TEXT:  
  0e Reloaded 
  Quick Start 
   
   
   
   
  by Michael Shorten
  
  What is Swords & Wizardry?  
  Swords & Wizardry is a fantasy role-playing game, an approximate re-creation of the Gygax-
  Arneson original fantasy role-playing game and its several supplements as written in 1974.  
  These Quick Start Rules are meant to allow a group of people to be able to start playing Swords & Wizardry without a 
  lot of preparation. In this game, there are the players (the people who play the adventurers braving the depths of the 
  “The Dungeon of Akban”) and the Game Referee (the person who plays the “monsters” and referees the outcomes as 
  the players explore the dungeon.)   
  The quick start is divided up into three parts: Players Quick Start, Game Referee Quick Start and the adventure The 
  Dungeon of Akban. 
  The Players Quick Start gets you into generating a character, figuring out your class and abilities (such as magic 
  spells) and buying equipment, and then playing the Quick Start adventure. You also get some pointers on how to play.  
  The Game Referee Quick Start presents a very simple adventure for you to play, as well as some pointers and 
  guidance on how a Game Referee can run a Swords & Wizardry session. 
  Finally, you may notice these rules are very simple and give you a lot of latitude in how things can happen. That's part 
  of what Swords & Wizardry is all about – playing the game the way that YOU want to play it, within a broad set of 
  guidelines.  
  The ONLY true rule to Swords & Wizardry is: Have fun and imagine the hell 
  out of this game! 
  Swords & Wizardry Quick Start is Copyright 2009, Michael Shorten. 
  Acknowledgements and Thank You 
  “Swords & Wizardry”, “S&W”, “0e Reloaded” and “Mythmere Games” are the trademarks of Matthew J. Finch. The 
  author, Michael Shorten, is not affiliated with Matthew J. Finch or Mythmere Games ™. 
   
  Cover Art by Mark Allen - Marjasall Productions http://portfolio.marjasall.com – Mark is the first place (Color) winner 
  of the 2009 Erol Otus Art Challenge by Fight On! magazine and Otherworld Miniatures. Mark is also known for his 
  work with Troll Lord Games LLC. Cover art is used with permission, all rights reserved by artist. 
   
  Rear Cover Art by Paul (bliss_infinite) Fini - http://www.indieonlycomics.com Cover art is used with permission, all 
  rights reserved by artist. 
   
  Special thanks to: Matt (Mythmere) Finch, Reese (Koren n’Rhys) Laundry, Jeff Rients, Will (Creative Anomaly), 
  Norman Harman, Guy Fullerton, Randall Stukey, Rick Krebs and the many friends I’ve made on RPG Bloggers 
  Network, OD&D Boards, Knights & Knaves forum, Swords & Wizardry Forum and all over the Internet. Thank you! 
   
  Michael (Chgowiz) Shorten writes a blog about Swords & Wizardry and playing original edition Dungeons & Dragons 
  and 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Visit him at http://oldguyrpg.blogspot.com and let him know what 
  you think about the Quick Start! 
   
  The Swords & Wizardry Quick Start is produced in cooperation with the members of Three Headed 
  Monster Games: a collective of creative individuals offering support to one another to improve, 
  review, and edit their work into the best form possible with the tools and talents available within 
  that network. For more information, go to http://thmgames.blogspot.com 
  
   
    
  1
  Players Quick Start 
  Overview 
  This section is for everyone to learn the basics of how 
  to create a character and how different things are done, 
  such as combat.  
  You may notice that there are not a lot of rules here! 
  That’s because you, as players, have a lot of freedom in 
  this game. If you want to try and pick a lock, you can 
  do it! If you want to swing on a chandelier, while 
  tossing lit flasks of oil on top of monsters’ heads, you 
  don’t need a lot of rules to make that happen, just 
  describe it to the Game Referee. The worst that can 
  happen is that the Game Referee decides that your 
  action requires some element of chance, and you have 
  to roll a dice to see if your action succeeds.  
  In other words, imagine what you want and the Game 
  Referee works with you to see if it can happen. You 
  don’t need to look at your character sheet for the “right 
  skill or feat or power” – your imagination and general 
  guidelines help you to do that. 
  Dice 
  There are many references to the different dice in the 
  rules, such as 3d6 or 1d4. The first number represents 
  the number of dice to roll, and the last number is the 
  type of dice (number of sides). So: four-sided dice (d4), 
  six-sided dice (d6), eight-sided dice (d8), ten-sided dice 
  (d10), twelve-sided dice (d12) and twenty-sided dice 
  (d20).  
  Creating a character  
  A character record sheet is included at the end of this 
  Quick Start. You may make as many copies as you 
  need for everyone who is playing. 
  To create a character, follow these 5 steps in order: 
  1. Generate ability scores: Roll 3 six-sided dice (3d6) 
  to 
  generate 
  scores 
  for 
  Strength, 
  Dexterity, 
  Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.  
  Do not swap scores, adjust points, or otherwise 
  fiddle with the numbers.  Just roll the dice and write 
  them down in order on your sheet. Really high 
  scores are not needed to have fun with this game! 
   
  Your abilities might give you an advantage in 
  certain ways or to do certain things if you roll a 
  particularly high score. Write down your bonus next 
  to your ability score on your sheet. 
  Ability Score 
  Bonus/Penalty 
  3-8 
  -1 
  9-12 
  0 
  13-18 
  +1 
   
  Str: Applies to Melee Hit/Damage  
  Dex: Applies to Missile Hit, Armor Class  
  Con: Hit Point bonus 
  Int: Extra spells bonus for magic users. 
  Cha: Bonus/penalty for any attribute checks that 
  use Charisma (for instance, if you’re ordering 
  hirelings to certain doom, your charisma may 
  allow you to persuade them to do so.) 
   
  2. Pick a class: You may play a Human Fighter, 
  Magic-User, or Cleric.  If you want to play a Dwarf, 
  you're a Dwarf Fighter. If you want to play an Elf, 
  you get to pick if you want to be a Magic User or a 
  Fighter for this adventure. Write your choice down 
  on your sheet. 
   
       
   
  3. Note your special abilities as listed below in Class 
  Abilities on your sheet. If you’re a magic user, 
  choose your spells from the Magic User spells 
  section. 
  4. Roll hit points (hp): Everyone rolls 1d6. Clerics 
  add 1hp. Human, Elf and Dwarf Fighters add 2hp. 
  Human and Elf Magic Users subtract 1hp. Apply 
  your bonus or penalty if your Constitution score is 
  high or low enough. If any of the adjustments take 
  you below 1hp, then you start with 1 hp. Write your 
  hit points on your sheet. 
  
   
  2
  5. Select equipment: Roll 3d6 and multiply the total 
  result by ten for your initial gold pieces. (Gold 
  pieces are abbreviated as gp)  See the Equipment 
  Lists for stuff you can buy, including weapons and 
  armor. 
  Using the character record sheet – You’ll notice that 
  the character record sheet has entries for things that 
  aren’t used in this Quick Start. That’s OK, because this 
  sheet can be used if you want to play your character in 
  the full Swords & Wizardry game. Just leave those 
  areas blank for now.  
  Class abilities 
  Fighter:  You are awesome at fighting and using 
  muscle and brawn, as a mighty warrior or skilled 
  woodsman or grizzled mercenary. You can use any/all 
  weapons and armor. Your saving throw is 16.  
  Cleric:  You follow a deity or religion, using your faith 
  and skill at arms to defeat your foes. You can use 
  any/all armor, and all weapons that do not have an edge 
  or point (no swords, axes, arrows, spears, etc.) Your 
  saving throw is 14. When you reach second level in the 
  full game of Swords & Wizardry, you will be powerful 
  enough to cast spells! 
  You can turn the unholy undead by the power of your 
  faith, causing them to flee or even be destroyed.  
  (We’ll cover this later.) 
  Magic-User:  You are skilled in the arcane and 
  mysterious arts of magic.  You have little training in 
  other areas, so you may not use any armor and you can 
  only use daggers, staffs and darts as weapons. Your 
  saving throw is 15. 
  You may memorize and cast one spell per day.  You 
  start with a free book full of spells, but you only 
  understand some of them.  See the section on magic 
  spells. 
  Dwarf: You are a Fighter, but with additional abilities 
  due to your race: +4 to your saving throw vs. magic 
  spells; 2 in 6 chance of detecting traps, sliding walls, 
  new constructions, etc.; speak dwarf and goblin 
  languages. Your saving throw is 16. 
  Elf: You can choose to be a Fighter or a Magic User 
  for this adventure – you have the class limitations to 
  weapons/armors if you choose to be a Magic User. You 
  can see in the dark up to 60’away; you have a 4 in 6 
  chance of detecting secret doors; read/speak elf, 
  hobgoblin, and orc languages. Your saving throw is 16 
  if you’ve chosen to be a fighter or 15 if you’ve chosen 
  to be a magic user. 
  Magic User spells  
  The following ten spells are available to your magic 
  user. Roll 1d4 and add your Intelligence bonus or 
  penalty, if any, as indicated by the Ability Bonus 
  Chart.  You may roll that many times on the Starting 
  Spells list. (If your result is 0, you can have at least one 
  spell.) Roll a ten-sided dice (d10) to see which spells 
  you know. Reroll any duplicates.   
  Each day you need to select a spell from this list of 
  known spells.  That is the spell you can cast once that 
  day. You can keep the same spell from day to day. 
  Once you’ve cast this spell, it’s gone from your 
  memory and you’ll need to wait until the next day 
  before you can cast another spell. 
   
  1. Charm Person  
  Range: 120 ft 
  Duration: Until dispelled 
  This spell affects living bipeds of human size or 
  smaller, such as goblins or dryads. If the spell succeeds 
  (saving throw allowed), the unfortunate creature falls 
  under the caster’s influence. 
  2. Detect Magic  
  Range: 60 ft 
  Duration: 20 minutes 
  The caster can perceive, in places, people, or things, 
  the presence of a magical spell or enchantment. As 
  examples: magical items may be discovered in this 
  fashion, as can the presence of a charm secretly laid 
  upon a person. 
  3. Hold Portal  
  Range: Game Referee’s Discretion 
  Duration: 2d6 turns 
  This spell holds a door closed for the spell’s duration 
  (or until dispelled). Powerful creatures with magic 
  resistance can shatter the spell without effort. 
  4. Light  
  Range: 60 ft 
  Duration: 1 hour (+10 minutes/level) 
  The target person or object (at a range of up to 60 ft) 
  produces light about as bright as a torch, to a radius of 
  20 ft. 
  
