The Darke Crusade (2 page)

You keep a record of your adventure on the
Action Chart
.

For more than five years, ever since the demise of the Darklords of Helgedad, you have devoted yourself to developing further your fighting prowess —
COMBAT SKILL
 — and physical stamina —
ENDURANCE
. Before you begin this Grand Master adventure you need to measure how effective your training has been. To do this take a pencil and, with your eyes closed, point with the blunt end of it onto the
Random Number Table
. If you pick a 0 it counts as zero.

The first number that you pick from the
Random Number Table
in this way represents your
COMBAT SKILL
. Add 25 to the number you picked and write the total in the
COMBAT SKILL
section of your
Action Chart
(i.e. if your pencil fell on the number 6 in the
Random Number Table
you would write in a
COMBAT SKILL
of 31). When you fight, your
COMBAT SKILL
will be pitted against that of your enemy. A high score in this section is therefore very desirable.

The second number that you pick from the
Random Number Table
represents your powers of
ENDURANCE
. Add 30 to this number and write the total in the
ENDURANCE
section of your
Action Chart
(i.e. if your pencil fell on the number 7 on the
Random Number Table
you would have 37
ENDURANCE
points).

If you are wounded in combat you will lose
ENDURANCE
points. If at any time your
ENDURANCE
points fall to zero or below, you are dead and the adventure is over. Lost
ENDURANCE
points can be regained during the course of the adventure, but your number of
ENDURANCE
points can never rise above the number you have when you start an adventure.

If you have successfully completed any of the previous adventures in the
Lone Wolf
series (Books 1–14), you can carry your current scores of
COMBAT SKILL
and
ENDURANCE
points over to Book 15. These scores may include Weaponmastery, Curing, and Psi-surge bonuses obtained upon completion of
Lone Wolf Kai
(Books 1–5) or
Magnakai
(Books 6–12) adventures.
²
Only if you have completed these previous adventures will you benefit from the appropriate bonuses in the course of the
Lone Wolf Grand Master
series.
³
You may also carry over any Weapons and Backpack Items you had in your possession at the end of your last adventure, and these should be entered on your new Grand Master
Action Chart
. (You are still limited to two Weapons, but you may now carry up to ten Backpack Items.)

However, only the following Special Items may be carried over from the
Lone Wolf Kai
(Books 1–5) and
Magnakai
(Books 6–12) series to the
Lone Wolf Grand Master
series (Books 13-onwards):

• Crystal Star Pendant
  
• Sommerswerd
  
• Silver Helm
  
• Dagger of Vashna
  
• Silver Bracers
  
• Jewelled Mace
  
• Silver Bow of Duadon
  
• Helshezag
  
• Kagonite Chainmail
  
• Korlinium Scabbard
  

During your distinguished rise to the rank of Kai Grand Master you have become proficient in all of the basic Kai and Magnakai Disciplines. These Disciplines have provided you with a formidable arsenal of natural abilities which have served you well in the fight against the agents and champions of Naar, King of the Darkness. A brief summary of your skills is given below.

Weaponmastery

Proficiency with all close combat and missile weapons. Master of unarmed combat; no
COMBAT SKILL
loss when fighting bare-handed.

Animal Control

Communication with most animals; limited control over hostile creatures. Can use woodland animals as guides and can block a non-sentient creature's sense of taste and smell.

Curing

Steady restoration of lost
ENDURANCE
points (to self and others) as a result of combat wounds. Neutralization of poisons, venoms, and toxins. Repair of serious battle-wounds.

Invisibility

Mask body heat and scent; hide effectively; mask sounds during movement; minor alterations of physical appearance.

Huntmastery

Effective hunting of food in the wild; increased agility; intensified vision, hearing, smell, and night vision.

Pathsmanship

Read languages, decipher symbols, read footprints and tracks. Intuitive knowledge of compass points; detection of enemy ambush up to 500 yards; ability to cross terrain without leaving tracks; converse with sentient creatures; mask self from psychic spells of detection.

Psi-surge

Attack enemies using the powers of the mind; set up disruptive vibrations in objects; confuse enemies.

Psi-screen

Defence against hypnosis, supernatural illusions, charms, hostile telepathy, and evil spirits. Ability to divert and re-channel hostile psychic energy.

Nexus

Move small items by projection of mind power; withstand extremes of temperature; extinguish fire by force of will; limited immunity to flames, toxic gases, and corrosive liquids.

Divination

Sense imminent danger; detect invisible or hidden enemy; telepathic communication; recognize magic-using and/or magical creatures; detect psychic residues; limited ability to leave body and spirit-walk.

Now, through the pursuit of your new skills and the further development of your innate Kai abilities, you have set out upon a path of discovery that no other Kai Grand Master has ever attempted with success. Your determination to become the first Kai Supreme Master, by acquiring total proficiency in all twelve of the Grand Master Disciplines, is an awe-inspiring challenge. You will be venturing into the unknown, pushing back the boundaries of human limitation in the pursuit of greatness and the cause of Good. May the blessings of the Gods Kai and Ishir go with you as you begin your brave and noble quest.

In the years following the demise of the Darklords you have reached the rank of Kai Grand Defender, which means that you have mastered
four
of the Grand Master Disciplines listed below. It is up to you to choose which four Disciplines these are. As all of the Grand Master Disciplines may be of use to you at some point during your adventure, pick your four skills with care. The correct use of a Grand Master Discipline at the right time could save your life.

When you have chosen your four Disciplines, enter them in the Grand Master Disciplines section of your
Action Chart
.

This Discipline enables a Grand Master to become supremely efficient in the use of all weapons. When you enter combat with one of your Grand Weaponmastery weapons, you add 5 points to your
COMBAT SKILL
. The rank of Kai Grand Defender, with which you begin the
Lone Wolf Grand Master
series, means you are supremely efficient in the use of
two
of the weapons listed below. For each book that you complete in the
Lone Wolf Grand Master
series (Books 13–20), you will gain mastery of an additional weapon. For example, if you complete
The Plague Lords of Ruel
and have the Grand Master Discipline of Grand Weaponmastery at the beginning of the next
Lone Wolf Grand Master
book, you may choose an additional Weapon to gain mastery of.

If you have the Discipline of Grand Weaponmastery with Bow, you may add 5 to any number that you pick from the
Random Number Table
, when using the Bow.
⁴

Grand Masters have considerable control over hostile, non-sentient creatures. Also, they have the ability to converse with birds and fishes, and use them as guides.

Grand Masters are able to use their healing power to repair serious battle-wounds. If, whilst in combat, their
ENDURANCE
is reduced to 8 points or less, they can draw upon their mastery to restore 20
ENDURANCE
points. This ability can only be used once every 20 days.

Grand Masters are able to effect striking changes to their physical appearance, and maintain these changes over a period of a few days. They have also mastered advanced camouflage techniques that make them virtually undetectable in an open landscape.

Grand Masters are able to see in total darkness and have greatly heightened senses of touch and taste. If you have chosen the Discipline of Grand Huntmastery as one of your skills, you will not need to tick off a Meal when instructed to eat.

Grand Masters are able to resist entrapment by hostile plants and have a super-awareness of ambush, or the threat of ambush, in woods and dense forests.

When using their psychic ability to attack an enemy, Grand Masters may add 8 points to their
COMBAT SKILL
. For every round in which Kai-surge is used, Grand Masters need only deduct 1
ENDURANCE
point. When using the weaker psychic attack — Mindblast — they may add 4 points without loss of
ENDURANCE
points. (Kai-surge, Psi-surge, and Mindblast cannot be used simultaneously.)