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Post by Black Cat on Jan 22, 2021 16:30:02 GMT
I note that the Swedish Editions have replaced my last two reviewed BAs with new adventures, namely The Slavers of Xanar and The Lost and the Damned. I've only read the basic synopsis of them, but replacing those two original BAs was the right choice in my opinion. Masquerade breaks the lore, despite being an okay adventure, whereas Hammer was just such a non-adventure that its absence means nothing is really lost in the grand scheme of things. Here's hoping that the two Swedish adventures remain near the front of the queue for translation and inclusion in an eventual BA compilation release. Still, I think that the two BAs that were replaced in the Swedish edition should also be included in this eventual compilation. Like it or not, they are part of the canon of Lone Wolf, even if they were not good in your opinion. |
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andyc
Kai Lord
Posts: 209
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Post by andyc on Jan 22, 2021 22:36:31 GMT
I note that the Swedish Editions have replaced my last two reviewed BAs with new adventures, namely The Slavers of Xanar and The Lost and the Damned. I've only read the basic synopsis of them, but replacing those two original BAs was the right choice in my opinion. Masquerade breaks the lore, despite being an okay adventure, whereas Hammer was just such a non-adventure that its absence means nothing is really lost in the grand scheme of things. Here's hoping that the two Swedish adventures remain near the front of the queue for translation and inclusion in an eventual BA compilation release. Still, I think that the two BAs that were replaced in the Swedish edition should also be included in this eventual compilation. Like it or not, they are part of the canon of Lone Wolf, even if they were not good in your opinion. Yes, having ALL the BAs would be more pleasing than just the good ones, I agree. But some should be a higher priority to get out first than others... and if they move onto different things before they complete the set... well, it would be less of a disappointment. |
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andyc
Kai Lord
Posts: 209
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Post by andyc on Jan 23, 2021 15:12:19 GMT
BA10 Echoes of Lost Light
A good one this one. This is a Lone Wolf mini-adventure in magical representation of the City of Luomi immediately at the point that it was lost to the Dark Lords' invaders. The awful tradegy of the situation is well described and helps build your need for vengeance against Gnaag and his minions. Is there any criticisms? Not really, although it doesn't quite reach the heights of some of the best BAs which are a bit more wide ranging or varied. Tricky to call this one as it does what it does well, so it easily gets 3.5/5, but it was very close to a 4. I think Hahn's 4/5 adventures are even better than this one so let's go with 3.5.
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Post by dwargadronite on Jan 24, 2021 0:10:49 GMT
I note that the Swedish Editions have replaced my last two reviewed BAs with new adventures, namely The Slavers of Xanar and The Lost and the Damned. I've only read the basic synopsis of them, but replacing those two original BAs was the right choice in my opinion. Masquerade breaks the lore, despite being an okay adventure, whereas Hammer was just such a non-adventure that its absence means nothing is really lost in the grand scheme of things. Here's hoping that the two Swedish adventures remain near the front of the queue for translation and inclusion in an eventual BA compilation release. Hi andyc, Me and Gavyn Duthie wrote Lost and the Damned a couple of years ago in English, so I assure you it won’t need translation when the time comes! I agree that a BA compendium is where you’re likely to see it first. We can’t wait for non-Swedes to have a chance to enjoy it; and your review of it on this thread would be warmly welcome.  |
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andyc
Kai Lord
Posts: 209
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Post by andyc on Jan 24, 2021 1:43:06 GMT
I note that the Swedish Editions have replaced my last two reviewed BAs with new adventures, namely The Slavers of Xanar and The Lost and the Damned. I've only read the basic synopsis of them, but replacing those two original BAs was the right choice in my opinion. Masquerade breaks the lore, despite being an okay adventure, whereas Hammer was just such a non-adventure that its absence means nothing is really lost in the grand scheme of things. Here's hoping that the two Swedish adventures remain near the front of the queue for translation and inclusion in an eventual BA compilation release. Hi andyc, Me and Gavyn Duthie wrote Lost and the Damned a couple of years ago in English, so I assure you it won’t need translation when the time comes! I agree that a BA compendium is where you’re likely to see it first. We can’t wait for non-Swedes to have a chance to enjoy it; and your review of it on this thread would be warmly welcome. That's great to hear, makes it far easier for an English version to appear. Really looking forward to reading it in the hopefully not-to-distant future. I am aware that these things do take time to organise. As for my mini-reviews here, I hope none of the authors whose BAs I am critical of take my words too much to heart. I am just one fan and I suspect there plenty of fans who might disagree with me. I once tried to write a game book...it was terrible, ha ha. |
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andyc
Kai Lord
Posts: 209
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Post by andyc on Jan 24, 2021 15:15:01 GMT
BA11 Lord of Meledor
This BA is very good indeed.
