Showing posts with label Lone Wolf Multiplayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lone Wolf Multiplayer. Show all posts
Thursday, January 26, 2012
What's Up With Lone Wolf Multiplayer: Stornlands, Mongoose?
Alright, I'm okay with small delays in product releases, especially if the end product is worth it. But Mongoose is really pushing it with their Stornlands book. I think this product was suppose to be out in August of 2012 and, as far as I know, it hasn't been released yet (I have a standing order in at Comic Store West).
Mongoose announced that the book would be split into two books... poor planning on their part but fine, whatever. I understand that would push it back a little. But to rub salt in the wound, Mongoose solicited the second Stornlands book before the first shipped! Why don't they get the first book out the door before worrying about pushing the second one?
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Lone Wolf (Multiplayer & D20) - Free Downloads - City Write-Ups
There are many different city write-ups for Lone Wolf. These write ups are of use in any version of the game (none of the information presented is tied to game mechanics - it is simply world builing information). They are available as free downloads from Signs and Portents here. See the list below for specific issues.
#71 - Toran
#72 - Anskaven
#73 - Ruanon
#74 - Eshnar
#75 - Tyso
#76 & 77 - Holmgard
#89, 90, & 91 - Lof
These city write-ups are all excellent! I like how they are presented without in-game language so they can be used for both the Multiplayer and D20 versions of the Lone Wolf RPG. They each have tons of information including detailed histories, economics, politics, law, and places of interest. Specific locations are noted on a map and given little write-ups with notable NPC characters described as well.
As a gamemaster, I could see two ways of using these write-ups. The first would be to simply drop my players into a specific location and let them go to town (no pun intended) sandbox-style. The other would be to integrate them into an existing campaign and use them to enhance the flavor and feel of the game. The city articles really do a great job of making the environment a living, breathing part of the game with a unique flavor.
1LR Review - 18 out of 20! It's a Solid Hit!
#72 - Anskaven
#73 - Ruanon
#74 - Eshnar
#75 - Tyso
#76 & 77 - Holmgard
#89, 90, & 91 - Lof
These city write-ups are all excellent! I like how they are presented without in-game language so they can be used for both the Multiplayer and D20 versions of the Lone Wolf RPG. They each have tons of information including detailed histories, economics, politics, law, and places of interest. Specific locations are noted on a map and given little write-ups with notable NPC characters described as well.
As a gamemaster, I could see two ways of using these write-ups. The first would be to simply drop my players into a specific location and let them go to town (no pun intended) sandbox-style. The other would be to integrate them into an existing campaign and use them to enhance the flavor and feel of the game. The city articles really do a great job of making the environment a living, breathing part of the game with a unique flavor.
1LR Review - 18 out of 20! It's a Solid Hit!
Monday, November 21, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer - Free Download - Shipwrecked! Review
Shipwreched! is a free adventure for the Lone Wolf Multiplayer RPG available in Signs and Portents #92 starting on page 58. It's available here.
This adventure is billed as "Part 'Lost,' part 'Treasure Island,' and part 'Survival Horror." It definitely has a different feel to it than other Lone Wolf adventures and not in a bad way either. This adventure is suppose to be the first in an ongoing series of inter-related adventures.
The summary of the adventure is that the heroes were taken captive by pirates and stripped of their gear when the ship wrecks. The heroes and pirates wash up on a uncharted tropical island.
I can't see many players being thrilled with the first part of this adventure. While I applaud Darren Pearce, the author, for putting the heroes in a true wilderness survival situation, I think players will balk at being nickle-and-dimed for one point of damage over and over again for things such as fire, cold water, food, etc. While I'm sad that the players are taken out of the "proper" world of Magnamund, I like that the PCs have to scrounge and be resourceful just to live. Seeing the various character classes operate without their monasteries or guilds would be a good change of pace in Lone Wolf.
This adventure does a good job of introducing the PCs to the setting. There's nothing really that strange in this adventure but perhaps future installments will have the players further explore the island location.
Unlike most LWM adventures, I think the heroes won't have any problems overcoming the threats presented in this adventure which is a good thing, especially since it would be hard to get back-up characters into the story.
1LR Review - 15 out of 20 - It's a Hit!
The summary of the adventure is that the heroes were taken captive by pirates and stripped of their gear when the ship wrecks. The heroes and pirates wash up on a uncharted tropical island.
I can't see many players being thrilled with the first part of this adventure. While I applaud Darren Pearce, the author, for putting the heroes in a true wilderness survival situation, I think players will balk at being nickle-and-dimed for one point of damage over and over again for things such as fire, cold water, food, etc. While I'm sad that the players are taken out of the "proper" world of Magnamund, I like that the PCs have to scrounge and be resourceful just to live. Seeing the various character classes operate without their monasteries or guilds would be a good change of pace in Lone Wolf.
This adventure does a good job of introducing the PCs to the setting. There's nothing really that strange in this adventure but perhaps future installments will have the players further explore the island location.
Unlike most LWM adventures, I think the heroes won't have any problems overcoming the threats presented in this adventure which is a good thing, especially since it would be hard to get back-up characters into the story.
1LR Review - 15 out of 20 - It's a Hit!
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer - Free Download - Enemy Mine Review
Enemy Mine is an adventure designed only for Kai Lords. It is in continuity with The Merchant's Task from the core rulebook. You can find it here.
I like that this adventure is in continuity with previously published Lone Wolf adventures. Characters carry over, both good guys and bad guys which is a nice touch. Unfortunately, this means that the adventure is written with lots of contingencies in it - "If so and so lived through the previous adventure then... if not, then..."
This adventure is really written for a beginner game master. Not only is the action simple and well laid out but the game master is given a tutorial on how to be a game master. For example, the notes remind the game master to, "remember that Stormsong is very fatherly in his attitute to the players." Darren Pearce, the author, does an excellent job of coaching a game master through running the adventure.
The plot is pretty simple and straightforward but the characters are given a few options from which to choose that have significant impact on how the story progresses. I liked how the adventure isn't combat heavy. There are plenty of roleplaying opportunities as well as non-combat adventuring. It's odd, however, that the climbing section in this adventure doesn't adhere to the rules for climbing laid forth in the LWM core rulebook.
The big fight, depending how it goes, could be really deadly, as is almost always the case in LWM. With the possibility of two big bad guys and sixteen guards at once, most parties would suffer a TPK under those conditions. Still, I think players can avoid this with some smart decisions along the way.
I think this is a very quick adventure that would be great for beginning players and game masters. There are a few minor publishing errors in this adventure. A few times it references page XX where "XX" is never filled in with a page. Oops! Not a big deal, however.
1LR Review - 15 out of 20 - It's a Hit!
I like that this adventure is in continuity with previously published Lone Wolf adventures. Characters carry over, both good guys and bad guys which is a nice touch. Unfortunately, this means that the adventure is written with lots of contingencies in it - "If so and so lived through the previous adventure then... if not, then..."
This adventure is really written for a beginner game master. Not only is the action simple and well laid out but the game master is given a tutorial on how to be a game master. For example, the notes remind the game master to, "remember that Stormsong is very fatherly in his attitute to the players." Darren Pearce, the author, does an excellent job of coaching a game master through running the adventure.
