Lone Wolf AD&D Part 11 Encounter F

Lone Wolf AD&D Part 11 Encounter F - Banedon the Mage

As the party makes its way through the woods they come upon a clearing and recognize it as the Ruins of Raumos an ancient forest temple. A young man stands near the crumbled pillars of the temple, all that remains standing of the building. He is dressed in thee robes of the Toran Mageguild, skyblue with stars. All around him are Giaks. He raises his hand and a bolt of lightning flashes out killing every Giak it touches. Still about half a dozen are left. The players can see that behind the mage a Giak has climbed atop a broken pillar and with a long dagger in its hand is poised to leap upon the unsuspecting mage.

The surviving Giaks are 1HD creatures AC7 armed with short swords and spears. The Giak on the pillar is also 1HD.

Should the player character make themselves known before the Giak on the pillar attacks the 6 in front of the mage will make a run for it. The Giak on the pillar will hesitate for a combat round before running.

The mage will thank the characters and if they still are wearing the cloaks they started with will recognize them as students at the Kai Monastery. He will introduce himself as Banedon, a journeyman of the Brotherhood of the Krystal Star, the Toran Mageguild and thank them for their help.

He will explain that he was on the way to the monastery with a message from his guildmaster to warn them of an attack by the Darklords. He has a vellum scroll with this message. He was delayed in setting out by one of the guildmembers named Vonatar who was in league with the Darklords.

If his told of the fate of the monastery he will give one member of the group (preferably a magic-user) a small Crystal Star Pendent. This pendent marks the wearer as a friend of the Mage Guild and is a +1 Amulet of Protection.

Banedon will explain that he must return to his guild with news immediately

Banedon is a 3rd level mage. He bears a glove of lightning that allows him to cast a 5HD lightning bolt once per day. Trying to remove the glove will destroy it. He bears a +1 dagger and a pouch with some gold, silver and copper. Hidden among the stars of his robes are 10 20gp diamonds.

Lone Wolf AD&D Part 10 Encounter E-5

Lone Wolf AD&D Part 10 Encounter E-5

9.

The 3 locations marked as '9' on the map are latrines. They are a room with a bench and a hole that drops down 40ft to a branch of an underground stream.

10.

This room is a supply closet but the back 10ft is packed with bric a brac. The druids tend to use a lot of wicker. Amid the clutter is a minor magical item. A Broom of Sweeping.

The Broom of Sweeping

On command (a word of activation and cancellation is needed t start and stop the broom) the broom will begin sweeping and will sweep a 10x10ft section of floor every Turn. The Broom will sweep in  a straight line then move right  (if it can) and begin sweeping back the way it came just 10ft over, It will continue to sweep forward then back, then over 10ft till it can no longer move to the right of its original starting position. If it can no longer move right it simply reverses the process t that point.

While the broom puts very little weight down on the surface it does sweep with enough strength to move small objects and trigger sensitive traps.


11.

This is thee room of a 2nd lvl Druid named Smythe. He oversees the 1st lvl druids assigned to this aarea. Smythe is more than a bit of a coward and will run rather than fight if he can help it.

Lone Wolf AD&D Part 9 Encounter E-4

Lone Wolf AD&D Part 9 Encounter E-4

6.

The halls in this complex are unlit but there are sconces to hold torches at each corner and about every 30ft. This short hallway also has silver manacles set every 10ft along the south wall, The manacles can be broken free of the wall if struck several times with a mace, hammer or sword. Each set of manacles has 40sp worth of silver metal.

7.

This short hallway ends in a stout wooden door with a wooden handle. The handle keeps the door shut if closed but there is no lock and turning it will open the door,

8.

This oddly shaped room holds tables with tightly woven wicker baskets. Inside each basket are two ferrets. There are ten baskets. Beneath two of the tables are wooden chests. These hold ferret food. If the baskets are left open the ferrets will escape.

Lone Wolf AD&D Part 8 Encounter E-3

 Lone Wolf AD&D Part 8 Encounter E-3

4.

