Would it be possible to get this in single page format, or in printable booklet format? The English PDF is formatted in 2-page spreads that aren't going to look nice, nor be easy to read when I print it...and it looks so nice otherwise...
Lutong Banwa is a game about adventure, and cooking and eating together. It has got gorgeous artwork and food recipes from Sin themself! I really adore this homey game for hungry wanderers.
Lutong Banwa is a warm-hearted post-human supernatural cooking/adventuring rpg.
It's 16 pages, with shockingly gorgeous art and a bold, expressive layout style that serves up an extremely warm, creative, fun game.
It *is* sometimes more expressive than it is direct, so for the first few minutes you might be wondering "what is this game about?" To clear that up: you play as Tamawo (supernatural creatures a bit like elves?) that have inherited the world from humans. They're sort of new to this mortality thing, though, and they're trying to understand the humans that came before them by doing human things: namely traveling, adventuring, and cooking.
Mechanically, Lutong Banwa is really solidly built. The GM rolls target numbers, and you try to roll under them. The higher the target number, the lower the dice the GM rolls. Likewise, the better your Attribute, the lower the dice you roll.
Your best Attribute also gives you a meta ability to manipulate the dice, and which meta power you get depends on which Attribute you prioritized.
Your HP is more of an exhaustion bar, and gets ticked when you fail rolls, but Tamawo can't die, and so at worst you rest and come back later.
Plotwise, Lutong Banwa doesn't provide a ton of implied conflict or factions to interact with, and the nature of the Tamawo isn't too fleshed out in the text (although you can look up Tamawo with a google search, and you'll get more context,) so you may have to make up or flesh out some parts of the setting yourself. That said, there are some adventuring hooks that come with the book and the lore they imply is tantalizing.
Like, ingredient spirits, crab dreams, supernatural politics, knockout omelettes...I'd love to read more material in this setting.
Overall, Lutong Banwa is a beautiful game that might take a little heavy lifting from the GM at the start, but makes up for that labor with a great concept and excellent mechanics. I strongly recommend picking it up if you can.
There's also several recipes at the back of the book, which are both good and a wonderful touch.
Minor Issues:
-Page 13, English version, last para, "you can change the result but adding" by adding
-Same spot, "you cannot change once you declare the change" not sure what this means.
Edit:
-As of 12/29/20, there is a forthcoming expanded version of the game, so some of the stuff I'm talking about here may not apply!
← Return to cooking game
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I really love the art and vibes for this game, but I wish there was more of it!
Also, there are a few places where I find the wording unclear. Would you be interested in my doing an "editorial"/proofreading pass?
Oh, thank you for the kind offer! Could you email me so we can talk about it? sinposadas@gmail.com
Would it be possible to get this in single page format, or in printable booklet format? The English PDF is formatted in 2-page spreads that aren't going to look nice, nor be easy to read when I print it...and it looks so nice otherwise...
I can definitely try to get one up soon! Thank you for the feedback!
Lutong Banwa is a game about adventure, and cooking and eating together. It has got gorgeous artwork and food recipes from Sin themself! I really adore this homey game for hungry wanderers.
Lutong Banwa is a warm-hearted post-human supernatural cooking/adventuring rpg.
It's 16 pages, with shockingly gorgeous art and a bold, expressive layout style that serves up an extremely warm, creative, fun game.
It *is* sometimes more expressive than it is direct, so for the first few minutes you might be wondering "what is this game about?" To clear that up: you play as Tamawo (supernatural creatures a bit like elves?) that have inherited the world from humans. They're sort of new to this mortality thing, though, and they're trying to understand the humans that came before them by doing human things: namely traveling, adventuring, and cooking.
Mechanically, Lutong Banwa is really solidly built. The GM rolls target numbers, and you try to roll under them. The higher the target number, the lower the dice the GM rolls. Likewise, the better your Attribute, the lower the dice you roll.
Your best Attribute also gives you a meta ability to manipulate the dice, and which meta power you get depends on which Attribute you prioritized.
Your HP is more of an exhaustion bar, and gets ticked when you fail rolls, but Tamawo can't die, and so at worst you rest and come back later.
Plotwise, Lutong Banwa doesn't provide a ton of implied conflict or factions to interact with, and the nature of the Tamawo isn't too fleshed out in the text (although you can look up Tamawo with a google search, and you'll get more context,) so you may have to make up or flesh out some parts of the setting yourself. That said, there are some adventuring hooks that come with the book and the lore they imply is tantalizing.
Like, ingredient spirits, crab dreams, supernatural politics, knockout omelettes...I'd love to read more material in this setting.
Overall, Lutong Banwa is a beautiful game that might take a little heavy lifting from the GM at the start, but makes up for that labor with a great concept and excellent mechanics. I strongly recommend picking it up if you can.
There's also several recipes at the back of the book, which are both good and a wonderful touch.
Minor Issues:
-Page 13, English version, last para, "you can change the result but adding" by adding
-Same spot, "you cannot change once you declare the change" not sure what this means.
Edit:
-As of 12/29/20, there is a forthcoming expanded version of the game, so some of the stuff I'm talking about here may not apply!