Welcome to the Old School Renaissance General, the thread dedicated to TSR-era D&D, derived systems, and compatible content.Broadly, OSR games encourage a tonal and mechanical fidelity to Dungeons & Dragons as played in the game's first decade — less emphasis on linear adventures and overarching meta-plots and a greater emphasis on player agency.If you are new to the OSR, welcome! Ask us whatever you're curious about: we'll be happy to help you get started.>Troves, Resources, Blogs, etc:http://pastebin.com/9fzM6128>Need a starter dungeon? Here's a curated collection:https://archive.4plebs.org/tg/thread/94994969/#95006768>Previous thread:>>96474844>Thread Question:What's the most powerful monster that's ever been defeated at your table? How did it go down?
>An Anon is working on an ALL NEW /osrg/ n00b Player's Handbook! You can find it here: https://pastebin.com/XALkXkV0Feel free to provide feedback and suggestions.The old n00b DM's Guide is here: https://pastebin.com/EVvt6P0BWant to contribute to the thread but don't know where to start? Use this table.>1. Make a spell>2. Make a monster>3. Make a dungeon special>4. Make a wilderness location>5. Make an urban set piece>6. Make a magic item>7. Make a class, race, or race-as-class>8. Make a 4-10 room lair.>9. Make a trap>10. Roll 2D10 and combine
An Anon has shared an awesome AzteCKS campaign report. Check it out!ttps://mega.nz/file/id51UZqa#9pZoBcVtOF3vssbZ4kON2WN9XAbGvSi-TStiB9nKTxY
>>96499462Thank you for the shoutout for the n00b player's handbook! I hope many newbies find it useful.
>tqThat's a good question. Despite decades of gaming, my groups had always fallen into the usual trap of "campaign ends after 3 sessions, nobody plays for six months, everyone rolls new characters" during High School. It wasn't until I took the throne of Forever DM that we were able to make a campaign last. As such, most of our combat encounters have been against the usual selection of Goblins, Kobolds, Orcs, Wolves, Spiders etc. Though there we did certainly run away from a good number of monsters.For my group, I think the most formidable single foe they've faced is the Wyvern (picrel). It was hairy, but they only lost a single hireling. That was one of my favorite sessions that I've ever ran, largely because it was the game that solidified in the group my decision to run AD&D instead of 5E or 3.5. Most of the time, the most dangerous encounters for my players are from hordes of smaller monsters, or from relatively weak monsters with poison and/or paralysis. Both character deaths we've had so far have been against poison. The Death Grip Beetle Queen in the Stonehell supplement gave them a run for their money too. 2/4 PCs were downed and a third was being crushed by the Queen's pincers when the thief managed to backstab it.
First decade D&D distinguishes between three types of PC-NPC association:1. Hirelings are hired professionals. As a rule, they work for a fixed pay, take none of the entrepreneurial risk, and avoid unnecessary dangers. There's a few exceptions: Torchbearers have no professional skill, mercenaries should expect higher pay and/or looting rights in wartime, which of effectively a share.2. Followers are worshipers, admirers, and fanboys they're happy to work for free as long as their expenses are met. They just want in on the glory.3. Henchmen are junior associates in training. They're much like fellow adventurers, but get half a share and are expected to follow direction and share risks, within reason.It's interesting that there's a FOURTH type of relationship that's implicit in the rules but never formalised: 4. Full partners / peers. That's how PCs are assumed to relate to one another, as equals, although in some editions XP and/or gold might be subdivided proportionally to level. This creates a bit of a paradox: in a 5th level party, you might have a "full partner" who's a 3rd level PC and gets 100% (or 60% by level) of a share and a 4th level henchman NPC who's a "junior partner" getting 50% (or 40% by level) of a share.Is this justifiable? How would a Henchman feel "about this situation? Are there any risks that Henchmen won't take on account of that? Well, that's arguably what a Loyalty check is for, right?Should it be permissible to have NPCs in a party who are "full members" and get full shares? Or is the peer relationship only permitted between PCs and between NPCs (e.g. NPC adventuring parties obviously), but never permitted between PCs and NPCs?Is this prohibition segregationist and proof that Gygax was a total Nazi? joking obviously
>>96500771I should specify "both character deaths we've had during the current campaign*". We've had plenty more over the years, naturally.Speaking of Poison and Paralysis, my players have still yet to face what is likely my favorite monster. The thing is an absolute nightmare. If one comes around the corner in a dungeon and the party can't immediately beat feet or Hold it, they're in for a rough time.
