down Among the Dead Men "Wizard" Playthrough Part 3


CHOICE #16 is what to ask the Jewel of Heaven captain about:  his views on pirates, the Glorianne-Sidonia war, Queen Titania's visit to her colonies, or information about Port Leshand.


When I ask him about Queen Titania, he says "It is supposed to be a secret, and you'd do well not to blab such delicate matters.  A wagging tongue is a tongue worth cutting!"


CHOICE #17 is to tell him about Skarvench's plan to kidnap her, or shut up.  He tells me to go to his house on Halyard Street and ask for "Master Capstick" once we get to Port Leshand.  We can't let Skarvench know people have learned about his ransom plot.  As a reward, I get the Marathon codeword.  After that, it's the same page as if I had kept quiet.


My stay on the Jewel of Heaven is good for my health, and the Wizard restores 2 Life Points.  CHOICE #18 is a Chancery codeword check which I can't pass.  Once in Port Leshand, I heal 3 more Life Points. 


The local governor normally lets buccaneers shop here, but there are fewer pirates now, and they are "on markedly better behaviour".  Soldiers wear new uniforms, and people are cleaning the cobblestones. 


CHOICE #19 has the first STREETWISE check, as I predicted.  Gustaran probably won't mock STREETWISE when shopping in Port Leshand!  Other options are to use the Marathon codeword, visit a "chandler" to buy items, ask someone to "identify strange items", apply for a letter of marque with or without ROGUERY, or listen to rumors.


But first, I want my wand back!  "Chandlers" sell boat and household supplies, so the shop isn't likely to sell wands.  Maybe I should go ahead and check out Marathon.


At Master Capstick's house, we're at first mistaken for beggars, but we enter the house.  Capstick says he must go to Glorianne in 2 days, so he can't help us fight Skarvench.  His compensation is the Deed to Ownership of a sloop in Port Selenice.  He recommends going to that town and getting a crew.


CHOICE #20 is to either go to Port Selenice first to intercept Skarvench, or talk to the governor in Port Leshand.  I have a bad feeling the former will send me to the final battle too early without a wand, so I'll visit the governor.  This isn't much of a CHOICE because the governor thinks it's a "tall tale".  The captain of the guard threatens to flog us if we don't leave.  We're forced to go to Port Selenice anyway.


Sailing here is comfortable enough to recover 3 Life Points if I weren't already at the maximum.  I also get 5 Doubloons because I'm working for a caravel crew.


Port Selenice is also known as "the Pirates' Haven".  The local pirates have formed a sort of government called the Brethren of the Coast.  Rules for brawls are strict, and they cannot be fought with weapons.  This must be great for BRAWLER characters.  The town isn't as lawless as other people think because the buccaneers like "ale, women, and dice" more than "violence and hardships".


CHOICE #21 is to either buy from the peddler, go to the tavern, or visit the shipbuilder.  The peddler has a weasel on his shoulder for some reason instead of the traditional parrot.  CHOICE #22 is a STREETWISE check.  It's implied that this will lower the prices for you, or possibly identify some of the items.  Without STREETWISE, the Port Selenice peddler menu looks like this:


Pocket Watch-8 Doubloons
Pistol-12 Doubloons
Sword-11 Doubloons
Hornpipe-4 Doubloons
Weasel-2 Doubloons
Amulet-15 Doubloons


There is some doubt about whether the Amulet is genuine.  "Belonged to my dear old granny, guv.  Still does technically, I suppose, since I never asked her if I could take it".  Those prices are exorbitant relative to the amount of Doubloons many players will have at this point.  I'll pass on any purchases because there's no wand.


Kemp, the master shipbuilder, greets me.  CHOICE #23 is to either buy a ship, ask whether he works for Skarvench, or about the ship Cold Grue.


The Cold Grue belonged to a pirate named El Draque who liked to have a bat figurehead.  He was allegedly hanged at sea by Glorianna, though the Cold Grue's fate is unknwon.  I am forced to stay at the Sweat o' the Brow Inn, where Skarvench confronts me.


