Feeling Lost?

[Rakin]

Here's my story real quick:

I started playing D&D with 2E, at the time I was a player. I read the books over and over, I loved the monsters and the fun of playing, but I don't think I could of DM'd a game back then, for if no other reason than THAC0 destroying my brain.

Anywho, after moving away from my good friend and fellow player I kind of dropped the game and picked it back up in college with 3.0, then with 3.5, and I now have $100's of dollars in D&D books, that I probably really couldn't afford.

In any case, I had a hard time running 3.5. It was really stressing me out, I went through a period where I would just so frustrated with myself for not having rules memorized, and how many times I had to stop or slow gameplay. I was constantly stressed that might players might know more than I and I wanted to follow the rules to the T, well mainly because I believed they were there and the way they were for a reason.

Well it wasn't too long before I got fed up with the clunky games, and I went into a gaming depression (looking back, that sounds so silly haha) and I went searching. Like most I tried C&C. It was ok (sorry C&C folks). I mean it was a good system, but it just seemed like it was missing something and it is, it's made to be like that, but again I didn't have the huge experience to house rule what I needed to in order to make it work as well as I liked. I guess in the end it was just too simple (well that and I wanted a system with casting times damnit! And I got sick of coming up with challenge ratings, I didn't want to feel like I was coming up with the outcome of everything anymore)

In any case, I contacted EGG (Gygax) about my problems in feeling lost and his advice. Well he offered his Lejendary Adventure gaming system. I tried the quick start rules, and I just didn't get it. I mean where is everything in that game? I couldn't make the connection, I couldn't make it D&D. SO I gave up on that...

I continued to either not play or try and force myself through 3.5, but only half enjoying my sessions. I'd walk away feeling "eh" and getting more and more tired of working my butt of for medicore playing sessions.

So back to research. After looking around, I went back to Lejendary Adventure, and peeked at it again. At this point I was so ready for something new. I mean new new, something that just changes everything, and after reading over the quick start again, and some forum posts, I had found it. Lejendary Adventure, and there it was under my nose this whole time.

Guys, and gals, I'm not trying to convert you, I dont' want you to drop the game you enjoy to run into the arms of the LA crowd, but I want to offer you this saving grace. If you feel lost, like I did. If 3.5 is just not cutting it for you, and if 4E does not appeal to you at all, and you think it's time for something new NEW! People, I mean new new. Remember fireball? The spell you've cast 1980380983478 times in the last 30 years? No more instead it is replaced with more interesting, fun, well thought out powers.

What does LA do you ask? Well I don't want to get to much into it (without being asked anyway) since this is a D20 4E forum, but it does a lot of great things:

• Casting times for "spells" (spells are in quotes because they're called Extraordinary Activations in LA. )
• Armor absorbs harm, instead of AC. Remember how after level 6, goblins can't touch you anymore, this aint the case with LA.
• More deadly gameplay, which in turn allows players to have more interesting and powerful abilities, which are fun to use, that never really cause them to be over powered.
• More team oriented
• Skill based system that requires creativiness versus just rules memorization.
• Creating a "character" is fun again, and the Ability sets actually help in creating a background and personality
• Easier to GM, you can add or leave anything out really and it won't break the system
• Being a rules lite system it empowers the GM agian, giving rules lawyers less of a leg to stand on
• Success requires more skill and creativness on the players part versus just having higher stats
• Every fight in LA is meaningful and deadly versus random encounters just being an annoyance
• All new Gygax monsters, and even newly done old monsters redone, even better than they were
• New core races, that are all interesting and all wildly different

Now who is LA for? Well everyone, but who should be interested into looking into it? I suggest folks that want something new, why? Because it is new(well not new new, but new to you), and wildly different, it takes a mind shift to really "get". To get it you can't be trying to make it something it's not. You can't try to make it D&D or AD&D, you have to play it as LA, you have to embrace the rules and trust Gary Gygax's writings as you once did x number of years back and just follow the rules of the game.

Now how can you get involved in LA if you are lost and are in dire need of something new, fresh, exciting, easy to use, and is fun?

