Reviewsday: Romulus Buckle and the City of the Founders

I generally cycle from SF to fantasy on about a six month cycle; I seem to be switching over again, as I found a new SF (abeit pulp SF) book I got to share.


Romulus Buckle and the City of the Founders !
 Richard Ellis Preston Jr.

Zepplins, Martians, post-apocalyptic earth, swords, robots, and giant cool hats !

Season with the LA basin, cults and technoclans, lots more zeppelins, evil neofascists, missing sisters (did I mention robots ?).

Honest to god, what more do you need ?

A good, fast read, tight story, good characters, excellent dialogue and brisk writing style, all contribute to it being awarded the coveted 2013 prize for best use of zeppelins in a post apocalyptic setting without elves or gratuitous use of Tesla.

..AND, the second book is now out, in which the devilish plot and trechery is further revealed, along with blood-thirsty Martian Saber beasts, and a Mysterious Mountain hideaway   ! 


Again:
http://www.amazon.com/Romulus-Founders-Chronicles-Pneumatic-Zeppelin-ebook/dp/B009PS42YI/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1

This Stuff is GREAT !

 Other than keyboards and bathrobes (tm) my most popular posts seem to be reviews.  So, here is another one  some more.

So, there's this guy (I guess) who goes by"Lars Dangly" over on one of the big RPG forums. So what?  So he is kind of a random RPG encounter - out of the blue he has posted two free excellent RPGs.

One of them is "Balrogs and Bagginses"   a set of original (and early) edition rules for playing in middle earth -and clearly channeling the adventure ethos of "The Hobbit ".

It is really really good, and this is coming from a massive JRRT geek.   The rules are concise, freestanding (mostly spells are still a bit beta) and very nicely developed from bog standard OD&D.

So, it scores two hits in
1. Successfully pulling off a Middle earth RPG without being wildly concerned with microdetails, and

2. is another excellent example of what I think the OSR is doing (or should do) starting with the very basics of D&D and evolving it in a different direction.

Plus, the cover uses one of the best "adventure and get treasure" pix, evar.


Seriously, I love me some MERP, and tolerated me some whatever the second one was, and pretty much poked at the new middle earth RPGwith a stick,  - but, this is at least as good as MERP for feel, and given that MERP was tied to the mondotablequest engine has a much more elegant system.

No kidding: it's a take on old style D&D that gets around the three class model very elegantly and avoids race as class (which I despise, thank you very much) .  Very elegantly.  Seriously, check it out -I'd go into it in detail, but as it is free, you can download it and decide for yourself.  Plus, my beer is getting cold.


 Again:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B8azW7IbtcxzalBIRUl0VW5zY1k

Quick review: Orbital by Zoser games. A traveller setting & sourcebook

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Orbital

A traveller setting & sourcebook

Paul Elliott & Ben Lecrone

From Zozer Games

From the blurb: Orbital is a science fiction setting for Traveller with a fairly realistic (TL 9) feel that is set within our own solar system.

Yeah, well I say, Orbital is great !  It is exactly what  Open source Traveler should be (and is) creating.  New campaigns in new settings, with all the bells and whistles; chargen, ship building, planetary info, etc. It’s a TL 9 setting  confined to the solar system – no FTL, no gravitics and actual rockets instead of grav thrusters – so, although they are super efficient &  advanced fusion rockets, fuel use and burns are important.

It includes rules for chargen appropriate to the setting, necessary modifications to ship design (spin-grav modules and fusion drives in particular), planetary lift off , re-entry and orbital travel rules; a bunch of stuff that does a very good job of adding granularity to the low tech levels in any traveler game, even one set in the Third Imperium.  It probably worth getting for that alone if you are a 3I purist.

The setting is cool, although I have to admit I freaked when I saw it described as Cold war (” Dammit ! pipped again ! ) – but, it turns out to be a late 80’s type cold war tech +100 years – and the main cold war is between earth nations and Luna.  So, cool; my retro cold war  setting is still viable (see this blog for details) (assuming it ever wakes back up)

 A very 1980’s SF setting, no cyberpunk, no transhumanism, just corporate greed and nationalism in space. 

Chargen is well modified for the setting, and presented with a minimum of “look it up in the core rules”, and a good selection of hardware and “stuff” is included.

Orbital tells you the events and timeline, discusses politics and society, and does it in an engaging and detailed manner;  It’s harder to do well than it seems –I’ve read quite a few attempts that seem more like an unusually dry  sixth grade social studies report copied from the encyclopedia than I care to think about. 

I heartily recommend Orbital.

Get it here at DTRPG

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/109160/Orbital

Mob of Morons Kill Low Level Necromancer, Save Village; Hurt Selves, Sheep and Dog

ONE OF THE BEST CON RPG RUNS EVAR.







above cover illustration stolen and vandalized without permission.  click on it to get to the publisher website







So, in an unusual move, I actually played in an RPG at a con, pre-gens and all.  Usually, I don't due to what I sensitively call the "spastic kamakazi moron" effect that selects the players in such games.

Well, to be fair, it was also run by one of my oldest and dearest DM (and friend), and he had talked it up beforehand.   And yes, it was the poison coolaide of DCC (Dungeon crawl classics) , and DAMN...that is some tasty coolaid.

