Friday Filler: An OSR Miscellany

Tim Shorts—via Gothridge Manor or GM Games—is one of any number of small press publishers who are garnering support for their output via Patreon. Many similar publishers put podcasts funded via Patreon, for example, The Good Friends of Jackson Elias and the GROGNARD Files, but GM Games provides support for use with Swords & Wizardry Light, but there is no reason that this support would not work with the more recent Swords & Wizardry Continual Light or other retroclones.


The end of the year for 2017 package for GM Games comes in a digest-sized envelope. Inside there are four types of item, each of which is handily sized and easy to bring to the table and drop into an ongoing game.

The first of the four items actually consist of two items—or rather two Character Records for Swords & Wizardry Continual Light. Now the character presented at the end of Swords & Wizardry Continual Light is bland at best, but awful at worst. Done on heavy paper, those presented here are little pamphlets just four pages in length. There is room on the front for a player character’s name and then the stats, Class and Race abilities, Saving Throw, Base Hit Bonus, Armour Class, Spells, and equipment on the inside pages. There is probably not quite enough space in the boxes given for this information unless the character’s player has small writing. Pleasingly on the back page there is an Experience chart for the character where a player can tick off the number of adventures that have been played. Overall, these character sheets are a bit cramped, but they are charming and if there is ever a Swords & Wizardry Continual Light Whitebox Set, then they—or something like it—should be in the box.

—oOo—

The second of the four items is an NPC Card. The NPC Cards series presents NPCs on a single A6-sized laminated card in full colour. The NPC this time around is ‘Harker, Goblin Warrior’. A two Hit Dice creature, Harker is a big goblin who wields his grandfather’s sword, Arm Eater, his father’s goblin armour, and his own Imp Helm—actually an Imp’s horn atop an iron cap, which regenerates Hit Points for him. Harker is perhaps best described as cunning, preferring to pick and choose his fights. Although nicely presented, the NPC himself, Harker, is not all that interesting and really it should be suggesting ways to use this NPC in way that is interesting for the players and their characters—that is, interesting enough for the players and their characters not to simply kill the NPC.

—oOo—

The third of the four items is a Micro-Location. Micro-Location #19, ‘Oubliette’, is also in full colour and comes on a laminated card, roughly six inches by three-and-three-quarter inches. It describes a pit, twenty feet deep, and an adjoining room. Both are shown in cross section. The location is both small in size and small in scope. Both the cross section and the illustration are nicely done. The monster is more of a trap than a monster, but no less deadly, and the given magic item is of limited use, but useful nevertheless. Overall, this location is easy to drop into most settings, whether that is in a dungeon, the ruins of a castle or manor house, and so on. 

—oOo—

The fourth of the four items is a Micro-Adventure. These are where GM Games began with its Patreon output and ‘Iron Crawlers’ is Micro-Adventure #70. It is written for use with Swords & Wizardry Continual Light and has a simple plot, fairly mundane opponents, and actually, a down-at-heel charm. It opens with the player characters being hired by Sir Carl the Swindler to recover his signet ring, which he lost to a local gang of ruffians known as the Iron Crawlers, in a game of cards. Despite his reputation, Sir Carl the Swindler has the money to pay the party. The gang has its headquarters in the cellar of a burnt-out manor house and the player characters will have to break in and confront the gang. Essentially a mini-dungeon with just ten locations, everything is decently described and the NPCs are fleshed out enough for the Dungeon Master to portray them. The members of gang—variously described as the Iron Crawlers and the Iron Mongers—will protect themselves, but will not necessarily attack. If they do, they may not use lethal force. It should be pointed out that the members of the Iron Crawlers gang are strictly small time and greedy rather than necessarily evil.

‘Iron Crawlers’ comes on an orange-brown stiff paper pamphlet with a large map of the ten-location dungeon, or cellar, on the inside. The production values are not quite as high as on the NPC Card and the Micro-Location cards, but overall, ‘Iron Crawlers’ is good adventure to bring out in an urban location. It has a grim and gritty feel which means that it would work best in a Low Fantasy setting rather than a High Fantasy setting. So with some adjustment, it would work well with Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay as well as the Zweihänder Grim & Perilous RPG, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, and Lankhmar: City of Thieves for use with Savage Worlds, among many options.

—oOo—

So if you are running for Swords & Wizardry Continual Light, then the character sheets in this selection would be a nice addition to your game. The NPC Card is attractive, but perhaps a bit underwritten, whereas Micro-Location #19, ‘Oubliette’ is perhaps a little overwritten, but does not suffer for it. Iron Crawlers – Micro-Adventure #70 is a good little adventure and really easy to use with very little preparation and should provide a session’s worth of decent play. Overall, this is a solid package and an entertaining medley of Old School Renaissance goodness.

Fanzine Focus VI: The Wizard's Scroll #1

On the tail of Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another DM and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.

Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry.

The Wizard’s Scroll #1 is a new fanzine written for use with Swords & Wizardry. Published by Seattle Hill Games, the fanzine differs from most fanzines in that it contains not the vision of one writer, but many. Its fifty-four pages includes two ‘Race as Class’ Classes, one NPC, four monsters, seven new artefacts, three scenarios, and three rules additions—and more. The fanzine is cleanly laid out and nicely presented with some well done artwork. The cartography is a little variable in quality, but not enough to detract from any of the three scenarios.

The Wizard’s Scroll #1 opens with the two ‘Race as Class’ Classes. D.J. Chadwick’s ‘Testudo’ are tortoise men who can either be Fighters or Magic Users and imbue their shells with sigils that enhance their Armour Class or spells that can be cast like scrolls respectively. Though renowned as being wise, their description feels underwritten, but there are points here that a Dungeon Master can easily develop should he want to add more detail. The second ‘Race as Class’ Class is the ‘Ratfolk’, the first of six submissions to the fanzine by Charlie Mason. The ‘Ratfolk’ are either Fighters or Thieves, though better at the latter than the former. They are naturally stealthy and resistant to poison and disease, but have a reputation for being thieves and spreading disease.

James M. Spahn—best known as the designer and publisher of White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying—gives the first of the rules additions in ‘Bind a Familiar’. This presents the Find Familiar spell for Swords & Wizardry, offering a small range of possible animal companions and the accompanying powers they grant a Wizard, such as the cat and its Dark Vision, the frog and its swimming speed, and so on. The potential disadvantages—losing a familiar is possibly fatal for a Wizard—slightly outweigh the benefits of having one, but the advantages still make having one useful. Charlie Mason’s ‘Critical Hits’ provides a means for handling critical hits in Swords & Wizardry, including the range on the twenty-sided die that widens as each Class gains Levels and the effects, such as tripping an enemy or maximum damage. He also provides a means of handling skills for the rules with ‘Basic Skills’, handled on a roll of a six-sided die in a fashion not dissimilar to other Retroclones. Again, the range on the die grows as the characters rise in Level. No specific skills are covered, but the primary purpose of the mechanic is to handle situations not covered by the rules so is workmanlike enough to do this.

Tod Roe offers the only NPC in The Wizard’s Scroll #1, a Sorcerer from Carcosa known as ‘Niptuk’. Driven insane by forbidden sorceries, Niptuk delights in the manipulation of the flesh of his prisoners and often uses their skins to change his identity. The first monster in the fanzine is the ‘Skin Bag’ by David Przybla, a nasty construct that is literally the skin of its victim containing only the victim’s soul. It can thus pass as the victim despite no longer needing to eat, drink, or sleep, and is often sent to spread disease or do the bidding of dark gods. James V. West—the creator of the fanzine, Black Pudding—offers the ‘Lightning Monk’, a diminutive blue-skinned humanoid that worships with others of its kind in Storm Temple and defends itself with its Inner Storm if disturbed. There is not as much application for the ‘Lightning Monk’ in a game as there is of the ‘Skin Bag’ or of the next monster, the‘Shield Guardian’ from Charlie Mason. The ‘Shield Guardian’ is a golem-like construct whose purpose is to protect places or things. Its face is on the massive shield it carries and this face constantly comments on any battle it participants in. Charlie Mason also details the ‘Abominable Beastman’, a terror of the north that likes Elf-flesh, especially that of Elves who make toys for Yuletide, though his aggression can be abated with jolly songs. The description of the ‘Abominable Beastman’ marks the first appearance of a slight streak of silliness that runs through the fanzine, but the monster works with or without it.

