Castles & Crusades Players Handbook – Collector’s Pack

https://trolllord.com/product/castles-crusades-players-handbook-collectors-pack/

Oh, this is beautiful. Troll Lord Games is coming out with a Castles & Crusades Players Handbook – Collector’s Pack, with a new cover and the 11th Edition printing. Nothing has changed, which is wonderful, but we are getting a new cover!

There are some other nice things in here, such as a coffee mug, canvas printing, a mouse pad, stickers, and a few other goodies to be revealed. The preorder is up now!

The best dungeon-crawling game just got better.

Dungeon Crawl Classics: Beloved

Dungeon Crawl Classics is gaining a cult following and a beloved status. There was one D&D YouTuber who criticized the game as a paragon of poor organization, only to eat their words after fans called them out. It is not poorly organized; the style harkens back to the original inspirations and the adventures' style. An apology was issued, and all is well, but the episode highlighted that the game is not like Old School Essentials and has sort of established itself as a different experience, catering to a different audience.

This is a game where you read the adventure rather than skimming it or just looking at bullet points.

While I like the condensed, OSE-style of clear organization and bullet-pointing of all the rooms' contents, that style is more their game, and I enjoy taking time to prep a level of an adventure and having enough flavor text to figure out what is going on, while also being entertained and enjoying the reading.

But DCC is an excellent game, and while some say it is OSR, I feel it has moved beyond the OSR and become something all its own. It is one of the best D&D 3.5E reimaginings, with Appendix N inspiration and a gonzo aesthetic.

DCC is less old-school and more gonzo science fantasy.

OSE is more OSR and traditional fantasy.

The OSR and the OGL

One of the best things to happen in gaming is the messy divorce between the OGL and the OSR. What Wizards did by attacking the OGL and destroying it forced the community out of their lazy comfort zone and fired up designers and players to create real alternatives.

Everyone knew how easy it was to use the OGL, clone SRD content, and rely on D&D's popularity to sell their games. After the OGL's death, people were forced to change.

And the games we have gotten since then are original, free from license issues, free for the community to support, and the entire event put a shot of sorely-needed energy into third-party publishers and those who play these games.

Wizards created their competitors.

Goodman Games has stepped up and become a major player. Troll Lord Games is incredible with Castles & Crusades, and this went OGL-free. Shadowdark became an overnight juggernaut. Games like Adventures Dark and Deep, OSRIC, Swords & Wizardry, ACKS, and Hyperborea all stepped up. Old School Essentials is going OGL-free. People got behind the alternatives instead of half-heartedly supporting them.

Even the 5E clones are doing relatively well. Paizo has benefited and is stronger than it was.

The 2d6 games under the OGL are moving forward, creating new concepts and ideas, and improving the game overall, rather than relying on familiarity and nostalgia. What the OGL did was tie us to the old ways, and now that we have broken free, the OSR can innovate and flourish. People were always too worried about "breaking familiarity," but now they have to innovate to survive.

The OSR benefited from this innovation once the OGL's chains were broken.

Even games outside of the OSR are using OSR concepts and gameplay.

It is a better world without the OGL.

Kickstarter: Book of Fell Wisdom (Adventures Dark & Deep)

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brwgames/adventures-dark-and-deep-book-of-fell-wisdom

I like Adventures Dark & Deep a lot. As an expanded and reimagined first edition game, it is one of the best we have outside of OSRIC. We are getting a new book this year: basically, everything that didn't make it into the ADAD tomes we have, plus some of the PDF-exclusive evil classes the creator put out. And here is a list from the notification pager:

• Clerical servants of demon lords
• Necromancers
• Witches
• Alchemy
• Ley Lines
• Demiplanes
• New spells
• Followers for high-level characters
• Courtly intrigue
• Generational play

I am looking forward to this one a lot, since ADAD is the de facto new standard of first-edition gaming, expanded and beautifully presented in two massive tomes of first-edition goodness. Outside of Old School Essentials, this is one of the best OSR games out there, well worth your attention, and it captures the 1E vibe perfectly.

The Kickstarter should be happening in the next week, sometime from what I hear, so put this one on your radar, and if you haven't checked this out, please do so!