Lone Wolf RPG

[IdentityCrisis]

I remember those books from when I was a kid... Is there a LW game system available for free online anywhere?

 

[Skywalker]

I remember those books from when I was a kid... Is there a LW game system available for free online anywhere?

The original books are available from Project Aon as set out above.

If you are referring to Mongoose's OGL LW RPG then you will need to buy it. Any free copy you find will be an illegal copy.

 

[Joshua Randall]

Am I the only one who thinks the Mongoose's Lone Wolf RPG is poorly designed? It has so many nonstandard rules that I wonder why they even bothered making it OGL. And, the rules that are there are just... bad.

The gazatteer is a joke -- the old Magnamund Companion was better written and had more interested plot hooks -- and it was only, what, 32 pages?

I've been meaning to write a review for ages, but it's hard to motivate yourself to spend a lot of effort writing a review of something that's flat-out bad.

 

[Henry]

Am I the only one who thinks the Mongoose's Lone Wolf RPG is poorly designed? It has so many nonstandard rules that I wonder why they even bothered making it OGL. And, the rules that are there are just... bad.

The gazatteer is a joke -- the old Magnamund Companion was better written and had more interested plot hooks -- and it was only, what, 32 pages?

I've been meaning to write a review for ages, but it's hard to motivate yourself to spend a lot of effort writing a review of something that's flat-out bad.

You'll note that my ONLY review on ENWorld so far is this book. I loved it.

Mainly I loved it for the fact that it gives me all the rules I need for running a Magnamund game without having to make them up whole cloth. Dessi Magi adventuring alongside Kai Warriors really sparks my imagination. If you're looking for something to rob from and supplement existing d20, it's not good for that. But it fits the flavor of Lone Wolf perfectly, which is based more on AD&D than just "generic fantasy." In fact, I believe Magnamund began life as an AD&D campaign, before Joe Dever made money from the game books in the 80's.

As for the rules being non-standard, I see nothing wrong with that; the OGL isn't just for d20 rules, it's for a lot more. I for one liked the treatment of the mage staves and the willpower points, and wouldn't mind adapting them into D&D.

However, with as many games I want to run, I should finally get to a campaign of this sometime in, oh, say 2015.

 

[Skywalker]

Am I the only one who thinks the Mongoose's Lone Wolf RPG is poorly designed? It has so many nonstandard rules that I wonder why they even bothered making it OGL. And, the rules that are there are just... bad.

On the contrary, I think LW RPG is excellent and one of the best examples of how to use the Open Gaming Licence (as opposed to the D20 licence) to its best effect. Almost all of the rules (I would say about 80% - classes, skills, combat, stats, equipment and general rules) are D20 and will be familiar to D20 players. However, they have made some simplifications and a very few modifications (mostly just class abilities) but which have a significantly impact to allow the RPG to really suit the source material.

As a matter of interest what OGL products do you think are good? For that matter which D20 products do you think are good too?

The gazatteer is a joke -- the old Magnamund Companion was better written and had more interested plot hooks -- and it was only, what, 32 pages?

Again I disagree. The Magnamund Companion Gazetteer has much less material than the LW RPG. Plus the Gazetteer is written for a much younger audience and not for RPG use. You could see Joe Dever wanted it to be like an RPG book but for commercial reasons could not do so. In comparison, August Hahn does an excellent job with the space provided to present the world of Magnamund both in the Gazetteer, the Bestiary and the Classes.

 

[Odhanan]

I agree with Henry's opinion about LW RPG: very good to play Magnamund as in the books. If you're a fan, you'll love this. If however you want some stuff to pick up for your other d20 campaign, that's not the book for that.

I love the Magnamund. I love LW RPG.

 

[Joshua Randall]

My answers to these questions will be answered in the review that I will finally get off my lazy butt and do this weekend or so. I'll post a link when ready.

 

[amethal]

However, with as many games I want to run, I should finally get to a campaign of this sometime in, oh, say 2015.

Please could you put my name down as a player. Ten years should give me plenty of time to move to wherever in the world you happen to live.

I'm looking forward to Joshua's review, as I wonder how much of my own favourable opinion is the result of happy nostalgia.

In any other game, I'd be annoyed that my Kai Lord is going to end up looking pretty much like everyone else's. Here I'm just thinking "Wow! I can play a Kai Lord! Sign me up!"

 

[Henry]

In any other game, I'd be annoyed that my Kai Lord is going to end up looking pretty much like everyone else's. Here I'm just thinking "Wow! I can play a Kai Lord! Sign me up!"

I'll agree that nostalgia plays a heavy part in my liking of this book. It does suffer from a bit of the OD&D phenomenon "hey, my fighter looks like yours!" in that mechanically, one kai lord is VERY similar to another. However, the path of choosing disciplines/skills/talents helps to differentiate a little bit, and in truth NO ONE has apparently played enough of the setting to be bored with it! So, as a tribute to gamers immersing themselves in Magnamund, it looks great; for someone used to the 3E fundamentals of customization and who is not an original fan of the works, it's not as impressive. (Same kind of trouble that Wheel of Time RPG had!)