The first of the magical items described in The Wizard’s Scroll #1 are all ‘Weapons of Legend’. Redneck DM details six such weapons, such as ‘The Mocking Bird’s Hungry Bow’ which turns arrows fired from it into +2 arrows and some arrows each day to explode upon impact and the ‘Force Saber of Lucas Star-Born’, an energy weapon that works as a +2 two-handed sword and grants an Armour Class bonus against missiles. As can be seen, these weapons continue the silliness—even if just knowing silliness—that runs through some of the articles in The Wizard’s Scroll #1. This need not be enough of a reason for a Dungeon Master to avoid adding these weapons to his game, but he may want to change the names so that the inspirations are not as obvious. The other magic item in The Wizard’s Scroll #1 is the ‘Fuhrung (Magic Ring)’ by David Przybla, a pleasingly simple magical ring that is worn by officers to grant the men under their command bonuses to their saving throws, Armour Class, and their rolls to hit and do damage.

The first of the three scenarios is ‘The Demon-Shattered Tower’ by Steven A. Cook. A side-trek encounter for four to six characters for Levels Two and Three, this has the adventurers coming across a pack of Gnolls camping over a dungeon once the possession of a Wizard. Amounting to just ten locations, this is nicely detailed, fairly simple dungeon that can easily be dropped into a campaign. As can ‘The Bandit Caves of Cyrus Blacknail’ by Doug ‘Merias’ Maxwell, a location designed to be explored by five or more First Level characters. Consisting of eleven locations, this describes a disused series of caves, once a bandit den, now home to a goblin band. This is not as detailed or as interesting a dungeon as ‘The Demon-Shattered Tower’, but it is perfectly playable and can easily be adapted to a setting of the Dungeon Master’s choice. The third and last scenario is Charlie Mason’s ‘The Wizard’s Tower’. This describes the tower home of a Wizard—and a tough one at that—and truth be told, that is all it is. The tower and the Wizard both just exist, there is no plot to the adventure and the Dungeon Master will just have to develop one himself. One option might be for a Thief to have to burgle the building, another might be that the Wizard has knowledge or a spell that the adventurers need, but either way, the lack of a plot in ‘The Wizard’s Tower’ also makes it the easiest of the three locations to drop into a setting.

Rounding out The Wizard’s Scroll #1 is a recipe, or rather, ‘How to Cook a Halfling.’ Fortunately, an alternative ingredient is suggested instead of Halfling—useful when there are so few Halflings to be found at Sarehole Mill these days—though it does continue the silliness that runs through some of the articles in the fanzine. This is followed by a simple puzzle, the clues to which are dotted throughout the fanzine.

Physically, The Wizard’s Scroll #1 is clean and well presented. Much of the artwork is excellent, the cartography is decent, and all together it feels like a tidy package. That said, some of the articles feel underwritten and some suffer from a silliness that may not find favour with every reader or Dungeon Master. The fanzine does include some well-written rules that add to Swords & Wizardry without overcomplicating the roleplaying game. That said, this is not an outstanding fanzine, neither very good or very bad, rather, The Wizard’s Scroll #1 is competently done and provides reasonable support for Swords & Wizardry.

Counting Chickens

In classic fantasy gaming—and thus Dungeons & Dragons—the starting point for a campaign and the player characters is First Level. It is rare that an adventure—and thus a campaign—starts at Zero Level. N4 Treasure Hunt for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition is one such exception, as is Dungeon Crawl Classics #0: Legends are Made, Not Born, a scenario published for used with Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 by Goodman Games. In more recent times, Goodman Games has turned the playing of Zero Level characters into a feature of its Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game, with players creating multiple characters and thrusting them through an adventure funnel that hopefully some of them will survive to gain First Level and a character Class. In the wider Old School Renaissance, the playing of Zero Level characters has mostly been ignored, except almost, but not quite, Adventure Most Fowl.

Adventure Most Fowl is the first release from Old School Renaissance publisher, Grey Fey Publishing. It is a small module designed for use with four to six characters of Zero Level and First Level and written for use with Swords & Wizardry. This means that it is compatible with most other fantasy Retroclones. It is also setting neutral, being set in and around the village of Kith in the Four Counties to the south of the kingdom, and so is easy to drop into the setting of the Dungeon Master’s choice. Further, with some effort upon the part of the Dungeon Master, both setting and adventure could be run using different mechanics. In particular, its slightly grim nature would work well with Schwalb Entertainment’s Shadow of the Demon Lord, with the aforementioned Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game as a Zero Level funnel, and with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.

The adventure begins with the adventurers—or adventurers to be, if the player characters are of Zero Level—entering the village of Kith and being flagged down by a man shouting something about chickens and goblins. It turns out that the man, Phileas Filson, is a chicken farmer and something or someone has been filching his chickens. He claims that it is goblins, but the local constable believes it be foxes. Undaunted, the farmer wants to hire the adventurers to investigate and more importantly, recover his prize chicken. Fortunately, the trail left by the abductors is easy to follow leading as it does to a small cave system, which it turns is home to a little tribe of goblins—and they happen to be in a great deal of trouble…

The central plot and adventure at the heart of Adventure Most Fowl is simple and straightforward. It should provide a session or two’s worth of play, a decent mix of roleplaying with the NPCs in Kith itself, plus the exploration and combat involved in the mini-dungeon that is the caves. Yet there is more to Adventure Most Fowl than just this plot, there are several other plot strands presented—a cult, strange goings on in the woods, and more. These are presented via the book’s well-drawn NPCs, but ultimately left up to the Dungeon Master to develop further. There is scope here aplenty for the Dungeon Master to make much more of Kith at least, if not the area around the village. Perhaps though, the publisher could develop both the area of Kith and the extra plots described in Adventure Most Foul, in a further book?

As to the question of whether or not Adventure Most Fowl is suitable for Zero Level characters, the problem is that it has not quite been scaled down enough. New monsters have been added in the form of Goblings, runts of any Goblin litter and Cockalorum, mutant chickens—yes, really! One on one, these may not represent too much of a challenge, but in the numbers here, they may be too much of a challenge for Zero Level characters. Another issue is that the scenario does not really address the nature of playing and running a Zero Level game, which is a pity since it is pitched at that Level. Nevertheless, the uncomplicated nature of the adventure is what you want for a game involving Zero Level player characters.

Physically, Adventure Most Fowl is nicely presented. The artwork is generally good, but the maps are excellent. The book though, does need another edit and the writing could have been tighter in places.

As a first release, Adventure Most Fowl is a decently done book. The presentation is good and both its plot and accompanying adventure are engaging if slight. Best of all are the NPCs that the Dungeon Master can have fun roleplaying and the players can have fun roleplaying with. Adventure Most Fowl deserves a sequel—or an expanded second edition—if it is to make the most of its NPCs and their storylines.

The Demon Stones

Originally published in 2015 for use with Paizo Publishing’s Pathfinder Roleplaying Game—the descendant of Dungeons & Dragons, Edition 3.5—in June, 2016, the adventure The Demon Stones – A medieval-fantasy roleplaying adventure for 4 characters of levels 4 to 5 was re-published for use with Mythmere Games’ retroclone, Swords & Wizardry. It comes courtesy of Glynn Seal, better known for his artwork and cartography, and is published through his own company, Monkey Blood Design. It is an adventure for a party of four or more characters of Levels Four and Five. It combines investigation with wilderness adventure and a decent dungeon and comes more than very well appointed with counters to use on the tabletop and players’ maps as well as for the DM.

