This is, hands down, one of my favourite game systems. Barbarians of Lemuria is simple, very easy to pick up and the use of careers in place of skills works really well. It's easy to pick up BoL and run one-off games at the drop of a hat (making characters is very fast) and the game has enough depth to handle extended campaigns as well.
The magic system is another reason I love this game so much. It is very much a free-form system in which spells can be designed without the need for long lists of Vancian style spells. The magic system is very robust and flexible and has a real sword & sorcery feel it. Alchemy is covered in detail and, once again, is very well thought out and balances nicely with the rules on magic.
There are already a number of settings available using the Barbarians of Lemuria Legendary game engine. Now, with the new Mythic rules, the Lemurian setting itself is expanded with more information on the geography, races, religion, gods, flora and fauna of the world. There are also expanded rules on land battles and sea battles and, best of all, Mythic is fully compatible with the previous versions of the game.
One final strength of the game is its ability to accommodate house rules without breaking the core mechanics - hence its suitability for numerous settings such as Dogs of WAR, Honor + Intrigue, Barbarians of the Aftermath, Heroes of Hellas, Dicey Tales, Legends of Steel to name a few. While these were originally based on the Legendary ruleset of BoL they can easily work with BoL Mythic.
Barbarians of Lemuria: Mythic Edition is a terrific upgrade on the original rules, with new colour art throughout, five detailed adventures and, to round things off, a Saga Generator at the end. At 211 pages this really is a product that gives great value for money.
Do yourself a favour and buy this game.
|