Lion & Dragon is a totally new way of looking at OSR Play. It's totally recognizable as D&D, but it's also a radically different style and form, with different ways to handle classes, magic, etc.; and with all it's implicit-setting elements being based on REAL medieval history, real medieval folklore, or real medieval legend. Plus, the magic system is totally new, a mostly-ritual-based system DIRECTLY taken from REAL medieval magical texts


But you might already know all of that. You might have already bought Lion & Dragon.

Did you know that you can also already buy sourcebooks for Lion & Dragon?

Take my newest supplement, for example.  RPGPundit Presents #12: Two More Authentic-Medieval Grimoires is NEW material (not found in L&D or anywhere else) that details two magical grimoires based on real medieval texts, that introduce new magical techniques to add to your L&D magister.




Of course, it can also be used with any other OSR game! Just like L&D's magic system as a whole can, either as a supplement to or a replacement for Vancian-casting.

RPGPundit Presents #12 isn't the only book in this series that is essentially a supplement for L&D. There's also The Goetia (a collection of demons for summoning), The Child-Eaters (an adventure set-up), Three Medieval-Authentic Grimoires (more grimoires which add new magical powers to wizards), and The Book of the Art of Hours (yet another grimoire).

So there you are. There's actually already FIVE existing supplements for Lion & Dragon, and with the RPGpundit Presents series, there will be many, many more. This will be a supported product.


Two More Medieval-Authentic Grimoires is available on DTRPG, and also on the Precis website, either way for just 99 cents!  If you like Lion & Dragon, you'll really want to check this book out.
And if you've bought any of the RPGPundit Presents products listed above, and liked them, you really will want to check out Lion & Dragon!

I really wish those previews weren't always so unreadably tiny.

I'll check it out.

Sorry, but the size is not something up to me.

Cool; these look like great additions to the game. How many more do you have to have publication-ready before you can offer a hard copy collection?

I'm now about 3/4 through the core book (in addition to having read Dark Albion, Chaos Cults and the adventure put out for DA). There is just a ton going on in this game. My main reaction to the current threads on medieval adventures is 'have you actually read this thing?!?' There are just tons and tons of implicit adventure seeds built into all of the books put out so far.

I'd say the  character type that is clearly best developed in the material to-date is the Magister. Roughly half the rules-y material published has to do with a re-imagined approach to magic and magicians. It puts the player in an interesting position: The Magister is arguably as central to the game as magicians are to Ars Magica. And they have access to remarkable and diverse powers. Yet the nature of the magic they can perform is completely foreign to the arsenal of spells in basically all published fantasy roleplaying games. There are ways in which a Magister can remove his or herself from danger, gain followers and supernatural aid to advance goals and so forth. But there really isn't a way to make one into a walking artillery section for an adventure party. There is no version of the Magister that just walks up to a bunch of experienced knights and murders them. (At least no version I can figure out). So the player has a lot of complex material to work through and many weighty powers, but using them will lead you in different directions from the common activities of the classical murder hobo.

The fighter is also simple but so clearly superior to every other class in combat that it is fair to say no human can go toe to toe with a 5+ lvl fighter except another one. And because HP are relatively low, overall, and healing relatively weak and resurrection unheard of, they are really the only class of characters that can seriously consider engaging in close combat with tough opponents. This is basically a complete reversal of how classes have worked in D+D combat since OD+D adopted the 'alternative' combat system.

So, there is some really serious class-role differentiation in this game, and some of it creates ecological niches for characters that haven't existed in other versions of D+D

One thing I haven't groked yet is the thief. They have various skills, but their skills are presented in such an off-handed way that it isn't obvious what the designer has in mind. My sense is that it is really left to the players and DM's to decide what they want it to mean for a character to be capable of the things in which thieves specialize.

Quote from: Larsdangly;1014943Cool; these look like great additions to the game. How many more do you have to have publication-ready before you can offer a hard copy collection?

I'm now about 3/4 through the core book (in addition to having read Dark Albion, Chaos Cults and the adventure put out for DA). There is just a ton going on in this game. My main reaction to the current threads on medieval adventures is 'have you actually read this thing?!?' There are just tons and tons of implicit adventure seeds built into all of the books put out so far.

I'm VERY glad to hear that this was evident to you as a reader!  That was certainly part of the intent.

QuoteI'd say the  character type that is clearly best developed in the material to-date is the Magister. Roughly half the rules-y material published has to do with a re-imagined approach to magic and magicians. It puts the player in an interesting position: The Magister is arguably as central to the game as magicians are to Ars Magica. And they have access to remarkable and diverse powers. Yet the nature of the magic they can perform is completely foreign to the arsenal of spells in basically all published fantasy roleplaying games. There are ways in which a Magister can remove his or herself from danger, gain followers and supernatural aid to advance goals and so forth. But there really isn't a way to make one into a walking artillery section for an adventure party. There is no version of the Magister that just walks up to a bunch of experienced knights and murders them. (At least no version I can figure out). So the player has a lot of complex material to work through and many weighty powers, but using them will lead you in different directions from the common activities of the classical murder hobo.

Correct. Magisters in Lion & Dragon are basically artificers. They have a bit of battle magic, but a lot of what they can do is stuff they have to either prepare beforehand (talismans and potions and such) or take care of after (like cures). So what they really require is some careful resource-management and thoughtful preparation. Also, they need a TON of money, meaning that Magisters will often be weaker at the start of a campaign until they can either get some serious loot or a wealthy patron. Which then generates a bunch of potential adventure seeds in and of itself.
During play, Magisters are likely to be loremasters and clever-idea-men more than anything. I think it's certainly more challenging to play one in L&D than in standard D&D.

QuoteThe fighter is also simple but so clearly superior to every other class in combat that it is fair to say no human can go toe to toe with a 5+ lvl fighter except another one.

Well, maybe a Scotsman/Barbarian.
Anyways, it wouldn't be Medieval-Authentic if Knights weren't astonishing killing-machines.

QuoteAnd because HP are relatively low, overall, and healing relatively weak and resurrection unheard of, they are really the only class of characters that can seriously consider engaging in close combat with tough opponents. This is basically a complete reversal of how classes have worked in D+D combat since OD+D adopted the 'alternative' combat system.

Again, them and Scotsmen/Barbarians, who are less skilled in combat but are way way tougher in terms of hp and saving throws.
But yes, I hate the notion in some styles of D&D play where you have fighters not being the ones who are actually meant to be doing the fighting, and instead have to just act as meat-shields while the magic-user hurls magic missiles.

QuoteOne thing I haven't groked yet is the thief. They have various skills, but their skills are presented in such an off-handed way that it isn't obvious what the designer has in mind. My sense is that it is really left to the players and DM's to decide what they want it to mean for a character to be capable of the things in which thieves specialize.

Well, thieves are obviously good sneakers and scouts, can become skilled assassins, and can be directed toward becoming specialists in either urban environments or wilderness environments, not to mention things like espionage or appraisal/artifact-lore.
But in some ways, of the basic classes, they are the least changed from standard OSR classes.

Oh, and as for when will a compilation be made, I'm not sure. It will be made, but it might not be for a year or so. And I'm not sure if the first compilation to come out will be the Gonzo/Last-Sun compilation or the Medieval-Authentic compilation.