Hidden in Shadows

 I think going through the rules of the Richard Snider Variant individually may be less instructive than working through them functionally, so we are going to start with making characters and consider how the rules were intended to be employed.
As mentioned in the previous post there are but two character classes in the RSV, following the convention in Blackmoor, CHAINMAIL and MIDGUARD.  

We'll start with the "Hero" class, and discuss the more complex Wizard class in another post.

On page 5 of the RSV under "Things to Roll for in Making a Hero or Super-Hero:

Strength, Health, Intelligence, Leadership, Horsemanship, Sailing, Flying, normal (melee) combat skill, archery skill. Roll two dice for each.

So these are what we would now call "Ability Scores".  Persons familiar with Arneson & Snider's Adventures in Fantasy, and Megarry's character sheets will immediately note the similarities.  In fact, we can say the RSV is intermediate between these two.  Below is a table showing our various early examples in chronological order:

Spanish Royalty	Gaylord sheet	Megarry sheet	R. Snider	D&D	Adventures in Fantasy
Brains	Brains	Brains	Intelligence	Intelligence	Intelligence
Looks	Looks	Looks		Charisma	Charisma
	Credibility
Sex	Sex	Sex
Health	Health	Health	Health	Constitution	Health Stamina
	Strength	Strength	Strength	Strength	Strength
Guts	Courage	Courage
	Cunning			Wisdom
				Dexterity	Dexterity
	Horesmanship	Riding/ Horsemanship	Horsemanship		Horsemanship
	Woodsmanship	Woodcraft			Forester/Hunter
	Leadership	Leadership	Leadership
	Flying	Flying	Flying
	Seamanship	Sailing	Sailing		Sailor
		Throwing
		Loyalty
Miscellaneous		Miscellaneous

So we can see here that Snider is pairing down Arneson's list (and is ignorant of Gygax's version).  In particular Richard drops the personal characteristics of Looks, Sex, and Courage.

He also "appears" (air quotes) to have added a new stat: Normal Combat ability.  I'm hedging on that, because all Richard may be doing is adding something to the character matrix that Arneson used for some time but kept himself, away from his players.

My reason for thinking so is because we've seen "combat" as an ability score before.  It is one of three repeatedly mentioned in the FFC Magic Swords section -  STRENGTH, COMBAT, INTELLIGENCE. (FFC 77:64)  The swords from Arneson's magic sword cards, retyped in the FFC as a list, have these three characteristics listed together as shown, with an increase bonus to each stat provided by the particular sword.
   
These magic sword cards are one of the earliest developments in the game and must date to sometime not far removed from the earliest character sheets like Pete Gaylords'.  Arneson tells us he created them "Prior to setting up Blackmoor" (FFC 77:64)by which we presume he means Blackmoor dungeon.

In any case, we see that the "Normal Combat" statistic in the RSV seemed to function identically to the other ability scores, just as "combat" in the FFC swords, seemed to function in the same manner as Intelligence and Strength.

Next comes:

Weapon Specialization (Hero 3 die, Superhero 4 die).

That brief statement brings up a lot of questions.  That could mean:

1) The hero gets 3d6 weapons to specialize in, the Superhero 4d6
2) The H/S gets a single "Specialization" score of 3d6 or 4d6
3) The H/S gets to roll 3d6 or 4d6 to determine hits every time they use a weapon they have specialized in.
4) The H/S gets to roll 3d6 or 4d6 to generate an ability score for each weapon they have specialized in.
5) The H/S gets to roll 3d6 or 4d6 to determine damage for hits with a weapon they have specialized in.

In a moment, we will see a step that will help us determine which of these 5 is most likely intended, but for now, next on our list is to roll for:

Life energy level: hero rolls one die. On a roll of 1-3, has the option to either keep his first roll or reroll with two dice. Super-hero rolls two dice, on a roll of 1-2 (on either die) has the option of either keeping the first roll or rolling over with three dice. Any time the option is taken, the first roll is thrown out (whether the second roll is higher or not).         

