Tenkar's Tavern: 30 Day D&D Challenge - Day Two

Monday, September 2, 2013

30 Day D&D Challenge - Day Two - I Like the Short Ones

The old SNL song comes to mind about "Short People", but I've always been partial to Dwarves and Halflings. Alright, not ALWAYS. Back in my early days I played humans almost without exception.

These days, however, I prefer Dwarves and Halflings. Both come with built in roleplay possibilities, and there is little that more versatile than a dwarven cleric (asuuming the ruleset supports it). Viable frontline fighter and decent diving caster and undead destroyer.

Look at that - two days in a row ;)

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Timothy BrannanSeptember 2, 2013 at 8:26 PM
"Short People" was a single by Randy Newman. It might have been on SNL, but it wasn't a skit.

Halflings are fun and I did enjoy playing a dwarf or two back in the day myself.
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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 (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 ;)

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Monday, September 2, 2013

30 Day D&D Challenge - Day Two - I Like the Short Ones

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