My advice to you is to save your money... Reasons, below (I'll post an old review that I did of it). I have both played and GMed it, and find D&D A MUCH superior product, for my tastes!
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I've played (and GMed) LA, and in the final analysis, I don't like it. If you think 3e has "too many rules", or are a GM who feels "players have too much control", then you might like it.
3e is a Class-and-level based system, starting to move away from that with the latest multiclassing rules. LA is a skills-based system, although it does have "Orders", which are somewhat similar to classes.
In LA, you start with 100 points to split up into Health, Precision, and Speed. Your race determines the minimum/maximum number of points, and then the random adds. You distribute points as desired, then roll the dice for a few additions. The stats are both Physical and Mental at the same time.
Race also gives you several advantages and disadvantages. LA is a Knacks/Quirks system. Race also affects which skills you CAN and MUST take. Kobolds cannot have Chivalry, and Wylves must take Ranging and Stealth, for example.
Races include Human, Dwarves, Ilfs (a type of Elf), Kobolds, Typical and Major Oafs (big, strong, and dumb), Typical, Greater, and Lesser Orcs, Trollkin (very similar to Runequest's), Wylves (Wild Elves), and Veshoges (Piggy-looking humanoids)). All are dissimilar to the D&D versions.
"Orders" require you to take certain skills, in a certain order, and always take the first skill as your highest ability... In other words, members of the Soldier Order will always have Weapons as their first (and therefore highest) ability. Characters (called "Avatar Characters", or ACs) can also be Unordered.
A Soldier, for instance, will ALWAYS have Weapons as his first ability (else he isn't a Soldier). Thereafter, he can take other abilities, but will usually take Planning, Ranging, and Physique. ACs also get a fifth ability at 10%. Non-Humans get six or seven abilities, Humans get five. Humans can select all of theirs, but Non-Humans have Excluded, Restricted (can't take at the beginning), and Required skills.
Once you have race and basic stats, you pick skills, and perhaps an Order. (There are many orders, including Soldier (Fighter), Ecclesiastic (Cleric), Elementalist (more magically powerful Druid), Forester (Ranger), Jongleur (Bard), Mage (Wizard), Desperado, Outlaw, and Rogue (Thievish types), and a few others). Skills add two points to the stat they're based on (H or P) or half a point to Speed.
Once you have chosen your skills and ranked them in order, you get the final total on the three stats (H, P, S), and can generate the optional Intellect stat.
With the final stats, you use the race's percentage times the stat (called a Base Rating, or BR) to generate a percentile score for each skill...
Thus, a Human (with no required, restricted, or excluded abilities) will have them at 100%, 80%, 60%, and 40% of the BR(s) associated with that skill. So a Human Soldier will have Weapons @ 1 x P, Planning @ 0.8 x H, Ranging @ 0.6 x Health, Physique @ 0.4 x H, and one other Ability of his choice @ 10%.
(If you're interested in character generation examples, the Author's and Premier Editions didn't even include any. I understand that later versions of the rules have incorporated these... but I don't know.)
Here crops up one of the first problems with LA. There are no rounding rules. If a Human Soldier has 60 Precision and Health, and 12 Speed, then his Weapons Ability is 60%, Planning 48%, Ranging 36%, Physique 24%, and his fifth ability (let's say Archery) is 10%. But if his Health was 52, and his Precision 55? Then Weapons is 55%, Planning 41.6%, Ranging 31.2%, Physique 20.8%, and Archery still 10%. In other words, you can't even generate a character, without checking with the "LM" ("Lejend Master"). You have to ask him how to round, IF you even do!
And this, really, is my biggest problem with LA. It tries to be so "rules light", that you can't even figure out what your chances are to do anything, without asking the GM! As you can see, you have few abilities, and low percentages. While these can be modified up or down by circumstances, these modifiers are rarely beneficial! Thus, most ACs will fail more often than they succeed!
Now unlike 3e, where you have a skill like "Move Silently", you have more general skills like "Stealth", in LA. But here, again, is another problem... The skill descriptions are pretty vague and general... What can you do with an ability (a skill)? Whatever the LM says you can! Also, while "Stealth" may be a bit broader than "Hide" and "Move Silently", it is not much more so! Maybe just a touch of "Escape Artist".
In 3e, for instance, your Jump skill and STR (plus a roll on D20) tells you how far you can jump. In LA, there is no mechanic, although the LML (DM's Guide for LA) has a section on which skills allow jumping...
And then there's the question of what to do with unskilled characters... If an AC doesn't have Weapons, already, they are required to take it as that free, fifth ability, at ten percent. If they don't have Unarmed Combat, however, what is their chance to hit with a fist? Back to the LM, again, for a ruling (what rules there are are confusing, and shed no light, on this point)!
