2nd to OSR

Currently we play 2nd edition but I want to try something different. What's a good place that's easy for my to run and my gamers to transition to?

ChainzJade said:

Currently we play 2nd edition but I want to try something different. What's a good place that's easy for my to run and my gamers to transition to?

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Basic Fantasy is free in PDF and at cost in print. It’s like a B/X system with ascending AC and feels a bit more advanced. Or can be with all the supplements that are out there for it. It’s currently in its 4th edition. Which is almost entirely compatible with prior editions, being mostly printing updates and errata. Though 4th edition does away with OGL and moves to the CC srd.

It’s a good system and takes to house rules well. For example we use an OSE style d6 side initiative.

Old School Essentials Advanced (B/X rules, with elements of Ad&d (1e))
Moldvay B/X (Basic/Expert)
Rules Cyclopedia (BECMI - from Basic to Immortal - tons of stuff in one book)
Beyond the Wall and other Adventures (DnD adjacent, ascending AC, based on YA novels, great chargen with playbooks)
Dungeon Crawl Classics (gritty dnd dungeon crawling, with exploding wizards)
ShadowDark (also gritty dnd adjacent, random character advancement re: skills and things)
Knave (I guess Knave 2, now)
Black Sword Hack (very Sword and Sorcery feel, Moorcock influences, players make all the rolls, which frees some bookkeeping from the DM, though you can play it standard if you want.)

All of these would fall into the OSR sphere, and are precursors to 2e, all with slightly different feels. A lot depends on what your group wants out of the game experience.

Others can probably expand on the above, I realize they're not very descriptive.

The OSR is dominated by games derived from D&D B/X.

• The biggest name is Old-School Essentials which rules are 99% identical to B/X, just repackaged, clarified and reorganized. It's a solid vanilla starting point.
• As @darjr mentioned, Basic Fantasy is also very popular. The art is a bit all over the place, but it's a solid game and all of it is free or at-cost if you buy print.
• Dungeon Crawl Classics is another popular one. It leans in the gonzo with its funky dices. And from my limited understanding, it borrows a bit from the 3rd edition chassis. It has a ton of adventures.
• If you want a very lean and lightweight package, I'd recommend Maze Rats or Knave.

There are games that stick to the OSR ethos but stray a bit further in term of design, often taking different forms. Some of these are folded under the label of the NSR movement. They're often a bit mechanically different and sometimes opiniated when it comes to a setting or a vibe.

• Into the Odds
• Cairn
• Electrum Archive
• Vaults of Vaarn
• Outcast Silver Raiders
• Mörk Borg
• Mothership

There are retroclones of other editions:

• OSRIC is a retroclone of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition.
• Sword & Wizardry is a retroclone of Original Dungeons & Dragons from the early 70s.

ChainzJade said:

Currently we play 2nd edition but I want to try something different. What's a good place that's easy for my to run and my gamers to transition to?

Click to expand...

Use whatever. Most OSR and Post OSR systems are very simple compared to even 2nd edition. 2nd edition is quite similar to AD&D 1E once all the cruft has been piled atop it so getting away from that I might try something far simpler? Maybe a B/X clone like OSE or Labyrinth Lord, maybe B/X itself (The 1981 Moldvay Basic edition and the Cook Expert).

You could also go down into the ultralight systems like Into the Odd or Cairn 2E. If you like more complexity but want something different I'd suggest Errant which is a simple but highly proceduralized Post OSR system - something I'd consider a "OSR-baroque".

For a classic OSR experiment - assuming you feel comfortable with D&D's core rules - you could grab the 1974 edition "OD&D" or the "LBBs" (ignore the supplements, especially Greyhawk for now or you'll end up with 2E in no time) and read through them, trying to figure out what the game is supposed to be like. There are a lot of gaps in the rules and how you decide to fill them become what defines your play style.

What type of game are you looking to transition to?

What is it that your players are tired of with AD&D 2e?

Without that information, it's hard to suggest something. You could go everything from something very similar to AD&D (for example, AD&D 1e on DMsguild, to OSRIC, which for someone wanting something in print, both would be good suggestions), to something very different (for example, the current offerings of D&D found in the store, also known as D&D 5e).

If it needs to be OSR, but AD&D...go OSRIC.

If you want something similar to AD&D, but with modern trappings, some of the suggestions are given above, but I'd probably prefer Castles and Crusades. It's easily adaptable to be used with any 3.X D&D adventure, any Pathfinder Module or Adventure, and even easier, any 5e Adventures. It's not strictly OSR, but I favor it over other OSR games. It's the only one I really play of these types. If I wanted to play the other games (BX, BECMI, AD&D, etc) I'll just play the actual D&D rules as they are available for sale and in print on DMsguild.

Old School Essentials seems to be very popular on these forums, but if I were to use that I'd just play BECMI or BX.

I also have a ruleset I put out called 5e Old School (on DMsguild) where you can adapt 5e to play in various forms of Older TSR D&D (OD&D, BECMI, or AD&D).

It depends on what you want out of the ruleset and your players preferences.

ChainzJade said:

Currently we play 2nd edition but I want to try something different. What's a good place that's easy for my to run and my gamers to transition to?

Click to expand...

For something closer to 2e, you could try Castles & Crusades.

I would also highly recommend Cypher system. Cypher includes Numenera and The Strange, but the generic system has options for scifi, fantasy, modern, horror, superhero etc.

ChainzJade said:

Currently we play 2nd edition but I want to try something different. What's a good place that's easy for my to run and my gamers to transition to?

Click to expand...

How do you want it to be different? What kind of different?

If you want it to be simple and easy to run but give your players the same kind of options they have in 2E AD&D, Old School Essentials Advanced would be a good fit. It uses the simpler B/X rules framework and then translates additional options from AD&D (separate race and class, more classes, more spells, etc.) into that framework.

If you want something equivalently complex to 2E, but you want DIFFERENT content or theming, maybe you want something like Hyberborea! Which is AD&D translated into a more R.E. Howard/CAS/Lovecraftian pulp adventure world without demihumans, and with new custom classes to replace multiclassing.

I second the Cairn suggestion, it's basically free and has a lot of 3rd party supplements to make any campaign fun and/or challenging.

I think you've already been asked several times, but it really is important for suggestions. How exactly are you looking for different?

Less stuff, more stuff, overall mechanics? 2E is probably the most extensible version of D&D and can be as simple as (or even simpler honestly) as BECMI with race & class separation or filled with enough kludge to be completely unplayable.