Advanced Rules Cloning

OSR Beginning and Beyond
As I understand it, the Old School Renaissance is the outgrowth of various online forum discussions. One of the first (maybe the actual first?) publication to come out of this revival/interest in the older game(s) is OSRIC (Old School Reference and Index Compilation) created by Stuart Marshall and Matthew Finch in 2006 under the Open Gaming License (OGL) using a System Reference Document (SRD). The stated purpose of OSRIC, and by extension many OSR retro-clones, is to allow publishers to produce new material for the Advanced Game (also compatible with Basic and White Box as well). The print on demand services allow for hard copies of OSRIC to be purchased for use at the table as well as OSRIC being available in its original digital format.

OSRIC, now in its second edition, cleans up and reorganizes the Advanced system and in some ways is a more usable product than the original. OSRIC drops some of the complicating rule bits that most in the hobby, myself included, exclude from play such as the weapon verses armor class matrix. If I am asked about someone new getting into the Advanced Game, I shall say, go get OSRIC for use at the table, but read the original for that period "Gygaxian" feel. Mr. Gygax put a lot of himself into the original Advanced Edition volumes (especially the DM Guide) and his writing voice should be experienced by any serious student of the game.

Soon after the publication of OSRIC and retro-clones of Basic, White Box, Holmes and the other originals, several OSR enthusiasts reinterpreted the older games, adding new ideas and produced essentially new games based on the original system concepts. Thus we now have what may be called the second generation OSR games. Joseph Bloch of BRW Games has designed his version of Advanced beyond 1e. Adventures Dark & Deep is his interpretation of what a second edition of Advanced might have looked like had Gary Gygax written 2e (or had more influence on it). Drawing from articles, subsequent games written by Mr. Gygax after he left TSR, the online postings of Mr. Gygax, and Mr. Gygax's Unearthed Arcana (TSR), Adventures Dark & Deep is based on, and perhaps reflects much of, the post 1e thinking of the original Advanced game author. Additional character classes (heavily influenced by UA), spells, monsters and treasures and some streamlining of the rules is added, all whilst retaining the feel of the first edition. Therefore Adventures Dark & Deep gives the OSR audience a nice "what if" product that takes the game beyond 1e. I find Adventures Dark & Deep much to my liking and the excellent Castle of the Mad Archmage mega dungeon is quite compelling. I have yet to run Adventures Dark & Deep, but I hope to do so someday...soon!

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea, published by North Wind Adventures, is an awesome game based on the 1e system, but with an emphasis on a more swords & sorcery feel. Written by Jeff Talanian who worked alongside Mr. Gygax in his later years on such projects as Castle Zagyg, Astonishing Swordsmen is set in Mr. Talanian's Hyperborea setting (likely named after a fictional setting of author Clark Aston Smith) which strikes me as one of the most engaging published settings I have had the good fortune to encounter. Hyperborea and the Astonishing Swordsmen rules are both rich in a swords & sorcery tone, one which I have enjoyed since first discovering R.E. Howard's Conan stories (my reading of Clark Ashton Smith came later). I have not had the pleasure of playing at Mr. Talanian's table (although I understand he runs a number of convention sessions, so maybe someday?), but I have enjoyed several Astonishing Swordsmen convention games set in his setting of Hyperborea and I have refereed a short campaign of my own in Hyperborea, finding it engaging and fun to run.

Goodman Games produces some of the best adventure modules written to date under the marketing slogan, "first edition feel!" and in 2012 they added their own entry into the OSR rules system field. The Dungeon Crawl Classics Role Playing Game, written by company owner Joseph Goodman, borrows concepts from older systems such as race-as-class and also from newer systems such as the ascending AC, fortitude, reflex and willpower saves, and combines them with new system material inspired by Mr. Goodman's extensive research into Appendix N (DM Guige 1e) to create a modern masterpiece. The DCC game is well supported both by the publisher and by several third party entities and has a unique, fun flavor that is fresh and challenging (in a good way). In the last two years I have played in, and refereed, more DCCRPG sessions than those of any other system. That should give you, dear reader, a good indication of my positive feelings for this game.