### 13

The liquid fire tears into the Levitron's rail, twisting and melting the shiny alloy as it cuts into the hull. Two more of the Kraan swoop in and hover above the prow. Their riders leap on to the deck and begin attacking part of the superstructure. 'Stop them,' screams Paido, drawing his sword. 'Stop them or we're doomed!'

You leap from the bow and run along the main deck, your weapon raised to strike.

Vordak 1: COMBAT SKILL 22 ENDURANCE 28

Vordak 2: COMBAT SKILL 21 ENDURANCE 26

You must fight these creatures one at a time. They are immune to Mindblast (but not Psi-surge). Unless you possess the Magnakai Discipline of Psi-screen, reduce your COMBAT SKILL by 2 points for the duration of the combat.

If you win the combat in four rounds or less, turn to 79.

If combat lasts five rounds or longer,4 turn to 158.

[4] Note that in this combat, you are meant to go to Section 158 immediately when the fight reaches the specified number of rounds: do not finish the combat first.

The original text reads 'If the combat lasts more than five rounds . . .' This would leave you no option if the fight lasts exactly five rounds. We reasoned that the most likely interpretation is that the author intended the second choice to be taken if the combat last five rounds or more. However, it is also possible that he intended for it to read "If you win the combat in five rounds or less . . . If the combat lasts more than five rounds," in which case would you get one more round to fight before going to Section 158.

This section is very problematic for a player just starting their adventures from this book. It is actually impossible to kill both Vordaks in time if your COMBAT SKILL is too low. According to a strict interpretation of the text, this combat must be won in four rounds or less. To find the probability of success in this combat, we counted the number of four digit combinations of numbers picked from the Random Number Table that kill both Vordaks, divided by 10,000 (the total number of four digit possibilities). For example, a 0.03% chance of success for an initial COMBAT SKILL of 14, reflects that only 3 combinations of random number picks (in this case, 0-0-0-0, 0-0-0-9, and 0-0-9-0) out of a possible 10,000 are capable of defeating both Vordaks in time. ENDURANCE points are a non-issue in this case since no combination which destroys both creatures in time will also deduct 20 or more ENDURANCE points from Lone Wolf. All of the probabilities given assume that Lone Wolf has chosen Disciplines most advantageous to his COMBAT SKILL for this battle--Weaponmastery with an appropriate Weapon in his possession, Psi-surge, and Psi-screen--as well as saved the one potion of Alether found in this adventure for this battle, for a total of 9 points above the initial COMBAT SKILL score.

Initial CS | Probability of Survival
--- | ---
10 | 0.00%
11 | 0.00%
12 | 0.00%
13 | 0.00%
14 | 0.03%
15 | 0.12%
16 | 0.72%
17 | 1.62%
18 | 4.59%
19 | 14.08%

A player starting from this adventure with 10-13 as her or his initial COMBAT SKILL cannot survive this battle and thus cannot complete the adventure. New players with a higher initial COMBAT SKILL still have a slim chance of completing this adventure.

Text copyright © 1987 Joe Dever.
Illustrations copyright © 1987 Gary Chalk.