Crothian
First Post
OSRIC Unearthed
I guess it is time to start using the term old school in a review. I haven’t reviewed any of the new old school games or supplements though I have been reading many of them. I still fondly have all my old first edition and old D&D books. It gets its use as reference material these days. I’m not sure the group of gamers I have is quite ready to game in the rules of an older edition. But with support like this maybe some day I will get to run one of my old campaigns again. I will have to add that to the list of things in gaming I want to run.
OSRIC Unearthed is a PDF published by Ronin Arts. It is written by Charles Rice and has the look and feel of an older edition supplement. It is in a product line called First Edition Fantasy and is supplement two. The forty two page PDF is superbly book marked and has some good art and a nice lay out. As a supplement of mostly classes and martial arts maneuvers with a few new magical weapons this will be easy to use from the computer.
The book starts off with eight new and easy to use classes. These all cover specific archetypes that one will find useful in their fantasy game. Some of them are of an eastern feel while others are typical from other fantasy games. There really is not anything new here but it does offer some missing options. The inclusion of the Bard or Noble will not be seen as overly creative or daring. They are pretty standard as far as fantasy arch types but they are archetypes one would have trouble doing with just the standard OSRIC rules.
The Barbarian is a nice magic hating variety. They have bad saving through verse spells and magical spell like items. But if the Barbarian saves he goes into a super berserk rage an attacks the magic user or illusion who cast something at him. He has no problems with druids or clerics and their spells. The Barbarian has a normal berserk ability and great hit points. The class is slow in gaining levels but at the high level ones becomes a Warlord and can attract over 30d10 first level barbicans plus other leaders.
The bard is also very typical for the archetype. They get some cool mystic music abilities. Many of them imitate other magical spells. They gain some thief abiliti3es as they gain levels. But other then that they do not have anything. So this is not the old jack of trades class that some people might expect.
The Brawler is a class that has always been missing from D&D. It is a western style unarmed fighter. They can take weapon specialization unarmed combat and get access to many of the new martial art styles the book introduces.
The Ninja is a class that only goes up to fifteen levels. It also uses one of the martial arts and they get some cool magical abilities and disguise. It is a good write up of this archetype.
The Noble does best with a group of people. They have abilities that help and aid others out. They get some good followers at higher levels as well.
The book also has the Knight (which they forgot to book mark, Samurai, thief acrobat, and Yamabushi. The Yamabushi is the eastern version of the brawler. But of course with enough different to warrant it being its own class.
The martial arts section is really what separates the book from other class books. The system is easy to use and fits well within the weapon proficiency system the OSRIC system already uses. What I like best is that even though the term Martial Arts usually conjures up traditional Eastern themes OSRIC Unearthed has Martial Art styles for the Bow and Sword and other items that will fit very well with a more typical medical game. Each style gives a small bonus and allows the user to select new maneuvers with proficiency slots they gain through level advancement. It is a simple system that makes an easy add on. And it can really add a good new feel to an old style game.
OSRIC Unearthed is a good and solid product that opens up plenty of new options people will want to play. The classes are all basic ones that have been popular archetypes for years. And the martial art system is simple and seamless with the weapon proficiency system. This is a very solid product.
I guess it is time to start using the term old school in a review. I haven’t reviewed any of the new old school games or supplements though I have been reading many of them. I still fondly have all my old first edition and old D&D books. It gets its use as reference material these days. I’m not sure the group of gamers I have is quite ready to game in the rules of an older edition. But with support like this maybe some day I will get to run one of my old campaigns again. I will have to add that to the list of things in gaming I want to run.
OSRIC Unearthed is a PDF published by Ronin Arts. It is written by Charles Rice and has the look and feel of an older edition supplement. It is in a product line called First Edition Fantasy and is supplement two. The forty two page PDF is superbly book marked and has some good art and a nice lay out. As a supplement of mostly classes and martial arts maneuvers with a few new magical weapons this will be easy to use from the computer.
The book starts off with eight new and easy to use classes. These all cover specific archetypes that one will find useful in their fantasy game. Some of them are of an eastern feel while others are typical from other fantasy games. There really is not anything new here but it does offer some missing options. The inclusion of the Bard or Noble will not be seen as overly creative or daring. They are pretty standard as far as fantasy arch types but they are archetypes one would have trouble doing with just the standard OSRIC rules.
The Barbarian is a nice magic hating variety. They have bad saving through verse spells and magical spell like items. But if the Barbarian saves he goes into a super berserk rage an attacks the magic user or illusion who cast something at him. He has no problems with druids or clerics and their spells. The Barbarian has a normal berserk ability and great hit points. The class is slow in gaining levels but at the high level ones becomes a Warlord and can attract over 30d10 first level barbicans plus other leaders.
The bard is also very typical for the archetype. They get some cool mystic music abilities. Many of them imitate other magical spells. They gain some thief abiliti3es as they gain levels. But other then that they do not have anything. So this is not the old jack of trades class that some people might expect.
The Brawler is a class that has always been missing from D&D. It is a western style unarmed fighter. They can take weapon specialization unarmed combat and get access to many of the new martial art styles the book introduces.
The Ninja is a class that only goes up to fifteen levels. It also uses one of the martial arts and they get some cool magical abilities and disguise. It is a good write up of this archetype.
The Noble does best with a group of people. They have abilities that help and aid others out. They get some good followers at higher levels as well.
The book also has the Knight (which they forgot to book mark, Samurai, thief acrobat, and Yamabushi. The Yamabushi is the eastern version of the brawler. But of course with enough different to warrant it being its own class.
The martial arts section is really what separates the book from other class books. The system is easy to use and fits well within the weapon proficiency system the OSRIC system already uses. What I like best is that even though the term Martial Arts usually conjures up traditional Eastern themes OSRIC Unearthed has Martial Art styles for the Bow and Sword and other items that will fit very well with a more typical medical game. Each style gives a small bonus and allows the user to select new maneuvers with proficiency slots they gain through level advancement. It is a simple system that makes an easy add on. And it can really add a good new feel to an old style game.
OSRIC Unearthed is a good and solid product that opens up plenty of new options people will want to play. The classes are all basic ones that have been popular archetypes for years. And the martial art system is simple and seamless with the weapon proficiency system. This is a very solid product.
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