That's a shocker for long time D&Ders.  It's not clear what source, if any, has inspired this Life Energy Level stat.  Quiet possibly, Richard may be riffing off of Outdoor Survival, although there the term "Life Level" is never coupled with the word "energy".  

What is clear, is that unlike the use of the term Life Energy Level in D&D, Richard is not using it as a synonym for Experience Level, but as a separate statistic.  It is also worth noting that this is new terminology as far as Blackmoor material goes.

Next we roll for: 

Magic resistance ability: hero rolls one die and on roll of one has option to keep first roll or roll over with two die.  Superhero rolls three die.
                                                                       
That's the last stat we roll for and this completes the paragraph on making Heroes and Superheroes on page 5.  Interestingly however, some crucial information is placed on other pages.  

On page 4, we are told:

How to Figure How Many Hits a Hero Or Super-Hero Can Take:
(Strength + Health + Intelligence + Combat Skill + Life Energy Level + Magic Resistance Ability + Highest Weapon Specialization) divided by five.

Note "Highest Weapon Specialization", that means the WS is not a single score or a list of weapons, or a hit or damage roll.  Choice 4, then - the H/S gets to roll 3d6 or 4d6 to generate an ability score for each weapon they have specialized in - is the likely one.

Lastly, we need to generate a Saving Throw number:

"A die roll of 1 indicates the following saving throws:

Wizard 7
Super-hero 8

A die roll of 2 or 3, indicates the following saving throws:

Wizard 5  
Super-hero 7  
Hero 9

All other creatures of appropriate type 8 

To make a Saving Throw roll 2 dice; equal or above succeeds."

So, using the above information, lets make a sheet and create a Hero character for the RSV:

Trait	Score
Strength	11
Health	12
Intelligence	5
Leadership	6
Horsemanship	10
Sailing	8
Flying	3
Normal Combat	7
Archery	8
Weapon Specialization - Short Sword	12
Weapon Specialization - mace	10
Weapon Specialization - lance	14
Weapon Specialization

I'm not particularly interested in the vanity of shouting "first" when presenting new information, that's the sort of braggadocio sober researchers leave to the yellow press.  Nevertheless there has been a lot of first reveals on this 'blog, a fact I've been repeatedly encouraged to point out so as to draw attention to the work done here and increase the readership.

So, for example, this 'blog was the first to recognize and analyze the Beyond This Point be Dragons mss, the Dave Megarry pre D&D character sheets, the first to identify numerous portions of Arneson's direct contribution to D&D such as magic swords, treasure tables, movement rates, and so on (particularly in This Post), the first to figure out how Blackmoor and Tonisborg and Temple of the Frog and Loch Gloomin were stocked, the first to reveal and identify lost maps of Blackmoor, the Spanish Royals character sheet,  etc. etc. etc.

Those are all great topics, regardless of where they first appeared, but now I'm about to reveal something that, for many, will surpass all of those in cultural historical significance - a set of rules for fantasy RPG play, typed and "published" via copies distributed prior to the printing of D&D.

The author of this ruleset was Richard Snider, so we are calling it "The Richard Snider Variant" or RSV for short, with apologies to the NCC.

In the Twin Cities group, Richard was young - just 19 years old in 1972 - and not a prominent figure.  Mostly he was thought of as John Sniders kid brother and something of a rebel.  In later years, Richard went on to work with Dave Arneson on Adventures in Fantasy, and then his own Powers and Perils game.  In 2009, Richard was married and working as a self employed landscaper, when sadly, he passed away at only 56.

Here is how we know what we know about the RSV.

In the course of research on the Beyond this Point be Dragons manuscript, I was sent a set of much faded copies, unsigned, undated, and unknown to the owner, who thought they might be more material by Mark Bufkin, editor of BTPBD.

Two of the 6 pages however contained material I immediately recognized, it was, word for word, these sections found in the "Richard Snider's Additions" portion of Arneson's First Fantasy Campaign:

Differences in Creatures From Blackmoor Game
Population of Known Area
Wizardry Apprenticeship
Languages (with additional text cut from FFC)
Odds of Creature Friendship

Thus we can safely ascribe the "RSV" to the pen of Richard Snider.  The"variant" refers to the nature of the rules themselves.  They are rules for a "spin off" sub-campaign of the Blackmoor game.