   
    
  3
  5. Magic Missile 
  Range: 150 ft 
  Duration: Instantaneous 
  A magical missile (arrow, bolt or projectile) flies where 
  the caster directs, with a range of 150 ft. There are two 
  versions of the magic missile spell, ask your Game 
  Referee which one he wants to use in his game: in the 
  first version, the magic user must roll to hit the target 
  with a +1 bonus to the roll. The missile inflicts 1d6+1 
  points of damage. In the second version of the spell, 
  the missile hits automatically, doing 1d4+1 points of 
  damage. 
  6. Protection from Evil  
  Range: Caster 
  Duration: 1 hour 
  Creates a magical field of protection around the caster, 
  blocking out all enchanted monsters (e.g., elementals 
  and demons). Evil monsters suffer a -1 penalty to hit 
  the caster, and the caster gains +1 on all saving throws 
  against such attacks. If the caster already has any 
  magical bonuses to his saving throws or armor class, 
  the bonus from the magic circle has no effect (although 
  the protective circle still functions against enchanted 
  creatures). 
  7. Read Languages  
  Range: Normal reading distance 
  Duration: One or two readings 
  This spell allows the caster to decipher directions, 
  instructions, and formulae in languages unknown to the 
  caster. Particularly useful for treasure maps; doesn’t 
  solve codes. 
   
  8. Read Magic  
  Range: Caster only 
  Duration: Read up to 2 scrolls or other magical 
  writings 
  This spell allows the caster to read the magical writings 
  upon scrolls and (occasionally) dungeon walls. Without 
  the use of this spell, magical writing cannot be read 
  even by a Magic-user. 
  9. Shield 
  Range: Caster 
  Duration: 2 turns (20 minutes or 20 combat rounds) 
  The caster conjures up an invisible shield that 
  interposes itself in front of attacks. The shield improves 
  the caster’s armor class to [17] against missile attacks 
  and to [15] against other (melee) attacks. If the caster’s 
  armor class is already better than the spell would grant, 
  the spell has no effect. 
  10. Sleep  
  Range: 240 ft 
  Duration: 1 hour 
  This spell puts enemies into an enchanted slumber (no 
  saving throw is permitted). It affects creatures based on 
  their hit dice: 0 to 1HD – 4d4 creatures; 2 HD – 2d6 
  creatures; 3 HD – 1d6 creatures; 4 HD – 1 creature. 
   Equipment 
  You might notice that all prices are in gold pieces (gp) 
  here, but in the full rules, there are different kinds of 
  coins. For the Quick Start, we only use gold, to make it 
  simpler.  
  Item
  Cost 
  Item  
  Cost
  Backpack (30 lb 
  capacity)  
  5 gp 
  Mirror (small 
  steel) 
  20 gp 
  Bedroll  
  1 gp 
  Musical 
  Instrument 
  5 gp 
  Bell  
  1 gp 
  Oil (lamp), 1 pint  
  1 gp 
  Block and tackle  
  5 gp 
  Parchment (sheet)  
  1 gp 
  Candle (10) 
  1 gp 
  Quiver 
  2 gp 
  Chain (10ft)  
  30 gp 
  Pole, 10 ft.  
  1 gp 
  Chalk, 10 pieces 
  1 gp 
  Rations, trail  
  (1 day’s worth – 
  can spoil) 
  1 gp 
  Crowbar  
  1 gp 
  Rations, dried  
  (1 day’s worth – 
  won’t spoil)  
  2 gp 
  Flask (leather)  
  1 gp 
  Rope, hemp (50 ft 
  - bulky)  
  1 gp 
  Flint & Steel  
  1 gp 
  Rope, silk (50 ft  
  light and strong)  
  10 gp 
  Garlic (1 pound – 
  for vampires)  
  1 gp 
  Sack (15 pounds 
  capacity)  
  1 gp 
  Grappling Hook  
  1 gp 
  Sack (30 pounds 
  capacity)  
  2 gp 
  Hammer (for 
  spikes) 
  1 gp 
  Shovel  
  2 gp 
  Holy Symbol, 
  wooden  
  1 gp 
  Signal Whistle  
  1 gp 
  Holy Symbol, 
  silver  
  25 gp 
  Spell book (blank)  
  25 gp 
  Ink (1 oz)  
  1 gp 
  Spike, iron (5) 
  1 gp 
  Ladder (10 ft)  
  1 gp 
  Tent  
  10 gp 
  Lamp (bronze)   
  1 gp 
  Torch (10)  
  1 gp 
  Lantern 
  12 gp 
  Waterskin  
  1 gp 
  Lock 
  20 gp 
  Wolvesbane (1 
  bunch – for 
  lycanthropes) 
  1 gp 
  Manacles 
  (handcuffs) 
  15 gp 
   
   
  
   
  4
  Melee weapons 
  Weapon Type  
  Damage  
  Cost  
  Battle axe *  
  1d8  
  5 gp  
  Club  
  1d4+1  
  1 gp  
  Dagger  
  1d4  
  2 gp  
  Hammer, war  
  1d4+1  
  1 gp  
  Hand axe 
  1d6  
  1 gp  
  Javelin (2) 
  1d6  
  1 gp  
  Lance  
  2d4+1  
  6 gp  
  Mace, heavy  
  1d6+1  
  10 gp  
  Mace, light  
  1d4+1  
  4 gp  
  Spear *  
  1d6  
  1 gp  
  Staff  * 
  1d6  
  1 gp  
  Sword, Broad  
  1d8  
  10 gp  
  Sword, Long  
  1d8  
  15 gp  
  Sword, Short  
  1d6  
  8 gp  
  Sword, Two-handed **  
  1d10  
  30 gp  
  * Can be used one or two handed, +1 to hit when used two 
  handed.  
  ** Two handed only, +1 to hit when used two handed. 
   
  Missile weapons  
  Weapon  
  Damage  
  Rate  Range*  
  Cost  
  Bow, long  
  1d6 
  2 
  70 ft 
  60 gp 
  Bow, short  
  1d6 
  2 
  50 ft 
  15 gp 
  Arrows (20) 
   
   
   
  2 gp 
  Crossbow, 
  heavy  
  1d6+1 
  ½ 
  80 ft 
  20 gp 
  Crossbow, 
  heavy bolts 
  (20) 
   
   
   
  4 gp 
  Crossbow, 
  light  
  1d4+1 
  1 
  60 ft 
  12 gp 
  Crossbow, 
  light bolts (20) 
   
   
   
  2 gp 
  Dart (5) 
  1d3 
  3 
  15 ft 
  1 gp 
  Hand Axe ** 
  1d6 
  1 
  10 ft 
  1 gp 
  Javelin (2) ** 
  1d6 
  1 
  20 ft 
  1 gp 
  Lit oil flask 
  2d6 
  1 
  10 ft 
  1 gp 
  Sling 
  1d4 
  1 
  40 ft 
  1 gp 
  Sling stones 
  (20) 
   
   
   
  0 gp 
  Spear ** 
  1d6 
  1 
  20 ft 
  1 gp 
  * (-2 to hit per increment) 
  ** Can be used as melee weapon or thrown as missile 
  Armor  
  Armor Type  
  Move  
  AAC Bonus 
  Cost  
  Chain  
  90 
  +4  
  75 gp  
  Leather  
  120 
  +2  
  5 gp  
  Plate  
  60  
  +6  
  400 gp  
  Ring  
  90  
  +3  
  30 gp  
  Shield  
  -  
  +1  
  15 gp  
  Adventuring 
  Playing Swords and Wizardry is very simple! You act 
  as the characters in an adventure that you and the 
  Game Referee create together. And that is the easiest 
  part of Swords & Wizardry! 
   
  The Game Referee describes where the character is, 
  and what he sees. The game might start in a rural 
  peasant village, in a vast and teeming city spiked with 
  towers and minarets, in a castle, a tavern, or at the 
  gates of an ancient tomb.  
  From that point on, you describe what your character 
  does. Going down stairs, attacking a dragon, talking to 
  the people you meet (either the characters being run by 
  the other players, or non-player characters controlled 
  by the Game Referee): all of these sorts of things are 
  your decisions. The Game Referee then tells you what 
  happens as a result: the stairs lead down to a huge 
  tomb, the dragon attacks your character, etc.  
  The rules are guidelines for how to handle certain 
  events; mainly combat, but also experience, movement, 
  healing, dying, and other important parts of the game. 
   
  You might think that the Game Referee has an awful 
  lot of power, but remember the Game Referee isn't 
  "for" or "against" you. All the Game Referee does is 
  tell you the results of your actions - or he tells you 
  what kind of dice roll is required to figure out what 
  happens. The Game Referee NEVER takes control of 
  your character (unless you've been charmed by a 
  monster or a similar situation – but those are extremely 
  rare.) 
  Sometimes, the dice don’t roll your way, or you may 
  make a mistake, and your character dies. One of the 
  things about a game like Swords & Wizardry is that it 
  is deadly to adventurers. Many other games may make 
  it so that you are automatically superheroes. In Swords 
  & Wizardry, you are brave adventurers, but no more 
  “powerful” than say Indiana Jones or a mercenary fresh 
  out of the army. Facing monsters and mysterious things 
  in the dark depths of a dungeon is a very risky thing! 
  Just remember that in Swords & Wizardry, unlike 
  chess or checkers, there is no “one side wins, other side 
  loses.” If you die, that’s a likely part of the game; it 
  doesn’t mean that you’re a bad player. The cool thing 
  is you can quickly and easily create another character 
  and rejoin the game, sometimes within just a few 
  minutes! Your Game Referee will help you out if that 
  happens. 
  
   
    
  5
  A character’s actions 
   
  When you play, you describe what you're doing and the 
  Game Referee tells you what happens. In almost all 
  cases, the Game Referee gives you one of two answers: 
  "Yes" or "I think you have a chance of doing that - roll 
  dice and tell me what you get." 
   
