#lumen rpg

[dungeonofthedragon]

Meet the Broccoli Boss!

The Broccoli Boss and his brussels sprout buddies are ready to fight the heroes in Sweet Dreams! From the 28th of April, take on the roles of heroic toys defending their child from nightmares in this one-shot LUMEN game.

[ultraflavour]

This is very validating because I am currently in-flight on a hobby project that wasn't strictly a Magical Girl game, but rather a Tokusatsu/Anime/Superhero inspired game where the classes are some variety of futuristic "Henshin Hero." Bubblegum Crisis, Kamen Rider, Batman Beyond were my main touchstones, but also pulling inspiration from Utena and Pro Wrestling (Don't ask me how but it makes sense in my head).

It started as a Lancer hack but evolved into a LUMEN system implementation with Daggerheart's Hope/Fear 2d12 mechanic bolted on to replace the "You need to kill monsters to get fuel" and "d6 dice pool keep highest" parts of LUMEN that I am not fond of.

Daggerheart also provides a Stress mechanic which is both helpful for giving the GM something to punish the players with when they don't have anything to "Fail Forward" with, but also allows players to push themselves in a similar way as they would using Heat in Lancer. Plus Experiences are a very lightweight way to add something resembling a "Skills" system without having to decide on which skills are appropriate for your setting (Athletics, Diplomacy, Stealth etc).

Both Daggerheart and LUMEN use abstracted positioning which I think makes more sense for a Superhero combat game, since I think there would be a lot of situations where "You didn't have enough movement squares to make it to melee range this turn" makes a lot less sense when the character is literally wearing an Iron Man suit.

It seems like there is some sort of demand out there for this, and I don't believe for a second that my first-time effort would end up being any better than any actual TTRPG designer's. But I do still want to be a part of this process in some way. A "Tactical-lite" indie TTRPG scene is the "OSR" that I want to be a part of, and I have a suspicion that if Daggerheart becomes really big, that's going to be the standard bearer that opens that market up.

I'm curious for your thoughts on the most left field take I've heard on d&d 4e - specifically, that it is best dusted off if you want to play as magical girls.

I'm aware there are far better ttrpgs for such a goal, but it was such an odd analysis of 4e that it stuck in my head for years since.

Basically, the problem with tabletop RPGs that a. expect a non-trivial amount of system mastery when it comes to building characters, and b. support multiple distinct modes of play is that people who enjoy throwing big numbers around are going to be tempted to spec heavily into one of those modes of play at the expense of sucking at all of the others. You see this issue in many flavours of D&D, where characters who spec heavily into combat end up with no cool toys to play with in exploration mode, and characters who spec heavily into exploration struggle to contribute in combat. It creates a perverse incentive to make yourself bored at the table because you're constantly spending 50% of each session twiddling your thumbs.

One approach to solving this problem is to institute some form of game-mechanical siloing: player characters are given distinct, non-competing sets of rules toys for each supported mode of play, so it's not desirable – perhaps not even possible – to favour one by short-changing the others. This is the approach that D&D4E tried, largely successfully. However, some players found it counterintuitive, because it didn't provide a good narrative rationale for why your character's rules toys should be siloed in this fashion. You ended up with players squinting at the flavour text of their combat moves and arguing that a strict reading suggested their rogue ought to be able to double-jump, or trying to drop into exploration mode in the middle of a combat round in order to take advantage of one of their exploration mode rules toys, both of which tended to break the game in interesting ways.

Conversely, when there is a good narrative rationale for why player characters aren't allowed to cross the streams in a game which supports multiple distinct modes of play, such siloing can be an easier sell. Take Tumblr's favourite indie game Lancer, for example; Lancer has a great deal of D&D4E's DNA in it, except its two mechanically distinct modes of play aren't "combat" and "exploration": they're "piloting a giant robot" and "not piloting a giant robot". There's typically very little narrative ambiguity regarding whether or not you are, in fact, currently piloting a giant robot, so D&D4E style siloing of player-facing rules toys rarely creates situations that are difficult to reason about.