It begins with the player characters being approached by a dwarf, Rhuin Graystone, and hired to travel to Hoarwych Valley and the village of Gravencross. Once there, they are to protect some stones that have ‘fallen from the sky’. What the player characters will have already heard is that the stone are said to be demonic in nature and the valley is said to be suffering some sort of curse as a result. Nevertheless, the dwarf is paying handsomely and these are only rumours. Travelling to Gravencross, the party discovers that the curse is actually a disease called ‘Wychblight’, that is afflicting crops and animals alike. They will also learn the location of the first ‘demon stone’ and upon investigation in the village, what the inhabitants think about this and that. Following up on these opinions and rumours leads the adventurers to one or two oddities in the village, though what they mostly learn is the location of the first of the fallen stones. This leads to the next stone and the next, hinting at something else going on in the valley, and eventually to the true source of evil in Hoarwych Valley.

The Demon Stones feels more northern European in tone and style. This is no surprise given that the author is English, but this tone and style also echoes the dungeons and adventures published by TSR UK as the UK series of modules, in Imagine magazine, and subsequently GameMaster Publications magazine. There is a also a vein of horror running through parts of the scenario, though one that owes just a little to the Hammer horror movies. So there is a grimness to the scenario and there is also a decent bait and switch to its plot. The plot itself is essentially straightforward enough and not necessarily all that interesting.

This carries over in terms of design as the scenario does feel fairly traditional and its mix of treasure feels more randomly placed than by design. Further, and despite it having been rewritten for use with a retroclone like Swords & Wizardry, it still feels like an adventure written for a more complex iteration of Dungeons & Dragons. Which given the tone and style, would be Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rather than the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. This really comes to the fore in situations where certain actions are described, but not given rules for and the sense is that a more complex game system, like the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, would have the rules to handle them. That said, the advantage of the scenario being written for use with a retroclone like Swords & Wizardry means that The Demon Stones is accessible by any retroclone.  

Given the artistic and cartographical skills of the author, it not surprise that physically, The Demon Stones is a very well presented book. The artwork is good, though not always relevant to text where it is used, but the cartography is excellent, really very nicely done. The biggest problem with the text is the use of a stylised, serif font, which makes it a little difficult to read. A lesser problem is that it is overwritten in places and some of the text could have been tightened here and there.

The Demon Stones is not a great adventure, but that should not be taken as a criticism. Rather, it is a good solid adventure, perhaps with too ordinary a plot, but this means that it is accessible and easily dropped into most campaigns. This is helped by the high standard of the maps, which are very good indeed. As first published adventure, The Demon Stones – A medieval-fantasy roleplaying adventure for 4 characters of levels 4 to 5 is a more than creditable attempt.

Pulp Space Wizardry

When you are at an international gaming convention and an Italian man comes barrelling at you in order to thrust a copy of his book into your hands in order to review it, then it would seem churlish not to review said book. The book in question is Dare the Stars! The Future as it Once Was, a Sci-Fi RPG based upon the Pulps of the 1930s and 1950s. Thus with Dare the Stars! we are firmly in the territory of Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, et al. Published by Wild Boar Games, LLC, it is a retroclone based on the Old School Renaissance RPG, White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying published by Barrel Rider Games, which means that Dare the Stars! is not only compatible with White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying, it is also compatible with the recently released White Star Companion.

In presenting an Old School Renaissance take upon the all-action prewar and postwar Sci-Fi of the last century it provides six new Classes, rules for assistants and followers, Insights and Alien Powers, as well as a setting. In addition it also includes complete rules based on Swords & Wizardry so it can be played complete as is or expanded with other White Star compatible supplements. The six Classes are Adventurous Noble, Android, Brave Soldier, Clever Scientist, Daring Explorer, and Wise Spacer. Each Class has ten Levels and various more abilities. So the Adventurous Noble can persuade others to do his bidding with ‘Let’s Talk This Out’, inspire others with Initiative and To-Hit bonuses by leading the way ‘To the Breach’, and later gain a retinue of Brave Soldiers as bodyguards and normal humans as personal servants. The Android differs in that it is only an eight-Level Class rather than the standard ten Levels. Otherwise, the Android has high Intelligence, but low Charisma. Low-Level Androids cannot initiate combat, but every Android has ‘Keen Senses’, and is both a ‘Living Computer’ and a ‘Walking Cyclopedia’. The Brave Soldier is one of a ‘Band of Brothers’ and can organise allies to grant a To-Hit bonus, can use weapons of any type—including alien weapons, knows how to use ‘Camouflage’ to hide himself and others so that the negative To-Hit numbers for targeting with long range weapons are doubled, and as ‘War Driver’ is skilled enough to improve the Armour Class of any vehicle he drives. 

The Clever Scientist can use ‘Science!’ to repair tools, machinery, and the living as well as to build devices; temporarily fix things with ‘Jury Rig’; and as a ‘Gimmick’, disassemble two similar items of technology and reassemble them to create better, if irreplaceable prototype. For example, a Clever Scientist might redesign two pieces of armour as one to improve the new armour’s Armour Class or the wearer’s Saving Throw, or two weapons to improve the new design’s damage or rate of fire. The Daring Explorer can once per day withstand deadly damage with ‘Man of Steel’, reroll a single failed roll with ‘Hero’s Luck’, and with ‘Jack-of-all-Trades’, make a single roll with +4 bonus. He also has a ‘Signature Weapon’ that he can use faster than anyone else. The Wise Spacer is all about his prior experience, so can lend a ‘Helping Hand’ to grant another character a bonus to his roll, and once per day draw upon his ‘Secret Stash’ for that piece of equipment you really need in a tight situation and because we are all ‘Brothers and Sisters’, can persuade other not to attack him or even to become an ally. More importantly, a Wise Spacer trusts his instincts and can provide Insights into whatever situation he and his companions find themselves. The Wise Spacer has access to a wide range of these, for example, ‘As a Sibling to Me’ let's him persuade an NPC that they are friends, whilst ‘Find the Way’ means that he can always successfully plot a Jump between star systems. There are over twenty Insights given in Dare the Stars!, enabling a Wise Spacer to bring wisdom aplenty into the game as well as offering some fun roleplaying opportunities for his player. All that player has to do now is channel his inner Walter Houston.

In the basic version of Dare the Stars!, the RPG does not offer anything in the way of Race options, so effectively, a player cannot create a Alien character. As an option though, rules are provided to enable a player to create his own. Two methods are provided, one more complex than the other. The more complex method enables a player to create a variety of Races, for example, the Hawk-Men and the Lion-Men from Flash Gordon. 

The equipment list is kept relatively short, but covers most things that a Pulp Sci-Fi RPG will need. Of course it includes the Raygun, something that every good Earthman—and Earthwoman—will want to equip themselves with. It also includes the Atomic Grenade, which is of course ludicrous, but perfectly in keeping with the genre. This being a Sci-Fi RPG, Dare the Stars! gives various types of starship and vehicle, the latter including the aircar and the moon buggy, the former, this being is a Pulp Sci-Fi RPG, the atomic warship, the exploration rocket, and the gunship rocket. The various vehicles feel more workmanlike than exciting though, perhaps not helped by their bulky rather than sleek-looking appearance.

If there is a real issue with the spaceships in Dare the Stars! it is the inability of the player characters to get hold of, and crew, one. It would probably take ten player characters to roll enough starting credits to purchase their own ship and that is before they even think of purchasing their personal equipment. Really though, owning a spaceship in a Pulp Sci-Fi RPG should not be a matter of having enough money and Dare the Stars! needed to address this problem.

