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Post by jeffb on Jun 15, 2013 8:03:21 GMT -6
It is still my fave if not the version I play the most (usually play a houseruled complete with some.3.x/PF isms).
This Fathers Day weekend however is "Yes, this IS your Father's D&D" game at the homestead for my 13yo and his peers. Pulled out the BHP softcover, whipped up some level 3 characters and put em on index cards. Playing a pretty faithful WB game, adding a WB thief from KS#2 and a handful of minor houserules. I started out with the LBBs and a MM back in 78, so that is the feel I am going for. Adventure wise the group is not amorous of the old school dungeon crawl style of just looting a place for the sake of such (nor am I frankly) so I will run B3 (moldvay edit) so they at least have a mission to accomplish. I have not run B3 since I got my first Moldvay set hot off the TSR presses, so this should be fun for me and the kids.
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Post by Finarvyn on Jun 15, 2013 21:45:17 GMT -6
Since I'm no longer associated with S&W, I don't really play it much anymore. I enjoyed the heck out of creating it, howerver and I'm glad to hear that WB still gets some love. I know that S&W had some sort of module for Free RPG Day. Hopefully you were able to grab one of those.
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Post by battlebrotherbob on Jun 16, 2013 5:38:03 GMT -6
While I don't have nor play WB is did get on the Complete Kickstarter. Love those rules. And I second Finarvyn's comment about the module. It is a good place to start, its free and its fun. The PreGens are the classic 4 classes and should port easily to WB.
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Post by jeffb on Jun 16, 2013 6:31:26 GMT -6
No FLGS really, and the closest one was not participating. Which company produced the module?
FWIW, the game went spectacularly. There were a couple comments about switching to WB for good. Enjoyed it more than the 3.5/PFBB lite or the beefed up S&W complete we have been using over the past couple of years. Fine by me.
Combat was brutal at times, some good puzzles/traps/stuff to figure out, and the adventure played out much hetter than it reads (or is given credit for). Will throw up some details after today' s festivities are over.
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Post by battlebrotherbob on Jun 16, 2013 8:23:36 GMT -6
Nice to hear that the game went good. The module was from Frog God Games, publisher of complete. They had mentioned that there maybe some for sale on the site in the next few days. Noble Knight Games has some for free if you purchase x amount of stuff.
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Post by dizzysaxophone on Jun 16, 2013 11:58:56 GMT -6
I swear I replied to this before. Maybe the forum ate it, or I forgot to press post.
I play in a weekly Whitebox game, and have run quite a few one-shot sessions for one my groups in hopes that they would enjoy it and become interested in it. They were used to Complete and didn't like losing all their options, but one other player did enjoy it, so we ended up creating an OD&D using just the LBB's and a retrofitted thief from greyhawk. S&W: Whitebox is one of my favorite games, that I'd gladly run if I couldn't run OD&D instead. They're mostly compatible anyways, and a few of my OD&D players use the WB rules as their guidelines anyway. Whatever works!
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Post by keith418 on Jun 16, 2013 18:39:48 GMT -6
I love S&W:WB and use it when I play always. I tend to smush LBB rules and ideas back into it & use the Eldritch Wizardry wilderness encounter tables.
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Post by jeffb on Jun 17, 2013 19:11:11 GMT -6
So.. The index cards were a hit right away. I started the characters off at 3rd level (4 pcs). Idecided to go ahead and use the programmed adventure part, which I probably should have skipped, but they worked through it quickly even though I beefed up the encounters (doubled up the giant rats and skeletons). Right away though they realized the game was much more dangerous as they all took hits. They made their way through the NW section of the dungeon, encountering the Kobolds, Hobgoblins, stirges, and white ape. The fight with Hobgoblins took my son's greatsword fighterdown to 0 hp exactly when they got in 2 crits in the same round (crit on a 20 max damage). He was freaking out as his characters previous always had a "second wind" or "action point" to get him out of trouble. The Cleric, Bestmo, risked his life taking 2 attacks while he tried to make his way over and cast a CLW on the hapless fighter. Luckily the Cleric shrugged off the attacks and not only stabilized the Fighter,he managed to take down the remaining hobbos with his mace during the melee. The hobbit thief tried to pick the lock in the mosaic room before they had acquired the key, and lucked out with only a 2 rolled (on 2d6) for damage from the falling stone block, leaving him with 1hp. He had also made his save previouslywith a poison needle trap. The encounter with the illusion of Ellis the Strong was amusing as they were convinced he was a Ghost even after the 4 rounds were up and he disappeared. At this point they were out of spells and desparately low on HP and decided to rest in the the main portcullis area near the entryway. I went easy on them and only rolled for wandering monsters twice for the night. They lucked out again. Then they departed off through the eastern portcullis, and I rolled a wandering monster encounter. The party braced themselves as 7 black robed acolytes of Arik , with blood red eyes tatooed on their foreheads charged them. At this point I cliffhangered the group and there was much moaning and groaning that I was ending the session We had a blast and feedback after the game was very positive. The increased lethality/challenge, less complex rules/characters, and the X in 6 chance resolution for things outside of combat went over very well. I wonder if in Session 2 (next week) their luck will run out?
