Old School Revival
Old School Revival - Classic Rules Table Top Role-playing and the OSR Hobby
Rules- The community is to tiny, we can be really rules light at this point.
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Don't be a jerk.
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Everyone is welcome.
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Try to stay kind of on topic.
New to OSR?
Here are three widely tested systems which offer free PDF rulebooks.
Basic Fantasy Created to be compatible with 3/3.5e, this is fully fleshed out OSE goodness written to be more approachable. Uses ascending armor class. Print options are sold at near cost and are very very inexpensive.
Old School Essentials Basic OSE is the most popular reproduction of the original B/X set. Uses descending armor class. With several different iterations at several different prices, this PDF is free and covers the basics. Enough to get a game going.
White Box : Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game A spiritual successor to Swords & Sorcery White Box. This is the complete OSR experience. Uses descending armor class, but contains alternate status for ascending. Like Basic Fantasy, the print version is under five bucks on amazon.
Other Recommended Boards:
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My first dip was with DCC. I love the books and the ambiance it goes for, but I found that at the table, the heavy use of random tables to get results for spells, crits, fumbles, and so on requires a lot of buy in from the players (and a lot of printed material). If all the players are into it, I’m sure it's amazing.
So later on I bought Old-School Essentials and that's what I'm currently running and I love it. It's dead simple, easy to run, and even if combat can appear a bit stale, the XP for gold mechanics and the reaction rolls tend to de-emphasize combat a lot. And that's great because as a GM, I much prefer my players "solving" a situation through parlay and / or Charm Person (which lead to me roleplaying NPCs more) than killing everything in sight.
I have been with one group who runs DCC and they manage by heavy house ruling. It's a great system but there is a lot of stuff that can be cut out in favor of a good game flow and I get the impression most people snip out chunks like that.
Im getting into DCC and i hate that there seems to be only two types of scenarios : gonzo and more gonzo. I modify every system i play, so the base rules are what they are... Id just like to see some published scenarios that are more down to earth. Please note, i dont begrudge people who want that! I love it that its there for them. Just wish there were more that took the foot off the gas a bit.