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LotFP Referee Book (old Grindhouse Edition) |
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Average Rating:4.3 / 5 |
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James Raggi IV (the author of the book and founder of LOTFP) provides a large array of insight on becoming a game master that spans a variety of important subjects. Not only does this book provide the how on to run a game, but the principles and design of the OSR and what makes an adventure "good" and what the psychology and attitude one should have when running LOTFP or developing weird fantasy. And to sum up it comes down to scarcity of magic and it is dangerous, purpose over randomness, adventures to be mysterious and hard to define (especially creatures encountered) and the impartialness of the refree/GM to allow the players to grab the world by the horns or accept the player characters are there to be shocked and put through strange situations.
A lot of the concepts and advice in here come off spicy and hard to swallow pills to the new GM that wants to please everybody but are well said and put bluntly for the listener to process-it can almost be whiplash to see what the principles of gaming and running them are going from WOTC 5e to this or any "old school" game. It also covers topics like finding players and networking and how you should determine what kind of fun can keep a game alive and players coming back.
My biggest gripes are how long this version has been out without any of the promised expansions or reprinting(however there are numerous setting books in LOFTP one can pick up and run and all of them are interesting), the writing is on the wall that is a project long abandoned and some of the advice on being impartial (while technically true) can come off cold in an antagonizing way to a new player that isn't used to the osr mindset.
The book concludes with an adventure " A stranger Storm"
A very weird and creepy story situation based on changelings/ dopplegangers, with unique guidelines on running them. What's to love about this is James writing takes a simple series of events, makes them vivid and easy to remember and keeps them open ended for you the GM and the Players to react. This is easily one of best free resources on the topic of running a game and if you're going to run LOTFP, it is wise to read this over. Reading the adventure one can easily pick up the mindset of what seperates the style and conventions of LOFTP to other OSR or modern games(everything is procedural with as much intrepretation left to GM to facilitate as possible) The adventure itself is very itrigue heavy and may not be for everyone especially on a beginning level but it is a clear example of what James was going for.
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Its good but it is an OSR, there are a lot of clones and it has all the needed support where it fell down is it didnt do anything other stuff i have doesnt the small form factor of the hard copy is really nice.
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Recently downloaded the referee book here. I got the Rules and Magic book. I have seen some great settings books on Amazon. Is there any plans on releasing a new Referee book?
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All of the Lamentations books are well considered, gorgeous and completely wonderful.
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The actual advice for how to run a game, that makes up a majority of this book, can be completely ignored. The magic items are good for demonstrating what makes the setting unique. Stranger Storm, the scenario at the end of the book, is the best roleplying adventure I've ever played. I would give this book a 5 star rating but that would mislead people. Most of it is complete white noise but Stranger Storm, is a masterpiece of horror. The Changeling is an unforgettable monster, no matter how hard you try.
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It's good, and certainly a classic. But there are more interesting OSRs out there these days. A lot of stuff won't be used in most games, and there seems to be an obsession with ships....
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To quote the goblin king from the Hobbit, "Couldnt give it away." They should pay people to download this.
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I have come back to roleplaying after 30 years away and was looking for an appealling system (mechanically and stylistically) with which to run a campaign. I was intending to skim this referee book (as I had done with the free Rules and Magic book) in order to find out whether this was the system for me but I found it very compelling and ended up reading it thoroughly.
The author has strong opinons on what makes a good adventure and a good campaign. I found this reassuring. It felt like a strong base to work from. Late in the book, the author acknowledges that differences in style will mean that the advice here is not for everyone, but up until that point the information had a "one true way" flavour that I liked,
My only criticism is that I would have liked to see contrasting right and wrong examples to illustrate the author's assertions. The sample adventure (which looks like a lot of fun!) was exactly what I thought I was being warned against because it seemed to have a lot of NPC interaction. I obviously misunderstood this point and wondered what else I misunderstood. This would not stop me from using the LotFP system and I intend to try it out with the sample adventure.
