OSR vs OSE

[Gus L]

Although at least for me as a kid, I'd try to apply the AD&D stuff as far as I understood it. I didn't have the wherewithal or judgement or greater knowledge base to do something like the major editing required to simplify the rules into something like OSE Advanced.

Oh it wasn't a matter of editing and great thought - it was not having the books. I had Basic, my friend had Expert and over the next two years I got the Monster Manual (before we'd copy out monsters from the library copy) and PHB from the thrift store. Got the DMG last.

Basically whenever we got a book we'd try to incorporate it - just using a lot of the spells, XP tables, new classes, and monsters and such to make are games cooler. For example we liked that AD&D spells had components and we used that idea rather religiously. We liked all the new weapons and things like that, but it was very haphazard and often bad.

 

[Voadam]

I started with BX and moved to 1e when I started DMing. I used the basic B1 module to start my 1e campaign. Initiative was fairly BX but most everything else player end was 1e. I was happy to use modules and monsters and magic items from non 1e stuff with strictly 1e players. So my campaign was fairly inverse advanced OSE.

 

[Lanefan]

Not sure what anyone would call our progression - we started with 1e, quickly simplified the hell out of it through houserules (reworked initiative, ditched weapon speed and type-vs-AC, etc.), then spent the next 40 years slowly re-complicating it to what we have today.

 

[Theory of Games]

What's cool? How Gary designed the game so we could play it however we wanted instead of being nailed to the cross of RAW. That design space we were allowed literally gave birth to the OSR.

 

[Calithena]

Company Man Gary and Gamer Gary didn't always see eye to eye.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Company Man Gary and Gamer Gary didn't always see eye to eye.

I'm pretty sure the "IF IT DOESN'T SAY TSR, IT'S NOT AD&D" screed came right after someone showed him one of Role Aids' frankly kickass supplements and he suddenly envisioned a smaller royalty check as a result.

 

[Calithena]

I'm pretty sure the "IF IT DOESN'T SAY TSR, IT'S NOT AD&D" screed came right after someone showed him one of Role Aids' frankly kickass supplements and he suddenly envisioned a smaller royalty check as a result.

 

[Calithena]

He bears some responsibility, and that stuff annoyed the crap out of me too, but there were also some internal pressures in TSR at the time that mostly trace back to the Blumes that we weren't aware of out in the provinces.

 

[Emerikol]

I think for me the style and game assumptions are far more valuable than following the rules exactly. I value the playstyle and I'm fine with modern interpretations of that playstyle.

Even so, I always considered Retroclones to be replicas (mostly so Osric makes it) of some 1e era game. (e.g. BECMI, B/X, or 1e). And 2e is a retroclone of 1e to be honest. It just cleaned up a lot of things.

I keep two folders. One is true Retroclones. The Other is D&D-like games. If I were going to play a game, I'd probably mostly choose from the "like" folder. C&C for example is old school flavor but more modern mechanics.

OSR includes both.

 

[Bill Zebub]

I think for me the style and game assumptions are far more valuable than following the rules exactly. I value the playstyle and I'm fine with modern interpretations of that playstyle.

This.