State of the Tavern - 3 Weeks in a Row with 20+ Posts - 1st Time Since Summer of '14

21 Posts and the week isn't done yet :)

The Tavern has been very active in my "active retirement". I just need to reboot the beer blog and I'll be right on pace.

As I've stated earlier, The Tavern is going to be going through some tweaking over the next few weeks. The next large project will be turning the tabs under the header into drop down menus, which will lead to a return to the old "Good Reads" blogroll in a form that doesn't slow down page loading nor clutter the screen. As I am not an HTML programmer, nor any type of programmer since Pascal in my high school days, I'm going to go with what I find online and tweak for my usage. I'll warn before I start implementing that code, as I expect it will bork things up at first.

Smaller projects are the weekly recurring posts. There have been requests for me to restart the OSR for the Lapsed Gamer series of posts. If I do, I'd need to get a comprehensive list together with a revised timeline. With the number of current retroclones, this could go on for years, especially if I do a post a week ;)

Not to mention attacking the review slush pile that has been mostly neglected for months.

Just need to put aside more time for podcasting...

Thinking About Restarting the OSR for the Lapsed Gamer Series of Posts

Last year I was working on a series of posts called OSR for the Lapsed Gamer. That got derailed back in December.

I'm thinking of picking it up from where it left, which is covering the free OSR ruleset options:

Delving Deeper

LotFP Weird Fantasy

Dark Dungeons

Labyrinth Lord

Swords & Wizardry

Basic Fantasy RPG

OSRIC

Those are the systems already covered. I'll try and cover the rest of the free OSR RPGs before moving on to the ones that have a cost.

So, is there interest in me picking this back up? Are there systems you'd want to see covered sooner that later? I'm probably going to lose the timeline and just post as it comes to me. I'm guessing a post or two in these series a week. Probably the most I can do with the new work hours.

Soon We Will be Back on Pace - OSR Christmas, OSR For the Lapsed Gamer and More

Left for work at 530 AM. It's a bit after 8PM and I just got home. It's been that kind of a month. I've fallen behind on lots of planned stuff, but I'm on vacation for a week starting whenever I get home tomorrow, so yes, there will be some catching up to do.

There should be a bunch of gifts for OSR Christmas going up tomorrow night. I'm thinking PRINT and INTERNATIONAL shipping. That is, of course, assuming I get home at a reasonable time. If not, Saturday morning. I expect the pace of the posts to pick up.

I'll be getting back to the OSR for the Lapsed Gamer series of posts this weekend too. I've been away for it for too long, so time to pick up where we left off.

Other stuff too. I got's plans, I just need some down time to do them ;)

The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer - The Free PDFs - Delving Deeper

I apologize for the gap between entries in the series of posts for the OSR for the Lapsed Gamer. It has been a busy week.

This time around, we are looking at Delving Deeper, which is a reimagining of the Dungeons & Dragons White Box, with the addition of thieves - but not the thieves you have grown to know. Thieves are, however, and optional class, and you can leave them out to go purely White Box if desired.

Delving Deeper makes the claim that "there was no faithful emulation of the original 1974 edition. Until now." I'm not going to dig out my D&D White Box to verify that, but it certainly hews closer than the S&W White Box or LL OEC.

The thief is the big change. Instead of percentage chances to their skills that increase with level, they roll a D6. On a 3 or higher, they succeed. They can attempt to decipher treasure maps at 3rd level with the same chances and magic-user scrolls at 9th level. A roll of 3 the spell goes off but is reversed.

There were comments on an earlier post I made about Delving Deeper that imply that the original, fan created pre-Greyhawk thief class originally used d6s for skill resolution.

Two years after that first post, I'm very tempted to houserule the thieves in my S&W games to use the DD skill roles for their abilities. It simply makes them more relevant.

In any case, Delving Deeper is an excellent choice of rulesets if one wants a more authentic OD&D experience than the other clones offer (and easier to make heads or tails of than the originals it is based upon.) DD does not have the following of the other clones that have been mentioned thus far in this series of posts, but the price is right (free) and it certainly is a nice presentation of the rules.

The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer - Free PDFs - Lamentations of the Flame Princess: Weird Fantasy

So, where does LotFP: Weird Fantasy fall on out list of D&D clones? At it's core, it is a B/X clone, but that falls quickly to the wayside as you read the classes.

