D&D 5E Best D&D 5e alternate ruleset?

[Stormonu]

How different is Shadowdark from Old School Essentials? I've got the OSE books (including OSE Advanced), and I'm wondering if Shadowdark is pretty much the same thing.

 

[Zardnaar]

How different is Shadowdark from Old School Essentials? I've got the OSE books (including OSE Advanced), and I'm wondering if Shadowdark is pretty much the same thing.

I'm interested in this question as well.

 

[Zaukrie]

Nimble 5e looks interesting to me.....though the number of PC options is tiny.....(in terms of spells and abilities, not number of classes). Just waiting for it to be done, so the foundry system can be finished so we can test it.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Most of the games appearing in this thread are alternate D&Ds, but not alternate 5es.

Yeah, that is a very mean thing to say about PF2 and 13th age.

Alternative to , yes, but they're not 5e based or inspired by.

 

[Enrico Poli1]

Seriously, you can play older versions of the game. They're all beautiful, and the game is overall the same (except for 4e). Also depending on the adventure or setting you want to play.
Against the Cult of the Reptile god? Or any module ftom Anthony Huso? AD&D1e
Dark Sun? AD&D2e
Rappan Athuk, the first published version? D&D3.0
Age of Worms? D&D3.5
Eyes of the Stone Thief? 13th Age
Have fun

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

How different is Shadowdark from Old School Essentials? I've got the OSE books (including OSE Advanced), and I'm wondering if Shadowdark is pretty much the same thing.

Shadowdark uses a real-time tracker for light sources instead of 10 minute turns like OSE.

Shadowdark uses always-on initiative rounds instead of players having a Caller and resolving actions simultaneously like OSE.

Shadowdark uses d20+mod roll high with variable DCs, rather than roll-under-stat or d6 rolls.

Shadowdark is explicitly designed with modern OSR principles in mind rather than reprinting legacy rules that are intended to be ignored like OSE.

Shadowdark assumes a smaller party size of 3-5 rather than 6-10.

Shadowdark does not have death-at-zero and is slightly less deadly than your average game of OSE.

Shadowdark PCs will generally be significantly less wealthy than an equally leveled OSE PC.

Shadowdark is focused on dungeon play rather than wilderness play, and includes no rules for domain play.

Shadowdark uses roll-to-cast instead of vancian magic. Shadowdark PCs will typically have more abilities than an OSE character of equivalent level.

 

[Stormonu]

Shadowdark is explicitly designed with modern OSR principles in mind rather than reprinting legacy rules that are intended to be ignored like OSE.

This item doesn't make sense to me - can you expound?

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

This item doesn't make sense to me - can you expound?

Examples of rules that OSE has for the sole reason that they were in B/X, but that don't match the OSR ethos described in principia apocrypha or the Old School Primer:

Searching in OSE is always done with an 1-in-6 roll rather than interrogating the fiction. Most people ignore this.

OSE discourages referees from allowing Players to use knowledge their character would not have, which conflicts with the principle of "player skill".

Many rules core to the OSR experience - reaction rolls, morale for example - are presented as optional rules.

Both basic and detailed encumbrance allow PCs to carry functionally unlimited torches, rations, etc. You need to use an encumbrance system from another game or from the CC zines to make encumbrance matter.

OSE instructs the GM to balance encounters based on dungeon level, rather than picking encounters that "make sense".

 

[Stormonu]

Examples of rules that OSE has for the sole reason that they were in B/X, but that don't match the OSR ethos described in principia apocrypha or the Old School Primer:

Searching in OSE is always done with an 1-in-6 roll rather than interrogating the fiction. Most people ignore this.

OSE discourages referees from allowing Players to use knowledge their character would not have, which conflicts with the principle of "player skill".

Many rules core to the OSR experience - reaction rolls, morale for example - are presented as optional rules.

Both basic and detailed encumbrance allow PCs to carry functionally unlimited torches, rations, etc. You need to use an encumbrance system from another game or from the CC zines to make encumbrance matter.

OSE instructs the GM to balance encounters based on dungeon level, rather than picking encounters that "make sense".

Ah, okay thanks - those aren't issues for me (as for encumbrance, it's got the old "coins" system, that's good enough for me).

 

[overgeeked]

I would say, of those you listed, the top three would be: Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG, Old-School Essentials (specifically Advanced), and Worlds Without Number.

DCC RPG for the sword & sorcery, edge of your seat gonzo chaos fest. Based on 3E but mutated into a sort of B/X style race-as-class game. The best version of the fighter in any D&D-like game. Some of the best magic in any D&D-like game. And all the modules are top notch and ooze flavor.

Old-School Essentials for your reliving the glory days version of D&D. It’s directly compatible with B/X and AD&D. So everything published for them is open.

Worlds Without Number is the best single resource you could hope for to build a world and hexcrawl. Never even looked at the system.