#14 Guide for Temple of Terror

A return to normality after a few weird ones. No potion this time but you do get your standard 10 provisions and the only new rules relate to the spells you choose at the start.

open door - 2 stamina - avoids a fight with a skill 10 stamina 10 serpent guard

creature sleep - 1 stamina - avoids a fight with a skill 9 stamina 8 lizardman

magic arrow - 2 stamina - nothing useful

language - 1 stamina - nothing useful

read symbols - 1 stamina - nothing useful

light - 2 stamina - nothing useful

fire - 1 or 2 stamina - reduces the penalty for being cold in the desert from 3 stamina to 1

jump - 3 stamina - makes jumping over a pit easier (otherwise it's a skill test to avoid losing 6 stamina and 1 skill)

detect trap - 2 stamina - nothing useful

create water - 0 stamina - nothing useful

You can take any 4 with you. I've only listed the benefits for a spell if the spell is the best option available. If an item duplicates the effect, it's better to use the item as using items doesn't drain your stamina. As you can see, there's only 4 spells that are useful anyway.

1 - Yaztromo lists the available spells.

34 - The names are pretty self explanatory and the stamina costs are listed above, pick your spells and off we go.

180 - bridge (23) or barge (213)

Yaztromo gives you 25 gold pieces. In true Livingstonian style, it's possible to screw yourself out of victory right from the start. You need to go to Blacksand to pick up an essential item.

213 - pay (67) or haggle (146)

If you haggle, you get a cheaper price. No reason at all not to do so.

146 - You agree to pay 3 instead of 5.

102 - follow (332) or not (379)

The old man lures you into a fairly obvious trap. Sadly, we need to get suckered in if we want the item needed to win.

322 - Shock! You are accosted by a pair of robbers. (skill 8 stamina 7 and skill 7 stamina 7)

89 - We get a small brass telescope and 3 silver buttons. You start looking for another place to stay.

379 - more ale (124) or get angry (203)

You spend another 12 gold pieces securing your passage further south. Then a large man bumps into you and spills his drink. Buying him a new one costs another gold piece and a luck point. If you tell him not to be so clumsy, he hits you and you lose 1 stamina. You can then fight or flee. If you flee, you lose a luck point and all your gold pieces. If you fight him he's skill 9 stamina 8. Killing him gets you 2 gold pieces and a pearl.

124 - If you can kill the pirate, you may as well. Otherwise just buy him some drinks and be done with it.

238 - pass (308) or fail (187)

He's started early! Fail the skill roll and you die.

308 - away (293) or toward (230)

Swimming away from the man-o-war costs you 2d6 stamina. (ouch!) That's all the incentive I need to take the other option.

230 - gallibran (173) or gillibran (278)

The answer is Gillibran, get it wrong and they murderise you.

278 - east (327) or south (151)

if you head south, you encounter a demon. Attacking it costs you 4 stamina but doesn't hurt it, running away is fatal. your only real option is to jump into the ocean which ruins 2 of your provisions. Let's not go that way.

327 - magic arrow (118) or sword (28)

The needle flies are skill 5 stamina 6, skill 6 stamina 7 and skill 7 stamina 6. You can use magic arrow to kill them but each one costs you 2 stamina and you should be able to kill them in a sword fight without losing THAT many stamina points.

28 - Cut them down with your sword.

168 - pouch (107) or not (10)

The pouch contains a golden key, we want this. Get it and move on.

10 - talk (99) or not (257)

If you have a silver button or pearl, you can swap it with the traveller for a canister of water. You'll need this unless you picked create water as one of your spells.

257 - lucky (129) or unlucky (385)

If you're lucky, you find a handbell. This is spectacularly useful (it avoids a fight that borders on unwinnable) so you'd better hope you pass the roll.

129 - It seems useless but we do need it.

26 - canister (217), create water (372) or nothing (84)

If you have no water, you lose 4 stamina. There's no real difference between the 2 water sources.

217 - Half the water is gone.

303 - nomad (196) or not (389)

The nomad sells stuff, we want stuff.

