Old Screeds

Playtesting Labyrinths & Liontaurs

I see that I have not written a screed about my new TTRPG since January. Well, that's not because I have put it on the back burner! Just the opposite, I would say. Labyrinths & Liontaurs is done! Well, it really needs a good edit and proofing. I need to decide on a consistent style for ability scores, skills, spells, and more. And most of all, I have to strip out and replace all the AI art I put in back in the days when I was a wide-eyed innocent on such matters.

But if what you want is to actually play the game, it is done! And on top of the complete rules, I have written the first quarter of an adventure path intended to be used in playtesting. That covers levels 1-5 (aka "Tyro Tier"), and that's enough to launch some games. And so I have started playtesting. I have a once-weekly live play over Discord. I have an initial message board play-by-post game running. And I have another that I am launching now. Also, I am going to be playtesting it at Metatopia 2026, a game design con in northern New Jersey in early November.

The private Discord channel for Labyrinths & Liontaurs, for live play and dice rolling.

The front page of my game currently includes this line: "I'm also very grateful to my many readers and playtesters, especially [[insert list here after I get some]]." I'm looking forward to editing that very soon.

It has only been a couple weeks, but what have I learned?

• I really needed some PC sheets. Now I have two, one for soloclass PCs and one for multiclass PCs.

• Speaking of which, I learned that making a multiclass PC really requires an advancement table. I learned that, but now I have to edit my rules to make that clear. The multiclass rules will be getting an overhaul for better clarity.

• I learned that it was possible to make a first level sorcerer with zero, zilch, nada for actual magic. I revised the sorcerer rules to allow a cantrip or a spammable (at-will) first level spell.

• Two of my playtesters rolled horrifically execrable ability scores. We'll see if my lionheart point mechanic can truly compensate:

  • Rolled: 12, 12, 11, 11, 10, 10 ... 22 lionheart points.
  • Rolled: 12, 11, 11, 10, 10, 10 ... 24 lionheart points.

• I also learned that I have a real tendency to say "liontaur points" when I mean "lionheart points." I'm working on that.

• Most of all, after four years of solitary work on the game, I learned (again) that it is good to have friends. I have eight playtesters now, both in-person friends and online-only friends, all wonderful. One of them, a college chum of 40+ years vintage, is the person who set up the discord, made a custom spreadsheet tool for putting together a PC, and is coming to Metatopia with me. Thanks, Don!

What's next for L&L? More playtesting and refinement, plus that new art and thorough edit. I have plans for expansion rules covering an additional four classes, four prestige classes, and eight more races. I'd love to put time into my campaign world gazetteer. I'm thinking about marketing and promotion, maybe getting out a press release, spreading the word at conventions, getting on a podcast if I am very lucky. I'll be at Gencon 2027, and there's a $450 "First Exposure Playtest Hall" that I'm pondering, though the price seems a bit steep.

For what it's worth, stay tuned!