What Does the OSR Mean to You?

No, I'm not talking about what the letters that compose the OSR stand for, but what the actual OSR means to you.

To me, it means an amazingly creative community, generous with their time, happy to share their completed works with others and quick to open their wallets & purses when a member of the community is in need.

Members of the OSR are quick to help other members on their projects, offer advice, share knowledge and all that good stuff. If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a strong community to produce high quality gaming material (without being a large company or part of a larger corporation).

The OSR is compossed of members that are passionate about their hobby and are enthusiastic about sharing their love for Old School Gaming with others. Some are grumpier than others, but that comes with age ;)

It is a community I am proud to be a part of.

That is what the OSR means to me. What does it mean to you?

Defining the OSR by Identifying What it is Not (and other useless exercises of thought)

I was explaining to a teenager last night that defining the OSR was doomed to fail as each member of the OSR has their own personal definition. As that definition is personal, it generally is well defended and the thing of online battles that will never end ;)

Heck, we can't even decide what OSR stands for.

Is it Old School Revolution? Old School Resurrection? Old School Revival? Old School Renaissance?

Strange that we can't pin down what the "R" stands for but we know the "O" and "S" stand for "Old School" and not maybe "Original System" with the OSR becoming "Original System Rules"

Which is important, because if the OSR refers to Old School Rules (another possibility for the "R") then the OSR encompasses not just derivatives of the Original Dungeons & Dragons and its offspring but early RPGs such as Tunnels & Trolls, RuneQuest, Traveller, Chivalry & Sorcery, Bunnies & Burrows and so much more. Toon, GURPS, Champions (at least prior to the Hero System bloat), Rolemaster - All are 30 year old plus systems. Certainly they are Old School. (this list is far from complete - I'm not even going to make the attempt)

Or does OSR stand for "Open System Reference", as in, if it weren't for the OGL, there wouldn't be much of an OSR community. New releases certainly add life to the community.

So, what doesn't fall under the purview of the OSR? What is the cut off?

I think we can all agree that 3x and beyond of the D&D edition line of succession are outside the OSR, but then 5e tries to skim the bubble.

Are AD&D 2e's Skill & Powers releases within the purview of the OSR? I mean, 2e certainly is (I think), but what about all the splat books that bloated the system?

Looking at new systems, I see FATE and Apoc World and all their spinoffs as outside the OSR, but recent releases such as Polyhedral Dungeon and Far Away Land seem to be grounded in OSR sensibilities, even if their systems don't line up with prior Old School games.

Maybe the OSR is like an onion, with many layers. The inner layers are for the Original System Rules, then the Old School Rules, followed by an even larger layer covering the Old School Revival.

In the end, I find the OSR to be much like porn - I know it when I see it, but where I draw the line of what is and what isn't isn't the same place that others would draw it. We're all right even though our answers are different.

Yes, this was occupying my sleeping mind last night...

Open Call - Looking for OSR Publishers / Products / Authors / Artists to Highlight Here at The Tavern

I was talking with my usual coconspirator ( +Zach Glazar ) earlier today and we both were bemoaning the general lack of a program showcasing new and upcoming talent in the OSR, let alone current and overlooked talent. This post is my attempt to address that.

In the comments section of this post I'd like my readers to suggest products, publishers, authors and artists that they feel are overlooked in our corner of the hobby. Folks that don't get the respect they deserve. Somehow they fly under the radar.

I'd also like to know WHY you think a creator / product / publisher / artwork deserves to be highlighted. Because, you know - reasons :)

Please include links when you have them. It makes my job easier and we all know how important that is ;)

I'd like to start a series of posts, highlighting the creators in question and I can't do this without your help. The more responses we get, the sooner the series kicks off and the longer and hopefully more informative it will be.

So, get commenting!

Working on a Place for Bloggers, Podcasters and Publishers to Meet to Arrange Reviews

As I mentioned in the comments of last night's Open Letter to the Various Online PDF & Print RPG Stores there really needs to be a place for bloggers, podcasters and publishers to meet, greet and arrange for reviews to happen.

It occurred to me as I was laying in bed last night that I have something here at The Tavern that could facilitate such a virtual location - a forum.

What? The Tavern has a forum? Yep, unused these days as it really didn't have much of a purpose when I set a page up for it but now I think we have a purpose. I'm going to rework the forum this weekend.

Here's how I'm currently thinking this will work ("this" being whatever we decide to call this community meeting place - currently called "The Common Room")

- A forum for publishers to introduce themselves and their products / product lines and give contact information. Publishers would list each product they would like to receive reviews for as separate posts in their thread. 

- A forum for blogs to introduce themselves and their blog. How often do you do reviews? How often do you post? You could list links to your prior reviews, if any, in this initial post. Contact information would be helpful to publishers here. Follow up posts linking each review completed through the use of the forum. 

- A forum for podcasters to introduce themselves and their podcasts. How often do you do reviews? How often do you release episodes? You could list links to your prior reviews, if any, in this initial post. Contact information would be helpful to publishers here. Follow up posts linking each review completed through the use of the forum. 

- A forum for completed reviews. As each review gets done and posts, this would be the master list.

Once a week I'd do a summary posts of the reviews completed here at The Tavern. It would probably follow the following format to some extent:

For the week of April 6th through April 12th, the following reviews were completed via The Common Room Review Program: 

- My OSR Blog (linked) reviewed The Deepest Deadly Dungeon (RPGNow Link) (Table Top Library Link) (Lulu Link) (Open Gaming Store Link) (etc link) released by Damn Fine Games (linked). The Deepest Deadly Dungeon is an adventure for levels 1 to 8 using the Swords & Wizardry rules but suitable for all OSR gaming. 

There would be a permanent link to both the weekly review summary posts as well as the Common Room Forums in the tabs on top of the main Tavern Page. If we could commission a graphic for the program, I'd also place it on the right sidebar and other blogs / podcasts / publisher sites could do the same if the wished.

In the end, it's all about community.

So, give me your feedback. Yay or nay? Suggestions? Too much? Too little? Is there something that could really make this pop?

So, What Value is an "Ennie" to the OSR?

I had the page open on the ENnies website - I was about to enter Tenkar's Tavern as a blog entry to the ENnies, and then I thought - why? Actually, i thought "who cares what music gets played when one's entry places in the top three", and then I asked "why?"

Does it really make a difference in our corner of the universe?

Heck, do main stream RPG Blog readers even read this blog?

Beyond the Three Castles Award, is there an OSR award floating around that I don't know about?

Should there be?

Does it matter?

Should your bartender be partaking of the The Tavern's stock (Allagash Tripel Reserver, 25.4 oz, 9% alcohol) - is the fine Belgian Style Ale clouding my thoughts? - damn good brew thought)