The corridor is unlit and comes to an abrupt end. The secret door is a wood panel covered with plaster and painted grey. The Druid's are not skilled at building and this is the best they could come up with. In the light of a candle there is a 1 in 6 chance of noticing then plaster even without actively searching for a secret door. If a lantern or even a torch is brought to the end of the hall then there is a 50% chance of noticing the plaster and a 100% chance if actively searching for a secret door.

One good swing will not only shatter the plaster but will also crack the board used as a door. This will cause the creature in room 5. to become aware that someone is approaching.

5.

Inside this circular chamber is an uninjured Black Bear 3+3HD, The Bear is uncharmed but reasonably tamed by the attention of the Druids. Breaking the doorway will cause it to wake and sit in the center of the room waiting to be fed. If the door is passed without breaking it then the Bear will be sound asleep if wakened, In either case the Bear will only attack if attacked. If fed the bear will attempt to follow the characters and sit and gesture for food everytime they stop.

Lone Wolf AD&D Part 7 Encounter E-2

Lone Wolf AD&D Part 7 Encounter E-2

3. The corridor runs north beyond the secret door. 6 cell-like doors line the hall. Each cell contains the chamber of a 1st level druid. Their order maintains that only animals should exist and man and monster should perish. They believe that all those who follow their belief will be reincarnated as an animal and take their rightful place ruling the earth.

The chambers are simple with not much more than a cot and chamber-pot; A candle for light nd no metal of any kind. Thy wield a wooden staff for defense and know only a single spell.

Lone Wolf AD&D Part 6 Encounter

Lone Wolf AD&D Part 6 Encounter E-1 - The Bear

As the characters make their way through heavy woods they are safe from the Kraan flying overhead and even offered some relief from the noisy Giak foot patrols but the wood itself has many perils. A 3+3HD Black Bear lunges from the mouth of a hidden cave scattering bracken and debris as it emerges. If the characters are surprised the Bear takes 1 swipe at a random character before they can react (the Bear normally gets 3 attacks claw/claw/bite for 1-3/1-3/1-6 damage but if both claw attack hits then it gets an additional 2-8damage as a bear-hug).

The Bear can only move 20 feet from the cave entrance and if attacked with ranged weapons or spells will retreat into the cave. The Bear has been charmed by evil Druids to protect the cave entrance (a large silver collar worth 10gp is around its neck. The possession or sale of this collar may be noted by this evil sect and the player character marked for revenge)

1. The Cave Mouth - Overgrown but a careful examination will note that the opening has been widened by tools. The floor slopes downward about 15 feet before reaching area 2.

2. This circular room appear natural only at first glance. The ceiling is no more than 8feet high and festooned with lichen as are the walls. If the lichen is scrapped away the marks of tools can clearly be detected. The secret door to the North is very crudely constructed but it is stoutly made and locked. There is a keyhole at its center about 4 feet up from the floor,

The floor of the room is layered in debris and the cracked bones of many  men and animals. There is a small pool of water at the East wall about a foot deep and 5 feet wide. At the edge in the water is a copper chest and within the chest a silver key that unlocks the secret door.

Lone Wolf AD&D Part 5 Encounter

Encounter D: The Ant Colony

To the west of the Kai Monastery are low hills. In the aftermath of the destruction of the monastery the Kraan have been sent over the forests of the East, North and South to attack villages, freeholds towns and settlements as the forces of the Draklords move toward the cities. Some Giak forces were sent on foot to patrol the Western Hills.

The Kai Lords were great friends of nature and both wild animals and monstrous creatures were often allies. The Giant Ants of the Western Hills have longed maintained an amicable truce with the Kai Lords and have always despised Giaks.

Several large colonies of Giant Ants nest in the Western Hills but the nearest is of moderate size with several hundred workers and around 100 warriors. The Queen, Belszimon, is willing to give shelter to the characters and any servants of the Kai, but is unwilling to do more than send escorts to the other nests. 

Beneath the chambers of the colony is a great river that can take the characters to the other nests on the western border as well as further underground encounters.

