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Old School Essentials released into the wild

Started by Brad, August 28, 2019, 12:05:33 PM

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Spinachcat

#15
August 30, 2019, 04:38:44 AM
Quote from: SavageSchemer;1101478I will, of course, need a link to that!

As soon as Aos launches his B/X Mars, I will be pimping it!

Melan

#16
August 30, 2019, 07:52:35 AM
Does it have good, comprehensive GM advice? That is, could you hand this ruleset to an absolute beginner who wanted to learn running a game? I'm finding that precious few "new" systems feature this element.
Now with a Zine!
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SavageSchemer

#17
August 30, 2019, 08:41:14 AM
Quote from: Melan;1101558Does it have good, comprehensive GM advice? That is, could you hand this ruleset to an absolute beginner who wanted to learn running a game? I'm finding that precious few "new" systems feature this element.

I wouldn't say so, no. There are sections for adventuring, creating dungeon or wilderness or even sea-born adventures and the like, but even that is pretty concise and is more like a suggested procedure rather than newbie-friendly advice.
The more clichéd my group plays their characters, the better. I don't want Deep Drama™ and Real Acting™ in the precious few hours away from my family and job. I want cheap thrills, constant action, involved-but-not-super-complex plots, and cheesy but lovable characters.
From "Play worlds, not rules"

KingofElfland

#18
August 30, 2019, 09:03:54 AM
Quote from: Melan;1101558Does it have good, comprehensive GM advice? That is, could you hand this ruleset to an absolute beginner who wanted to learn running a game? I'm finding that precious few "new" systems feature this element.

It depends, the BXE did not because it was a reference document. But OSE has more. However, it hews closely to the original Moldvay/Cook/Marsh material. It is succinct and helpful, but simple. I find that to be very helpful, but it's not exhaustive. Also, I don't recall play examples.

Melan

#19
August 30, 2019, 09:54:11 AM
Thank you. I was looking for recommendations to a friend of a friend; I might have to look elsewhere.
Now with a Zine!
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Mad Tom

#20
August 30, 2019, 10:18:47 AM
Quote from: KingofElfland;1101563It depends, the BXE did not because it was a reference document. But OSE has more. However, it hews closely to the original Moldvay/Cook/Marsh material. It is succinct and helpful, but simple. I find that to be very helpful, but it's not exhaustive. Also, I don't recall play examples.

I'm doing some side-by-side comparisons of the OSE Core Rules book with the Moldvay Basic Rules. There's definitely no play examples. There is a step-by-step guide to character creation, albeit without a sample character like Borg the Fighter. There's a chapter dedicated to running adventures and being a GM, but again the topics are fairly sparse. The books are designed so that topics run only 1-2 pages max.

This is probably the one critique I have of the series, that it could benefit from gameplay examples and a sample dungeon, but we also live in an age where such things are much easier to find than they were in 1981.

rredmond

#21
September 25, 2019, 10:27:05 AM
It looks like we have a OSE PbP game starting on Unseen Servant. DM is looking to do a short, Halloween, play by post. Might be worth it to lurk (while it's going on) or a read (when it's done) to get a sense of how it plays. Some folks don't like the pacing of PbP (the slow pace is what draws me, due to scheduling ridiculousness, nowadays) but it's great to get a sense of how the game runs, as well as for newer players to learn the game as they go. But if anyone is interested in playing, the "looking for players" post is here: http://www.unseenservant.us/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=8906

I'll come back and post a link to the game, once it gets set up, for folks to peruse. Unseen Servant is a basic forum format, so pretty easy to check things out. :)
Be well everyone!
--Ron--

Mad Tom

#22
September 25, 2019, 01:38:29 PM
Quote from: rredmond;1105930It looks like we have a OSE PbP game starting on Unseen Servant. DM is looking to do a short, Halloween, play by post. Might be worth it to lurk (while it's going on) or a read (when it's done) to get a sense of how it plays. Some folks don't like the pacing of PbP (the slow pace is what draws me, due to scheduling ridiculousness, nowadays) but it's great to get a sense of how the game runs, as well as for newer players to learn the game as they go. But if anyone is interested in playing, the "looking for players" post is here: http://www.unseenservant.us/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=8906

I'll come back and post a link to the game, once it gets set up, for folks to peruse. Unseen Servant is a basic forum format, so pretty easy to check things out. :)
Be well everyone!
--Ron--

I happen to be the GM on that. :D

So far I've got three potential players interested. Once I've got 4 I'll set up the game. I'm throwing in the Advanced Fantasy and Dolmenwood character options. This is an old Labyrinth Lord adventure with a slight Dolmenwood re-skin so I can get a feel for the campaign setting before committing further.

I've run a couple Labyrinth Lord adventures in the past using PbP, and it's worked quite well, even though we ran at a very casual pace. I also learned the valuable lesson to always do side-based initiative in PbP games (winning side goes first, players post actions in any order). I'm expecting that OSE should be about the same.
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