Tags
b/x, dwarf, elf, halfling, moldvay/cook, race-as-class, swords & wizardry, whitebox
Since I recently posted Holmes-like Swords & Wizardry, I thought I’d tackle race-as-class for Swords & Wizardry White Box, in the spirit of Moldvay/Cook Basic/Expert D&D. The S&W White Box rules offer an ‘Elf Variant’, but it always struck me as a bit lopsided since the experience requirements are more than the combined multi-class would be. The French version of S&W White Box offers race-as-class as an option for the Dwarf and Halfling, but when I read them I did not care for the advancement used in the tables. So below is what I came up with. Note the Elf is allowed to wear armor and cast spells, as in B/X, although they have no spells until second level. Here is a PDF of the race-as-class tables for easy printing.
Dwarf
Dwarves can use all the armor and weapons of the fighter. They can see in the dark as a human sees by day, up to 60 feet, as long as torches or other light sources are not nearby. They are expert miners and can detect stone traps, shifting walls, slanting passages and new construction on a roll of 1-2 in 6. Giant-type creatures inflict half damage against Dwarves on a successful hit. Dwarves are resistant to magic and save vs. magic at +4. All Dwarves speak Common, Dwarvish, Gnome, Goblin and Kobold. The 5% experience bonus for Dwarves is given for a strength of 15+. A character must have a constitution of at least 9 to be a Dwarf.
Elf
Elves advance as a blend of fighter and magic-user, and are able to employ the weapons and armor of the former, with the spells of the latter. Elves are able to spot secret doors when looking on a roll of 1-4 in 6, 1-2 in 6 if merely passing by. They are immune to ghoul paralysis, and gain +1 to attack and damage rolls when fighting Orcs, Goblins, intelligent undead and lycanthropes. All Elves speak Common, Elvish, Gnoll, Goblin, Orc, and Hobgoblin. The experience bonus for Elves is given for strength and intelligence – both must be 15+ to get the 5% bonus. A character must have intelligence of at least 9 to be an Elf.
Halfling
Halflings can use the armor and weapons of the fighter, and like Dwarves take only half damage when hit by giant creatures. They have deadly accuracy with missiles (+2 to attack rolls) and are quite hardy, having improved saving throws compared to other classes. Outside they are nearly invisible (90% chance) when not moving, and even indoors they can remain hidden on a roll of 1-2 in 6. Halflings speak Common and whatever other languages they can learn due to their intelligence bonus. The experience bonus for Halflings is given for strength and dexterity – both must be 15+ to get the 5% bonus. A character must have dexterity and constitution of at least 9 to be a Halfling.
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Smoldering Wizard 
How timely! After listening to the latest Save or Die, I became convinced to prefer race as class but was surprised that there was little of use in the White Box. Thank you.
You’re welcome! I hope you find it useful.
I know this post is old but is there anywhere I can find the attack tables for the variant race as class? I can only find the class lvl table.
I never made them – what I would do is treat all of them as Fighters for purposes of attack rolls. This is the way B/X handles the attack tables for the race-classes. This is reasonable when you consider that with a non-race-as-class Elf, they get the best attack rolls between the two classes, Fighter or MU – so always Fighter. Dwarves and Halflings could only be Fighters in 1974 OD&D, so it was also natural to treat them as Fighters for purposes of attacks when B/X merged them into race-classes.
That makes sense. Thanks.
Hey Doug,
This is great work. I wish I could read the french version to see how they did the Dwarf and Halfling. Correct me if I’m wrong but the basic idea here is simply to only use the race abilities along with fighter hit bonuses and allow the race to go to level 10. Is that essentially the idea?
Basically that is it. There is a bit of guesswork keeping the d6 hit dice standard and slowing down the Halfling and Elf HD progression slightly.
I’m definitely using this as I LOVE race as class. I was able to figure out the French versions of the Dwarf and Elf. Let me know if I got anything wrong. I just wanted to compare and contrast their version with yours. Looks like they both get the XP progression of a fighter. So I can see why you adjusted that in your version so that human fighters would level faster which makes sense. Dwarf gets a HD+1 every level. That does make them quite hardy. Is that excessive in your view?
For the halfling, near invisibility was removed along with bonus saving throw vs. magic. Instead they get an overall better saving throw progression which I do like and overall less HD. I think the near invisibility should stay and halflings have pretty good constitution despite their small size.