Lone Wolf AD&D Part 4 Encounter

Encounter C: Kraan and Giaks

When the heavy cover of the forest breaks Kraan can be seen patrolling the skies. Small Kraan spawn of 1HD fly in groups of 3d4. The spawn only have a bite attack of 1-2dmg but their numbers can prove dangerous and they can make it through the heavy woods that stop the larger Kraan.

If the characters are spotted in lighter woods a swarm of spawn will attack. A second swarm will spot the combat after 1d4+3 combat rounds and pursue the characters even into cover. The next time the characters break from cover they will be attacked by two Giak archers sitting on the back of hovering 4HD Kraan, The archers are 1HD Giaks.

Following this attack a patrol of 8Giaks will be set down nearby (1 Giak will be a 3HD leader in chainmil carrying a falchion, the other 7  1HD in red dyed leather armor with shortswords)

Lone Wolf AD&D Encounter Part 3

Encounter B: Kraan Above

As the characters make there way through the woods they are overflown by a large Kraan. The beast circles several times before flying off. After a half hour the Kraan flies overhead again and if the characters  have not kept to heavy woods it comes crashing down and makes a bite attack against  random character. The Kraan gets a -3 to the attack and is 3HD (16HP) Bite 1d4dmg. The Kraan will immediately fly off.

About an hour later the players will come to a clearing with a large rock outcrop on one side with a pool of water beneath it. A body is collapsed near the pool wearing chain mail and the tabard of the Kai. (One of the slain guardsmen from the monastery). The chainmail bears +1 AC enchantment and weighs no more than leather armor. The characters are aware of the 'enchanted' armor of the Kai Guards.

If anyone approaches the pool the Kraan launches itself from where it is hidden atop the rocks and attack.

Lone Wolf AD&D - Part 2 - Encounters

The area around the Kai Monastery is not developed and only a few small steadings which house servants of the Kai are nearby. To the west are the mountains, tall and foreboding. To the North is the port-city of Toran, to the East the city of Tyso and to the South the capital Holmgard. The main road to the East runs North-South from Toran to the capital but the road is many miles East and the wild forest is between with the tracks, trails and monastery road thick with Giak, Doomwolves or worse and the sky overflown by Kraan.

Here are some possible encounters in the forest surrounding the monastery.

1). The wounded Ankheg

The forest is a dangerous place even for the minions of the Darklords.

A patrol of 12 Giak flushed a pair of young Ankheg while they hunted  from their burrow. The players hear the sound of conflict as they make there way through the woods. A rustling of branches alerts them to 2 Giak 1HD archers (shortbows, 15 arrows each, in red dyed leather armor AC7) the Giaks are automatically surprised for a turn as they were fleeing the battle with the Ankhep.

The will turn and run back the way the came if given the chance. About 30 yards distance there is a small clearing in the forest where the leader of the Giak's (3HD in chainmail, AC5 HP down to 6, wielding a longsword) and 3 1HD Giaks (red leather armor, AC7, 2 with spears, 1 with short sword, HP 2, 5, 6) battle an Ankheg 4HD HP down to 12 with no stomach acid spit left.

The body of a second, smaller Ankheg is in the clearing as well as 4 Giak warriors. The bodies of 2 Giak archers partially dissolved in acid are near the edge of the clearing.

The 3HD Giak commanders sword is loot from a destroyed steading some miles distance.

Lone Wolf AD&D Conversion - Monster - Kraan

Kraan

The Kraan are one of the first monsters encountered in the Lone Wolf series.

They are described as leather-winged flying creatures and in game terms as having a combat skill of 16 and an endurance of 25. A very powerful foe right out of the gate.

One of the main problems with a conversion between the AD&D system and the LW gamebooks is the skill-based system and relative uniformity of the monster strengths as compared with the level experience system and incremental increase in strength and power of both characters and monsters in the AD&D system.

The Kraan are perfect example. If they are to be encountered as monsters to be fought directly from the very first then they must be represented as creatures of relatively low HD. For a game beginning with 1st level PCs then it is my belief a Kraan of no more than 2HD should be encountered. A party of 4 1st level PCs will be challenged to defeat a 2HD Kraan with 2 attacks bite 1d4/ claw 1d6 AC7 but completely overwhelmed by a more powerful, larger version that can act as a mount for enemy NPCs.

 For my game conversion I'm using Kraan of varying ages. The youngest encountered are Spawn. They are 1HD flying creature with a single slashing attack of 1-2HP damage. They run to about 50lbs and are AC8. They are normally encountered in groups of 1d6+1

2-3HD Kraan are Young and are double the size of the Spawn. They are still too small to act as mounts and more solitary. 1d4 are the normal number encountered.

Young Adult Kraan are 4-5HD, AC5  with 3 attacks Bite 1d6 and Claw/Claw 1d8/1d8 and are more than twice the size of Kraan Young. These creatures are much larger than humans and are trained to be mounts, but are still not used as mounts for the Darklords but smaller Humans and Giaks will be found riding them.

Lone Wolf Book 1 AD&D Conversion Part 1 The Watchtower - update

The adventure begins with 4 first level characters, students from the Kai Monastery, sent to bring fresh supplies and take their turn at watch. The tower is about ten miles distant from the Monastery toward the South-East.

The tower is on a hill about 80ft above the surrounding forest. The woodlands are thick and wild with only hunting and animal trails nearby and the wagon road that leads back to the monastery. There is a roadway some distance away that follows the valley floor and heads from Toran to the North to Holmgaard to the South with a branch leading toward the Kai Monastery but it is hidden by the tall trees of the forest.

What can be seen from the roof, which is 60feet high, are the towers of the Kai Monastery, some open fields to the west where crops are grown, cattle raised and small farms scattered about, and the tops of trees for the most part to the North, East and South. The tower is used as a fire watch for the most part and sometimes a waystation for hunters and rangers, especially during the winter.

1. The interior of the tower has a large hearth against one wall and a smaller iron stove more frequently used against another. There are wide benches used for beds or storage against the walls and two long tables with benches in the center of the room. A trapdoor leads to a root cellar and small opening near the hearth is a well that goes down a spring beneath the hill.

The stairs lead to the top floor where the watchers sleep and keep emergency supplies and signaling equipment. A short set of stairs leads to the roof which slightly curved so that water will roll down into gutters along the side and collect in rain barrels below. From this rooftop that the Player Character see a dark cloud envelope the Kai Monastery.

2. The stables are large enough to hold a dozen horses and contain a small forge and anvil.

If they make their way to the monastery they find the swirling black cloud to be impenetrable.   

If the players decide to stay they will have the following encounters.

A).  As the sun sets they will hear the creaking of a wagon and shortly thereafter see it approach up the wagon-road. It is a two-horse wagon half-loaded with fresh cut and gathered wood. One of the horses is slightly injured and there is blood on the bed and bench. (Back-tracking the wagon along the road toward the monastery they will find a narrow side-road where woodcutters had been at work. At the end of the track is the scene of a fight with nothing to be found except a two-man saw and a blood-covered woodsman's axe).

B). Around midnight the sound of wings will be heard over the watchtower and the moon will be obscured for several minutes by a massive flight of Kraan heading east.

C). An hour before dawn a patrol of Giaks (12 1HD and 1 3HD brute) dressed in red-dyed leather armor, 8 carrying shields, spears and short-swords, while 4 carry shortbows, short-swords and quivers with 30 arrows each, The leader carrys a falchion and shield and wears a shirt of mail painted red.

D) About noon a Kraan carrying two Giaks will fly over the watchtower. Within an hour a force of 50 Giak will cut-off the north road with more Giaks and Kraan showin up by the hour till a Hellghast arrives to lead the assault.

Repost - Lone Wolf - Monster - Giak

Giaks are the most common foes in the Lone Wolf setting. They are bred in spawning pits by the Dark Lords. There are several breeds of the original Giaks but they are much smaller and weaker than the later breed of Mountain Giak.

For game purposes the lesser breeds of Giaks are monsters and use the monster combat tables based on HD while the Mountain Giaks are an NPC character race and use the fighter combat table for the experience level they have achieved.