The plot is pretty simple and straightforward but the characters are given a few options from which to choose that have significant impact on how the story progresses. I liked how the adventure isn't combat heavy. There are plenty of roleplaying opportunities as well as non-combat adventuring. It's odd, however, that the climbing section in this adventure doesn't adhere to the rules for climbing laid forth in the LWM core rulebook.
The big fight, depending how it goes, could be really deadly, as is almost always the case in LWM. With the possibility of two big bad guys and sixteen guards at once, most parties would suffer a TPK under those conditions. Still, I think players can avoid this with some smart decisions along the way.
I think this is a very quick adventure that would be great for beginning players and game masters. There are a few minor publishing errors in this adventure. A few times it references page XX where "XX" is never filled in with a page. Oops! Not a big deal, however.
1LR Review - 15 out of 20 - It's a Hit!
Friday, November 11, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer - Free Download - Terror in the Wildlands Review
Terror in the Wildlands is a free adventure available from Signs and Portents #85 starting on page 30. You can get it here.
This adventure takes place in the land known as The Wildlands - between Sommerlund and Durenor. It makes good use of this setting and the characters travel with a caravan. Really, there's not much more plot with that - travel with the caravan across The Wildlands which leads to a little bit of a "random encounter" feel. Still, it's not an entirely bad thing and I think this adventure works well as a first or second adventure for the players or characters.
Jawad Naeem, the author, seems to have a good grasp of how the world of Magnamund should operate. I liked the "open" feel this adventure has - the adventurers are given choices that don't have a "right" or a "wrong" option but both paths with move the adventure forward. The Szall encounter is a bit odd... I can't see many adventuring parties actually helping them. My favorite encounter in this adventure is probably the final one where the player characters are put at odds with another heroic character. It's a hard choice and I like how that will challenge the players.
Like most Lone Wolf Multiplayer adventures, I think this one is too deadly. One encounter calls for three burrowcrawlers for every player character. Another has fourteen Giaks and a Gourgaz! Yikes! There's definite PC death potential here!
All in all, a fairly well written travel-adventure. It would make for a good one-off adventure that can be completed in two or three hours. One oddity - apparently Jawad Naeem used the same template he did for Trouble at the Tourney because Act 1 is labeled "The Tourney" straight from that other adventure! Ha!
1LR Rating - 15 out of 20 - It's a Hit!
Monday, November 7, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer - Free Download - Murder at the Tourney Review
WARNING! SPOILERS! Murder at The Tourney, a Lone Wolf Multiplayer adventure from Signs and Portents #81 starting at page 32 is a great adventure. You can find it at http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/signsnportentsarchive. The storyline is that the heroes have to investigate an assassination attempt at a knight's tournament in Illion.
I ran this adventure with a group of five players playing a Kai Lord, Knight of the White Mountain, Summerlening Knight, Drawven Gunner of Bor, and Buccaneer of Shadaki.
First, the good...
1) This adventure really captures the "feel" of a night's tournament. I liked how the player characters (Knights) could interact during the tournament.
2) The "read aloud" text that you share with the players was very well done.
3) I liked the fact that the plot calls for the player characters to have mercy on an opponent. A true test for most role players, but totally fits into the heroic ideal of the world of Magnamund.
4) The combat levels throughout the adventure are very balanced are are able to be accomplished by a group of five clever heroes.
5) The awarding of the magical weapons at the mid-point as well as the celebration at the end both are very well down and worked well a the gaming table. My characters actually felt very honored to receive the praise of the Lord.
6) I liked how it provided scripts irregardless of how the assassination attempt went - whether or not the target dies, the plot proceeds.
7) The little boy (actually a Helghast) TOTALLY fooled my players. They thought he was the nephew of the page that was the assassin - this was what the mercenaries were holding over the page's head to make him cooperate.... PERFECT!
8) There were great roleplaying opportunties throughout the adventure.
Finally, the bad...
1) The use of the word "tourney" instead of "tournament" in the title of the adventure as well as the flavor text bothered me. It seemed to break the tone of the story... is this historically accurate at all?
2) During the Knight's tournament, any player characters that are knights may participate and basic rules are presented. There could have been more information given such as opponent Knight stats and disciplines, as well as some basic rules for progressing through the tournament. How many knights entered? What happens when both knights are unhorsed? Are BOTH out of the tournament?
3) Half way through the adventure there's an opportunity for the heroes to heal all END and WILL. I thought the time given was too brief to warrant this healing and probably unnecessary considering the only combat they got into prior to that was with a page CS:11 that surrenders once 9 points of damage are done.
Overall, I feel as if the problems with this adventure care very minor. A very well planned adventure with lots of role playing opportunities.
1LR Review - 18 out of 20 - It's a Solid Hi
I ran this adventure with a group of five players playing a Kai Lord, Knight of the White Mountain, Summerlening Knight, Drawven Gunner of Bor, and Buccaneer of Shadaki.
First, the good...
1) This adventure really captures the "feel" of a night's tournament. I liked how the player characters (Knights) could interact during the tournament.
2) The "read aloud" text that you share with the players was very well done.
3) I liked the fact that the plot calls for the player characters to have mercy on an opponent. A true test for most role players, but totally fits into the heroic ideal of the world of Magnamund.
4) The combat levels throughout the adventure are very balanced are are able to be accomplished by a group of five clever heroes.
5) The awarding of the magical weapons at the mid-point as well as the celebration at the end both are very well down and worked well a the gaming table. My characters actually felt very honored to receive the praise of the Lord.
6) I liked how it provided scripts irregardless of how the assassination attempt went - whether or not the target dies, the plot proceeds.
7) The little boy (actually a Helghast) TOTALLY fooled my players. They thought he was the nephew of the page that was the assassin - this was what the mercenaries were holding over the page's head to make him cooperate.... PERFECT!
8) There were great roleplaying opportunties throughout the adventure.
Finally, the bad...
1) The use of the word "tourney" instead of "tournament" in the title of the adventure as well as the flavor text bothered me. It seemed to break the tone of the story... is this historically accurate at all?
2) During the Knight's tournament, any player characters that are knights may participate and basic rules are presented. There could have been more information given such as opponent Knight stats and disciplines, as well as some basic rules for progressing through the tournament. How many knights entered? What happens when both knights are unhorsed? Are BOTH out of the tournament?
3) Half way through the adventure there's an opportunity for the heroes to heal all END and WILL. I thought the time given was too brief to warrant this healing and probably unnecessary considering the only combat they got into prior to that was with a page CS:11 that surrenders once 9 points of damage are done.
Overall, I feel as if the problems with this adventure care very minor. A very well planned adventure with lots of role playing opportunities.
1LR Review - 18 out of 20 - It's a Solid Hi
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer - Free Download - Radak's Revenge Review
WARNING! SPOILERS! Radak's Revenge, a Lone Wolf Multiplayer adventure from Signs and Portents #88 page 36, is a fairly decent adventure. You can find it at http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/signsnportentsarchive. The storyline is that an evil druid has set a trap for the party, luring them with false information.
I ran this adventure with a group of five players playing a Kai Lord, Knight of the White Mountain, Magician of Dessi, Drawven Gunner of Bor, Border Ranger of the North.
First, the good...
1) This adventure really gives different classes time to shine. I liked how it included a ship so any Buccaneers could show off their skills.
2) The adventure is nicely paced. Lots of action, but it is balanced with tons of role playing opportunties.
