It’s kind of a nifty coincidence you guys chose to do this episode now, as I just played an OSR game for the first time a couple weeks ago. On a whim, I signed up for a con game of Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox, and I found it to be kind of revelatory. Almost all of my D&D experience has been with 5e, which I love to pieces, but there was something about the free-wheeling simplicity of WhiteBox that I kind of liked even more.

What’s more, WhiteBox attempts to emulate a version of the game that is not only out of print but was also a bit of a mess in terms of how the rules were laid out. I *ahem* acquired an electronic copy of the rules for the sake of comparison, and I can only imagine that nearly everyone must have learned to play from people who already knew the rules. I can’t think of any other way it could have caught on the way it did because those little brown books are damn near incomprehensible. Also, I like how it uses only one kind of saving throw and gives the option for ascending armor class. (I will never understand the thought process behind descending AC, and no argument will ever make me believe it was a good idea.)

Last but not least, S&WWB serves as the foundation for the sci-fi game White Star. I played that at the same con immediately after the S&W game, and I loved it even more. I’m hoping to run it ASAP!

I wouldn’t necessarily call myself an OSR convert per se, but I can most definitely understand why both seasoned and newbie players would get into it in equal measure.