It is a race as class type of system, but each class is purposefully given it's own niche. For example:

Only fighters can increase in combat ability. No other class get's more than a +1 to their to hitroll.

Dwarves are the HP powerhouse. They get 1d10 per level for HD and they can carry more than other classes. They also get a + 1 to their Constitution modifier for HP.

Elves can cast spells and get a 1d6 for HD (as opposed to the magic-users 1d4). I don't recall if they can use armor or not, but "Player Character Elves are those gifted individuals that are trained as both Fighters and Magic-Users."

Halfling get by far the best saves in the game, but that's about it.

Clerics are pretty close to the norm. They DO get a spell at first level.

Magic-users are what it says on the tin. You'll need to read the spell descriptions carefully, as there are enough that have been changed from the source material to keep you guessing.

Specialists (Thieves). This is where Weird Fantasy shines. The D6 mechanic that is substituted for the % rolls for thief skills is something I'm tempted to port over no matter which Old School ruleset I'm running with. Worth the price of admission on it's own, and when the price is free, it's hard to pass up.

Weird Fantasy does not have a monster book or section. DMs are expected to make each one unique. Or, just borrow from a different OSR game. Trust me, it will work.

Weird Fantasy is basically a B/X clone with some very unique house rules. It will feel familiar and yet not for those coming from the originals or their more direct clones, but the art free Weird Fantasy PDF is certainly something that every OSR gamer should have on their virtual bookshelf. As for the full version of the PDF or Print - just be aware, the artwork, while very good, may not fit into everyone's social norms for sex and gratuitous violence.

If you can find the older Grindhouse Edition, the Referee Book is priceless with the advice it gives.

LotFP Weird Fantasy (Free No Art PDF, PDF with Art $5, Print 21.18 Euros)

The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer - Free PDFs - Dark Dungeons

Nothing is as motivating as being told "your doing it wrong" when you know you are doing right. On that note, we proceed onto the 5th entry in The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer series of posts.

May we present to you Dark Dungeons.

No, not the Dark Dungeons of Jack Chick fame, which is what you will probably think of if you were gaming in the 80's and 90's, and not the soon to be released movie of the same title based on the original Dark Dungeons comic tract.

I'm talking the Dark Dungeons retroclone, a restatement of the D&D Rules Cyclopedia, not that you'll see that mentioned anywhere in the work itself or the website where you can find the download.

The D&D Rules Cyclopedia was itself a rewrite of BECMI, mostly without the I if I recall correctly. The I is mostly here.

Race as Class is one of the defining features. Your classes are Cleric, Dwarf, Elf, Fighter, Halfling, Magic-User, Mystic and Thief. I had a brain fart with the Mystic class until i realized it was the Monk class. No idea how it was named in the Rules Cyclopedia and my copy is hidden on a shelf somewhere.

For sheer size Dark Dungeons gives OSRIC a run for the money, coming in at nearly 350 pages. It includes rules for mass combat, ship to ship combat, foraging, skysailing, advice on encounter balance, questing for immortality - even if you weren't planning on using Dark Dungeons as the ruleset for your next campaign, there is a ton of interesting stuff to steal borrow for use with the OSR ruleset of your choice. It's also a complete ruleset on it's own.

Dark Dungeons (Free PDF in 3 different formats for computer viewing, printing professionally and printing at home - at 345 pages who the fuck is printing this at home? / Print SC $14.67 / Print HC $26.26 / Print Deluxe HC $89.95)

The Partially Impartial Eye

As I do the series of posts on the OSR for the Lapsed Gamer, one thing I try to maintain is impartiality when highlighting the different rulesets.

In doing so, I've reminded myself of just how many of the OSR styled rules I've played, run or both.

Castles & Crusades - 2 short campaigns as a player via Fantasy Grounds 2

ACKS - run via Google Hangouts / VTT

DCC RPG - run and played via Google Hangouts / Roll20 (all that follows used Hangouts / Roll20)

OSRIC / AD&D 1e - run and played, using OSRIC and 1e interchangably

S&W Complete - run and played

LotFP Weird Fantasy - played

Which still means that the vast majority of the rules I'll be mentioning I HAVEN'T experienced in actual play. So many rules, so little time. If I make a statement based on a read through of a rule set that isn't accurate in actual play, call me on it and I'll correct it.

