DriveThruRPG.com
Browse Categories
$ to $















Back
pixel_trans.gif
WIZARDS' WORLD (Original 1983) $7.95
Average Rating:4.4 / 5
Ratings Reviews Total
4 3
1 0
3 0
0 0
0 0
WIZARDS\' WORLD (Original 1983)
Click to view
You must be logged in to rate this
pixel_trans.gif
WIZARDS' WORLD (Original 1983)
Publisher: Goblinoid Games
by john a. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/20/2013 22:13:22

This game is just plain awesome! I can't find any fault with it. Thanks to Goblinoid Games for saving Wizard's World from possible obscurity and being lost to gaming history.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
WIZARDS' WORLD (Original 1983)
Publisher: Goblinoid Games
by Timothy B. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 07/20/2012 15:34:33

What can one say about Wizard's World? Well for starters it could be easily dismissed as yet another fantasy heartbreaker, but I don't think that would be fair really. Yes it's AD&D roots are showing and there is a lot about the this game that is derivative. But that is looking at it in 2012. To look at this game as it was meant to be seen you have look at it with 1983 eyes.

This game offers some interesting twists beyond the typical D&D knock-off. First I love the art in this book. Sure there has been better art, much better art, even in books from the same time. But there is such an honesty about it that I enjoy. And I LOVE that cover. The attributes are nearly the same, enough that conversions are easy. The charts all go to 30 which is nice. Ok so we have a bunch of classes, many of which would drop right into AD&D, OSRIC or what ever Clone you enjoy. There are a number of fighter-like classes, that honestly only differ a little bit from each other, but that is fine. Some martial artists, some magic using types, 14 total. What is cool is there is Vampire class! Something we won't see again till D&D4. We have all the standard races plus some new ones, Metamorphic Dwarfs and Demon Halflings. Honestly the book is worth it just to be able to say "Demon Halflings"!

There are 22 pages worth of spells that go all the way to level 10.
Rules follow next which is primarily about combat, weapons, poisons, potions and the like. A little bit on magic items. Monsters follow. There are a few, but almost no overlap between here and what you might find in a typical monster manual for a game. There are dragons, but very different from what we are used to seeing in "D&D".
Some suggestions for play and threadbare character sheet.

Ok what is good about this game? Lots really. If you play D&D or some old school game you would be hard pressed not to find something here to use. Did I mention the Demon Halflings yet? There are plenty of monsters and lots of spells.

What is bad? That is subjective. If you are not a fan of old-school play or expect full color art then you will be disappointed.

What did I like? Nearly everything really. I have to hand it to Dan Procter and Goblinoid Games for becoming an old-games preservation society. This game isn't going to win any awards now nor would it have won any then, but it is a fun trip into the past when many games were little more than a few pages, a staple and your friend's brother to do the art.

At 80+ pages this is packed.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
WIZARDS' WORLD (Original 1983)
Publisher: Goblinoid Games
by Billiam B. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/11/2012 16:46:18

(Purchased copy)

Goblinoid Games have been really treating us recently to nibblets of the past with titles like Starships & Spacemen and Time Master.

I really enjoying buying older titles, often only to read, sometimes to mine ideas or compare and contrast with other games in my collection from the same period. With Wizards' World, it's primarily the collector, and curious archivist in me that hits the "add to cart" button (and by the way, real shoppers don't do wish-lists!). In saying that, this is an easy system to learn and play, with familiar mechanics and would definitely be enjoyed by more traditional of players

The text is an electronic scan conversion of the original rulebook (or it's been retyped) with black and white pencil and ink art - also presumably from the original book. I trust Goblinoid Games when it comes to creating loyal facsimiles. I'm guessing that this is as close as you can get to looking at the original game without maxing out of download sizes (which can happen when the original text is presented as a scanned image). At 83 pages long it's a "complete" system, but it's a pretty concise all-you-need level-based-progression D&D-type game.

Lots of space is given over to a fascinating variety of races and classes. Standing out in terms of originality are the Demonic Halflings, Metamorphic Dwarves, Jesters and Vampires (there's definitely more races and classes than in the AD&D PH). Some of the dice mechanics will seem familiar and yet it's different enough from D&D or RuneQuest to warrant a thorough look. After spell lists and a bestiary, the rest of the rules feel rather "squeezed" into this fantasy Happy Meal.

I'm guessing that if you're a connoisseur of the main game systems from the late 70s to early 80s Wizards' World will entertain and fascinate.

There's something about the production values, illustrations and writing style which really makes me want to place this game two or three years earlier than 1983: it provides more choice for players when compared with D&D B/X or AD&D, maybe T&T or RQ1, whilst not providing oodles of extra rules as in the AD&D DMG. It lacks the marketing gloss and introductory easy-play game chapters which start to appear from around 1983. (I won't be backing up this generalisation, by the way, just drawing a hazy line in my own narrow perception of gaming history. ;) However, I actually have a real soft spot for well presented do-this-then-that play-by-example games)

If you collect older games, Wizards' World is a classic, yet subtly refreshing, absolute bargain of game.

"Demonic Halfling Vampires"! What more do you need to hear?

-Billiam B. (More confused thoughts here: http://bit.ly/rpgblog_WW )



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
pixel_trans.gif
Displaying 1 to 3 (of 3 reviews) Result Pages:  1 
pixel_trans.gif
pixel_trans.gif Back pixel_trans.gif
0 items
 Gift Certificates