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

[Zardnaar]

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.

I've been running 1E and BECMI adventures in C&C essentially unmodified.

Enjoyed C&C in the lead up to 5E after burning out on 3.X. Still enjoying it now and getting to use stuff I already own.

 

[S'mon]

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.

BX - OSE has escalating to hit & saves. Shadowdark has Bounded Accuracy. To hit bonuses start off pretty good, but don't go up much if at all (except Fighter Weapon Mastery, their big schtick). Rather than Saves get better, in SD most spells just don't work on you if your level is too high.
No spell slots in SD; roll to cast - if you succeed you cast & can try to cast again. Only lose spell when you fail. Makes casting really exciting.

IME SD is brilliantly designed, far above any retro clone or 5e.

 

[Zardnaar]

BX - OSE has escalating to hit & saves. Shadowdark has Bounded Accuracy. To hit bonuses start off pretty good, but don't go up much if at all (except Fighter Weapon Mastery, their big schtick). Rather than Saves get better, in SD most spells just don't work on you if your level is too high.
No spell slots in SD; roll to cast - if you succeed you cast & can try to cast again. Only lose spell when you fail. Makes casting really exciting.

IME SD is brilliantly designed, far above any retro clone or 5e.

SD is OSR vs outright clone?

 

[S'mon]

SD is OSR vs outright clone?

Shadowdark looks OSR, but the chassis is primarily 5e D&D. I would call it OSR or O5R, but some people call it "OSR adjacent". The first 3-4 levels are free at Shadowdark RPG Quickstart Set (PDF)

 

[Zardnaar]

Shadowdark looks OSR, but the chassis is primarily 5e D&D. I would call it OSR or O5R, but some people call it "OSR adjacent". The first 3-4 levels are free at Shadowdark RPG Quickstart Set (PDF)

Well depends on what direction the 5E chassis goes in.

 

[SpellObjectEnthusiast]

SD is OSR vs outright clone?

Shadowdark is not a clone of any other system. It is not 100% compatible with TSR era dnd without conversion. It takes a lot of inspiration from modern games - particularly 5e, Index Card RPG, and Dungeon Crawl Classics.

It is mostly compatible with TSR dnd with some conversion, in the same way as games like The Black Hack or DCC.

It is designed towards the modern OSR ethos: rulings over rules, high lethality, focus on exploration, and emphasis on player agency.

 

[dave2008]

After the WotC fiascos, many companies decided to develop their own in-house alternative D&D 5e rulesets that are based on the skeleton of D&D 5e. I recently picked up Tales of the Valiant by Kobold Press, formerly known as Project Black Flag, but haven't gotten to read it yet.

I am curious what alternative 5e rulesets have my fellow gamers looked at out there and/or ran or played and what ones you think are best. I am also going to include a few OSR adjacent rulesets that interest me as viable alternatives to D&D 5e to get your thoughts as well.

Tales of the Valiant
Level Up: Advanced 5th. Edition
Nimble
13th. Age 2e
Cubicle 7 D20 (C7D20)
Pathfinder 2e

Dragonbane

Castles & Crusades
Dungeon Crawl Classics
Hyperborea 3e
Worlds Without Number
Old School Essentials

My own.

 

[S'mon]

Shadowdark is not a clone of any other system. It is not 100% compatible with TSR era dnd without conversion. It takes a lot of inspiration from modern games - particularly 5e, Index Card RPG, and Dungeon Crawl Classics.

It is mostly compatible with TSR dnd with some conversion, in the same way as games like The Black Hack or DCC.

It is designed towards the modern OSR ethos: rulings over rules, high lethality, focus on exploration, and emphasis on player agency.

Yes, although it's less lethal than BX etc. Dying is quite hard. However no Raise Dead.