OSR Tuesdays Spotlight
This will be an occasional entry/short essay on various things OSR and OSR Tuesdays related.
Probably the most important thing I can tell you before we play Lamentations of the Flame Princess (or any OSR RPG, for that matter) is to forget that you are playing D&D.
That’s because D&D takes up so much space in our collective RPG experiences, we often come to the table with preconceived notions about how D&D should be played. I’m here to tell you that it’s not true; you can play this game anyway you like.
In particular, there are any numbers of tools that gamers familiar with ‘story-games’ have in their toolkit, which can be employed during a session of LotFP. As a GM, I have used Fail-Forward, Roll With it, Say Yes or Roll the Dice, Say Yes and …, just to name a few.
I hope that all you, when you play, will remember the lessons you have learned from other games and apply them to playing this game. Just because it’s not written down somewhere, doesn’t mean you can’t use it.
I hate/love when people limit themselves by what is explicitly written down even when most games have an intro paragraph that says “use your imagination”. Someone wants to ride a gryphon? but there isn’t a griffin in the monster section and no mount rules. you can mope and complain or you can just do it. roll + dex or just justify how you get away with it. no duel wielding option printed on your sheet? does your guy have two hands? then pick up a second weapon and go. If you look closely no character sheet or rule system I am aware of explicitly says your character has any automatic body processes, quick roll +con to continue breathing, roll + cha to keep your sphincter tightly shut.
I hate/love when people limit themselves by what is explicitly written down even when most games have an intro paragraph that says “use your imagination”. Someone wants to ride a gryphon? but there isn’t a griffin in the monster section and no mount rules. you can mope and complain or you can just do it. roll + dex or just justify how you get away with it. no duel wielding option printed on your sheet? does your guy have two hands? then pick up a second weapon and go. If you look closely no character sheet or rule system I am aware of explicitly says your character has any automatic body processes, quick roll +con to continue breathing, roll + cha to keep your sphincter tightly shut.