-You slowed the overall progression of both the dwarf and halfling. I like that or otherwise there is no point in playing human. As you know the only human advantage in older editions of D&D was no level cap and/or XP bonus.
-I like your halfling the best. I think having halflings having a lower HD progressive is good.
-Your dwarf has less HD than the french version but still looks to have the most compared to all the other classes.
-I like your elf XP progression which is exactly the sum total of a magic user and fighter where the one in FMAG is even more. You gave them a few more spells and the same hit bonus as the fighter which is exactly what older editions did. Weaknesses were they typically had less HD and much slower leveling. So good job.
Nice work Doug. Again I just wanted to make sure I was understanding your thought process here. :)
Yeah that sounds right as to what I was thinking in terms of balance between humans and non-humans. In B/X of course you have variable hit dice so I had to figure out a way to mimic that with d6 standard for all classes. The method I used is the same as in OD&D’s 3LBBs. As I say I did not like the advancement used in the French version of these tables. With the Dwarf having d6+1 HP each level and only minor increase in XP requirements, why play a human fighter? Also the Elf needs way too much XP given that the spell slots are nerfed. I opted for the Holmes method of just adding the Fighter/MU XP requirements for Elves, it made more sense to me.
Hey Doug,
Do Elves get to use their strength bonus to modify to hit and damage rolls? I assume so. Just making sure.
That’s not specified – I give the bonuses to pure fighters only, as I think Elven Fighter/MUs have enough special abilities. This rule is the same as in the first OD&D supplement – Greyhawk.
Hey Doug, the Dwarf and Halfling do NOT get the Fighters combat fury ability correct?
I did not consider that, but yes I think that is fair considering the race-classes don’t have the level caps they do in the original game. They have enough special abilities, best to leave that one for human fighters.
Do Dwarves still have the ability to find traps, slanting passages, and construction underground on a 1-4 when actively searching? Your rules state only a 1-2. Is that active or just passing? Lastly Doug would it be too much trouble to insert the Hit Bonus in the charts? I know it’s the same as a fighter but it would be cool to have all the info on one chart. If not no biggie. Just figured I would ask. :)
It was meant for actively searching. OD&D and the original S&W WB did not specify a roll for this ability, FMAG codified it so it was like the Elvish secret door detection, but I used the B/X ability as a guide. You can, of course, change it as you like! I can add the hit bonus in the charts when I get a chance, for all three race-classes it would be identical to the fighter attack bonuses.
Hey Chuck I added the BHB to the charts. With that I’d give Human Fighters a +1 BHB at first level, rather than +0 (I do that routinely now anyway for fighters).
Thanks Doug! Very much appreciate it!
Hey Doug, I just realized this so its not a big deal. Just bringing it to your attention. There is a graphical error on the Elf sub chart with the spell levels. Question: I noticed the Elf variant in the book only allows the Elf to cast up to level 3 spells. Why is that I wonder. Yours allows all the way up to level 5. Thanks as always.
Thanks, I’ll take a look. Must have been an artifact of the PDF export process.
I’ve never liked the variant Elf class as presented in WB, it is nerfed way too much as compared to the OD&D, Holmes or Moldvay Elf classes. There is no good reason for the extra XP requirements, HD or spell limitations, especially given that the chart only goes to level 8, the same level cap for OD&D Elves acting as MUs. So I prefer to make it a true multi-class, with the spell ability dropped by one level, to balance the ability to wear armor and cast spells like the Moldvay Elf.
Thanks Doug! What is your view of the level limits with race and class split? In your games do you typically adhere to those limits? My son is playing as the quintessential halfling thief. He’s level 3 and I told him that he can only go up to level 6. I know I can change whatever I want but in your view are these level limits balanced? I assume they are otherwise playing a human would be pointless. Just curious what your thoughts are. Overall I prefer race AS class but I know some people I play with (my son) prefer them split. Thanks.
I prefer to keep the level limits, although it is rare to even hit those. One of my players has a 4/4 Elf F/MU and so is capped as a Fighter, but that is the only time I can recall someone in one of my campaigns hit a limit.
Very good. So is your elf player alternating between the two classes per session?
I let Elves work as both classes at once, but they are not allowed to cast spells in non-magical armor.
Oh okay. So he’s essentially playing it like your race as class version here.