Swords & Wizardry: White Box Editions

April 30, 2024

Swords & Wizardry White Box Rules is a retroclone of Original Dungeons & Dragons limited to the first three booklets: Book I: Men & Magic; Book II Monsters & Treasure; Book III: The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures. These are often called “little brown books” (lbb) or “white box edition” because they were three little brown books that were sometimes packed in a white box.

Swords & Wizardry White Box Rules by Matt Finch and Marv Breig streamline the original booklets, introduce a number of “quality of life” improvements, and present it all in one easily accessible book—without removing the DIY spirit of the original. “First print edition” was released at the dawn of OSR in 2008, “third print edition” in 2010, and now, newest “fourth print edition” in 2024. Due to its bare-bones nature, many, many in the OSR space have taken its framework and made their own games built on it. Such is the raw power of original rules!

Two questions I often see are:

What's the difference between Swords & Wizardry White Box Rules and White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game?
What's the difference between Swords & Wizardry White Box Rules and Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook (Revised)?

Differences between Swords & Wizardry White Box and White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game

The biggest differences between the 4th printing of Swords & Wizardry White Box Rules (WB) and 2.1 version of White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game (FMAG) are layout and order of information. FMAG, by Charlie Mason, is in essence reformatted and slightly modified version of 3rd printing of Swords & Wizardry White Box Rules.

Here is a list of differences:

FMAG rolls the optional/alternate Universal Attribute Bonus into the core description of attributes. Example: “Clerics can use their Wisdom Bonus to improve “spell effectiveness” (i.e. target suffers a loss on his saving throw).”)
WB calls it “Banishing Undead,” FMAG calls it “Turn the Undead.”
Turning Table is different (same up to and including Wraith, then new WB table is one HD more difficult and goes up to 18HD).
WB Magic-User goes to level 16.
FMAG has Thief.
WB renames Race to Ancestry (following renaming in SWCR).
FMAG has Warship.
FMAG has a subsection on “Dungeon Doors.”
WB attack matrices go to AC -2, FMAG stops at AC 0.
WB Magic-User attack matrix goes to level 16.
WB binding wounds heals 1d4; FMAG 1d6.
FMAG has jousting rules.
FMAG has 2d6 morale check table.
WB and FMAG saves in “Alternate Rule: The Saving Throw Matrix” differ. Not sure why...
WB has a new section on “Guidelines for Running a Dungeon Adventure” (random monsters and treasure, hidden treasure, where treasure is hidden, traps on hidden treasure).
WB has d00 tables for Monsters on Dungeon Level 1 to 8.
FMAG has Death Knight.
FMAG has Baalor (Baalroch in WB), Imp, and Succubus.
FMAG has Elf, Dark.
FMAG has Fairie Dragon.
FMAG has Giant, Firbolg.
FMAG has Golem, Glass; Golem, Wood.
FMAG has Kraken.
FMAG has Nightsteed.
FMAG has Nymph.
FMAG has Sidhe.
FMAG has Stirge.
FMAG “Monster Creation” table goes to 15 HD; WB to 14 HD.
FMAG advises 6 mile hexes, WB uses 5 mile hexes.
WB has new section on “Castles and Settlements.”
WB has new treasure system (no more trade outs; the same system as in Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook Revised).
WB has new chapter on “Publishing Your Own Materials.”

I did not study monster entries, nor spell descriptions so it is possible there are some minor difference there as well.

Differences between Swords & Wizardry White Box and Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook (Revised)

Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook (Revised) (SWCR) pulls in many rules from Original Dungeon & Dragons supplements: Supplement I: Greyhawk; Supplement II: Blackmoor; and Supplement III: Eldritch Wizardry. It also includes some clarifications from The Strategic Review and early issues of the Dragon Magazine.

Compared to WB, SWCR has:

Nine classes: Assassin, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Magic-User, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, and Thief. WB has the original three: Fighter, Magic-User, Cleric.
Attributes that have modifiers. WB has just XP adjustments.
Variable damage (from d4 to d10). WB has just d6 with modifiers.
Ancestries (races) and multi-classing.
Several different ways to run combat.
Goes to levels 20+.
Extensive magic research rules.
Wilderness adventures.
Mass combat rules.
More spells, more magic items, more monsters.

Like WB, it is all in one packed tome (just 144 pages!), streamlined and more accessible than the original medley. Matt went out of his way to offer many different ways to do things (e.g. different combat procedures, notes on multi-classing, and so on). To me, SWCR is a great toolbox for experienced Judges who have a good grasp of rules, rulings, and kind of game they want to run. It is chock full with options, while still having gaps that need to be filled in by every Judge. Novice Judges would be better served by WB, which has much less options.

Where to get these different editions

Swords & Wizardry White Box Rules (4th print edition)

Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook (Revised)

White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game

Swords & Wizardry White Box (previous editions)

Hosted by Smoldering Wizard with permission from Matt Finch.

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