Conversation with Matt Finch | OGL Talk | Swords & Wizardry

[@cetx]

The thing I love about Swords & Wizardry and OSRIC are that they're genuinely better written than the originals. Original D&D was obviously a great game, but the designers just didn't know how to convey the rules in writing. S&W and OSRIC are easy to read and understand.

[@captcorajus]

100% Agree with that assessment. I also like that Swords and Wizardry offers some 'cleaned up' options such as the single save throw number, ascending AC, and other optional rules that greatly improve playability, but at the same time retains the core essence of original D&D.

[@SwordlordRoy]

And, to those who are particularly upset about it, I have yet to find the infamous STR -4 rule in OSRIC...although that was something easy to house rule out of the original 1e AD&D in the first place.

[@deannatheos4471]

I agree but they Mr G was just figuring out how to make it work. 1e is still my favorite you just have to change a few things here and there and not many things. It should be easy to play something that the newer games and editions of D&D don't do. You have to have a game that is easy to play not a lot of tabulating and move through the game at a good pace. So you are not in the same adventure for months on end please have good day.

[@johnscotto5045]

Captcorajus, thanks for a very good interview. Very much appreciate you addressing these. Not strictly gameplay related issues. By the way, I just received my boxed set of swords and wizardry in the booklet format. Decided to pick one up before they got neutered.

[@captcorajus]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@danielrowan4716]

Grognards unite!!!

[@runewyrdgaming]

As always, love your interviews. Always a relaxed atmosphere and you always let the guest talk without interuption! Keep up the great work Capatain!

[@dm_sahrenyth3827]

Fantastic interview. I am looking forward to his kickstarter

[@bishopscatacomb9217]

I’m looking forward to your kickstarter. That being said I would love to see you slowly world build through modules your own setting. Swords & Wizardry made me a lost lands fan and now that you are going on this new venture I hope to see many adventures spring up around it.

[@MisterGrooves]

I had the honor of playtesting S&W and a couple of Matt's modules. He's a lot of fun to game with.

[@timpudoff726]

Very nice interview!!! It was great to hear Matt share his memories of the creation of OSRIC, as well as his plans for the future publication of S&W in the aftermath of the OGL debacle. This type of interview is just one of the many reasons I follow you and I really appreciate your work!

[@captcorajus]

Thank you so much. I try to ask the questions that I am curious about as a gamer, and hopefully that's what other people are wanting to know as well! Thanks for the kind words and feedback.

[@michaelernest1076]

I always enjoy interviews you have

[@captainnolan5062]

Yes, Castles and Crusades is OGL 1.0a now, and anyone can publish stuff for C&C.

[@CrusaderCool]

Nice interview! I'm definitely looking forward to the new Swords & Wizardry rule book, and its great that it will have a new Erol Otus cover! I also had never before heard of The Spire of Iron and Crystal adventure, so I googled it, and it looks really great. That original Peter Mullen cover on that adventure is fantastic. I don't see it currently in print anywhere, though. I would love to see a new print version of it as well.

[@dungeondumbo]

If the new Tome of Adventure Design is any guide…the next S&W kickstarter is a no brainer 🎉

[@finger3181]

Always a pleasure to hear from Matt

[@JonMillerPhilosophy]

Great interview! Gary Gygax's column in Dragon Magazine was called "From the Sorcerer's Scroll" (not Sage Advice).

[@captcorajus]

THAT'S IT! That's what I was looking for. In the moment it escaped for some reason. Getting old sucks! lol

[@vidgrip8622]

Looking forward to the kickstarter. Love S&W Complete

[@DMTalesTTRPG]

I got S&W in a box of stuff one of my viewers sent to me. Since I had no experience with OD&D I didn’t have any expectations, but it was a fun read and the game has stuck in my head. I cannot wait for the kickstarter!

[@sandman6088]

Awesome interview! I'd love to see an interview with Chris Gonnerman in the future. :D

[@satturnine7320]

Invaluable interview for those wondering where do we go from here Your questioning of Matt Finch’s creative work was as superb as his answers Also enjoyed hearing his mention of Erol Otus!

[@Minodrec]

Great interview. I'm realizing I have nothing from Matt Finch himself. I have some OSRIC module (mainly from Maximum Mayhem Dungeon) but I used my father AD&D books. I don't know if I want to back the new KS, buy the Tome of Adventure design or AA1 The Pod-Caverns of the Sinister Shroom. But I need to support him.

[@mlfetlesjdrenbref1306]

Wow! Great stuff! Bravo!

[@WizardOfAtlantis]

Awesome. We are certainly living in interesting times, but at least for the rpg world we all love, I do see good things coming from this latest act of corporate mega-greed.