  The Game Referee knows what is going on and he/she 
  knows what the likelihood of success is for what your 
  character is doing. Sometimes it's an automatic success 
  - like peeking around a corner to see what is on the 
  other side. Other times, there might be a chance that 
  you don't succeed, like sneaking behind a monster so 
  you can get to the treasure it's guarding.  
  To resolve some situations, you have to roll dice to 
  score under or over a number; the Game Referee tells 
  you what you need to do. Sometimes you have to avoid 
  rolling a specific number- the Game Referee tells you 
  that too! 
   
  Movement and time 
  If you have a normal amount of equipment, but aren’t 
  wearing any armor, you can move 120 feet a minute at 
  a normal pace. If you’re busy exploring a dungeon, 
  trying to figure out if there are monsters around, or 
  mapping, it’ll take you ten minutes to travel that 
  distance! 
  Once you start wearing heavy armor, or carrying 
  around a lot of treasure, you’ll end up moving more 
  slowly. See the armor chart to see how fast or slow you 
  can go, depending on the armor you’re wearing. If you 
  start carrying a lot of treasure, you’ll drop down to the 
  next slowest speed.  
  In a combat round, you move as fast as your normal 
  pace speed.  
  Time in Swords & Wizardry is measured in “turns” 
  (normal activities) or “rounds” (combat rounds). A turn 
  equates to 10 minutes in game time, and a round is 1 
  minute in game time. As you do things, like move or 
  explore, or try to open a chest, or try to pick the lock on 
  a door, you are expending turns. Generally, while not 
  in combat, it takes a turn to do something (move your 
  movement rate, listen at a door, etc.) When in combat, 
  each round has a specific order, which the Game 
  Referee keeps track of. 
  Light in the dungeon 
  It is dark in the dungeon and characters need to see! 
  Characters purchase candles, torches or lanterns to see 
  with. They also must purchase a flint/steel to light the 
  source with.  
  Torches and candles burn out in an hour. Lanterns need 
  to be filled with oil from a flask – one flask lasts for 4 
  hours. Candles illuminate a circle of 10 feet out from 
  around the person holding the candle. Torches and 
  lanterns illuminate a circle of 30 feet out from the 
  person holding it.  
  Monsters and other creatures in the dark can see 
  someone holding a light source from far away, so be 
  aware when you’re creeping the dark holding your 
  torch out in front of you – you can be seen! 
  Other uses of oil flasks 
  It’s worth mentioning that those same oil flasks used to 
  fill lanterns can be used as “flaming bombs”. You can 
  make an oil flask into a type of bomb and throw it at a 
  monster, attempting to cover it with burning oil. To do 
  so, you have to use a full flask of oil, spend your 
  combat round preparing and lighting it, and then you 
  can throw it the next round. If you successfully hit the 
  monster, it is burned for 2d6 (2 six-sided dice) of 
  damage! If you miss, though, you might end up hitting 
  one of your friends! You also have to be fairly close 
  (10 feet away) to do this. 
  Armor and protection 
  Unarmored characters have a “base AAC (Ascending 
  Armor Class)” of 10. Wearing armor improves (adds) 
  to that score, as does a high dexterity. This means it’s 
  harder to hit you to cause damage if you wear better 
  armor. If you have a low dexterity, the penalty makes 
  your armor less effective (lowering your AAC). 
  
   
  6
  Note that in the Quick Start, you can’t go lower than an 
  AAC of 10, even from a Dexterity penalty. 
   
  Example: Grog the Fighter starts off with an AAC of 
  10. He purchases ring armor (+3) and a shield (+1). His 
  AAC is now 14. If he has a high enough dexterity, he 
  could add +1 and have an AAC of 15! 
  Casting spells  
  So you're a mage and you want to cast your spell? It's 
  simple; you just tell the Game Referee when you want 
  to use the spell. After the spell is cast, he indicates if 
  the spell succeeds, or if you need to roll a dice to 
  determine its effect. If you cast a spell in combat, be 
  warned - if you get hit while you're casting your spell, 
  you won't be able to cast it! 
  Saving throw  
  Sometimes you may do something that requires you to 
  "save" against it to prevent something from happening 
  - like if you drink poison, or a diseased zombie bites 
  you, or a dragon breathes fire at you. Your saving 
  throw is listed with your class. 
  Conducting combat 
  At some point, characters are going to get into a fight 
  with monsters. At that point, tracking time shifts into 
  rounds. Combat is played in rounds which represents 
  about a minute of combat. Within a round, combat 
  happens as follows:  
  1. Declare spells – if magic users (either monsters or 
  characters) wish to cast spells, they must “declare” 
  their intent to cast spells. If their side loses initiative 
  and they are successfully attacked and hit, the magic 
  user cannot cast that spell – it is lost! 
  2. Determine initiative – roll a d6, highest result is the 
  winner). One roll is made for each side, not for each 
  individual. 
  3. The side with initiative acts first (casting spells, 
  attacking, etc.), and results take effect. 
  4. The side that lost initiative acts; results take effect. 
  5. Anyone who “held” initiative (waited to see what 
  happened first) acts, and results take effect (both sides 
  simultaneously). 
  6. The round is complete; roll initiative for the next 
  round if the battle has not been resolved. 
  If the initiative rolls are a tie, then everything happens 
  at the same time – so if a monster or character is killed, 
  it can attack before being removed from the game. 
  Within a round, a character can do one thing: move, 
  attack, pick something up, cast a spell, etc. A Game 
  Referee may allow some flexibility to that rule, if the 
  player explains something that they wish to do and it 
  makes sense to the Game Referee.  
  Surprise 
  Before combat ensues, the Game Referee determines if 
  one side or the other has surprise. This is resolved by a 
  dice roll from a player to represent the side of the 
  characters and the Game Referee for all the monsters. 
  If the player rolls a 1 or 2, the characters have surprised 
  the monsters. If the Game Referee rolls a 1 or 2, the 
  monsters have surprised the characters. It is possible 
  for each side to surprise the other. 
  If just one side has surprise, they may perform combat 
  actions, where the other side may not. If neither or both 
  sides have surprise, combat is performed as normal. 
  If one side or the other was doing something to attempt 
  to get surprise, bonuses (or penalties) may affect the 
  surprise roll. This depends on many factors – was the 
  party quiet or did they just bash down the door? Was 
  one side occupied with something? In some cases (like 
  the party hacking at a door), the Game Referee can rule 
  that no surprise is possible. 
  Attack roll  
  If you are going to attack a monster with a sword or 
  bow, you need to make an attack roll. You roll the 
  twenty-sided dice (d20) and tell the Game Referee 
  what the dice shows. If you have a high enough 
  Strength (for melee, hand to hand combat) or Dexterity 
  (for bows, slings and crossbows), you might get a 
  bonus to your attack roll. There may be other bonuses 
  or penalties that apply to your roll. 
  When characters attack monsters, use the following 
  chart to see if the character hits. Look at the monster’s 
  AAC (Armor Class) column and the level of the 
  character (which for the Quick Start is always Level 1); 
  the number shown at the intersection is the number 
  they must get (or higher) on a d20 to successfully hit a 
  monster. This is true for both missile attacks and melee 
  attacks.  
  Player To Hit Chart 
   
  Monster Armor Class  
   
  10 
  11 
  12 
  13 
  14 
  15 
  16 
  17 
  18 
  19 
  20 
  Level 
  Attack Roll (d20) Required to hit  
  1 
  10 
  11 
  12 
  13 
  14 
  15 
  16 
  17 
  18 
  19 
  20 
   
  When monsters attack characters, use these charts to 
  see if they hit. Look at the character’s AAC (Armor 
  Class) column and the level of the monster (their Hit 
  
   
    
  7
  Dice) row; the number shown at the intersection is the 
  number the monster must roll (or higher) on a d20 to 
  successfully hit the character. This is true for both 
  missile attacks and melee attacks. 
  For monsters that have a Hit Dice such as 1+1, use the 
  next level up – so a 1+1 HD monster attacks as a 
  monster with 2 HD. 
  Monster To Hit Chart 
   
  Character Armor Class  
   
  10 
  11 
  12 
  13 
  14 
  15 
  16 
  17 
  18 
  19 
  20 
  Hit 
  Dice 
  Attack Roll (d20) Required to hit  
  < 1 
  10 
  11 
  12 
  13 
  14 
  15 
  16 
  17 
  18 
  19 
  20 
  1 
  9 
  10 
  11 
  12 
  13 
  14 
  15 
  16 
  17 
  18 
  19 
  2 
  8 
  9 
  10 
  11 
  12 
  13 
  14 
  15 
  16 
  17 
  18 
  3 
  7 
  8 
  9 
  10 
  11 
  12 
  13 
  14 
  15 
  16 
  17 
   
  Example – Artug, the first level warrior, swings his 
  hand axe at the head of an orc. Artug’s player rolls a 
  15. The orc has an AAC of 13 – which means Artug 
  equaled or exceeded the needed roll of 13. He hit! He 
  can now roll a d6 to determine damage. 
  Sometimes, what a person does, or where they are at, 
  may affect their attack. If an attacker attacks someone 
  from behind, they get a +2 to hit. If someone is 
  knocked over, attackers get a +4 to hit. If someone is 
  invisible, attackers get a -4 penalty to hit. If someone 
  runs away, any opponents near them may get a free 
  attack (up to the Game Referee to decide). 
  Missile Weapons 
  Some missile weapons let you fire more than once per 
  turn. Check the Missile Weapons chart for the Rate, 
  which is the number of times you may fire per turn. 
  Missile weapons also have a range increment. Targets 
  within the range increment have no penalty to hit. 
  Targets outside of range suffer penalties based on how 
  far away they are. 
  Example: A short bow has a range of 50 feet. A target 
  that is 75 feet away (within double the range 
  increment) suffers a -2 penalty on the to hit roll. A 
  target that is 120 feet away (within triple the range 
  increment) suffers a -4 penalty to hit. 
  Damage roll  
  If you hit, you get to roll damage! Most weapons use 
  the d6, some use the d4, and a rare few use the d8 or 
  d10! If you have a high enough Strength and you hit 
  using a melee weapon, you can add your bonus (or 
  apply your penalty) to the damage. 
  Damage and death 
  When a character (or creature) is hit, the amount of 
  damage is deducted from his hit points. When hit 
  points reach 0, the character is unconscious. The 
  character actually dies if he reaches -1 (for first level 
  characters). 
  Turning undead 
  Clerics have the ability to turn undead, causing them to 
  flee or even destroying them outright, when the cleric 
  is powerful enough. To turn undead, the cleric presents 
  their holy symbol at the undead, as their action for their 
  turn during a combat round. When a turning attempt is 
  made, a d20 should be rolled. Depending on the type of 
  undead the character is facing, if they roll higher than 
  the number shown on the chart, then all of the undead 
  flee from the cleric for 3d6 combat rounds. 
  Undead HD 
  Examples 
  Roll Needed 
  1 
  Skeleton 
  10 
  2 
  Zombie 
  13 
  3 
  Ghoul 
  16 
  4 
  Shadow 
  19 
  5 
  Wight 
  20 
   
   
   
  This ends the Player Quick Start section. The 
  following section is for the Game Referee only, as it 
  contains the secrets of “The Dungeon of Akban” Quick 
  Start Adventure that your characters will be bravely 
  venturing into. The Game Referee shares with you all 
  the details you need to know to play in the adventure. 
  