Someone named Curshaw smacks Blutz on the head with a stool and then kicks him in the ribs.  I try to tell Skarvench he needs to fight me instead of my crew.


"Ah, that's a right noble sentiment and no mistake!  See here, though:  my quarrel's with all who'd try'n scupper my plans.  I'm aimin' to bag me a queen, no less, an' then sell her to the highest bidder.  So I'm goin' to have to do away with you, mate-which I should've done long ago, but I guess my old heart's just too soft".  Skarvench draws a musket, which should be forbidden in this town.  I reach for a weapon only to find a corkscrew.


"I'll be the wealthiest man on the seven seas.  And he who would that wealth deny, down among the dead men let him lie!"  And there's our title reference.  A musket ball hits me on the chest and knocks me unconscious.


CHOICE #24 is a last chance to save myself with either a Pocket Watch, Crucifix, or Magic Amulet, and even then I lose 3 Life Points.  One old pirate says Skarvench won't be welcome in any port in the Carab because he violated the Brethren of the Sea law by using a musket.  I'm allowed to keep the Corkscrew.


CHOICE #25 is one of the most important Possession checks in the game.  If you don't have a Ship in a Bottle and a Corkscrew, a Conch-Shell Horn, a Deed of Ownership, or Diamonds, you lose outright.  "If you have none of these, you have no hope of catching Skarvench and your adventure grinds to an abrupt end".


I have the Deed of Ownership from the Marathon codeword, so I can salvage this quest.  My new sloop is the Lady of Shalott.


The next step is to get a bigger ship, because there's no way the Lady of Shalott can defeat Skarvench's galleon.  But can't we use the Sid Meier's Pirates or Uncharted Waters solution of boarding the ship and defeating the captain in a duel?


CHOICE #26 is to either pursue El Draque's treasure with the Raven codeword, go to the frozen ship with August, or become a pirate.  When I asked about El Draque earlier, I didn't get any codeword.  Is that a STREETWISE bonus or something?  In the next update, I'll check out the frozen ship.


Character Sheet
 
Wizard
 
Life Points:  7
Doubloons:  15
Possessions:  Magic Amulet, Deed of Ownership, Corkscrew
Codewords:  Prospero, August, Marathon
Skills:  FOLKLORE, SPELLS, CHARMS, SEAFARING

[Gustaran]

CHOICE #19 has the first STREETWISE check, as I predicted.  Gustaran probably won't mock STREETWISE when shopping in Port Leshand! 

Well, you were just lucky the captain of the "Jewel of Heaven" gave you a ride back to civilization instead of making you walk the plank...

"I'll be the wealthiest man on the seven seas.  And he who would that wealth deny, down among the dead men let him lie!"  And there's our title reference.

Mildly interesting fact since I researched the lyrics a few years ago: Dead Men is actually referring to empty bottles on the floor.

The song makes use of a number of metaphors, most prominently the song's title "Down Among the Dead Men." "Dead men" or "dead soldiers" is a term for empty bottles and the expression to "lie down among the dead men" means to get so drunk as to slip from one's chair and land under the table where the empty bottles have been discarded.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

CHOICE #19 has the first STREETWISE check, as I predicted.  Gustaran probably won't mock STREETWISE when shopping in Port Leshand! 

Well, you were just lucky the captain of the "Jewel of Heaven" gave you a ride back to civilization instead of making you walk the plank...

Sure, pick us up out of our jollyboat only to make us walk the plank later?  Sounds a little pointless unless it's Captain Skarvench when he needs to prove how evil he is.


When YOU play this, I demand that you play a STREETWISE character just for those snarky comments.  


Down Among the Dead Men "Wizard" Playthrough Part 4


CHOICE #27 is a SEAFARING check, which Prospero the Wizard can pass.  Otherwise he would have had to pick due south, southwest, southeast, or give up the search for the iceberg and turn to piracy.


"At any hour of the day you are to be seen upon the poopdeck, taking estimates of the wind and sea currents or using a cross-staff to measure the stars."