196 - He gives you food and water which restores 4 stamina. Then he shows you his wares.

sealing wax - 2 gp - not useful

onyx egg - 3 gp - avoids a life or death luck test against the eye stinger

ivory beetle charm - 2 gp - not useful

bracelet of mermaid scales - 3 gp - avoids the fight with the skill 8 stamina 10 tentacled thing

silver mirror - 4 gp - not useful

crystal key - 3 gold pieces - lets you open the night horror's door without using the rod or a spell

ebony facemask - 3 gp - not useful

bone flute - 2 gp - not useful

I obviously recommend buying the onyx egg, bracelet of mermaid scales and the crystal key.

389 - The dreaded giant sandworm at skill 10 stamina 20, I would expect it to kill a lot of adventurers.

18 - fire (177) or not (395)

Killing the sandworm lets you take one of its teeth, another one of those essential items.

If you have no fire spell, you lose 3 stamina from the cold. If you do have the fire spell, you only lose 1.

395 - Unsurprisingly, the desert gets very cold at night.

72 - trees (142) or not (39)

If you head to the trees, avoid the oasis as it is poisoned. Continue exploring and a scorpion stings you for 4 stamina. You then find a sack containing a sprite. Free him and you gain a luck point and the advice that you should wear a headband to protect from heatstroke.

39 - canister (63), create water (281) or nothing (355)

No water means you lose 1 skill and 4 stamina. If you drink from the water canister, you drink the last of the water. The spell has no such limitation.

63 - It won't matter if we use the last of our water here. We're nearly out of the desert now.

116 - scarf (289) or not (275)

No headscarf and you get sunstroke which docks you 1 skill point.

289 -The headscarf protects you from the sun.

164 - door (382) or jump (54)

The jump spell does work but it also costs 3 stamina. Better off using a different spell.

382 - open door (248) or not (210)

The open door spell costs 2 stamina, it's not a big difference but in a Livingstone book you don't throw stamina points away for any reason.

210 - If you didn't choose either of those 2 spells, you must fight a skill 10 stamina 10 serpent guard to get into the fortress.

42 - Through the doorway into the middle of a deserted square.

111 - casket (287) or not (140)

Inside the casket is a helmet. If you wear it, you can restore 1 skill point in case you lost some in the desert.

140 - The messenger of death is a cool idea but he'll never kill you the way he tries to.

330 - drapes (170), left (335) or right (162)

There's something we need behind the drapes.

170 - door (365), left (335) or right (162)

No no, the door itself isn't the required item, it just leads us to it.

365 - OK, obviously the skill 9 stamina 7 giant centipede isn't it either. Try killing it, see what happens.

393 - bucket (60) or not (21)

What we want is in the bucket.

60 - Yay, a bone dragon. 1 down 4 to go.

21 - Ian describes 3 different directions we can go, then tells us we're taking the middle path.

46 - jump spell (215) or not (259)

If you have the jump spell, you clear the pit easily. If not, things are a tad riskier.

259 - pass (144) or fail (122)

Fail the skill roll and you fall into the pit and lose 6 stamina and 1 skill.

144 - If your skill is high enough to win the game, you won't need a jump spell to clear the pit anyway.

152 - sword (236) or pack (387)

Using your sword is a luck test. Lucky and the eye stinger dies. Unlucky and you do. Let's try something else.

387 - mirror (65), pearl (319), onyx egg (361) or nothing (200)

The only option that works is the onyx egg. Any of the other options leads to you using your sword anyway. If you use a mirror, you also lose a luck point.

361 - For reasons that are in no way explained, an onyx egg renders the eye stinger immobile allowing you to escape.

340 - grille (295) or not (157)

The grille has an H written on it. Seeing it costs you 4 stamina and 1 luck and of course means you're 20% of the way to instant death.

157 - left (175) or right (353)

Left leads to not losing the game. Let's do that then.

175 - creature sleep (232) or not (7)

A creature sleep spell lets you avoid the fight with the skill 9 stamina 8 lizardman.

7 - If you didn't choose the spell, it's a straight up sword fight.