3) The adventures allows for clever heroes to avoid combat through using their disciplines.
4) I liked how the other passengers on the ship were notable NPC's in character classes. I just wish (see #3 below)...
5) This adventure does a nice job of "directing" the heroes without making it seem as if they don't have choices.
6) I also liked the options for the heroes to heal up in the middle of the adventure and do some shopping when they get to Seroa.
Finally, the bad...
1) The plot is a little obscure. There really is no way for the heroes to every truly understand the backstory of the Druid. Also, the threat seems to be a little great (killing all magic users in Magnamund) to send novice heroes on this adventure. Also, isn't there any easier way to capture a single magic user than this elaborate plot?
2) Simply put, if you run this adventure as it is written, you will kill your party. It is advertised for 4-6 players and says if you have more or less than that you will have to make adjustments. Having 5 players, I kept the numbers the same and I killed three player characters. Several things up the lethality considerably.
a)Shakara's wildfire - Doing DOUBLE a random number roll, this potent mixture could do anywhere from 2 - 18 damage to EVERY TARGET IN A TEN FOOT RADIUS. I believe I got a middle number (7x2=14) and this came directly after the brutal Storgh combat. Considering most heroes have somewhere around 25 HP TOTAL, this is WAY too much damage.
b) The ambush. At one point, there is an ambush of TEN Beastmen. In the first round of combat they attack with bows. This combat alone could be a TPK! What makes it worse is Shakara, if not previously discovered, chooses this moment to attack!
c) The Cener Druid in the final combat has eight beastmen AND a ranged attack that does double or triple damage. YIKES! Triple damage alone could kill a player character in a single round!
3) I wish that the NPCs were more fully fleshed out as far as disciplines. The adventure says Shakara is an assassin, but she looks like a buccaneer. Ulnic and Mulnic are Knights of Illion. Radak is a Cener Druid. But none of these characters are presented with the disciplines their classes should provide. What rank are they? The captain also seems to need a little bit more fleshing out. Sure, the DM can make this stuff up but it would be nice if it came with the adventure already.
Overall, I feel as if the problems with this adventure can be overcome with some advanced planning and work on the part of the DM.
1LR Review - 14 out of 20 - It's a Hit!
First, the good...
1) This adventure really gives different classes time to shine. I liked how it included a ship so any Buccaneers could show off their skills.
2) The adventure is nicely paced. Lots of action, but it is balanced with tons of role playing opportunties.
3) The adventures allows for clever heroes to avoid combat through using their disciplines.
4) I liked how the other passengers on the ship were notable NPC's in character classes. I just wish (see #3 below)...
5) This adventure does a nice job of "directing" the heroes without making it seem as if they don't have choices.
6) I also liked the options for the heroes to heal up in the middle of the adventure and do some shopping when they get to Seroa.
Finally, the bad...
1) The plot is a little obscure. There really is no way for the heroes to every truly understand the backstory of the Druid. Also, the threat seems to be a little great (killing all magic users in Magnamund) to send novice heroes on this adventure. Also, isn't there any easier way to capture a single magic user than this elaborate plot?
2) Simply put, if you run this adventure as it is written, you will kill your party. It is advertised for 4-6 players and says if you have more or less than that you will have to make adjustments. Having 5 players, I kept the numbers the same and I killed three player characters. Several things up the lethality considerably.
a)Shakara's wildfire - Doing DOUBLE a random number roll, this potent mixture could do anywhere from 2 - 18 damage to EVERY TARGET IN A TEN FOOT RADIUS. I believe I got a middle number (7x2=14) and this came directly after the brutal Storgh combat. Considering most heroes have somewhere around 25 HP TOTAL, this is WAY too much damage.
b) The ambush. At one point, there is an ambush of TEN Beastmen. In the first round of combat they attack with bows. This combat alone could be a TPK! What makes it worse is Shakara, if not previously discovered, chooses this moment to attack!
c) The Cener Druid in the final combat has eight beastmen AND a ranged attack that does double or triple damage. YIKES! Triple damage alone could kill a player character in a single round!
3) I wish that the NPCs were more fully fleshed out as far as disciplines. The adventure says Shakara is an assassin, but she looks like a buccaneer. Ulnic and Mulnic are Knights of Illion. Radak is a Cener Druid. But none of these characters are presented with the disciplines their classes should provide. What rank are they? The captain also seems to need a little bit more fleshing out. Sure, the DM can make this stuff up but it would be nice if it came with the adventure already.
Overall, I feel as if the problems with this adventure can be overcome with some advanced planning and work on the part of the DM.
1LR Review - 14 out of 20 - It's a Hit!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer - Free Download - Lone Wolf 29 Timeline Review
While not strictly speaking for the Lone Wolf Multiplayer RPG, this was a free download available from Signs and Portents #87 starting on page 18. You can find it at http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/signsnportentsarchive.
The "29" in the title refers to the solo adventure books, #29. The first solo adventure book starts in the year MS 5050. This timeline fills in significant events for literally every year between MS 5084 and MS 5102, leading up to Lone Wolf solo gamebook #29. Infamously, Lone Wolf 1-28 were published but the published cancelled the series before Lone Wolf 29-31 could be published even though they were already written. To date, these books have yet to see publication but they are scheduled to be published by Mongoose. So this timeline is a bit of a teaser.
So how does this relate to the RPG? Well, as per the suggestion in the core LWM RPG book, all written adventures are for MS 5000 - 50 years before the events in the Lone Wolf gamebooks. But what if I want to roleplay in other eras? Well, it's difficult to play during the events of LW #1-12 or so because Lone Wolf is the only Kai Lord alive which limits gameplay options. But it is possible to play after that and this timeline is of great help to a Game Master who wants to run a game set betwen MS 5084 and MS 5102. The political landscape changes significantly during this era and it is a good thing to be able to have your RPG world match the one that Joe Dever intended in the novels.
As a Lone Wolf fan, "The Story So Far," which is included with a timeline, is a big tease for LW #29. It serves as an introduction to the novel and sets the mission for the main character. Die hard Lone Wolf fans have been waiting for this for a LONG time!
1LR Review - 18 out of 20 - It's a Solid Hit!
The "29" in the title refers to the solo adventure books, #29. The first solo adventure book starts in the year MS 5050. This timeline fills in significant events for literally every year between MS 5084 and MS 5102, leading up to Lone Wolf solo gamebook #29. Infamously, Lone Wolf 1-28 were published but the published cancelled the series before Lone Wolf 29-31 could be published even though they were already written. To date, these books have yet to see publication but they are scheduled to be published by Mongoose. So this timeline is a bit of a teaser.
So how does this relate to the RPG? Well, as per the suggestion in the core LWM RPG book, all written adventures are for MS 5000 - 50 years before the events in the Lone Wolf gamebooks. But what if I want to roleplay in other eras? Well, it's difficult to play during the events of LW #1-12 or so because Lone Wolf is the only Kai Lord alive which limits gameplay options. But it is possible to play after that and this timeline is of great help to a Game Master who wants to run a game set betwen MS 5084 and MS 5102. The political landscape changes significantly during this era and it is a good thing to be able to have your RPG world match the one that Joe Dever intended in the novels.
