Swords & Wizardry Core Rules Released

Today, Mythmere Games released the core rules for Swords & Wizardry in both free PDF and in printed form. Rather than try and explain the whys and wherefores of S&W myself, I'll just quote its creator, Matt Finch:

As a lot of you know, Swords & Wizardry is a retro-clone of 0E, although it's not as tight as OSRIC is with 1E. The main differences are that there is only one class of saving throw, the initiative system (there's not one in 0E) is rudimentary (since everyone had to house rule this or use Chainmail, I just used a least common denominator) and the XP bonuses are constructed differently (but with similar results) - for legal reasons. These core rules are a mix of the White Box classes (only), the GH system of hit dice and variable damage by weapon, and spells from across the supplements.

In addition to the normal reasons for creating a retro clone (organized/beginner-accessible rules, shared brand name, preservation of rules in free format), Swords & Wizardry is a project to re-initiate the "hobbyist" approach to OOP gaming, the idea that you can tinker from the ground up and make the rules fit any sort of fantasy you want. Too many gamers (and this is not limited to modern gamers, I have seen it on OOP sites as well) approach games like consumers. If it's not in the rules, it's not in the game; if it doesn't fit into the rules, it's not in the game; if the rules aren't completely specific, they're bad rules - you see what I mean by this mindset. But games used to be approached with the ASSUMPTION that the GM and players were going to hack them apart and make them fit the desired effect. The same way we'd take rules for Napoleonic wargaming and tweak them into rules for Space Marines or 52mm green plastic army men.

I have spend an enormous amount of time over the last 6 months or so preparing the rulebooks (with especial thanks to Red Priest, Finarvyn, Philotomy Jurament, and Jerry Mapes) and building up a body of supplemental resources such as new spells, city encounters, etc). The intro module is just around the corner, and an expanded monster book for 0E is getting close to being done. My goal here is to assure those who want to be playing a living game that 0E is once again a living game supported by an active publisher.

I had a very small hand in the production of Swords & Wizardry, acting as editor of the core rules, so I'm to blame for any grammatical or spelling errors in the text. I've also agreed to oversee Knockspell, an upcoming magazine to support S&W, as well as any other retro-clone for which we get permission to provide support. The first issue has been simmering in the background until completion of the Core Rules. Now that they're done, expect to hear -- and see -- more of Knockspell in the near future.

As a personal aside, any old school products I create will use Swords & Wizardry as their rules, both because they're simple and straightforward but also because they're easily adaptable to any pre-WotC edition of D&D (and their spin-offs). Expect to see quite a few Grognardia-related S&W products over the coming months.

REVIEW: Aendryth's Eldritch Compendium

Aendryth's Eldritch Compendium is the latest PDF from the prolific James Mishler of Adventure Games Publishing. This 12-page product (10 pages of text, plus a title/table of contents and a full-page ad for an upcoming AGP product) retails for $2.50 normally, but is currently on sale for $2.00. Either price is, quite, frankly a steal, considering the terrific ideas to be found here. It's true that the PDF is very "bare bones," consisting of three-column pages of small type and no illustrations. However, I'd argue that's a point in this product's favor, since Mishler was able to pack quite a lot of great ideas into only 10 pages and it's great ideas that distinguish AGP's products.

In principle, the Eldritch Compendium is designed for use with Castles & Crusades and AGP's variant Wilderlands setting, but its contents should easily translate into almost any D&D-related fantasy roleplaying game. Mechanics aside, there's plenty of ideas here that should be easily usable in any RPG with a swords-and-sorcery feel. One of the many things I most appreciate about about AGP's products is their high degree of utility. Whether I'm playing OD&D, AD&D, or C&C, I'd be able to pick and up and use them without worrying a difficult process of converting their game mechanics. That may seem like a small thing, but it isn't and it's one that old school gamers should particularly appreciate. In this respect, AGP is following in the illustrious footsteps of Judges Guild: creating products that are packed with ideas and light on mechanics.