You play as the eponymous Lord as he leads his legions against a horde of enemies who have been destroying villages.
Definitely some similarities with BA4 Ruanon with the strategic battle choices in part 1, and a different part 2. Unlike Ruanon, however, the part 2 here is as strong as part 1 and it was enjoyable to get more depth to a city you visit in LW11. My initial run didn't reveal who the main villain was which would have been a mild criticism, but when I went back and went through a 'talking to him' route it became clear. I knew I had seen his name before, but I hadn't quite placed it, so the fault was mine. Needless to say, it was pleasing to have put that particular villain down in a more satisfying way. So this one just tops the almost as good Echoes of Lost Light due to having more variation, equals the excellent Key to the Future, but doesn't quite reach the heights of the very best, such as Tides of Gorgoron and Echoes of the Moonstone for example. 4/5
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andyc
Kai Lord
Posts: 209
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Post by andyc on Jan 26, 2021 19:45:12 GMT
BA13 Plague Agent
While BA7 a Key to the Future revisited some old locations in an interesting and vibrant way, this rather slow trailing mission from Quarlen, to Ragadorn via Holmgard is somewhat dry and colourless. There is nothing really WRONG with the adventure per se, but it is just rather slow and forgettable. It sits about equal with the Guildmaster's Hammer in that regard, so I give it a 2/5
Next on the agenda is BA15 Castle Akital which will be the last of the Eisamer Wolf Kindle German editions I plan to do. Although I could buy 14 and 16 too, I suspect those two BAs (both Dire) will likely be published earlier than some of the others in a complete Dire collection, so I'll save them for that release. The German Kindle editions stop at 16 anyway, so Labyrinth of Sorrow is out (and the Mongoose release is far to expensive on eBay when it rarely comes up). I'm keeping an eye out for #20, but that is also a BA that I would hope to be at the front of the queue for re-release as it is a Vincent and Co special.
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andyc
Kai Lord
Posts: 209
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Post by andyc on Jan 30, 2021 18:58:24 GMT
BA15 Castle Akital
This involves Captain Prarg in a mission to discover what has happened to a Lencian outpost. The relatively short adventure has three parts, an initial inpection of the defences of the town the Lencians have holed up in, followed by the journey to the Castle, and a final act in the Castle itself. The first part has no bearing on the rest of the adventure, and that is a shame as I was looking forward to a siege scenario. The journey part uses the interesting mechanic of commanding a troupe of soldiers, and it has a number of different routes to choose, though you could accidentally end up repeating some sections if you are not careful. It's a decent act, but perhaps relies to often on the 'suddenly outnumbered by too many enemies and having to escape scenario (five in all!). The last part I won't spoil here, but involves some supernatural stuff in the castle.
So, I quite liked it... but I would have enjoyed it more had tbe author decided on what type of adventure he was trying to write. I would have loved the three parts to be 1) shoring up the defences 2)Reconnaissance into local territory 3)Returning to base in time to repel (or not) the Drakkarim siege.
OR An atmospheric visit to a creepy, run down castle where things are not as they seem. Throw in some undead and other horrors as well as the two sisters story and we would have another winner.
