Swords and Wizardry, RPG Review

There is an ongoing argument about old school gaming and new school gaming. The main divide is the difference in style. Those who don't have a definitive preference want to know which is better. Now you have the opportunity of combining them without the conflict. Well, maybe not all the conflict, I think there will always be a level of discussing about preferences.

Swords and Wizardryby Matthew Finch and Bill Webb, published by Frog God Games, brings the original Dungeons and Dragonsforward for today's gamers. They accomplished this by using the Open Gaming License (OGL) and sourcing the original. This is a great tribute to the early form of role-playing and what came about is what I expected when I picked up the game book.

There is a wonderful feel of the old style of play with its higher risk and looser format. For some that was the problem about the old school gaming and why they prefer the new style of games. However, working with the OGL they provide rule variations to bring it forward to the structure of the new games. There is still more of the open, looser feel some of us remember while it uses some of the current gaming structure.

They give information to apply the older style to the newer format. What you end up with is a game providing the risks of the original with additional structure of how to run the game that came out in the later editions of Dungeons and Dragons. Considering the differences between the systems they were able to bring this together by providing options on how you structure your game.

Original structure of the classes, races, etc. are provided with the updated ability of the modern rules. The use of armor class (AC) is one example. You can choose to play using the style of play with AC decreasing to -9 or an open ended increasing value. This is carried through with combat tables for classes and monsters along with variations for combat sequence (initiative). This level of flexibility from allows gaming groups the chance to decide which direction they want to go.

For those wanting more after they get started, there is new and old available. Players and game masters can bring out their old adventures and support material or you can bring everyone along on new adventures. If you want to adopt the older style of rules, there are many adventures available out there. If you are updating to the newer set, all of the newer stuff coming out provides ample material to keep a campaign going.

In working through Swords and Wizardry I found myself going right back into the style of play that allowed for the fast and frenzied combat. The monsters are familiar and the rules set it up so you're not as confined in the round structure of some of the modern games, the emphasis is placed more on the role-playing than on the strategic aspects of fighting.

This all leads back to the increased risks to the characters. Spells can be stopped by attacking the spell casters, characters have fewer hit points, and the chance of being raised is limited. All of the aspects that made the original game from forty years ago more challenging to get to name level. Even the spell and class level restrictions are included.

For me the greatest advantage of this game is the simple fact of being able to introduce old school gaming through use of new school mechanics. It allows the combination of the high risk, high mortality style of early role-playing with the modern rule structures.

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Originally published with Utah Geek Magazine.