I started playing RPG’s due to the influence of the mid 80’s Dungeons and Dragons cartoon. I remember finding out swiftly after watching that it was based on a game, less swiftly was I able to secure a copy of the game itself. I don’t exactly remember the exact time-frame between seeing the cartoon on Saturday morning, and getting “The Classic Dungeons and Dragons” game box, but I imagine it was a number of years (at least 3-5). I can state that I did get the game around 1991, and have been playing on and off since.
Of course, by 1991, 2E was in full-swing, and when I decided to progress from my Classic D&D box (which was essentially a starter box that treated the game as if it was a board game) I bought up everything 2E. By the time I was done playing for a time (toward the end of high school, around 2000) I had amassed quite a collection which included a healthy number of 1E modules and tomes.
Unfortunately, like my Father’s 1960’s comic collection, these are all gone now. A victim of my Mother’s move from her last house to a smaller apartment, my own fault really. Sometime around 2018, I decided to jump back into tabletop roleplaying, and of course D&D is still the biggest name in the proverbial game (and literal game really) so I bought all the main 5E books, and I would be disingenuous if I said I did not have fun with them. But being both a collector, and curious about other games, and systems I wanted to explore further, also, I eventually wanted a game that was closer in proximity to what I played when I started.
That brings me to OSE (Old School Essentials). The Old School Renaissance has been going on for a few years now, and have a variety of books and systems that constitute it. What it essentially boils down to is games that strip rules down to the essentials of what D&D was prior to the early 2000’s. There are systems that try to replicate 3rd edition (I would not have called that old school) like Dungeon Crawl Classics, and some that replicate OD&D(Sword and Wizardry), but Old School Essentials and the majority of the systems have a tendency to focus on what is known as B/X or Basic Expert, the Cook/Moldway ruleset from the very early 80’s. Some will call this “First Edition”, and I wouldn’t exactly correct them, as this was one of the rule sets from the period of first edition, but as D&D has a number of competing rule sets during their earliest life, and this was just one of them. However, it was one of the most popular, and a very easy one to get into.
Old School Essential’s was put together by Gavin Norman who has created what is essentially a cleaned up and organized version of the B/X ruleset, but more on that in a little bit. Before I get into the main part of the review I want to clarify that Old School Essential’s is sold in 2 types of physical versions. A one book version and a multi-book set. What I’ll be reviewing is the single book versions, which contain LITERALLY EVERYTHING you can find in the smaller box set book versions. The advantage to the single book version is shelf-space and having everything in one place. The advantage to the box set is that they look great on a shelf if you are a collector, and it makes it easier to pass the content around to your players at a physical table. The PDF’s of these books can be purchased through Necrotic Gnome and the Physical Copies can be found through Exalted Funeral.
Old School Essential’s – Classic Fantasy – Rules Tome
Old School Essential’s comes in 2 formats Classic and Advanced Fantasy. Classic Fantasy basically is a clean replication of the rules from the B/X edition of Dungeons and Dragons. When I searched out this content, I was more interested in the Advanced Fantasy books, because I was told that it had more options, and was closer in play style to what I was started with. However, I was told by Exalted Funeral to give this book a look first to have an understanding of the B/X rules, before expanding on them, and so I did.
Nothing should shock players that grew up with pre-3rd edition D&D here. You have 6 ability scores, Saving Throws, Hit Points, and AC, however, AC is descending and not Ascending (there are rules included if you prefer Ascending AC. THAC0 rules and tables are included since descending AC systems in old school D&D did have scores to get Armor Class 0. I remember by the end of playing 2E cringing at THAC0 rolls, but coming back to it now in my few play sessions using the OSE books, I found it not only intuitive, but charming and fun to have it back in the game.
Some of the other things that this brings back are the concept of race as a class such as Dwarves and Elves just being a singular thing you are (Elves as an example are sort of a blend warrior and magic-user). Character creation is super-simple, because well…. the earliest levels of the game are extremely deadly. Don’t be surprised if you find your first characters dying super quick, especially if you’re coming from the super-combat heavy 5E. Of course, your character can become stronger (and even super-powered), but it takes a lot of time, and varies by class. One important thing to note is that games of the OSE/OSR variety don’t have table based solutions for every problem and role playing through situations is expected, where the DM/GM is expected to make a fair call based on how things are played out. There are sections here on spells for all magic classes, strongholds, using hirelings, and more.
Old School Essential’s Advanced Fantasy – Player’s Tome
The second book I looked over (and used for my own OSE sessions) is Old School Essential’s Advanced Fantasy. The main driver for this book is that it basically puts Advanced D&D over the top of the classic rules. Is it AD&D? No, but it takes some basic central conceits mainly splitting races and classes so that there are more options for players. In Basic Fantasy we had Dwarves and Elves as classes, here they are races, and then those races could choose a class. There are still sections for playing races as a class, and those are given expanded options here for both play as a race, and and as class (For example you can play a Drow as a race as a class or as a race, but this option was not in the classic book). As in the Classic Fantasy book this book includes all the magic spells available to magic-user’s in this book, plus rules on building and using strongholds, and hiring and using hirelings. These are especially important to know if you are new to old school gaming.
Old School Essential’s Advanced Fantasy – Referee’s Tome
Finally we get to the referee’s tome. This is the advanced fantasy version of the tome. This is an invaluable reference whether or not you are new to old school GM’ing. The first section explains how to design games in both wilderness play and dungeons, and writing encounters for both. The next section of the book is “Monsters”, and makes up most of the content, this includes stat blocks for most of the monsters in the game. It is HUGE and should keep your dungeons stocked for quite some time if you’re writing your own.
Unfortunately, and through no fault of their own this is where I had my only issues. I decided to pick up my own copy of TSR’s Against the Cult of the Reptile God to run with the system (which I did with zero issues). One monster in the book wasn’t given a stat-block which needed it, and since copyright apparently prevents some of the creatures from being given similar or same names, I did to do some digging to find the right one. Be warned going in that a Beholder is an “Eyes from the Deep” in the book. Like I said though, I get why this is a thing, and there is nothing that can be done. It’s a non-negative negative, it’s just something to remember when going in. The next section is on treasures, and this is followed by a variety of tables.
One last thing, Exalted Funeral were kind enough to include an Advanced Fantasy Reference Book. This is $4 to purchase from them, and includes what I believe to be all the tables in the books. It’s a small paperback, and packed with easy to access pertinent gameplay information. I would throw a copy in if you are playing at a physical table. This is an invaluable player resource at that price point.
Old School Essential’s is simply-put AMAZING. All 3 books we reviewed took the B/X system for D&D cleaned it up, and made it easily accessible for players new and old. Rather than hunt down reprints or old copies of the classic D&D content with questionable rulings I will say with conviction that Gavin Norman’s Old School Essential’s is definitely the way to go for your OSR fix. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED