OSR What's more important for a retroclone?

[Dbudzik]

To me, a retroclone is defined by copying the rules of an older game as closely as possible. Like Old-School Essentials.

There are plenty of great games out there that copy the feel of the old-school games, but they're not retroclones. Like Shadowdark.

Exactly. A retroclone is about restating the ruleset, usually in a clearer or more concise way.
The OSR scene is about recreating the feel of old-school games. It is inclusive of retroclones.

 

[Koloth]

Almost by definition, a 'clone' should be a close copy. But it can change some things otherwise just play the original. For example, grafting in for initiative the modern 'everyone rolls a d20 and goes in descending order' vs whatever 1st Ed called for but was often house ruled.

Nothing wrong with an "In the spirit of" or "Inspired by" game, but it really isn't a clone.

 

[AlexofBarbaria]

I don't think we've needed retroclones since WotC put the old core rulebooks up for sale.

I do appreciate the online OSE SRD though.

 

[Composer99]

I'd concur that the purpose of a retroclone is, by definition, to port over rules and mechanics with great fidelity, and have voted with that in mind.

 

[mixmastashizz]

I don't think we've needed retroclones since WotC put the old core rulebooks up for sale.

I do appreciate the online OSE SRD though.

Their purpose has shifted since the originals are more accessible. Now I think the focus is making them more user friendly with modern layout and organization.

 

[Sacrosanct]

It's interesting how almost every comment is about option 1, but the votes are now leading option 2

 

[Nikosandros]

It's interesting how almost every comment is about option 1, but the votes are now leading option 2

One factor might be that in the OP you mention Shadowdark. I think that it's a great game and it's very popular, but it is not (and does not want to be) a retroclone.

 

[lynnfredricks]

It's interesting how almost every comment is about option 1, but the votes are now leading option 2

I think its a case of people thinking "OSR" rather than specifically the term "retroclone."

But it is a good point that people seem to be echoing in the comments about specifically what a clone is. The OSR is much more than that.

 

[aco175]

Name “retroclone” aside, I’d prefer something that captures the spirit of the game, otherwise I’d just play the original game or one of the existing clones like OSRIC that’s been out for years.

This is what I was thinking. I could just play 1e if I ever had that itch. If there was something that was similar but 'fixed' most of the issues, then I might want to choose that.

As of now, I have no desire for 1e/2e and see 3e/4e as improvements over those older editions that I would want to spend time playing.

 

[cbwjm]

It's interesting how almost every comment is about option 1, but the votes are now leading option 2

I just changed my vote from 2 to 1. I initially went with feel but thinking further, a retroclone I feel should probably enable users of it to easily port in stuff from the original game. Like, even with slight changes like changing Thac0 to ascending hit bonus, BX stuff is easily thrown into an OSE or Dolmenwood game.