As a Lone Wolf fan, "The Story So Far," which is included with a timeline, is a big tease for LW #29. It serves as an introduction to the novel and sets the mission for the main character. Die hard Lone Wolf fans have been waiting for this for a LONG time!
1LR Review - 18 out of 20 - It's a Solid Hit!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer - Free Download - Talking Giak Review
Talking Giak is a gaming world resouce for the Lone Wolf Multiplayer RPG. It is available as a free download from Mongoose's PDF magazine, Signs and Portents. This particular article was in issue #93, page 20. You can find it at http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/signsnportentsarchive.
One of the things that separates a common fantasy world from one that is fully fleshed out in an realistic way is languages. Think of the effort that was put into creating elven languages by J.R.R. Tolkien. Well, Joe Dever has put that same effort into creating a Giak language for his Lone Wolf world. It's just more evidence as to how rich and wonderful Magnamund is.
I think that Game Masters would most likely benefit from this since Giaks are NPC bad guys. How cool would it be to have some common lines scripted out for them to snarl at your heroes? Sure, the heroes (and the players for that matter) probably won't have any idea what you're saying but just the rhythmic tones of language will add flavor to your game as opposed to randomly grunting and snorting nonsense syllables.
The download gives the basic rules of Giak sentence structure and several hundred words translated from English to Giak. A similar but less expansive guide to the Giak language was previously published in the Magnamund Companion (a book that I'll review later).
Can you tell me what I'm saying? - Ok Magak Agna! Ok Kogzok Ash Dag Kognak Der!
1LR Review - 18 out of 20 - It's a Solid Hit!
One of the things that separates a common fantasy world from one that is fully fleshed out in an realistic way is languages. Think of the effort that was put into creating elven languages by J.R.R. Tolkien. Well, Joe Dever has put that same effort into creating a Giak language for his Lone Wolf world. It's just more evidence as to how rich and wonderful Magnamund is.
I think that Game Masters would most likely benefit from this since Giaks are NPC bad guys. How cool would it be to have some common lines scripted out for them to snarl at your heroes? Sure, the heroes (and the players for that matter) probably won't have any idea what you're saying but just the rhythmic tones of language will add flavor to your game as opposed to randomly grunting and snorting nonsense syllables.
The download gives the basic rules of Giak sentence structure and several hundred words translated from English to Giak. A similar but less expansive guide to the Giak language was previously published in the Magnamund Companion (a book that I'll review later).
Can you tell me what I'm saying? - Ok Magak Agna! Ok Kogzok Ash Dag Kognak Der!
1LR Review - 18 out of 20 - It's a Solid Hit!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer - Free Download - Vaderish, Knight of the Sword Review
The Vaderish, Knight of the Sword character class isn't available in any book. Instead, it is listed online as a free download. You can find it in Signs and Portents #80 on page 20 - you can get it at http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/signsnportentsarchive.
The Vaderish, Knight of the Sword character class is written up in an identical format to the other published character classes. Why do we need another knight character class, especially when there are already TWO in the Heroes of Magnamund rulebook? Well, I suppose the answer would be for variety. They've managed to give all three knight classes very different feels.
One odd thing about this write-up is that it doesn't mention the knight's Faersteed - the special mount that is psychically linked the knight and bonded for life. You have to stumble upon the Faersteed in the Magnamund Bestiary to find out about that. This is, unfortunately, an all-to-typical oversight for LWM.
Overall, the Vaderish, Knight of the Sword is a welcome addition to LWM. With a world as rich as Magnamund, I wish that more character classes would be released. I also wish that "epic" level (level 11-20) disciplines would be released for this character class as it has been for all other good-aligned character classes.
1LR Review: 16 out of 20 - It's a Hit!
The Vaderish, Knight of the Sword character class is written up in an identical format to the other published character classes. Why do we need another knight character class, especially when there are already TWO in the Heroes of Magnamund rulebook? Well, I suppose the answer would be for variety. They've managed to give all three knight classes very different feels.
One odd thing about this write-up is that it doesn't mention the knight's Faersteed - the special mount that is psychically linked the knight and bonded for life. You have to stumble upon the Faersteed in the Magnamund Bestiary to find out about that. This is, unfortunately, an all-to-typical oversight for LWM.
Overall, the Vaderish, Knight of the Sword is a welcome addition to LWM. With a world as rich as Magnamund, I wish that more character classes would be released. I also wish that "epic" level (level 11-20) disciplines would be released for this character class as it has been for all other good-aligned character classes.
1LR Review: 16 out of 20 - It's a Hit!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer - Free Download - Cener Druid of Ruel Review
There has been plenty of free downloadable content from Mongoose to support the Lone Wolf Multiplayer RPG. Cener Druid of Ruel is one such download that was available from Signs and Portents #81, starting on page 20. You can get it at http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/signsnportentsarchive.
This addition to LWM is a curious one. This is the only evil character class to be detailed as a player character would. This is curious because, as the rules are written, NPCs do not get a combat "turn" like in most RPGs. So when in combat would a Cener Druid get the chance to use any of these skills? I don't know the answer to that. Even in the published adventure, Radak's Revenge, the Cener Druid presented in the adventure does not have any of the abilities listed in this write-up.
Still, I feel that the authors did a nice join in detailing the Cener Druid. The powers that the druid has are unique and dark. Cener Druids are truly worthy adversaries when they can curse a PC with a disease that leave them bedridden, call roots from the ground to strange him, or create undead servants!
It's neat to see an evil Druid... I know when I first encountered this idea, it seemed very strange to me. How could somebody use nature for evil? Well, the Cener Druid is proof that it's possible!
1LR Review: 15 out of 20 - It's a Hit!
Still, I feel that the authors did a nice join in detailing the Cener Druid. The powers that the druid has are unique and dark. Cener Druids are truly worthy adversaries when they can curse a PC with a disease that leave them bedridden, call roots from the ground to strange him, or create undead servants!
It's neat to see an evil Druid... I know when I first encountered this idea, it seemed very strange to me. How could somebody use nature for evil? Well, the Cener Druid is proof that it's possible!
1LR Review: 15 out of 20 - It's a Hit!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer #8 - The Darklands Review
The Darklands is the eighth book to be released for the Lone Wolf Multiplayer RPG.
First, the book presents the geography of the Darklands. Each domain is detailed quite extensively. While the formatting may not be very reader-friendly you can't fault them for being thorough. The "Dangers of the Darklands" section is truly awe-inspiring in its grotesque barbarism. Truly, the Darklands is a hideous, horrible place and that really oozes out of every paragraph. This isn't a land any character should enter lightly because it is brutally deadly, as it should be. I would say you need to be level 15+ to even ATTEMPT to journey into the Darklands!
I especially liked the section on The Touch of Naar and corruption of player characters. The very fact that your character's spirit, mind, and physical form is being twisted by doing the things necessary to adventure in the Darklands is wonderfully evil. This reminds me of the old school Ravenloft setting I loved so much.
The excellence continues in a detailed walkthrough of the capital city of Helgedad. There's a nice map included and a sector by sector breakdown.
The Darklord section is truly terrifying, however. Darklord after Darklord is detailed with special powers and qualities that are enough to make any Kai Lord shake in his little green booties. There's also a very nice supplemental bestiary for creatures that would appear in the Darklands only. The armies of the Darklords themselves are given a very close inspection. All of this is simply delightful.
