Joining The Grindhouse Gang

I'll freely admit, i've been jealous of those of you whose Lamentations Of The Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-playing Grindhouse Edition has already arrived. My jealousy has since turned to joy: My Grindhouse Edition arrived today!

Joining The Grindhouse Gang

I'll freely admit, i've been jealous of those of you whose Lamentations Of The Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-playing Grindhouse Edition has already arrived. My jealousy has since turned to joy: My Grindhouse Edition arrived today!

Cunning, Comedy, Casual Cruelty?

If your answer to this question was The Dying Earth RPG, you'd be right.

The Dying Earth RPG is a role-playing game intended to emulate the world -- and words -- contained in Jack Vance's Dying Earth series of novels and short stories. You'll note that I did not include "Combat" in my alliterative title. I did this for a very simple reason: The Dying Earth RPG actively discourages you from engaging in mortal combat, and the game system reinforces that by making combat very deadly. You only need to take a couple of blows before your character is out-of-commission, or more likely, dead.

What then is The Dying Earth RPG about? It's about clever repartee, social combat, cunning subterfuge, laughter, and casual cruelty.

Clever Repartee

The principle game mechanic of nearly any role-playing game is the system governing the accumulation of experience points. Experience point award mechanics are important in role-playing games, as they are the mechanism permitting character upgrades. The experience point mechanic of an RPG is thus a powerful communicator of what is expected of a Player. In The Dying Earth RPG, experience points are ONLY awarded for clever repartee. No experience for combat. No experience for treasure. Just witty dialogue, elegantly framed in the Vancian style, and delivered with impeccable timing. Therefore, The Dying Earth RPG is a game like no other: it is a role-playing game to its very core.

Social Combat

I'm not a big fan of social combat systems. My reasoning is that those combat systems either encourage conflict between players (PvP conflict typically happens as a matter of course, but i'm not interested in encouraging it) or govern the interactions between player and DM (in which case, as a "fair" DM, you should be able to judge when you have been verbally bested and concede defeat, without having to resort to a die-roll). The Social Combat system in The Dying Earth RPG is based on dice pools. Each player (and any encountered NPCs) has a dice-pool made up of d6's, and can continue spending dice from their pool until they or their opponent has exhausted theirs. Scoring a 1-3 means failure, while a 4-6 means success, with the 1 and 6 being catastrophic failure and incredible success, respectively. Depending on your roll, your opponent may have to expend more, or fewer dice, to respond to your success or failure. This mechanic feels artificial to me, as I would rather engage in the actual role-playing, of two combatants trying to convince the other of the superiority of their position, but the dice-pool is a reasonable substitute, for those who are uncomfortable "talking with funny voices".

Cunning Subterfuge

Like the characters in Vance's Dying Earth books and short stories, each of the Player's characters are lazy, self-absorbed, covetous, avaricious, and arrogant. So are most of the NPC's they encounter. Therefore, the game resolves around the planning and execution of cunning strategems to gain wealth, comfort, power, prestige, fineries, and delicious food, with as little effort and risk as possible.

Laughter

As was mentioned earlier, experience points are awarded for clever repartee. This is accomplished through a mechanism whereby the DM provides several Vancian phrases to each player, prior to the start of the game session. They must weave those phrases into the game at some point during the session. For those who deliver their line, at an innapropriate time, no experience points are awarded. For those lines delivered when appropriate, but eliciting no positive response from the other game participants, one experience point is awarded. But when the line is delivered, and elicits positive responses, propels the adventure in a humorous or unexpected direction, or garners laughter from the other players and DM, two or even three experience points are awarded by the DM. Therefore, Players are encouraged to ham it up, directing the in-game conversations in such a way as to allow for the delivery of their appointed lines.

Casual Cruelty

Casual Cruelty, or "man's inhumanity to man", is a common theme in the tales of the Dying Earth. You see this in the Liane the Wayfarer stories, or in Cugel's treatment by, and of those he encounters in "The Eyes of the Overworld". The author of The Dying Earth exhorts the DM to insert scenes of casual cruelty (sparingly), establishing the nature of the cruelty, and allowing the imaginations of the players to fill in the horrifying details. He opines that a successful scene of casual cruelty will nag at the players after the game, as they think more fully of the implications.

The Dying Earth RPG allows you to run the full gamet of emotions during a role-playing session, from hilarity to horror. The Dying Earth RPG is clearly not for your typical hack-n-slasher, and is more appropriate for your more cerebral gamer. What I love about this game is its respect for the Vancian source material, and its overt discouragement of mortal combat, which is a refreshing change from the direction Dungeons and Dragons has recently been drawn to.

Cunning, Comedy, Casual Cruelty?

If your answer to this question was The Dying Earth RPG, you'd be right.

The Dying Earth RPG is a role-playing game intended to emulate the world -- and words -- contained in Jack Vance's Dying Earth series of novels and short stories. You'll note that I did not include "Combat" in my alliterative title. I did this for a very simple reason: The Dying Earth RPG actively discourages you from engaging in mortal combat, and the game system reinforces that by making combat very deadly. You only need to take a couple of blows before your character is out-of-commission, or more likely, dead.

What then is The Dying Earth RPG about? It's about clever repartee, social combat, cunning subterfuge, laughter, and casual cruelty.

Clever Repartee

The principle game mechanic of nearly any role-playing game is the system governing the accumulation of experience points. Experience point award mechanics are important in role-playing games, as they are the mechanism permitting character upgrades. The experience point mechanic of an RPG is thus a powerful communicator of what is expected of a Player. In The Dying Earth RPG, experience points are ONLY awarded for clever repartee. No experience for combat. No experience for treasure. Just witty dialogue, elegantly framed in the Vancian style, and delivered with impeccable timing. Therefore, The Dying Earth RPG is a game like no other: it is a role-playing game to its very core.