Mountain Giaks are larger, stronger and much more disciplined than their smaller kin. They are militaristic and have an organized society based on a command hierarchy with ranked positions of authority. All Giak's are short and squat, while Mountain Giaks are larger than lesser Giaks they are all grey-skinned and yellow fanged.

When any Mountain Giak is mixed with lesser Giaks they are immediately in command no matter what level of experience they are at even a lowly 1st level Mountain Giak 'cadet'.

Each level of experience is a named rank among the Mountain Giak's

0 = Recruit
1= Cadet
2 = Private
3 = Lesser Corporal
4 = Corporal
5 = Lesser Sergeant
6 = Under Sergeant
7 = Sergeant
8 = Over Sergeant
9 = Lesser Captain
10 = Captain
11 = Over Captain
12= Lesser General
13+ General

Mountain Giak's organize themselves into regiments although there is no particular number within these regiments and there are commonly between 500 and 5,000 within each. The larger regiments tend to have higher level Generals but sometime attrition or large combat losses cam leave a group with high level leaders but fewer members. New recruits from breeding pits tend to go to the largest regiments first so it can be difficult for a particularly mangled regiment to get back to large numbers once they have taken heavy losses.

Mountain Giak's use the 1e PHB Fighter abilities and do not possess characters of the ranger or paladon sub-classes.

Lesser Giaks are 1HD Monsters with a natural AC of 8 but otherwise have the AC of the armor they are wearing. They have the normal attacks per round with the weapon they are equipped with or a 1d6 bite attack. Their movement rate is 9" and their intelligence is Low-Average.

Lone Wolf Bk1 AD&D Conversion Part 1 - The Watchtower

The adventure begins with 4 first level characters, students from the Kai Monastery, sent to bring fresh supplies and take their turn at watch. The tower is about ten miles distant from the Monastery toward the South-East.

The tower is on a hill about 80ft above the surrounding forest. The woodlands are thick and wild with only hunting and animal trails nearby and the wagon road that leads back to the monastery. There is a roadway some distance away that follows the valley floor and heads from Toran to the North to Holmgaard to the South with a branch leading toward the Kai Monastery but it is hidden by the tall trees of the forest.

What can be seen from the roof, which is 60feet high, are the towers of the Kai Monastery, some open fields to the west where crops are grown, cattle raised and small farms scattered about, and the tops of trees for the most part to the North, East and South. The tower is used as a fire watch for the most part and sometimes a waystation for hunters and rangers, especially during the winter.

1. The interior of the tower has a large hearth against one wall and a smaller iron stove more frequently used against another. There are wide benches used for beds or storage against the walls and two long tables with benches in the center of the room. A trapdoor leads to a root cellar and small opening near the hearth is a well that goes down a spring beneath the hill.

The stairs lead to the top floor where the watchers sleep and keep emergency supplies and signaling equipment. A short set of stairs leads to the roof which slightly curved so that water will roll down into gutters along the side and collect in rain barrels below.

2. The stables are large enough to hold a dozen horses and contain a small forge and anvil.

It from this rooftop that the Player Character see a dark cloud envelope the Kai Monastery.

If they make their way to the monastery they find the swirling black cloud to be impenetrable.                      

Returning to Lone Wolf AD&D conversion

My apologies for my long absence from this project. Hopefully 2017 will prove to be more productive.

The Kraan are one of the first monsters encountered in the Lone Wolf series.

They are described as leather-winged flying creatures and in game terms as having a combat skill of 16 and an endurance of 25. A very powerful foe right out of the gate.

One of the main problems with a conversion between the AD&D system and the LW gamebooks is the skill-based system and relative uniformity of the monster strengths as compared with the level experience system and incremental increase in strength and power of both characters and monsters in the AD&D system.

The Kraan are perfect example. If they are to be encountered as monsters to be fought directly from the very first then they must be represented as creatures of relatively low HD. For a game beginning with 1st level PCs then it is my belief a Kraan of no more than 2HD should be encountered. A party of 4 1st level PCs will be challenged to defeat a 2HD Kraan with 2 attacks bite 1d4/ claw 1d6 AC7 but completely overwhelmed by a more powerful, larger version that can act as a mount for enemy NPCs.