The Eldritch Compendium's actual contents consists of two separate sections. The first details twelve new wizard spells, ranging in level from 1-9. The spells themselves are diverse and interesting, with just enough flavor and idiosyncrasies to make them memorable yet not so specific that they'd be difficult to import into most fantasy campaign settings. A good example is the spell Blood Childe, which enables the caster to create a semi-independent clone of himself that might (if he's lucky) do his bidding. The spell description is lengthy and filled with plenty of information on the process by which the blood childe is created and grows over time, as well as the likelihood that the clone is defective in some way and thus prone to rebel against its "parent" when the time is right. Most of the spells are similarly interesting and not always without dangers in casting them, which appeals to me greatly. Also to be found amongst the spells are a few sly references that struck me as the kinds of silliness Gary Gygax and others foisted on their players in days of yore, such as the spell Chirurgeon ex Nihilo, which summons an extra-dimensional doctor of a race called "Djeeps." Long-time fans of Popeye will immediately recognize the race's origins.

The second half of the PDF consists of formulae for the creation of different potions made from the eyes of a prysmal eye. For those not in the know, a prysmal eye is C&C's ersatz beholder, since the beholder is IP of Wizards of the Coast and not part of the D20 SRD. There are eleven formulae -- one for each eye -- and their descriptions not only explain their effects and how to make them, but also the possible unintended side effects of imbibing them. I think these side effects, many of them quite unpleasant for the imbiber, are pure gold. They're exactly what I want to see more of, since they remind players that magic is unpredictable and often dangerous. They very nicely exude a swords-and-sorcery vibe that I think is not only great fun but also in keeping with the pulp fantasy roots of the hobby. Rounding out the chapter is a formula for the creation of plate armor made from the hide of the prysmal eye; it too has potentially horrible consequences. I sincerely hope Mishler continues to create new magic items in this same vein.

If I have a complaint about Aendryth's Eldritch Compendium, it's that it's too short, but that's my love of good ideas talking rather than any objective judgment on the PDF's length. At 10 pages of small text, the product is full of great ideas and a real bargain, even at its regular price. Like Mythmere Games' Eldritch Weirdness, Book One, this product does more than provide new "toys" for use in one's campaign; it provides plenty of hooks from which to hang dozens of adventures. Few of these hooks are explicitly spelled out -- doing so is the referee's job -- but they're there aplenty and they really do inspire me. That's probably the highest praise I can give any product and I gladly give it here.

Final Score: 5 out of 5 polearms

Riddle Me This

There are lots of strange things that have, over the years, become gamer "collective wisdom." As with all such things, much of it is utterly wrong and based on misunderstandings and misapprehensions. One common one is that Advanced Dungeons & Dragons was an impenetrable maze of complexity. How anyone who actually played AD&D could say this eludes me, because, with the exception of psionics -- which I grant was indeed complex (and stupid) -- AD&D was, in nearly every respect, far less complex than, say, 3e either to prepare or run.

Were I to guess, I suspect that the myth of AD&D's complexity owes its origins in the Cult of the Universal Mechanic. AD&D has no single way to do anything. Sometimes high is good; sometimes is good. Sometimes you roll 1D20; other times, you roll D100. There are matrixes; there are tables. There are sub-systems galore, many of which have their own internal logic to them rather than building on existing systems. I deny none of this, but if this makes AD&D "complex," then what are we to call pretty much every game every published by FGU?

I ask this only partly in jest, because I simply can't get my mind around the idea that any gamer, in this post-3e world, could call AD&D complex with a straight face. Complex compared to OD&D perhaps, but otherwise? Not on your life.

Pulp Fantasy Gallery: Kane

This is the first author to be featured in the pulp fantasy gallery who was not in Gary Gygax's famed Appendix N, but his contributions to the cause of pulp fantasy deserve recognition nonetheless. Beginning in 1970, Karl Edward Wagner began the saga of Kane, a left-handed, red-headed warrior cursed with eternal life after slaying his brother. As well as being a peerless swordsman, Kane is also a potent sorcerer with a decidedly amoral streak. It's been years since I read them, but these stories always epitomized what I used to call "heavy metal fantasy;" they were the types of tales my friend Mike's older brother probably loved.

Wagner also deserves praise, though, for his formation of Carcosa Press, which sought to preserve pulp authors and tales and present them for a new generation in hardcover form. Even more important, Wagner edited several volumes of Conan stories that were the first to restore the texts to their original form, free from the accretions that had watered them down in the decades after Howard's death. For that alone, we all owe him a great debt.

Old School Building Blocks

Lost in the mists of time was a nice little essay by Matt Finch, in which, among other things, he lays out how one might go about modifying Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition in order to make it more like old school D&D. The original post was found on ENWorld, but it's no longer to be found in the forum archives, at least not that I've been able to discover.