Social Combat

I'm not a big fan of social combat systems. My reasoning is that those combat systems either encourage conflict between players (PvP conflict typically happens as a matter of course, but i'm not interested in encouraging it) or govern the interactions between player and DM (in which case, as a "fair" DM, you should be able to judge when you have been verbally bested and concede defeat, without having to resort to a die-roll). The Social Combat system in The Dying Earth RPG is based on dice pools. Each player (and any encountered NPCs) has a dice-pool made up of d6's, and can continue spending dice from their pool until they or their opponent has exhausted theirs. Scoring a 1-3 means failure, while a 4-6 means success, with the 1 and 6 being catastrophic failure and incredible success, respectively. Depending on your roll, your opponent may have to expend more, or fewer dice, to respond to your success or failure. This mechanic feels artificial to me, as I would rather engage in the actual role-playing, of two combatants trying to convince the other of the superiority of their position, but the dice-pool is a reasonable substitute, for those who are uncomfortable "talking with funny voices".

Cunning Subterfuge

Like the characters in Vance's Dying Earth books and short stories, each of the Player's characters are lazy, self-absorbed, covetous, avaricious, and arrogant. So are most of the NPC's they encounter. Therefore, the game resolves around the planning and execution of cunning strategems to gain wealth, comfort, power, prestige, fineries, and delicious food, with as little effort and risk as possible.

Laughter

As was mentioned earlier, experience points are awarded for clever repartee. This is accomplished through a mechanism whereby the DM provides several Vancian phrases to each player, prior to the start of the game session. They must weave those phrases into the game at some point during the session. For those who deliver their line, at an innapropriate time, no experience points are awarded. For those lines delivered when appropriate, but eliciting no positive response from the other game participants, one experience point is awarded. But when the line is delivered, and elicits positive responses, propels the adventure in a humorous or unexpected direction, or garners laughter from the other players and DM, two or even three experience points are awarded by the DM. Therefore, Players are encouraged to ham it up, directing the in-game conversations in such a way as to allow for the delivery of their appointed lines.

Casual Cruelty

Casual Cruelty, or "man's inhumanity to man", is a common theme in the tales of the Dying Earth. You see this in the Liane the Wayfarer stories, or in Cugel's treatment by, and of those he encounters in "The Eyes of the Overworld". The author of The Dying Earth exhorts the DM to insert scenes of casual cruelty (sparingly), establishing the nature of the cruelty, and allowing the imaginations of the players to fill in the horrifying details. He opines that a successful scene of casual cruelty will nag at the players after the game, as they think more fully of the implications.

The Dying Earth RPG allows you to run the full gamet of emotions during a role-playing session, from hilarity to horror. The Dying Earth RPG is clearly not for your typical hack-n-slasher, and is more appropriate for your more cerebral gamer. What I love about this game is its respect for the Vancian source material, and its overt discouragement of mortal combat, which is a refreshing change from the direction Dungeons and Dragons has recently been drawn to.

Playing Dead Characters: Delian Book Of The Dead

All this talk of Arduin over at Jeff's Gameblog has me thinking about another set of old-school, gonzo, D&D-compatible rulebooks : The World Of Delos.

Ben & Mary Ezzell wrote The World Of Delos game supplements in the 1980's, and dedicated their "Planes of the Afterlife" section of The Delian Book of the Dead to Arduin's author, Dave Hargrave.

The cover art of The Delian Book Of The Dead ("the Dead") is by Roland Brown, who also provided the cover and interior art for Arduin's The Lost Grimoire IV. The cover of the Dead shows a deceased Amazon, heavily armored, lying upon a funeral bier, attended to by the Grim Reaper, as her spirit slowly rises from her body.

The 145 pages of the Dead cover a lot of novel role-playing territory, as does the entire World Of Delos book series. The Dead provides rules for a new class, the Archaeologist (intended to emulate Indiana Jones, Rick O'Connell and other egyptologist-type characters from film and literature), a long section of helpful tips and adventure locations for prospective tomb-robbers, six pages of magical doors, windows and mirrors to delight, confuse and confound your players, 10 pages of gems, including a description of the possible magical uses for each, several pages on unique magic arms and armour whose benefits and drawbacks go beyond mere combat adjustments, potions and poisons of uncommon use and effect, a long chapter on the variety and ecology of Delian spiders, a section on the acquisition, care and feeding of strange pets, and an adventure that takes you through several "Planes of the Afterlife" in search of an artifact that may lead the adventurers to a most singular conclusion.

In addition, the Dead provides a new character class: Phantoms. Phantoms are former player characters, whose deaths came violently, suddenly, or prior to the completion of some important quest, and are thus unable to leave the prime material plane until their unfinished business is concluded.

I must admit, the idea of player characters as Phantoms has a certain allure. I am reminded of the old 1978 film, Heaven Can Wait, if in title only. In that film, the incomparable Warren Beatty plays a narcissistic and reckless football quarterback, whose guardian angel transports him to heaven before his time. Due to the mix-up, Beatty's spirit is sent back to Earth. Unlike the Phantom class, where he would exist as spirit, he is placed in the body of a wealthy, recently-murdered industrialist, until St. Peter can find a suitable replacement body for Beatty, with hilarious and sexy results.

The allure of the Phantom class is that it allows players to continue playing a favorite character, but at the same time honoring the old-school tradition that, once you're dead, you're dead.

The mechanics are relatively straight-forward. If a character dies, the player may choose to roll to see if there is sufficient purpose keeping her from ascending into the afterlife. She combines her Int, Wis, Level and prime Attribute, which is her base percentage chance to remain on the material plane. That score is modified by other variables, for example, whether the character was on an important quest before her passing, whether her belief system included an afterlife, whether her death was violent or sudden, and so on. If the player rolls percentile dice and the result is lower than the final number, her character can come back as a Phantom.

