Tag Archives: Swords and Wizardry

A Jam of OSR Goodness

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At Last….. Vegas, Adventures in Jam. It started off as pisstake of the most fabulous excuse that came out of the very very late James Wallis’ Alas Vegas Kickstarter , an almost non-update where James made excuses and then stream of consciousness rambled on about Jam making while on holiday in the South of France, but has grown into a OSR UK scenario/mini-rpg pack.

Here’s the link to the Kickstarter.

I’ll let creator Mick Reddick explain:

So my spoof kickstarter has funded and is pushing it’s way towards the third and fourth stretch goals! For a measly £2 [about $3] get scenarios for Lamentations of the Flame Princess, Swords and Wizardry, WHFRP, Into the Odd and a new standalone game/scenario…. With random tables, jam based recipes and more in fact there are still two limited edition dice bag pledges left!!!….. its a deal, it’s a steal, it’s the sale of the f*****g century 😊

Too much D&D

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So the free version of D&D 5th Edition is out, and I fell strangely underwhelmed. Reason why? Well its probably because in the last four years or so I’ve picked up a small bookshelf worth of D&D Variants.

First D&D in its OSR forms was explored in great detail. Then after that was exhausted I moved onto modern forms; Pathfinder, Dungeon World (a story telling game not 100% mechanically related but definitely in spirit) and recently 13th Age was purchased.  Pedants beware this not an exhaustive list of D&D variants, just one coloured by my personal experience.

The Originals

D&D Cyclopedia: I started off with red box Molday and quickly moved onto blue box expert so this has it all in one book (sans the illustrations, examples and solo tutorial) + the bits from Companion/Masters that I never got round to buying (because I’d moved to AD&D land by then). This is the book I wish Wizards of the Coast had republished even as a limited run, because my copy threatens to disintegrate every time I lovingly touch it.

AD&D 1st Ed: If D&D was my early teens AD&D was my mid-late teens and was still being occasionally played into my early 20s. So lots of memories here, and even though I probably use OSRIC (see below) at the game table, the core three books of AD&D have a lot of nostalgic power.

Straight Retro-clones

OSRIC (=AD&D) I love this big hardcover book. Its the AD&D 2nd ed I wanted back in the day, a simple reorganisation of the rules into one coherent whole. The combat chapter makes sense! Its strangely humble, saying its merely a rules index so modern publishers can put out AD&D compatible adventures under the Open Gaming License (which it is published under in its entirety), but I’d use it any day of the week as my AD&D at the gaming table.

Labyrinth Lord (=B/X).  A very clever clone of Basic/Expert in one slim volume. Made me realise that I’m not interested in that style of play however.  Also available is the Adv. Labyrinth Lord supplement which works on the premise that back in the day we learnt with basic/expert and then simply added the bits (Classes, Monsters, Magic items etc.) we liked from AD&D. Which is certainly how I did it.

Swords and Wizardry (=OD&D).  The premise from this one is that its based of the Original white box D&D  from the 70s with its supplements added, cleaned up and made comprehensible, I love this stripped down back to basics approach presented here. Finally a version of D&D that I can keep in my head! The S&W complete crams in a complete comprehensive version of D&D that is comparable to later big three book versions of D&D in one slim volume.

Basic Fantasy (=B/X with bits of AD&D). Notable for two things. A more straightforward and clear interpretation based on the idea that you use D20 Systems Resource Document (the Open Gaming version of D&D 3rd Ed released by Wizard’s of the Coast) more closely, keeping its clarity of rules but building in the Old School flavour. Secondly if you see OSR rule sets as an almost Linux expression of D&D, Basic Fantasy is a distro that keeps most actively to that idea of it being free and community supported (yes I know S&W does but for me BF does it slightly better).

Retro-clone inspired

These games use one of the above clones as a base and then takes it from there.

Lamentations of the Flame Princess: LotFP is basically a  Horror and Weird take on D&D, using Basic Fantasy as a base. I’ve seen this one grow up from its initial incarnation , with some very dodgy photo shop art, through its Grindhouse box set incarnation, were that art was largely replaced by the cream of OSR Artists old and new and the game was focused to razor sharp proportions, to the current high quality two book format Rules & Magic (available now) and Referee’s book (crowdfunded but still in production).  I think its a classic game that takes the premise of old school D&D and runs out of the park with it, while cunningly never forgetting where it comes from.

Woodland Warriors: Uses the Swords & Wizardry as a base, simplifies it and only uses D6s, and gives it a child friendly setting all in one small slim book. Its genius makes me weep.

