Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells: A Old School Emulator

[Hexenritter Verlag]

Here is an intriguing Old School emulator that is rooted in D&D but puts a spin on it. I figured it might appeal to others here. 


Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells PWYW PDF


Old Skull Publishing G+ Community


A review of SS&SS by James Spahn


Ol' Man Grognard's SS&SS video review.



A Questing Beast review of SS&SS

[xizallian]

I read one of the reviews and this sounds like a really fun game, I will have to take a deeper look at it.

[Mighty Darci]

In the youtube review it looks like a digest sized book and only 48 pages.

[Hexenritter Verlag]

Jul 27, 2018 18:46:34 GMT -5 Mighty Darci said:

In the youtube review it looks like a digest sized book and only 48 pages.

The core book is 48 pages but the Addendum is 88 pages long of optional material and both are digest size. The creator is planning to create a combined hard cover in the future likely after the creator has finished his current Kickstarter project Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells science-fantasy RPG based on the SS&SS system. 

[Mighty Darci]

Jul 27, 2018 19:02:22 GMT -5 Hexenritter Verlag said:

Jul 27, 2018 18:46:34 GMT -5 Mighty Darci said:

In the youtube review it looks like a digest sized book and only 48 pages.

The core book is 48 pages but the Addendum is 88 pages long of optional material and both are digest size. The creator is planning to create a combined hard cover in the future likely after the creator has finished his current Kickstarter project Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells science-fantasy RPG based on the SS&SS system. 

I like the digest size it is charming and evokes OD&D which is a good thing.

[Hexenritter Verlag]

Okay now that I printed the main PDF out & gave it a bit of a read I'll component upon it. Over all it appeals to me from a visual and conceptual point of view, but fails to turn that promise into something I'd want to play (I am glad that I didn't buy the print version).

The core mechanic is an attribute test - which I've used before in Swords & Wizardry but I find it hard to rationalize this bit: 

SS&SS pg. 7: Core Mechanics:

"Players usually have to roll equal to or lower than their characters’ Attribute – the
 higher the result the better, so long as it is within the Attribute score – and the referee
 usually has to roll higher than the character’s Attribute or the players’ results."

I get the roll under Attribute but why on earth do you want to roll higher the better? It makes no sense as it is counter-intuitive, as it should be lower the better not the other way around. But this counter-intuitive nonsense continues here: 

"Difficulty


The referee may assign a Difficulty modifier depending on the situation. This would
 add to the d20 roll for players trying to roll equal to or lower than their Attribute, or
 subtract from the same roll for monsters and NPCs. This modifier can range from +/- 1
 for mildly difficult tasks to +/- 10 for near-impossible feats."

This makes no sense to me what so ever - maybe I am dim in the head, but I cannot fathom the logic. The following seems to be a pointless rule: 

"Resisted Tests

Normally, there are no Resisted Tests against opponents (the referee simply uses
 the Powerful Enemies rule; see Attacking section below). When two characters are rolls the highest number – while still successful – wins. If it’s a tie, whoever has the
highest Attribute score wins. If the referee considers the opponent important enough,
 he can roll a d20 and try to get a higher result than the characters."

If there are no Resisted Tests against opponents there is little reason to include this rule, unless you want a rule to use for such things as gambling and such between players that is. Meh. 

Next you have Positive & Negative Dice, which is basically 5e D&D's Advantage/Disadvantage rule with a different name tacked on. Not a bad addition as it could cut down on unneeded complications of using mods on tests. Then you got another unnecessary rule Pushing the Roll which is basically a do over roll, which could be replaced with the Luck Roll, but I get to that soon. It should be an optional rule if anything for youngsters just learning the game.

SS&SS Pg. 8: Core Mechanics continued: 

"Usage Die

Not part of the core mechanic but a common roll in Sharp Swords & Sinister Spells is
 the Usage Die roll. This roll is used to determine if a limited resource is expended (or
 depleted). The higher the die, the more available the resource is. When the resource
 is used, you roll its Usage Die and if the result is either 1 or 2, its die is downgraded 1
 step in the following chain: d20, d12, d10, d8, d6 and d4. If you roll a 1 or 2 with a d4
 Usage Die, the resource is depleted and cannot be used anymore. This is used to track
 the durability of equipment, ammunition and other resources as the referee sees fit."

Not a Core Mechanic but is listed in the Core Mechanics section ... doh! Instead of ticking off arrows and the like you roll a dice and then have to keep track of what usage die you are on - sooooooooo much quicker. This epic fail is repeated on the Luck Roll, which could've been handled by a Luck Point or Fate Point mechanic better or simply give advan... oops Positive Dice to a roll, meh.

A few positives are the Archetypes (aka Class) as they seem fine & frankly I like the Complications on pg. 14, but it is weirdly tied to the Luck Roll mechanic. I actually like how equipment & armor are listed as Small, Medium & Large for weapons & Light, Medium & Heavy for Armor. I also like how there are examples of what weapons & armor are covered by those categories. The Damage reduction of armor is simple and the disadv ... oops Negative Dice are applied to attacks against a shield wearer is a fun tweak. So if you are shieldless and you get hit your armor simply reduces damage to a minimum 1d3, where as if you have a shield you are even harder to hit. Is it a system I'd use? Maybe - but most likely not. Encumbrance is easy to use as if you go over your Physique Attribute you get negative dice to mobility, strength & reflexes based Attribute Tests. 

The magic system is intriguing but I am not a fan of it as it is tied to the Attribute Test mechanic as written, if corrected I might like it & port it to a game I run. The rest of the rules are fine & with some tweaking if needed could be used in another game. If the creator of the game created a second edition that corrects what in my opinion are flaws I'd play it and even potentially run it. 

Though I never see me running this game I can see me being a player in it as it is up to the Ref to manage the system not me as a player. If you want me to go over the other rules I omitted & those in the Addendum let me know & I'll post my thoughts on them.