OGL Swords & Sorcery?

[Aus_Snow]

True20, to me, is the antithesis of Sword and Sorcery. It has exactly the opposite feel.

Why? Or maybe how?

I don't wish to get into that whole system vs. system business that some seem to unfortunately relish so much, so - for example - I won't be putting any other system down in the process of asking the question that I did - and I'm simply genuinely puzzled how it is someone could possibly reach the conclusion (presumably after actually playing and/or running True20 - ?) that you did.

 

[Mythmere1]

Savage Worlds looks like a good bet for this, too. The system is very fast, and combat has the potential to be lethal on an unusual combination of rolls by an enemy. To me, that's the hallmark of a sword & sorcery combat system. The weakness for SW as S&S is that the magic system is a bit generic - there's a bit of danger to it (the hallmark of S&S magic), but it's minimal - and there's no real feeling of "ritual" to it. Now, I've never seen a playable magic system that really had the sword & sorcery feel to it, so that complaint is about lack of perfection, not lack of good quality. The SW magic system is closer to S&S than a Vancian system. I haven't read the Conan, True20 or Grim Tales systems I can't make a comparison - but if they're Vancian magic, then SW magic is closer to S&S.

Edit: oops - SW is not OGL. I missed that part.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

Do you have Mastering Iron Heroes? That's the book that provides a lot of tools for sword and sorcery roleplaying with zones and stunts and villain classes. I also hear good things about Savage Worlds and Grim Tales, but I've never played them. (Well for Conan-style d20 fantasy anyway.)

 

[kaomera]

Thanx for all the responses...

Grim Tales: Dang it! I actually owned this book at one time... I'm pretty certain I got rid of it in one of my purges of unused / unlikely to ever be used gaming gear. I feel like an idiot, too, because now that it's brought up I can't even remember much about it. I may have never given it a thorough reading... ("Fortunately" I've found a cheap copy on ebay...)

Lankhmar: I hadn't really thought about BRP, and if I don't go d20 I'll probably end up going with Savage Worlds. Also, while I really haven't looked too closely at the new Mongoose versions of any of this stuff, what I have seen (which is pretty much limited to cover art and bad bindings, I really haven't looked at the content much) hasn't impressed me much. Maybe that's a mistake, but unless the content is really significantly superior I think I'd probably be happier pulling out some of my old Chaosium stuff...

True20: I had thought about True20 (heck, I had actually thought about Mutants and Masterminds), but I'm not sure it's "d20" enough for those players who are the reason I'm not just going with Savage Worlds...

E6: That's a good idea. I might even be able to do something with Conan or Iron Heroes at that point. With just D&D I'm concerned that I'd be limiting things a bit much if I take all of the casting classes out of the mix. I'm not planning on running anything right away, so I may wait for Conan 2e and Fantasy Concepts and E# one of them...

RFisher: I'm not sure exactly how to work a skill-based BAB / Saves system. I'd think you'd have to either make BAB cost more or else split it up. Splitting it up might work, but I'm not really sure I want to go that route. Otherwise, I think you'd end up with the equivalent of giving every character Good BAB. Of course that might not actually be a bad idea...

Savage Worlds: Yeah, there's that too. I've got a few players who don't really want to play non-d20, tho. :\

Also: I don't have Mastering Iron Heroes, but I expect at least two of the players that I'm catering to would immediately choose token-based classes and then be paralyzed at the table and unable actually to play them... (I wish I was joking.)

 

[kaomera]

Why? Or maybe how?

I don't wish to get into that whole system vs. system business that some seem to unfortunately relish so much, so - for example - I won't be putting any other system down in the process of asking the question that I did - and I'm simply genuinely puzzled how it is someone could possibly reach the conclusion (presumably after actually playing and/or running True20 - ?) that you did.

I'd like to second this question. I'd be interested to know what about True20 makes it anti-S&S? (I don't have any real opinion on the issue, myself, but I'd like to know all the same.)

 

[kaomera]

Edit: oops - SW is not OGL. I missed that part.

By way of apology maybe you could come out here and beat some sense into some of my players?

 

[Particle_Man]

Also: I don't have Mastering Iron Heroes, but I expect at least two of the players that I'm catering to would immediately choose token-based classes and then be paralyzed at the table and unable actually to play them... (I wish I was joking.)

Well, if you can steer them towards Man-at-Arms or Harrier, that would avoid the token problem. Actually, also Weapon Master, as they get so few Weapon Tokens it doesn't matter if they use them or not.

 

[kaomera]

Well, if you can steer them towards Man-at-Arms or Harrier, that would avoid the token problem. Actually, also Weapon Master, as they get so few Weapon Tokens it doesn't matter if they use them or not.

I think it's at least likely, given past behavior, that they would gravitate twords the most mechanically-complex characters possible. OK, one of them may be starting to learn his lesson, but the other still seems to think he's the Gawd of Powwagaming. If I suggest anything at least one of them will tend to veer immediately in the opposite direction. (And yes, I could try reverse-psych, but that's kind of slimy.) If that puts either of them in a class they've played before, they're mostly harmless. If I'm already dealing with other players learning a new system...

Mind you, the worst offender may not be gaming with us much longer, anyway. I'm just fearing that there may be too many complications the players will have to overcome, and therefore by extension I'll have to deal with them too.

 

[Grimstaff]

So, what d20 / OGL resources are there for running a Swords & Sorcery -style game?

Castles and Crusades RPG and Wilderlands of High Fantasy campaign setting, all you need for "classic"-style Sword and Sorcery RPing.

I've heard good things about Green Ronin's Black Company RPG, but havn't played it myself yet, so ymmv.

 

[jdrakeh]

Castles and Crusades RPG and Wilderlands of High Fantasy campaign setting, all you need for "classic"-style Sword and Sorcery RPing.

I really hate to be the one who brings this up, though it does bear addressing. Speaking strictly in terms of actual genre tenets, both of those are High Fantasy, not Swords & Sorcery. As a genre, Swords & Sorcery is almost exclusively human-based (there few, if any, sentient non-humans and monsters), low magic (there are almost no spell-wielding protagonists), and extremely lethal to non-protagonists (unnamed bad guys die in droves). C&C really doesn't support any of that by default (i.e., it includes rule for non-humans, assumes spell-casting PCs and battling monsters to be standard fare, and has no 'mook' rules for unimportant combatants). Swords & Sorcery is not the default mode for games like D&D or C&C -- they can do it, though they aren't expressly designed for it.