   
  8
  Game Referee Quick 
  Start 
  Overview 
  This section is for you, the person who guides the 
  players through a Swords & Wizardry game. This 
  section covers the basics of refereeing a game and 
  includes the Quick Start Adventure – “The Dungeon of 
  Akban”. We encourage you to take a quick look 
  through the guide and dungeon before playing, but be 
  sure to note that the rules aren’t that complicated – you 
  can quickly get started playing! 
  Game referee basics 
  Running a game of Swords & Wizardry is a lot easier 
  than running most other role-playing games, simply 
  because there aren’t many rules, and your discretion 
  overrides them anyway. Most situations are handled by 
  making “common sense” decisions about what would 
  happen next. If there are a bunch of zombies around the 
  next corner, and the players decide to not go around 
  that corner, it’s up to the Game Referee to determine 
  whether or not it makes sense for the zombies to come 
  out and attack—or whether their orders are simply to 
  stay where they are. If a player decides that his 
  character is going to jump through a wall of fire with 
  several bottles of flammable oil in his backpack, it’s up 
  to the Game Referee to determine whether or not they 
  explode.  
  This means you might find yourself “making up” stuff 
  on the spot. It might seem overwhelming, but with a 
  little practice, and just remembering to be fair to both 
  players and monsters, Swords & Wizardry’s small rule-
  set frees up your creativity to create a fantasy role-
  playing experience completely different from the type 
  of game that depends on a multitude of rules. 
  Running a dungeon adventure 
  The “adventure” is just the setting for the game, 
  usually a map and notes about certain locations on the 
  map. As the players tell you where their characters go 
  and what they do, you use the map and your notes to 
  describe what happens as a result. Don’t try to plan for 
  all contingencies—it’s guaranteed that the players will 
  do something unexpected during the adventure, and 
  you’ll just have to run with it, thinking  
   
   
   
  on your feet and making up new things as you go. Just 
  as you challenge the players with the adventure, they’ll 
  challenge you to keep up with their collective 
  creativity. 
  The traditional dungeon is a vast labyrinth of 
  underground tunnels, rooms, corridors, and chambers, 
  extending many levels down beneath the surface. It 
  might contain subterranean lakes, rivers, chasms, and 
  cave-ins, and it is certain to contain traps for the 
  unwary, monsters in their multitudes, and most 
  importantly: treasure beyond the wildest dreams of the 
  players. However, a “dungeon” or adventure can be 
  anything or anyplace you imagine – a ruined temple, a 
  half-sunken sailing ship, a floating castle, or a 
  mysterious spaceship. 
  The Quick Start Adventure provided is meant to 
  highlight some common themes you might encounter 
  in a dungeon as a Game Referee for Swords & 
  Wizardry. There are quite a few tips and tricks to be 
  found in it. 
  The following are few rules of thumb for running a 
  dungeon adventure; they are guidelines for the average 
  or normal situation and can be altered to fit the 
  circumstances. 
  Time 
  You need to track time that characters spend in the 
  dungeon. Time is easy to gauge during a game; you 
  either track time in “turns” (normal activities) or 
  “rounds” (combat rounds). A turn equates to 10 
  minutes in game time, and a round is 1 minute in game 
  time. 
  The easiest way to measure a turn is to keep a rough 
  idea of how far the characters have traveled based on 
  the movement rate of the slowest person – usually the 
  person wearing the heaviest armor or carrying the most 
  stuff. If you look at the Armor Chart, you’ll see the 
  movement rates for the armor that someone is wearing. 
  Characters may also spend time doing things like 
  searching for secret doors, looking for treasure, 
  disabling a trap. A good rule of thumb is to make each 
  action take a turn to perform.  
  Sometimes, some spell effects, diseases, poisons or 
  other circumstances are measured in turns. You just 
  need to keep track of these effects and how long they 
  last. 
  
   
    
  9
  Listening at doors 
  Listening at a door has a 1 in 6 chance of success for 
  humans; non-human characters most likely have better 
  hearing than humans and can hear noises with a 2 in 6 
  chance of success. 
  Opening doors 
  Stuck doors (and many doors in an ancient dungeon 
  may be stuck closed) have only a 2 in 6 chance of 
  opening on the first try. Smashing through a door with 
  (up to 3) characters gives each character a normal 
  chance of success, but they spill into the room and 
  should automatically lose initiative if there are 
  monsters within. 
   
  Secret doors 
  Secret doors are not spotted by chance while passing 
  by; they must be searched for. Searching for a secret 
  door takes a turn (10 minutes of game time) for a 10 ft 
  segment of wall. Humans and Dwarves have a 2 in 6 
  chance to find a secret door while searching, and Elves 
  have a 4 in 6 chance. 
  Traps and pits 
  Anyone passing over or through the trigger for a trap 
  has a 2 in 6 chance to spring the trap. It is suggested 
  (but not required) that for traps involving a stone 
  trigger (such as a pressure plate) or a hole or gap in 
  stonework (such as a falling block or an arrow-hole), 
  that a dwarf has a 1 in 6 chance to notice the features of 
  a trap before passing over/through it, as long as he is 
  moving at a careful speed; and that he has a 3 in 6 
  chance to notice features of a trap when he is searching 
  (one turn per ten-foot square of wall or floor). 
  Identifying the features of a trap does not tell the dwarf 
  how to disarm the trap (although in some cases the 
  disarming mechanism might be obvious once the trap’s 
  visible features are identified). 
  Morale 
  Certain monsters, such as mindless or undead 
  creatures, are fearless and always fight to the death. 
  The majority of intelligent monsters usually do not 
  continue to fight a hopeless battle. If the battle goes 
  against them, they seek to retreat, surrender or flee. 
  The Game Referee decides when monsters abandon the 
  battle and retreat, based on the situation and the 
  monster’s intelligence. Keep in mind that the party’s 
  own NPC allies might decide to flee if their prospects 
  of survival look grim. 
  Common game referee questions  
  What if a character dies? 
  When a player’s character dies, you have a few 
  options: 
  1. Have the person create a new character right there on 
  the spot, and have him/her join the party in the 
  dungeon – no explanation needed. Tada! The new 
  person appears.  
  2. Have the person create a new character, but put them 
  in an appropriate spot in the dungeon near where the 
  players are. If the players are close to Room #18, for 
  example, make the new character one of the prisoners. 
  If it makes sense, have the person a “prisoner” of the 
  goblins, or perhaps stuck in Room #20, trapped by the 
  wind. You might have to ad-lib a bit, but it’s far better 
  than letting someone just sit out the game. 
  3. If the players have freed the prisoners from Room 
  #18 and they are hirelings of the party now, have the 
  player’s new character replace one of the prisoners. 
  4. If the players are planning on “going back to town”, 
  you can have the new character waiting to join the 
  characters in their adventures. 
  What if all the characters die? 
  Sometimes, the worst possible outcome can happen – 
  all of the characters die. A “Total Party Kill” (TPK) is 
  hard for a Game Referee to watch happen, but it does 
  happen – even to the best and most experienced of 
  Game Referees and players.  
  Just like checkers, chess, Monopoly or even video 
  games, sometimes the bad guys win. The dice rolls 
  may have been bad for the players and good for the 
  monsters. Maybe the players made some tragic 
  mistakes. Maybe the Game Referee made a mistake. It 
  might seem like the fun just got sucked out of the 
  
   
  10
  game, and it might be a good time to take a break and 
  try again another day. The best thing to do is realize 
  that this is just a game. At the end of the day, the 
  “game” is just that – players and Game Referees can 
  learn from what happened and maybe keep it from 
  happening next time – just like you learn when playing 
  sports or other games. 
  The neat thing is that you can make this an awesome 
  intro into a follow-up game – a band of adventurers 
  hasn’t been seen – perhaps a rescue mission or to 
  investigate what happened?  
  What if the players want to do something 
  crazy in combat? 
  One of the best things about Swords & Wizardry is the 
  flexibility players have in doing something. Perhaps 
  the players want to use a rope and lasso a monster to 
  restrain him. Perhaps one of the players wants to do a 
  flying tackle. Maybe one of the players wants to fill a 
  barrel full of oil and send it careening into the room to 
  try and burn everything inside. 
  The best guide is to look at the action described and see 
  if it seems likely to succeed. If so, the easiest thing is to 
  say “Yes!” and let them do it. If you want to inject a bit 
  of randomness into the action (maybe it will work, 
  maybe it won’t), then you can make the players do 
  something like: 
  - An attack roll. If the players are trying to hit 
  something, use the hit tables and ask the players to roll.  
  - An attribute check. As mentioned in Room #20 of the 
  dungeon, sometimes there is a chance the players might 
  not be physically or mentally capable of doing 
  something – have them perform an attribute check to 
  see if they succeed. 
  - If all else fails, see “What if I’m not sure what to do” 
  What if a mage casts a spell out of 
  combat? 
  Sometimes a mage may want to cast a spell out of 
  combat. There’s nothing special to worry about, just 
  keep track of the duration of the spell and have the 
  player roll if the spell description calls for it. Note that 
  spells that are attacks in nature don’t really do much 
  outside of combat, unless the mage just wants to cast 
  his Magic Missile at something (maybe he wants to try 
  and burn down the door?) 
  What if I’m not sure what to do? 
  There might be times when you’re just not sure what to 
  do – perhaps the players want to do something and 
  nothing that we’ve covered in this Quick Start gives 
  you an idea – or maybe you just don’t know what 
  would happen.  
  This is not a bad thing and it’s one of the things that 
  sometimes makes being the Game Referee a lot of fun 
  – you can make it up! It’s been mentioned before, but 
  it’s worth repeating – if it makes sense that what the 
  players want to do would succeed, then say “Yes!” If 
  there’s doubt to the outcome, or failure would be just 
  as interesting as success, then have them roll a six-
  sided die and consult the following chart: 
   
