This is what's known
in OSR circles (Old School Revolution) as a retro-clone. A game
designed with the intention of invoking not just the rules of the
earliest role-playing games but also the spirit and style of play. If
you're already a fan of OSR games, you'll likely already know about
this game and perhaps this review isn't for you. If you'd like to
try an OSR game, here might be a good place to start.
I'm may not the best
person to talk about the origins of this game. My first experience
with this genre of gaming, back in 1980 was Traveller. The first game
I bought was the original Dragon Quest by SPI. I did not understand
that game and I didn't care. I just filled in the gaps (deep chasms)
by making stuff up. I played Basic D&D, the Tom Moldvay version
and a little later, purchased that game and played it for ages. I
went on to play Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and a long list of
others besides.
So Delving Deeper is
a painstaking recreation of the very first role-playing game ever
published back in 1974. I never played it (at the time). Before I get
stuck into the topic of this review I want to mention two other games
with that share this goal: Full Metal Plate Mail is available as a
free PDF from Lulu but you can buy both a soft and hard cover
version; the wonderfully named Seven Voyages of Zylarthen is
available in a four-book set as a free PDF or your can purchase the
soft cover booklets also from Lulu. To my mind they are very
different games. Full Metal Plate Mail is, written based solely on
the first three booklets published by Tactical Studies Rules.
Zylarthen takes the three original books and adds the miniature rules
from the Chainmail game booklet.
The three-book boxed
set of Dungeons and Dragons was intended to be used in conjunction
with Chainmail since that volume provided the combat rules. The
three-book set contained an alternate combat system but it was just a
vague outline even though it would become the standard D&D
system. I'm not a student of the game so I didn't really understand
Chainmail's influence until I read Delving Deeper.
Like Zyarthen,
Delving Deeper looks at the three original books together with
Chainmail as the complete game to be emulated. This doesn't mean Full
Metal Plate Mail is the lesser product, it's just different. Delving
Deeper is available as an online hypertext document, three separate
booklets (both PDF and DOCX format) and as a perfect-bound
digest-sized Rules Compendium from Lulu. I'm reviewing the Compendium
which I bought just over a year ago and have used heavily since then.
It's still in one piece.
I imagine that many
people picking up the original game back in 1974 and later understood
it in the same way as I did with Dragon Quest; not very well. To
play, they would have made up bits not just to fill the gaps in their
understanding but also the gaps in the rules. Just like I did. We've
probably all been there.
With Delving Deeper
the author, with input from other interested parties on the internet,
has pieced together, over a period of years, a completely playable
version of that original game. When approaching this game it's
probably best for the reader to leave modern conceptions of Dungeons
and Dragons at the door. There are elements in this game that never
made it to later releases. For example, the three tiers of play:
normal (levels 1 to 2); heroic (levels 3+) and super-heroic (level
7+). They are each distinct styles of play.
So, no
preconceptions right?
The book, the
Reference Rules Compendium is a beauty. It's digest or pocket-sized
and weighs in at 130 densely packed pages with exactly three interior
illustrations. The cover is magnificent: a black and white
underground battle scene between the adventuring party and hordes of
kobolds, lizard men and a mighty hydra. Inside we learn a little of
the game's origin, a list of required equipment: six siders and a
twenty-sided die for the players, the full range of poly-dice for the
referee (not the dungeon or game master, just the ref.). Character
generation is familiar and brief. You throw dice to determine your
basic abilities and use those numbers to get a handle on your new
character. Some of those numbers modify game statistics to a greater
or lesser effect but in all cases much less so than modern games. A
character with low statistics is at less of a disadvantage in this
game than later iterations. Character classes are broadly defined
with non-humans having some unique advantages but suffering long-term
limitations. The character's class defines the six-side hit dice
thrown for hit points and after choosing equipment, your new
player-character is ready to go.
Before I get to the
rest of the game, I want to talk a little about the combat mechanics.
This is where I find differences between the original and later games
most prominent. Normal tier characters (2 or fewer hit dice) follow
familiar rules but should they face a heroic level threat, a monster,
or another character with 3 or more hit dice they're in trouble; that
foe can make as many attacks agains normal types as it has hit dice
(it makes each of these attacks as a level one creature). The normal
character can only return with a single blow. However, a heroic-level
character fighting a similarly ranked foe each make one attack at the
level indicated by their hit dice.
A weapon, is a
weapon. In these rules, all attack forms, with the exception of some
monster attacks, deliver 1 to 6 points of damage. All game combat
systems are abstractions and I have no problem with this. In fact I
prefer it. A dagger to the heart will kill you just as quickly as a
war hammer smack to the back of the skull. My players are happy with
the situation, in fact it means they choose the weapon that seems
right for the character rather the one with the appropriate
mechanical modifiers.
