OSR I never should have picked up Old School Essentials…

[Yora]

I think OSE Advanced is a pretty good alternative to AD&D. If I were to run a Planescape or Dark Sun campaign, which really need the AD&D character classes and races to work, OSE Advanced would be my game of choice.
It's still the same simple and straightforward game, but with the character classes and races of AD&D.

 

[DarkCrisis]

How does it compare to say The Rules Cyclopedia, ease of play wise?

 

[overgeeked]

How does it compare to say The Rules Cyclopedia, ease of play wise?

Well, it includes natural healing rules, for one. Sorry. Still salty about that.

OSE isn't BECM condensed into one book like the RC. OSE is a B/X retroclone (Classic Fantasy) expanded to include stuff from AD&D (Advanced Fantasy). So if RC is your benchmark, there will be some differences.

I'd say it's way more playable than RC simply because many of the things added over the course of BECMI are not there. Though OSE does have rules for things like domain management, which appeared in the BECMI line. Weapon mastery is gone. General skills are gone. But, in Advanced Fantasy, AD&D's weapon proficiencies and secondary skills are presented as optional rules, each of these subsystem takes one page. The level cap is 14 instead of 36. They have options for both THAC0 and the modern ascending armor class and attack bonus. This is baked into every class chart and monster, so there's no looking it up to use either.

 

[Musing Mage]

Do you have a YouTube channel (and willing to share it)? I would be interested in seeing your thoughts on this subject.

I do! I just launched it last month so I'm still 'finding my legs' so to speak - just a couple of vids right now and a folder full of ideas needing fleshing out....

I don't want to post the link in a thread outside of the Press/Promotions area, as to not step on EnWorld's protocols... but the link can be found in the 'About' section on my profile.

I already planned a review of OSE, but have now added a comparison video to the docket.

 

[thirdkingdom]

Well, it includes natural healing rules, for one. Sorry. Still salty about that.

OSE isn't BECM condensed into one book like the RC. OSE is a B/X retroclone (Classic Fantasy) expanded to include stuff from AD&D (Advanced Fantasy). So if RC is your benchmark, there will be some differences.

I'd say it's way more playable than RC simply because many of the things added over the course of BECMI are not there. Though OSE does have rules for things like domain management, which appeared in the BECMI line. Weapon mastery is gone. General skills are gone. But, in Advanced Fantasy, AD&D's weapon proficiencies and secondary skills are presented as optional rules, each of these subsystem takes one page. The level cap is 14 instead of 36. They have options for both THAC0 and the modern ascending armor class and attack bonus. This is baked into every class chart and monster, so there's no looking it up to use either.

Er, not really? BECMI and the RC has a pretty developed system of domain management (I used it as a basis for the domain management system in Into the Wild), but OSE doesn't really go into it (the Domain Management page is literally three paragraphs) and takes up less than half a page.

 

[overgeeked]

Er, not really? BECMI and the RC has a pretty developed system of domain management (I used it as a basis for the domain management system in Into the Wild), but OSE doesn't really go into it (the Domain Management page is literally three paragraphs) and takes up less than half a page.

The Strongholds section is four pages long in both versions of OSE, including charts for building castles, etc. The section within that specifically titled “domain management” is indeed a few paragraphs. I was using “domain management” to refer to that entire subsystem…as it’s the common usage.

 

[deganawida]

I would recommend the Carcass Crawler zines; some really great classes and house rules in those!

Ended up getting the first issue to see what they had.

Really dig the Fighter talents, especially the specialization, because after 22 years of Fighters being able to use all weapons, going back to a limited selection irked me.

…a WORKABLE Psionicist? Mind. Blown.

Haephastan made me laugh. Snarf would likely love that.

Overall, it’s on the pricier side, but the quality was high.

 

[thirdkingdom]

The Strongholds section is four pages long in both versions of OSE, including charts for building castles, etc. The section within that specifically titled “domain management” is indeed a few paragraphs. I was using “domain management” to refer to that entire subsystem…as it’s the common usage.

Even taking that into account, I don't think there's much comparison between the domain management rules in BX and the RC. The rules in the RC take up a full 8 pages of dense text (and it's a full letter-sized book) and includes guidelines (albeit brief) on domain-level play for non-fighters, including everything in B/X (such as stronghold costs). Additionally, there's a detailed mass combat system that I would argue falls under domain level play.

So yes, OSE does have rules for domain level play, but they're nowhere near as detailed or complete as those in the RC.

 

[Malmuria]

Ended up getting the first issue to see what they had.

Really dig the Fighter talents, especially the specialization, because after 22 years of Fighters being able to use all weapons, going back to a limited selection irked me.

…a WORKABLE Psionicist? Mind. Blown.

Haephastan made me laugh. Snarf would likely love that.

Overall, it’s on the pricier side, but the quality was high.

I really like the d6 thief skills, with the player being able to allocate points. I think that could be adapted to all classes that have skills. The second issue will have a system for item based encumbrance which looks useful as well.

btw Haephastan are basically gith, right? That's what I assumed, but renamed due to copyright

 

[deganawida]

I really like the d6 thief skills, with the player being able to allocate points. I think that could be adapted to all classes that have skills. The second issue will have a system for item based encumbrance which looks useful as well.

btw Haephastan are basically gith, right? That's what I assumed, but renamed due to copyright

No. Haephastus is known as Vulcan in Roman mythology. Look at that last ability again