The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer - Free PDFs - Labyrinth Lord

Labyrinth Lord. The first OSR game I found, assuming one doesn't count Castles & Crusades.
Certainly the first one I found freely available in PDF in it's special "no art" version.

Yes, there are non-free versions of the PDFs with art. Content is the same, so consider the art versions as a donation to the publisher.

Labyrinth Lord is a re-presentation or re-working of the B/X rules, and it tries to replicate the look and feel of such.

The core book for Labyrinth Lord is the LL Revised Edition. If you are looking to play something compatible with your old B/X modules, this is all you need.

LL: Advanced Edition Characters allows you to play the classes from AD&D using the LL rules. In some ways it is very much like S&W Complete, but LL:AEC requires the core Labyrinth Lord rules - it is not a stand alone product.

LL: Original Edition Characters brings the OD&D White Box emulation to the Labyrinth Lord Ruleset. Again, you need the core Labyrinth Lord rules to use this supplement.

There is a certifiable shit ton of support material for Labyrinth Lord. Where as Swords & Wizardry has spawned over a dozen derivatives of it's rules, doing a search at RPGNow for "Labyrinth Lord" leads to over 350 related products (S&W comes back with less than 140.)

Labyrinth Lord is probably the best supported of the OSR rulesets, with adventures, settings, classes, monsters and more just waiting to be used. And even though we always say that OSR products are 90-95% compatible across the various rulesets, Labyrinth Lord is 100% compatible to the largest amount of source material right out of the box.

Labyrinth Lord and Swords & Wizardry are probably the "Big Two" of the OSR clones and it's impossible to go wrong with either one.

Labyrinth Lord is published by Goblinoid Games

Labyrinth Lord: Original Edition Characters (Free PDF / Art PDF  3.95/ Print SC $8.95)

Labyrinth Lord: Revised Edition (Free PDF / Art PDF / Print SC $21.95 / Print HC $31.95)

Labyrinth Lord: Advanced Edition Characters (Free PDF / Art PDF  $6.95 / Print SC $22.95 / Print HC $32.95)

The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer - Send in the Clones, There Ought to be Clones

So, the more I looked the more I found OSR RPGs that use Swords & Wizardry as their core (as well as RPGs that used other clones as their core, and a whole boatload of clones and derived systems.) A whole lotta games.

Where did I find such a listing?

taxidermicowlbear

Never heard of it? Neither had I. But my, it is a site of link goodness for clones and derived games of ALL editions of D&D. Yes, even 4th.

It includes a list of 16 RPGs that are built upon the Swords & Wizardry Rules and 3 built off of the Labyrinth Lord rules

Then there are the clones built directly off of OD&D, Basic and AD&D 1e and 2e. About 60 or so. not including the games listed at the end that branch off a bit further but still have solid roots in D&D mechanics.

There is a lot to dig through, some of which is totally new to me.

I'll be cherry picking some of the free ones for the final parts of the first section of the OSR for the Lapsed Gamer series of posts, but I see no reason why one couldn't jump ahead and find a gem or two on their own.

The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer - Free PDFs - Swords & Wizardry

What can I say about Swords & Wizardry that I haven't said before?

It seeks to emulate the original edition of D&D - the White Box. Depending on the flavor you choose, it also grabs inspiration from the various OD&D supplements.

Swords & Wizardry White Box emulates what it says on the tin - the original edition of D&D without digging into the supplements. Biggest shock to most gamers? No thief class, just clerics, fighters and magic-users.

Swords & Wizardry Core was the first of the Swords & Wizardry "trilogy" to be releases. It includes the thief class and will be more familiar in feel for those that played Basic D&D.

Swords & Wizardry Complete was the last of the "core" rulebooks to be released. The PDF went free last November. This includes all of the classes AD&D players (or those that played with all of the OD&D supplements) would be familiar with, with the exception of the illusionist.

Probably one of the attractions of Swords & Wizardry is that both the Core and White Box rules are available in RTF format - which means one can design their own game using the S&W rules in an editable document or create a house ruled document to distribute to your gaming group.