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Post by kesher on Jun 18, 2013 12:33:40 GMT -6
Awesomeness!
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Post by MilkManX on Jun 20, 2013 13:32:16 GMT -6
Awesome! I have a WB set and also the "Core" rules. I enjoy both but don't seem to have the time to commit right now.
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Post by jeffb on Jun 25, 2013 7:20:26 GMT -6
Session 2 was great as well. The rumble with the Acolytes of Arik was brutal. I rolled up 6 acolytes and a 3rd level leader. The Thief got creamed, as did the Cleric. All PCs nearly died, but it was mostly due to incredibly bad attack rolls..everyone in the party was missing. Unfortunately that made the fight drag out too long. This is one of the things I prefer about newer editions...PCs hit and get hit more often.
The Cleric called upon The Protectors for help..being that they were the ones who called upon the PCs for aid..a lucky die roll and some good roleplaying got them a safe area to rest/regain spells/hp, though it was the only time they would be able to be helped.
"Deeper" they trudged and started piecing together clues...they still dont have it figured out, but..
Once again, I left them in a cliffhanger sitch as the Fighter set off the floor pit trap, and the Halfling(npc) behind him fell in and the floor sprung back into place. Then the pit started to fill up with oil and the thief screamed up to his compatriots what was happening and to get him out immediately. Desparately the Fighter tried to break through the floor as the Morgana the Magic User failed to find the release mechanism. At this point I described the clicking sound of another trapdoor opening (the unlit torch falling into the oil), and the scream of the halfling (whom has not realized it is unlit,and overreacted, lol).
I closed up up my notes and started to pack away my things as I was met with a hail of " NOOOOooooooo!!!!!!....please...we have to find out what happened!!!!"...and I informed them they would...next week
MEWHAAhahahahah
:twirlsmoustache:
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Post by jeffb on Jun 30, 2013 9:40:39 GMT -6
RIP. Anders Rumbletummy
While continuing to piece together the clues, and emerging victorious from a rather tough Giant Crab Spider, the halfling thief's luck ran out as he fell into the pit in the butchers area. Finding himself bleeding and hurt from the fall was bad enough, but now standing chest deep in the underground sewer/river with 3 starving Giant Rats he truly was fighting for his life. The Cleric had fallen through as well and was able to dispatch one beast quickly, But even after landing a mighty short sword thrust and the other party members being able to join the fray in the 2nd normal round, poor Anders was felled by one of the viscious beasts. His small body floated downstream and up against the metal grating.
Bestmo of The Church of tbe Silver Flame performed the funeral rites as they laid the body in the library covered with a blanket. They left him with the hope they could eventually return to town to give him a proper burial and send his things to his family.
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Post by angelicdoctor on Nov 20, 2013 22:03:04 GMT -6
I just downloaded the White Box. I can't wait to give it a go!
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Post by Finarvyn on Nov 21, 2013 5:27:02 GMT -6
I just downloaded the White Box. I can't wait to give it a go! Glad to hear it! Keep in mind that the WB was intended to accomplish a few key goals: (1) Be similar in philosophy to the original game (2) Offer options, not restrictions (3) Be compatible with Matt's "complete" S&W. This forced a few interesting design decisions onto the project. Some I liked, some not so much. I'm not sure if it's the "best" retro game out there any more, as so many others have popped up in the past year or so, but I'm still proud of it. I think it's a fun little rules set.
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mannclay
Level 4 Theurgist
...you know what you are not, what you are you cannot know... - insane sorcerer
Posts: 115
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Post by mannclay on Nov 21, 2013 12:48:02 GMT -6
I think it's a fun little rules set. I have been using it constantly as the foundation for home ruling. ...and yes, it is a great little rules set. Thank you, Finarvyn!
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Merias
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 104
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Post by Merias on Nov 21, 2013 15:14:27 GMT -6
These are some great session reports. I noticed this: Session 2 was great as well. The rumble with the Acolytes of Arik was brutal. I rolled up 6 acolytes and a 3rd level leader. The Thief got creamed, as did the Cleric. All PCs nearly died, but it was mostly due to incredibly bad attack rolls..everyone in the party was missing. Unfortunately that made the fight drag out too long. This is one of the things I prefer about newer editions...PCs hit and get hit more often. : If the PCs are finding themselves in long slugfests too often, due to bad rolls or strong opponents or whatever, you can try to steer them gently into thinking more tactically, or even running away :). In a S&W game I'm DM'ing, I told the players they would get bonus XP for creatively avoiding combat while still garnering loot. But yes, the WB is a great game, it got me back into gaming a few years back when I was looking for something simple to use with my kids. The past two years in a row, my son has brought the WB rulebook, some dice and graph paper to Boy Scout summer camp, the boys have played it in their patrol tent at night, making up their own scenarios.