  Action is… 
  Player must roll 
  Nearly Impossible 
  1 
  Difficult 
  1-2 
  50/50 chance 
  1-3 
  Not Too Hard 
  1-4 
  Very likely 
  1-5 
   
  Just remember, there is no real “right” or “wrong” in 
  Swords & Wizardry. As the Game Referee, your 
  biggest responsibility is to play a fair and fun game 
  with your friends who are playing the characters.  
  What if players want to go back to “town” 
  when playing “The Dungeon of Akban”? 
  As you’ll read in the adventure intro, the Game Referee 
  can assume there’s a small village near the dungeon. 
  We’ve left it purposefully vague as you might want to 
  include this dungeon in future adventures in a world of 
  your own choosing.  
  If the players want to go back to town, perhaps to buy 
  more things, or perhaps to get some help (hirelings) in 
  the dungeon, let them. They can always return to the 
  dungeon and continue their adventures. In fact, Swords 
  & Wizardry is set up so that players have to manage 
  resources like their own hit points, light sources (like 
  torches and lanterns) and perhaps hirelings.  
  If the players go back to town to get hirelings, good 
  fighters can be hired for 25gp for the adventure. Use 
  the statistics given in Room #18 of the Dungeon for the 
  hirelings in combat. Mediocre or poor hirelings can be 
  employed for 10gp for the adventure, but they have 2 
  hit points instead of 4. 
  
   
    
  11
  Quick Start Adventure – The Dungeon of Akban 
  This dungeon is written as an introduction into refereeing a game of Swords & Wizardry. There are examples of many 
  common types of encounters and situations. Each numbered area on the map has a detailed explanation given that will 
  help you with each room and situation. There are helpful hints and “How Tos” that are shown in the grey boxes to help 
  you referee particular parts of the game. 
  To play this adventure, have your players (2 to 4 are recommended) create their characters using the Players Quick 
  Start. You should review the descriptions and text of this dungeon while they do so, and then begin play! 
   
  Introducing the Adventure 
  To make it easy, the adventure starts at the top of a set 
  of spiral stairs descending into the darkness below 
  (look for the stairs symbol in Room #1). Nearby is a 
  small village where the characters can return to if they 
  need to purchase more equipment or find new 
  adventurers to come with them!  
  Starting the adventure has been left purposefully vague 
  so you can reuse this adventure or dungeon later on 
  when you start playing the full version of Swords & 
  Wizardry. 
  If the players want to have a reason for exploring the 
  dungeon, here are some example reasons. This might 
  be a good chance to have the players come up with 
  their own! 
  1. Goblins have been seen skulking on the outskirts of 
  town. Tracks lead to this mysterious staircase, but 
  nobody else wants to go in. 
  2. Several townsfolk have disappeared in the past few 
  days. This staircase was just discovered in the search 
  for the missing. 
  3. Legends tell of a great treasure hidden at the bottom 
  of this mysterious set of stairs, but nobody has ever 
  been brave enough to enter into the darkness within. 
  1. Entry Room: A double line of columns runs from 
  north to south in this room. There is a massive statue at 
  the southern end of the room, a fat creature with a 
  horned head holding a massive bowl in which fires 
  burn mysteriously without any visible source of fuel. 
  The fire pit can be used to light torches.
  
   
  12
   
  Listening: The players may wish to listen at the doors 
  to see if they hear anything. Each should roll a d6; if a 
  human based character rolls a 1, a dwarf character rolls 
  a 1 or 2, or an elf character rolls a 1 through 4, then 
  look at the key for what’s behind the door and describe 
  what they might hear: for #2, perhaps some scuttling 
  and clicking, for #14, they’ll hear nothing but silence. 
  For other rooms, take a look at what is in the room – if 
  you think the monsters inside would be making noise, 
  then let the players know what they might hear. 
  Remember that listening through doors is similar to 
  listening through a wall – noises are muffled and hard 
  to interpret. 
  2. Spider Room: This room is filled with thick 
  cobwebs. The room is rather tall, with the ceiling 30 
  feet above the floor. A body lies in the corner, which 
  are the remains of an unlucky goblin drained of its 
  blood and juices. There are small bits of equipment and 
  a skeleton (not an undead skeleton) lying in the middle 
  of the room. A Giant Spider lurks above, waiting for 
  victims to enter the room and investigate. A Giant 
  Spider surprises the characters on a roll of 1 to 5, 
  instead of 1 to 2. The Giant Spider is never surprised, 
  although you can let the players roll anyway. The Giant 
  Spider has an Ascending Armor Class of 11. It has a 
  Hit Dice of 1+1 and has hit points of 7. It attacks by 
  biting, which causes 1 hit point of damage, but also has 
  poison. Characters must make a Saving Throw (give 
  them a +2 bonus since the poison is weak) or they die.  
  Spider’s poison: When the Giant Spider hits, there’s 
  the possibility that its poison bite may affect a 
  character! The player should roll a d20 Saving Throw. 
  You add 2 to the value shown on the dice (since the 
  poison is weak) and compare the total to their saving 
  throw value (given during character generation): 
  Cleric 
  14 
  Fighter (1) 
  16 
  Magic User (2)  
  15 
   (1) Use this value for Dwarfs and for Elves when they are 
  playing as Fighters. 
  (2) Also use this value for Elves who are playing as Magic 
  Users. 
  If the player rolls under the needed roll, they’ve missed 
  their saving throw and unfortunately die from the 
  poison.   
  Checking around on the floor may reveal some sort of 
  treasure (from past victims, most likely). Roll 1d6: 1–3 
  = no treasure; 4–5 = 1d10 gp (roll a ten-sided dice to 
  see how many coins there are); 6 = 3d6 gp (roll 3 six-
  sided dice to see how many coins there are.) 
  3. Empty room: The only thing in the room is a 
  broken helmet (useless and worthless). The ceiling of 
  the room is damp, and drips. 
  4. Empty room: The ceiling in this room has a large 
  crack in it, and many roots dangle down through it into 
  the room. 
  Secret Doors 
  Note that there’s a secret door in the south wall. Roll 
  1d6 for each character to notice the door if they are 
  searching the room and/or inspecting the walls; Elves 
  and Humans have a 1 in 6 chance, and Dwarves have a 
  2 in 6 chance to notice.  
   
  5. Goblin Room: 8 goblins make their lair here, with 
  dirty bedrolls, a small fire and a couple of sacks of 
  moldy food. They have treasure of 200gp in gold coins 
  total amongst them. 
  Treasure 
  Most often, players expect treasure to be in the form of 
  coins, but sometimes, treasure may be the weapons that 
  the monsters have, the jewelry the monsters are 
  wearing or the items they have hidden away. You may 
  decide that these goblins don’t have 200 gold coins, but 
  rather 100 gold coins, and two of them carry 2 
  beautiful gems worth 50 gold pieces each. Don’t be 
  afraid to mix things up and make it interesting for the 
  players! 
   
  The goblins have an AAC of 12. Their HD are 1d6 (< 
  1HD). Their hit points are:  1, 2, 3, 3, 3, 4, 4, 6. 
  Goblins do 1d6 damage if their attacks are successful. 
  They fight with their short swords. 
  Morale 
  You may choose to play goblins as cowardly beings. If 
  a few goblins die, you might decide that the rest flee 
  the party. The party may give chase or they may let the 
  goblins go. This gives you a perfect opportunity to 
  have something happen that isn’t already written up – 
  perhaps the goblins move their lair to an empty room? 
  Maybe they’ll follow the characters and ambush them?  
  Maybe they’ll run to their goblin friends in room #9 
  and tell them that a nasty group of adventurers are in 
  the dungeon – which may mean the goblins are on the 
  lookout for the characters! 
   
  6. Stairs Down: This room is empty, but the wind 
  drafts between levels create a strange whistling noise. 
  There is a secret door in the west wall. See the note in 
  Room 4 about how to deal with secret doors. 
  
   
    
  13
   
  What happens if the players want to go down the 
  stairs? 
  You have a couple of options available to you. One, 
  you can quickly sketch out a random dungeon based on 
  ideas that you see here and play by the seat of your 
  pants. Two, you could put up some door or obstruction 
  that the characters can’t get through until they’ve found 
  a way through by exploring the first level (like a key). 
  This gives you time to find another dungeon level or 
  draw/fill one out. 
   
  7. Pit Trap: A section of the floor gives way, 
  plummeting the unlucky down ten feet into a wet, 
  rocky pit. 
  Traps 
  Each character passing over or through the trigger for a 
  trap has a 2 in 6 chance to spring the trap. You would 
  roll 1d6 for each person passing over the trap and if 
  you got a 1 or 2, the trap activates! If the players are 
  using things like poles or spears to poke ahead of them, 
  roll to see if the poking springs the trap first before 
  rolling for the person. Sometimes, an obvious trap can 
  be seen and avoided – that’s up to you if that makes 
  sense! 
  If a person falls ten feet, they suffer 1d6 damage. This 
  is a good time to suggest that players seek for traps to 
  avoid dying! 
   
