Sherman, set the Wayback Machine for 1989. There I was, sitting in Algebra class at Round Rock High School. Mr. Sikes class. He was a good teacher, but a little too trusting. He'd let us grade each other's homework, and as he called role we'd call out our grades. OF COURSE we all made somewhere in the 90s, with an 88 or so in there for veracity. But then again, maybe he knew the test scores would tell. And they did.
Why do I bring up Algebra? Because I largely got through that class due to Joe Dever's Lone Wolf adventure books. Mr. Sikes was very patient, and would explain things multiple times to the folks in the class who just didn't get it. I usually had it after the second go-round, and was bored out of my mind for the rest of class. Enter Lone Wolf.
The Lone Wolf books were an analog version of a text adventure game. More than just a choose-your-own-adventure, they had a simple game system in them relying on a random number generator going 0-9 and some boolean variables. Like "Do you have the Kai discipline of Tracking? Go to 200. If not go to 195." Or "Pick a random number from the table. On 0-4 go to 200. On 5-9 go to 195." In the back of each novel there was a random number table - close your eyes and drop the eraser end of your pencil to choose. Or use a d10. Or use the RND function on your calculator. I still have both the d10 and the calculator. There was a character sheet in the back of the book for recording stats, equipment, and combats. It was just what I needed to get me through. And- when you finished a book in the series, your character got to add a new discipline for the next book.
Years later, Mongoose Publishing dropped a Lone Wolf RPG in two flavors, one used basically the same system the old books did. The second used the d20 system, as this was the early 2000s and the OGL/d20 phenomenon was going strong. I own both versions, but never got to play them. A decade later, I came across an absolutely gorgeous boxed set at Ettin Games in Humble, TX- The Lone Wolf Adventure Game. This offering from Cubicle Seven is beautiful. The art is extremely evocative of Joe Dever's Kai Lords and world of Magnamund. The contents of the box smack of quality, and the system, I was gratified to find, was nearly identical to the books and the earlier Mongoose version.
So what is a Kai Lord? It's important to know, since the boxed set assumes all your characters are going to be one. Kai Lords are... Jedi Rangers. Sort of. They are a monastic order of men and women who learn powerful disciplines that are part skill, part psionic or magical ability. Weaponskill and Tracking on the mundane side, Mind Over Matter and Mindblast on the magical side. So, warrior-monks of a sort, identifiable by their distinctive green cloaks.
So, what does it take to make a Kai Lord for The Lone Wolf Adventure Game? Let's find out.
Character Creation
Creating a Kai Lord is very straightforward, no more complex than it was in the game books, really. The first thing we do is determine Combat Skill and Endurance. The box includes a random number table you can flip a coin into, or you can just roll a d10. I'll be rolling a d10 since I'm working from the PDF at the moment.
Great. A zero. That means our Combat Skill is the bare minimum of 10. And a 2 for Endurance, giving us a total of 12. Not the beefiest Kai Lord ever.
Next, we choose our five Kai Disciplines. This character is not a fighty type, so we're going to concentrate on choices that play to our strengths. Camouflage, Sixth Sense, Animal Kinship, Mind Over Matter and Mindblast.
Starting Equipment is next - Green tunic and cloak, check. Backpack, belt, and leather pouch. Check. Rolling for Gold Crowns... zero again. 10 Gold Crowns to start with. One map of the Lastlands. Now we pick five items from the item list. Let's see... Chainmail Waistcoat, Helmet, and a Shield to help keep from getting killed, and a Dagger for utility, and a Meal to keep fed. Five items. Done.
Ooh! We get to roll randomly for a name. This is optional, but since we love random stuff in this challenge... Silent Dancer. OK, that kind of fits the skill set, and the lack of focus on combat.
And that, dear readers, is that. It's absurdly simple to create a Kai Lord for this game, which makes it a great game for a one-shot, or for new players.
The Character
As a young child, her name had been Marren, but she entered the Kai Monastery as a refugee, orphaned after a savage attack of Mountain Giaks had killed most of the adults of her village. A small group of Kai Lords had arrived and saved those who had survived that long, leading them back to the Monastery after burying the dead. Some children went to live with relatives, but Marren had no such family. She was alone, and elected to stay with her rescuers and learn the ways of the Kai.
The training was hard, and it was obvious she had no real aptitude to become a great warrior. She could hold her own, but many of the other initiates were so much more capable with a weapon. One day during practice, a tall boy with a sure sword disarmed her and backed her into a corner. In desperation, she reflexively lashed out with her mind and knocked the boy unconscious. Her Kai Master knew immediately that she should be trained in the mental arts, and save the martial for later.
She learned how to disappear into the forest, how to calm and communicate with the animals, and her mental acuity developed at a prodigious rate. By the time of her initiation, she was known for her prescience, her stealth, and her ability to move things and shock opponents with her mind alone. She was given the name Silent Dancer, and assigned to the patrol and protection of her old home province. She has been taught that revenge is not the Kai way, but should she see any Giaks mucking about where they do not belong...
My Thoughts
It is extremely cool to rediscover this world from my youth. I had many of the Lone Wolf books, and even Joe Dever's first Freeway Warrior book, which had similar mechanics but a Mad Max vibe. There's a phone app with the original Lone Wolf books that saves your information and progress. Which is cool. I've been playing it with my daughter as part of her reading time.
So, this game is awesome. It's fast, easy, and the setting is pretty neat. It also has a built-in reason for the PCs to work together- they're all, by definition, Kai Lords. Now, there is a sourcebook with lots of other options - my favorite are the Dwarven Gunners of Bor. Black Powder Dwarves are always cool. Right?
The possible issue is long legs in the campaign. Leveling up means learning new Kai Discipline, which will eventually lead to the variation and differences in PCs becoming thinner as everyone masters every discipline. Once a Kai Lord has mastered all 10 disciplines, they become a Master, and may go toward learning the MagnaKai Disciplines. But in the meantime, the characters all move slowly toward having the same talents.
As I said earlier, this is a great product for introducing roleplaying to new folks. Even kids. It's simple, only uses one kind of die (if any!) and is quite narrative. I also find the artwork extremely nice, and inspirational to the source material.
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