Swords & Wizardry?

[Mythmere1]

Part of the design philosophy is giving the game back to the hobbyist gamer.
[snip]
The hobbyist house rule spirit is it's thing, if you're willing to put in the time to make it yours.

Thanks for bringing that up - I view Swords & Wizardry not just as a set of the 0e game rules, but also as a project to enable two things; free-form open ended gaming on one hand, and super-tinkering with the rules on the other. Both of those are characteristic of the 0e mindset "back in the day," but nowadays there's not a complete overlap at the S&W boards. Some free-form S&W gamers look with dismay at the elaborate house rules of the tinkerers.

 

[Odhanan]

Thanks for bringing that up - I view Swords & Wizardry not just as a set of the 0e game rules, but also as a project to enable two things; free-form open ended gaming on one hand, and super-tinkering with the rules on the other. Both of those are characteristic of the 0e mindset "back in the day," but nowadays there's not a complete overlap at the S&W boards. Some free-form S&W gamers look with dismay at the elaborate house rules of the tinkerers.

Personally, I find strength in both aspects for my gaming. I can run S&W games out of the box to introduce people to role-playing, launch a campaign, and such, while building upon the system and ultimately creating a personal "Advanced" S&W of sorts.

It's a win-win for me.

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

I absolutely love S&W. I've run several games to date, and it really takes me back and reminds me why I fell in love with this hobby. One book, some paper and dice, and my imagination. No gobs of splat books, no arguing and looking through hundreds of pages for a rule (or the multiple FAQs for it.)

If you're into any edition of D&D, go check it out. If nothing else it'll be an enjoyable few hours looking though it (for free!)

 

[Treebore]

This is also good to look at just to get an idea of where D&D came from, and see how much it has, and has not, changed.

 

[Nellisir]

It appears to be someone's take on OD&D. There's a free licence if you want to write supplements for it, but you have to give two AC values (one ascending, one descending).
...
AC has to be shown ascending and descending? Make your mind up whether you want to be true to the original or use the modern improved method.

I really and truly don't understand the point of descending AC, but this requirement is so slight it's barely worth mentioning. It doesn't affect your house rules at all, and if you publish something under the Swords & Wizardry license, all you have to do is write 7 [13] or the like whenever you write an AC. (the first is descending, the second is ascending).

If "to hit" tables were required, -that- would be annoying. But they aren't, and I'm going to cheerfully cut them out and put in bonuses instead. Same for saves.

 

[jdrakeh]

I just posted this in another thread, addressing the creator of Swords & Wizardry:

Also, FWIW, Swords & Wizardry is so very much the game system that I've been waiting for since the late 1990s. Many others have come close but Swords & Wizardry really brings the fun back to fantasy! Thanks for getting me jazzed about role-playing again, man.

As others have noted, Swords & Wizardry isn't an AD&D clone but, rather, an Original D&D clone that emulates the little wood-grain box that predates AD&D. It's a 'back to basics' dungeon crawling affair that makes even Labyrinth Lord look complex by comparison (IMO).

I'm putting together an 'old school' folder to run a mega-dungeon campaign in the vein of classic, pre-folio, Greyhawk using Swords & Wizardry. For the most part, it consists of the S&W rule book, some random generator books, and a fat stack of maps. I like that.

S&W rocks by keeping it simple. If I want to make it complex, I can, but having it not be complex out of the box really appeals to me.

 

[ExploderWizard]

S&W rocks by keeping it simple. If I want to make it complex, I can, but having it not be complex out of the box really appeals to me.

Me too. The best thing about the rules as simple as they are, is that you can get even simpler with the "white box" version.

 

[jdrakeh]

Me too. The best thing about the rules as simple as they are, is that you can get even simpler with the "white box" version.

Yeah, I stuck primarily with a printed version of the PDF because I wanted to 3-hole punch it and because I'm being forced to sell a lot of game stuff right now. Nobody will buy a 3-ring binder, so it ensures that the game stays on my shelf.

 

[Mythmere1]

I'm on a somewhat drunken ramble across the internet right now, in a rage about WotC pulling the pdfs of OD&D. But I love you guys.

 

[ExploderWizard]

I'm on a somewhat drunken ramble across the internet right now, in a rage about WotC pulling the pdfs of OD&D. But I love you guys.

I'm not happy about it either. OD&D will live on. Pulling the legal copies off the virtual shelf will only make those who are interested in it want it even more. Having the company that owns it tell you that they don't want your money just makes plucking it off the tree a more guilt free experience.