Here's some info:

Forums:
http://www.lejendary.com/forums/phpBB2/index.php
http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewforum.php?f=13&mforum=trolllordgames
http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=3

Products:
http://www.trolllord.com/newsite/lejendary/3350.html - Essentials, aka a watered down version of the content (more than enough to start playing though!)
http://www.trolllord.com/newsite/lejendary/3352.html
http://www.trolllord.com/newsite/lejendary/index.html - list of all of Troll Lord’s LA stuff

Quick start, with premade Avatars, doesn’t give the game full justice, but gives a good example of play:
http://www.trolllord.com/newsite/lejendary/downloads/TLG3350A.pdf

List of Avatar sheets (the website is old and outdated, but these sheets are still good):
http://www.lejendary.com/la/template.php?page=ars&style=blaze

Old full rule books (Now out of print):
http://www.fuzzyheroes.com/catalog....roes.com/catalog.php?page=1&keyword=Lejendary
http://www.fuzzyheroes.com/catalog.php?item=15&ret=fuzzyheroes.com/catalog.php?page=1&keyword=lejend
http://www.fuzzyheroes.com/catalog.php?item=12&ret=fuzzyheroes.com/catalog.php?page=1&keyword=lejend
http://www.fuzzyheroes.com/catalog.php?item=16&ret=fuzzyheroes.com/catalog.php?page=1&keyword=lejend
http://www.fuzzyheroes.com/catalog....g.php?page=2&category=Hekaforge%20Productions
http://www.fuzzyheroes.com/catalog.php?page=1&category=Hekaforge Productions – Big list of old out of print stuff you can still buy.

Lejendary Adventure Errata:
http://www.lejendary.com/la/template.php?page=errata&style=blaze

Portal Magazine
http://www.freewebtown.com/the_portal/index.html

Now I'm currently using the Essentials and trust me, it's plenty to start playing, and in fact I almost suggest starting out with it, so you're not hit in the face with a whole lot of brand new things to swallow.

Quote from Steve at Troll Lord:

Hey folks,

As you may or may not have noticed we've put up info in Upcoming on the next forthcoming LA adventure, LA 6 The Rock, by Chris Clark. We have in the works LA7 Red Sands Rise as well. It should be out early next year right after the rock.

We have a tentative schedule of releases which should see Shamanism and Witchery around the same time and the first of the hardbacks, LRP, in March/April time frame. There is more material as well, we are going to try to move pretty quickly in the first part of the year, this to generate interest and buzz in the market before the hard backs come out.

Thanks,
Steve

So things are going to get real exciting here as the revised editions are reprinted in hardback the beginning of next year. (March/April)

Gary has also stated that he has 7 years of materials to get published for LA, so there won't be a short on things to aquire, and if they things being published are on par on quality with what's already out, things are about to get amazing.

So! Here's the cattle call folks, let me know if you have any questions about the game and I would be very happy to oblige.

Game on friends!

 

[RFisher]

I like LA a lot, although I think it is needlessly complex in a couple of areas. I get the impression that Gygax's name keeps the rest of the group from wanting to try it.

I'm annoyed that the trolls seemed as if they never intended to address the omissions & errata in Essentials.

It's remaining on my "to play" list.

 

[Rakin]

I think it is needlessly complex in a couple of areas.

I want to say I agree with you here, and I remember having that feeling as well at times (not many mind you!) but I can't for the life of me remember why. Got any examples?

I get the impression that Gygax's name keeps the rest of the group from wanting to try it.

I admit I'm not that old, only 26, so I'm not an old time gamer (but this doesn't stop me from loving to game one bit, or heck, means I can't spot something that is in tune with something I know I want out of a game) so I might be a little behind on old news. Aka this sentence confuses me.

I'm annoyed that the trolls seemed as if they never intended to address the omissions & errata in Essentials.

Confused again, the only errata I can find on LA is on Lejendary.com and from what I can tell those changes got put into the Essentials, minus maybe the movement table. Perhaps there is more that I don't know about.


I any case, I'm glad to see someone else interested in the game. Have you had a chance to go through a session of LA yet? Or just read over the material? What about was it about LA that attracted you to it?