  8. Mushroom room: This room has a deep, earthy 
  smell with a muddy, dirt floor. Moisture drips from the 
  severely cracked ceiling. The nature of the room has 
  allowed a wild variety of strange mushrooms to grow. 
  If players choose to eat mushrooms, roll a d8 to 
  determine the effects:  
  1. Nothing 
  2. Paralysis for 1 hour (character can avoid by making 
  a successful saving throw) 
  3. Sleep for 1 hour (character can avoid by making a 
  successful saving throw) 
  4. Confused for 1 hour (character can avoid by making 
  a successful saving throw) 
  5. Heals 1d4 damage 
  6. Poisons for 1d4 damage (character can avoid by 
  making a successful saving throw) 
  7. Ill/unable to fight for 1 hour (character can avoid by 
  making a successful saving throw) 
  8. Physical Change: something random and funny, but 
  not life-threatening changes on the character, like hair 
  color, warts or something else, for 1 day. 
  9. More Goblins: This small room is empty and has an 
  intact floor and ceiling. However, 4 goblins and a 
  goblin shaman cower in here, afraid of the statues in 
  Room #10. They want to pass through it to explore 
  beyond. There are secret doors in the south wall and in 
  the corridor just NW between this room and Room 
  #12. See the note in Room 4 about secret doors. 
  The goblins have an AAC of 12. Their HD are 1d6 (< 
  1HD). Their hit points are:  regular goblins: 2, 3, 5, 5; 
  the goblin shaman has 5 hp. Goblins do 1d6 damage if 
  their attacks are successful. These goblins are also 
  carrying short swords. The shaman has the ability to 
  cast two spells: Charm Person and Magic Missile. 
  Parley! 
  It is doubtful that these goblins want to automatically 
  fight, unless the goblins from Room #5 have fled here. 
  That is your decision as a GM and how you want to 
  play this adventure. If the goblins are cowardly and 
  already afraid of the statues, they may want to hire the 
  adventurers to check out the room. If they are tricky 
  and mean, they may try to fool the adventurers into 
  thinking they’ll help the characters in the “scary statue” 
  room, but instead, they’ll rob them first chance they 
  get. This is where you get to improvise a bit and make 
  up something that makes sense to you.  
   
  Monsters casting spells 
  Monsters can cast spells too, and those that do should 
  be played as intelligently as makes sense. If you are 
  playing goblins as cowards, perhaps the goblin shaman 
  attempts to charm the strongest character. If the goblins 
  are sneaky, they may want to charm or kill the person 
  with the most treasure. In either case, remember that 
  monsters must obey the same rules for casting spells as 
  players – declaring that they are casting a spell in the 
  round they wish to, and if they are attacked 
  successfully, that spell no longer works. They also 
  can’t cast that spell again. 
   
  The shaman charms a character 
  If the goblin successfully charms a person, then that 
  person’s character “likes” the goblin shaman and wants 
  to be helpful – the shaman is the character’s best 
  friend! Don’t abuse this spell to where the players have 
  a horrible time, or the character would kill himself or 
  someone else in the party but also let the players 
  experience the fact that their character now is 
  ensorcelled. Generally, the charm person spell lasts 
  until the spell caster is dead or a few days have passed 
  (perform another saving throw.) 
  A reasonable approach, in this case, is that the goblin 
  shaman uses the charm to keep the characters from 
  attacking them, and get the characters to investigate 
  room #10. 
  
   
  14
   
  The goblin shaman has a small pouch filled with a 
  gooey substance that heals 1d3 hp of wounds – there is 
  enough goo for 3 applications. Between all the goblins, 
  they have 60gp. 
  10. Statuary: There is a statue in each “niche” of this 
  large room, for a total of 6 statues. The statues are of 
  various humans in armor or fancy clothing. These 
  statues have glowing eyes that move and watch as 
  creatures and adventurers move through the room.  
  Interactive scenery 
  These statues love to talk. As the Game Referee, you 
  get to improvise on what they’ll say and when they’ll 
  speak. Perhaps they’re sarcastic and witty. Perhaps 
  they’re mysterious. If the characters are kind to them, 
  you could have the statues give them hints as to what 
  lies elsewhere. You can just as easily make them into 
  tricksters. 
  If the characters attempt to remove the glowing eyes, 
  the eyes flash and cause 1d6 electrical damage. The 
  eyes are nothing more than colored glass. The statues 
  most likely have something to say about that! 
  One statue has a secret panel with 6 gems worth 50gp 
  each inside. The door from Room #10 to Room #11 is 
  accessible behind one of the statues, but only one 
  person can get through at a time. 
  11. Giant Rats nest: This room is filled with noisome 
  trash and debris piled into the corners. There are a 
  myriad of small (roughly dog/cat sized) holes in the 
  walls and the door leading to Room #12 is clawed and 
  chewed in many spots, barely hanging on its hinges. 
  The room contains 8 Giant Rats. These rats have come 
  from the dungeon to eat what was formerly contained 
  in Room #12, and have made their lair here. They’ve 
  picked up bits of debris throughout the dungeon and 
  left it in their nests. 
  The rats are cautious at first and flee any who enter, but 
  as soon as the party nears the door to Room #12, they 
  attack to protect their food supply.  
  The Giant Rats have an AAC of 12 and a HD of 1/2. 
  Their hit points are: 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3, 3. Rats bite for 
  1d3 of damage and can cause disease with their bite 
  5% of the time. 
  1d3? 
  You may wonder how you could roll a 1d3. Unless you 
  happen to have dice with 3 sides, the easiest way is to 
  roll a d6 and divide the result by 2, rounding up (1-2 
  would be 1, 3-4 would be 2 and 5-6 would be 3). 
   
  Rats and disease 
  Giant rats can cause disease 5% of the time they bite 
  someone. The easiest way to determine this is to roll a 
  d20. If you roll a 1, the victim is diseased.  
  The nature of the disease is up to you, but here are 
  some suggestions (use one or a combination that suits 
  you): 
  - Victim is sick for 1d6 hours; all dice rolls have a 
  penalty of 1. 
  - Victim is sick for 1d6 hours and can move at half 
  speed and attack only every other round. 
  - Victim doesn’t notice any unusual symptoms, but you 
  describe how they begin to feel sick the further they 
  play – by the end of 1d4 days, they are unable to do 
  anything and in 1d6 days, they die (Use a saving throw 
  for this possibility) 
   
  Something to think about 
  If you want to make this room more challenging, have 
  one or two rats show up every so often during the 
  combat – to generate hit points for the new rats, roll a 
  d4 for each new rat. Alternatively, you could refill the 
  room with rats after the characters leave; forcing them 
  to refight their way through when they return to the 
  room. 
  12. Barrels and Crates: This room has the appearance 
  of a storage room that was hit by a tornado. Crates and 
  barrels lie smashed, clawed and scattered throughout 
  the room. The smell of rotted food and rat dung is 
  overpowering. 
  13. Marcus’s End: A small room with a thick door 
  that is difficult to open. Each person attempting to open 
  it must roll a 1 or 2 on a 1d6.  
  Inside is a man who is really a wererat. His name is 
  Marcus and he is trying to resist his nature as a wererat, 
  but he is not doing well with that. Every so often, he 
  changes and joins with the giant rats in Room #11. 
  At first, Marcus is pleasant to the characters, more 
  concerned if they are going to rob or kill him. 
  However, the longer the characters stay with Marcus, 
  or if they are unfriendly, he snaps from the pressure 
  and begin to change into wererat form and attack. 
  As a wererat, Marcus’s AAC is 13. His Hit Dice are 3 
  and his hit points are 10. He attacks two times a round, 
  a bite and a claw. The bite causes 1d3 damage and the 
  claw does 1d6 damage. If a character hits Marcus with 
  a silver weapon, the attack does double damage to 
  Marcus when he is in wererat form. 
  
   
    
  15
  Marcus can summon Giant Rats from Room #11 (even 
  if the characters already killed all of the rats) when in 
  wererat form by spending a combat round squeaking 
  instead of attacking. This summons 1d6 rats from the 
  room. It’s up to you as the Game Master to decide if 
  and when he’ll do this – the characters may have their 
  hands full with just the wererat alone! Perhaps Marcus 
  does so when he drops below 5 hit points? For the 
  summoned Giant Rats, use the stats from Room #11.  
  Attacking as a wererat 
  Marcus may not have many hit points, but his two 
  attacks per round, plus the possibility of causing 
  lycanthropy make him a fearsome foe for 1st level 
  characters. 
  Each attack is rolled individually, so he gets to roll 
  twice to hit. You need to note which attack is being 
  done, so you know which damage to roll if he hits. 
  If a person loses more than half of the hits points they 
  started with when entering combat with Marcus, they 
  contract 
  the 
  disease 
  of 
  lycanthropy. 
  Example: 
  Wulfgard normally has 6hp but he enters the fight with 
  Marcus with 5hp. Marcus bites him for 3 points of 
  damage. Ouch! Now Wulfgard has lycanthropy. 
  There are no hard and fast rules for how lycanthropy 
  works. For games involving this Quick Start, here are a 
  couple of suggested options: 
  - The character runs the risk of turning into a wererat 
  (and becoming a monster instead of a character) in 
  each combat situation after they become infected. Roll 
  a d20: if you roll a 1 or 2, they turn and are considered 
  “dead”. 
  - The character is sickened with the effects, and suffers 
  penalties to any rolls. They are unable to attack any 
  Giant Rats. 
   
