OSR Rules Review: Delving Deeper

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[RobbiGraves]

Regarding the "all weapons do a d6 damage" thing: the original rules assumed you would be using Chainmail, which has weapon class as well as armor class. If you attacked an opponent wielding a higher weapon class than yours, they got to roll an attack against you before you made your attack, even if it was your turn. And daggers were the lowest weapon class. So wielding daggers was a sure way to get killed. If you think about like a person wielding a dagger facing a person wielding a sword, the sword is longer, so they'll hit you before you can get in range with your dagger. By the time the Greyhawk settlement came out, it was clear no one was using Chainmail, so weapon class wasn't a thing. Therefore, variable weapon damage was introduced.

[freddaniel]

Being a huge fan of ODD, I appreciate the tone of Delving Deeper and the omissions that are mentioned add to the appeal rather than detract from it imo as they prompt each referee to make the game uniquely their own.

[richardoquinn]

When you talked about the abilities of the elf not being explained they later clarified that in the delving deeper companion book. They also clarified some other rules too involving races and classes in the delving deeper companion too.

[jesserodriguez]

Delving Deeper is my favorite 0D&D clone. I know S&W gets a lot of love, but I feel like DD covers more ground, especially for the DM. It has wilderness exploration rules, tables for such, and dungeon stocking. The archaic language is annoying at first but soon becomes part of the fun.

[sunsin]

Crazy how many variations of the "original" rules are out there. I've settled on Swords & Wizardry & OSE as my systems of choice for the time being but it's interesting to see the various tweaks.

[jasonmabry]

I have JUST started getting in to 0e/ODD this past month and I had no idea this existed. This is a GREAT video, thank you!!!!

[thekiltedwoodworker]

I've been playing the DD ruleset for many years, with several DMs, as Simon Bull has developed and tweaked and cleaned up the rules. And, in full disclosure, I was one of the guinea pigs in his playtests and one of the editors for most of the versions. I've thoroughly enjoyed all of the years of questing and fighting and exploring and looting I've been able to do during this time. Is my opinion biased? Yep. It is.
Is it the only OSR rule set you should play? No! Not at all. Is it the best one? I've no idea. Certainly I prefer it over Chainmail and OD&D. Is it worth giving a go if you love the Old School Revolution? Absolutely. Yes.

[johngleeman]

So interesting that older editions of D&D used the d6 and percentile dice for a lot of the mechanics resolution. :3

[BusyBadger]

Perfect timing! 👍

I'm a big OSR proponent, but for some reason haven't gotten around to DD. Just started looking into it on Monday night!

[chrismedders]

Version 4b is on Immersive Ink's download page.

[MrRourk]

I was running this until Ruins of Arduin came out.
Iron Falcon and Planet Eris are very good OSR OD&D rules takes as well.

[captainnolan]

I would rate this an 18, 18, 20 for a total of 19! AMAZING!

[RobbiGraves]

I'm a Swords and Wizardry Whitebox fan, but I do look up things in Delving Deeper when I want a second opinion on a mechanic that sticks closer to the Original Rules. I use the free online version (version 4), which has rules terms hyperlinked to their definition, so it's easier to use as a reference.

[SeenBeatleofDoom]

I might be interested in getting the print-on-demand rules book. Delving deeper feels old school even for an OSR game.

[Hepabytes]

I really like the d6 damage for weapons. Since in d20 you always just use the single best weapon, since they all pretty much do the same thing.
I played with +1 for two handed weapons and reach for pole weapons, though.

[BlackDragonRPGReviews]

Definitely picking this up. Thanks for the review!

[Aaron-mjie]

I've heard about Delving Deeper, but never actually took a look yet. (There's just so much out there that it's easy to forget about something.) This reminds me a bit of 7VoZ.

[BTsMusicChannel]

9:36 I read, write and edit every day. Send Turnbull my way when he works on the next edition. I can see a lot of things that could be cut out out and replaced with more useful material on this page alone. For instance:
-- Get rid of "however" in the penultimate sentence. It doesn't even make sense because there is nothing that sets up a need for it. (-1 word)
-- In the last sentence, just say "Elves speak Common, Elvish, their alignment tongue, plus the languages of gnolls, hobgoblins and orcs." (-7 words)
I bet I can find a lot more throughout the document.

[ajaxplunkett]

Cap, you may not think so but this review of delving deeper was one of your best. Because this RPG has flaws and you were willing to be nuanced it came across as very fair without throwing softballs. The weapons price, weight and same damage mini discussion is a hallmark point.

As I was listening to your review I'm thinking the game is getting fair to above fair marks but the Value better be high on such a inexpensive print on demand item plus free PDF, and sure enough you nailed it- 20.

Reminds me in a way of Basic Fantasy RPG by Chris gonnerman. That game should have a similar / high Value rating.

Wish fulfillment question: Cap I hope someday you would consider doing a multi-part series on the origins of the retro clone RPG, the OSR movement and the games, famous and forgotten that were a part of it for near 20 years since 3.0D&D .

[TT-bwhn]

Nice review! Maybe White Box of Seattle Hill Games for next?