Labyrinth Lord is one of the first products released in the Old School Renaissance (OSR) and helped establish the OSR as a thing. It has also been a catalyst for the many fine products produced since under the Labyrinth Lord label. A major impetus for the creation of the original generation of OSR systems was a desire to allow designers to legally print new adventures and various pay-aids for the older, out-of-print editions of the world's most popular role-playing game without violating copyright laws.
As a simulacrum, Labyrinth Lord adheres closely to the 1981 edition commonly known as B/X (Basic/Expert) and as such recreates one of the most popular formats of the game. The LL Advanced Companion allows players to introduce many of the features found in the original Advanced edition of that same world's most popular role-playing game while staying consistent with the Labyrinth Lord specific mechanics - something which varies somewhat among the original product lines which inspire these products. Labyrinth Lord achieves a system blending which many of us will be familiar with, having done our own "blending" of Basic and Advanced back in the day.
A couple of years ago the folks at Goblinoid Games combined the content of their separate Labyrinth Lord and Advanced Companion volumes to give us Advanced Labyrinth Lord - dare I say "the one game to rule them all". Advanced Labyrinth Lord covers most of the bases and is currently available in POD with a limited edition Halloween cover (and at a slightly lower price!) - see picture above.
As a fan of the original edition of the world's most popular role-plying game I of course want more - and Goblinoid Games provides. What I think may be missing from Advanced Labyrinth Lord - namely my beloved White Box - is provided in Original Edition Characters. With the addition of this POD softcover digest sized book, one can come as close as possible to playing the game in a 1974 style.
If it sounds like I am a fan of Labyrinth Lord, I am. Careful readers may notice I tend to bounce around the OSR much like a honey bee in a flower garden. My current brand of OSR "nectar" is Labyrinth Lord. Much like the original Tom Moldvay Basic that inspires it, Labyrinth Lord is written in a style that is easy to read and easy to understand. It contains a system that is both familiar and has the options to tailor your game exactly to your personal tastes. What more could one want in our bag of holiday treats? How about a spooky cover illustration!
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