Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea

Fun to Say, Fun to Play!
Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea (AS&SH) must have one of the best names given to a game product, ever. The boxed version (pictured) was released in 2012, but there is a new hardcover 2nd Edition due out next year and available for pre-order now. The rules to AS&SH appear as a very clean and tidyed-up version (such as using a d12 for thief skills) of the Advanced Game using the OGL. The default setting of Hyperborea is one of the best published. It has a very "pulp fantasy" feel to it as suggested by the box cover illustration by Charles Lang, is self contained, is depicted on a nice hex map, is described in just the right amount of detail to leave room for individualization and it lends itself well to being used with just about any other setting as a pocket universe, lost continent or alternate dimension.
I ran this game as referee some time back for a short campaign for some Pathfinder/5th Ed. players who were curious about Old School play. The players began by making late 19th century PCs who were passengers or crew on a steamship off the coast of Alaska. After some role-play on ship things turned mysterious. A cold mist, a spectacular northern lights display and they awake bound-up as dog sled passengers in Hyperborea. They are taken down off the frozen plateau and traded to some ancient looking Greek speaking folk who worship Athena and Zeus, etc. They quickly learn the language and are taught some local survival skills (class abilities) and start adventuring. They help a village recover some lost kids and become local heroes. While investigating an ancient temple complex, several of the original party perish and are replaced by "locals". The mini-campaign ran a half-dozen or so sessions and we moved on to something else.
Some of the players remarked they enjoy the "old School" type rules and classes - they started with just fighters, clerics and magic users, but for replacement characters could choose from several sub-classes as well. The setting of Hyperborea generated the most interest and I'll probably re-visit it. The mixture of cultures like vikings, kelts,  and ancient Greeks imported from Earth's past with native Hyperboreans, Amazons, and Esquimaux (sound it out!) give quite a lot of variety while keeping the PCs human (mostly). The author, Jeffrey Talanian, states an intent to create a game consistent with the fantastic and weird worlds of R.E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith and H.P. Lovecraft. The two spiral bound books in the box are illustrated through-out by Ian Baggley in a manner that definitely adds to the weird, dark and dangerous feel of the game setting. Hyperborea has some ancient high technology roots that also add to its uniqueness. There is the possibility of exploring ancient ruins and discovering lost technologies, if the referee wants to go down that path.
The one area I personally feel could use a little more work is in the area of magic.  AS&SH uses the bog standard Advanced Game magic spells and magic, although wisely drops the mundane material components and casting segment complications. The Vancian system is retained however, which carries with it a promise of more predictable magic than a skill-roll outcome, point system and suggests a theory of magic as a mental exercise of mostly memorization. It is a bit "tame" for my taste. That aside, Mr. Talanian does include some new "atmospheric" spells such as "black cloud", "cataleptic state", the "sepia snake sigil" and "mirror, mirror" and does his honest best to describe spell books and the acquisition of spell knowledge as something weird and dangerous.
The AS&SH bestiary is a combination of traditional fantasy monsters and the Lovecraftian horrors. Dwarves are monsters, not PCs in AS&SH. Dwarves are described as greedy and perverse, stunted and misshaped forgers of magic items which they are cursed to be unable to use themselves. Orcs are the off-spring of a swine daemon and Picts (a race of primitive humans). Tree-men are similar to Ents, otherwise, the usual Tolkien races are missing from AS&SH, but there are still plenty of bi-pedal baddies such as snake-men, ape-men, cave-men and ghouls.
So what is the appeal of AS&SH, besides a fantastic name. The rules are a nice, cleaned up version of the Advanced Game giving us a game that can be played pretty much as written. The setting of Hyperborea is one of the best published settings I have come across in almost 40 years of gaming and were it not somewhat derivative of certain pulp settings, I'd call it genius. But the derived part is intentional in that it evokes a feel for the source material. There are really two good products here, the game rules and the setting. 

The Advanced Game

Using the 1st Edition Rules
Having cut my teeth on White Box I was never quite sure what to do with the Advanced rules (beyond admiring the awesome cover art). We played with the Advanced books at the table, consulting the hardcover PHB tome for spells and chargen, for shopping and weapon damage, for monsters we looked into the MM and for advice and all things wonderful, the DMG is still a treasure trove. We used it all and none of it strictly by-the-book. We improvised, smashed versions together and made it all work with rulings. As referee I tend to continue to rely on the Little Brown Books as my go-to rules, borrowing freely from all later Editions. Generally it has caused few issues over nearly 40 years of gaming.
Looking at the PHB, there are sections of the rules I have never used as a referee and seldom consulted as a player in another referee's game. Spell components and casting segments come immediately to mind. Some of the components add color to the spell casting and magic "feel" of the game, but the bookkeeping seems too much to bother with. The weapons verses armor class matrix seemed to be for someone other than our group and I only recall using it a couple times.
The lack of combat tables in the PHB (they finally appear in DMG) meant that for a couple years at least we had little choice, but to refer back to earlier rules to resolve every sword swing. The change from an unarmored peasant being AC 9 in White Box to AC10 in the PHB is annoying (maybe because I have never read an explanation) and I usually ignore the difference in printed play aids.
There is a bit of irony in the stated intent of the Advanced Rules to be more standardized and official, to allow everyone, everywhere to be playing the same game with common rules when it had rather the opposite effect on our group (and I am guessing other groups as well). With the addition of the Advanced material we added diversity and became even more individualized in our play. Some players would allow half-orc and half-elf PCs when they refereed, others wouldn't (did anyone play 1st Ed. gnomes?). Some would allow evil PCs, some would enforce encumbrance (or try to), etc.
So I recall using the 1st Ed. Advanced rules to dial up the game. Strength bonuses went up (+3/+6!), magic enhancements on armor and weapons increased (+5!) and PCs continued to advance well beyond "name" level. More monsters, more hit points, more ways to roll up characters and more magic items. more, more, more. At some point this became obvious (and obnoxious?) and more for the sake of more became a topic of discussion. Then the "less is more" philosophy started to take hold and many of us began to dial it back remembering the real magic of a game with just Three Little Brown Books.

Rule Number One

White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game
When a game booklet titles itself White Box, I generally take a look. The White Box Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game by Charlie Mason and Seattle Hill Games is a re-imagining of not only the Original White Box, but also Swords & Wizardry's White Box. Right away Mr. Mason catches my attention with his interpretation of RULE ONE

The most important rule in White Box is that the Referee always has the
right to modify the rules. In fact, it’s encouraged! This is your game, after
all. There are gaps in the rules—holes left open on purpose—because much
of the fun of “old school” gaming is being able to make up rules as needed.

...because much of the fun of "old school gaming is being able to make up rules as needed." Exactly! It can be a challenge to make up fair rules that add to everyone's enjoyment of the game, rules that encourage creativity, rules that don't limit options, but that reward thinking outside the box, rules that will be just as applicable later in similar circumstances and can become part of the body of house rules or "how we play the game". But all that is part of the fun of being referee especially and to some extent even being a player of the "old school game" as I see it.
If looking in a big book for the rule that comes closest to covering the situation at the table has more appeal, there are other games available. Arguably no rules can cover every possible situation, but some probably come very close. Having an official rule is very satisfying to many RPG fans, and I don't intend to belittle that style of play. I regularly play those games myself (although I don't like to pause the action to look up rules). Sometimes I like to make stuff up on the fly. It's fun to come up with a good ruling that seems to satisfy everyone and keeps the action at the table rolling.
So besides a great Rule One, what has White Box Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game got going for itself? Well, it's a very nice looking book, nice art, attractive layout. The book can be ordered online with one of three covers and in softcover or hardcover.