Phantoms lose all of their prior class abilities, and start as 1st level Phantoms, with their own experience table, and additional hit-points and special abilities gained at each subsequent level. Phantoms are invulnerable to normal attacks, although they are susceptible to magical weapon and spell attacks, and are doubly vulnerable to attacks from the undead. At first level, they are unable to impinge upon the prime material plane, other than being visible in darkness, and can only communicate telepathically. They recover hit points normally, but if the Phantom should ever be reduced to 0 hit points, the character immediately and unavoidably ascends to the afterlife. Some of the special abilities that are gained by higher level Phantoms include the power to become material, cause fright, telekenesis, teleaudience, detect poison, project cold, and control flames.

Part of the limitations of the class is that the Phantom must never stray from the purpose for which she remains on the material plane. For example, if the party was on an important quest when she died, the Phantom must continue towards that goal. If the party abandons the quest, the Phantom must continue on. As another example, perhaps the purpose of the Phantom is to protect her friends, Then if the friends die, she would ascend to the afterlife. Another purpose of the Phantom might be to avenge her own death. In that case, once her killer died, her purpose would be fulfilled and she would leave this world.

The chapter on Phantoms concludes with some suggested reading for playing and refereeing with this class: Blithe Spirit, by Noel Coward; Hamlet and MacBeth, by Shakespeare; Immortality Inc., by Robert Sheckly; Brief Candles and Happy Returns by Manning Coles; and Topper by Thorne Smith.

Playing Dead Characters: Delian Book Of The Dead

All this talk of Arduin over at Jeff's Gameblog has me thinking about another set of old-school, gonzo, D&D-compatible rulebooks : The World Of Delos.

Ben & Mary Ezzell wrote The World Of Delos game supplements in the 1980's, and dedicated their "Planes of the Afterlife" section of The Delian Book of the Dead to Arduin's author, Dave Hargrave.

The cover art of The Delian Book Of The Dead ("the Dead") is by Roland Brown, who also provided the cover and interior art for Arduin's The Lost Grimoire IV. The cover of the Dead shows a deceased Amazon, heavily armored, lying upon a funeral bier, attended to by the Grim Reaper, as her spirit slowly rises from her body.

The 145 pages of the Dead cover a lot of novel role-playing territory, as does the entire World Of Delos book series. The Dead provides rules for a new class, the Archaeologist (intended to emulate Indiana Jones, Rick O'Connell and other egyptologist-type characters from film and literature), a long section of helpful tips and adventure locations for prospective tomb-robbers, six pages of magical doors, windows and mirrors to delight, confuse and confound your players, 10 pages of gems, including a description of the possible magical uses for each, several pages on unique magic arms and armour whose benefits and drawbacks go beyond mere combat adjustments, potions and poisons of uncommon use and effect, a long chapter on the variety and ecology of Delian spiders, a section on the acquisition, care and feeding of strange pets, and an adventure that takes you through several "Planes of the Afterlife" in search of an artifact that may lead the adventurers to a most singular conclusion.

In addition, the Dead provides a new character class: Phantoms. Phantoms are former player characters, whose deaths came violently, suddenly, or prior to the completion of some important quest, and are thus unable to leave the prime material plane until their unfinished business is concluded.

I must admit, the idea of player characters as Phantoms has a certain allure. I am reminded of the old 1978 film, Heaven Can Wait, if in title only. In that film, the incomparable Warren Beatty plays a narcissistic and reckless football quarterback, whose guardian angel transports him to heaven before his time. Due to the mix-up, Beatty's spirit is sent back to Earth. Unlike the Phantom class, where he would exist as spirit, he is placed in the body of a wealthy, recently-murdered industrialist, until St. Peter can find a suitable replacement body for Beatty, with hilarious and sexy results.

The allure of the Phantom class is that it allows players to continue playing a favorite character, but at the same time honoring the old-school tradition that, once you're dead, you're dead.

The mechanics are relatively straight-forward. If a character dies, the player may choose to roll to see if there is sufficient purpose keeping her from ascending into the afterlife. She combines her Int, Wis, Level and prime Attribute, which is her base percentage chance to remain on the material plane. That score is modified by other variables, for example, whether the character was on an important quest before her passing, whether her belief system included an afterlife, whether her death was violent or sudden, and so on. If the player rolls percentile dice and the result is lower than the final number, her character can come back as a Phantom.

Phantoms lose all of their prior class abilities, and start as 1st level Phantoms, with their own experience table, and additional hit-points and special abilities gained at each subsequent level. Phantoms are invulnerable to normal attacks, although they are susceptible to magical weapon and spell attacks, and are doubly vulnerable to attacks from the undead. At first level, they are unable to impinge upon the prime material plane, other than being visible in darkness, and can only communicate telepathically. They recover hit points normally, but if the Phantom should ever be reduced to 0 hit points, the character immediately and unavoidably ascends to the afterlife. Some of the special abilities that are gained by higher level Phantoms include the power to become material, cause fright, telekenesis, teleaudience, detect poison, project cold, and control flames.

Part of the limitations of the class is that the Phantom must never stray from the purpose for which she remains on the material plane. For example, if the party was on an important quest when she died, the Phantom must continue towards that goal. If the party abandons the quest, the Phantom must continue on. As another example, perhaps the purpose of the Phantom is to protect her friends, Then if the friends die, she would ascend to the afterlife. Another purpose of the Phantom might be to avenge her own death. In that case, once her killer died, her purpose would be fulfilled and she would leave this world.

The chapter on Phantoms concludes with some suggested reading for playing and refereeing with this class: Blithe Spirit, by Noel Coward; Hamlet and MacBeth, by Shakespeare; Immortality Inc., by Robert Sheckly; Brief Candles and Happy Returns by Manning Coles; and Topper by Thorne Smith.

Holmes Basic DnD: Experience Points

All this talk on the interwebs about what image most captures your conception of Dungeons and Dragons has me thinking about the Basic Dungeons and Dragons rule set, edited by Dr. J. Eric Holmes.

Published in 1977, the illustration on the box cover of Holmes D&D was the first full cover treatment, that I had ever seen, of a D&D encounter between adventurers and a dragon. It blew my then 11 year old mind, and was the subject of much day-dreaming.

The cover, by David Sutherland III, shows two adventurers -- a blond, pointy-hatted wizard, and a heavily-armed and armored fighter, aiming his bow and arrow -- confronting a roused red dragon lying atop an immense hoard of treasure. The wizard is holding a torch and casting a spell with his wand, as the two stand in an archway made by two pillars. The final encounter in the Dungeon, or at least the most rewarding, if the adventurers are successful and cart all of that treasure back to town!

Holmes D&D is, arguably, the most flexible of all iterations of Dungeons and Dragons. I say this mostly because it is incredibly rules-light, being only 48 pages of rules (for character levels 1-3), compared to the 64 pages for Moldvay, and Mentzer, D&D rules. It's "lean-ness" provides more opportunity to "play it your way", but Holmes is explicit in encouraging that freedom.

"A final word to the Dungeon Master from the authors. These rules are intended as guidelines. No two Dungeon Masters run their dungeons quite the same way, as anyone who has learned the game with one group and then transferred to another can easily attest. You are sure to encounter situations not covered by these rules. Improvise. Agree on a probability that an event will occur and convert it into a die roll -- roll the number and see what happens! The game is intended to be fun and the rules modified if the players desire. Do not hesitate to invent, create and experiment with new ideas. Imagination is the key to a good game. Enjoy!"

Holmes had his own idea of regarding the purpose of adventuring in D&D. He has this to say about the course of an adventure, and the rewards to be pursued.

"Many gamers start with a trip across country to get to the entrance of a dungeon. A trip apt to be punctuated by attacks by brigands or wandering monsters or marked by strange and unusual encounters. The party then enters the underworld, tries to capture the maximum treasure with the minimal risk, and escape alive."

Holmes, like other editors of D&D rulesets, encouraged players to recover as much treasure as possible, while avoiding any associated risks. While no definitive directions were given on the proportion of treasure to be awarded (compared to the amount of experience that the characters were expected to receive as a result of defeating monsters) Holmes does provide us with a sample dungeon, stocked with denizens and loot. In that dungeon you can recover 4500 gp worth of treasure, and obtain 750 xp from monsters, in addition to recovering two scrolls, a +1 dagger and two magic swords. The experience points from monsters equals 15% of the experience points. Therefore, 85% of the experience is derived from the treasure (not counting the magic items).

Holmes Basic DnD: Experience Points

All this talk on the interwebs about what image most captures your conception of Dungeons and Dragons has me thinking about the Basic Dungeons and Dragons rule set, edited by Dr. J. Eric Holmes.

Published in 1977, the illustration on the box cover of Holmes D&D was the first full cover treatment, that I had ever seen, of a D&D encounter between adventurers and a dragon. It blew my then 11 year old mind, and was the subject of much day-dreaming.

The cover, by David Sutherland III, shows two adventurers -- a blond, pointy-hatted wizard, and a heavily-armed and armored fighter, aiming his bow and arrow -- confronting a roused red dragon lying atop an immense hoard of treasure. The wizard is holding a torch and casting a spell with his wand, as the two stand in an archway made by two pillars. The final encounter in the Dungeon, or at least the most rewarding, if the adventurers are successful and cart all of that treasure back to town!

Holmes D&D is, arguably, the most flexible of all iterations of Dungeons and Dragons. I say this mostly because it is incredibly rules-light, being only 48 pages of rules (for character levels 1-3), compared to the 64 pages for Moldvay, and Mentzer, D&D rules. It's "lean-ness" provides more opportunity to "play it your way", but Holmes is explicit in encouraging that freedom.

"A final word to the Dungeon Master from the authors. These rules are intended as guidelines. No two Dungeon Masters run their dungeons quite the same way, as anyone who has learned the game with one group and then transferred to another can easily attest. You are sure to encounter situations not covered by these rules. Improvise. Agree on a probability that an event will occur and convert it into a die roll -- roll the number and see what happens! The game is intended to be fun and the rules modified if the players desire. Do not hesitate to invent, create and experiment with new ideas. Imagination is the key to a good game. Enjoy!"

Holmes had his own idea of regarding the purpose of adventuring in D&D. He has this to say about the course of an adventure, and the rewards to be pursued.

"Many gamers start with a trip across country to get to the entrance of a dungeon. A trip apt to be punctuated by attacks by brigands or wandering monsters or marked by strange and unusual encounters. The party then enters the underworld, tries to capture the maximum treasure with the minimal risk, and escape alive."

Holmes, like other editors of D&D rulesets, encouraged players to recover as much treasure as possible, while avoiding any associated risks. While no definitive directions were given on the proportion of treasure to be awarded (compared to the amount of experience that the characters were expected to receive as a result of defeating monsters) Holmes does provide us with a sample dungeon, stocked with denizens and loot. In that dungeon you can recover 4500 gp worth of treasure, and obtain 750 xp from monsters, in addition to recovering two scrolls, a +1 dagger and two magic swords. The experience points from monsters equals 15% of the experience points. Therefore, 85% of the experience is derived from the treasure (not counting the magic items).

Mentzer D&D: Experience Points

Every version of Dungeons and Dragons, along with most of the other competing fantasy role-playing games, provide their own take on the awarding of experience points. I've already covered the rules for awarding experience points in The Fantasy Trip, The Arduin Grimoire, Dragons At Dawn and 4E game systems.

The 1983, Mentzer version of D&D (a series of D&D rulebooks sometimes referred to BECMI) provided another take on the awarding of experience. It is interesting to see the evolution of experience awards. Although Mentzer D&D still focused on experience for treasure and monsters defeated, the explication was becoming ever more specific.

"Did you notice that you get a lot of experience for treasure, and not much for killing monsters? It's better to avoid killing, if you can, by tricking monsters or using magic to calm them down. You can sometimes avoid the risks of combat." (Players Manual, page 12)

As has been explained better elsewhere, the reward systems of early versions of D&D were all about searching for and looting ancient treasure hoards (that were often also guarded by fell beasts). If the looting of the treasure could be accomplished without having to face the "risks of combat", all that much the better.

