Tap into the OSR with the Questing Beast newsletter: bit.ly/Glatisant Join the Questing Knights on Patreon: bit.ly/QBPatreon Download my RPGs and adventures: bit.ly/ItchStore My favorite OSR books: bit.ly/TopOSRBooks
What's great about what OSE does with the advanced class/race options is that this is the way a generation of kids played D&D organically. Like, they'd buy the AD&D books and use the race and class options but disregard most of the clunky rules in favor of more B/X style play. OSE is simply a codified version of the way everyone played to begin with.
I've gotta say man, I really appreciate these reviews you're doing of Old School Essentials. I started playing D&D right when 3.5 dropped, but since then, I've always wanted to try out the older versions but never had the chance to. 5e just doesn't click for me (but I don't fault others for liking it, different strokes and all that), so I've been looking for something new in the D&D world, and I think these books may be the path forward. Just gotta wait for shipping to reopen to the US on Necrotic Gnome's shop. Awesome work with these!
I've been listening to your AD&D DM Guide. Its not stupid, for me its really helpful as I do not have time to read myself but I do have time to listen while driving. So thank you
Another great review. Now my attention has been drawn to the OSR movement, it makes the more modern games on my shelf look like rules encyclopaedias. It's very refreshing to revisit this genre of roleplaying, when things were said in as few words (and pages) as possible.
I feel spoiled by Necrotic Gnome. After watching your channel for sometime I've become kind of a layout snob. I was looking through the Ghosts of Saltmarsh adventure recently and all I could think about was how inefficiently the entire book was laid out. How rooms went across pages, started at the end of pages, how the monsters are all at the end of the book (ew), and just generally how the editing felt lazy. Like they wrote the manuscript, slapped in some pictures, and called it a day. I feel like someone at WotC really needs to watch your videos and get their shit together when it comes to book layout. Meanwhile these little indie companies are putting out books with a lot of thought going into usability and readability.
They are committee designed and thus shuffled away to appendices. It makes sense they'd be so compartmentalized. I'd chalk it up to them trying to tell a narrative rather than giving tools to a story teller. If you play a game, then you optimize the HUD if you will, the space, the information for use. I'm going to go with a theory that a lot of people who don't DM or maybe even play write those books for WotC.
I have just got into the osr zine scene and im AMAZED by how well they layout the pages in general. I'm a graphic designer, so those zines to me are porn.
4:21 Wait... Curing poison, great fighting, lives off the land, can hit ghosts, AND can summon an army from nowhere? Didn't realize Aragorn was a Barbarian...
I find these to be eminently usable books. They look and feel very sturdy, and their small size means holding them in one hand is easy and comfortable. Now my collectors edition of Warhammer Fantasy 4th edition, that is a book I don't actually want to use. I mean I do, but I would slice the fingers off anyone who dared touch it.
Hey, is there anything out there on running domain play? It's *such* a change from the kind of game most players are used to that you'd think there would be. if not, it definitely seems like Necrotic Gnomes wheelhouse.
Honestly most OSR systems kind of blur together in my head. They're all just compilations of the author's favorites rules glued together, and they're all cross compatible. When I run D&D, I just use whatever rules I can remember off the top of my head.
I wouldn't say "best" but I'd like to add Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures to list of what I consider notable OSR games. Character creation in that game is unique, a lot of fun, and binds the party together right out of the gate. Weird inconsistent art style in the books though, which is a shame. Otherwise a quality game. But if you're looking for something a little more out there I can't recommend Torchbearer enough, it's not a D&D game, it's based on Burning Wheel, but it seeks to really dig deep into the dungeon crawl genre and simulate it in a way I've never seen done before.
Beyond the Wall is an excellent OSR game for it's unique method of character creation, magic system, and setting creation. My other choice, though not strictly OSR if you are a purist (though just as much OSR as Black Hack or any modern system under the banner) is Dungeon Crawl Classics.
Would you say this is the best 1e AD&D clone? As in with the characters you make with the OSE (including these books) can be run easily in something like the Dragon Lance modules or something like Temple of Elemental Evil (AD&D original). Or is there something closer to the original (beyond the actual old books?) that you would recommend?
I can't speak for OSE as I presently only have the Classic rules tome but these advanced supplements do claim to make OSE compatible with 1e ADnD. However, my understanding is that either OSRIC or Labyrinth Lord are full 1e retroclones. I would certainly check out OSRIC as i was especially impressed with the PDF copy i have.
Oh, that's the downvote fairy. I'm going to miss him when he eventually moves on. It honestly kind of heartwarming that someone out there cares this much about my channel.