See, I had pretty much decided not to have anything to do with a massive tome  "old school" $50.00 game for a variety of reasons - not least was the fact that it was a massive thick tomb, with a huge proportion of pages dedicated to MAJIK THAT IS WILD AND KAOSEY AND RELLY ZAPZAP! (more about this later. Looking at it in the context of the game, it works well, go figure)

Still, the starting premise of the game pulled me in.....balance the characters by random chance and darwinian winnowing rather than elaborate tradeoffs, advantages and limitations. In short, start four characters as a level zero clodhoppers, and go into the dungeon. See who comes out, pick a class. NOTE:  these are NOT 0 level adventurers -you know, 0 level clerics, magic users, etc.  They are zero level humans (or elves or halflings, whatever; but still zero level.  They have a career background (randomly determined) which MAY be (say) an apprentice mage or cleric, but you really really have none of the skills and benefits of that class.  You pick a class when you get to first level - or you've died, and it is moot.

Interesting !  And, low level play has always been a love of mine.  And BOY are you low level.  No class (in every sense of the word) almost no equipment, no skills, no spells no special abilities, little hope; however, you might have a hammer or pitchfork, so roll on !.  And boy was it fun. 

 Sort of played like what would AD&D be like if say, maybe Gygax AND Arneson and Hargrave played Arduin with George Romero and a bunch of 1980's games workshop metal punks while cranking Hawkwind and chewing on a mouthful of berserker mushrooms.  Well, maybe not Hawkwind. I'd hate to discourage anyone simply becuase they hate Hawkwind.  Maybe BOC.  But the rest ?  Yes.

More to come. As a teaser, the Eeeeevil necromancer had his epic kill em all spell disrupted by being hit by a thrown dog..

Yeee-Ha !

Dead Simple One-Page RPG: a review that barely escapes being longer than the rules…..

In all honesty, I’m not a classic OSR guy –in fact, I never stopped playing  Oe since about 1975 ; I’m a living fossil.  What I am entirely enthusiastic about is the minimal rules component of RPG development that OSR has shined new light on. I think I found the OSR sites thru searching for microlited20 stuff.  I love the idea of minimal rules.  My son does, too, and getting kids interested is  about the best thing a rules set can do. 

So, what ones do I like ? my current favorite is the Dead-Simple one page FRP rules developed by the creators of FUBAR , itself a great set of  one page miniatures rules.  The author clearly cut his teeth designing an excellent one page future/ultra modern miniatures set, and did a marvelous job; unsurprisingly, the same general zeitgeist carried over to an honest to god FRPG.  I say unsurprisingly, because, as we all remember, D&D is the mutated offspring of lead pushing miniatures rules ; in all honesty , dead simple does tread the line between a skirmish game and an RPG, but, especially in the latest iteration, it is clearly on the RPG side (character focus, persistent game environment, experience system etc) .  It is a simple rules-lite classic RPG in the old school tradition– in one page.

 It has spells, combat and experience progression, items and a skill system all on one page.  Revisions have been aimed at making more room for progression/advancement, and making initial builds  They have done a marvelous job of catching all the necessary tropes for a D&D experience, in a very elegant set of rules.  And note:  the rules are concise, not compressed.  Compressed rules often assume a more than basic knowledge of the topic (RPG or miniatures); whereas concise requires clarity and ease of access.  The fit clearly in the latter case;

It comes in at least three variant versions, covering different genres: space Opera ,Oriental adventures, steam punk and reformation)…four, sir. Well, five including Busiris, which is the version set in a homegrown setting.   And six, a gonzoish goblin world version.  Really very portable.  Also available  are a series of one page supplements that allow one to expand the framework beyond the bog standard elf/dwarf/hobbit/human/fighter/mage/cleric and barbarian/ranger, which are a pretty good set of guides on being a DM in general.  The whole site is good stuff, and includes lots more than dead simple..  Check it out.

Again:

http://thegamesshed.wordpress.com/category/rpg-rules/fantasy-rpg-rules/

Continuing my break from the cold war…a review of Engines and and Empires !

So, I thought I’d do some fanboy reviews of games that I’ve fallen in love with. First up, Engines and Empires.

How bout a quick summary before you start blathering ?

Okay.....Engines and Emrires is a BEMX/Holmes inspired set of rules via Labyrinth Lord, and allows play in a fantasy milleaux that is technologically similar to the pre or earlier victorian era.  Mainly self contained setting and rules. It seems pretty much play-out-of- the- box ready, possibly with some need for LL in the spells. Whatever, nothing a competent DM or creative noob couldn’t handle. 200 + pages with no crucial part being overlong.  Rules, spells, campaign equiptment, chargen mass combat, extras, options, you name it.  All there. Vampires, Elves, lightning cannon, fireballs and rifled musketry, man.  Vampires and lightning cannon, man ! Hobbits with muskets ! With muskets ! Yowsa !
Authors blurb:

ENGINES & EMPIRES is a campaign setting designed for use with the LABYRINTH LORD fantasy RPG. Sitting at the crossroads of heroic high fantasy and Victorian gaslight romance, E&E pits magic and science against an ancient darkness intent on once again enveloping the world of Gaia... along with all the Free Folk that now dwell thereupon.

John Higgins , 257 pages. 
Free PDF,and  very reasonably priced print available from Lulu, here.

Now, the froth and fluff part.

