by Joe Dever
Sword (Weapons)
Short Sword (Weapons)
Two Meals (Meals)
Chainmail Waistcoat (Special Items). This adds 4 ENDURANCE points to your total.
Mace (Weapons)
Healing Potion (Backpack Item). This can restore 4 ENDURANCE points to your total, when swallowed after combat. There is only enough for one dose.
Quarterstaff (Weapons)
Spear (Weapons)
Shield (Special Items) This adds 2 points to your COMBAT SKILL when used in combat.
Broadsword (Weapons)
If you are already carrying Weapons from Book 1, you can take this opportunity to exchange one or both of them.
List the two items you choose on your Action Chart, under the heading given in brackets, and make a note of any effect it may have on your ENDURANCE points or COMBAT SKILL.
How to Carry Equipment
Now that you have your equipment, the following list shows you how it is carried. You don't need to make notes but you can refer back to this list in the course of your adventure.
Sword — carried in the hand.
Short Sword — carried in the hand.
Food — placed in the Backpack
Chainmail Waistcoat — worn on the body.
Mace — carried in the hand.
Healing Potion — carried in the Backpack.
Quarterstaff — carried in the hand.
Spear — carried in the hand.
Shield — slung over the shoulder when not in combat, otherwise carried in the hand.
Broadsword — carried in the hand.
How Much Can You Carry?
Weapons
The maximum number of weapons that you may carry is two.
Backpack Items
These must be stored in your Backpack. Because space is limited, you may only keep a maximum of eight articles, including Meals, in your Backpack at any one time.
Special Items
Special Items are not carried in the Backpack. When you discover a Special Item, you will be told how to carry it.
Gold Crowns
These are always carried in the Belt Pouch. It will hold a maximum of fifty crowns.
Food
Food is carried in your Backpack. Each Meal counts as one item.
Any item that may be of use and can be picked up on your adventure and entered on your Action Chart is given capital letters in the text. Unless you are told it is a Special Item, carry it in your Backpack.
How to Use Your Equipment
Weapons
Weapons aid you in combat. If you have the Kai Discipline of Weaponskill and the correct weapon, it adds 2 points to your COMBAT SKILL. If you enter a combat with no weapons, deduct 4 points from your COMBAT SKILL and fight with your bare hands. If you find a weapon during the adventure, you may pick it up and use it. (Remember you can only carry two Weapons at once.) You may only use one Weapon at a time in combat.
Backpack Items
During your travels you will discover various useful items which you may wish to keep. (Remember you can only carry eight items in your Backpack at once.) You may exchange or discard them at any point when you are not involved in combat.
Special Items
Each Special Item has a particular purpose or effect. You may be told this when the item is discovered, or it may be revealed to you as the adventure progresses.
Enter on your Action Chart a map that you found in the ashes of the Monastery.
You begin this section with the Seal of Hammerdal, a ring that you wear on your right hand. Enter it on your Action Chart under Special Items.
Gold Crowns
The local currency is the Crown, which is a small gold coin. Gold Crowns can be used on your adventure to pay for transport, food, or even as a bribe! Many of the creatures that you will encounter possess Gold Crowns, or have them hidden in their lairs. Whenever you kill a creature, you may take any Gold Crowns that it has and put them in your Belt Pouch.
Food
You will need to eat regularly during your adventure. If you do not have any food when you are instructed to eat a Meal, you will lose 3 ENDURANCE points. If you have chosen the Kai Discipline of Hunting as one of your five skills, you will not need to tick off a Meal when instructed to eat.
Healing Potion
This can restore 4 ENDURANCE points to your total when swallowed after combat. There is only enough for one dose. If you discover any other potions during the adventure, you will be told then of their effect. All Healing Potions are Backpack Items.
Rules for Combat
There will be occasions during your adventure when you have to fight an enemy. The enemy's COMBAT SKILL and ENDURANCE points are given in the text. Lone Wolf's aim in the combat is to kill the enemy by reducing his ENDURANCE points to zero while losing as few ENDURANCE points as possible himself.
At the start of a combat, enter Lone Wolf's and the enemy's ENDURANCE points in the appropriate boxes on the Combat Record section of your Action Chart.
The sequence for combat is as follows.
Add any extra points gained through your Kai Disciplines to your current COMBAT SKILL total.
Subtract the COMBAT SKILL of your enemy from this total. The result is your Combat Ratio. Enter it on the Action Chart.
Example
Lone Wolf (COMBAT SKILL 15) is ambushed by a Winged Devil (COMBAT SKILL 20). He is not given the opportunity to evade combat, but must stand and fight as the creature swoops down on him. Lone Wolf has the Kai Discipline of Mindblast, to which the Winged Devil is not immune, so he adds 2 points to his COMBAT SKILL, giving a total COMBAT SKILL of 17.
