OSR Review: Old School Essentials

Just received my kickstarter package from Necrotic Gnome for Old School Essentials. So lets pull off the box top, and see what's inside!!
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[@mikehill9806]

The Rules Tome is a gem.

[@doctorlolchicken7478]

Never heard of this. Looks great. This is the version of d&d I learned as a kid. Buying this now.

[@greggiggle]

your opening music is the only opening i watch every time...

[@thankukorea]

You should do a video explaining the difference between BX and BECMI ... Thanks for continuing to do such great videos

[@captcorajus]

As a matter of fact I have. Its in my older library. I did a 3 part video on the history of Basic D&D. :)

[@markcarey7421]

I gave up DM'ing a few years ago due to burnout and tons of books. This might have me revisiting DM'ing with my small gaming group. Well done!

[@1simo93521]

Got the black box and love it! Can't wait to start making some characters.

[@jamesdenson4730]

Received my set yesterday. Beautifully executed kickstarter. I am entirely happy with it. Was happily reading through my books last night. Great review as always Capt!

[@dsan05]

Old school essentials + the advanced genre addition (which is an ad&d extra you can add to old school essentials). Absolutely awesome. Just need to find some players who haven't been brainwashed by all that 5e power...

[@tr349]

Good Review. I picked the B/X Essentials after your review of them. Because of this review I have now picked up the Text Versions of the Old School essential to review for possible purchase in the near future.

[@mlfetlesjdrenbref1306]

Wow! What a great review. Love the information and presentation on these. Thank you for keeping us in the loop about all these games for our hobby enjoyment!

[@Kaddith]

I was hoping you would review this. Going to have to get a copy now.

[@maxwellchris]

This boxed set looks amazing! I want to get one just to have the thing so I can look at it whenever I want! The presentation and the art are the kind of thing that's been missing in RPGs for far too long!

[@SupremeCleave]

This review is so good I think I'll look into getting myself some Old School Essentials :)

[@olafbuddenberg4787]

You are so right concerning the index. :) ALWAYS include an index! :)

[@Znobishtucon]

Right before Necrotic Gavin change the name to "Old School" Essentials, the stripped-down text only .pdfs were available and I can't recall how much I paid, it was either the $3 donation tier for the kickstarter or through DriveThruRPG. I had learned about this from Benjamin Questing Beast and hearing you validate the quality of this makes me want to buy the whole enchilada. Even stripped of art and page layout this ruleset revision is so well done!

[@captcorajus]

I agree. If I was speaking to someone that never played RPGs before and wanted to recommend something easy and fun to play, THIS is the set I would direct them to.

[@Dracopol]

Awesome review! The style of this version of the oldest RPG with roots in 1981 B/X will knock the socks off of players. Just as you insist on an index, I insist on an adventure module to show the authors have "road-tested" the game.

[@hakdov6496]

Yeah, adventures should really include designer's notes on their experiences with it.

[@thomasroche4762]

I hope they will reprint the boxed sets as I am considering getting a copy as well as the advanced books or a science fiction ruleset

[@TheEldarGuy]

You had me cheering right up to the moment you mentioned the Drow and Svirfneblin. Oh, I'll be aiming to get a set as it looks amazing. I agree with you on the index; if the set included a glossary, would that add a bonus point?

[@captcorajus]

It does include a glossary, which is why I only took off 1 point.

[@TheEldarGuy]

I want to thank you Cap for all your work. My Patreon limit is already tapped, but I want you to know you've been an inspiration over these last years. I appreciate your effort. Thank you.

[@pedrobastos8132]

You should also take a look at the so called O5R games (Five Torches Deep, Into the Unknown, etc), rulesets that use are based on a stripped down version of 5e in order to replicate the Old School feel.

[@fairytalejediftj7041]

My version of "include an index" is that grognard is pronounced like cognac. So I can only give this video 19.5/20 😉

[@bromossunstarranger8706]

my books have the index as well

[@SeargentAwesome99]

Got mine yesterday! Glad to see you review it!

[@dhatch01videos]

My Kickstarter just arrived and the quality of these books is amazing. Thank you for the review!

[@themaninblack7503]

Agree about the index.

[@Wedneswere]

index, yes. good point.

[@gw_leibniz]

There are several indexes in the Rules Tome, just not in the smaller books.

[@hashishi9]

Well what do you know, you're still doing content :) Now I have to check the review for advanced rules of OSE

[@captcorajus]

Never stopped!

[@TheConfessor]

How does one contact you, Capt? I'm an OSR publisher and would be interested in finding out how one goes about convincing you to review a product.

