Let's Play Lone Wolf: Book 29 and beyond!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Let's Play Lone Wolf: Book 29 and beyond!

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Runcible Cat: May 28, 2007; Ignoring this post

nelson posted:

Use 2 medi-kits and fight.

# ? Mar 31, 2022 19:53

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# ? Jun 5, 2024 06:39

RudeCat: Aug 7, 2012; The rudest cat for the rudest jobs

nelson posted:

Use 2 medi-kits and fight.

# ? Mar 31, 2022 23:03

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

California Countdown posted:

�Let�s get �em before they get us,� you say, and drop back down into your seat.

Driving as slowly as you dare in order not to stir up any dust and give away your position, you steer your roadster towards a large clump of sagebrush and pi�on, and cut the engine the moment it is hidden from view.

Silently the two of you take to the bushes and wait for the bikers to approach.

We roll: 6.

The two Outlaws continue to ride towards the bridge, and come to within 100 yards of your position before bringing their machines to a halt. One of them, a thin-limbed punk with a shaven head, kneels down to examine something on the ground. Then he stands, takes up a pair of binoculars slung around his neck, and focuses them on the bridge itself. The other biker, who is dressed in a tattered blue denim boiler-suit, takes a long swig from a water canteen that is strapped to his chest.

�Shall we take �em out?� whispers Rickenbacker.

You are about to reply when the shaven-headed clansman stiffens. He lets his binoculars fall and snatches up the machine-pistol that is slung beneath his shoulder. Somehow, by sound or instinct, he has been alerted to your position. He shouts a warning to his partner and they scurry into the surrounding brush before you have a chance to fire.

�They know we�re here,� hisses Rickenbacker. �I don�t like it.�

�Keep a lookout to the right. I�ll cover the left,� you reply, as quietly as you can.

With your nerves on edge you scour the surrounding undergrowth. A sudden noise to your left, like that of a falling stone hitting the ground, makes you turn your head, but a quieter shuffling noise to your right causes you to turn back just in time to see the shaven-headed clansman running towards you with a knife in his hand. He makes a dive and is upon you before you can fire a shot. Instinctively you grab his wrist and manage to twist the blade from his hand, but tenaciously he fights back, kicking and clawing like a wild animal as he launches his fight to the finish.

Pee-Wee: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 16 ENDURANCE 24

You are unable to evade combat and must fight the clansman to the death.

Cal Phoenix: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 18 ENDURANCE 26 Pee-Wee: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 16 ENDURANCE 24 Combat Ratio: 2 We roll: 1 Cal Phoenix: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 18 ENDURANCE 22 Pee-Wee: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 16 ENDURANCE 21 We roll: 3 Cal Phoenix: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 18 ENDURANCE 21 Pee-Wee: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 16 ENDURANCE 15 We roll: 5 Cal Phoenix: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 18 ENDURANCE 19 Pee-Wee: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 16 ENDURANCE 10 We roll: 9 Cal Phoenix: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 18 ENDURANCE 18 Pee-Wee: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 16 ENDURANCE 5 We roll: 4 Cal Phoenix: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 18 ENDURANCE 15 Pee-Wee: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 16 ENDURANCE 1 We roll: 3 Cal Phoenix: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 18 ENDURANCE 14 Pee-Wee: CLOSE COMBAT SKILL 16 ENDURANCE 0

California Countdown posted:

You push the dead clansman away from you and turn to see Rickenbacker grappling with his partner. He looks like he has the upper hand until a blow to the side of his head sends him reeling to the ground. The Outlaw cackles and reaches for a knife sheathed at his belt, but Rickenbacker is too quick for him. He draws the blade he carries concealed in his boot, and hurls it at the grinning clansman, catching him in the throat. With a thin, bubbling scream, the Outlaw grasps the hilt and tries to wrench it free. But his strength, like his life�s blood, is deserting him. With a shudder, his limbs stiffen, and then he goes limp and drops in a heap to the ground.