And speaking of treasure, in Mentzer D&D there was a 1 in 6 chance that treasure would be in an otherwise empty room, a 2 in 6 chance of treasure in a trapped room, and a 3 in 6 chance of treasure in a room occupied by monsters.

Mentzer D&D: Experience Points

Every version of Dungeons and Dragons, along with most of the other competing fantasy role-playing games, provide their own take on the awarding of experience points. I've already covered the rules for awarding experience points in The Fantasy Trip, The Arduin Grimoire, Dragons At Dawn and 4E game systems.

The 1983, Mentzer version of D&D (a series of D&D rulebooks sometimes referred to BECMI) provided another take on the awarding of experience. It is interesting to see the evolution of experience awards. Although Mentzer D&D still focused on experience for treasure and monsters defeated, the explication was becoming ever more specific.

"Did you notice that you get a lot of experience for treasure, and not much for killing monsters? It's better to avoid killing, if you can, by tricking monsters or using magic to calm them down. You can sometimes avoid the risks of combat." (Players Manual, page 12)

As has been explained better elsewhere, the reward systems of early versions of D&D were all about searching for and looting ancient treasure hoards (that were often also guarded by fell beasts). If the looting of the treasure could be accomplished without having to face the "risks of combat", all that much the better.

And speaking of treasure, in Mentzer D&D there was a 1 in 6 chance that treasure would be in an otherwise empty room, a 2 in 6 chance of treasure in a trapped room, and a 3 in 6 chance of treasure in a room occupied by monsters.

2010 WOTC 4E Red Box: A Review

Would it be vain to suggest that the old school community is having a measurable impact on the marketing efforts of Hasbro and Wizards Of The Coast? While its certainly comforting to imagine that the design and distribution of the new 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons Essentials Starter Set (4E Red Box) is a reaction to the blossoming of the old school community, it is just as likely that the look of the new 4E Red Box is simply a clever marketing ploy by WOTC, to get those parents who fondly remember D&D to buy a copy of this new D&D game for their kids.

Whatever the reason, the announcement of a new 4E Red Box several months ago provoked old-school and new-school fingers to race furiously across keyboards. Those groups alternately predicted that the 4E Red Box heralded the end of civilization, or a new golden age of role-playing.

Having recently purchased a copy of the 4E Red Box, I thought some might find it useful if I shared my thoughts regarding this product, now that the game is "in-hand."

The 4E Red Box is $20, is 9" x 12" , and is 2" deep, but don't let the depth of the box fool you into thinking you are getting 2" worth of gaming materials. WOTC could have made the box 1" deep and still have provided all the materials in the box. A 1" high, sloped, cardboard boxliner (sloped so the dice fit inside) reduces the interior depth of the box, so the enclosed materials won't flop around. Inside, you will find two 8.5 x 11" booklets (a 32-page players book and a 64-page dungeon masters book), a set of black dice with white numbers, a sheet of cardboard counters representing characters and monsters, a double-sided battlemat, four character record sheets, and several sheets of power cards.

The production quality is top-notch, as one would expect from Wizards of the Coast. The booklet artwork is full-color and bleeds to the edge of the pages. The cardboard character and monster counters feature art typical of 4th Edition D&D. WOTC has recycled the crossroads battlemat, appearing in other 4E products, but the reverse battlemat reveals a dungeon, designed specifically for the 4E Red Box. While only four character sheets are provided with the game, WOTC gives permission to photocopy the character sheets for personal use.

The Players Book is simply a two-column choose-your-own-adventure book consisting of 100 entries (with the manual being 32 pages, that works out to 3 entries per page). In making several adventure decisions, those 100 entries take you through 4th Edition D&D character creation. For example, your first choice, upon being ambushed, is to determine whether you wish to cast a spell, heal a comrade, sneak around the attackers, or confront them in mortal combat. Depending on which choice you make, this determines your starting character class. During three in-book encounters (two combat and one information gathering), you make additional choices about your alignment, starting weapons and equipment, ability scores, healing surges, and powers or spells. Once you finish the Players Book, you are encouraged to gather three or four friends, and have them walk though the included adventure to create their own characters.

There appears to be very little resource management in the 4E D&D. Neither the Players Book nor the Dungeon Masters Book provide any lists of equipment for purchase. Every character is assumed to have all of the materials he or she needs for adventuring (rope, torches, etc.). The resource management in 4E is all in about your hit points, healing surges, and powers.

The 64-page Dungeon Masters Book provides additional encounters and advice on how to run encounters. By the end of the encounters outlined in the Dungeon Masters Book, each of the characters should reach 2nd Level.

Is this boxed set worth $20? If you are interested in playing 4E D&D, and have never played Dungeons and Dragons (or any role-playing game) before, it is, and may be the product for you. But, while the contents of this boxed set are quite nice, if you have played role-playing games before, you don't need to buy this product. The character generation in the Players Book is oversimplified, and you don't need 32 pages and 100 entries to accomplish this exercize. It should take someone, with even a passing familiarity with role-playing games, no more 2-3 minutes to make the choices that might take 15-30 minutes following the examples in the Players Book.

If you are someone who played D&D 20 years ago, and want to get back into the "most recent" version of the game, this product is still probably not for you. Wait for the other more comprehensive D&D Essentials game materials. Understand though, that this is not the D&D you played in the 1980's, or even the D&D you played in the 1990's. 4E is an "encounters-based" game, with experience doled out for completing quests assigned by the referee, battling monsters, and participating in "skill-challenges", where you roll dice against a certain skill, in order to continue the adventure.

