This year I’ve started dabbling more in the Old School
Renaissance movement (OSR), picking up interesting product thanks to
a host of Lulu discount sales and a few other sources. Although my
“old school” game of preference
remains Basic/Expert Dungeons & Dragons (Moldvay edition), I enjoy looking over new OSR
products, seeing what innovations designers work into the system, and
mining them for inspiration.
I’ve discussed Lulu and the OSR before, noting the platform’s absence of a “wish list”
function; I’ve since returned to more traditional methods –
scrawling notes on scrap paper – to keep track of titles of
interest. Some materials I ordered from Lulu’s print-on-demand
(POD) service; others came from the similar POD services DriveThruRPG
and its affiliates offer, and one came among the goodies delivered in
a recently ordered
Mythoard package. At least one released so recently I’ve only looked over the
PDF, though I just ordered the print-on-demand version as it was at
the top spot in my “to order next time” list for Lulu.
Starter Adventures by Tim Shorts
($19.99
print,
Lulu):
I
was pleasantly surprised by one of my first Lulu
purchases.
Starter Adventures offers four short scenarios for
beginning characters in each major OSR class. They’re ideal for
one-on-one play (one gamemaster and one player) introducing newcomers
to a particular rules set or roleplaying in general. Each scenario
provides very class-specific challenges and resolutions, inviting a
player to explore various aspects of their character’s class. Many
rely on an apprentice situation with a more experienced mentor to
help set the stage and offer guidance, establishing some ready-made
allies or contacts for the future. The book rounds out its
beginner-level materials with a detailed tavern location and a
full-fledged low-level group adventure, both of which showcase
engaging gamemaster characters who can help or challenge new heroes.
Besides providing inspiration and guidance for creating brief,
introductory adventures for low-level characters, it demonstrates how
to craft specific encounters to a particular class’ abilities.
Map & Dice Playing Cards by Billiam Babble
($12 print, DriveThruCards): This nifty 55-card deck includes a
standard card deck (four suits, two jokers) plus one card of
explanations. Besides the usual suit and number, each card includes a
randomized result for a d20, d6, and d100, plus a fantastic dungeon
geomorph covering the card’s lower two-thirds. (Babble also offers
a free PDF of a tuck box to print and assemble to hold the deck.)
Each geomorph has two entry points on each side, which aligns nicely
with all the other cards. Evocative location names help inspire
encounters: “Ratsink Sewer,” “Disturbed Barrows,” “Worm
Tunnels,” “The Great Collapse,” “Stonemasons’ Demise.”
The entire suit of spades includes entrances or end tiles limiting
the exit points. Babble’s hand-drawn, pen-and-ink mapping style
remains one of my favorites (right up there with the prolific
Dyson Logos). The random die results are a nice touch and make the cards
more than simply playing cards with geomorphs (though that in itself
is innovative enough). While one might argue whether this product
falls within the realm of “OSR,” it certainly could enhance
OSR-style games, especially solitaire play.
Creature Compendium by
Richard J. LeBlanc, Jr. ($10.65
print, Lulu):
This collection of more than 200 original monsters can infuse
any fantasy game with new and often unconventional challenges to keep
players familiar with game bestiaries on their toes. Leblanc’s
statement in the foreword sums it up far better than I could:
“Remember those flashes of inspiration that electrified your brain
when you first picked up that hardback volume of monsters all those
years ago.... The memories of that original tome inspire this one –
a book that is just as fun to peruse as use, a book that strives to
challenge and surprise, and a book that attempts to rekindle that
‘first time’ gaming table joy.” Some monsters combine, enlarge,
or otherwise evolve established creatures – such as the liger,
wooly dragonboar, brain crab, fire fox, giant two-headed snake, or
stone skeleton – while others seem wholly innovative like the
parasite-ridden carriage worm, the Intelligence- and Wisdom-sucking
brain bat, or the owl-faced, bat-winged batar. Each monster includes
stats for original/first edition and “BX”
Dungeons &
Dragons (though they could easily port to most any OSR
retro-clone) and insightful text describing the creature’s
appearance, habits, attacks, and other notes to run exciting
encounters. Each monster could form the basis for a challenging
encounter, if not an entire adventure.
Book of Lairs by
Simon Forster ($7.76
PDF, RPGNow):
Patreon has brought a lot of wonderful gaming content to
both supportive patrons and the general public.
