This post contains spoilers about the Netflix show "Dark".
After we finished watching the show the other day (I can't wait for the next season!) I started thinking about running a time travel type D&D game. As I'm not the best historian in the world, I was trying to wrap my brain around doing a game with 3 different time lines (like the show), set in a medieval world. However I wanted to have guns in it, and I couldn't quite figure out how to do a future world. Part of it was "what technology is in the past thirty years, and or the future?" Obviously I could have it set on the brink of gunpowder. But what happens in the future?
In the TV show there are 3 time periods, 1953, 1986 and 2019. Obviously there are changes in the way the world is between the time periods. Certain things are constant however, like cars, phones, roads etc. I realized quite quickly last night that doing a time travel game similar to the show would work extremely well with Dark Places Demogorgons! Rather than try and pull off some kinda of typical D&D fantasy game. The neat thing about trying something like this is you can have relatives in the time periods of the characters.
So using the dark mold I could easily start the thing in 1986 (because DP&D is set in the 80s!) and then time travel to now which is easy, and I love the 50's so that would be easy to write that as well. I would think that have a central location like a Diner or a Bar would be handy. Maybe the jukebox in the bar is bright shiney new in the 50s and barely useable in the 2020's with scratched records.
The other thought I had was running a "Call of Cthulhu" game with this, however I'm not that well versed in the rules of the game, and I'm not really a horror guy.
Anyways, just some thoughts. I think it could be interesting.
If you get a chance watch the show if you haven't already! It's wonderful.
(*From now on SWCL for the purposes of I'll spell Continual wrong for the rest of this post, also the guys who wrote this use SWCL as a way of abbreviating the game).
Publisher blurb:
You remember, don't you? The sounds of battle heard through the clatter of dice? The shuffling of character sheets? The war stories shared with fellow campaigners?
There is a longing in the soul of every adventurer and though it sometimes fades to a whisper, you still hear it. Swords & Wizardry Continual Light marks your return to fantasy roleplaying - or if you're curious what fantasy gaming is all about, this is the perfect introduction.
This book, a twenty-sided die, and a few six-sided dice are all you need to return to the table, recall those halcyon days of heroism, and forge brand new legends! Welcome back!
For those not familiar with Swords & Wizardry, the game is based on the original 3 brown books, or OD&D, there are a variety of versions of Swords & Wizardry (Complete, Core, Light) and a number of variations of Whitebox, included thematic games like Dark Places & Demogorgons, WW2 Operation Whitebox, White Star, The Hero's Journey (Note I haven't seen a post apoc whitebox game yet? And I've been thinking about it!). All of these games are retro clones of "the world's most famous roleplaying game" and a lot of them only need 2 dice, 1d20 and 1d6. Personally I`m a big fan of S&W, it`s a great pickup game, and its infinitely hackable!
About a year or so ago Erik Tenkar (yes that Erik, the one that runs the famous Tenkars Tavern) got a few people together to release Swords & Wizardry Light, which was a 2 page rule set. When I first saw it I was like `Yes this is going to be so damn handy at the gaming table`. My only issue with that game was that the downloadable version was crazy high quality (talking DPI here), It looked fucking amazing don`t get me wrong. It just took forever to download and to print. I believe it has been revised. (I`ll check). The other nifty thing that was released was character cards, with a character class basics, that you could just fill your stats in. these were also handy. I`m sort of imagining a nice present for someone in a cardboard box with all these niceties, and of course SWCL and a few sets of dice. (Hint hint). It would make the perfect gift for a gamer.
Anyways on to the review. First off Erik and James Spahn wrote it. The art in the book is fantastic BW. The layout works, it`s not overly `layoutey`for the sake of being that way. You can find things easy enough, and that`s good enough for me!
SWCL is easily convertible to regular SW, or any other OSR game, adventure. It contains ascending AC and descending. So that old module that your uncle has lying around in his basement, that`s purple in colour with a keep on it, you can play that. I`m sure your uncle won`t mind, his copy is pretty beat up and he should probably order a reprint anyways.
The game has your standard four classes, and four races. There are class restrictions in play. I really like the neat little tidbit that is thrown in to get players to use humans. (You`ll have to grab a copy). The book contains rules for optional classes (written in honestly one sentence, but it works!) and they are great! A lot of thinking went into getting this book trimmed down to pure essence of what you need to get rockin and rolling. Oh another cool thing when rolling up the standard 6 abilities, if you have a charisma bonus you also get a torchbearer (Henchmen, Goon, possible PC if your character dies).
Each class comes with some standard equipment and then there`s some optional stuff you can get as well. The nice thing about this, is that you can get up and running super quick.
The leveling system is smart, it`s not based on experience it`s based on adventures completed! Something that I am totally going to steal (err borrow). The classes goto level 7, and after that you can receive perks. Which is a pretty nifty way of doing this. These perks (feats) are not game changing things, they are extra spells, higher attack damage, higher hit points etc.
There are four levels of spells for Magic Users, and three levels for clerics. I should note, that Clerics do not start off with a spell at first level.
