Homebrew rules

[silentwolf2020]

Hello everyone,

A big fan of Lone Wolf since I first read it way back in the 1980's, and I'm pleased to see it continuing on.  

One of the things that I've been doing since reading the DE versions is using homebrew rules that I've been developing.  One of the homebrew rules that I've been using is something I call "armor points".  

Armor is a bit weird, IMO, in Lone Wolf.  Natively, it adds to his endurance points, which I assume is his maximum endurance points.  However, there does seem to be a bit of a problem.  Does putting on the armor also add in to the current EP?  And if Lone Wolf loses the armor, does his EP go down? And if it goes below zero, does he die?  I mean, I suppose it could be possible that taking off the chainmail waistcoat would make his guts fall out, and the shock would kill him...but that doesn't make sense to me.

To get around this issue, I homebrewed the armor point rule.

Armor points are the amount of damage the armor will absorb before Lone Wolf takes any damage.  Each piece of equipped armor adds Armor points instead of Endurance points.

Example:

Equipping the Chainmail Waistcoat (+4) and the Padded Leather Armor (+2) gives Lone Wolf 6 Armor Points.

When in combat, when Lone Wolf is struck by an enemy, the damage is first taken by the armor points.  If the damage takes the armor points below zero, the remaining damage is taken from Lone Wolf's Endurance Points.

Example:

In the first round of combat, a Giak hits Lone Wolf for four points of damage.  The armor points absorbs that damage, allowing Lone Wolf to take no EP damage.

In the second round of combat, the same Giak hits Lone Wolf for four more points of damage.  The armor points only absorb two points of that damage, and Lone Wolf takes two points of damage.

In subsequent rounds, Lone Wolf takes any damage from the Giak.

At the end of the combat round, all lost Armor points are restored to the level at the start of combat.  In the above example, the number of restored Armor Points is restored to 6.

In sections where there are consecutive battles (e.x. Fire on the Water Section 90), the armor points are not restored until the last opponent is defeated.

Armor points can only be used in combat, and may not be used to reduce damage outside of combat.

What do you all think?  Are there any homebrew rules that you use playing the game?

[Ofecks]

May 22, 2022 21:55:05 GMT silentwolf2020 said:

Does putting on the armor also add in to the current EP?  And if Lone Wolf loses the armor, does his EP go down? And if it goes below zero, does he die?

Yes; Yes; No, LW's current EP cannot go below 1 as a result of removing (or losing) armor.

This might be an official ruling, but I'm not sure. Check the Reader's Handbook and the LW Club Newsletters. All of the playing aid software I've tried (Seventh Sense, Lone Wolf Saga, Lone Wolf New Order, Kai Chronicles) handles it this way.

Regarding your other question about what house rules I use, I like a lot of the various interpretations from Seventh Sense. Some examples:

- Healing/Curing disciplines only restore certain kinds of EP losses
- Shields cannot be used with 2-handed weapons (Quarterstaff, Spear, Broadsword)
- Dual-wielding is not allowed
- Healing consumables cannot be used on combat sections until the combat is resolved

One rule that I myself use:
- There are exceptions here and there, but generally whenever a discipline or item in my possession is called for, I can choose to not use them.

[tabz]

I've been wondering how armour works as well. I normally take my base EP, add the bonuses from my armour and that is the EP I have for the combat. Damage from poison and such is taken from my base EP and if I take the armour off then I only lose the bonus to combat EP. Base EP of 0 will mean death.

[johntfs]

I have occasional rules:

No starting gold or equipment lets you pick numbers for CS, EP and Gold and then place them accordingly with additional factor that you can "spend" the RNT# you got for Gold at a ratio of 1:1 for EP and 2:1 for CS. So if you got a CS of 17, a 26 for EP and a 5 for your gold, you raise your CS to 19 and your EP to 27 or your CS to 18 and your EP to 29. If your Gold pick was a 0 it still counts as 1. No starting equipment still means you get "required" items (like the Seal of Hammerdal for Book 2).

At the start of a new book you can exchange Backpack Items, Weapons and Special Items you currently possess for offered equipment. Got a Short Sword from Book 6 that you don't need? At the start of Book 7 you can exchange it for a Potion of Laumspur, or possibly those 3 Fireseeds which look explodey and fun. You're still limited to a number of Exchanges equal to the number of items you can pick from the list offered. For Castle Death you can take up to five items, so you get up to five exchanges.

Meanwhile, I also use a version of the rule from Autumn Snow that at the beginning of the next book you may "re-pick" your CS and EP, adding 10 and 20 as number. If the number you get is greater than your current CS or EP, you maybe raise the relevant number by 1 point. So, in Book 1 Lone Wolf ended up with a 15 CS and a 26 EP. At the start of Book 2, he does a re-pick, getting a 19 and a 28. So LW can raise his CS to a 16 and his EP to a 27, reflect the skill and stamina he's gained from playing through book 1. LW can do this through the beginning of Book 6 but no further.

For completing the Circle of the Spirit, your bonuses are +3 to CS and +2 to EP (instead of +3cs/+3ep)

Assuming you sacrifice it's current contents, your Belt Pouch one "smallish" Backpack item like a single dose of Alether, Laumspur or Agdana.


For the LW Grandmaster books, add 10 to your CS along with any bonuses for uncompleted Lore Circles for the Magnakai (Never picked up Huntmastery before Book 12? You have it now so you can go ahead and add +2 to your base CS and +5 to your base EP for effectively completing the Lore Circles of Fire and Solaris). This brings veteran LW's base CS and EP into line with the "non-veteran" Grandmaster LW and the New Order books. However, there are no more "hidden bonuses" from Kai/Magnakai skills with the exception of the +1 EP for every non-combat section from Curing (which a "non-veteran" Lone Wolf can also use). Want to use Mindblast? Pick Kai-surge. Want to not bother carrying Meals? Pick Grand Huntmastery. No extra bonuses to Weapon or Bow use without either item bonuses or Grand Weaponmastery. At this point the only difference between Veteran Lone Wolf and non-veteran Lone Wolf is that Veteran Lone Wolf has all those cool Special Items he got from actually playing through the various books.

In Book 2 if Lone Wolf has the Camouflage skill along with Sixth Sense, he may go to Section 106 after Section 28 and automatically win the fight with Helghast by simply driving the spear in deeper to kill it. You also only lose the 2 EP from its mental attack if you do not have Mindshield. Basically, this all assumes that Lone Wolf is not an actual idiot and has the "wise choice" of Kai Disciplines allowing him to complete the adventure regardless of how low his initial CS and EP are.

In Book 18 if you're captured by Prince Lutha, you will lose obviously non-magical Special Items like the Silver Seal (which is a badge of rank in Lutha's army), the Runic Disc and your Quiver (along with any Arrows as well)