Tenkar's Tavern: There's Blood in the Water

Sunday, January 11, 2015

There's Blood in the Water - Blood Island that Is!

Tonight (or is it now last night?) the regular Saturday Night group got to play test the latest incarnation of +Joe D 's Blood Island, which is both a setting and a set of OSR house rules (and may evolve into it's own full set of rules.)

In the previous incarnation of Blood Island, I played Gru, a Viking Berserker with a fondness for cheese dip. Not that there was any cheese dip to be found, alas.

Today I played G'Ru, a human magic-user with some flexibility in both spells prepared (not spell slots one can actually cast, which hues close to AD&D as far as I can tell) and spell lists. I have access to both magic-user and illusionist spell lists, including spells from UA - Phantom Armor kept my squish ass alive ;)

Great time, and I like Joe's variation on my variation of the Luck rules that I borrowed and hacked from the DCC RPG. I may need to use Joe's version instead, as it seems to be the proper evolution for the concept.

In any case, great game session, nice mongrelization of various OSR / Classic AD&D rules. I especially enjoyed the added granularity of using a D12 for skill checks, something that is losely based on LotFP Weird Fantasy's D6 skill check for specialists.

We're looking for more Joe. Consider this some motivation :)

1 comment:

JoethelawyerJanuary 11, 2015 at 2:17 AM
Thanks! It was a great time. I hope to roll it out to the Flailsnails 'verse in a couple weeks. :)
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

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

RPGNow

Sunday, January 11, 2015

There's Blood in the Water - Blood Island that Is!

1 comment:

Blogs of Inspiration & Erudition