Other Games Tell me about… Barbarians of Lemuria

Dom

Dom

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So, Barbarians of Lemuria is a game that passed me by. I recently saw the Kickstarter for an expansion of the new edition and decided to grab the old one to have a look. It definitely looked much less crunchy than Conan 2d20 and perhaps on a par with the excellent Jaws of the Six Serpents.

If you’ve played it or run it I’d be fascinated to hear your experiences. What’s made it stand out for you?

What’s the difference with the Mythic+ version? Has anyone got a copy and what do you think of it?
 
Barbarians of Lemuria is simply a great game design, and this is someone who isn't that much into fantasy or sword and sorcery.

I have a much older edition (Legendary?) I don't know how much is still current. Barbarians of Lemuria is a miracle of efficient design. It is a really simple and concise 2d6 system but it packs a lot of flavour.

* It uses a career system as cover broad skills that captures the sword & sorcery spirit very well.

* It splits out combat realated abilities into a separate pool so that you dont' have to choose between either making a useful/survivable character vs making a fun/colourful character.

* To level up you are required to explain how you squandered all the treasure earned in the previous adventure - there is no hoarding in sword & sorcery.

* The rabble (mook) rules also help capture the feel for the genre.

* It used the Advantage Dice concept before D&D made it famous.

The downsides for me (again based on my edition) is that the Boons (sort of like Feats) are very tied to the setting and very unbalanced. This makes it harder to use for a non-Lemuria setting, and the Lemuria setting presented isn't that great. There are a whole bunch of Barbarian of Lemuria spin-off games, but I've not played any.
 
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It's a favourite of mine. There is less niche protection than D20 style games, with flavoursome sword and sorcery heroes differentiatied by career choices and Boons and Flaws. If you are playing out a lengthier campaign then you need to choose between minimal attribute increases (as they cap to a low number), or open them out a bit by changing the die type from D6 to D10.

The Mythic edition is a good one to go with, though changes from Legendary are minor. The Brawling (?) combat ability has been replaced with Inititaive.

It is a breeze to run with very simple rules. Any sword and sorcery style setting would be well served by the game. I also like Everywhen, a slightly more complicated generic toolkit, and a number of the spin off games, including Honor+Intrigue and, most recently, Space Pulp.
 
So how well would it handle, for example, Lankhmar?

(Looks at the large pile of DCC Lankhmar he has).
 
Lankhmar is a doddle (it was an influence). One of my favourite spin-offs is Heroes of Hellas (Heroic Greece) by Chris Harper.

I have to disagree with Polar Blues (;)). The setting is excellent. It has enough information to get you going but not so much that it doesn't overwhelm you. And its got dinosaurs.

Oh and Mythic+ is a book of extremely high quality. There is currently a kickstarter for Lemurian Chronicles #1, where you can pick up the book, a map and a GM screen. There is also an option to get a copy of the core book too.
 
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Just chiming in here to say that I love it, and it falls neatly into my pile of games I have 'never had a poor game of' whether I have ran it or played it.

I agree that sometimes the Boons and Flaws are a bit 'obvious' when it comes to the really powerful combos, but that just sort of adds to the S&S flavour of the thing. I played a former High Priest of some tentacled god who had fallen on really bad times and lived now as a beggar. No one believed that he was actually powerful until at a desperate moment he sort of shrugged, pulled out a dagger and ritually sacrificed a mook to summon a demon-thingy. Oh they weren't laughing now!!!!!!

Great game
 
SimonW said:
I have to disagree with Polar Blues (;)). The setting is excellent. It has enough information to get you going but not so much that it doesn't overwhelm you. And its got dinosaurs.
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Well I did premise my post with that fact that I am not that into fantasy in general or even swords and sorcery so the setting was always going to be a hard sell for me.
 
I’ve picked up the Mythic+ edition PDF now and what was going to be a quick skim became a longer read and it definitely gives me the GM tingles.

Then again, it’s deliciously close to Traveller in core mechanic (if it was 8+ rather than 9+), so I guess my liking it shouldn’t be a surprise!

Thank you for all the comments!
 
That reminds me, I had never actually played it in the decades since I published the first free "Thongorean" edition (which is still available online at 1km1kt). Oh, I've run it tons, but not actually been a player.

Now I'm actually playing a game, after persuading one of the players in my group (who doesn't GM at all often) to run our group through the adventures in the Mythic+ edition (except the one I wrote, of course). I finally get to play a Kalukan. And, we're having a blast. He's wary, because I wrote it - which is why I'm playing a Kalukan - because I have to shut up!
 
I bought one of the earlier editions, Legendary I think (and reviewed it here). I remember it as having very elegant rules, and being the game which showed me how much simpler everything is when you ban PC spellcasters.
 
Great review.
 
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