Shout Out to a Wee Tim'rous Bushi

Mid-week update - giving a shout-out to a podcast I had found out about through the grapevine, link as follows:

    Confessions of a Wee Tim'rous Bushi
House Rules: Shiver Spear & Shatter Shield!

Rob is on my listen-list: this podcast is one that stood out for me as an interesting resource. I recommend giving it a listen, among other things, if only to think about his house-rules for a Swords & Wizardry game.

I'm not here to re-state Rob's house rules - I want to encourage you to listen and decide for yourself, hearing it from the source! - but I did want to highlight two of them that really caught my attention and made me want to try to spread the wealth.

Armor Shall Be Splintered?

We've all heard of splintering shields: but Rob takes it a step further - how about degrading other elements of a player's inventory? In specific, the one that caught my attention was "splintering" your armor - such that it degraded its quality in exchange for blocking a subset of incoming damage: a maximum value, as I'd heard it, based on the type of armor being sundered. He describes it using ascending armor class, but in standard AD&D vernacular, it could logically translate as follows:

Armor Class		Example	Damage Ablation
9	(11)	Padded Armor	1
8	(12)	Leather Armor	2
7	(13)	Ring Mail	3
6	(14)	Scale Mail	4
5	(15)	Chain Mail	5
4	(16)	Splint Mail	6
3	(17)	Plate Mail	7

When a character took damage, they would be able to sunder their armor, reducing the incoming damage by the amount listed, but reducing the protection value of the armor to the next step down: plate becoming splint, splint becoming chain, and so on. When armor no longer granted armor class at all, it was broken - useless until repaired. Similarly, the damage to the armor short of breaking it would reduce its effectiveness.

I like this idea for two reasons - it introduces a natural mechanic for armor degradation, where I'd explored a few propositions for weapon degradation in the past for which this would be a natural compliment, while also focusing on the purpose of armor (that is, protection) and giving the player an element of choice in the matter. And, thinking about it in a B/X context, there are fewer armor types - thus making the resource more precious and the impact more keen than in an AD&D or S&W variant.

On Two-Weapon Fighting

Among Rob's house rules he reads off is a version of fighting with two weapons which grants a +1 to hit. "Just as shields improve armor class by 1, [...] fighting with a weapon in each hand gives a +1 to hit. (Note that fighting with two weapons does not actually give two separate attacks; it just increases the likelihood of landing a successful blow.)"
Finch, p. 41 (2012) That sounded familiar to me - so checking it out, as Rob suggested it might be: it appears the +1 aspect is in Swords & Wizardry core!

The fact that I was aware of it means that it definitely had to have been floating around in the ecosystem - but it's fun to find it in the RAW. Likewise, Uncle Matt goes on to indicate that the Swords & Wizardry rule has its roots further back within the OSR creative community. An aside with a note provides, in the core rulebook, the author's thinking regarding the rule decision succinctly and concisely while leaving room for exploration - with a final disclaimer: if you don't like it? Change it!

"Don't like it; change it!" is a mantra that, for me, is a foundational pillar - a defining aspect - of Old School Renaissance gaming and the fine art of old-school refereeing: something that I'm not at all surprised to find in asides authored by the author of Swords & Wizardry.

Delve on, Matt!

For Further Listening

Linked above are both the Confessions of a Wee Tim'rous Bushi Anchor.fm site and the episode in question. How I found them - or, more so, why I revisited this episode for a specific re-listen - is because it's part of an ongoing conversation at Down in a Heap by Rob C. - the other Rob in my life - regarding house rules and implementations of house rules in his home Swords & Wizardry game.

For full context of the conversation - and to partake of (participate in?) a discussion revolving around the subject of house ruling an OD&D styled game - head on over to Anchor (or Spotify... or Google Podcasts... wherever caters to your preferred podcast player) and start on Swords & Wizardry House Rules from January 22, 2021. Rob C. is also on my listen-list: routinely diving into old-school games and offering insights into old-school gaming.

Delve on, Robs! And delve on, listeners!

Citations and Fair Use Disclaimer

Quoted material and cited rules from the following copyrighted material are included herein for illustrative and educational purposes and remain the intellectual property of the copyright holder - as of February 2021, Matthew J. Finch. Neither the author nor Clerics Wear Ringmail lay claim to the verbiage nor mechanics quoted but instead encourage the reader to engage with and enjoy the product referenced for its intended purpose.

Finch, Matthew J. (2008-2012). Swords & Wizardry Complete Rules. Poulsbo, WA: Frog God Games.

Logos for the Confessions of a Wee Tim'rous Bushi and Down in a Heap podcasts were taken from the Anchor sites of each respective podcast and remain the property of their respective owners. Credit for the Down in a Heap logo is given to Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash: unsplash.com/@cadop.