The Success of Basic Fantasy and S&W

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The Wanderer
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Re: The Success of Basic Fantasy and S&W

Post by The Wanderer »

A workshop thread sounds great!

Anyone want to stat up the blue cover characters for pregens to start us out?
White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game
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Bravesteel
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Re: The Success of Basic Fantasy and S&W

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I found the blog post pretty interesting. I came to Swords & Wizardry (only just bought a shed load of books) because of Rappan Athuk, not because of the game itself. I really wanted to play through the dungeon with my group and Pathfinder is not my bag of tea, so Swords & Wizardry it is! I can honestly say that I am having a VERY interesting time learning reading through the rules, and I don't necessarily mean in a bad way, but I have really had to concentrate and wrap my head around each page. To give you a little context, I am 27 and I have played RPGS for about fifteen years, starting with AD&D 2nd Edition and immediately moving on into 3rd Edition when it surfaced and beyond. I tend to pick up rules pretty quickly, but I find the presentation quite. . .disjointed. All I have to say is thank god for the explanation boxes in S&W Complete or I'd still be figuring it all out.

Yesterday, I came across Basic Fantasy, I decided to check it out, even though I has bought roughly ~$400 worth of S&W stuff I am still waiting on the actual Frog God Games order to ship, so I delved right into it. I have to say that Basic Fantasy is simply presented WAY better than S&W Complete, like not even close in my opinion. I almost wish I had found Basic Fantasy earlier, let go of my Rappan Athuk dreams, and bought into Basic Fantasy, saving myself ~$250 give or take.

Now, I am perfectly happy with my choice, I think S&W Complete is definitely my favorite game now, but I thought I'd give a newcomer's perspective on the subject.

In terms of projects I am thinking about putting together a monthly or bi-monthly fan magazine for S&W Complete, as I have the layout skills and would be my little way of giving back to this awesome game.
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merias
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Re: The Success of Basic Fantasy and S&W

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I agree, the BFRPG rulebook is very nicely presented as far as ease of understanding and where to find things. I think that reflects the continuous edit/update cycle. One of the key differences between S&W and BFRPG that makes me prefer the former, however, is the power curve. It is not as steep with BFRPG. For example, a S&W Complete M-U needs 100k XP to get access to the more powerful 5th level spells. In BFRPG, that same M-U needs 300k XP. Clerics differ even more- 48k vs. 270k XP for 5th level spells. It gets even worse (or better, I suppose this is purely subjective) when you consider that by-the-book, BFRPG does not award XP for gold. This creates a very different feel for players and refs alike. Also, welcome to the forums!

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Bravesteel
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Re: The Success of Basic Fantasy and S&W

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merias wrote:I agree, the BFRPG rulebook is very nicely presented as far as ease of understanding and where to find things. I think that reflects the continuous edit/update cycle. One of the key differences between S&W and BFRPG that makes me prefer the former, however, is the power curve. It is not as steep with BFRPG. For example, a S&W Complete M-U needs 100k XP to get access to the more powerful 5th level spells. In BFRPG, that same M-U needs 300k XP. Clerics differ even more- 48k vs. 270k XP for 5th level spells.


That's really interesting, and I think it backs up my choice, as I think S&W is just about right in terms of advancement speed; any slower and my Pathfinder-loving group would probably get bored.
merias wrote:It gets even worse (or better, I suppose this is purely subjective) when you consider that by-the-book, BFRPG does not award XP for gold. This creates a very different feel for players and refs alike.!
Interesting, I didn't pick that up when I was reading BFRPG, but I can say that after reading the OSR Primer on Frog God Games' website that I really like the idea of giving XP for gold!
merias wrote:Also, welcome to the forums!
Thanks, glad to be here! Happy to find a place talking about S&W that doesn't appear half-dead.

Edit: One other market differentiator between BFRPG and S&W is that the former has all of their books available via Amazon, with S&W only having the S&W Complete and Monstrosities, but Monstrosities is not available through Amazon Prime.
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The Wanderer
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Re: The Success of Basic Fantasy and S&W

Post by The Wanderer »

Bravesteel wrote:
Edit: One other market differentiator between BFRPG and S&W is that the former has all of their books available via Amazon, with S&W only having the S&W Complete and Monstrosities, but Monstrosities is not available through Amazon Prime.
Its not complete and not official Swords and Wizardry but that's why I tried get White Box:FMAG on Amazon. Everything I release will be on Amazon.
White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game
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Bravesteel
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Re: The Success of Basic Fantasy and S&W

Post by Bravesteel »

The Wanderer wrote:
Its not complete and not official Swords and Wizardry but that's why I tried get White Box:FMAG on Amazon. Everything I release will be on Amazon.
Glad to hear it! I think it's a bad marketing decision (I'm a marketer so I have some knowledge in the area) to not have published products available via Amazon. The market penetration alone more than makes up for Amazon's cut.
"Est Sularis oth Mithas. My honor is my life."

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