 Okay, here’s the deal, I am of the firm opinion that the further one gets past the pseudo medievalesque setting, the less sense class and level systems make; the same with different class membership and abilities by race (which really should be species). Plus, I’ve always cordially dispised " race as class" from its first presentation in Holmes (which, with BEMX I’ve always shunned). That said, E&E would seem to be a long shot for me to obsess about and fall in love with. But it is….fantastic.

Possibly its becuase it's vaguely post Napoleonic,early Victorian setting exactly defines the last period where class/level systems work (for me); possibly because it’s an actual non-dark/dystopic steampunk (gaslight, actually) setting or possibly because its a different take on human and non-human coexistence in a game world – but probably because it’s so well written, presented and a hell of a hoot.  Heck.  I even forgive it for Class as level because it makes it work (see below).

But Doc, why have you gone over to the dark side of emphasising setting over rules ?

Because E&E is  that rarest of rare things, a rules set+setting that is well presented, flavorful, creative and not just another world of Greyhawk with or without some kind of edgy tweak. Unusually for me, the setting is a big part of the attraction, the rules are fine too, but there are lots of rules in the world. The rules work for the setting, and don't require a vast investment of time in learning the authors new d17-d4 action resolution skill and trait based semi-level system. And the setting rocks, and not just becuase it's edgy gritty or has cognitively dissonant elements merged together (Spelljammer anyone ? Mechs in Creeks and crawdads ?)


And how is it not just another D&D elfy welfy eurocentric greyhawk only with mecha carved out of Ents and trains that run on spellpoints drained from gelflings ?

Well, primarily, the setting is self-contained and almost unique – early steampunk without as much punk, also known as a gaslight romance –except that romance now pretty much means relationship romance, and not fantastical. What sets it apart from lots of steam inspired RPG’s is that steampunk usually either pushes magic in an almost modern world (Falkenstein,most vampire/werewolf settings) or focuses on the crazy science (1889, most of the steam mecha). E&E does a good job of including both; magic is old, but science is new –it’s the exact overlap of gizmo invention and academic magic and spiritualism.
Also, whereas much steampunk has been edging closer to 1900, E&E drops back to clearly before the 1860’s, probably to 1820ish (Crimean war ?) with some anachronisms. Inventors work with steam and chemistry, electricity is a new and yet to be tamed force, cap and ball rifles and revolvers exist alongside swords and suchlike, people ride horses, sail in clippers or steam side-wheelers, and flight is reserved for balloons and creatures with wings. Oh yeah –plus the undead and magic, both of which have a much more Victorian penny dreadful flavor.

AND, it’s not just set in an earth alternate. It is similar physically to earth, but it is a world where lots of the non-human species (elves, dwarves fey,niads,centaurs,halflings) coexist as equals and humans are just another kind of race. Humans don’t dominate, nor are the other species declining. Even the frikkin hobbits have a kingdom or two, and IIRC, a napoleon analogue is a gnome. (Laugh at the committee for public safety, if you laugh at me, monsieur).  It has a history, and a gazeteer of the kingdoms at a reasonable level of detail, with lots of places and plaothooks for the GM to use.

Finally, while it clearly is shoving a Gygaxian fantasy world into a later setting, its fairly well thought out, and isn’t just an attempt to represent a particular modern or SF trope only this time made using steam and cocoanut shells (any fantasy/steam age star trek or mecha game, I’m looking at you)

And lots of cool hand drawn maps !  Did I mention the maps ?  I love maps. 

Any actual discussion of mechanics besides fanboy love ?

Like, what else do you need ?  Okay, okay.
The rules are Labyrinth Lord derived, with custom classes and all the basics of Old style D&D mechanics and feel are there. It has the defining race as class mechanisms of the Holmes/BEMX family of games, and is scaled for a 36 level character track, paralleling the basic/advanced/master/expert kinds of plateaus. Usually these would be problematic , but the class level works well enough, and has the benefit of similar non-humans have different classes –so, an elfy character has some options, just some are called Fey, and etc. Similarly, the 36 level scaling (who the heck has time for a 36 level campaign now that we are out of middle school….) seems much more doable with an custom advancement scheme that avoids XP altogether, and is based on game session. I think the assumption is that a character should level up every4-6 sessions. That’s still a long way to level 36, but doesn’t involve having to kill Gods to get enough XP to level up….. Chargen is bog standard. Combat is very abstract, but with options for old farts like me to use to complicate things. Of note is a skill system that is simple, and not very granular – much like the d20 lite systems use. If you like the skill granularity to be very fine, this may not work for you, but it is very consistent with the style of the game.

The basic D&D classes are there (Fighter, Mage, Cleric, and Thief) in some campaign appropriate disguises, with some different skills and abilities. New classes include the inventor, a requirement for any steampunk/gaslight setting. Clerics are scholars (kind of a cross between VanHelsing and Seminary trained types), mages use charisma, fighters are soldiers, monks are Boxers (Fisticuffs AND Marquis of Queensbury, wot!), Thieves are experts/professionals, and inventors have a fully developed set of rules for tinkering, gizmonics and infernal device creation.

How does it play ?

Overall, the style of play seems fast, but not truly cinematic, if you accept that john Wu films are the baseline for cinematic RPG style. Remember, it’s a world where the fastest communication is still birds, and the fastest land transport is a horse. Whereas a cinematic game simply cuts to the action and then to more action with a brief précis of between the scenes events, the action in E&E would seem to be fast, and frequent but with a fair amount of development of the intermediate play sequences. Yes, you get to fight cannibal apes, but you also get to role-play a court feast and negotiate a treaty with the king of the gnomish cannibals.

