There's a lot of material on xoth.net statted for Legend - been using it for Dragonbane which is also BRP derived.
D&D 5E Free 60+ page Guide to Sword & Sorcery for 5E D&D
There's a lot of material on xoth.net statted for Legend - been using it for Dragonbane which is also BRP derived.
Yeah I bought some although I had the old 3e versions. They have nice art & better maps.
xoth.publishing
Swords against tentacles!
I will let others speak of their experiences, but just note that the published adventures (whether for 3E, PF or 5E) are written for levels 1-10 (ish). Personally I think the sweet spot for any D&D game is around levels 4-8. I've not tried anything beyond level 13 and I suspect most games (whether high fantasy or sword and sorcery) probably break down somewhere in the high teens. YMMV
Appreciate the reply!
Haha well you're right of course about most games' lifetime not going that far. I learned recently that based on 5e's experience curve, and designer comments, that they actually intended people spend ~1 session per level after 10th level; the intent with the "meat" of 5-10 was 4-6 sessions per level :'D
CapnZapp
Legend
I can only speak for myself, but a large part of the appeal of S&S for me is the over-the-top visuals, the fleshy steamy visceralness of life worth living.
I find that with the cheesecake (and beefcake, let's allow for equal opportunities here!) removed, all you end up with is bog-standard D&D fantasy but with all the high fantasy hijinks toned down. As has been discussed before, 5e does some things that really help for a S&S campaign, removing what in previous editions would have been obstacles. So let it be said that 5e is probably the best non-OSR edition of D&D to use. Especially with the great genre-appropriate setting info you get from the player's guide discussed here!
As for levels, well, high level magics pretty much removes every challenge appropriate for a barbarian in a loincloth. Fighting monsters can still be challenging, of course - but S&S monsters are particularly grounded, so even that isn't really a good match.
That is to say I agree with previous posters. Don't assume a Sword & Sorcery campaign goes on all the way up to level 20!
Instead, simply throw in all the demigods and epic monsters already when the heroes are single-digit level! Maybe not all of them needs to be bested in combat - they can also be fooled, bargained with... or simply groveled to, or you chuck them the odd virgin once in a while to keep them satiated! That's only honoring the cosmic horror aspect that is very much adjacent to Sword & Sorcery!
Take any random level 17-20 scenario and... just stop assuming the heroes are supposed to fight this thing, let alone win - and voilá, you have yourself a half-decent half-gonzo level 8 S&S scenario. Splash some mud, gore and supple flesh over the pristine four-color disneyfied presentation of modern D&D and you're good to go
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Incredibly insightful and well-put! I think re: levels, it's about having expectations set- for both the GM and players!I can only speak for myself, but a large part of the appeal of S&S for me is the over-the-top visuals, the fleshy steamy visceralness of life worth living.
As has been discussed before, 5e does some things that really help for a S&S campaign, removing what in previous editions would have been obstacles. So let it be said that 5e is probably the best non-OSR edition of D&D to use. Especially with the great genre-appropriate setting info you get from the player's guide discussed here!
As for levels, well, high level magics pretty much removes every challenge appropriate for a barbarian in a loincloth. Fighting monsters can still be challenging, of course - but S&S monsters are particularly grounded, so even that isn't really a good match.
That is to say I agree with previous posters. Don't assume a Sword & Sorcery campaign goes on all the way up to level 20!
Instead, simply throw in all the demigods and epic monsters already when the heroes are single-digit level! Maybe not all of them needs to be bested in combat - they can also be fooled, bargained with... or simply groveled to, or you chuck them the odd virgin once in a while to keep them satiated! That's only honoring the cosmic horror aspect that is very much adjacent to Sword & Sorcery!
Take any random level 17-20 scenario and... just stop assuming the heroes are supposed to fight this thing, let alone win - and voilá, you have yourself a half-decent half-gonzo level 8 S&S scenario. Splash some mud, gore and supple flesh over the pristine four-color disneyfied presentation of modern D&D and you're good to go
xoth.publishing
Swords against tentacles!
Yikes!
Do you have a source for these "designer comments"? One session per level sounds very strange to me. I mean, a short, focused and limited campaign could be fun as a kind of "one shot", but I prefer long campaigns that could go on "forever" and where neither the GM nor the players really know what will happen (quite the opposite of an "adventure path", in other words). This requires level advancement to be slower than "normal", which may not be to everyone's taste.
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