�That was a close call,� says Rickenbacker, as he bends over the Outlaw and retrieves his blade. �drat close call.�

You search the clansmen�s bodies before hiding them, together with their bikes, beneath the Santa Rosa bridge. Your search uncovers the following items:

Binoculars

Water Canteen

Enough water for two Drinks

Knife (+2 CCS)

Dagger (+2 CCS)

Two Machine Pistols

Twenty-eight rounds of 9mm ammunition

Pistol

HE Grenade

Tool Kit

Enough food for one Meal
If you choose to keep any of these items, adjust your Action Chart accordingly.

After checking that the two Outlaws were alone, you leave the bridge and go north in search of a suitable place to cross the Santa Rosa Wash.

Do we take anything? The Canteen can be stored in our Backpack as a spare (and to double our water-carrying capacity). If we don't take it we will top up our own canteen. As always, extra ammo can be stored in our Backpack, but we'll automatically fill our Ammo Pouch to capacity regardless. The close combat weapons are worse than the ones we're already carrying.

Endurance: 14/27 Medi-Kit: 10/12

Missile Weapons & Ammo Pouch

Rifle (3/5 7.62mm rounds)
↓ -1 Stealth ↓

Machine Pistol (30/34 9mm rounds)
↓ -2 Stealth ↓

Backpack

HE Grenade

Combat Viewer

CB Radio
↓ -1 Stealth ↓

Meal

Meal

Meal
↓ -2 Stealth ↓

↓ -3 Stealth ↓

# ? Apr 1, 2022 04:55

Black Robe: Sep 12, 2017; Generic Magic User

Just top off ammo and water, don't take any extras

# ? Apr 1, 2022 05:33

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

Take the binoculars, tool kit, spare canteen.

Use 3 medi-kits.

# ? Apr 1, 2022 07:51

RudeCat: Aug 7, 2012; The rudest cat for the rudest jobs

nelson posted:

Take the binoculars, tool kit, spare canteen.

Use 3 medi-kits.

# ? Apr 1, 2022 08:05

achtungnight: Oct 5, 2014; I get my fun here. Enjoy!

Black Robe posted:

Just top off ammo and water, don't take any extras

Use 3 medkits.

We do not need binoculars, we have the Combat Viewer. I�m surprised we didn�t get an option to shoot in that last fight.

# ? Apr 1, 2022 12:24

Guy Fawkes: Aug 1, 2014; Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense

Black Robe posted:

Just top off ammo and water, don't take any extras

# ? Apr 1, 2022 20:06

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

nelson posted:

Take the binoculars, tool kit, spare canteen.

Use 3 medi-kits.

California Countdown posted:

You need to follow the course of the Santa Rosa Wash for only half a mile before you find an ideal place to cross. It is close to the town of Cucklebur, a settlement that was home to the Papago Indians before �The Day�. As you drive through the town, the beginnings of a hot, northwesterly wind sweep across the land, and you notice a dark storm cloud streaking the sky. You pray that it is the prelude to a rainstorm, for it has not rained in these parts for more than a year, but your experience and your senses tell you otherwise.

�There�s a dust storm brewin�. Daresay it�s blowin� down from the Nevada desert,� you say, motioning to the north.

�Looks like it could be a mean �un,� replies Rickenbacker, as he stares thoughtfully at the gathering cloud. �A real mean �un.�

By the time you rejoin Interstate 8, the weather has greatly deteriorated. Carried on a high wind come swirling, stinging eddies of rust-red sand, some as tall as five-storey buildings. They move across the landscape like spinning tops, sucking in and spewing out tons of dust, rock, and debris every second of their short but violent lives. So great has the dust saturation become that even though it is still only late afternoon, you are forced to switch on your headlights in order to make out the road ahead.

Out of this wall of dust a mileage sign appears, which says:

GILA BEND�44 miles
It is nearly an hour before you see another sign. This one announces a rest stop one mile ahead on the freeway.

