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...
bxbandits.substack.com
"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."
Part 1 of 2...
The Beating Heart of the OSR, Part 1
Which version of D&D has had the biggest influence on the Old School Renaissance?
bxbandits.substack.com
"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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