My only two quibbles with this book are minor. First, the cover art is recycled from the Lone Wolf D20 Darklands book. In fact, the contents of this book are amazingly similar to that book in many regards. Perhaps this is one of the reasons this book seems so well put together compared to other Lone Wolf Multiplayer books - the D20 Lone Wolf seemed to have a greater production value overall. The second quibble is the lack of interior art. I don't mind this as much as some and I'd rather have no interior art that poorly drawn and poorly printed art like in some of the other Lone Wolf Multiplayer books.
Kudos to Vincent Lazzari and Joe Dever for putting together the best Lone Wolf Mutlplayer book to date.
1LR Review - 19 out of 20 - It's a Solid Hit!
I especially liked the section on The Touch of Naar and corruption of player characters. The very fact that your character's spirit, mind, and physical form is being twisted by doing the things necessary to adventure in the Darklands is wonderfully evil. This reminds me of the old school Ravenloft setting I loved so much.
The excellence continues in a detailed walkthrough of the capital city of Helgedad. There's a nice map included and a sector by sector breakdown.
The Darklord section is truly terrifying, however. Darklord after Darklord is detailed with special powers and qualities that are enough to make any Kai Lord shake in his little green booties. There's also a very nice supplemental bestiary for creatures that would appear in the Darklands only. The armies of the Darklords themselves are given a very close inspection. All of this is simply delightful.
My only two quibbles with this book are minor. First, the cover art is recycled from the Lone Wolf D20 Darklands book. In fact, the contents of this book are amazingly similar to that book in many regards. Perhaps this is one of the reasons this book seems so well put together compared to other Lone Wolf Multiplayer books - the D20 Lone Wolf seemed to have a greater production value overall. The second quibble is the lack of interior art. I don't mind this as much as some and I'd rather have no interior art that poorly drawn and poorly printed art like in some of the other Lone Wolf Multiplayer books.
Kudos to Vincent Lazzari and Joe Dever for putting together the best Lone Wolf Mutlplayer book to date.
1LR Review - 19 out of 20 - It's a Solid Hit!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer #7 - Corruption of Ikaya Review
Corruption of Ikaya is the seventh book released for the Lone Wolf Multiplayer RPG.
Corruption of Ikaya is a pretty straightforward adventure... A Kai Lord has gone missing - go and find him. I'd say I don't have any actual problems with the adventure other than there is no real "plot development." There are no NPCs that the party has an ongoing relationship with. Really, it's a long string of random encounters until they end.
I do like the focus of the adventure - traveling into the icy wastelands of Kalte. It's not often you get to adventure in ice and snow. Characters have to worry about avalanches, snow blindness, and hypothermia! I also liked the challenge of stealth at the end. I think that's very hard for characters to do!
The thing that REALLY burns me up with this is that it costs $20.00 and is only 74 digest pages long! You've got to be kidding me! Now, I might be willing to pay that for an outstanding adventure that my players will remember for years to come but CoI is not that.
This thing is riddled with errors, typos, and omissions. The whole mission is to rescue the Kai Lord but when you find him... NOTHING. No stats, no dialogue, no options on what to do with him... nothing. Same with a pirate vessel that attacks the players. It says the pirates fire ballistae but not how many ballistae or the stats for a ballistae. Once the pirates are defeated the adventure doesn't tell you anything else. What's on the ship? What would the captain do with the pirate ship? One of the pirates has the Nightfire Rod... Which does what, exactly? The adventure doesn't even tell us. The maps to the final lair, a warehouse ambush, or the pirate ship aren't even included!!!
What makes it worse is that THIS ISN'T EVEN AN ORIGINAL ADVENTURE! It was first published in Signs and Portents, the Mongoose PDF magazine. Originally, it was a D20 adventure but was translated over to LWM rules. Somehow, they made the adventure presentation WORSE. They didn't even bother fixing errors from the original adventure such as on page 50 (from the PDF) it says, "they can meet Franklin," but it actually means, "they can meet Stephen Jarn." This is one example of something that is wrong in the original and never corrected. Frankly, this is simply lazy. You already have the whole thing written - take four hours and go through to edit the thing before rushing it out the door!
At the end of the day, even though I like some of the features of the adventure, the sloppiness is inexcusable. This is the worst book produced for the Lone Wolf Multiplayer RPG to date.
1LR Review - 8 out of 20 - It's a Miss!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer #6 - Book of the Magnakai Review
Book of the Magnakai is the sixth book for the Lone Wolf Multiplayer RPG.
First, I can't let the name escape notice. "Book of the Magnakai" is actually the name of a book in the Lone Wolf world that plays a critical role in the solo adventure books. It's also the name of a Joe Dever novel.
This book is EXACTLY what Lone Wolf Multiplayer needed. From the core rules and Heroes of Magnamund, characters start at level 5 and progress to level 10. For an ongoing campaign this doesn't allow very much play time before your characters are hitting the top of the charts and "know everything." Terror of the Darklords alone will take your characters to level 10! Mongoose once again follows the lead of the solo adventure books and makes it possible for your character to go to level 20 by adding ten new abilities!
I've got to say that I'm very impressed with this book! It doesn't seem to be an afterthought at all - it seems like this book was part of the plan all along. The new powers naturally expand what already existed without sloppy contradictions. The authors even go so far as to address the "11th discipline" issue with the White Knights! Very nice!
The intro to the book is very clearly written and actually serves an important purpose - setting the stage for characters of this level. Essentially, once you've reached level 11 you're an "epic" character. You're no longer going on petty errands or stopping a common band of thieves to go up a level. You've got to have epic adventures! I thought the authors did a very nice job of describing that.
Now, not everything is sunshine and roses. A couple of minor nit-pics:
First, I can't let the name escape notice. "Book of the Magnakai" is actually the name of a book in the Lone Wolf world that plays a critical role in the solo adventure books. It's also the name of a Joe Dever novel.
This book is EXACTLY what Lone Wolf Multiplayer needed. From the core rules and Heroes of Magnamund, characters start at level 5 and progress to level 10. For an ongoing campaign this doesn't allow very much play time before your characters are hitting the top of the charts and "know everything." Terror of the Darklords alone will take your characters to level 10! Mongoose once again follows the lead of the solo adventure books and makes it possible for your character to go to level 20 by adding ten new abilities!
I've got to say that I'm very impressed with this book! It doesn't seem to be an afterthought at all - it seems like this book was part of the plan all along. The new powers naturally expand what already existed without sloppy contradictions. The authors even go so far as to address the "11th discipline" issue with the White Knights! Very nice!
The intro to the book is very clearly written and actually serves an important purpose - setting the stage for characters of this level. Essentially, once you've reached level 11 you're an "epic" character. You're no longer going on petty errands or stopping a common band of thieves to go up a level. You've got to have epic adventures! I thought the authors did a very nice job of describing that.
Now, not everything is sunshine and roses. A couple of minor nit-pics:
- The character sheets are still fuzzy. Come on, people! Figure out how to print without this pixelization! The Kai weapon list on page 70 is the same way. Ugh!
- As with all LWM books, this one suffers from some misprints and typos. For example, for the Border Ranger's ability High Mark of the Marksman it says to count a "zero" as a "5" or a "6" instead. But a 5 or 6 are worse than a zero! I think it means to count a "1" as a "5" or a "6." D'oh! Stuff like that should be child's play for an editor.