Simon Forster’s Patreon project enabled him to release new monster lairs in an
alphabetical format (one monster per letter of the alphabet). As a
supporter of his efforts I’ve accessed PDF files for individual
lairs as well as the final PDF collection...with a digest-sized,
print-on-demand version from Lulu available to backers. (A PDF
version is available through RPGNow, with a print-on-demand version
available there for the general public soon.) I just ordered the
Patreon-supporter version from Lulu, though I’ve thoroughly enjoyed
reading the individual lairs as they released and the entire
collection in PDF; it’s extremely useful in providing quick,
interesting location-based encounters. Forester follows the concept
of “dynamic lairs” outlined by the
Adventurer, Conqueror, King
game (
ACK); “a small dungeon or lair, created in advance
like a point of interest, which includes 1-3 encounters.” Each lair
consists of a two-page spread, with a full-page, full-color map on
one side and a page of location notes on the other (including
creature stats for
ACK, though the material would work with
any OSR-style game). A general description of the location and
situation runs along the outer edge of each page perpendicular to the
text, a little awkward to read in PDF but an interesting layout
technique more suited to the print version. Each lair represents at
the very least an intriguing encounter location tied to a particular
OSR monster; at best one could serve as an entire game session
adventure. The wilderness nature of the lairs make them ideal to drop
in between scenarios as characters travel cross-country. Forster’s
already working on a new set of lairs set in urban environments....
White Box Omnibus by James Spahn ($14.99
print, RPGNow): I received this 128-page, digest-sized resource in a
monthly
Mythoard I ordered on a whim. While the contents of this
subscription service varies greatly in usefulness according to one’s
gaming tastes, I was impressed this particular one included something
as satisfyingly substantial as
White Box Omnibus. Although
designed for use with the
Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox
rules, gamemasters can easily port these resources to their favorite
OSR system. The omnibus collects a host of smaller OSR products
Barrel Rider Games offers, presenting a varied buffet of useful bits
to enhance one’s game experience: classes new to
S&W
WhiteBox like the thief, paladin, ranger, and druid; house rules
for adding specialty sub-classes; a host of new items for each
magical treasure category; 14 pages of new monsters; three adventures
for different character levels; plus an all-new campaign region
within which the scenarios are set. There’s something useful and
inspiring here to enhance everyone’s OSR game to some degree. The
three adventures and the gazetteer describing the surrounding
countryside alone are worthwhile campaign materials.
Warriors of the Red Planet (beta)
by Al Krombach ($16.50 print, Lulu): I’ve dabbled in
“exotic” roleplaying game settings before (most notably
Empire of the Petal Throne and its numerous successors). I enjoyed
alternate histories that involved interplanetary adventures, like
GDW’s excellent
Space 1889. But I’ve not delved into the
“sword and planet” genre much beyond those, certainly not in the
context of an OSR game.
Warriors of the Red Planet strives to
simulate adventures set in the Barsoom novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs
(and includes notes supporting campaigns in that particular setting),
yet it also invites readers to create their own “sword and planet”
impressions of Mars and other planets. To this end it customizes
several retro-clone conventions to this brutal, interstellar genre,
including four original character classes (fighting man, scoundrel,
mentalist, and scientist, with the latter using gadgets instead of
spells), an optional yet intuitive skill-check system, a horde of
inspired monsters of varying hit dice, notes on airship combat, and
an appendix filled with random, Mars-inspired tables. The addition of
tables for randomly generating creatures (by terrain type), exotic
names, alien flora characteristics, ruins, and adventure ideas
provides gamemasters and solitaire players (like myself) enough
framework to build engaging encounters appropriate to the “sword
and planet” genre. The “beta” in the title seems to indicate
this isn’t a fully polished product; aside from a few typos and
formatting bits, it’s quite complete and playable, though I’d
love to see a more developed edition with a table of contents, some
adventure hooks, a sample scenario, and more wonderful random charts
to provide guidance and inspiration. Any new edition deserves more of
Thomas Denmark’s illustrations – certainly in color – because
what we see on the interior and covers truly evokes the genre’s
tone and sense of wonder. This game has intrigued me so much – and
provided such diverse random tables – that I’ve already created
two characters intended for a solitaire exploration of this genre.
I don’t consider what I write here as “reviews” as much as
features discussing games and products that leave me with a positive
impression. If you’re looking for reviews I highly recommend Sophia
Brandt’s
Die Heart blog, which offers more critical reviews of OSR
material than I could write in my game features here (as well as
coverage of solo roleplaying game issues and product). My impressions
here at Hobby Games Recce primarily come from reading the material,
though occasionally I give something a spin through solitaire play.
Do I manage to play everything here? I only wish; but these products
inspire me in some way, whether offering new ideas about gaming or
elements to incorporate into my own projects, showing me how
innovations in material so rooted in our class-and-level,
retro-gaming past can provide a fresh perspective.
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