Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
The stretch goal intro adventure with art by James V. West (Black Pudding, The Pool) and maps by Karl Stjernberg sounds great.
I got my eyes on the book of extra (AD&D) classes.

I think I'm going with the box. That would make it easier to share the various booklets at the table.
Yeah, I'm leaning towards that option as well.
 
I've been refreshing the new projects on KS most of the morning. Hopefully it shows up at some point today.
 
I got my eyes on the book of extra (AD&D) classes.

15 extra classes. I wonder what extra ones will be included beyond those in the AD&D 1E Player's Handbook? Gnome? Barbarian? Cavalier?

I'm interested in finding out.
 
To correct my last post, it's actually launching at 8 pm CET, which is in about 13 minutes.
 
15 extra classes. I wonder what extra ones will be included beyond those in the AD&D 1E Player's Handbook? Gnome? Barbarian? Cavalier?

I'm interested in finding out.
Acrobat, assassin, barbarian, bard, druid, knight, illusionist, paladin, ranger, drow, duergar, gnome, half-elf, half-orc, svirfneblin.
 
I pledged for both the box and rules tome. Tome for me, box for the players.
Same here. And I already have the softcover books, so I will have multiple copies to scatter around the table. Ironically, I already have two copies of the Monster books, as the first one I got showed up damaged, so I will have three copies of the books I am least interested in sharing with players.
 
Are there any significant rules changes in this edition? I might be inclined to go for one of the PDF levels as being a good deal.
 
From the KS page:

100% Rules Accuracy
The material in the Black Box and the Rules Tome forms a complete retelling of the classic Basic/Expert rules, including all of the classic fantasy classes, spells, monsters, and treasures.

Old-School Essentials has been developed with equal measures of love and precision. The ultimate aim of this project is to produce as accurate as possible a restatement of the revered B/X rules, while improving the structure and presentation, and fixing errors and contradictions in the original rules. (For those with a passion for rules archaeology, this document describes all the areas of the Basic/Expert rules which are clarified in Old-School Essentials.)

The resulting books are the product of over two years of meticulous research, rules archaeology, and discussion.

A Single Optional Addition — Ascending Armour Class
Modern iterations of the world's most popular RPG use an Armour Class system where AC values start at 10 and go up. This is known as Ascending Armour Class. (The default Armour Class system in B/X has AC starting at 9 and going down, known as Descending Armour Class.)

For those more familiar or comfortable with Ascending Armour Class, this optional rule has been fully integrated into Old-School Essentials. All AC ratings are presented in a dual format, as follows: AC 7 [12].

This is the single rule we've added to the game that is not present in the original Basic/Expert rules, and it is strictly optional — Descending AC remains the default.
 
I wonder will he make a decision to clear the ambiguity about the thief from B/X.
Well to answer my own question he did. The PDF he just uploaded there has the Thief "Find/Remove Traps" changed to "Find/Remove Treasure Traps", then later in the dungeon section he splits traps into Room and Treasure. I remember reading this is probably what Moldvay meant by "Find/Remove Trap" if you look at his examples and other modules.

In Holmes and OD&D it's just remove trap I think.
 
I added Advanced Fantasy Book and Druid and Illusionist Spell Book to my pledge. I'm now at €70 to which will be added 10-15€ for shipping.
 
Last edited:
Are there any significant rules changes in this edition? I might be inclined to go for one of the PDF levels as being a good deal.
If you want to know about any changes, "buy" this free document from the Necrotic Gnome site. It's the designer's notes. detailing the decisions that were made in putting this version together.

Well to answer my own question he did. The PDF he just uploaded there has the Thief "Find/Remove Traps" changed to "Find/Remove Treasure Traps", then later in the dungeon section he splits traps into Room and Treasure. I remember reading this is probably what Moldvay meant by "Find/Remove Trap" if you look at his examples and other modules.

In Holmes and OD&D it's just remove trap I think.
Yeah, that's an interesting interpretation, and works well.
 
I see we are already only $1000 from burning through all the stretch goals already. Gavin says he has more to reveal, which seems reasonable. Given how anticipated this Kickstarter has been, there was no way it was going to stall out at $35,000. I just hope they aren't too involved. As much as I want this, I really, really want the big Dolmenwood book, and I don't want Gavin diverted from it by spending the next couple of years working on OSE stretch goals.
 
I see we are already only $1000 from burning through all the stretch goals already. Gavin says he has more to reveal, which seems reasonable. Given how anticipated this Kickstarter has been, there was no way it was going to stall out at $35,000. I just hope they aren't too involved. As much as I want this, I really, really want the big Dolmenwood book, and I don't want Gavin diverted from it by spending the next couple of years working on OSE stretch goals.

Totally agree, give me more Dolemwood!
 
So, drow are evil underground elves, right? So, are duergar evil underground dwarves and svirfneblin evil underground gnomes?
 
So, drow are evil underground elves, right? So, are duergar evil underground dwarves and svirfneblin evil underground gnomes?
They are all Underdark variants of those races, but if I recall, svirfneblin tend to be neutral, not evil. Duergar are evil dwarves though.
 
Pretty painful for Canadians.

$75 Boxed set
$15 Advanced Fantasy Book
$15 Druid and Illusionist Spell Book
$45 Shipping to Canada

$150 CAD. Damn.

Shipping fees are the main reason I no longer do Kickstarters.
 
I hope that is just a high balled estimate like the one they did for TFT but the actual shipping charge ended up being way lower.
 
Wow, very succesful and fair play to him for keeping the new stretch goals sensible. Extra ribbons, some pregens, art of the adventure and little generators on the rules reference site, but no major new content as such.
 
Wow, very succesful and fair play to him for keeping the new stretch goals sensible. Extra ribbons, some pregens, art of the adventure and little generators on the rules reference site, but no major new content as such.
My thoughts exactly.
 
They are all Underdark variants of those races, but if I recall, svirfneblin tend to be neutral, not evil. Duergar are evil dwarves though.
Pardon my ignorance, but what is an underdark?
 
Pardon my ignorance, but what is an underdark?

Underdark is the common D&D term for the vast underworld of interconnected caverns and tunnels that you find in Descent into the Depths and beyond. Not sure where it first came from and was first used in D&D, that would be interesting to find out.
 
Last edited:
Acrobat, assassin, barbarian, bard, druid, knight, illusionist, paladin, ranger, drow, duergar, gnome, half-elf, half-orc, svirfneblin.
Is this particular set of classes based on a specific source? I haven't really seen other OSR games with more than the basic classes add drow, duergar and svirfneblin.
 
Last edited:
Is this particular set of classes based on a particular source? I haven't really seen other OSR games with more than the basic classes add drow, duergar and svirfneblin.
The Duergar first appeared in Monster Manual II, and became a playable race in Unearthed Arcana.

Svirfneblin first appeared in D-2 Shrine of the Kuo-toa, and they became a playable race in The Complete Book of Gnomes and Halflings.

 
Those additional classes seem kind of arbitrary. Well, to me at least. Not that I mind.
 
Last edited:
Those additional classes seem kind of arbitrary. Well, to me at least. Not that I mind.
Well, they are all official AD&D classes. Svirfneblin is a second edition AD&D class, so maybe you can quibble. but all the rest are straight-up first edition.
 
Was there ever an Underdark variant of halflings, by the way?

tenor.gif
 
Last edited:
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top