And what's another popular genre of media which will handily furnish any tabletop RPG based on with a built-in narrative rationale for having two mechanically distinct modes of play?

Yep: magical girls.

[arsene-inc]

I created a LUMEN game about the magical power of abandoned theme parks and the Coaster mages who seek it out. Will you be a Prophet of the Roller Coaster or a Seer of the Ferris Wheel ?

A game of theme parks coming to life, animatronics acting like real person, sceneries telling stories.

A game of reality bending magic A game about your inner child A game of perseverance and hope

The game is not finished yet. They are many things I want to add to this. I want to tell you about Coaster Dragons, rust witches and the Parks Between. Will you help me give this game the attention it deserves ?

[haveyouplayedthisttrpg]

Have you played HEDGE ?

By A Couple of Drakes

The Fey were here before we were.

They have not forgotten.

Hold the line against waves of terrifying foes, collect powerful Fey Grafts, and save what's left of the world from a dark fairytale doom in this power-fantasy ttrpg of nature's post-apocalyptic heroes standing between mankind and hordes of invading fey monsters.

Hold tight to your humanity as you take the fight into the depths of the Wyld, facing down the Courts of the Fey in the heart of their power with seven iconic Warden classes, 102 awe-inspiring powers, evocative lore, and the robust, power-fantasy fueling core mechanics of the d6 LUMEN system.

[idiotlaintelligent]

I made OCs for @slumbrr-r’s Operation Ichor AU

it took forever, as you can see by the changing logo.

You may be thinking, aren’t half-twisted Vees not a thing! Well Vero is a special case where their body completely twisted, but their mind is still (mostly) intact! Here’s their lineup and weapons under the cut.

[pilot-designation-sj]

Oh I literally just bought LIGHT and I'm starting to read it, I'm already convinced I'm going to pick up a lot more from this author!

"I like figuring out fun builds and combos in D&D" You'd love playing a LUMEN game

"I want a game with rules that mostly handle combat and has freeform downtime roleplay" You should play a LUMEN game

"I don't want to do math in my games" Please play a LUMEN game

[artist-aoife]

The Echo

Dejavu, Illusions, Repetition.

The echo is a phenomenon that happens all over Spheir, though it happens more frequently in some places more than others. People experience memories of actions they are currently living, or see shades of past and future events. some see the echo as a blessing to make peace with ones past and opportunity to gain advantage on what's to come, or a burden of haunting phantoms.

[bsptourist]

have a love/hate relationship with the modern gmod mapping community because the advent of "gmod horror" being a thing means the map with a really cool vibe can have a random jumpscare that completely ruins the feel. ran into a nifty map in Jazztronauts but it also had a cheesy jumpscare that FORCE QUIT you to menu (invalidating the props i had just collected). i'm still not over it, you promised me a 3-course dinner and then decked me in the face with a pie for desert

God yeah I understand that completely lmao. I have waltzed through some of the most innocuous maps possible while suppressing an urge to whip out the hacking goggles, just to make sure I'm not about to get JPEGed. Silver lining is that it always keeps me on my toes, I guess?

[daily-ynfg-worlds]

Jellyfish World

[greyares]

DnD 5e stat block of Ember Lumen from Disney's Elemental

[dungeonofthedragon]

Day 4: RPG With Great Art

I can't possibly choose just one! Big fan of Girl By Moonlight's colorful and evocative pieces. Whenever I flick through Tales of Xadia, I end up yammering to my partner about how beautiful the art and presentation is.

Nova is heckin gorgeous too!

[aaronsrpgs]

Based on a meme that @keganexe posted, I made a new archetype for their game In Extremis.

Edited to add: here's the text for screenreaders, modifications, etc.

