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Messages - Pyroxian

#1
I miss Troughton's expressions in the animated ones though - that man could gurn!

Nice that it's coming to the iPlayer, even though I own them all on DVD...
#2
Film & TV / Re: Current TV Boxset Addiction
07 September, 2023, 10:09:07 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 07 September, 2023, 02:31:28 AMThere's nothing so bad as Voyager's cheery Oirish holo-village.


The Next Gen episode where they have to transport a bunch of Irish colonists comes pretty close though...
#3
Off Topic / Re: Stuff You’ll Never Read Again...
03 July, 2023, 10:07:01 PM
I keep Where the Wind Blows to lend to people who go 'Oh, Raymond Briggs - he did that nice one about the snowman didn't he', just so I can see the haunted look in their eyes when they return it...
#4
Books & Comics / Re: Wild's End to return
15 March, 2023, 11:07:36 PM
Yes a reprint of the earlier volumes would be great - I've still yet to read them as I've failed to track down (reasonably priced) physical editions.
#5
Film & TV / Re: Andor To End After Season 2.
05 March, 2023, 02:09:38 PM
The plan was always to only do 2 seasons though, with the end of the second season linking to the start of Rogue One.
#6
Film & TV / Re: MCU TV: Werewolf By Night
14 November, 2022, 06:01:14 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 14 November, 2022, 05:57:53 PM

Maybe so, and maybe that's fine, but I felt it wasn't good enough. She deserved better.

True, but I imagine they're lining her up for the Avengers 2024 films, and I'd be surprised if she (or at least Jen) doesn't show up in the new Daredevil series.
#7
Film & TV / Re: Star Wars: Andor
14 November, 2022, 05:58:23 PM
Quote from: Funt Solo on 10 November, 2022, 04:49:55 PM
I was wondering why we didn't see his fate.

I imagine he'll pop up again somewhere :)
#8
Film & TV / Re: MCU TV: Werewolf By Night
14 November, 2022, 05:54:29 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 14 November, 2022, 05:31:21 PM

However... if they did somehow expand on that ending, folding it into the multiverse and having the robot be an aspect of some multidimensional entity who creates pocket realities for some reason, or something, then I might be tempted to come around. As it stands, though, yeah - a disappointing ending that felt a bit like a cop-out. "Competent and strong female hero turns out to be fictional." Hmph.

I thought the point was that they're _all_ fictional.
#9
Film & TV / Re: HBO Cancels Westworld.
05 November, 2022, 12:55:27 PM
A shame really, as S4 was my 2nd favourite after S1. But it did have an ending at least, even if it was left a bit open for another season.
#10
Film & TV / Re: Star Wars: Andor
04 November, 2022, 07:36:24 PM
It's a toss-up between this and The Mandalorian. Andor is great and feels like a grown-up Star Wars, but the Mandalorian literally had me bouncing up and down in my seat and feeling like I was 6 years old again watching Star Wars in the cinema with my Dad.
#11
Games / Re: Gamebooks
02 October, 2022, 02:47:55 PM
I thought I'd try something different to FF, so:
GrailQuest: The Castle of Darkness

This series was the first I played, before I ended up getting a pile of FF books and then finally getting into the Lone Wolf series

The system itself isn't too tricky, your only stat is your Life Points, which are generated by rolling 2D6 and multiplying by 4. You get 3 rolls and can pick the best one. I roll 5/5/9, so end up with 36 LP
Basic combat is done by rolling 2d6. If you score a 6 or more you hit and whatever you score over 6 is the damage dealt. Reducing an enemy to less than 5 LP will knock them unconscious and reducing them to 0 or less will kill them. Certain weapons need a lower number to hit and can do bonus damage, and armour can reduce damage.
Some monsters can also be bribed to let you pass if you have enough gold!
You can also gain XP points for solving puzzles and winning combats. Each 20 XP gives you a permanent Life Point which is added on to your rolled LP total.

Anyway on with reading the book. Turns out it's an actual spell that puts me in control of a young farm-person named Pip back in Arthurian times. Unfortunately I body-swap right at the point that they're being bullied by a kid named Mean Jake. So this is my first introduction to basic combat and... the dice hate me. I land one blow on Jake before he knocks 10 LP off me and I beg for mercy.

After going home, some soldiers arrive and escort me off to a Log Castle where I meet Merlin who explains that Guinevere is about to be kidnapped by the dreaded Wizard Ansalom and that I'm going to be the one to volunteer to rescue her. To this end I'm given a large amount of equipment, including some healing potions, armour (-4 damage) and a smaller version of Excalibur (Named Excalibur Junior, or EJ for short), which hits on a 4+ and does +5 damage and can also talk.
I'm also given some magical spells (after a small mishap which sets fire to some scrolls) - 10 lightning bolts which automatically hit and do 10 damage, and 2 fireballs which hit on a 6+ and do 75 damage.

