What is going on in OSRIC?

[Crothian]

I've been rearranging many old books and looking through the old 1e books and modules. That always brings about a feeling of nostalgia and joy. I haven't been following OSRIC except with what XRP has been doing. I picked up the modules they had and their monster book for 1e D&D and I've been enjoying reading through those. But at Gen Con I just didn't notice anything else though I easily could have missed something.

Is the OSRIC community still going strong? Is there a place that lists what is out for it as I know there are many smaller publishers who have written for it. Are people playing it still? Any issues with mixing it and original 1e products? Is this a game people would play more if it was more readily apparent? Going through the games run at Origins and Gen Con there were very few games of it I heard about but everyone said they filled up super fast.

 

[kitsune9]

I don't follow OSRIC, but I think I would like to run an old 1e or 2e adventure for "ye olde times sake" with my players.

 

[francisca]

Pretty sure XRP had a few new OSRIC products this year.

Seems a lot of the focus has shifted to Swords and Wizardry in 2009, away from OSRIC a little bit.

Might try having a gander at the Grognardia blog to see what he's reviewed of late.

 

[Crothian]

Whats the difference between OSRIC and Swords and Wizardry?

 

[Obryn]

Whats the difference between OSRIC and Swords and Wizardry?

1e vs. 0e, pretty much.

-O

 

[Treebore]

The newest version of OSRIC finally became available as print from Lulu a few months ago.

I know there are a LOT of modules outside of XRP available for OSRIC. Meaning new ones. It does seem production of them has slowed down a bit, which I think is good, since it means I may be able to catch up one of these days.

 

[JimLotFP]

There are three main "retro clones" that more or less remake older editions.

OSRIC, which is pre-Unearthed Arcana 1e.
Swords & Wizardry, which is the original 1974 edition.
Labyrinth Lord, which is the 1981 B/X expanded out to 20th level.

Swords & Wizardry and Labyrinth Lord seem to be the most popular these days and the most supported.

There are others (Basic Fantasy, Spellcraft and Swordplay, etc.)

There are a number of publishers supporting this stuff.

There's me and my company (see my signature), I've got a half dozen books out, including the well-reviewed Death Frost Doom adventure, plus the No Dignity in Death: The Three Brides and People of Pembrooktonshire which came out just last week (and so haven't had so much time to be as well reviewed ). *plug plug*

Fight On! magazine is a big deal in the scene, with all sorts of articles about old school gaming.

Expeditious Retreat Press has a bunch of 1e/OSRIC adventures plus a monster book.

Brave Halfling Publishing is continuing to support Labyrinth Lord, but put out some 0e and 1e stuff.

Mythmere Games, publisher of Swords & Wizardry, has some excellent adventures and supplements out, including Knockspell magazine.

Goblinoid Games, publisher of Labyrinth Lord, has adventures and such out as well.

Chaotic Henchmen Productions put out a cool 1e module and has at least a couple more on the way.

Geoffrey McKinney caused a stir last year with his Carcosa book, a supplement for 0e.

And tons of others. Look through the products at these places:

Noble Knight Games' Old School Renaissance section.

Lulu's Old School Renaissance section.

RPGNow's Older Edition D&D section.

 

[grodog]

In addition to the many publishers Jim mentioned, at GenCon, Goodman Games released another 1e conversion (for DCC#36: Talons of the Horned King, which already sold out IIRC), and they also had copies of Black Blade's 1e conversion of DCC#7 Secrets of the Smuggler's Cove at their booth.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Is the OSRIC community still going strong?

I think so. However, it depends on exactly what you mean. Your questions suggest that you're viewing OSRIC as its own game, and I guess that's valid (especially with the release of OSRIC 2), but it's not the only way to look at it. OSRIC is a retro-clone of 1e, and as retro-clones go, it's one of the "purest" of the bunch. That is, all the clones have minor differences from the original; OSRIC sticks very closely to the original rules. I tend to not see OSRIC as its own game, but just a synonym for 1e. So the "OSRIC community" is not just guys playing OSRIC, but could also include guys playing AD&D and using OSRIC material right along with it. (For that matter, I run OD&D, but I'd consider myself part of the OSRIC community and I use OSRIC materials, like Monsters of Myth or Pod Caverns of the Sinister Shroom, in my game.)

Similarly, there are several companies putting out adventures for AD&D that don't use OSRIC, but that I would consider all part of the same "community." Again, since OSRIC essentially means 1e AD&D, you can pretty seamlessly use all that stuff together: AD&D rulebooks with an OSRIC monster book and a 1e adventure module from Black Blade or Goodman or Pied Piper.

Any issues with mixing it and original 1e products?

Nah, nothing major. The differences between OSRIC and AD&D are minor, and typically don't matter at all, in actual play.

 

[Melan]

Moreover, the tiny differences that exist don't manifest in OSRIC support material. The stat blocks you would find in a module for OSRIC would be 100% compatible with 1st edition AD&D.