Should we stop at the rest area or keep driving to Gila Bend?

# ? Apr 2, 2022 02:25

achtungnight: Oct 5, 2014; I get my fun here. Enjoy!

Rest area might have loot.

# ? Apr 2, 2022 03:24

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

Keep going to Gila Bend.

# ? Apr 2, 2022 05:03

RudeCat: Aug 7, 2012; The rudest cat for the rudest jobs

Better stretch our legs for a spell at the Rest Area.

# ? Apr 2, 2022 07:06

Runcible Cat: May 28, 2007; Ignoring this post

achtungnight posted:

Rest area might have loot.

# ? Apr 2, 2022 14:37

Guy Fawkes: Aug 1, 2014; Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense

nelson posted:

Keep going to Gila Bend.

# ? Apr 2, 2022 20:52

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

Guy Fawkes posted:

Keep going to Gila Bend.

California Countdown posted:

It is an hour before sunset when you arrive at the town of Gila Bend, although the light is so poor because of the raging dust storm that it seems as though night has already fallen.

It comes as a welcome surprise to find that the convoy has made it here before you. Mike Gorgas congratulates you and Rickenbacker on the success of your diversion, which drew away the entire clan encampment and allowed the convoy to pass through the intersection unhindered. As you pass down the line of colony vehicles acknowledging the welcoming faces, you are struck by the absence of one face that you particularly wanted to see.

�Where�s Kate?� you ask Cutter, who is busy covering the engine of the school bus to keep out the dust. �She�s inside,� he says, but you sense by the tone of his voice that something is wrong.

Inside the bus you find Kate lying across the rear seat. Despite the heat she is covered with a blanket and is shivering fitfully. Aunt Betty-Ann, who is a qualified county nurse, is kneeling by her side, dabbing the beads of sweat from Kate�s ashen face and trying to soothe her with words of reassurance.

�What�s wrong?� you ask, anxiously.

�I reckon it�s food poisoning,� she replies. �There were a few mushrooms in a meal she ate �bout an hour ago.�

She continues to wipe her face, and then suddenly she blurts out: �Dammit! I know they were checked, but when I looked just now I found one that was a wrong �un. Fly Agaric. Don�t know how the heck it got in with the others, seein� how careful we were when we packed the food in Tucson.�

�Will she be OK?� you ask alarmed.

�She�s a strong girl and she�s fighting it, but this is serious poison, Cal. The mushroom she ate contains an alkaloid called Muscarine. It�s�� Your aunt notices the fear in your eyes and stops in mid-sentence.

�She�ll be OK, Cal. She�s strong � she�ll be OK.�

�Isn�t there something we can do, something we can give her to help her fight it? For crying out loud, we can�t just let her � let her die!�

You feel your aunt gripping your hand tightly, as you try to combat the fear that is churning your stomach and numbing your mind. �What she really needs is Atropine. It�ll neutralize the alkaloid and her body�ll do the rest. We�ve searched the colony�s medical supplies and the drugstores in this town but none�s been found. All we can do is hope she�s strong enough to get through the next few hours.�

�Aunt Betty-Ann, what are her chances, I mean, her real chances o� pullin� through?�

�To be honest, Cal,� she replies, her voice wavering, �they�re less than fifty per cent.�

Quietly you leave the bus. Rickenbacker appears and says something about the roadster but his words do not register. The gnawing fear that you could lose Kate fills your thoughts and blocks out everything. Numbly you wander back to the roadster and sit alone in the driving seat, staring unseeingly at the swirling clouds of dust as you try to come to terms with what has happened. At length you decide to try to find some Atropine. As if you have suddenly awoken from a dream, your mind comes alive and you are galvanized into action.

You take out your map and search for your present location. You reason that Atropine is not something you would normally find in a downtown drugstore, but you would expect to find it in a hospital. Quickly you scour the map and discover that the nearest hospitals to Gila Bend are in Ajo and Casa Grande.

