How do you guys run your OSR campaigns?

[GaryD20]

8 hours ago, cailano said:

No, I'd go with Swords and Wizardry , a rules-lite OSR system based on the original edition of D&D. 

I'm backing the new revised rulebook for this on Kickstarter. Can't wait!

[cailano]

58 minutes ago, GaryD20 said:

I'm backing the new revised rulebook for this on Kickstarter. Can't wait!

Heck yeah, me too!

[SID]

OSR wise, I like "The Fantasy Trip" and the “classic D&D”, which are like the predecessors of the systems I casually play (GURPS and D&D). I make my own stories and I rarely run pre-made campaigns, for that I do board games.

Right now I’m playing a game/system known as Talislanta, it’s quite cool!

[cailano]

Talislantia! I remember seeing the ads in Dragon Magazine. "No Elves."

[Malkavian Grin]

On 4/4/2023 at 11:25 AM, cailano said:

No, I'd go with Swords and Wizardry , a rules-lite OSR system based on the original edition of D&D. PCs would start at 20,000xp, which is around 5th level for most classes. I'd probably recruit eight players and expect normal attrition to bring the party size down to five or six after a few weeks.

There's an edition of Rappan Athuk made specifically for Swords and Wizardry, and it just feels right in that format. At its heart, Rappan Athuk is an old-school dungeon crawl.

Hey, I have these rules! I... have no idea when I picked them up! I have also never read through them. There's just not enough time for everything.

Sounds like yet another system to try out sometime.

I am planning to run a series of one-offs and strange-shots where I try out various game systems I have but have never played. Maybe I'll give these a whirl for a quickie.

[Cirlot]

@cailano If you ever pull the trigger on S&W Rappan Athuk I have a S&W Human Fighter who explored part of the first level who could use a new home . . .

 

To actually answer the question - there's how I run OSR via PbP vs. how I do in person because I think each format leans on different strengths of the general OSR rule/mindset?  In PbP I actually try and avoid running classic dungeon crawling because I feel like I'm very bad at forcing the constant pacing and progression dungeon crawling requires via PbP.  I tend to lean into the stuff AROUND the crawl, and reward social and geographic exploration more than via treasure or monsters.  That said I've always had a dream of running a megadunegon game where the PC's are all 1st level hirelings of a big named adventuring group who wiped in the middle of a megadunegon in the middle of nowhere who have to scavenge, scrounge and step into heroism on their own  just to get back out and survive.  And, well, there's also the constantly shifting castle dungeon I want to run where the entire dungeon is actually a liches phylacterythe ritual went bad and now he's stuck inside the castle. Forever. And really, really bored. So he redecorates alot and welcomes the adventurers messing his stuff up over and over, Castlevania style. 

Huh.  I should probably be running more games.

In RL I lean into the gribbly resource management elements of it, kind of go full Wizardry on the experience and then really, really emphasize emergent narratives?  I tend to set up unstable sandboxes for such games where once the players do something a bunch of dominoes begin to fall - power vacuums, invasions, dark forces unleashed by mistake, rival adventuring parties, etc. - so that just by interacting with the setting they PC's change it and the story becomes what they've done to the world and how they respond to what they (probably) broke.

In terms of systems . . . eeeh, I'm kind of all over the place?  I think Blood & Treasure 2nd edition is my favorite retroclone but Old School Essentials and Swords & Wizardry are the ones I've likely played the most.  I've wanted to run/play some OSR offshots (Wolf Packs & Winter Snow, Esoteric Enterprises and Beyond the Wall) but haven't actually ever done so.

[cailano]

@Cirlot I like your concept of the unstable sandbox.

[Jedaii]

With OSR-style adventures there's no "Challenge-Rating" in operation, so combat encounters can sometimes go pear-shaped when the party decides to fight a powerful opponent. I usually address this during Session 0/pre-start in order to set expectations ("Hey guys, sometimes running away is the best option"). Then, I don't feel bad about throwing dragons or skeleton hordes at low-level parties 😏

How do you guys handle it? 

[cailano]

@Malkavian Grin If you like an AD&D vibe but you want something rules light then Swords and Wizardry is a good system.

[cailano]

2 hours ago, Jedaii said:

With OSR-style adventures there's no "Challenge-Rating" in operation, so combat encounters can sometimes go pear-shaped when the party decides to fight a powerful opponent. I usually address this during Session 0/pre-start in order to set expectations ("Hey guys, sometimes running away is the best option"). Then, I don't feel bad about throwing dragons or skeleton hordes at low-level parties 😏

How do you guys handle it? 

I just let them know it's going to be dangerous. The first few encounters / puzzles / traps generally set expectations pretty quick.

But communication is always good. In that Rappan Athuk game mentioned above I have a whole topic to help 5E players make the leap to OSR. Of course, that particular game has scenes that can easily TPK the group.