- The intro gives rules for increased combat skill over time... what about endurance? Most of the new spells use more willpower than before... doesn't this mean that spellcasters will run out of willpower that much quicker? A character's willpower should increase over time as well.
All in all, an excellent supplement despite some minor flaws.
1LR Review - 18 out of 20 - It's a Solid Hit!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer #5 - Magnamund Bestiary Review
The Magnamund Bestiary is the fifth book published for the Lone Wolf Multiplayer RPG.
As the name states, the Magnamund Bestiary is essentially the Monster Manual for LWM. Creatures are broken down into the categories of mundane, sentient, humanoids, undead, elementals, constructs, darkspawn, agarashi, mutants and extra-planar creatures. This book is the beefiest of all the LWM books weighing in at 200 pages and it's for good reason! There are well over 100 different creatures listed in this book!
These creatures range from the common such as a tiger to a wolf to the truly exotic. The one thing about Lone Wolf is that it doesn't rely on the old standbys from Dungeons and Dragons such as Kobolds and Bug Bears. I don't know about you but if I didn't read about a Dhax, Chaksu, Cinquali, Crocaryx, Uraroh, Oudagorg, Plaak, or Ziog I would have no idea what they were at all! There are SOME pictures included in this book but I wish there were more.
Still, where there are no pictures each entry gives you tons of information. You get a physical description, history (where applicable - they don't give you a history for mules, for example), combat notes, and roleplaying notes. The combat notes are welcome, telling when and how a creature will attack or under what conditions it will retreat. The roleplaying notes are unintentionally funny sometimes. Some of them are written in the second person point of view. For example, for a Szall it says, "You are scared of the humans but you covet their possessions. The bandit humans are much too tough and wary for you to dare raid their campsites..." The creature POV for the Game Master is funny...
There are plenty of common NPC characters provided as well such as villagers, assassins, pirates, academics, etc. With the Drakkar the authors really go above and beyond the call of duty, giving the army structure and stats for each rank and specialty in the army. Wow!
Another place that I thought they did an excellent job in was the constructs. The clockwork constructs are given a four step process for customizing them, allowing you to create your own clockwork monstrosities. The results are fairly balanced. I just wish they had provided a few more examples of completed clockwork constructs.
The one major gripe I have about this book is the stats provided. They're too tough! An average character will have stats somewhere a 15-20 Combat Skill and 25-30 Endurance. A lion has a CS of 18-24 and END 27-33 making it tougher than most characters! And that's just one example! The Mawtaw has CS 34-43 and END 42-50!!! We're talking Total Party Kill at that point! Everyone will be at -11 CS at that point and the Mawtaw will just tear everyone to shreds! And that's not an isolated example! Here's a list of more creatures that have a 40 CS or better:
Black Corvayl, Giant Spider, Shianti, Drakkar War Marshal, Drakkar Nadziranim, Shadakine Wytch, Cabalah, Dentaag, Ghost, Urgaroh, Ziog, Earth Elemental, Tzoog, Iron Golem, Clockwork Constructs, Ashradon, Liganim, Xaghash, Agarashi (common), Brumalghast, Chagarashi, Dakomyd, Deathstalker, Quoku, Xanon, Antah Wasp, Demon (Lesser), Ice Demon (up to 53 CS!!!), Kleasa, and Lavas. Now, that's THIRTY ONE creatures that can completely own a party. Some of them have special abilities such as magical absorption that make them even worse! I'd say there's probably a greater number of creatures that have a CS between 30-39. Even in that range that's a MAJOR boss! Sure, some of these creatures are godlike beings such as the Shainti but a Giant Spider? Wasps? At the end of the day, it seems the creatures' stats weren't carefully calculated and playtested. This diminishes the value of the book somewhat.
Also lacking are special powers for creatures. For example, the Cener Druid write up simply gives a CS and END score. But the downloadable evil character class Cener Druid fleshes out the class with skills like a player class. This omission is probably due to the nature of the LWM system - the enemies don't really get a "turn" as it were.
Even considering the stat issue, I'd still say this is a great resource. While not essential, this book really does add a lot of dimension to your two-stat creatures.
1LR Review - 17 out of 20 - It's a Solid Hit!
These creatures range from the common such as a tiger to a wolf to the truly exotic. The one thing about Lone Wolf is that it doesn't rely on the old standbys from Dungeons and Dragons such as Kobolds and Bug Bears. I don't know about you but if I didn't read about a Dhax, Chaksu, Cinquali, Crocaryx, Uraroh, Oudagorg, Plaak, or Ziog I would have no idea what they were at all! There are SOME pictures included in this book but I wish there were more.
Still, where there are no pictures each entry gives you tons of information. You get a physical description, history (where applicable - they don't give you a history for mules, for example), combat notes, and roleplaying notes. The combat notes are welcome, telling when and how a creature will attack or under what conditions it will retreat. The roleplaying notes are unintentionally funny sometimes. Some of them are written in the second person point of view. For example, for a Szall it says, "You are scared of the humans but you covet their possessions. The bandit humans are much too tough and wary for you to dare raid their campsites..." The creature POV for the Game Master is funny...
There are plenty of common NPC characters provided as well such as villagers, assassins, pirates, academics, etc. With the Drakkar the authors really go above and beyond the call of duty, giving the army structure and stats for each rank and specialty in the army. Wow!
Another place that I thought they did an excellent job in was the constructs. The clockwork constructs are given a four step process for customizing them, allowing you to create your own clockwork monstrosities. The results are fairly balanced. I just wish they had provided a few more examples of completed clockwork constructs.
The one major gripe I have about this book is the stats provided. They're too tough! An average character will have stats somewhere a 15-20 Combat Skill and 25-30 Endurance. A lion has a CS of 18-24 and END 27-33 making it tougher than most characters! And that's just one example! The Mawtaw has CS 34-43 and END 42-50!!! We're talking Total Party Kill at that point! Everyone will be at -11 CS at that point and the Mawtaw will just tear everyone to shreds! And that's not an isolated example! Here's a list of more creatures that have a 40 CS or better:
Black Corvayl, Giant Spider, Shianti, Drakkar War Marshal, Drakkar Nadziranim, Shadakine Wytch, Cabalah, Dentaag, Ghost, Urgaroh, Ziog, Earth Elemental, Tzoog, Iron Golem, Clockwork Constructs, Ashradon, Liganim, Xaghash, Agarashi (common), Brumalghast, Chagarashi, Dakomyd, Deathstalker, Quoku, Xanon, Antah Wasp, Demon (Lesser), Ice Demon (up to 53 CS!!!), Kleasa, and Lavas. Now, that's THIRTY ONE creatures that can completely own a party. Some of them have special abilities such as magical absorption that make them even worse! I'd say there's probably a greater number of creatures that have a CS between 30-39. Even in that range that's a MAJOR boss! Sure, some of these creatures are godlike beings such as the Shainti but a Giant Spider? Wasps? At the end of the day, it seems the creatures' stats weren't carefully calculated and playtested. This diminishes the value of the book somewhat.
Also lacking are special powers for creatures. For example, the Cener Druid write up simply gives a CS and END score. But the downloadable evil character class Cener Druid fleshes out the class with skills like a player class. This omission is probably due to the nature of the LWM system - the enemies don't really get a "turn" as it were.
