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The opposite of OSR
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<blockquote data-quote="Dire Bare" data-source="post: 8337409" data-attributes="member: 18182"><p>Heh.</p><p></p><p>OSR, as a genre, is vague and not everybody agrees on exactly what makes a game "OSR". So, the opposite of that is probably just as vague.</p><p></p><p>But I think in general, "old-school" D&D includes most of what TSR(1) published before going under. "New school" D&D starts with the 3rd Edition under WotC. AD&D 2nd Edition, at least towards the end, is a long transition between the two. Truly old-school seems closer to the wargaming roots of the hobby and has simpler rules, less focus on story and more focus on beating the scenario/dungeon, sometimes a more adversarial DM-style . . . but there are plenty of OSR games that don't have all of that.</p><p></p><p>Pathfinder, of course, "clones" D&D 3rd Edition. 3E and Pathfinder have more elegant designs than old-school D&D, but are more complicated, especially in character creation. Pathfinder 2E goes down the complicated character creation route even moreso. More modern games have a greater focus on story and collaborative storytelling (DM as guide rather than adversary).</p><p></p><p>Also, older games had a more "module-focused" approach compared to the more current trend of "adventure path" focus. Shorter, discrete scenarios versus longer storytelling arcs. You can knock out a module with your group in 1 to 4 sessions, you'll be playing a modern adventure path for months . . .</p><p></p><p>There seems to be a difference in settings also, although this just might be my perception or perhaps a specific trend within OSR games. OSR settings tend to be either very lightly defined generic fantasy (Greyhawk) or move into the "weird fantasy" genre (Goodman's DCC line). Modern settings tend to be sprawling, well-defined settings that incorporate a lot of anachronisms (if that's even possible in fantasy), like the Forgotten Realms and Golarion.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dire Bare, post: 8337409, member: 18182"] Heh. OSR, as a genre, is vague and not everybody agrees on exactly what makes a game "OSR". So, the opposite of that is probably just as vague. But I think in general, "old-school" D&D includes most of what TSR(1) published before going under. "New school" D&D starts with the 3rd Edition under WotC. AD&D 2nd Edition, at least towards the end, is a long transition between the two. Truly old-school seems closer to the wargaming roots of the hobby and has simpler rules, less focus on story and more focus on beating the scenario/dungeon, sometimes a more adversarial DM-style . . . but there are plenty of OSR games that don't have all of that. Pathfinder, of course, "clones" D&D 3rd Edition. 3E and Pathfinder have more elegant designs than old-school D&D, but are more complicated, especially in character creation. Pathfinder 2E goes down the complicated character creation route even moreso. More modern games have a greater focus on story and collaborative storytelling (DM as guide rather than adversary). Also, older games had a more "module-focused" approach compared to the more current trend of "adventure path" focus. Shorter, discrete scenarios versus longer storytelling arcs. You can knock out a module with your group in 1 to 4 sessions, you'll be playing a modern adventure path for months . . . There seems to be a difference in settings also, although this just might be my perception or perhaps a specific trend within OSR games. OSR settings tend to be either very lightly defined generic fantasy (Greyhawk) or move into the "weird fantasy" genre (Goodman's DCC line). Modern settings tend to be sprawling, well-defined settings that incorporate a lot of anachronisms (if that's even possible in fantasy), like the Forgotten Realms and Golarion. [/QUOTE]
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