After a while, the person on the crow's nest shouts "Ice Ho!"  Oakley suggests piracy instead of trying to extract the Octavius.  But Blutz has an idea.  CHOICE #28 is to either agree with Oakley or Blutz.  We all know how well listening to Blutz has gone.  *Glares at him for making me break my wand for no gain*


For once Blutz has a good plan.  We shoot rock salt out of the cannons and attack the iceberg with pickaxes.  We abandon the Lady of Shalott for the Octavius.


"Three days pass and your new ship is a delight, handling better than any vessel you've ever sailed".  We return to Port Selenice.


The next page asks me to put the ship on the character sheet.  Each one has a star rating associated with it:


Lady of Shalott-*
Shivered Timber-**
Queen's Ransom-***
Faerie Queen-***
Meteor-****
Octavius-****
Providence-*****
Calypso-*****


So I have a high-ranking vessel, but not one of the best.


Various pirates join me.  Some want gold and glory, while others have a grudge against Skarvench.  Blutz tells me a pilot who steered Queen Titania's convoy past the Smoking Islands said the convoy will wait out the hurricane season in Port Tudor.  Oakley "scoffs" and says hurricanes won't come for another month.  Blutz objects by saying the Queen's wizard confirmed early hurricanes with his horoscope.


The next step is to sail for Port Tudor.  A "cold gust" and a "purple murk" warn me of a coming hurricane.  CHOICE #29 is to deal with the storm by using a Thundercloud Fan, CHARMS, or SEAFARING.  Without any of these, there is another option. . .


With CHARMS, this happens when I help the helmsman.  "You hold your amulet before his eyes.  Its burnished gold surface sparkles in the flicker of lightning.  'Focus your gaze on this', you tell him.  'Have faith".


We see the Queen's flagship, the Rose.  None of the escorts are visible, because they've probably been destroyed.  The Rose's spars and rigging are heavily damaged.  A fog spread throughout the seas, which is probably hostile magic.  Skarvench's magical galleon the Moon Dog approaches.  CHOICE #30 is either to use the Horal codeword with a Pocket Watch, a Bat-Shaped Talisman, a Black Kite, or nothing. 


I lack any of the necessary items or codewords.  So ends the career of Prospero the Wizard.


"There is not enough wind to bring you up to the fog bank before the Moon Dog.  You watch her descend until she is hovering above the fog, sails shimmering with occult energy.  Ropes are dropped down from her rail, and hazily you make out the shapes of men descending on these ropes like a dozen web-spinning spiders.


'Not enough breeze for the sails', you groan.  'I'd give half my life for a single gust of that hurricane now!'  The fog envelops your bows.  'We'll have to heave to, skipper', cautions Grimes.  'We might run smack into the Rose in this pea-souper'.  You are forced to agree.  Tense minutes pass.  Straining your ears, you think you can hear muffled shouts from far off:  'The Queen!  They've got the Queen!' and 'Where's their ship?'


As suddenly as it arose, the fog disperses.  The Rose looms close ahead of you, and now you can see figures milling across her deck in panic.  You look up to see Skarvench's flying ship appear as a gaunt shadow across the moon for a moment; then it disappears into a rack of cloud.  Soldiers come rowing from the Rose and clamber aboard without waiting for permission.  You find yourselves staring down the barrels of thirty muskets.  'What is this?' you demand angrily.  'We're not your enemies.  We came to save the Queen!'


Admiral Calidor stares at you like a hawk.  He is obviously in a state of anguish but he struggles to control it as he says flatly, 'The Queen has been kidnapped by your accomplices.  You're going to tell me where they've taken her.'  'I don't know', you yell back at him.  'They weren't our accomplices!  I told you, we're on your side!'


Your arms are seized by soldiers and you are bundled into a rowboat.  'These pirates are all the same', mutters Calidor to his sergeant of marines.  'Distasteful though it is, we'll have to put them to torture'.  You are a long time dying on the rack in the bowels of Calidor's ship.  But what makes your death all the more bitter is that you are being punished for the crimes of your arch enemy, the evil Captain Skarvench".


