Tenkar's Tavern: Back to School

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Back to School - Sorta

So, I'm sitting in my car, as snow that I don't recall as being in the forecast falls around me, waiting as my son takes an assessment exam for a college he is looking to attend.

I don't recall taking an assessment exam when I went to college. I must have, as they told me to take calculus as a freshmen. Need I say that didn't go all that well? Heh

College for me greatly expanded my gaming opportunities. The game club had about a dozen and a half members, with a small overlap with my regular weekend gaming group. I played more then I had any right to game (as I cut classes and work fairly often to do so). I'm still amazed at times that I actually got my BA.

My son doesn't game, at least not like I used to. MMORPGs and Multiplayer Shooters are his cup of tea. Hopefully they don't prove be a distraction of a similar scope as my gaming was, or he'll have a long 8 1/2 years of undergrad ahead of him ;)

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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. BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls

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 52, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)

Swords & Wizardry Light - Forum

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Back to School - Sorta

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