D&D General The Beating Heart of the OSR, Part 1

bpauls

Explorer
I love the history of D&D! So when I ran into the repeated claim that B/X is the basis for more OSR games than any other system, I had to dig into it.

Part 1 of 2...


"A common opinion I’ve encountered online is that B/X Dungeons & Dragons is the basis for most of the games produced by the Old School Renaissance (OSR)—a grassroots response to changes Wizards of the Coast (WotC) made to D&D, starting with the third edition, released in 2000.

This belief may be widely-shared, but is it true?

We can examine this problem both quantitatively and qualitatively. In Part 1 of this article, I will look at how the above claim stands up quantitatively.

As with a lot of details regarding a decentralized movement, even a quantitative answer isn’t necessarily obvious. Initially, examining the number of OSR “system” products (core books and rules expansions, but not adventures) released since 2006, that are based directly on B/X, in contrast to the number based directly on another version of D&D, seems to support the claim that most OSR games are based on B/X.

Comparing an older product list found at Taxidermic Owlbear with a much more recently updated spreadsheet linked at Ynas Midgard’s RPG Blog, reveals at least 42 game systems or system supplements, released or started between 2006 and 2021, that are based directly on B/X. The same analysis shows as few as 18 based directly on the original 1974 edition of D&D (0D&D), and even fewer based directly on each of the other versions of D&D. Using this approach, games built on the B/X framework seem to be more than twice as prevalent as games built on the chassis of 0D&D, the nearest competitor.

Appearances, however, can be deceiving. The OSR is largely an iterative community, rooted in WotC’s Open Game License (OGL). Any elements of an OSR game based on parts of a D&D system made available under the OGL, must also be made available under the OGL—meaning others can use those elements for their games. An OSR system is often based, not on an original system from WotC (or TSR, it’s D&D predecessor), but instead on a previous OSR system that is itself based on one of the originals.

Widening the data set to include not only OSR systems based on original D&D systems, but also OSR systems based on earlier OSR systems that are in-turn based on those originals, shifts the dynamic dramatically. This method reveals 46 systems based on B/X (or an OSR system derived from B/X), and 133 based on 0D&D (or an OSR system derived from 0D&D). From this perspective, OSR systems tracing their history back to 0D&D are nearly three times as common as those tracing their history back to B/X. Later OSR systems constructed on the framework of Swords & Wizardry or The Black Hack (both derived from 0D&D) account for 95 of these additional games—60 built on The Black Hack, and 35 built on some version of Swords & Wizardry.

The dominance of 0D&D-derived OSR games holds true for the first five years, the first 10 years, and the first 15 years of the OSR movement. It’s only in the first three years that B/X shows dominance—there were four B/X-derived games prior to 2009, and only two 0D&D-derived systems.

It appears the claim that most OSR games are based on B/X is, in fact, false. The title for the most influential game system in the OSR, perhaps fittingly, goes to 0D&D.

Of course, you could argue there is no way B/X can win, simply because B/X is itself merely an edited form of 0D&D—there is literally no contest to be had.

On the other hand, perhaps something about the B/X products literally “changed the game”, so OSR systems based specifically on B/X have had an outsized influence on the field. The claim mentioned at the beginning of this article could be true “in spirit”, though not in fact.

These are questions for a qualitative—not quantitative—analysis, which I will undertake in Part 2."
 
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Snarf Zagyg

Notorious Liquefactionist
Supporter
This is an interesting approach.

That said ... it can be exceptionally difficult to disentangle the TSR-era products.

Generally, the taxonomy is thought of in terms of the following ...

OD&D (or 0D&D).
Holmes Basic
1e
Basic (B/X, BECMI, RC, maybe Black Box).
2e

But even with that simplistic division, we have additional variables- many people would say that 1e is further divided into 1e and 1.5e (everything from UA on). While 2e also has a 2.5e (all the kits).

However, all of the systems are roughly interchangeable. And it can be truly difficult to determine where one ruleset ends and another begins- after all, OD&D to Holmes to 1e is a straight shot, but then again, B/X is also very indebted to OD&D (as simplified by Holmes, but with the whole race-as-class thing).

So here's one- how do you classify an OSR game that has race-as-class, but optionally ... not? Once you move away from strict retroclones of the actual older rules, and move towards "improvements," or "inspired by," or "compatible with," are you really beholden to a particular set of rules, so much as the legacy of TSR D&D?

...I'm looking forward to your next post. :)
 

bpauls

Explorer
This is an interesting approach.

That said ... it can be exceptionally difficult to disentangle the TSR-era products.

Generally, the taxonomy is thought of in terms of the following ...

OD&D (or 0D&D).
Holmes Basic
1e
Basic (B/X, BECMI, RC, maybe Black Box).
2e

But even with that simplistic division, we have additional variables- many people would say that 1e is further divided into 1e and 1.5e (everything from UA on). While 2e also has a 2.5e (all the kits).

However, all of the systems are roughly interchangeable. And it can be truly difficult to determine where one ruleset ends and another begins- after all, OD&D to Holmes to 1e is a straight shot, but then again, B/X is also very indebted to OD&D (as simplified by Holmes, but with the whole race-as-class thing).

So here's one- how do you classify an OSR game that has race-as-class, but optionally ... not? Once you move away from strict retroclones of the actual older rules, and move towards "improvements," or "inspired by," or "compatible with," are you really beholden to a particular set of rules, so much as the legacy of TSR D&D?

...I'm looking forward to your next post. :)
Thank you! I'm looking forward to writing it. I should have it up this weekend. :)
 

JohnF

Adventurer
B/X was the first D&D I owned, and I was enamored with it.

However, I dreamed of playing B/X more than I actually played it back then - which was barely.

So your data was fascinating to me because my puppy love and nostalgia made me certain that B/X was the source of all wonderful OSR-ness. But it was not so!

Great read!
 

bpauls

Explorer
Sounds like you and I had similar experiences. We moved out to the country right before I bought the Moldvay Basic set. While I had a couple of friends who played, my isolation meant that I read and daydreamed a lot more than I played. Too bad we didn't have Discourse back then! :)
 

The Patrick Stuart post you link to is more about compatibility than inspiration, and b/x and OD&D are largely compatible.

The conservatism of everything being backwards-compatible to BX, or something like it, means that everyone setting out to make an adventure has a shared language, and a potentially shared market. A huge market.

And because the rules are simple, free or easy to distribute and widely available anywhere, then you have strong equality of access to the basic ideas needed.

When you break away from that, like with the latest gen of retroclones, Black Hack, Into the Odd, Knave etc, not to mention Troika which is totally uninterested in being backwards compatible with BX, all of these bend the format, try to do something new, try to carve out their own little space. But in doing so they fragment the great, messy, dirty pulsating island of BX-compatible D&D

So if you were setting out to write an "OSR" adventure, it probably makes some marketing sense to base the mechanics off b/x rather than write the adventure specifically for The Black Hack or Into the Odd. While the black hack, for example, is based off OD&D in terms of inspiration, you need to make a (simple) conversion with regards to mechanics (AC-->Armor Value, or how spells show up at different levels for example).

With games like Knave, white hack, black hack the conversion is simple, usually just based off HD for monsters. Games like Into the Odd, Troika, Mork Borg, or Maze Rats don't have rules for direct conversions.
 

Voadam

Legend
Are you just comparing OSR systems for the 0e vs Basic vs AD&D lines as opposed to products for the various OSR lines?

The big ones for products that I have seen are 0e Swords & Wizardry (Frog God does a lot) and B/X Labyrinth Lord (earlier) and Old School Essentials (currently). OSRIC had some early traction for 1e but has faded a lot.

As far as B/X vs. BECMI and RC I think it is a lot of first mover advantage in that Labyrinth Lord came out pretty early and was popular for the Basic line and was based on B/X. Anyone writing a module for the basic line pretty much jumped on the bandwagon as the minor differences did not matter as much as the name recognition that LL meant Basic.

The differences are minor but thief skills are better in B/X having been slowed down in BECMI to stretch over 36 levels instead of maxxing out and gaining qualitatively different skills at higher levels as I understood the B/X plan for companion levels to be. I did not see a lot of level 15+ adventures or high level material in OSR basic products so B/X covers most of it very adequately.
 

bpauls

Explorer
Are you just comparing OSR systems for the 0e vs Basic vs AD&D lines as opposed to products for the various OSR lines?

The big ones for products that I have seen are 0e Swords & Wizardry (Frog God does a lot) and B/X Labyrinth Lord (earlier) and Old School Essentials (currently). OSRIC had some early traction for 1e but has faded a lot.

As far as B/X vs. BECMI and RC I think it is a lot of first mover advantage in that Labyrinth Lord came out pretty early and was popular for the Basic line and was based on B/X. Anyone writing a module for the basic line pretty much jumped on the bandwagon as the minor differences did not matter as much as the name recognition that LL meant Basic.

The differences are minor but thief skills are better in B/X having been slowed down in BECMI to stretch over 36 levels instead of maxxing out and gaining qualitatively different skills at higher levels as I understood the B/X plan for companion levels to be. I did not see a lot of level 15+ adventures or high level material in OSR basic products so B/X covers most of it very adequately.
I analyze the numbers both ways--if you just look at OSR systems based directly on B/X or 0D&D, then B/X has more. If you expand the scope to also include OSR systems based on other OSR systems derived from B/X or 0D&D, then 0D&D has a lot more--mostly thanks to The Black Hack and Swords & Wizardry.

Yes, I think first-mover advantage may be significant. I plan to talk about it when I lay out my qualitative analysis in Part 2.
 

cfmcdonald

Explorer
But even with that simplistic division, we have additional variables- many people would say that 1e is further divided into 1e and 1.5e (everything from UA on). While 2e also has a 2.5e (all the kits).
IME 2.5E is generally applied to the Player's Option series, not the kits. I believe the first Complete X book was released simultaneously with the 2E core, so calling kits 2.5E would be strange. Personally I'd agree with D&D 2E - Looking back at the limited series: Player's Option, Monstrous Arcana, Odyssey, and more!, which rejects the idea of even the Player's Option as being 2.5E.
 

Snarf Zagyg

Notorious Liquefactionist
Supporter
IME 2.5E is generally applied to the Player's Option series, not the kits. I believe the first Complete X book was released simultaneously with the 2E core, so calling kits 2.5E would be strange. Personally I'd agree with D&D 2E - Looking back at the limited series: Player's Option, Monstrous Arcana, Odyssey, and more!, which rejects the idea of even the Player's Option as being 2.5E.

My 2e terminology is off (it's not my area of expertise). You're right, I was thinking of the '95 player options (C&T, S&P, S&M).

That said, 2.5e is just as real as 1.5e- a real unbalancing of the base system.
 

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