Consult your map before deciding which of the hospitals you will visit.

Ajo or Casa Grande?

Based on my research it doesn't sounds like these mushrooms are anywhere near as deadly as depicted.

# ? Apr 4, 2022 03:12

achtungnight: Oct 5, 2014; I get my fun here. Enjoy!

Atropine. I remember they used that to counter VX poison in the film The Rock and it nearly brought on a heart attack before working. Hope it doesn't worsen Kate's condition.

Try Casa Grande.

# ? Apr 4, 2022 04:26

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

Ajo

# ? Apr 4, 2022 05:53

RudeCat: Aug 7, 2012; The rudest cat for the rudest jobs

nelson posted:

Ajo

# ? Apr 4, 2022 06:40

Guy Fawkes: Aug 1, 2014; Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense

achtungnight posted:

Atropine. I remember they used that to counter VX poison in the film The Rock and it nearly brought on a heart attack before working. Hope it doesn't worsen Kate's condition.

Try Casa Grande.

# ? Apr 4, 2022 19:07

Runcible Cat: May 28, 2007; Ignoring this post

nelson posted:

Ajo

Yeah, I fancy a look at the military range.

# ? Apr 4, 2022 19:49

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

Guy Fawkes posted:

Try Casa Grande.

California Countdown posted:

Taking care that no one sees you leave Gila Bend, you drive east, retracing your way along Interstate 8 towards territory that you know is clan-held. Occasionally the storm lets up just long enough for you to make out the desolate landscape through which you are driving, but for the main part of an hour and a half you see nothing except a swirling wall of dust that obscures the road ahead.

During your lonely drive you must take a Drink ~~(or lose 3 ENDURANCE points)~~, and eat a Meal ~~(or lose 3 ENDURANCE points)~~.

You are lost in thought when, unexpectedly, a mileage sign and an exit ramp loom out of the dusty darkness. Unfortunately, you overshoot the ramp, but you know by the odometer on the dashboard, which you re-set to zero before leaving Gila Bend, that you are near the correct freeway exit for Casa Grande, so you stop your car and reverse it for several hundred yards.

The sign points to Highway 84 and lists the towns of Stanfield (ten miles) and Casa Grande (twenty-three miles). Night has now fallen, although visibility has been so poor that you hardly notice the transition from day to night. With one eye on the odometer, you follow Highway 84 until, ten miles later, the buildings of Stanfield start to appear on either side of the road. They are little more than fuzzy grey silhouettes, featureless and indistinguishable from each other.

Suddenly up ahead you see a light. You sense it could spell danger, so you bring your roadster quickly to a halt.

Taking up the Combat Viewer, you set the controls to scan in the infrared spectrum and then raise it to your eyes. At once the effects of the storm disappear and you see a detailed heat picture of the surrounding urban landscape. The light is radiating from a shop doorway, which shows up as a vivid red glow. You also notice two other sources of heat. They are clansmen and they are crossing the street less than thirty yards ahead. They move slowly, their heads bowed against the storm, and you can make out the distinct shape of rifles, which show up as cooler zones superimposed upon their backs.

Patiently you wait for the clansmen to enter the glowing doorway, and then you restart your roadster and continue along the street.

Fears that your encounter with the Outlaws will alert others from the clan to your presence haunt you as you leave Stanfield and follow the highway east. Fifteen minutes later you come to a bridge that crosses the Santa Cruz River, and you see a signpost that marks the city limits of Casa Grande. You try to identify the passing buildings but the storm and the darkness consume all detail. Suddenly a new fear strikes you that you may never find the Casa Grande hospital, and therefore the vital Atropine, in time to save Kate�s life.

You have no idea where the hospital is located, so you decide to try to find a town map. Three blocks from the bridge you spot the oval-shaped sign of an Exxon gas station standing less than twenty yards ahead on your right.