Did the 4E Red Box convince me to play 4E? No. It reminded me why I lost interest in 4E to begin with. But that doesn't mean that it is not right for you. If your favorite part of D&D was engaging in combats, participating in heroic quests, and obtaining magic items, and least favorite was role-playing your character, solving puzzles, exploring abandoned ruins, and managing your material resources effectively, then 4E is worth checking out.

2010 WOTC 4E Red Box: A Review

Would it be vain to suggest that the old school community is having a measurable impact on the marketing efforts of Hasbro and Wizards Of The Coast? While its certainly comforting to imagine that the design and distribution of the new 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons Essentials Starter Set (4E Red Box) is a reaction to the blossoming of the old school community, it is just as likely that the look of the new 4E Red Box is simply a clever marketing ploy by WOTC, to get those parents who fondly remember D&D to buy a copy of this new D&D game for their kids.

Whatever the reason, the announcement of a new 4E Red Box several months ago provoked old-school and new-school fingers to race furiously across keyboards. Those groups alternately predicted that the 4E Red Box heralded the end of civilization, or a new golden age of role-playing.

Having recently purchased a copy of the 4E Red Box, I thought some might find it useful if I shared my thoughts regarding this product, now that the game is "in-hand."

The 4E Red Box is $20, is 9" x 12" , and is 2" deep, but don't let the depth of the box fool you into thinking you are getting 2" worth of gaming materials. WOTC could have made the box 1" deep and still have provided all the materials in the box. A 1" high, sloped, cardboard boxliner (sloped so the dice fit inside) reduces the interior depth of the box, so the enclosed materials won't flop around. Inside, you will find two 8.5 x 11" booklets (a 32-page players book and a 64-page dungeon masters book), a set of black dice with white numbers, a sheet of cardboard counters representing characters and monsters, a double-sided battlemat, four character record sheets, and several sheets of power cards.

The production quality is top-notch, as one would expect from Wizards of the Coast. The booklet artwork is full-color and bleeds to the edge of the pages. The cardboard character and monster counters feature art typical of 4th Edition D&D. WOTC has recycled the crossroads battlemat, appearing in other 4E products, but the reverse battlemat reveals a dungeon, designed specifically for the 4E Red Box. While only four character sheets are provided with the game, WOTC gives permission to photocopy the character sheets for personal use.

The Players Book is simply a two-column choose-your-own-adventure book consisting of 100 entries (with the manual being 32 pages, that works out to 3 entries per page). In making several adventure decisions, those 100 entries take you through 4th Edition D&D character creation. For example, your first choice, upon being ambushed, is to determine whether you wish to cast a spell, heal a comrade, sneak around the attackers, or confront them in mortal combat. Depending on which choice you make, this determines your starting character class. During three in-book encounters (two combat and one information gathering), you make additional choices about your alignment, starting weapons and equipment, ability scores, healing surges, and powers or spells. Once you finish the Players Book, you are encouraged to gather three or four friends, and have them walk though the included adventure to create their own characters.

There appears to be very little resource management in the 4E D&D. Neither the Players Book nor the Dungeon Masters Book provide any lists of equipment for purchase. Every character is assumed to have all of the materials he or she needs for adventuring (rope, torches, etc.). The resource management in 4E is all in about your hit points, healing surges, and powers.

The 64-page Dungeon Masters Book provides additional encounters and advice on how to run encounters. By the end of the encounters outlined in the Dungeon Masters Book, each of the characters should reach 2nd Level.

Is this boxed set worth $20? If you are interested in playing 4E D&D, and have never played Dungeons and Dragons (or any role-playing game) before, it is, and may be the product for you. But, while the contents of this boxed set are quite nice, if you have played role-playing games before, you don't need to buy this product. The character generation in the Players Book is oversimplified, and you don't need 32 pages and 100 entries to accomplish this exercize. It should take someone, with even a passing familiarity with role-playing games, no more 2-3 minutes to make the choices that might take 15-30 minutes following the examples in the Players Book.

If you are someone who played D&D 20 years ago, and want to get back into the "most recent" version of the game, this product is still probably not for you. Wait for the other more comprehensive D&D Essentials game materials. Understand though, that this is not the D&D you played in the 1980's, or even the D&D you played in the 1990's. 4E is an "encounters-based" game, with experience doled out for completing quests assigned by the referee, battling monsters, and participating in "skill-challenges", where you roll dice against a certain skill, in order to continue the adventure.

Did the 4E Red Box convince me to play 4E? No. It reminded me why I lost interest in 4E to begin with. But that doesn't mean that it is not right for you. If your favorite part of D&D was engaging in combats, participating in heroic quests, and obtaining magic items, and least favorite was role-playing your character, solving puzzles, exploring abandoned ruins, and managing your material resources effectively, then 4E is worth checking out.

BX Companion: A Review

One of my fellow old-school bloggers recently remarked that its feels like a second golden age for Dungeons and Dragons. That comment was made in relation to the explosion of available rulesets, accessories and adventures compatible with early versions of D&D. In some ways, we are now experiencing an embarrassment of riches in the old school community.

One has to look no further, in verifying this observation, than to such newly-published works as James Raggi's Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-Playing, Rogue Games' Shadow, Sword & Spell, or JB's B/X Companion.

While the former two are stand-alone games, JB's B/X Companion is intended to supplement the 1980 Moldvay/Cook Basic and Expert Dungeons and Dragons rulesets, thus provoking the title of this book, the B/X Companion.

When first published in 1980, the B/X D&D rulebooks promised a companion-level supplement would follow. That companion supplement was never published, due to the replacement of the B/X with a 'kiddified' BECMI set of D&D rulebooks. JB has corrected that oversight, by publishing his own version of a companion rulebook.

While ownership of the original B/X rulebooks is not absolutely necessary to get value out of the B/X Companion, it is presumed that a purchaser will also have a compatible basic/expert ruleset, such as Labyrinth Lord or some other similar game, in order to use this book for gaming.

