Skip to main content

Indie game storeFree gamesFun gamesHorror games
Game developmentAssetsComics
SalesBundles
Jobs
TagsGame Engines

LUMEN

Build action packed, illuminated RPGs · By Gila RPGs

Couple Rules Questions

A topic by bojjenclon created Aug 18, 2023 Views: 461 Replies: 7
Viewing posts 1 to 3
(+1)

Hey, first off excellent work on LUMEN, I love the concepts presented here! I just have a couple of things I’d like clarified:

  1. On the GMs turn, you describe using the enemies’ moves as a means of not just relying on poor rolls from the player (I know LUMEN 2.0 is moving away from dice but I’ll likely be sticking with them, so bear with me). Can the GM only use one of the listed moves, or is simply making an attack valid as well?
  2. You don’t mention restoring Health or Energy outside of combat so I’m just curious what your intent was on this. With LUMEN clearly being inspired by video games, I’ve been thinking of taking the approach the game Chained Echoes does where you start each combat fully restored. So battles are always balanced around max resources.

To be honest I’m not entirely using LUMEN as intended since I won’t be doing a full gameplay loop (I run more narrative heavy games), but I love the rules so much I’m determined to make it work. :D

Developer(+2)

Hey!

1. You can absolutely just make an attack with an enemy during the GM Turn.

2. Part of the game is that resource management, so I shy away from the idea of starting at being fully restored for each fight. In LIGHT, I write about the idea of including "Wells" which are recharging stations sprinkled throughout a mission, but they are limited in number and effectiveness. You can certainly increase the amount of recovery, but generally I think that takes away from some of the tension of maintaining those resources across a session.

Thanks for the response!

For 2, that’s totally fair. For a non-mission based game, do you think health/energy potions + a “rest when safe” mechanic would feel balanced? Or in your testing have you found keeping it super scarce (e.g. very limited pit stops for restoration) is the best?

My group tends to err toward “low lethality” so I’m not super concerned about people not dying, more just want to make sure I don’t go so far the other way that the resources are essentially meaningless.

Developer

It's definitely something you design on a game by game basis, or based on the group! If your group prefers low lethality and they want that maximum badass feeling for every fight, refilling them to full for a fight works great.

Great, thanks for the input! Love your work, looking forward to all the stuff you’re currently cooking up.

Hi! I'm running the Lumen-based game Hell Grinders soon. When an enemy attacks in a Lumen game (after the players have all taken their turns), does the player being attacked make a roll to try and avoid it or does the enemy automatically do their harm? Thanks!

Developer(+1)

Automatically hits!

Thanks for the quick response! I recently purchased Hunt, Pox, and Dusk and they look great! I can't wait to run them. I'm really looking forward to your new game Loot.