[@MarkHyde]

SO happy I ordered the OSRIC hardcover via Lulu a weak or so ago - just waiting on international shipping/postage - as I live in Australia. This discussion is epic. :)

[@captcorajus]

Did you order from Black Blade publishing? Theirs is the best quality.

[@MarkHyde]

@@captcorajus Sadly no. But I'm happy with what I've got - and REALLY happy I backed Matt and Mythmere Games KS for the Sword & Wizardry Complete Revised book - it's amazing.

[@Korroth]

That’s funny we thought the same thing, we thought the Holmes box was a starter edition, and AD&D was for “adults” - of course we were wrong.

[@captcorajus]

Funny how your perspective changes between being 14 and 54.

[@richmcgee434]

@@captcorajus If nothing else we're less afraid of catching cooties these days. :)

[@searchforsecretdoors]

Thanks for the interview. Can't wait for the new edition! Maybe I don't understand the alphabetizing thing, but I would rather have no list than a list of misnamed spells.

[@captcorajus]

Essentially, if a court is going to make a ruling on a copyright violation, they will look for instances of 'repeating/ identical text' from the original work vs the reproduction. Upon finding large swaths of such a court will usually find for the plaintiff. So, in the case of spell names that are identical to those in the original rules, by default you'll end up with several pages of 'repeating, identical text' due to the list being alphabetized. By changing the names of the spells and thus changing the order in which they appear on the list, Matt is hoping to avoid that issue if things were to come to court. Hope that clears it up.

[@searchforsecretdoors]

@@captcorajus I understand. He's got to do what he's got to do. I look to Matt as the father of retro-clones. I trust his opinion more than anyone else's. It just sounded in the interview that the concern was specifically for the index or another list somewhere. I'm sure it will be a great product.

[@plotsmeanswaysanddevices]

Great show

[@YouTubeShortsSuck734]

Finally some people I actually want to hear from :D

[@laurelhill3505]

Simply create a new spell for each level for each class, put it in the list, and no copyright issues.

[@captcorajus]

I think to be safe, you'd need more variation than that.

[@keithulhu]

I've looked into Old School Essentials, OSRIC, Basic Fantasy, and others, but they all seem to be copypasta of BX without any changes or modifications. Am I missing something?

[@AaronETrades]

I'm still getting into all this myself but I can correct a few misconceptions I see. OSRIC is a retroclone of AD&D 1e, not B/X. Basic Fantasy is based on B/X but with several 3e modernizations like ascending Armor Class and separating race and class. Swords & Wizardry is based on the original D&D game and the Greyhawk supplement, not B/X that came later. OSE Classic Fantasy (and Labyrinth Lord) are actually based on B/X.

[@Korroth]

Huzzah! Great content!

[@AAron-gr3jk]

I have OSRIC. Wasn't OSRIC created to prevent exactly this OGL 1.1 situation? I stand corrected. Interesting interview

[@captcorajus]

No. At the time, the PDFs for the old books weren't available, and WOTC wasn't offering them as reprints. OSRIC was simply a way to get the old rules, but with a fresh update and reorganization.

[@AAron-gr3jk]

@@captcorajus thank you! What an interesting interview!!

[@cetx]

They should sort the spells in reverse alphabetical order to avoid copyright.

[@dakkon74]

That was a interesting chat

[@richmcgee434]

S&W still has my favorite cover art of any OSR product ever. And frankly, I don't see that changing. It's up there with Deities & Demigods in my book.

[@deannatheos4471]

Excellent you are the best and a true D&Der and a true protector of the realms. And I am glad you are not putting down our game like all these other people because this is more than what it seems it's more than what the company is doing. Theres a lot of other things going on like bad mouthing D&D and saying play other games I like the old stuff anyhow theres not as much tabulating and more playing and interaction I have been playing 45 years now thank you .

[@thomasroche4762]

The new wizards legal rules will be a great hurt to the OSR community, as they can just claim any money that anyone makes after a thirty day notice or whatever. Peak corporate bullying, hopefully this won't screw over the OSR community

[@jamiemcdonough6548]

Very well done, guys. And we got to see your handsome faces.

[@captcorajus]

Well shucks.

[@Acmegamer]

Ugh, the uneven audio makes it hard to listen to. Either I set it low enough that Matt's not too loud, but I can't hear the questions from the Captain or I turn it up so I can hear the questions and the Matt's booming through too loud that hurts my ears. (sigh) Edit: though I did manage to finish the video because you know I like listening to both of you and really wanted to hear what both of you had to say. :)

[@captcorajus]

Sorry, that's what I got. Closed Captioning works if that helps.

[@Acmegamer]

@@captcorajus it did and of course I still watched it all the way through. :)

[@robbabcock_]

Great interview! OSRIC is one of the most epic and important works of the OSR, and IMO actually "better" than the original. ⚔🧙🏹🧝‍♀🧝