Just expressing my surprise that someone hasn't done this yet.  I think it was actually a really well-done alteration of the D&D system at the time.  I remember playing it fondly.

RPGPundit

I had no idea that they did a mod to the rules. I thought it was just a setting sup.

Was it 1e with some changes or something else. What were the changes?

Quote from: Gib;558349I had no idea that they did a mod to the rules. I thought it was just a setting sup.

Was it 1e with some changes or something else. What were the changes?

Same here.  I have the main book floating around somewhere, but as I recall, the majority of the line came out under 2nd Edition rules.  I don't think there was anything particularly altered with the AD&D rules, just a few additions like skills and spells; the usual stuff for a campaign setting.

As I recall, the main changes were to make magic more "Swords & Sorcery"... ey.
Specifically while the writeup for Fafhrd gave him Bard and Ranger levels he didn't get the spells those AD&D classes would have.
Actual spellcasters had to choose between "white magic" (cleric spells, basically) or black magic (wizard spells).  Casting was very involved, simulated by increasing the Casting Time by one factor: A Casting Time of X number of segments became the same number of rounds.  A base casting time of rounds became the same number of 10-minute turns.  And so on.
And if you were a black magician you would inevitably become Eeeevil (Grey Mouser doesn't count because he didn't gain enough levels) and you had to roll on a random chart to see how deformed you got.  

JG

The super-long casting times were the main practical difference. That's essentially a one-line house rule, so it doesn't need an entire supplement.

Now something capturing all the flavour of gaming in Lankhmar and distilling it into smart mechanical ideas, game structures (how do you really run alleyway/rooftop chases?) and GM-friendly, adventure-relevant setting information... that would be something worth a product of its own.

I think Crypts and Things fills that void a bit. It separates white and black magic (which was a rule change for Lanhmar supplements), for example. It also has just a few classes AND a barbarian class.

C&T is probably as close as one would get to a Lanhmar retroclone, but I admit I have not read that book.

Quote from: Melan;558380The super-long casting times were the main practical difference. That's essentially a one-line house rule, so it doesn't need an entire supplement.

Now something capturing all the flavour of gaming in Lankhmar and distilling it into smart mechanical ideas, game structures (how do you really run alleyway/rooftop chases?) and GM-friendly, adventure-relevant setting information... that would be something worth a product of its own.

That would be incredibly useful on its own, divorced from the Lankhmar setting.

Fafherd & The Grey Mouser wrote a guest column for Dragon Magazine where they opined about RPGs a bit.  Funny stuff.  Leiber & Gygax got along pretty well.

Quote from: Melan;558380Now something capturing all the flavour of gaming in Lankhmar and distilling it into smart mechanical ideas, game structures (how do you really run alleyway/rooftop chases?) and GM-friendly, adventure-relevant setting information... that would be something worth a product of its own.

Oh, it had a city guide, and little details like the Thieves' Guild being a male-only operation (like a lot of Lankhmar), what the main temples were, what the main brothels were... etc.

JG

You guys seem to be remembering a different game from me; I thought there were quite a few more rules-changes.  Limited classes and levels, white and black magic, different spells and items, etc.

Maybe there was more than one edition?

RPGPundit

There were Lankhmar supplements for 1e and 2e.

There were some other changes outside the magic system ("white magic" = clerical spells, "black magic" = m-u spells, etc).  I'm pretty sure they used a monetary system based on that in the books, and certain classes like the Paladin didn't exist.  And no elves and such.

A few posters have already mentioned this stuff.  My memory isn't what it used to be, but that's pretty much the extent as I remember it.

Really, the rules changes took up a very small part of the base setting books for either edition.

Quote from: RPGPundit;558891You guys seem to be remembering a different game from me; I thought there were quite a few more rules-changes.  Limited classes and levels, white and black magic, different spells and items, etc.

Maybe there was more than one edition?

RPGPundit

TSR released 2 Adventures in Lankhmar sourcebooks, one for 2nd edition AD&D and one for 1st edition.

Here's a quick rpg.net index search for Lankhmar:

http://index.rpg.net/display-search.phtml?firstsearch=1&key=title&match=loose&value=lankhmar

Lankhmar: City of Adventure was released for AD&D 1E and 2E.

The 1E version is almost a rules free sandbox campaign setting. The rules conversion notes (Chapter 9) are a mere 2.5 pages (88-90).

The 2E version rules changes (Chapter 2) are more, but still only run from pages 24-29.

Although organized differently, I think most of the setting material is the same.

Hm.
Perhaps Pundit is thinking of the Lankhmar game that was released in about '96 or so and not the City of Adventure supplements for either 1E or 2E.
This was sort of a 'basic' 2E tweaked for Lankhmar gaming (with the white and black wizards of the previous supplements, etc.

http://tsrinfo.net/archive/lm/lm-newad.htm

It was okay. Not much to it and horrendous interior art.

I'm pretty sure I was thinking of the first 2e book, not the box set. Though I'm not totally sure.

RPGPundit