The rules are simple and familiar enough to be essentially transparent.  One plays the game, not the rules.

Anything to look out for ?

I sorta wish it was available in an 8.5 x 11 size, and/or hardback.  But , one can print the PDF that way.
It really doesn;t have any sandbox rules, although encounter tables and world detail is provided -but no Judges guild style hex contents genrator tables - but thats fine, as it comes with a dandy setting already installed.
 If you are expecting high graphic hex bases map projections, the ones provided will not satisfy. The art is (I think) entirely period B&W clip art; you'll either love it or hate it. Combat isn't very granular, but if I want that, I have Frappe or Colonial age skirmish.
Liking a rules set with 36 levels, post medieval class and level and Holmsian  race as class makes me experience cognitive dissonance.

Oh yeah.  Gnomes are treated as if they were worth existing.  Can't support that. next thing you know, it'll be sapient ducks........

Anything else ?

E&E is a different RPG using familiar tropes and rules.  Its exactly what I think is the goal of the OSR -not just cloning, but developing from the neccessary clones. Its all to easy to become  obsessed with the basics (ie rules cloning) and lose sight of the fact that it is not an end in itself.  Or, more academically, "Don;t convert vital ideological praxis into rarified ideology. Get out on the barricades !"

Anything else that doesn't hint at absurdist mockery of GNS games theory ?

Yeah.  Who the hell are you, anyway ?

Look. I love it. It’s honest to god adventure from the last age of explorers, Burton and Speke, guns and mystic mysteries vs. the glory of science, all in a world different enough that it need not be haunted by the dark side of steam (such as colonialism, satanic mills and factory cities, and…well, the killing floor of world war one). Full marks. . I have the free version, and two copies of the print version, and I’m a known cheap bastard.


GO GET IT NOW !


Other reviews are to be found here and here .

Reviewsday Tuesday. Spinters of faith part 1: Railroad or Sandbox ?

Reviewsday Tuesday Presents:

Splinters of faith, Adventure 1: It started with a chicken.

Gary Schotter & Jeff Harkness.

 Frog God Games. 2010(ish)

Caveat: FGG sent me a bunch of free and unsolicited PDF product after I wrote a raving fanboy squeeee about Swords and Wizardry, Complete edition. All he requested was a fair review, which I hope to provide, but be aware that I did not pay for this, so that will color any comments I have.  See, maybe it's me, but whenever I buy something, I always read it with an eye to “Did I just waste X dollars that I could have spent more enjoyably on Beer.”. Needless to say, anything involving beer being wasted, even potentially, can inspire some serious nerd rage, which these kind of reviews will lack.


First question: was it worth the Beer ? Absolutely, as it was free. The only way to up its Product to Beer rating would be for FGG to send me Beer with the PDFs (are you listening ?). Would it have been worth the beer if I paid for it ? Read on.

SOF:ISWAC capsule review for the attentionally challenged.

Splinters of faith (SOF) is the first part of a ten part adventure series, intending to start players at level one, and work up from there, probably to level ten; oh yes, and save the world, while they are at it. They visit a village, get some well intentioned but incorrect information about a chicken, deal with the real problem, and discover a dangerous way to kill some time with a bunch of ghouls and such. Ideally, they realize that this Is Part Of Somthing Bigger and More Important than the chicken or their loot from the crypt.

So, okay, I liked it, although I may not have ever bought it on my own, mainly because there are so many damned modules, and I'm a snob (see note at the end) . Note that I did read it all the way thru (which says a lot) , and am very tempted to use it as a start to running D&D for my son and his overly sugared up friends.
 
It is easy to run as a basic railroad style “ read the backstory to the players via a bard, ancient tome or annoyingly intrusive wizard buddy of dad’s or something , and send them to save the worlds by visiting a bunch of places”; or, and this is key, a spooky mystery with threads buried throughout the more mundane bits of a campaign.

Regardless, it’s a nice module with a village, some wilderness and a nice crypt full of undead. It should challenge beginning characters, and actually hose them if they are really stupid. Otherwise, they’ll likely win, but know they’ve been in a fight. Which, really, is the point of adventures, right ? 'cause:

“As his vision faded and filled with the sight of the Lord of the Nazgul standing over the bodies of Glorfindel and Aragorn, Frodo surrendered to despair and cast himself into the foaming river, the ring slipping from his drowning fingers. It was lost again, but still whole and would soon find its master; nothing now would stop the tide of darknesss, nothing but the worlds end."

Is depressing.

More stuff, lots o' blather and actual information occasionally .

Objective part:
What you get: a 16 page PDF, with some nice cover art which can be used to illustrate why elves are not nice benevolent angels like Frodo thought (Read the Hobbit again, and pay attention). The title is great: juxtaposing portentous (not pretentious. Look it up) phrases like “splinters of faith“ and the word “chicken” is always good postmodern fun. Actual text starts on page 4, and as foretold in prophesy, the last page is OGL stuff. So, twelve pages of actual stuff. Art isn’t excessive, and seems evocative; lots of maps (IE real content) are included. The campaign back story runs to page 9 before we get to the part that the players are in. The module can either be run as a one off (although it will lack some resolution, sometimes life is like that, and at least you get some cool stuff and a good ghost story), or as part of an organized campaign To Save The World By Remaking an Artifact.

