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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8141097" data-attributes="member: 29398">We started in the early 80s; and by the 90s we'd done some of this but not all.  We'd relaxed the race-class restrictions considerably, removed most level limits, and increased rest benefits over what 1e gave you (though not to anything like 4e-5e have it!).  Death was at -10; at anywhere from 0 to -9 you risked going unconscious and (unless right at 0) would bleed out and die if not tended.We've never done - and daresay never will do - max starting h.p.; but we did add in the idea of 'body points' which, for the usual adventuring races, gave everyone somewhere between 2 and 5 extra h.p. to start with. (your body points do not change by level).I don't know of any published systems that do this, but I can kind of see a path to homebrewing something that might work.It'd start with the 3e/d20 chassis, but with the power curve greatly flattened to 1e-ish levels* and a lot of the 'gonzo'** stripped out.  Skills would be physical or knowledge-based only; most social-interaction rules would come out.  It'd be open-ended - no expectation of 1-20 play; a 2-year game might only go 1-5 and still be great - and it'd be able to handle any speed of advancement the GM wanted (i.e. the GM is encouraged to tweak the level-advance table).  Either ban multiclassing or allow only two classes, independent a la 1e rather than additive a la 3e.  Few or no prestige classes.  Few or no feats, with some of them siloed into class abilities and the others kicked to the curb: the focus becomes on the in-play game rather than the character-build game.  More guidelines around henches, hirelings, strongholds, and so forth.  Monsters just become monsters, they don't all have levels in this or that like 3e does it; though specific individuals might.Oh, and throw out the idea of CR/EL and replace it with decent guidelines for GMs on how to run non-combat encounters (could include morale guides etc.).  Also, put more emphasis in the player-side materials that not everything is there to be - or even can be - beaten in combat.  Xp comes from a mix of sources: combat, combat avoidance, treasure, mission achievement, etc.* - thus making variable PC levels within a party a viable option, while also making various monsters viable threats over a greater span of PC levels.** - use 1e's core list of PC-playable races and classes (maybe replace Paladin with Cavalier, design Bard to start at 1st level, and add in a spontaneous caster e.g. Sorcerer), strip out the tech (unless your story happens to need it), strip away a lot of spells particularly buff spells, etc.  The one thing I'd keep is a relatively high amount of magic, as in OSR magic items tend to be rather important to a PC.Is this on the right track, for what you have in mind?</blockquote>

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