There's more than just a nice package however. I favor multiple saving throw categories like in the Original White Box. Swords & Wizardry White Box drops the multiple saving throw system for a single, universal saving throw. White Box Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game is based on Swords & Wizardry, but gives an optional saving throw system based on class and level and situation. So when the dragon breaths (Dragon Breath) the saving through is different than when the basilisk gazes your way (Paralyze/Turn to Stone). There are fans of the single saving throw value, but I like making those choices as referee between asking for a saving throw verses Dragon Breath or Paralyze/Stone when a rock-slide threatens the party. Is it more a quickness thing or a resist fear thing? In a way it is similar to the fun of making up rules deciding which saving throw to call for.
White Box Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game is well written and entertaining to read. It takes a definite stand on many of the ambiguous points of Original White Box, such as alignment - White Box Fantastic uses the three classic alignments, but equates Law with good and Chaos with evil. Of course a referee who disagrees with this rule, like any other, can play it differently. Options abound with most White Box style games and there are a number of "optional rules" that are presented here. Classes are the basic three with the addition of the optional Thief. If used, the Thief has a special ability called "Thievery" giving one the ability to roll a d6 to pick a pocket, open a lock and do other thiefy things. The score needed on the d6 gets easier to make as the thief goes up in levels.
Races are the usual Tolkienesque Human (default), Dwarf, Elf  and Halfling. The non-humans are restricted in class choice and level maximum. Elves are the go back and forth between fighter and magic user or an optional B/X style combination. None see in the dark!
Weapons follow the general White Box trend of all doing a d6 damage, except some have a -1 or +1 added. Again, White Box Fantastic gives the referee the stated option to use the old everything does 1d6 damage system. Armor class can be done ascending or descending, according to preference. There are alternatives to several factors of combat making it one of the most easily customizable sections of the rules. If diplomacy and negotiating is more to the party's liking, there is advice on handling that. As a nod to the old school, jousting rules are touched on. (Having read some old King Arthur tales recently, I am inclined to include more jousting as a part of play.) There is also some decent referee advice on running the game, keeping track of time and handling the outdoor and dungeon environment. Discussion continues regarding adventure and campaign creation and awarding experience. Here White Box Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game takes the traditional experience for gold approach, but provides some justification for this system and offers some options. Rather extensive bestiary and treasure sections complete the book. This is White Box, so magic swords have intelligence and their own ideas of what should be done (always fun for role-play as the fighter has an argument with the sword).
So the hobby has another White Box. White Box Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game is a sound addition to the stable of White Box imitators, simulacrum, clones, pseudo-clones and re-interpretations of the Original Fantasy Role-Playing Game. Most I have read are useful in that they offer a more complete statement of the basic principles of role-playing, dice and general game play than the Original which is good for beginners. In other words, there are some "training wheels" included. The Original White Box allows for more interpretations than is usual among the later "White Box" rules. Rather than encouraging the referee to make decisions about the rules, the Original insists on it. Why? Because making up rules is fun! That's Rule One.

Wargame RPG

DragonQuest and other Hex-Map Games
I have written about DragonQuest before and will probably do so again at some point because it is a game I think deserves attention. DragonQuest was released by the hex-map wargames specialists at Simulations Publications Inc. (SPI). The lead designer, Eric Goldberg, had previously done excellent work on traditional historic map and counter wargames covering subjects like the epic WWII tank battle of Kursk. SPI was a relative late-comer to fantasy and role-playing, but brought a lot of game design experience to their efforts. Unfortunately, DragonQuest came right near the end of the company's independent existence and perhaps it didn't get the support it deserved.
TSR's White Box had hit the market about 5 years prior to DragonQuest and had introduced the world to a new type of game around which a whole hobby quickly developed. The designers of White Box were themselves wargamers, most recently engaged in writing rules for tabletop battles using  miniature soldiers. That is why White Box refers to movement and ranges in terms of inches to be measured with a ruler on the tabletop. The designers had also played map and counter wargames and those experiences also figured to play a factor in their gaming gestalt.
The new hobby drew folks in from outside the wargames community as well as from within. As other game designers tried their hand at the new fantasy role-play or adventure game genre, some came at it directly from a hex-map and counter perspective. Steve Jackson designed the Microgames Melee and Wizard using such components and offered the hobby a very tactical alternative to the combat and magic systems of White Box and other early games. DragonQuest is also such an outgrowth of tactical wargaming using counters and hex-map. For some, this approach may have seemed more realistic than less tactical approaches. For others, it may have just been more comfortable - more what they were used to when coming over to the new hobby from hex-map and counter wargames.
The idea of a tactical display, what DragonQuest calls the hex-map and counters, is used by other later Editions of The World's Most Famous RPG and its imitators. In fact the popularity of the tactical display seems to swing back and forth over time. I think its use offers certain advantages regarding knowing where everyone is and whether the spell can reach, etc, but has certain disadvantages when gamers play the display rather than imagine the action in their head.
Whether the referee chooses to use a tactical display or not may influence the particular rule system he/she prefers as some are more tied to it than others. The number of hobbyists who play hex-map and counter wargames is smaller today than it was in the 1970's and I doubt there are many gamers who come to role-playing today directly from such wargames. At one time I think the numbers may have been significant and the cross-over among players and designers of wargames and RPGs has given the hobby some nice games, some like DragonQuest remain good games despite being long out-of-print.

Tolkien: A Dictionary

A Helpful Tool
The Tolkien Dictionary by David Day is a powerhouse of information on the world of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. There is a disclaimer that all it contains may not be "canon", but for the most part, I doubt I notice. The book itself is a newer print of a tome that has been around under one title of another since my college days. It's an A to Z listing of lots of topics pertaining to Tolkien's Middle Earth. It isn't a game product or official play aid, but I find leafing through the Dictionary a good way to learn more about Middle Earth.
The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are novels and although each contains much additional material on Middle Earth in the appendices, the body of the book is a story. With Tolkien A Dictionary the emphasis is on explaining what a hobbit or a nazgul is. How do all the names for various elven groups relate to each other? Is a Noldor the same as a Sindar and if not how do they differ?  Why are there so few wizards in Middle Earth? Answers to these and many other questions can be found in the pages of this little volume.
Pictured on the front is a group of Woses, a wild woodland people living naked in the Forest of Druadan who excelled at woodcraft and assisted the Rohirrim in breaking the siege of Gondor. There are entries on the Forest of Druadan, the Rohirrim and Gondor if you need additional explanation. There is more, much more between the end-paper maps of Arda (High Elven name for the whole world including Middle Earth and the Undying Lands). I find Tolkien A Dictionary a very helpful tool in gaining understanding of Tolkien's world for both further enjoyment of the stories and for use as a referee running a game set in Tolkien's Middle Earth. And it's delightfully illustrated!
The relationship between Tolkien's fiction and the White Box and the hobby in general is complicated and confusing at times. Despite Gary Gygax' rumored denial that Tolkien's work had much influence on White Box (comparatively speaking, probably true), I think the popularity of the two are intertwined. Both White Box and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien were faddishly popular on college campuses when I was a student. Whether one started with reading Tolkien or started by playing White Box, one inevitably led to the other. Hardly anyone I knew on campus wasn't a fan of both. For me personally, interest in one, feeds interest in the other, always has. This isn't to say White Box is a game of Tolkien's fiction, it is more than that and it is easy to see the influence of many other authors and game forms in it's DNA.

Swords & Sorcerers

Expanding the World
Swords & Sorcerers (1978) is an expansion for Chivalry & Sorcery by Edward Simbalist. Mr. Simbalist taught English and social studies for over twenty years as well as designing a number of games. Being myself most interested in early fantasy RPGs, I find Chivalry & Sorcery to be my favorite of his games, especially the 1st edition of C&S. I usually describe C&S as an attempt to make White Box more realistic through the use of more complex mechanics, a magic system based on myth and legendary sources and an emphasis on historic setting to provide the PC a place to fit-into an imagined world socially, economically, etc. In other words, to provide a realistic immersive role-playing experience.
From the title, Chivalry & Sorcery, one might surmise that Mr. Simbalist's model for the game is medieval Europe where chivalry was legendary and sorcery suspect. This is essentially true. In fact the author states early on in C&S that his own setting is loosely based in medieval France - a France of myth and legend, but one where history would be recognized. Using history to draw upon rather than literary works of fantasy is just an alternative source of inspiration. The idea behind the role-playing or adventure game is one of exploring a world through the descriptions of a referee and the actions of fictional characters controlled by players. The setting can be virtually anything imaginable, including of course our own human history.
C&S is an RPG built upon a mostly historic medieval European setting. Swords & Sorcerers expands that world to include three new peoples, Vikings, Mongols and Celts. Each of the three has a section devoted to an historic overview of the region, people and history of the subject. As a person with a degree in history I would say the history presented here is on the "popular" side rather than strictly academic, which seems fine for a game play-aid. There has obviously been an attempt by Mr. Simbalist to convert historic facts and data into C&S game terms so as to facilitate a campaign involving Vikings. There is a lot of information here, most of it already converted for game use. Each culture description includes information on social structure, economics, and religion and gives tabular data for rolling PC/NPC social status, physical build and other details. The Nordic section contains a significant amount of information on runes and their use in the game. A set of cut-out runes are included for play. Military coverage includes weapons, tactics and specific game rules for both the C&S man-to-man rules and the large-scale miniatures rules.
Each cultural description emphasizes what seems to set it apart from the others. The Viking Longship, the Mongol horse archer and the Celtic Druid are unique cultural aspects and interesting game additions. Mongol shaman magick is distinctly different in flavor if not always in effect from medieval sorcery or Druidic magic. A "typical" warrior build for each culture would be significantly different in terms of weapon and armor choices, fighting style and morals. All would be recognizable to the historian, if not a perfect reconstruction. The magic using and religious characters are distinct and offer variations on a theme across cultural lines. The Nordic Vola uses runes to cast the future, the Celtic Guiddonot uses her witch-magic in battle and the Mongol shaman uses dance and chant magic to affect healing, hunting and weather.
The last 33 pages of this 95-page volume is devoted to the miniatures game making C&S rather unusual among the fantasy RPGs. Attention is paid to character activity in large scale battles that can be played using armies of miniature figures, and a number of tables are devoted to what may happen to one's character during a military campaign, siege or battle. The idea is one which doesn't often make an appearance in RPG rules. It is perhaps most associated with an early RPG published by Games Design Workshop (GDW) titled En Garde! in which players control an adventurer in Three Musketeers France, enlisting in a regiment, gambling, romancing, dueling and going off to war, the outcome of all, except dueling, is determined by dice roles and a dialogue amongst the  players to explain the roll outcomes. Swordplay in En Garde! has a rather unique matrix mechanic as I recall (my original rules are not at hand) requiring one to plot attacks several moves ahead of time.
Swords & Sorcerers is billed as an expansion rather than a supplement, of which there are two, to the C&S system. I feel this terminology is deliberate and indicates a desire on the part of the author to suggest we are expanding the boundaries of the map with Swords & Sorcerers. Lee Gold would take C&S even further to feudal Japan with Land of the Rising Sun released in 1980. The new hobby was rapidly growing as folks quickly applied the RPG technique to more and more settings. From the beginning, it was never about just one setting. Where ever we draw inspiration for our game settings, the RPG gives us the ability to explore those settings and collectively to have fun, entertain ourselves and create new stories to amuse and astonish.

