Returning TTRPGer trying to learn the OSR community

[Rayer]

Hello everyone!  I am a returning tabletop player after many years away.  I am aware forums often have beginner topics pop up from time to time so if I just need to be pointed to a proper place for the information instead of talking in this topic please let me know.  No need for a "reset the clock" moment 

I began re-immersing myself by talking to some players more local to me about suggestions and this of course led to D&D 5e.  However as I went over it I found it just wasn't much for me and I began learning about this thing called...  The OSR!  It seems really neat and I have of course got some experience with playing old D&D many years ago, mostly AD&D 2e.  I have watched MANY videos on the subject and obviously found RPGPundit and my way here.  However I'm still left with some questions and maybe there are some answers here?  I hope anyway...  I'll just pose a few.

I have noticed that OSR Essentials is probably a great resource for a one-stop shop on running a super wide variety of games.  PDF's are ok but really I would like books to have.  I did find that there is a nice couple of sets but currently aren't being printed or are awaiting another release by Necrotic Gnome.  Is it true that these sets are very limited run and done in editions?  Are previous versions less desirable or more?  Would I be better off just waiting a little while for their next proposed version to release?

Another thing I noticed is that community interaction might be a little opaque at times.  Hard to locate at least for me.  I did find my way here but I'm more used to Discords or other formats.  Is this a favorite spot or is there a larger community for the "True" OSR to gather and chat?

Anyway I guess that's enough for now.  Hopefully these are some welcome questions and maybe we can discuss.  Thanks!

[GeekyBugle]

If you like games based on B/X you might like Basic Fantasy, their PDFs are free to download and the printed books dirt cheap.

Link to their downloads page: https://www.basicfantasy.org/downloads.html

Link to buy the printed books: https://www.basicfantasy.org/buytherules.html

[Rayer]

Ok thanks for that!

But this immediately brings up another question for me...  What is B/x?    This was a thing I noticed as well, I'm waaaaay behind on current terminology.  Or maybe it's even older terminology and I'm just that clueless.

[Armchair Gamer]

Ok thanks for that!

But this immediately brings up another question for me...  What is B/x?    This was a thing I noticed as well, I'm waaaaay behind on current terminology.  Or maybe it's even older terminology and I'm just that clueless.

  Here's a quick breakdown: "OD&D" is most often used to refer to the original 1974 white books, although sometimes it's also used to refer to what is also called the 'basic' game as opposed to AD&D. Products that refer to the "White Box" are typically designed for use with this set of rules, and "Swords & Wizardry White Box" and "White Box: Fantastic Adventures Rules" are replicas of it. ("Swords & Wizardry Complete", by contrast, is based on this game plus the various supplements--Greyhawk, Blackmoor, Eldritch Wizardry,etc.)
  "Holmes" is the blue-covered 1978 Basic rules, named for J. Eric Holmes, the editor. Since this was meant to lead directly into AD&D (unlike the later Basic sets, which were more distinctly their own game), it doesn't get as much attention, but the "Blueholme" retroclone is out there.
  "B/X", "BX," "Moldvay" and "Moldvay/Cook" are various ways to describe the 1981 Basic and Expert sets, edited by Tom Moldvay (Basic) and David "Zeb" Cook (Expert), with covers by Erol Otus. This is what Old School Essentials uses for its baseline. It's also cloned by Basic Fantasy and Labyrinth Lord, and used as a baseline for numerous variations, such as the Adventurer Conqueror King System.
  "BECMI" or "Mentzer" refers to the 1983 revision of Basic, edited by Frank Mentzer, with covers by Larry Elmore, and later collected into the Rules Cyclopedia. This one doesn't have nearly the following of B/X, with Dark Dungeons (by Gurbintroll Press) being the only retroclone I'm aware of.
   AD&D and AD&D 2E are pretty self-explanatory. AD&D is retrocloned by "OSRIC," AD&D 2E by "For Gold & Glory." Worthy of note is "Adventures Dark & Deep," which tries to be a variation based on the hints Gygax dropped about where he was planning to take AD&D for a second edition.

[GeekyBugle]

Some of the books on the list ( very few IIRC) aren't available anymore but this is a great resource:

http://taxidermicowlbear.weebly.com/dd-retroclones.html

[Jam The MF]

Welcome to the dark side.  Enjoy the milk and cookies.

[Rayer]

Oh that's a great help.  Yeah I didn't think it would be too easy to find out a lot of this info quickly without asking some questions.  I suppose my question about the OSE that Necrotic Gnome is making kind of remains...  Is it specifically desirable or not for any reasons?  I am pretty quickly noticing the alternatives being mentioned.  Is there any reason that those might be more desirable besides cost maybe?

[GeekyBugle]

