Barbarians of Lemuria

[ProfDogg]

Anyone have an opinion on the quality of the BoL ruleset in the store? Is it updated enough to be playable as is? Thinking about buying it and running it for a 1-on-1 game.

- Prof.Dogg

[damned]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evKsEpgrg6w
Hi ProfDogg - the BoL game is reasonably rules lite - though it does have plenty of exceptions. The FG ruleset contains a full reference manual, ruleset and the basic adventures included in the kickstarter.
Somewhere on here there is a review that was not great. I think all the issues highlighted in that review were addressed. It is not a 5e quality ruleset but it does support BoL quite well in my opinion.

[ProfDogg]

Good to know... I'm a fan of the rules and the setting --- most of my fantasy games are more Sword & Sorcery than high fantasy. I need to put my regular campaigns (Savage Worlds and 5e) on hold while life settles out for some of my players. So I'm throwing together a new "quick" game for those who are able to play and instead of going through lengthy character creation or coming up with pre-gens that nobody particularly wants to play with any of the other systems, I thought I might use this one instead. That way the players make their own characters and the learning curve is ridiculously easy.

-Prof.Dogg

[damned]

If you do buy it throw any questions you might have out here and Ill do my best to answer.

[ProfDogg]

Thanks (as always)!

That tutorial though is about the most complete one I've seen yet. Any clunkiness seems like it would stem from the GM's lack of familiarity with the system rather than the actual FG set. I actually prefer the option to keep automatic functions form being fully implemented until the GM has a chance to approve everything. There's always some rule or ability that can change the results of a die and then you have to go back afterward and manually fix whatever happens. It seems like this set requires GM approval through each step but that should be quick to resolve if the GM knows the rules well enough.

Time to experiment on my poor unsuspecting players...

-Prof.Dogg

[ProfDogg]

Already got a question:

In the NPC's blocks, how do you mark Villains and Toughs? Rabble has a check-box but the other options don't.

-Prof.Dogg

[damned]

This done by assigning them Villain Points.

[ProfDogg]

This done by assigning them Villain Points.

Oh, I see that now. I have one NPC who is a Villain but didn't have any listed VP. I gave him a VP and he climbed the Priority chart. Much obliged...

-Prof.Dogg

[damned]

Mwahahahahaha - make all your villains tougher!

[corwynn]

I wrote the not that great review. As I understand it, issues which I brought up were addressed. I think that if you're into BoL, you're going to be fine with the level the ruleset is at, certainly after the changes.

For oneshot system experimentation, at the time that the review was written, it was lacking.

BoL is a cool system. The ruleset supports it. I'd say have at it.

[ProfDogg]

We haven't played it yet (that so called "real" life keeps getting in the way this month) but I've got a good-sized campaign built so far. There's been a few weird things I've noted (Attack skill defaults to -1 for some reason on NPCs and you can't raise Arcane Points manually from the NPC sheet) and I haven't really been able to test the Combat Tracker very much without actual play-testing but it's definitely doable. As a GM, I like the rules and I'm beginning to like the default setting but my players (even though we haven't played yet) like the idea of both.

-Prof.Dogg

[damned]

We haven't played it yet (that so called "real" life keeps getting in the way this month) but I've got a good-sized campaign built so far. There's been a few weird things I've noted (Attack skill defaults to -1 for some reason on NPCs and you can't raise Arcane Points manually from the NPC sheet) and I haven't really been able to test the Combat Tracker very much without actual play-testing but it's definitely doable. As a GM, I like the rules and I'm beginning to like the default setting but my players (even though we haven't played yet) like the idea of both.

-Prof.Dogg

Hi ProfDogg this is another one of those rules that make this less rules-lite when it actually comes to programming it.
From memory Rabble and Creatures and the Bloodless use Attack Skill while Toughs, Villains and Demons use Melee and Ranged...
But many of the former can still have 0 in their Attack Skill stats so programmatically to determine whether to use Attack or Melee or Ranged the Attack Skill is set to -1 which makes the attack roll ignore it. If you change it to 0 (or higher) it then looks at the Attack String and adds [MA] melee and agility or [RA] ranged and agility...
We tried several different ways to present this and this was the option that worked best in testing...

So... if you have 0 or better in Attack Skill it will use Attack Skill. If you have -1 in Attack Skill it will use what ever the attack specifies - RA or MA...

[ProfDogg]

That makes sense. I didn't realize that was from design. I'll go back and check my creations and see if I messed that up anywhere.

--Prof.Dogg

[damned]

That makes sense. I didn't realize that was from design. I'll go back and check my creations and see if I messed that up anywhere.

--Prof.Dogg

Mechanically there isnt much difference. We almost went against the book and set everything with Melee and Ranged attacks because of the finicky UI issues it caused...

[Myrdin Potter]

There is a decent price on the PDF now, including a reduction on the price of the printed version (print on demand). The rules get pretty good reviews from people that have bought them and I like them as well.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/144526/Barbarians-of-Lemuria-Mythic-Edition?affiliate_id=229540

[Claybor]

Are there any more recent thoughts on this ruleset? I have been holding off purchase for a while in hopes of a sale, (I am patient and like to wait for the best prices as I need to stretch my $$$ as much as possible.) but this particular one seems to be one of the few that never goes on sale. I don't really play fantasy much at all anymore, but I have hopes of using this for Everywhen. I am not sure how well that will work with some of the changes in EW, but it has to be better then working from scratch.

[ProfDogg]

As a GM I like the ruleset. My players, not so much... I continuously threaten to run it and then someone says "No, let's play <insert any other system of choice>". I like other systems (a great deal in most cases) but this system is really a niche style, much like DCC (of which I do like a lot and my players really like a lot too so go figure)...

You should the campaigns I've built for this set...

But you know, I have no idea why it never is included in the sales...

[Claybor]

Thanks for the reply. It sounds like you have quite a bit of unused content that you have created, that's too bad. I will likely pick it up in the very near future, sale or not. :}

[Santyagoffg]

I have played in BoL since years. All my players loved this ruleset due to unique sword and sorcery climat. Rules are intuitial and basic. All roles are specially developed for heroic Conanlike adventures. It's ideal escape from more holistic and realistic systems.

[Sasmira]

Hello hello,

I'm playing on BoL too and I have created a little theme BoL. I share my work with you ;)

https://www.resizup.com/images/2020/02/23/e8820c5ed0.md.jpg (https://www.resizup.com/image/OdUD2)


Enjoy !
S.