My favourite OSR Style (Dungeons & Dragons) Games
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- Опубликовано: 9 сен 2024
- Today I am doing a video on games between true OSR and newer games like Dungeons and Dragons 5e or Pathfinder. OSR Style games. Where is that sweet spot?
Castles and Crusades:
trolllord.com/...
Olde Swords Reign:
preview.drivet...
Shadowdark:
www.thearcanel...
#dungeonsanddragons #rpg #dnd #osrgamer #basicfantasy #becmi #oldschoolessentials #roleplay #shadowdark #osr #shadowdark #castlesandcrusades #d&d #pathfinder #oldeswordsreign #trolllordgames
What I love about C&C is that it is very easy to add systems you like from OSR or AD&D 1st or 2nd edition to it. Also love that a players ability scores directly affect saving throws....means they don't really have a dump stat.
Totally agree, the whole system is just so easy to work with which is why it's my personal favourite of that OSR.
Love C&C and Swords & Chaos built off of it.
@@ozymandrokles8171 Hey, thanks for the mention of Swords and Chaos as I hadn't heard of it...quick search found it on Drive Thru Rpg.
We've just started a C&C campaign "The Secret of Bone Hill". All I did to covert THAC0 was to subtract the monsters AC from 20 (AC 4 becomes AC 16, AC 8 is now an AC of 12).
My players love that character creation only takes a few minutes.
Yes the AC from 20 trick is a good one. I feel C&C is so easy to convert and as you say quick character creation etc. It just evokes so much of that old AD&D feel with the newer mechanics.
Do you use the Siege Engine RAW or one of the CKG options?
@@AdamK1095 We started out RAW, we agreed to revisit it if it gave us any problems. So far it hasn't caused any heartbreak.
The rationale is, when rolling something that isn't a Prime... yeah, your character knows how to do it, they just aren't any good at it. Or words thereabouts.
Here to sing the praises of Castles & Crusades. I spent a good 2 years looking for and testing out an alternative to 5E and PF2 for my players, that was "simpler" and less super powered, but not limiting and stripped down, and C&C falls right in the perfect zone for me as a GM (or Castle Keeper) and my players have been loving it so far.
Were your players ok with the slower rate of advancement and less abilities per level? That's what I find is a thing with newer editions, they are used to getting something every level.
@Shamefulroleplay Honestly, they didn't even notice at first, but they quickly realized that since there isn't as much power gained in leveling (besides casters) they don't mind the slower pace to explore the world and they are doing more social interactions with each other than they would in the past with more modern game rules.
I switched from 5e to Castles & Crusades almost two years ago. As someone who grew up playing AD&D with C&C I feel like I am playing d&d again.
It really does have that feeling doesn't it 😁. Love it.
@@Shamefulroleplay 2 members of my group played AD&D with me back in the day and they agree. Both wish all the d&d games our group plays would switch to using C&C.
Agree Olde Swords Reign is good and I have played it, but Shadowdark is easier to understand as written though it is more expensive. Both are good though. Olde Swords Reign is not free for PDF but very cheap. About $3 or something like that on drive thru RPG.
Never played C&C. Looks great though.
Small correction: the $3 is a suggested price for Reign. PDF is free. Great take on 5e.
I love castles and crusades, best fantasy rpg on the market.
Another C&C fan! The designers have said that C&C is kind of a Rosetta Stone of old school TTRPGs, because it is so simple and painless to convert parts of other systems and their adventures to C&C, a lot of time on the fly. The Siege engine mechanic is what initially blew me away. So simple and flexible for the players and the CK to grasp. It;s also very easy ( almost too easy) to houserule as well.
It's extremely easy. I have a video on pathfinder coming out soon, I enjoyed playing it a lot. But when you compare the systems. C&C is just soooo much simpler. Pathfinder I have to look stuff up a lot.
Great review. I bought castles and crusades a long time ago, I really need to give it another look. I love a lot of shadowdark, but I backed it thinking it was “5e compatible with an old school feel”, and it really isn’t. It’s more like “old school plus a couple 5e mechanics like advantage/disadvantage.”
What I’ve been looking for is like 5e lite…less rules, more old school, more deadly…and to me that’s where Olde Swords Reign is perfect. I’m still tweaking it slightly but I’m finding it almost completely compatible with many other systems. I can play a 5e adventure, basic fantasy adventure, or b/x adventure with olde swords reign and that’s what I was looking for. Love it! Plus Damien is awesome
Shadowdark is the only one I haven’t bought into. I’ve picked up all of the published books for 3rd edition of BFRPG. I’ve picked up every first party adventure and rulebook for OSE. I bought the main rulebook and players book for Olde Swords Reign. C&C I’ve invested into more than any of others. I’m a fan of all of them and I’d play or run any of them. Great video 👍
To be honest I love them all too. There isn't an edition I'd say no to if you said to me "fancy a game". (Even 4th edition lol). I'm not going to be picky. They all have wonderful aspects to them.
I got introduced to C&C about 10-12 years ago and never looked back.
As a game master I LOVE how flexible it is and how easy it is to I corporate stuff without breaking the core game
So easy to run and as you say bring other OSR titles/resources into as well, but with that slightly newer easier to run twist.
If you want BECMI (minus the I) it is hard to beat Rules Cyclopedia. If you want AD&D 1st, the 3 core books are also nice. OSRIC is essentially AD&D 1st in one book though. Basic Fantasy Role-PLaying Game though beats the price tag competition. The PDFs are free, and the hardcover is the lowest price choice. It is well supported with creature books and adventure books. Those PDFs are free as well.
