It doesn't have torch weight, because the weight of individual adventuring gear wasn't defined until the Mentzer Expert set came out (1983). In Molvay/Cook B/X (1981), all adventuring gear together, regardless of quantity or type, counts for a total of 80cns of weight. You quoted that exact...
To make a system like this work,
This needs to resolve instantly, not over time like death saves. It should be a straight 50/50 shot of instant death.
Reason being is that otherwise, the optimal choice is always choose this option, then wait for a party member to heal/stabilize you - that is...
This is not relevant in B/X. Neither encumbrance option involves tracking the weight of individual pieces of adventuring gear.
The only things tracked are carrying treasure vs not carrying treasure, and armor type (Basic Encumbrance) or Armor, Weapon, and treasure weights (Detailed...
Basic Fantasy is fine. I don't like how it handles encumbrance and XP (tracking individual pounds of gear sucks, and combat-only XP means you're never gonna get a PC past level 1) The art and layout make it feel very amateurish and dated compared to more modern projects like OSE.
The price is...
As someone who regularly runs B/X, none of these bullet points are in the rules and all of them are pretty far removed from what I'd allow a player character to attempt to do. Unless a monster is specifically afraid of/weak to fire, waving a torch around menacingly is just gonna get you a spear...
The DMG and XGTE give pretty good guidance on exactly how many and what kind of magic items to give the party in 5e.
There is no "rule" in 5e saying you should not give out magic items. You absolutely need to give out magic items unless you are constantly making specific considerations in the...
IIRC Gavin mentioned that the new manuals would not be crowdfunded. I imagine they'll be available for normal sale as well as as add-ons for the crowdfund on the demon book.
It's important with Shadowdark (and any OSR system) that your adventure design includes encounters which are not always-hostile and/or offer non-combat based solutions to bypass them. I worry with Ptolus originating in the 3e era it will have lots of rooms that are open door -> immediate combat.
I've been running vol 1 for about 8 months or so using OSE. Its been fantastic - easy to riff adventures off the random tables and the included dungeons/locations are very good.