  Marcus has a small sack stashed away in the corner of 
  his room that contains a small golden statuette of a 
  strange god – this is worth 150gp. It also has 80 gp in 
  coins. 
  14. Trapped: This room is empty. As soon as someone 
  passes through the archway in the corridor between 
  Rooms #14 and #15, the portcullis in the east wall 
  opening slams down. It is a thick, heavy gate that 
  requires a combined strength of 40 to attempt to lift.   
  Lifting the Portcullis 
  Two or three characters with combined strength of 40 
  (add their Strength attribute scores together) are 
  required to attempt to lift the portcullis – no more than 
  3 people can fit into the 10 foot area in front of it. If 
  they are strong enough, roll a d6 dice. If you roll a 1 or 
  2, they succeed! 
  Instead of telling the players the mechanics involved, 
  make it into a puzzle for them. If the lifters don’t have 
  the required strength, perhaps describe how it appears 
  that it takes “very strong adventurers” to lift it and how 
  the “gate doesn’t budge”.  
  If they have the required strength, but they don’t make 
  the roll, you can describe how the gate starts to move, 
  but doesn’t lift very much.  
  The point is to give the players clues so they solve the 
  puzzle based on what they do, not on them knowing the 
  exact numbers and the rolls needed.  
  Something to think about 
  If you want to make this room extra challenging, you 
  could have the skeletons from Room #15 attack the 
  characters while they are trying to lift the gate. That 
  can present some interesting options and challenges for 
  them, especially if they haven’t explored any other part 
  of the dungeon and don’t know the other routes back to 
  the exit. 
  15. Guardians: This room is empty, save for 6 
  skeleton guardians in various spots around the room or 
  along the wall. The skeleton guardians are all armed 
  with swords and shields with a green circle standard.  
  These skeletons have an Ascending Armor Class of 12. 
  Their Hit Dice is 1 and their hit points are: 2,3,4,6,6,6. 
  They attack with swords that cause 1d6 damage.  A 
  cleric of any faith or alignment can attempt to turn 
  these skeletons.  
  Something to think about 
  Sometimes, Swords & Wizardry is played where the 
  skeletons’ bony structure is easier to destroy with 
  “blunt” weapons like maces and clubs, instead of 
  stabbing spears, swords and arrows. If you like this 
  idea, you can cut the damage that edged weapons cause 
  in half, and describe to the players how the swords and 
  spears seem to get caught and slide around in the 
  bones, where the clubs and maces are smashing the 
  bones to bits. 
  16. Gate Winch: This room is also empty, except for a 
  wooden winch in the wall in the SE niche. It lifts the 
  portcullis in Room #14. You can describe that the 
  characters hear a grinding, rattling sound in the walls if 
  they turn the winch. The door leading from Room #16 
  to Room #17 is locked and needs to be broken down or 
  opened by picking the lock. If players try to bash the 
  door down, they have a 2 in 6 chance each attempt of 
  smashing it open (1 or 2 on a d6 means success). 
  
   
  16
   
  How can someone pick a lock? 
  If you’ve played other fantasy RPGs, you might have 
  noticed that Swords & Wizardry doesn’t come with a 
  “thief” class, which you might associate with the skill 
  of lock picking. That doesn’t mean that a magic user, 
  or fighter or cleric isn’t able to do so. If they attempt to 
  jimmy or break the lock, ask them how they may do it. 
  If they ask you what the lock looks like, you can 
  describe it anyway you like – perhaps it’s a skeleton 
  keyhole, or some sort of elaborate mechanism. Have 
  the players describe how they might go about it, and 
  have some fun making up the details. Give the players 
  a basic 1 in 6 chance of succeeding (roll a d6 and they 
  succeed on a 1) and if they do a good job of describing 
  what they’re doing, or they’re particularly inventive, 
  give them a 2 in 6 (roll a 1 or 2 on a d6) chance. 
  17. The Mistress’s Hideout: This is a tough 
  room/encounter. There are many dangers in this room, 
  so you might find that many different things can 
  happen. 
  The area behind the doorway is trapped with a 10’ pit 
  trap filled with sleeping gas. If the characters bash the 
  door down, the pit is not “armed”. If the characters 
  pick the lock or somehow open the door so that it 
  swings open, the trap is armed. There is a 2 in 6 chance 
  (roll 1 or 2 on a d6) that the trap opens for each person 
  stepping on it. 
  The room is a central area for a powerful cleric who 
  worships the Frog God. There are 2 goblins here with 
  her, and she has a contingent of 4 skeleton guardians 
  on watch.  
  The room has furnishings for the cleric to live and 
  worship here. There are beds and chests along the west 
  wall, a “throne” on the north wall and an altar to the 
  Frog God on the south wall.  
  The goblins have an Ascending Armor Class of 12. 
  Their HD are 1d6 (< 1HD). Their hit points are:  3,5. 
  Goblins do 1d6 damage if their attacks are successful. 
  They fight with their short swords. 
  The skeleton guardians are all armed with swords and 
  shields with a green circle standard. These skeletons 
  have an AAC of 12. Their Hit Dice is 1 and their hit 
  points are: 1,3,4,6. They attack with swords that cause 
  1d6 damage.  A cleric of any faith or alignment can 
  attempt to turn these skeletons.  
  The cleric is wearing chainmail armor, so she has an 
  Ascending Armor Class of 14. She is also a powerful 
  cleric at 3rd level, so she can cast spells! Her Hit Dice 
  are 3 and her hit points are 14. She knows the spells 
  Cause Light Wounds and Darkness. She is armed with 
  a light mace which does 1d4+1 damage (roll a d4 and 
  add 1 to the result.). She also carries a potion of cure 
  light wounds, as well as keys to the locked doors of 
  Room #17 and #18.  
  The Cause Light Wounds spell allows a cleric to touch 
  a person and cause them 1d6+1 damage. The Darkness 
  spell creates a circular area 120 feet in diameter that is 
  completely pitch black. Torches, candles, even an elf’s 
  darkvision doesn’t penetrate this area. 
  How does the cleric fight? 
  It might seem intimidating with this powerful cleric 
  who has quite a few options. You can play her as very 
  confident and smart, getting her skeletons (and perhaps 
  the goblins) to attack the stronger characters first, 
  saving her spells only when the battle seems to go 
  against her. You can play her as crazy and evil, 
  charging into battle and raining death and destruction 
  among all.  
  If the cleric uses her Cause Light Wounds spell, you 
  have a choice of making the touch automatic (her target 
  has to be right next to her) or she has to successfully 
  roll a “to hit” to touch. If you make the touch 
  automatic, you might want to give the target a chance 
  to roll a saving throw to avoid the damage. 
  She might use the Darkness spell to retreat with, or 
  immediately to surprise the characters and give her an 
  advantage to set up an ambush. 
  Finally, the cleric has a potion of Cure Light Wounds 
  which heals 1d6 hit points when consumed. Don’t 
  forget that she might choose to use that potion and 
  attempt to get away through the secret door if the battle 
  goes poorly for her. Most villains want to live to 
  scheme another day! 
  The goblins have 10 gold pieces between them. One of 
  the skeletons has a fine shield which is actually worth 
  100gp due to the fine craftsmanship. The cleric has 
  several bits of treasure stashed in two chests: 
  Chest 1 – 3 gems worth 75gp each; a gold candelabrum 
  worth 100gp. 
  Chest 2 – A silver ceremonial dagger (can be used as a 
  weapon against the wererat in Room #13); a priest’s 
  silk vestments inlaid with gold worth 50gp. 
  Several rich tapestries hang on the wall, covering the 
  secret door in the east wall. They depict foul sacrifices 
  and evil acts of the Frog God. Each tapestry is 
  extremely heavy, and worth 100gp. One person can 
  carry only one tapestry and they can’t hold anything 
  else in their hand at the same time.  
  
   
    
  17
  Something to think about 
  Why are the cleric and the goblins in the same room? 
  Perhaps the goblins are working for the cleric and 
  exploring the dungeon for her. Perhaps the goblins 
  stumbled upon the skeleton guardians, then surrendered 
  and are now pleading for their lives. Perhaps the 
  goblins are negotiating with the cleric so they can 
  explore other areas. You can make this situation and 
  this encounter fit what you think would be a neat 
  scenario.  
  18. Prisoners: The door to this room is locked. It can 
  be opened by a key from the cleric in Room #17 or the 
  characters can try and break the door down. (2 in 6 
  chance – roll a d6 and a 1 or 2 indicates success) This 
  room has manacles and chains bolted to the floor, 
  several skeletal remains of previous prisoners and 4 
  weak adventurers (all human fighters) who were 
  imprisoned by the cleric. They have no equipment on 
  them and have been locked up for weeks with very 
  little to eat or drink. They are most grateful for the 
  party to free them. If given some equipment (perhaps 
  the shields and swords from previous vanquished 
  monsters?) they agree to accompany the characters.  
  If the fighters do agree to come with the party, their 
  AAC is 10 (unless given shields or armor from other 
  monsters – then use the charts in the Players Section to 
  determine their armor class). Each fighter has 4 hp. 
  They do damage based on the weapons they are given 
  – if they have no weapons, they can punch for 1d2 
  points of damage. (Roll a d4 and divide it in half) 
  Hirelings and friends 
  The players might be finding some of the combats 
  tough and they may have already had a character or 
  two die. Sometimes, characters need to bring along 
  friends or hirelings (think mercenaries or guards) to 
  help them with battles or exploring the dungeon.  
  This group of prisoners, if treated kindly, is happy to 
  help the characters and become hirelings for free – in 
  exchange for their freedom from the cleric! 
  Just because they have agreed to be extras doesn’t 
  mean that the players can use them as cannon fodder in 
  a non-caring way. If treated badly, or if they are too 
  frightened, hirelings can break morale and run away, 
  just like monsters may run away. Sending the hirelings 
  into an obviously bad situation may lead to some 
  interesting role playing as the hirelings may refuse, or 
  ask for larger payments! 
  19. The Fountain: The door to this room is magically 
  locked. There is a face on the door with an open mouth 
  whose lower lip is a small cup. If a character pours 
  some liquid into the cup, the door unlocks. They cannot 
  open the door by any other means, including 
  kicking/hacking it open. The door resists all efforts. 
  Inside is an extremely beautiful room with marble 
  floor, walls and ceiling. The room is lit by a soft blue 
  glow coming from the fountain. 
  The fountain itself is a series of floating balls that spout 
  water into a small 5 foot wide and 3 foot deep pool. 
  These balls rotate in a circle about 5 feet above the 
  pool. They do not touch each other or anything else. 
  They cannot be moved from their position above the 
  pool, although characters can touch them without any 
  trouble. 
  The power of the pool itself depends on the person who 
  drinks the water. The pool’s effects apply once to each 
  character in the party, and thereafter, the water is just 
  plain water to that person. If the characters take some 
  water from the pool, it loses its magical abilities.  
  For each person drinking, roll a 1d6 and consult the 
  table below, based on the character’s class. Dwarf 
  characters use the Fighter table. Elves use either the 
  Fighter table or Magic User table, depending on which 
  class they’ve chosen to adventure as. 
  Cleric 
  1. Is able to touch another character and heal them for 
  1d6 hit points, up to their max hit points. 
  2. Radiates light (bright enough to light up for 120’ 
  radius) for the rest of the day. Gains +2 to their roll 
  for turning undead. 
  3. Healed for 1d6 hit points, up to their max hit 
  points. 
  4. Poisoned for 1d3 (roll a 1d6 and divide in half) 
  5. Loses a bit of faith and suffers a -2 penalty for their 
  roll for turning undead. 
  6. Becomes “tainted” for 1d6 turns and attracts 
  attacks from all monsters – monsters prefer to 
  attack the cleric above all others. 
  Fighter 
  1. Gains 1d3 points of strength (not above 18), with 
  any bonuses applicable, for the rest of the day 
  2. Skin becomes tough and Armor Class is increased 
  by 1 for the rest of the day 
  3. Healed for 1d6 hit points, up to their max hit 
  points. 
  4. Poisoned for d3 (roll a d6 and divide in half) 
  5. Becomes sick and is unable to fight for an hour 
  6. Becomes afraid of any monsters for 1d6 turns – the 
  fighter attempts to run away in the opposite 
  direction of the monster(s) and does not attack. 
  
