r/osr

Probably a year or two ago by now, back on my previous account before Reddit decided it had suspicious activity and permanently locked it (still no clue what that was about), I had posted on here asking if anyone could explain to me a reference in the Arduin Grimoire to a "Singer" class that I couldn't find anywhere else. Since then, I have come in possession of scans of several early fanzines and have finally found the origin of the Singer class. It was created by Dan Pierson and its writeup appeared in two parts split across issues 1 and 2 of Alarums & Excursions, with other contributors' reactions and homebrewed revisions and variants of it appearing intermittently in subsequent issues. As many commenters on my original post speculated, it was indeed an early version of the bard, and in the first issue is even given bard as an alternate name for the class.

On an unrelated note, the writeup in issue 1 contains this gem of a typo: "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast..."

Swords & Wizardry, Old School Essentials, and (I believe) OSRIC give you the option of using ascending AC instead of the classic descending THAC0 AC. When playing one of those games, which AC method do you use?

I've only ever played OSE (Old-School Essentials) as a player, but I became a GM because of my son. I'm also DMing dnd 5e (2024) for him. I assumed a rules-light, imagination-driven game would be the easier fit for kids. In practice, I found the opposite. With 5e, the structure (DCs, clear class abilities, defined actions) gives me something to lean on. With OSE, I felt like I had to invent and adjudicate nearly everything on the fly, and my kid wasn't always sure what he could try.

But I really love what OSE offers: real stakes, clever problem-solving, exploration, and the feeling that a good idea matters more than a good character sheet. I'd love to make it work for my kids instead of dropping it.

Here's where I'm stuck:

1. Too many open choices. My son sometimes freezes when I ask "What do you do?" in an open-ended situation. How do you give kids enough direction without turning the game into a railroad?

2. OSE characters are fragile, and I'm worried about how a young player will handle a sudden character death. I'm considering using the Scarlet Heroes rules (the Fray Die, tougher heroes, etc.) to make a one-player-plus-GM game more forgiving, while keeping the old-school feel. Has anyone used Scarlet Heroes, or borrowed parts of it, for a game with a single kid? Did it keep the tension and sense of risk, or did it make things too easy?

3. Playing a GMPC in OSE. My son wants me to play a character alongside him, but I'm new to running OSE, and I don't like GMPCs in general. How do you run one in a game this deadly and this open-ended? Should the GMPC be a full party member, or something closer to a hireling or retainer? How do you keep it supportive, without solving every problem or stealing the spotlight, while still being useful enough that the party doesn't fall apart?

4. Module choices. Are there OSE-compatible adventures or starter dungeons that work especially well for kids? I'd love short, colorful, low-prep ones. I tried one-page dungeons, but my kid wants more tools to work with (maps, handouts, clear things to interact with).

If you've run OSE (or any OSR game) for children, I'd really appreciate hearing what worked and what didn't, including house rules, handouts, or small tricks.

Thanks in advance!

I told you guys I'd release this for free eventually.

It's got a lobster-clawed octopus, cute amazons, a lack of AI trash, more dragons than you can shake a stick at, cursed items, and millions of gold.

Enjoy!

So, 5th edition Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay is here but, newer editions dont click with me like 2e did, so I wanted the OSR subreddit thinktank to recommend me some Warhammer Fantasy inspired OSR games - d100 and all that jazz. I know some, but I usually ask these things around here because I dont know most or all of them, but maybe someone else does and can help me out.

Happy Friday,

Your words of wisdom for the week...

https://preview.redd.it/w6da4v38rguh1.jpg?width=310&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=116dff152b977decc8a7d7d6d678a81959ddadc6

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I’ve been looking over Dyson’s MegaDelve and I am planning on running it as an open table in the near future. For people who have played it, what entrances did you first introduce the players to? Is there anything about the dungeon before running it?

The author has just revealed on the DD Discord that DD V5 Beta is now available to the public on Lulu.

I'm running Tomb of Annihilation using Dragonbane rules for my daughter and her two classmates (8 year olds), and I'm looking for cool and interesting magic loot. They already have "Bag of Beans" and I know I want to award them "Immovable Rod".

I love weird, whimsical items, preferably system neutral, that can be insanely powerful (and dangerous) in the hands of creative chaos monkeys 🐒 🙂

Bring it fam⚔️