OSR Does "Old School" in OSR only apply to D&D?

My own impression is that as the OSR recedes into memory (or ages into senility - whichever descriptor one prefers) it becomes harder to identify. It has so many offshoots and sub communities, but lacks core shared cores spaces now. To me this is a sign that the OSR is no more... but others want to to be around still, it doesn't really matter what we call it. The vibrant community of design and enthusiasm that existed under the OSR label for a few years has splintered and lots of different subgroups are making related stuff, but not talking to each other (or even aware of each other).

In this context I've seen a lot of revisionism around the OSR, especially in the last couple of years, and even a bit of what might call "OSRR" - the plumbing of the remains of the OSR in search of defining it as a nostalgic ideal. A large amount of this (as usual for nostalgia) has the typical aspects of restorative nostalgia - wanting an ideal (here and "OSR") that is clearly defined, has bold rules and exact dimensions - something that can be remade or presented as a singular thing. Many of these rules about the OSR take a few bits and pieces of the work that went into the original and hold them up as the truths of the scene. Sometimes this is just interest and confusion, sometime it's an effort to sell something, other times it's a way to claim one's own proclivities or game design scene are the inheritors/only remaining part of some past golden age.

The OSR was a lot of things, and different things at various times.

Reynard said:

I never played MSH back in the day (I was a DC kid, and therefore a DC Heroes gamer, at least until I discovered Champions) but I feel like I should check FASERIP out. I am looking for a clean, simple but not necessarily narrative supers game on which to build.

ETA: Oh, and look, it's free. I did not know that.

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I would highly recommend the yellow box "basic" (original) set to the more popular Advanced Set. It's more coherent and better balanced. A lot of the seeming additions that Advanced introduces end up being subtractive for a lot of reasons.

For me yes. I don't purity test over it or claim TSR is better than clone or this clone is better than that clone.

Shadowdark also looks interesting but haven't looked to hard at it.

I haven't bought new OSR product in years though. My tastes lean towards B/X variants with additional options.

Mostly it's rejecting the complexity of 3E onwards. Beyond that I don't care to much. It's not either/or for me. I'll play 5E or B/X or clone.
1E and 3E probably don't want to play though. 1E is a hot mess, not much nostalgia to play 3E again. I do like 3E content though.

I think OSR really hit its stride when 4th edition came out. To a lot of players this was the last straw. They could see of the old games they played in 3rd edition but 4th edition was so different from the what was done before many players just said that was enough, we are going back.

Golden age Superhero said:

I think OSR really hit its stride when 4th edition came out. To a lot of players this was the last straw. They could see of the old games they played in 3rd edition but 4th edition was so different from the what was done before many players just said that was enough, we are going back.

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Worked for us. Sick of 3E didn't like rE. Tried 2E again had fun.

RealAlHazred said:

They definitely used the MGT1 OGL as a framework, but it's primarily CT. I haven't done a thorough analysis, so I could easily be mistaken.

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As someone who actively homebrews with CE, I personally don't consider it OSR. The freebie CE SRD is based upon Mongoose Traveler 1e, but I don't know of any Referees who use it. Zozer games, Moontoad Publishing and Stellagama Publishing have all published quality CE rule books that differ to some extent from the SRD - some minimally, some much more. Not to mention that all of them are superior in terms of organization and presentation. Stellegama's Cepheus Deluxe differs the most in that they implemented there own take on the Mongoose Traveler 2e skills challenge ladder and employed points based PC creation. Albeit, they distribute a free Random Character Generation publication for those who want the system from MgT1E.

As to whether CE references, or is inspired from Classic Traveler 1e, I can only go by my own experience and impressions. When I checked out my buddies' 3 book Classic Traveler 1e box set, those books were lean and different in comparison to what's contained in even the CE SRD and Vehicle SRD - not to mention all of the CE 3rd party books. CE is 1 of 4 TTRPGs that I actively homebrew SciFi with. When I want to homebrew something SciFi, while I consider using CE I'm typically also considering SWADE+SciFi Companion, MgT2e and Mythras+M Space. All of 3 of those I'd categorize as non-OSR TTRPGs.

Classic Traveler 1e, I'd definitely consider OSR. Cepheus Engine, I wouldn't.

Gus L said:

The OSR was a lot of things, and different things at various times.

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My thoughts on the matter.

Debates about what the OSR is have been going on since at least the late 2000s.

What sets the OSR apart, from the beginning, is that, unlike most corners of the hobby, it hasn’t been driven by a single author, company, or creative vision. While it grew from interest in out-of-print editions of D&D, its creative output quickly became rooted in open content under open licenses. That foundation created not a canon, but a commons.

And from that commons emerged a kaleidoscope of creative visions, rulesets, zines, hacks, adventures, philosophies, and play styles. The movement thrived not because it had a unified voice, but because it didn’t. It was, and remains, a productive chaos of competing, overlapping, and deeply personal creative visions.

Digital publishing supercharged this. The barriers to creating and distributing game content collapsed. Suddenly, anyone with the time and drive could turn their vision into a PDF, a print-on-demand book, a boxed set, or a full-blown system, no approvals required.

The OSR is shaped daily by those who publish, those who share, those who play, and those who promote. You can see just one slice of this activity on DriveThruRPG, with nearly 15,000 titles tagged OSR. Itch.io adds another 5,000+ projects under the same banner, each one a different take on what an “old school renaissance” can mean.

Many have tried to define the OSR. All of them fail, because definition implies boundaries, and the OSR has none that aren’t self-imposed. At its core, the OSR is an invitation. If you have the interest, the ideas, and the willingness to build, then it’s yours.

That’s the point. The OSR is what you make of it.