Tenkar's Tavern: On the 16th Day of Free Gaming Swag, My Bartender Gave to Meeeeeee:There and Back Again: The Construction of Nostalgia in Advanced Adventures

Thursday, December 8, 2011

On the 16th Day of Free Gaming Swag, My Bartender Gave to Meeeeeee:There and Back Again: The Construction of Nostalgia in Advanced Adventures

The Greyhawk Grognard felt y'all needed some intellectual RPG reading. Therefore, I am proud to present to you There and Back Again: The Construction of Nostalgia in Advanced Adventures.

There and Back Again: The Construction of Nostalgia in Advanced Adventures is a scholarly look at one aspect of table-top role-playing culture. It was written by Darren Allan Crouse, and supervised by Dr. Greg Gillespie, in the Department of Popular Culture at Brock University in Ontario.

In the study, Crouse discusses the construction of nostalgia in the art of Expeditious Retreat Press' Advanced Adventures line. He challenges traditional academic understandings of nostalgia as simple escapism. Crouse argues that, while the Advanced Adventures pay homage to the history of RPGs, the series is an expression of an emerging old school gaming subculture who use nostalgia in new and creative ways - while charting new directions for their hobby.

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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 ;)

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Thursday, December 8, 2011

On the 16th Day of Free Gaming Swag, My Bartender Gave to Meeeeeee:There and Back Again: The Construction of Nostalgia in Advanced Adventures

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