In any case, I'm not really interested in the specific topic, since I no longer play 3e. However, I think Matt's general advice is quite excellent, which is why I'm borrowing parts of it here, with apologies to him. My goal is simply to lay down some basic guidelines on mechanical/methodological elements that contribute powerfully to playing D&D à l'école ancien.

1. Magic items should never be available for purchase. Instead, they must always be won from opponents or discovered by exploring the hidden places of the world. In a similar vein, magic should never be a substitute for technology. Outside of the PCs, their allies, and their enemies -- and perhaps not even then -- magic and magic items should be rare.

2. Always award XP for gold. The reason for this is that it makes acquiring loot, not killing foes, the primary focus of dungeon delving. Once the players understand this, they might begin to behave more sneakily and realize that discretion is sometimes the better part of valor. XP should still be awarded for defeating enemies, of course, but it should pale in comparison to the XP gained from treasure.

3. Keep characters poor by any means you can. AD&D used training costs as a way to ensure that the PCs never had much money, as they rose in power. OD&D has no such mechanism, but I'd consider adding something like it. I know of several referees who only give XP for gold that's spent. This is a nifty idea, as it rather nicely emulates the way that Conan or Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser would go on binges of spending after they'd completed a particularly successful adventure -- only to wind up poor again in short order. Either way, PCs should rarely have a full coin purse.

4. Make the acquisition of new magic-user spells difficult. They should rarely be available for outright purchase; when they are, they should cost ridiculous amounts of gold. Otherwise, the MU must win his new spells by finding scrolls or spellbooks. The point is to keep the magic-user's repertoire limited, both to encourage creative thinking and give him yet more reasons to go adventuring.

5. Encourage map-making by presenting environments where having a map is a must. D&D is as much a game of exploration as it is of heroic exploits. I've said before that planning a dungeon expedition is a bit like planning a safari or archeological dig. Having to draw a map in order to avoid becoming lost or suffering some horrible fate is essential to old school D&D. Yes, this means the game will run more slowly, but that's an important part of the old school gaming experience. This goes for wilderness exploration as well as dungeon exploration.

6. Sometimes there are no answers. That is, there are mysteries that will remain such. Not everything has an explanation, at least not an explanation available to the PCs. It's important to remind players that there are many things beyond their characters' ken.

7. All politics is local. Old school gaming is not about world-spanning, "epic "plots and cabals. There is no single Dark Lord whose machinations are behind the rise of evil in the world. Indeed, if you feel the compulsion to talk about the Big Bad Evil Guy of your campaign -- or, worse, to use the abbreviation BBEG -- seek help immediately. Likewise, there are no large organizations of do-gooders who oppose them. Instead, everything happens on a much smaller scale, with events being confined to (at most) a few hexes on the map.

8. High-level characters are few and rare and generally have no interest in helping -- or opposing -- the PCs. They have better things to do with their time.

These are some very broad strokes. I have some more specific advice I might dispense in a future post, but these ought to keep people busy arguing for a while.

Grognard's Grimoire: S&W Monk

I've always had a fondness for the monk as a class, partially because, when I first encountered it -- in AD&D, not OD&D -- I didn't quite get it. At the time, I don't think I'd seen a single martial arts movie and I'd never watched Kung-Fu. To me, a "monk" was a Christian priest or brother living in a monastery or, if I stretched the term a bit, it could cover mendicants like the Dominicans and Franciscans. So, when I first saw this class in the Players Handbook, I imagined someone kind of like Friar Tuck. Given the monk's fondness for staves, this didn't seem entirely unreasonable to me. Consequently, my early D&D campaigns included tonsured, sandaled, quarter staff-wielding priests/brothers who, while largely pacific in their behavior, knew how to whoop ass when needed. Unsurprisingly, St. Cuthbert of the Cudgel served nicely as their patron deity in my early games.

Despite correct this misapprehension, I still like the monk. I think there's definitely a place in D&D for an unarmed combatant and he need not be of obviously Asian origin, though he certainly can be. Below is my first stab at a monk usable with Swords & Wizardry. I'm not 100% happy with it, even if I like much of it. It's largely inspired by the Blackmoor version of the class, but it's largely recognizable to those who know the class from later sources.

The material in the quote box below is hereby designated Open Game Content via the Open Game License.

The Monk

Hit Dice Type: 1d6 per level. After reaching 9 hit dice, the monk gains only 2 hit points per level.
Armor/Shield Permitted: None
Weapons Permitted: Any
Prime Attribute (5% XP bonus): Wisdom 13+, Dexterity 13+
Alignment: Any
Race: Human

Monk Class Abilities and Restrictions

Armor Class: The monk gains an unarmored AC bonus that increases with experience, as indicated on the Monk Advancement Table below.

