For some reason, I'm surprised that the OSR movement hasn't tried to revive the older term "FRP" in place of RPG. To me, RPG is a term that has been (successfully) appropriated by the video game industry to cover a wealth of things not always related to pen and paper games.

Is it just the genre thing that the F implies? My oldest version of CoC is subtitled "Fantasy Roleplaying in the Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft" and I saw even Traveller referred to as an FRP back then, though not by the publisher.

To my thought any sort imagined setting is 'fantasy' so I think it still fits just fine.

Because the OSR has always been about D&D and nothing else.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;854341Because the OSR has always been about D&D and nothing else.

Even if that were true I'm not seeing how it matters since D&D is generally focused on 'fantasy'... so FRP still fits just fine.

I'd guess it's because the "OSR" isn't an entity with marketing strategy and planning and direction.  It's a very loosely connected group of sorta like-minded individuals and small companies that are sometimes going in kinda the same direction, except when they're not.  And nobody has thought of it (or if they did, they decided not to run with it).

If you like the terminology, start using it.  Maybe it will catch on.

(FWIW, I don't have a strong preference one way or the other, but I do think the "FRP" terminology is nifty.)

Quote from: Christopher Brady;854341Because the OSR has always been about D&D and nothing else.

Incorrect.

 It also includes multiple old school games: RuneQuest, Basic Role-Playing, Traveller,  Boot Hill, Rifts, Gamma World, Metamorphosis Alpha, Rolemaster, Call of Cthulhu, Marvel Super Heroes, Star Frontiers, Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game, Tunnels & Trolls, etc.

The OSR also includes the various retro-clones being published.

But it's never been limited to only D&D.

Wait, so would Zweihander be considered OSR? Because when I hear FRP, the first thing that comes to my mind is Warhammer. FRP almost doesn't sound right to me without a W in front of it.

The OSR hasn't reclaimed FRP because the OSR does not exist as a monolithic entity.  The OSR is whoever wants to be OSR. Want publish an OSR game? Publish a game and call it OSR. Others may or may not agree that it is an OSR game, but there is no governing authority to make it stick.

Lamentations of the Flame Princess, one of the flagship OSR games, uses "Weird Fantasy Role Playing" as it's subtitle.

I was always fond of the extremely vague yet completely accurate "Fantasy Adventure Game".

Quote from: Simlasa;854342Even if that were true I'm not seeing how it matters since D&D is generally focused on 'fantasy'... so FRP still fits just fine.

Sp what non-D&D game is called 'OSR'?  Just because a game is OLD enough to fit under that title does not make OSR.  Simply because Runequest et al. SHOULD be considered OSR, they're not.  For some reason.

But then, I personally disagree with what OSR is.  It doesn't exist, past some nostalgic concept by people who either have a certain playstyle they miss from their high school or younger days, or by people who took the bait, hook, like and sinker, and try to emulate this 'groupthink' style of gaming.

Doesn't mean it hasn't produced some good games, it's just not that common a play style, because even to this day, we all play games a unique way to us.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;854381Sp what non-D&D game is called 'OSR'?

Any game I play in an OSR style?

In many ways I have trouble getting OSR. I still play OD&D from the three little brown books. I still play 1e Metamorphosis Alpha. I still play Traveller (classic).

Does that make me an OSR gamer? Does it make me "old school"? I don't play them the way I played them 35+ years ago. My GMing style and my playing style have evolved over time.

Many OSR and retro-clone games don't really appeal to me because I still have the originals to play if I want to.

I don't think of Stars Without Number as a particularly "old school" game, despite its D&D based mechanics.

Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures is clearly based on D&D, but it is not at all old school, nor a retro-clone. It takes a new approach to the old mechanics and is a style of play that would have been quite foreign to us back in the day.

As for FRP, RPG is what stuck and I don't think we'll see a strong movement to replace it or rename the hobby after all this time.

Quote from: Simlasa;854385Any game I play in an OSR style?

Ah, so you co-opted the term to refer your personal play style.  As opposed to what people wanting to sell you copies of OSRIC or Labyrinth Lords or other D&D based product that supposedly mimics a certain play style back in the mid-late 70's.

Unfortunately, the latter use is what we're talking here:  Why hasn't games like Runequest or Traveler or whatnot been called OSR, the answer is that no one's remade an older version of them, rather focused on D&D products and called them OSR.  Which is also why FRP hasn't been co-opted.

Quote from: Christopher Brady;854388Ah, so you co-opted the term to refer your personal play style.

Nonsense, I'm pretty much thinking of Matt Finch's Primer... that was the thing I read and saw how it aligned with my tastes... not necessarily how I'd every actually played but how I'd like to play... a set of descriptors to aspire to. Not much of it is limited to D&D.
I really don't give a crap if it's historical or not... for me it's a revolt against certain trends in RPGs and an embrace of a DIY attitude.

Quote from: Simlasa;854395Nope, I'm pretty much thinking of Matt Finch's Primer... that was the thing I read and saw how it aligned with my tastes... not necessarily how I every actually played but how I'd like to play... a set of descriptors to aspire to. Not much of it is limited to D&D.

Again, it's you co-opting someone else's interpretation.  Nothing to do with the actual topic at hand.  You might believe that Runequest and them are Old School, (and I would agree with you) but it's not what's been marketed.