This just caught my attention, thought I would share. Crypts and Things, a swords & sorcery game based on  the Swords & Wizardry rules. It is from D101 Games, the same folks that brought us OpenQuest.

QuoteCrypts & Things is based more upon the Sword and Sorcery works of Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber and Robert E Howard, than the more traditional Tolkiensque fantasy of standard Swords & Wizardry core.  It comes with its own setting , the dying world of Zarth of which The Continent of Terror is briefly described.

More info at D101 Games' Old Skool Fantasy Blog

Very interesting. The "elevator pitch" sounds a lot like LotFP, but they've taken a hammer to the system, as well as excising the Tolkienesque elements:

Quote from: the above linkedHow is Crypts & Things different from Swords & Wizardry Core?

Characters

    * Fighter has optional fighting styles, to add more fun and to differentiate between fighter characters.
    * Adds the Barbarian character class based off the version of the class originally published in White Dwarf 2 in 1977.
    * Adds the Thief class.  This is a more martially inclined version of the Thief, inspired by the Grey Mouser from Fritz Leiber’s Lankamar stories.
    * Adds the Magician class, which combines the spell lists of the Magic-User and Cleric, and then separates them into White/Grey and Black magic spell lists.
    * Removes the Cleric and Magic-user Class
    * No Elves, Dwarfs or Halflings, Orcs, Goblins etc. Its all Serpent Men, Giant Apes, Primatives, creepy eldrich horrors all the way!
    * No Turning the Undead either as a class ability or spell.
    * Life events. This takes the form of  a simple table where characters roll a single D20 three times for starting characters to learn some of the events that occurred before they started adventuring and the benefits that they caused.

Rules systems

    * A simple skill system based off the Saving Throw number. Used for class skills (such as the thieves skills and barbarians abilities) and other skills that the character may have picked up along the way.
    * Sanity rules. Wisdom is used as a measure of mental stability. This system is used for both taking mental damage for witnessing horror and for magicians casting Black Magic
    * Altered damage rules. Hit points become a measure of exhaustion and fatigue – and are lost as a Magician casts spells. Constitution used as a measure of physical damage, and is lost once Hit points have been exhausted.

If some of this sounds familiar to you its because I’ve used Akrasia’s Sword & Sorcery House Rules as a basis of alot of the changes I’ve made to the rules.

Background and Setting

Crypts & Things is based more upon the Sword and Sorcery works of Clark Ashton Smith, Fritz Leiber and Robert E Howard, than the more traditional Tolkiensque fantasy of standard Swords & Wizardry core.  It comes with its own setting , the dying world of Zarth of which The Continent of Terror is briefly described.

Kudos to Akrasia, BTW, for getting his houserules in print (I do hope he's getting, at very least, a credit in the book).

And the name does a pretty good job of conveying the difference (or rather, the sharpened focus) in tone from "baseline" D&D.

Nonetheless, a small part of me believes that, notwithstanding the fact that variety is a Good Thing, this is quite a bit of glut for three games (Jim Raggi's LotFP, Jeff Talanian's upcoming Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, and now Crypts & Things) occupying the same niche... and that it would be really, really awesome if these three awesome people (Newt, Jeff and Jim) joined forces instead of each going at it his way.

Anyway, I am quite curious to see how this will turn out.

Akrasia's house rules are pretty cool.

Yes I know this thread is very old!

  Does anybody here know when this game will become available in print?  Anyone here get the playtest version and if so, what were your impressions?

  C&T's seems like a really cool game but I'm not hearing any buzz about it at all.  Seems to be plenty of talk about Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea and LotFP, but to me at least, C&T's appears to be much better than those but strangely nobody's talking about it....

  P.S.  Finally a game that does away with the distinction between 'divine' and 'arcane' magic and a thief class that doesn't stink!  Not sure I'm digging that certain classes have an overall better ST number than others considering a single number is used for everything ( all the different types of saving throws ala D&D plus being used as a skill system too ) but otherwise it's looking pretty good.

