Old Memories, New System

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to play Swords & Wizardry: White Box, and the experience was very enjoyable. It brought back memories of my younger, less hectic life, and it was nice to just role-play without becoming engrossed in minutia of mechanics. Primarily Swords & Wizardry has that old school RPG nostalgia with a certain freshness of simplification.

Swords & Wizardry: White Box certainly isn't as sophisticated as most games these days, but it is entirely playable and entertaining. All the technical questions are not answered, but I feel that this is actually a "Good Thing" because it allows the GM to make the decisions that are the best for the group and to tweak things to add to the story, which in turn adds to the enjoyment of the experience as a whole. I also found the pace was much faster because we didn't have to worry about what feat, maneuver, power, or skill we would use next and could just "have at it."

I would like to do a little more descriptive combat next time we play just to give it a little more flavor with the understanding that I am not expecting bonuses/penalties, but just add to the enjoyment of the fight. I also liked the simplicity of all the rolls being done with a single d6 with the exception of To Hit rolls which used the d20. That really sped things along as well.

What follows is a review of the the session, with my own embellishments thrown in.

Once we had our characters created, which took me about half an hour at the most to finish, and if I were to do it again I'm guessing it would take only 15 minutes, we jumped right in due to the time constraints. Riding into the waterside town during a torrential downpour we sought shelter in the first public establishment we found, a tavern. Entering the tavern we moved to the dry warmth of the fire pit to burn off some of the chill, and then moved to a nearby table to enjoy some warm mead and stew. It was at this point that we noticed a peculiar fishy smell that permeated the entirety of the establishment and could only conclude that this must be the hangout of the seafarers that frequented the docks. As we sat waiting for our pretty serving wench to deliver our sustenance, we were suddenly jarred from our thoughts when the door burst open and a man stumbled in speaking of a mysterious ship that had crashed into the docks and with it, death.

Being the eager and heroic adventurers that we were, we immediately offered to remove this hazard from the town, and the tavern owner offered us a fair reward of free room and board should we remove it. Charging forth we stepped upon the docks and surveyed the black ship before us. Its sails torn and frayed. Its deck covered with black slime. Its very presence an omen of ill fortune. It was a good day to vanquish evil.

Stepping upon its deck, we warily surveyed the domain of the ship, and climbing to the upper decks we discovered our first evidence of evil. There were skeletons of once proud and strong sailors upon the fore castle. The bones picked clean and bleached by the sun. It was with the remains of the tattered clothes that our good and perceptive elf, Edan, discovered a purse with five gold coins. As he secured them on his person, Kai, the brave and hardened fighter peered down into the cargo and noticed movement below. Calling attention to the movement everyone moved back to the main deck and took up positions around the openings to the hold. The ever stealthy, and agile halfling positioned himself for a better look below and caught sight of a vile demon. He quickly spoke of the ghoul roaming below, and Kai moved to the top of the stairs.

Calling out to the undead creature below, Kai commanded, "Come up you vile demon, and face your final rest!" Perhaps it was foolish of the fighter for it brought attention to him, but he was better known for his martial prowess than his mental. It was this shout that brought forth more villainy from the door behind Kai. Two ghouls burst out onto the deck and attacked him. Thankfully, the first creature's martial prowess was hindered by its own imbalances, it was missing its left arm, and its strike crashed into the ghoul to its right, sending it crashing to the deck in surprise. Kai leapt forward with a slash of his sword but misjudged the creature’s poor movements and only managed to slice the air.

The noble and righteous cleric, Krieg, rushed forward with his mace in hand to strike at the second, fallen ghoul. Unfortunately, Krieg had not paid heed to Kai's warning of watching his footing and thus slipped on the deck, and his attack fell short as well.

The halfling drew up to his full height, and from his sling, sent a stone toward the first ghoul. This also missed its mark as the stone glanced off Kai's helmet.

Unsure of whether an unseen attacker was behind him, Kai fought on to finish the ghoul before him before he himself was attacked again. With a well aimed slash, he cut deep into the creature's shoulder, but alas it was not enough to kill it; however, it did prevent the creature from attacking again. The cleric lashed out again, but the gods tested him, by not directing his hand to smite the creature.

Then the unthinkable happened. The elf, in his haste to help the fighter and rid the world of the evil that he faced, rushed forward and also failing to heed Kai's warning of watching his footing on the deck, he slipped and drove his spear deep into Kai's side! Fortunately, the cleric's blessings were upon the group and the spear missed Kai's vital organs. The wound did serve to focus the fighter's attention, however, and give him the rage he needed. Growling over his shoulder at the elf, Kai swung hard with his sword and this time found his mark and cleaved the vile creature in twain from head to groin. The stroke must have inspired the gods to guide the good cleric's hand and give him the strength he needed, for he too smote his adversary with a crushing blow of his mighty mace.

The party took just a moment to breathe as they prepared themselves for their next fight...