He subtracts the Winged Devil's COMBAT SKILL from his own, giving a Combat Ratio of −3. (17 − 20 = −3). −3 is noted on the Action Chart as the Combat Ratio.
When you have your Combat Ratio, pick a number from the Random Number Table.
Turn to the Combat Results Table. Along the top of the chart are shown the Combat Ratio numbers. Find the number that is the same as your Combat Ratio and cross-reference it with the random number that you have picked (the random numbers appear on the side of the chart). You now have the number of ENDURANCE points lost by both Lone Wolf and his enemy in this round of combat. (E represents points lost by the enemy; LW represents points lost by Lone Wolf.)
Example
The Combat Ratio between Lone Wolf and Winged Devil has been established as −3. If the number taken from the Random Number Table is a 6, then the result of the first round of combat is:
Lone Wolf loses 3 ENDURANCE points
Winged Devil loses 6 ENDURANCE points
On the Action Chart, mark the changes in ENDURANCE points to the participants in the combat.
Unless otherwise instructed, or unless you have an option to evade, the next round of combat now starts.
Repeat the sequence from Stage 3.
This process of combat continues until the ENDURANCE points of either the enemy or Lone Wolf are reduced to zero or below, at which point that combatant is declared dead. If Lone Wolf is dead, the adventure is over. If the enemy is dead, Lone Wolf proceeds but with his ENDURANCE points possibly reduced.
A summary of Combat Rules appears in the back of this book.
Evasion of Combat
During your adventure you may be given the chance to evade combat. If you have already engaged in a round of combat and decide to evade, calculate the combat for that round in the usual manner. All points lost by the enemy as a result of that round are ignored, and you make your escape. Only Lone Wolf may lose ENDURANCE points during that round, but then that is the risk of running away! You may only evade if the text of the particular section allows you to do so.
Levels of Kai Training
The following table is a guide to the ranks and titles that are bestowed upon Kai Lords at each stage of their training. As you successfully complete each adventure in the Lone Wolf series, you will gain an additional Kai Discipline and gradually progress towards mastery of
the ten basic Kai Disciplines.
Novice
Intuite
Doan
Acolyte
Initiate — You begin the Lone Wolf adventures with this level of Kai training
Aspirant
Guardian
Warmarn or Journeyman
Savant
Master
Beyond the ten basic skills of the Kai Master await the secrets of the higher Kai Disciplines or ‘Magnakai’. By acquiring the wisdom of the Magnakai, a Kai Lord can progress towards the ultimate achievement and become a Kai Grand Master.
Kai Wisdom
Your mission will be one of great danger, for the Darklords and their servants are a cruel and fierce enemy who give and expect no mercy. Use the map to help you steer a correct course for the capital. Make notes as you progress through the story, for they will be of great help in future adventures.
Many things that you find will aid you during the adventure. Some Special Items will be of use in future Lone Wolf adventures and others may be red herrings of no real use at all, so be selective in what you decide to keep.
There are many routes to Hammerdal, but only one will enable you to retrieve the Sommerswerd and return to Sommerlund with the minimum of danger. A wise choice of Kai Disciplines and a great deal of courage, will enable any player to complete the mission, no matter how weak their initial COMBAT SKILL or ENDURANCE points score.
The fate of your country hangs on the success of your perilous quest.
Good luck!
1
Captain D'Val and his guards escort you to the citadel gate where a small covered wagon awaits you. As soon as you clamber in, the gates are thrown open and you are hurried away through the crowded streets of Holmgard. After a short but uncomfortable journey, the wagon stops and the driver pulls open the canvas flap.
‘This is the quay, my lord. There is your ship, the Green Sceptre.’ As he speaks the driver points across the quay to a sleek trade caravel anchored near to the harbour wall.
‘The first mate's name is Ronan. You will find him waiting for you across the square at the Good Cheer Inn.’ Then the driver bids you farewell and quickly disappears into the teeming crowds.
You reach the inn to find the front doors locked and the window shutters barred. You are trying to decide what to do next when a hand grabs your arm and you are pulled into the darkness.
If you wish to draw your weapon and attack your unknown assailant, turn to 273.
If you wish to try to pull free of his grasp, turn to 160.
2
You are travelling along a narrow section of coast road which follows a dizzy course beneath high, overhanging cliffs. A rockfall has blocked the road ahead and you must stop to clear it. You are helping the driver to lever a large rock from the path of the carriage, when you hear the sound of falling rocks. A boulder crashes down from the overhanging cliff, killing the driver before you can make any attempt to save him. He was standing less than six feet away from you at the time of his death.
