OSR versus AD&D! Who does it better?

OSR versus AD&D! Who does it better? OSRIC, Dungeon Master Guide, Players Handbook, OSR, TSR

Make sure to explore the site. It's truly amazing :)

[midnightgreen]

AD&D is legendary for a reason, it's awesome. That said, 30+ years of learning about how to layout books really helps playability.

[mikep]

Your comment about being able to find rules in the DMG made me chuckle! We used to sit around the gaming table and quote page and paragraph about some obscure rule and how it was worded differently on another page or in some other book and then "calmly" discuss which version we should use. But this was half the fun of playing the game! I'm still running 1st ed. after 40 years, and I'm still finding things in the DMG that I never knew were there or just plain forgot about. But for new and/or younger players wanting to get into old school AD&D, OSRIC is the way to go.

[aaronsomerville]

There's something irreplaceable about the mystical ramblings of Gygax in the DMG. You'll just randomly blunder into sidebars about the magical properties of gems (that's a thing?) or advice on taxation. If you haven't read the 1E DMG at least once, you don't know anything about D&D.

[MarkCMG]

Thanks for the video! I dig deep into the DMG and other 1E AD&D materials on The Okay Grognard Show. I still run a 1E AD&D campaign in Lake Geneva, WI, birthplace of D&D.

[bitjim]

When I got the red dnd basic box set I thought the 2 books were the beginner version of some hard covers.
So I got the 2 Ad&d books and didn't realize they were different systems.
I was 14. We had so much fun.

[spudsbuchlaw]

Indeed, 3rd edition, or 3.0 as you say, AKA DnD 3e was where the Open Game License or OGL was created to make DnD "Open Source", as long as you abide by and append the OGL statement in your book. I say "Open Source" because they limited what you can use to a document, called Standard Reference Document. That's how Pathfinder 1e worked. ADnD is different enough to get around that a bit, so luckily we can basically make whatever DnD stuff we want, sans trademarks like Melf, Greyhawk, Beholders, DM, etc

[Merlinstergandaldore]

AD&D 1e is certainly my go-to, but I appreciate what OSRIC accomplished. It's an extremely well put together reference document, but it did lose some of the nuance of the system it was fixing, things that I certainly miss in practice. I love Old School Essentials as my retroclone of choice, though, which takes its place alongside pure AD&D 1e as my favourite.

[dsan]

I love AD&D, but if I were to run a game now using this style, I'd either run Old School Essentials Advanced Fantasy (Player's Tome & Referee's Tome) which is Basic/Expert but with AD&D separate race and class options (as well as AD&D monsters), or OSRIC which is just a fantastic piece of work.

Back in the day, we "graduated" from Basic Expert, and if we didn't understand an AD&D rule (which was most of them as often they were hidden beneath several layers of Gygaxian verbosity) we'd just use the Basic Expert rule. Pretty sure that was most people's experience!

Looking through the Combat section of OSRIC was great though. I had lot's of, "Oh, so that's how it was meant to work!" moments.

[BX-advocate]

My favorite is playing Basic/Expert using Old school essentials.

[w]

I like playing Basic Fantasy Roleplaying Game. it is a generic osr based on the classic rules. it is also free but the books are super cheap if you want a physical copy as well. I love playing with my daughters who are both younger.

[ravenshadowz]

After years of not having the AD&D books, rebought them, off of Amazon, and Ebay, mine look almost as if they are still new. I would not try to use them to play AD&D with because of how old they are, and I would not buy the POD because the covers are just not the same and does not have the feel of the originals. I agree with you OSRIC is more well suited to to playing AD&D, because of how well organized it is. I enjoyed your video very much! :)

[xyonblade]

I do still adore the ad&d 1e books, but they do need to be edited and laid out in modern software. They could be re-released in a much better/friendly format.

[SwordlordRoy]

General feel I've gotten was that OSRIC is the ideal for playing, it's the book you hand to your players and so on, but the 1e DMG and expansion books (perhaps even the two monster manuals and the fiend folio) are excellent DM resources...of course the Unearthed Arcana, dungeon survival guide, and Wilderness Survival guide have some player use as well (alternate races and skills), but that's up to the DM to decide.

[sophie]

Gosh, no wonder I had issues trying to set up a dnd game with my dad's old copies of ad&d dungeon masters guide and monster manual when I was 12! Literally didn't even know there was a basic version or that the players guide existed.

[ryanthomasjones]

I played a little AD&D 2e back in the day, but I've played so much 5e now that I've completely forgotten how it worked. So I ordered my 1e manuals from DMsguild. I have had the hardest time getting my mind around why Gygax set everything up in terms of inches, like it was supposed to be played on a grid, but yet you don't have the gritty tactical decisions like you do in 5e. OSRIC has been really helpful for making down how combat was supposed to work in 1e.

[josephmoreau]

Thanks for making the video! The OSR game I have found to be the most enjoyable for me has been Lord & Dragon.

[parttimed.m.]

I love that you feature ose funness ;)

[parttimed.m.]

Loved your video. My preference is old school essentials

[grymhild]

I started playing Moldvay basic and expert D&D in 1981, and started AD&D in 1982.

I think OSRIC explains the actual AD&D rules a lot better than Gary Gygax's ramblings in the 1e DM's Guide, especially initiative.

OSRIC has better rules reference, AD&D has more flavor

[slaapliedje]

A whole lot of the flavor for the old school RPGs is simply the artwork. It just makes me happy for some reason. Also think the artwork is better in PF2e vs PF1e. Like you can feel they became 'safer' for some with 2e. In a similar fashion that 2e of AD&D 2e's artwork became less about demons and devils.