The RSV consists of the following topics in the following order (caps or lack of them are according to the original):

BATTLE BETWEEN LAW AND CHAOS
ARTIFACTS OF LAW AND CHAOS
saving throws:
SECRET PASSAGE
KNOWN LEGENDS
MOVEMENT
RECOVERY OF DAMAGE
MAGIC SPELLS AND MINIMUM POINTS NEEDED TO USE THEM:
MAGICAL EXHAUSTION:
EFFECT OF SPELLS:
THE SIDES IN LAW AND CHAOS
HERO, SUPER HERO CREATURES
THE PLANES OF CONTACT
THE PENTAGRAM
CREATURE ATTACK VALUES:
MAGIC RESISTANCE OF CREATURES:
POINT VALUE OF CREATURES:
POINTS NEEDED TO RAISE LEVEL:
COST OF SPECIAL FLUNKIES:
COST OF THINGS
HOW TO FIGURE HOW MANY HITS A CHARACTER CAN TAKE :
CREATURES
THINGS TO ROLL FOR IN MAKING HERO OR SUPERHERO:
THINGS TO ROLL IN MAKING WIZARD:
DIFFERENCES IN CREATURES FROM BLACKMOOR GAME:
POPULATION OF KNOWN AREA:
WIZARDRY APPRENTICESHIP:
Odds of creature friendship:

In future posts we will be looking at the content of each of these topics in detail. - there is simply too much to talk about to squeeze it all in to this post today.

For now, let's begin with the eyebrow raising assertion I made that the RSV is a published set of fantasy RPG rules older than D&D.

The Terminus Post Quem is established easily enough.  The document itself repeatedly references Blackmoor, which must therefore have been well established when the RSV was created.  There are also apparent influences drawn from the British Midguard PBM game, initially developed in 1971.  Thus an absolute TPQ of 1971, and a probable provenance of 1972, as I'll show below.

That there could be ties between Blackmoor and Midguard, is no big shock.  Arneson made it a point, during his trip to Europe in 1972, to meet with members of the London war gaming scene and spend time in at least one prominent game store there.  That he might have then been exposed to Midguard is easily plausible, and through him, Richard Snider. 

The strongest parallels between Midguard and the RSV are to be found in the magic system of each.

An obvious connection is the prominence of Artifacts in both games - more on that in another post.  Both also use spell points to cast spells,  Midguard wizards have an Innate Power Rating (IPR) and Endurance Points; RSV wizards have a single Magic Power Ability (MPA).  These function identically as  a range of points the wizard has available to "spend" on casting spells.  They are also both determined by formulas combining several factors.

Endurance Points in Midguard also have a second function which allows a wizard to spend them in defense against an opponent's spell,  RSV has a separate Magic Resistance number.  Magic Resistance is not a reservoir spent in defense, but rather a fixed number that can be subtracted from the chance a spell has to effect a creature.  So while they function somewhat differently, both Midguard and RSV have a statistic which provides a defense against magic.

There are differences in these systems, however, and I haven't noted any direct rule copying by Snider.  It is even conceivably possible Richard based his rules on a detailed word of mouth description of the Migurad system, but the fact that both Midguard and Richard Sniders Variant feature artifacts and spell points should not be dismissed as coincidence as these were very novel ideas in the early 1970's.  It is very unlikely you would see both these features independently appear as equally prominent aspects of both games.  However, it is a bit trickier to say exactly what iteration of Midguard Richard drew inspiration from.  (For a detailed look at Midguard magic, see Jon Peterson's post Here.)

A revised version of Midguard - Midguard II, was prepared in the United States in the Fall of 1972,  It was possibly this version of Midguard, or perhaps both versions, that may have influenced Richard's magic rules.  There is a small hint in favor of Midguard II.  In Midguard II endurance points are recast as Energy Points.  The RSV rules uses the word energy in the term "Life Energy Level" (familiar to OD&D fans) and even "Life Energy Points".