Unfortunately, by only doing a bit of both, it feels a little disappointing. Not bad in all though, so it gets a 3/5
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Gavyn Duthie
Kai Lord
Scriptarium Author and Writer of The Traitor's Reward
Posts: 2
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Post by Gavyn Duthie on Jan 30, 2021 23:47:24 GMT
24 - A Traitor's Reward This was a nice long meaty adventure that adds a little to the lore of a certain enemy faction as well as getting right in the midst of Vandyan's invasion. It was a little on the hard side, beating me about three fights from the end, but I can see myself completing it with a better planning and a little luck (unlike Castle Death's ridiculous BA). The Loyalty element was a nice incorporation, but I felt your companions never really came to life on the pages and I am trying to work out why, as they get mentioned often enough. Perhaps it could have done with a bit of mercenary humour from them? My biggest criticism is that one spends a large amount of time wandering around in the Great Salony Forest, so much so, that a lot of the adventure has blended into one in my head. The starting battle, mid-story city section, and climatic location however were excellent so it is a worthy addition. 4/5 Having recently read that particular adventure, I mostly agree with what you say. The nice addition of the Loyalty bonus (which leads to multiple endings... or at least, personnalized endings depending of your loyalty) is very interesting. As for the companions, maybe it is because they are too many of them, so there's no room to really flesh them all out? I love the ending, inside the Cener Temple. However, I thought that it took too long to really get to know our mission (rescuing the prince) and to get to the main part where we actually do what we the mission asks us to do (going into the forest to find the prince's whereabouts). There's the "side-mission" of preventing the poisoning of the town, which fits if you want to flesh out the bad guy, but I found it unnecessary: the bad guy is a bad guy, no need to add that he wants to poison a whole town to the fact that he has kidnapped a prince (it would had been a good main plot for a bonus adventure though...a sequel to that particular BA perhaps?). I thought that it complicated the plot for nothing. After the first battle, I think we could had skipped directly to the search inside the forest. Also, Vorka are freakin' tough opponent! Maybe too tough: they all have CS in the mid-30s and even with my own CS bonuses and the one provided by allies, I often found myself with a combat ratio of -8/-9, which led to many Instant Kills of my character. Don't get me wrong, it is a good adventure, well written, but I think the plot and balance would had needed a little bit of work. And like with all bonus adventures published by Holmgard Press: TOO MANY TYPOS! This time, all the quotes where missing the capital letter at the beginning, and the start of the quotes where never seperated with a space from the ending of the preceding phrase. Also, where we were supposed to see a ', they were replaced with a " (don"t, couldn"t, etc.) Being the man who wrote that adventure - let me tell you. Even the author was getting a little bored in the Forest of Salony. There's a couple things I'd go back and redo had I the chance there - if nothing else, characterizing the environment a little more! Part of the reason I can offer in explanation for the sort of difficult turn between the initial mission and where it ended up came from the fact that the Cenerese plot hadn't actually been part of the initial plan beyond the broadest strokes when it came to me, so I had to work out from scratch how to get there from where I had to start from! If by 'poisoning a whole town' you're referring to the first time you hear about Ormutan, I personally wanted the villain's presence to be established well before the reader ever met him but I also wanted you to know he was 'there' hence the side plot established during the siege - the seige itself had been one of the parts, along with the Battle of Nyst that I was specifically asked to include . I'll also admit - the entire time I was writing it, I was worried I was being much too tough! But at the same time, Kalen as a character is roughly equivalent to a Rank 6 Kai Lord (and all that with nearly 20 years of soldiering under their belt!) and I knew Vorka were going to be my biggest bugbear in terms of difficulty - how can you send a starting character up against a Velociraptor-Xenomorph in good conscience? But I also felt like I couldn't 'cheapen' them by making them more 'rank appropriate' for Kalen, and thus why I usually tried to make sure it was you and your entire squad, or offered as many 'outs' as I could when Vorka showed up. Hopefully it didn't keep it from being fun. |
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andyc
Kai Lord
Posts: 209
