Twist on a "Choose Your Own Adventure" game!

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Keeper Jon
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Twist on a "Choose Your Own Adventure" game!

Post by Keeper Jon » Fri Aug 24, 2012 5:47 pm

Okay, so I came up with an idea for a game we can play here in the forums. It's inspired by the game with Harvey Walters on YSDC, but this one has a twist to it.

I love Choose Your Own Adventure books, so I thought we'd pseudo-create one here... kinda sorta. Let me explain:

Our Character:
Det. Jack Dixon - A hard-edged man with lots of street smarts. He doesn't play well with others, which is why he prefers to work alone. We can flesh-out his game stats later.

How to Play:
So each person will write a brief narrative that follows-up from the previously posted narrative. But, each narrative must end with at least two choices. So the person who is writing the new narrative must have selected one of the options from the previous post, and is now taking our story in that new direction. I hope this will make sense as you see and read my first posting in the game.

You are encouraged to be as descriptive as you want in the story, but remember, if you make it too long and verbose, it's possible that other players may not want to "slog" through your narrative before doing the next posting. We all know how short attention spans can be while online. :D :ni:

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Re: Twist on a "Choose Your Own Adventure" game!

Post by Keeper Jon » Fri Aug 24, 2012 6:03 pm

It was a dark and stormy summer night in 1923, (you knew the story had to open with that, right?). Jack is alone as he drives his Packard back to Arkham after just wrapping up a missing persons case in Innsmouth. Jack's dinner of a tuna salad sandwich is still wrapped in today's newspaper on the seat next to him. The rain, while steady, is fairly light, but the storm is still inching it's way through New England.

The road is dark, slick, and lonely at this hour. Not a soul in sight, just the ever stretching fir trees on either side of the road. Suddenly, a pair of deer leap from the darkness right in front of your car! Your reflexes kick-in as you swerve to avoid the animals! Your car goes into a tailspin as the trees seem to leap out at you as well. Crash! The Packard has smashed into a tree and has flipped onto it's side. The force of the wreck flung your body out the windshield a second after it was shattered.

Miraculously, you have survived the crash with only minor cuts and scrapes, bumps and bruises. The same cannot be said for your car, though. It takes a few minutes, but you finally regain your bearings enough to stand and assess your situation. You're soaking wet on a lonely road several miles outside of Arkham. You have your sidearm and rifle still in the boot of the Packard, and your dinner is somewhere in the grass and trees amongst the debris from the car wreck.

Do you:
1. Wait by the car wreck for someone to drive by and help you?
2. Gather everything still usable and start walking the road to Arkham?
3. Gather everything still usable and check the woods to see if there is a farm and farm house nearby?

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Re: Twist on a "Choose Your Own Adventure" game!

Post by Tariq » Mon Aug 27, 2012 4:46 pm

Option 2:

You stagger to your feet willing your battered limbs to work as you slide and slither your way to the wreckage of your auto. In the darkness you struggle with the boot until finally with one last desperate yank it opens spilling the contents into the deep furrows of ripped turf.

As water cascades down your face you make out the shape of your Winchester rifle... it's stock split slightly. You're not sure how many more shots you'll get out of it before the stock breaks. You scavenge 10 rounds for the rifle. At least your trusty snub nosed .22 revolver is intact... and the box of 30 rounds in the glove compartment gives you small comfort.

With a hip flask of burbon, lighter, sodden note pad, pencil, pack of waterlogged and crushed smokes, your keys and pocket knife you set off along the partially flooded road to arkham. After trudging through the freezing downpour for nearly an hour you're getting exhausted, but at least it was better than wandering into the pitch black Forrests. Thinking about the uninviting woods makes you wonder what scared those two deer enough to make them bolt into the road like that.

You shudder and slog onwards until you finally arrive at a fork in the road. You can't recall which is quicker but know that both will lead to Arkham. Do you:

1) Take the left fork which leads uphill for some way (a hard muddy slog but less likely to be flooded)

Or

2) Take the right fork which leads gently downhill (towards what could be a couple of abandoned farm buildings but is already ankle deep towards the lower section of road)

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Re: Twist on a "Choose Your Own Adventure" game!

