OSR Fans of old school D&D, what are your bare essentials?

Sacrosanct · Feb 9, 2022

You can be fans of other editions as well, but I’m looking to tap the brains of those who are fans of old school gaming, especially of the various basic sets.

If you were to take modern DnD and strip it down the basic minimums, what would that look like for you? What are your essentials that still feels like DnD while being as quick to learn and play like the basic sets were previously? I’m talking absolute bare minimum.

For me:

6 ability scores, with unified bonuses
Single XP progression chart
10 max levels
3 classes: fighter, rogue, caster
Core races: elf, dwarf, human, halfling.
team initiative with a single d10 roll per side.
each class gets a feature at every level, but no subclasses or feats or backgrounds. Chargen has to be fast.

Malmuria · Feb 9, 2022

Something like this:

SRD

cairnrpg.com

Greggy C · Feb 9, 2022

Sacrosanct said:
You can be fans of other editions as well, but I’m looking to tap the brains of those who are fans of old school gaming, especially of the various basic sets.

Depends, if you are stripping things out to be ready for young kids to play, that's something else entirely.

If you are stripping it down for adults to play, then I would just run the OSE basic rules:

Free Downloads

Character sheets, spell and time trackers, publishing resources, and more. Free to download.

necroticgnome.com

(personally I would run the 2e core books using 1e modules, because thats what my original xp was on, and it was perfect).

Jack Daniel · Feb 9, 2022

My bare essentials? Already wrote 'em up.

No ability scores or nonhuman races, one class with defined levels, titles, XP requirements, hit points, attack roll, one saving throw, and one thieving skill.

Jacob Lewis · Feb 9, 2022

Sacrosanct said:
You can be fans of other editions as well, but I’m looking to tap the brains of those who are fans of old school gaming, especially of the various basic sets.

If you were to take modern DnD and strip it down the basic minimums, what would that look like for you? What are your essentials that still feels like DnD while being as quick to learn and play like the basic sets were previously? I’m talking absolute bare minimum.

For me, the Essentials line from fourth edition already does this quite nicely because it was, in fact, designed to stand alone as a complete system despite being backwards compatible. If you stick with only the core Essential titles, like Rules Compendium, Monster Vault, and Dungeon Master's Kit, then you're pretty much set.

And if you chose just the Heroes of the Fallen Lands for player options, then you would have just the traditional core classes (cleric, fighters (2 types), rogue, wizard) and races (human, dwarf, elf (plus eladrin), halfling). You have just a couple options to decide which powers or feats to pick every level. But a lot of the abilities and powers are automatic. And there's no backgrounds or themes to complicate your builds with endless layers. Ignore all the other materials with mountains of options and you'll have yourself a clean, simple game.

Admittedly, I was not a big fan of Essentials at the time it was released. But that was because it was muddying the waters, so to speak. Looking back now, I appreciate some of the innovations and the clean slate that it represented when removed from all the extraneous material that came before it. Minimal books with minimal options and maximum potential. That, to me, qualifies for old-school DnD.

Could I strip it down further? Maybe. But it doesn't mean I should. I already consider this a bare minimum and it is complete.

kenada · Feb 9, 2022

Sacrosanct said:
If you were to take modern DnD and strip it down the basic minimums, what would that look like for you? What are your essentials that still feels like DnD while being as quick to learn and play like the basic sets were previously? I’m talking absolute bare minimum.

I’d strip the mechanics down to be more friendly to the GM. I don’t think creatures need full arrays of stats. Have PCs roll over their saving throw and do something similar for skill checks. (Personally, I like the 2d6 system used by SWN/WWN.) I don’t think the numbers treadmill is really good for the players. You look like you’re getting better, but you don’t really (because the math has been balanced to ensure a standard challenge).

Otherwise: standard ability scores, the modern saving throw categories (Fortitude, Reflex, Will), and a reduced level progression. Maybe not ten levels, but twenty is too many. It’s just not worth building for a level that most campaigns never reach. I’d keep race/species and class separate. There should probably be some PC customization, but I’d want to keep it from bogging down chargen. Hit points and modifiers should stay small.

Blackmoor_Film · Feb 9, 2022

It depends on whic group I am running.

Generally speaking it's 3LBBs with some minor home rules.

Sometimes some Holmes Blue Book and Supplements.

Mostly it's just old school '70s era D&D fun.

Malmuria · Feb 9, 2022

Replacing levels with items or magic "boons" or even training is increasingly appealing to me. Levels are sort of a disassociated mechanic, whereas training or items make an increase in power or hp both require choices (how to spend time, how to allot slots in a slot based inventory) and are more closely related to the fiction

Ath-kethin · Feb 10, 2022

Sacrosanct said:
You can be fans of other editions as well, but I’m looking to tap the brains of those who are fans of old school gaming, especially of the various basic sets.

If you were to take modern DnD and strip it down the basic minimums, what would that look like for you? What are your essentials that still feels like DnD while being as quick to learn and play like the basic sets were previously? I’m talking absolute bare minimum.

For me:

6 ability scores, with unified bonuses
Single XP progression chart
10 max levels
3 classes: fighter, rogue, caster
Core races: elf, dwarf, human, halfling.
team initiative with a single d10 roll per side.
each class gets a feature at every level, but no subclasses or feats or backgrounds. Chargen has to be fast.

Have you considered the path of Our Lord and Savior, Dungeon Crawl Classics? It meets all of your criteria but the d10 initiative, but that's an easy one to sub in if it's important.