Lone Wolf Multiplayer + Lone Wolf Gamebooks

[MadPhineas]

I acquired the Lone Wolf Multiplayer Gamebook and love what I see. I have three, possibly five, people ready to play the game who have practically no experience with the original gamebooks.

I'd like to know where things could go horribly awry if I used the gamebooks, starting with Flight From the Dark, as a firm guide for a very, very long campaign. I'd have some lower Rank adventurers for the small group of Kai Lords so I could get them familiarized with the glorious order, and then I'll set it up so they are the only survivors.

While there are many story elements I would of course have to revise (since so many of the threats exist because Lone Wolf is... well... Lone), what else would I have to tweak? Will the combats need a complete overhaul or is there some kind of generic formula I could use to bring things into a semblance of balance?

My biggest storyline concern is with what to do with the Sommerswerd. If one hero wields it, it's unfair to the others. Thoughts on this?

(I only came up with this idea today, so I know it probably seems very amateur!)

 

[Sir Brad]

Lots of small problems, mostly to do with a party having all the Disciplines, this reduces the challenge, also parties are resistant to many of the "Pushes" and more than a few "Pulls" as they appear in the game books, up scaling them to effect a group of three or more brakes the theam of some books. at other points a group can avoid important Meta Story events from happening, eg. in book 1 a party can both hold the bridge and save the prince, where in the books LW could do neither on his own. also look at party spiting members of the group will want to take different paths as they appear in the books and a few that don't.

as to the Sommerswerd, don't let them keep it, they where sent to retrieve it for the King, it's His Sword, if anyone sais "But only a Kai can use it" tell them no "only a Kai can unlock it's full powers, anyone of the right Blood can use it and the Royal line has the right blood".

it's not a bad idea, just a lot of work.

 

[Vassagonian]

Well, 3 thoughts spring to mind:

Firstly you could have it as a renegade/outpost of the main Kai Monastry somewhere else in the world. That gets around almost all of the problems, and the party could travel to the main monastry after the attack.

Second option which I prefer:

Just have them come in after Lonewolf has collected the Lore Stones [either book 12, or book 20 from memory] and that way they can be new trainees, and have a variety of non darklord adventures.

Thirdly You "ignore" the first 2 books, and have their adventures playing out from Book 3 onwards. Rather than going to Kalte, they guard the monastry and help it being rebuilt. They do all the stuff that happens while LW was away.

You could have a second smaller attack on the monastry, you could have various elements of book 4, and some of the parts of book 5, raising an army under Banedon's guide to prepare for LW gaining the book of mangakai.

There is no reason at all that your players need to get their hands on the Sommerswerd. One good quest would be to send them off to some mountains to forge a new blade or something similiar as a backup.
Make it a lot less powerful until the quest is over, then have the King take it into security while LW uses the real one, or something similiar.

Keep in mind, there is a huge timeline in book 2, and various shenanigans in books 3 and 4 burn down the days as well.

 

[Vassagonian]

O and an additional thought, assuming you have the first 20 books [well, project aon cough cough if you dont] theres nothing stopping you giving them various different adventures from the books but in a different order

Send them off to the cener druids to get supplies or a cure, in preparation for later challenges.

Send them off to spy on Zammer Khan [hideous spelling] or have them capture one of his enemies without realising it will put him in power and cause problems for LW later on.

 

[SnowShadow]

Bk 2 - Well Lone Wolf brings the Sommerswerd AND the Allies of Durenor, so you could just have the allies and ignore the Sommerswerd. Perhaps King Alin himself comes and uses the Sommerswerd/presents it to Ulnar - the Kai's mission to bring the allies back being the emphasis. Or you could let them get the Sommerswerd and then have to hand it to the King because it is too precious to risk falling into enemy hands. If you did Bk 4 before Bk 2 they would have the Dagger of Vashna to fight Zagarna with instead. If you do give one of them the Sommerswerd then you either need to make sure that the others have the opportunity to obtain very powerful equipment soon or the equivalent - a large circle of 'helpful friends' or guarenteed income like an inn - to keep them balanced or, and this could be good roleplay, have Kai visit in a dream telling each of them it is their 'turn' to be the bearer of the Sommerswerd every so often, if one has wielded it for too long He may be concerned that they are becoming too materialistic. Perhaps the powers begin to fade (+7CS next fight, +6CS one after) if they ignore this and only being wielded by another Kai does the bonus restore itself in the same way.

There are a few problems with this method but it isn't a bad idea - even the best GM's get the occasional block, there is enough in the books to keep them occupied for many sessions!

Don't forget the Mini-adventures in the books and Banedon's Dawn of the Darklords adventure. Perhaps not all are suitable but with a little reworking & rewording there are some side adventures you could throw in. The Tomb of the Majhan Bk 5 can either be used for a booby trapped crypt or to make Bk 5 extended. Kai Lords appear in Bk 8 and Bk 13 bonus adventure perhaps you could play it from their perspective and of the others you could substitute spells/skills for disciplines - instead of Banedon warning the Kai one of your PC's could have been delayed in Toran at the Magician's Guild and given the message to deliver to the monastery with Kai Disciplines like Camouflage used instead of Silence.

I've always thought First Order Kai could be lost in a Shadow Gate but they could only return after Bk 12 because I'm sure it states LW is the first person to do this, then again Grey Star does but I guess Northern Magnamund isn't aware.

Perhaps the Grey Star adventures could be used too - again spells would need to be substituted for skills.

As to a magic formula... maybe one extra enemy (tough individuals +1CS +2EP) for every 2 Disciplines above LW? E.g. 3 Initiates doing Flight from th Dark= 15 Disciplines, 10 above LW so 5 more Giaks (Gourgaz +5CS +10 EP), no idea if it is balanced/works! If they were carrying money you could increase it - add Random Number GC worth extra for every 2 extra enemies (extra 2CS) but don't give them more Laumspur, etc.

 

[Greg Smith]

There was a RPG conversion of FFtD done by someone on the forums, for the d20 game. I still have it - it is incomplete though. It only goes up to the point of the choice between road, river and graveyard for approaching Holmgard.

To be honest, there is no reason you can't run a group of players through the books. I would bulk up the opposition - adding more Giaks, bandits etc; and increasing the stats of big single enemies.

You could have a Sommersword, Sommerdagger and Sommerbow, maybe. Or maybe have the players keep the Helghast's spear, and give it similar powers to the Sommersword.

 

[SnowShadow]

Just had a thought about the Sommerswerd. Instead of when being used by a normal person, have the powers disappear if used AGAINST a normal person, not necessarily permanent (unless you give the Kai ample warning and they constantly ignore)...

"You draw the Sommerswerd against the angry peasant asking for the toll and the blade feels unnaturally heavy in your hand. The golden flames, normally so bright, pale to a bare flicker and the weapon feels unusually cold and cumbersome. Are you sure you still wish to use it?" Perhaps you may decide the blade acts as a normal Sword against normal foes and only has it's bonus powers against Unnatural foes - those created by magic, Undead and visitors from another plane. The thing I dislike about Sommerswerd is the same thing I love about it - it is just sooo powerful you don't really neeeed any other weapon. This way your heroes will still want their precious Kai Master Sword +1CS!

Could be fun for Roleplaying.

 

[Zipp Dementia]

I didn't run it with multiple characters, but you may be interested in reading my MSN treatment of the books. A lot of changes were made to take out most instant deaths and what not that could be helpful to you:

http://projectaon.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=auxiliary&action=display&thread=1730&page=1