Deflect Missiles: The monk may deflect non-magical missile attacks with a successful saving throw.

Fast Movement: Beginning at 3rd level, the monk moves faster than normal when unencumbered.

Quivering Palm: At 12th level, the monk gains a fearsome attack, usable once per week. If the monk successfully deals damage with an unarmed attack against a creature with fewer hit dice than himself or herself, the monk may then choose to slay the creature automatically at any time thereafter, up to one day per level of the monk.

Slow Fall: At 4th level, the monk takes damage from a fall as if the fall were 20 feet shorter than it actually is. The monk must be within 10 feet of a vertical surface to use this ability. At 8th level, any fall is treated as if it were 40 feet shorter and the monk must be within 20 feet of a vertical surface. At 11th level, the monk may fall any distance if he or she is within 30 feet of a vertical surface.

Still Body: At 6th level, the monk can slow his or her bodily functions to appear dead for a number of turns equal to his or her level.

Still Mind: At 3rd level, the monk gains a +2 bonus to saving throws against spells that affect the mind.

Unarmed Attack: The monk specializes in unarmed, hand-to-hand combat. Such attacks deal 1D6 points of damage, but the monk may choose whether they inflict normal damage or subdual damage. At 6th level, the monk rolls 2D6 for unarmed attack damage and takes the higher result of the two dice. At 11th level, the monk rols 3D6 and take the highest result of the three dice for unarmed combat damage.

Wealth: A monk may never possess more than five magical items, including weapons. In addition, a monk must donate all treasure they acquire to their monastic order, except that needed for personal upkeep.

Wholeness of Body: Beginning at 7th level, the monk can heal a number of hit points of damage equal to his or her level per day.

Monk Advancement Table
Level	Experience Points Required	Hit Dice (d6)	Saving Throw	AC	Fast Movement
1	0	1	14	9 [10]
2	2,000	2	13	8 [11]
3	4,000	3	12	7 [12]	13
4	8,000	4	11	7 [12]	14
5	16,000	5	10	6 [13]	15
6	32,000	6	9	6 [13]	16
7	64,000	7	8	6 [13]	17
8	128,000	8	7	5 [14]	18
9	256,000	9	6	5 [14]	19
10	350,000	9+2 hp	5	5 [14]	20
11	450,000	9+2 hp	4	5 [14]	21
12	550,000	9+2 hp	4	4 [15]	22
13	650,000	9+2 hp	4	4 [15]	23
14	750,000	9+2 hp	4	4 [15]	24
15	850,000	9+2 hp	4	4 [15]	25
16	950,000	9+2 hp	4	4 [15]	26

Otherworld Miniatures Early Winter Sale

Otherworld Miniatures are having a sale, starting tonight and running for the next month. All figures in the range will be discounted by 20%, and orders over £75.00 GBP will be shipped worldwide free of charge.

The sale also includes pre-orders for October and November new releases, which include more Hobgoblin Warriors, Hobgoblin Guards and Commanders, the first encounter with Kobolds, Giant Rats, and a trio of Troglodytes.

So, with 20% off, free shipping, and an exchange rate of £1.00 GBP to $1.70 USD, you might want to pick up some of those figures you've been eyeing for a while!

For more information, take a look at http://www.otherworld.me.uk/

(And if anyone wants to get me something for my birthday at the end of the month ...)

Irony

The Keep on the Borderlands was written after the Village of Hommlett, after the D series. Those modules weren't masterpieces, but they sure as heck had far more depth and coherence than this disaster of a gaming product. RPG's had crawled past the point where this module was considered acceptable. Yet, the marketing geniuses at TSR decided to bundle this baby in with the 1981 D&D Basic book. They decided that their target audience was so desperate for anything new that they could just print so much garbage and the dimwitted gamers would buy it all.

I'd never seen this review before. Granted, it's nearly 10 years old. Goodness knows I'd hate to be held accountable for every brain spasm that found its way into print with my byline on it, especially if said spasms occurred almost a decade ago. Still, it's nevertheless a bit shocking to read such a snarkily dismissive review of a classic module such as this.

Addendum: It's been suggested that the original review was a joke. The review does carry the tag "Comedy," so it's possible and I sincerely hope it is. If anyone can shed light on this topic, I'd appreciate it.