If you have the Kai Discipline of Sixth Sense, turn to 42.
If you do not have this skill, turn to 168.
3
You enter a small alleyway behind the shop, at the end of which you can see a horse tethered to a post.
If you wish to take this animal and flee the village, turn to 150.
If you do not want to take the horse, leave the alleyway by turning to 19.
4
The tavern is full of brigands and drunks, the good-for-nothing crews of trading ships moored at the jetty, all singing and drinking while some try their strength at arm-wrestling. All are so engrossed that nobody notices you enter. In a far corner, you see the fishermen that robbed you. They are seated at a round table covered with empty ale tankards. You know that if you are to reach Durenor in time, you must retrieve the Seal of Hammerdal and your gold.
If you wish to confront the fishermen, turn to 104.
If you wish to talk to the innkeeper at the bar, turn to 342.
If you wish to try to win some Gold Crowns at arm-wrestling, turn to 276.
5
The door bursts open and in rushes a Helghast, its black sword raised. You strike the creature as it enters the hold and open a terrible gash in its chest. It lets out a hideous cry but although badly wounded, it leaps forward to attack you. You must fight this creature to the death.
Wounded Helghast: COMBAT SKILL 22 ENDURANCE 20
It is an undead creature. Double all ENDURANCE points that it loses, due to the power of the Sommerswerd. It is immune to Mindblast. If you kill the creature, you may leave via the open hold door.
Turn to 166.
6
The boy has spotted you following him. Once outside, he turns and runs south. You give chase but he has soon disappeared into the maze of alleyways and warehouses lining the waterfront.
You turn east into Oxyoke Way and walk past another entrance to the trading post. A little further on, you notice a sign above the door of a small shop:
If you wish to enter the weaponsmithy, turn to 266.
If you wish to continue walking east, turn to 310.
7
Dorier jumps away from the table and draws his sword. In an instant, his brother Ganon is by his side. You must fight them both as one enemy.
Dorier + Ganon: COMBAT SKILL 28 ENDURANCE 30
Due to the surprise of your attack, add 2 points to your COMBAT SKILL for the first round of this combat only. Because of their combined strength of will, a skill developed during their training as knights, they are immune to Mindblast.
If you win this fight, turn to 33.
8
Your sleep is deep indeed — and it is a sleep from which you will never awaken. During the night you are bitten by a sand snake. Its deadly venom takes only seconds to work.
Your mission and your life end here.
9
It is early morning on the fifteenth day of your quest when you open your eyes to the breathtaking spectacle of Hammerdal, the mountain city. The capital of Durenor, unlike other cities in the Lastlands, does not need man-made fortifications. The encircling peaks of the Hammerdal Range offer a far more secure protection to the people within.
Illustration I—The King's Tower, a magnificent structure of glass and stone.
The carriage speeds through the lush farmlands surrounding the city with its many towers and wide streets. On a hill in the very centre of Hammerdal stands the King's Tower, a magnificent structure of glass and stone. As the carriage halts at the tower gates, you suddenly realize for the first time that as a wielder of the Sommerswerd, your destiny is to become part of the oldest legend of the Lastlands.
Turn to 196.
10
You pocket the ticket (mark this as a Special Item on your Action Chart) and the man takes you to a coach that is waiting near the east gate of the seaport. It is empty and you take a seat near one of its circular windows. You are relieved to find that the seat is quite comfortable, for the journey to Port Bax will take seven days.
Stowing your equipment beneath the seat, you settle back in comfort and doze off.
When you awake, there are five other passengers and the journey to Durenor has already begun.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table.
If the number you have picked is 0–3, turn to 51.
If the number you have picked is 4–6, turn to 195.
If the number you have picked is 7–9, turn to 339.
11
Covering yourself with your Kai cloak, you hide inside a large wooden barrel. But it is to no avail, for in less than a minute the trapdoor is thrown open and four angry villagers drop to the stone floor, torches and swords held high in their hands. As you are dragged kicking from the cellar, the screams of the crowd drown your pleas for mercy.
Your life and your quest end here.
12
Captain Kelman unlocks a display case and removes a Samor board. The beautifully carved playin
g pieces are already in position when he carefully sets it down upon the table.
After somewhat reluctantly agreeing to a wager of 10 Gold Crowns, you begin the game.
Pick a number from the Random Number Table. If you have the Kai Discipline of Sixth Sense, you may add 2 to this number.
If your total score is now 0–3, turn to 58.
If your total score is now 4–6, turn to 167.
If your total score is now 7–11, turn to 329.
13
Your Kai sense reveals that the left path is the quickest route to Port Bax. You adjust the load of your equipment on your back and set off once more.
Turn to 155.