Swords & Wizardry Complete is my favorite version of D&D. That being said, I actually prefer previous printings to this one with regard to layout, printing, and paper.
Great overview. The fast turnaround is even more impressive when you consider that many of the best updates in this new edition weren't part of the original plan and were added to the manuscript during the KS campaign. The optional morale system, the number appearing and lair percentage stats for the monsters, and the magic item creation guidelines, for example.
Watched and shared 😁 Fantastic review! I appreciate how you bring up various points about this. There's a lot of thought and perspective as well as even contacting the author to discuss the finer points. Thank you!
I also backed this Kickstarter and I was shocked how quickly it was fulfilled and delivered to me. Granted, I live in the same general metro area, so that may have contributed to the speed in which I received it. In the same month, I, pledged to other Kickstarter‘s and I’m going to have to wait until the middle of next year for fulfillment. It’s a great book and great game. Thanks for the excellent review!
Awesome review Wes. Nice bit about the “magic runes that are writ in gold.” I too was a bit miffed upon initial review of the movement but I’m excited to give it a go. Very excited to feature S&W on the channel!
Awesome review. Can't wait to get my book (those of us that also backed physical copies of Adventures are still waiting on the official offset print book, as it will all ship together). - Just a minor correction. The new S&W Logo on the book is done by Del Teigeler (he shared his pencil sketch of it on the official S&W Facebook group awhile back on Jul 19, 2023). - Otis did the art for the Print-on-Demand Only Covers.
I love the increase of speed: nobody wants of round of people just moving so they can get into a fight, and nobody only moves 30 feet in 10 seconds, except maybe a turtle lol
Yah, it took a bit for me to see how round times are a minute. I just kept reading it wrong because my brain wasn’t expecting it. It makes a lot more sense now!
I really love Swords & Wizardry, White Box, and OD&D. I have no nostalgia for them but the more I play with those rules the more I realize just how few rules you actually need to run a great campaign.
Agreed 100%! I grew up playing 3.5E, but as soon as I discovered OD&D/the 3 Little Brown Books, there was no turning back. This is absolutely my favorite version of D&D, and White Box is so far my favorite packaging of it.
Hell, *I* feel old. xD 3.5 came out over 20 years ago now, but it feels like just yesterday my best friend and I were walking into Books-A-Million to discover those Core Rulebooks and heaps of miniatures and take 'em home with us.@@DMTalesTTRPG
Hell, *I* feel old. xD 3.5 came out over 20 years ago now, but it feels like just yesterday my best friend and I were walking into Books-A-Million to discover those Core Rulebooks and heaps of miniatures and take 'em home with us.@@DMTalesTTRPG
I thought rounds were broken up into 1 min, not 10 seconds. Also, 10 pound swords. Yikes, no one ever used a 10 pound arming sword. Other than that, I completely agree, great game with great possibilities and im looking forward to the upcoming options book.
The notes and the alternatives and the well-thought out consideration for what works best in the framework of the original games made it an easy choice to get. The price and the speed of release didn't hurt, either. Regarding alignment, I've tended to like the Law Chaos only thing (or frankly make up my own or jettison the whole thing), because it allows for a sort of externally detectable alignment, with the mistrust that differences may cause, but no certainty with regard to the sort of pre-meditated cleansing attitude that the two axis system seems to cause in certain groups. Law may see chaos as often "bad" but they may also recognize that chaos can have good people in it, and some of them may actually help law break out of too-rigid thinking. Better, I tend to treat alignment as a sort of thing pushed on you at birth, it's a thing you can inherit, and you can work against this thing hanging over your head, but you still might have cultural associations that would justify an alignment language or cosmic powers claiming you. If you don't want it, you might even work toward the alignment changing, which would be a huge deal.
I didn't back this version and now I kinda wish I did, I like the new and cleaned up look it has. I don't like that movement rate, but I'll just house rule it if needed
Oh, and regarding movement, OD&D and AD&D (both editions) crucially use the original Gygaxian one minute round concept, which was shortened considerably in the Basic D&D lines (Holmes, B/X, BECMI). So 60' to 120'/minute is still actually quite slow in a realistic sense, but a third that pace is practically snail-like. If you're house ruling ten second rounds, however, you can easily divide by three.
