Journey through the ages - Swords & Wizardry
Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2024 7:23 pm
After many years playing Pathfinder 1st edition, I have this crazy idea of ‘going back to basics’ with my RPG gaming. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I have completely lost the appetite for mechanically ‘crunchier’ systems - I recently joined a live game of AD&D2e with a very flexible DM, just to re-discover how the game I played the most in my life can be way more complex than I remembered; I still run a (Core only) PF1e game because I appreciate the framework they have managed to put in place to help with DM adjudication and overall gameplay, and I am still looking for a chance to play in a (again Core only, if possible) 5e game, so I can understand what is good and what is bad about it firsthand.
However, I do feel over the years I have come to take some things as granted in my games, which might not be really as important as I think they are. Some ‘rules bloat’ so to speak. That is one of the reasons why I joined these boards, and also the reason why I want to take it as further back as I can, and ‘re-discover’ the hobby, take the journey again. Start with the basics, and add things/rules/options bit by bit, but only if I/we find we want/need them.
So to keep it simple, I have come up with a plan - I think the furthest back I can take it (for now) toward OD&D is Swords & Wizardy Complete, so I want to run a game with that system/ruleset. I backed the Kickstarter, I read a ton about it, so now it is time to run it. I want to keep it simple, put up some pregens and jump into a ‘railroad-y’ adventure, and see where it will take us.
That would be the first part of it, but in the future I could see a similar experiment with B/X, BECMI, AD&D, and so on. I want to try out the different systems as they are, with their good/bad things, so am looking for people interested in doing the same. There is no lack of iconic adventures/modules out there for these systems, and I think playing them with the system they were designed to would be interesting, to say the least.
But first things first, so we start with S&W.
The question is - would there be interest for such a game?
Let me know!
However, I do feel over the years I have come to take some things as granted in my games, which might not be really as important as I think they are. Some ‘rules bloat’ so to speak. That is one of the reasons why I joined these boards, and also the reason why I want to take it as further back as I can, and ‘re-discover’ the hobby, take the journey again. Start with the basics, and add things/rules/options bit by bit, but only if I/we find we want/need them.
So to keep it simple, I have come up with a plan - I think the furthest back I can take it (for now) toward OD&D is Swords & Wizardy Complete, so I want to run a game with that system/ruleset. I backed the Kickstarter, I read a ton about it, so now it is time to run it. I want to keep it simple, put up some pregens and jump into a ‘railroad-y’ adventure, and see where it will take us.
That would be the first part of it, but in the future I could see a similar experiment with B/X, BECMI, AD&D, and so on. I want to try out the different systems as they are, with their good/bad things, so am looking for people interested in doing the same. There is no lack of iconic adventures/modules out there for these systems, and I think playing them with the system they were designed to would be interesting, to say the least.
But first things first, so we start with S&W.
The question is - would there be interest for such a game?
Let me know!