No THE END in Down Among the Dead Men, I guess.  Failing a Possessions check kills off my first character, probably because I didn't explore the right places.  It's surprising that you can't use SPELLS or CHARMS to get past this magical threat.  The Pocket Watch must be a valuable item.  You can use it to take the musket ball shot in the Sweat o' the Brow tavern, and apparently combine it with a codeword to survive the Moon Dog encounter.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Down Among the Dead Men 2nd Wizard Playthrough Part 1


I'll do a few things differently at the beginning in hopes of getting a custom Wizard past the CHOICE #30 Possessions check.  Gandalf the Wizard checks the sailmaster's cabin in CHOICE #1 to find some items. . .


And no stealth is required.  Mister Chatter the monkey is making noises while I ransack the cabin.  Gandalf is allowed to take 2 out of these 5 items:  Toolkit, Book of Charts, Crucifix, Lodestone, and Monkey.  The Book of Charts is unnecessary to him because he has SEAFARING.  The Monkey can be used in CHOICE #9 if the player goes south and lacks SEAFARING/WILDERNESS LORE.  The Crucifix can be used to survive the musket shot in the Sweat o' the Brow inn, but Gandalf has CHARMS and the Magic Amulet to go along with it.  So that leaves the Toolkit and the Lodestone.


In CHOICE #5, Gandalf does NOT cast Tempest, unlike his ill-fated predecessor Prospero.  He calls Blutz a "fool of a Took" and conks him on the head with his wand before pressing on.


CHOICE #6 determines the path to the Carab Sea.  Gandalf, like any Wizard, has the desire to cow the "hostile natives" of the Smoking Islands into worshiping him as their new god.  Oakley is helpful here because he used to sail in this area before Skarvench enslaved him.  Pardanus Island to the west has friendly natives and ships often visit there.  Grimoire Island supposedly has a "hellish demon".  Firepeak Island is named for an active volcano, and no known person has been there.  And the easternmost island is Red Skull Island, which may be inhabited but seldom visited because it's not in the main trading route.


CHOICE #31 is a FOLKLORE check, which Gandalf can pass.  Oakley is wrong about Grimoire Island.  Instead of a demon, its inhabitant is a 1000-year-old witch named Ejada the Green.  If the stories are true, she is immortal as long as "her feet remain on solid ground" because of a deal with an "ancient earth god".


"Will you survive long enough to reach land, or will the little jollyboat become your floating coffin?"  Gandalf loses 1 Life Point for not having WILDERNESS LORE.


CHOICE #32 is to either stop on Red Skull Island, or continue to the next one.  Oakley is afraid of cannibals, because he knows he's in a ridiculous tropical island story.  But I have magic!    


We see coconut trees, but they're too high to reach without CHOICE #33.  Climb the cliffs with AGILITY, look for a way to the trees on the beach, or look for food on the beach?  There is one more chance to go to the 2nd island.


CHOICE #34 after looking for a path on the beach is an "Are you REALLY sure you want to do this?  There may be cannibals. . .".  The options are to climb the vines or go to the next island.  But a Wizard is nothing without hubris.


CHOICE #35 is to either collect fruit, explore the island's interior, or go to the next island.  Gandalf follows the stream to a stone monolith covered in carvings.  The characters don't know what they represent, but the illustration suggests that they're meant to represent the 4 islands.  One has a volcano, and another looks like it has a woman with her feet rooted to the ground.


When we go back to the cliffs, we find 12 islanders wearing "grass skirts" and "a red-skull like mask painted" on their faces.  At least one of them has his teeth "filed to sharp points".  CHOICE #36 is to fight them, offer them gifts, or ignore them.  Let's see how effective SPELLS or CHARMS can be in battle!


CHOICE #36 checks for SWORDPLAY/BRAWLING or MARKSMANSHIP.  Gandalf fails all these.  


"You make a valiant attempt to break through the encircling throng of natives, but to no avail.  As two of them seize your arms, a third brings his wooden club crashing down on your skull.  A blaze of painful white light is followed by darkness and oblivion.  If you awaken at all, it will be to find yourself simmering in the cookpot of these fearsome cannibals.  Your adventures is at an end".


What's the point of having magic if you can't use it to zap people?  Even PARADOXING in Heart of Ice could do things like make an enemy's gun explode or shoot steam at assassins.


