OSR What Has Caused the OSR Revival?

[robconley]

It was not just that, but it was that.

And, the R in OSR stands for 'Rules,' as often...

There is not a consensus on that. The most popular terms is Renaissance but Revival has been used along with rules, resurgence, etc. The flexibility of the R is one part, minor, of what made the term OSR stick.

 

[robconley]

The OSR exists because of three things.

1) The older editions are found by many to be fun to play
2) The Internet makes it a lot easier to learn how other used older editions in their campaigns
3) The rise of digital technology like print on demand, desktop publishing has dropped cost of publishing professional quality material dramatically.
4) The core material has been recreated as open content.
5) Classic D&D was the world's most popular RPG by an order of magnitude while in active publication. This is where the "nostalgia" factor comes in as unlike Fate there a large potential fanbase who had enjoyable experiences with these editions.

And keep in mind that in terms of sales and raw number, I doubt the OSR AS A WHOLE is any larger than any RPG publisher that not in the top five in sales or audience.

What sets the OSR apart compared to other RPGs by other publishers is that it the IP is not controlled by a single publisher. Instead it is a kaleidoscope of one-man, small, and medium sized publisher putting out material on a regular basis. The only universal reason is an interest in a classic edition of D&D either 'as is' or in a modified form. Beyond that you can't make any predictions or observation because all about the specific circumstances of a individual publishers.

My circumstances are not the same at that of James Raggi nor Bill Webb, Zak S, Kevin Crawford, Tim Shorts, Jeff Rients, Erik Tenkar and dozens of other authors and contributors. What important to remember that ANYBODY can use the tools that are available to realize their vision of what one can do with classic D&D. That the only effective limitation is the time one has to devote out of their hobby.

 

[Ancalagon]

Mine is one of them...at least within the confines of 5e to the maximum that I thought was legally possible and plausible.

... you do not appear to have any signature, this is what I was trying to tell you

 

[diaglo]

Have you considered starting an OD&D video stream? I hear those are a great way to promote a game. [emoji6]

i've considered a lot of means of getting people to play it. mostly i stick to conventions and gamedays now. you can ask most of the old timers on here including Morrus just how bad i am at computer tech.

diaglo "once caused the site to go blank" Ooi

 

[diaglo]

Based on my research in the topic, there are a few retroclones that have resurrected that ruleset

Oh and your signature is missing

yeah, JoeBlank is running S&W right now for me.
must have lost my sig with a subscription change here.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

I wonder about create a new d20 Universal with some changes to can be used for different genres, for example sci-fi or horror. My suggestion is adding more (optional) abilities scores: astuteness, technique, courage and grace(= luck, fate, karma, divine blessing). It would be useful for the 3rd Party companies.

 

[mutazoid]

OSR clones also fill a space that big modern games dont.
I think that space is short adventures.
I prefer the short adventures of the past but I would prefer a simple modern system to play them.
That is why C&C is very appealing to me.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I'm moving my game back to Swords and Wizardry simply because I want to focus the game on the players at the table and their decisions rather than, IME, the focus being on how good they are at using the many fiddly bits on their character sheets. We will see how it goes. They are used to a decade plus of heavy skill based systems, I think it will take a while to getting back to the point where they have to listen and pay attention more closely so they can narrate what they are doing rather than saying "well I make a skill check!". I'm a referee and we aren't at community theater, we are around a table playing a game. Reading S&W and their version of RA I'm getting my desire to run a campaign back. Session 1 in 3 weeks.

 

[pogre]

My 3rd child (14-year old) loves to run OSR. He mostly uses LL and the Rules Cyclopedia. He prefers miniatures from Otherworlds and runs much more of a sandbox than I do. So it is not all nostalgia...

His old man prefers 5th

 

[sketchingjohn]

OSR clones also fill a space that big modern games dont.
I think that space is short adventures.
I prefer the short adventures of the past but I would prefer a simple modern system to play them.
That is why C&C is very appealing to me.

And short adventures (with simpler rules) are a great way to introduce new players.