Tenkar's Tavern: Games from the Basement

Monday, September 9, 2013

Games from the Basement - The Primal Order

So, I'm currently digging through what is now the living room closet (formerly my bedroom before renovations) as I'm looking to add some soundproofing to the back of it (my son's room is on the other side). In the course of moving stuff out of the top (nearly all gaming material) I came across this gem - The Primal Order from Wizards of the Coast from back in 1994.

Yep, that's before they bought out TSR and grabbed D&D and all of the rest.

Now, look at the back cover (or at least, the part of the back cover I took a picture of.

Notice and game missing from that list?

I guess TSR - They Sue for Real was the sleeping giant they didnt want to stir up.

I never used this. Heck, i barely remembered I owned it. Interesting to look at after 20 years...

4 comments:

James MishlerSeptember 9, 2013 at 8:35 PM
IIRC, that's a second printing. The first printing included both D&D, AD&D, and the Palladium/Rifts systems. It was Palladium who sued, and I think TSR merely sent a C&D... I'm sure the history of it is out there somewhere, as the Palladium lawsuit was a Big Thing at the time, WotC was very heavily on the Web, and the successful lawsuit by Palladium nearly killed Magic before it started... or something like that...
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AnonymousSeptember 10, 2013 at 12:54 AM
Found a Wiki about this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Primal_Order

From the Wiki:

"Kevin Siembieda, the owner of Palladium Books and Palladium FRPG copyright holder, sued Wizards for copyright infringement. The parties settled the suit out of court, and Wizards released a revised edition of TPO [The Primal Order] that excluded Palladium. The revised edition also excluded AD&D, D&D and WarpWorld. However, Adkison took advantage of the revision to include these games:

Castle Falkenstein
CORPS
Earthdawn
Kult
Tri Tac Games
World of Darkness games

The expanded coverage increased TPO's page count from 232 to 250 pages. It also included new cover art."
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lars_alexanderSeptember 10, 2013 at 4:11 PM
I had that one and two supplements, too. Quite nice, actually, and fun to read.
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JonathanJune 23, 2015 at 4:50 PM
Yep, I still have my 1st edition signed by Peter Adkison. I was one of the guys who wrote the Palladium/Rifts notes.
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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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Monday, September 9, 2013

Games from the Basement - The Primal Order

4 comments:

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