@@QuestingBeast I think there's bits that downvote things, because I've been one of the first viewer on videos (not just yours) before and they already have downvotes.
nice books but i think most players will be better of simply playing 2nd Edition inverting Thaco into bonus to hit. You have like 20 expansion books for free as well for 2e
I know the whole OSE line is just reformatting rules from classic D&D but honestly the Advanced Genre Rules is a disappointment. Core OSE is nice for formatting the B/X stuff well whilst touching on a lot of the key points the Basic sets addressed. Good quick reference books. For this book though, all it adds are new classes & races (of which you're likely to only use a few) with a smattering of other optional rules like poison, necromancy, and proficiencies. There's nothing covering domain play, diseases, lycanthropy, adventures at sea or in the sky, towns, sieges, spell research, not to mention the absolute mass of tables to help pre-generate content that you'd find in the incredibly poorly edited AD&D rules. I get that the book's purpose is not to entirely replicate AD&D but what it offers is absolutely paltry in comparison, and probably stuff you could have home-ruled anyway. You're much better off just buying the AD&D books if you want to use rules from them, they'll offer far greater value at the expense of readability.
The downvote is probably from a certain other TH-camr who can't stand other RPG channels being popular. Maybe the kind of TH-camr who would go so far as to make a phoney account especially for harassing other RPG guys. Can't imagine what kind of neckbeard would do that :)
![KRK - ชนิสรา Ft.WanMai , N/A [Official MV] Prod. By Sakarin](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/C-WMwwYobcU/mqdefault.jpg)
Tap into the OSR with the Questing Beast newsletter: bit.ly/Glatisant
Join the Questing Knights on Patreon: bit.ly/QBPatreon
Download my RPGs and adventures: bit.ly/ItchStore
My favorite OSR books: bit.ly/TopOSRBooks
Have you tried 27th Edition Platemail? Basically rules for making Chainmail more of a rpg. Something like Fantasy Trip.
What's great about what OSE does with the advanced class/race options is that this is the way a generation of kids played D&D organically. Like, they'd buy the AD&D books and use the race and class options but disregard most of the clunky rules in favor of more B/X style play. OSE is simply a codified version of the way everyone played to begin with.
You speak briefly about domain level play in this video, I’d love to see a video covering that topic in greater detail. Excellent content as always!
OSE is quickly becoming my favorite OSR game. Necrotic Gnome rocks!
Re watched this. The nostalgia and the layout of this book, top notch.
I've gotta say man, I really appreciate these reviews you're doing of Old School Essentials. I started playing D&D right when 3.5 dropped, but since then, I've always wanted to try out the older versions but never had the chance to.
5e just doesn't click for me (but I don't fault others for liking it, different strokes and all that), so I've been looking for something new in the D&D world, and I think these books may be the path forward. Just gotta wait for shipping to reopen to the US on Necrotic Gnome's shop.
Awesome work with these!
Can't wait for the Advanced monsters, Demons/Devils and Oriental Adventures type books that have been hinted at
I know their considering a kickstarter for a box set reprint maybe part of that? Be nice to see sounds cool
I want to play a ninja so bad
What happened with these?
I've been listening to your AD&D DM Guide. Its not stupid, for me its really helpful as I do not have time to read myself but I do have time to listen while driving. So thank you
Another great review. Now my attention has been drawn to the OSR movement, it makes the more modern games on my shelf look like rules encyclopaedias. It's very refreshing to revisit this genre of roleplaying, when things were said in as few words (and pages) as possible.
I feel spoiled by Necrotic Gnome. After watching your channel for sometime I've become kind of a layout snob. I was looking through the Ghosts of Saltmarsh adventure recently and all I could think about was how inefficiently the entire book was laid out. How rooms went across pages, started at the end of pages, how the monsters are all at the end of the book (ew), and just generally how the editing felt lazy. Like they wrote the manuscript, slapped in some pictures, and called it a day. I feel like someone at WotC really needs to watch your videos and get their shit together when it comes to book layout. Meanwhile these little indie companies are putting out books with a lot of thought going into usability and readability.
Yeah most WotC books are almost unusable at the table.
They are committee designed and thus shuffled away to appendices. It makes sense they'd be so compartmentalized. I'd chalk it up to them trying to tell a narrative rather than giving tools to a story teller. If you play a game, then you optimize the HUD if you will, the space, the information for use. I'm going to go with a theory that a lot of people who don't DM or maybe even play write those books for WotC.
I have just got into the osr zine scene and im AMAZED by how well they layout the pages in general. I'm a graphic designer, so those zines to me are porn.
4:21 Wait... Curing poison, great fighting, lives off the land, can hit ghosts, AND can summon an army from nowhere?
Didn't realize Aragorn was a Barbarian...
Shhhh! Everyone will want to play one now.
I can’t wait to pick all these books up. I like how they’re organized. Hopefully this virus ends soon so I can get back to work.
I’m in on the Kickstarter for $230 as of now. Can’t wait to dive into this. Hoping it will be my OSR game of choice for a long time to come.
Wish they still sold the spell books seperate
I’d love to see you review Torchbearer RPG, especially with the new Kickstarter going live.
12:16 color spray: a blind creature can not attack?
I love/hate when my books look so damn good that I don't want to actually use them.
