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LotFP Referee Book (old Grindhouse Edition)
Publisher: Lamentations of the Flame Princess
by Christian M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/09/2023 16:07:03

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.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
LotFP Referee Book (old Grindhouse Edition)
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Artifices, Deceptions, & Dilemmas
Publisher: Hack & Slash Publishing
by Christian M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 08/08/2023 21:29:42

Incredible resource for Novice or the Intermediate GM! What I like most is the book starts with lists of the many different types of rooms that you may have in a dungeon/adventure then goes out of it's way to define and make what they are clear (differences between their counter parts very helpful with the many crypts) and provides easy to look at yet simple illustrations as examples.

From there, the book lays out the various types of traps-to the mundane or magical(overall very comprehensive), their purpose that gets overlooked in the dice rolls and the psychology of their intended use. And to go the extra mile, the book lists examples from other d&d adventure classics to prove their point, many from Gygax himself, which is a brilliant touch- I would reccommend that the reader go out of their way to list their own examples that come to mind also.

The book then covers the differences not just between the many traps, but tricks, tools, and dilemmas and the many variations how they can differ and work in tandem together. While also using an in depth topic on how to convey the trap without spoiling it or reducing it to a cheap dice roll or worse yet, an uncalled for TPK. The author states that consequences can be harsh but never unfair or out of reach and I agree, this topic can be hard for the novice GM and takes experience and he handles the topic very well. And to conclude the author compiles a huge list of things that could be used to become not what they seem.

Overall I found this to be an enjoyable read, reading this inspired me to think of situations on the fly or reminisce..But after playing and DMing for a total of 6 or 7 years most of this was mostly stuff I knew and agreed on or disagreed with due to personal taste. Personally I found the Author's introduction and certain parts on agency of D&D verbose to my liking and the final category covering the items was a redundant choice. Page 149 seems to be randomly blank? maybe this makes more sense in the printed version since I have the PDF... Which would bring me to the final gripe, this book when not on sale is a little too expensive IMHO even though it is well made.

So, who is this book for? I feel like this book would be best for the new GM who likely wants to run old school games or have modern games have a more weighted in choice or want a dangerous crawler or megadungeon and wants insight before they begin? or the person who wants to build that really cool trap but never started yet. Id recommend buying the soft cover for the price point and this book would pair nicely with the Dungeon Alphabet by Goodman Games for added inspiration.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Artifices, Deceptions, & Dilemmas
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