user summary:
Wizards, Warriors and Wyrms is a retroclone of the John Holmes edition of Dungeons & Dragons that was published to serve as a bridge between the original boxed set of D&D booklets and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1st Edition). The Holmes edition of Dungeons & Dragons still has a following of players, despite the fact that it was only released with information covering the first three levels of play. Since it was intended only as a bridge between Original and Advanced, no other material was provided or planned for this edition.
Over the years fans have created additional material to complete the game, increasing the number of playable levels to higher limits. This retroclone subsumes both the original game and the fan-made expansions.
Designer's Commentary:
About 6 months ago, after a Holmes gaming spree, i decided to produce a Blue Book Basic clone which would incorporate Meepo's Companion for extending the Blue Book Basic's game play beyond 3rd level. What I loved about Blue Book (and tried to emulate in the clone as well) was the low page count, the short stat blocks and spell description, and the quick-play rules. The 3rd level cap bothered me, but Meepo's Companion took care of that. So, with Meepo's blessing, i set out to produce Wizards, Warriors & Wyrms (the name an homage to the cover illustration).
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I think WWW is a great little game, and it works for me and my players, but I'd like to know if it would appeal to others as well. The audience I'm targeting with WWW is people who liked the simplicity of Blue Book Basic, the spartan rules that don't complicate game-play, those who love the good doctor's Basic and would have appreciated further game advancement (thanks Meepo!), and those who (like me) think it's really cool to just have a 40 or so page rulebook for unlimited play. Basically, people who loved Blue Book Basic and would have loved for it to be more than just a stepping stone to "advanced" play.