Even considering the stat issue, I'd still say this is a great resource. While not essential, this book really does add a lot of dimension to your two-stat creatures.
1LR Review - 17 out of 20 - It's a Solid Hit!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer - Gaming Notes #3
Our heroes were camped at the bottom of the moutain below the Shianti fortress of Ikaya, last time we left them. Leaving their guides behind, they begin their ascent only to stumble upon a dying ice barbarian. The barbarian is an adviser to the ice barbarian's main ruler who has been exiled. He tells the party of a secret entrance into Ikaya are warns that the ice barbarian's leader is under the influence of an evil orange gem and has been acting strangely.
The party finds the moulin into the glacier and enters an icy cavern, discovering the lower levels of Ikaya after dispatching a Javek (a little too loudly - the Dwarven Gunner fired her musket). They open the door, kill two doomwolves, and proceed into a hallway. They quickly find that all of the doors are locked and they need a triangular symbol to unlock the doors. They kill the guards and take their pendants, finding the missing Kai Lord in the process. Unfortunately, the Dwarven Gunner again uses her musket and two more waves of guards come running, resulting in the death of the Magician of Dessi. The heroes pause only momentarily to... mourn (loot the body) before proceeding up the stairs to the ground level to confront the "evil" barbarian leader, leaving the weakened Kai Lord below.
After quickly dispatching the lone guard left on the ground level the party enters the bedchamber of the barbarian leader. They destroy the orange gem and discover the barbarian leader tied up in a closet! Confusingly, the barbarian leader then enters the room with guards and unleashes powerful magic from a scepter he carries! It rends the room in two, severely damaging Ikaya in the process.
The heroes attack and the barbarian reveals his true nature - a Nadziran who can transform his shape into an ice dragon! The dragon quickly kills the Kai Lord as the party tries to keep its distance and attack with ranged weapons. After an exhausting battle the Brother of the Crystal Star finally puts the beast down with a massive bolt of lightning.
The true barbarian leader is less than grateful, however, severely chastising the surviving heroes for killing so many of his mislead men and for damaging his city. The barbarian leader casts them out into the icy wilderness after stripping them of their possessions as reparations to pay the families of the deceased ice barbarians. The heroes limp home, happy to have merely survived the ordeal.
After quickly dispatching the lone guard left on the ground level the party enters the bedchamber of the barbarian leader. They destroy the orange gem and discover the barbarian leader tied up in a closet! Confusingly, the barbarian leader then enters the room with guards and unleashes powerful magic from a scepter he carries! It rends the room in two, severely damaging Ikaya in the process.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer #4 - Sommerlund Review
Sommerlund is the fourth book published for the Lone Wolf Multiplayer roleplaying system. It is an exploration of the nation of Sommerlund in the world of Magnamund.
Sommerlund is not an adventure - it is a setting. This book details the history of Sommerlund, geography, and than important regions and cities in Sommerlund such as Tyso, Holmgard, the Southlund Marches, and Kirlunain Isles. For each location, a history is given, significant features are given, government and law is described, economic conditions detailed, and a map is provided. Sometimes, notable figures are described as they relate to specific locations around the city. I just wish that stats and abilities for these notable figures were provided.
This book would be very helpful if a group of adventurers was to visit one of these locations or adventure there. The presentation of information is a little wordy so the book doesn't serve well as a quick-reference. I think if I knew one of my adventuring groups was visiting one of these locations I would carefully read and take notes on the section - that way I could reference the notes at a quick glance and get the information I needed.
Unfortunately, a large portion of this book was previously made available online in Mongoose's Signs and Portents magazine. The information from page 17 to page 102 (in a 142 page book) was available from Signs and Portents in a slightly modified version. Maps and some sections are actually identical. Sometimes the language is clarified a bit. Sometimes facts are changed. For example, on page 48 it says "King Braern I granted command" but in that same paragraph in Signs and Portents it says King Kian, not King Braern I. Whether or not this represents a correction or not is not stated so we're left to draw our own conclusions as to which is correct. Ultimately, this kind of leaves me feeling cheated a bit that I paid $20.00 for something that was mostly available for free already.
It's a good reference book but I wish the formatting was a little easier to quick reference and I wish a little more original work has gone into the product.
1LR Review - 13 out of 20 - It's a Glancing Hit!
This book would be very helpful if a group of adventurers was to visit one of these locations or adventure there. The presentation of information is a little wordy so the book doesn't serve well as a quick-reference. I think if I knew one of my adventuring groups was visiting one of these locations I would carefully read and take notes on the section - that way I could reference the notes at a quick glance and get the information I needed.
Unfortunately, a large portion of this book was previously made available online in Mongoose's Signs and Portents magazine. The information from page 17 to page 102 (in a 142 page book) was available from Signs and Portents in a slightly modified version. Maps and some sections are actually identical. Sometimes the language is clarified a bit. Sometimes facts are changed. For example, on page 48 it says "King Braern I granted command" but in that same paragraph in Signs and Portents it says King Kian, not King Braern I. Whether or not this represents a correction or not is not stated so we're left to draw our own conclusions as to which is correct. Ultimately, this kind of leaves me feeling cheated a bit that I paid $20.00 for something that was mostly available for free already.
It's a good reference book but I wish the formatting was a little easier to quick reference and I wish a little more original work has gone into the product.
1LR Review - 13 out of 20 - It's a Glancing Hit!
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer - Gaming Notes #2
We last left our heroes in the middle of their sea voyage to Lujk, the trading city in the frozen wasteland of Kalte where they sought news of the missing Kai Lord has his party of diplomats. After the saboteurs were defeated, the ship needed an entire day to repair itself and to pump out the water since it had come very, very close to sinking completely.
After a few days at sea, a swift vessel approached the ship. Giaks attacked, launching ballistae and their leader fired a magical wand, killing crew members mercilessly! The heroes fought back, disabling one of the ballistae, breaching the hull of the enemy ship, and killing some giaks and their leader before giving the final, killing blow to the vessel when the Magician of Dessi snapped the mast off with a mighty magically blow.
When they saw a tall black pillar on the horizon, the heroes steered clear of it, wary of the potential danger. Shortly thereafter they started noticing icebergs in the water around them as they entered the arctic water of the Kaltersee.
Upon their arrival at port, they were greeted by the Harbormaster and discovered that the town had been under seige by the ice barbarians. They quickly disembarked, found the Kai Temple and merchant house. That night, the heroes thwarted a plan by an agent of the Darklords to let Baknars into the town and then poison the heroes' waterskins. The following morning, merchant house outfitted them with gear for their trip and provided them with two guides. The heroes set off into the great, white openness of Kalte, going toward the ancient city of Ikaya on their dog sleds in search of the missing Kai Lord.
Along the way, they encountered many dangers in their 15 day journey, including wild animals, frozen giak zombies, ice barbarians, blizzards, and a magical aurora in the sky that they (stupidly) messed with despite repeated warnings from their guides. They also saw many wonders such as a 800 foot tall ice cliff and the inverted image of Ikaya hanging from the clouds.
The heroes stopped at the foot of the mountain Ikaya rests on. When next we continue, the heroes will try to infiltrate this fortress...
