Barbarians of Lemuria - An alternate Conan Rule System?

[Supplement Four]

Move over Savage Worlds. Move over AD&D Conan. Move over TSR/GURPS/Mongoose Conan.

There's a new barbarian in town.

This one looks to be built on the Classic Traveller model. Uses 2d6 mechanic. 9+ always hits. Characters have careers, not classes and levels. Skills based. Booklet is thin (around 100 pages or so) and inexpensive ($12 bucks at DriveThru RPG).

I haven't seen the game myself (and I'm sticking with Mongoose Conan), but for those of you who are looking for a rules-lite Conan game, you might want to check this out. I understand the magic system is similar to that in the Mongoose Conan game--power points and very dark, where sacrificing a virgin will help you throw big, mean, nasty, soul-to-hell kinds of spells.

Here's a review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xrJxn4zZf8





Here's a couple of freebies for the game:

http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/Barbarians_of_Lemuria_RPG_Character_Sheet.pdf

http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/Wealth_and_Resources.pdf

http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/Bolv2.pdf

http://www.1km1kt.net/rpg/Barbarians_of_Lemuria_RPG_MH_Character_Sheet.pdf

 

[Paladyn]

Well I 've seen and even reviewed a free version. It is nice and very easy game, perhaps too simple, if you want to play for a longer time. I don't know how it is with full version (I've seen it in web store but I didn't bought it). From what I saw, it is quite nice game, it could be easily converted to run Conan adventures but with a lot of work. Nevertheless, one could giva a stot to it, but I still prefer Savage Worlds.

 

[Pascalahad]

The career system is to vague to be of any use. I prefer skills and I know my players, games would turn into endless negociations instead of fun (of course my thief career has taught me how to ride camels).

 

[PrinceYyrkoon]

Pretty light-weight. I know some rave about it but I dont think it would stand up to long term scrutiny.

 

[Malcadon]

I had printed out the (free) rules a while ago. It was a bit of work to adjust it to one's own setting, but the effort is not all that hard. Its also a really fun system!

Even thou the rules come off lite and short-term, you can still make much use of it. If you what PCs to "level-up", then this is not your game, as character stats tend to be fairly static, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Players should ask not how the rules define the PCs, but how the rules help the players in the mist of the action in a smooth and intuitive way! Rule-lite systems are a good framework for such quick and smooth game-play.

The Heroic Careers are a brilliant idea - as skill lists are batched into a broadly categorized archetypes. The sweet thing is that the skills listed are examples, not the exception! And if you dont know, I hate fooling around with long skills lists!!!

I have not read the newer rulebook, but to my understanding, all weapons uses a d6 or some variation (d2, d3) for damage rolls, Boons & Flaws help round-out a character like d20 Feats, heavily-layered armor now effects you your maximum Defense ability, and Hit Points are now called Lifeblood. Boons & Flaws add an extra die to your rolls for specific tasks (like Detect Deception works when detecting lies), but you must drop the lowest (for Boons) or highest (for Flaws) die roll. Lifeblood is calculated as normal (10+Str, with +2 with the Hard-to-Kill boon, or -2 with the Frail flaw), but getting knocked down to -6 LB kills the PC outright! Priests cast their spells much differently then before, and Alchemists make items is a vary different way.

I found some notes using the newer system:
- A 3-page GM Screen
- A 1-page GM Screen
- A 1-page Sorcery, Priest, & Alchemy notes

I also made a level-based rules to help in long term play, I posted at the Lords of Lemuria forum:

Heroic levels are based on D&D levels, but they are not tied to any class or archetype. This is a measure of you PC's legendary status (or action hero status in modern/sci-fi settings). By default, PCs start at level 0 with no measurable benefits (PCs by default are Heroes by their own right). For each level gained, adds 1d6 (or a static number) to your Lifeblood and Arcane Power (if any), adds 1 to your Hero Points and Fate Points (if any), and you get an extra attack in one round of combat. The bonus attack can be converted to a bonus damage die (so a level 2 hero can make 2 attacks or make 1 attack that inflicts 2 dice of damage), or to a defensive roll (dodge or parry). The GM may rule on lowering the difficulty on spell-casting, alchemy, and such by the PC's level.

These levels can make a Hero vary powerful, and rightfully so... such figures are said to bletch fire, piss lightning, and sh!t thunder! (not really, but that is how common folks see them - then again, I can do a three after eating really cheep fast food)

The cost to gain levels are based on how long you might what to run a campaign, or how difficult you what to make getting to the higher levels. You - as the GM - might what to make the base cost 5 or 10. You might what to make the higher costs linear (10, 20, 30, 40) or exponential (10, 20, 40, 80). You might what to make these points actual Advance Point costs or the total AP cost gain (spent, saved or otherwise) throughout one's career. You might what to cap the level at 4 (in keeping with the normal rules) or ignore it altogether (mind you, anything above 5th level is a demigod).

Level and Title
0 Local Hero
1 Great Hero
2 Mighty Hero
3 Inspiring Legend
4 Hero of Legend
5+ God-like Hero

New Traits & Flaws
Destined for Greatness: The requirement to gain a Heroic Level is cut down by one-half, and may advance 1 level above the level cap (if used).
Destined for Mediocrity: The player may not gain any Heroic Levels.

The point of making Heroic Levels is not to make the game like D&D, where everything (including heroic archetypes and skill level) is tied to levels, but to make it more like the Fighting-man from OD&D & Chainmail, where level was just a measure of one's greatness (and is still open-ended enough to allow for a wide range of archetypes). I what to make these levels more heroic plateaus, then just the usual character ranks the players feel obligated to advance through. Use this rule in what way you wish, if you choose to use these rules at all...

 

[blacksagelobo]

I have TSR Conan with all modules, GURPS Conan with all modules, Savage Worlds Solomon Kane and the AD&D Conan and Sonja modules. I was also a playtester for the original Mongoose Conan. That being said, Barbarians of Lemuria is my favorite system for Conan.

For me and my players, the career system is perfect. Long lists of skills are so limiting. There are alternatives on the Lords of Lemeria website to give a campaign more longevity if that is your desire. And to Pascalahad’s player, no, your thief career does not help with the camel.

 

[Hervé]

I agree. To my eyes BoL manages to capture the "Howard feeling" far better than OGL ever did. One goes for a rule lite heroic action system, while the other focuses on "anti Howardish" crunch and maths. Of course this just my opinion...

 

[Malcadon]

Yep, that that is what make Howard's work so awesome: the smooth and fast-pace action! A good RPG system should do the same (like not stopping the whole works over some d!cky wrastlin' rules)!