Results So Far



0 Good Endings

2 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

0 Inconclusive Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Down Among the Dead Men 3rd Wizard Playthrough Part 1


I'm so annoyed at Down Among the Dead Men's magic system that I'll name the next character after Rincewind, the cowardly "Wizzard" from the Discworld series.


Rincewind steals the Lodestone and the Toolkit from Skarvench's ship, refuses to cast the tempest, and immediately goes to the 2nd island rather than risk cannibals.  Doing so brings up CHOICE #38:  Either use 1 Provision, or suffer the consequences.


"The water laps temptingly against the sides of your boat, but you know that it holds out a false promise:  brine cannot slake a poor mariner's thirst, it can only drive him mad".  Rincewind would lose 2 Life Points if he didn't have SEAFARING, which makes him "more accustomed to such deprivations", so he only loses 1.  He's now at 8 total.


Blutz says the volcano on the 2nd island will erupt.  CHOICE #39 is to either check for WILDERNESS LORE, land, or go west.  "Another 2 days crawl by, and you gradually give way to fever and exhaustion."  Rincewind loses 1 more Life Point.


CHOICE #40 is a Provision check.  One line says "If you have a Monkey and are heartless or desperate enough, you can count it as Provisions".  Rincewind doesn't have either of those.  "Your skin is loose on your bones and your tongue feels like a wad of burnt cotton.  The urge to drink seawater is almost unbearable now.  Your only respite from consciousness is not sleep, but dream-haunted delirium".  Rincewind loses 1 more Life Point, but he would have lost 2 if he lacked SEAFARING.


Grimoire Island in CHOICE #41 is "strangely idyllic-looking", and has white beaches and palm trees.  Birds look like gems.  To land or move on?


CHOICE #42 gives the options of passing a WILDERNESS LORE check, going to the tower, getting food and water like a reasonable person, or moving to the last island.  


The tower is part of a white marble palace.  The carvings "show a queen or priestess dispatching her enemies into luridly depicted hells".  Grimes questions how anyone would get marble to this island, and a woman says she brought it here with magic.


"I am Ejada, witch-queen of this isle.  I demand tribute from all who come to my shores, but my demands are not excessive.  All I'll take is the soul of one of you, to be sacrificed to my mother the Earth Goddess!"


The jollyboat is trapped in the beach's sand.  CHOICE #43 is to either build a raft with SEAFARING, confront her at dawn, or hide from her.  The original Rincewind would pick option 1 or 3, but this is a Rincewind in name only.


"Ejada stands in front of her palace and surveys you with a haughty eye.  In her gilded finery and bejeweled head-dress, with her limbs like a statue's and her star sapphire gaze, she looks every inch a goddess.  She raises a flint knife.  'My mother the Earth is thirsty for a mortal soul.  Which of you shall I send to her?"


CHOICE #44 offers the decisions of running away, fighting her, the whole crew offering parts of their souls, or SPELLS.  You can do it, Rincewind!


"A wizardly duel?  So be it-centuries have passed since any mortal mage dared to pit his sorcery against mine!"


CHOICE #45 is to either knock her off her feet with wind, or try to burn her.  According to the FOLKLORE check from CHOICE #31, she is immortal as long as her feet are on the ground, so wind is the way to go.  In spite of tradition that says you should burn witches.  


"A funnel of wind whiplashes down out of the sky.  As she feels it engulf her, Ejada gives vent to a cry of alarm and tries to catch a handhold on the palace wall.  Her hair and robes billow in the wind and she is sucked inexorably into the air.  To your amazement, you can now see something like green shoots or rootlets dangling from the soles of her feet.  As soon as these are tugged out of the ground, she begins visibly to weaken and soon she is begging for mercy".



To prevent her from restoring her strength, I trap Ejada on a cornice.  She lets me take her treasures of a Wand, a Healing Potion, a Ship in a Bottle, and a Black Kite.  The Healing Potion can be used to restore Life Points to 10 at any time.      The Ship in a Bottle can be combined with the Corkscrew to get a ship later, and the Black Kite is my way past the CHOICE #30 Possession check.  If you have SPELLS, be sure to stop at Grimoire Island!


