Alright, let's sort this out. Officially this is what happened:
You pickpocketed and got a key, turning the monk's 8 into a 10.
Gobbo got summoned and rolled a 3. With the key that meant you needed a 5 to win, but the rules required you to use a mighty slash immediately anyway.
You rolled an 8 on Gobbo, the stage/class rule reduced that to 7 but you still beat Gobbo.
You looted the bomb (you incorrectly pickpocketed before beating Gobbo, but I'm counting it as the item you got afterwards) off Gobbo's corpse. Now you needed a 7 to beat the monk.
You lost a life when your first mighty slash against the monk failed.
You rolled an 8, the stage/class rule reduced it to a 7, and that was just good enough to pass.
sooooooooo. no idea where this puts me @lordnigel hahahahaha
i got the 8.... but after everything else i did - i wasn't sure if it all reset when i lost a life....
i'm going to assume that i'm STILL ALIIIIIIIIIIVE!
and of course i am. cuz i'm a pirate. and i'm awesome. and no monkey monk can best me. and not that grubby Gobbo either.
i laugh in their general direction!
Alright, let's sort this out. Officially this is what happened:
woo hoooooooo. after all that - all i heard was "YE BE THE MOST AMAZING PIRATE THERE BE!!!!"
pretty much exactly what you said. tee hee