State of the OSR: so, what did I miss?

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The Butcher

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I used to keep up with the OSR just fine until Google+ imploded.

Since then, I’ve seen you guys and gals all over OSE, which looks fun. And Into The Unknown piqued my curiosity as well.

I suppose DCC is still chugging along as are ACKS, Hyperborea and a few others.

Read somewhere Goblinoid Games is shutting down. Bummer. Gotta get myself an illustrated copy of LL before it’s too late.

Is LotFP still a thing? Anything good from them lately?

Anything else I should know about?
 
LotFP is still a thing, and they've released multiple new titles over the last few years, still pushing boundaries and courting controversy along the way. Most news and discussion around them is on their Facebook group.

Matt Finch split off from Frog God Games and took Swords & Wizardry with him. There's supposed to be another new edition in the near future with new errata.

Goblinoid has ceased publishing titles, but their PDF and POD catalog is still available for the time being. Dan Proctor had a vague post recently suggesting more news soon, so I don't know if that means maybe new ownership?

Greg Gillespie (Barrowmaze, Highfell, etc.) is supposed to be releasing his own OSR system similar to Advanced Labyrinth Lord in the near future.

OSE has pretty much risen to be the dominant OSR system.

Mörk Borg is also a thing, either OSR or OSR-adjacent, depending on who you ask.

Kevin Crawford released Worlds Without Number, a fantasy version of Stars Without Number and fully compatible.

Also on the sci-fi OSR front, Mothership has been pretty popular.
 
A interesting change I've noticed is the rise of 'zine formats for supplements. I've noticed a number of indie creators writing to a bunch of smaller focused supplements which will fit an often high-quality print and staple-bound magazine format which is released through crowd funding. Pretty sure part of it has to do with controlling the growing costs of shipping and materials.
 
LotFP is still a thing, and they've released multiple new titles over the last few years, still pushing boundaries and courting controversy along the way. Most news and discussion around them is on their Facebook group.

Matt Finch split off from Frog God Games and took Swords & Wizardry with him. There's supposed to be another new edition in the near future with new errata.

Goblinoid has ceased publishing titles, but their PDF and POD catalog is still available for the time being. Dan Proctor had a vague post recently suggesting more news soon, so I don't know if that means maybe new ownership?

Greg Gillespie (Barrowmaze, Highfell, etc.) is supposed to be releasing his own OSR system similar to Advanced Labyrinth Lord in the near future.

OSE has pretty much risen to be the dominant OSR system.

Mörk Borg is also a thing, either OSR or OSR-adjacent, depending on who you ask.

Kevin Crawford released Worlds Without Number, a fantasy version of Stars Without Number and fully compatible.

Also on the sci-fi OSR front, Mothership has been pretty popular.
Right! Forgot about Mörk Borg (which looks like a Heavy Metal-flavored B/X to me) and Mothership. More games for me to look into!
 
While you're waiting on the new Swords & Wizardry, there's now White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game, which takes S&W Whitebox and gives it really nice layout.

And Basic Fantasy is still chugging along quietly in the background.

For Gold & Glory does for AD&D 2e what OSRIC does for 1e.
 
While you're waiting on the new Swords & Wizardry, there's now White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game, which takes S&W Whitebox and gives it really nice layout.
Yeah, I think that WB:FMAG may be my favorite version of the game so far. I bought a stack of extra copies from Amazon for under $5 each to hand out to folks I meet. :grin: Sadly, I get no money from this.

Amazon product
 
Two relatively new OSR-adjacent games, which you or may not be familiar with that I love are Yoon Suin: The Purple Land, and Ultraviolet Grasslands. I cannot recommend either highly enough.
 
Frog God keeps chugging along but it looks like it largely is aiming at 5e these days. Or maybe I'm only noticing the 5e stuff. They semi regularly do Humble Bundles for large amounts of goodness at a reduced price.
 
Hmm, for anyone who like Spelljammer I would also unreservedly recommend Skycrawl, which is OSR-ish SJ but by way of Studio Ghibli and the Little Prince. It's marvelous. It does have mechanics, but they are easily ignored and the best bits can be ported with ease to any OSR system.
 
Frog God keeps chugging along but it looks like it largely is aiming at 5e these days. Or maybe I'm only noticing the 5e stuff. They semi regularly do Humble Bundles for large amounts of goodness at a reduced price.

I've hear that Labyrinth Lord has split of from Frog God and a new edition is planned.
 
I've hear that Labyrinth Lord has split of from Frog God and a new edition is planned.
Does that mean going forward FGG will only be targeting 5e or do you think they'll keep doing 5e/S&W dual stat to cover the whole market?
 
This honestly sounds like the usual churn faced by any RPG publisher that isn't owned by Paradox or Hasbro.

I really hope Frog God Games keep dual-statting their stuff for S&W and 5e. That seems to be the best path forward.
 
I released the basic rules for my Majestic Fantasy RPG.