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Post by andyc on Jan 31, 2021 10:48:10 GMT
Having recently read that particular adventure, I mostly agree with what you say. The nice addition of the Loyalty bonus (which leads to multiple endings... or at least, personnalized endings depending of your loyalty) is very interesting. As for the companions, maybe it is because they are too many of them, so there's no room to really flesh them all out? I love the ending, inside the Cener Temple. However, I thought that it took too long to really get to know our mission (rescuing the prince) and to get to the main part where we actually do what we the mission asks us to do (going into the forest to find the prince's whereabouts). There's the "side-mission" of preventing the poisoning of the town, which fits if you want to flesh out the bad guy, but I found it unnecessary: the bad guy is a bad guy, no need to add that he wants to poison a whole town to the fact that he has kidnapped a prince (it would had been a good main plot for a bonus adventure though...a sequel to that particular BA perhaps?). I thought that it complicated the plot for nothing. After the first battle, I think we could had skipped directly to the search inside the forest. Also, Vorka are freakin' tough opponent! Maybe too tough: they all have CS in the mid-30s and even with my own CS bonuses and the one provided by allies, I often found myself with a combat ratio of -8/-9, which led to many Instant Kills of my character. Don't get me wrong, it is a good adventure, well written, but I think the plot and balance would had needed a little bit of work. And like with all bonus adventures published by Holmgard Press: TOO MANY TYPOS! This time, all the quotes where missing the capital letter at the beginning, and the start of the quotes where never seperated with a space from the ending of the preceding phrase. Also, where we were supposed to see a ', they were replaced with a " (don"t, couldn"t, etc.) Being the man who wrote that adventure - let me tell you. Even the author was getting a little bored in the Forest of Salony. There's a couple things I'd go back and redo had I the chance there - if nothing else, characterizing the environment a little more! Part of the reason I can offer in explanation for the sort of difficult turn between the initial mission and where it ended up came from the fact that the Cenerese plot hadn't actually been part of the initial plan beyond the broadest strokes when it came to me, so I had to work out from scratch how to get there from where I had to start from! If by 'poisoning a whole town' you're referring to the first time you hear about Ormutan, I personally wanted the villain's presence to be established well before the reader ever met him but I also wanted you to know he was 'there' hence the side plot established during the siege - the seige itself had been one of the parts, along with the Battle of Nyst that I was specifically asked to include . I'll also admit - the entire time I was writing it, I was worried I was being much too tough! But at the same time, Kalen as a character is roughly equivalent to a Rank 6 Kai Lord (and all that with nearly 20 years of soldiering under their belt!) and I knew Vorka were going to be my biggest bugbear in terms of difficulty - how can you send a starting character up against a Velociraptor-Xenomorph in good conscience? But I also felt like I couldn't 'cheapen' them by making them more 'rank appropriate' for Kalen, and thus why I usually tried to make sure it was you and your entire squad, or offered as many 'outs' as I could when Vorka showed up. Hopefully it didn't keep it from being fun. Always great to hear the actual author's perspective and I did have a chuckle about your Forest of Salony comment. Despite the forest bits lasting a little too long, we did get a proper meaty adventure. Having read the majority of the BAs now, quite a few of them could have benefited from being a bit longer to be fleshed out or be less linear, and it is no coincidence that the higher scoring BAs here have a better average score. Although your adventure is one of the more difficult ones to complete, it is certainly not in the realms of almost impossibility that BA7 was. Absolutely the right decision to not nerf the Vorka, and you couldn't not include them considering the time and setting. Looking forward to hopefully reading more of your BAs in future! |
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Post by Black Cat on Jan 31, 2021 17:32:16 GMT