I like the way the
game handles defensive actions – spend a turn parrying and receive
a 4-point defensive bonus, if the attacker misses because of that
modifier you get to sneak in a riposte. Nice. Brawling or
“overbearing” is carried forward from the original game, it's
simple and effective: throw your hit dice, if you beat your
opponent's throw, you've pinned him. There are the usual
complications but the more I play, the more I realise that the system
either has the main options covered or obligingly leaves sign-posts
for the reader to ad-lib in the gaps. If you're used to rules-heavy
games, you might find the experience liberating.
Combat is deadly.
Your character has a six-sided hit die, as mentioned above, weapons
will hurt. Characters will die. Modern gamers will need to adjust
their mindset. Today's games have lengthy character generation
routines that produce rounded individuals with backgrounds,
histories, love interests and long-term goals. Delving Deeper gives
you a dude with a pack full of dangerous stuff and challenges you to
make something of him. Your character is put together in five minutes
with three of those minutes spent choosing equipment that will keep
the poor soul alive for another turn. Getting to level two is either
a supreme challenge or a terrible grind (I favour the former) but the
path to success is littered with the fallen. Do put effort into your
character but wait to see if he survives first.
Don't forget this is
a game. You have to play it. The origins of the hobby belong to
social war gaming, groups were larger the role-playing part of the
RPG formulae was evident but not the primary goal. Your characters
have to be prepared: missile weapons; torches; rope; a bag full of
caution. Never get surprised, you might not survive the first turn of
combat; always be prepared to run – the game won't always throw
“balanced” enemies at you. If you survive, brilliant; if not,
create the next hero.
The implied skill
system of the first game lives on here: firstly if a brave adventurer
should be able to perform a particular action, it just happens. If
it's a task involving more than the usual level of risk it's
successful on a throw of 5 or 6 (on one six-sided die) and if the
character should be good at a particular risky action because of his
or her class or race, success is assured with a throw of 3 – 6.
Simple. Love it.
Magic is
interesting. Clerics, just like magic-users get their spells from
dusty tomes but like Basic D&D and its clones, your cleric
doesn't get access to any magic until he's proved himself and made it
to level two. As in the original, cleric spells are detailed to level
5 (6 per level) and magic-users get spells to level 6 (12 per level).
All the classics are there but in just about every instance, they're
more powerful. Later editions sought to balance every aspect of the
game but Delving Deeper sticks to the original raw text and magic is
a bit scary. Charm Person last...forever.
So what else do we
have? If you include the section on monsters and magic items,
two-thirds of the book is aimed at the referee. These sections are
both rules and advice. I particularly enjoyed the section on
wilderness adventures which was surprisingly large given the game is
based on one called Dungeons and Dragons. Detailed sections covering
airborne and waterborne exploration and combat are included but the
chapter I really enjoyed was the overland wilderness rules. Two small
tables enabled me to create a wilderness area and populate it with
people, lairs and features in about 15 minutes. After a further 15
minutes the random territory had developed a character all its own;
I'd intended to use the tables as a mere exercise but now that region
is part of my campaign world. I've seen this sort of thing before but
rarely has it worked so well.
The monster index is
extensive – seemingly much more so than the original text but
perhaps the author is detailing the many critters that were mentioned
but never detailed. Magic items are similarly filled out and
described succinctly.
Having used the word
“succinctly” I'd like to highlight the writing style. This is a
text book and the writing is clear and precise but to keep the page
count reasonable, the author just tells you once. Some published
games (maybe most these days) go all out to make things as clear as
possible by expressing rules in different ways with numerous
examples. There's no room for that here. For example, in the
description of the strength ability we're told shown how a high
strength score will allow your character to carry more gear whilst
still moving at a reasonable pace; when you come to choose your
equipment a few pages later, you won't be reminded again. I'm fine
with that but because I didn't leave my preconceptions at the door
when I picked up the book, I had to read certain sections more than
once. And it was enjoyable to do so.
So to finish up, how
does it play? As the referee, the game flows like a dream and has me
reliving some of that early wonder I felt playing my very first
sessions of role-playing games. Because I wasn't there at the genesis
of the hobby and didn't use the original rules I don't feel qualified
to tell you how close this game is to that product. However, I do own
and I've read the original 3 booklets, the supplements and Chainmail
and somehow this game seems...right. I hope you enjoy it.
Find the free PDF,
DOCX and Hypertext files here:
http://forum.immersiveink.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=113
Note: included at
this address you'll also find a character sheet and Microsoft Excel
file containing every table in the book.
At this site you'll
find two amazing adventures and a take on the Illusionist character
class that will surprise you:
http://forum.immersiveink.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=450
To buy a digest-size
copy of the book:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/http://www.lulu.com/shop/simon-j-bull/delving-deeper-reference-rules-compendium/paperback/product-21911339.html
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