Lankhmar vs Lankhmar vs Lankhmar... how many of these things are there?

Omega · August 19, 2019, 11:26:52 PM

Speaking of Lankhmar and Fritz. His father appears briefly in the old crime drama The Web with Vincent Price, and the Sea Hawk with Eroll Flynn. (Which did not know till recently). And Fritz himself appears as the professor in the movie Equinox. The original version has more of him in it and speaking. But is damn hard to find.

Aglondir · August 21, 2019, 08:39:46 PM

Quote from: Mankcam;1100197Given that, then any rpg system is useful if you are after the Lankhmar content, so yeah porting AD&D Lankhmar would not be arduous.

That raises an interesting question. If we assume "system matters" (and by that, I mean the rules of the system reinforce the genre of the game) then do we need a particular system to do Lanhkmar, or just a sourcebook containg people and places?

Is the action in Lanhkmar fast, furious, and fun, and would benefit from the Savage Worlds system?

Is it gritty and lethal, which would lead one to Gurps or RQ? (Btw, is RQ still lethal?)

How does magic work? Does OS Vancian casting make sense? What about 5e's endless cantrip bolts?

I recall there were many deities, but can't remember if Resurrection was a thing, or if clerics even had powers.

Armchair Gamer · August 21, 2019, 10:29:54 PM

There was a standalone AD&D 2E-based boxed set in 1996: Lankhmar: The New Adventures of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. Design by Shane Hensley.

S'mon · August 22, 2019, 03:33:09 AM

Quote from: Aglondir;1100454That raises an interesting question. If we assume "system matters" (and by that, I mean the rules of the system reinforce the genre of the game) then do we need a particular system to do Lanhkmar, or just a sourcebook containg people and places?

Is the action in Lanhkmar fast, furious, and fun, and would benefit from the Savage Worlds system?

Is it gritty and lethal, which would lead one to Gurps or RQ? (Btw, is RQ still lethal?)

How does magic work? Does OS Vancian casting make sense? What about 5e's endless cantrip bolts?

I recall there were many deities, but can't remember if Resurrection was a thing, or if clerics even had powers.

In the stories the combat is definitely not 'gritty'; I'd say it fits best to Savage Worlds, with D&D a reasonable fit. d6 system might fit even better.
There are pew-pew casters flinging magic missiles and low power lightning bolts, as in the big fight when Mouser & Fafhrd return to Lankhmar. But magic seems generally looser and less formalised than in D&D. There are also big at-range summonings. Magic level is fairly high, much higher than in book-Conan.

Mankcam · August 22, 2019, 07:56:18 AM

Although I dig BRP, it is a bit too crunchy for the loose pace of Lankhmar.

So something pulpy would work well for Lankhmar.
At a stretch I think Savage Worlds could be okay, although peronally I'ld prefer to go for systems like OpenD6, Fate, Blades In The Dark, or BoL.

A very simple version of D&D would work well if the Magic is okay, so perhaps the Crypts & Things variant of S&W.
In many ways DCC is an excellent fit in terms of loose mechanics and pulpy sword n sorcery.
Lankhmar & DCC sounds like a perfect combo actually

Simlasa · August 22, 2019, 12:12:36 PM

Quote from: Mankcam;1100528Although I dig BRP, it is a bit too crunchy for the loose pace of Lankhmar.

There are different flavors of BRP though... Magic World/Stormbringer... or Openquest aren't very 'crunchy' at all.

I signed on for the DCC version though, as it does seem like a really good fit.

Mankcam · August 25, 2019, 09:05:15 AM

Yeah, come to think of it, I probably had my RQ Goggles on when I typed that.
Both Magic World and OpenQuest could work okay for Lankhmar.
I would probably go with Magic World, it seems to capture that classic rolling sword & sorcery vibe quite well.

Akrasia · August 27, 2019, 03:27:26 AM

Quote from: Philotomy Jurament;1100043The 1e AD&D City of Adventure book (it wasn't a boxed set) was a surprisingly good treatment of the setting if you used the variant AD&D rules it included.

Those rules are solid for using AD&D for any swords-and-sorcery flavoured campaign.

It's been a few years since I looked at them, but I suspect that you could rework the Conan AD&D modules into Nehwon for a pretty decent S&S campaign (or, alternatively, reskin Lankhmar into a decadent Hyborian city).

RPGPundit · September 03, 2019, 10:55:50 PM

Quote from: Akrasia;1101015Those rules are solid for using AD&D for any swords-and-sorcery flavoured campaign.

Damn right. I loved those rules. It was really my first glimpse at how you can modify D&D to run a specific setting.

Anthony Pacheco · September 04, 2019, 02:38:20 AM

The AD&D version has the distinction of being the most-read city accessory in my ridiculously and unnecessary large RPG library.