Here's a quick breakdown: "OD&D" is most often used to refer to the original 1974 white books, although sometimes it's also used to refer to what is also called the 'basic' game as opposed to AD&D. Products that refer to the "White Box" are typically designed for use with this set of rules, and "Swords & Wizardry White Box" and "White Box: Fantastic Adventures Rules" are replicas of it. ("Swords & Wizardry Complete", by contrast, is based on this game plus the various supplements--Greyhawk, Blackmoor, Eldritch Wizardry,etc.)
  "Holmes" is the blue-covered 1978 Basic rules, named for J. Eric Holmes, the editor. Since this was meant to lead directly into AD&D (unlike the later Basic sets, which were more distinctly their own game), it doesn't get as much attention, but the "Blueholme" retroclone is out there.
  "B/X", "BX," "Moldvay" and "Moldvay/Cook" are various ways to describe the 1981 Basic and Expert sets, edited by Tom Moldvay (Basic) and David "Zeb" Cook (Expert), with covers by Erol Otus. This is what Old School Essentials uses for its baseline. It's also cloned by Basic Fantasy and Labyrinth Lord, and used as a baseline for numerous variations, such as the Adventurer Conqueror King System.
  "BECMI" or "Mentzer" refers to the 1983 revision of Basic, edited by Frank Mentzer, with covers by Larry Elmore, and later collected into the Rules Cyclopedia. This one doesn't have nearly the following of B/X, with Dark Dungeons (by Gurbintroll Press) being the only retroclone I'm aware of.
   AD&D and AD&D 2E are pretty self-explanatory. AD&D is retrocloned by "OSRIC," AD&D 2E by "For Gold & Glory." Worthy of note is "Adventures Dark & Deep," which tries to be a variation based on the hints Gygax dropped about where he was planning to take AD&D for a second edition.

Oh that's a great help.  Yeah I didn't think it would be too easy to find out a lot of this info quickly without asking some questions.  I suppose my question about the OSE that Necrotic Gnome is making kind of remains...  Is it specifically desirable or not for any reasons?  I am pretty quickly noticing the alternatives being mentioned.  Is there any reason that those might be more desirable besides cost maybe?

That you can currently buy them?
That (in some cases) you can legally download the PDF and see if you like the game before buying the printed books?

Of course the price is also a big contender.

[Rayer]

Yeah availability is nice for sure.  I suppose aesthetic, layout, and long-term quality of the print are more important to me than immediacy or price.  I was more concerned over whether I might be supporting a publisher I might not want to or if perhaps that OSE material isn't really the starting point I'm actually after as well.  I don't plan to branch off of a core system for a while or at least I hope not to. 

I primarily played a lot of AD&D 2e but after the research I have already done I believe a 1e clone may work out better for my purposes.  I'm currently taking my time to create a setting and later adapt the necessary rules set.  I was also interested in looking into the Hyberborea line and taking some choice mechanics from that.  But maybe I'm putting the cart before the horse.

[deadDMwalking]

If you're interested in physical books, I recommend checking out Noble Knight Games.  Some out of print books can get pricey, and I don't think you can avoid that (other than using the significantly less expensive PDFs).  Of course, not everything made it to print anyway.  In any case, they've always been good to me; I've always gotten what I've ordered and never had any problems. 

Edit - Here's a Link to a listing of their OSE offerings. 

[Rayer]

If you're interested in physical books, I recommend checking out Noble Knight Games.  Some out of print books can get pricey, and I don't think you can avoid that (other than using the significantly less expensive PDFs).  Of course, not everything made it to print anyway.  In any case, they've always been good to me; I've always gotten what I've ordered and never had any problems. 

Edit - Here's a Link to a listing of their OSE offerings.

Hey thanks for that as well!

So yeah I'm still noticing that there may be different versions of those books.  And does the pricing vary?  I'm not AS concerned with price of course but I don't want to overpay just because a first edition is higher than a third or fourth edition.  If it's the same material reprinted with new art that doesn't exactly matter to me.

[GeekyBugle]

Yeah availability is nice for sure.  I suppose aesthetic, layout, and long-term quality of the print are more important to me than immediacy or price.  I was more concerned over whether I might be supporting a publisher I might not want to or if perhaps that OSE material isn't really the starting point I'm actually after as well.  I don't plan to branch off of a core system for a while or at least I hope not to. 

I primarily played a lot of AD&D 2e but after the research I have already done I believe a 1e clone may work out better for my purposes.  I'm currently taking my time to create a setting and later adapt the necessary rules set.  I was also interested in looking into the Hyberborea line and taking some choice mechanics from that.  But maybe I'm putting the cart before the horse.

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea is good. And it's based on 1e.

OSE is based of the Basic D&D from the Basic Expert set.

[Rayer]

Yeah availability is nice for sure.  I suppose aesthetic, layout, and long-term quality of the print are more important to me than immediacy or price.  I was more concerned over whether I might be supporting a publisher I might not want to or if perhaps that OSE material isn't really the starting point I'm actually after as well.  I don't plan to branch off of a core system for a while or at least I hope not to. 

I primarily played a lot of AD&D 2e but after the research I have already done I believe a 1e clone may work out better for my purposes.  I'm currently taking my time to create a setting and later adapt the necessary rules set.  I was also interested in looking into the Hyberborea line and taking some choice mechanics from that.  But maybe I'm putting the cart before the horse.

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea is good. And it's based on 1e.

OSE is based of the Basic D&D from the Basic Expert set.

Ok great.  Please correct me if I'm wrong on this though...  Is the OSE Advanced Expansion not also pretty much 1e?

[Armchair Gamer]

Ok great.  Please correct me if I'm wrong on this though...  Is the OSE Advanced Expansion not also pretty much 1e?

  OSE Advanced translates the 'stuff'--races, classes, monsters, spells, magic items--from 1E to OSE (aka B/X rules), but doesn't give you all the rules and details of AD&D 1E. So your classes will have lower Hit Dice, your fighter-types won't have exceptional Strength, etc.

[Rayer]

Mmm...  Ok this is helping me clear up some stuff then.  I might be better off looking at one of the alternative 1e OSR core books with that in mind.  And while I don't mind paying a fair price for a nice product I'm seeing some stuff for upwards of $300 USD and that's not really what I'm looking to spend starting out.  Thanks.