>>96499456I ran a good part of Stonehell, had to put the game on pause so I decided to split up the later floors into their own dungeon I'll run later. I set up a lower HD version of the boss at the end of a massive gauntlet that took 8 hours or so as the final part of that dungeon. I think it was around 11 or 12 HD, breath style weapon, lotta bad stuff. This is all the stuff they killed.
>>96502467Tell us more! You mean both Stonehell I and II? How many sessions over what time period?What dungeon level did they get go?By "lower HD version of the boss at the end", do you mean the Nixthisis?
Is there any way to make a lifepath chargen system like Traveller has work with OSR or OSR adjacent games? I like the idea of 4-year spans of time, with random backgrounds, and each one giving you some kind of skill. Even if it was just a proficiency, like you either are or aren't, it would be nice for adjudicating some stuff where a player's skill doesn't really help. Like leatherworking, woodworking, etc. Maybe four rolls on a table, one for age 0-4, one for age 5-8, 9-12, 13-16 and then an option couple after that? Plus random events where you might start with a debility or flaw of some kind?This would be for a waterwheel-punk (dunno what else to call it) eberron-esque setting for an nuOSR homebrew minigame.
>>96502870Sure, you can do that --- Hârnmaster does that to an extent already, although not broken down into four-year periods.But can you do it in a way that's OSR? From the OSR point of view, there's a few issues with that idea. Firstly, proficiencies are FOE garbage. Sure, you could go the DMG "minimalistic backgrounds" route, but people in the middle ages didn't change professions once every 4 years between ages 0 and 24, so the specific way you want it to work wouldn't either. Additionally, it kinda violates the principle that characters start out generic and nondescript in D&D and only acquire interesting traits at the table. You'd be taking the game firmly in the direction of NuSR shite.But anyway, whether you're into proficiency garbage, NuSR shite, or something more based like Hârnmaster, more power to you. Not much of that is very on-topic here, though.Even more fundamentally, you're doing things the wrong way around: Since D&D is a much more solid system than Traveller from all points of view, if anything it's Traveller that should be D&D-ified, rather than the other way around. If you were to do something like that, basically what Daniel Proctor did to Gamma World but to Traveller, introducing D&D-style advancement, XP for gold (credits) and some equivalent of dungeon-crawling-planet-exploration, then many of us would be all ears.
>>96502870The main problem with this is very simply that a level 1 character doesn't have that many or granular traits. Traveller is skill-based, so you can do this, but what's a level 1 Fighter have above a Normal Man? +1 to-hit, one or two steps larger HD, improved saves, and...? There just isn't much space to carve a Veteran up into smaller parcels that can be meaningfully doled out by random die rolls.Either way, I'd leave out any rolls before age 10 or so. Even in a medieval setting there won't be many useful skills earned before that age.
>>96503319>If you were to do something like that, basically what Daniel Proctor did to Gamma World but to Traveller, introducing D&D-style advancement, XP for gold (credits) and some equivalent of dungeon-crawling-planet-exploration, then many of us would be all ears.Sincere question because I didn't read it: isn't that just Stars Without Number?
>>96503696nta, but a fantasy/medieval Traveller is an interesting concept.Just not one I can visualize working with OSR/a system with set classes.It'd work well for a more realistic, grounded setting though potentially.
>>96503716Check out Sword of Cepheus, it's literally that
>>96503776oh wow that actually looks really cool. thanks. had heard of cepheus system but not the fantasy version.
>>96503716
>>96503707>isn't that just Stars Without Number?No, not even close.
>>96504016That's a mockup, it was never a complete system, though a couple of attempts were made to make it real
>>96502719Didn't quite finish Stonehell I, they had gotten to the 4th floor and were exploring a fair bit of that but I had to put the game on pause. One of the players wanted to organize a big 12 hour session since we never really got to have a satisfying conclusion so I decided to cut it off at floor 4 and say there was an entrance to the Nixthisis lair, in my setting what was a nascent chaotic god basically. They had to run around, make a sacrifice at the temple on Floor 4 and then they had to jump into the rift right outside. The first part was over a 12 hour session, the final fight was over an 8 hour session a few weeks later.
>>96504016What's that supposed to be? Neither the game nor the publisher appear to exist.
>>96504222Cool, thanks!
