Well well Mr. Proctor has outdone himself this time.
That little raised eyebrow that I first had when I saw Labyrinth Lord for the first time with all it's "Basic" rules and restrictions that just never felt right after playing more advanced versions of our favorite game. But still there was that yearning for that simple game I played at 11 years old. So simple yet so full of possibilities. A character made is minutes with weapons and armor and equipment ready to adventure. Yes almost perfection.
BUT
The "advanced" version had overcomplicated stats and rules that made me wish and wash for my many years of gaming. Alas it solved the "issues" I had with the "basic" version of the game but it came with more rules and restrictions.
But ALAS! There is the Labyrinth Lord: Advanced Edition Companion! It is a merge of the Basic and the Advanced! Still keeping those magic set of rules I love only slightly altering them with a few advanced options.
Is this the system that I shall choose for my Old School Renaissance setting? Save for a few minor house rules this may be it.
The classes capture the "advanced" without clogging one down with many modifiers that did scare away some recent makers of characters. They became bored and one even fell asleep before finishing an OSRIC character. This will not happen here! A mere five minutes and one is adventuring!
No goblin horde is safe and no dragon sleeps soundly! Might add that the monster list for Labyrinth Lord now grows quite LARGE with a great many monsters added.
This is a good thing for the magic spark that ignited my passion so long ago exist here.
Still it is the days of the mega dungeon! The feeling of being deep underground exploring the ancient carved out dungeons that lead deep into the depths of the ground opening into the mythic underworld!
I recently started my own OSRIC campaign to run through Stonehell. I experienced similar problems during character creation. While 1st edition character creation goes fast when you have the quirks memorized, it takes forever for the new player. I am kicking myself now that AEC arrived in my mailbox today.
ReplyDeleteYes, the AEC rules! As you point out, the monsters alone are worth the cover price. I am using LL for my current campaign, which is going great, and now that AEC is out I am allowing that additional stuff to trickle in as well. Highly recommended!
ReplyDelete