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Post by machfront on Nov 21, 2013 20:03:59 GMT -6
We still use WB. It's gone from being a clone I really dug to being my preferred iteration of D&D. I'd use the 3LBBs, but the organization drives me batty. Besides, I love the single save. I guess I enjoy all three S&Ws nearly equally, but WB still comes out just ahead. I think it's a fine game all it's own, Marv. Thanks again for WB. I really wish it was still being published in it's far more attractively formatted Brave Halfling Publishing version, to say nothing of the cover. I love Mullen's art, but the grey bars at the top and bottom of the cover now (a result of Matt understandably not wanting to morph the art to fit the Lulu 6x9 cover) are horrible. It's a real shame. I'd be happy if it was just cleaned up a bit one more time, formatted in InDesign as it was before and something was done to improve the cover. I understand Matt not wanting to spread himself too thin, and most folks were a-ok with WB being (as was said on the S&W forums at the time) "given over to the fans", but that unfortunately resulted in little more than being abandoned. The game deserves better quite frankly.
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Post by snorri on Nov 22, 2013 2:57:42 GMT -6
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Post by Finarvyn on Nov 22, 2013 7:24:22 GMT -6
Maybe you could publish the English version with your new art. That would make many folks happy.
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Post by snorri on Nov 22, 2013 9:46:06 GMT -6
Maybe you could publish the English version with your new art. That would make many folks happy. I'm not the publisher for that version, but I'm happy it was done and I like the art as well.
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Post by angelicdoctor on Nov 22, 2013 11:23:40 GMT -6
I, too, would like to procure a hardcopy of this item perhaps eBay or NobleKnight.
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Post by kesher on Nov 22, 2013 12:55:36 GMT -6
That. Art. Is. AWESOME. I would buy a hardcopy of the French edition for that art alone. ...not that I had any real problems with the English edition art; this other stuff is a radical change for an old school product.
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Post by kesher on Nov 22, 2013 13:56:29 GMT -6
snorri: Would you keep us in the loop for when it is published, and any details on how those of us who wish to might procure copies? Oh wait--it looks like the guy you linked to is the publisher, so I can just keep an eye on that site. Publisher's Lulu Site
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Post by machfront on Nov 24, 2013 1:37:42 GMT -6
Dang. That art is funky. I like it. Not my style, but I like it.
Good sign for the life of WB that a French version is soon to be published, though.
I'm also pleasantly surprised that over at RPG.net WB has been and is still often mentioned and nearly always in a positive light. Pretty good for being essentially abandonware (more so since now DD is available, not to mention other clones, etc.) for the last nearly three years.
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Post by snorri on Nov 26, 2013 2:23:07 GMT -6
Yes, Kobayashi wrote and translated awesome games. Art is from Le Grumph, who also done and ilustrated wonderful games, so it's a solid team. I like the art, which is very different from classic rpg art - but looks like Marjane Satrapi or David B., major comics authors in France.
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LouGoncey
Level 4 Theurgist
"Lather. Rinse. Repeat. That's my philosophy."
Posts: 108
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Post by LouGoncey on Feb 2, 2014 1:24:24 GMT -6
It is the only version of D&D I still play -- if I allow Thieves in, then I steal the Delving Deeper rule of 3+ on a 6 sider for thieve skills. Everyone else is a 5+.
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Post by distortedhumor on Aug 30, 2017 22:36:26 GMT -6
I am seriously looking at it with houserules to be my OD&D setup.
The Free PDF means any payers who does not have access to OD&D can live, and my house rules I am thinking of is adding
My version of OD&D thief (TM) bringing in some of the OD&D stuff I like Fleshing out the Dwarf, Elf, and Halfing (Who I might just call a Hobb) most likely along B/X lines. Might be a fun project. It attracts me since it so simple I might be able to get players for beer and pretzel type gaming.
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Post by foxroe on Aug 30, 2017 23:48:22 GMT -6
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Post by Scott Anderson on Aug 31, 2017 7:36:19 GMT -6
Matt Finch just started doing YouTube videos. Some are about OSR topics, some about self-publishing, Anderson some live streams promoting new products.
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Post by machfront on Aug 31, 2017 18:50:44 GMT -6
Yes. WhiteBox: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game is finally everything WB should have been. It's excellent. We've been using it exclusively for D&D stuff for almost a year when I'm not messing about with other games (like Pits & Perils).
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