OSR

The Old School Renaissance (also known as Old School Revival), or OSR, is a movement in tabletop roleplaying games dedicated to a playstyle derived from the rulebooks of classic RPGs, like the early editions of Dungeons & Dragons. The OSR is a decentralized, democratic game design philosophy, so there is no singular definition or authority on the movement, but there are some broad commonalities to OSR games at large. The mechanics of OSR games tend to originate from Basic/Expert D&D, as revised in 1981 by Tom Moldvay and Dave Cook. Hallmarks of these games include random character generation, perhaps rolling 3d6 for their stats to determine their capabilities; rolling a d20 and adding bonuses to beat target numbers or opponent's armor or defense scores; random tables for dungeon generation, NPC attitudes, and encounters; limited inventory and character abilities; and hit points that determine how many hits your character can take before they're defeated. None of these are ubiquitous; any given OSR game might or might not use these mechanical touchstones. Many streamline, update, or remix these rules as well. One thing that does tend to unite OSR games is the "old-school" gaming philosophy. This emphasizes "rulings over rules," meaning the game master's adjudication is more important than exhaustive rules for every situation in the book. OSR games tend to be very light on rules for this reason. Characters also have generally lower power levels than heroic fantasy games, as the OSR is more concerned with creative problem solving and player skill than character powers. These games eschew "game balance" and prewritten plots in favor of clearly established scenarios that players must decide how to navigate for themselves. If their characters can't win a head-to-head fight against a dragon, they must come up with a clever plan or run away! The OSR movement began in the mid-2000s, and has exploded in popularity over the last two decades. OSR games exist in all genres, from fantasy to science fiction, cyberpunk to western, lighthearted to deadly serious. Some of the most popular entries include Shadowdark, Mothership, Mörk Borg, Into the Odd, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Old School Essentials, Cairn, and "retro-clones" like Basic Fantasy, which aim to faithfully reproduce classic editions of D&D. There are even some games which embrace the "NSR," or "New School Renaissance," as designers produce second- and third-generation iterations of OSR games. What makes an OSR game? If a game associates itself with the Old School Renaissance, you can generally expect light, modular rules you and your table can make your own, an emphasis on player skill in the face of serious danger, the real possibility of defeat, open-ended challenges, and unscripted play.