Assign to Bone, Muscle, and Nerve as you wish: 4, 2, 1 Then cross each word out and rename them: Chassis, Body, and Transmission

SOCIAL SPELLS Passive Nice Ride: You can instantly identify the make and model of any vehicle. When you talk to someone about their vehicle, they’re automatically friendly to you unless you do something to hurt or anger them.

Active Zoom Zoom: Once per day, take your allies on a scenic journey. Each describes something they see that brings them peace or recalls a childhood joy. Each ally regains 2 Health and can have a Flashback.

COMBAT SPELLS Passive Dumptruck Ass: You can carry an embarrassingly large number of things. They’re stored in your butt, which visibly grows as you store more and more. You can drop it all in a single instant.

Active Summon Car: Range: Close/Mid/Far. You speak an appealing phrase in the vrooming, honking language of autokind, and your call is answered. Any number of enemies in a line take 1/2/3 damage and are knocked over. Burn 1 Well.

Gas in My Veins: Your blood is flammable. Whenever you take damage, choose 1: • A pool of diesel falls at your feet. • Sticky oil covers a nearby enemy. Anyone can set the gas on fire.

More Than Meets the Eye: Range: Close. Your eyes become headlights and your fist becomes a piston. You deal 1/2 damage, and the target is blinded for a turn.

Weapon Hood Ornament: Range: Close/Mid. 2 Damage as you hold it forth like a holy symbol, causing flesh and bone to tremble in fear. Your next summoned car deals 1 extra damage.

[lumenemporium]

✣ Syramir, First Born of the Flames ✣

✣ This fantasy necklace, representing a dragon, is sculpted in polymer clay. The figurine is inspired by DnD and by the Targaryen dragons.

[arsene-inc]

So I have said that I wanted to work on something for Where the magic never ends?

Something to make it more than a oneshot game, but a game that could support a mini campaign across multiple parks.

I started looking for inspiration in....other LUMEN games, I mean that is the system I used.

Mu main idea is a base building sorta thing, like claims in Blades in the dark for example. The Coaster Mages bring the Spark back to their own park (that they would create together) to add an attraction. The attractions would give bonuses or one-time move effects. I was thinking things like Sacrifice Health for an Approach back, convert one Approach to another, etc.

Now they were to more or less recent find that sorta apppealed to me.

First Nest by GilaRPGs, with its base building of the aerie.

This is normaly the campain flow. But the shape could be a representation of the park, with each cells an attraction or ride. Some attractions could even occupy more than 1 cell depending on how strong their effect is. Plus it would be a visual representation of the player's park.

There would be a list of rides with possible bonuses they can give. Maybe even some special cells that can only be gained with an in-game secret action. (maybe things with the Collector or the Parks Between)

The other source of inspiration is This world summon too many heroes!! by Nick Duff, another lumen game. Here I look at the class abilities, especially those linked to an Approach.

This would be more an inspiration for each type of ride, giving broadish categories like the classes's rides and then proposing more specific ideas ( that would be neutral-themed so the players can adapt it easily to their park's theme) for the bonus gained. Now with these inspiration, I think i will move the Approach and Health stat from HUNT to Nest. Instead of it being 5 of each approaches and 8 Health for everyone, it would be 6 health for everyone then 1 in each Approaches + 4 points to increase each approach to the player liking. It would make for a more dangerous game. But this is for the future, this need playtesting first.

[haveyouplayedthisttrpg]

Have you played NOVA ?

By GilaRPGs / Spencer Campbell

NOVA is a rules-lite tabletop RPG in a world where the sun exploded, and humanity struggles to hold onto what little light they have left. The players will pilot exosuits, called Sparks, exploring the dark ruins of old earth, searching for the technology and knowledge that may just bring on a new dawn

Uses the LUMEN system

[nodicenomasters]

Daily Diceless: Loot

Explore the world and fight monsters in this LUMEN 2.0 game where your capabilities are entirely dictated by the loot you carry with you!