From the back of the book: Barbarians of Lemuria Sword and Sorcery Roleplaying Game It was an age of warriors, when strong men and beautiful women, soldiers and savants, magicians and gladiators battle to carve a bloody path to lead to the Throne of Lemuria. It is an age of legends and valiant sagas too. And this is one of them. The Crimson Edda From the introduction: Barbarians of Lemuria is a heroic role-playing game (RPG) set firmly in the swords & sorcery genre. Lemuria is a post-apocalyptic world of half a million years into the future and unrecognisable to anyone today. It has returned to an almost prehistoric state; a land of humid steaming jungles, vast untamed wildernesses, horror-filled swamplands and hot dry deserts. Massive man-eating beasts roam the unexplored regions of Lemuria and beyond, from islet-sized sea serpents capable of sinking war-galleys to the huge jungle-dwelling dinosaurs that can swallow a man whole merely as an appetizer for bigger game. The sword & sorcery genre is a very specific one - characters are much more stereotypical than in other fantasy settings - heroes are all muscle-bound barbarians from the “Frozen Wastes”, mighty gladiators who fight for the thrill of the crowds or bawdy pirates with an eye for treasure and a yearning for adventure. Women are voluptuous scantily clad beauties to be rescued from evil priests or lithe adventurers as capable in a fight as most ordinary men and just as ready to crack a barbarian’s skull as bed him if spoken to lewdly. The bad guys are invariably evil necromancers, sorcerers, priests and druids. Sometimes they are lily-livered nobles or cunning assassins, but even they often have a magician behind their nefarious plots. The main characters are never out to save the world from the minions of evil, they simply look out for themselves although this usually means in their own simple way they ‘do the right thing’ in the end in any event. They are not heartless; they tend to stand up for those weaker than themselves and put down those who push others around. They are never inherently evil - that is the role of the villains or NPCs. Heroes are first and foremost warriors and when times are hard will seek employment as soldiers, mercenaries, sailors or caravan guards to get by, often rising rapidly to higher positions as a result of their prowess. When nothing else is available they will often turn their hands to other, less honest, work. They will often be found turning to a life of thievery or piracy to make a few coins ...