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Post by Ofecks on Apr 17, 2004 17:54:09 GMT
Last night, I started a new game once again, rolled great initial scores, stumbled upon the cave in the hillside of book 1 (woo! I can buy the ticket in book 2!), made it to the watchtower in book 2 without any weapons, then as I was escaping the Helghasts on the highway, guess what? I rolled a f***ing 9. There goes another attempt at finishing the series without cheating. So I thought "screw starting over" and just proceeded, jotting the event down in a "cheats" section I made in the statskeeper notes. So I get the Sommerswerd, pwn some zombie/Darklord butt, take the Firesphere path in book 3, but then as I'm fighting the Kalkoth to get the Blue Stone Triangle, I lose 1 EP in the first round (my ratio was +18, but I rolled a 2). To section 66 I go. Since I know of a way to get the BST without fighting the Kalkoth, I'm gonna re-start the book. I don't need the Firesphere (even though it's cool). No cheating this time. Sorry, just had to vent. Carry on.
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Post by Relenoir on Apr 18, 2004 0:05:16 GMT
Actually, I believe there is a way to get both without fighting the kalkoths if memory serves me correctly; it seems to be the route I lean toward taking through the book, because more often than not I never see more than kalkoth prints. Sorry about the way your quest turned out, better luck on the next one. Have you tried without getting the triangle?
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Post by Banedon on Apr 18, 2004 0:50:49 GMT
Don't you need the triangle to open the door?
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Post by Relenoir on Apr 18, 2004 1:07:06 GMT
Actually, you do. If you don't have one when you get to the door, you end up fighting a Kalkoth anyway. There is a way to get both the Firesphere and a Blue Stone Triangle in the same place, and some tasty vittles for your rumbling tummy! What I meant to say before was: Have you tried not using the BST when you first have the opportunity? Instead of evading the enemy? Bad phrasing on my part, sorry!
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Post by Ofecks on Apr 18, 2004 1:31:51 GMT
Don't you need the triangle to open the door? Yes, you do. And I *just* discovered the way to get both the Firesphere and the Triangle without fighting a Kalkoth. In that same event with the Firesphere, you need to attack the old crazy guys. You'll find the BST on one of them when you search the bodies. EDIT: Relenior beat me to it while I was doing my research.
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Post by Relenoir on Apr 18, 2004 23:58:00 GMT
Good call OmegaFlareX, that was the exact way I was referring to, but didn't want to "spoil" it for you... obviously you figured it out quite well on your own. Nice going!
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Post by Freeway Warrior on Apr 22, 2004 9:25:43 GMT
The LW books (and related series) are the only gamebooks I know of where you can die of starvation. That's always embarrassing - you failed to save the world because you didn't bring a packed lunch! It doesn't happen so much in LW admittedly, because of your hunting abilities, but Grey Star and Freeway Warrior don't feature these.
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Post by Sarra on Apr 22, 2004 16:10:55 GMT
Joe Dever does a good job of bringing your surroundings, physical and mental conditions, as well as the elements into play.
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Post by mirradric on Apr 24, 2004 12:41:50 GMT
Does anyone else mark where they are before a "fork" in the story just to see what would happen if they chose another way? Do it all the time. For almost all the books, just to get at the alternate storyline. Some of them provide information that are not really helpful in the game itself but does add a lot of colour to the storyline. I should have taken each fork in every LW book at least once i think. I do this when i'm not actually playing, however, so i don't consider this cheating.
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Post by Omega M. on Apr 27, 2004 16:03:46 GMT
I just started rereading the Lone Wolf books, and I've been reading every path without regard for score. Usually I try to read all of the paths that lead to the same plot point before moving on to the next plot point. It's interesting to note the subtle changes in the text depending on whether you, say, miss, barely succeed, or resoundingly succeed.
Once I've read every path in the book, I can then go back and decide what paths are feasible and contain all the plot points I want to hit. I also take into account items and encounters that will have consequences in later books.
To save time and make the book less random, I also assume that I pick a 5 whenver 0 is "high" (e.g., in combat) and a 4 whenever 0 is "low" (e.g., most other times).
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Post by Sarra on Apr 27, 2004 16:57:16 GMT
Do it all the time. For almost all the books, just to get at the alternate storyline. Some of them provide information that are not really helpful in the game itself but does add a lot of colour to the storyline. I should have taken each fork in every LW book at least once i think. I do this when i'm not actually playing, however, so i don't consider this cheating. I have done this too. However I always go through the book my 'the book' the first time. Adds more surprise and excitement to the adventure.
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Post by Relenoir on Apr 27, 2004 19:53:09 GMT
Don't you find that takes alot away from the fun of just blindly trying to make your way through the book successfully? I buy strategy guides for a lot of video games that I play, but unless I get absolutely stuck, I never look at it until I've already completed the section that I'm playing through. I think it's more fun that way, and I get to enjoy the challenge of the game a lot more.
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Post by Omega M. on Apr 28, 2004 2:56:26 GMT
Well, I don't have that much time to spend on the books. If you "play" them nonrandomly, as I do, you can treat them as mazes; the challenge becomes how to get to the end while hitting all of your favorite plot points.
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Post by Sarra on Apr 28, 2004 3:05:31 GMT
I have to agree with Relenoir.
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Post by Ofecks on Apr 28, 2004 3:50:03 GMT
Well, I managed to make it through to the GM series once again, but the journey wasn't without its hardships. I followed all the rules to a tee, and enforced the NRD EP aspect. Here are my death results:
book 2 - Helghast escape (RN roll, instant) book 3 - Kalkoth (battle-related, RN roll, instant) book 7 - Boulder-eye (instant) book 9 - Zakhan Kimah (battle) book 9 - Tahou South Gate garrison (instant) book 13 - Escape from plague-hall (RN roll, instant)
The only time I cheated was that first death escaping the Helghasts - I pretended I got a better score and moved on. With all the others, I restarted the books. Book 11 went off without a hitch, because I saved all my Laumspurs (including that +5 one from book 2), Rendalim's Elixirs (I had three), +4 Alether, and even my +10 Oede Potion from book 5. I had a +1 ratio against the Chaos-Master, that was great, but I only had 5 EP left after the battle. So what? My backpack was loaded with healing potions. ;D
And taking Relenior's advice, I didn't re-roll my CS when I started the GM books. I picked my disciplines wisely and did very well (my CS is 50 with all bonuses), until my untimely death swinging to safely after toppling the cauldron full of acid. I thought about cheating on that one, but I think I'll restart and take the forest route instead.
Has anyone here completed the entire Kai/Magnakai series without dying or cheating, and following all the logical rules? I'd like to think I'd be lucky enough to do it someday.
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