And…I found the quote… can’t believe I missed that. “A turn represents 10 minutes, and a combat round is 1 minute.” -PG. 33 Matt even mentioned the time frame being 1 minute and I missed it. Sigh.
@@DMTalesTTRPG A perfectly easy mistake to make, since the first official product where a ten second round was used (the Holmes rulebook), didn't actually call it out as a change. Anyone who learned from it or any of its successors (B/X, BECMI, the Rules Cyclopedia, etc.) might naturally assume it was always that way. Personally, I thought for ages that the one minute round was dreamed up specifically for AD&D.
Great review! Interesting mix of classes. It's essentially the original three plus the five from the supplements, then oddly, just the Ranger from The Strategic Review. Do the elves in this game have to decide which class (Fighter or Magic-User) at the start of each adventure or do they act as a true multi-class?
yah, someone corrected me on that. I should put a clarification in the description. Worse, I had Matt Finch actually SAY that in an email exchange and my brain just farted right over it.
Hey! I noticed you have Open Legend on your shelf behind you. It's one of my favorite Setting-less genre-less games. How do you feel about it? Have you made a review on it prior? I'd like to hear your thoughts on it. Edit: I found your review on it!
Better? I don’t know if that’s how I’d phrase it. There are different things which provide for a slightly different game play style. The single saving throw is nice, the presentation of different ways to do things in game (like initiative and combat) is cool. The presentation of both ascending and descending AC is well done. The lower bonuses for ability scores make them matter less for rolls, which is different than I am used to. S&W feels more loose. BFRPG is by no means a heavy system, but S&W leans even more into “rulings, not rules.”
The whole commie/woke “ancestry” thing in place of the classic “race” is a massive turn off. That alone is enough for me to say, “No thanks, not interested in supporting this.” Besides, the older printing with the blue Erol Otus painting is just so much more attractive as a product. Glad I picked it up back then.
I mean, he couldn’t and then the OGL debacle took over and warranted a new edition. And Errol Otus did the POD cover so his art can be had on the cover if want. Also, I love the sigil so I’m not all that upset by it.
Thank you for this video. I wasnt even aware of the existence of this and loved the original game
I’m glad you enjoyed it. The new version is very nice!
Swords & Wizardry Complete is my favorite version of D&D. That being said, I actually prefer previous printings to this one with regard to layout, printing, and paper.
The older version has a lot of charm. I like the tables better in the newer printing.
Great overview. The fast turnaround is even more impressive when you consider that many of the best updates in this new edition weren't part of the original plan and were added to the manuscript during the KS campaign. The optional morale system, the number appearing and lair percentage stats for the monsters, and the magic item creation guidelines, for example.
It really blows my mind.
Watched and shared 😁 Fantastic review! I appreciate how you bring up various points about this. There's a lot of thought and perspective as well as even contacting the author to discuss the finer points. Thank you!
Thanks!!!
I also backed this Kickstarter and I was shocked how quickly it was fulfilled and delivered to me. Granted, I live in the same general metro area, so that may have contributed to the speed in which I received it. In the same month, I, pledged to other Kickstarter‘s and I’m going to have to wait until the middle of next year for fulfillment. It’s a great book and great game. Thanks for the excellent review!
So fast! Glad you’re enjoying it and thanks for the comment!
Awesome review Wes. Nice bit about the “magic runes that are writ in gold.” I too was a bit miffed upon initial review of the movement but I’m excited to give it a go. Very excited to feature S&W on the channel!
I’m really looking forward to seeing what you do with it!
I also backed for the hardcover and entirely missed the Led Zeppelin bit on the back. Thanks for pointing it out! Matt Finch is the man!
I have really enjoyed chatting with him! Glad I could point something new out!!
Awesome review. Can't wait to get my book (those of us that also backed physical copies of Adventures are still waiting on the official offset print book, as it will all ship together).
- Just a minor correction. The new S&W Logo on the book is done by Del Teigeler (he shared his pencil sketch of it on the official S&W Facebook group awhile back on Jul 19, 2023).
- Otis did the art for the Print-on-Demand Only Covers.
Oh, thanks! The title page credits Otus, I’m sorry I messed that up! I hope you get your copy soon!
