I frequently see people asking about which OSR game system they should play. Below, I have reviewed twenty different OSR systems. I have tried to keep these reviews factual so that they are a resource for others, but if you want to know what I think, then there is a link at the bottom of the page to my own analysis.  Please note that I am primarily interested in the game rules, and so I haven’t commented on art, layout or print quality. I haven’t played all of these games, so these are ‘reading’ reviews. If I don’t specify otherwise I’m looking at the pdf version. The games are listed in ..read more

The earliest versions of D&D were about resource management, whether that was food, water, light, or HPs. A key component of that was managing encumbrance. Given that the characters were tomb robbers and treasure seekers, a large part of that involved working out how to carry the treasure out of the dungeon. While no one is going to argue that a statue or antique desk are heavy and difficult to transport, the approach to the weight of coins has provoked some ire.  Both D&D and AD&D (PHB, p.102) set the weight of coins at one pound per 10 coins (10 CN). For many, this seems ex ..read more

State my assumptions In comparing these systems I think I should start by setting out my assumptions and, so far as I am aware of them, my biases.  Aim: I am comparing OSR systems because I like the OSR playstyle. I am sick of 5E. I’ve tried to run OSR style games in 5E, and the system was fighting me the whole time. Even making a lot of DM-side world changes, the actual 5E classes (and in particular multiclassing) are so overpowered and high magic that it made any kind of simulation of recognisable reality very difficult. So, I am looking for the best system that supports OSR style play ..read more

I’ve had a request for copies of the zone maps without labels. Here they are! zone-one-no-labels-1Download zone-two-no-labels-1Download zone-three-no-labels-1Download known-lands-no-labels-1Download hobs-lake-no-labels1-1Download ..read more

Now that I have published the revised (and hopefully final) version of The High Moors, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the project.  The inspiration for The High Moors was Ben Robbins’ West Marches campaign (which you can read about here). I wanted to create an open world sandbox like the West Marches. I liked the idea that there was a map and a wild wilderness in which secrets and ruins lay waiting to be explored. I was attracted to the plotless nature of such a game (albeit there are schemes aplenty going on that can be discovered, but the characters decide what to be i ..read more

I have been looking into ‘Adventures in Middle Earth’ (AiME), the Cubicle Seven 5E Dungeons and Dragons remake of their game The One Ring. It is a interesting game. I really like the way they have presented a low magic version of D&D, and I have been looking at whether I could transplant those low magic character classes to a non-Middle Earth game. The character classes broadly mirror the main character classes in the Player’s Handbook. The one exception I think is the Wizard where they have had to do major surgery to create a version of the Wizard (the Scholar) that doesn’t have any spel ..read more