Without CHARMS, I would have gained the harmful codeword Detrude for failing to repair the jollyboat.  Rincewind loses 1 more Life Point from hunger and thirst.  CHOICE #46 is another Provision check which my Wizard fails.  He loses 1 Life Point from having SEAFARING, and would have lost 2 without it.  SEAFARING isn't just PILOTING, but also doubles as SURVIVAL if you take the Smoking Islands route.


The 4th island offers me a chance to stop in CHOICE #47, which I will do to try to get more supplies.  But the Carab natives don't seem to be as friendly as my crew members suggested.  They are armed with spears.  CHOICE #48 is to use the codeword Scrip, attack with MARKSMANSHIP, "hand-to-hand fighting", parley, or leave.  


I drop the Lodestone and Toolkit to make way for 2 Provisions.  If I had the codewords Detrude or Peccant, I would have to delete them.  With a sign language, he explains that we may be "marooned for months" unless he escorts us to the shipping lane.  He expects a gift in exchange.


CHOICE #9 allows me to give the chief a gift, leave without his help, or wait on the island with or without a Book of Charts.  (So it's NOT useless to SEAFARING characters.)


I can give the chief a Sword, Pistol, Wand, Amulet, Ship in a Bottle, Conch-Shell Horn, Bat-Shaped Talisman, a Black Kite, or all my Doubloons.  My spare Wand should suffice.  This also confirms that you're supposed to get the Bat-Shaped Talisman and the Conch-Shell Horn early in the game before you get to the end of the Smoking Islands.


The Jewel of Heaven comes to rescue us like in the first playthrough.  Perhaps this is like getting to Du-En in Heart of Ice, as the paths start to narrow a bit here.  Maybe going due west at the beginning would also trigger the Jewel of Heaven's appearance?  Anyway, I get the Marathon codeword by telling Master Capstick about Skarvench's plot against Queen Titania in CHOICE #17.  This isn't necessary because of the Ship in the Bottle.  Rincewind's Life Points are restored to 10.


Now with 15 Doubloons, I buy the Weasel for 2 coins.  Who knows when it might come in handy?


Asking about Skarvench in CHOICE #23 tells Rincewind that something is off about the Moon Dog.  Its timber is too light and gunports are on the keel.  Maybe the magic is needed to make it seaworthy?


With the Magic Amulet, Rincewind goes down to 7 Life Points when he takes the musket shot in the tavern.  He drops a Provision to make room for the Corkscrew.  Combining the Ship in the Bottle with the Corkscrew creates the Providence, one of the ***** ships.  The boat gets its name because it was obviously providence that got Rincewind the Corkscrew and deflected the musket shot.  (It fits the original Rincewind quite well, since he's the unwitting champion of a goddess of luck in Discworld.)


Now that I have the Providence, the book jumps straight to page 184 and CHOICE #29 without having to get a better boat from piracy, lost treasure, or an iceberg.  He restores 2 Life Points.


With CHARMS, Rincewind sails through the CHOICE #29 storm, and the Black Kite passes the CHOICE #30 check.


"You watch the sailor reach the top of the mast and throw the kite up into the heavens.  Caught by some wind that the sails do not feel, it soars aloft higher and higher, seeming to grow larger as it goes so that it spreads like an inkblot against the moon."


This darkens the sky so only lanterns and stars are visible.  CHOICE #50 is how to disperse the fog magic:  a Thundercloud Fan, or SPELLS.  (Or probably die if you don't have either of those.)  Wind blows away the fog, and now Rincewind has the option of either trying to board the Moon Dog or shoot it with cannons in CHOICE #51.  But that decision will wait until tomorrow.




Character Sheet
 
Wizard
 
Life Points:  9
Doubloons:  13
Possessions:  Magic Amulet, Wand, 1 Provisions, Ship in a Bottle, Healing Potion, Black Kite, Weasel, Corkscrew
Special Items:  Providence *****
Codewords:  Marathon
Skills:  FOLKLORE, SPELLS, CHARMS, SEAFARING