April 29, 2020

What version of D&D comes closest to Goblin Slayer?

I love me some Goblin Slayer.  It shows what life would be like for an adventurer in a real world of Dungeons & Dragons - nasty, brutish and short.  But seeing how the actual Goblin Slayer table top rpg will probably never get translated to English, I'm wondering which version of D&D I could use to best emulate the setting found in Goblin Slayer.


Ok, so why is D&D the ideal game to use for GS?  GS is obviously based on roleplaying games and D&D in particular. It features a lot of uniquely D&D tropes like classes, levels, and Vancian magic. And it's the Vancian magic that gives us the best key for matching a particular version of D&D. 

The first major clue is the Priestess.  She is a 1st level Cleric and can cast 3 spells per day.



This narrows down the choices a lot.  OD&D and Basic D&D don't even give 1st level clerics any spells.  Most retroclones based on classic D&D have similar limitations.  Labyrinth Lord gives one spell.  Basic Fantasy gives none.

How about AD&D?   Both 1st and 2nd edition AD&D allow up to 3 cleric spell slots at 1st level (clerics with at least 14 wisdom).  OSRIC also allows up 3.  Both HackMaster 4e and Castles & Crusades allow up to 5 1st level spells.

D20 versions?  Both 3rd edition and Pathfinder allow up to 6 1st level spells for a starting character.  And yes, I do count cantrips as 1st level as Light is usually listed as a cantrip in newer editions.

4th and 5th editions with their unlimited cantrip use and ranged healing are both poorly suited for GS.

Now consider wizards.  The 1st level wizard girl in Goblin Slayer can cast 2 spells per day.


Versions of D&D before 2nd edition AD&D only allow 1 spell for a starting character.  2nd edition allows specialist mages 2.  3rd edition is up to 5.  4th and 5th allow unlimited cantrip use.

It looks like AD&D 2nd edition is clearly the game that emulates the world of Goblin Slayer the closest except for a couple of class related things...


Kung Fu girl here is clearly a 1st level monk.  AD&D 2e doesn't have a monk class.  1st edition does.  Also, and probably more importantly, the Goblin Slayer himself is best portrayed by the ranger class in 1st edition not the nature loving version in 2nd.

So, my choice for the game that would best fit Goblin Slayer would be 1st edition AD&D with a house rule to allow magic users to get bonus spells for high intelligence like Clerics do for their wisdom.