Ahh...I remember Lemuria...

I remember the man from Halakh who was a circus performer and dancer, and became an assassin after his wife and and fellow circus performers were slaughtered by a Satarlan noble. A long period of vengence ensued as he learned his new trade on the job. Then he returned to Halakh and became a freelance killer, which the Assassins Guild of Halakh didn't like, so they put a price on his head.

The man teamed up with the woman, a guardswoman from Malakut who had been framed for the murder of her Queen. A couple of years of intrigue, narrow escapes and rescues saw the guardwoman now general of an army, invading Malakut in the name of the Queen's true heir - and killing the usurper in a duel held between the two armies before the climactic battle of the civil war.

Victorious, the man and the woman returned to Halakh in pursuit of the sorceror who had aided the usurper of Malakut. They uncovered plots and learnt much ("Have you seen the Yellow Sign?") before making an alliance with the Grey Druids - ("My enemy's enemy is my friend."). The General of Malakut slaughtered the council of the Assassins Guild while the Assassin sent the sorceror to whichever Hell was prepared to take him.

Yes...I remember Lemuria...

[Sounds like a great game StMichael - please tell us how it goes!] 

Last edited by Gruntfuttock (6/03/2024 2:12 am)

As a fan of the stranger ends of UFO literature, I had to name my first BoL campaign "I Remember Lemuria." I may even throw some Deros in there somewhere, eventually...

Anyway, we had our first session last night went... alright I suppose. There were some glitches - I had trouble keeping the Priorities straight, and had a hard time remembering to check in with some characters that were only peripherally involved in the fight. There was what I expect is the usual confusion about damage, recovery, and healing, which wasn't helped by the fact that we're just off of several years of exclusively Fate, which is much more gentle on a PC's health. So, the increased threat level kinda put a fright in folks. But overall, I think it went well.

 

The good thing about injuries in BoL is that they don't create a death spiral as some other games do. Also, with Hero Points, a character has good options including recovering lifeblood with Shake Off Wounds.

Regarding the Priority Roll, I'm still not a fan because it feels a little clunky for the players. I like the idea of characters in a party being able to coordinate their actions, but I don't like separating out Legendary, Mighty and normal successes. As far as I'm concerned, all those who succeed can coordinate their actions together before the Villain gets to act - after all, those with Legendary and Mighty successes can just go on hold until those with normal successes can act, so why even bother to separate them?

It just seems a little weird that three different groups of Heroes go one after another before anyone on the other side gets a go - and with six PCs and somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty Hero Points floating around, it seems like its gonna be pretty common that someone has a Legendary or Mighty Success on Priority. So, I think that Legendary - Mighty - Villain - Success etc. will work a little better, and make Mighty+ Successes on Priority a bit more meaningful. Otherwise, given that y'all seem able to kick my NPCs' asses (at least in every other system) pretty freely despite what I do, I'm afraid combat will be over before the bad guys even have a chance.

If I'm wrong, it should become obvious pretty quickly, and we can change back.