A little background on me and James Spahn, the creator of White Box: Cyclopedia. I've known James for well over a decade and consider him family. I sent James my spare copy of Swords & Wizardry Complete, and a decade later, here we are. Blame me ;)
So, what is White Box: Cyclopedia? It is Swords & Wizardry White Box that has reached all of its potential. This White Box goes to 11. Can you use this with other OSR rulesets? Of course, but it's a perfect fit for Swords & Wizardry Core or Complete campaigns. As for Swords & Wizardry White Box? This one goes to 11, as I said above.
The White Box Cyclopedia is a stand-alone roleplaying game that takes the simple elegance of Swords & Wizardry White Box rules and countless options to allow you to create a custom fantasy roleplaying experience. Modular and fully integrated, you can make your fantasy as fantastic, as gritty, as strange, as traditional, as gonzo as you want it to be.
Thirty classes and dozens heritages. Over 100 spells. Nearly 200 monsters. Strongholds and seafaring. Psychic powers and spell duels. Chivalry and natural-born sorcery. Custom rules for the Referee to run campaigns that mimic your favorite Appendix N inspirations. A treasure trove of magical items, both familiar and new.
Five Decades of Dungeon Crawling packed into a single, simple rules set.
White Box Cyclopedia builds on that rock solid foundation, unifying the original Swords & Wizardry White Box rules with two hundred pages of additional material. But White Box Cyclopedia isn't "White Box with a ton of options," it's White Box if Dave and Gary had remained friends and partners. It's a dream of how gaming would have evolved with the simplicity and elegance you remember it having, but brought into the 21st century. White Box Cyclopedia asks what would happen if we had rode nothing more than a d20 and a d6 into the same infinite well of adventure of the modern era? You'd get a complete fantasy roleplaying game we all loved, without the baggage of being "advanced." Remember those simple days? You had a few pages of rules, but somehow there was no limit to what you could do. That is the essence of White Box Cyclopedia.
Some of the options you'll find in White Box Cyclopedia include:
- Thirty Character Classes: Even the traditional Fighter, Cleric, and Magic-User classes have optional rules to make them more unique. Classic fantasy archetypes ranging like the Acrobat, Barbarian, Cavalier, Ranger, and the Thief are are joined by more exotic options like the mysterious Metaphysician, the Tomb Robber, and the Friar.
- A Dozen Character Heritages: Alongside Humans, Dwarves, Elves, and Halflings, players using the optional rules can select crafty Goblins, powerful Troll-Kin, elusive Shadow Elves, whimsical Gnomes, and other fantastic heritages to give your campaign an exotic flavor that is still rooted in classic fantasy.
- Strongholds and Homesteads: Every character, regardless of class or heritage, can construct and maintain a stronghold that will provide unique benefits during their adventuring career and give them a meaningful way to spend their plundered wealth.
- New Spells: The White Box Cyclopedia includes over 100 spells. This includes all the spells that appeared in Swords & Wizardry White Box, dozens of new Magic-User and Cleric spells, and (by popular demand) a unique spell list for the Druid class.
- Exotic Arcane Abilities: Optional rules allow players to have psychic abilities, latent spellcasting abilities, engage in Arcane Duels, summon wily familiars, and craft magic items.
- Chivalry and Nobility: Optional Honor rules allow any character to earn their knighthood, unlocking unique abilities independent of their class or heritage.
- Genre Customization: Players aren't the only ones with new options! Referees can draw upon optional rules to flavor their campaign. So, whether you're trying to solve the riddle of steel, facing off against a vampire count in a realm of shadow and mist, or an eclectic collection of heroes on an epic quest to destroy an evil artifact, you'll have optional rules to highlight what makes those classic fantasy sub-genres unique and engaging.
- Endless Exploration: Rules for hex crawling, dungeon exploration, seafaring and ship-to-ship combat, are all included, meaning players can seamlessly travel to the ends of the world and back again.
- New Monsters: Almost 200 monsters are detailed here, ranging from classic goblins, to the familiar floating, eye-stalked Orbitus, to exotic new monsters like the Sanguine Fog and Killer Bees ("Not the bees!")
- A Hoard of Treasure: All the classic magic items found in Swords & Wizardry White Box are found here, along with new, unique treasures. Over 200 magic items are provided, including intelligent weapons.
- White Box Cyclopedia is an all-in-one tome that will allow you to craft the classic fantasy game experience you want - and it does it all with just a d20 and a few d6s. As part of that, we've worked hard to provide a simple, effective, and minimalist bookmarked PDF that will be easily usable and accessible for reference, quick searching, and reading! Function and utility carried the day here.
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