>>96504274Oh I see>>96504128Nevermind
Jesus christ the BROsr are a bunch of crybabies>see this trash shilled all day every day>point out that both S&WC and White Box Compendium exist, are better and more complete games, and also there's already like four other chainmail+0e(including FUCKING 0e) games out there that won't cost nearly 70 USD for a bunch of folded cardboard and paper pamphlets>TL instantly filled with seething brOSR crybabies howling and shitting that I dared insult (i didnt) their great creator>the fucking shadowdark lady is shilling this fucking trashWhat the fuck is the brOSR even supposed to be? It's just FOE shit all the way down
>>96504955It's kind of hard to pick what's the worst kind of BrOSR.There's the "I'm not a BrOSR, BrOSR means [definition he made up to try and exclude himmself]" BrOSR.Then there's the "You guys don't understand, BrOSR is actually really smart and really good and just gets a bad name" BrOSR.And there's also the unapologetic "LoL y'all chuds can eat my dickcheesse BROSR FOR LIFE BROS," BrOSR.Sometimes I think all BrOSR are all three, it just depends on where they are at the time.
>>96504955when did people start going hostile to retroclones?it used to be cool to check out a new simulacrum
>>96505095People didn't use to ask for a king's ransom for a box.
>>96505134well. first off: yes they did and do, the OSR is the realm of retarded expensive special editions.secondly: pirate the fucking thing if you want to see what its about so bad.
>>96505095There were people who sneered at expensive new clones a decade ago, it's not any different now that I can see. BrOSR being lolcows is just extra
>>96505237yeh it used to be cool to check out a new simulacrum
What is BrOSR?
>>96505727A miserable pile of twitterites. But enough talk, have at you!
>>96504955For a few threads now you've posted something negative against Wight Box, out of the blue and unprompted. You were consistently negative and didn't specify what your problem with it is --- something reminiscent of behaviour we've already seen here before with a different system. I've already asked what your issue Wight Box is exactly, and you've already not answered, but I'll try again:>point out that both S&WC and White Box Compendium exist, are better and more complete gamesIn what ways are they "better" and "more complete"?I haven't read Wight Box, but S&W has its own issues, like arbitrary changes to the rules, so I personally wouldn't use it. If Wight Box fixes those issues, I for one bwould be tempted to pirate it. There's definitely room on the OD&D side of things for something better than S&W, although I don't know if Wight Box specifically makes the cut.
>>96506010tbf i dont think the box version is out yet, will have to wait and see what the differences between the single volume arehaving picked up the 0e aztec simulacrum, it had a consistent visual style & writing to match.
>>96505727We've discussed this two threads ago. See this question:>>96442800And the replies to it, starting with>>96442827and >>96442830
>>96506033Sure, we can talk about the single volume edition. I've downloaded it when it came out and took a quick look, didn't see any glaring issue with it, but there's lots I could have missed. Either way, I don't think I'll be getting an answer.
>>96506059yeh itll be interesting to see how its translated into the 3lbbs and how its presented en entier
>>96504698>the guy who runs the blackmoor film documentary was wailing sobbing and screeching about it yesteredaylink!
>>96504222I would love to hear more about Stonehell and your stories. I read some of Stonehell (level 1), and there's some cool stuff but also a lot of empty-room-with-one-specific-feature-or-thing. The dungeon did feel/look like a very random collection of rooms placed extremely randomly. I realize this is just an old-school dungeon, but the layout just makes very little sense in any way. Especially level 1 should at least in more ways feel like a fucking prison, surely. The lower levels look very cool, but I didn't read them carefully yet.
I am assuming this question is a faux pass in the OSR general, but I could not find an answer anywhere. In OSE, what is the movement speed of dwarves? the rules just say all PCs have 120/40 movement, the dwarf class says nothing in either the core or advanced rules, but the dwarf monster stat block lists them as 60/20
>>96506786 No faux pas involved, amigo. OSE is a reference book for B/X, which is simplified for the "ages 9 and up" bracket that was printed on the box. When it says all PCs move at that speed, it means it. If you want to fix that and add more granularity, import stuff from the AD&D DMG and PHB
>>96506790*1e AD&D DMG and PHB
>>96506790It's not about balance, was just confused how PC dwarves move twice as fast, even though adventurers are one cut above NPCs. Not that I mind, I am the dwarf player in this case.
>>96504955Sincere congratulations on your project hitting it's funding goals but in the future just buy a fucking ad Jon. Posting your active crowdfunding bullshit and pretending to hate it is laughably transparent. >>96506189+1. That'd be amusing to see.>>96499456In a seige the party beat a 7HD ACKS Draughr named Graf Jarek leading a small army of zombies and skeletons. He was able to breach the walls of the fortifications pretty easily but didn't have enough bodies to force his way inside. Party fighter last hit him with the magic sword they'd picked up in the session immediately prior.
>>96506811Fat draugr. Woulda got kicked out of any norse (or celtic, for that matter) town until he lost weight
