OSR Old School Essentials Box Sets Kickstarter

[darjr]

Funded!

 

[CleverNickName]

Woah. Funded in what, eight minutes?

 

[overgeeked]

Hmm. So many shiny bits.

Has anyone used the Advanced Fantasy stuff? How’s the conversion? In line with B/X, under-, or overpowered by comparison?

 

[kenada]

And far less expensive than I anticipated. I should have sold my extra Classic Fantasy box to fund my acquisition of the two new boxes.

That’s even worse! Now I’m definitely (already did) backing at both boxes.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Hmm. So many shiny bits.

Has anyone used the Advanced Fantasy stuff? How’s the conversion? In line with B/X, under-, or overpowered by comparison?

For my homebrew setting, I plan to provide my tables the option of playing it with D&D 5E, OSE AF, or Fantasy Hero (... I'm a long-time Hero System fan, so sue me!) Because of this, I've been carefully checking the OSE AF stuff for balance; this wouldn't normally be a concern in an OSR game, but since it has to compare with D&D 5E, I wanted to make sure there wasn't anything completely broken. (I'm talking about how, in the Palladium RIFTS game I played in back in the day, we used random tables to generate our Occupational Character Classes, and so I made a Vagabond who ran around with a pipe gun and scavenged leather scraps for armor, and another player made a Glitter Boy in invulnerable power armor with a railgun. That level of unbalanced.)

So far, everything I've seen in the AF stuff is on-par. It looks to me like a great middle-ground if you have a D&D 5E group who wants to try something a little less fiddly but have most of the same sorts of options. Especially if you use the AF race-not-as-class options, you can get a similar feel to chargen in 5E, but with a lot of the charm and ease-of-use of B/X.

 

[overgeeked]

For my homebrew setting, I plan to provide my tables the option of playing it with D&D 5E, OSE AF, or Fantasy Hero (... I'm a long-time Hero System fan, so sue me!) Because of this, I've been carefully checking the OSE AF stuff for balance; this wouldn't normally be a concern in an OSR game, but since it has to compare with D&D 5E, I wanted to make sure there wasn't anything completely broken. (I'm talking about how, in the Palladium RIFTS game I played in back in the day, we used random tables to generate our Occupational Character Classes, and so I made a Vagabond who ran around with a pipe gun and scavenged leather scraps for armor, and another player made a Glitter Boy in invulnerable power armor with a railgun. That level of unbalanced.)

So far, everything I've seen in the AF stuff is on-par. It looks to me like a great middle-ground if you have a D&D 5E group who wants to try something a little less fiddly but have most of the same sorts of options. Especially if you use the AF race-not-as-class options, you can get a similar feel to chargen in 5E, but with a lot of the charm and ease-of-use of B/X.

Good. I’ve looked them over but not poured over them all. I ask because I noticed the paladin’s CHA restriction was dropped from 17 to 9, but most of the power was still comparable to AD&D. Wasn’t sure about that or how well that meshed with the other B/X classes.

 

[RealAlHazred]

Good. I’ve looked them over but not poured over them all. I ask because I noticed the paladin’s CHA restriction was dropped from 17 to 9, but most of the power was still comparable to AD&D. Wasn’t sure about that or how well that meshed with the other B/X classes.

Paladin actually got significantly nerfed in OSE. As it should be!

OSE specs:
Min ability scores required: CHA 9
STR & WIS need to be at least 13 for xp bonus

Restrictions:
Must be Lawful
Must carry a holy symbol
Vow of humility (limited magic items; tithe donations)

Abilities:
Immune to Disease
Lay on Hands (2 hp/lvl/day); at 5th level can cure disease once per week
Turn Undead at 3rd level & above
Clerical spells starting at 9th level
At 4th level they can get a warhorse

Compared to the 1E paladin:
Min ability scores required: CHA 17, WIS 13, STR 12, INT 9, CON 9
STR & WIS need to be at least 15 for xp bonus

Restrictions:
Must be Lawful Good
Vow of humility (limited magic items; tithe donations)
Code of chivalry (fight honorably; weapon limitations; do not associate w/evil)

Abilities:
Immune to Disease & Fear
+2 to all saving throws
Detect Evil 60' at will
Protection from Evil/Protection from Fear 10' radius continuous
Bonuses while mounted
Lay on Hands (2 hp/lvl/day); at 5th level can cure disease once per week
Turn Undead at 3rd level & above
Clerical spells starting at 9th level
At 4th level they can get a warhorse; at higher levels get special mounts

EDIT: I should specify these are the specs for the 1E paladin after Unearthed Arcana came out; since OSE AF also includes barbarians, I thought it should compare to UA.

 

[overgeeked]

Paladin actually got significantly nerfed in OSE. As it should be!

OSE specs:
Min ability scores required: CHA 9
But STR & WIS are prime reqs so you need at least 13 in both for xp bonus

Restrictions:
Must be Lawful
Must carry a holy symbol
Vow of humility (limited magic items; tithe donations)

Abilities:
Immune to Disease
Lay on Hands (2 hp/lvl/day); at 5th level can cure disease once per week
Turn Undead at 3rd level & above
Clerical spells starting at 9th level
At 4th level they can get a warhorse

Compared to the 1E paladin:
Min ability scores required: CHA 17, WIS 13, STR 12, INT 9, CON 9
STR & WIS need to be at least 15 for xp bonus

Restrictions:
Must be Lawful Good
Vow of humility (limited magic items; tithe donations)
Code of chivalry (fight honorably; weapon limitations; do not associate w/evil)

Abilities:
Immune to Disease & Fear
+2 to all saving throws
Detect Evil 60' at will
Protection from Evil/Protection from Fear 10' radius continuous
Bonuses while mounted
Lay on Hands (2 hp/lvl/day); at 5th level can cure disease once per week
Turn Undead at 3rd level & above
Clerical spells starting at 9th level
At 4th level they can get a warhorse; at higher levels get special mounts

EDIT: I should specify these are the specs for the 1E paladin after Unearthed Arcana came out; since OSE AF also includes barbarians, I thought it should compare to UA.

Cool. Thanks for that. I guess I'm still doing the old "it's a fighter only strictly better" thing. I'd probably be fine with it, but bump up that CHA requirement as a house rule.

 

[Froderik]

I'd probably be fine with it, but bump up that CHA requirement as a house rule.

I'm sure you are aware, but I'll say it anyway, that OSE is strictly 3d6 for generating ability scores. AD&D was more generous in its ability score creation methods, allowing for higher ability scores across the board.

 

[overgeeked]

I'm sure you are aware, but I'll say it anyway, that OSE is strictly 3d6 for generating ability scores. AD&D was more generous in its ability score creation methods, allowing for higher ability scores across the board.

Yeah, I'm aware. A fighter with all those listed extra abilities and only a CHA9 as a requirement? Nah. I'm not saying it would be 17 as it was in AD&D, but 9 is nothing.