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D&D Older Editions
Shadowdark looks so good!
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<blockquote data-quote="schneeland" data-source="post: 8956160" data-attributes="member: 6900337"><p>Sorry! Didn't really get to reply here earlier.</p><p></p><p>Just to clarify: I'm very much open to understand OSR as a philosophical approach to rules design rather than based on 1:1 compatibility with older D&D versions (at least, as long as we stay in the general D&D design space) and usually cite the Ben Milton quote from Principia Apocrypha when asked about my understanding of OSR.</p><p></p><p>[SPOILER="Full Quote"]</p><p>"The more of the following a campaign has, the more old school it is: high lethality, an open world, a lack of pre-written plot, an emphasis</p><p>on creative problem solving, an exploration-centered reward system (usually XP for treasure), a disregard for "encounter balance", and the</p><p>use of random tables to generate world elements that surprise both players and referees. Also, a strong do-it-yourself attitude and a</p><p>willingness to share your work and use the creativity of others in your game."</p><p>[/SPOILER]</p><p></p><p>However, there is a few elements in Shadowdark's design that IMO make it more of a 5e-OSR-hybrid than something I would file under OSR:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Attributes follow the newer 3e/5e-style progression of modifiers, making attributes more important than in typical OSR games</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Characters gain multiple talents (one every two levels), shifting focus away from player skill and more towards character skill</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">There's a unified task resolution mechanism (D20 + modifier) instead of multiple mechanisms tailored towards different subsystems of the game</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">It incorporates a meta currency in the form of luck tokens that allows die re-rolls (similar to Savage Worlds' bennies)</li> </ul><p>None of that is inherently bad and it's perfectly valid to choose this design. It's just not something I would expect to see in an OSR game (even in the broad sense).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="schneeland, post: 8956160, member: 6900337"] Sorry! Didn't really get to reply here earlier. Just to clarify: I'm very much open to understand OSR as a philosophical approach to rules design rather than based on 1:1 compatibility with older D&D versions (at least, as long as we stay in the general D&D design space) and usually cite the Ben Milton quote from Principia Apocrypha when asked about my understanding of OSR. [SPOILER="Full Quote"] "The more of the following a campaign has, the more old school it is: high lethality, an open world, a lack of pre-written plot, an emphasis on creative problem solving, an exploration-centered reward system (usually XP for treasure), a disregard for "encounter balance", and the use of random tables to generate world elements that surprise both players and referees. Also, a strong do-it-yourself attitude and a willingness to share your work and use the creativity of others in your game." [/SPOILER] However, there is a few elements in Shadowdark's design that IMO make it more of a 5e-OSR-hybrid than something I would file under OSR: [LIST] [*]Attributes follow the newer 3e/5e-style progression of modifiers, making attributes more important than in typical OSR games [*]Characters gain multiple talents (one every two levels), shifting focus away from player skill and more towards character skill [*]There's a unified task resolution mechanism (D20 + modifier) instead of multiple mechanisms tailored towards different subsystems of the game [*]It incorporates a meta currency in the form of luck tokens that allows die re-rolls (similar to Savage Worlds' bennies) [/LIST] None of that is inherently bad and it's perfectly valid to choose this design. It's just not something I would expect to see in an OSR game (even in the broad sense). [/QUOTE]
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