OSR What's more important for a retroclone?
- Thread starter Sacrosanct
- Start date
CleverNickName
Limit Break Dancing (He/They)
I don't play a lot of retroclones, so take my vote ("capture the feel") with a grain of salt.
Whenever I want to play a game that captures the feel of the old-school, TSR-era B/X Rules, I will play the old B/X rules. No cloning needed; I have the Real Deal right here, ready to go.
Whenever I want to play a game that captures the feel of the old-school, TSR-era B/X Rules, I will play the old B/X rules. No cloning needed; I have the Real Deal right here, ready to go.
Mannahnin
Scion of Murgen (He/Him)
The question is "what is more important to a retroclone". Definitionally, clones make minimal changes. So, 1.
If responders are ignoring that and responding to the poll as if the word "retroclone" was a synonym for "OSR game", then it makes sense to answer 2, because the old editions have already been cloned a bunch of times, so what's more important for a new publication is to offer new ideas.
If responders are ignoring that and responding to the poll as if the word "retroclone" was a synonym for "OSR game", then it makes sense to answer 2, because the old editions have already been cloned a bunch of times, so what's more important for a new publication is to offer new ideas.
delericho
Legend
It depends on intent. If you truly intend to do a retroclone then the goal should be to emulate the rules as closely as possible. That said, I think all the ones that are actually possible have been done now, haven't they?
I do think there's a market for a near-clone, which makes fidelity to the rules a goal but not an over-riding one. And in that case, capturing the essence of the game is the more desirable.
I do think there's a market for a near-clone, which makes fidelity to the rules a goal but not an over-riding one. And in that case, capturing the essence of the game is the more desirable.
PHATsakk43
Last Authlim of the True Lord of Tyranny
I think I'll lean towards mechanics.
At the end of the TSR era, we effectively had between 3 & 5 separate rules systems that were, for all intents and purposes, roughly compatible.
Since 2000 and the introduction of the d20 mechanic as the do-all, we've had 3 major revisions that are far less compatible with each other even though the fundamental mechanic is effectively identical. This is to the point that sometimes it is easier to adopt a 2E module to 5E than a 3.0 or 3.5 one and routinely so in the case of 4E modules.
At the end of the TSR era, we effectively had between 3 & 5 separate rules systems that were, for all intents and purposes, roughly compatible.
Since 2000 and the introduction of the d20 mechanic as the do-all, we've had 3 major revisions that are far less compatible with each other even though the fundamental mechanic is effectively identical. This is to the point that sometimes it is easier to adopt a 2E module to 5E than a 3.0 or 3.5 one and routinely so in the case of 4E modules.
