Castle Oldskull 74

[Finarvyn]

Anyone familiar with this?

castleoldskull.blog/the-oldskull-post-archive/

Seems that Kent David Kelly (who did the Hawk & Moor history of RPGs and I think used to post here as "Kent") has become active in the blogsphere and has posted part of his own old school D&D style clone with the tagline "1974 Mindset. 1970s Dark Fantasy. 1981 B/X Engine. 2023 Design." You can download a copy of the thing here, and it's free if you click on CUSTOM and insert zero for your price.

preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/452648/OLDSKULL-SWORDS--SORCERY--Book-One-Adventurers--Unillustrated-Edition?affiliate_id=418302

What drew my attention to the whole Oldskull project was actually a blog article about Gygax and Tolkien. He has a lot to say and I've only read his first few blog entries. I'm not sure that anything is totally new or innovative (so far), but he clearly has put a lot of thought into this and has some interesting things to say.

Anyway, I was curious as to whether or not anyone else had discovered this material.

[jeffb]

I downloaded it yesterday.

I gotta be honest- it was 30 something pages before it even got to making a character and that was an instant red flag for me in a OSR game based on Moldvay/Cook/Marsh. I realize that it's really trying to get those unfamiliar with the old school mindset of the day into that headspace ,give lots of examples, add flavor, etc....

After about 50 pages of scanning and reading bits here and there yesterday, I gave up. I tried again this morning and skimmed through and realized this is 347 pages. 13th Age is 322 pages and it's filled with a good bit of art, the campaign setting, an adventure, the monsters, the DM rules/advice, etc- AND is a rules light reaction to 3E and 4E, not an OSR game.

I believe I would prefer reading Kent's BLOG instead for his ideas/alterations, or even better buy a product that a supplement of alternate rules/flavor/more stuff (ala early Arduin). There is some good stuff here for additions to your game, but as a stand alone game manual?....