I'm certain that 5e is relatively "backwards compatible" with OSR and old D&D stuff.  Although I have little experience at the moment.

How would a 5e third party product be recieved by people who play OSR games?

Quote from: joewolz;874080I'm certain that 5e is relatively "backwards compatible" with OSR and old D&D stuff.  Although I have little experience at the moment.

How would a 5e third party product be recieved by people who play OSR games?

I certainly can't speak for the so-called OSR, because it's a very amorphous group with varying interests, but as someone who plays O/AD&D and related simulacrums (and buys modules for them), I'm happy to share my opinion.

I can modify monster stats and such easily on the fly, so I don't feel limited at all by what the module's native stats are. I'll run an AS&SH module in AD&D. I'll run a Labyrinth Lord module in AS&SH. I'll run an OD&D module in AD&D. I'm sure I could easily ignore a module's 5E stats and run it in O/AD&D. Not a problem at all. It's a DIY kind of community anyway. What's more important to me is the module's design philosophy and dungeon structure. For better or worse, when I look at a sea of modules, one of my questions will be, "What's the preferred system of the guy who wrote the original version?" If the answer's 3E/4E/5E/PF, it's going to be an uphill battle regardless of how the stats are presented. Again, just my two cents.

Quote from: joewolz;874080How would a 5e third party product be recieved by people who play OSR games?

I'm sure the 5e stuff can be resold on eBay.

There is just so much OSR stuff - and crazily specific OSR stuff (aka, adventures for 0e vs. B/X vs. 1e) that OSR gamers don't need to reach beyond their niche. There's an overwhelming flood of new OSR good stuff out there, atop the revisiting of TSR stuff via D&D Classics PDFs.

However, the DIY / kitbash ethos means that many OSR fans are happy to hammer whatever they buy into their campaigns.

Also, there are plenty of OSR gamers who are enjoying 5e - or choking it down to have players - and they would definitely be open to buying stuff they could use for both of their gaming tables.

I won't be surprised somebody is going to publish a "How to Old School 5e" PDF in order to reach out to OSR gamers.

A related question, how well would OSR material, namely settings and modules work with 5e?

Quote from: Arkansan;874202A related question, how well would OSR material, namely settings and modules work with 5e?

They work fine. The power curve of 5e is only a little above that of OD&D.

Quote from: estar;874214They work fine. The power curve of 5e is only a little above that of OD&D.

Really? Interesting. I haven't had much time to look over my 5e books but I had heard some complaints that the PC's got powerful too fast. So the curve is much closer to OSR standards?

I've been running a campaign for about a year and the PCs are about level 4, some just level 5. A few of them wanted it to go faster. I only award experience when quests are completed.

How fast is that progression compared to OD&D?

As for OSR, most of the DCs look about the same ball park.

IMHO, they aren't even slightly compatible. Completely different scales for attack bonus, armor class and hit points.

3e is more OSR compatible (at least up to mid levels) than 5e, since it's largely the same scale up to mid, low-ish high levels. 3e really gets crazy past 12th level or so, but it's armor class starts at 10 and goes up to about 40, while OSR goes from 10 (or 9) to 30 (or -10). Attack bonuses in OSR generally go from +0 to +17 (at least 1e) while in 3e it's to +20.

In 5e, everything is smushed down. Except hit points. It had inflated hit points like 3e (which get crazy after 10 HD/levels or so).

And in 5e, mobs of low level monsters are much more dangerous than in OSR games.

Quote from: Arkansan;874202A related question, how well would OSR material, namely settings and modules work with 5e?

Works great IME. Mobs are indeed more dangerous in 5e than in most pre-3e versions of D&D, but that's a feature not a bug. I like it that 20 orcs feels a bit threatening to 10th level PCs.

Quote from: Arkansan;874236Really? Interesting. I haven't had much time to look over my 5e books but I had heard some complaints that the PC's got powerful too fast. So the curve is much closer to OSR standards?

First off while it is similar it is achieved through a different mix of mechanics. OD&D progresses much in the same way as BECMI D&D and AD&D 1st and 2nd but the curve is much more flat. If you are playing the core book only hit points are not dramatically different either as MUs get 1d6-2, Clerics a 1d6 and fighters 1d6+2. Everybody uses the same to hit chart just progresses along it differently.

For example at 16th level OD&D fighter has in essence a +12 to hit. This kicks in for clerics at 21st level, and Magic-Users at 26th level.

D&D 5e has a to hit and chance of success curve similar OD&D. At 17th level D&D 5e character generally have a  +10 or +11 (depending on their attribute) bonus to their rolls. Also all character classes progress in the number of ways they can deal damage and the amount of damage in 5e.

However in OD&D and 5e, character are vulnerable to attrition tactics in a way that disappeared in AD&D 1st edition. A horde of CR 1 monster is still dangerous to a high level 5e party. But also the party will be slaughtering members of that horde left and right with a variety of means.

Finally I done this in the 5e games I ran. Took older D&D module from 1st edition days or Judges Guild and subbed in the 5e stats. Worked just fine with a flow of play similar to how my Swords & Wizardry games went. With 3e to some extent and definitely 4e, older modules dragged out indeterminately as combat consuming much of the session.

Quote from: JeremyR;874241IMHO, they aren't even slightly compatible. Completely different scales for attack bonus, armor class and hit points.

However the real world time it takes to resolve combat, the capabilities of the party versus monsters/NPCs with different combinations of levels and HDs are very similar in practice.

All you need to do is sub in the 5e stats for any classic D&D/Judges Guild adventure and it just works.

Quote from: estar;874274However the real world time it takes to resolve combat, the capabilities of the party versus monsters/NPCs with different combinations of levels and HDs are very similar in practice.

All you need to do is sub in the 5e stats for any classic D&D/Judges Guild adventure and it just works.

Yup, that fits my experience.

Quote from: Arkansan;874202A related question, how well would OSR material, namely settings and modules work with 5e?

I've run several AD&D modules with 5E rules and overall it has worked well. The big thing to remember is that 5E gives XP for monster kills and not for treasure, so it's probably good to follow that rule when running old school stuff or you'll find that characters level up way too fast.