I should mention that I'm reviewing the version for swords and wizardry, presumably the complete edition. This is great, and really convenient as it is the rules I want to run, and gush about. Probably why they sent me this one instead of the pathfinder version. Clever lads, them Frog Gods. That's about all I have to say about that, except that it nicely shows a wonderful benefit  of the rules lite and OSR approach to gaming: minimalist stat blocks. Let me say this here, MINIMAL stats and technical rules exposition  REALLY Helps Make the text more READBLE. No kidding. I have to read statistics books and software manuals for a living, so when relaxing, too much techtech makes my eyes threaten mutiny .
The Subjective stuff (aka dogheaded opinions)
Okay, it has an epic backstory, an evil icklord, and a McGuffin scavenger hunt. Pretty straightforward, and honestly, nothing new or surprising. The task (fix the mcguffin, stop the baddie) is cryptically spelled out on the door to the tomb, in case the bad guy comes back. Why they went with poetry and not a big skull and trefoil logo with warnings and instructions in in seven languages and stick figures is a mystery, but that’s priests for ya.

The actual play parts consist of one village, a small extra-dungeon wilderness, and a small but evil-encrusted barrow. One moves from the mundane (kill the fox that is eating chickens) to the surprise (oh, look, it isn’t a chicken) to the dangerous and spooky (Where does this go….oh man, so that’s why they are here…). The village is good and mood setting, the interim setting is an expected surprise, and the crypt is a very nice small dungeon which actually makes sense if you you know the backstory. If not, it’s a good undead fight, with clues that something very odd happened here. This is crucial to the point of the module. It’s the gateway to a long epic campaign, which always means, how to keep the players on script without chains and whips ? SOF1 has an unusual, and, I hope, intentional, approach to resolving this dilemma.


A digression about the Backstory:
Interestingly, apart from some cryptic poetry (in a crypt –get it ?) Most of the backstory is unavailable to the players without him tediously reading it to them : “The ghoul in life was an unspeakably evil man, servant of the big bad dude who was, as you all know, imprisoned here by and artifact of great puissance which was forged by the elder blah blah blah.)”. So, one can just hand them the backstory (ADD module XYZ123 style) , but me, I think that this lack of explicit exposition is a feature, not a bug.


In other words, the players should at most get the impression that something very odd, unpleasant and unfinished has happened here, and possibly something that is hidden in their histories –or lost. The module states that the players should have a definite feeling that the McGuffin needs to be reforged. Me, I’d play it as a Close Encounters like compulsion , or at least an itch to find out what the heck happened there.  At the very least they may be motivated to find out who the heck killed and left after having robbed the.....oh wait, spoiler. Buy it yourself, since I didn't have to, so they can make money. Geeze, what is it with you kids these days ?

So...?
So what’s the solution to running it as part of a  campaign ? Like I said, one can vomit forth the backstory and then highlight the cryptic poetry so they know what there mission is, or, alternately, and I like this, it is VERY easy to leave them baffled.

My opinion of a good horror story (which this is, with  a dark claustrophobic settings, Dark Lords and a side order of cannibalism, entombment and betrayal) is that you spend most of it going "WTF ?  Seriously, what was that about ?", then, "Oh gosh  ! I think its.... ", until you get to  "AAAAAAAAA we're screwed !".  This is an excellent vehicle for that kind of start to a campaign.

 The module claims that the following installments can be linear or in any order, and that suggests to me that the whole plot can be buried and only slowly uncovered between the lines of normal adventuring. At which point you start to discover that there’s something you should have done, and maybe you didn’t, and perhaps its not too late to make it right…..

Or...?
Or, if your players hate to think, or don’t have lots of time, or just want to play epic mcGuffin hunt, one can easily give them the tour guide and a reservation on the Acheson, Topeka and Dungeoncrawl Railroad. Don’t knock it, kids, it can be a very fun style of adventure if you know what it is going in. Sandbox is not the only way.

 The Note at the end:
Confession: I never have liked adventure modules. This is an adventure module. Bear with me before I draw any conclusions. See, in the classic D&D era I snootily avoided them, proclaiming “why buy imagination that I already have in spades”; and then went on to run whatever, often as not no less derivative, railroady, unjustifiable and confused as any AD&D XYZ123 module. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. Possibly it was because I was cheaper then, being a highschool/college student, and plus, too, there was always the onerous amounts of beer and textbooks to pay for. So, I didn’t get a lot. Some classics, yes, and I always was a sucker for sandbox or city modules. But basically, I’ve always been a roll yer own kinda DM.
Now, however, I find time limits press upon me, and my gaming group. The time needed to build up a decent adventure is scarce, valuable, and often disrupted by (insert beer reference here) and family, too. So, my secret shame has been shopping for and using modules, pregens and etc.

This looks like a good mix of prebuilt and DIY....sort of like a module from IKEA ?  Oh well.  There goes any hope of beer from FGG.....

Swords and Wizardry review, part III : What is in it, and what I like.

Okay. Now that we know why I love it, and what it looks like, let’s see what the heck is in it.
First off, a list of tables in addition to a table of contents. Good work there. Table finding is a perennial chokepoint for games. This should speed it the heck up. Strongly suggests that effort and thought has been put into actual ease of use in addition to ease of rules.