Should we stop at the petrol station or keep driving?

# ? Apr 5, 2022 02:46

achtungnight: Oct 5, 2014; I get my fun here. Enjoy!

Check gas station for maps & loot.

# ? Apr 5, 2022 02:50

Wafflecopper: Nov 27, 2004; I am a mouth, and I must scream

Finally caught up to this thread, shame I missed it for so long after taking part in the last Lone Wolf LP. I never played Freeway Warrior, Grey Star, New Order past book 25 or so, Autumn Snow, or the collector�s edition bonus adventures so it�s been fun discovering those. The latter two I never knew existed until I found this thread, same with the more recent New Order books. Autumn Snow I really enjoyed, shame I�ll probably never get to play those for myself. The bonus adventures seem to range from bad to terrible so at least I�m not missing much there. The thread also prompted me to stop reading and play ahead for FW and GS which were fun. So thank you Tiggum for all the work you�ve put in to this!

Like the thread, I died a bunch in the first book of FW (cheated and kept going) almost entirely due to not enough stealth, which seems like the most important skill by a fairly wide margin. There are some weird stealth checks (like breaking the window just now which I won�t excuse) but do remember that stealth isn�t just stealth, in the skill description it�s also reaction speed and athleticism or something. So basically every time you have to dodge something it�s a stealth check, and failure often means instant death, and if not, then losing a chunk of hp or getting into a fight, and probably losing a chunk of hp in that since even with 19 CS most fights were between 4 and 8 CR which usually means taking some hits. Whoever voted all in on stealth for book 1 had the right idea. I dumped all my bonus points in book 2 into stealth and don�t think I died once in that one, then most of book 3�s into stealth too, had 10 base at that point. One or two deaths in each of the last couple of books mostly to bad luck. Fieldcraft seems like the dump stat, I only saw it come up maybe 3-4 times in the whole series, perception wasn�t much better. Shooting is really good for avoiding fights and driving for avoiding instadeaths. Avoiding melee fights is really good because a lot of checks add skills to current endurance so if your hp is high you can auto beat a lot of checks that might mean instadeath on a bad roll. Always be lootin, always be shootin.

Anyway, I�m just in time to vote for every choice I didn�t make in the the last book. Keep Driving

Wafflecopper fucked around with this message at 08:54 on Apr 5, 2022

# ? Apr 5, 2022 05:03

Wafflecopper: Nov 27, 2004; I am a mouth, and I must scream

Also, one question: did the :goleft:

emote originate with the last thread? Why is it a square face?

# ? Apr 5, 2022 05:05

RudeCat: Aug 7, 2012; The rudest cat for the rudest jobs

achtungnight posted:

Check gas station for maps & loot.

# ? Apr 5, 2022 07:21

moosecow333: Mar 15, 2007; Super-Duper Supermen!

Loot

# ? Apr 5, 2022 08:27

Black Robe: Sep 12, 2017; Generic Magic User

achtungnight posted:

Check gas station for maps & loot.

This, and also yeah, it's become clear that 'Stealth' is misnamed and should be 'Encumbrance' instead because most of the checks are nothing to do with being stealthy and just want to know how much poo poo you have weighing you down. But I'm still going to take it literally and call it out because it's bad writing and I don't know how you even get those mixed up.

Speaking of bad writing, my dude, use fewer words. Did we need a paragraph about Cal missing the exit and then reversing and taking the exit? What does that add except showing that our hero is a dumbass, which we're well aware of by this point?

# ? Apr 5, 2022 08:31

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

Black Robe posted:

This, and also yeah, it's become clear that 'Stealth' is misnamed and should be 'Encumbrance' instead because most of the checks are nothing to do with being stealthy and just want to know how much poo poo you have weighing you down. But I'm still going to take it literally and call it out because it's bad writing and I don't know how you even get those mixed up.