After all of this I'm sent to meet King Arthur and end up being escorted to the edge of the forest to start the adventure properly.

I promptly run into a wolf, which I managed to bribe by offering it my packed lunch. Carrying on I arrive at the Wizard Ansalom's Dark Castle without any further major mishaps. It looks very unguarded, which makes me wary so I enter cautiously... and arrive in a courtyard. Seeing some chickens and being a farm-worker, I decide to wander over and look at them. Turns out they are Savage Chickens and I end up pecked to death, which takes me to section 14.

Section 14 explains the death rules. I have to re-roll my LP (9/12/5 so the maximum of 48!) and will respawn at the entrance to the forest, and lose any equipment/treasure I gained during the adventure. On the plus side, any creatures that I have killed will no longer be around and I can safely ignore them. On the down side any equipment that they drop will also have disappeared... It also explains that I should make a map as I go along, which turns out to be very useful later on.

So back to the start I go, and I go right this time in order to avoid the wolf and end up meeting a Black Knight. After that encounter I end up back in the castle courtyard. This time I avoid the chickens and climb up to the ramparts, where I'm shot at by archers. I only lose a few LP so I take a healing potion and head straight for the doors on the other side of the courtyard.

And promptly fall down a hidden trapdoor into a corridor. Proceeding down the corridor I fall into a Pit Trap, but avoid the spikes. I then enter a series of caves, fight a living compost heap and then end up back in series of corridors. I find a room with 6 zombies in, which I narrowly manage to defeat, despite them hitting on a 9+ (But effectively getting 6 attacks to my 1). After exploring some more corridors I find a secret door which takes my to an Underground Cavern with a lake in it. Despite EJ's misgivings, I get into a boat and find myself on an island. A meeting with the Lady of the Lake gains me a Luckstone - a magical item which allows me to add or subtract 3 from any roll I make).

Heading back I end up at a corridor junction. I head East and end up in a magically darkened room with the sound of breathing. I decided to go back and try West, end up in a large circular chamber with a statue of Ansalom in it, but the door locks itself behind me! Solving the puzzle, I manage to make it out unscathed and try West again, this time using a lightnig bolt to light up the room. I manage to make friends with the creature in the room and end up getting some money and a magic scroll containing a Death spell (Instantly kills an opponent, but also kills me if a double is rolled on 2D6).

After this there are no more sections offered by the book that I haven't already gone to, but having made a map, I'm able to retrace my steps back to a chamber that had some steps leading up. Climbing them I fall down another pit, and get the option to explore it, which I do. After several encounters, one of which is a poisonous snake which kills on 1 hit (The Luckstone proves very handy here), I find another secret door. Opening it means I get the drop on some guards which I quickly dispatch. Carry on I get ambushed by some more guards while searching, but I do find a treasure room! I can't take it all, but take a large amount of gems and some gold.

I carry on East, and arrive at a crossroads. There are some guards down one of the branches which end up spotting me so I have to fight them. But it turns out they were guarding Ansalom's Magical Workroom, where I roll for a random magical item. I get a globule wand, which prevents the enemy from attacking for the next 4 strikes.

Going back to the crossroads I head west and enter a seemingly empty guard-room. It's not empty though but I manage to defeat the undead spawn that appears as I had an item in my starting equipment that I hadn't used yet. I loot a jewelled ring, and head north into Ansalom's throne room!

Ansalom is guarded by 2 hounds, but they are bribable so I use some of my treasure from the Treasure Room to avoid that fight.
Fighting Ansalom, I use my globule wand to prevent him from attacking and then use 2 fireballs to defeat him. A pretty easy fight!
Loading up the contents of the Treasure Room onto a cart, I head back to Camelot where I am hailed as a hero. Unfortunately I end up getting the treasure cart stolen - oops.

It was fun to play through, with quite a lot of humour but definitely aimed at younger readers than FF. It's also quite a short book - only 150 sections, which means a lot of the branching sections are quite close to each other with some choices ending up on the same page. I also encountered a couple of wrong section numbers as well, but the map allowed me to work out the correct one.

Annoyingly the Luckstone is way OP - I pretty much couldn't lose once I got it. It would've been better if you could only use it once per section, or it had a limited number of charges. It lasts until you die, and you can take it forward to future adventures as well.
#12
General / Re: Hey Colin
01 September, 2022, 04:17:38 PM
Quote from: Proudhuff on 01 September, 2022, 03:09:28 PM
Black Atlantic Tunnel

Ha - allowing me to use the Black Hole Bypass (Because it's a Thursday)
#13
Strontium Dog - so many great stories, Rage, Portrait of a Mutant...
#14
Kingdom
#15
I love Skizz book 1, but overall I think ABC Warriors has more great early content