Let's Play: Lone Wolf 1 "Flight from the Dark"

Loki · #1 05-12-2008, 01:32 PM

You kids these days. What with your vid-ja games and high-definition expanded edition Lord of the Rings on DVD. You make me sick. Back in my day if we wanted to Role Play a Game we had to make due with WORDS on PAPER. And damned if we didn't have hours of fun too.

In fact, I remember having so much fun that I wouldn't mind doing it again!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Back of the book

You are the sole survivor of a devastating attack on the monastery where you were learning the skills of the Kai Lords. You swear vengeance on the Darklords for the massacre of the Kai warriors, and with a sudden flash of insight you know what you must do. You must set off on a perilous journey to the capital city to warn the King of the terrible threat that faces his people: For you are now the last of the Kai you are now Lone Wolf.

Of course years of working in the crushing confines of our labor system have left me with no decision making abilities what-so ever, so you guys are going to have to help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Story So Far

In the northern land of Sommerlund, it has been the custom for many centuries to send the children of the Warrior Lords to the monastery of Kai. There they are taught the skills and disciplines of their noble fathers.

The Kai monks are masters of their art, and the children in their charge love and respect them in spite of the hardships of their training. For one day when they have finally learnt the secret skills of the Kai, they will return to their homes equipped in mind and body to defend themselves against the constant threat of war from the Darklords of the west.

Seems simple enough so far. I'm reminded of the first reel of 300. Maybe I'll get to fight a wolf in the snow! And don't worry, there won't be any "This is Sommerlund" jokes in this thread unless you guys really beg for them.

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In olden times, during the Age of the Black Moon, the Darklords waged war on Sommerlund. The conflict was a long and bitter trial of strength that ended in victory for the Sommlending at the great battle of Maakengorge. King Ulnar and the allies of Durenor broke the Darklord armies at the pass of Moytura and forced them back into the bottomless abyss of Maakengorge. Vashna, mightiest of the Darklords, was slain upon the sword of King Ulnar, called 'Sommerswerd', the sword of the sun. Since that age, the Darklords have vowed vengeance upon Sommerlund and the House of Ulnar.

Ugh. "Sommlendin" "Maakengorge" "Vashna" "Sommerswerd."

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Now it is in the morning of the feast of Fehmarn, when all of the Kai Lords are present at the monastery for the celebrations. Suddenly a great black cloud comes from out of the western skies. So many are the numbers of the black-winged beasts that fill the sky, that the sun is completely hidden. The Darklords, ancient enemy of the Sommlending are attacking. War has begun.

On this fateful morning, you, Silent Wolf (the name given to you by the Kai) have been sent to collect firewood in the forest as a punishment for your inattention in class. As you are preparing to return, you see to your horror a vast cloud of black leathery creatures swoop down and engulf the monastery.

Dropping the wood, you race to the battle that has already begun. But in the unnatural dark, you stumble and strike your head on a low tree branch. As you lose consciousness, the last thing that you see in the poor light are the walls of the monastery crashing to the ground.

Many hours pass before you awake. With tears in your eyes you now survey the scene of destruction. Raising your face to the clear sky, you swear vengeance on the Darklords for the massacre of the Kai warriors, and with a sudden flash of realization you know what you must do. You must set off on a perilous journey to the capital city to warn the King of the terrible threat that now faces his people. For you are now the last of the Kai--you are now the Lone Wolf.

So, in a nutshell I was collecting wood as silently as a wolf when my people's ancient enemies zerg rushed them but I didn't get killed because I ran into a stick. Also, maybe something about a magic sword.

Now, there isn't any pushing reset while powering off here. This is a book, not some electronic thing where all the mechanics are done for you, and so there is a whole new system to learn and love.

Up Next: The Rules of the Game or How to Play With No Controller.

Brickroad · #2 05-12-2008, 01:35 PM

I remember encountering precisely one of these books back in the day. It was something in between D&D and Choose Your Own Adventure.

I don't recall much except that it was set in Middle-earth and I was too young to really grasp the concept of the rules, and I ended up killing a monster (or an NPC? I don't remember) I shouldn't have been able to, and the book actually said "You beat [the monster]! Check your math, because we're pretty sure that's impossible."

Falselogic · #3 05-12-2008, 01:52 PM

Let's Play!

As a youth i went through my entire school library's collection of choose your own adventure books... good times

Alixsar · #4 05-12-2008, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brickroad

"You beat [the monster]! Check your math, because we're pretty sure that's impossible."

