Is This the Future of My Hobby?

The Game I Want to Play.

One of the positive things on my horizon this year is my hope to be bringing the revised Swords & Wizardry rules to my game table. I have a familiarity with previous versions of S&W as a version of an older system and of course also with the original version of the rules upon which S&W has been based. The author, Matthew J. Finch, has been a great contributor to my enjoyment of our hobby in recent years. A quick list of Mr. Finch's work in the hobby includes OSRIC, S&W, Tome of Adventure Design and A Quick Primer for Old School Gaming. 

Mr. Finch has been a leader in promoting and supporting the hobby, and especially a classic style of play, for decades and has recently revised his most popular rule system, Swords & Wizardry. This revision came as a response to certain recent licensing issues and has involved a successful crowdfunding campaign. As a backer, I received a digital version of the new edition rules and I am quite impressed with the changes. 

A principal reason for my enthusiasm for using the new edition of S&W with a gaming group is some specific wording which I find reflects my comfort level with the game's underlying assumptions about how to approach the S&W game and the general use of its rules. This attitude can be summarized by looking at a statement I find at the beginning of its referee section.

As the Referee of a game of Swords & Wizardry, you do not have a character; instead, you are the player who is in charge of the game. You create the adventure, you run the monsters, and you are the one who decides the results of all the decisions made by the players for their characters. You don’t get to tell the players what the characters do — that is their part of the game — but you referee the results according to the rules, and you interpret what the rules mean.

This statement definitely sounds familiar (and comfortable) to me because it is the way I have always approached tabletop adventure (roleplaying) games and it is the way I would like to play them going forward. I am finding that this assumption is not universally acceptable and that not everyone that describes themselves as "FRP gamers" (or "roleplayers") are open to a referee with this approach to running the game.

Things evolve and I consider myself an advocate of progressive change. I wish to be on the record as fully supporting the variety of gaming styles and preferences that make up our tabletop gaming hobby today. Not every game is going to be a favorite for everyone and that is okay - it's actually more than okay, it's as it should be in my opinion.

My advice is for each of us to "play the game that you want to play, and play with people who are agreeable to that choice". And let's all try to be a littler nicer to each other. This is a fun hobby.