Oh, I know. It's by creating your stats before you start writing, realising that you want to use them differently than how you'd imagined part way through, and never going back to change the original names because you've written them in too many places.

Black Robe posted:

Did we need a paragraph about Cal missing the exit and then reversing and taking the exit? What does that add except showing that our hero is a dumbass, which we're well aware of by this point?

I actually liked that. A subtle reminder that this is the world we know, but largely empty. You can miss your exit and just reverse back to it because you're on a highway but there's no other traffic and there won't be any other traffic.

# ? Apr 5, 2022 08:49

Wafflecopper: Nov 27, 2004; I am a mouth, and I must scream

Tiggum posted:

I actually liked that. A subtle reminder that this is the world we know, but largely empty. You can miss your exit and just reverse back to it because you're on a highway but there's no other traffic and there won't be any other traffic.

I liked that too and I feel like the FW series is at the sweet spot of Dever's writing where it's not overly wordy for the most part, but there's still a decent amount of descriptive language and worldbuilding. (Plus there is a named and competent recurring female character which, although she's just the one, and is still a damsel in distress for the male PC to rescue multiple times, is at least an improvement on Lone Wolf. The cannibal injuns were uh just a little racist though.) Tiggum, I know Flight From the Dark is your favourite LW, but I always found the prose really sparse and it was probably my least favourite. It may have a lot of different branches, but I felt like a lot of the sections were just "You see giaks chasing you. Go east or west?" or "You see kraan overhead. Go through the forest or along the path?". I think this is why, as an earlier post mentioned, the Graveyard of the Ancients is such a popular first choice. It was definitely mine. Compared to "follow the river or the road" it has an air of mystery and is a lot more compelling than yet more running through the countryside. Fire on the Water had a lot of problems as a game, but I found the book part a lot more compelling. There's a couple of villains, intrigue, a big battle, multiple different locales or biomes (sea voyages, the wildlands, towns, a giant tunnel), motherfuckin helghast which I think we agree are the coolest monsters in the setting, and you get a sweet magic sword (gamebreakingness notwithstanding).

# ? Apr 5, 2022 09:16

Wafflecopper: Nov 27, 2004; I am a mouth, and I must scream

Also just wanna talk about how much I retroactively love Gary Chalk's art. He couldn't draw faces for poo poo when he did the Lone Wolf series, and I hated that as a kid, but he has a distinctive quirky and charming style which added a lot of character to the books. Brian Williams' stuff was maybe more technically proficient (or at least realistic looking) but lacked that Gary Chalk magic. I really, really liked Chalk's work in the Autumn Snow books. It's a lot more detailed than his earlier stuff but still has that distinctive character and even his faces have improved a lot even if they still look a bit derpy.

Wafflecopper fucked around with this message at 09:39 on Apr 5, 2022

# ? Apr 5, 2022 09:26

nelson: Apr 12, 2009; College Slice

achtungnight posted:

Check gas station for maps & loot.

# ? Apr 5, 2022 15:50

Guy Fawkes: Aug 1, 2014; Lvl 62, +5 meadow defense

achtungnight posted:

Check gas station for maps & loot.

# ? Apr 5, 2022 19:25

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

Wafflecopper posted:

Anyway, I�m just in time to vote for every choice I didn�t make in the the last book. Keep Driving

California Countdown posted:

At last your luck seems to have changed for the better, for the Casa Grande General Hospital is located only one block past the Exxon garage. Expectantly you enter the grounds and park your car among the rows of derelict autos that fill the front lot. The main entrance lobby is lit by fluorescent light, so you decide to enter by a side door in case the hospital is occupied by clansmen.

Cautiously you follow a dimly lit corridor that echoes with the mesmeric hum of a generator running somewhere on a lower level of the building. The corridor is well sign-posted but none indicates the location of the medicine storage facility. At length you reach a junction and are faced with a choice of turning left towards the X-ray department, or right towards the administration offices.

Left or right?

# ? Apr 6, 2022 06:43