#it's crunchy enough for bigger campaign play but also...... u don't need five billion books. u kno.

[equalseleventhirds]

hello welcom to algie's occasional game rec, bcos i've been planning a campaign for some friends in a ttrpg system i haven't used before, and like. listen.

if you like the general fantasy 'group of people go out into a semi-lawless magical world and kick ass cause chaos and get loot' of d&d, but don't really enjoy some of the finer morality points of the setting (cough the weird default to being purveyors of fantasy racism and colonialism, sure you can homebrew it out but it's difficult), or wish it had modern stuff (like phones and internet and twitch streamers but in dungeons) in addition to the magic, or want to ignore like half the rules while still having some of the structure (that some smaller indie games don't provide)

high magic lowlives by gemroom games absolutely fucks.

the ultimate villain is the capitalistic, nepotistic, monarchistic system--the one most of the world ascribes to, and proper, legal adventurers work for. but you are not adventurers. you're lowlives; people who maybe could've gone to wizard school and worked off your debt as a pawn of the aristocracy, but have instead chosen to. well. steal from them. because c'monnnnnnn.

you've all got phones with actual game purpose (and relevant rolls to make), bcos you can benefit in-game from gaining online followers or streaming your shenanigans to fantasy twitch. or, then again, you can fuck yourself over. lotta choices, and you are a lowlife, after all.

mechanically, the game is detailed & crunchy enough to provide excellent guidance and character inspiration (character creation is a lot of fun!), but stuff like 'make sure you eat x amount of food and water every day', or having to track actions and special abilities during combat are streamlined out of it. you also get to make up a lot of stuff (like your magic domain & patron! pick whatever! make it work how it's fun for you!), but it provides enough examples to help you get started.

the gm's side is a little more freeform than in d&d--no monster manual, just a quick & easy guide to assigning basic stuff to ur npcs & monsters and then you can do whatever--which may not be a benefit if ur used to the rigid templates of the mm, but allows you to be quick on your feet with unplanned encounters.

also it's just fun. i love a game that lets you cause chaos and destruction and humiliation, but clearly positions you against the incredibly powerful people who would normally, say, hire an adventurer to clear out a cave of kobolds (or other 'definitely always evil' races from d&d) to get at some treasure or w/e. no no, says high magic lowlives, don't work for those people. steal from them. and stream it to your followers on the way.