kronovan
Adventurer
Fun adventure and setting. I have fond memories of it.
OSR New edition of OSE in 2026
- Thread starter Nikosandros
- Start date
The Soloist
Hero
Cool. It was the first AD&D 1e module I bought. Great sandbox. We even played L2 The Assassin's Knot.Fun adventure and setting. I have fond memories of it.
I'm glad to see the incorporation of "Hovering at Death's Door" into the official options. We've been using the AD&D (1e) version for our OSE game.
I'm thinking the Barbarian adjustments will be to HD, and possibly a version of the 1e UA Barbarian being able to use certain categories of magical items as they level up.
Obviously, there would need to be some adjustments, but as it currently stands, magic items are one of the few ways B/X characters can distinguish themselves or gain new "options." So the current OSE Barbarian is at a bit of a loss.
I have to assume that they're tinkering with the Assassin's instant-kill ability, but I don't know how they'll adjust it. I'm also a little unclear as to what they'd do with the Ranger.
Any speculation?
I'm thinking the Barbarian adjustments will be to HD, and possibly a version of the 1e UA Barbarian being able to use certain categories of magical items as they level up.
Obviously, there would need to be some adjustments, but as it currently stands, magic items are one of the few ways B/X characters can distinguish themselves or gain new "options." So the current OSE Barbarian is at a bit of a loss.
I have to assume that they're tinkering with the Assassin's instant-kill ability, but I don't know how they'll adjust it. I'm also a little unclear as to what they'd do with the Ranger.
Any speculation?
Transformer
Explorer
There's a guy on the Dragonsfoot forums who's been upset about the ranger's lack of favored enemies or bonus vs. giants since OSE Advanced came out.
kronovan
Adventurer
.
I wonder if they realize that's much less a bonus than it is by modern D&D conventions/standards. There's no Monster Types for monsters in the Advanced Referees Tome, nor is there in Monster Manual 1e, or the B/X Advanced Bestiary. So taking a favored enemy was literally taking a single named monster. And with the way random dungeon and wilderness tables are structured in the OSE ART, it could be some time before your favored appears. I remember as an AD&D DM excepting some umbrella monsters like Bear, Great Cat, Giant Lizard, etc, but many DMs back then didn't. So for sure Ranger, select your favorite enemy, because maybe around session 37 one will wander into an encounter.
That on the underhand was a good bonus. Giants were a whole category with many beasts under that umbrella.
Mannahnin
Scion of Murgen (He/Him)
Right. In OD&D Rangers got a bonus against all creatures of the "Giant class (Kobold to Giant)", which meant everything on the wilderness encounter Giants sub-table, between and inclusive of those two entries. That is, Kobolds, Goblins, Orcs, Hobgoblins, Gnolls, Ogres, Trolls, and all Giants. (and excluding the non-evil entries at the end of that table - Gnomes, Dwarves, Elves, and Treants.)
In AD&D 1E they confusingly retained the collective term "Giant class", but listed all the eligible creatures in the Ranger class description, adding Bugbears, Ettins, and Ogre Magi.
So in 1E a Ranger was an absolute cuisinart for basically every type of monster generally categorized as a Humanoid or Giant in later editions.
I think one of the most common complaints about the OSE Advanced Ranger has probably been that they based it more on the 2E Ranger and took away this huge benefit.
Last edited:
I suspect you're right here, and maybe that's what causing some of my confusion about what they'd tweak and why: I'm a bit less concerned with "fidelity to the original" in OSE as I am with "plays nicely with the existing classes." The OSE Ranger is VERY good, but not in such a way that eclipses the Fighter--particularly if you incorporate the Tactics option from Carcass Crawler #1.
I suppose I could see a little "+1 against a very narrow category of enemies," but even then, I'd want it to be offset by them losing one of the already nice little buffs they currently enjoy.
Mannahnin
Scion of Murgen (He/Him)
Yeah. I never had an issue with dropping the damage bonus in OSEA, because it was so obviously overpowered next to other classes like the Fighter. But I can imagine how NG might want to bring it back, maybe in a reduced-power form (+1 damage per three levels or something, instead of EVERY level?), so as to better suit folks' desire for 1E AD&D-style options in their B/X rules framework.
GreyLord
Legend
Well, this could actually be attractive to me.
I may be the singular outsider here as it seems many are dismayed by the changes announced.
However, for me, if I ever wanted to play BX or BECMI, I'd play one of those. There was no reason for me to ever play a Retroclone (which OSE was). I'd rather play the real thing. With DMsguild it even mean that many of the materials were available for others to purchase if they wanted to!
If I was to try something like BX or BECMI it had to offer something different than they did and had to offer something new which they did not. This has long been the reason why I've favored C&C over other types of OSR games.
However, with the classes and such all being in one big books, in a BX/BECMI style but AD&D classes and such (once again, in a singular rules instead of two versions) this actually sounds like a very tempting game to try out.
I may be the singular outsider here as it seems many are dismayed by the changes announced.
However, for me, if I ever wanted to play BX or BECMI, I'd play one of those. There was no reason for me to ever play a Retroclone (which OSE was). I'd rather play the real thing. With DMsguild it even mean that many of the materials were available for others to purchase if they wanted to!
If I was to try something like BX or BECMI it had to offer something different than they did and had to offer something new which they did not. This has long been the reason why I've favored C&C over other types of OSR games.
However, with the classes and such all being in one big books, in a BX/BECMI style but AD&D classes and such (once again, in a singular rules instead of two versions) this actually sounds like a very tempting game to try out.
Similar Threads
