Sunday, March 6, 2011

My Vision Of The OSR

Rather than try to comment my concept in the post before this one I will just put my 2 cents here.

The R seems capable of standing for many things...Rules, Role-Playing, Renaissance...

To me it stands for Reborn. The rebirth of a style of gaming that was all but gone in the modern scene.

The Old School, for me, represents gaming from about 1974 to around 1985, right before the 'industry' really began to take hold. And for me my game will always be AD&D 1e. It was my first love and for all of its warts will always hold a special place in my life. I know everyone has that defining moment that is what makes them gamers to this day. AD&D is mine.

And it doesn't just represent RPGs to me. It's also Wargaming, Chess, obscurity's like 3M's Feudal and board games like Chopper Strike and Carrier Strike.

The rebirth is not dependent on any particular set of rules. To me it includes everyone from Runequest to Tunnels & Trolls, Empire of the Petal Throne to Traveller.

And modern games like Labyrinth Lord and Osric, Microlite to Swords and Wizardry and more.

I myself have latched onto the Microlite concept as being the most flexible and sharing the better aspects of the New and Old School and am basing my own project around the fine work that many have contributed to the little (3 page) game system that could.

(And all you guys are getting credit in the front of this beast when it's ready :)

In the months to come I hope we can continue to have open dialogue about this hobby and what it means to each of us. There are no wrong answers. There is no wrong way to play.

And I want to point out that I am not against new games or styles. There is some very impressive work being done out there and to all the bloggers who bring us all the news a hearty thank you. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would ever see tabletop gaming have such passion directed at it again. But I'm glad I was wrong.

Enough babbling from me. It's still the weekend in many places around the world and I hope your day is going well and that your game is rolling right..natural 20s to everybody.