OSR OSRIC Versions?

[teitan]

The best AC in AD&D is -10, which is translated to 30 in the ascending AC system. These systems are equivalent, as long as the rules they present are the same. As such, there is no difference in using one or another other than the ascending one is much more simple as it does no require a table.

And yet ACs go higher than 30 in both 3e & 4e ending the argument you are making

 

[Gryph]

And yet ACs go higher than 30 in both 3e & 4e ending the argument you are making

I think part of his argument was that you can cap ascending AC at 30 and you get the same effect. In 1st ed. the -10 AC is the best AC by rule. It was possible (especially post UA) to stack enough magic and dex bonuses on Full Plate to reach -11 or -12. I think some tables even house-ruled that -10 was not a hard cap.

 

[GreyLord]

Add to that I think there were some monsters in 1e or 2e that actually had an AC less then -10 such as -12 or something...which indicated that -10 wasn't actually a hard cap (though good luck at getting less then -10 AC).

 

[winemaker81]

A supplement will not help much as the math is pretty obvious and the real advantage is having the alternative numbers in the monsters' descriptions on the core book.

IIRC Stuart Marshall commented a while back (here or Dragonsfoot, can't remember which) that there would be no significant updates to OSRIC. Since ascending AC is a non-AD&D mechanic, I assume that no such update will be made, which is why I suggested putting it in a supplement.

This is not to say there is anything wrong with ascending AC. It does the same thing, just calculated differently. Apparently a significant number of folks like it so it makes sense to publish it in some fashion.

Personally, I have no need for a different AC mechanic, but I have no objection to it. If I was playing in your game and you say we're using ascending AC, then we are using it. No problem.

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

IIRC Stuart Marshall commented a while back (here or Dragonsfoot, can't remember which) that there would be no significant updates to OSRIC.

I should be clear that I meant: there will be no significant updates to the OSRIC core rules. The core rules are a finished thing. There may be minor errata, such as punctuation tweaks or changing one or two words for clarity, but nothing major. I want people to have confidence that if they buy OSRIC, they're buying a ruleset that will last them a lifetime without ever being invalidated by a revised edition of any kind.

There will certainly be optional supplements that will include major changes to the core rules. For example, there's Charles Rice's OSRIC Unearthed, and Rafael Chandler is at work on a volume called Exhumed Errata. I don't know the details of what he has in mind but I'm assured it will be at least as heavy metal as Mr Chandler's other stuff is... \m/

I may also personally produce optional supplements. If I do that then I'm doing it as if I were a third party publisher. The OSRIC core rules will remain as they are barring minor editorial tweaks.

 

[winemaker81]

I should be clear that I meant: there will be no significant updates to the OSRIC core rules.

Thanks for clarifying my poor memory.

 

[winemaker81]

Stuart -- I checked and there was an update of OSRIC on Lulu in February. Is there a page that lists the differences ... or it is just "typos"?

Funny, I have the Black Blade print which I leaf through from time to time, but generally use a printed double-sided, three-hole-punched copy that I did years ago. One of these days I'll print a newer version ... but in general the typos I've found haven't meant anything significant.

BTW: when did you change your name to "Stewart"?? ;-)

 

[PapersAndPaychecks]

The "updated" version is actually an A5 print (about half the page size of standard OSRIC) produced under licence by Usherwood Adventures. Here's the complete changelog:-

Changes that might have an impact on gameplay:

p. 124, Turning Undead table: The number for a 5th level cleric to turn Undead Type 8 changed to read 16, not 13.

p. 232, Stone golem entry: Merged second two paragraphs, to make space for a new paragraph: "Only magical weapons of +2 or greater bonus can harm a stone golem. Such a golem is also invulnerable to most magic, the only exceptions being _rock to mud_ which halves the golem's attack and movement speed for 2d6 rounds, _stone to flesh_ which makes it susceptible to normal weapons for one round, and _mud to rock_ which acts as a _heal_ spell on the monster."

Treasure listings: Insert gold piece values for magical treasure items.