 

[Sigdel]

Ok, just looked over the quick play rules. All I got to say is, 11-20+19??!!

Sweet Evil Jesus! What do I roll to get that?

This is my guess: Two d10's that have a min roll of 5.5 each.

Yeah that is such an EGGy thing to do. I think he gets his rocks off on these absurd random numbers.

 

[Hussar]

Umm 11-20+19? d10+10+19. It would be easier to just say d10+29, but, hey, Gygax did have some really funky math.

 

[Dragonhelm]

So back to research. After looking around, I went back to Lejendary Adventure, and peeked at it again. At this point I was so ready for something new. I mean new new, something that just changes everything, and after reading over the quick start again, and some forum posts, I had found it. Lejendary Adventure, and there it was under my nose this whole time.

A similar thing happened with me. I've played AD&D for many years, then went to d20 when it came out. When I saw C&C, I liked it, but thought it was too simple in some areas. I kept whining and going back and forth between D&D and C&C. I even looked at various small press takes on d20 with so-called "light rules," and none of them did it for me.

Eventually, I settled on C&C as my game of choice to run, with d20 skills added in. It works really well for me.

Point is, even though the d20 system is the most popular system on the block (and it is a good system), we should feel free to explore and find the right system for us.

Good luck on the Lejendary Adventures game. I may have to check out the system someday.

 

[GrumpyOldMan]

We already have DM's, GM's and Referee's. Why do we need LM's?

We have PC's, why do we need Avatars?

 

[Rakin]

Ok, just looked over the quick play rules. All I got to say is, 11-20+19??!!

Sweet Evil Jesus! What do I roll to get that?

This is my guess: Two d10's that have a min roll of 5.5 each.

Yeah that is such an EGGy thing to do. I think he gets his rocks off on these absurd random numbers.

I'm guessing that's for a harm roll. on the harm if it states something like 11-20, you roll a D20 and if you get anything below an 11 the roll is then an 11.

Reasoning:

Most weapons, especially blades, do the same amount of max harm (if you think about it, a well placed dagger is just as deadly as a swung axe, if the user using the 2 different weapons know what they're doing) and by increasing the minimal damage that certain weapons can do accounts for things like axes where you don't have to be as accurate and can still do some serious damage to an opponent, hence the reason you might not be able to do any less harm than 6 or like above, 11.

 

[Rakin]

We already have DM's, GM's and Referee's. Why do we need LM's?

We have PC's, why do we need Avatars?

Gary put a bunch of new terminology into the game for 2 reasons. One being after being burned with Dangerous Journies from TSR on copy write issues, I'm sure he doesn't want to receive the same fate with LA from WOTC.

Next and the main reason is because he knew many would do what they do when picking up the game (and who can blame them!) is compare it and see how it's not D&D, then discard it because it seems broken. The new terminology is supposed to help new players get into the mind set that this is a brand new game, and that it is different than his previous works on such a larger scale that it needs to be thought of as such.

By changing or not using the D&D terms he hoped the reader would realize that this just isn't another D&D but something (in his opinion) greater than D&D for campaign type playing.

(Any words I'm putting into Gary's mouth, are from Q&A posts that I've read or from talking to him one on one, btw. I just want to make sure that anyone reading this, doesn't think I'm just assuming all this stuff. )

 

[Rakin]

Point is, even though the d20 system is the most popular system on the block (and it is a good system), we should feel free to explore and find the right system for us.

I agree 100% , LA won't be for everyone and neither will D20 or C&C or MAGE, etc. reason why I tried to make it clear that I wasn't trying to convert anyone, but trying to help anyone that's looking for a great system, or if they're unhappy with what they're playing.

Good luck on the Lejendary Adventures game. I may have to check out the system someday.

Thanks! I've been running the game for a couple of months now (not quite as long as some) and I have to admit, I am loving it, and the fun level in my gaming hasn't been this high since I was a player, playing AD&D, and if you ever do take the chance to give it a go, feel free to hunt me, Gary, or anyone on those forums I posted, down with any questions you might have.