What can one say about Wizard's World?
Yes it's AD&D roots are showing and there is a lot about the this game that is derivative. But that is looking at it in 2012. To look at this game as it was meant to be seen you have look at it with 1983 eyes.
This game offers some interesting twists beyond the typical D&D knock-off. First I love the art in this book. Sure there has been better art, much better art, even in books from the same time. But there is such an honesty about it that I enjoy. And I LOVE that cover.
The attributes are nearly the same, enough that conversions are easy. The charts all go to 30 which is nice.
Ok so we have a bunch of classes, many of which would drop right into AD&D, OSRIC or what ever Clone you enjoy. There are a number of fighter-like classes, that honestly only differ a little bit from each other, but that is fine. Some martial artists, some magic using types, 14 total. What is cool is there is Vampire class! Something we won't see again till D&D4 or until I did my own (link). We have all the standard races plus some new ones, Metamorphic Dwarfs and Demon Halflings. Honestly the book is worth it just to be able to say "Demon Halflings"!
There are 22 pages worth of spells that go all the way to level 10.
Rules follow next which is primarily about combat, weapons, poisons, potions and the like. A little bit on magic items.
Monsters follow. There are a few, but almost no overlap between here and what you might find in a typical monster manual for a game. There are dragons, but very different from what we are used to seeing in "D&D".
Some suggestions for play and threadbare character sheet.
Ok what is good about this game? Lots really. If you play D&D or some old school game you would be hard pressed not to find something here to use. Did I mention the Demon Halflings yet? There are plenty of monsters and lots of spells.
What is bad? That is subjective. If you are not a fan of old-school play or expect full color art then you will be disappointed.
What did I like? Nearly everything really. I have to hand it to Dan Procter and Goblinoid Games for becoming an old-games preservation society. This game isn't going to win any awards now nor would it have won any then, but it is a fun trip into the past when many games were little more than a few pages, a staple and your friend's brother to do the art.
At 80+ pages this is packed.
If you wanted to play this system and say use one my of witch classes from either The Witch or Eldritch Witchery then I say you would need an INT 11 and WIL 11. Choose spells from the witch lists and use those or the WW spell that was most similar.
Hey Tim, thanks for the review! When I discovered this gem I knew it needed to be made widely available. The author posts on my forums occasionally to answer questions, so people can drop by there too for more information. I've created a free license so we may see some 3rd party support in the near future. If we get enough support I might give the book a makeover with new art.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.goblinoidgames.com/forums/
No! You have to keep the art it gives it so much character!
ReplyDeleteIf I ever release some sort of revised edition I'll of course keep the original in print.
ReplyDeleteAs the illustrator, I would like to thank you very much for the kind review. I certainly agree that there was much better art out there, of which I was a rabid fan... and still am, for that matter.
ReplyDeleteI had never enjoyed the benefit of any art instruction of any kind, so everything that I drew was an amateur product of what my eldest identifies as my "mad eyeballing skillz," augmented by my understanding that my friends were counting on me. Which I suppose is another way of saying that it is "honest." :-)
FWIW, everything was drawn in pencil on white paper in a large sketchbook. The cover was colored pencil on a 2'x3' poster board... except that the title lettering was cut out and pasted on.
I'd sit around the cafeteria for hours on end, chatting with folks and sketching (when I really should have been attending classes).
As the illustrator, I would like to thank you very much for the kind review (albeit a decade late). I certainly agree that there was much better art out there, of which I was a rabid fan... and still am, for that matter.
ReplyDeleteI had no art instruction of any kind. Everything was an amateur product of what my eldest identifies as my "mad eyeballing skillz," plus I knew that my friends were counting on me to draw *something*. Because so much of the familiar art from smaller publications in the 70s and early 80s was equally "honest," I didn't know enough to be too intimidated to try. :-)
Everything was drawn in pencil on white paper in a large sketchbook. I'd sit around the cafeteria for hours on end, chatting with folks and sketching (when I really should have been attending classes).
The cover was colored pencil on a 2'x3' poster board... except that the title lettering was cut out of yellow stock and pasted on (if I recall correctly). That cover died an ignominious death from prolonged sun exposure in the back window of a vendor's car... a failed saving throw.
As the illustrator, I would like to thank you very much for the kind review (albeit a decade late). I certainly agree that there was much better art out there, of which I was a rabid fan... and still am, for that matter.
ReplyDeleteI had no art instruction of any kind. Everything was an amateur product of what my eldest identifies as my "mad eyeballing skillz," plus I knew that my friends were counting on me to draw something. Because so much of the familiar art from smaller publications in the 70s and early 80s was equally "honest," I didn't know enough to be too intimidated to try. :-)
Everything was drawn in pencil on white paper in a large sketchbook. I'd sit around the dining hall for hours on end, chatting with folks and sketching (when I really should have been attending classes).
The cover was colored pencil on a 2'x3' poster board... except that the title lettering was cut out of yellow stock and pasted on (if I recall correctly). That cover died an ignominious death from prolonged sun exposure in the back window of a vendor's car... a failed saving throw.