Labyrinth Lord vs Basic Fantasy?

[HellHound]

So, I've been checking out these OSRIC-idea based games. I'm not a huge fan of 1e, but loved the Basic / Expert sets.

Labyrinth Lord and Basic Fantasy both seem to have the same aim. My questions are:

1. Which do you feel did a better job of it.
2. Which do you think is more widely accepted / played?

 

[dmccoy1693]

2. Which do you think is more widely accepted / played?

Considering that LL was just recently launched, I'm guessing that it is not yet as widely played as BF. But then again, I don't know how old BF is. OSRIC, from what I hear, is relatively popular.

 

[jdrakeh]

1. I haven't seen Labyrinth Lord yet, so can't say.
2. Basic Fantasy is a safe bet as it has been around in a non-commericial form since January of last year (and as a commercial product since July of this year). Further is has a fair amount of supplemental support, which LL does not yet have.

 

[Son_of_Thunder]

Labyrinth Lord more closely resembles BECMI with races as classes. BFRPG has halfling clerics, that sort of thing. I have them both and love them both. I'm going to run BFRPG when I take up the dming mantle again.

 

[Nikosandros]

They are products with different purposes.

LL is, like OSRIC, a tool for publishers so that they can print material compatible with BD&D.

BFRPG is variant on BD&D and is meant a stand alone game.

 

[jdrakeh]

I should note that BFRPG is 99.9% OGC with the term "Basic Fantasy RPG" being made available for third-party use under a limited, royalty-free, license. It's not based on OSRIC, however, but on the Mentzer/Moldvay BX and the D&D 3.5 SRD. It bears little (if any) resemblence to OSRIC other than the fact that it's OGC.

 

[Goblinoid Games]

They are products with different purposes.

LL is, like OSRIC, a tool for publishers so that they can print material compatible with BD&D.

BFRPG is variant on BD&D and is meant a stand alone game.

Exactly. Different goals. I like Basic Fantasy a lot; I think Chris and the other contributors created something that really fills a needed niche.

I wrote Labyrinth Lord to fill a different niche to support open gaming, in the vein of OSRIC. I'm not in any way trying to compete with Basic Fantasy, so if one were to judge these two projects I would prefer they be judged as the separate beasts they are.

 

[Jack Daniel]

I have to ask, why does LL go to 20th level instead of 36th? That's the only thing that turns me off about it (well, that and no mystic class).

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

While I have only briefly looked through my download of LL, it looks great. From what I can tell, it can also serve as a toolbox (like OSRIC) for other publishers doing basic/expert compatable releases. I also have BFRPG as well, and when I get around to doing a new campaign when the current 3.5/Castles & Crusades hybrid is done I will likely give these two serious consideration as I still love the Moldvay Basic Set and believe it is the best, most concise version of D&D ever.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

I have to ask, why does LL go to 20th level instead of 36th? That's the only thing that turns me off about it (well, that and no mystic class).

I believe LL is inspired more by the B/X sets (Moldvay/Cook/Marsh) rather than the BECM sets (Mentzer). Up to 20th is actually more levels than the B/X sets included.