OSR Old School Essentials Box Sets Kickstarter

[Froderik]

They said February. But what day in February? It’s either a few hours away or up to four weeks away.

February 23rd. (This was in the Necrotic Gnome newsletter from 1/26).

Sign up to be notified.

 

[Froderik]

FYI: Gavin Norman is hosting a Q&A about the upcoming OSE Kickstarter in the Old-School Essentials Facebook group until Friday.

Old-School Essentials Q&A!

 

[éxypnos]

Not much they can do about it now, but I found all the different books confusing as to what I should buy. Too many of them. On the other side of the coin is Castles and Crusades. I'm still not 100% sure that I only need the "Players Handbook". DCC though super, easy, one book, done.

There are only two core rule books in C&C that are needed to play the game. PHB and M&T (Monsters & Treasure). The GM data is split (in a logical manner) between these two. There is a rule book called, Castle Keepers Guide which sounds like a core rule book, but is not. It could be best described as C&C's Unearthed Arcana, à la AD&D 1st Edition.

 

[Froderik]

There are only two core rule books in C&C that are needed to play the game. PHB and M&T (Monsters & Treasure).

To be honest, only the Classic Fantasy Rules Tome (or the Classic Fantasy Box Set) is needed for OSE as it contains the entirety of the B/X ruleset.

Where Necrotic Gnome screwed the pooch is by repacking the core rules into multiple formats both with and without the Advanced Fantasy rules. They seem to recognize this problem, stating that from this point forward they are going to limit the available core rules products. Unfortunately, according to this comment from Gavin in yesterday's Q&A, it appears that NG is going to repeat this repackaging issue by reissuing the Classic Fantasy Box Set with it's books formatted differently than the books in the current (out-of-print) Classic Fantasy Box Set:

"[...] the way the rules are divided between the 5 books has changed a bit, based on feedback on the original box set. The main differences are:

• The introduction to the game and rules for character creation are now in Book 1: Characters, along with the character classes and equipment.
• The rules for magic are now in Book 2: Magic, along with the spells.
• The description of monster game statistics is now in Book 4: Monsters, along with the monster listings.
• The treasure tables and general rules for magic items are now in Book 5: Treasures, along with the magic item listings."

:-/

 

[overgeeked]

To be honest, only the Classic Fantasy Rules Tome (or the Classic Fantasy Box Set) is needed for OSE as it contains the entirety of the B/X ruleset.

Where Necrotic Gnome screwed the pooch is by repacking the core rules into multiple formats both with and without the Advanced Fantasy rules. They seem to recognize this problem, stating that from this point forward they are going to limit the available core rules products. Unfortunately, according to this comment from Gavin in yesterday's Q&A, it appears that NG is going to repeat this repackaging issue by reissuing the Classic Fantasy Box Set with it's books formatted differently than the books in the current (out-of-print) Classic Fantasy Box Set:

"[...] the way the rules are divided between the 5 books has changed a bit, based on feedback on the original box set. The main differences are:

• The introduction to the game and rules for character creation are now in Book 1: Characters, along with the character classes and equipment.
• The rules for magic are now in Book 2: Magic, along with the spells.
• The description of monster game statistics is now in Book 4: Monsters, along with the monster listings.
• The treasure tables and general rules for magic items are now in Book 5: Treasures, along with the magic item listings."

:-/

Ah for the good old days of two 64-page books and being done with it.

 

[darjr]

Ah for the good old days of two 64-page books and being done with it.

Those days are here. Now. You can still do this.

 

[éxypnos]

To be honest, only the Classic Fantasy Rules Tome (or the Classic Fantasy Box Set) is needed for OSE as it contains the entirety of the B/X ruleset.

Ya, one huge book rather than two smaller books

 

[RealAlHazred]

Ya, one huge book rather than two smaller books

I always prefer huge books since they provide better protection!

 

[AverageMojito]

To be honest, only the Classic Fantasy Rules Tome (or the Classic Fantasy Box Set) is needed for OSE as it contains the entirety of the B/X ruleset.

Where Necrotic Gnome screwed the pooch is by repacking the core rules into multiple formats both with and without the Advanced Fantasy rules. They seem to recognize this problem, stating that from this point forward they are going to limit the available core rules products. Unfortunately, according to this comment from Gavin in yesterday's Q&A, it appears that NG is going to repeat this repackaging issue by reissuing the Classic Fantasy Box Set with it's books formatted differently than the books in the current (out-of-print) Classic Fantasy Box Set:

"[...] the way the rules are divided between the 5 books has changed a bit, based on feedback on the original box set. The main differences are:

• The introduction to the game and rules for character creation are now in Book 1: Characters, along with the character classes and equipment.
• The rules for magic are now in Book 2: Magic, along with the spells.
• The description of monster game statistics is now in Book 4: Monsters, along with the monster listings.
• The treasure tables and general rules for magic items are now in Book 5: Treasures, along with the magic item listings."

:-/

I didn't catch the Q&A. Could you tell me what's planned for Book 3?

 

[Malmuria]

A few great things to hear in the q&a:

• there are not going to be any kickstarter-only add ons. That is, anything being included as an add-on will also be for sale separately.
• their plan is to have OSE continuously in print, and not to do a print run only as the result of kickstarters
• Gavin is moving away from retroclone material and toward new content, dolmenwood but after that post apocalyptic stuff and psionics. What's cool about this is that OSE will represent a path that was not taken for OD&D/basic, namely expanding the game not through more levels but through character options and settings, like they did with ad&d, but keeping the simplified ruleset of basic.