[Malkavian Grin]

On 4/9/2023 at 11:59 AM, cailano said:

@Malkavian Grin If you like an AD&D vibe but you want something rules light then Swords and Wizardry is a good system.

I've don't have a go-to system for OSR yet, but I'd like to have one. Best way to find what you like is by playing a log of systems, is my philosophy. I may run a one-shot with it just to get a feel for it. I've a bunch of random adventures I could convert.

On 4/9/2023 at 9:22 AM, Jedaii said:

With OSR-style adventures there's no "Challenge-Rating" in operation, so combat encounters can sometimes go pear-shaped when the party decides to fight a powerful opponent. I usually address this during Session 0/pre-start in order to set expectations ("Hey guys, sometimes running away is the best option"). Then, I don't feel bad about throwing dragons or skeleton hordes at low-level parties 😏

I have always wanted this feeling while running D&D (3.5e and beyond) but never got it. Everyone always thinks--no you're not setting us up for failure, we can definitely handle this. Maybe that's on me for being afraid of being too heavy-handed and just killing people. My first game, where I didn't know the rules well, was probably my best campaign. I didn't care that the rules wouldn't have said a vampire couldn't move with super speed and break the hands of the boasting sorceror PC because that's what I wanted to happen.

Sometimes, the story is just served well to be unbalanced.

[Jedaii]

15 hours ago, Malkavian Grin said:

I've don't have a go-to system for OSR yet, but I'd like to have one. Best way to find what you like is by playing a log of systems, is my philosophy. I may run a one-shot with it just to get a feel for it. I've a bunch of random adventures I could convert.

I have always wanted this feeling while running D&D (3.5e and beyond) but never got it. Everyone always thinks--no you're not setting us up for failure, we can definitely handle this. Maybe that's on me for being afraid of being too heavy-handed and just killing people. My first game, where I didn't know the rules well, was probably my best campaign. I didn't care that the rules wouldn't have said a vampire couldn't move with super speed and break the hands of the boasting sorceror PC because that's what I wanted to happen.

Sometimes, the story is just served well to be unbalanced.

Yeah! I went for an OSR feel with an early D&D5 adventure I ran and just flipped the CR by replacing mid-HD monsters with more low-level monsters. Needless to say my (now patented) Skeleton Horde™ put the fear of the 9 Hells in the party 😂 Action economy dominates D&D & its clones so when a GM flips it to their distinct advantage, it can rattle the Murderhoboes. Good stories aren't about the main characters easily defeating every challenge - good stories are about how the characters handled severe adversity. A good deal of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings is the main characters running from overwhelming threats. Players who can't figure that out probably deserve their TPK. 

[Malkavian Grin]

35 minutes ago, Jedaii said:

Yeah! I went for an OSR feel with an early D&D5 adventure I ran and just flipped the CR by replacing mid-HD monsters with more low-level monsters.

I have been wanting to find a good OSR system to be able to pair with more modern adventure modules (all my 3.5e ones I have never used). I'm glad to see it can work out well!

35 minutes ago, Jedaii said:

Players who can't figure that out probably deserve their TPK. 

I wish I could be better about this. I am often too afraid of losing a good character in the narrative. Though, I suppose I'm not losing the good player. I have issues with saying goodbye. (⌣́_⌣̀)

[Jedaii]

36 minutes ago, Malkavian Grin said:

I have been wanting to find a good OSR system to be able to pair with more modern adventure modules (all my 3.5e ones I have never used). I'm glad to see it can work out well!

I wish I could be better about this. I am often too afraid of losing a good character in the narrative. Though, I suppose I'm not losing the good player. I have issues with saying goodbye. (⌣́_⌣̀)

I've been running games long enough to make systems DO what I want. You should get that well. Shifting D&D5 to Barbarians of Lemuria. Shifting DCC to the Rules Cyclopedia. Shifting Pathfinder to Lamentations of the Flame Princess. Your power as a GM is in making the rules do what you want. 

I approach adventures like, "Wow - I REALLY like Ron's Bard. Let's see what he can do." This is the difference between a GAME and a STORY: story is controlled by the writer and goes where they will - GAMES are the victim of dice and player decision. I suggest DO NOT be a fan of the PCs - be fan of the GAME. Who cares about jumping out of airplanes? People who hate airplanes and people who don't value parachutes. 

[cailano]

12 hours ago, Malkavian Grin said:

I have been wanting to find a good OSR system to be able to pair with more modern adventure modules (all my 3.5e ones I have never used). I'm glad to see it can work out well!

I wish I could be better about this. I am often too afraid of losing a good character in the narrative. Though, I suppose I'm not losing the good player. I have issues with saying goodbye. (⌣́_⌣̀)

Don't make your narrative important to the game. Half the time your players won't remember it anyway. RPGs are like musicals. The plot is to get from one song to the next. If the songs themselves are catchy and the dance numbers are memorable, everyone has a good time.