[@captcorajus]

[e-mail]

[@TheConfessor]

@@captcorajus Awesome! Thanks.

[@rafaelosuna4784]

Love your channel and awesome reviews! Quick rules question, do you know why in the encounter procedure in ose suprise is checked before encounter distance? In B/X distance is checked before suprise, so was curious as to why that is changed in OSE.

[@hangarflying]

The Rules Tome does have indexes. Because that is the proper place and use of an index. The individual volumes don’t have indexes because a) each individual book is small enough that the information needed to be looked for within that volume can be found through the table of contents, and b) it’s not economical or really that effective to have an index in one book that points to a different book.

[@destroso]

I bought the boxed set but wish I had gotten the 2 advance edition tomes, 9 books is a tad unruly and exalted funeral customer service was unresponsive and would not accept a return because the plastic had come off.

[@misomiso8228]

10:30 are you going to do the advanced rules video? It would be interesting to see some examples of the new human classes and the demi-human ones. Also how they split the Race as Class.

[@captcorajus]

yes. I have the advanced books and will be doing a review of them quite soon.

[@DnDnBeer]

Nice job. Now I must find money. Checking the couch cushions.

[@captcorajus]

Sorry! lol.

[@bluespruce786]

Great reviews, thanks for posting them up! What size are those books? They look to be somewhere in between standard and something like Lamentations Grind house edition.

[@Korroth]

In addition to my response below, as mentioned in this video there are now a couple “tomes” that include the basic and advanced concepts of this version of the rules. Read carefully as you could find yourself purchasing duplicate information (booklets vs. tomes).

[@daddystabz]

captcorajus: What is your favorite OSR game? I'm trying to decide between the following OSR-inspired games: Old School Essentials, Low Fantasy Gaming, Dungeon Crawl Classics, Castles & Crusades.

[@captcorajus]

Right now I'm loving Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperboria. It pretty much has everything I want in an OSR, plus the campaign setting is wonderfully unique and pulp. The game is sold out at the moment, and ebay prices are sick. But the creator Jeffery Talanian has a kickstarter coming up soon. Stay tuned for more details! I'm in touch with Jeff, so I'll have the Deets soon.

[@daddystabz]

@@captcorajus I own AS&SH and ran it for my face-to-face group for a while. It is a really good game.

[@jctxcboy36]

Where can we pick up this ruleset....? Is there a publisher for these ruleset like you showed for OSRIC. Got my OSRIC new edition in the mail, but not sure where to find this one.....thanks for the great video....

[@WildDieWoodard]

I got the box set and the Rules Tome, but I didn't get the deluxe, leatherette edition, and I'm kinda' kicking myself for not getting that as well!

[@TheNiall666]

It's still available at Necrotic Gnome. Left-over copies.

[@johnharrison2086]

Always include an Index!

[@wimplesaur]

Really like the look of this. Other than the presentation, is there much to recommend this over Castles and Crusades?

[@sunsin1592]

Yes! The editing alone makes it infinitely better. But most significantly, it keeps the B/X rules and mechanics, rather than the clunky Siege Engine with ascending AC and mishmash of saves etc. If you played & enjoyed the early 80s versions of D&D, this is WAY BETTER than C&C. But if you want that sort of hybrid between 2e & 3e, then stick with C&C. We played C&C for a couple years but grew tired o fits clunkiness with the siege engine and with having to constantly look up which saves were needed for specific spells. I also really appreciate how they b/xified the AD&D classes and even created new racial classes for gnomes, drow, etc. I was skeptical at first, but I'll be switching over to this system entirely once we wrap up our current Labyrinth Lord Advanced campaign. I'm eager to see how the stripped down classes play but they've added some interesting little tweaks & abilities.

[@darthjoel6357]

Just found out about this gem! There out of box sets. 😩

[@jctxcboy36]

Do you know if there is or have you considered doing a video on a more in-depth review on how to implement this into game play....been playing 30+ years and have never seen any of this but I am interested. Also, can these modules be used with D&D rules?

[@captcorajus]

I'm sorry, but I really don't understand the question.. what do you mean, "implement' this in play"?

[@jctxcboy36]

@@captcorajus What I meant is how do we take this sourcebook and use it with old school modules...like Temple of Elemental Evil, Night Below, Keep of the Borderlands....etc. Does that help explain what I meant....

[@BrettCaton]

I had a look but it wasn't clear if the rules covered the different damages weapons could do, which was fixed at 1d6 in the earliest edition (the one i have, packed away ... somewhere ...)

