Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Swords & Wizardry the White Box Edition

I got my copy of the Brave Halfling's Swords & Wizardry the White Box Edition. First up are the goodies. Some nice dice, the box itself, a pad of graph paper and a #2 pencil. Nice touch there John. I especially like the side illustrations on the long sides of the box. They were my favorite in the AD&D 1E's DMG and these don't disappoint.

The quality of the box is fairly good. The top is nicely done however the bottom is a bit on the flimsy side. With care it should hold up nicely

Next the are the booklets. There are six in all. Four rule books, the Old School Primer, and a surprise an Adventure.

The rule books are the various sections of S&W White Box divided into their components. The quality of the print is really nice. On page 2 of the Book I Character there is a graphic of a character sheet written on an Index card. The print quality is so good that it looks like there is an index card on the page. The books feel sturdy enough to withstand heavy use.

Including the Old School Primer is a smart move and will help those who pick up this once it hits general circulation. The adventure is impressive and very different than the usual dungeon. Taking place under a giant old tree it is evocative and will challenge the players.

All and all I am impressed with the John's achievement in putting together this product. Also right now there a sale going on so go over to Brave Halfling's website and check it out.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I think $40 for a premium product is a bargain. That just about gets you one of three core rulebooks of a big-time commercially-produced game that could be mentioned. OSR stuff is inexpensive compared with that, but a quality printed product has to cost something.

The original three LBB's went for something like $10 total in the early 70s. Sad to say that is about $40-$50 in today's dollars.

Pastor John Adams said...

Thank you, Rob!

The bottom of the box was originally supposed to be wrapped and printed on just like the top, but after my first box-maker backed out of our agreement, I could not afford it.

It is my hope that I will be able to afford that when I release the 3rd print run of the WB Boxed Sets in the fall.

Robert Conley said...

Thanks for replaying John. Sounds like you have it covered then which is great for you and the rest of us (if we want to publish box sets)

@Rob To me the $40 is just slightly high. Pricing is always tricky beyond the obvious that it has be to be more than your costs.

I know that John did the best he could. And that the point wasn't just simply just to get a boxed set out there but also build up to better and bigger things later on.

Robert Conley said...

@John, fixed my post. Thanks for pointing that out.