After a few days at sea, a swift vessel approached the ship. Giaks attacked, launching ballistae and their leader fired a magical wand, killing crew members mercilessly! The heroes fought back, disabling one of the ballistae, breaching the hull of the enemy ship, and killing some giaks and their leader before giving the final, killing blow to the vessel when the Magician of Dessi snapped the mast off with a mighty magically blow.
When they saw a tall black pillar on the horizon, the heroes steered clear of it, wary of the potential danger. Shortly thereafter they started noticing icebergs in the water around them as they entered the arctic water of the Kaltersee.
Upon their arrival at port, they were greeted by the Harbormaster and discovered that the town had been under seige by the ice barbarians. They quickly disembarked, found the Kai Temple and merchant house. That night, the heroes thwarted a plan by an agent of the Darklords to let Baknars into the town and then poison the heroes' waterskins. The following morning, merchant house outfitted them with gear for their trip and provided them with two guides. The heroes set off into the great, white openness of Kalte, going toward the ancient city of Ikaya on their dog sleds in search of the missing Kai Lord.
Lone Wolf Multiplayer #3 - Heroes of Magnamund Review
Heroes of Magnamund is the third book released for the Lone Wolf Multiplayer RPG.
This might sound odd, but I would say that of all of the LWM books published to date, including the core rulebook, this one is the most essential to game play. This is the book that takes this from being a Lone Wolf solo adventure book played with multiple Kai Lords to an actual RPG with a diverse world filled with heroes.
I like the way every class maintains the same structure of 10 disciplines (except for the Knight of the White Mountain which has 11 and the Kloon Sage which has 4 but may take them multiple times for various effects). Every class is given a fairly complete history along with roleplaying notes that detail why your hero would adventure. I really like the fact that almost every class is truly heroic, no shades of gray (the only one that comes close to being "neutral" are the Buccaneers). That's refreshing in an RPG!
The classes themselves are very different from one another. I thought the designers did an excellent job in making each class unique - even the two classes of knights are very different from one another. As a player, you have many options to select from.
Not everything is sunny, though. I do not like how only certain characters have the "Willpower" stat. I think every character should have the same basic stats - Combat Skill, Endurance, and Willpower - even if they don't use the "Willpower" to cast spells they can use it defensively against mind control, etc. This is especially odd since the Knight of the White Mountain doesn't start with a Willpower score but gains one once he takes a specific skill. Once again, the translation from the solo adventure books was too literal. Also, with the willpower stat I wonder how well the game was playtested. Some of the spells are incredible expensive in terms of willpower! I could routinely see spellcasters running out of willpower in the middle of an adventure, especially since they (primarily) can't replenish their willpower until the end of the adventure!
It's also odd that in the front of the book they claim that this book introduces the "Heroes and Legends" style of play, which is over level 10. This is actually not true! That is done in another book - the Book of the Magnakai.
The worst, however, are the character sheets. Every class is given its own character sheet. That would be okay except THEY'RE NEARLY IDENTICAL TO EACH OTHER! Worse, they're incredibly blurry... horrible printing! Lastly, each character sheet is given a "combat record" that is identical so out of 144 pages or so 12 pages are worthless, fuzzy, identical "combat records."
All in all, even though this book isn't perfect, it is very well done - perhaps better done than any other Lone Wolf Multiplayer book. I would consider it absolutely essential for gameplay! If you're at all interested in playing LWM - buy this book!
1LR Review - 16 out of 20 - It's a Hit!
I like the way every class maintains the same structure of 10 disciplines (except for the Knight of the White Mountain which has 11 and the Kloon Sage which has 4 but may take them multiple times for various effects). Every class is given a fairly complete history along with roleplaying notes that detail why your hero would adventure. I really like the fact that almost every class is truly heroic, no shades of gray (the only one that comes close to being "neutral" are the Buccaneers). That's refreshing in an RPG!
The classes themselves are very different from one another. I thought the designers did an excellent job in making each class unique - even the two classes of knights are very different from one another. As a player, you have many options to select from.
Not everything is sunny, though. I do not like how only certain characters have the "Willpower" stat. I think every character should have the same basic stats - Combat Skill, Endurance, and Willpower - even if they don't use the "Willpower" to cast spells they can use it defensively against mind control, etc. This is especially odd since the Knight of the White Mountain doesn't start with a Willpower score but gains one once he takes a specific skill. Once again, the translation from the solo adventure books was too literal. Also, with the willpower stat I wonder how well the game was playtested. Some of the spells are incredible expensive in terms of willpower! I could routinely see spellcasters running out of willpower in the middle of an adventure, especially since they (primarily) can't replenish their willpower until the end of the adventure!
It's also odd that in the front of the book they claim that this book introduces the "Heroes and Legends" style of play, which is over level 10. This is actually not true! That is done in another book - the Book of the Magnakai.
The worst, however, are the character sheets. Every class is given its own character sheet. That would be okay except THEY'RE NEARLY IDENTICAL TO EACH OTHER! Worse, they're incredibly blurry... horrible printing! Lastly, each character sheet is given a "combat record" that is identical so out of 144 pages or so 12 pages are worthless, fuzzy, identical "combat records."
All in all, even though this book isn't perfect, it is very well done - perhaps better done than any other Lone Wolf Multiplayer book. I would consider it absolutely essential for gameplay! If you're at all interested in playing LWM - buy this book!
1LR Review - 16 out of 20 - It's a Hit!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer #2 - Terror of the Darklords Review
Terror of the Darklords is the second book released for the Lone Wolf Multplayer RPG and it is the first published campaign for the system. Although I've read the adventures, I will admit that I haven't run it. I'll explain why in a little bit...
First, the positives:
- The formatting of the adventure is very similar to the formatting of the example adventure from the first book.
- The layout is very easy to understand. It gives you simple text to read to the players and accounts for various possible player reactions in a realistic manner.
- This campaign book truly is a campaign. If you completed the entire book, your characters would go from level 5 (beginning) to level 10 ("Master" level). I think this concept is pretty unique! It's a good thing they released the Book of the Magnakai so you can continue adventuring to level 20...
Finally, the negatives:
- This book is for Kai only. This rules out the other 12 or so character classes from the Heroes of Magnamund book. I'm sure you could shoehorn in other characters but with the way the plot is written I don't think it would flow right.
- Deadliness. Simply put, this adventure is LETHAL! At one point (on page 115) if you don't successfully jump, your character dies! At several places there are overwhelming odds such as 24 deadly armored skeletons; "The Darkness" with INFINITE endurance (and he'll automatically fight at +10 CS!); 20 Mountain Gaiks, 20 Doomwolves and a Drakkarim Death Knight Captain AT THE SAME TIME. The book says that it's the Game Master's responsibility for keeping the heroes alive... I would say that would require some MAJOR revisions to the story as it is written.
- The timeline doesn't seem long enough to justify taking characters from level 5 to level 10.
- Sometimes, even well intentioned characters can fail a mission based on a decision they made mid-adventure. For example, after Master Stormsong is taken by the bad guys, if the heroes try to rescue him or even report what has happened to their masters the mission is considered a total failure.
All in all, I've decided against running this adventure. Although I think it's well written, the fact that only Kai can go on it is too limiting and it IS incredibly deadly, even with the rules modifications suggested in the front. Even though the campaign designers provided a well-thought out product, I think the limitations on this are too great to make it playable.
1LR Review: 10 out of 20 - It's a Miss!
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