The combat rules covers the usual melee and missile combat common to all OSR retroclones, but it also details combat between vehicles and starships. These rules are compatible with White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying, so the spaceships and vehicles nicely integrate between the two systems. More interesting though are the rules for Followers and Assistants. These enable the player characters to hire anyone from an animal trainer or assassin to starship repairman or translator, or alternatively any of the Class-based Assistants. This is in addition to the Followers that every Class in Dare the Stars!—except the Android Class—gain as they go up in Level. Whilst a Follower is essentially a member of one of the RPG’s Classes, but of a lower Level, each type of Assistant is nicely described as what he can do and what equipment he has. These not only serve to provide the means to crew a player character spaceship, for example, they also provide a ready supply of NPCs.

The setting detailed in Dare the Stars! posits a galaxy populated by races seeded in the past by the mysterious Progenitors who have long since disappeared. Their interaction with the Space Shadows, spurred the Space Shadows to attack our galaxy just as humanity took its first footsteps beyond the Solar System. The resulting War of Shadows only ended when the Space Shadows mysteriously disappeared. Earth and the nations of the Solar System have since formed the Solar Compact to protect humanity’s colonial expansion against the predations of space pirates, the Aleph Theocracy, and the Empire of the Wolf. Various alien species, such as the (prairie) Dogs of Venus, the insectoid Moonfolk, and the blue-skinned, nomadic Truggen, all native to the setting, are also given as NPCs.

Beyond some decent advice for the GM, Dare the Stars! goes further in its appendices by detailing some of the alien races native to the RPG’s setting as playable Classes. They include the Kheethee Warrior, jolly if naive warrior reptiles allied with mankind; the four-armed, short tempered green Martian Brawler and the red Martian Nobles known for their psychic abilities and thus make use of the Alien Powers rules included in Dare the Stars!; and the cat-like Taucetian Rogue, forced to leave his homeworld. These nicely expand the options available to the player characters and showcase what can be done with RPG’s alien creation rules.

Now as much as Dare the Stars! presents the means to run a Pulp Sci-Fi game, it's content is let down in terms of its presentation. The fundamental problem is that it suffers from issues that plague too many first books from new publishers. It needs another edit. Another good edit. The problem is not necessarily the writing, which given that it is not in the author’s native tongue, is decent enough, but rather the inconsistent formatting and some of the phrasing. Worse though, it needs more development, first and foremost to make the RPG’s default background more coherent and accessible, but then to give reasons for the player characters to go adventuring. That and the means for the player characters to gain a spaceship and start adventuring. The last thing that Dare the Stars! is missing a bibliography, which is disappointing.

That said Dare the Stars! includes some a good range of artwork. Some of it nicely evokes the genre it is seeking to emulate, while other illustrations are quite creepy. Others though, are a bit bland and at best merely okay.

Where White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying very clearly drew upon Star Wars for its inspiration, Dare the Stars! draws from the very same source as did Stars Wars for its inspiration—the Pulp Sci-Fi stories of the thirties and fifties. Dare the Stars! provides the means to run an RPG game in that genre, not quite as effectively as it could, but the Classes it provides to that end are solid and the setting is not without potential, but the presentation and the lack of development undermines much of that designer’s efforts. At the moment, Dare the Stars! feels like a late draft. Neither unplayable or unuseable, Dare the Stars! The Future as it Once Was is just not quite as polished, quite as professional as the designer would have intended.

Space Wizard's Companion

This last year has proved to be a highly successful for White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying. Based on Mythmere Games’ Swords & Wizardry and published by Barrel Rider Games, the Science Fiction RPG has constantly remained in the top twenty best selling titles at RPGnow for the last twelve months. Successfully combining a clean, stripped back style and a set of influences clearly worn on its sleeves, White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying is the charming, fun Space Opera RPG that we never had in 1977. Yet it was not quite perfect, since its lack of technical and scientific character Classes meant it could not be quite the encompassing and flexible Science Fiction RPG that it had the potential to be. The good news is that Barrel Rider Games has published the White Star Companion that sets out to rectify this lack and provide much, much more.

The White Star Companion includes eight new Classes, rules for vehicle combat, new vehicles and spaceships, a skills system, new equipment, new alien races and creatures, a whole new setting, and more. The eight new Classes include the Bounty Hunter, a capable combatant and tracker who can also subdue a target; the Deep Space Explorer possesses good survival skills and can identify the basic features of any newly encountered species; the Freed Assimilant has several innate pieces of cyberware, never sleeps, and can block incoming laser fire; a Man of Tomorrow is a good in a brawl, can shrug off Critical Hits, and once per session, has Uncanny Luck; and the Novomachina are robot survivors of a civil war each capable of of transforming into a particular vehicle. The Plucky Kid takes Inspiration whenever another player rolls a natural twenty to hit in combat, can inspire others when they attempt Saving Throws, and can mimic the ability of another character if he sees them use it; the Two-Fisted Technician is good at destroying robots, can quickly learn to use alien technology, perform temporary percussive maintenance, and temporarily improve a weapon’s damage; and Yabnabs are cute, adorable, and typically underestimated. For the most part, the inspiration for these Classes are obvious, Transformers for the Novomachina, the Ewoks for the Yabnabs, Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager for the Freed Assimilant, and so on. Others are less obvious.

This octet of new Classes is a nice addition to those in the core rules, expanding the range of choices available to player and GM alike. The choice enables the GM to better tailor the Classes to his campaign. So for example, if the GM does not want to run a Star Wars-like campaign, then he might not include the Star Lord or the Yabnab. Notably, all of the eight new Classes are given as Classes rather than Races, though this is what the Yabnab really are. Accompanying the eight are rules for Multi-Classing, which allows a player to pick multiple Classes and their features but at a cost of having a acquire a whole lot more Experience Points per level.

New rules in the White Star Companion add vehicles and vehicular combat, so that the player characters can now travel and fight down the gravity well as well as up. Essentially the new rules for vehicular combat are the same as those for starship combat, but with a couple of extra options, including vehicles being immobilised if their Hit Points are reduced to zero rather than being destroyed and allowing the Pilot Class to add its Level when determining the number of points of damage repaired. The new rules are supported by a selection of new vehicles, the inspiration for which, much like many of the character Classes, are fairly obvious. So the Assault Springer, Assault Strider, Skybike, and Yabnab Glider are inspired by Star Wars. Others like the Hover Tank are more generic in origins. To this are added new starships, including the Orbital Battle Station, Orbital Shuttle—whose illustration looks like the Far Merchant from Traveller, the Scout Ship, and the Stunt Bomber. There are also cinematic rules for inflicting the effects of minor, moderate, and major damage when a vehicle or starship is reduced to three-quarters, half, and a quarter of its Hit Points as well as details of the Ion Grappler and Planetary Laser, new modifications to fit onto the Orbital Battle Station and other larger vessels.

The White Star Companion also provides a simple skill system using just Athletics, Interaction, Knowledge, Larceny, Medicine, Navigation, Survival, and Technology. Each is rated between one and five and associated with an attribute and one or more Classes, such as Interaction with Charisma and the Aristocrat and Star Knight Classes and the Navigation skill with Intelligence and the Pilot Class. Each character starts with three skills, one of which must be an associated skill, and they can be modified by attribute modifiers also. These rules are quick and dirty, but cover most situations, for example the Technology skill covers computers, Faster-Than-Light engines, robotics, and more, including hard science. So now a player can create scientist character or a better engineer for example. By broadening the types and proficiencies of characters that White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying allows, it also widens the types of Science Fiction that the RPG can do.

Likewise, the new rules for Serials enables the players to flesh out their background by rolling for their Homeworld, Family, Youth, First Adventure, Allies, Adversary, and Critical Event, though the latter is optional. Just six options are given for each, so similarities in terms of results between player characters could be used to forge links between members of a party. Our sample character originally appeared in the review of White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying and is here further developed with the new rules in the White Star Companion.

