Comments on The Free RPG Blog: Go back to school with Swords and Wizardry by Matt...

Awesome review, You captured some of the excitemen...

2011-09-08T21:36:47.430+01:00

Awesome review, You captured some of the excitement of the earlier frpgs.
I play nothing but old school. If the tables in THIS game were scary for you, review "Role Master" some time.
Of course there's no setting. The best part of old school gaming is busting out your poster-sized hex sheet and creating your own setting. Refereeing games by the seat of your pants and giving the players the freedom to go anywhere and do anything they want.
Overall a good review from the point of view of someonr unfamiliar with the older rpg systems.

Felipe, thanks for the comment. Nothing will conso...

2009-10-06T09:00:10.238+01:00

Felipe, thanks for the comment. Nothing will console by Table Fear! :-)

And also you've got to keep in mind that if yo...

2009-10-02T05:01:35.428+01:00

And also you've got to keep in mind that if you use descending AC, you just use subtraction instead of addition when calculating attack rolls.

The table is just an aid, for people that suck at math like myself :-)

@David
That all makes sense. I agree that the b...

2008-11-26T23:05:00.000Z

@David
That all makes sense. I agree that the best move is to make it both accessible and old school and ascending AC is the first step towards that. My chart fear is rooted from attempts to play Rolemaster and the inevitable stop-start dervied from a chart-driven game. Copying to character sheets is a good remedy. :)

Rob, as far as I know, the inclusion of both ascen...

2008-11-26T20:55:00.000Z

Rob, as far as I know, the inclusion of both ascending and descending AC charts is an attempt to greatly increase the target audience.

One of the biggest criticisms of old school games by the younger 3e crowd has been the "complicated" and "illogical" AC numbers. S&W's inclusion of both may just help to convert some of the huge 3e market by removing that stumbling block, with the revelation that the much smaller, niche old school games are actually fun - and not simply "old fashioned" and "out of date".

It also taps into the Castles & Crusades/Basic Fantasy RPG crowd, enabling future S&W products (adventures, etc.), to be usable with a whole range of games.

As for the charts themselves, most players will simply transfer the relevant information to their character sheet and therefore won't need to constantly refer to the rulebook.

@Santiago: I can only apologise and seek to improv...

2008-11-26T15:17:00.000Z

@Santiago: I can only apologise and seek to improve for the future.

Ascending AC and 3e means no use of tables if that...

2008-11-26T15:01:00.000Z

Ascending AC and 3e means no use of tables if that is what you like.

If you want to use just that, simply erase the other from the DOC, that is the whole point. S&W is a toolkit.

I;m not saying you need a playtest to write a review, but you have failed at the most basic and fundamental aspects of the product. Your review does not meet the minimum standarts.

@David: Ah, that definitely makes sense. I didn...

2008-11-26T07:51:00.000Z

@David: Ah, that definitely makes sense. I didn't realise that settings were no included back in 1974 - I imagine that is showing RPG's wargaming roots.

@Santiago: It's true that I do speed read the book to get enough of a flavour to write a review. It does mean I make mistakes, sorry about that. Ideally, I would read through with a fine-tooth comb and then run the system before review but that would mean that the reviews would be too far apart to be interesting. It's a decision of balance I had to make at the start. I've had another look and it's true that class and race aren't separated. Thanks for the tip!

As for tables, I believe that if you're going to create a game, then there should be one way to resolve those combat issues. Having two (AC ascending/AC descending with tables) not only confuses the matter but takes up unnecessary space. Furthermore, I am unable to compare with 3e because I've never read it and only played it once or twice! It's interesting to hear that ascending AC is like 3e but it means nothing to me. Endless pages of tables for resolution of things in game is not something I approve of. It's fine for character creation but having to check big tables during play slows things down too much. I see now that the ascending AC solves that and perhaps S&W should stick to that but I understand the tables are required to make it old school. It's what makes it what it is. I don't like tables but then I'd put up with it to play an old school game!

Many thanks for the comments, it's good to see people are paying attention! :)

Then if you don't like the combat tables S&...

2008-11-26T02:29:00.000Z

Then if you don't like the combat tables S&W presents the option of an ascending AC system that works just like 3E

This guy has not read the book.

\Race and C...

2008-11-26T02:25:00.000Z

This guy has not read the book.

\Race and Class are not separated.

The Classes are fighter-men, cleric, magic user, elven adventurer, dwarven adventurer and halfling.

Great review Rob, it was interesting to read the v...

2008-11-25T22:01:00.000Z

Great review Rob, it was interesting to read the views of a non-Old School gamer.

When you said:

"I think it's also a shame there there isn't a setting here."

You hit the nail on the head with your follow-up comment:

"it's a nice solid base for anyone wanting to build their own setting"

And that was what was done with the original 1974 game. There wasn't an official setting, everyone simply made up their own. S&W revives that spirit.