 For my game conversion I'm using Kraan of varying ages. The youngest encountered are Spawn. They are 1HD flying creature with a single slashing attack of 1-2HP damage. They run to about 50lbs and are AC8. They are normally encountered in groups of 1d6+1

2-3HD Kraan are Young and are double the size of the Spawn. They are still too small to act as mounts and more solitary. 1d4 are the normal number encountered.

Young Adult Kraan are 4-5HD, AC5  with 3 attacks Bite 1d6 and Claw/Claw 1d8/1d8 and are more than twice the size of Kraan Young. These creatures are much larger than humans and are trained to be mounts, but are still not used as mounts for the Darklords but smaller Humans and Giaks will be found riding them.

Lone Wolf - Monster - Giak - Post 3

Giaks are the most common foes in the Lone Wolf setting. They are bred in spawning pits by the Dark Lords. There are several breeds of the original Giaks but they are much smaller and weaker than the later breed of Mountain Giak.

For game purposes the lesser breeds of Giaks are monsters and use the monster combat tables based on HD while the Mountain Giaks are an NPC character race and use the fighter combat table for the experience level they have achieved.

Mountain Giaks are larger, stronger and much more disciplined than their smaller kin. They are militaristic and have an organized society based on a command hierarchy with ranked positions of authority. All Giak's are short and squat, while Mountain Giaks are larger than lesser Giaks they are all grey-skinned and yellow fanged.

When any Mountain Giak is mixed with lesser Giaks they are immediately in command no matter what level of experience they are at even a lowly 1st level Mountain Giak 'cadet'.

Each level of experience is a named rank among the Mountain Giak's

0 = Recruit
1= Cadet
2 = Private
3 = Lesser Corporal
4 = Corporal
5 = Lesser Sergeant
6 = Under Sergeant
7 = Sergeant
8 = Over Sergeant
9 = Lesser Captain
10 = Captain
11 = Over Captain
12= Lesser General
13+ General

Mountain Giak's organize themselves into regiments although there is no particular number within these regiments and there are commonly between 500 and 5,000 within each. The larger regiments tend to have higher level Generals but sometime attrition or large combat losses cam leave a group with high level leaders but fewer members. New recruits from breeding pits tend to go to the largest regiments first so it can be difficult for a particularly mangled regiment to get back to large numbers once they have taken heavy losses.

Mountain Giak's use the 1e PHB Fighter abilities and do not possess characters of the ranger or paladon sub-classes.

Lesser Giaks are 1HD Monsters with a natural AC of 8 but otherwise have the AC of the armor they are wearing. They have the normal attacks per round with the weapon they are equipped with or a 1d6 bite attack. Their movement rate is 9" and their intelligence is Low-Average.

Lone Wolf 1e AD&D Conversion - Post 2

I'm a bit behind on my conversion work of the Lone Wolf setting and adventures. I have my copy of the original Magnamund Companion at hand, which is a little treasure of source material. and it will be of immense help filling in the backstory for the characters as they undertake the adventure.

When I picked up the Adventures of Lone Wolf Book 1 'Flight in the Dark' I had no idea where it would lead, or how many books there would be in the series. I plan on working on the conversion in the same way I first played the series; understanding the rules, creating the character, reading the backstory and setting off on the adventure numbered paragraph by numbered paragraph. 

The rules in the book are straightforward but necessarily limited. Conversion to 1e AD&D is also straightforward and with only a few limiting factors at the beginning. Any of the character classes presented in the 1e PHB are available for player characters but the only playable character race is human. Since the Lone Wolf series features Monks who already have a very AD&D feel to them I plan on adding the powers presented in the Lone Wolf books to add or replace the powers granted in the PHB. If this makes the Monk a more desirable class to play then so be it. The setting encourages a Monk-centric style of play and I whole-heartedly approve.