Pooma Mupoo, Level 1 Star Lord
Str: 10 Int: 13 (+1) Wis: 17 (+2)
Con: 12 Dex: 15 (+1) Chr: 13 (+1)
Hit Points: 6 Save: 15 (+2 vs. Meditations & Gifts)
Armour Class: 7 Ascending Armour Class: 12
Experience Bonus: +20%
Skills: Interaction 3, Medicine 4, Athletics 2
Languages: 3
Equipment: Star Sword (+1), Light Armour, Energy Shield, 60 Cr

Serial
Homeworld: Cosmopolitan (+1 Charisma, -1 Constitution); Family: Most of your family is dead or missing; Youth: Delinquent (Successfully pickpocket on a roll of 1-2 on a 1d6); First Adventure: Captured by Outlaws (Pick mechanical locks on a roll of
1-2 on a 1d6); Allies: Street Rat—A street urchin in a major metropolitan planet calls
you his friend (Automatically know the criminal activity on one specific sector of a planet in the galaxy.); Adversary: Void Knight (A terrible Void Knight is searching the galaxy for you); Critical Event: Located a previously undiscovered hideout, known only to you (You now have a secret base that no one else knows about, such as an abandoned space station or undiscovered planet.)

There is also new items of equipment—weapons and armours mostly—and new aliens and creatures. The White Star Companion continues its plundering of the genre, for example, Wellsians are floating tentacled brains who arm themselves with death rays; Alureans are green skinned and charismatic, so very Star Trek-like; and the Rawrarr are tall, lean, and fur covered who use a mix of technologies and live in treetop cities, so very Wookie-like. Then there are the Space Ducks…

Random Encounters provides the means for the Referee to create star sectors and planetary systems, to create the backdrop for a game. The rules are designed to be quick and easy and to provide cinematic, somewhat pulpy settings, particularly in the form of Exotic Traits, such as abandoned societies, crystal landscapes, flying islands, and so on. The suggested natives are drawn from both White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying and the White Star Companion. The chapter finally lives up its title with a set of tables for rolling up encounters in both space and on planet.

Rounding out the White Star Companion is a description of the Sterling System. It expands upon the setting of the Kelron Sector described in the White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying, but where that was set on the frontier and full of mining space stations, abandoned planets, and stellar dangers, the Sterling System lies at the heart of the Galactic Consortium, full of secrets and mysteries. Divided by Adlar’s Wall, a dense belt of asteroids, the sector is ruled with an iron fist by Supreme Lord Adlar, and might be ripe for rebellion…  This setting is not as interesting as that of Kelron Sector and does feel as if the author is trying just a bit too hard. Of all the entries in the White Star Companion, the description of the Sterling System is ever so slightly disappointing and not quite so useful in comparison.

White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying was one of the best Retroclones released in 2015, being a great toolkit for running a Science Fiction genre Old School Renaissance game. Nevertheless, there were tools missing from that kit that meant that it was not the all encompassing treatment of the genre that it could have been. With the release of the White Star Companion, the absence of those tools—of technological and scientific abilities for characters, there was no skill system, and no means to create planets, all things that a good, generic  Science Fiction RPG needs—has been addressed. Which means that  the White Star Companion makes White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying the superb Science Fiction retroclone and toolkit that it was meant to be.

Things Better Than Crypts

UKM1: Tomb of the Necromancers is a scenario for Crypts & Things, the Swords & Sorcery inspired variant of Mythmere Games’ Swords & Wizardry published by D101 Games. Designed for four to six characters of Sixth to Eighth Level, Tomb of the Necromancers takes place in the north of the Continent of Terrors default setting. There the ruins of the Unknown City sit at the edge of the Death Wind Steppe, surrounded by the foothills of the Wolf Head Mountains. Now all that stands in the ruins is the fishing village of Tetronis, protecting the secrets of the great and terrible, but now lost, god known as Orlusz—and his worship.

The player characters are hired to explore a hidden building below the ruins surrounding Tetronis. By the time they reach the village, someone has got there before the adventurers and put many of its inhabitants to the sword. Thus the party will need to deal with this problem if its erstwhile employer is to be found and its members are to progress into the dungeon. This has some nasty moments and fun encounters and these have the grim feeling of the Conan tales. Once they get past these—plus a well handled revelation—Tomb of the Necromancers becomes a whole lot less interesting. The dungeon of the scenario’s title is bland in comparison, barring an encounter or two. The whole of the dungeon feels like it should be baroque and ornate, but it is far from that. 

Unfortunately, in terms of physical presentation and production, Tomb of the Necromancers has a number of issues. Whilst the artwork is good, the scenario’s cartography is inconsistent—the map of the village is much, much better than that of the dungeon. In fact, the map of the dungeon is just simply bland. Worse, the scenario reads like a first draft and really, really needs a good edit. Barring a couple of issues, the poor editing will not get in the way of running the adventure, but without it, Tomb of the Necromancers is just not as professional as it should be.

Further, Tomb of the Necromancers is a scenario of two halves. The first half, getting to the village of Tetronis and dealing with the threats and dangers above ground is more interesting than the second half, that is, the dungeon below which never quite rises above being just another Dungeons & Dragons dungeon. This is primarily because above ground scenes make much more use of Crypts & Things’ Continent of Terrors setting. Despite these issues and the lack of a professional presentation, Tomb of the Necromancers is welcome as an adventure for higher level adventurers.

-oOo-

D101 Games will be at UK Games Expo.

Space Swords & Wizardry

The Old School Renaissance has always been about one thing—aping a version of Dungeons & Dragons from the days of yester yore. Whether Swords & Wizardry, Labyrinth Lord, or Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplaying, the focus has been on the Tolkienesque swords and sorcery of Dungeons & Dragons. There are of course exceptions, notably Backswords & Bucklers: Adventuring in Gloriana’s Britain and X-plorers: The role playing adventures of Galactic Troubleshooters! Science Fiction is also the genre of choice for the latest Old School Renaissance RPG. White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying from Barrel Rider Games is based on Swords & Wizardry for it mechanics and draws on the Space Opera sub-genre, as typified by Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, John Carter of Mars, and Star Wars, for its inspiration. These though are not the only inspiration and given their presence, it should be easy enough for a Referee to do a number of different Science Fiction settings using these rules.

Swords & Wizardry employs four core classes and White Star does exactly the same. They are Aristocrat—Star Wars’ Leia Organa, Firefly’s Inarra Serra, Blake 7’s Roj Blake; Mercenary—Star Wars’ Bobba Fett, Firefly’s Zoe Washburne or Jayne Cobb, Blake 7’s Olog Gan; Pilot—Star Wars’ Han Solo, Firefly’s Wash, Blake 7’s Jenna Stannis; and Star Knight—Star Wars’ Luke Skywalker or Obi-Wan Kenobi, Firefly’s River Tam, and Blake 7’s Cally. Aristocrats are powerful speakers, capable of inspiring others to give To-Hit and Saving Throw bonuses, charming others as per Charm Person, and acquiring a retinue of assistants. Mercenaries get extra attacks against foes of 1 Hit Dice or less, whilst Pilots possess an Initiative bonus in space combat, assign bonuses to their ship’s statistics in combat, and once per day, can carry out a temporary repairs to their ships. Lastly, Star Knights can activate Meditations like Charm Person, Detect Life, and Dark Vision, and are renowned as Star Sword duellists.

Of the four core Classes, the Star Knight is the most obvious in its inspiration, their being cast as wandering protectors of the galaxy. Much like other retroclones, the Fighter-type Class, in the case of White Star, the Mercenary, is the least interesting and the least developed. A number of House Rules are given throughout the book, including Strength bonuses for combat and damage, Wisdom bonuses for the Star Knight’s Meditations, Dexterity bonuses for Armour Class, and so on. One possibility to address the weakness of the Mercenary Class would be to let it have the Strength bonus, but a better alternative might be to give it a simple bonus with a single selected weapon as a specialisation.

