Charlaquin
Goblin Queen (She/Her/Hers)
I’ve gotten curious enough about the OSR to want to give it a try. But there are a lot of systems available and it’s hard to know where to go first as a newcomer. So, I was hoping some of the folks around here might have some more experience in the OSR sphere and be able to point me in the right direction. If it helps, here are some of the things I’m looking for in an OSR game and some of the things I’m not so keen on.
THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR
• A focus on exploration. Both wilderness exploration/hexcrawling and dungeon delving. I fancy the idea of a highly player-driven game where the PCs push into dangerous unknown territory in pursuit of treasure and personal goals, and I referee.
• Potential for open table/troupe play. A lot of classic D&D was built around the idea of a large group of not-necessarily-regular players, each with a stable of (presumably randomly-generated) characters, with no assumption that they are necessarily part of a single party. That concept really, really appeals to me.
• Emphasis on player skill over avatar strength. It’s not that I have a problem with PCs being strong. I just want the game to challenge the players’ strategic and tactical decision-making and creative thinking, moreso than their system mastery and ability to build an effective character.
• Resource management. Bookkeeping gets a bad rap, but to me, having to juggle concerns like encumbrance, ammunition, rations, torches, prepared spells, all that stuff is an important part of the challenge of D&D and its ilk. In that sense, I suppose this could be considered part of the above-mentioned emphasis on player skill.
• Easier-to-manage PCs. Now, I love me some player-facing crunch. But whether I like it or not, most of my players can’t remember how to calculate their bonus to an ability check when I call for it, let alone all of the abilities they get from their class and feats and whatever.
THINGS I’D RATHER AVOID
• Fiddly mechanics. I know unified resolution mechanics aren’t a given in OSR games, and that’s not necessarily a deal-breaker for me. But the more unique mechanics I have to remember for specific situations, the more likely I am to bounce off a game. Also, for similar reasons to my interest in simpler PCs, I’d like to avoid a situation where you want to roll high in some situations and low in others. The easier the game is to play without having to look something up or stop and walk a player through what they’re supposed to roll when, the better.
• Race-as-Class. Some may find race-as-class charming, but it’s not for me. I would also prefer to avoid racial class restrictions if possible, but I can always just ignore such restrictions if I have to.
• Too much deviation from that D&D feel. Obviously this is highly subjective, but part of what I’m looking for from the OSR is that je ne sais quoi that makes D&D feel like itself. For this reason I would prefer not to ditch too many of those D&D-isms like the 6 polyhedral dice, the 6 D&D abilities, the classic D&D classes, etc. I’m not married to any of these things individually, but lose too many and it loses the vibe I’m looking for.
THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR
• A focus on exploration. Both wilderness exploration/hexcrawling and dungeon delving. I fancy the idea of a highly player-driven game where the PCs push into dangerous unknown territory in pursuit of treasure and personal goals, and I referee.
• Potential for open table/troupe play. A lot of classic D&D was built around the idea of a large group of not-necessarily-regular players, each with a stable of (presumably randomly-generated) characters, with no assumption that they are necessarily part of a single party. That concept really, really appeals to me.
• Emphasis on player skill over avatar strength. It’s not that I have a problem with PCs being strong. I just want the game to challenge the players’ strategic and tactical decision-making and creative thinking, moreso than their system mastery and ability to build an effective character.
• Resource management. Bookkeeping gets a bad rap, but to me, having to juggle concerns like encumbrance, ammunition, rations, torches, prepared spells, all that stuff is an important part of the challenge of D&D and its ilk. In that sense, I suppose this could be considered part of the above-mentioned emphasis on player skill.
• Easier-to-manage PCs. Now, I love me some player-facing crunch. But whether I like it or not, most of my players can’t remember how to calculate their bonus to an ability check when I call for it, let alone all of the abilities they get from their class and feats and whatever.
THINGS I’D RATHER AVOID
• Fiddly mechanics. I know unified resolution mechanics aren’t a given in OSR games, and that’s not necessarily a deal-breaker for me. But the more unique mechanics I have to remember for specific situations, the more likely I am to bounce off a game. Also, for similar reasons to my interest in simpler PCs, I’d like to avoid a situation where you want to roll high in some situations and low in others. The easier the game is to play without having to look something up or stop and walk a player through what they’re supposed to roll when, the better.
• Race-as-Class. Some may find race-as-class charming, but it’s not for me. I would also prefer to avoid racial class restrictions if possible, but I can always just ignore such restrictions if I have to.
• Too much deviation from that D&D feel. Obviously this is highly subjective, but part of what I’m looking for from the OSR is that je ne sais quoi that makes D&D feel like itself. For this reason I would prefer not to ditch too many of those D&D-isms like the 6 polyhedral dice, the 6 D&D abilities, the classic D&D classes, etc. I’m not married to any of these things individually, but lose too many and it loses the vibe I’m looking for.