I will try to remember and correct my video description later today.
I love the increase of speed: nobody wants of round of people just moving so they can get into a fight, and nobody only moves 30 feet in 10 seconds, except maybe a turtle lol
Yah, it took a bit for me to see how round times are a minute. I just kept reading it wrong because my brain wasn’t expecting it. It makes a lot more sense now!
I really love Swords & Wizardry, White Box, and OD&D. I have no nostalgia for them but the more I play with those rules the more I realize just how few rules you actually need to run a great campaign.
I think so too!
Agreed 100%! I grew up playing 3.5E, but as soon as I discovered OD&D/the 3 Little Brown Books, there was no turning back. This is absolutely my favorite version of D&D, and White Box is so far my favorite packaging of it.
Wow. First..cool. Second, you “grew up playing 3.5”…I feel OLD.
Hell, *I* feel old. xD 3.5 came out over 20 years ago now, but it feels like just yesterday my best friend and I were walking into Books-A-Million to discover those Core Rulebooks and heaps of miniatures and take 'em home with us.@@DMTalesTTRPG
Hell, *I* feel old. xD 3.5 came out over 20 years ago now, but it feels like just yesterday my best friend and I were walking into Books-A-Million to discover those Core Rulebooks and heaps of miniatures and take 'em home with us.@@DMTalesTTRPG
I thought rounds were broken up into 1 min, not 10 seconds. Also, 10 pound swords. Yikes, no one ever used a 10 pound arming sword. Other than that, I completely agree, great game with great possibilities and im looking forward to the upcoming options book.
Yah, my brain glitched.
Back in the day, movement was specified in terms of inches - since it came from wargames. The ground wcale was 1":10'.
Yes.
The notes and the alternatives and the well-thought out consideration for what works best in the framework of the original games made it an easy choice to get. The price and the speed of release didn't hurt, either.
Regarding alignment, I've tended to like the Law Chaos only thing (or frankly make up my own or jettison the whole thing), because it allows for a sort of externally detectable alignment, with the mistrust that differences may cause, but no certainty with regard to the sort of pre-meditated cleansing attitude that the two axis system seems to cause in certain groups. Law may see chaos as often "bad" but they may also recognize that chaos can have good people in it, and some of them may actually help law break out of too-rigid thinking. Better, I tend to treat alignment as a sort of thing pushed on you at birth, it's a thing you can inherit, and you can work against this thing hanging over your head, but you still might have cultural associations that would justify an alignment language or cosmic powers claiming you. If you don't want it, you might even work toward the alignment changing, which would be a huge deal.
Yah, the different paths to play the game endeared it to me quick.
I didn't back this version and now I kinda wish I did, I like the new and cleaned up look it has.
I don't like that movement rate, but I'll just house rule it if needed
Thankfully you won’t have to wait long. This one is special.
This looks wonderful thank you for sharing! Great thought about getting more art through vtt tokens, would be really cool to see that!
Thanks for watching!
Thanks Wes! Just say "YES!" to old school b/w line artwork. Is this the same digital version that is one DTRPG now?
Yah, if it’s got the green or blue cover with the Otus sigil then it’s the new one.
@@DMTalesTTRPG It has a green cover, so must be the same. Thanks and all the best.
Yup
Great review, you've made them a sale.
Hope you enjoy it!
Oh, and regarding movement, OD&D and AD&D (both editions) crucially use the original Gygaxian one minute round concept, which was shortened considerably in the Basic D&D lines (Holmes, B/X, BECMI). So 60' to 120'/minute is still actually quite slow in a realistic sense, but a third that pace is practically snail-like. If you're house ruling ten second rounds, however, you can easily divide by three.
Ahhhh
And…I found the quote… can’t believe I missed that.
“A turn represents 10 minutes, and a combat round is 1 minute.” -PG. 33
Matt even mentioned the time frame being 1 minute and I missed it. Sigh.
@@DMTalesTTRPG A perfectly easy mistake to make, since the first official product where a ten second round was used (the Holmes rulebook), didn't actually call it out as a change. Anyone who learned from it or any of its successors (B/X, BECMI, the Rules Cyclopedia, etc.) might naturally assume it was always that way. Personally, I thought for ages that the one minute round was dreamed up specifically for AD&D.