It's funny to me that you exploited a glitch in a book. That's pretty awesome.

MCBanjoMike · #5 05-12-2008, 02:03 PM

Wow, haven't thought about these books in a while. I had about the first 6 in the series (as well as one of the later ones, maybe #11) and I liked them a lot. You could carry over your character from one book to another, which was wicked, although it occasionally led to me cheating if I had something happen that lead to a permanent stat decrease. Man, those pissed me off something fierce.

But seriously, are you going to transcribe the entire book? That's a hell of a project to undertake. Anyway, if have some say in the skills you pick, I've got to recommend the one that lets you regain health for every story section that you pass without a battle. Forget what it's called, though, hunting? Foraging? I'm probably all mixed up, it's been 15 years since I read any of these.

Alex · #6 05-12-2008, 02:13 PM

Oh, yeah, definitely go with that one first if you can, just to save yourself the tedium. And make sure you give yourself a proficiency with swords, or whatever the mechanic used was!

http://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Home this is a great way to kill a weekend.

Loki · #7 05-12-2008, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Game Rules

You keep a record of your adventure on the Action Chart.

Okay, let's check out the Action Chart... Wow! It's just like I pressed Y!

Back when I was a kid, I wrote and erased so much on these charts that I wore a hole the page. Heaven forbid I just keep track of the numbers on a separate piece of paper or something.

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During your training as a Kai Lord you have developed fighting prowess--COMBAT SKILL and physical stamina--ENDURANCE. Before you set off on your adventure you need to measure how effective your training has been. To do this take a pencil and, with your eyes closed, point with the blunt end of it on to the Random Number Table. If you pick 0 it counts as zero.

Wait. What? The game doesn't even ask us to find a die? That's nice of it I guess... But still poking a chart with a pencil? Well, I showed the book who's the boss here. I used a pen.

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The first number that you pick from the Random Number Table in this way represents your COMBAT SKILL. Add 10 to the number you picked and write the total in the COMBAT SKILL section of your Action Chart. (i.e. if your pencil fell on the number 4 in the Random Number Table you would write in a COMBAT SKILL Of 14.) When you fight, your COMBAT SKILL will be pitted against that of your enemy. A high score in this section is therefore very desirable.

The second number that you pick from the Random Number Table represents your powers of ENDURANCE. Add 20 to this number and write the total in the ENDURANCE section of your Action Chart. (i.e. if your pencil fell on the number 6 on the Random Number Table you would have 26 ENDURANCE points.)

If you are wounded in combat you will lose ENDURANCE points. If at any time your ENDURANCE points fall to zero or below, you are dead and the adventure is over. Lost ENDURANCE points can be regained during the course of the adventure, but your number of ENDURANCE points can never go above the number with which you start your adventure.

Just like other Let's Play authors who didn't use save states I also opted to not cheat and keep my eyes closed for each time I prodded the number chart. While it would be nice to get a 9 each time I wouldn't feel right if I didn't play the game as intended. For the combat skill I "rolled" a 6 and for endurance I got a 5.

I threw in that "/25" under my endurance so I'd always know what the max was and also to make it seem more like Final Fantasy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Equipment

You are dressed in the green tunic and cloak of a Kai initiate. You have little with you to arm yourself for survival.

All you possess is an Axe (note under Weapons on your Action Chart) and a Backpack containing 1 Meal (note under Meals on your Action Chart). Hanging from your waist is a leather pouch containing Gold Crowns. To find out how many, pick a number from the Random Number Table. This number equals the number of Gold Crowns you possess at the start of the adventure. (Note the number in the Belt Pouch section of the Action Chart.)

You discover amongst the smoking ruins of the monastery, a Map of Sommerlund (note under Special Items on the Action Chart) showing the capital city of Holmgard and the land of Durenor, far to the east. You place the Map inside your tunic for safety.

I shoved my pen at the paper and ended up with 4 gold. I seem to be favoring the upper left quadrant of the chart. 'Figured you guys would want to know.

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You also find one of the following:

1 = Sword (Weapons)

2 = Helmet (Special Items). This adds 2 ENDURANCE points to your total.

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3 = Two Meals (Meals)

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4 = Chainmail Waistcoat (Special Items). This adds 4 ENDURANCE points to your total.

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5 = Mace (Weapons)

6 = Healing Potion (Backpack Item). This can restore 4 ENDURANCE points to your total, when swallowed after combat You only have enough for one dose.