Very true!
Just a few days ago I've encountered a new one that's also a very different take on an old (AD&D 2E) edition. It's called Advanced Fantasy dungeons. Very different and weird. It seems like the player power will need to be scaled back but it is doing something novel compared to another BX adjacent system.
I may have to look that one up! Thanks for the information.
I'm not big into true OSR clones, but these "OSR-Adjacent" games are the best. They have the logic of contemporary D&D, with the vibe and streamlining of early D&D. Games like Shadowdark are really great !!!
Yes I think this is where some of my favourite ones are C&C and shadowdark especially 🤠
C&C is the best OSR game there is, in my opinion. It has been using unified roll-high mechanics for twenty years, and yet seems to get no credit. It gives you a genuine AD&D experience but is far easier to teach and run. It's a gem! And there are TONS of supplements!
Fantastic Heroes and Witchery is my favorite.
Witchery ey?
@@Shamefulroleplay can find it on drivethrurpg anymore, though I've got the free materials on my Facebook fan page.
Please send me the link if you don’t mind?
Olde Swords Reign (OSR)…. oh yes I see what they did there 👀
😂
Olde Swords Reign! I love that game. It has the classic 4 races 4 classes, BUT. But. You can customize the classes so your Fighter is nothing like another Fighter. That means a lot to me. No need for dozens of classes.
I Love SHADOWDARK and believe the ARCANE LIBRARY will come out with all new
Players Handbook and
GM Guide that will fire up the new Golden Age of TTRPG!
We can only hope 🤞
Of all the recent slipstream games, my fave is likely THE BLACK HACK
Just to add to the list of old-school/modern hybrids, Worlds with Number and Low Fantasy Gaming are both solid, and you can get the PDFs of both for free
Thanks for the recommendation! Will have a look at those later for sure. Appreciated 👍🙏
Shadowdark has some resources for free, I'm pretty sure. I think it's missing some of the random tables and other DM supporting tools, but the rules are all there.
Other typical recommendations for this old-school vibe with more modern mechanics and play style are DCC and Five Torches Deep.
Do you know where the resources are for the free base rules? I've certainly not been able to find anything free like that.
Shadowdark is too expensive for how little it offers. BFRP, C&C, DCC, ICRPG, S&W, Dragonslayer, and Low Fantasy Gaming all have much more bang for your buck.
I love shadowdark, but agree it's very pricey.
Liking the content here. But please see if you can do something about the wobbly camera because that is making me seasick.
It's the table leg which is short lol 😆 I need to put a piece of paper under it or something.
I'm a big fan of C&C and have been running a weekly campaign using those rules for nearly two years. It's a great system but it's really a stripped down version of third edition D&D (removing feats, skills, and a good deal of rules complexity) rather than a throw-back to AD&D 1e or 2e.
Interesting take on it. Being a stripped down 3e. Rules wise I think you're quite right. Feel wise it feels 1e or 2e to me. The encumbrance rules in it are a bit silly but that's about it lol.
❤ Where did you get your Shadowdark book printed?
We've been playing Shadowdark for a bit now and really enjoy it.
Also if you want the additional classes for Shadowdark grab Into the Shadow Lands.
I’m sorry I didn’t see this pop up. I uploaded the PDF I had to a site called doxzoo.com who printed it off at a reasonable price I feel.
@@Shamefulroleplay thanks for getting back to me. I'll check it out.
Um I will keep on truckin . All solid choices and I also feel C&C feels like AD&D . Shadow dark is a good dungeon crawler and easy to get both 5e and OSR people to try.
I'm glad you will keep on truckin. As you say shadowdark is good. Some OSR guys really have a thing against it though.
Basic Fantasy over Castles and Crusades, as like Olde Swords Reign over Shadowdark, just because of price since the products are very similar.
Yes for affordability I totally agree. So much easier on the pocket.
Castles & Crusades is awesome.
Certainly is friend 😄
Love Shadow Dark
Me too! Almost as much as I love 18 Bretonians.
Ew Shadowdark
Shadowdull brings in all the crap from 5e (which is everything in 5e) and ruins the older style of play in doing so. The pretentious trying too hard artwork feels like a WB TV show turned into an RPG. But it's a great game for the tweens out there.
If everything about shadowdark is bad as it's 5e are you also not a fan of 3e? Arts subjective of course.
@@Shamefulroleplay while I don’t think it’s bad, Shadowdark felt thoroughly “meh” to me. It wears the facade of old school games, but hand waves or minimizes a lot of tenets of old school play.
It ends up feeling like a super slimmed down version of 5E, and if that’s what you’re looking for, great, but Olde Swords Reign exists, the PDF is free, and the books are sold at cost. (Shadowdark’s art is nice though)
I like shadowdark and i grew up in the 80’s. I don’t get the hate, its the first i heard of the hate
@@actualwafflesenjoyer I agree. Other than taking the advantage/disadvantage mechanic from 5e, it's not really taking anything else. Minimal racial abilities and no ability score modifiers, no sub-classes, no multi-classing, and no real way to plan your character build as the talents you get are randomly determined. Not to mention the fact that it's a whole hell of a lot harder to keep a Shadowdark character alive. If anything, 5e is the game for kids who will fall apart if anything bad happens to their character.