Right there with ya.
I find these to be eminently usable books. They look and feel very sturdy, and their small size means holding them in one hand is easy and comfortable. Now my collectors edition of Warhammer Fantasy 4th edition, that is a book I don't actually want to use. I mean I do, but I would slice the fingers off anyone who dared touch it.
I was trying to remember what game it was that did these things and here is your video randomly in my recommendations! 😁
I think they are terrific add-ons
I want more Wormskin!
Hey, is there anything out there on running domain play? It's *such* a change from the kind of game most players are used to that you'd think there would be. if not, it definitely seems like Necrotic Gnomes wheelhouse.
How does this contrast with the BECMI stuff? Big divergence or will it naturally progress similar ways?
Reprint already!!!! I just came across OSE and can’t get the books!
Great review, thank you! Can i run AD&D second edition modules with these rules?
Yes, I think the conversion would be pretty minimal
Where can I go to get a good summary of the different ("best") OSR games and what their particular strengths are?
Honestly most OSR systems kind of blur together in my head. They're all just compilations of the author's favorites rules glued together, and they're all cross compatible. When I run D&D, I just use whatever rules I can remember off the top of my head.
I wouldn't say "best" but I'd like to add Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures to list of what I consider notable OSR games. Character creation in that game is unique, a lot of fun, and binds the party together right out of the gate. Weird inconsistent art style in the books though, which is a shame. Otherwise a quality game. But if you're looking for something a little more out there I can't recommend Torchbearer enough, it's not a D&D game, it's based on Burning Wheel, but it seeks to really dig deep into the dungeon crawl genre and simulate it in a way I've never seen done before.
Don't know if this will be helpful but I'll share it anyway. taxidermicowlbear.weebly.com/dd-retroclones.html
Beyond the Wall is an excellent OSR game for it's unique method of character creation, magic system, and setting creation. My other choice, though not strictly OSR if you are a purist (though just as much OSR as Black Hack or any modern system under the banner) is Dungeon Crawl Classics.
Picked these up in PDF, and will probably get them in hardcopy ... once the world settles down again.
Would this work with other OSR systems? Like S&W white box?
Sverfneblin is easier to remember saying when you think of *Smurfs*. Mind blown?
I always pronounced it as "Su-irf-NE-blin".
Note to self: When running an assassin's guild, kick out all members upon their reaching 11th level.
You can TRY
May have been asked elsewhere, if so I apologize. Are the Advanced Fantasy Rules stand alone? Or, should I get the Basic Fantasy Set as well?
They are an add-on, so you need the Classic Fantasy Rules Tome or the Boxed Set if you want a complete game.
Would you say this is the best 1e AD&D clone? As in with the characters you make with the OSE (including these books) can be run easily in something like the Dragon Lance modules or something like Temple of Elemental Evil (AD&D original). Or is there something closer to the original (beyond the actual old books?) that you would recommend?
I can't speak for OSE as I presently only have the Classic rules tome but these advanced supplements do claim to make OSE compatible with 1e ADnD. However, my understanding is that either OSRIC or Labyrinth Lord are full 1e retroclones. I would certainly check out OSRIC as i was especially impressed with the PDF copy i have.
WHERE's THE MONK
Who downvotes a review like this?
Oh, that's the downvote fairy. I'm going to miss him when he eventually moves on. It honestly kind of heartwarming that someone out there cares this much about my channel.
Satanists.
@@jeremytitus9519 No no, Satanists love old school D&D.
@@QuestingBeast I think there's bits that downvote things, because I've been one of the first viewer on videos (not just yours) before and they already have downvotes.
nice books but i think most players will be better of simply playing 2nd Edition inverting Thaco into bonus to hit. You have like 20 expansion books for free as well for 2e
I know the whole OSE line is just reformatting rules from classic D&D but honestly the Advanced Genre Rules is a disappointment. Core OSE is nice for formatting the B/X stuff well whilst touching on a lot of the key points the Basic sets addressed. Good quick reference books. For this book though, all it adds are new classes & races (of which you're likely to only use a few) with a smattering of other optional rules like poison, necromancy, and proficiencies. There's nothing covering domain play, diseases, lycanthropy, adventures at sea or in the sky, towns, sieges, spell research, not to mention the absolute mass of tables to help pre-generate content that you'd find in the incredibly poorly edited AD&D rules. I get that the book's purpose is not to entirely replicate AD&D but what it offers is absolutely paltry in comparison, and probably stuff you could have home-ruled anyway. You're much better off just buying the AD&D books if you want to use rules from them, they'll offer far greater value at the expense of readability.
I was so excited when I heard OSE was doing an Advanced book, then it came out....
What a load of 💩 😒
The downvote is probably from a certain other TH-camr who can't stand other RPG channels being popular. Maybe the kind of TH-camr who would go so far as to make a phoney account especially for harassing other RPG guys. Can't imagine what kind of neckbeard would do that :)
What are you talking about?