The one thing I should note, is that this book is written from the point of view of someone who has played an RPG before. Meaning that it does not contain the usual `what`s a role playing game``, it doesn`t have a ton of advice about running a game in it. Which is entirely fine. However if this is a kids first game, given to him or her by some one who isn`t teaching them about gaming, then it might be a difficult thing to grasp. That being said my first real RPG was 2nd edition and it didn`t cover a ton of this stuff either. Obviously we live in the age of the interwebz and people can look up how to play games. K here`s the thing about Swords & Wizardry, and SWCL, it`s not a beginners game. It obviously can be, but so can a whole lot of other RPGs (pretty much every brand has it`s starter set). I would consider SW Light a beginners game, at the very least a rules light getcha going game.
My only grump on this game is there isn`t the spell ``Continual Light``. There are a few other little things, that are not worth mentioning here.
The book is twelve pages, and fits perfectly in my backpack. It`s a standard 8x11 book, the cover is a sexy glossy with a illustration by James Shields. The book contains a few extra white pages, that you can use for notes, and house rules. (or to write your own crit tables!) Of course you can add in some monsters you made up as well!
I intend to run SW Whitebox next game, and now that I have a copy of SWCL (and a extra copy of WB) these will be the players reference copies which will be super duper handy! In fact I may end up using SWCL for the first few levels. I am definitely going to use the leveling system. And just to be a gritty old grognard, I`ll use the crit tables from DCC.
The other wonderful thing about this game is, that its a great game to write for. Of course if your not into writing, there`s a ton of great resources and adventures for it already!
Note: I was given a awesome free copy of the setting. Also note that I put Affiliate links within this document. Thanks Eric! This is wonderful.
Publisher Blurb:
The Jeffersontown Setting Guide is 140 pages of everything you could ever want to know about Jeffersontown. From Maps, to History, To Modern Day, To Heroes, Villains, NPCs Monsters...this all inclusive Setting Guide is a one stop shop for all things Jeffersontown!
More about DARK PLACES & DEMOGORGONSFollowing in the tradition of SURVIVE THIS!! Zombies! comes SURVIVE THIS!! Dark Places & Demogorgons, a tabletop roleplaying game that uses the Original 1970s Fantasy Roleplaying game rules but mutates it into this retro nightmare. It’s sleek, slender and creepy as Hell. In Dark Places & Demogorgons, you play as high school students during the early 1980s. The town you live in has had a rash of disappearances and strange happenings. The adults seem lost as what to do, the police are as clueless as ever and aren’t helping and Reverend Phillips is on another witch-hunt. It’s up to you and your friends to figure out what’s going on and stop it from happening again!
They say, "write what you know", and the guys at Bloat Games have done just that. I'm sure the inspiration for this book comes directly from the town that the boys live in and that's frigging awesome! Much like the Midderlands, it's a smart idea to write what you know and to write about the place that you live near. I had actually started working on a similar idea for Gamma world and the province I live in. (yes at some point I'll get that shit done), alright onto the review! I'll stop rambling!
This setting guide is a perfect companion to DP&D. It's filled with a ton of adventure hooks, Monsters, NPCs, Magic items and most importantly a extremely detailed map and setting locations. Obviously you don't NEED this to run DP&D as there's a ton of great ideas in the core book. However if you start running out of ideas, or want to expand your campaign a bit, I'd strongly suggest grabbing a copy of this. First off I gotta say I absolutely loved the Colloquial dictionary! Seriously giggled the whole time. It's basically a Jeffersontown to English table. Having run into a few American accents while down south, I totally get it. Just like when we get some Americans up here, and they look at us strangely when we say "EH!" or some other typical Canadian home spun verbiage. My only complaint is I'd love to have seen a few more pages of this, because it's a perfect thing to get you in the zone and in character. Onwards! I should note that timeline set out is fairly straight forward history of Jeffersotown, however once you get into the 1950s things start taking a turn towards fiction, in there are adventure hooks. Read em. The actual town is split up into five sections, each are quite detailed with places to visit and notable buildings, businesses'. Each with plot hooks, and memorable NPCs. There is so much in this book to keep you going. The places of note section really drills down to two specific locations, a "magic" shop (which is friggin totally Needful things! and that is exactly how I would play it). Well not a magic shop so much as an antique store (nudge nudge wink wink). This is where Iwould start a campaign. Or this would be where the rumours point you. Because the characters in the game are in High School, the actual high school is quite detailed, including a table of what classes you are taking that semester. I think my only caveat when running this gamewould be to make sure that all the characters atleast had one classs together. As an example each PC is supposed to have 6 classes per semester, which they can randomly roll. I think I would have them do that, and then give them one extra class that was only a half hour a day that they were all in. The rest of the book is detailed with Adventure seeds and monsters. All of which are super creative! Some are throw backs or "plays" on horror movies. The nice thing is they are all rooted in the setting.
A perfect example is "the new girl". Here's the twist: "Amara Giapanta appears to be a 14-year-old Greek girl (5'1”, 92 lbs.), but in reality, she is 2300-year-old vampire from Ancient Greece. "The premise starts off that your in class and the new girl shows up. She's beautiful, she likes metal. Haven't we all been there???? Being a nerdy teenager you follow her home and spy on her and that's where things start getting into "dark places and demogorgons"..... That's the only one I'm going to spoil, the book has 14 of these, all of which are a good 2 - 4 pages of detail. As usual Eric has knocked it out of the park with the layout and the art in the book. I really dig how the "look" of the DP&D line has stayed similar across the board (this is something I've been wanting to do, but never get around to it). Kudos! If you LOVE playing DP&D I'd suggest getting this book. If you haven't tried DP&D or are curious about it you can check out my reviewhere:
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