What is Wulfwald?

Wulfwald is an alternate rule-set and setting for OSR and DIY D&D players of retro-clones or older editions of D&D. The World of Wulfwald is inspired by the early Pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon world of our history. Wulfwald is not set on earth so is not strictly speaking a historical setting (and therefore not everyone has to be a blue-eyed blond-haired dude for example).

Here is the Wulfwald map by Russ Nicholson . . .

In Wulfwald the players are all Wulfsheads, outlaws and outsiders banished from the protection of the law and the safety of society. Wulfheads who are faced with the bleakness of this grim existence and have instead decided to compromise and covertly serve a noble lord. By noble, I mean cunning, ambitious, venal, petty, false-faced, treacherous, untrustworthy and murderous lord. 

It is the player characters' job to further their lord's ambition by acting as his shadows in the night, working against their Lord’s enemies and rivals, most of whom are also their Lord’s friends, peers, family, and undoubtedly the King or Queen. All, without any trace of this coming back to their Noble Patron. In short, the party of Wolfsheads are part mob-crew, part special op-team, part terrorist-cell.

So that’s the setting what are the alternate rules? The basic rules of character creation, combat, and saves are pretty standard fare, based on Swords & Wizardry: Whitebox - 3d6 in order for stats, ascending or descending to-hit rolls, and a  single Saving Throw. The major differences are found in the classes and magic systems and instead of the standard XP for gold and 10+ levels, it uses gift-giving for XP and Arnesons’ 3 level system of veteran (1hd) hero (4hd) and superhero (8hd) for levelling.

In Wulfwald there are four kindreds . . .

The four kindreds in Wulfwald are all humans some are just more magical, insular, or warlike than others. The land of Wulfwald is ruled by the Eorðwerod, who call themselves ‘men’ the other races they call Elfs, Dwarfs, and Outlanders. These others races that men consider to be Ælþeód (foreigners) dwell in the borderlands; the forests, marshes, moors, and mountains. They live in the isolated pockets of territory not yet claimed by the land-hungry ‘men’ of Wulfwald.

There are just three classes in Wulfwald: Warriors, Skirmishers, and Wizards. Each kindred has its own distinct version of each of these archetypal classes, and each of the four kindreds has a custom magic system for its wizards.

The rules are split into three sections . . . 

1: The Heroes of Wulfwald - covering rules the players need for character creation class info and magic systems, etc.

Here are links to some examples of warrior, skirmisher, and wizard classes as well as a link to one of the magic systems . . . .

Warrior

Skirmisher

Wizard

Wildling Witchcraft

Wildling artwork

2: The World of Wulfwald - Covering the information and rules the Referee needs and covers, the economy, religion, society, the calendar, plus the gear and equipment available, info on all the kingdoms and their Kings and Queens, random encounter tables and a mission generator, plus a guide on how to run a Wulfwald campaign.

Here are some links to details on those . . .

Gods of Wulfwald

Kingdoms

Running a Wulfwald Campaign

Random Missions

Encounters

3: A bestiary with a collection of monsters and foes to help or hinder the palyers as they set about their missions.

Here are some bestiary beasties . . .

Dragons of Wulfwald

Kickstarter from Lost Pages is imminent! Jan 2022 is the target. Wish us luck!