Favorite D&D Retroclone?

[JeffB]

No love for Labyrinth Lord? that game is very good. And with the optional rules from AEC on it becomes a quite lightweight version of AD&D.

Moldvay/Cook/Marsh is my fave version of the game. And LL is a great clone of such, BUT

1) have a couple copies each of my originals (and now pdfs available again too)...

2) the aesthetic/art utilized in LL is a huge turnoff for me. I cringe every time I open the book. Weird personal hangup, I know.

 

[edemaitre]

The D20-ish Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game is my favorite, with Labyrinth Lord (Advanced Edition) and OSRIC close behind. I do like Dungeon Crawl Classics for its art and pulpy feel and Adventurer, Conqueror, King for its polish and domain management rules.

http://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/1751/overview-of-dd-retro-clones

http://www.retroroleplaying.com/content/retro-clones

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?665226-A-Master-List-of-D-amp-D-Retro-Clones

 

[Kalex the Omen]

We use Castles & Crusades in our campaigns (damn the torpedoes!). I also like Labyrinth Lord with the Advanced Companion rules, Basic Fantasy RPG, OSRIC and many others. Myth & Magic is a really nice game, but they seem to have stalled out after just a single release.

 

[eyeheartawk]

Castles and Crusades has been getting alot of play in my group, although not a pure Retroclone as such. Also, I like Dark Dungeons quite a bit.

 

[Mark Hope]

Yeah, I use C&C in games I run for my kids - it's also my daughter's go-to system of choice .

 

[Moorcrys]

ACKS for the domain rules, carousing and hi-jinx for thiefly classes, pretty fantastic economics system, the upcoming mass combat system, and the proficiency system (which I find to be awesome - not clunky at all IMHO).

Astonishing Swords and Sorcerers of Hyperboria for the classes, writing, art, and all-around flavor.

 

[fjw70]

Basic Fantasy is my favorite. Castle & Crusades is nice too.


However, I just prefer the BX originals to any retro-clone.

 

[Darth Illithid]

Either Swords & Wizardry (White Box or Core, doesn't matter) or Dark Dungeons for me.

 

[Remathilis]

Basic Fantasy and Pathfinder (hey, its 1.5 editions behind now!)

 

[Technomancer]

Beyond The Wall by Flatland Games, a relative newcomer to the OSR. It tries to emulate "young adult" (for lack of a better term) fantasy like the Earthsea or Prydain novels. A lot of it looks familiar, but two things that I really like about it are:

1. Lifepath Character Creation-a series of multiple choice questions (different for each class). Each answer (randomly rolled by default) determine both your mechanical aspects (attributes, equipment, skills, etc) and aspects of your background. It's darn fun! (There is the option for more traditional character creation, rolling for attributes and what have you)

2. The Magic System has been completely revamped, with three different types of magic: Cantrips are the simplest, and can be cast over and over; spells are the most similar to regular D&D, with a limited number per day based on your level; Rituals are the most powerful, and have minimum level requirements and take longer to cast.

This is pretty close to everything I want D&D to be.