White Box - Everything you need to start playing OD&D today
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- Опубликовано: 9 сен 2024
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White box is the one I keep in my backpack at all times. Character sheets fit on index cards, so its easy to have a pick up game or introductory game when and wherever- the ultimate game-on-the-go.
I used index cards for character sheets when running Into the Odd at the table - really liked the format. I also used index cards to reveal the dungeon map on the fly, drawing new areas on cards as we went. Worked really well.
What I like about using 100 XP per monster HD is that at the low, more vulnerable PC levels you will advance faster, while at higher levels it puts the focus on your goal (treasure, etc.) rather than risking your life fighting excess monsters, many of which will have special abilities that give you no more XP for beating them.
Never let hubris kill that character you worked so hard to advance
It is my to go version of D&D. Great review.
My thought exactly. I often go back to the LBBs for treasure tables. WBFMAGs treasure system with probability ends up yielding very little mágical items (for my taste).
Thanks for the review! I picked this up from Amazon today. It's so cheap it's almost a pity not to. I also made sure that I got that awesome black & white cover.
As I am looking to change D&D because I can’t stand how big a bunch of money grubbing assholes they have become your video post is very helpful.
I used to run a dnd club at the school I worked at. I ran a roll-under version of this (players roll under stat a la Black Hack, my favorite rpg), and it was a ton of fun. Kids loved it.
Descending AC is better than Ascending. This is a pretty good and cheap book, I like it but still prefer BX rules.
You can get a pdf copy on drive thru for free if you want to check ig out.
White Box as the main system, with Delving Deeper to 'supplement' it with more detailed rules (or absent rules) is a good option. Delving deeper has more on wilderness travel and hexcrawl generation (which is missing from White Box altogether).
Yes this is a great solution!
Fair assessment of one of the finer options for OSR play.
Cheers!
Picked this up a month or so ago, and I really love it. Quick, easy, enough crunch to feel like it has something to it but light enough to leave your imagination spinning.
Character creation in 5 minutes even for total RPG newbies too. Seems perfect for a lightweight "play on the go" game as others referenced, the small book fits well with something like a bullet journal for DM notes and some index cards for character sheets. Throw in a cheap box of D6 and 1 7 dice set with a few extra D20s and you have a session in a box. I've even got a tiny whiteboard if you want to sketch maps and stuff.
Thanks! Love your videos 😊
Thanks, much appreciated!
Great video! Very insightful.
Another great osr game.
The issue with all weapons doing the same damage in ODnD is fixed if you use the 2d6 combat tables from Chainmail, as was originally intended (d20 attack rolls were technically the optional system, even though it became the more popular system). In Chainmail, different weapons were more or less effective depending on the AC being attacked (Daggers had a hard time hitting plate, while maces did so with relative ease). Though with how Gygax wrote, it is very hard to tease out the true workings and nuances of that system, so i get why d20 was preferred
It also would have helped if that system was actually explained in the book, instead of having instructions to refer to a different game.
@graveyardshift2100 I suspect that was from the business decisions that he knew his initial market (first printing was a small run) was Chainmail players. He was adapting Arneson's modifications to Chainmail. His market knew how to play Chainmail, which he published originally through Guidon Games. Also no one had any dice other than d6.
So, it just sucks for us, well after 1974. But it makes sense at that time not to include the rules as he just founded TSR Games and was strapped for cash. He couldn't afford the page count to repeat the rules (and it would also drive sales of Chainmail).
But I agree with OP. The original rules makes sense given how Chainmail was played (which took into account weapon class and armor class). Combat is not streamlined as it's a wargame. The point is to spend time on working through combat strategically.
Gary had discovered dice of different shapes and liked the idea of having multiple ways to assign probabilities. His variant rules is him incorporating these odd ball dice into a ruleset. And likely how he always saw D&D being played. But he knew, going into it all, that his market likely did not have easy nor cheap access to such. That necessitates having it be based on Chainmail. It's because of D&D and TSR sourcing and reselling polyhedral dice that they are so easy to find nowadays. Which was not true in 74.
Also, another example of him outsourcing to other games as a business or authorial strategy: Wilderness Encounters is based on a game by Avalon Hill. You were expected to own that game too for it's game board.
Yes! This is my #1 go-to overall and my personal go-to in the realm of OD&D, otherwise it’s B/X full force….or RISUS or (maybe odd as I’m a Yank) any iteration or clone of FF (like Troika or Spellzard). Heh
Weapon damage in OD&D was 1d6, but you were supposed to use the Chainmail combat system with it. This system gave weapons different benefits based on things like size weight and length, but it wasn't some complicated list of stats and attributes. Basically bigger weapons had more reach and could more easily get through armor, while smaller weapons were more maneuverable and faster to use.
It also mattered what weapons you and your enemy were using against each other. A halberd would get attack priority before a mace, and the mace could attack at least twice. The mace user could choose to parry and potentially make the halberd miss, giving up one attack, but there's a chance this results in a broken mace.
If you instead use what would now be considered the normal d20 system, then every weapon doing the same damage doesn't make sense.
Yes, this. And also combat initiative was a bit different initially (when the actors would be closing distance thus favoring longer reach) than after the first exchange (where they are already at fighting distance thus favoring speedy weapons). There's quite a lot of factors in choosing a weapon. And unless you were heroic (ie, a player and not his army, and above level 1), one hit killed you. Heck, a high level fighter can mow down multiple mooks in one hit. It is supposed to feel like Conan vs. a horde of nobodies falling like grass before the reaper.
Liked and Subscribed. Really looking forward to seeing how this channel develops. Well thought-out content and great delivery.
A rather interesting review, the system itself certainly seems quite interesting. The idea of an even more streamlined version of OD&D certainly does well at peaking interest for a modern player like me. Perhaps I'll have to give it a try. Delving Deeper was an interesting read on its own after all.
Again, a wonderful video as well
The simplified treasure system seems like the weakest element. I don't want to indulge in unbelievable video game style practices such as wolves carrying golden coins or warriors guarding magic weapons they inexplicably refuse to wield
I found that you still need more tools to actually use this. I suggest Delving Deeper's exploration guidelines. I look forward to do this at some point.
I look forward to more of you reviews. Did I see once apon a time a black box vrs also? I could be wrong there is sooooo much more out there now then back in the day, hard to track it all sometimes.
Well just curious if there was and is there a difference or was it just an update to this one?
Perhaps what you saw was Blackhack?
Though I also seem to recall a BlackBox for whatever reason.
What are the absolute basic items I require to play this game I am highly interested in giving it a go
You will need paper, pencil and polyhedral dice, or an app that rolls dice, and some other players. The book has a very short section on creating an adventure but if you have never done that before I would suggest picking up a free starter adventure, such as Tomb of the Serpent Kings.
Clerics are more powerful?
Great! Just what the class that can wear plate armor, fight almost as good as a fighter and turn undead while having less XP required to get to Level 2 needs! Why do people who make retro-clones insist on mucking with stuff they don't understand?
Fighters have better HP, better to to hit bonus, can use any weapon (clerics can only use blunt weapons, so no magic swords/daggers etc, and no missile weapons but oil) and fighters get a number of attacks equivalent to their level against 1 hit die creatures. 10 attacks at level 10! So there is a big difference. Clerics can get stuck in, but not like a true fighter can
Fighters have a better standard save too. So, there you go. Fighters do better fighting, clerics get spells, but are worse at fighting.