Tenkar's Tavern: xmas

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Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Did You Get Your Gift of Choice for the Holidays, Gaming or Otherwise?

My wife did awesome by me, and ordered me the Cooper's DIY Beer Brewing Kit Bundle (linked). I haven't home brewed since we were courting a few years back and I used to supply home brewed Cooper's Sparkling Ale on our "stay home" date nights. Nothing says "I love you" like home brewed beer. Now I have all new supplies (and enough supplies on hand to brew 4 different 5 gallon batches of beer. Woot! Beats that year my mom got me 8 different pairs of lounging around the house pants that were all 4" to long...

So, did you get what you REALLY wanted for Christmas? Not the shirts, ties, soap, etc. - something you were really jonesing for.

Tell us. I will pick the person that got most screwed out of what they want (or tells the most amusing story) to receive either a $20 RPGNow Credit or a $20 Amazon Gift Card (via email). Totally subjective on my part ;)

I can't give a gift to all my readers, but you might be the one that gets the gift.

Open to comments until sometime Friday afternoon, December 27th.

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 ;)

Swords & Wizardry Light - Forum

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Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Did You Get Your Gift of Choice for the Holidays, Gaming or Otherwise?

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