Lankhmar Daydreams...

 

It's Tuesday after Labor Day, so it might as well be Monday. *sigh* I'm SO happy to be back at work. Yeah, right.

 

Anyway, I've really been dreaming of late about running a campaign in the world of Nehwon, where the legendary Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser dwell, using the cool Crypts & Things variant of Swords & Wizardry. It would be my first sword & sorcery-type campaign, rather than "traditional" D&D with its inclusion of high fantasy tropes (Tolkienesque demi-humans, etc).

 

Questions for you, good folks, if you choose to respond and share: 

1. Have you ever roleplayed in the world of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser? If so, please share something of your adventures.
 
2. Have any of you used the Crypts & Things rules in any sort of game, and if so, how do you like them? 

I am itching to use the C&T rules, and I am reading the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories I have not yet finished. Good stuff all around. So here I am, daydreaming of Lankhmar, City of the Black Toga...

 

Ah well, someday I believe I will accomplish this goal. But for now, I slave at work, dreaming of when I can once again sit at the table-top with my fellow gamers (I have to skip game night this Wednesday due to school starting back up for the kids). Mourn for me, dear reader, and may you have more gaming luck than me this week!

Early D&D and Feeling Left Out

I feel like there's something of an "inner circle" in the OSR. There's guys steeped in the early editions/versions of the game (OD&D/the LBBs, Holmes, Moldvay) and early supplements, and I am just now scratching the surface of that era in the game's history.

As I explore, I'm becoming more and more interested in stepping away, at least for a while, from my AD&D roots (which I'm currently expressing through AD&D's modern counterpart, Castles & Crusades). I'm becoming more interested in using the old rituals, so to speak, of Basic D&D.

Besides a yen to actually play in/run games using Basic D&D rules for the first time, I've also wondered about the reality behind names like Tekumel, Empire of the Petal Throne, and Arduin. I see the veneration for these items that some people have expressed, and I feel a certain envy, not having been exposed to those things when a young man starting out in the hobby.

Now, I've read up on the meat of Tekumel and Arduin, and further study has not garnered any particular interest on my part. Some of the mystery has been stripped away and I guess I wasn't too impressed. The same goes for my delvings into OD&D and Holmes...they just don't seem to do too much for me. Moldvay/Cook/Marsh B/X is where I really seem to start liking things, and on through the Mentzer era culminating in the Rules Cyclopedia.

As far as clones go, I like the style and passion that comes from Matt Finch's Swords & Wizardry, and also the magic that seems to be infused into the pages of Dan Proctor's Labyrinth Lord. As for "second generation" clones, I really like Adventurer Conqueror King, and Newt Newport's Crypts & Things is up there too.

But I'll always feel like I missed out on something as a kid, for not having experienced Basic D&D all those years ago, during my formative time in the hobby. Ah well. Here's to making up for lost time! GAME ON!

ALERT: Crypts & Things PDF Released!

Attention, RPG blogosphere! Newt Newport of Sorcerer Under Mountain has released the PDF of his much-anticipated Swords & Wizardry variant called Crypts & Things! If you've read my blog at all in the last few weeks, you've probably read just a wee bit about this sword and sorcery-focused version of Matt Finch's beloved Original D&D retroclone.

Newt, that sly fellow, had scheduled the PDF release for mid-November. So imagine my surprise when I received an email from Mr. Newport with the C&T PDF attached! Talk about a pleasant surprise!

Anyway, I am going to no doubt lose some sleep tonight digging through the game. I've been itching to get my hands on this thing, as I've been dreaming of doing some hardcore sword and sorcery gaming!

Below is a video walkthrough of the book, conducted by Newt himself. I hope that it gets you as excited as me for this game! Do yourself a favor and get your own copy! From what I'm seeing just on an initial skim-through, you won't be disappointed!

Have I mentioned Crypts & Things yet?

"Is the soup ready yet?"

I may have already talked about this before on my blog, but I can't remember. ;-) Anyway there's a pretty cool Swords & Wizardry variant out there called Crypts & Things (the image above is one of the many illustrations in the book). Creator Newt Newport has taken the S&W rules as a foundation and made them more swords and sorcery-friendly.

The project is about to hit the streets, and a lot of people are buzzing about it and have put in their pre-orders (myself included). The PDF is slated for release in the next couple weeks, with the print release before the end of the year. They've almost reached their pre-order goal. So go check it out, and get in on the action!

Gamer ADD and Burn-Out

Hey folks! Just wanted to check in and ramble a bit. Been feeling a bit burnt over the last couple of days with regard to gaming. And I know why: Gamer ADD. I've let that hoary beast push my beleaguered brain to the edge of reason once again.

I will confront Gamer ADD and say "Ah yes, my old friend and enemy, I see you lurking over my shoulder. You're the cause of my unrelenting need to dig through my RPG book collection almost every night.

You push me to flip through all those pages and dream about campaigns that may never be. You make me obsess over thoughts of adventures yet to come.

You distract me from working on the campaign I am currently running...a living and breathing campaign with great players that depend on my ability to provide a fun and exciting experience almost every week. They are what's most important right now. Not you. Begone, I say! The power of St. Gygax compels you!"

Seriously, I am feeling like I need to strike back somehow at my old foe. I am feeling that I need to put away all the other books and stay away from them for a good while. I want to just carry around my Castles & Crusades books and the materials I am using for my current campaign. I don't want what I currently have going on to suffer at all due to my penchant for daydreaming about what could be.

I think I can do it. So, for the time being, until I am no longer feeling fried in the brain pan, I will gently put aside (for instance) my copies of Labyrinth Lord and Swords & Wizardry. Just for a while. And with them, I will put my embryonic thoughts of getting down to some Original/Basic/Classic D&D goodness on the shelf. I will set aside thoughts of race-as-class and all the other trappings. Just for a while. So the gray matter can cool down.

Though I am scared of what will happen when the PDF of Crypts & Things comes knocking...but I can't worry about that right now!

I need to do this for my peace of mind, and for the good of my actual gaming. No need to sacrifice the "what is" for the "what might be," right?

If you're out there reading this and you are feeling the Gamer ADD crunch at the moment, gimme an amen! Remind me that I'm not alone! I need the support right now!

Have you ordered YOUR copy of C&T yet?

What? You haven't?! Well, then, you must go here immediately and do so! Come on, you know you want to. Everyone's doing it. Be one of us. One of us, one of us, ONE OF US, ONE OF US!

Crypts & Things available for pre-order!

The Swords & Wizardry variant Crypts & Things is now available for pre-order! I've been very excited about the arrival of Newt Newport's brainchild, I have to say! It has me daydreaming of running some savage sword & sorcery-style adventures!

I've placed MY order! Go here to order YOURS!