Post by Wordcraftian » Mon Aug 27, 2012 5:49 pm

1) Take the left fork which leads uphill for some way (a hard muddy slog but less likely to be flooded)
You think it better to go left and maintain visibility of the things that may crawl at foot level. Also, if there are other travelers out this late, they would be likely to choose this route as well and you find some comfort in that thought.

You take a swig of bourbon to warm your innards for what could be a very long uphill stroll, slightly invigorated you begin by putting one foot in front of the other. It wasn't long before the rain slowed to drips. In the new quiet you hear a growl in the distance behind you, so you quicken your step and focus on the path trying to block out the sound. But the growl continues to gain. As it gets louder, you recognize it for what it is... the engine of a motor car! You turn to look and the vehicle slows to a stop beside you.

"It's a cold one tonight." The man looked old. Older than old men ought to look. But it wasn't his wrinkles that put you off, twas the white opacity of his eyes.

"Can you see me?"

"Yain't no spectre fer damn sure, son. Where is it yer headed?"

"On my way to Arkham," bemused, you pull your revolver and approach the man, pointing it dangerously close to his face.

"It's a cold one tonight," The old man repeated, not acknowledging the weapon in any capacity.

Do you:

1) Put your gun away and get in the car.
2) Pull the trigger.
3) Make excuses and continue your journey.
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Re: Twist on a "Choose Your Own Adventure" game!

Post by Tariq » Tue Aug 28, 2012 11:41 pm

Option 1.

You feel the staccato tapping of ice cold raindrops as the brief lull in weather seems to end... deciding you cannot endure much more of the cold wet walk ahead you slip the revolver back into you jacket pocket and greatfully clamber into the car.

The car is an older model Ford and has seen both better days and worse repairs (one side panel has been replaced with a wooden board). The driver is similarly out of the current timeframe and dressed in odd combinations of tail coat, woolen vest, denim dungarees and mismatched old boots. His wizened body bent forward as he begins the toruous drive up the hill road.

Soon you are on a more familiar track and recognise you have only 15 miles left to Arkham. You begin to relax a little despite the now intermittent blusters of large dark raindrops and the occasional rumbles of thunder still audible over the decrepit engine.

Do you:

1. Strike up some small talk with the driver?
2. Offer the driver a swig of burbon?
3. Try to get some sleep until you reach Arkham's familiar suburbs?
Or
4. Wait in silence until you get to Arkham.

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Re: Twist on a "Choose Your Own Adventure" game!

Post by Scriven » Wed Aug 29, 2012 2:25 pm

Option 1. Strike up some small talk with the driver.
“Hell of a night for a drive,” you remark with forced casualness. “You live in town, I suppose?”

For a long moment, your companion doesn’t answer. His milky eyes stare fixedly ahead as he drives.

“Not in town, no,” the old man finally answers in a flat tone. “Just out looking for my boy. I see him in these parts from time to time.”

He doesn’t elaborate. The stifling humidity of the summer night air and your own damp skin and clothing fills the car interior with an unpleasant, warm fug, causing the windshield to fog to the point of near opacity. The old man doesn’t seem to notice. For the first time, it occurs to you to wonder what he meant by “a cold one tonight.”

Beneath the stale smell of the car’s mouldering wood and leather and your own perspiration you catch the whiff of an acrid, musky reek.

Do you:

1. Ask the old man about his boy.
2 Ask the old man what he meant by "a cold one."
3. Try to determine the source of the strange smell.
4. Continue driving in silence towards Arkham.
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Re: Twist on a "Choose Your Own Adventure" game!

Post by Dr. Gerard » Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:21 pm

mjmedwick wrote: 3. Try to determine the source of the strange smell.
Fog thickens around the Ford. You wonder how the man could possibly still see the road.

Another whiff of stench stings your nose. It seems to be coming from behind you. No longer able to ignore it, you crane your neck and search the rear seat. Nothing, but the smell is much stronger back there. Just as you choke down a little reflux, the car begins to swerve.

“Jumpins!” the man shouts.

Whump!

The car careens and sideswipes something huge and fleshy. You hit the top of the cab and bite your tongue a little. The old jalopy rattles on for a bit, like the road has suddenly turned into rubble, then splashes into a pool of fetid muck.

