GURPS Lone Wolf Notes
by Patrick O'Shea.
edited by Jonathan Blake.
Copyright © 1999. All rights reserved.

For a basic understanding of GURPS (Copyright © Steve Jackson Games, Inc.), download GURPS Lite.

The Lone Wolf gamebook series presents a very gameable fantasy world complete with monsters, magic and a lot of plot hooks. This post will give some guidelines for players and GMs to create their own Kai Lords and Vakeros. You'll need GURPS Psionics, Supers, and Magic for some of the more advanced abilities.

Kai Lords

Attributes and stats

A Kai Lord should be built on at least 100 to 125 charater points; this will give the player enough to build a reasonably skilled Initiate (five disciplines), and have a fighting chance in the world of Magnamund. All stats should be at least average (10+).

As they are essentially fighters, there are few allowable physical disadvantages that can be used for starting characters; Hemophilia and Low Pain Threshold would be almost unheard of, although some like Lame or Blind could be used for the "scarred veteran" character. Sense of Duty is common, as would be Overconfidence and Impulsiveness (especially among the lower ranks). Advantages can include almost anything, excepting Wealth.

As a Patron, the Kai Monastary would be a very powerful organization (30 points); Kai Lords (of all levels) appear to live on the monastary grounds and would effectively always be "on call" (-15 points).

The Basics

In a way, the Kai Lords can be compared to the Shaolin monks: a basic code of helping others which is backed up by a rigorous and comprehensive education in both physical and mental abilities.

In gamebook 8, Jungle of Horrors, it is mentioned that Lone Wolf was "...tutored... in the ancient histories of Magnamund, and [Lone Wolf] received lessons in lore that [he] would have learned from the Kai Masters if only they had survived the attack...."(p. 13). We can assume that a Kai lord trained at a monastary will have the following basic skills:

• Be able to read and write (Literacy)
• History (Magnamund) at 12 or better
• Area Knowledge (Magnamund) at 12 or better

A Note on abilities:

Some of the more advanced abilities, especially in the Magnakai section, are bought as either psionic abilities or magical knacks.

For psionic disciplines, all abilities should be bought as "single skill". Psi powers that don't have a listed single skill cost, like Mental Stab, the cost is equal to 1/2 of the full "group" cost, rounded up. So, Mental stab, a Telepathic skill, would cost 3 points per power level ( half of 5 is 2.5, rounded up to 3).

Magical knacks are from an optional rule found in GURPS Magic, which allow the PC to use a spell as an innate ability (like Alter Visage). The cost and time to cast remain the same, but the user only has to take a concentrate maneuver, and does not have to verbally cast the "spell" or wave his hands. The effective skill level of a knack is 15.

The Disciplines

The abilities of the Kai Lords are split between ten different areas, or disciplines, and have three general levels (Kai, Magnakai, and Grandmaster). The basic Kai abilities, and their GURPS equivalents, are:

Magnakai disciplines

For the most part, these appear to be improvements on the existing Kai abilities, although some disciplines go beyond sheer skill:

Improved Disciplines.

Starting with the Magnakai series, it is possible for a Kai Lord to receive "upgrades" to his existing abilities. The improvements are as follows:

Vakeros

The Vakeros, as described in various Lone Wolf books, are the native warrior-mages of Dessi, an ally of Sommerlund. They are distinguished by their specialized skill in battle magic, and by the blue-steel weapons that they carry.

As far as stats and advantages go, there is a minimum for DX (combat and skills like Throw Spell/Spell Jet) and IQ (for spells, natch). I suggest a minimum of 12 in each. They should definitely also have a level of Magery, at least.

Vakeros seem to have some level of Social Status; being trained by the Elder Magi, they should have a Social Status of at least 1, as well as a reputation (+1, skilled fighters and magic users, half the time outside of Dessi).

Spells

In the series, there have been spells from Elemental schools such as Fire and Air/Lightning(Flameshaft and Power Grasp), Making/Breaking (Splinter and Penetrate), and Body Control (Hold Enemy). A reasonable "permissible college layout" would be:

• Body Control
• Elemental (primarily Fire and Air)
• Making and Breaking
• Protection and Warning

Possible Colleges (GM permission):

• Mind Control
• Knowledge
• Movement
• Light/Dark

I didn't see any evidence of healing abilities from Jungle of Horrors (Paido never used any, anyway), and I think it's reasonable that no self respecting battlemage would know Necromancy. Enchantment spells would probably be left to the Elder Magi, as that group has little to do with combat, and the power required would exceed what is practical on the battlefield.

Typical equipment

Being trained by the Elder Magi, the Vakeros will typically have access to several useful enchanted items. The most prominent of these is their Blue Steel swords, which are strong enough to effect a Helghast. The basic stats for a Blue Steel weapon are: Sword (any type), +2 Accuracy and Pussiance, Staff (added to allow Vakeros to cast their spells along their blades, as seen in Jungle of Horrors).

The Elder Magi don't let the secret of making these swords get out, so getting one can only be done by either joining the order, or stealing one (rarely a good idea, especially with the powers that the Vakeros, and the Elder Magi have at their disposal). A generous GM might allow the PCs to receive one as a gift from the Magi, but this should only be done after a truly heroic adventure.