I preordered and have the full pdf. The print version will be delivered imminently according to Newt.

It's without doubt my favorite iteration of S&W. If you have any questions ask away.

Quote from: Drew;500559I preordered and have the full pdf. The print version will be delivered imminently according to Newt.

It's without doubt my favorite iteration of S&W. If you have any questions ask away.

  I was just wondering when the print version would become available to those who weren't able to get in on the preorder deal.  I thought I read somewhere it would be in January sometime but I didn't know if that applied to everybody or just the preorder guys.

  Since you're kind enough to answer some questions, I have a few for you;

 
  1)  Do you add the appropriate ability score modifiers when making a saving throw?  Like would you add your CON modifier to save against poison or your DEX modifier to save against a fireball?

  2)  Is the thief and magician class exactly like the ones in Akrasia's rules or are there differences?  What are the differences if any?

  3)  Can you give a few examples of the life events?  I'm only aware of the 'taken away by demons' one from the video preview.

  4)  Does C&T's use 'damage by class' like in Akrasia's rules or does it use the standard 'damage by individual weapon' like D&D?

  5)   I read a quick overview about the Barbarian class from the 1977 White Dwarf magazine but wonder how it differs from the C&T's version?

  6)  Finally, what are your favorite parts of C&T's?

  Well I can pester you all day with more questions, but these were the things I was wondering about the most.

This sounds amazing... does anyone know when the .pdf will be available for general purchase?

QuoteI was just wondering when the print version would become available to those who weren't able to get in on the preorder deal. I thought I read somewhere it would be in January sometime but I didn't know if that applied to everybody or just the preorder guys.

As far as I know book and pdf will be available once the preorders are out the door, so not long now.

Quote1) Do you add the appropriate ability score modifiers when making a saving throw? Like would you add your CON modifier to save against poison or your DEX modifier to save against a fireball?

It's freeform in the usual S&W way. If the ref (charmingly referred to as the Crypt Keeper) deems an ability bonus applicable you get it.

Quote2) Is the thief and magician class exactly like the ones in Akrasia's rules or are there differences? What are the differences if any?

The thief is almost identical. The magician has some tweaks, the most important being that spells are memorized, resulting in a Vancian system that also inflicts hit point damage and, in the case of black magic, may result in insanity via wisdom depletion. The net effect is magicians being less powerful than their S&W core cousins, which fits the genre well. That said there are ways to mitigate the costs; human sacrifice reduces direct damage a magician suffers when memorizing a black magic spell.

Quote3) Can you give a few examples of the life events? I'm only aware of the 'taken away by demons' one from the video preview.

I'm on a different computer so don't have the pdf in front of me; from memory there's "I survived the pendulum trap of blarg: +2AC"; "I spent a year in the Jagmani jungles: Never get lost in jungles" and "I was an actor with the Four Winds theatre company: +2 Charisma". There are 20 in all, you roll three randomly at character creation.

Quote4) Does C&T's use 'damage by class' like in Akrasia's rules or does it use the standard 'damage by individual weapon' like D&D?

It's damage by weapon.

Quote5) I read a quick overview about the Barbarian class from the 1977 White Dwarf magazine but wonder how it differs from the C&T's version?

I'm not familiar with the WD barbarian so can't compare but the C&T version is cool; with danger sense, immunity to fear effects, survival and tracking skills and a nifty ability which multiplies their damage if they get the first blow during combat.

Quote6) Finally, what are your favorite parts of C&T's?

Difficult as there's a lot to like. I suppose my favorite aspect of the game is how it subtly shifts emphasis from spellcasters (and spellcasting solutions) towards grittier, martial play. Characters are more skilled and survivable across the board, being akin to young Fafhrd, Conan and Mouser, which is a bonus.
 

QuoteWell I can pester you all day with more questions, but these were the things I was wondering about the most.

Any time. If there's anything else you'd like to know have at it.

From an e-mail from Newt Newport 13 days ago:

QuoteHi all

First off thank you for pre-ordering Crypts and Things.