33 - left (125) or right (262)

We want to go left again. Otherwise we'll miss something.

125 - ladder (329) or go back (262)

We still want to go this way. Up the ladder.

329 - talk (83), attack (240) or flee (262)

You want to talk to him. If you attack, he summons a skill 6 stamina 6 serpent with a deadly bite. If you kill it, you can then choose to kill him too, doing so means you miss the important item.

83 - telescope (138) or not (321)

If you trade him the telescope, he gives you a crystal dragon in return. Obviously, we need this.

138 - Crystal dragon in hand, we go back down the ladder and take the right exit.

262 - A rather pointless encounter against some ratmen (skill 5 stamina 4 and skill 5 stamina 5)

218 - left (315) or right (139)

Killing the ratmen gets you 3 gp and a monkey's tail. Hooray?

The right archway is a trap. If you have a detect trap spell you avoid it otherwise you lose 1d6 stamina. Yet again the correct answer is to go left.

315 - We arrive at a t-junction but don't get to decide which way to go. Ian forces us to go left (again with the left!)

49 - left (250) or right (333)

If you take the right path you face a skill 7 stamina 5 and skill 6 stamina 6 pair of skeletons simultaneously. Once dead, you encounter a locked door. An open door spell or an iron key leads to you finding a chalice with a heart on it. We don't want the chalice, so once again we go left.

250 - door (128) or not (344)

The path splits here. There's no essential items along either one but you really don't want to go through the door.

Option 1 - door

128 - You come up against a death dog with skill 9 stamina 10.

378 - tunnel (95) or leave (344)

If you leave the room, you go to the same place as if you never entered the room and basically fought the dog for nothing. It's still better than facing what's ahead though.

95 - light (221), crawl in the dark (246) or leave (344)

If you have the light spell, you see a trap and can avoid it. Otherwise you blunder ahead.

246 - detect trap (388) or not (109)

The detect trap spell is a second chance at dodging the trap.

109 - lucky (16) or unlucky (368)

If you don't have either spell it's a luck test. Fail and die, pass and you only lose 3 stamina.

16 - Assuming you survive, you crawl out of the tunnel.

158 - Oh, and you rip the crossbow bolt out of your shoulder.

43 - You emerge into the room of fear and lose 3 skill.

117 - You see some lights and go over to investigate.

Option 2 - not door

344 - kill (101), talk (306) or ignore (80)

Mercy killing the dying man makes you feel guilty and you lose 2 luck points. Leaving him to die an agonising and drawn out death is fine though. If you talk to him, he just tells you to avoid the shadow of the stone.

80 - door (153) or not (339)

The door leads to the fear room, go in and you lose 3 skill. This is pretty bad. Don't do that.

Paths reunite

339 - Some weakling fireflies (skill 5 stamina 4, skill 5 stamina 5 and skill 4 stamina 6) to take down. In the rare case that they hit you, there's a 50% chance of them doing double damage.

38 - left (291) or right (381)

This is the stone the dying man warns us about. Walking to the left of it brings us into its shadow. Rather predictably, it then comes alive and attacks (skill 8 stamina 12). Walking to the right of it is safe.

381 - An entire section to tell you nothing happened.

74 - mermaid scales (396) or not (13)

Without the bracelet of mermaid scales, you have to fight a skill 8 stamina 10 tentacled thing. You have as many turns to win the fight as you have skill points. A pretty pointless restriction really.

361 - If you bought the bracelet, you skip the fight.

91 - straight (347) or left (59)

If you go left, you miss something important. Lets keep straight.

347 - alcove (212) or not (59)

There's something good in the alcove, let's look at it.

212 - box (29) or not (59)

The box has a picture of a dragon on it. Very subtle. We do, of course, want to open it.

29 - Woo, a silver dragon. 3 down, 2 to go.

59 - pass (280) or fail (253)

If you fail the skill test, you lose 4 stamina. Not a huge problem.

280 - sword (225) or item (244)

Stabbing the phantom doesn't work and just costs you 4 stamina. Let's have a look in our pack.

