Sell / unsell me on Lamentations of the Flame Princess

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noman

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Yeah, that's right. A sell / unsell me thread here on the Pub. The first step in kicking the Great Purple Site in the nuts. :grin:

I'm looking at the LOTFP bundle and wondering if it's worth it to sign on for yet another game system. I've got overpriced Numenera kickstarters to support. :confused:

But then again, OSR, and good reviews, and Grimdark Gritty Dark Dark Grim. Also weird, apparently.

Recommend? No? What do you think?
 
If You're searching for the really specific flavour of weird horror fantasy LotFP is written to provide, there's litteraly no better game. Also the adventures are cool and loaded of ideas to mine.
 
And that's where I've got my problems: "is written to provide" doesn't quite work for me, as there's just not enough for me to be sold on to the premise. The magic system and items are supporting the black-metal-t-shirt horror, as does the art, but the rest is your standard fare D&D houserule set. IIRC even the play example is just adventurers wondering about traps.
Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's a good example of the more death-funnel side of the OSR, and most of the adventures are heading in the same direction, with plenty of random tables and deaths.

It's OSR with plenty of stuff to use and abuse and good production values. If that's all you want, this seems like a pretty neat bundle.
 
I liked the Thief skills / "Common Activities" in LotFP. I'd use them over B/X / BECMI's percentile thief skills.

Otherwise, nothing else really struck me about the rules set.
 
As someone that still owns and runs my B/X sets, the cooler things in here really just amount to some nice house house rules. The d6 skill system is nice, but I like to use B/X rule of relying d20 attribute rolls. I like the simple initiative system. It has some cool spells and combat options.

I would have recommended it more back before B/X was legally available again. Still, I don't regret buying it, and there are some very cool supplements/adventures for it. I bought the previous LotFP bundle, and it was more than worth the money. This one has some great supplements as well. It looks like a good package overall.
 
I don't run the game, but I use the adventure modules and settings with D&D 5e and even Dungeon World (sacrilege, I know). They can be used easily in 17th century European settings, or tweaked to be generically medieval (or even fantasy).

Some very clever writers have contributed.

Yes, they frequently include rather disturbing ways to torment, torture and transform the PCs. Irrevocably.

Lots of great 0-Level funnels, come to think of it.
 
If I didn't like DCC so much LotFP would be my chosen version of D&D... and even if I'm not playing its rules that much these days it's still a big influence on my gaming mindset.
The art, the subtle spell differences, the early modern setting that has been suggested by the various adventures.

I never experienced BX/BECMI in the old days... just AD&D, for a moment, and when I later turned my attention to the OSR because of S&W and Labyrinth Lord it was Lamentations of the Flame Princess that really stood out for me.
I've seen BX/BECMI/Holmes since then but I've got no nostalgia for them, no feeling of 'authenticity' holds me to them.
Like Johnny Blade says, it's a gestalt of scattered elements throughout the rules that add up to why it shines.
There weren't many adventures for it when I first took note but those that were, and the ones that followed, were a direct hit on my tastes in adventures.

Some of why I like LotFP also probably comes from the fact that I like Mr. Raggi.
I played his game with him and he's just the sort of guy I feel comfortable with. His tastes line up with mine. I like his style and commitment to quality.
I used to be a Chaosium fanboy but they kicked me out of the clubhouse, so maybe I was looking for another company I could put that loyalty on and excitedly purchase whatever they put out.
 
As someone that still owns and runs my B/X sets, the cooler things in here really just amount to some nice house house rules. The d6 skill system is nice, but I like to use B/X rule of relying d20 attribute rolls. I like the simple initiative system. It has some cool spells and combat options.

I would have recommended it more back before B/X was legally available again. Still, I don't regret buying it, and there are some very cool supplements/adventures for it. I bought the previous LotFP bundle, and it was more than worth the money. This one has some great supplements as well. It looks like a good package overall.

This. Think of Raggi as the metalhead kid in high school who listens to black metal and runs a wicked D&D game. LotFP are his B/X houserules.

A good idea might be to check out one or more of the LotFP adventures. See what the fuss is all about.
 
Yeah, if you have any affinity for OSR and dark fantasy, it's a must have. If you've ever wanted to run WHFRP using D&D rules while still keeping it dark (or making it darker), it's what you need.

When I first got it, I wasn't that impressed, but I just skimmed it. When I finally gave it a fair read, I was blown away. It's on my short list of games to run. Much like DCC, it's one guy's homebrew, but they're more than that... more like a Fantasy Heartbreakers that actually succeeded.
 
Yeah, that's the house rule I disliked most, too. It's not inelegant and presentednicely (plus the racial stealth precedent), but d6 resolution is way too grainy for me.

The roll under attribute clicked better for me, but that immediately makes me wonder why you can't do that for combat etc., too.
 
Thanks to bundle deals I actually own a huge chunk of LotFP line.

Mostly I find it very mediocre from a core rules perspective and don’t see any reason to grab the main box but the supplements and adventures contain some real gems (dark, dark gems) that you can definitely get a lot of mileage and inspiration from.

If it’s in a bundle, grab it you’d be nuts not to. Piece by piece? Wait for the next bundle.
 
I'm meh on the system although the book is well laid out with some nice art. But to me it is the adventures that make it worth it, the reissued Death Frost Doom is excellent and Veins of Earth has a very imaginative underworld bestiary.
 
How do you handle skill ranks?
I have a few systems depending on the needs of my current campaign, but the short answer is that I don't.

With your class abilities, they are things you are focusing on improving, and they go up with every level. Your other proficiencies are either from your background or hobbies. Mechanically, they are binary. You either know about mining or you don't. If you need to gauge the safety of a passageway, just make a Wisdom roll. You don't need to worry about how many ranks to put into Mining.

In 3E, I felt that skill ranks sat uneasily in the level system, especially stretched out over 20 levels. You also had very few points to play with, which discouraged anyone from taking something like brewing. Having loose proficiencies makes people feel more free to have ones don't have immediate adventuring potential.

In B/X, you can modify the roll by -4 to +4 as well, so I can always use that if a degree of knowledge comes into play. Maybe a character spends 24 hours studying an alchemy tome to help identify a potion. I'll allow it, but I am putting a -4 on the Intelligence check. Alternately, a PC might already have established alchemy skill, but they elect to spend four months of downtime working as an assistant to a great alchemist, maybe I start giving them +2 on Alchemy checks.

Along the same lines, if people want to pick up a proficiency, they can spend the time and money to learn it. And they are likely playing the opportunity cost of not getting to take that PC out on adventures. I take a somewhat troupe style approach to B/X. You can always play one of your henchman for a session, or even roll up a new character if you want. You just can't have more than one in play at a time without one of them being in a retainer role.

This is my loosest version of how to skills. If I need more structure, I just use a tweaked version of the skill rules from RC.
 
Sold!

Looking forward to reading it all.

Much obliged for the replies. :smile:
 
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