Here's a short list of S&W derived games (and I know I'm missing more than a few so help a brother out and add them to the comments below):

The World of Onn, Crypts & Things, Renegade, Corruption, Woodland Warriors, Ruins & Ronin, Blood & Bullets, Ancient Mysteries & Lost Treasures, Sabres & Witchery and Pars Fortuna(these will get covered to a lesser extend further on in this series of posts)

Probably the biggest change in Swords & Wizardry from the originals it seeks to emulate is the single saving throw. I wasn't a fan of the change when I first found S&W, but after having run and played with the single save for well over a year, it's fine in practice. Another noticeable change is that Armor Class is expressed in both ascending and descending order, so you can use either depending on the preference of your group.

Swords & Wizardry is strongly supported by Frog God Games.

Swords & Wizardry White Box Rules (free PDF / RTF, print $9.99 SC, $18.99 HC Lulu)

Swords & Wizardry Core Rules (free PDF / RTF, print $14 SC, $24 HC Lulu)

Swords & Wizardry Complete (free PDF, print $34.99 Frog God Games)

No Good Deed Goes Un-Pundited

Apparently, The RPG Pundit has taken offense to my series of posts about The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer. Somehow, I'm involved in revising history and defining the OSR in lieu of his own definition of it.

I figured I'd explain my thought process for those like the Pundit that feel it's necessary to assign me motivations that aren't my own.

Lapsed gamers from the "golden age" of gaming, roughly prior to 2000, the year D&D 3e released, are most likely (not all, obviously, but those that have found The Tavern after years away from gaming aren't likely to have been VtM players) to have been players of 2e or earlier. These are the editions covered by the basic "retroclones."  Strangely enough, this is what I blog about.

The retroclones are generally rewrites of the originals that are, at the very least (and IMHO), better organized and easier to digest. Initially, I'm highlighting the retroclones of the various D&D editions that are free in PDF. Afterwards, I'll mention "other old school" RPGs that are free in PDF, like the free Tunnels & Trolls quickstart, Stars Without Number, Legends (Fantasy Trip) and similar titles.

After the free in PDF RPGs, we move on to the clones that are only available at some sort of cost, like ACKS and DCC. Then, we'll move on to the other clones and / or still in print RPGs, like Tunnels & Trolls, Traveller, Runequest, OpenQuest and others.

As for Encounter Critical and Mazes & Monsters, they would fall into the "other old school RPGs."

Why am I doing this? Because there is an interest in it and I enjoy doing it.

For those that aren't interested in this series of posts and find it offensive that I may leave out your favorite but obscure game, so be it. It's not for everyone and it is not intended to be a history lesson of the OSR. It's more like individual snapshots in time and space.

and the Free Basic Fantasy RPG Print Package Goes to...

Alright, I broke out my Gamescience percentiles and ignored any results above 57.

Rolled a 05

Which means +Peter Schweighofer , you win the Basic Fantasy RPG collection of books in print.

Peter, I'll need you to contact me at tenkarsDOTtavern at that gmail thing so I can get this sent to you via Amazon.

Thanks to all that commented. There wouldn't be a blog without the community that's has formed around it. I can't thank everyone enough.

Huzzah!

The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer - Free PDFs - Basic Fantasy RPG

Basic Fantasy RPG is pretty much a bridge between 3x and the older editions of D&D. It was the first OGL based game that was meant to emulate Old School play and be used as such (OSRIC was originally written to make it easier for publishers to write old school adventures).

What Is Basic Fantasy RPG? 

The Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game is a rules-light game system modeled on the classic RPG rules of the early 1980's. Though based loosely on the d20 SRD v3.5, Basic Fantasy RPG has been written largely from scratch to replicate the look, feel, and mechanics of the early RPG game systems. It is suitable for those who are fans of "old-school" game mechanics. Basic Fantasy RPG is simple enough for children in perhaps second or third grade to play, yet still has enough depth for adults as well. 

Basic Fantasy RPG is an Open Source game system, supported by dedicated fans worldwide who have contributed hundreds of pages of rules supplements, adventure modules, and other useful and enjoyable game materials...

It succeeds in this goal of replicating early D&D based RPGs very well, not just in the look, feel and mechanics but in presentation too.

