Hello!

So, I've had quite a few people I work with as well as my wife and stepson express interest in learning to play D&D. None of these people have played before and my stepson is fairly young. I've played many different games, but my preference is usually older D&D editions. I've tried modern games, including 5th Edition, and I generally don't like them. I think they are to heavy and the numbers grow large fast. However, I do like some of the more modern "improvements" like ascending AC and a somewhat unified resolution rule.

Normally, I'd just bust out some AD&D 1st or 2nd edition. While I'm familiar with those rules, I feel that there must be a better option for modern newbies. I've checked out some of the B/X retroclones as they are the "weight" that I feel would work nicely. But I think there are still a lot of confusing holdovers (obviously, as they are clones.)

I guess what I'm looking for is a "modernized" OSR game, as oxymoronic as that sounds. I like when low level wizards have some options per turn, I like simple skills/task resolution that can be pretty universally applied. While it doesn't faze me, fiddly things like XP bonuses for high Wis and stuff like that might be a turn off for newbies.

Is there such a beast already made or should I just jam something together and roll?

In the meantime, I'll be rooting for Brandon.

I was thinking of Old School Essentials, especially the Dolmenwood setting, which has a fairy tale feel, but if you want a unified mechanic that's both old & new, I'd recommend Castles & Crusades.  It has a simple, unified mechanic, the Siege Engine, uses ascending AC, and plays a lot like 1e AD&D.  And it's compatible with most editions of D&D with almost no modifications.  Plus, I think you can still get their Players Handbook for free as a pdf on the Troll Lord Games website so you could check it out to see if it's what you like. 

Finally, if such things matter to you, the creators are veterans, they support small businesses and make all their products right here in the USA.  They are also quite responsive to the fan base and interact regularly with the community.  True, the editing is a bit shoddy, but the books do look nice and the game plays well, which is what I care about most.

With the large number of OSR games out there, you would think there would be more rules sets that take the basic D&D B/X structure, but introduce a more universal mechanic to simplify things.

Legend of the Flame Princess kind of does this with their d6 skills rule and simplified encumbrance rule.  But you wanted a game for younger players, so yeah, that pretty much disqualifies LotFP.

Something like The Black Hack has a universal mechanic (roll under for everything), and is compatible with OSR adventures.  But elements of the game, such as player-facing rolls and the game's Armor system, and quite different than what you would find in more traditional D&D B/X style rules.  Its worth a look though.  There is also a Black Hack clone called Heroes & Monsters, which is even more simple than The Black Hack.  Its available in PDF on drivethrurpg, or in print from Lulu or Amazon.  I own it but I haven't played it yet, but it looks like a nice little game.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/222284/Heroes--Monsters

https://www.amazon.com/dp/9198261754/?coliid=I177OK7D5K330L&colid=F4WYQMXJKYYP&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Persimmon: Thanks for the tip on Castles and Crusades. It's actually a really good idea! It's quite bizarre that it didn't jump to my mind because back when the game was first released, I met the authors and got a signed copy of the players' handbook. I ran a one shot session with it the next weekend and I remember really enjoying it. Then I put the signed book away and it passed from all memory. I didn't know they were vets, that's pretty spiffy. I think this is the leading option at the moment.

The other option I was considering was Basic Fantasy. It has some of the old clunky holdovers, but it's been modernized in quite a few ways. It's also so damn cheap that I could easily buy multiple books for the table without issue. I think the core book costs about $6.00 printed.

I was honestly surprised how much interest I got when I started talking about my hobbies. My life took a very drastic, but positive, turn at the beginning of the pandemic and I haven't gamed since then. I've actually had more people tell me they are interested than I could reasonably fit in a single group.

Crusader X: I've only heard of Black Hack and haven't really explored that at all. Once I'm able to put a group together and find out who my regulars are going to be, I will be happy to try out all kinds of stuff if they end up enjoying the D&Dish campaign. But that could be years from now, I have a history of very long games. There are so many games that I've never gotten to try. For example, I would love to run a hard core GURPS game in my lifetime. But finding enough nerds of that caliber in one locality is a challenge.

I run Knave by Ben Milton for younger gamers. Currently prepping Ben's The Waking of Willowby Hall to run for a friend of mines son's this month using the Knave ruleset. And one of the DM's on my Discord server is about to run Willowby Hall if you're interested in playing it first.

Discord Link: https://discord.gg/2xcmdXueAp

Definitely check out Knave or Maze Rats though

Check out Swords & Wzardry.  There it s "lite" version with streamlined rules.  You can download it free on Drivethrurpg.com.

Swords & Wizardry yup. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/86546/Swords-and-Wizardry-Complete-Rulebook

Quote from: Svenhelgrim on November 11, 2021, 10:14:01 AM
Check out Swords & Wzardry.  There it s "lite" version with streamlined rules.  You can download it free on Drivethrurpg.com.

Seconded. https://www.froggodgames.com/product/swords-wizardry-complete-rulebook/

White Box Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game, based of the latter but simpler and also free to download. https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/190631/White-Box--Fantastic-Medieval-Adventure-Game

Basic Fantasy RPG based on B/X everythin'gs free to download and the whole printed books are cheaper than a set of D&D5e. https://www.basicfantasy.org/

I'm a big fan of Blood & Treasure and it has a basic version. About as old school as can make the 3.5 chassis and pretty slick with plenty of options for players. Plus, I dig Stater's stuff.

I'll second Persimmon's suggestion of Castles & Crusades.  Great system.

Thanks for the replies everyone! It's much appreciated. I've been doing some research as I have time before the game starts. With the holidays coming up it will probably be in January when I try to set up a routine group.

Castles and Crusades seems awesome in a lot of ways. I can not pick at little things in the newest printing of the game, but honestly it's pretty darn close to what I want. It seems to be about a 4/10 for complexity for most characters with wizards climbing up to about a 6/10. That's about right for me. I also think it would be fairly easy for me to house rule in some very minor abilities for low level wizards to perform when out of magic slots.

Basic Fantasy is a full notch down on "heaviness" from C&C. The speed of play combined with the readily available books make this a strong candidate still. The ability to splat down a pile of books and tell anyone interested that they could borrow one of them to read is a pretty tempting option. The books aren't pretty and the game isn't quite as unified as I would like, but I can see a new group doing well. It also has some supplements that I actually like pretty well.

I've actually looked at the free version of Swords and Wizardry. It's a completely respectable game. It's just not quite as modernized or as cheap as I would like it to be in order to put books on the table. That said, I would happily run that game if it was ever asked of me.

I'm not familiar with Knave or a few of the others mentioned. I'll keep looking as I have lots of time.

White Box - Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game

1 Book, $4.99 in softcover on Amazon.

A representation of White Box OD&D; plus the Thief Class from Greyhawk, Ascending AC, and the option of using a Single Saving Throw for each Class.

A complete game, for $5 per copy.