Besides the four core Classes, White Star includes three optional character races as Classes. These are the Alien Brute—Star Wars’ Chewbacca or Stargate SG-1’s Teal’c; Alien Mystics—Star Wars’ Yoda or Star Trek’s Spock; and Robot—Star Wars’ C-3PO and R2-D2 or Star Trek’s Data. The Alien Brute is a combat specialist like the Mercenary, but is better in hand-to-hand combat and has keen senses. Alien Mystics tend to be peaceful and introspective and can use Gifts such as Light, Phantasmal Force, and Alter Time, and also have keen senses. Lastly each Robot must be of a specific model, either Combat, Diplomacy, or Mechanical. This does mean that they replicate some of the abilities of White Star’s other Classes, for example, the Mechanical model of Robot can repair starships and vehicles and can assign bonuses to a starship’s statistics much like the Pilot Class.

Pooma Mupoo, Level 1 Star Lord
Str: 10 Int: 13 (+1) Wis: 17 (+2)
Con: 13 (+1) Dex: 15 (+1) Chr: 12
Hit Points: 7 Save: 15 (+2 vs. Meditations & Gifts)
Armour Class: 7 Ascending Armour Class: 12
Experience Bonus: +20%
Languages: 3
Equipment: Star Sword (+1), Light Armour, Energy Shield, 60 Cr

For the most part, running and playing White Star: White Box Science
Fiction Roleplaying is much like running and playing Swords & Wizardry or any other retroclone. The equipment list includes a mix of medieval and advanced devices and weaponry; there are rules for concealed and secret doors; experience Points are gained for uncovering treasure or advanced technology as well as defeating opponents and advancing the story of the current game; and whilst White Star uses a descending Armour Class mechanic, it also includes rules for ascending Armour Class as another house rule.

Although the list of advanced equipment pushes White Star into other Science Fiction sub-genres, most notably Cyberpunk with cyberware, but it includes a good mix of items that sort of get treated like ‘magic items’, rewards for the player characters to find. Fun items include a LASER Attraction Gauntlet for that Han Solo shot at Darth Vader deflection moment, Star Sword Gems because Star Wars: Force Unleashed is fun, Jet Boots, well, because, and Warp Gates, because only good things can come out of them… Now White Star is not a dark and gritty game, so there is no penalty for having cyberware fitted, though a house rule does suggest a limit on the number that can be fitted.

The biggest addition to White Star are the rules for starship combat. Starships themselves are simply defined by Armour Class, Hit Points, Shield Strength (which reduces damage). Movement, Targeting bonus, weaponry, and modifications. The rules are nicely kept simple and streamlined, much in keeping with the rules for standard melee and ranged combat. Characters are expected to work together to operate a starship in such circumstances and any Experience Points earned is divided between the party. Various starship types are included, ranging from ‘stunt’ fighters, light transports, and blockade runners up to dreadnoughts, gunships, and star cruisers.

As to be expected with a retroclone based on Swords & Wizardry, the Gifts and Meditations in White Star are essentially spells from Dungeons & Dragons and both work as per Vancian magic. That is, learn, cast, and then forget. Both lists of Gifts and Meditations are actually a mix of Magic-user and Cleric spells, so you have Charm Person and Heal Other included in the list of Meditations and Hold Person and Fly in the list of Gifts. This divide between Gifts and Meditations seems odd given the obvious inspiration for White Star, even arbitrary. Surely the Star Lord and the Alien Mystic should be able to learn both?

Of its alien species, White Star draws from Battlestar Galactica, Doctor Who, Firefly, Flash Gordon, Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Trek, and Star Wars for its inspiration. For the most part, the inspiration for its non-sentient species is less obvious, though Dune is one of the more obvious ones. Of course, a capable Referee could easily adapt any of the creatures or monsters that appear in other Swords & Wizardry compatible material. Overall, these inspirations are fun to spot, most being fairly obvious, like the Void Knight, the dark counterpart to the Star Knight Class.

One of the highlights in White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying is its discussion of campaigns and campaign types. It neatly dissects and summarises several different familiar Science Fiction and space opera campaign types. These include ‘Rebels Against the Regime’, ‘Explorers Amongst the Stars’, ‘Invasion!’, ‘Brothers in Arms’, and ‘Just Keep Flying’. So that list covers Star Wars, Firefly, Blake’s 7, Starship Troopers, Star Trek, and obviously, much, much more. These discussions are very nicely done, exploring each Class’ role in each campaign type in a very helpful fashion.

To get a  campaign started, White Star is rounded out with the ‘Interstellar Civil war’ campaign setting and a description of the Kelron Sector, a region isolated behind several asteroid belts.It is broadly drawn and described, leaving room for the Referee to develop more. To support the setting, ‘The Second Battle of Brinn’, an adventure for six to eight characters of First to Third Levels, takes the heroes to an asteroid mining station to retrieve some data. Although it does feel undeveloped in places, it is a reasonable introductory adventure that is really a dungeon in space in which the heroes must race to achieve their objective before the situation goes sour on them. 

If there is an issue with White Star, it is that there are not enough character classes. Notably, there is no scientific or technical classes, so it is not possible to create Spock, Scottie, McCoy, Avon, and so on. To an extent, the Pilot and Robot classes can cover elements of this, but it does not quite feel right. Similarly there is no equivalent of the Thief class, so it is not possible to create Vila, for example. The problem is that without these additional Classes, White Star cannot quite do the types of Science Fiction that it is clearly inspired by, which is a shame because there is a great deal to like about the RPG. In addition, it would have been nice if the house rules had included options for skill use and some rules and guidance for creating planets and solar systems rather than just leaving it up to the Referee.

Physically, White Star is nicely presented. The artwork looks good and much effort has gone into the book’s graphic design feel futuristic as per 1977. That said, another edit would not have gone amiss.

There is great deal to like about White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying, a game that  very obviously wears its influences on its sleeves. The rules are simple and the game has a clean, stripped back style that together nicely models those inspirations and their genres. The good news is that the designer has bowed to demands from his customers and thus has made ita available in print. That said, it is surprising that it has not yet appeared in its own ‘White Box’. It could do with a companion volume though as there is slightly too much missing for it really to be fully capable of doing its inspirations justice. Certainly if White Star included the two or three extra Classes  it so needs, it would realise its aim of being a superb Science Fiction retroclone. As it is, White Star: White Box Science Fiction Roleplaying is the charming, fun Space Opera RPG that we never had in 1977.

Dungeons & Dragons by Crom!

When it comes to the Old School Renaissance, we are spoilt for choice. All of them, from OSRIC (Old School Reference and Index Compilation) and Swords & Wizardry to Labyrinth Lord to Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay offer the means to create and run games in an older style of the ‘old school’ style of Dungeons & Dragons. In doing so, all draw upon both Dungeons & Dragons and its sources and as diverse as those sources are—from the planetary romances of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Barsoom series and the ‘swords & sorcery’ of Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories to the high fantasy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth and high weird fantasy of Jack Vance’s Dying Earth stories—and as hard as they try, in many cases, most never really escape that certain veneer of American Tolkienism that Dungeons & Dragons has always had. With its infusion of weird horror, heavy metal, and the early modern age, Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay is a very notable exception, but there is also another exception—Crypts & Things.

Published by D101 Games, Crypts & Things is a standalone RPG based upon Mythmere Games’ Swords & Wizardry that makes various changes to old school Dungeons & Dragons in order to reflect its inspirations.Rather than drawing upon fantasy in general, Crypts & Things draws upon Robert E. Howard’s Conan stories, the adventures of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser by Fritz Leiber, and L. Sprague de Camp's Swords and Sorcery anthology for its inspiration. In other words, the ‘Swords & Sorcery’ subgenre. To support this subgenre, Crypts & Things does not adhere solely to the tenents of the Old School Renaissance, but in a radical move employs a number of modern design elements that make this a very different game to standard Dungeons & Dragons. 