Crypts and Things: My own take on OD&D using Swords and Wizardry as a base and putting it in the blender with early White Dwarf D&D, Fighting Fantasy, 80s UK FRP & inspiration from the Howard/Lovecraft/Ashton-Smith/Michael Moorcock. The result a gleefully dark Swords and Sorcery game, where the players get to play Elric, Grey Mouser, Fafhrd and Conan, in a game referred by Clark Ashton Smith 🙂

Modern D&D

Pathfinder: I love Pathfinder, it does big book D&D and is clear and expressive while it does it. For me it comes packed with a big friendly DM I call “Bob” an impressive bear of a man, with a big bush beard and a deep friendly US accent that calmly guides me through the 1000s of pages. The online PRD was revelation when I sat there GMing it for the best part of the year in 2012 (and the reason I’ll be doing an online SRD for OpenQuest soon).  Its just not the D&D that comes anywhere my preferred playing style (rules lite and pacy) and there’s no way that  I’m memorising all the moving parts. But perhaps one day Bob will quietly persuade me to have another go, and it was certainly a variant of D&D that my players, all self proclaimed Kings of D20, highly respected.

Dungeon World: I accidentally blundered into the Dungeon World Kickstarter one bored hot afternoon at work and a year later ended up with a hardback and a T-shirt. Its a version of D&D completely rewritten from base using the Apocalypse World storytelling game engine. I love it. Once I got my head round its terminology and structure its the fast pacey flexible game of D&D that I want to run and it errs on the side of Mega Gaming Fun for the players ( the sub-classes especially get a big up in the fun stakes).

13th Age: To be honest I’ve not read too far into it, but I like what I see so far. Like DW its a more story orientated game, but its not so much a rewrite from the ground up being based on the existing D&D 3rd edition SRD,  simplified with storygaming mechanics/assumptions.

Torchbearer: Make no mistake about it this is a cleaver and very focused book by the same people who bought you Burning Wheel and Mouse Guard. Presentation wise it reminds me fondly of  AD&D 1st. However its fallen down the cracks because for me it asks me to think about Dungeon Crawling far too hard to be taken seriously. When its designer Thor Olavsrud says “This is a hard game” early on in the first chapter I started loosing interest in this book. Baz King of RPG Treehouse fame kept with it and his read through can be read on UKRoleplayers.com.

If I was to have to keep on from each category (which to be honest given the mess my office has descended into may have to be the case) these would be my winners.

  • Original: D&D Cyclopaedia
  • Retro clone: Swords and Wizardry
  • Retro clone inspired: Lamentations of the Flame Princess (I’m taking it as given I get to keep copies of my own games so C&T survives the cull 😉 ).
  • Modern: Dungeon World.

Why Swords & Wizardry is my Retroclone of choice

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As part of Swords &Wizardry Appreciation Day. This post is an attempt to explain briefly why Swords &Wizardry is my Retro clone (a reversed engineered version of one of the earlier editions of D&D using the D20 Systems Resource Document) of choice.

My recent haul from the Swords and Wizardry Kickstarter

My recent haul from the Swords and Wizardry Kickstarter

Reason 1. ITS FREE!

You can down load the rules at the games website, Lulu.com or view them online at the Swords and Wizardry Systems Resource Document. This gives you the option to try before you buy, the internet equivalent of a good browse through the book.

When I first came across the Old School Renaissance via a recommendation from a friend, I had the immediate concerns of:

  • Is this Old School Thing for me after 20 or so years not playing any version of D&D?
  • Is it still fun?
  • Was it ever fun?

It took a lot of convincing and easing in for me to return after such a long time away, having a zero cost version that was well laid out and clear, helped me immensely.

 Reason 2. ITS COMMERCIAL!

Next I really wanted a book in my hot little hands. Fortuitously the Black Blade Publishing Edition of the Core Rules just showed up for about 5 minutes in one of my local gaming shops. I made sure I was there in those five minutes and it was mine! I was impressed, with its no-nonsense approach. This was the Core version of the rules, which I like as a tight little version of the Game.

So it was abundantly clear that this is not just some free role-playing thing, which for some people strangely enough is a big turn off. Care and attention to detail was being spent on producing something that was a serious professional product.

For those of you not in the know there are three versions of Swords and Wizardry.

  • White Box – just the three original D&D books , a short concise version of the game.
  • Core – adds more of the rules from the OD&D supplements, not as bare bones as WB. Classes are the nice ‘core’ of Fighter- Cleric – Thief – Magic User
  • Complete – All the rules from OD&D + supplements, so you get all the subclasses (Paladin, Bard, Monk etc). So sort of a striped down AD&D.

