STORIES, NOT GAMES: Many writers start thinking along the lines of Infocom games or the Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, and look for ways to make their story more game-like than our format permits. Remember that these are stories told by you, with choices for the reader - more like a book than a game. In other words, this is storytelling. Here are some common concerns and their work-arounds:
Q: How can I keep track of inventory? A: We do not have an automated inventory tracking system. The software does not keep track of items you might own or be carrying. If an item is important, then you, the writer, are responsible for keeping track of it. One way to do that is to force the issue. To do that, you simply write the sentence, "You pick up the axe." Boom, the character is carrying the axe for the rest of that story branch (and all sub-branches). Alternately, you can offer an option for someone to pick up an axe, or not, as unconditional choices at the bottom of the page where the axe appears. Obviously, that means that you have one branch in which the character is carrying the axe, and one branch in which the character is NOT carrying the axe. It is up to you, as the writer, to remember that they are carrying it or not carrying it in any given branch.
Q: How do I simulate combat? A: Use our combat skills to do combat. We do NOT have any system to keep track of damage and hit points and stuff like that. Instead, you will use a conditional choice, based on one or more fighting skills, to determine the outcome of a fight. Then, on the success and failure pages, you will write out a description of what happened - remember, this is storytelling, not an RPG. You can simplify by using one single skill test to determine the outcome of the entire match, and then narrate what happened twice - once for if the reader wins the battle, and once for if the reader loses the battle. Or, you can simulate a longer battle by writing a rapid sequence of pages with skill tests, writing two outcomes for each skill test, narrating what happened - for example, you do some flying leaps and a fast exchange of punches, then there's this moment where you and your opponent are both squatting on the roof and sizing each other up, so we pause to detail the scene, then you do another skill test as you leap at your opponent and renew the fighting. As I already said, there's no way to simulate damage built into the engine. Write the scene like you would in a novel or movie, where the actions are scripted - and then add in the element of randomness by allowing a skill test to determine who wins or loses.