What a great title. I never tire of saying it out loud and I always have to say it with panache! Pictured is the 2nd Edition of AS&SH, a whopping 622 page old school role-playing game devoted to the pulp swords & sorcery feel of shirtless barbarians battling vile sorcerers and monstrous beasties just for (well, reasons).
In this second edition, the setting of Hyperborea is given lots of attention, which is welcome, I say. The setting of Hyperborea is one of the best features of the 1st edition and now it comes even more into its own in the 2nd edition of AS&SH. Hyperborea, the land above the borealis or northern lights, is a flat world in its own dimension that has been accessible from other worlds, including Earth, at various times over the ages. Therefore in Hyperborea one finds remnants of several familiar human civilizations and not a few alien ones as well.
The Hyperboreans are a race unto themselves, tall, white haired, ancient and in decline, and tainted by magic. They tolerate the lesser (human) races, those who have immigrated over the ages through various links to Earth, people such as the Kelts, Vikings and Esquimaux. All are "human" player character races and there are no elves, dwarves or orcs. Limiting PCs to only human types is one way AS&SH stays true to its swords & sorcery roots. Also in keeping with the S&S theme, magic use has corrupting influences and the gods seem cruel and uncaring for the most part. AS&SH mixes ancient science, such as the occasional blaster pistol or airship, into the milieu of heroic sword-play and sinister sorcery and therefore sets itself apart from many fantasy settings.
AS&SH appears to be based on the 1st Advanced version of the World's Most Popular Role-Playing Game with appropriate adjustments for the swords & sorcery genre. There are character classes specific to the setting and the 2nd Edition of AS&SH includes some new classes. The magic spell lists have been altered from the "Advanced" lists to more closely follow the kind of magic one finds in S&S literature. The artwork throughout the 2nd Edition screams swords & sorcery and much of it reminds me of the old Savage Sword (Tales) of Conan magazines of my youth.
The more I play a variety of role-play systems, the more I find myself drawn back to the d20 class-based systems derived from the Original Game. Familiarity, first-love or however you want to explain it, I find many other systems have mechanics which I find useful and clever, mechanics that I want to borrow and incorporate into the Original Edition mechanics. After-all, I find that it is mostly the milieu which sets a game apart as note-worthy and the best system mechanics are the ones that fade into the background and allow story to happen at the table uninterrupted by rule mechanisms.
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