Other changes (including certain fixes to things that had an impact on play but were obviously typos)

p. 158, "How to create a random dungeon" section, step 4, inserted a full stop at the end.

p. 159, "Table 1" section, added a full stop after "Starting locations (1d6)"

p. 159, Tables 2a & 2b both added full stops at the end of their asterisked notes.

p. 160, "Table 7" section, added a full stop after "Behind the Door"

p. 161, "Table 12" section, "1d4" changed to "1d4x100 gp"

p. 161, "Table 14" section, the "t" in "the" (the lowest levels of dungeons...) capitalized

p. 161, got rid of the ' in Cavern 100 x 125 ft'*

p. 161, add full stops to the * and ** notes.

p. 161, "Table 17" section, changed 1-50 & 51-100 to 01-50 & 51-00

p. 162, "Table 20" section, added a full stop after "Passage Width"

p. 162, "Table 23" section, changed to read "It will be bridged 75% of the time."

p. 162, "Using the Random..." section, added a full stop after "(undead, bugbears, etc.)"

p. 162, "Random Dungeon Encounters" section, changed "d00" to "d%"

p. 164, "Monster Level Four Dragon Sub-table," some of the 1/2s were not the same size

p. 166, "Numbers & Classes" section, changed to "(i.e. a paladin and an assassin)."

p. 166, "NPC Levels" section, changed to "they will be between 11th and 16th"

p. 167, "Hirelings and Henchmen" section, changed to "their employers when encountered"

p. 167, changed to "plus 1 for every 3"

p. 167, changed to "9th level magic user NPC may be... a 6th level magic user henchman"

p. 169, the ** note gained a full stop at the end

p. 170, the ** note gained a full stop at the end

p. 170, got rid of the extra "the" in "They may, of course, be ignored if they do not fit with the your plans."

p. 171, "Regarding the Lost World" section, got rid of the "s" in "Worlds" in "Lost Worlds settings"

p. 196, Bugbear entry: The Damage subheading changed to read "2d4 or by weapon".

p. 316, "Animal Control" section, "dice roll" changed to "die roll"

p. 317, "Fire Resistance" section, "dice roll" changed to "die roll"

p. 318, "Oil of Slipperiness" section, "do to" changed to "due to"

p. 318, "Potion of Super Heroism entry", the duration changed to 5d6 rounds, not 5d5 rounds.

p. 321, "Cancellation Rod" section, the Note under the chart got an asterisk by it

p. 321, "lordly Might" section, for consistency, "three inches" changed to "3 in"

p. 321, "Rulership" section, "Intelligence" uncapitalized (consistency).

p. 323, Detecting Magic, "one round" changed to "1 round," since most references to number of rounds uses numbers instead of words, at least in Chapter VI.

p. 323, Detecting Traps & Secret Doors, "on" changed to "1"

p. 323, Ice, "6 inches" changed to "6 in" for consistency

p. 323, Light, changed "two charges" to "2 charges" for consistency

p. 323, "has range" changed to "has a range"

p. 324, Lightning, "and electrical charge" changed to "an electrical charge"

p. 324, "two charges" changed to "2 charges"

p. 326, Frost Brand, changed to "50% chance of"

p. 326, Vampire Blade, changed "a undead" to "an undead"

p. 331, Boat, Folding, got rid of the extra comma in "and, lateen sail."

p. 332, Brooch of Instigation, "sending an silent" changed to "sending a silent"

p. 333, Cloak of Displacement Major, "The cloak can used" changed to "The cloak can be used"

p. 334, Cube of Force, twice referred to chart on the next page when the chart isn't on the next page (since text will likely change in future edits, probably best to get rid of all references to "this page" or "next page"); fixed

p. 334, Cubic Gate, changed " to in

p. 335, Drums of Panic, changed inches to in

p. 336, Dust of Illusion, "1st illusionist" changed to "1st level illusionist"

p. 337, Feather Token, "single- use" changed to "single-use" (deleted space)

p. 337, Fan, "creative" changed to "create"

p. 337, Whip, "attacking as 10th" changed to "attacking as a 10th"

p. 337, Figurines of Wondrous, Golden Lions, "pay" changed to "day"

p. 337, Obsidian Steed, "one" changed to "once"

p. 337, Serpentine Owl, "transformation" changed to "transformations"

