My Response to Zak S.: His OSR Guide For The Perplexed Questionnaire

Zak posted this here.


Thanks Zak for giving me something to blog about today.

OSR Guide For The Perplexed Questionnaire


1. One article or blog entry that exemplifies the best of the Old School Renaissance for me:
Good gravy, that's a tall order. There's hundreds of things I could list here, but I don't have the time to be overly pedantic, so I'm going with what I thought of first: The Unexpurgated Dragon Generator

2. My favorite piece of OSR wisdom/advice/snark: 

How to Awesome Up Your Players by the incomparable Jeff Rients. 

3. Best OSR module/supplement:

Fuck. 

Module: Death Frost Doom. 

Supplement: The entire run of Fight On!

4. My favorite house rule (by someone else): 

Class based weapon damage. Here's Akrasia's version.

5. How I found out about the OSR: 

Fiddling about online one day several months after my last 3.5 campaign wrapped up. I ran AD&D 1e till about 2001, then ran 3e till 2009. WotC had put out 4e and I wasn't interested. I was looking about online and wondering what I was going to run for my next campaign and stumbled onto Grognardia. And thought, "Oh, yeah. Right. I'll run 1e again, or maybe one of these clone thingamajigs." By the end of the day I had a folder full of retro clones and associated OSR stuff. 

6. My favorite OSR online resource/toy:

  Meatshields!

7. Best place to talk to other OSR gamers:

Up until last week, this was Google+. MeWe has the heat and the numbers, at the moment. It's decent.

8. Other places I might be found hanging out talking games: 

Every once in a while I might drop by the OD&D Discussion forum. This and the Swords & Wizardry Forums are the only ones I keep up with at all. The Goblinoid Games forum used to be pretty cool, though, but I haven't peeked into it in years and from a quick look see, it's not very active.  

9. My awesome, pithy OSR take nobody appreciates enough:

High level play rocks! DMing high level play rocks! Crank the dial up to 11 and embrace the chaos!

10. My favorite non-OSR RPG: 

Not sure how to define this. I'll go with Deadlands. 

11. Why I like OSR stuff: 

Well, I have really, really liked TSR era D&D my whole life. I really, really like seeing new, creative material for these games, as well as new interpretations, off-shoots, hacks and the like. I like making stuff for games. I like using stuff other people make for games. I love running D&D. And the OSR is where it's at for creativity, pushing the envelope and coming up with ideas I hadn't thought of, or wouldn't have thought of. OSR stuff is fun. 

12. Two other cool OSR things you should know about that I haven’t named yet:

Anything by Matt Finch. The Tome of Adventure Design and The Spire of Iron and Crystal, for instance.

13. If I could read but one other RPG blog but my own it would be:

Playing D&D with Porn Stars, but that's almost too obvious an answer. Grognardia and Planet Algol are pretty much defunct, but if you haven't read them go do so. Jeff's Gameblog, but he doesn't post very often.

14. A game thing I made that I like quite a lot is:

The Random Planetary Angel Generator. Link to the PDF is over there on the left. And right here.

15. I'm currently running/playing:

A 1e campaign for my son. Set in Greyhawk. We play every Sunday. Merlin is 13th level now and really, really trying to stay alive to see 18th.

16. I don't care whether you use ascending or descending AC because:

This is such a bizarre hill to die on. I'll use either. In my 1e campaign we use descending. A few months ago, I ran a side campaign using my own OSR rules hack and ascending AC.

 

To which my son immediately replied in the mildly put out tone teenagers sometimes evince with their parents, "Why haven't we been doing it this way the whole time?"

17. The OSRest picture I could post on short notice:

Umm... I think I'll go with this Robert Altbauer piece. 

Things I've Used in my Greyhawk Campaign and Reports on Some Recent Events in the Central Flanaess

I've been DMing by son, Brisco in a Greyhawk campaign for the past two years. Aside from the core 1e books, here's most of the published sources I've made use of and a little of what happened during play.

OSRIC - A handy quick reference for 1e. If I don't feel like lugging around a lot of books and I'm not expecting anything out of the ordinary, I'll sometimes just take my 1e PH and OSRIC A5 along as my basic ruleset. Available at RPGNOW in print and in pdf for free. 