As I work on converting the first adventure book I intend to design it around a party of 4-6 player characters of 1st level. The Kai Monastery will train not only Monks but all character classes. The children of the Warrior Lords of Sommerlund (and beyond) are taught according to their abilities, some as Monks, other as Magic-Users, or Clerics of Isher, High Priestess of the Moon and Kai, Lord of the Sun. Only the wisdom of the Druids is not taught and characters wishing to be Druids will be renegade Cenerese, a race of people defeated in a protracted war with the more trusted Herbalish a holy order of Healers (an NPC class I am developing). 

Some of the creatures found in the Monster Manual I & II and the Fiend Folio will be suitable for the Lone Wolf setting and some of the creatures, such as the ubiquitous Giak, an Orc by any other name, will have unique qualities but many similarities to their AD&D brethren. 

And now to begin. 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 for their training in the varied skilled arts of the land. There they are taught the ways of Warrior, Magic-User, Thief, Assassin, Monk, or the worship of Isher and Kai as Clerics of their faith.

The Kai Monks, Guildmasters, Temple Priests and Priestesses are master of their arts, and the children in their charge love and respect them in spite of the hardships of their training. One day when the children of the nobility have finally passed their apprenticeships they will return home equipped in mind and body to defend themselves against the constant threat of war from the Darklords of the west.

In the 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 Sommerlending 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 Ulnar, called 'Sommerswerd', the sword of the sun. Since that age, the Darklords have vowed vengeance upon Summerlund and the House of Ulnar.

Now it is in the morning after the feast of Fehmarn when all the apprentices are judged and those who have proven themselves worthy begin their journey from the Kai Monastery back into the world to gain experience and use the skills they have spent so much hardship to attain. 

As you and your companions bid a sad but joyous farewell to the monastery and your childhood and begin your journey you feel the earth shake beneath your feet and a darkness sweeps across the sky in a wave. A blackness descends upon the monastery, a swirling sphere of nothingness. One of you reaches out with a branch and is thrown back, the branch a shriveled husk that turns to ash where it touched the blackness. 

The sky clears but the black sphere that had swallowed the monastery remains. In 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 the terrible threat that now faces your people; For you are now the last apprentices of the Kai until and if this sphere of blackness can be removed and the fate of those within revealed. 

Lone Wolf - Book1 Flight in the Dark - 1e AD&D Conversion - 1

I've enjoyed the Lone Wolf series using the simple combat rules and choose your path system given in the books but I've always meant to convert the setting and the books into 1e AD&D. Rather than tackle the setting at the outset I thought I'd rather take on the first book as a source for adventures.

The book itself is more than a single adventure. It needs to be addressed with brevity and speed to fit the events in a single book of this sort but as an RPG it can be dealt with over a much longer series of time and in much greater detail. The book is also designed for a single character and the encounters are short, the types of treasure or items extremely limited, and the ability to explore and discover paper thin.

I've always had a bit of problem with the initial plot. If the enemy is strong enough to overcome an entire school of Kai Masters and their recruits in so swift a manner then how are they stopped by any of the forces aligned against them? This is especially true if the setting uses the AD&D system with its graduated levels of power and experience. If we look at Book 1 as a series of starting or at least low level adventures there is also the problem of working out the strength of some of the encountered creatures. Many are equally low level but others are much more powerful so a good deal must change between the encounters in the book and encounters as an AD&D adventure.

Finally the book is a solo adventure and a decent RPG will need at least 4-5 player characters.

With this project I hope to take an enjoyable and well-crafted series and create what I hope are at least a useful campaign of AD&D adventures in the Magnamund setting.

Lone Wolf - A Solitary Journey - Book 2 - Fire on the Water

Lone Wolf - A Solitary Journey 

Book 2 - Fire on the Water

After surviving Book 1 - Flight from the Dark with 2 character deaths I managed to rack up 3 more before rolling to a glorious finish with Lone Wolf the 6th. My natural inclinations are not a good survival choice I find and there are a number of ways to walk into a situation your stats can't pull you out of (either through combat with a monster way above your paygrade or just instant death).

