OSR I never should have picked up Old School Essentials…

[John Desmarais]

Anyone using the Rules Cyclopedia versions of monsters instead of the advanced fantasy conversions?

I was looking at the RC’s turning table with an eye towards extending the one in OSE past 7–9 HD when I noticed that RC has monsters that OSE added in advanced fantasy. They are … quite different. We had an encounter with a banshee last session that would have gone very differently if I were using the RC version. I was also struck by how much closer the ghost of Sir Chyde (in Winter’s Daughter) is to the ghost in RC than it is to the converted one in OSE advanced fantasy.

The OSE/FA Banshee looks more similar to the AD&D1 Banshee (Groaning Spirit) rather than the OSE Banshee (Haunt).

 

[deganawida]

BTW, I like this so much I ordered the DM screen. Holy mackerel, this thing is THICK. No worries about sturdiness! The Erol Otus art is killer, too. Oh, and of course, all the charts are on the inside. I'm just impressed that I finally have a non-flimsy screen!

 

[kenada]

Interesting! No, I haven't done the comparison. I still haven't picked up a copy of the RC. Though perhaps I should compare the AF book vs Mentzer's monsters from the BECM Companion set, which would be the original source for the RC stuff, right?

They should be pretty close or identical. I just prefer checking the RC because it’s one PDF versus several.

 

[kenada]

The OSE/FA Banshee looks more similar to the AD&D1 Banshee (Groaning Spirit) rather than the OSE Banshee (Haunt).

That was my impression as well. AF is converting AD&D material even when BECM/RC has something equivalent that could be converted. I guess that makes sense given what it says it’s trying to do.

Anyway, I wouldn’t have even looked, but the player playing a cleric asked about turning undead with more than 9 HD. My first inclination was check what BECM/RC were doing, which was add higher-level undead to their tables. That’s when I started looking up monsters because the progression made no sense using the creatures in the AF monsters book.

What I ended up doing to extend the table was rebase it on top of 3e’s turning rules. If you use 7 as the result for same-HD undead and ±2 for ±1 HD increments, it comes out almost the same through 14th level. There are some differences (e.g., it lacks the bump at 2* HD for ghouls), but I felt that was okay compared to trying to extend the table out by HD using the higher-HD undead from BECM/RC.

 

[Blue Orange]

Biggest barrier to entry for D&D in general was always the complexity of the rules.

BECMI was shorter than 1e or 2e AD&D. So that barrier is lower, which carries on to its (intentional) imitation in OSE.

 

[Weiley31]

I'm not gonna lie: I'm probably gonna get OSE, but I'm doing to be using a number of the Rules Cyclopedia/BECMI stuff added to it and other stuff. Like the Elf Attack Ranks and all that stuff.
I know OSE is compatible with everything B/X, what other stuff is it compatible with? Like BECMI related adventures, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1E Adventures, and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition and all that?

 

[overgeeked]

I know OSE is compatible with everything B/X, what other stuff is it compatible with? Like BECMI related adventures

BECMI is super close, so it will be most compatible with that material.

Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1E Adventures, and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition and all that?

Slightly less so but in the ballpark. Hit points are a bit higher in AD&D than B/X. AC switches from base 9 to base 10. And THAC0 changes from base 19 to base 20. I think.

The later 2E stuff will be the most trouble. Especially from the Player Options era. PCs get a pretty big boost so most things compensate.

 

[Mannahnin]

I know OSE is compatible with everything B/X, what other stuff is it compatible with? Like BECMI related adventures, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1E Adventures, and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition and all that?

Broadly? In the sense that all the TSR editions are pretty similar.

Armor Classes are 1pt off from AD&D (base unarmored 9 in B/X, BECM & OSE instead of 10 in AD&D). Much of the point of the Advanced Fantasy expansion is to increase compatibility with AD&D modules and stuff, by giving B/X-style/scaled stats for monsters, classes, spells and magic items you find in AD&D which B/X and BECM didn't have.

 

[Weiley31]

BECMI is super close, so it will be most compatible with that material.

Slightly less so but in the ballpark. Hit points are a bit higher in AD&D than B/X. AC switches from base 9 to base 10. And THAC0 changes from base 19 to base 20. I think.

The later 2E stuff will be the most trouble. Especially from the Player Options era. PCs get a pretty big boost so most things compensate.

eh I'm just using mostly 2E adventures here and there.

 

[deganawida]

I'm not gonna lie: I'm probably gonna get OSE, but I'm doing to be using a number of the Rules Cyclopedia/BECMI stuff added to it and other stuff. Like the Elf Attack Ranks and all that stuff.
I know OSE is compatible with everything B/X, what other stuff is it compatible with? Like BECMI related adventures, Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 1E Adventures, and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition and all that?

The official spiel (sp?) is that it's compatible with 1st edition and B/X. However, I don't see a problem with compatibility with 2nd edition or BECMI (except that OSE thieves will have better skills than BECMI).