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7 = Quarterstaff (Weapons)

8 = Spear (Weapons)

9 = 12 Gold Crowns (Belt Pouch)

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0 = Broadsword (Weapons)

To discover which of the above you find, you must pick a number from the Random Number Table and find the corresponding article on the list. Note this on your Action Chart, under the heading given in brackets, and make a note of any effect it may have on your ENDURANCE points.

I stroked 4 again which nets me the chainmail. Score! That brings me up to 29 endurance and into the world of high medieval fashion.

Quote:

How Much Can You Carry?

Weapons
The maximum number of weapons that you may carry is two.
Backpack Items
These must be stored in your Backpack. Because space is limited, you may only keep a maximum of eight articles, including Meals, in your Backpack at any one time.
Special Items
Special Items are not carried in the Backpack. When you discover a Special Item, you will be told how to carry it.
Gold Crowns
These are always carried in the Belt Pouch. It will hold a maximum of fifty crowns.
Food
Food is carried in your Backpack. Each Meal counts as one item.
Any item that may be of use and can be picked up on your adventure and entered on your Action Chart is given capital letters in the text. Unless you are told it is a Special Item, carry it in your Backpack.

A limited inventory? You can see how this is really an old school game. Also my paltry 4 gold doesn't look so bad now that the maximum is set at 50.

I'm going to skip the rules of combat for now and save them for our first big battle.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Levels of Kai Training

The following table is a guide to the rank and titles that are bestowed upon Kai Lords at each stage of their training. As you successfully complete each adventure in the Lone Wolf series, you will gain an additional Kai Discipline and gradually progress towards mastery of the ten basic Kai Disciplines.

Novice
Intuite
Doan
Acolyte
Initiate--You begin the Lone Wolf adventures with this level of Kai training
Aspirant
Guardian
Warmarn or Journeyman
Savant
Master
Beyond the ten basic skills of the Kai Master await the secrets of the higher Kai Disciplines or 'Magnakai'. By acquiring the wisdom of the Magnakai, a Kai Lord can progress towards the ultimate achievement and become a Kai Grand Master.

By completing each book in the series you grow progressively stronger. I've only ever played (read?) this first book so I don't know if the later books were more difficult to compensate for the higher stats and such. Still, it's a neat idea and seeing as there's some thirty books in the Lone Wolf series I guess it worked out pretty well.

Loki · #8 05-12-2008, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Kai Disciplines

Over the centuries, the Kai monks have mastered the skills of the warrior. These skills are known as the Kai Disciplines, and they are taught to all Kai Lords. You have learnt only five of the skills listed below. The choice of which five skills these are, is for you to make. As all of the Disciplines will be of use to you at some point on your perilous quest, pick your five with care. The correct use of a Discipline at the right time can save your life.

When you have chosen your five Disciplines, enter them in the Kai Disciplines section of your Action Chart.

Duh! I don't know which five to pick. Help a poor feller out and pick for me five disciplines for me to retroactively learn before all my teachers got killed.

Camouflage

This Discipline enables a Kai Lord to blend in with his surroundings. In the countryside, he can hide undetected among trees and rocks and pass close to an enemy without being seen. In a town or city, it enables him to look and sound like a native of that area, and can help him to find shelter or a safe hiding place.

If you choose this skill, write 'Camouflage' on your Action Chart.

Hunting

This skill ensures that a Kai Lord will never starve in the wild. He will always be able to hunt for food for himself except in areas of wasteland and desert. The skill also enables a Kai Lord to be able to move stealthily when stalking his prey.

If you choose this skill, write 'Hunting: no need for a Meal when instructed to eat' on your Action Chart.

Sixth Sense

This skill may warn a Kai Lord of imminent danger. It may also reveal the true purpose of a stranger or strange object encountered in your adventure.

If you choose this skill, write 'Sixth Sense' on your Action Chart.

Tracking

This skill enables a Kai Lord to make the correct choice of a path in the wild, to discover the location of a person or object in a town or city and to read the secrets of footprints or tracks.

If you choose this skill, write 'Tracking' on your Action Chart.

Healing

This Discipline can be used to restore ENDURANCE points lost in combat. If you possess this skill you may restore 1 ENDURANCE point to your total for every numbered section of the book you pass through in which you are not involved in combat. (This is only to be used after your ENDURANCE has fallen below its original level.) Remember that your ENDURANCE cannot rise above its original level.

If you choose this skill write 'Healing: +1 ENDURANCE point for each section without combat' on your Action Chart.