Books will be posted early in the New Year. I'm currently awaiting the final set of proofs – and hitting Christmas has slowed things down. I will keep you updated.

Work moves swiftly on the module: The Blood of the Dragon. I have the full structure of it in place now and I'm working on adding the description that will bring it to life. I'm on for the end of year deadline I set my self with this, so you should get the final product early in Jan.

Maximum thanks again.

Seasons best wishes.

;O)Newt

Quote from: The Butcher;448057Kudos to Akrasia, BTW, for getting his houserules in print (I do hope he's getting, at very least, a credit in the book).

Quote from: Benoist;448058Akrasia's house rules are pretty cool.

Gosh ... thanks!

Quote from: The Butcher;448057...
Nonetheless, a small part of me believes that, notwithstanding the fact that variety is a Good Thing, this is quite a bit of glut for three games (Jim Raggi's LotFP, Jeff Talanian's upcoming Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, and now Crypts & Things) occupying the same niche...

C&T deviates from standard OD&D/S&W more than LotFP and (I think) ASSH.  Nonetheless, the core rules of C&T are close enough to core OD&D/S&W that material for OD&D/S&W (and B/X D&D, AD&D, etc., and the relevant retro-clones) can be used with C&T with little work (simply rework or redescribe orcs, goblins, etc., as brigands or serpent men or whatever).

I own and like LotFP, and I like what I've seen of ASSH, especially the setting of 'Hyperborea'.  Mix and match among the systems as you see fit! :cool:

Quote from: Akrasia;501035From an e-mail from Newt Newport 13 days ago:

That's good news. I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on this. Now if only I had heard about it four weeks ago...

Thanks for all the info Drew.  Just a couple more if you don't mind;

  Are you saying that Magicians have to 'prepare' their spells in advance ala old school D&D or can they just cast X amount of spells at each spell level ala 3E Sorcerer class?  If they have to 'prepare' them, do they have to do so from a spellbook or do they just 'know' X spells?  Does high Intelligence give a caster more spells?

 Thanks for all your info.

  P.S.  In the 15 page PDF preveiw, the spell Protection from Evil ( 10 ft radius ) is listed as a 3rd level and a 4th level spell.  Was this typo fixed?  I ask because curiously this same typo is in Akrasia's rules too which I just found to be odd.

No worries.

Magician's start play with a book containing 2 first level and 1 second level spells. All further spells must be found, learned from a tutor or purchased. They're prepared in advance using same slot allowance as mainstream S&W.

For white magic, that's all there is to it. Grey magic costs spell level x 2 HP to cast. Black magic inflicts constitution damage equal the level of the spell being memorized, which can only be healed with rest; casting BM requires a saving throw to avoid sanity damage equal to the level of the spell. Constitution damage can be negated by sacrificing one sentient creature per level of the spell being memorized.

Magician's can memorize an additional first level spell if their intelligence is 15 or higher. They may wear leather armour and use any weapon, but receive  -1 damage unless it's a dagger, dart, quarterstaff or sling.

Quote from: Drew;501122Black magic inflicts constitution damage equal the level of the spell being memorized, which can only be healed with rest;

  Didn't know about that.  So no HP's of damage when cast, only Con damage when you prepare/memorize one?  Interesting, but it seems like a bit more bookeeping by having to track your Con instead of just HP's, but I'm aware that this game does use Con as a sort of 'HP's after your out of HP's' so I'll just have to see how it works in play.

Quotecasting BM requires a saving throw to avoid sanity damage equal to the level of the spell. Constitution damage can be negated by sacrificing one sentient creature per level of the spell being memorized.

  That sounds cool.  In the 15 page PDF preview, they do it differently.  I guess Newt decided to change it last minute.

  Although I was never a fan of Vancian magic and would've liked to seen it done away with, I still like some of the changes I see.  The sacrificing thing is cool because now the evil sorcerers you encounter performing all their dark rituals and sacrifices now have an actual in game reason to be doing them; they're preparing a black magic spell!