Being the man who wrote that adventure - let me tell you. Even the author was getting a little bored in the Forest of Salony. There's a couple things I'd go back and redo had I the chance there - if nothing else, characterizing the environment a little more! Welcome to the boards (unless you were using another account before)! It's always nice to have one of the authors coming to discuss their work with the fans. About your comment on doing things differently if you had the chance, IF the idea of a compendium of the BA see the light of the day, maybe you could have the chance to rewrite some sections, like Joe did with the CE of the main series? You were asked to include things in your BA? Who asked you that and do you know the reasons behind this? (being part of the ending of the series, or just to add meat to the plot?) It's ok for me: you cannot pleased everyone with the difficulty. Although I seem to complain about the Vorka, it is not something that really bothers me. I'm eager to read your "Swedish" BA in English one day (or in French, as it is my mother tongue, if Gallimard accepts to publish them one day!  ) |
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Gavyn Duthie
Kai Lord
Scriptarium Author and Writer of The Traitor's Reward
Posts: 2
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Post by Gavyn Duthie on Feb 3, 2021 1:16:38 GMT
Being the man who wrote that adventure - let me tell you. Even the author was getting a little bored in the Forest of Salony. There's a couple things I'd go back and redo had I the chance there - if nothing else, characterizing the environment a little more! Welcome to the boards (unless you were using another account before)! It's always nice to have one of the authors coming to discuss their work with the fans. About your comment on doing things differently if you had the chance, IF the idea of a compendium of the BA see the light of the day, maybe you could have the chance to rewrite some sections, like Joe did with the CE of the main series? You were asked to include things in your BA? Who asked you that and do you know the reasons behind this? (being part of the ending of the series, or just to add meat to the plot?) It's ok for me: you cannot pleased everyone with the difficulty. Although I seem to complain about the Vorka, it is not something that really bothers me. I'm eager to read your "Swedish" BA in English one day (or in French, as it is my mother tongue, if Gallimard accepts to publish them one day! ) Per the rewriting, well all I'll have there is 'maybe' and 'wait and see'...  I've lurked here a little while before, but Andreas convinced me to knuckle down and actually make an account. Most of the things I was asked to include were holdovers from the original version of the scenario as Eric Duborg and Vincent Lazzari laid it out prior to me being brought onboard, and were basically meant to give more context to the war in the South - basically back-referencing to the Slovian character you encounter early on in Rune War who mentions these events. Lost and the Damned was one I really was very proud to work on, especially given who the protagonist is! Let's just say that the Crocaryx didn't always remain in Zaaryx, and that there is more strange and wonderful, and equally terrifying things hidden in Magnamund's underworld than you might imagine... Plus, if you've read the recent release of Dusk of Eternal Night, the Imperial Agarashi and Drednurash were born first in the pages of Lost and the Damned. |
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Post by rhygar on Feb 14, 2021 15:58:34 GMT
Adding to my previous comments I think the bonus adventures in Books 29 & 30 are both excellent. Not necessarily in terms of gameplay or options - in those terms they aren't anything special (a still as good as can be expected with the shorter length of all the bonus adventures - there's only so much you can do in 150 sections). But what works so well is the way they are used to further the main storyline linking those 2 books by giving you insight into how widespread the rise of evil is by showing you some of the adventures of other Grand Masters. Both adventures fit in a lot of narrative even if they are shorter. Tides of Gorgoron in particular I liked the way the battle was handled. By doing a reconnaissance you could to some extent anticipate what the enemy might do and plan your force's dispositions accordingly. That was new I think? I do not remember seeing a battle handled like this in LW before? In these 2 Books it really starts to make it feel like there simply aren't enough Grand Masters left to stand against the darkness - like pebbles trying to stop an avalanche. They are like paladins or King Arthur's knights, some are victorious in their quest and some are failing and their task taken up by others. Though they are dwindling in number, take heart! Naar's champions are getting cut down too. |
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Post by GhostofLandar on Mar 24, 2021 5:18:32 GMT