Nevertheless, Crypts & Things is still a Class and Level game, characters have the same set of six attributes, it uses Armour Class, a twenty-sided die for rolling attacks and making saving throws, and so on. It is though, an entirely humanocentric game, with no other Races available to play other than Human, and whilst just like Dungeons & Dragons there are only four Classes, they are very different. They are the Barbarian, the Fighter, the Magician, and the Thief—and all have a certain martial bent. The Barbarian, based on the first version that appeared in White Dwarf #7 in 1977, is enraged rather than scared by Fear spells, makes first strikes with great ferocity, and is generally slightly more resilient to harm. The Fighter has more Hit Points and can select Specialist Combat Styles such as Berserker, Shield Master, Swashbuckler, and Unarmed Combat to gain bonuses in combat. Instead the Magic-User and the Priest, Crypts & Things has the Magician who can cast a wider variety of spells, but they are categorised into White, Grey, and Black, the latter two types being able to break the natural laws, but likely to sap the caster’s Sanity upon said casting. Lastly, the Thief is more of a light, nimble fighter with equally as nimble fingers.

In addition, two of the Classes—the Barbarian and the Thief—have bonuses to certain skills, Climb Walls, Stealth, Sense Danger, and so on for the Barbarian, and the traditional thieves’ skills for the Thief. Now any character can attempt these skills, but these Classes possess their own bonuses for them. The skill system is very simple. Each Class has a single Saving Throw—for everything, including skills—that improves as a character goes up a Level. Successfully roll against this Saving Throw, adding any attribute and Class bonuses, modifiers set by the Crypt Keeper—as the Dungeon Master is known—and a character will succeed at the desired action. Although perhaps a little simplistic, this skill system possesses a pleasing elegance. If there are issues with it, the first is that it is not particularly forgiving as the Saving Throws for all starting characters are fairly high; and second, it would be to ask why two of the Classes—the Barbarian and the Thief—have skills whereas the others do not?

Every character also gets to roll three times on the Life Events table. This generates a little background and it provides further skill bonuses. During play, every character can use every weapon, although not without a small penalty in some cases, every character can fight with two weapons—though the benefits are relatively slight, and every character can Backstab. This reflects the grimmer and grittier nature of the Swords & Sorcery subgenre.

Hecipia
First Level Magician
Strength: 7 (-1) Dexterity 14 (+1) Constitution 10
Intelligence 16 (+2) Wisdom 13 Charisma 17 (Charm 60%)

Experience Point Bonus: +15%
Armour Class: 15 (Leather) Hit Points: 6
Saving Throw: 15

Spells/Day: First Level (1)
Spells Known:
First Level: Cure Light Wounds (White Magic), Divination (Grey Magic), Light (White Magic), Magic Missile (Black Magic)
Second Level: ESP (Grey Magic)

Life Events:
I served a mighty sorcerer (can recognise magic); I was a slave at a royal court (+2 CHA); I was chained to the Pillar of Judgement and had to avoid the pendulum of peril (+2 AC)

Equipment:
Staff (1d6), daggers (1d4), robes, inks, scrolls, pens

When it actually comes to combat, Crypts & Things offers both ascending and descending Armour Classes, though the tables provided for each type do feel somewhat clumsy. The system also offers the characters what is in effect more Hit Points. Actually Hit Points represent the capacity to withstand superficial damage, with a character losing Constitution and suffering serious wounds if he takes damage after all Hit Points have been lost. This damage makes it more difficult for a character to act and is also likely to cause a character to collapse unconscious and further, Potions of Healing and Cure spells only work on Constitution damage! Hit Points are healed through rest and strong drink!!

Crypts & Things also adds a Sanity mechanic. A character’s Sanity Points starts off equal to his Wisdom, but they can be temporarily lost for seeing terrible horrors and sights. They are also lost for casting Black Magic spells. Just like Hit Points, lost Sanity Points can be regained through rest, but critically failed Saving Throws against Sanity or Sanity Points being reduced to zero will also reduce a character’s Wisdom attribute.

Although most the spells presented in Crypts & Things are no different to those given in Swords & Wizardry, it does make a lot of thematic changes to how magic works. The first change is amalgamate the arcane and divine spell lists into one and to replace the Magic-User and the Priest with just the Magician. This is because the gods have abandoned humanity and priests are seen as charlatans. The second is that magic is divided into three types—White, Grey, and Black. White spells promote and protect life, such as Light and Protection from Evil, and are safe to cast; Grey spells involve manipulation and alteration of the natural order, like Entangle and Sleep, and inflict exhaustion or Hit Point loss upon the caster; and Black spells are destructive or contrary to nature, such as Magic Missile and Charm Person, and require either a sacrifice or personal CON loss to learn and casting them will drain the caster’s Sanity Points. Worse their casting may attract the attention the Others, the demonic inhabitants of the Shroud, the invisible energy shield that surrounds us and protects the world, which the Magician draws upon to cast Black spells. This divide between White, Grey, and Black magic nicely presents the Magician with a moral choice every time he casts a spell or goes up a Level and gains more spells. Third, Crypts & Things also removes all spells above Sixth Level and spells such as Raise Dead and Restoration as the ability to transcend permanent death goes against the subgenre.

For the Crypt Keeper there is a complete setting in the form of The Continent of Terror, an island of rudely governed city states, fallen civilisations, ancient ruins filled with horrors and secrets, weird cults and a shining star above a living volcano. Broadly sketched out, it is just one island on world of Zarth, the last refuge of humanity. The Shroud that surrounds it is cracked, allowing Magicians to enter when cast spells like Invisibility and Dimension Door, but also the Others, demonic and alien creatures that wish mankind no end of harm, to slip though... In fact, the majority of the new entries in Crypts & Things’ bestiary consist of Others, though many monsters traditional to Dungeons & Dragons, but appropriate to Crypts & Things are also included. Lastly, there is a short dungeon, ‘The Halls of Nizar-Thun’ as a sample adventure. Its title surely a nod to the highly regarded ‘ The Halls of Tizun Thane’ from White Dwarf #18, this adventure could be expanded to give more of an explanation as to its existence and to give more below the single level given here.

Rounding out Crypts & Things is a set of appendices. These cover everything from an explanation of the RPG’s salient features, crypt creation, and advice for the Crypt Keeper to discussions of the elements of the subgenre—horror, heroism, love, loss, chaos, and the weird, and lists of suggested reading and listening. Some of these sections feel a bit short and underwritten, but they do at least touch upon their subjects.

Physically, Crypts & Things feels somewhat scrappy. It feels as if there is too much white space and whilst the art is decent, it is often used over and over. It definitely needs another edit and a better organisation. Further, it feels unbalanced in places and whilst that is not necessarily a feature of the Old School Renaissance, given the modernisms that Crypts & Things employs, it would be nice to see it slightly more balanced. For example, both the Fighter and the Magician Classes could do with their own skills to balance them against those of the Barbarian and the Thief.

Nevertheless, Crypts & Things is a very likeable entry in the Old School Renaissance family. It does a great deal to effectively model its subgenre—with Classes that nicely reflect Conan, Fafhrd, the Gray Mouser, and other characters, magic that is dangerous to the caster, and sanity rules that reflect the horrors of the implied setting. It is likeable enough that it makes me want to use it to run old style adventures like ‘The Lichway’ from White Dwarf #9 and ‘The Halls of Tizun Thane’ from White Dwarf #18 and add the Houri Class from White Dwarf #13. Similarly, it makes me want to take a supplement like Realms of Crawling Chaos and add the Cthulhu Mythos to Crypts & Things. Overall, Crypts & Things: A Swords & Sorcery Roleplaying Game takes a classic inspiration for Dungeons & Dragons and develops it into an engaging Old School treatment of the Swords & Sorcery subgenre.