I also cleaned up the presentation of the Wilderlands under license and released that. What rules material that is there works with Swords & Wizardry

I have a lot of free content on my blog
 
I've hear that Labyrinth Lord has split of from Frog God and a new edition is planned.
It is Swords & Wizardry
Does that mean going forward FGG will only be targeting 5e or do you think they'll keep doing 5e/S&W dual stat to cover the whole market?
They are targeting Old School Essentials as well as 5e.
 
I have a lot of free content on my blog
I will chime in to say I have found your How to make a Fantasy Sandbox article useful. Between that and The Alexandrian I was able to complete a project I am quite proud of.
[h3][/h3]
 
OSE certainly looks beautiful, to the point where I was sorely tempted even knowing damn well I have no use for the system. Like, really just beautiful books, almost capturing the feel of picking up old Atari games.
 
OSE certainly looks beautiful, to the point where I was sorely tempted even knowing damn well I have no use for the system. Like, really just beautiful books, almost capturing the feel of picking up old Atari games.
Agreed. When I saw the book in a store I was sorely tempted to buy it because it looks so great, even though I don’t particularly like the BX version of D&D.
 
Out of curiosity, does anyone know what prompted the split between Frog God Games and Matt Finch? It seems fairly amicable, but I haven't seen any statement from either side apart from acknowledgement by FGG that it happened. I'm basically assuming it was just down to creative differences about Swords & Wizardry.
 
OSE is certainly a great organization of the B/X rules, but it's so much more. I specifically adore OSE Advanced Fantasy for retrofitting many of the fun options from AD&D back onto a B/X skeleton. Advanced keeps the fun options from AD&D while keeping the fun, simplicity and hackability of B/X intact.
 
OSE is certainly a great organization of the B/X rules, but it's so much more. I specifically adore OSE Advanced Fantasy for retrofitting many of the fun options from AD&D back onto a B/X skeleton. Advanced keeps the fun options from AD&D while keeping the fun, simplicity and hackability of B/X intact.
I really do need to get OSE Advanced. I really hope they don't discontinue the Player/Referee tomes after the box set comes out because I'm not interested in those at all, due to the higher total cost and way more books to keep track of. In theory I love box sets but sheesh.
 
I really do need to get OSE Advanced. I really hope they don't discontinue the Player/Referee tomes after the box set comes out because I'm not interested in those at all, due to the higher total cost and way more books to keep track of. In theory I love box sets but sheesh.
I'd expect the tomes to stick around more than the single books long term. That last Kickstarter was just to bring the Advanced Fantasy line in parity with the Classic Fantasy books.
 
I released the basic rules for my Majestic Fantasy RPG.

I also cleaned up the presentation of the Wilderlands under license and released that. What rules material that is there works with Swords & Wizardry

I have a lot of free content on my blog


I will chime in to say I have found your How to make a Fantasy Sandbox article useful. Between that and The Alexandrian I was able to complete a project I am quite proud of.
[h3][/h3]
This is as good a time as any for me to reiterate that robertsconley robertsconley is a goddamn treasure. I adore his sandbox how-to’s.
Tangent removed.This isn't a good time for line-dancing folks, leave the Culture War drama to the sites thirsty for it.
Here??? Seriously??? Come ON

(I can imagine what it was. This sort of thing unfortunately still makes its way to me, somehow)


For anyone who hasnt seen the OSE books in person, this video has a nice flip-through:


Nifty.

Content-wise, how does it diverge from B/X, and/or Labyrinth Lord?
 
Content-wise, how does it diverge from B/X, and/or Labyrinth Lord?
OSE rules tome is B/X with zero changes. IIRC there might be a clarification or two of unclear rules.

The OSE Advanced Fantasy line imports the cool monsters, treasure, classes, spells, and races from AD&D but keeps it in the clear succinct B/X format.
 
Read somewhere Goblinoid Games is shutting down. Bummer. Gotta get myself an illustrated copy of LL before it’s too late.
I think that's unconfirmed. All we know is that a) they're off social media and b) currently their games are still available.

If they do decide to stop I really hope there's an easy transfer of the rights they hold to another publisher; they've done a really good job of getting old games available again.
 
Content-wise, how does it diverge from B/X, and/or Labyrinth Lord?
OSE Classic Fantasy == B/X with better organization and some rules clarified. Also optional rules for ascending armor class. Probably 99.999% B/X compatible.

OSE Advanced Fantasy == B/X with a bunch of stuff from 1e adapted to B/X. So you get the extra classes from 1e, the 1e races as race-as-class, 1e spells, monsters, treasures, etc, but brought down to B/X power levels. Also options for using separate race and class in B/X.
 
I want someone to run OSE so I can play in it. :argh:
Okay, so Old School game with roll high and clerics/priests--help me find a game. Unique settings are a plus (or none)

I put a ton of work into Carcosa using OSE rules that I was to make into an open table online to circumvent FtF scheduling issues. It would have allowed me to invite my FtF players and cool Pubbers alike for a zero commitment game. Sadly, the wife straight out told me last week she doesn't like B/X and wants to go back to 5e. I'm still kinda reeling from that bomb and looking into the next best option, Into the Unknown.
 
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