Pits & Perils

A Nostalgia Game
Pits & Perils (P&P) is a re-imagining of the White Box, it is not a simulacrum or clone, but rather authors James & Robyn George have seemingly closely examined what makes White Box what it is and have designed a game that does what White Box does (minus introducing the world to a new hobby, of course) in a manner that reflects the 1970's style amateur press products, yet using their own new mechanics. The resulting product is delightful to read and maybe one of the best rules-lite games I have seen.
P&P notes in the Introduction that White Box was "just a special kind of war game".  Rules designed by amateurs for their own enjoyment, played with friends using miniature figures with an emphasis 1:1 on tactical decisions and imagination - describing just the state of the hobby circa 1977 when I acquired my White Box. I recall feeling it was a terribly difficult game to decipher and I was never sure we were "playing it correctly'. P&P attempts to solve this latter issue while reproducing the feel of a 1977 game, right down to the odd font which looks like it was "typed in someone's basement" and the artwork which is all done by the author.
So what makes P&P stand out? Mr. and Mrs. George have cleverly distilled the six classic ability scores down to a single roll to determine which one (or maybe two) of the abilities the PC is outstanding in, Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity, Wisdom, Constitution or Charisma. Being outstanding in an ability may give some game bonus or allow the PC to do things other PCs can't. Humans can excel at any ability, while dwarfs and elves are limited. P&P is a class and level system and uses the "race as class" concept of early "Basic". Human PCs can be a Cleric, Fighter, Magician or Thief. Certain exceptional abilities are associated with certain classes, like Strength and Fighter, Dexterity and Thief, but there is no rule that prevents a Fighter with exceptional Intelligence or Wisdom, or a Magician with exceptional Strength. The exceptional ability gives each PC a specialty in addition to their class special features and further encourages teamwork.
Each class differs in the amount of experience needed to level, hit points, armor and weapons allowed, and any special class abilities such as a cleric's ability to turn away undead and a thief's ability to pick locks and disarm traps. Each PC must choose a "side" which corresponds to White Box alignment. Lawful characters are "honorable and generally good", Neutral characters are self-interested and generally non-committed, while followers of the Chaotic side are "unpredictable and often quite evil".
P&P uses a universal mechanic, a roll of two six-sided dice added together to achieve a number equal to or greater than a 9 in combat or to a 7 out of combat. Fighters get a +1 bonus in combat, dwarfs receive a +1 to all saves. In combat a successful hit deals either one or two points of damage, armor increases one's hit points and using a two handed weapon adds an additional damage point. P&P seems less deadly at low level play and high level PCs seem less uber-powerful, particularly in hit points, compared to many other games. A magician starts with 5 HP and a fighter with 10. At 9th level the magician will have 14 HP and the fighter 28. With each hit causing one or two points of damage it takes a few of them to drop a PC to 0 HP and death.
Encumbrance limit is 10 items and up to 1,000 coins, simple and easy. Armor slows movement and adds a bonus to overall HP. Combat starts with initiative/surprise and PCs have the choice of several actions such as maneuvering, blocking with a shield, parrying with a weapon, attacking or casting a spell. Various tactical situations add to or subtract from the attack roll making P&P combat feel like a miniatures war game - one with fantastic creatures and lots of magic.
Magicians can cast a number of magic spells depending on their available magic points starting with two spell points per day. There are twenty-four spells on the list and curiously, they all have four-letter names. The starting Magician or Elf can know any 3 spells from the list, each costs the same (1 spell point) to cast. Clerics know Cure and Heal and their magic is called "Miracles" rather than spells. Otherwise it works very similar, but Clerics are better at casting Cure and Heal.
Experience is gained for killing monsters and acquiring treasure, so P&P is a "kill monsters and take their stuff" type game. The actual exp. numbers are relatively low compared to many games with a typical level 1 monster earning the PC 5 exp. and 150 exp. is needed for a Cleric to reach 2nd level. The experience tables top-out at 9th level with the highest, Elf, needing 80,000 exp. to reach that level. Like White Box, P&P uses titles for class level such as "acolyte" and "novice" respectively for 1st level Clerics and Magicians. P&P lists 87 monsters and gives a brief description of each. Included are some common animals (some of giant size) such as horse and mule, ape and bat as well as many of the classic fantasy monster tropes such as dragon, troll, vampire and minotaur.
Mr. & Mrs. George have published a couple supplement books for P&P, but the basic rules cover essentially the same ground as the 3 LBBs plus Greyhawk, of course all is in the unique P&P style. P&P is a recent purchase for me and I have not had a chance to play it yet, but I am very excited to do so. There is a lot of material packed into these 74 pages and although the basic mechanic is simple, like some of the best wargames there seems to be considerable subtlety there that only repeated play can reveal. In P&P, like in White Box, success depends on players cooperating, using their collective and individual game skill and imagination and making good decisions. That's the way I recall the game being played in 1977.