The cover of the B/X Companion, by Brian DeClercq, fits in perfectly with the Moldvay/Cook rulebooks. The three adventurers from the covers of the B/X rulesets are shown, in a fitting homage to the original 1980 Erol Otus covers. The rulebook itself is 64 pages, the same size as the Basic and Expert books, and features 25 excellent interior B&W illustrations by Michael Cote, Kelvin Green, David Larkins and Amos Orion Sterns.


Above is an example of the interior artwork. The illustration is by Michael Cote, showing three adventurers, standing before a bas-relief that reveals a battle between themselves and a one-eyed, tentacled monstrosity. If you enjoy the artwork, above, and the illustrations from the original B/X rulebooks, you're in for a treat with the B/X Companion. The artwork in the B/X Companion captures the same feel as the artwork from the original books. JB was most fortunate to have such a diverse and talented group of artists providing him with illustrations for this rulebook.

The Companion title of this rulebook, refers (of course) to character levels 15-36, since the original B/X rulebooks only covered characters levels from 1-14. In early versions of D&D, high level play was not restricted to combat with larger and more dangerous monsters, although JB covers that ground in the B/X Companion. In addition to those sorts of adventures, the B/X Companion also provides rules for running Dominions, commanding armies and engaging in mass combat, and travelling to other planes.

The rulebook is laid out in a 2-column style, in keeping with the presentation of the original B/X rulebooks, and is well-written. It includes rules for advancement for the various classes, descriptions of high-level magic-user and cleric spells, additional advice on adventuring, new combat rules, along with a mass-combat system, new high-level monsters, additional magic items, dominion creation and management, advice on designing high level adventures, and rules for travelling to other planes.

All that in a scant 64 pages.

Among my favourite parts of this rulebook are the mass combat and monster sections. The mass combat section feels true to the role-playing conventions of Dungeons and Dragons, but also utilizes a wargame system that provides a sufficiently abstract combat resolution, in order to ensure mass-battles do not become bogged down in the minutia of individual combats. The section on monsters provides several novel creatures, such as animals of legend, jubjub bird, and ruinous powers.

At $28, this rulebook is expensive. But for sheer nostalgic bliss, fused with broad applicability to old-school and B/X gaming, the B/X Companion rulebook has few peers.

BX Companion: A Review

One of my fellow old-school bloggers recently remarked that its feels like a second golden age for Dungeons and Dragons. That comment was made in relation to the explosion of available rulesets, accessories and adventures compatible with early versions of D&D. In some ways, we are now experiencing an embarrassment of riches in the old school community.

One has to look no further, in verifying this observation, than to such newly-published works as James Raggi's Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-Playing, Rogue Games' Shadow, Sword & Spell, or JB's B/X Companion.

While the former two are stand-alone games, JB's B/X Companion is intended to supplement the 1980 Moldvay/Cook Basic and Expert Dungeons and Dragons rulesets, thus provoking the title of this book, the B/X Companion.

When first published in 1980, the B/X D&D rulebooks promised a companion-level supplement would follow. That companion supplement was never published, due to the replacement of the B/X with a 'kiddified' BECMI set of D&D rulebooks. JB has corrected that oversight, by publishing his own version of a companion rulebook.

While ownership of the original B/X rulebooks is not absolutely necessary to get value out of the B/X Companion, it is presumed that a purchaser will also have a compatible basic/expert ruleset, such as Labyrinth Lord or some other similar game, in order to use this book for gaming.

The cover of the B/X Companion, by Brian DeClercq, fits in perfectly with the Moldvay/Cook rulebooks. The three adventurers from the covers of the B/X rulesets are shown, in a fitting homage to the original 1980 Erol Otus covers. The rulebook itself is 64 pages, the same size as the Basic and Expert books, and features 25 excellent interior B&W illustrations by Michael Cote, Kelvin Green, David Larkins and Amos Orion Sterns.


Above is an example of the interior artwork. The illustration is by Michael Cote, showing three adventurers, standing before a bas-relief that reveals a battle between themselves and a one-eyed, tentacled monstrosity. If you enjoy the artwork, above, and the illustrations from the original B/X rulebooks, you're in for a treat with the B/X Companion. The artwork in the B/X Companion captures the same feel as the artwork from the original books. JB was most fortunate to have such a diverse and talented group of artists providing him with illustrations for this rulebook.

The Companion title of this rulebook, refers (of course) to character levels 15-36, since the original B/X rulebooks only covered characters levels from 1-14. In early versions of D&D, high level play was not restricted to combat with larger and more dangerous monsters, although JB covers that ground in the B/X Companion. In addition to those sorts of adventures, the B/X Companion also provides rules for running Dominions, commanding armies and engaging in mass combat, and travelling to other planes.

The rulebook is laid out in a 2-column style, in keeping with the presentation of the original B/X rulebooks, and is well-written. It includes rules for advancement for the various classes, descriptions of high-level magic-user and cleric spells, additional advice on adventuring, new combat rules, along with a mass-combat system, new high-level monsters, additional magic items, dominion creation and management, advice on designing high level adventures, and rules for travelling to other planes.

All that in a scant 64 pages.

Among my favourite parts of this rulebook are the mass combat and monster sections. The mass combat section feels true to the role-playing conventions of Dungeons and Dragons, but also utilizes a wargame system that provides a sufficiently abstract combat resolution, in order to ensure mass-battles do not become bogged down in the minutia of individual combats. The section on monsters provides several novel creatures, such as animals of legend, jubjub bird, and ruinous powers.

At $28, this rulebook is expensive. But for sheer nostalgic bliss, fused with broad applicability to old-school and B/X gaming, the B/X Companion rulebook has few peers.

Labyrinth Lord: Advanced Edition Companion

I'm such a Libra. I'm still on the fence when it comes to which retro-game is my favorite. I like Swords & Wizardry because it is the closest to original Dungeons and Dragons, and is incredibly rules-light. On the other hand, Labyrinth Lord is (in my mind) a superior implementation of B/X.

