OSR: 1978

Basics. An “Old School Game” comes from the 70’s and 80s, like Original DnD, Holmes, and and 1e. Some lists include others, like Rune Quest and Traveller. Jason on Redcaps says the OSR (old school renaissance) passed through a middle period with the internet and the Open Gaming License, and then entered the current with websites like DriveThruRPG, with 10,000 OSR ‘products’.

An old school story. In 1978, I walked to my after school job at a fast-food place. Coming home one evening I stopped in a hobby store and saw the blue, Holmes edition rule book – with the dragon and the tables with armor, elves, and numbers (I didn’t know the book was originally one piece in a “boxed set” that someone had already opened). A guy at the counter sold it to me. My friend Kent and I played a year before seeing 20-sided dice.

How people played. I confess to having actually liked the hobbits and low-level magic users, but I included this picture of Kull the Barbarian because the prevailing attitude was playing a strong fighter. For example, in ADnD, which came out in the 80’s, if you “rolled” an 18 strength, you would roll percentile dice to determine your added strength, like 18-33 or 18-92. I remember characters with 18 strength, 18-75 strength! And two-handed swords. 

Feel free to comment or send a picture.



Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 5, 2022 at 5:09 PM

    I have only played a few games, half 5E and half OSR. In none of them was I a fighter, maybe next time? So far a bumbling Hobbit thief, a beginner magic user, a pretty cool nature loving whosiwhatsit, ... what else? Never a fighter.

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