Answering Zak Smith’s OSR guide for the Perplexed questionaire.

  1. One article or blog entry that best exemplifies the OSR Too many to list, but my current jam is Mazes: The Monotony or how to run an actual maze. A few features stand out about it that makes it OSR to me: First, it recognizes an aspect of gaming that is boring and offers a solution to reconcile that boredom. It offers a simple house rule with minimal game stats as a solution, and then builds a whole adventure using random tables and even a save or die trap or two.

  2. My favorite piece of OSR wisdom/advice/snark: “Draw maps, leave empty spaces” - Technically this is from Dungeon World, which might not strictly be OSR if you ask some people, but the idea that a more loosely defined world is more conducive to fun is definitely an OSR position.

  3. Best OSR module/supplement: The Age of Undying is a fun little DCC supplement that showcases the gonzo nature of DCC.

  4. My favorite house rule (by someone else): It’s not exactly a house rule, but ACKS’s expansion on the Race as class rules, where the “Elf” class becomes a special class that only elves can take.

  5. How I found out about the OSR: In 2013, Wizards of the Coast gave away PDF copies of the Temple of Elemental Evil as a Halloween special on Dndclassics.com. I pulled out my 1e PHB and DMG, and started looking for character sheets online. I happened across the Dragonsfoot forums, and the rest is history.

  6. My favorite OSR online resource/toy: Donjon has a bunch of fun random generators.

  7. Best place to talk to other OSR gamers: Frog God Games’ Discord and MeWe’s OSR Group are the primary two places I check out these days.

  8. Other places I might be found hanging out talking games: Google Plus, and I have a bad Facebook habit.

  9. My awesome, pithy OSR take nobody appreciates enough: The OSR and the Storygame movement are actually addressing the same problems. Storygamers and OSR folks have more in common with eachother than the average Pathfinder Society gamer.

  10. My favorite non-OSR RPG: I’m enjoying Fate Core for its simplicity.

  11. Why I like OSR stuff: It’s a combination of nostalgia, and a distaste for the overly complicated and “rules as physics” aspects of 3e and later.

  12. Two other cool OSR things you should know about that I haven’t named yet: I’m a pretty big fan of Swords and Sorcery Complete. It’s got the charm of B/X, but the polish of some of the newer editions.

  13. If I could read but one other RPG blog but my own it would be: Swords and Stitchery has a ton of great random tables.

  14. A game thing I made that I like quite a lot is: I wrote up a one page simpliefied summary of Combat for OSRIC and AD&D 1e.

  15. I’m currently running/playing: I’m currently running a 5e campaign in it’s 4th year, and playing Blades in the Dark, and I’ve just started a Shadowrun game as a player.

  16. I don’t care whether you use ascending or descending AC because: I’m not a math hipster.

  17. The OSRest picture I could post on short notice: Beholder RIP Dave Trampier