Publishers (current)

  • Mythmere games (via Lulu) –  This is the game’s author , Matt Finch’s, Publish Core/Whitebox + some scenario support. – supports the Community at a grass roots level. POD printing via Lulu.com
  • Frog God Games – Complete + a vast selection of S&W modules. Still very community friendly but this is the more commercial side.

Reason 3. SIMPLE NO NONSENSE RULES!

In my opinion this is the Game before it suffered rules bloat. The classes are manageable, the spells are straight forward and not too numerous ( a big deal for me when the players expect me to carry the details in my head), there’s enough treasure and monsters in the main rule book with enough detail to get stuck in an designing a dungeon quickly. Its easy to teach to newcomers, yet still instantly recognisable to old hands (like a bike you never forget how to ride). I like games that don’t get in the way of my role-playing and S&W serves that up in spades.

Reason 4. ITS GOT A COMMUNITY!

As well as the usual site and forum, there were numerous Blogger sites, collectively known as the OSR Blogsphere, supporting the game (and other Retroclones) with new content and reviews. Throw Google Plus into the mix, which supports Hangout games (some of which are recorded), you’ve got a friendly, open minded, active group of players and Gamesmasters all buzzing away 24/7.

Reason 5. ITS ADAPTABLE!

Due to it being completely Open Gaming Content, with a non-nonsense rules focused on the OD&D rules its very easy to take it and release your own House rules,Supplements,Adventures and even completely New Games (such as Crypts and Things, Woodland Warriors etc )

As a publisher this was a very attractive proposition. One which I took up by writing Crypts and Things, a variant of the rules with a focus on UK Old School rules and attitude , with a definite Swords and Sorcery Flavour. Without Swords and Wizardry, and Araskia’s Swords and Sorcery House Rules I would have never written the game.

Reason 6. IT EVOKES THE GOOD OLD DAYS OF 80s UK FRP!

Even without my Crypts and Things variant that tunes in that vibe directly, S&W invokes nicely the early days of 80s UK gaming. Stuff like the early White Dwarf issues, which had mad DIY stuff in like the Halls of Tizun Thun (adventure), the Barbarian (Class), not to mention regular columns like Fiend Factory and Treasure chest, and of course the early Fighting Fantasy. In many ways this is the most important thing about S&W, and even though I never played OD&D it inspired much of my early gaming sources.

Related Links

12 Days of UK OSR: Day 5 Woodland Warriors

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Hootin’ Heck is it June already? Then I better press on with the 12 Days of the UK OSR, with day 5.

Based off Swords and Wizardry, WoodLand Warriors is a nice little book by Simon Washbourne published by his Beyond Belief Games. It’s introductory D&D for Kids and big Kids of all ages. Substituting Orcs n Elves for Stoats and Mice and dungeons for wild woods and meadows.  Six is the magic number in Woodland Warriors, as in 6 being the max level and D6 replacing D20s and the other standard polyhedrals.

It  packs alot into its 96 pages*.  A complete system, GM guidance, Bestiary a small setting “The Alder Vale” and an introductory adventure.  If you are familiar with the Swords and Wizardry rules alot of the text will be immediately familiar, seeing as the game like Crypts and Things is built on those rules, but copious modifications to model the genre its emulating and be much more accessible version of D&D.  In my view it achieves both these goals admirably.

Why this book is important to the UK OSR?

It carries on the fine UK traditions of innovation and approachability.  Coming after the grandmasters of the Hobby, Gygax et al, early UK writers built on what had gone before taking the Fantasy milieu in new directions away from a pure dungeon bashing.  Also there was a strong introductory stream of rpgs, mainly based of Fighting Fantasy, but even in  Warhammer 1st Ed and other Games Workshop RPGs there was a strong ethos of keeping systems and straightforward, taking time to explain fully at every stage of the book what was going on to the newcomers.

Its an OSR product we can point people to who don’t want a pure Dungeon Bashing game based off typical fantasy troupes.  This the game I can play with my missus (a non gamer who likes animal stories ) and my children when they grow up in four-three years (currently they are nearly 3 and 5 respectively).

Overall can’t recommend this one highly enough:)

Also worth noting Simon is highly prolific and the following games from his ever growing portfolio are of direct interest to the Old School Gamer:

 

*I’m reviewing the standard edition here. There is a Complete version which includes all the  supplements that Simon has put out since the game’s initial release.