Barbarians of Lemuria: Mythic Edition

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5 out of 5 rating for Barbarians of Lemuria: Mythic Edition

I like Barbarians of Lemuria because, while the game system is easy to pick up and play, the setting is evocative of the Swords and Loincloth genre. If you would like to play a character like Conan or Red Sonja, then this game is a great choice. If you had your heart set on playing a wizard, then… no, you must be corrupted by demons and the other players will just have to make the world a better place by slaying you. Try again. In keeping with the trope, magic is distrusted and generally only used by opponents. Alchemists are possible player character types and there is a good 5 page section provided on the various potions and devices they can create. A few pages of rules are provided for Priests and (boo, hiss…) Wizards but you’ll probably feel the need to create your own miracles and spells if you do decide to have magic in your (evil and decadent) life. The focus is on brawny or nimble adventurers in this game. Adventurers have many different career choices (at least 26, ranging from Alchemist and Assassin to Temptress and Thief) and are expected to choose 4 ranks in them. Their stats range from -1 (weak) to +5 (mighty) and can apply to the skills associated with suitable careers. For example, Patreus is intelligent with a mind of +3 and has two ranks of the physician career so when he is diagnosing patients he would have a +5 to his roll. One thing to note is that there are no individual skills in this game – it’s based on the careers you’ve trained in. So if you want to be good at stealth, take one or more levels in Assassin, Barbarian, Hunter or Thief. There are many options to further customize your character with boons and flaws so that you can be different from any other soldier with +2 Strength. Combat abilities (melee, ranged, initiative and defense) will also range from 0 to +3 to begin with. Combat is straightforward and is very quickly resolved. Roll 2d6 and add your relevant combat ability and if you get 9 or greater, you succeed. Difficult tasks provide penalties. If you have a relevant boon you may roll 3d6 and pick the best two dice for your attempt. Damage depends on the weapon and strength of the combatants while armor serves to reduce some of the damage. Daggers for example do (roll 2d6 and pick the lowest die), longswords do 1d6 and two-handed swords do (roll 2d6 and pick the highest die). So you won’t be rolling handfuls of dice in this game – combat is fast and can be deadly if your bikini-wearing swordswoman doesn’t dodge well enough – AND is out of Hero Points, which are wonderful options to allow your heroine to be awesome. I’ve rambled on long enough but I like the simple game system as it allows us to resolve actions quickly and spend more time on role-playing. Do you have levels in the hunter career? OK, then you can move quietly through the forest, search for tracks, set up traps, skin your game and live off the land – I don’t need to roll. This 211 page book provides it all – with 12 pages detailing the places your characters might visit and 34 pages on the creatures plus 10 pages of the human enemies they might fight. The book is full of color pictures and so I give it a thumbs up for that too. It’s all good, with the exception of those eeeeeevil wizards….

5 out of 5 rating for Barbarians of Lemuria: Mythic Edition

First time BoL player/GM, simple system with very favorable rules and setting. This is one of the true Sword and Sorcery games out there. Barbarians are mighty, woman are cunning and beautiful and magic is wicked. One of the best Sword and Sorcery magic system out there...this is a low magic world where magic can destroy mountains but at terrible cost.