The Spirit of White Box

Do It Yourself
It was late 1977 by the time I came into contact with White Box and the exciting new hobby that was growing up around it. It was a time to make dreams real and visionary gamers had been doing that in a big way since 1974 when White Box was released and the new hobby started to spread. The LBB supplements had all been released by Christmas of '77 and I was fortunate enough to score them all except Deities and Demigods. Visionaries like Dave Hargrave (Arduin Grimoire) and M.A.R. Barker (Empire of the Petal Throne) were already publishing their independent takes on the game and folks at TSR were busy with the Advanced Game. Recognizing the steep learning curve, Prof. Holmes and TSR had published the Basic Set to assist newbies like me in learning the game. I friend of mine got the Basic Set, I got the LBBs and together with other friends who enjoyed games, we started the long process of figuring it out for ourselves.
I was a freshman in college at the time, so I had the ability to think, or that was what was generally expected of me in the classroom. Thinking for myself was encouraged in the college I attended with an emphasis on figuring things out on our own. I was an art major, so creativity was also expected. I can recall going at White Box like I did so many other things at the time, in spurts of "starts" and "stops", periods of action and inaction. By the end of the school year, however, my friends and I had developed a play style which seemed to us to pretty well fit the rules. What we didn't understand, we made up.
White Box expects the players to put a lot of themselves into the game. It is an exercise in using one's imagination to create fictional characters and imagine them going on adventures, helping to create a collective story by making decisions on behalf of the fictional characters, rolling dice, making suggestions, etc. The game expects even more from the referee who not only plays the other characters and adjudicates the action during play, but must spend considerable time in preparation by drawing maps, creating monsters and NPCs and all the rest that the players are likely to encounter once play begins. That is much of the appeal of White Box. It is a vehicle for the creative use of one's imagination, a way to entertain oneself and our friends through collective imagining and developing a story together. The story may be as much about when "So-and-so" boasted loudly only to roll a one and everyone laughs, as it is about the fictional heroes grabbing the legendary treasure.
In the books and movies and comics that inspire the fictional heroes of our game, we are passive observers who follow the adventure by reading/watching. White Box shows us how to actively interact with the fictional setting through the mechanics of a game. What was passive becomes active. What was done for us becomes done by us. That is the spirit of the White Box.

The Trouble with Orcs

The Pig-faced Villain
The authors of White Box were influenced by and borrowed from many sources, myths, legends and science fiction/fantasy literature while in the process of creating the first adventure/role-playing game. One has to only glance through the Little Brown Books to see the influence Prof. J.R.R. Tolkien has on the game. In the original game, ents, balrogs, and hobbits point to Tolkien's influence. I believe orcs do also, although they didn't get a name change along with the others after TSR was asked to drop direct references to Tolkien properties. Have read a considerable amount of Appendix N sources, I can't recall any other author using the term orc prior to Tolkien. Despite the popularity of orcs and orks in other games and books since, the orc for me is Tolkien's orc.
As they appear in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord Of The Rings, they are creatures of evil, twisted elven spirits bred to serve evil, do evil, be evil. They are cannibalistic, cruel and violent, bad tempered and get along with no one, especially other orcs. Power and cunning are the only thing they seem to aspire to. In White Box terms they are frequently encountered "monsters" of chaotic or neutral alignment. The possibility of a neutral alignment makes understanding this man-like monster a bit more troublesome in game terms than they seem in The Lord of the rings.  
Alignment isn't really explained in Vol. I Men & Magic other than to say it is necessary to determine what stance a character will take - Law, Neutrality or Chaos. I realize others have different interpretations of alignment, but I tend to see it as what team one plays for. Law tends to favor society as it is, organized and beneficial. Chaos is opposed to society and would bring it down. Neutrality is not taking a stance with either Law or Chaos, rather being out for oneself, whatever that may mean.
Interpreting alignment thus, it would seem some orcs can be killed on sight...rather like the enemy soldiers during wartime. Others, those of Neutrality, should be treated with and negotiations rather than violence should be the goal. Who actually thinks of these things during play, however?
Good and evil are not a part of White box alignment, but does play a significant role in the game. Certain spells, like Protection From Evil suggest that men and monsters may be "Good" or "evil" in addition to being aligned with Law, Neutrality or Chaos.
So I raise the question, are orcs evil? I Tolkien's LotR, from where they are drawn, orcs are entirely of the enemy, agents of evil carrying the darkest of intent. They are monsters to be hunted and killed on sight. It is assumed that if taken prisoner, the orc will still seek to harm anyone it can. So does Chaos equal evil? I don't play the game that way, but it is certainly open to interpretation.
So, picture our noble adventurers, defenders of Law, entering a ruined castle inhabited by a tribe of nasty chaos serving orcs. Having killed the orc warriors, losing two members of the party in the process, the remaining PCs are confronted by a nest of little orcs. What to do?
What about the half-orc? Later editions will present 1/2 orcs as a player race, but we are left to wonder how such mixed off-spring comes to exist if the orc is such a monster to begin with. Some sort of violent conception is often the explanation, again leading to ascribing an "evil" nature to the orc parent? As PC, is the 1/2 orc trustworthy? Often aligned with malignant forces and limited in class selection to the less savory professions, the 1/2 orc is usually suspect in many milieux.
By the way, what do orcs look like anyway? How do we recognize and orc without the referee saying, "Before you stand three orcs dressed to kill."

Death Test 2

For Solo or Group Play
Back in the '70's a company called Metagaming specialized in small, inexpensive wargames of the counter and hex map variety. They also did The Fantasy Trip, which was/is a favorite of mine. There were two published Microgames, Melee and Wizard and later several MicroQuests, of which Death Test 2 is an early example. Advanced booklets and other stuff that made up The Fantasy Trip line of role-play game products would continue to be published until Metagaming closed shop in 1983. It's a 3d6 system written by Steve Jackson who used a lot of the ideas in his GURPS game later when he published under his own company, Steve Jackson Games.
Death Test and Death Test 2 are adventure games written to be played using the Melee/Wizard Microgames and can be run solo or with a group of friends. I recall hours and hours spent playing my original copies back-in-the-day. I recently acquired the above pictured used copy of Death Test 2 which comes in a little box with a PB booklet and some cut apart counters. The Death Test premise is simple, it is a dungeon used to test potential heroes to determine their worthiness to join the king's guard. There is a part 2 because apparently too many "wimps" were getting through the original.
The box art by Pat Hidy gives a pretty good hint at what lies within. An underground environment of adventure where characters encounter a number of challenges including beasties such as the large wolf pictured. The quest is played out on arena maps which are set-up to depict various rooms with encounters. The map is laid out with a hexagonal grid and counters are used to represent all the rest. A 47-page booklet is included which describes each room in order and the encounters which occur. It's a fight-your-way-through dungeon with a few puzzles and surprises. The Fantasy Trip system is highly tactical and makes use of facing and maneuver, distance and cover and gives the player a lot of choices to make rather than just rolling to hit each turn. The tactical nature of the rules gives it more appeal to wargamers than some other fantasy systems. And in Death Test 2 the tactics do matter. As I recall there are ways to greatly improve your chances of success based on the tactics chosen in various encounters.
Having this old favorite in my hands again brings back a flood of memories, one of which is a thought about converting the game to miniatures, perhaps as a convention game. It would be so easy to do. Just collect the appropriate game pieces - monsters, heroes, terrain, etc. and build a 3D arena with some interchangeable pieces to represent the various rooms. Or lay out the whole complex complete with connecting tunnels and everything as I have seen done with other dungeon concepts using various 3D dungeon terrain systems. The appeal here over other published designs is the tactical nature of The Fantasy Trip rules.
Who among us that plays tactical board games hasn't thought about substituting miniatures for the game playing pieces and converting the printed board to 3D tabletop terrain? It has been done with Avalon Hill's popular Squad Leader and PanzerBlitz and many other boardgames over the years. I recently read Empire of Imagination, the biography of Gary Gygax by Michael Witwer. The author sums Gary up as a guy who just liked to play games and wanted to share the games he liked with others. Looking for ways to share the games we like to play is a big part of the hobby...otherwise we play by ourselves! Fortunately there are a few play-aids devoted to solo play.