244 - pearl (185), silver button (350), ivory beetle (317) or nothing (260)

Neither the pearl nor the beetle do anything here. If you try, you lose the item and 4 stamina. The silver button is worth a try though.

350 - The silver button eliminates the phantom and you get a luck point out of the deal.

190 - left (161) or right (40)

If you head to the right, you can pick up a tapestry, sit in a chair and bathe your wounds before heading left anyway. None of this is necessary.

161 - attack (123), reply (296) or ignore (376)

Try to kill him and you die. Oops. If you talk to him and praise his work, he has useful information about the prize of the art competition.

376 - door (206) or not (66)

In the room is a skill 8 stamina 8 torturer, if you kill him you can talk to the prisoner. He tells you he saw the messenger of death put something in a golden casket.

66 - open door (322), key (110) or ignore (17)

You should have picked up the golden key, if you missed it you'll need the open door spell to get in. If you know the prize of the art competition, you should go in. The right answer gains you 2 skill and 2 luck. Not knowing the answer costs you 3 skill and 4 luck.

17 - left (298) or right (216)

If you head right, you encounter a skill 6 stamina 8 fiend. Every attack round, it has a 1 in 3 chance of burning you for 1 stamina. Once dead you can find a medallion with a heart on it. You really don't want this.

298 - donate (214) or not (268)

If you donate the gold piece, a panel flips up with the letter T on it. (the messenger of death left us alone for a while but he starts coming up again now). This costs you 4 stamina.

268 - light (383) or not (326)

Rather cruelly, the light spell does you more harm than good. If you cast it, you see the letter A and lose 6 stamina (4 for the letter, 2 for the spell). If you don't cast it, you walk into a trap but only lose 2 stamina and 1 luck.

326 - A hidden blade cuts into your shin.

79 - sword (85) or item (309)

If you try to use your sword, the night horror is skill 10 stamina 10. To make this slightly less fair, your hits only do damage 50% of the time. This puts it on par with the giant sandworm but wait, we can get even more unfair. If he hits you, you lose 1 skill. I'm thinking we should try to avoid it.

309 - lucky (145) or unlucky (121)

If you're unlucky, the bolt hits you and you lose 1 skill and 2 stamina. Either way you get to use an item.

145 - bell (198), tooth (331) or mirror (22)

If you use the tooth or the mirror, your item breaks and you have to fight the night horror. Losing the tooth means you can't win the game so that's a really bad idea. The item we want is of course the handbell.

198 - rod (290), key (150) or fire (239)

Picking up the rod stops the descending ceiling. This is good as otherwise you need a luck test to escape in time.

290 - key/spell (178) or not (366)

If you have a crystal key or an open door spell, then getting past the door is trivially easy. If you don't, you need to push one of the buttons on the rod. The right button costs you 1 skill and 2 stamina but shatters the lock allowing you to escape. The left button shoots you in the stomach costing you 2 skill and 4 stamina (plus, you then need to press the right key to shatter the lock, so 3 skill 6 stamina all up)

178 - Hopefully, you can do this the easy way and just use the key.

2 - carving (302) or not (93)

We absolutely want to examine the carving.

302 - An ebony dragon, nice. We even get a luck point out of the deal. Just one left!

93 - gift (11) or fight (188)

Should you choose to attack, the disciples are skill 9 stamina 5, skill 8 stamina 6 and skill 9 stamina 5. Let's see if we can get ourselves out of this.

11 - heart medallion (258), lucky (284) or unlucky (71)

The heart medallion is a sign that you are to be sacrificed to Leesha. Protip: you don't want to be sacrificed so I hope you didn't pick it up. Assuming you don't have the medallion, failing the luck test means you have no choice but to fight.

284 - You can give them any item at all as the gift. The monkey tail from the rat men is a good one to give them.

341 - A nice easy fight. There's 4 arms but each one is only skill 6 stamina 4.

191 - corridor (249) or rain (354)

Continuing down the corridor pits you against a skill 11 stamina 11 mutant orc that you have to fight with a 2 skill penalty. There's nothing to be gained from this fight so ignore it and just step through the golden rain.

