Wayfarers is a pencil and paper

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

(RPG) released in the fall of 2008 by the Ye Olde Gaming Companye (YOGC). It was created by Jimmy T. Swill and Gregory Vrill. The names Jimmy Swill and Gregory Vrill are used within the book as names for example characters. Wayfarers is a swords and sorcery fantasy RPG, and it references the

Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and List of science fiction themes, science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for ga ...

(WoTC)

Open Gaming License The Open Game License (OGL) is a public copyright license by Wizards of the Coast that may be used by tabletop role-playing game developers to grant permission to modify, copy, and redistribute some of the content designed for their games, nota ...

(OGL) and

System Reference Document In the open gaming movement, a System Reference Document (SRD) is a reference for a role-playing game's mechanics licensed under the Open Game License (OGL) to allow other publishers to make material compatible with that game. History The first ...

(SRD), an

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

document allowing publishers to employ material from the d20 system version of the

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

RPG, which is published by the WoTC. In addition, the YOGC publishes Wayfarers under its own Open Gaming License. Wayfarers is similar in style and form to the first edition of

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Several different editions of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') fantasy role-playing game have been produced since 1974. The current publisher of ''D&D'', Wizards of the Coast, produces new materials only for the most current edition of the ga ...

(AD&D) by

Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax created an ...

and

Dave Arneson David Lance Arneson (; October 1, 1947Minnesota Department of Health. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002'' atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. – April 7, 2009) was an American game designer best known ...

, but has a classless skill-based player character creation system and employs character proficiencies similar to those in the 2nd edition of AD&D by

David "Zeb" Cook David "Zeb" Cook is an American game designer, best known for his work at TSR, Inc., where he was employed for over fifteen years. Cook designed several games, wrote the '' Expert Set'' for ''Dungeons & Dragons'', worked as lead designer of the ...

. Despite referencing the WoTC SRD, Wayfarers is not true to the mechanics of D&D as games such as

Labyrinth Lord ''Labyrinth Lord'' (''LL'') is a fantasy role-playing game written and edited by Daniel Proctor and published by Goblinoid Games. It emulates the rules and feel of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') using the Open Game License (OGL) from Wizards of ...

OSRIC Osric is an Anglo-Saxon name and may refer to: __NOTOC__ People Anglo-Saxon kings * Osric of Deira, king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Deira in the 630s * Osric of Northumbria, king of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria in the 720s * Osric of ...

, and

Swords & Wizardry ''Dungeons & Dragons'' retro-clones are fantasy role-playing games that emulate earlier editions of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') no longer supported by Wizards of the Coast. They are made possible by the release of later editions' rules in a ...

which also reference the SRD, and due to their similarities to this source material are often called retro-clones or simulacra. As an example, unlike D&D, armor in Wayfarers reduces damage, and there is no

Armor Class Health is an attribute in a video game or tabletop game that determines the maximum amount of damage or loss of stamina that a character or object can take before dying or losing consciousness. In role-playing games, this typically takes the for ...

. It has been suggested that Wayfarers is a 're-imagining' of D&D, wherein the game evolved towards a class-less, level-less approach like GORE. The game is sold in hardcover, paperback and PDF. The YOGC and the "YOGC community" produces a publication called the "Wayfarers Guild Journal" that supplements the game, with the first issue published 01/19/09. Wayfarers was revised and released by

Mongoose Publishing Mongoose Publishing is a British manufacturer of role-playing games, miniatures, and card games, publishing material since 2001. Its licenses include products based on the science fiction properties '' Traveller'', ''Judge Dredd'', and ''Parano ...

in March 2012.

References

{{reflist Fantasy role-playing games Role-playing games introduced in 2008