Welcome to /osrg/, the Old School Renaissance General! Here we discuss editions of Dungeons and Dragons from the TSR era, as well as retroclones of those editions and other games and material compatible with them.
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What influences does your OSR game have from newer editions of D&D (or alternatively, non-D&D games)?
Stargazer > > > > > Serpent King
Too high tech/sciencey for my vanilla tastes.
What advice would you give to a DM building their first OSR-style dungeon?
100% agreed
sorry skerples, I still love you, your new adventure is pretty good
But user! Castle Greyhawk was full of automatic doors and elevators.
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What other adventurers would be neat to add?
AD&D or B/X
They are both designed for slightly different purposes by different people. So it goes.
Thanks!
Work as hard as possible to make your dungeon useable. Read a lot of these reviews tenfootpole.org
Really though
What's the difference / Who's checking
One is basic, the other is advanced
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How do I trick my 5e group into playing OSR
We're currently in the middle of a 5e campaign, my players are enjoying it, myself not so much
2e or bust
You use your big kid words and ask them.
Don't trick them. Just tell them that you're not digging it and you'd like to go to something more 'classical'.
If they want reasons, cite that it's simpler and cleaner to play.
I asked last thread, but since I clearly cannot take a hint I'm asking again this thread
Who has played Fantastic Heroes & Witchery? Was it a good retroclone? What makes it different from AD&D?
Equivocation.
None of us. Maybe. We can't say.
I really like the idea of the Cleric being a witch hunter or Van Helsing type. It definitely fits the LotFP vibe better than the Crusader / Warrior Priest Cleric assumed by D&D.
What OSR game is the best for running a Jojo's Bizzare Adventure campaign
You just have to use some salesmanship and be up front about very significant differences that exist between OSR systems and 5e. Try and pitch it as a completely different game (because it really IS a completely different game).
What OSR and OSR-like systems have the best combat mechanics?
Your heavy homebrew.
What OSR and OSR-like systems have the dungeon movement mechanics?
Why should I use Labyrinth Lord over Basic D&D?
What's so special about Labyrinth Lord that so many people like it?
What do you guys think of BFRP?
I haven't had the opportunity to run it yet, but from my initial reading I think it may be one of my favorite OSR games.
What do you guys think about using a deck of cards instead of dice
The difference are minuscule. Few people who like LL abstain from its supplements.
Speak of the devil, I`m playing in a Fantastic Heroes and Witchery campaign right now. Its pretty good. It doesn`t really place importance on non-combat skills (it feels more of an optional thing). This system seems to shine in how it changes up the classes in general, and then providing tones of optional rules that people can utilize piece by piece.
Deck of cards where you get to hold onto x number of rolls and choose when to play what? Or just a deck of cards for rolling? If the later you better be in prison, just roll some fucking dice.
You can buy a cheap but new physical copy
For OSR games I don't see the point. For Castle Falkenstein and Through The Breach it is kino.
What do you guys think about using a schizophrenic soviet therapist instead of dice
They're doing the Rules Cyclopedia for Print on Demand now.
>What do you guys think about using a deck of cards instead of dice
I did that in prison
What do you guys think about flipping coins instead of using dice?
B/X with whatever pieces of AD&D seem like they'd be fun to borrow
Coins will not have the same probability distribution as d20s
>Rules Cyclopedia
Too many stuff you will not use on it, it's better to just get a book with basic + expert sets
What do you guys think about eating ass instead of dice
coinsandscrolls.blogspot.ca
Archaeans! Deep-stone creatures from a different order of life. Come read about radiation side-effects and horrific weapons.
I legitimately did that when I was real young, 1 coin being 0/1, another being 0/2 and so on.
It was not fun
Who's ass? The DM?
Since the majority of OSR players are sweaty neckbeards, I would probably be against it
unless the DM was skerples ;)
I remember play Pokemon TCG. Coin flipping was retarded.
I did once, I would highly recommend against it
What do you guys think about cloud watching instead of using dice
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>Pokemon TCG.
>Coin flipping was retarded.
word
You can produce content for it legally.
There is a relevant Shackleton quote I wish I had written down.
The jist is, (You) are more tiresome than them.
Say you're gonna do a one-shot
Give premades
Make it fun
See if they want to continue past the one-shot
What game / module should I run for a one shot
Since the last thread died with Monty Haul issues, what do you guys think is a good balance for dropping magical items to players?
How do I play LoTFP on Roll20
Don't. Only Monty Haul GM's give magic items pre name level. Anything else and you might as well be playing 4e
pre-name level?
Not even minor things like Rings of Protection or an Elven Cloak?
Yeah, before name level
Pray someone is looking for a group, in your timezone, and on Roll20. It's not DND so good luck.