p. 339, Horseshoes of Zephyr, "inches" changed to "in," "non-solid surface" changed to "non-solid surfaces"

p. 340, Ioun Stones, * note after chart, add comma in "casting them, but once" and change "can by used" to "can be used"

p. 340, Lyre of Building, the phrase "a 1d20" changed to "a d20"

p. 341, Mask of the Skull, got rid of the "a" in "carved to a resemble" and changed the comma after "spot" to a full stop

p. 341, Necklace of Fireballs, changed "can be easily be" to "can easibly be"

p. 342, Orb of Storms, 3rd Round, changed to "more than one bolt"

p. 343, Robe of Eyes, changed to "gains a 1 in 6"

p. 344, Rope of Climbing, got rid of the extra "to" in "the ability to to knot"

p. 344, Scabbard of Keen Edges, changed to "damage on an unmodified"

p. 344, Scarab of Protection and Scarab of Golem Bane were out of alphabetical order, fixed

p. 344, Scarabe of Protection, changed "one round" to "1 round"

p. 344, Scarab of Golem Bane, changed "within 60 ft of him or her" to just "within 60 ft."

p. 345, Stone Horse, changed "can attack as real" to "can attack as a real"

p. 345, Strand of Prayer Beads, "Spell" and "Cleric" were capitalized when they shouldn't be, fixed

p. 345, Sustaining Spoon, changed two instances of "one" in words to "1" as a numeral

p. 346, Ring of Charisma, "suggestion" italicized

p. 346, Ring of Protection, * note after chart, "saving" capitalized, and full stop added at the end

p. 347, Ring of Spell Storing, removed the "%" in "01%-70%," "7%-100%" and changed 100 to 00

p. 347, Example, changed "5" to "05" and changed "1 on both die" to "1 on both dice" and changed "an 6" to "a 6" and "level four" to "level 4" (some inconsistency in how numbers were written)

p. 348, changed "consult table below" to "consult the table below"

p. 350, Bag of Devouring, changed "one round" to "1 round"

p. 351, Crystal Hypnosis Ball, petrifacation changed to petrifaction

p. 351, Dust of Sneezing, changed "two rounds" to "2 rounds"

p. 351, Helm of Opposite Alignment, phrase "will roll 1d4 with" was repeated, one instance deleted

p. 351, Medallion of Thought Projection, changed inch to in

p. 352, Periapt of Foul Rotting, changed zero to 0

p. 352, Ring of Clumsiness, added a comma after "dexterity"

p. 352, Ring of Contrariness, got rid of comma in "(see table, below)" and get rid of 0s in chart

p. 352, Scarab of Death, changed one round to 1 round

p. 353, Spear Cursed Backbiter, changed to "shaft of the spear to curve"

p. 354, Book of Infinite Spells, changed "and book always" to "and the book always"

p. 354, Deck of Many Things, changed "following the table is more complete" to "following the table is a more complete," Rogue: "at player's home" to "at the player's home"

p. 355, Deck of Many Things, Skull, removed the reference to the next page since the chart is actually above it, and on the chart, change "Intelligence" to "intelligence" and "+1 charisma" to "+1 to charisma"

p. 356, Hammer of Thunderbolts, changed to "can also be hurled as a missile" and "revealed to the wearer"

--------------------

Extremely trivial though those changes are, Black Blade did make available a free errata sheet to those who have the first printing; if you wish you can ask them to send you one.

When Usherwood Adventures were uploading the document, Jim Kramer seems to have made a small typo in my name... he's spent so much time and effort fixing my typos in OSRIC, and I'm so grateful to him for his patience and dedication, that I never raised it with him.

 

[winemaker81]

Extremely trivial though those changes are, Black Blade did make available a free errata sheet to those who have the first printing; if you wish you can ask them to send you one.

Thanks for this! I'll ping BB and ask.

When Usherwood Adventures were uploading the document, Jim Kramer seems to have made a small typo in my name... he's spent so much time and effort fixing my typos in OSRIC, and I'm so grateful to him for his patience and dedication, that I never raised it with him.

Yeah. My first name typically gets spelled "Brian" ... but it sounds the same and I deal with it. ;-)

 

[mach1.9pants]

Wow your first name is Brain then? Cool!