   
  18
  Magic User 
  1. Gains an extra random spell (choose by rolling a 
  1d10 and consulting the list of spells in the Players 
  Section.) 
  2. Regains any spells previously cast during the day. 
  If spell has not been cast, mage can cast it twice. 
  3. Healed for 1d6 hit points, up to their max hit 
  points. 
  4. Poisoned for 1d3 (roll a 1d6 and divide in half) 
  5. Forgets their memorized spell for an hour (6 turns) 
  6. Is transformed into some random animal for 1d6 
  turns (Game Referee gets to choose the animal). 
  The character retains hit points and Armor Class 
  for duration of spell, but cannot cast spells 
  20. Windy Room: This is an empty room, except for a 
  large mound of treasure on floor against the wall 
  opposite the door.  
  Upon entering this room, all torches are blown out, and 
  all lanterns are mysterious darkened, in the 10’ square 
  immediately in front of the door (either when entering 
  or exiting.) The door attempts to shut on its own. When 
  the door is shut, a fierce wind forces all the characters 
  away from the treasure and push them against either 
  the east or west wall. The wind seems to emanate from 
  the treasure. 
  The wind affects characters in different ways based on 
  their Strength: 
  Under 9 – Characters knocked off their feet. They are 
  unable to stand 
  9 to 12 – Characters are knocked off their feet. They 
  can make a Strength check to see if they can make it to 
  their feet, then make another Strength check to move. 
  If they fail any Strength check, they get knocked to the 
  floor again. 
  Above 12 – Characters can resist the wind, but must 
  make a Strength check to be able to move. 
  Making Ability Checks 
  For some actions where there’s a chance of failure, you 
  can use ability checks to see if the character succeeds. 
  An ability check involves the player rolling a 1d20 – if 
  the roll is lower or equal to the attribute value being 
  checked, the check is a success. 
  In the case of the Windy Room, trying to move against 
  the wind requires brute strength, so players must roll 
  less than or equal to their Strength attribute to be able 
  to stand and move. 
  Other ability checks may apply in other situations – if 
  someone is trying to climb a steep, difficult surface, 
  you might use a Dexterity check.  
   
  Don’t substitute ability checks for role-playing! If 
  someone is trying to talk a monster into surrendering, 
  don’t just make a Charisma check – have the player 
  really speak the words or give the gist of what they’re 
  trying to say. Save ability checks for those situations 
  where role-playing and/or player/GM discussion won’t 
  necessarily resolve the situation (like fighting the wind 
  in the Windy Room) or situations where success/failure 
  is a very random outcome. 
  If any character makes it to the mound of treasure, the 
  mound disappears, leaving only a chest. Within the 
  small wooden chest is 64 gp, six thin silver bracelets 
  (50 gp each), 10 silver-tipped arrows (1 gp each), a 
  silver dagger (20 gp), a sack with Wolvesbane (repels 
  anyone with lycanthropy, including characters!), and 
  an ornate signet ring of silver depicting a wolf (100 
  gp). 
  21. Teleporter: As soon as anyone in the party walks 
  on one of the spaces marked 1 or 2, the whole party is 
  teleported to the other space (1 transports to 2, 2 
  transports to 1). The party does not notice that they’ve 
  been teleported – continue to describe what they see in 
  front of them as if they’ve been moving in the same 
  direction. If the characters keep moving forward, they 
  are not teleported again until they leave the room and 
  return to it. This does mean that the characters could 
  keep going back and forth if they return to this room 
  many times! 
  Astute players may notice the difference, especially if 
  you describe directions in “North, South, East, And 
  West” fashion, but if you use “Left, Right, In Front, 
  Behind” directions, it is very confusing at first.  
  Example of play for Room #21 
  Assume the characters are coming from Room #20 and 
  are facing west from the door to #20. 
  GM: “You see that the corridor goes about 20 feet and 
  then turns to the right.” 
  Player: “OK, we’ll go down the corridor and look 
  around the corner.” 
  GM: “You get to the corner, look to the right, and see 
  that the corridor goes straight another 20 feet and dead 
  ends. There is a side corridor to the left about 10 feet 
  down.” 
  Player: “We’ll go the left corridor and look, making 
  sure to use our 10 foot pole to check for traps.” (Smart 
  players!) 
  GM: (Noting that the characters have now teleported 
  from 1 to 2, continues to describe what the characters 
  see…) “You see that about 20 feet straight down that 
  corridor is a 4 way intersection. Straight forward, the 
  corridor continues out of the range of light from your 
  torch.” 
  
   
    
  19
  Player: “We’ll continue down, testing for traps…” 
  (Play continues with the characters actually heading 
  BACK to Room #20.) 
  (Note that this would play differently if you describe 
  things in terms of compass directions. You might 
  choose to change how you describe things, but players 
  may notice the difference. You could just continue to 
  describe in compass directions, leaving the players 
  slightly confused as to why directions have now 
  changed…) 
   
  22. Ant Room: This small room is the home of a nest 
  of giant ants, and the stone floor is broken up and 
  uneven from their burrowing. At any given time there 
  are 1d4 giant ants in the room, and there’s a 10% 
  chance one of them is a warrior ant.  
  To determine if one of the ants is a warrior ant, you roll 
  a d20. If the number is a 1 or 2, then one of the ants is a 
  warrior ant! 
  The giant ants have an Ascending Armor Class [AAC] 
  of 16. Their HD is 2 (for regular giant ants) and 3 (for 
  warrior ants). Hit points for up to 4 giant ants: 4, 10, 
  10, 12. (Meaning that if you roll for 2 ants, you can 
  have one have 4 hit points, the second has 10 hit 
  points) Hit points for the warrior ant: 16. When giant 
  ants (normal or warrior) succeed on a hit, their bite 
  does 1d6 damage.  
  If a warrior ant is present and successfully attacks the 
  player, their poison may inflict additional damage to 
  the player. If the character bitten fails their saving 
  throw is failed, the poison causes an extra 1d6 damage 
  to the normal 1d6 damage from the bite. If the saving 
  throw succeeds, only 1d4 points of damage is suffered. 
   
  Checking around on the floor may reveal some sort of 
  treasure from the ants tearing up the floor. Roll 1d6: 1–
  3 = no treasure; 4–5 = 1d10 gp (roll a ten-sided dice to 
  see how many coins there are); 6 = 3d6 gp (roll 3 six-
  sided dice to see how many coins there are.) 
  Do all monsters fight? 
  Some monsters are intelligent, some are not. Some do 
  not automatically attack characters, others do. A lot of 
  that depends on how YOU imagine how the monsters 
  might act. 
  In this case, if there are no warrior ants, you may 
  decide that the giant ants ignore the characters unless 
  the characters attack first. If there is a warrior ant, it 
  may attack to make the characters leave the room, but 
  not abandon its post. Those decisions are up to you and 
  how you want to play the ants. 
   
   
   
  
   
  20
  If you want to play again… 
  The adventure you begin here doesn’t have to stop. This Quick Start is meant for first level characters only 
  and the Quick Start Adventure. If you head over to http://swordsandwizardry.com, you’ll be able to download 
  a free copy of the full Swords & Wizardry Core rules, as well as get links to adventures, accessories and 
  other things to help you play your game. You can also purchase Swords & Wizardry through lulu.com and 
  have a paperback or hardcover version of the rules to take with you. 
  It’s my hope that you’ve enjoyed this Quick Start and that you’ll remember the ONLY REAL RULE of 
  Swords & Wizardry… 
  Have fun, and imagine the hell out of your game! 
  
   
   
  
   
  
   
  Open Game Content License 
   
  Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of the Open Game License Version 1.0a (OGL). 
  This entire work is designated as Open Game Content under the OGL, with the exception of : 
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  Some art is the creation of Steve Robertson and is product identity of Brave Halfling Publishing and is used by permission 
  Some art is courtesy of Karen’s Whimsey (http://karenswhimsy.com/public-domain-images/) and used with permission (public domain) 
   
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  2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this 
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  3. Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License. 
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  12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial 
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  13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the 
  breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License. 
  14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable. 
  15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
  Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. 
  System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, 
  Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. 
  Swords & Wizardry Core Rules, Copyright 2008, Matthew J. Finch 
  Cinder Player Handout:, Copyright 2009, Jeff Rients (http://jrients.blogspot.com ) – this quick start is based on ideas and approach from Jeff’s handout. 
  Swords & Wizardry Quick Start, Copyright 2009, Michael Shorten 
  END OF LICENSE 
  
   
   
  0e Reloaded 
   
   
   
  Swords & Wizardry is a fantasy role-playing game, an approximate re-
  creation of the Gygax-Arneson original fantasy role-playing game and 
  its several supplements as written in 1974.  
  This Quick Start book will get you started in a fantastic world of adventure and 
  danger. It contains everything you need to play: 
  � Character creation 
  � Play and combat rules 
  � Game Referee Guidance 
  � A complete adventure – The Dungeon of Akban 
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Swords & Wizardry (osr) [multi]/SnW 1e & 2e/S+W 0e Reloaded QuickStart.pdf