The World of Greyhawk Folio - I've got the boxed set as well, buy I like the compact nature and layout of the folio. For me, the only thing of value the box set adds is info on the gods and I'm using the Dragon magazine articles for those. Now available at RPGNOW in print or pdf. Also, still very findable on the second hand market.

Mad Irishman's AD&D 1st Edition Character Sheets and NPC Sheets - The TSR goldenrod sheets for AD&D were the best. And these replica's are just what the DM ordered. The NPC sheet replica's are really cool, as well. Available gratis.

Classic Dungeon Designer's Netbook #4 - Old School Encounters Reference - This thing. This thing is very, very good. If you don't have it, get it. It's free. Perfect for running a 1e Hex Crawl, doing your normal prep, or for quickly rolling up virtually anything at the table. ANY THING. The word is: Comprehensive as Fuck!

Monsterless Manual - Al from Beyond the Black Gate posted a lot of good stuff back in the day and this free PDF of NPC's is something I always keep on hand. 

Things About Villains from Playing D&D With Porn Stars - An excellent random table from Zak S. Free on his blog. 

Tower of the Stargazer - James Raggi's classic OSR introductory adventure. When playing, my son is sometimes brazen as all hell and often incredibly... judicious. Upon confronting the "star gazer," he snatched the star crystal, did a quick appraisal and said "That's good enough! I'm outta here!" and made his way out of the tower, with the occupant's curses screaming after him, thus avoiding many of the module's nastier traps. Brisco later ran this module himself, DMing OSRIC for his friends. I set the tower in the Cairn Hills, not too far from the city of Greyhawk. Available in PDF from RPGNOW and in Print from the Publisher.

Under Siege - A Labyrinth Lord module set in Larm, this one is kind of interesting. Its main selling point is the battlemat and counters it comes with and if you don't mind printing these out and maybe gluing some cardboard backing to them, you've got a nice wargame set up with which to play out the Battle of Larm. A host of Goblin and associated critters, about 60 if I recall correctly lay siege to the small village of Larm. The PC's are expected to lead the defense and save the village! Bonus: the spider-goat encounter with associated game counter. 

I've been meaning to do a full review of this. I've ran it twice. The first time was a resounding success and the heroes saved the day. The second time was in this campaign.

Brisco's PC and his hireling fighter Thomas found themselves in Larm, located where the Need River is just about to cross into the Cairn Hills, some miles SE of the City of Greyhawk. In the early hours of the siege, Thomas is rudely dispatched and Brisco's Merlin decides to bug out, but not before stealing a few choice scrolls from the now dead village elder's office. 

Leaving the module and its doomed inhabitants behind, he uses his magic to turn Invisible and heads into the Cairn, northwards, running out of food, water and in serious trouble. A fortunate roll on the encounter tables finds him meeting up with a couple of gnomes, who offer him succor. In what is possibly his darkest deed, Merlin murders the Gnomes, taking their supplies and heading west. He later runs into a lone Mynock. This creature was an agent of Iggwilv, spying for her in the area. Brisco decides to attack first and ask questions later. 

The DM thought Merlin was going to die at this point, but the dice gods decided otherwise and Merlin unexpectedly triumphed, earning a Crystal Ball for his efforts and the attention of Iggwilv for the next several months of the campaign. 

It should be noted in his favor, that while he still sometimes prefers bold actions, Brisco quickly passed through this, shall we say, highly chaotic phase of his early D&D career and now seldom slaughters innocents, or attacks something for merely looking at him funny. He is still prone to betrayal, however and sometimes frets that his PC isn't being evil enough. 

Monsters of Myth - A book of monsters for OSRIC. One of the best alternative, or secondary monster manuals out there. And its Free in PDF. 

T1 The Village of Hommlet - A lot of the action in the campaign has taken place in and around the Kron Hills. Even after killing that bastard Lareth the Beautiful, Hommlet was the center of the campaign for several months. Rufus has been called back to Verbobonc and Burne is currently in Nulb, working against the surviving members of the Cult of Elemental Evil. Only available in pdf from RPGNOW, I'm sure you can find a copy on ebay. One of the most celebrated modules of the TSR era. 

