White Box FMAG Impressions
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- čas přidán 27. 09. 2021
- A general overview of what I appreciate about FMAG, followed by a more in-depth look through the PDF.
FMAG is free on DriveThruRPG: www.drivethrurpg.com/product/...
FMAG is very inexpensive from Amazon:
www.amazon.com/White-Box-Fant... - Zábava
Big fan of a complete game cheaper than a value meal at McDonalds
Heeeck yeah.
DM, GM, Master of Ceremonies, Storyteller, Arbiter, Judge, Narrator, etc. All these labels for the person who is the campaign manager (world master and rules arbiter) are interchangeable and identical. This is the Campaign Manager. Doesn't matter what technical term is used. Some just sound cooler than others. Too many people get hung up on semantics and labels.
I really like White Box FMAG. I'm using it to run my kids through a short campaign at home.
The way I have always understood 1974 White Box OD&D's hit dice progressions like 3, 3+1, 4, etc. is that you are re-rolling your hit points at each level. So, a cleric at level 3 (HD 3) rolls 3d6. I believe most people handle it so if the new total is lower than the old total, their hit points stay the same. If it's higher, they keep it. At 4th level (HD 3+1), they re-roll 3d6 and add 1. At 5th level (HD 4), they re-roll 4d6. At least, that's how I do it.
This comes from page 18 of Men & Magic from the original 1974 Woodgrain/Whitebox:
"Dice for Accumulative Hits (Hit Dice): This indicates the number of dice which
are rolled in order to determine how many hit points a character can take. Pluses are
merely the number of pips to add to the total of all dice rolled not to each die. Thus
a Superhero gets 8 dice + 2; they are rolled and score 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6/totals
26 + 2 = 28, 28 being the number of points of damage the character could sustain
before death. Whether sustaining accumulative hits will otherwise affect a character
is left to the discretion of the referee."
I think this largely went away with 1975's Greyhawk supplement which switched to variable hit die (d4, d6, d8) and a regular numeric progression. However, TSR's Empire of the Petal Throne (1975) which was based on OD&D described re-rolling hit points at each level even more explicitly.
Correction: the Thief class isn't optional because "it wasn't appreciated" or "sucked" or anything like that. It's optional because it did not appear in the original 1974 D&D rules. Thieves were added in an expansion for the Greyhawk setting and didn't become a core class until the AD&D Player's Handbook came out in 1978, so purists that want their White Box campaign to feel 100% authentic to the very first D&D rules would have to play without it.
Fmag is the best. I own a lot of rpg books but this is the only one I own 3 copies of.
Thanks for this video Aaron. They are always very informative. 👍🏽
My pleasure, Nicholas!
Always nice to see SW:FMAG get coverage! Delving Deeper and Untold Adventures Deluxe next please!
Whew, it's a long list already but I'll consider them! 🤣
I like the way this game is set up, and being simpler, I can also see it as a good starting OSR game for younger players. I'm largely modelling the way I'm presenting my own rules on this.
Magic Missile I believe was first introduced in Greyhawk (then again so were thieves), so this looks to hew much closer to the 3 LBBs than other retroclones. I personally never liked magic missile as a spell. M-Us that prepare magic missiles feel even lamer than clerics that load up on cure wounds.
The Black & White cover is the best!
It is pretty dang sweet. I'll probably get that one too. Lol
Im going to get the hardback version, too
the 13 year old in me wanted to say that if you look really close, the lady being sacrificed has her bewbies out :)
ah who am I kidding the 36 year old in me loves it too..
YES!
YES!
YES!
Seems like a perfectly good version of OD&D, but no better than what is already available (S&W). Low cost makes this a good intro for beginners. It might not have the expansion potential of Basic Fantasy (the other game I recommend for that purpose) but this does seem to have better art (just from what I can see in the video). Good video!
Thanks, Vid! I'd agree that it's no better than S&W, but it's more immediately playable. S&W has some more complexity involved, more procedures, etc. FMAG has less to learn. D6 thievery skill instead of percentile skill chart for instance.
S&W is more comprehensive, FMAG seems to say "You'll figure it out, just get playing."
I think because of this, FMAG would be a harder first system for an aspiring DM. My time with AD&D, B/X, etc has prepared me for dealing with gaps.
I think the real question, the REAL meat and taters that we need to get, and the one where your answer will determine your reputation is this extremely gravitous question!
Do you allow Thieves to backstab with bows?
In regards to levels 11-12 you could also do diegetic goals rather than exp to progress (Slay an ancient red dragon, concoct an elixir of immortality, steal the most valuable gem in the world, etc.) Something immensely difficult to pull off, where death may sometimes be the least bad thing to happen. A wizard may go crazy and turn into a lich in pursuit of power beyond 10th level for instance.
That sounds badass. 😁
Fiore, as always, you provide valuable insight to our cherished hobby
Hahahaha!
Aaron is mad salty over the flask section
He remembers how often I would cheese encounters with fire
Ah....memories.....
_A grizzled wizard stumbles out of the forest and casts a spell to fill all of your flasks with cheese._ 🙃
Beware Dark Knight - Aaron is aware of the AD&D1E grenade-like attack misthrows now! :) Spamming with fire now has consequences!
@@TheK5K
I know
He already has
Why do you think i stopped using them
storytelling
NOOOOOOOOOO
I claim no credit for this video.