You'll probably have to DM.
>>>/global/rules/10
I've been banned for making a post like yours before and I see posts like it get taken down all the time.
For your sake as much as ours, please don't do this ever again. It's super annoying.
“If I had not some strength of will I would make a first class drunkard.” ?
Also, given that... what does that make you?
Check the last dozen threads. Lots of answers back there.
Fairly regularly, provided the items are weird or interesting. An ear trumpet that lets you hear fire in a 200' radius (through walls and everything) is more interesting than a +1 dagger.
I don't like d100 skills. I don't like that the spell list is before the Adventure and Encounter sections. I know that's how Moldvay Basic is laid out but it's not useful. Not really a huge fan of the saving throw tables being separate of the class section. Not sure what the races add.
I'm not sure how I feel about randomized torch durations.
There's some stuff I might pick and use, but I like LotFP better
Why does LoTFP have only 3 classes regular classes (not including the useless race classes)?
Are there options for more?
Would you want to reclaim a (mega)dungeon and turn it into a settlement?
B/X when
>Check the last dozen threads. Lots of answers back there.
I'm lazy, give me a quick rundown
Because OD&D only had three classes. Fighting-Man, Cleric, Magic-User.
It might have been someone else in the expedition. A chunk of crew was complaining about... the tides? or maybe the wind or stars. Another chunk was complaining about the first chunk.
Uncommonly to rarely, and never ever flat bonuses. Magic items should be special and interesting.
Is there a 0 level funnel feature for other OSR games? I'm specifically interested in Labyrinth Lord, Swords and Wizardry or LoTFP
It probably depends if you want it to be something that's finished in a session or something that's larger than what could be explored in a single session so they're left wanting more/making hard choices
You are a normal human (elf, dwarf, halfling) with 1d4 hp, if you survive an expedition you get your first class level. Boom.
>Never ever flat bonuses
B-but I like plus bonuses
Unless you mean things like "It's a +1 sword but it has the personality of a sassy black woman", in which case I 100% agree
It has four, not three: Fighter, Specialist, Cleric and Magic-User. Also, why useless? Elves seem pretty strong to me. Dwarves are tough as fuck and can carry lots.
Here's something designed for people just like you:
>Ranger: +2 AB, all combat options, 2 skill points +1/lvl, saves as fighter, 2,300 XP to level 2
>Paladin: +2 AB, all combat options, spells as a cleric of half their level, saves as fighter, 2,500 XP to level 2
>Bard: 2 skill points +1/lvl, spells as a magic-user of half their level, 2,800 XP to level 2 you:
homebrewhomunculus.blogspot.com
Tomb of the Iron God, Shadowbrook Manor, Tower of the Stargazer, and Tomb of the Skerple Kings are ones I've seen mentioned.
The first and last one are quite big, multiple levels, so won't be completed in a session. Stargazer probably can be, but it doesn't have wandering monsters which I feel are important to show the different style of play. Not sure how long Shadowbrook would take.
Halflings are useless, then again they're useless in every OSR game
The specialist class as written is actually pretty flexible as well, especially if the less traditional skills (bushcraft, languages, architecture) are actually useful in your campaign or if you're open to players asking for other skill options (for instance, I had a player who wanted to play a ex-doctor, so I cooked up a Medicine skill for him to take). If I ever break out of being forever GM I swear I'm going to unironically play a linguist PC.
At least if you're running a hexcrawl they can be the resident navigator since they get Bushcraft skill in LotFP.
If you're doing the whole mythic underworld thing then it seems like a horrendously bad idea, unless the only point of the settlement is as a temporary staging base for deeper exploration.
Don't get me wrong, out of character I fucking love the idea and my favorite RPG ever is based on the concept, but it's hard to imagine situations where knowingly settling a dungeon is somehow the most reasonable choice homesteaders could make.
If I add skills to LotFP, medicine and arcana are definitely on the table. Possibly replace architecture with something more general.
How did your medicine skill work? One interesting take I've seen is that you can tend to someone at night and your skill is a multiplier for the healing they get during the rest.
Honestly, I can see a couple arguments to be made.
You could run a megadungeon for them - they're meant to be played rather episodically, after all, and this both gives a "pure" OSR experience, is very different from modern play, and gives you something to return to later if it catches their fancy.
You could run a beginner module for them - e.g. B1, B2, B4. Use B1 if you want mapping challenges and getting the hang of stocking dungeons, use B2 if you want to include a small wilderness and town (I ran a session of this with some beginners, and they had fun - almost all the hirelings died, but they had fun), use B4 if you want to give them an immediate purpose, a slightly more linear dungeon, and have more potential faction diplomacy.