New Adventure Fiction

Looking Beyond Appendix N
On this blog I talk a lot about older books, books that may appear on Gary Gygax's Appendix N, meaning they were published before 1980. I do this because the books listed in Appendix N are credited as having influenced the White Box edition of The World's Most Popular Role-Playing Game. It is fun to find things that appear in White Box in a story or novel written years before White Box was published. It is interesting to note how the authors of White Box adapted the borrowed idea for their game. I also find a great deal of inspiration for my own imagination useful in my own gaming.
I titled this blog White Box and Beyond, obviously because it all begins at the beginning which for me and for the hobby is White Box. But I wanted to go beyond just writing about White Box, to discuss where my hobby has taken me and where it may be leading. Yes, I read and enjoy and draw inspiration from fiction written after 1980. I recently finished The Forgetting Moon by first-time author Brian Lee Durfee. This is volume one of what I believe will be a three volume trilogy and at 777 pages there is a lot here even in just the first volume. Mr. Durfee writes in a quick-paced action packed style, which means things move along at a good pace, otherwise I honestly would probably not have finished the book, nor be writing this post. The setting for The Forgetting moon is a fantasy land called The Five Isles. Mr. Durfee describes a low fantasy, humanocentric setting where a shared religion with competing interpretations (similar to Christianity or Islam in some ways) holds considerable power. Humans rule four of the five islands, the fifth being a land of the Vale, a fey-like race with some mysteriousness about themselves. Blood drinking oghuls live among the human cities and may have wilderness areas in which they dominate, but the kingdomes are ruled by humans. Priests are powerful and competing religious doctrine has split the isles into warring factions. There is a prophesy to be fulfilled and the hint of magic now-and-again (but no real magic users) in the form of artifacts mostly. Assassins, gladiators, orders of knighthood, secret societies and court intrigue add to the excitement and together with some pretty good character development kept me reading. The ending is about what one would expect for a projected multi-volume tale...it leaves off with a lot of unanswered questions.
Is The Forgetting Moon inspiring? Yes, I find it so. Mr. Durfee has the ability to coin a phrase and chooses clever names for things. His Five Isles is a well thought-out world with lots of detail, easily enough here to inspire a game setting based on even this one volume. His use of religion to drive much of the plot is fresh, at least I don't read a lot of fantasy fiction that does this. I think it works partly because of the lack of traditional high fantasy magic. There is one emotional scene in the book where a priest is killed despite wearing his holy garment which should protect him from all harm. The resultant crisis of faith among his followers who witness his killing plays out nicely. A "healing spell" would have set a very different scene. Not only is magic often more magical when there is less of it, a more realistic setting where magic doesn't come into play often can heighten drama and make superstition more "real".
Religion in fantasy game settings can take many forms. Most published play aids tend toward the polytheistic, even multi-pantheon approach. While this provides for competing factions (usually a necessary ingredient for an interesting setting) it does so through competing gods. In The Forgotting Moon the deity is one, universally accepted, but interpreted differently in competing doctrine. So we have a conflict that somehow feels a bit more realistic because it is closer to what is occurring in current events or history.
If rumor is correct, the second volume in The Five Warrior Angels series may be out early in 2017. I hope it is as good as The Forgetting Moon.

Revelations from Heaven

Dark Eye Adventure
Revelations from Heaven is the first published adventure module for the English version of Ulisses Spiele's The Dark Eye. The saddle stitch (stapled) 64 page softcover book is very colorful and includes a number of maps as well as illustrations. The setting is the Principality of Kosh in the land of Aventuria - the default setting for The Dark Eye since its inception 30 years ago. Aventuria is a constantly changing place and a big part of the appeal of The Dark Eye has been the on-going official story-line of Aventuria. I give warning now that this post contains spoilers.
Revelations From Heaven is a beginner module with helpful hints and core rulebook page references spread throughout. The play aid sets the stage for Aventuria exploration by immersing a group of low-level PCs in a sleepy little country village with a secret. The relatively mundane threat of a bear attack starts the adventure with a note of excitement. Having presumably saved the scared peasant and her baby from the bear chasing them, the PCs are brought back to the village as "heroes", where they meet the folksy residents for lots of role-play opportunity. The locals are mostly human with a small dwarven presence, which is pretty typical of Aventuria. Social standing matters here and will influence play as the PCs interact with the variety of locals. PCs in The Dark Eye are not all the mighty warrior or mystic mage variety. Many are more mundane types with skills in diplomacy and fact-finding, trading and barter, sensing motives, crafting, entertaining, etc. It soon becomes evident that the village secret is a rash of recent thefts. Provided the PCs are willing to serve as "investigators" this sets up the rest of the adventure. Asking questions the PCs will probably meet the local holy woman who guides her gentle flock and administers what daily justice is needed. Some odd sisters living on the outskirts of town provide a source of suspicion as they are rumored to practice witchcraft (magic is uncommon and generally viewed with suspicion). In keeping with the general demographics of Aventuria, most of the villagers are human, although the village smith is a dwarf. Dwarves are the most common race other than human because they generally fit in well with human society. There is an eccentric elf out in the woods who keeps to himself and if the PCs visit him they will be introduced to Aventuria's brand of elf (not your standard Tolkien variety).
As festival time approaches, a  successful investigation will lead to a secret cult revealing one of the darker aspects of Aventuria and a climactic fight. This is a classic investigation adventure with an emphasis on learning/teaching The Dark Eye system (which is not rules-lite) and introducing the world of Aventuria. Aventuria draws heavily from an historic European folklore feel, relying on player familiarity with this tradition for the "familiar' elements of the setting while introducing them to weirder elements as part of "the life of adventure". In The Dark Eye the weird is something one encounters, not something one plays. 

Harold Shea

The Complete Compleat Enchanter
In his Dungeon Masters Guide Gary Gygax gives us his Appendix N - literary works from which he drew inspiration for The World's Most Popular RPG. Many of the works on that list contributed one or more ideas, or helped shape Mr. Gygax's thinking, his creativity and imagination or his ability to tell a story. Some titles seem to have had more influence than others. The works of R.E. Howard were a particularly strong early influence and one that remained strong with Mr. Gygax throughout his life according to biographer Michael Witwer (Empire of Imagination). Reading Mr Gygax's work I think I see evidence of some of the other influences. It is hard to not think of White Box alignment while reading Michael Moorcock's Elric novels or certain of Poul Anderson's books. Three Hearts and Three Lions (Anderson) offers a paladin character that begs comparison to the paladin PC class in Greyhawk. The Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories of Fritz Leiber likewise put me to mind of the Greyhawk thief class. The magicians of Jack Vance's Dying Earth novels practice a magic which seems to have inspired the White Box rules for casting magic.
The Harold Shea stories of L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt feature a system of magic that is quite different from Jack Vance's, but once again I see a probable influence on White Box. Harold Shea and his friends are mostly academics, psychologists, who discover how to use "magic" math formulas to move between dimensions. Shea and his colleagues theorize that magic works according to its own principles in other parallel dimensions and they experiment with various aspects of magical theory while traveling in several dimensions resembling periods of myth known in our dimension as Norse mythology, Elizabethan faerie, the Finnish Kalevala and Irish myth.
I first discovered Appendix N and began reading my way through it, seeking out authors and titles listed there and finding most to my liking, shortly after the release of the DMG. Reading Appendix N literature has, over the decades, helped me to appreciate where the authors of White Box were coming from and just what they hoped to achieve in offering their game of adventure to the world. Many of those ideas have served (and will continue to serve) as inspirations for posts on this blog. Until recently I had not read the Harold Shea novels. Other works by the authors have been known to me, but Harold Shea has escaped me. The Complete (Compleat) Enchanter has not been easy for me to find over the many years I have haunted used book stores from coast-to-coast keeping a look-out for anything on the list. I will chalk it up to bad luck, because having now read the other dimensional adventures of Harold Shea I can see that he was most assuredly one of Mr Gygax's favorites.
In the Harold Shea stories I think I see more clearly how White Box worked for its authors. The game performs a mental version of those same math formulas, transporting us to an alternate dimension or reality or setting or "milieu" as perhaps Mr. Gygax would have said. Harold Shea takes an idea, say a version of Norse Mythology, and poof! - there he is amidst the gods, giants and good folk of the Eddas. Magic works, matches and guns don't and Harold faces various challenges and has fantastic adventures while spending some brief time in this alternate dimension. As the final battle between the gods and giants unfolds, poof! - Harold ends up back in his apartment...his adventure ended until next time. The authors of Harold Shea give us this experience through reading a story. The authors of White Box give us a very similar experience playing a game, but the game takes us to the next level of engagement. In the game we can choose how we approach various challenges. In the game we roll dice and may prove powerful in victory or face defeat and new challenges. We have a little "skin-in-the-game" as the saying goes. This is not a new insight, but reading the Harold Shea stories the idea is brought into focus in a way I haven't experienced thus far. Perhaps it is my good fortune rather than bad luck to have found Harold Shea for the first time at this point in my life. Timing is everything!

Generating an Adventure

Creative Process at Work
I have spoken with and read about authors describing how they come up with ideas. Many of us borrow ideas or take something fairly common and give it an interesting twist. Some are inspired by dreams, others by conversation with friends. The following idea pretty much came to me as is, although it certainly isn't original. This is a Mythos adventure idea set in the 1920's. I don't have a regular CoC game so I am thinking of it in terms of a one-off with pre-gens.
The PCs are aboard a Japanese freighter out of British Columbia heading to the home islands with a cargo of luxury goods for Japan. Cargo includes a number of large hardwood logs bound for a Shinto temple, an expensive motor car complete with PC mechanic/driver, a number of prime beef on the hoof (the starting of a herd?) and a PC hired to clean their stalls, an ancient stone alter and several other large stones from a Canadian archeology site accompanied by an eccentric Asian scholar (NPC) and his batman/body guard. Throw in a lumberjack PC who is off to see the world and a New Orleans gambler PC on-the-run and I think we have a good crew. Well, add in the ship's captain and mates one who "has seen too much", and now we have a crew.
The ship setting really confines the PCs to a small environment, but I like to run things loose, so that is for the good...the PC investigators get a lot of freedom and they can't stray far. This is a "time-line" adventure so things will progress along a course of action unless the PCs do something to halt things. A few days out to sea the "accidents" start. A crewman is badly injured, machinery breaks down, etc. The spooky crewman starts talking weird, says "the cargo is bad mojo". "The trees are speaking to him" (sort of True). "The food is poison" (False). Rats seem to have taken over the ship below decks as the ship cats and rat terrier are all huddled in the crew quarters above deck. Someone leaves small offerings on the alter (dead rat, dead cat?).
Asking around the investigators will learn they are headed for Japan by a normal trade route. There should be good weather this time of year and an unusual night sky configuration not seen for centuries to make the journey memorable. However, the cattle sicken and this worries the PC who cleans up after them. Some of the drinking water becomes sour and one morning the cook is dumping spoiled food overboard...a school of sharks follow. The ship slows and PCs are told there is "engine trouble". There are strange lights and mists after dark.
If the investigators question the crew, some will seem frightened, the spooky guy will steadily get worse (talking to himself and "the voices, make them stop", he says), the captain seems to be hiding his concern, but develops a noticeable "tic". The Asian scholar will entertain guests. He is an eccentric like many scholars and studies ancient civilizations (he may go on about Egypt, etc.) and his hobby is newspaper comics. His batman is silent and very muscular (martial artist). The logs are indeed haunted and angry spirits will interact with any PC who is sensitive to that sort of thing.
The weather turns bad and the mood of the crew sours. The injured sailor dies. The spooky guy hangs himself from the yardarm in a Christ-like pose. The constellations are in order in an "unnatural" sky and the scholar is ready to perform his ritual of summoning. Things from the deep climb aboard ship and assist him in slaughtering most of the crew in a blood sacrifice. The ancient stones and alter are from a mythos worshiping cult and are be used by the scholar to call the great old one from the deep. If the investigators don't prevent this, Cthulhu will stir causing an earthquake and tsunami. He will rise and take the ship to the bottom.
The PCs will check for lost sanity for interacting with the spooky crewman, tree spirits, the deep ones and slaughter of crewmen, obviously the old one and being ship wrecked (they may grab onto a log or other debris). A few hours/days later (may depend on whether PCs got an SOS out) the survivors are picked up by a passing freighter.
A ship's plan, character sheets for the captain, scholar, body guard, spooky guy and PCs, plus monster stats is about all I need to do in terms of preparation. I would guess this could be run in a long evening or split into two shorter sessions. The plot just seemed to write itself as I thought through the situation. I am of course drawing upon all the stories, movies and other sources of sinister tales I have accumulated in my brain over almost five decades of soaking them in. Is this derivative ? Of course it is, but role-playing adventure games can take a well known story and because it places the players in a "you-are-there" situation, it's all fresh and anything can happen. Players may take really unexpected actions, such as abandon the ship well before the summoning, trusting their luck to being discovered on the well traveled route. If so, then that becomes the story. Improvisation is always required, it only remains to see how much improvisation player actions lead to.

The Fantastic Fiction of Raymond Feist

...and Other Authors Who Play The Game
Midkemia is a game world and the setting for Raymond Feist's Riftwar Saga and other fiction. Fantastic tales inspired the creators of White Box and continue to provide inspiration to players. Players of White Box and other versions of fantasy role-play have occasionally been inspired to write fantastic fiction which brings the cycle full circle. Paizo, Wizards of the Coast and before them TSR all publish books written about the fictional worlds described in their role-play aids. Perhaps the best known of these books are the Dragon Lance series by Laura and Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis. One of my favorite game inspired series is Raymond Feist's Riftwar Saga novels.
The Riftwar Saga consists of four central novels, although other novels are set in the same setting and involve some of the same characters. The original novels are Magician (often split into Magician: Apprentice and Magician: Master), Silverthorn and A Darkness At Sethanon. According to gamer legend, the author, Raymond Feist, was introduced to the world of Midkemia through role-play and chose to make it the setting for his novels. Many of the characters are people of importance to the politics of Midkemia, princes, Dukes, etc. other characters seem more RPG stock personalities, thieves, pirates, bards and mercenaries who go on great adventures with the aristocrats and are instrumental in the fight for good verses evil. Encounters with dwarves, elves and goblins, undead and dragons lend an atmosphere of game table challenges to the narrative. Several of the central characters can easily be imagined as statted-out game PCs. The overlap between game world and novel setting seems obvious.
This is not to take anything away from the Riftwar Saga novels as literature. I find all the novels a good read and they compare favorably with novels written with no game connection at all. The characters are engaging and well developed along literary lines and the plots seem plausible within the fantastic setting. Mr. Feist is a very accessible author and his prose is easy to read and he keeps things moving along nicely. The first two novels deal in depth with an alternative planet setting linked to Midkemia by a rift or gate through time and space. The alternate planet of Kelewan is much different from Midkemia and through the main magician character the reader is exposed to the Tsurani of Kelewan, an alien people far advanced in magic. Whether Mr. Feist was inspired by the game Empire of the Petal Throne when writing about the Tsurani or not, I personally find myself making the comparison.
Stories told about "what my characters did in the last campaign we played" can be boring to others, but occasionally those at-the-game-table experiences can inspire a good writer to create stories well worth reading. Mr. Feist is one of the better authors to take inspiration from a game world and turn it into material for several good fantasy novels. Over the years there have been several Midkemia play aids created by the world's originators, Midkemia Press, including Cities, The City of Carse, Tulan of the Isles, and Jonril Gateway to the Sunken Lands. I find the ongoing cycle of creative inspiration fascinating.

Wolfen Empire

Palladium Fantasy Sourcebook
The Palladium Fantasy system includes the core rulebook and a number of additional sourcebooks (I believe there are currently 17) dedicated to the known world setting. Palladium Fantasy is compatible in its 2nd Edition with Rifts and all the other material published by Palladium Books so really an entire Megaverse is available the referee. Each sourcebook is a bit different from the others. Some contain new Occupational Character Classes, some have information on alien gods and additional system rules, all contain adventures and detailed descriptions and maps of an area of the known world. The Wolfen Empire book is one such sourcebook with a focus on adventure.
The wolfen or wolf people of the Northern Wilderness in The Palladium RPG's known world are one aspect of the setting which I find particularly appealing. Yes, they are just wolves walking around on their hind legs, talking and using tools with their opposable thumbs, but in the game they seem more than that. My guess is Prof. Tolkien might dismiss them, but C.S. Lewis (Narnia) might have embraced them (as referee, you are free to ignore them, change them, etc.). The Palladium Fantasy known world has many humanoid races, elves, dwarves, gnomes, giants, ogres, trolls, orcs and goblins and a unique race of kobolds which are master craftsmen similar to beardless dwarves. There are also the anthropomorphic wolfen with their expanding warrior empire located on the fringe of human civilization providing the referee with a foreign force to threaten and pressure some of the human kingdoms and provide opportunities for adventure. The wolfen and their coyle (think coyote) cousins, are at once menacing like the "wolf-man" of horror films and a bit comical (coyles, especially so).
The land of the twelve tribes is a wintry place and the Wolfen Empire Adventure Sourcebook begins with winter weather and its effects on the game. The following sections are devoted to describing many aspects of wolfen society, politics, economics, religion, interesting places, and several adventures ranging from 101 paragraph long hooks to full blown, session length adventures. A short bestiary, emphasis on wintry animals, is included as a local addition to the Monsters & Animals book. This volume is one of Palladium's newer 2nd edition products and does contain some updated material reprinted from older publications dealing with the wolfen. 
Wolfen are in many ways a practical people, preferring to divide and conquer, playing enemies off one-another, making allies where possible rather than enemies. The wolfen empire is notable for its tolerance of social and religious differences among the assimilated peoples of the Empire, permitting just about any belief system as long as it doesn't preach resistance to the wolfen. In some ways the wolfen may be playing catch-up (naval power and sea travel, manufacturing), but in Empire building they seem to be taking the current lead in the known world. A lone wolfen PC may represent a renegade fleeing the Empire or an agent gathering knowledge and helping establish in-roads for the Empire.