Yet More Buzzwords

I'm always pleased when I see that people have taken something I wrote and run with it. That's what's happened over at the Paizo forums, where there's a long thread that spun off from my post about Gygaxian Naturalism. Aside from the generally thoughtful tone of the thread, I was particularly impressed with its introduction of two more terms that I plan to add to my vocabulary: Gygaxian Methodology and Gygaxian Canon.

As defined by poster Jeremy MacDonald, Gygaxian Methodology consists of:

the use of tables to enhance authenticity. Rules and rulings that don't have anything to do with the players but are simply aspects of the world at large. The creation of adventures that are internally consistent and not modified one way or another simply because your players party does or does not have a Paladin. Adventures that have secrets that might or might not be discovered by the players.

Authenticity is the key here even if it trumps story.

Gygaxian Canon on the other hand:

This is adherence to Gygax's original view of the monsters and their themes and of the Great Wheel Cosmology. Kobolds are fecund little dogmen, Mind Flayers plot to extinguish the sun and there are hints that that they are either from the future or the past but they are deffinitly not from this time line. Drow are led by powerful woman and they are always evil. They worship the Goddess Lolth.

In both cases, I have quibbles and qualifications I'd make, but I agree with the general thrust of both definitions. I find these new terms useful because they help to highlight where some of the fault lines lie in "old school" vs. "new school" debates, particularly as it relates to the WotC editions of Dungeons & Dragons. In my case, it's the deviation from the Gygaxian Methodology (of which Naturalism is a sub-set) that bothers me more about the WotC editions than it is the deviations from the Gygaxian Canon.

Now, obviously, I like many aspects of the Canon and have indulged in my fair share of potshots at the re-evaluations of the Canon, but I'm actually much more open to doing so than I am to changes to the Methodology. For me, the Gygaxian Methodology is where D&D "lives," so to speak, and it's what has long distinguished it from other RPGs, both in the past and now. I have a lot of sympathy for folks who want to "save the Great Wheel" and all that, but I think it's a mistake to conflate D&D with the Gygaxian Canon, even if the Canon has such a long history with the game that it's practically synonymous with it. On this point, I don't think 4e necessarily made any mistakes by changing the Canon (even if I think many of the specific changes are just plain idiotic).

The Gygaxian Methodology, however, not only undergirds the game's mechanics (at least from late OD&D onward), but it's central to the way the game was played and experienced by most gamers before 1983 or thereabouts. That's where the "soul" of old school D&D resides, like it or not. Indeed, I suspect, far moreso than the Gygaxian Canon, it's the Methodology that's at the root of whether one has sympathy for the old school or not. That's not to say there aren't other parallel, equally valid Methodologies -- Dave Arneson assuredly has his own -- but I imagine these parallels share much with the Gygaxian one, so much so that you could easily create a superset to describe their characteristics.

With all that aside, I think it's a mistake to fixate too much on the Gygaxian Canon, love it though I do. Over the years, I've deviated from it in various ways and I plan to do so again in my next campaign. At the same time, I plan to hew very closely to the Gygaxian Methodology. One of the reasons I object to equating old school play with "a feel" is that this position tends to downplay the close connection between the Methodology and the mechanics. If you look back at the history of 2e, though, what you'll see is that each of TSR's many campaign settings either replaced large swaths of the core rules in order to accommodate a different Methodology or, if they didn't, gamers complained that the D&D rules weren't "right" for the setting in question. This is an important lesson to those who would argue that "old school" is a flavor that can be easily added to any rules set.

Works for Me

In contemplating the set-up I'm imagining for my campaign setting, it occurs to me that Jeff's Threefold Apocalyptic Alignment System is the closest to what I want to do. As I envisage it, all the gods -- even the evil ones -- are Lawful, because they stand on the side of continued existence of the universe, even if they differ on just what they'd do with the portion of the universe over which they have dominion. Chaos represents those who would destroy the universe, such as the demons and those who serve them. Neutrality is for those who wish neither the outright destruction of the universe nor attempts to master it, believing instead that reality (i.e. Nature) has its own logic that is aloof from the plans of both mortal and god alike.

(As an aside, I should note that D&D's devils, which I plan to use in some form, are solidly on the side of Law, being fallen servants of the gods who wish to rule the universe under their iron fists, unlike demons, who, through various means, both subtle and explicit, wish to destroy the very fabric of reality and cast the universe into the Abyss from whence they come)