B2 The Keep on the Borderlands - I replaced the dungeon but kept the keep and the basic setup. Baridel Keep is located in the Principality of Ulek, near the border with the Pomarj. An ambassador from Ulek traveled to several nearby areas, recruiting adventurers to help stabilize the area in and around the border with the Pomarj. My son's PC Merlin decided to check out the situation and while he was away from the Kron Hill area, a group of ne'er do wells went into the Temple of Elemental Evil and unleashed all manner of vile darkness. A few stray bands of cultists, as well as the occasional demon or two can still be found roaming the area, though good aligned forces have gotten the situation mostly back under control. Available in PDF from RPGNOW, but easily found on ebay

Highlights from the period include a 7th lvl Merlin taking on a mercenary band some 200 strong, alone, after they confiscate his horse and satchel of gold. Also, the Quest to recover The Horn of the Edge of Time, where Merlin earned the trust and respect of the dwarfs in the Kron Hills. . 

Fight On! - Various issues. The Darkness Beneath. I replaced the caves of Chaos in B2 with the Fight On! megadungeon. Only a few levels actually saw use, as play shifted back to the Kron Hills. If you haven't checked out any issues, I encourage you to do so. Fight On! was a staple of the early OSR and probably the best bang for your gaming buck. 

G 1-3 Against the Giants - A slaughterhouse of a module series. Available in PDF from RPGNOW. Second hand print copies can still be found, but you might have to do a bit of digging for this one and prices have been going up, last I checked. A party of doughty dwarfs, and one somewhat evil MU cleared up the Giant uprising. 

D 1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth - Things got weird with this one, as at the end of the Giants series, Brisco decided to descend into the depths at Eclavdra's side and traveled with a party of drow, down to Erelhei-Cinlu. Available in PDF from RPGNOW and of course, on the second

hand market.

D3 Vault of the Drow - After a bit of exploring the Vault, Brisco and a duergar henchman he picked up along the way, found themselves in Lolth's temple and face to face with the earthly avatar of Lolth herself! The duergar was quickly dispatched, but Brisco managed to sneak in a Disintegration spell at the beginning of the battle, before Lolth could extricate herself. Brisco watched nervously as I rolled the dice. Lolth failed the MR roll and her save, as well! This precipitated open war between the drow factions, further complicated by the arrival of several hundred Dwarven warriors from Balak-Tor. Available in PDF from RPGNOW and ebay, etc. 

DF16 Skein of the Death Mother - Published by Dragonsfoot, this is an alternative dungeon for Lolth's lair, meant to replace the Spider Ship in Q1. Curiously, I couldn't find this on DF but did find this link to a copy. I didn't use Q1 at all, choosing instead to expand this module with some appropriate abyssal scenery.

Merlin the MU - L 12,

his henchman Elimon the Fighter - L 10, 

associates Theron the Dwarven Fighter - L 11, 

Horos the Dwarven Cleric - L 11, 

Gozman Voz a hideously scarred servant of Zagyg - MU L7, 

and two L 7 Dwarf Fighters serving Horos, 

All descended into the Abyss to slay Lolth. For shits and giggles, apparently. It's been said that Q1 really doesn't follow logically from D3 and there's no reason for the PC's to go after Lolth in the first place. True. But I bet they do, 99 times out of 100. After a few skirmishes and one major pitched battle in Lolth's lair, the PC's quickly hunt down the demon queen and the final confrontation is over fairly quickly.

In round one, Elimon dies from Lolth's poisoned bite and the dwarves are struck with confusion, or fear. Someone manages to slightly wound Lolth. By about eight points. Not enough that she feels the need to invoke her thrice daily Heal power. Brisco has no idea how many Hit points she has, but he gets initiative and being now alone against Lolth, decides to take a gamble. He's been carrying around a scroll of Power Word Kill for several months. As always, I roll the dice in the open and Lolth totally blows her Magic Resistance roll! With 58 remaining HP, she dies!

A few points & observations regarding the "history" & meaning of the OSR

In response to some of the recent bullshit:

1. It was gamers who were hostile to old school play, that first started referring to the OSR as a "Movement." Personally, I've always considered it an Event.

2. Just like it was people hostile to the nascent OSR, who started calling James Malisewski the "pope of the osr," then pretended he claimed that title for himself. Just so they could have a figure-head, with which to attack the "movement."

Alas, I was merely a "Saint of the OSR," (per Johnathan Bingham) and escaped their hostility.