The Magic of the Palladium RPG

Magic Using O.C.C.s
Magic is not a common everyday thing in Palladium's known world. What potential for magic use most people have is re-directed into their knack for certain skills. What one might call, being a "natural" at something, or "beginners luck" may actually be a subtle form of magic use. For many in the known world, that's the extent of their use of and contact with magic. I rather like this in-game explanation of "magic".
For a few, however, their potential for magic is recognized at an early age and is encouraged and shaped so that the person becomes a user of magic. A Wizard is the O.C.C. spellcaster most similar to White Box Magic User. The Wizard learns spells and can cast a number of known spells per day. The Wizard never forgets a spell once learned and even a first level Wizard can cast higher level spells if he/she is lucky enough to have learned one. In the original Palladium RPG the only limit is the maximum number of spells per day, which increases with level. The effectiveness of many spells is based on the caster's level, however. Some spells entitle the target to a saving throw, which is usually a 12 or better on a d20. In later editions of the game power points (Psychic Potential Energy or P.P.E.) is used to power spells and the number of spells a Wizard can cast is determined by expending spell power points.
The Wizard is not the only magic using class in The Palladium RPG. The core rules include "magic users" of the following O.C.C.s,  the Warlock, the Witch, the Diabolist, the Summoner, the Mind Mage and the Alchemist. In addition there are four types of clergy using divine "magic", the Priest/Priestess, the Druid, the Shaman and the Healer. All use spells in a similar manner, but several specialize in rituals, circles, mystic symbols, wards, psionic powers or receive spell abilities through their gods from worship of the divine.
The Wizard is guild taught and supported, unless the player chooses to "go rogue" - perhaps leading to some interesting role-play encounters. The Wizard O.C.C. is the most suited "magic user" for adventure in the sense of dungeon delves and combat magic, but the other magic using O.C.C.s add considerably to the role-play aspects of the Palladium world. PC balance is not really something The Palladium RPG, or a lot of Old School games for that matter, seem to worry about, although each O.C.C. does have its own experience table for leveling-up suggesting some attention to class power differences is acknowledged.
The Diabolist is an interesting O.C.C. who is able to use a combination of wards, power words, symbols, circles and knowledge of history, languages, tombs and mysteries to aid the adventuring party by setting magic alarms and traps, deciphering maps, symbols, texts and mysteries. The Diabolist is a sort of specialized scholar, with the expected minimal combat abilities, but superior at investigation. The sort of support character that can be quite fun to play despite apparent weaknesses.
So for me the magic of The Palladium RPG is found in many places. The rules are a collection of ideas, some of which seem quite inspired to me, which can be frustrating until a mindset of "use what you want" is adopted. At that point, the "magic" kicks in for me and I see the possibilities presented here. The more unusual O.C.C.s that offer a unique angle on role-playing is one area where I think the brilliance shines through. The known world with its many adventure hooks in addition to written out adventures comes across as a magical place, home to endless adventure and entertainment. It is a world that has stayed fresh for me over three decades. I am a great believer in borrowing good ideas from a number of sources and The Palladium RPG books continue to be the source of many good ideas and inspirations even after many years of use.

Palladium Combat (and other fun)

Roll for Initiative
Roll a d20. High roll strikes first. Roll a d20 to hit. If you score a 5 or more, you hit. If the number on the die is more than 4, but not higher than your opponent's armor class (AC), the hit lands on the armor (Mr. Siembieda spells it armour, but I am not sure why a guy from Detroit would do that?). If the score is higher than the target's AC, the blow lands on the unarmored parts of your opponent and damage is taken directly from the character's hit points. Damage is rolled according to weapon and damage is deducted from armor if the blow landed there or from the PC's physical body if the blow bypassed armor. Once all the armor points (Structural Damage Capacity or S.D.C.) reaches zero it absorbs no more damage and is useless (until repaired). Once physical body (hit points) reaches zero, the PC is dead. Most PC's get two (or more) strikes per melee round and may attempt to parry all incoming strikes against them (unless they choose an action that prevents parrying).
Men of Arms, those Occupational Character Classes (O.C.C.s) that fight for their living, have combat skill benefits corresponding to their class called "Hand to Hand". Hand to Hand,  like other skills, increases in effectiveness with level/rank. Bonuses to attack, to parry/dodge, to damage and some special effects (stun/unconscious, etc)  and additional attacks all come at different levels according to the O.C.C. Hand to Hand tables.
A successful parry, a roll which equals or exceeds the to-hit roll, blocks the strike and no damage is done. With this system, a number of rounds may go by with both opponents blocking each other's blows. The occasional missed parry may result only in damaging armor, provided the opponent is wearing any. Hence a melee may be a rather lengthy affair of strike, parry, strike parry, especially when opponents are evenly matched. This situation seems to have some validity when thought through. The wild-card in The Palladium RPG, and something to keep in mind in old school games in general, is that encounter balance is not really emphasized. In play, fights often end quickly because one side has significant advantage in skill, equipment or numbers. Knowing when to avoid bloodshed is part of player skill in such games.
Like any good game, The Palladium RPG begs for house-ruling. What if a PC is surrounded on all sides? Can the PC parry attacks from the rear? What about parrying arrows? Can dragon breath be parried? A referee can look for "official" answers to these and many other questions that occur during a game, or make reasonable rulings that then become part of "how WE play the game". For me this is part of the fun of being a referee.

Palladium Fantasy

My Retrospective
Back in 1983 when Kevin Siembieda from Detroit was trying to start-up a new game publishing company to bring to market his fantasy RPG, I was living in North Carolina with my buddy doing piece-work for a factory. We would work our hours repairing circuit boards that had failed testing and then get down to our real occupation, playing games, mostly RPGs. In those days we gamed almost every evening and most weekends that we didn't go to the beach. Life was good.
Our games of choice were RuneQuest and some form of The World's Most Popular RPG. I had started a few years prior with White Box while in college and I still refereed a version of White Box incorporating materials from the Advanced Game and Basic. We were both avid table-top gamers and when not engaged in role-playing we were likely to be playing Avalon Hill's Squad Leader or another hex-map wargame. We made frequent trips to a hobby shop in near-by Fayetteville which sold all kinds of games called The Hobbit. On one of those trips I purchased Kevin Siembieda's Palladium Role-Playing Game. The Palladium RPG is 274 pages of nicely illustrated rules, a world outline, bestiary and introductory adventure. It is a perfect bound paperback which has held up well for over 30 years. Whether The Palladium RPG is a revision of The Worlds Most Popular RPG or a whole new game has been debated. In 1983 I treated it like a new game. The combat and magic mechanics are original and yes, could be slotted into a White Box game, but why not use the whole Palladium package? The Palladium RPG is a class based system with skills added in. Character classes are referred to as Occupational Character Classes or O.C.C.s, but that is just a name change. Each O.C.C. does allow for individualization in the choice of skills. Combat involves different fighting styles, most allowing for multiple strikes during a round. Armor gets damaged as well as protecting the PC from damage. There are some similarities to RuneQuest in that attacks can be parried, therefore melees can be lengthy and monsters are statted much like PCs making it easy to play any race.
Only the briefest world material is included in the core rulebook, but even what is here is enough to spark my imagination. I find Mr. Siembieda's "known world" very engaging. It strikes a nice balance between the familiar and the new and unusual. The descriptions are filled with adventure hooks and after abandoning The Palladium RPG as a game system, I continue to go back to the known world as described in several volumes for adventure material.
The core book, at least in its initial publication, has material on the races, gods and monsters (dragons feature prominently) of the known world. Though fairly brief, these sections help flesh-out the known world and still seem fresh and imaginative even looking back at them now. Mr. Siembieda uses a light verses darkness, Egyptian inspired pantheon (with a twist) which seems to work well. The Tombs of Girsidi adventure at the end of the book is a vampire tale, again with familiar elements, but enough new ideas to make it interesting. It has remained a favorite of mine and I have adapted it for use with other systems I have run.
The Palladium Fantasy RPG was re-worked after Rifts made its appearance and in its current version is compatible with the rest of the Palladium Publishing games. I have Rifts and the newer edition of Palladium Fantasy as it is now called, but my affection is for the original. In 1983 I was looking for something to add to my gaming experience and The Palladium RPG served that purpose for a time. I enjoyed the new mechanics, the several new O.C.C.s and especially the known world which would be expanded upon with each new supplement (Books II and III were out before I ended my sojourn to North Carolina and return to Indiana for graduate school).
Having heard about some other gamer experiences with The Palladium RPG, I believe I benefited from having worked my way through White Box and was somewhat comfortable borrowing, mixing and making up what I liked when running an RPG. Serious rules study I left to the boardgames, RPGs were "rulings" on the fly as far as I was concerned. When viewed as a toolkit of ideas, The Palladium RPG can be seen as much like other early RPGs, needing some do-it-yourself to make it all work as you wish. I appreciate this approach and actually tend to treat all RPGs that way, regardless of how the author intends me to use the rules.
As a game I got excited about from the moment I saw the eye-catching black and red cover, soon made my own and had some fresh fun exploring a very interesting world, I have fond memories of The Palladium RPG. It can be a bit rough, especially if you want a polished package that answers all your questions, but like White Box, The Arduin Grimoire and a lot of other early RPG products, The Palladium RPG has the stuff of greatness in it, it just takes a referee willing to open the hood and get busy tweaking things. Reminding me of Dave Hargrave's Arduin, Kevin Siembieda's "known world" is a gonzo place where one's imagination is encouraged to run wild. I like that in a game.

