"I won Dungeons & Dragons... and it was Advanced!"
Anyone remember that quote?
An entire OSR rule-set under 20 pages. Crimson Dragon Slayer D20 (now, Advanced Crimson Dragon Slayer) is a hybrid of BX and 5e. "D&D in arcade-mode" as Prince of Nothing once put it.
Yeah, I updated it again... this new version includes significant changes. I hope you like it. Still free!
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/303380/Crimson-Dragon-Slayer-D20-Revised
Goes great with Cha'alt, but not limited to the greatest eldritch, gonzo, science-fantasy, post-apocalyptic campaign setting ever made. ;)
See you at VENGER CON III: Revenge of the OSR next July in Madison, WI.
VS
What are the significant changes?
The most significant since the last update is probably alignment. What I had just wasn't getting used, so I put in specific abilities with cosmological context that will actually get people reading and using alignment in their OSR games. I added more races, those specific to Cha'alt. I also codified how to earn Divine Favor, and included a couple different varieties of the character sheet.
Everything else was just a minor fix or moving content around so it fit well.
Thanks for the question, if you have others just ask!
VS
Venger didn't mention, but this is free on DTRPG! So reading it to find out what he did costs nothing but time!
Looks like fun. Short, simple rules. Nothing complicated. Some typical "Venger" rules following his general theme we are all familiar with. :D
Skills are meet or beat 15 with a d20, with the caveat "Perception and Interaction (among other things) will be roleplayed".
I also like the: random questions have a 2 in 6 change of being answered in the affirmative. Our homebrew suggests the GM rolling percentile dice and the player tries to meet or beat it with their own percentile dice, so that was a cool addition.
You're right, I missed that. I usually mention it's a free PDF up-front, but nope... not this time. Thanks!
I love the percentile, beat the GM house-rule! BTW, everything in this ruleset has formed organically from actual play... nearly 100 one-shots and convention games over the last few years and currently an 8-month campaign that's still going strong.
BTW, for that 15+ skill difficulty target number, if your class would give you a leg-up, you can add your level to your roll. I also use Advantage / Disadvantage.
Early next week, I'm going to announce a contest (mentioned in the product description on DTRPG) about suggesting a new Cha'altian race for PCs that will be included in the next update. Go nuts!
Quote from: VengerSatanis on September 02, 2023, 09:28:07 AM
Early next week, I'm going to announce a contest (mentioned in the product description on DTRPG) about suggesting a new Cha'altian race for PCs that will be included in the next update. Go nuts!
I might have an entry for that. Inspired by a (wanna-be) author Discord I'm on. Could even give it the Cha'altian spin (meaning, having R+ rated aspects of the race).
Cool. I'm willing to hear all submissions, no matter how crazy. I just put up a session report this morning for yesterday's Cha'alt campaign on my blog, so will most likely announce that contest in a couple days. But feel free to hit me up early, if you want.
Unscripted & Unchained did a video review of Advanced Crimson Dragon Slayer a couple days ago. He glossed over the alignment system, which is unfortunate, because that contained one of the few major changes... but otherwise, a thorough critique: https://youtu.be/Qwy6AU1irvk?si=xSEIG56RpBJtir-5
Why would you blend 5e with the greatness that is OSR gaming? 5e is WotC's tainted product. I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.
Quote from: WightKing on September 22, 2023, 06:59:41 AM
Why would you blend 5e with the greatness that is OSR gaming? 5e is WotC's tainted product. I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole.
Assuming this is a legit question, I'm happy to answer. While I do think the vast majority of B/X D&D is superior to 5e, a plurality of the OSR does prefer ascending AC. And I happen to think that Advantage / Disadvantage is the proverbial silver lining to the modern D&D cloud. Really, those are the main things I borrowed from 5e.
Also, the OSR can be more than just original D&D and it's many retro-clones. A renaissance implies innovation, or at the very least, exploration of new techniques and ways of interpreting or implementing traditional practices.
I wholeheartedly agree with you. Adv/disadv and AAC are good improvements to the systems, but I guess it ends there. But that's my personal opinion :)
It's more that WotC have been destroying the game and scene. For instance: I read on DrivethruRPG on the page of WotC's products:
"We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end."
They state TSR's stuff is racist.
Sorry for the short rant. I'll keep an eye on your product! BACK on SUBJECT :)
and I appreciate you replying, Venger!!
Quote from: WightKing on September 23, 2023, 08:53:32 AM
I wholeheartedly agree with you. Adv/disadv and AAC are good improvements to the systems, but I guess it ends there. But that's my personal opinion :)
It's more that WotC have been destroying the game and scene. For instance: I read on DrivethruRPG on the page of WotC's products:
"We (Wizards) recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website does not reflect the values of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial, and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end."
They state TSR's stuff is racist.
Sorry for the short rant. I'll keep an eye on your product! BACK on SUBJECT :)
and I appreciate you replying, Venger!!
Looks like we're on the same page. Aside from those two rule upgrades, I don't see much to recommend 5e over B/X or any retro-clone. Bounded accuracy maybe? I like the concept more than I like how 5e implemented it, and I don't even know if they kept up with it. I stopped running 5e about two years in.
Advanced Crimson Dragon Slayer stops at level 10 and AC can only go up to 20. I use
Crimson Escalation for every combat, so battles never really last more than 4 rounds, unless it's a boss.
No prob on the reply. Thanks for commenting, hoss!
VS