BA8 Masquerade in Hikas I wasn't the biggest fan of this one. Oiseau wasn't kidding about the excess of rules. I tried to read them all, I really did, but eventually threw my hands up in the air, thought 'sod it' and decided to use a random number to determine if I had a skill requested in the text or not (50:50). That seemed to work quite well, and despite not having any of the myriad single use attacks, I still won through with Endurance to spare. Next problem was the linear nature of it. Yes there was a couple of branching sections, but each route it took seemed to be mostly just one section after another. Most of those blooming skills at the start seemed pointless but for a couple of scenarios. Problem three was the whole ridiculousness of the situation: an extensive mutant lab in the sewers (what was all that about anyway?) and a whole Drakkar-run slave mine complex just under the feet of a major city of Dessi?! What the blazes were all the Elder Magi doing with all that under their noses? It all seemed very improbable and that, together with the way the sections were ordered (gradually working up through the numbers) suggested a rather inexperienced gamebook author. Oh yes, the Kai-lady would be a nice addition if this had all occurred AFTER the fall of the Darklords, but, again as Oiseau said, she shouldn't exist at that point in the history. On the plus side, I liked the first bit in the city, and I guess it wasn't a dull adventure all in all. Final score 2.5/5 So above Black Cat mentions that certain adventures should be regarded as canon even if the adventure is not good. I entirely disagree. One thing I've seen in the last several years with other beloved settings is that you should draw a line in the sand and that there are reasons to reject world/lore-breaking things created mostly by people who are not the main creator(s). The Hikas thing reminds me of Barnett/Grant having some slave-driving grandee with guards cutting down poor innocents in their way (like even when people technically the power to cut down peasants, they mainly did not, this is just poor world building) ---it's like he forgot the Elder Magi are demigods sent DIRECTLY from the Plane of Light. Pragmatic they might be but they do rule Dessi and the Vakeros do not seem like Vassagonian society (think of the beach ecstatic worship experience in the NO series) and would not tolerate this sort of evil. A creature springing up from Gorgoron? Sure? An evil wizard they keep trapped inside a power shield (Zahda--again is Zahda actually a mad Magi or partial descendant? I don't know how he fits in with the world like I do other characters)? Sure. But a slave mine compex in Hikas?! Come on! And no, there are no Kai after the massacre..not a single one. This is where Star Wars got ruined (in my view) you have the most powerful and wise Jedi in probably thousands of years (Yoda) saying there is another (Skywalker) but that Luke is the last Jedi. Having a Kai anytime after the massacre but before Lone Wolf begins recruiting students is lore-breaking and that sort of story should be ignored and deleted. This Masquerade in Hikas sounds awful not from a writing perspective but as part of Lone Wolf. Cast it into the fire. Well, it's OK if it's part of an anthology release but it should not be considered lore. |
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andyc
Kai Lord
Posts: 209
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Post by andyc on May 15, 2021 15:12:46 GMT
With the release of the German LW17 CE on Kindle, I finally managed to read BA17 Labyrinth of Sorrow.
As the author was the same person who wrote Masquerade in Hikas, I went in with the expectation that it would be a decent enough adventure,but also unfortunately would come across very non-canon...and that is exactly what I got.
You play a Helghast on a mission to prevent the return of Ixiataaga and basically then spend the whole time infiltrating deeper into a some unknown location in Ixia. First a camp, then castle, followed by a very non-labyrinthy Labyrinth of Sorrow below the castle, which is then followed by an underground city and finally a tower of an evil wizard. Quite who the Wizard and all his cultists were is another matter, and for me the premise just didn't quite work and ring true.
The Helghast you play randomly goes from feeling exiled and alone, disliking the sense of death everywhere compared to the delights of ruining Sommerlunding lives instead in Holmgard, then later enjoys the sense of death once he gets to the tower. Make up your damn mind!
If you are going to play a Helghast, I would have much preferred having to carefully get up to darstadly deeds in Sommerlund, rather than go through a fairly generic dungeons crawl.
The final sting in the tail is the failure to reveal who was behind your latest secret instructions. Something I assume would have been dealt with in a sequel before Mongoose lost the rights to publish more CEs
So it is a serviceable adventure that feels like fanfiction rather than the real deal. Well done Joe for ending the Mongoose deal there, the quality of the CEs and their BAs really improved once Mantikore and later Holgard Press got involved (not to say there wasn't a few real BA gems in the Mongoose range)
Final Score 2.5/5
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I've lurked here a little while before, but Andreas convinced me to knuckle down and actually make an account. 