@@willmistretta except when you’re in a conversation with the author and he mentions the correction and your brain just skips over it…
Great review!
Interesting mix of classes. It's essentially the original three plus the five from the supplements, then oddly, just the Ranger from The Strategic Review.
Do the elves in this game have to decide which class (Fighter or Magic-User) at the start of each adventure or do they act as a true multi-class?
From my read, interestingly, they do not.
The Combat Movement is x10 per minute, not per 10 seconds... (Movement Rate of 9 is 90ft per Minute)
yah, someone corrected me on that. I should put a clarification in the description.
Worse, I had Matt Finch actually SAY that in an email exchange and my brain just farted right over it.
@@DMTalesTTRPG not even Matt can get it right, no wonder we've been scratching our heads over this ahahah
Nah, he got it right…My brain is stuck in Moldvay/Cook so it just buzzed right over it. It’s rather embarrassing!
Thanks for watching, though!
Swords and wizardry is a great game, my previous edition sits by the side of my osric copy. I need to get my hands on this edition.
it is a fine update!
@@DMTalesTTRPGin all the bestiaries made for S&W they have artworks for all the creatures. I like them very much.
Oh cool, are they on Drive Thru?
@@DMTalesTTRPG yes they are
@@DMTalesTTRPG they also have all the volumes of the tome of horrors.
Hey! I noticed you have Open Legend on your shelf behind you. It's one of my favorite Setting-less genre-less games. How do you feel about it? Have you made a review on it prior? I'd like to hear your thoughts on it.
Edit: I found your review on it!
As a matter of fact, I did!
Open Legend [A Review]
ua-cam.com/video/ePWC2i0pUkw/v-deo.html
Ooh finally.
It took so long!
You have been playing BFRPG. What have you seen in S&W that is better than BFRPG?
Better? I don’t know if that’s how I’d phrase it. There are different things which provide for a slightly different game play style. The single saving throw is nice, the presentation of different ways to do things in game (like initiative and combat) is cool. The presentation of both ascending and descending AC is well done. The lower bonuses for ability scores make them matter less for rolls, which is different than I am used to.
S&W feels more loose. BFRPG is by no means a heavy system, but S&W leans even more into “rulings, not rules.”
@@DMTalesTTRPG thx
My pleasure!
How does it compare to mazes and monsters?
I don’t know. So many games!!
@@DMTalesTTRPG I’m kidding. Mazes and monsters is the name of the old tom hanks movie. The movie was made during the height of the “ satanic panic”.
Darn you!
@@DMTalesTTRPG lol.
I dunno. Mazes & Monsters is a far-out game. Swords, poison, spells, battles, maiming, killing....
I like Swords & Wizardry, too, though.
The whole commie/woke “ancestry” thing in place of the classic “race” is a massive turn off. That alone is enough for me to say, “No thanks, not interested in supporting this.”
Besides, the older printing with the blue Erol Otus painting is just so much more attractive as a product. Glad I picked it up back then.
Sigh
Errol Otis cover for the current edition.
preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/439173/swords-wizardry-complete-rulebook-revised-erol-otus-cover
@@DMTalesTTRPG Sure, but it’s not as good as the older one. Plus, “ancestry” capitulation is bothersome to me.
@ryannilsson7955 I find the rhetoric around this shift to be ridiculous, to be honest. Capitulation and “commie” are over the top.
@@DMTalesTTRPG Not if you look around and watch what has been happening to our society for generations now. Open your eyes.
Wish they juat kept printing the old S&W with the great old school art, this ones cover is so ugly
I mean, he couldn’t and then the OGL debacle took over and warranted a new edition.
And Errol Otus did the POD cover so his art can be had on the cover if want.
Also, I love the sigil so I’m not all that upset by it.
@@DMTalesTTRPG print on demand? What print on demand, all the copies that aren't hideous are being resold for at least 90.00
The ones through DTRPG - preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/439173/Swords--Wizardry-Complete-Rulebook-Revised--Erol-Otus-cover
@@DMTalesTTRPG I meant the older otus one, cause this one is awful too honestly Erol Otus worse work
@@johndavey2340 they can’t sell the old one, they don’t own that edition. I also quite like both the Otus POD cover and the sigil.