OSR What's your brand of Basic?

[Eltab]

I used a BECMI rule set to compile a mini-campaign when my son showed real interest in D&D. After a half-dozen or so sessions of that, he was ready to look into 3.5 ... just as 4e came out.
I would set up another Beginners mini-campaign in Basic because there are fewer decisions to overload new players. But when they get the hang of it, I would move to 5e.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

For me, it's the classic BECMI Red Box. That being said, if I want a retroclone of it, Labyrinth Lord does the trick nicely. I have not gotten to check out Old School Essentials yet, but am curious.

Once upon a time I would've included Lamentations of the Flame Princess, but I'll never touch that system again, not with two 10' poles.

 

[Monayuris]

Sorry none. I tried going back to B/X and Holmes last year but I just can't.

A stripped down version of D&D5e using the optional rules of the DMG is my preference: No feat, no multi-classing, no skills, gritty healing. Using only the fighter, the rogue, the cleric and the wizard. Elves, dwarves, halflings and humans.

No problem..but this thread is about fans of basic. It's cool you don't like it, but no need to post this here.

 

[Monayuris]

Basic Fantasy for me. Although I will happily run and play B/X.

I don't mind negative AC and the to hit charts. I know some people do. I went Basic Fantasy for my Meetup game because it captures the feel of B/X with some modern concessions I'm ok with making.

It also follows a more OD&D style race/class setup where they are separate. But it lets Dwarves be Clerics or thieves.

It is also free which is very nice.

Old School Essentials is very compelling. I like the advanced ranger from OSE, it is definitely one of the better ranger 'advanced' classes in B/X land.

In general, I use stuff from all of them. The OSR basically staked its flag in the land of B/X. As a result all the games and the adventures for such are cross compatible. There is so much interesting content for B/X and equivalent games available that you can mix and match everything.

Pure B/X has the best procedures for running a dungeon crawl of the bunch. I use its format for Basic Fantasy and any other game I run. I like ACKS mortal wounds and tampering with mortality tables, that gets used. I like the adventures from Swords & Wizardry. I can use it all and it all works.

 

[Ath-kethin]

Rules Cyclopedia for me.... but I haven't really drilled down to understand the differences between it, Dark Dungeons, and Labyrinth Lord.

Dark Dungeons replaces the RC combat tables with a different, equally counterintuitive system (attack bonus - AC + d20 roll, trying to hit 20). Its organization is great and the examples are superb, but I will never understand why the author went with the combat setup they did.

 

[Ath-kethin]

For me it's (modified) Rules Cyclopedia all the way. I play mostly with my 6yo, and we started with Basic Fantasy RPG (which is fantastic), but I upgraded to RC for the 36 level spread and greater combat/narrative options. I love it, the kid loves it, and we've been playing weekly for a year or so now.

By "modified" I mean I flip AC to be higher=better and reworked the combat tables to be a simple bonus to the d20 roll. I also import 5e-isms such as Advantage because it makes a radically simplified game. I also reworked the druid as a full class and added a barbarian class I found somewhere (mostly because my 6yo loves Conan and Conan is the basis for their character).

All in all I don't think I could possibly provide a better intro to D&D for someone.

 

[atanakar]

No problem..but this thread is about fans of basic. It's cool you don't like it, but no need to post this here.

I said I can no longer play it. I tried it in 2019 and it didn't work. Not the same thing. There are Safe Places for those who can't handle innocuous comments:

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[cavalier973]

BECMI has a couple of elements that edge it in front of B/X for me:

1. Magic Users and Elves get the "Read Magic" spell, plus one other, instead of just one spell at first level.

2. Magic items are better explained in BECMI. The Elven Cloak, for example, is listed in B/X, but it isnt clear how it works in terms of game mechanics.

EDIT: it was the Elven Boots I was thinking of, and B/X explains it fine. The boots guarantee that the wearer moves silently. In BECMI, the boots give the wearer a 9-in-10 chance of moving silently, so, point for B/X.

I like how B/X handles magic scrolls better, though: Magic users can't scribe a spell into their book from a scroll. It's not specifically forbidden, it just isn't mentioned as an option. Also, in B/X, magic users only know a number of spells equal to how many they can cast. A 1st level MU can cast one spell, and so can only know one spell. In BECMI, an MU can scribe extra spells into his book.

BECMI also has an array of stats for characters, if the DM wants to allow that instead of rolling for scores: 17, 16, 14, 11, 9, 8 for human classes, and 16, 14, 11, 9, 9, 7 for demi-humans. This is from the sample characters in the middle of the player's book, which all have the same numbers placed in different stats.

 

[Monayuris]

BECMI has a couple of elements that edge it in front of B/X for me:

1. Magic Users and Elves get the "Read Magic" spell, plus one other, instead of just one spell at first level.

2. Magic items are better explained in BECMI. The Elven Cloak, for example, is listed in B/X, but it isnt clear how it,works,in terms of game mechanics.

I like how B/X handles magic scrolls better, though: Magic users can't scribe a spell into their book from a scroll. It's not specifically forbidden, it just isn't mentioned as an option. Also, in B/X, magic users only know a number of spells equal to how many they can cast. A 1st level MU can cast one spell, and so can only know one spell. In BECMI, an MU can scribe extra spells into his book.

BECMI also has an array of stats for characters, if the DM wants to allow that instead of rolling for scores: 17, 16, 14, 11, 9, 8 for human classes, and 16, 14, 11, 9, 9, 7 for demi-humans. This is from the sample characters in the middle of the player's book, which all have the same numbers placed in different stats.

Yeah, B/X magic users are definitely different. They get the spells they know and that's it.

I like that aspect. Each B/X magic user is kind of unique by the spells they know. I think in later editions, there is nothing stopping multiple wizards in a party from just teaching each other their spells.

BECMI does grant 2 starting spells, and magic users can scribe scrolls into their spell books. I believe it still prevents teaching spells from one magic user to another.

 

[TwoSix]

ACKS is my particular favorite, it's got some more crunch to it than most of the other versions. And the class and race builder sections in the Player's Companion are amazing.