All is quiet for a moment. The old man’s hands are trembling, but his face is eerily serene. Through the fog, you can see clouts of steam escaping from the engine block.

Then, you hear a faint scratching from behind you. At first, it seems to come from inside the car.

Thunk.

Scrape.

You manage to open the door and step onto a stone.

Thunk, scratch.

Something is in the trunk of the man’s Ford. Something…alive.

1. Run away blindly into the fog.
2. Demand to see what’s in the trunk.
3. Run back to the road to see what you’ve struck.
4. Pull out your gun and get ready for business.
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Keeper Jon
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Re: Twist on a "Choose Your Own Adventure" game!

Post by Keeper Jon » Thu Aug 30, 2012 1:38 pm

Dr. Gerard wrote:4. Pull out your gun and get ready for business.
You think, "Something is rotten in the State of Denmark," as you ease toward the back of the Ford. The windows are so fogged now, that you cannot clearly see the old man.

"Hey! What's in the boot?" You rap thrice on the trunk lid with the pistol, and you are answered by more scrabbling from within. You note that the response was not a similar three-tap pattern to echo your own tapping. You suspect the old man has captured a 'coon and stuffed it into the trunk. The Ford rocks gently from the creature's furious movements within.

You walk toward the driver's door to get an answer from the old man. The windows are now an opaque white from the fog. You slide your pistol back into the holster for safe-keeping as your other hand cranks the handle on the door downward. With a pop, the door swings wide open. It is only your years of finely tuned instincts and reflexes that save you from having your face torn to ribbons. As the old man is now transfigured into some kind of beast. His large pink eyes bulge from the dusty white fur that covers his face. Bright white teeth set in blood red gums chitter as a clawed hand slashed at you a second before. And the smell... it wasn't the thing in the trunk, it was the old man that set your nose into overdrive.

The leather of your shoes slip on the road as you backpedal to gain some distance from the thing. As you attempt to quick-draw your pistol, it slips from your fingers and skitters under the car. A glint of blue from the barrel tells you that it is just there, behind the wheel. But can you get to it in time? The thing that was the old man is now scrambling to get out of the car.

Do you...

1. Go for the gun.
2. Flee into the woods.
3. Open the trunk.
4. Try to reenter the car once the thing is out.

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Re: Twist on a "Choose Your Own Adventure" game!

Post by Barl0we » Sun Oct 21, 2012 1:06 am

1. Go for the gun.
As the thing that was once an old man launches itself at you, you manage to trick the monstrosity with a feint. As it breaks throug the fog completely, you are awarded with a blessedly short glimpse of its true visage.

You manage to pick up your gun. Unfortunately, as you try to fire at the scrabbling beast, you find that the gun is jammed.

Do you...

1. Make for the passenger seat door to get your Winchester
2. Reach for your pocket knife
3. Open the trunk
4. Flee through the woods
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Re: Twist on a "Choose Your Own Adventure" game!

Post by Thomas R. Knutsson » Thu Apr 04, 2013 3:27 am

4. Flee through the woods
You distract the beast momentarily by throwing the gun at it, turn around and start to run into the thick dark woods. Your heart is beating fast and under your running feet twigs snap and crack. The branches of trees and bushes scrape against you, ripping your clothes and make you bleed from small cuts on your face. After awhile you stop to catch your breath, and while straining to hear something else than the sound of your beating heart you hear something that sounds like if the car is driving away. That sound is like a balm for your panicked mind, and you manage to calm down enough to be able to form coherent thoughts. Your socks are soaked from having run on the wet mossy undervegetation, and as the rain picks up again, together with a chilly wind, you realize you have to get somewhere warm before you might catch a cold or an pneumonia. It is now you realize that you might be lost in the woods.

Do you...
1. Try to remember your days as a boyscout.
2. Try to find some shelter.
3. Try to figure out in which direction the road is and walk in that direction.
In the morning, mist comes up from the sea by the cliffs beyond Kingsport. White and feathery it comes from the deep to its brothers the clouds, full of dreams of dank pastures and caves of leviathan.
-"The Strange High House in the Mist" by HPL

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