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OSR ... Feel the Love! Why People Like The Old School
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<blockquote data-quote="Monayuris" data-source="post: 7633953" data-attributes="member: 6859536"><p>Yeah, let's not let the nostalgia comment derail this thread. </p><p></p><p>I agree 100%. I run old school editions regularly (equal frequency as 5E). I run Basic Fantasy RPG, which is a modern day retro clone of B/X (with some minor differences... not a pure clone).</p><p></p><p>I mostly DM, so some of my favorite parts of old school are more slanted in that direction (I'll have more to follow).</p><p></p><p><strong>1. Focus on Exploration</strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong>I prefer the focus of old school games on exploration as opposed to combat. I prefer this focus... exploring a dungeon, deciding which way to go, dealing with traps, secret doors, puzzles, are all the core experiences to me. Combat is a part of the game, but it is just another obstacle. Its not the end all of the experience. I like that combat is fast and resolved quickly so we can get back to the action.</p><p></p><p><strong>2. Resource Management</strong></p><p></p><p>Everything is a resource in old school games, and you don't have enough. You don't have enough hit points to survive every fight . You don't have enough light to freely explore, you don't have enough strength to carry everything needed, you don't have enough time to carefully search, you don't have enough spells... etc. </p><p></p><p>This is the game, to me. You have to make choices to utilize your limited resources as efficiently as possible. This is what I find most fun as a player. Everything you do costs a resource and you have limited resources. It makes every choice have meaning and tension. You have to think carefully about whether an endeavor is worth any of the above.</p><p></p><p><strong>3. Easy prep. </strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong>Monsters are much easier to understand and design. If I need a cool monster for a dungeon, I can just figure out how many hit dice it should have and any special powers it has and I'm done. There's no formula needed to build a monster against CR or build points or so on.</p><p></p><p>B/X provides dungeon generation rules. If I'm in a bind, I can whip up something very quickly using that guidance.</p><p></p><p><strong>4. Hit Dice. </strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong>The one to one ration between hit dice and combat ability that is shared between PCs and monsters. A HD is a tangible measure of capability and is easier to use than CR or encounter budgets. I also like how one hit die is 1-8 hit points and a typical weapon die is also 1-6 or 1-8. I like how hit dice are a direct how many hits a monster can likely take.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong>5. Morale and Reactions. </strong></p><p><strong></strong></p><p><strong></strong>These are vital to the old school experience. I think most of the stories frequently promoted about osr games being slaughterhouses are probably stories of games that have ignored these rules. If you use these rules, the game is MUCH less deadly than its reputation. For example (in B/X), only a reaction roll result of 2 on a roll of 2d6 results in a Monsters Automatically Attack result. </p><p></p><p>Every other result of the reaction roll is some level of hostility but not immediate attack. This means that players have the ability to avoid encounters by interacting with monsters. The worse results may mean they may need to give up treasure or food, but better results may allow for an exchange of information or out-right friendly encounters. It just adds so much more variance to an encounter than just hack and slash play.</p><p></p><p>Morale plays a similar role... a party may be outnumbered but if they break morale they may end up victorious.</p><p></p><p>A side benefit of both of these rules is that as a DM you don't need to worry as much about encounter balance. The reaction roll normally puts the players in the position to pick their fights and morale allows for a way for them to potentially win against a superior force.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Monayuris, post: 7633953, member: 6859536"] Yeah, let's not let the nostalgia comment derail this thread. I agree 100%. I run old school editions regularly (equal frequency as 5E). I run Basic Fantasy RPG, which is a modern day retro clone of B/X (with some minor differences... not a pure clone). I mostly DM, so some of my favorite parts of old school are more slanted in that direction (I'll have more to follow). [B]1. Focus on Exploration [/B]I prefer the focus of old school games on exploration as opposed to combat. I prefer this focus... exploring a dungeon, deciding which way to go, dealing with traps, secret doors, puzzles, are all the core experiences to me. Combat is a part of the game, but it is just another obstacle. Its not the end all of the experience. I like that combat is fast and resolved quickly so we can get back to the action. [B]2. Resource Management[/B] Everything is a resource in old school games, and you don't have enough. You don't have enough hit points to survive every fight . You don't have enough light to freely explore, you don't have enough strength to carry everything needed, you don't have enough time to carefully search, you don't have enough spells... etc. This is the game, to me. You have to make choices to utilize your limited resources as efficiently as possible. This is what I find most fun as a player. Everything you do costs a resource and you have limited resources. It makes every choice have meaning and tension. You have to think carefully about whether an endeavor is worth any of the above. [B]3. Easy prep. [/B]Monsters are much easier to understand and design. If I need a cool monster for a dungeon, I can just figure out how many hit dice it should have and any special powers it has and I'm done. There's no formula needed to build a monster against CR or build points or so on. B/X provides dungeon generation rules. If I'm in a bind, I can whip up something very quickly using that guidance. [B]4. Hit Dice. [/B]The one to one ration between hit dice and combat ability that is shared between PCs and monsters. A HD is a tangible measure of capability and is easier to use than CR or encounter budgets. I also like how one hit die is 1-8 hit points and a typical weapon die is also 1-6 or 1-8. I like how hit dice are a direct how many hits a monster can likely take. [B]5. Morale and Reactions. [/B]These are vital to the old school experience. I think most of the stories frequently promoted about osr games being slaughterhouses are probably stories of games that have ignored these rules. If you use these rules, the game is MUCH less deadly than its reputation. For example (in B/X), only a reaction roll result of 2 on a roll of 2d6 results in a Monsters Automatically Attack result. Every other result of the reaction roll is some level of hostility but not immediate attack. This means that players have the ability to avoid encounters by interacting with monsters. The worse results may mean they may need to give up treasure or food, but better results may allow for an exchange of information or out-right friendly encounters. It just adds so much more variance to an encounter than just hack and slash play. Morale plays a similar role... a party may be outnumbered but if they break morale they may end up victorious. A side benefit of both of these rules is that as a DM you don't need to worry as much about encounter balance. The reaction roll normally puts the players in the position to pick their fights and morale allows for a way for them to potentially win against a superior force. [/QUOTE]
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