[@hpyle5592]

It does -- variable weapon damage is briefly discussed as an alternative in the combat section, and specific damage values are shown in the equipment list.

[@sunsin1592]

Are the advanced options in the big hardcover compilation? I have no interest in the boxed set, but I love complete games in one book.

[@captcorajus]

No.Only the core books are in the compilation. I'll be doing a review on the Advanced books very soon.

[@sunsin1592]

@@captcorajus I ended up getting the tome and the advanced books as Christmas presents so it's all good.

[@danielgoldberg5357]

I noticed in reviews of the OSE spell books that there don't seem to be spells of levels 7-9. Will higher level spells be addressed in future Kickstarters?

[@jamesstern9578]

B/X DND only had rules for up to 14th level, meaning only up to 6th level spells. If you want higher level spells, you just need to adapt progression rules from ADnD or BECMI for levelingpast 14/spells past 6th level.

[@DarkMorgan]

Would you do an OSRIC review please?

[@captcorajus]

Its possible!

[@jonathanklinker5192]

hey, how would one go about writing an OSR rpg?

[@michaelwallace6851]

Dollars? Or Euros? Either way, I asked my wife to get the Tome for me for Christmas. :-)

[@captcorajus]

Check your exchange rate. :) its close either way.

[@michaelwallace6851]

@@captcorajus OH I checked it. Since it is nearly 1-for-1 that makes it much nicer. I don't recall the exchange rate on my last trip to Europe but it was 1 1/4 Euros to the Dollar, or maybe the other way around. The math then wasn't bad either but in my dotage I prefer a simple exchange rate.

[@WildDieWoodard]

Yeah, he mistakenly said "dollars," when it was actually €160,390 (about $176,000 USD) Either way, VERY impressive for an OSR Kickstarter!

[@daddystabz]

I cannot find this game available anywhere. It is sold out all over.

[@daddystabz]

I have 2 guys online I found that sold me the individual books, both advanced fantasy tomes, the rules reference sheet, and some adventures.

[@Korroth]

They seem to be available for download at a reasonable price. Looks like almost everything is out of print and the third party prices I found seemed high.

[@menion2599]

Been discussing this on Twitter for a while, watched this, discussed more, and bought the shebang. Thanks, Cap, as always. Are you on Twitter, BTW?

[@captcorajus]

Yes. Scroll on down to the description. You'll find a link there.

[@spartandud3]

Is this based on original D&D or AD&D 1E?

[@captcorajus]

1:08

[@spartandud3]

@@captcorajus After doing a bit of research, which did not clear it up, would I right in saying it's a half way point between them?

[@captcorajus]

@@spartandud3 Not exactly sure what you're asking. Its a reexpression/ reorganization of Moldvay/ Cook which is 'basic' D&D. Progression: OD&D Holmes Basic Then the game takes TWO divergent paths Moldvay/ Cook Basic D&D and 1E AD&D. OSE is Moldvay/ Cook. That's it.

[@zonegamma8197]

Would you consider this to be the best product for original D&D on the market ? Will you review Forbidden Lands from Free League ? thanks

[@captcorajus]

I don't know if I'd say its 'the best', but it is a personal favorite of mine, and I've run a lot of games there, and its always been a blast. If you like Pulp Fantasy adventure, then you really can't go wrong. As for reviewing the Forbidden Lands from Free League, we'll have to see. I've got a ton of other things to get to over the next few months.

[@zonegamma8197]

@@captcorajus ok thanks a lot !

[@zonegamma8197]

@@captcorajus if you had only one osr original D&D game witch one would it be ? thanks again

[@captcorajus]

@@zonegamma8197 Honestly, its hard to answer that as it would depend on the group of players I was running for. Complete newbies or a mixed group I'd lean towards Old School Essentials for its clarity and ease of use. Also perfect for one shots at conventions. That said, since I've been reading dungeon crawl classics, if i had a group of experienced 'old heads' with me, I'd really like to run that, or castles and crusades.

[@zonegamma8197]

@@captcorajus ok thanks a lot !

[@MrRourk]

Have you ever tried playing Iron Falcon?

[@MrRourk]

www.ironfalconrpg.com/

[@captcorajus]

Not really, but I am familiar of course with Basic Fantsy, Chris's other rules set. I'll check it out.

[@MrRourk]

Check out Planet Eris as well trollandflame.blogspot.com/2015/01/planet-eris-house-rules-pdf.html There is a gazetteer, world map, and a couple of adventures out there for download. I ran a game off it for 2yrs. Might start it up again.

[@VengerSatanis]

Great review of OSE. Please review Cha'alt! I'll send you a review copy. Email me.