You can use an actual one-shot dungeon. There's a lot of tournament dungeons, but the only one I'd recommend for this would be G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief. It's got good pregens (including names, prepared spells, and mundane equipment), lots of difficult combat, and a strong reason to adventure:
>These adventurers must deliver a sharp check, deal a lesson to the clan of hill giants nearby, or else return and put their heads upon the block for the headsman's axe!
However, I'd only recommend this if your players are used to higher levels of 5E and thus are prepared to play characters like Gleed Wurp the Eyebiter, 12th-level Wizard, with four spells each of level 1-4, three level 5, and one level 6.
Also, you'll probably need to use some number of AD&D or OD&D+Greyhawk rules - Redmond Dumple the Fighter has 18/74 Strength, race and class is separate, IIRC Monster Summoning II isn't in B/X, etc.
What could you stand to gain from eating dice?
Eh, it kind of worked for both Blackmoor and IIRC Greyhawk. They only ever got the first level "reclaimed", though (reclaimed from what, exactly? The Wizard that owns it?), and given their depth (IIRC Blackmoor has a magma well that goes down fifty levels or something bonkers like that?) it's a bit implausible.
Every time you consume a die you have a small chance (1% for each die consumed at a time, non-cumulative, save vs. choking with a -1 penalty for each additional die beyond the first consumed at once) of manifesting the power to manipulate die rolls of the same type that was consumed (change the result of one die rolled by +/- 1 once per day).
B/X all the way. Steal the bits you like from AD&D if you like.
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The Rogues Gallery gives 0-3 magic items to most NPCs (averaging around 1?), though notables at the back tend to have [½,1]*level magic items.
Any resources on running a hexcrawl in the vein of fantasy Africa? I saw World of the Lost, but that's too scifi for what I have in mind.
I stole the basic idea from this blog:
tenfootpolemic.blogspot.ca
Using the medicine skill takes 1 hour and requires medical supplies (which are expended regardless of whether the skill roll is successful or not). If the skill roll is successful, the patient gains hp equal to the number rolled (so if your medicine skill is 3 in 6 and you roll a 2, the patient gains 2 hp) up to a maximum of 6 points. If you fail on a roll of 6 (or on a roll of double 6s for a 6 in 6 skill), the patient takes 1 point of damage. Also, medicine can't restore you to more than half of your maximum hp.
It's tricky to strike a balance between making the skill useful if you have ranks, but not so useful that it completely outclasses clerical magic, but I think it works pretty well.
Spears of the Dawn, made by Kevin Crawford, the creator of SWN, Other Dust, and Godbound.
I've never looked at it though so I don't know how good or bad it is.
I was posting last thread and mentioned someone's suggestion to use the underground as a new settlement to ride out the apocalypse was similar to my original draft for an adventure I was working on. I'm debating returning to that instead of what I'm currently working with.
So, not exactly mythic underworld, more Underdark.
Have a thing. May require tweaking to taste.
+1 weapon user reporting in. LotFP and me parted company when I learned there are no magical item tables. I say keep quirky and useless magical items in the blog post and out of the session. Tired nu skool meme if ever.
Authentic OSR tip #1: magical items are too often found in the treasure chest and not in the hand of the monster. Don't overlook this way to make weak monsters unexpectedly strong. As a bonus players often fail to search the bodies of monsters they kill.
Authentic OSR tip #2: wands, especially the wand of fireballs, make for boring play. The problem is too many charges. However, there is an edition which fixes that!
OD&D: 100 charges
Holmes: 100 charges
AD&D: 81-100 charges
B/X: 1-10 charges
But what if the fireball scorches the conscience of the victims and plagues the with a wave of shame from the future as their timeline is momentarily reversed? And the fireball is in the shape of the caster's mother's face?
Halflings are the "don't get killed" class in B/X, and maintain some of that in LotFP -- they get powered down a fair bit by losing their ability to hide in dungeons. I'd give them back the 2-in-6 stealth in dungeons
They're not as powerful as other classes, but it's been my experience that nobody's more likely to come out alive from what would otherwise be a TPK, and then proceed to make it home again to tell the tale, possibly with a bag of loot or a magic item in tow.
They're the safest choice. You play a halfling because you want that hiding ability, the extra AC against big things, and the best saves, because you really don't like losing your guy.
Advanced Labyrinth Lord
What's not vanilla about it? Optics? Other planets? Alien life?
Family, if it seems like fun, go for it. Ultimately it's your game, not ours (that's meant to be empowering, not dismissive).
One of the most enjoyable things about OSR-play is testing your ideas and seeing how they pan out. Even if things fail, they often fail entertainingly.