Swords & Wizardry Light - Forum

Friday, August 22, 2014

Tales from the Tavern Cellar: A DnD BX Basic Reboot

Since you all bitched the other day that my last gem was so old, I put my ear to the cracks of the tavern floors and while Erik was dazzling the tavern folk with tales of his podcast, this little gem spilled into my lap. The title alone screamed at me, clawing at my eyes, and drawing me in for a closer look. Its title was, a “DnD BX Basic Reboot”.

As I followed the link like a man who had to push the button with the sign “don’t push this button”, it brought me to a PDF which seemed to be neatly written. The Layout was nice on the eyes, so I decided to give it a closer look.

When I did that, I heard something snap in my mind. Was it that pin that holds my sanity in place? I was sure it was. As this had nothing to do with BX or Basic D&D, all it was a plus/minus system with a ton of anime art. The furthest thing from BX or Basic D&D. The only thing it had in common with D&D was the Fantasy element and the classes from D&D.

The more I read the more I realized this was just someone’s attempt to re-invent an already working wheel, because they feel *their* ideas are better then what was already written as the best selling RPG of its time. Seems like the thing to do, right?


Want to leave feedback or have The Crusty Grog talk about something? Go ahead, email him. I dare you. thecrustygrog@gmail.com

21 comments:

  1. "The more I read the more I realized this was just someone’s attempt to re-invent an already working wheel, because they feel *their* ideas are better then what was already written as the best selling RPG of its time. Seems like the thing to do, right?"

    Isn't that the entire reason that ANY Fantasy Heartbreaker exists at all?

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  2. Making up homage games is fun. It's fun to use your brain and computer to make things up and share them.

    With the Internet being a place seemingly made to share the worst things in the world with each other: crime, war, misery, disease, nasty arguments... it's so nice to play this hobby where all the conflict is of a dramatic nature, and people make up fun games to play to bring people together.

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  3. It's not that far divorced from BX D&D... Just because he doesn't use 3-18 for stats, it's still the same outcome. The bonus is -3 to +3 -- the exact same as the stats give you in BX D&D. He uses ascending AC instead of descending and the saving throws are basically the same.

    Same classes, same spell lists, same monsters... I'm not sure I see the issue. It's not a direct retro-clone. He even says it's a reboot. Isn't that what the OSR is all about? Taking old games and tweaking them to cut out all the crust?

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  4. Looks like he used some True20 concepts, if I remember my divergent d20 systems correctly. I don't like the saves (they could have been simplified, as well), but otherwise... no problem here.

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  5. Getting a kick out of the Magic User Level Advancement Chart. I guess if it were the Magic User Saving Throw Advancement Chart those numbers would change, too.

    Also digging that some demi-humans, seemingly as separate from myself as a cast spell, can raise my attribute bonuses.
    Step 1: Surround self with lots of elves (as only "some" will increase my bonus)
    Step 2: Watch Dex bonus exceed +3

    (easy targets are easy)

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  6. Interesting, the -3 to +3. I am doing my 0e game without the 3-18 too. But it's just -1 to +1. Almost identical mechanic.

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  7. Never cared much for point buy methods (after all, this is supposed to be FUN), so I'd either convert D&D stats or simply have players roll 2d4-5 for attributes. Other than that, it's not too bad. Not what I'm looking for in a game, but nothing to knock either

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  8. Weird. This review pretty much sums up the entire OSR.

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    1. How does this sum up the "entire OSR"? I'm curious.

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    2. " The more I read the more I realized this was just someone’s attempt to re-invent an already working wheel, because they feel *their* ideas are better then what was already written as the best selling RPG of its time. Seems like the thing to do, right?"


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    3. It's fun. It isn't hurting anybody. I like it.

      I like my version more of course! But more is better.

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    4. If that criticism is leveled at this game, then it must fairly be leveled at every OSR ruleset is what I am saying.

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    5. Have to agree here - someone tweaked Basic and put a PDF of it on the internet? I'm finding it hard to be shocked.

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  9. I dig the art on it :) I've always been a fan of anime.

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  10. i dig everything except the art... sorry Vincent. lol. what's the contact info for the creator of this game. i'd gladly donate some of my own art to this project.

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  11. i take back a bit of my dislike for the art. some of the art is really nice. seriously, what's the creator's blog/contact info? this looks like a cool project.

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  12. Hey Crusty, next time you feel the urge to post, try listening to this instead.

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  13. This is the most interesting game you've linked to in a while. It's inspired by B/X but does some interesting things with it. The art is mostly borrowed art (fine for a freebie) but I admit I expected the hate the anime stuff (which I think is the original art portion) and ended up liking the "feel" it gave. I'm...I think I'll actually print it out. This is a lot more fun than yet another carbon copy replica of B/X.

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  14. Didn't Pokemon Jr outsell D&D, if "best selling" is what count?

    I'm not sure why you'd have any association at all with anything OSR related if that last paragraph sums up your views.


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