The book is written with he/him as default pronouns.
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I downloaded LoFP Referee Book for Drivethrough RPG
I read some of it and became intrigued enough to print it out. (I am old and find reading text on the computer tedious. So I often print out my PDF's) So I put in some high quality paper and told the printer to print pages 2-98. . . .
. . . When I looked at it, there were lines of text missing on every page! These lines are randomly interspersed throughout the text. Sometimes the headings are missing. But none of the text is missing from the pdf.
So I downloaded it again. Printed out a page, and the exact same lines were missing from the new dowload!
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One of the best Referee books I've read. It doesn't only handle the boring crunchy stuff, but also explains the feeling this system's supposed to evoke and why the author made it that way.
I certainly don't agree with everything, but the written out reasoning did warm me up for some Lamentationsy philosophies.
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Well, what can I say? You get a GM guide for free, which is a great help for a "Retro-clone" newbie like me! Now if only the tutorial book was available as well...
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An excellent read. As an old DM I found this rivitalising!
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I do not respect any book which uses the nonsensical, loaded words homophobic or homophobe as derogatory or derisive terms, as the sweeping majority of people so labeled have no irrational fear of queers.
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Since reading that the LoFP Reference Book ( The old Grindhouse Edition) was available for free download. I've been drowning in the blood soaked gore of the Lamentations of the Flame Princess rpg system goodness.
Reading through the Lamentations Of The Flame Princess Reference book today has been a tricky and skin crawling experience. This book for me at least is part manifesto, part stereo instructions for an old school rpg game, and part advice column wrapped into a weird joint by its twisted author and shoved into my brain pan with rocket. And at the moment its free. So its generous author has opened up this book in all of its grind house goodness and pushed it across the table to you. But I can hear your spare thoughts rattling through the wires of the interwebz and trickling across my hooked in spine to the collective unconscious at my back brain. Surely this book can't live up to the hype that surrounds it. But that's where your wrong. For while we're waiting for the latest edition of this book let's dive into exactly what this is. While the LoFP Referee's book only clocks in at ninety eight pages, it presents its audience with a step by step set of guidelines for being a better Dungeon Master. And it does this with wit, style, and a sense of never talking down to its audience. James Edward Raggi IV takes you through all of the processes of LoFP from the introduction to a complete introduction adventure at the end. This book should be sitting right next to your copy of the LoFP rules and magic book.
I've got a history with this book and its a tale worthy of almost walking away from rpg's all together. I had a fanzine writing project tank and that takes a certain amount of strain on a writer's confidence. Then here comes this book and its like having a friend show up and take you out for a beer. It sits you down and starts spinning out tales to you about well the ins and outs of running old school adventures. By the time I was hip deep into the 'What is a referee' chapter this line struck me -'Being a Referee is like being an artist, a manager,an accountant, and that crazy old guy that lives in the park that everyone avoids because he’s always talking to himself, all in one.Although hopefully you won’t be talking to yourself. At least not while anyone is listening'. So this book is pretty much wall to wall advice by a friend and fellow DM whose been there. He's been the guy trying to get his crap together to run in fifteen minutes and while he's not going to let you cry on his should he's going help you get your crap together and give you the guidelines for everything from how not to be a dick to getting it to work. The rules chapter is basically LoFP short hand and these are crib notes for the game as well as having the balls to present it right in front of you.
The Weird chapter is part primer on the splatter punk heart of LoFP and some guidelines on presenting the weird elements of not only LoFP but other horror and OSR games. This is a nice down to Earth chapter with some solid ideas in the background. Again with style and some actual common sense.