3. Back in 2009-2012, when I was still quite active on the scene, most of the non-commercial, online OSR related action, by which, I mean DIY D&D works & commentary by people who considered themselves OSR gamers/publishers/enthusiasts, took place in the blogosphere. But, not all.

4. The previous observation is not meant to disparage, or marginalize gamers who considered themselves "old school," but not OSR. Or, those who never got into blogging.

It's certainly not meant to exclude members of the communities of Dragonsfoot, the ODD Forum and Knights & Knaves, all of whom put out a ton of DIY D&D stuff.

It is meant to acknowledge the fact that, at least at the time and almost certainly now, to some extent, many of those worthies eschewed the OSR designation and some were rather vitriolic in their criticisms.

5. While TSR era D&D and it's clones, derivatives, and private mash-ups were far and
away the most popular focus, there were always bloggers talking about Encounter Critical, Mazes & Minotaurs, Star Frontiers, Traveller, Runequest, Barbarians of Lemuria and various & sundry other games. Oh, and DCC, because, DAMN!

6. For the zillionth time, the number of retro, pseudo & neo clones, were and are, dwarfed by the number of modules, accessories, play aids and what-not, which the OSR has produced.

7. Back in the day, OSR meant Old School Renaissance. A few people decided the "R" should stand for "revival." Mostly in response to further criticism from "outsiders." Personally, I don't care what it means to you, or if you use the term at all.

8. But, if you decide you need to define the term for the rest of us, you're really missing the point of that brilliant, spontaneous energy that burst upon the gaming scene and changed it forever!

9. As to when the OSR started, what games are "cannon," etc., Fuck all of that noise!

Your personal opinion on the subject? Great! By all means, tell me what you think. As long as you don't take it too seriously.

Just don't try to tell me what to think. Because, the OSR, whatever the fuck it is, got along fine for years, without "gatekeepers," "authorities," "hierophants" or any sort of pseudo-academic wankery.

(edit: All right. There's been wankery. But it's usually been mis-characterized.)

10. To my mind, the OSR is a beautifully abstract thing. Kind of like TSR era D&D. It works best when you let it be what it is, when you don't concern yourself with other people's "badwrongfun," and when you don't grasp greedily at it, or try to over-define it.

Buying D&D Over, and Over, and.....

That sumbitch Joseph Goodman!


First, he makes this utterly kick-ass game, Dungeon Crawl Classics, which the Gamer has to have because it's so fucking awesome!

Then, he puts out a limited, foil cover edition, which, the Collector just has to have because it's so kick-ass and the complimentary spines will look cool as fuck, on his bookshelf.

But wait, there's more!

So, I've already got two copies of DCC, when while putting out the second printing of the game, Mr. Goodman also decides to start releasing some limited edition covers!

And after buying the first several modules for the game, you know, the ones with the covers reproduced in the rulebook, the Collector really, really, wanted that first alternate cover edition!

Can you blame me? I mean look at this thing!

Hugh's dead, baby! Hugh's dead!

But, I put off buying it for a long time, until yesterday, when I saw there were still some copies floating around. I pulled the trigger and FRP Games just informed me that it's on the way! That groovy alternate spine is going to look real nice, next to the other two.

Of course, it's been often remarked upon, how OSR folks keep buying D&D, over and over, again. There's certainly some truth to that.

For instance, I have two copies of the AD&D PH and DMG, yet I also have two copies of OSRIC. Hell, I did have three, but I sold my Lulu HC, because I didn't need it and Lulu makes shitty HC's, anyway.

I've got B & X and a combo B/X in one. And Labyrinth Lord.

I've got the LotFP Grindhouse, and sooner or later I'll buy Mr. Raggi's latest edition of the game and I'm kicking myself for not buying Noble Knight's last copy of the Original LotFP Box Set.

And Swords & Wizardry! I've got Swords & Wizardry rulebooks out the wazoo!

And Delving Deeper! And...

The Gamer/Collector looks upon his groovy bookshelf and sees that it is Good!

But, goddammit I'm not going to buy the DCC Easley Cover!


Damn! It's kinda awesome, though, ain't it?

And yes, I'm aware of the Slipcase edition.

Fuck! Now I'm just having silly, silly thoughts.