It triggers fun all the way.
Information overload. So much appreciation on one day.
Today's the day
April 17th, the day to show some appreciation for a so-called retro clone role-playing game. There has been a similar appreciation day for the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game by Chris Gonnerman that was held on January 31st.
Now, it is Matt Finch's Swords&Wizardry that get its share of appreciation, and a fine share it is!
Nigh 140 bloggers will be contributing today and (hopefully) reach countless readers who will then be readied to pick up their free copies of light sets of rules, grab their polyhedral dice, and venture forth into the dungeons and the wilderness of old school role-playing games!
If you need a little help to open that first dungeon door ... Mad-Kyndalanth gives away issue #1 of Matt Finch's Knockspell magazine. Read here for more information.
Swords&Wizardry on Mad-Kyndalanth
So, what can I say. I like Swords&Wizardry, and rifling through my blogposts of the last year or so ...
- I found quite a few of them mentioning that fact.
- I generated characters using the 3d6 in order method, wrote up a few adventure ideas, and thoughts on megadungeons,
- and began a series on gamemastering called Spielmeistergespräche (Dungeon Master Talks)
- for which a I created a PC party and an introductory adventure, that has not been finished, yet. (I know, I know. Write a comment to nudge me along ...)
- I came up with the Hit Points as Currency rule while pondering non-lethal attacks in 0e games like Basic Fantasy and Swords&Wizardry.
- INT scores can be put to better use than just determining the number of languages a character knows.
- When I wrote the Undead Dwarf Massacre horror-fun mini-adventure fragments I had Swords&Wizardry in mind. And I so much love the White Shirt and the Handsome Guy/Gorgeous Lady rules.
- The magic items I frequently create and post on this blog can be used for Swords&Wizardry, or any other set of old school rules.
So, here's my background story with Swords&Wizardry. I downloaded S&W Core rules first and didn't read them. I had probably found them by using the Stumble Upon extension for Firefox that had cost me many hours of sleep. At that time I wasn't aware of the OSR scene. I had been tinkering with a collection of thoughts, essays, and interpretations of the AD&D 2nd Edition game, but lost motivation because I thought nobody was interested in that kind of game anymore.
Then I stumbled over the OSR scene, downloaded free PDF files of different games, and read them. So, there I was, among the early edition games. And wow!
I fell in love with Swords&Wizardry, was awed by OSRIC, and got well aquainted with Basic Fantasy which turned into a nice friendship.
The first OGL book I bought was Labyrinth Lord in German (Herr der Labyrinthe), then the Basic Fantasy softcover, the PDF version of S&W Complete, then Swords&Wizardry White Box softcover, then OSRIC 2.3 as a softcover, and then S&W Core as a hardcover.
I am well satisfied with the collection of rules. And I like the fact that material created for one of them can be used with the others, as well.
What I love about Swords&Wizardry
It triggers fun all the way.
Do I have to elaborate that point? You see, there are some things that you have to experience yourself. What you want to do is:
- Get a free PDF of the Swords&Wizardry rules, White Box or Core.
- Get a set of polyhedral dice (colorful ones, I'd suggest)
- Read the chapter on character creation and roll up a few characters (3d6 in order, no cheating), and try to imagine what these little dungeon-delving adventurers may look like. Equip them, note a few sentences regarding their demeanor, attitude, and background story. Just a few notes. And you'll see, they're already a part of your imagination, and eager to explore what worlds lie ahead.
Click the above logo to find all
the Swords&Wizardry Appreciation Day related posts on Tenkar's Tavern
The D20swsrd site has all the rules online, if you'd like to browse
through the rules.
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