This is LUMEN. 

It's a Creator Kit, a design philosophy, a commentary on my games. It's a toolkit and conversation.

If you've seen my game LIGHT, you've seen a piece of LUMEN. If you saw FRAME, and NOVA, you've seen a few more pieces. Now you have the whole thing.

Make Your Next RPG Illuminated

LUMEN is an RPG system for action packed, power fantasy games. Inspired by some of my favorite video games and genres, I wanted to capture those exciting moments on the screen, and bring them to the table.

It started with my love of Destiny. But I love all sorts of "powerful character" genres. Looter shooters (Borderlands), hero shooters (Overwatch), dungeon crawlers (Diablo). I love to see the numbers GO UP.

With LUMEN , you can create your own game, Illuminated by LUMEN. Highlights of the system include:

• Quick dice rolling
• No skill lists. It's about how you approach a task, not what you're doing
• Combat is fast, and characters feel powerful
• Gameplay loop that keeps the players wanting to get back out there

Atypical SRD

You'll notice that this document is not a technical manual on building games! The tools are there, but they sit between my thoughts and advice on LUMEN games in general. The document gives you insights into what I think makes the system special, and how to lean into that. And so, it's not really an SRD. That's why I call it a Creator Kit.

I hope you feel like I'm there talking with you about LUMEN, instead of instructing you on it.

Huge thank you and shout out to mv for their incredible work putting the LUMEN PDF together. I think they did a terrific job capturing the style of the system, plus it's fully hyperlinked and bookmarked! PLUS there is an ink friendlier version of the PDF for those who want to print at home.

LUMEN RPGs

You can find an ongoing list of published LUMEN games with this collection I put together!

I created NOVA! It's an action-packed mech game set in a world where the sun has exploded.

If you want to see LUMEN in action, you can find the first game created with the system: LIGHT.

There is also the first LUMEN Jam which had a ton of amazing entries. LUMEN Jam 2 starts in April!

If you want to make your own game using LUMEN, you just need to include this text and the Illuminated by LUMEN logo. You can find a download of the logo image in black and white in the files!

This game is Illuminated by LUMEN, based on the LUMEN RPG system designed by Spencer Campbell, Gila RPGs. This game is in no way affiliated with Spencer Campbell or Gila RPGs.

If you do make something, please reach out and let me know on Twitter! I'd love to see it!

Learn More

If you want to learn more about the system without reading the doc, you can watch this design stream where I start outlining the system and describe the core principles.

I've also begun an interview series where I talk with folks designing LUMEN games. You can find the collection of videos on twitch!

Press

LUMEN was named one of the 9 best RPG systems to design with on Dicebreaker!

It also had a whole article highlighting what is special about the system.

Spread the Love

If you enjoy LUMEN, please consider leaving a 5 star rating here on itch. It helps get the game in front of more folks!