Characters. No Surprises here. All the stats you expect with the usual names. Generation is 3d6 in order or GM moderated move-around. Stat bonuses exist, and are between the LBB minimal effects and the Greyhawk extremes. AD&D as I recall reduced the value of bonuses, but made them easier to get; on the whole, I think this solution is good enough to provide adequate character flavor while not supporting munchkinism. Also, and this is one I really like: only fighters get the to hit and damage bonuses for high Str. AND, this specifically excludes paladins and rangers. Good way to make fighters more unique and less vanilla: when it needs to be hit very very hard, call a fighter.

STR gives penalties for whimps, and bonuses for fighters -real fighters, not rangers and Paladins.  So, expect to be giving your luunch money to the fighter, or be willing to get familiar with the nearest trashcan....This is one of the nicer and more elegant ways to make fighters more than just the vanilla class of gaming. Well done !

DEX: The dex bonus/AC effect is interestingly linked to the fighter, also. Everyone gets a mild bonus to AC for high dex, but only fighters get a special bonus for defensive fighting. What defensive fighting entails is left intentionally undefined (according to a post by Matt). Is it a constant bonus, or one that the fighter can apply instead of attacking? Your call, and that's just fine. I’ll keep it as a bonus used when the fighter deliberately decides to not roll an attack. It’s another cool way to differentiate fighters from the mixed types (Rangers, Paladins).

CON: minor bonus for higher levels, but they have returned to the old “raise dead survival” rules. Roll the number or less, or the raise spell fails, or the major system shock kills you. My opinion is that anything that makes death a bit more of a real risk (rather than just a setback) is good. There are correspondingly good limits to the spell “Raise dead” also. Me, I’m also going to include the “each time you have to roll, if you succeed, you still lose 1 CON” point rule; because I’m mean, that's why.

INT: The rules do include one of my least favorite Greyhawk+ additions, the spell knowledge rules; you know, limits numbers of spells, and chance to comprehend them. I don't like them for two main reasons; first, it’s an annoying chore and doesn't have much positive payoff except pissing off the characters player; and second, its one of the misplaced attempts to balance out Magic users. Why misplaced? Well, because while the observation that Mages are the Powerhouse characters, it’s only later in the game –after 6th level or so, they start dominating the game. Unfortunately, most of the balance attempts are applied at the beginning of the MU’s career (d4, spell knowledge) when they are at their absolute weakest. The net result really is to winnow the weak and stupid MU’s, which on a population level probably works fine to limit the number of them, but from a character perspective, only adds frustration…..and doesn't solve the problem, because the survivors still gain the abilities that let them dominate play. My 2cp anyway.

Wisdom and charisma, well, y’know. Yeah.  Whatever. 
Actually, high wisdom does help that saddest of first level characters – the no-spell cleric. High Wis gives cleric (specifically) an additional 1st level spell.


Classes:
All the canonical OD&D book and supplement classes are there with the addition of the Ranger from (at the time) the Strategic Review. No illusionists or barbarians, though. I won't miss either cause illusions are always the hardest spells to deal with (as a GM); and I’ve never felt that a barbarian needed to be its own class. Really, ranger works pretty wells for that, or, get this, a fighter with a high dex. (And an all-too rational fear of magic). [Look guys. Conan wore armor when he knew he was going into battle if he had it. If he was sneaking, no, and when he is out on the town? Seldom. When he was fresh from Cimmeria? Didn't have any. Lots of historical warriors couldn't afford armor and never had it. FRPGs tend to make it the exception, not the norm. Enough. Maybe a later rant.]

Basic comments on canonical classes
The list includes Assassin, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, MU, Monk (sigh), Paladin, Ranger, Thief. I guess one has to include monks, but really – they just don't fit in a eurobiased setting –which D&D is, no arguments allowed from anyone. I mean, they work great in Asian settings, and even the old west, but semi-hemi-demi-tolkeiny-1300ish Europe-Scandinavia? Really guys –King Fu was great fun, but did it really need to be fossilized into amber as a vital part of D&D? Okay, again, more ranting for later.

Assassins are probably not for my campaign, but so what and druids have a better justification than just a bow to the celty-welty artsy-fartsy dancy-wancy crowd (Hi Kristen!).

Clerics are either Law or Chaos (which is the good old good guys, bad guys axis); no neutral clerics on the fence; those are Druids. Nice flavor. Gods seldom compromise on their views so their clerics shouldn’t either; and neutral isn't just fence sitting for druids: they just do not care what the gods want – not the gods of Man (and demi-man).

Mages: Fine, Vancian fire and forget dudes (no explanation given for why magic works that way, which is fine by me) who cannot use any armor or shields. Why? Because they can’t, pilgrim, and it says so right here.

My take on it (and as I'm sure you know, the correct one) is extrapolated from Larry Niven: no magic user with an ounce of self respect would admit that he needed something as mundane and common as armor to protect himself; his huge intellect and might mystical powers are all he ever needs. Thus, in MU school, any armor-prone student is mocked and persecuted until they give in or quit. And the other Mages always know, so while you may wear underwear of the other gender, non-one, no-one at all, dares wear armor even in secret. End of story.


