So what the heck is Lone Wolf, anyway?

[shotgun-toting chipmunk]

This is a serious question. The main website simply says that Lone Wolf is a game from the '80s brought back to life, and has something to do with a character who's monastery was attacked in a world called Magnamund.

This really tells me nothing about the game or setting. Is it a single player adventure, or can you play as a group? What is this world like? Is there magic, machinery, giant space lizards? Is there a battle of good vs. evil, or simply different civilizations attacking each other? Better yet, is it simply different human races, or are their other races as well?

I'd really like to know more, to see if it's something I would be interested in, but I can't tell anything from the main website.

 

[Balgin Stondraeg]

The Lone Wolf adventures are a series of solo gamebooks. Lone Wolf is the last of the Kai monks, a monastic order dedicated to the protection of the kingdom of Sommerlund from the armies of the darklords. To this end they study nature, combat disciplines and psichic skills.

The world of Magnamund is "different". It's hard to describe it any other way. There are no orcs, elves, goblins or any of the usual creatures you could expect to meet. The many human nations of Magnamund are well thought out and ethnicaly diverse. They feel really real (again, hard to describe it another way).

The young Lone Wolf sets out on a series of linked adventures that take him all over the world. As such he must use his skills to handle different situations (stealth, tracking, animal handling, weapon skills, mental disciplines etc). Think of Lone Wolf as a ranger/commando sneaky guy with lots of different ways of handling situations. This isn't Fighting Fantasy where your hero can take obscene ammounts of damage before breathing his last. Lone Wolf is mortal, very mortal but with a bit of cunning you can avoid most dangers.

The monsters are all unique to the world of Magnamund (with the exeption of animals) and the world definitely has it's own feel. So why not give it a try? You might enjoy it .

 

[shotgun-toting chipmunk]

The setting sounds kind of neat. Unfortunately, I'm currently looking for games that my wife and I can enjoy together. Still, this is certainly more info than what I've gathered before, thanks!

 

[BlackCat]

Since Balgin says that LW is hard to describe, maybe it is better for you to play the gamebooks... well, at least, the 1980's versions, which are a little bit different from the ones that Mongoose is currently publishing (which have the same storyline, but with some extra paths, rules clarifications and an extra mini-adventure in each book). Check out Project Aon, who publishes the old LW gamebooks for free on the net, along with some official extra material, like the Magnamund Companion.

The D20 version of the Lone Wolf RPG is still for sale, but a new non-D20 version should be published later this year.

 

[WritingWolf]

Weren't there 2 books published to be played together written by Joe Dever? I forget what they are called. Someone at Projactaon or Tower of the Sun will know!

 

[Angantyr]

Weren't there 2 books published to be played together written by Joe Dever? I forget what they are called. Someone at Projactaon or Tower of the Sun will know!

Are you thinking of the Combat Heroes books? There were two pairs of those published, but they are not set in Magnamund. Still, they are available at Project Aon for anyone to check out!

 

[SilverOwl]

.... Lone Wolf the Roleplaying Game is a d20-based (similar to DnD) table-top roleplaying game.

It is set in the game-world of Magnamund which is a hugely diverse area with a large number of possible game-type scenarios which will potentially allow you to play almost any sort of fantasy table-top campaign.

Out of the box as it were, it is tailored for adventuring more in Northern Magnamund than Southern, and your main plot protagonists will usually be agents of the Darklords, nasty servants of the Dark God Naar who have been sent to Magnamund with one directive - conquer and control this last free planet in the universe in the name of Darkness and Evil.

As has been pointed out, the monsters are all fairly unique - and this goes for the classes as well. The system is sort of half-way between Basic and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, in that they have some fairly complex combat options on some of the classes but have tried to make the basic Character Classes easy to play and understand.

I have always found tabletop RP to be quite possible between two people only, as long as the relationship is a stable and steady one to start with. It's a really cool way to explore things and tell stories together. Many people will tell you you really need a bigger group to truly enjoy such a game but your mileage may vary.

The reason this game is popular is that it has a very "earthy" sort of feel to it and thus feels and rings true to many players who started from the old gamebook days (as did I). The campaign _feels_ epic, it feels dangerous, it feels like each choice you make (from the very beginning choices of your character makeup to your individual action choices) can all contribute to your long term success or failure on missions.

And there is really a wealth of both background history, implied political interactions and also descriptive text that has been gathered from various sources and placed in the RPG.

All in all, my players love this campaign.

 

[Sunfire]

The Lone Wolf character is a "Kai Lord", who are a monastic order dedicated to protecting the "good and free" and can be described as a cross between a Lord of the Rings ranger and a jedi knight. The Lone Wolf game books mainly focus on a good versus evil conflict, but there are also nation versus nation conflicts.

The original Lone Wolf books were Fighting Fantasy style novels, except they were all sequentially linked and with the possible exception of Fire on the Water, you have a good chance of completing the book even though you didn't "turn left at the last set of crossroads". The Lone Wolf character begins the first book as the sole survivor in his order of Kai Lords. There was also a short series called Grey Star The Wizard... who might (?) appear in future unpublished Lone Wolf books.

There is /was a RPG based on the world and character types (i.e. play a Kai Lord or a Knight of the Realm).

Although there are no orcs, there are "Giaks" which act as cannon fodder. There are also a number of fantastical beasts, undead, dwarves and other creatures.

Although there are miniatures, there are no specific table top wargame rules, with the exception of the BattleField Evolution mod. Given the current situation of miniatures, I wouldn't say no if a Wizards did a Lone Wolf expansion with their D&D line, but thats just me.

The two player books were mostly graphical: "White Warlord" and "Black Baron" were the first pair. Emerald Enchanter and Scarlet Sorceror were the second pair. Nothing to do with Lone Wolf though.

 

[Balgin Stondraeg]

Given the current situation of miniatures, I wouldn't say no if a Wizards did a Lone Wolf expansion with their D&D line, but thats just me.

What, bendy prepainted low quality plastics? No thanks. I'd rather see quality sculpts from the likes of Hasslefree, Heresy, Freebooter, maybe even Reaper (but Reaper's products vary drasticaly in quality).

 

[Sunfire]

What, bendy prepainted low quality plastics? No thanks. I'd rather see quality sculpts from the likes of Hasslefree, Heresy, Freebooter, maybe even Reaper (but Reaper's products vary drasticaly in quality).

Hasslefree... so that is where the Forum of Doom comes from! and here's a quote from there: "Add this to the possible 20% rise in metal casting costs plus at least a 20% increase in resin costs.." I was only thinking that plastic was cheaper and there already is a miniatures rules system... and whilst metal miniatures are superior, they are giving producers a bit of a headache at the moment:

http://heresyminiatures.com/forumofdoom/index.php?topic=5216.0

Blame it on the Chinese, apparently. And plastic is more in keeping with my budget.

 

[Balgin Stondraeg]

I was only thinking that plastic was cheaper

Nah, certain scrupulous companies with names like Wizards of the Cost can afford to sell some stuff at smaller proffit margins to increase the popularity of their other products .

FOD's always good (but Freebooter's got nothing to do with FOD, neither has Reaper for that matter).