Literary Roots of the Game

Fantasy Masters
Before Gary Gygax wrote the Fantasy Supplement to Chainmail, before Dave Arneson created "The First Fantasy Campaign", before White Box, before any of the things that make up this hobby, there was the Heroic Fantasy Literature which inspired the hobby fathers to re-imagine the fantastic fiction they loved and bring it to the tabletop for a gaming experience with the same thrill, the same escapist entertainment they found in the literary works of R.E. Howard, J.R.R. Tolkien and others. In his book Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers: The Makers of Heroic Fantasy, L. Sprague deCamp, himself an author, often partnering with Fletcher Pratt, of heroic fantasy, describes the birth and development of the literary genre from the beginnings with folk and faerie tales to the numerous imitators of Howard and Tolkien.
William Morris, an early anti-industrialist and medievalist, is credited by Mr. de Camp with authoring some of the earliest "modern" heroic fantasies in the style of the sagas, old tales of King Arthur and The Nibelungenlied. The section on Morris is followed by an essay on the work of Lord Dunsay, a British author of pre-Tolkien fantastic fiction. Lord Dunsany wrote fanciful tales of heroics often in worlds completely of his own imagination seemingly to entertain himself and his audience. Dunsany's King of Elfland's Daughter presents elves in a very non-Tolkien way and is a major influence for my own "concept" of elf in my games.
H.P. Lovecraft may seem a slightly odd inclusion in a selection of authors of heroic fantasy, but Mr. de Camp fits him into the narrative nicely. Mr. Lovecraft corresponded with and influenced nearly all his contemporaries including R.E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith, both included as founding members of the heroic fantasy club. The suspense and forgotten mythos characteristic of H.P. Lovecraft's work is reflected in many subsequent stories clearly of the genre.
E.R. Edison and J.R.R. Tolkien were roughly contemporaries and associates of C.S. Lewis and other British authors of fantastic fiction. The writing circle they belonged to produced some of the seminal works of fantasy. E.R. Edison is perhaps less well known today, but is the author of The Worm Ouroboros which Mr. de Camps holds in high esteem. T.H. White and Fletcher Pratt round out the list of authors who get their own chapters in Mr. de Camps' book. T.H. White returned to the early King Arthur tales as inspiration for his Once and Future King. Fletcher Pratt wrote widely outside the genre as well as producing a number of heroic fantasy stories, many in conjunction with Mr. de Camp.
The last chapter in the book describes the work of author's who were continuing to write sword & sorcery tales in de Camp's day, folks like Fritz Leiber and Michael Moorcock. Literary Swordsmen and Sorcerers is directed at an audience who read heroic fiction, but as of its publication in 1976 there was a growing off-shoot of that audience that was discovering White Box and adventure gaming. The overlap between de Camp's readers and those who played at the new hobby was probably significant and may remain so today. Just glancing at the jacket suggests to me that it could just as easy be the cover illustration of a fantasy RPG product. Maybe it's my age, but sometimes the lines between get a little blurry.

Pendragon

Roleplaying Holy Grail?
Continuing to think on the Arthurian legends and roleplaying in that mystical setting, I feel I would be remiss not to mention the game Pendragon by Greg Stafford. Pendragon is probably the best known roleplaying adaptation of the Arthurian legends. It uses a highly modified version of Chaosium's Basic Role Playing system, one that replaces d100 rolls with d20. The game has been passed from publisher to publisher, but remains available in print-on-demand form from Nocternal. The different printings mostly just change the cover art and the game has remained essentially the same over its 30 year history.
In most printings, players are limited to playing knights as characters. PC knights have a number of traits which mechanically influence behavior. If a knight has a high score in "Lazy" he may need to make a roll to succeed at staying on task rather than taking a nap at an in opportune time. Such mechanics which can influence how a PC is role-played is somewhat uncommon in the hobby and is therefore one of the features of Pendragon which sets it apart.
My own experience with playing and refereeing Pendragon, some three decades ago when it was first released, failed to convert me. I soon returned to RQ and The World's Most Popular RPG. I think Pendragon does a pretty good job of facilitating a multi-generational knightly story set during King Arthur's time, however the setting demands all the players buy-into knightly behavior, and that's the dilemma. Leaving flashy magic and roguish escapades aside and devoting table-time to attaining knightly glory can start to feel a bit constraining. Adding in the core feature of rolling against one's personality traits in order to determine PC reaction in some key situations and I find myself wishing for the relaxed freedom of my old favorite game.
I have never enjoyed playing Alignment as a behavior straight-jacket and a game mechanic that limits a player's choices for how their PC reacts is not the best fit for me. As a player and as a referee I like story and PC personality to develop at the table during play. If the PC is played consistently then consistency is a trait of that PC. If the player is pretty random with PC reactions, then that also becomes part of that PC's "personality". It's just a preference thing really.
I don't personally know anyone playing Pendragon, but I hear folks say they would like to play the game, often qualified by a remark such as "if I ever find the right group". Many hold Pendragon in high esteem along with The Pendragon Campaign, a play aid which takes players through the entire Arthurian era, from pre-Arthur Britain, to boy-king, Camelot, Grail Quest and finally unto the death of Arthur.

Roleplaying in Camelot

An Exercise in White Box Milieu Design
Knights! Roleplaying in King Arthur's world is all about knightly characters who posture a lot and have adventures, both at court and in the wilderness beyond the castle walls. Inspiration for such a campaign can be found in various sources dealing with King Arthur, sources that vary in tone from the serious Morte d'Arthur (Mallory) and Idylls of the King (Tennyson) to the more humorous Once and Future King (White) and Monty Python's Holy Grail. The non-knightly characters would mostly be NPCs I think. All PCs would be created as human Fighting Men, i.e. knights I would consider another PC class, but only after discussion with the player. PCs could vary somewhat by hailing from different kingdoms.
Alignment makes sense in such a milieu in that all knights in good standing in King Arthur's court will be aligned with the forces of Law. Might-for-Right! Bad behavior would lead to a loss of Prestige and eventually perhaps being declared "outlaw". Chaos forces would be those opposed to Arthur and his rule of Law. Certain forces, such as villains and knaves might be out only for themselves and therefore be Neutral in alignment.
Central to shaping any milieu is letting the players know how to earn experience so as to be able to level up the PC and therefore climb the ladder to success. Leveling up in King Arthur's court will be based on accumulating Prestige rather than Experience. Prestige is awarded for "knightly" accomplishments, jousting, winning a lady's favor, doing service to the king, etc. A list of  the knightly and virtuous behaviors the referee wishes to encourage in the PC will need to be made available and can be drawn from the sources (chivalry, Christian chastity, courtly love, pagan impetuousness, etc.).
Religion will play a significant part in terms of how pious a PC is role-played. Christianity, the old "pagan" religion of the isles, and perhaps other obscure religions will be practiced. I think some tension between Christianity and the old religion would be a nice factional conflict for the milieu. In addition to Prestige, Piety points will be awarded for services to one's religious institution such as resisting temptation, winning fame in the name of one's faith, etc., and accumulated Piety points can be used to gain blessings - special supernatural abilities.
Having dangled the stick in terms of Prestige and Piety, it is reasonable to assume that at least some players will go along with the system and play good knights. So where does a good knight earn such rewards? I prefer an open, sandbox style environment including a civilized place, Camelot, where court is held, taverns abound, knaves and villains plot, wily Merlin spins his webs, the priests of the new Christian God compete with the old religion for souls and power, and foreign kings conspire and plot. Add a couple underground cults and Camelot is a hotbed of danger and opportunity. Riding one's charger over the city drawbridge the knight will enter the wilderness, a land of hostile knight errants, damsels in distress, robber barons and outlaws, enchanted forests, lakes and ruins and other places of mystery and treasure. Add in the occasional encounter with the fantastic in the form of a fey creature or giant (or other more "monstrous" being) and I think this World of King Arthur could provide fun for a long time.

