Tenkar's Tavern: Back to Basic

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Back to Basic

So, I used to have my bedroom closet stacked with my gaming crap, floor to ceiling. It was never very orderly. When my son moved in full time, I gave him my bedroom. Shortly thereafter I moved everything out of the lower part of the closet to give him storage and basically pile the crap haphazardly into different closets and storage space... I wasn't paying attention to what went where, let alone what was what.

Tonight I started trying to go thru and organize my old rule books, magazines, modules and such. Lo and behold I find my copy of the D&D basic rulebook, 1st print Moldvay. Haven't seen it in years... heck, I never actually played it, as I started with AD&D. I picked up the boxed set at some general discount store back in the day. All the boxes for sale were beat to crap, but all were shrink wrapped and they were like $3 bucks a pop. Ah, memories.

Seems like my 1st edition, beat to hell, AD&D PH and DMG are still in the top of my son's closet. That will be for another day. Damn, and my old MERP stuff. Did get to flip thru my Warhammer Fantasy Role Play 1st Edition rulebook.

In any case, look like I'll be rereading Moldavy's Basic D&D tonight...

1 comment:

ChristianMarch 2, 2010 at 7:44 PM
I really like that version of D&D. It's one of my favorite games in any system or genre.
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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. 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 ;)

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Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Back to Basic

1 comment:

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