Legends of Lur-Asko is a tabletop role-playing game (RPG or TTRPG) and your gateway to the fictional planet of Tsuunahgo. Unlike a board game or card game, the object of an RPG is never just to “win,” nor is there a clear "end” of the game. Rather, an RPG is a form of fiction, like a movie or novel. When you gather with other Legends players, each of you will create and control a fictional character. Except for one of you - that person is the GM or game master. The GM controls everything that is not a player character (called a PC). They will describe the PCs’ surroundings, control all non-player characters (or NPCs), apply the rules, and direct the storyline. Together, you will not only play a game, but experience an immersive world, and build the legend of your characters!

    That’s really up to the GM, as there isn’t technically a maximum number of players. Most Legends GMs enjoy running a game for around 3 to 5 players - enough to make it interesting but not too many to handle.

    Legends is definitely different and a bit more complicated than other kinds of games - even some other RPGs. Fortunately, it's easy for new players to learn, while still offering many possibilities that should please even veterans of the RPG genre. The complexity of the game is directly related to the experience of your characters - brand-new PCs are easy to understand and run, while legendary adventurers can attain dozens of abilities and gadgets. This means the rules are geared towards "learning as you go."

    Lur-Asko is a strange place indeed. Seemingly “supernatural” abilities are granted by technology left behind by a long-dead civilization. Peculiar devices, such as the bullet-stopping kinetic shields, give rise to a mixed battlefield where sci-fi and medieval tactics can coexist. One moment you might be traveling with a group of Manusian knights in plate armor, only to board an airship armed with energy cannons manned by cowboyish Skretan orcs. You have entered the Land of the Seven, and anything is possible!

    The history of Lur-Asko has been shaped by two long-departed groups. First, the Protodragons - seven powerful energy beings who each held sway over a particular realm of Lur-Asko. Within each realm, they created the weather patterns and directed the ecosystem. As a result, each of the seven realms boasts a significantly different climate, from cold desert to rainforest, and each is home to a different dominant species.

    Second to set the stage were the Alacris, a humanoid species often called the Ancient Ones. 1,100 years ago, during a period of massive war, the Alacris drove themselves to extinction with a horrible bioweapon - an event now known simply as the Fall. In their wake, and with the salvaged remains of their technology and culture, the other species of Lur-Asko have been rebuilding civilization ever since.

    The most important concept to understand in present-day Lur-Asko culture is the very part you will play - an adventurer. These individuals are those who seek a greater degree of risk and reward than the common masses. Adventurers make up a tiny minority of the Lur-Asko population, but they are a major factor in the continent’s economy and culture. They are generally far more wealthy and skilled than the commoners, and their chosen tasks may consist of exploration, investigation of Alacrian ruins, war, espionage, smuggling, mercenary business, banditry - the possibilities are endless. This land is a dangerous, complicated place, and most of it is still very much a frontier. Most everyone expects that adventurers will continue to dominate the legends of Lur-Asko for decades to come.

    Together, you and your fellow players will form what is known as an adventuring party. Adventurers come in all shapes, sizes, and specialties, and without several working together their tasks would be impossibly difficult. Personalities may clash, but the realities of the adventuring life keep a party together.

    Lur-Asko is fundamentally a science-fiction setting, though it includes many themes from high fantasy (as well as a few other genres, such as the Western theme of Skreti). There are no deities and no magic; the closest Lur-Asko gets to either is adamant, the odd living metal that gives arcanists their power, but even this was considered a science by the ancients. The dragons might also appear godlike at times, but they more closely resemble the strange energy beings one might encounter in odd sci-fi stories. Technology may provide equivalent power to the magic spells of other universes, but always follows concrete rules and has explanations that at least approach a physical justification. There is no mystical spiritualism, no soul magic, and no curses or transmutation; some other traditional "magic" powers, such as teleportation, require great wealth or personal skill to attain.

    Meanwhile, while there are certain groups (such as the white dragons) portrayed as "evil," the question "who are the good guys" is made realistically difficult to answer. Rather than cosmic alignments, divine dimensions, or other objective moral forces, Lur-Asko is divided into ten philosophies just as contentious and opinionated as any Earth ideologies.

    Still, expect the fantasy themes of this world to come through in stronger ways than just a fine sword or a wizardly hat. While Lur-Asko's people look to the future, they also look to the past - the legacy of the fallen Alacris, and all the ancient accomplishments that still strike many people as inexplicable magic. And while the question of who is good may be a matter of opinion, the timeless struggle against unfathomable evil never lets the world rest for long. Characters must face it with courage and the depth of their convictions, not just the latest recovered technology.

    Legends of Lur-Asko is, first and foremost, a simulation of its setting. Its rules are designed to facilitate a believable and immersive experience of a consistent fictional world. Players are fully intended to have their escapism and their suspension of disbelief - the illusion that there is a genuine world they can escape to during the sessions, a world in which they can make a difference and see reasonable consequences for their actions. As such, expect many rules to feel more "realistic" than many other RPGs. Characters are not immense sacks of undifferentiated hit points - injury is debilitating, and meant to be avoided whenever possible. A fiery explosion has devastating consequences on the environment and anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in it without protective measures. A sword is quite different from a pollaxe, and both are meant to be used in different contexts. The system aims to "make sense," rather than to simply feel like a game.

    Secondarily, Legends also intends to facilitate a good story. Reality is boring, after all - we want to escape to an exciting world, not just a believable one. While definitely more complicated than systems which prioritize only story, Legends is simpler than some others which prioritize only realism. For example, there are no battlemaps, and no corresponding minutiae of positioning with which to bog down combat and delay the story. Meanwhile, players are actually rewarded for their roleplaying and character arcs; with the dual XP/DP system, PCs looking to "level up" must not only gain experience, but also develop as characters and engage with the plot and lore.

    Speaking of "leveling up," Legends does not incorporate strict levels or classes, instead offering PCs tiers in non-exclusive Studies. They have the freedom to explore any role within the Lur-Asko adventuring world that they feel like. Detailed rulesets are provided for a wide variety of activities, not just focused on combat. This allows players to have their characters attempt tasks they may not have thought of in other systems, or which might otherwise be limited by their real-life capacities - for example, Legends includes rulesets to resolve social tasks like debates or motivational speeches, without the need for the player to be a great speaker or actor in real life.

    As such, Legends is a cooperative game in which players and GM work together to present a believable world and story. There is no adversarial competition with each other (except in the in-character sense, if certain characters happen to be competitive). The GM is not the players' enemy, but neither are they expected to pull punches. For example, encounters are not meant to be "balanced" in order to challenge the players' out-of-character tactical mastery, but to simply be consistent with what the characters should encounter in a given situation or area.