354 - Behind the golden rain is a skill 8 stamina 8 slave guard.

235 - sleep (267) or stay awake (131)

As ludicrous as it sounds, sleeping in the middle of an enemy stronghold is completely safe and restores 2 of your stamina.

131 - hide (44) or confront (227)

If you choose to confront the man, he summons an air elemental. The only way to avoid getting killed by this is to use the phoenix tapestry. Or you could just hide.

44 - He doesn't see us and eventually leaves.

336 - open door (369) or hack lock (68)

Your magic no longer works since you passed through the golden rain, so that only leaves one option.

68 - read symbols (255), sun (243) or moon (273)

The read symbols spell won't work and the sun door is instant death. Again we only have one choice.

273 - white (14), black (156), red (183) or nothing (20)

The white pot contains a ring with a lightning bolt on it. This is helpful against Malbordus.

The black pot contains a monkey paw. Touching it gives you a luck test. Fail it and you lose 2 skill.

The red pot just has the letter E in it. Which costs you 4 stamina.

Let's get the ring and skip the rest.

20 - door (307) or trapdoor (397)

Down the trapdoor is just an iron eater. Fail a luck test and it eats your helmet costing you 1 skill.

307 - gems (143), statuette (386), casket (82) or leave (3)

The gems are extremely hot. If you fail a luck test, you lose 1 stamina and 2 skill. Lucky and you just lose 1 stamina.

The statuette is valuable and you gain a luck point for finding it.

The casket just contains a note warning you that the messenger of death is still after you.

3 - left (320) or right (358)

If you head left, you get locked out of the temple and lose the game. Let's not do that.

358 - eat (112) or not (237)

If you eat the grapes, you recover 4 stamina.

237 - creature sleep (371), tooth (294) or attack (211)

We have no magic, so don't waste your stamina on a creature sleep spell. Giving them a tooth is suicide as you need it to kill Leesha. That only leaves one option...

211 - The two skeleton warriors are skill 9 stamina 6 and skill 9 stamina 8.

53 - On we go.

119 - Leesha's servant attacks (skill 8 stamina 8).

73 - tooth (219) or sword (282)

If you managed to keep your sandworm tooth this long, now is the time to use it. Using your sword is just instant death.

219 - chest (265) or chase Leesha (137)

The chest contains the letter D. If this is the 5th letter you've seen, you die. Otherwise you just lose 4 stamina.

137 - idol (186) or chase Leesha (47)

It is critically important we check the idol.

186 - As it contains the last dragon artifact! Back to chasing Leesha.

47 - dwarf (171) or not (314)

Make sure you talk to the dwarf. Leesha is kind enough to wait for you.

171 - He gives you a warhammer and tells you which dragon to smash first, this is very useful.

314 - 5 dragons (35) or not (160)

Need I point out what happens if you don't have all the dragons?

35 - bone (87), silver (126), crystal (204), gold (62) or ebony (324)

The first one we smash is the first one we found. So that would be the bone one.

87 - hammer (362) or not (193)

It's the end of an Ian Livingstone book. Guess what happens if you're missing an item? :p

362 - The bone dragon is smashed but I smell trouble.

288 - ring (334) or not (351)

If you don't have the ring, the book gets a little ambiguous. "If you lose the first three attack rounds during combat, you will be paralysed by the evil sword and Malbordus will triumph" That sounds to me like you have to lose all 3 of the first 3 attack rounds to be paralysed. However the end of the reference reads "If you win the battle without losing 3 attack rounds" which sounds like losing any 3 attack rounds over the course of the fight is enough to be paralysed.

Fortunately this whole badly worded mess can be avoided if you picked up the ring in the pot.

334 - The ring protects you from the badly worded paralysis.

380 - Which means Malbordus is a straight skill 10 stamina 18 fight.

400 - Kill him and you win.

A fairly standard Ian book really. Hard fights, way too many essential items, treacherously narrow path to victory but very cool encounters despite that.