-oOo-

The good news is that a new version of Crypts & Things is forthcoming. Funded through Kickstarter,  the Remastered Crypts & Things adds new spells, magic, Classes, monsters, fiends, nemeses, setting material, adventures, and more. This has yet to be released, but will hopefully make the improvements that the first edition of the game requires.

West is Still Best

Having an interest in the Old School Renaissance and currently being engaged in an ongoing Legends of the Five Rings campaign, I was more than interested to take a look at Ruins & Ronin, a supplement from sword+1 productions based on the Swords & Wizardry White Box rule set that sets out to use the samurai movie as the basis for swords and sorcery adventure in a mythical, medieval culture that is almost like Japan. Its aim is not to create a culture game like the aforementioned Legends of the Five Rings or the classic Bushido, but one full of adventure and mystery in which Bujin, Shugenja, and Sohei explore strange ruins out in the wilderness and delve into deep dungeons below crumbling pagodas, encountering strange spirits and creepy monsters, and finding fantastic artefacts of great power. The idea behind Ruins & Ronin is that samurai should be allowed to go dungeon delving just as much as his Western fantasy counterpart. Unfortunately, Ruins & Ronin fails to live up to all of those aims.

As with Swords & Wizardry’s core rules, Ruins & Ronin presents just the three classes. In Swords & Wizardry, they are the Cleric, the Fighter, and the Magic-user. In Ruins & Ronin, their analogues are the Sohei or warrior-monk, the Bujin or samurai or ronin, and the Shugenja. The bujin can perform a “Follow Through” manoeuvre, striking at another opponent delivering a killing blow, and is unrestricted in terms of what arms and armour that he can use, though the shield is not found in this setting. The Shugenja can cast spells, and like the Magic-User cannot wear armour and is restricted to using Tanto (daggers), Uchi-ne (throwing blades), or Bo (staves) only. Sohei can cast divine spells and turn undead, and cannot wear very heavy armour, or use a katana or a bow.

The playable races to be found in Swords & Wizardry, the Dwarves, Elves, and Halflings, are not present in Ruins & Ronin. Instead, it has the single playable race, Half-Ogres. As with the races to be found in Swords & Wizardry, Half-Ogres advance as Fighters or Bujin, and as you would imagine, Half-Ogres are very strong, do extra damage in combat, and resist disease and poison better. Similarly, neither Swords & Wizardry nor Ruins & Ronin have a Thief-like player class. Now while this is understandable given that Swords & Wizardry draws for its inspiration from the earliest of Dungeons & Dragons books that lacked the Thief class, surely in a game inspired by samurai movies, you would want to have the Ninja as a class? Were Ruins & Ronin to be a culture game based on Japan in which the role of the ninja is downplayed, its absence would be far from objectionable. Here, the lack of the ninja feels like a major omission. After all, the ninja is very much part of the genre.

In general, as can be seen from the example below, characters in Ruins & Ronin do not look very different those from Swords & Wizardry. Very simple and very easy, but lacking in flavour.

Megumi the Pious, Level 1 Sohei
Str: 6 (-1) Int: 14 Wis: 15 (+1)
Con: 12 Dex: 6 (-1) Chr: 4 (-1)
Hit Points: 4 Save: 14 (+2 vs. Death & Poison)
Armour Class: 5 Ascending Armour Class: 14
Masakari (1d6); Haidate, Hara-ate, Jingasa; 17gp

In terms of support, Ruins & Ronin comes with a complete spell list for both the Shugenja and the Sohei character classes; a complete set of monsters; and an array of magical items. Unfortunately, the spells on both lists appear to have been lifted wholesale from the lists for the Cleric and the Magic-User classes from Swords & Wizardry without either a single re-design or single re-naming. So another opportunity to add flavour to the game has been lost. That changes though, when it comes to the monsters and the magical artefacts. Classic monsters from Dungeons & Dragons, such as Black Puddings, Gelatinous Cubes, Hell Hounds, and Treants are joined by an Oriental bestiary that includes Bakemono-Toro, Fox Monks, Kyonshi (Hopping Vampires), Oni, and Tengu. Some classic Dungeons & Dragons monsters have been altered, such as the Lizard Samurai and the Naga, but on the whole, the number and type of monsters listed is impressive, even if it feels odd to mix them up so. The magical items are more straightforward. Basic weapons, wands, scrolls, potions, and so on, work in Ruins & Ronin just as well as they do in Swords & Wizardry, but the author adds items such as the Brush of Translation, which allows the wielder to understand any spoken language; the Dancing Fan, which gives the user a Charisma of 18 when dancing; and the Scholars’ Fan, which automatically swats flies, shields the owner from the sun, and flutters gently to provide a breeze. Thee really do add touches of detail and flavour to the game, and hint at the potential in a samurai themed Retroclone.

So far then, that is what is to be found in the pages of Ruins & Ronin. This leaves what is not to be found between its covers. The first of these is an adventure, so we have no idea how the game is meant to be played, an adventure being perhaps, the best way of showcasing this aspect of the game. The second of these is advice for the GM. Well, to be fair, Ruins & Ronin does include some advice for the GM. Yet that advice amounts to barely more than a page, and the rest that takes the advice for the GM up to a page and a half is a guide to when and how to hand out Experience Points. The actual advice though, can be best summed up as, “Make it up yourself.” Or rather, “Make everything up yourself.” Even then, it is not original, being another section reprinted from the Swords & Wizardry White Box rule set.

Now that advice would have been fine in 1974 and Ruins & Ronin was my first RPG. Plus the fact that I had grown in Japan, and was well steeped in the chanbara movie genre. None of this is true, nor was it true for anyone in 2009 when this book was first published, and nor is it true for anyone reading this review right now. What is also true is that Ruins & Ronin is not trying to be a medieval Japanese culture game, a game of high honour in which tea ceremonies and the composing of haiku figure prominently, so the omission of such details are understandable. Yet the truth is that Ruins & Ronin is actually doing a genre, the chanbara movie genre, and the author omits any discussion of that genre. In doing so, he undermines his own work, because a discussion of the genre, and that would include a list of its inspirations much like Advanced Dungeons & Dragons’ Appendix N, would have explored the very point of Ruins & Ronin. That its fantasy is oriental in origin, and so is very different to the Western fantasy of Dungeons & Dragons or Swords & Wizardry. The difference between the two is why anyone would want to play Ruins & Ronin.

Physically, Ruins & Ronin is decently put together. The cover is excellent, but while the internal layout is clean and tidy, there is not another single piece of artwork in the book. None of the book’s new creatures are illustrated and neither are the new magical items. Which is a pity given how spacious the book is and how much of the book is devoted to the creatures, monsters, and spirits of the Orient, and that is before you get to the magical items.

Ultimately, Ruins & Ronin is a great title, but a wasted opportunity. It is a pity that this title has already been taken because it deserves more than what it been given here. It needs more development so that it has some kind of background beyond the mere suggestion that it is inspired by samurai movies; so that it has classes and rules that reflect that background; so it has a discussion of the genre that inspired the author which would then inspire the reader; and so that it has advice for the GM as to how to make a game of Ruins & Ronin different to that of the Swords & Wizardry White Box rule set.

Right now, Ruins & Ronin is a reprint of the Swords & Wizardry White Box rule set with renamed character classes and an extra set of monsters and magical items, and nothing more. Absolutely nothing more. The lesson of Ruins & Ronin is that if you want to present something different to a sector of the gaming hobby, even a sector that is inspired by stripped down Old School play, it should never be left up to the purchaser to do all of the work to explore your game’s differences.