3 reasons why I love Barbarians of Lemuria RPG
When I was scouring the land for an RPG that would click with me, I was lucky enough to stumble upon Samwise7RPG and Webhead123’s video reviews of Barbarians of Lemuria on YouTube. Up until that point I didnt know exactly what I was looking for in an RPG but it quickly became clear that BoL ticked all my boxes. Here’s three of the reasons why BoL is my #1 RPG.
- The Career system is an extremely elegant way of modelling the many and varied types of occupations that a Sword & Sorcery hero might have tried their hand at. There’s no need for an overwhelming list of skills. If it’s likely that a hero has the ability to perform a certain task due to having a rank in a relevant career, then they can attempt it. Whether or not they succeed is of course another story!
- There’s no tedious beancounting when it comes to the experience system. At the end of a saga (a campaign of several adventures) players are awarded Advancement Points based on their tales of what they did with all their ill-gotten gains. If they hoard it or spend it selfishly they get 1 AP. If they blow the lot in an entertaining fashion they get 2 AP. And if they waste it all in a typically debauched binge but provide the GM with some story seeds for follow up adventures then they get 3 AP. What could be simpler and celebrate the S&S genre to boot?
- Magic is mysterious once more! There’s no pre-set list of formulaic spells. “So how on earth do you spellcast?” I hear you say. Well, first of all you decide on the nature of your spell and the GM assigns a casting cost based on the magnitude of the effects. If you don’t have enough magical power to cast the spell, then you can perform rituals and impose other requirements on yourself in order to make it less difficult to cast. Now that’s what I call magic!
Finding a game like this, that was not only rules light but supported the S&S genre, was a godsend. So I was over the moon when I heard that there’s currently a Barbarians of Lemuria Kickstarter project running for a brand spanking new edition chock full of Sword & Sorcery goodness. It has already smashed its initial funding goal and is well on its way to its 4th stretch goal of a full colour book. If you yearn for high adventure in a Sword & Sorcery world without the rules getting in the way, then I would recommend Barbarians of Lemuria wholeheartedly!
NB All backers receive a draft PDF of the rules upon supporting the project. So you will definitely get a return on your investment!
Here’s a summary of how the project is getting on:
Add-Ons
As well as the RPG book itself, there’s a whole stack of BoL Add-ons that you can sign up for if they take your fancy:
- Reference Cards: Physical copy (at cost from RPGNow) of the Reference Cards. At current count the deck will include 14, 6″ x 6″ reference cards.
- Bloodhunt!: Physical copy (at cost from RPGNow) of the Kickstarter exclusive adventure.
- Creature Deck: Physical copy (at cost from RPGNow) of the Creature Deck. At current count the creature deck includes 58 creature cards.
- Lemurian Tales: Physical copies (at cost from RPGNow) of the six adventures achieved from the 300 backers bonus stretch goal.
- A3 Map of Lemuria: An A3 map of Lemuria (170gsm Silk) folded to A5.
- Extra Book
- Kickstarter Exclusive Hardcover
Investing in add-ons will help the project reach its stretch goals, so I’ve done my bit and snaffled as much loot as I could. I know I’d love to see the Mythic Edition be the best it can be after all the gaming pleasure that BoL has brought me.
For more information on the Barbarians of Lemuria Kickstarter visit the project page here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/700903193/barbarians-of-lemuria-mythic-edition
