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Friday, May 31, 2024

Kickstarter - WWII: Operation B/X TTRPG for Old-School Essentials

Wow. It has to be 8 or 9 years since the release of the 1st edition of WWII: Operation WhiteBox. What an amazing interpretation of the Swords & Wizardry White Box rules in a WWII setting. Now, Pete Spahn, along with Eric Bloat of Bloat Games, have teamed up to bring us WWII: Operation B/X TTRPG for Old-School Essentials via Kickstarter.

Bloat Games has partnered with Small Niche Games (SNG) to publish WWII: Operation B/X for Old-School Essentials, a reimagining of SNG’s hugely popular game WWII: Operation WhiteBox!  This Kickstarter will include two books: OBX: Core Rules (non-supernatural) and OBX: Into The Dark (a supernatural WWII version).

Pete Spahn of SNG and creator of Operation WhiteBox, has fully written and developed OBX and Bloat Games is excited to bring his creative vision to the world. Peter Frain of 77Studios (Movie Night RPG) has created complimentary matching cover art for both OBX: Core Rules and OBX: Into The Dark, and Luigi Castellani will return from OWB to handle the interior art needs. Eric Bloat is tasked with layout duties, and Brandon Goeringer (RPG Overviews, Pocket Fantasy RPG) and Jeffey Scifert (Evolved) are onboard to assist with editing.

From the desk of Pete Spahn:

“In 2016, I released WWII: Operation WhiteBox. In the game, characters play WWII special forces spies and operatives working for organizations like the British Commandos, U.S. Army Airborne, and Special Operations Executive. The game used the Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox rules (by Matt Finch and Marv Breig) as its core and received high praise for its focus and ease of play, especially at conventions.

Almost immediately I began receiving requests for an “occult” version of the game. I hesitated. For one thing, I love history, so I really enjoyed running “pseudohistorical” games set during World War II with no myth or magic involved. What’s more, other game companies had already tackled “German werewolves and vampires” and “Nazi Cthulhu” so I knew if I was going to do WWII horror, I had to come up with my own take on the genre. Something that would be customizable to monsters, myths, and legends from all over the world.

So I started taking notes on the types of horror I liked to play and run and soon came up with something that was heavily inspired by some of my favorite media including the Masque of the Red Death/Ravenloft TSR settings, the Silent Hill games and movies, various works Stephen King, and even the TV show Stranger Things. Sprinkle in some actual Nazi occult history and lore and I had the makings of a good horror expansion for WWII: Operation WhiteBox.

I had already stumbled onto Old-School Essentials years earlier and immediately fell in love with the look and feel of the game. This was the way I had played D&D fantasy in the 80s and I started wondering what an OSE conversion of WWII: Operation WhiteBox would look like. After Gavin Norman of Necrotic Gnome gave his blessing, I decided to make it a reality. And thus, Operation B/X (core rules) and OBX: Into the Dark (occult expansion) were born!”


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