LA was also hurt by the lack of character generation examples in the Author's and Premier editions, the abundance of typos and downright errors, etc., in those printings. Now, while rules are being "fixed" in every printing, two players with different printings will have different descriptions of their skills, etc.
Basically, LA is for the chaotic GM who doesn't want to be bothered by rules, wants more control, and to "roll his own", more or less. It has the vaguest descriptions of skills, and the merest framework of rules. The GM is required to adjudicate everything, and interpretation of even the simplest things vary wildly! For instance, one of the biggest questions has been about the wording on the equipment picks list...
Y'see, instead of starting with cash and buying equipment, you get so many picks on a certain list, depending upon which abilities you took, and in what order... Simple, huh?
Due to wording like:
quote:
Enchantment, Ability possessed-see Extraordinary Activations,
Enchantments, choose any, each selection counting as one item.
, with the line wrapping right before the second "Enchantment", people kept asking something like:
"What's the difference between 'Enchantment, Ability possessed -see Extraordinary Activations' and 'Enchantments, choose any, each counting as one item'?" A simple bulletted list would fix that, as would cleaning up the wording:
"If your AC posses the Enchantment Ability, see the 'Extraordinary Activations, Enchantment' section, and choose any one activation."
The "Product-Branding" is also very irritating, to me. PCs become "Avatar Characters". NPCs become "Non-Player Avatar Characters" (NACs, for short)! Spells become "Extraordinary Activations". The GM must be called the "LM".
In the end, LA is only as good as the LM, and he really isn't given the tools to do the things he needs to, by the rules. There is no CR system, for instance. Adventures can't be designed for 4-8 characters of 6-9th level, or whatever. Even the ACs' "Ranks" in their order (dependent upon the percentage of their first ability) isn't any indication of character power... All abilities are certainly not created equal!
As for advancement, it takes many "Merits" (XP) to gain even 1% in an ability, and 2,500 (IIRC) to be able to train in order to get a new ability (starting at 20% of the BR, or generally about 11%). Increasing a BR is at least as expensive. You earn about 60 Merits for an hour of average play... Since there are about 40 abilities, you will almost always have situations where you can't do something, because you don't have the required ability... So back to the GM, again, to see if another ability can be used, instead.
Yes, the system is flexible (for the GM). Yes, LA has some good elements. It has some bad ones, too. Many players, however, will dislike not being able to figure out how good their chances are. Many will feel railroaded because the GM is free to assign +60 modifiers to their rolls at any time.
LA uses all percentile rolls, except for damage. A +60 turns a roll of 01 into a 61... and that's BAD. Weapons add to your Precision/Weapons Ability (not the roll, and that's GOOD), while magical weapons subtract from your roll (and that's GOOD), even though the combat examples in the books show it adding to the Precision/Weapons Ability! (Huh?)
You think that was complicated? Wait until you see the rules of which spells a Theurge can take! The problem is, when you ask the GM, he isn't going to know any better than you do! HOUSE RULES!
Nope, I've tried LA. I can honestly say that I didn't like it. YMMV.
Anyway, I've been told that when evaluating LA, one must take into account the online support for it... Okay, you asked for it! I used to be part of the online LA Community, before I joined ENWorld. The fact that I left it, and came here, ought to tell you something... I had problems with LA from day one, compiled lists of mistakes & contradictions in the books (even won a contest for it!), typed all the Extraordinary Items (magic) into a database program... and a lot of other things. Because I pointed out errors and complained about what I saw as problems, however, I soon became less-than-popular among the LAddicts. In the end, personal attacks (and the anger I was feeling because of them) convinced me to leave the boards, and drop LA as a worthless system. So I should rate the quality of the online sites support? F-. (The Author, despite the fact that I had problems with the game from day one, would have you believe that I am "angry" about the company turning down a module that I did... In truth, there was never a module to turn down, as the fellow who started it, and later asked for help, quit the project upon being promoted at work, whereupon the two of us who remained gave it up, as we had little or no faith in it). I would call the Author's version of events outright lies. YMMV, again...
So, are the LA Abilities really better than the D&D ones? Okay, let's take a look at one; Stealth:
LR4AP (Lejendary Rules for all player), pages 53-4: "Add two points to Precision Rating when initially selecting this Ability. All activities having to do with access, escape, evasion, lurking, silence, skulking, sudden unexpected attack, being unheard in approach and departure, being hidden from view, undetected by watchers, and so forth are governed by this Ability. This Ability can be used to surprise an individual or group if the Avatar employing it knows or suspects the presence of the other(s) and could logically use the ability at the time of the encounter. It can also be used to avoid being surprised in an encounter situation if the Avatar is employing it could logically use it at the time of the encounter. The base Score is used, with the GM making situational and Avatar characteristic modifiers according to circumstances.
Starting Equipment List: Low."
