Hi all,

i already own a copy of "The Compleat Warlock", should i bid for Spartan issue #9 on ebay?

I mean, are there any differences between the two or are they identical ? If they were identical, i would waste my money in buying it, that's why i need to know it in advance.

I made a comparison between the two table of contents, they don't look the same, they have different names. But all in all, the content is the same, or is The warlock version contained in Spartan a more "rough" and sort of pre-publication version?

Should i buy it?

thanks for your answers

I'd say there a lot of differences, although mostly it's just more of everything in the Complete Warlock since it is much longer (56 pages versus 34 pages).
The Spartan version covers only the character classes that existed up to the Greyhawk supplement.

I wouldn't call the Spartan version "pre-publication" - it was published in a magazine. The Spartan rules are presented as a supplement to D&D rather than a separate game, although it is stated that this is because of space limitations; implying that if they had room they would've published an entire game in 1975. Though in the Complete Warlock they backtrack on this by stating their game is not intended to replace D&D, and still recommend that the rules are used with D&D. The "Complete Warlock" is an ironic title considering it only covers Men & Magic material and wasn't a complete game on its own until two further volumes were published.

$96 is definitely a high point for this magazine:  they usually sell for more in the $35-60 price range, I think:

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The Spartan #10 (April 1976) contains one more page of info on the Warlock system ... er ... variant:

The Spartan #9 contains a thief class description, plus descriptions for a dozen+ thief abilities, BUT it doesn't contain the Thievish Abilities tables (that are later included in the Complete Warlock). The Spartan #10 (April 1976) rectifies that omission, with a one-page article called "Warlock Thief Abilities," which includes the lists of 1st through 7th level thief abilities.

Thief abilities in Complete Warlock only go up to 6th level, so the original Warlock is "one louder," as  Nigel Tufnel might say.

Oddly, both versions of the game ... er ... variant don't include enough thief abilities to match the thief class table. A 23rd level thief in the original Warlock begins gaining 8th level thief abilities, but there is no list of 8th level abilities. Similarly, a 17th level thief in the Complete Warlock begins gaining 7th level thief abilities, but there is no list of 7th level abilities.

(Posting this a few relevant places, because I've found no discussion of the fact that The Spartan #10 contains Warlock material.)

I think it is slightly fewer per level, and certainly re-ordered: