Feeling run-down and fed-up, something pretty cool happened to me this week: I rediscovered the OSR.
OSR (“Old School Renaissance”) was where I started, back when it was pretty much the only school.
Playing D&D in the late 1970s and early 1980s, my friends and I didn’t really discover “new school” until we moved on from High School. Dungeons were the mainstay of my fantasy gaming, and Traveller was the inspiration for the SF.
Firstly taking a journey into playing a game using Rolemaster Classic, and then leading me to re-read four OSR retro-clones, I’ve come back to the pack. And it was a chat with Dave that made all the difference.
Dave’s Diagnosis
Dave is one of the players in our regular Friday Night Gaming group. He’s, perhaps, one of the more absent players (being a hospital-based doctor) but he is certainly one of the more vigorously energetic.
I’d posted something about “burn out” on the group’s message board and Dave came round to chat. The diagnosis was that we are missing a few things from our fantasy gaming. These elements, when you get down to it, are all rooted in the style of play which I grew up with: dungeoneering; exploration; character vulnerability; clear goals; some monsters.
In short:
- We miss delving in to the depths of the land, seeking lost treasures and secrets.
- There has been a tendency to “skim over” the detailed exploration of areas in favor of “getting on” with the “story”.
- Our characters aren’t vulnerable enough for the setting – they are actually a bit too powerful.
- Although the sandbox is great, the players need more “nudge and steer” to focus their goals.
- I’ve become too concerned with making the denizens of the world “morally grey” – sometimes the guys just want to take down a monster!
OSR Inspiration
This week, in response, I’ve taken to reading four major OSR game systems: OSRIC (1e D&D retro-clone); Blood & Treasure (SRD-mix retro-clone); Dark Dungeons (Rules Cyclopedia retro-clone); Swords & Wizardry (0e D&D retro-clone). I’ve also re-read Matt Finch’s “Quick Primer for Old School Gaming“, which has been a delight and very helpful.
I’ve blended that set of tomes with reading non-OSR Aron Christensen’s, “My Guide to RPG Storytelling” and Michael Shea’s, “The Lazy Dungeon Master“. Oh, and I re-read all the D&D Next playtest materials.
What did I learn? Not much that’s truly new. But I reminded myself of why I love fantasy RPGs and, most especially, how I prefer to play D&D.
D&D Basic?
It’s funny how stuff happens.
This week was also the marketing launch for the forthcoming D&D 5e. The big news was, of course, that D&D Basic will be free as a download. This made me happy. And it made me reach for the metaphorical blender: I’ve worked out how I’ll use 5e and the OSR inspiration to re-invigorate my gaming. I started with D&D Basic. Looks like I’ll being coming full circle in July.
Judging from the D&D Next playtest, 5e will be loose enough to accommodate an OSR play-style… but modern enough to be easily accessible and relevant to my old and young players… and me.
Taking from the past, I aim to bring D&D to our Tikhon world setting and run games (at least at school) for interested parties. That way, I get to try out the new rules AND build / play more in Tikhon.
What About Now?
Well… I don’t want to spoil any surprises just yet, but I will be applying what I’ve learned back into the regular fantasy game. There’ll be a lot more focus, quite a few “carrots” to tempt the heroes in a cool direction, and a few more monstrous challenges to liven things up.
Bottom line, though: I’m going to take more time on the small stuff – the exploration, the mystery, and the interesting details.
Feels like coming home. Just need to do the spade work before next Friday.
Game on!