The Adventure chapter is actually like a mini adventure construction set and gives a step by step set and kit of guidelines for DM's. This is all done in a down to Earth manner and with a no nonsense approach that makes this chapter easy to digest and with an internal sense that the author has been here time and again. There are are several pieces of solid game advice that can save you a ton of time and energy if you read them. As with all things these may vary for you. Everything from adventure set up to trap placement is covered here with all kinds of ideas put into the mix and then some. Also this chapter gives some insight into the ideas that perhaps published adventures should be bend, folded, and mutilated as the dungeon master sees fit.
The campaign section not only gives the generalities that were outlined in the adventure chapter but expands upon them and then goes into the who, what, and where of the weird world of LoFP or should I say your take on it. An interesting thing about this chapter is the fact that gives some great insights into some of the choices that the author would go on to make with the LoFP line of products and the peudo historic world of the game. And some of the advice in here would be applied to adventure modules such as 'No Salvation For Witches'. Some of these pieces of advice can easily be used for your own worlds and campaigns which simply highlights the usefulness of this book from the stand point of any old school campaign.
This brings the pdf right into the NPC section which has lots and lots highlights from the generation, use, abuse and exploitation as well as one very important highlight of opinion. The difference between NPC's and monsters. The use of the NPC as antagonist of the party is clearly outlined right in this chapter very clearly. This chapter dovetails right into the backdrop of the chapter on Monsters. Monsters here are given a whole lot of thought by Mr. Raggi and are clearly outlined with lots of care and take down in their use, placement, and general menentence as old school campaign adventure generator. There are reasons for their being a non standard LoFP Monster Manual. The advice in this chapter is something that I think that every horror rpg DM should read. Especially Raven Loft DM's and this chapter clearly touches on one of my all time pet peeves with that setting. Namely that the weird and monsters should be incredibly special and treated with kid gloves. More is and has always been less.
One of my all time favorite chapters from this book is the Magic Item section, for not only does it have solid advice for the generating of these treasures, artifacts, and rare adventure motivators but it even includes a solid magical relic generators that can be used to randomly create thousands of horrific bits occult nastiness to get things moving in an adventure. Possibly one of the best chapters of the entire book and well worth the price of admission alone.
The Other Topics chapter is a catch up,round up, and agony aunt chapter for DM's to get a handle on running, recruiting players, and have an over all flow of the LoFP rpg system. There are several bits of solid and well thought pieces of advice in this chapter. This chapter leads into one of my other favorite bits in the Referee book, the What Else Is Out There. This is a chapter that does a whole bunch of adding and using LoFP with other OSR retroclone systems. This chapter is filled with nifty little conversion notes on using and adding elements and playing pick & choose with these retroclone systems. The fact is that Mr.Raggi has made some solid decisions regarding his opinions on how his system, classes, and fiddly bits fit with the other retroclone systems on the market. Again this is actually some very useful stuff from an OSR perspective. All of the high notes of the OSR are hit from Goodman games to Goblinoid and everyone else in between.
The final chapter is actually the LoFP basic adventure a Stranger Storm, which for a basic adventure puts the PC right into the deep end of the whole LoFP spectrum. The adventure does a fine job of taking the entire contents of the Referee book and put it into practice during play. Here is one adventure that lives up to the weirdness that is talked about throughout the book. No lie about this adventure because many of the later products to come out for LoFP princess share the pulpy and weird elements found in this adventure. This one follows the familiar LoFP patterns and there might be a PC death or two before this adventure is played out and investigated or is it survived with LoFP.
The final pieces throughout the book are the handy reference charts and let me tell you that these things are damn close to being invaluable when your running the damn game. All of the basics are covered in these.
In conclusion this book is one of the best pieces of download investment that you can make if your interested in old school horror or pulp gaming. This book itself could be thought of as an almost anti D20 manifesto because it really puts the OSR edge of LoFP right against the vein of adventure design and old school ideals that this rpg system does right in my opinion. This book has so many pieces of practical and down to Earth advice that it remains one of my all time favorites. Grab a copy and get back to playing a fun game at your table. Five out of five in my humble opinion.
Eric F from the Sword and Stitchery and Dark Corner Blogs
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