OSR IS LYING TO YOU! A reasonable discussion about OSR

[GreyLord]

I'm slightly younger than D&D but older than Dragon, and my beard has plenty of gray in it.

I'm older than you from the sounds of it, but blessed enough by good genetics that my beard is not completely white and with a hair shampoo/dye I can keep it dark along with any hairs that may feel like going a tad lighter on top as well.

Does that make me a grey beard without being a grey beard??

 

[Mannahnin]

I'm older than you from the sounds of it, but blessed enough by good genetics that my beard is not completely white and with a hair shampoo/dye I can keep it dark along with any hairs that may feel like going a tad lighter on top as well.

Does that make me a grey beard without being a grey beard??

I don't think there's a sanctioning body or board, but I think the prerequisite to using dye to hide the grey in your beard... is having grey in your beard.

 

[Fenris-77]

I don't think there's a sanctioning body or board, but I think the prerequisite to using dye to hide the grey in your beard... is having grey in your beard.

I’ve just gone quietly into that grey night.

 

[Emerikol]

you could also shuffle a deck of cards for centuries and never reproduce the same random sequence I created with my shuffle. That doesn’t mean the original you try to replicate wasn’t (functionally) random

I would argue neither would arise randomly. Some people though do believe if you try long enough anything can arise randomly. I'm not in that camp.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I’ve just gone quietly into that grey night.

Reminds me of what Charles Barkley once said about LeBron James during an NBA game years ago, "Just bring it home, stop trying to fool people. Just bring it on home."

He was talking about going bald, which I have embraced lol. As soon as it was pretty apparent I was going bald, I just brought it home...And I certainly am not going to try to dye this beard. It grows too fast. I'd have to dye it every other day.

 

[Bae'zel]

I've always wondered how truly "old school" it is to stubbornly stick with rolling stats in that specific way (roll 3d6, in order, as is, no re-rolls). Over the past 20 years, I've seen many adherents to this method insist that to do otherwise is "weak" or "snowflake".

Of all RPG communities that I've participated in over the past two decades, I've seen the most smug "machoism" from OSR communites than any other. With the exception of some of the "Nu-OSR" groups, which are far more progressive and innovative in terms of evolving the game's base assumptions.

It's not about "different strokes for different folks" or "live and let live", it's always been "gatekeeping the hobby is necessary" from those types, getting furious that other games are being produced or promoted that don't follow their ideology of "old school brutalism".

naughty word nerds

 

[robertsconley]

It's not about "different strokes for different folks" or "live and let live", it's always been "gatekeeping the hobby is necessary" from those types, getting furious that other games are being produced or promoted that don't follow their ideology of "old school brutalism".

Given the impact of the internet, digital technology, and open content on the hobby, voting with one's keyboard, or feet when relevant, is an effective response to that situation.

The reason is that the logistical barriers to creating and sustaining a niche, with a particular focus, within the larger hobby have been reduced considerably.

We are at a point where, even if the brand leaders were to falter or disappear, we could sustain the hobby itself indefinitely with little more than the time we have available for a hobby.

This makes any type of gatekeeping, while aggravating, ultimately futile.

 

[Fenris-77]

Gatekeeping is everywhere. If someone's RPG character stat rolling method makes them feel superior I think that says an awful lot more about them than it does anyone else.

 

[Mannahnin]

I've always wondered how truly "old school" it is to stubbornly stick with rolling stats in that specific way (roll 3d6, in order, as is, no re-rolls). Over the past 20 years, I've seen many adherents to this method insist that to do otherwise is "weak" or "snowflake".

It is paradoxical, especially given the evidence at hand of what Gygax and his groups did. They sure seem to have rolled many sets of stats to get playable characters. And Gary specifically introduced the new stat generation methods in AD&D as a less time-consuming alternative.

DMG p11:

GENERATION OF ABILITY SCORES

As AD&D is an ongoing game of fantasy adventuring, it is important to allow participants to generate a viable character of the race and profession which he or she desires. While it is possible to generate some fairly playable characters by rolling 3d6, there is often an extended period of attempts at finding a suitable one due to quirks of the dice. Furthermore these rather marginal characters tend to have short life expectancy - which tends to discourage new players, as does having to make do with some character of a race and/or class which he or she really can't or won't identify with. Character generation, then, is a serious matter, and it is recommended that the following systems be used.

Sentence two makes clear that some people are just rolling over and over to get acceptable characters*. Sentence three accounts for mediocre ones getting played but then killed off quickly.

This goes along well with the ability score charts requiring high scores to get actual bonuses (minimum 16 Str to just get a +1 to damage, not even to hit, in AD&D), and Gary's advice in the PH (p9) that:

The premise of the game is that each player character is above average - at least in some respects -and has superior potential. Furthermore, it is usually essential to the character's survival to be exceptional (with a rating of 15 or above) in no fewer than two ability characteristics. Each ability score is determined by random number generation. The referee has several methods of how this random number generation should be accomplished suggested to him or her in the DUNGEON MASTERS GUIDE. The Dungeon Master will inform you as to which method you may use to determine your character's abilities.

*(Also, "quirks in the dice"? Come ON, Gary, you JUST gave us about a page of statistics on dice probabilities and you can't see that rolling 3d6 down the line will RARELY produce adequate characters under the standard you gave in the PH?)

 

[Xenolith234]

I've always wondered how truly "old school" it is to stubbornly stick with rolling stats in that specific way (roll 3d6, in order, as is, no re-rolls). Over the past 20 years, I've seen many adherents to this method insist that to do otherwise is "weak" or "snowflake".

Of all RPG communities that I've participated in over the past two decades, I've seen the most smug "machoism" from OSR communites than any other. With the exception of some of the "Nu-OSR" groups, which are far more progressive and innovative in terms of evolving the game's base assumptions.

It's not about "different strokes for different folks" or "live and let live", it's always been "gatekeeping the hobby is necessary" from those types, getting furious that other games are being produced or promoted that don't follow their ideology of "old school brutalism".

naughty word nerds

I don’t think I’m necessarily partial to one way or another, though I’m starting to think that using 3d6 would drag 5e back down from the superheroic range just a tad.