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- Warrior
Offline - Registered: 1/22/2024
- Posts: 85
I have a confession to make...
I didn't like the damage system in BoL when I first read about it. I derisively just thought it was damage advantage/disadvantage which is no big deal as D&D 5e has had a roll more/keep high or low for over 5 years at that point and other games had probably done it prior too... It's only now when I was brainstorming how to come up with a damage system for a rules light game myself that I realized that this solution meets most of my criteria (mainly a difference between weapon classes while still not overly penalizing the potential of lighter weapons while still being simple to understand and easy to calculate) and was deceptively elegant in its minimalist design. Mind you... I might have come to the conclusion sooner if I had actually played but all my experience with the game has been theoretical at this point unfortunately.
Anyone else have a similar faux epiphany about something in BoL whether about this mechanic or some other ones?
- Narmer
- Warrior
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- From: Washington, State not City
- Registered: 2/01/2014
- Posts: 128
Re: I have a confession to make...
I first ran into using the dice this way when the Legendary Edition came out in 2008(?). I thought everyone else copied it. It was only later that I found out that there were games that used advantage/disadvantage dice prior to that.
I can't say that I've had an epiphany like yours but I often compare other games to BoL and wonder why they don't do it the same as BoL because it works so well.
Where's my axe?
- Sigulf
- Warrior
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- From: S/W PA
- Registered: 9/07/2014
- Posts: 117
Re: I have a confession to make...
So over the last month or so, I have been on a Shadowdark RPG kick. I bought the rule book and numerous PDF supplements for it. I like it.
My wife is a dyed in the wool BoL fan. Earlier this year, we were visiting my nephew in Indianapolis, he knows we like TTRPGs so he took us to a local shop. Nice place, my wife was talking to the owner and told him that nowadays, BoL is her preferred game, and she really only likes playing it. He told her that maybe she should branch out a bit and try some others, she said yeah, maybe. But really didn't mean it. (I know my wife, 40 years of marriage, and another 4 dating prior... yeah, I know her!)
Over the last couple of months, she has tried Shadowdark with me, begrudgingly (along with another game - Eyes Beyond the Torchlight, she didn't care for that one at all.). We have played 6 sessions of Shadowdark, to include a session with a friend too. The last two sessions have been our Warhammer Campaign using BoL rules and also the Shadowdark rules to play each adventure back-to-back to compare the two systems - side by side, if you will.
After all of this, her statement was "Does Shadowdark do anything that BoL doesn't do? I don't think so." Then she said, "and the house rules that you are making for Shadowdark, you are just trying to turn it into a BoL version of Shadowdark" Hmmmmm, she kind of has a point.
Oh well, like I said, I do like the Shadowdark Game, but really; BoL just works better for the two of us, and our gaming style.
Going back to our BoL Hyborian Age "Hammer of Æs" campaign, we are in the middle of the Mongoose d20 Conan adventure "Trial of Blood". We are on part 4 of the 8-part adventure.
Like always, thank you Simon for a great system! From both of us 
- roryb
- Champion
Offline
- Registered: 2/27/2014
- Posts: 180
Re: I have a confession to make...
It is a hard system to turn away from among those who enjoy fast and loose and the right degree of heroism! There’s only one system I like maybe a fraction more, and that’s Jaws of the Six Serpents. However, that one is a harder sell to players. I think on that proverbial deserted island, I would still choose BoL.
- SimonW
- Warrior
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- Registered: 3/01/2023
- Posts: 112
Re: I have a confession to make...
People who try other systems after BoL always come back to BoL. It's just the way it is.
- roryb
- Champion
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- Registered: 2/27/2014
- Posts: 180
Re: I have a confession to make...
Boomarangs of Lemuroa