More King Arthur

Sir Thomas Malory
I often wonder how much influence the legends of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table had on the authors of Chainmail and White Box. As I continue to read more of the classic Arthur stories in an effort to inspire additional medieval "flavor" in my game, I am struck by the unique elements common to the period legends which differ from more contemporary sword & sorcery stories. Jousting as pictured on the cover of this volume of Malory seems practically a way-of-life for knights in many of the Arthurian stories. Most male characters are knights and they spend a lot of time jousting and courting the ladies, who often watch the jousting, cheering their champion on.
Chainmail includes a jousting mechanic involving a matrix matching one's target point against the seating/shield position of his opponent. It's a fun mechanic and I have fond memories of our group using it during adventures many years ago. I admit it has been some time since I have used jousting in an adventure, however.
The middle ages presents as a period of stricter social classes and more formal social interactions than is typically seen at the gaming table. How much of that would be fun for gamers to use is, I suppose, a question to consider before introducing it to the campaign. Court intrigue, romance and rivalry could all be a lot of fun to play (and read about), but being limited by social expectations and feudal obligations might not be so much fun.
My own experience with trying to instill a more historic medieval society feel into my campaign has not been well received in the past. Some players seem to enjoy the era's pageantry and role-play the courtesy and chivalry stuff to a point. It seems our modern sense of a right to "freedom of action" soon conflicts with medieval style societal expectations and everyone becomes an "outlaw" or robber baron in the end. Improving character abilities and acquiring material wealth are the real game motivators. Authors Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson hit on a winning formula with White Box, one which keeps players interested and coming back for more.
A little flowery language and a joust now and then may be all the historic middle ages feel needed. Reading Arthurian literature, the stories can be seen as adventure tales with some fantastic elements thrown in. There are a few monsters, some fey, and a couple magic users that can serve as inspiration. The setting adds color, but can also detract from the fun if over emphasized.

The Evolution of Magic

Men & Magic
Vol. I of the Little Brown Books takes the idea of the Wizard, or Magic User class of character and expands upon it for the new White Box. The original five named "levels" of  Chainmail Wizard, the Seer, the Sorcerer, the Warlock, the Magician and finally Wizard become more defined as a formal system of levels tied to experience is imposed on the class "Wizard" or Magic User as it is now called. The old names will reappear on the new list along with Medium, Conjurer, Theurgist, Thaumaturgist, Enchanter, and Necromancer to give a total of eleven titled levels. Presumably all additional levels of magic user continue to be known as Wizard.
I have always like the idea of the titled or named levels used in White Box. It has a quaintness which seems appropriate when introducing a character, PC or NPC as So-and-So the Conjurer, etc. Everyone instantly has recognition of the sort of character So-and-So is and how powerful they likely are. It also hints secret societies and membership rites and all the associated assumptions that might go with titles.
In addition to a system for characters to progress in levels, the LBBs also expands the list of spells and organizes them into levels. Chainmail is first and foremost a battle game and the spell list for its Fantasy Supplement consists of spells usable on the battlefield.  Men & Magic introduces a number of additional spells geared specifically for dungeon (and perhaps wilderness) adventuring. Additional spells not listed can be researched and theoretically at least any spell effect imaginable is possible.
The Fantasy Supplement in Chainmail lists spell complexity levels and the optional casting roll score needed varies by "level" of Wizard and complexity of spell. Men & Magic lists six levels of magic user spells (later expanded to 9 levels in Greyhawk), with the higher level spells usable by higher level magic users. Spells are cast without a dice roll for success, but are one-shot affairs which must be memorized and held in memory until cast. The 1st level Seer famously has a single 1st level spell they can memorize and cast each day.
Men & Magic therefore introduces the so-called "Vancian" magic system to fantasy gaming. The term "Vancian" is a reference to certain Jack Vance stories set in his Dying Earth cycle in which magic users commit a number of spells to memory prior to heading out on an adventure. Having memorized the particular spell, in the Jack Vance stories, the magic user can then cast it quickly, but in the process the spell memory is forgotten. Or as Men & Magic states:

Spells & Levels: The number above each column is the spell level (complexity, a
somewhat subjective determination on the part of your authors). The number in each
column opposite each applicable character indicates the number of spells of each
level that can be used (remembered during any single adventure) by that character.
Spells are listed and explained later. A spell used once may not be reused in the
same day.

White Box Magic Users may additionally create (or acquire) magic scrolls and potions containing any spell that they know (and which is recorded in a personal spell book). Scrolls and potions allow magic users to effectively cast additional spells above and beyond those available to them through memory. Spell books, potion ingredients, scroll materials and spell research all requires expenditure of in-game wealth by the Magic User and therefore helps support an in-game economic system and a reason for the Magic User to adventure.
Men & Magic lists Saving Throws by class and level for resistance to spells and other potential hazards. Spells which adversely affect an individual usually allow for that individual to attempt a Saving Throw (of the die) in order to avoid the worst. Some spells have variable effects such as fireball causing a variable amount of damage as thrown on the dice. Many spells in White Box magic require no dice involvement and just take effect when cast.
From these beginnings fantasy game magic continues to expand and evolve. Being a staple of the genre, magic appears in almost every FRPG. Being "magical", its effects vary widely and games have portrayed it in many ways. Game mechanics found outside White Box have been developed to govern at-the-table effects of magic using "magic points" which are spent by casting, there-by limiting spell use. The addition of rules for spell components and detailed casting time have added complexity to some Editions of the Game. World creators often "house-rule" certain aspects of magic for their setting. Keeping the "magic" feel in game magic is a discussion often had among many veteran gamers. What role magic plays in shaping a particular milieu is often one of the defining decisions a referee makes in defining his/her game. As is often the case, the more experience I have with the hobby, the more I appreciate the way things work in that original White Box game.

Chainmail Magic

Magic Before White Box
Chainmail preceded White Box and served as an inspiration for the first fantasy campaigns. The Fantasy Supplement in Chainmail gives us the earliest rules for casting magic. One of the figure types in the Fantasy Supplement is the Wizard, including lessor Sorcerers, Warlocks, Magicians and Seers. Among their magic abilities, the Wizard can become invisible at will "and remain so until they attack". The Wizard can see in darkness, causes morale checks among enemies and inspires courage in friendlies. They are impervious to normal missiles and get a "saving throw" of 7 or better on two die to survive a missile thrown by another Wizard.
The Wizard may throw missiles of two destructive varieties, either an area effect fire ball or a linear lightning bolt. Targets hit are normally killed outright, but certain more powerful types including Heroes/SuperHeroes, Dragons, Balrogs, Giants and Wraiths may be saved by a dice roll.
Besides "missiles", the Wizard can cast a number of other magic spells, including counter-spells. There are 16 spells listed, but it is mentioned that other spells exist and this is but a sampling of the more commonly used spells. Each spell is given a complexity score which is optionally used with a dice roll to determine if the spell goes off immediately (i.e. that turn), is delayed one turn or is ineffective. An opposing Wizard can attempt a dice roll to counter any spell. This counter-spell takes the Wizard's action for that turn. Otherwise it seems a Wizard may cast a spell on each turn, there being no "daily limit" or spell points spent.
The Wizard magic in Chainmail is geared toward battlefield use and the list of spells reflects this. There is no floating disc to carry treasure or "knock" spell to open locked doors. Hints of things to come do appear in the Fantasy Supplement. Wizards are defined in relative levels of power and corresponding cost to employ, starting with the least powerful "Seer" who has the most likelihood of casting an ineffective spell when using the optional complexity rules and topping-out with the most powerful "Wizard".
I have never seen a Chainmail Wizard used in a dungeon crawl, but the prospect seems interesting. The destructive power of Chainmail characters is immense compared to lower level White Box PCs, with even non-magic using Heroes and SuperHeroes able to kill many "normals" a turn. What is missing is the idea of gaining in experience and of "leveling-up". It has been pointed out that at its core, White Box is a game of PC improvement. It supposes a world view of experience making one better, better in combat or magic. With better abilities, PCs tackle bigger challenges/monsters and win more wealth and more experience.
On some level this process of getting better, richer and more powerful seems intuitively correct. Yet many have labeled the game "escapism", partially because in reality many of us do not get better at what we do, richer or more powerful. In fact as we age, the reverse may be true. The heroic and fantastic literature which inspired the Fantasy Supplement and White Box is frequently referred to as escapism as well. As a college student just starting out in this hobby I recall hearing about a realistic game called "Paychecks & Term Papers". It didn't catch on.