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Post by ellipse on Jan 28, 2011 9:42:35 GMT
Caverns of Kalte for me.
It's the only time where you can "die" without really dying.
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Post by kolinovic on Jan 28, 2011 10:51:09 GMT
Well you can get zapped away to serve an ancient and powerful evil in Book 1...
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Post by Zipp on Jan 28, 2011 22:44:52 GMT
Shadow on the Sand would be an obvious pick, but I actually went with Caverns of Kalte. While Shadows is a fabulous adventure, no other book in the entire Lone Wolf series has given me an environment I more want to hold an adventure in than Kalte. The entire scenario is very cool and the trek across the ice makes you really feel like you could save those companions. No matter how many times I play it, I always think I'm going save them.
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Post by Wolfus on Jan 31, 2011 10:40:07 GMT
FftD was my first, but it was starter and I died too many times FotW was much better, but whole Magic Spear thing spoiled it a bit. CoK is the same. Instant death in Kalkoth fight annoyed me like hell. CoD is almost perfect, dramatic, great end, but is shorter than SotS and little confusing because of strange losing your rangers on the way. So Shadow is my vote.
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Post by manslayer on Feb 19, 2011 7:22:51 GMT
Fire on the water; not even close This was the first one I read Plus; how can you not love the book with the Sommerswerd!
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Post by Zipp on Feb 19, 2011 9:35:31 GMT
See, for me, the Sommerswerd is great mess up of mechanics, so I sigh every time I get it. I can point to that damn sword and say "YOU. YOU ARE THE REASON FOR CS INFLATION."
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Post by ramthelinefeed on Feb 19, 2011 11:35:32 GMT
I have to agree, really! After you get the Sommerswerd, until about Castle Death, basically all combats are gonna have a combat ratio of near +11 and all the subtleties of Meals/Hunting, Healing and suchlike become largely irrelevant...... all you're really left with are tedious insta-deaths from the Random Number Table! ... and then it goes the other way, with books 9 and 11 being virtually impossible with the Sommerswerd /smh/
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Post by manslayer on Feb 19, 2011 17:26:40 GMT
Yeah, but then it wouldn't be the Sommerswerd if it sucked... Much like beowuuf's comment, what I like lost is the epic feeling on the way back to Holmgard; Being the first Lone wolf book I read certainly helped it...(child imagination) With the Mongoose versions, books 9 and 11 aren't impossible but it was certainly temping to leave the SS at the monastery
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Post by zut on Feb 20, 2011 13:26:05 GMT
It's hard to pick the best book of the Kai series - every has it's own charm.
I hesitated between FFTD and TCOD but I'll go with The Chasm of Doom. Apart from everything else that has been said I like the role of LW in this book. The king calls upon him for he knows LW is a man that will get the job done when things started going south. And then you get to travel by horse (with a detachment of soldiers) along Ruanon pike, on foot through Maaken mines, defend Ruanon and finally infiltrate the ruins of an old temple - mix of activities that works for me.
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Post by Zipp on Feb 22, 2011 22:46:52 GMT
I've often said the problem with the Sommerswerd would be fixed if it just does +4 damage instead of a CS boost. Makes more sense, anyway.
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Post by askhati on Feb 24, 2011 11:54:32 GMT
True. BUT.
The Sommerswerd is a god-weapon that vanquished Vashna. By the time a player reachs the Sommerswerd, they would have a deep understanding of why a base CS of 19 is better than a base CS of 11. At this point, getting their hands on the Sommerswerd and then finding it to be a +4CS weapon... that is a let-down right there. Let's think about it:
+4CS = Weaponskill + Mindblast OR Mindblast + Shield OR Alether + Weaponskill OR ...
See the problem? The Sommerswerd would have been completely underpowered. I think it was just a case of JD writing himself into a corner, to be honest.
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Post by kolinovic on Feb 24, 2011 12:34:30 GMT
I think he'd have been better off specifying in the Game Rules that Lone Wolf opts to leave the Sommerswerd at home for most of the books, perhaps letting him bring it along in Book 12.
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Post by beowuuf on Feb 24, 2011 20:55:04 GMT
Or if the narrative forced you more to treat the Sommerswerd with respect. I remmeber my last play through I drew the SOmmerswerd in dire need only, funnily finding sections like the book 4 mine shaft where you use the Sommerswerd explicitly then aping that style of play. It was pretty cool. Mundane fights were with normal wepaons, but if a cavalry charge occurred and I had a single round to deal damage, or if some powerful enemy loomed, the Sommerswerd came out. It made sense. I think the trouble with leaving the Sommerswerd behind is that until book 13, there's no one at the monastry by the sounds of it. So it's not that secure. There are arguments on both sides for leaving it or taking it, but from an epic story point of view no other hero leaves their chosen weapon behind. King Arthur doens't leave Excalibur lying around for any ninny to take!. I agree JD painted himself in to a corner, and a gamebook doens't give you enough leeway to get out of it. Funny thing is, I recall mapping out a gamebook series, and because of the influence of Lone Wolf, had a powerful wepaon introduced pretty quickly too. I didn't really think about how difficult it made planning any other fight, but it did
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Post by Zipp on Feb 25, 2011 1:33:24 GMT
But Askhati, that's why a damage bonus makes sense. It keeps it separated from CS bonuses. Makes those an aspect of disciplines and the rare Alether potion. Weapons should have damage bonuses; disciplines and potions CS bonuses. It doesn't even make sense that a sword would give you a CS bonus. Damage, yes. Like double damage against the undead. It's not double CS against undead!
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Post by kolinovic on Feb 25, 2011 9:21:23 GMT
But while x2 damage makes sense, while an arbitrary +4 damage seems a bit, well... arbitrary. If the enemy suffers -0 EP I'm struggling to visualise the Sommerswerd swerving around in Lone Wolf's hand and giving it a sneaky stab in the leg or whatever...
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