Weaponskill

Upon entering the Kai monastery, each initiate is taught to master one type of weapon. If Weaponskill is to be one of your Kai Disciplines, pick a number in the usual way from the Random Number Table, and then find the corresponding weapon from the list below. This is the weapon in which you have skill. When you enter combat carrying this weapon, you add 2 points to your COMBAT SKILL.

The fact that you are skilled with a weapon does not mean you set out on the adventure carrying that particular weapon. However, you will have opportunities to acquire weapons in the course of your adventures. If you pick the axe, you are lucky enough to be skilled in the one weapon Lone Wolf is carrying from the start of the adventure. (Explained fully in the Equipment section.)

You cannot carry more than 2 weapons. If you choose this skill, write 'Weaponskill in _______ +2 COMBAT SKILL points if this weapon carried' on your Action Chart.

Mindshield

The Darklords and many of the evil creatures in their command have the ability to attack you using their Mindforce. The Kai Discipline of Mindshield prevents you from losing any ENDURANCE points when subjected to this form of attack.

If you choose this skill, write 'Mindshield: no points lost when attacked by Mindblast' on your Action Chart.

Mindblast

This enables a Kai Lord to attack an enemy using the force of his mind. It can be used at the same time as normal combat weapons and adds two extra points to your COMBAT SKILL. Not all the creatures encountered on this adventure will be harmed by Mindblast. You will be told if a creature is immune.

If you choose this skill, write 'Mindblast: +2 COMBAT SKILL points' on your Action Chart.

Animal Kinship

This skill enables a Kai Lord to communicate with some animals and to be able to guess the intentions of others.

If you choose this skill, write 'Animal Kinship' on your Action Chart.

Mind Over Matter

Mastery of this Discipline enables a Kai Lord to move small objects with his powers of concentration.

If you choose this skill, write 'Mind Over Matter' on your Action Chart.

What ones will they be, Talking Time?

Hargrada · #9 05-12-2008, 02:32 PM

I have faint memories of reading/playing a few of these books sometime in my past. Only went as far as beating the Darklords (what was that, book 3? 4?), but I do remember them as being something above and beyond the normal choose your own adventure books. I'll follow along, and i'm sure something along the line will jog my memory of these adventures. What year were these released? My covers looked a lot different then the one pictured.

shivam · #10 05-12-2008, 02:32 PM

holy shit. this is fucking awesome.

Dadgum Roi · #11 05-12-2008, 02:33 PM

Hell yeah.

Dadgum Roi · #12 05-12-2008, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loki

By completing each book in the series you grow progressively stronger. I've only ever played (read?) this first book so I don't know if the later books were more difficult to compensate for the higher stats and such. Still, it's a neat idea and seeing as there's some thirty books in the Lone Wolf series I guess it worked out pretty well.

The stat increases didn't unbalance the later books IIRC, although combat was a lot dicier if you hadn't leveled up by playing the previous books. The main thing was the items- stuff like the Sommerswerd really came in handy.

Falselogic · #13 05-12-2008, 02:39 PM

1. hunting
2. mindshield
3.mindforce
4. healing
5. six sense

Sven · #14 05-12-2008, 02:41 PM

So is this a Fighting Fantasy rip-off series? I approve.

In which case, I'm totally trying to beat Starship: Traveler legitimately for the first time ever when I'm done with X-Com. That or Master of Chaos, which was basically a sandbox game in book form for the first 60% of the quest.

(After checking the Wikipedia entry: or Robot F'n Commando, where at one point they just give up and hand you a Valkyrie to beat the book with.)

Loki · #15 05-12-2008, 02:46 PM

I never encountered Fighting Fantasy books in my youth, so I don't know how closely Lone Wolf adheres to them. It was my understanding that each Fighting Fantasy was it's own story. More "Chose-Your-Own-Adventure" than D&D.

Brickroad · #16 05-12-2008, 02:47 PM

I suggest you play a pacifist character; no skills reflecting violence or combat!

sixth sense
healing
camouflage
animal kinship
mind over matter

I can't wait to get home and see the "screenshots". It sounds like with some practice the Random Number Table could possibly be exploitable. I recall the hobbit book that I had growing up required a d6, but maybe it didn't and I just knew how to pick 9s every time and that's how I beat the unkillable monster

MCBanjoMike · #17 05-12-2008, 02:47 PM

Oh yeah, Healing was the skill that I wanted you to take. Consider that a vote! I will also request MindBlast, because who doesn't want to Blast things with their Mind?