Thieves. Well, goody, they are there. As thieves, too. Rogues. Peh. Rogues are for thespians and Errol Flynn movies. The mouser stole from the rich and gave it to himself, bartenders and whores. Thief.

 Unfortunately, and probably unavoidably, they are still the greyhawk model, which presumes that the thief starts as a much younger and more Noobish character than any of the others. Really, except for climbing, they can’t do jack at first level unless you assume that their “skills” (stop spluttering you OSR pundits) are actually extraordinary abilities, rather than stuff everyone can do. I can’t remember who suggested this, but the essence is that one should read the original thief abilities as written, not just as hyped descriptions of normal skills. In short, hide in shadows really means the ability to be Batman (tm DC comics) and vanish and appear from normal sight; Climbing means going up a glass or ice wall with no tools, pocket picking is the stage magician type that really does steal your tie without you noticing, and lock picking –well, in a medieval society, it's a pretty rare skill, so that works. It’s suggested in the rules, but not explicitly made plain, so, had I written it, it would be different with a great big huge font statement that anyone can hide or climb but thieving abilities are special, above the norm on a par with spell casters special abilities. Are you there Matt? Next edition, MAKE IT SO. Well, y’know, if you want, I guess……

I like the Box about “why play a cleric or fighter”. It highlights that there are some actual advantages to the core classes that the variants types do not get. Good ones, too. Some simple rules on starting a second class which are much more consistent with the AD&D model than the 3e model. I’m agnostic about which is better, and one could easily do either. The rules are simple and clean as given and work well enough.

Races.
Okay, good old fashioned racial list (which really should be species, but I digress). They aren't race as class, and have the lovely illogical level limits one would expect. Multiclassing is the forte of the non-human, with stat modified level caps. Interestingly, the actual multiple classes allowed are specifically spelled out – not the infamous “pick any three from 4 classes” mold of the extremely annoying half elf. Actual guidance as to how to manage these levels is given, which is cool. Both of these (specific combinations and some coherent rules for multiclassing) are improvements that Original D&D badly needed, and only got in dribs and drabs, so, Win. Bonus win is the explicit statement that Non-Player versions of the races do not follow the same rules! Yay! And bonus points for not including some fluffy bizarre rationale for why that is. (You should be sensing a trend by now regarding this topic).

Equipment:
Yeah, everything you need is there, based on the D&D gold piece economy. I’m more forgiving about that now that I’ve tried to design a “more realistic one”. Historical economics is….well, insane, hard to do, and barely documented. So, whatever. It works, and this isn't papers and paychecks, or Malls and misadventures, so drive on.

Experience:
Experience is unabashedly pegged to killing stuff and stealing their flatware just as in the Original game you loved, with the benefit of clarification and streamlining. None of the typical alternates are presented, which probably cut down the page count significantly. Killing and looting is the baseline, and actually kinda sorta makes sense , if you treat this as some kind of epic/mythic kind of story/saga in which great deeds and great rewards always made a hero mightier, if for no other reason than his rep increased, and he could reward the bards more richly. .
I do admit that I’ll probably be adding some balancing factor for simple loot to experience, probably that at higher levels (after about 3rd level seems right), and no more complicated than that if you spend some of it on gear or training upgrades, class obligations, or squandering it perhaps.

Saving Throws:
I like having just one saving throw, so obviously Matt is correct in having only one, but, for those who are incorrect, a good old fashioned multiple save by threat table is presented, along with some recommendations as to how to integrate them.

More stuff:
Weight and movement are covered adequately and concisely –of particular goodness is including cross country movement rates with indoor and tactical movement rates in one place. Score one for a low flip and seek factor in the rules.
Time:  Passses.



Combat, The BIG C, Bloody constraint, WackAnOrc.
Well, here’s the thing. You either love D&D’s roots as a miniatures wargame, or hate em. I’ve seen very little middle ground (not that the internet is any place to find it, I admit.). I am in the first category, but have come out the other side of the wargamers delusion, which is: more realistic equals more complexity and consideration of more variables and modifiers. My rules of choice of Mini gaming has become HOTT/ DBA1.0, as opposed to WRG6/ Tactica/Frappe/etc etc. where it started okay? Combat is important, but really, what we want to simulate is the results, not the process. People need to be able to move, shoot hit and cast in a system that allows basic tactics and cunning along with pure luck, without slowing the process down by orders of magnitude, especially compared to actual combat... That's pretty much all I need, and from my SCA experiences fighting in melee (in armor), works just fine.
So, the combat rules are fine, very close to what one gets with LBB/GH with rationalized centralized interpretations, and lots of clearly identified options. For instance, initiative is presented in three forms: The default one (pretty much pre AD&D), the Holmes one, and a cool one which takes the rules from Eldritch wizardry and makes them playable. I’ll be trying out the phased movement version really soon, but using the basic generic version with those players who really don't care about detail (e.g., my son and his buddies).

Some nice developments in the RPG field of combat are included, such as fighting from a second rank, but not attacks of opportunity. This may be a bit of a wrench for the hard core 3E players, as it’s become so central to the game, but, probably is for the best. Basically, a quick explanation of the issue is provided, with resolution explicitly left up to the GM. This is one are that I would have liked a bit more detail about, but its not like I wouldn't do it myself, anyway, plus, I’m an old school wargamer. YMMV.
Weapons do varying damage by type (only) and aren’t differentiated by armor effects at all. Which is fine. I always loved the idea of weapon vs. armor modifiers, but it always turned out to be more trouble than its worth…always. Sigh.
Armor class is presented both ways, country and western. As an aside, I always liked descending AC because I tied it directly to movement: base move was 4 + AC, with load carried reducing the constant. I may or may not worry about this for S&W.