Okay, so what does that allow a/n A/PC to do?
access,
escape,
evasion,
lurking,
silence,
skulking,
sudden unexpected attack,
being unheard in approach and departure,
being hidden from view,
undetected by watchers,
surprise an individual or group
avoid being surprised in an encounter situation
A dozen things, right? But wait!
access - What does this let a character do? Get in? Get in undetected? Pick locks? It is vague, and entirely ruled by GM-interpretation. Most will require the Stealing Ability, which specifically mentions both "breaking and entering" and "lock picking", to do that! So what does this let the AC do? (I don't know).
escape - From what? A grapple? It's not mentioned in the section on Grappling. From a dungeon? Or does this just mean "sneaking out"? If so, it's no more than Hide + Move Silently.
evasion - Evade what? A grapple? (See above). Watchers? (See below).
lurking - Hide, in other words.
silence - Move Silently, in other words.
skulking - Move Silently + Hide (or just Hide).
sudden unexpected attack - Hide + Attack.
being unheard in approach and departure - In other words, Move Silently!
being hidden from view - In other words, Hide, again!
undetected by watchers - In other words, Hide and Move Silently, yet again!
surprise an individual or group - Done by Hiding and Moving Silently.
avoid being surprised in an encounter situation - Okay, this is a plus.
Does the "Stealth skill bundle" really make the AC more powerful than the PC?
At most, we have aspects of Hide/Move Silently, perhaps a bit of Spot/Listen (at least in terms of spotting other Stealthers, if not other aspects), and MAYBE some Lockpicking and/or Escape Artist, IF the LM interprets the skill that way. (In my experience, none do. YMMV)
So, are the "skill bundles" really any better? Can an LA AC really do more than a 3e PC? You will have to decide that for yourself.
The contents of one "skill bundle" has now been posted. There are almost 40 in the game. Look at one, and ask yourself: "What does that allow me to DO, if I take it, really?"
Also, remember that, in 3e, even a first level Wizard has a 50% chance to hit, and a Fighter-type 55%. In LA, that would be about 55% for the Fighter, but 10% for the Mage. Add to that fact that the Mage also has about a 55% chance to succeed when trying to cast a spell... On the OTHER hand, in 3e, armor reduces your chance to hit (in LA, it doesn't, but subtracts from damage), and an LA Mage can cast any "level" of spell (although higher "level" spells cost more AEP - Spell Points - and take more ABCs - rounds - to cast).
So in other words; It's different, but not better. I like it less. You may or may not like it more.
The idea that 3e players and GMs are any less creative or intelligent is utter rubbish, of course. So is the idea that 3e is "all about combat".
I just find LA's vagueness and lack of definition to cause more "rules interpretation" arguements than a codified system like 3e. Apparently LAers' experience differs.
Which game is "better" is, indeed, a matter of preference, but as others, here, have pointed out, there is little (if any) reason to buy a game where one must make up the rules as they go along, anyway... Better to simply start from scratch, and write your own.
When I first saw LA, I felt like I had bought HALF a game. If I wrote a review, it would be titled "LA: The Bad Taste Never Goes Away!" It was interesting, to me, that the "Forlorn Corners" sceario in the Author's and Premier editions, had a well that PCs could fall into, in the dark of Pott's basement, and yet no swim rules... When the LML came out, we got swim rules, but are they intuitive?
Nope! Waterfaring is obvious; Ranging, Rustic, and Savagery I can see, but Hunt, Minstrelsy, and Unarmed Combat also grant swimming skill... Provided one isn't clad in heavy clothes, or armor! (Of course, if one drops into a well, in the dark...)
So the point is, rules for covering situations that will obviously come up in a game are not covered. Yes, this gives the GM total freedom in deciding what he wants to do. It also disallows the AC to have any control over his character's fate!
He cannot plan (very well, anyway) when choosing his skills, because (for instance) Hunt, Minstrelsy, and Unarmed Combat don't even mention granting the ability to swim! Neither does Ranging. It mentions exploring dangerous terrain, and I would ASSUME that allowed swimming... but that assumption could be WRONG, and easily get the AC killed. Savagery doesn't mention swimming either, IIRC, although it does mention boating. So, again, I would ASSUME...
Frankly, I don't understand the GM's fear of the players knowing what their own abilities are! Gary's response (Paraphrased) that "It's just like real life, you never know what you can do until you try!" certainly doesn't apply to swimming (I know whether I can swim or not, and I bet you do, too). This is info the player needs.
Is LA a better game for NOT providing it to the players? Is it a worse one?
The same arguement applies to Climbing, Jumping, Riding, yadda, yadda, yadda.
"You don't know 'til you try!": The Mantra of LA!
At least with a magical ability, you know you have a 48% chance, or whatever.
So, ACs who pre-plan are basically put-off by LA. It is for the free-wheeling type who dash off without "worrying" about it. Guess I'm just the wrong kind of roleplayer for this kind of game...
