Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2007 20:14:24 GMT -6
Can someone tell me about this. A friend said that he thought it was "classic d&d reprinted" or something like that. I've been looking for old d&d rules on e-bay (the ones I have are pretty tattered) so maybe I should just go for a new copy instead of a used one.
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Post by philotomy on Sept 2, 2007 20:30:19 GMT -6
Well, it's free as a PDF (you can download it from here). It's very similar to (and inspired by) the 1981 Basic and Expert rules (edited by Moldvay/Cook/Marsh, with the Erol Otus covers), but it's OGL. It's similar to OSRIC in that it's designed as a tool for publishers (including fans) who would like to be able to produce products for "classic" fantasy-role-playing without infringing on anyone's trademarks, et cetera. It has very nice interior art. It's not 100% compatible with B/X Classic D&D (probably for legal reasons), but it's close enough for most purposes. (Now that AD&D has OSRIC and Classic D&D has Labyrinth Lord and BFRPG, I wonder how long will it be before somone produces an OD&D-oriented OGL rules-set?) |
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Post by Finarvyn on Sept 2, 2007 20:43:14 GMT -6
There is sort of a terminology issue to resolve here. You may not be aware of it, but many of the posters are sticklers for such things so you should be careful in your word choice if at all possible. ** "Original" is usually reserved for the brown book editions of D&D. Boxed set, supplements. ** "Classic" is usually reserved for the later D&D: Holmes "Basic", Mentzer/Cook "Basic/Expert" (B/X), Moldvay BECM, and the Rules Cyclopedia. This board is specific to OD&D; "Original Dungeons & Dragons". As much as possible we try to focus on that one version because there are other boards who mix "original" and "classic" together and OD&D gets lost in the background chatter. Having said that, your question is a good one and is worth some sort of reply. I'm not an expert on most of the so-called "retro" or "clone" games (BFRPG, OSRIC, LL) but have at least skimmed through the rules for them. Others may be able to give you a better answer. As best as I can tell, Labyrinth Lord FRPG is most closely matched up with B/X and not OD&D. Some differences I spotted offhand include: -- LL uses race as a class, as does B/X. OD&D keeps race and class seperate choices. -- LL uses plus modifiers that look similar to B/X. Most of the modifiers are standardized (+3 fo r18, +2 for 16-17, and so on) whereas in OD&D they are not. -- LL seems to have relaxed many of the racial level restrictions from OD&D. -- Boxed set OD&D used a d6 for all weapon damage, LL has various dice types as per Greyhawk or B/X D&D. Basically, there is no "classic D&D reprinted" on the market, if the game you are looking for is OD&D. If you have B/X D&D, LL seems to be pretty close. EDIT: Argh. Philotomy beat me to it.  |
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Post by Finarvyn on Sept 2, 2007 20:46:06 GMT -6
(Now that AD&D has OSRIC and Classic D&D has Labyrinth Lord and BFRPG, I wonder how long will it be before somone produces an OD&D-oriented OGL rules-set?) A good question. I'm starting to wonder if my quest in life should be to pursue this particular "holy grail". I'm tired of waiting for others to do it, and if they did I would probably try to tinker with it anyway.  |
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Post by philotomy on Sept 2, 2007 23:15:55 GMT -6
Tinkering would be a great temptation; I can just imagine: "shouldn't I put in some initiative rules or a combat round sequence...boy, this should use the Greyhawk XP bonuses/hit dice/ability modifiers...et cetera. However, I agree that a "core" OGL version should be true to the three little books, leaving out the same things they left out.
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Post by danproctor on Sept 3, 2007 8:21:11 GMT -6
OGL version should be true to the three little books, leaving out the same things they left out. I've done two of these projects now (Labyrinth Lord and GORE) and I can tell you that you will end up needing to change small things here and there anyway, for legal reasons, which will get you some (even if mild) criticisms from the community you write this for. It just can't be helped, but you can reduce it if you resist the urge to add or subtract material (i.e. house rules). On Labyrinth Lord, the changes from its inspiration material, I would argue, do not affect compatibility at all for third-party modules and the like. It only affects compatibility if you tried to play in a group where some people used LL while others used the original books. XP is slightly different, and other algorithms may be the same, with the same probabilities, but they are expressed differently enough that you might not realize that it is the same thing but with different expression and/or resolution on the surface. There are only a few things that deviate very much, but again this is transparent if you are only interested in LL as a reference document and source for new monsters, modules, etc. |
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WSmith
Level 4 Theurgist
Where is the Great Svenny when we need him?
Posts: 138
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Post by WSmith on Sept 5, 2007 7:03:22 GMT -6
Tinkering would be a great temptation; I can just imagine: "shouldn't I put in some initiative rules or a combat round sequence...boy, this should use the Greyhawk XP bonuses/hit dice/ability modifiers...et cetera. However, I agree that a "core" OGL version should be true to the three little books, leaving out the same things they left out. I am going through the spells now. I am very slow at it, but if I can get the spells done, we will such a document. |
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Post by Finarvyn on Sept 6, 2007 12:18:18 GMT -6
Looking forward to seeing what you put together. :-D
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Post by crimhthanthegreat on Sept 6, 2007 18:12:27 GMT -6
An OGL OD&D clone would be great. There are several good writers represented on here and it would be cool to see you all published.
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Post by simrion on Oct 27, 2008 13:46:19 GMT -6
An OGL OD&D clone would be great. There are several good writers represented on here and it would be cool to see you all published. DOH! Never mind...found the S&W forum  No one has stumbled across this yet? Or is it posted in a different location? www.swordsandwizardry.com/It's essentailly the 3LBBs and some Supplement 1 |
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Post by ffilz on Oct 27, 2008 14:04:36 GMT -6
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