Loki · #18 05-12-2008, 02:50 PM

Mindblast is like Weaponskill except that you always have it except when you don't.

I can't remember if a lot of the monsters had protection against it but I'm guessing that the final boss of the book most defiantly will.

PapillonReel · #19 05-12-2008, 02:55 PM

Camouflage
Healing
Sixth Sense
Weaponskill in Spears
Mindblast

Ample Vigour · #20 05-12-2008, 03:00 PM

Lone Wolf is the jam. I'm salivating.

Octopus Prime · #21 05-12-2008, 03:01 PM

This does indeed sound like Fighting Fantasy, except with more awesome.

...I did read many a Fighting Fantasy book in my youth, and they were more Choose Your Own Adventure-y, but that didn't stop me from being proud that I beat a couple of them!

Also, I ignored the RPG-y bits and focused on the story, which made victory easier to come by, and didn't require me rolling dice in the middle of class.

Alex · #22 05-12-2008, 03:02 PM

Take HUNTING! I reccomend Animal Kinship just to create some moral dissonance as well.

Sven · #23 05-12-2008, 03:09 PM

Quote:

It was my understanding that each Fighting Fantasy was it's own story. More "Chose-Your-Own-Adventure" than D&D.

That's more or less right - it wasn't so much about the character development as the prose in their case, with a big emphasis on navigation and problem-solving (as combat was just dice rolls, most people reading the books at my grade school just skipped it).

Of course, then there was something like Agents of F.E.A.R., which was an awesome riff on superhero stories that was both brilliantly written (because you could be any one of four different hero types) yet impossible (because half the situations in the book had you looking on helplessly because your powers wouldn't help in that situation).

Adrenaline · #24 05-12-2008, 03:14 PM

This is sweet. I couldn't see how this could really work until I just remembered a series of Star Wars books that did the same thing I spent some time with. First there was the kit with a couple dice, cards for characters and weapons, and notepads and stuff. Then there was a new book with extra cards each month. It was extremely nerdy.

sraymonds · #25 05-12-2008, 03:19 PM

I've been using this.

Ample Vigour · #26 05-12-2008, 03:20 PM

You know, the Japanese have their own Fighting Fantasy spinoff.

Alex · #27 05-12-2008, 03:24 PM

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Originally Posted by sraymonds

I've been using this.

Holy shit, I need to buy an R4 for my DS immediately.

MCBanjoMike · #28 05-12-2008, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex

http://www.projectaon.org/en/Main/Home this is a great way to kill a weekend.

Now look what you did: I just played through the first book in the MagnaKai series for the first time in over a decade. I got decent "rolls", ending up with 25 endurance and a happy 18 combat skill - both of which served me well. I chose to make my character something of a ranger/survivalist, so I gave him Healing, Camouflage, Tracking, Hunting and Sixth Sense (assuming it to be honed from years of living in the wilds, not some sort of mystical nonsense). I died once from a bad choice (ie, immediate death), which is kind of frustrating - I'm not really sure what the protocol is when that happens, it was early enough in the book that I decided to just "reload" the game and choose another option. (SPOILERS: It was at the part where you meet the undead captain. If you choose to approach carefully it is INSTANT DEATH, whereas attacking him without knowing who he is yields a chance to beat him. What the hell?) After that, I managed to scrape my way through the rest of the game honestly, coming very close to death on a few occasions. At one point I was down to only 2 endurance left, but thankfully my Healing skill saved my bacon. Also, you mentioned that Mind Blast probably won't work against the big badguy, but my final fight was against a robber in a store, who was a total pushover.

I'm debating playing book 2 now, but I think I'll save that for tomorrow.

Sven · #29 05-12-2008, 03:51 PM

Quote:

died once from a bad choice (ie, immediate death), which is kind of frustrating - I'm not really sure what the protocol is when that happens, it was early enough in the book that I decided to just "reload" the game and choose another option.

This is why I always carried at least two bookmarks with me when reading one of these types of books as a kid. Every time you're asked to make a choice, bookmark that page... because there's never any rhyme or reason for what they chose to kill you.

MCBanjoMike · #30 05-12-2008, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sven

This is why I always carried at least two bookmarks with me when reading one of these types of books as a kid. Every time you're asked to make a choice, bookmark that page... because there's never any rhyme or reason for what they chose to kill you.

Still, it's frustrating, because I wanted to play the book "seriously". But I figured there was no point in starting over, I'd just end up at exactly the same spot 10 minutes later +/- 5 Endurance.