Tenkar's Tavern: 2009-10-04

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Return of the Reviews.. Soonish I Hope

Its been a while since I've reviewed any PDFs, let alone checked DX-ability on anything. It's not that I don't have products to review, I just dont seem to get around to reviewing them. Go figure.

It appears that Necromancer games has put out some new 3.5 PDFs. Always quality stuff from Necro. I might have to make a purchase this weekend.

C&C via FG2 this Saturday nite. Should be a fun time. Hopefully I'll remember what to do ;)

Four EA Sports Wii Activet sessions down. Still working the sweat, tho less pain now. Think the muscles are adjusting :)

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Aion - Suprisingly Refreshing MMORPG

Warhammer: Age of Reckoning seems to have imploded. It started huge and has turned to a whimper a year later.

Aion is my current game of choice online. I tried Champions in its closed beta and it... just... didnt do anything for me. So I popped for a Aion preorder and I've been having a blast with it.

Its a rehash of most standard fantasy based MMORPGs but with a nice twist away from standard races and an evolving backstory. I'm hooked so far.

Gotta run. Time to DDO with my son ;)

Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (thank you Kickstarter) (edit) BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and will soon have some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep ~~shipping shortly~~ in my grubby hands awaiting a review..

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls (and still waiting on dT&T to ship).

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 48, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)

Swords & Wizardry Light - Forum

RPGNow

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Return of the Reviews.. Soonish I Hope

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Aion - Suprisingly Refreshing MMORPG

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