Combat uses lookup tables by class, not the most elegant solution, but the one in keeping with the subject matter. Yearning for the jump up to a better column was a big part of the original experience, and so here it is, although it’s not as severe. You can calculate THAC0 again, so if you hate lookups, that's the way to go, especially in the absence of Weapon vs. Armor modifiers to hit. Oh yeah. The monsters have their own table, based as ever entirely on HD, and it's a bit better organized. This goes up for every HD, so monsters have much more granular combat progression than ….well, non monsters. Also, I note that 1 1HD monster still has a better to hit than a 1HD character; I suppose monsters always need an edge or they’d just be Victims. And Dungeons and Victims just sounds depressing.
Subdual is spelled out and clear rules presented. Fighting with two weapons and two-handed weapons is covered simply and in one place, the solution is elegant, if a bit flavorless, but they match up with the rules for fighting with a shield, and, remember, I’m a combat rules geek.

Grappling, the eternal pain in the butt (hmmmm….a white wolf supplement?) has rules, (that at least is an improvement over most of D&D pre 2E), they’re simple, and at the same level of abstraction as combat, so if not revolutionary, I’ll call that a success. Plus, they don't seem to be arsed by monks, which is a plus –assuming you allow monks, which is a wrong thing to do, so stop it.
How turning undead works is very clearly laid out, thank the gods; it isn't the most common variant, but it works, and that's that. And note: only LAWFUL clerics can do it. With undead. Heh heh heh.
Damage death and healing are all standard harsh old D&D (0=dead, heal 1/day), with some alternative ways presented. Check.

Morale, as ever is unfortunately shorted big time. Possibly for compatibility, possibly to save page count, possibly just to annoy me personally, it’s basically ignored beyond the usual note that Monsters don't always attack or fight to the death. Well, yeah, true, but everything else gets at least a table. Well, this is probably because D&D’s Ancestor, Chainmail come from a specific era in miniature gaming, that ignored or minimized morale effects, and I don't. I want tables and modifiers dammit, ones that indicate that the standard bearer must be moved back one inch! Take note for the next iteration, Matt ‘cause I just know that my opinions are of greatest possible importance to you! (See my rules for keyboards and bathrobes….)
OKAY. Here we come to an example of play, and so the page count for everything you need to know about creating characters and killing bystanders is……$# pages ! Or, 43 with the shift lock off. That is a wondrous achievement right there. Seriously.
ONWARD !
Okay, the rest is five pages of campaign and strategic notes and rules (hiring, building, etc) and okay if not very elaborate (I always hated that there weren’t better guidelines for building strongholds and the like; S&W is a bit better than book 3, but not much –this is kind of a weak spot.

Page 50 starts Magic, and is, unsurprisingly, an adequate list of spells from the LBB/GH books, all in one place, with some nice variants suggested here and there. Each has a summary of crucial game info (Range duration type and level, and the usual blurb. None of the VSM components garbage, which is fine by me. Does anyone ever run a pencil and paper tabletop campaign where that is rigorously tracked? Does any one play in it? If so, does getting on a high dose of anti OCD meds help you not want to?

Pet peeve. Stop mixing up clerics and spellcaster spells, and while alphabetical listing is nice for details, I really prefer alpha by level. Why? ‘Cause I’m a useless old fart, I suspect, but one who has played lots of spellcasters. I almost always know the name and level of any spell I look up, and the level acts as an index to speed it up. There. I feel much better, now, thanks.
Spells take up 23 pages, or about 15-20% of the whole which is better than most rules sets, and is probably an unavoidable result of the convenience of a Vancian spellcasting system.
I’m going to stop detailing things here, because I’m out of steam and time; the rest is a good GM section, with wilderness rules and encounters, a good selection of Monsters, and a very nice dungeon building section.

There are basic mass combat rules, as well as very basic rules for nautical and aerial combat. Both are more abstract than what was presented in LBB3, and even I can’t say if that's good or bad. Nowadays there are so many sets of rules available for this kind of stuff, that it isn't the handicap that it was in ye Oldenn Dayes.

Treasure is handled nicely, with a good hoard generator table and rules, and tan expected set of magic items and the like. One complaint is this: possibly I’ve missed it, so tell me if I have, but I still haven't found any rules for spell research OR creating magic items. It's a shame, because this was (for me) one of the biggest issues with the old D&D rules. Oh well. I can probably graft on the 3E rules which are pretty good; I always like the magic items for experience points system – money was easy to get, but XP? Now that's a rare currency


Okay, that is it. It's the holidays – get offline and get bent on eggnog and cookies, fer criminys sake! GET THESE RULES! They are Excellent. I’m not kidding. I have so many RPG’s that….well, I don't have them all, but I’m closer than I’d like to admit; and these are the ones I’m going to be using to run D&D and teach my spawn how to play. THESE. Matt take a bow, give him a big hand, and somebody local run the game so I can play! THANKS and Merry Christmas to all and sundry, and also my subscribers! (I hit 40, YAY!)

xxxoooo Your gushing fanboy, DocGrognard !