Probably the most amazing thing about the Basic Fantasy RPG is the quality of the supplements and adventures, available for free in PDF and at cost in print.

How inexpensive?

Less than 11 bucks for the rules and two campaigns with multiple adventures in each. Personally, I really like BF1 Morgansfort: The Western Lands Campaign. It has a B2, Keep on the Borderlands feel while still being different

Here's what I'm going to do. One random commenter on this post will get the above three books in print sent to their home. US residents only, as this will be shipping via Amazon Prime. Don't fret, everyone can grab the above and more for free in PDF directly from the Basic Fantasy RPG website.

You need to comment by 930 PM Eastern Time, September 24th, 2014 to be considered.

The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer - Free PDFs - OSRIC

OSRIC - Old School Reference and Index Compilation

Doesn't sound all that sexy when you actually break it down, does it? Well, it wasn't supposed to.

OSRIC was initially envisioned as a safe harbor for publishers that wanted to post "old school adventures." As it was a reimagining of AD&D 1e, it would allow publishers to use it as a reference for their "old school adventures", without stepping on the toes of WotC and falling back directly on Wizard's 1e IP.

It's was officially released 1/20/07 (with a preview that had released on 6/23/06)

OSRIC v2, which is the version one is most like to encounter online (or at Lulu) is written with the idea of actually being used as a reference in play, whereas OSRIC v1 was written with the idea of it being used as a reference for published material. OSRIC v2.2 is the latest version available.

It includes the usual AD&D 1e classes with the exception of the Bard (who never fit in the first place system wise) and the Monk (who was usually out of sorts setting wise). Strangely enough, Swords & Wizardry Complete includes the Monk but drops the Illusionist. Just an observation.

OSRIC is the 1e Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual rolled into one comprehensive volume. Even if you still like running with your original 1e rules, having OSRIC as an additional reference at the table doesn't hurt.

It drops Weapon Speed (which I don't recall ever being in a group that used the rule, let alone understood it.) It retains segments as a time measurement in combat and spell interruption if hit while casting.

OSRIC plays close enough to AD&D 1e that I was able to run a campaign with both 1e books and OSRIC being used at the table interchangeably. Sure, the experience point tables are tweaked a bit to change the math, but all in all, it is simply a much easier to read and understand rewrite of the original AD&D 1e rules.


Some history about the Why's and Wherefore's OSRIC (as supplied by +Guy Fullerton )

http://www.knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?p=11108#p11108
...plus the post immediately following it.

http://www.knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?p=11245#p11245

http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18307

http://www.thedelversdungeon.com/forum2/viewtopic.php?t=81

+Stuart Marshall , OSRIC's Editor in Chief, would prefer you play with your original AD&D 1e books when possible  http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1306092#p1306092

OSRIC Pocket SRD (Free PDF and OBS $13.50 POD)

OSRIC v2.2 (Free PDF and Lulu various prices POD)

OSRIC v2.2 (Black Blade Publishing $21.00 HC)

add reviews, reflections, impressions, experiences, corrections and the like to the comments below.

next up will be Basic Fantasy RPG

The OSR for the Lapsed Gamer - The Timeline

I figure if we are going to present the OSR RPGs in some sort of order, actual release dates should have some sort of influence on that order. Then the question became: "has anyone done such a list?"

The answer is yes. Thanks to +Rob Conley mentioning it on his Bat in the Attic blog a few year back, I found out that +Guy Fullerton had put together an amazingly comprehensive list - with a spreadsheet no less, that offers an OSR timeline until June of 2012. For the sake of our needs, I've filtered the list by system releases.

I'm going to use "full" release dates, not previews and such, so the initial order of the free OSR releases that are being highlighted will be:

OSRIC - 1/20/07

BFRPG 2/17/07

Labyrinth Lord 8/4/07

Swords & Wizardry 10/15/08 (note - S&W comes in 3 versions and a number of rule sets use it for the base of their variant. Each version of S&W will get it's own post. The variant rules will get a post at the end where applicable)

Dark Dungeons 5/26/10

LotFP Weird Fantasy Roleplaying 7/26/10

Mazes & Perils 8/7/12

Delving Deeper 3/18/13

BLUEHOLME Prentice Rules 1/9/13

Seven Voyages of Zylarthen 6/1/14