These books are great for replay value. I have about exhausted Book 1 after three runs through it. While you learn to avoid certain of the instant death trails as you follow one numbered paragraph to another part of surviving the game involves knowing which Kai Abilities to choose. I neglected healing with my first character in book one and found that to be a terrible blunder.  Part of survival depends on your Combat Skill and Endurance, but CS is the most important of the two. My characters with 12 and 13 CS just couldn't cut it and died in combat encounters a higher stat'd character would have walked away from. All part of the game and really, the risk of character death enriches the experience.

Fire on the Water and Flight from the Dark are both quest adventures and a great deal of the charm of the books comes from the interesting glimpses, brought to life with Gary Chalk's fantastic illustrations,  of the game setting as you make your way through,  The books are a quiet bit of fun broken by an occasional bout of swearing and a cheer when you overcome an opponent.

There is a bit more of the random rolling in Fire on the Water, at least more that I encountered than had been in Book 1, and it was a welcome addition to the straightforward solo game system. There is some replay value but the book can only cover so many possibilities. It cries out to be turned into an RPG and a series of adventures based on the solo books.

Lone Wolf - A Solitary Journey - Book 1 - Flight from the Dark

Lone Wolf - A Solitary Journey

Book 1 - Flight from the Dark

I was going through an old box of books when I unearthed my Lone Wolf collection. It has been years since I last ran through them and wondered how they would hold up. Fantastic!

Flight in the Dark is engaging and fun (and deadly). I think, for anyone not yet experienced in these choose a path paragraph solitaire books, that it is a like or meh experience. Lone Wolf is the top of the food chain, but the position is shared by the Fighting Fantasy series and perhaps the Middle-Earth paragraph books but I have no experience with those. Outside of books both TFT's Melee and Wizard had a good solo paragraph booklet as did Tunnels & Trolls. All very similar to each other, though TFT, Fighting Fantasy and T&T were also role-playing games and now Lone Wolf too, at least as I understand it. But as I say a new player may find they enjoy the quick low-key adventure and rather simple combat in Lone Wolf or Fighting Fantasy or they may just say meh an set them aside.

I enjoyed Lone Wolf in the past and it has stood up to the unforgiving tide of years very well. It is a quick adventure with limited choices and instantly fatal consequences in some situations. Took me 3 characters to make it through and I'd played this umpteen times in the past. If you keep playing you will win eventually so the best thing is to Iron Man through it. Take the bad rolls from the start and just see what you can do.

You only have 2 attributes, Combat Skill and Endurance (Hit Points). You roll a d10 and high numbers are good, so naturally I rolled a 3 for Combat Skill. You add 10 to this number so I had a 13. The combat system is simple but you do need to roll on a ratio chart to see about damage. Low number rolls on the d10 bad, high numbers good.   Endurance works the same way, roll a d10 but add 20 this time. These are your HP. It is a nice smooth simple as a brick system, but it is combat in the very abstract and it comes to just rolling dice. Monsters either group to act as a single bigger monster, for example a Giak, which is kind of a Lone Wolf Goblin might have a CS of 10 and Endurance of 10 but two of them might fight as a single enemy with a CS of 13 and Endurance of 15. Or they might form a conga line of death where the very gentlemanly fight you one at a time.

Then there is the ability system. Your character chooses 5 of the available abilities. Each can come into use during the game, some are helpful and some are lifesavers and some will never get used depending on the path you choose. I advise choosing Healing as one of the five. No matter what path you choose it will come in either handy or as a life saver. The combat system usually involves both sides taking wounds so even if the character wins combat they will usually have some scratches. As much as I'd advise taking Healing I advise against taking the weapon skill ability. It sounds good but you roll for which weapon you are skilled at and only have a one in ten chance of it being your starting weapon (the axe) and the chances of finding whatever randomly rolled weapon you are skilled in are really too much of a chance when you will definitely need some of the other abilities listed.

The Lone Wolf series calls out to be expanded into an RPG (which I believe it already has been) but I'm thinking more along the lines of AD&D, both as a setting and a way to spice up the old paragraph books. In any case an entertaining quick adventure book and worth giving a replay once enough time has passed to have forgotten which path leads to success and which leads to an agonizing death.