Happily, I don't have to choose between the two, I can have both! I picked up a copy of Advanced Edition Companion (AEC) for Labyrinth Lord from my FLGS, The Sentry Box, yesterday. As an active proponent of the FLGS system, I waited for it to arrive at the store. This meant having to wait an extra couple of months, compared to those of you who ordered it directly through Goblinoid Games or Lulu. For some reason The Sentry Box only ordered one copy, so my apologies to those of you in Calgary who were waiting for it to arrive: you'll have to ask Don to bring in another copy for you! I have not had a chance to dig into AEC, but I intend to give it a closer look on Sunday.

Here's a photo of my Swords & Wizardry boxed set, along with my Labyrinth Lord and Advanced Edition Companion books.

I also picked up used copies of DA3 and DA4, Dave Arneson's City of the Gods and The Duchy of Ten for Blackmoor. The two of them were too shy to pose for a picture -- perhaps they will discover their courage tomorrow.

Labyrinth Lord: Advanced Edition Companion

I'm such a Libra. I'm still on the fence when it comes to which retro-game is my favorite. I like Swords & Wizardry because it is the closest to original Dungeons and Dragons, and is incredibly rules-light. On the other hand, Labyrinth Lord is (in my mind) a superior implementation of B/X.

Happily, I don't have to choose between the two, I can have both! I picked up a copy of Advanced Edition Companion (AEC) for Labyrinth Lord from my FLGS, The Sentry Box, yesterday. As an active proponent of the FLGS system, I waited for it to arrive at the store. This meant having to wait an extra couple of months, compared to those of you who ordered it directly through Goblinoid Games or Lulu. For some reason The Sentry Box only ordered one copy, so my apologies to those of you in Calgary who were waiting for it to arrive: you'll have to ask Don to bring in another copy for you! I have not had a chance to dig into AEC, but I intend to give it a closer look on Sunday.

Here's a photo of my Swords & Wizardry boxed set, along with my Labyrinth Lord and Advanced Edition Companion books.

I also picked up used copies of DA3 and DA4, Dave Arneson's City of the Gods and The Duchy of Ten for Blackmoor. The two of them were too shy to pose for a picture -- perhaps they will discover their courage tomorrow.

Wanderer RPG: Traveller Fantasy

Of course, Wanderer RPG, is not, as far as I know, in production, although you just know that some DIY publisher would have a runaway OSR hit on their hands (that is, by selling at least 100 copies) if they actually published a playable version of a Traveller-based Fantasy game.

I won't rehash the genesis of this Wanderer RPG mock-up. You can find several threads talking about it on various role playing boards. Over at the OD&D board, they have a thread devoted to the creation of Wanderer RPG. There are several threads speculating on what Wanderer RPG would look like, over at RPG.net here and here. There is even a thread on the travellerrpg boards which you can find at the link here.

In a fit of nostalgia, I just broke out my old Traveller LBB's. Ah, the memories.

Wanderer RPG: Traveller Fantasy

Of course, Wanderer RPG, is not, as far as I know, in production, although you just know that some DIY publisher would have a runaway OSR hit on their hands (that is, by selling at least 100 copies) if they actually published a playable version of a Traveller-based Fantasy game.

I won't rehash the genesis of this Wanderer RPG mock-up. You can find several threads talking about it on various role playing boards. Over at the OD&D board, they have a thread devoted to the creation of Wanderer RPG. There are several threads speculating on what Wanderer RPG would look like, over at RPG.net here and here. There is even a thread on the travellerrpg boards which you can find at the link here.

In a fit of nostalgia, I just broke out my old Traveller LBB's. Ah, the memories.

My Whitebox Arrives!

Actually, my Whitebox arrived last week, but i'm busy enjoying its old-school goodness at the moment. It contains the character booklet, Matt Finch's Quick Primer, some graph paper, a book of spells, a treasure booklet, and as a bonus, an adventure entitled The Vile Worm of the Eldritch Oak. The box is very nicely done, with art on the sides and top, and the text and illustrations in the booklets are clear and crisp.

Each booklet is approximately 24 pages, so this is truly a rules-light game, upon which you can add your own house-rules. The adventure is approximately 16 pages, more of a mini-adventure, but I think it is perfect for a new DM, with just the right number of illustrations and background. It should take you at most two sessions to finish this adventure.

It's great to have this game in booklet form, and with the spell book separate from the character booklet. I much prefer the individual books for players, separate from the world building books, as it contributes to the sense of mystery, by players not having access to the bestiary and treasure lists.

I've thrown a copy of Philitomy's Musings and Chgowiz's S&W Reference Sheets into my box as well. Philotomy's musings is a valuable resource for the DM, as are the reference sheets.

I have ordered a second boxed set, along with some extra character booklets. I can hardly wait until those arrive, so I can give each of the players their own character reference booklet.

My Whitebox Arrives!

Actually, my Whitebox arrived last week, but i'm busy enjoying its old-school goodness at the moment. It contains the character booklet, Matt Finch's Quick Primer, some graph paper, a book of spells, a treasure booklet, and as a bonus, an adventure entitled The Vile Worm of the Eldritch Oak. The box is very nicely done, with art on the sides and top, and the text and illustrations in the booklets are clear and crisp.

Each booklet is approximately 24 pages, so this is truly a rules-light game, upon which you can add your own house-rules. The adventure is approximately 16 pages, more of a mini-adventure, but I think it is perfect for a new DM, with just the right number of illustrations and background. It should take you at most two sessions to finish this adventure.

It's great to have this game in booklet form, and with the spell book separate from the character booklet. I much prefer the individual books for players, separate from the world building books, as it contributes to the sense of mystery, by players not having access to the bestiary and treasure lists.

I've thrown a copy of Philitomy's Musings and Chgowiz's S&W Reference Sheets into my box as well. Philotomy's musings is a valuable resource for the DM, as are the reference sheets.

I have ordered a second boxed set, along with some extra character booklets. I can hardly wait until those arrive, so I can give each of the players their own character reference booklet.