Assorted tech I've been fucking around with via LUMEN 2.0.
What is LUMEN 2.0?
It's an unofficial change to the LUMEN system. If you wanna read more on what LUMEN is, (read up on the SRD here)[https://gilarpgs.itch.io/lumen].
I say change because it's different, but the same. I don't wanna do the sequel thing of like, "oh it's better!" because TTRPGs aren't like that.
LUMEN 2.0 proposes the following:
Completely diceless
- No dice! At all! Moves just work! But for outside of combat stuff, it's all about resource expenditure. You have Approaches for this, methods of solving problems. We'll talk more about this when I get to the tech.
Mechanized moves for enemies
- More enemies get actual moves. No more vibing it out, if something says Forcefully Stomps, it'll also slap your shit with like 4 harm!
GM Move support
- Actual guidance as to what a GM move can do.
Grids!
- Grids! Tracking space! No longer going like "well if he's Far from the turret then she's Mid from the Mutant so that means I'm Mid from the Laser Farmer..." finagling! Just draw a line on a grid and slap someone's shit!
Per enemy Drops
- So, Drops in LUMEN used to be a set thing. Every enemy would drop the same thing: HP, Ammo/Power Resource/Progression Resource. For my old projects, this made like, small enemies always were fountains of resources, and large enemies needed to be burned through and like... I didn't like that flow.
But now, it's per enemy. So you can make like, a Loot Goblin. A lil tanky dingus who runs away but will full heal the party if you snag him, or enemies who drop fuck for shit, or have less dudes in the fight but still give them a big chunky drop at the end.
This is the baseline that I've gathered from readin' shit like HUNT, GilaHack, and DUSK. And like any good SRD, those above games break its own rules.
So here's some shit I've been doin' with it
Approach Tech
Approaches are your LUMEN classic Strong, Fast, Careful spread of How To Solve A Problem. Do you shoulder tackle the guard, do you brute force the computer, do you social engineer the intern, all that.
In my little prototypes, I've been fucking around with using Approaches for their own set of bespoke skills.
Shit like
Gigaton Impact
Burn 1 [Strong] to ROCK an enemy's shit with a punch, and launch them across the battlefield.
Or explicitly attaching Approach uses per enemy.
Against a Lunar Cultist, with their moonrock-like skin, you can spend any Approach to Bodyslam[Strength], Leg Sweep [Quick] or Hip Throw [Careful] them and shatter their skin, rendering them vulnerable to conventional rounds.
Drop Tech
I'm stealing from Double Dragon Gaiden, and a little bit from Radio The Universe.
Under both of these, normally, if you kill an enemy, they don't drop anything.
Now, I'm gonna call these two techs Combo Rewards and Precision Drops, respectively.
With Combo Rewards, you get Drops through good play. By taking out 3+ dudes in 1 player phase, you'll get a floating big Drop that you then distribute to the entire party. This, paired with like mook enemies who die in 1 hit, in the tests I ran with Tori Tussle allowed me to do my favourite thing in coop games:
One person fights the boss, the other one fights the horde of mooks.
I love being on mook duty. Slapping nerds to clear the way for my friends.
Precision Drops I still need to test but the idea is this:
You only get Drops if you kill an enemy exactly. If an enemy has 1 HP, deal 1 and you get the drop. Overkill him, and they won't drop their shit. 'Cause they're superdead.
The additional thing that's required for this to feel good is to have some way to lower your own damage, or a dedicated, low damage move that will snag the drop. Think like, Doom 2016's Glory Kills.
Man LUMEN's such a rad system.
Excited to fuck around with it in the coming year.