Life Energy Level/Points of RSV is both like and unlike the Life Energy Level of OD&D.  Both Heroes and Wizards have Life Energy Level/points, but level advances much more quickly with Wizards.  Like Levels in D&D, Life Energy Levels benefit some statistics, such as MPA for wizards and bonuses for Superheroes, but has no effect on others, such as saving throws.

Further, in the RSV, Life Energy Level is not directly relevant to Hit Points (Hits), but effects hits only fractionally as one component of a complex formula to determine HP.

You said it was pre D&D?

Yes. Differences like that above are important when considering the relationship of the RSV to D&D, determining which came first, and whether one influenced the other.

Indeed, an initial hint is the very nature of the RSV itself.  The rules place themselves clearly as a variant of Blackmoor, playing off that campaign and its rules as played at the time he wrote.   If Richard Snider had decided to undertake his own version of the Blackmoor game, after the D&D playtest began circa March of 1973, we would surely see multiple points of intersection where Snider drew from, contrasted with, or referred to the playtest rules of D&D being used in Blackmoor at that time. However, there is scant genetic resemblance in any core mechanic, or even on a structural level, to the D&D playtest rules for Richard's variant campaign.  Instead we see multiple points of intersection with a combination of Midguard, CHAINMAIL, and pre D&D Blackmoor.

Therefore we can look at the content and take note of both what it contains and what it does not in comparison to the known drafts of D&D.  For this I'm relying on BTPbD as my stand in for the Guidon D&D draft of 1973 - an imperfect but serviceable solution and all that is available to me at the moment.

Here is some of what is found in the original D&D draft, but are not present in RSV.

Numbered levels for "Fighters" - RSV has only the pre D&D hero and superhero levels

Level titles for wizards - like Blackmoor, the RSV has multiple levels for wizards but no titles

Copper coins, silver coins, gems and jewelry

Treasure Tables

Spell Level tables

3d6 ability scores - ability scores in the RSV are 2d6 as in pre D&D Blackmoor

Non-CHAINMAIL, non Blackmoor "new" monsters like gnolls and invisible stalkers,  None of the new D&D monsters are present (thought there are a few unique new monsters in addition to the CM stock)

saving throw categories that progress with each level for all classes - the RSV uses a single save

Clerics or Priest or Evil High Priest characters or NPC's - no hint of anything Cleric related in RSV

Terms like:
"Magic-user"
"Fighting men"
"Hit Points"
"Hit Dice"
"Hirelings"
"Plate mail"
"Armor Class"

Many of familiar D&D spells are absent, for example there is no:
Charm Person
Continual Light
Detect Magic
Hold Portal
Invisibility
Fly
Hold Person
Sleep

The RSV also does not contain these terms found in published D&D

"Player Character"
"Non Player Character"

Instead of the familiar 6 ability scores, RSV expects rolls for Strength, Health, Intelligence, Leadership, Horsemanship, Sailing, Flying, normal (melee) combat skill, and archery skill.  This RSV list is clearly a close variant of the same characteristics found on early Blackmoor character sheets (see Here)

Perhaps even more telling, while there are references to Blackmoor norms and rules, there is no reference whatever in the 6 page RSV to anything like the 50 - 100 page GD&D document.

In each of these areas above, the RSV displays a strong resemblance to pre-D&D Blackmoor norms, and a correspondingly thorough ignorance of the early D&D material found in the GD&D draft.  An entire section of the RSV is devoted to specifying the differences in rules and monsters from those of Blackmoor, but there is absolute silence when it comes to the D&D draft rules, let alone the published version of the game. 

When the D&D playtest became available to the Twin Cities gamers in the spring of 1973, it was immediately adopted as the playtest rules and shared among the group.  Richard could not have been unaware of these rules.  Given the collaborative climate of the time, it would not be credible to argue Snider could have or would have willfully ignored the innovations and ideas and terms Gygax brought to the game.  Snider certainly did not ignore CHAINMAIL.  The THE SIDES IN LAW AND CHAOS  table being but one of several examples of CM derived material, copying, as it does, the "GENERAL LINE UP" table of alignments.


Compare to CHAINMAIL 2nd print below: