Old-School Essentials

Return to the Roots of Fantasy Adventure!

We wanted this system in the library before we had time to write it properly, so consider this entry a placeholder. If you've got hours logged with it, we'd love your help turning this into something worth reading - reach out.

Overview

Old-School Essentials is a Dungeons & Dragons B/X retroclone designed by Gavin Norman and published by his own studio, Necrotic Gnome, first released in 2019. It doesn't reinvent the 1981 Basic/Expert D&D rules so much as reorganize them: rather than hunting across four different chapters just to build an elf character, every rule on a given topic now lives on a single two-page spread, with modern layout and clarity layered over mechanics that are otherwise untouched. Since launch it's become something close to the flagship rulebook of the
Old School Renaissance https://groupfinder.gg/library/old-school-renaissance-osr-2000
- clean enough to hand a brand-new player, and 100% compatible with four decades of B/X-era modules and third-party adventures.

Active games and players

OSE
Old School Essentials
Online
Campaign
Ruin has come to our family
New
Posted 4 hours ago
Players
0/6
GM
1/1
Old School Essentials
en English

Ruin has come to our family

Homebrew
House rules, a custom setting, or a system the Game Master wrote themselves.
Newbie friendly
New players are welcome, and nobody expects you to know the rules beforehand.
"You remember our venerable house, opulent and imperial. It is a festering abomination! I beg you. Return home; claim your birthright, and deliver our family from the ravenous, clutching shadows of the Darkest Dungeon." Hi everyone I'm looking for 4-6 players for a Darkest Dungeon themed old school D&D campaign. I'll be running it through Old School Essentials (A repackaging of Basic/Expert D&D) with some fairly heavy homebrewing to make it fit the source material (Stress, Quirks, Unique Heroes) It should be fairly accessible to anyone, regardless of your experience with D&D or old school play. The overall focus will be on delving the dungeons of the region, recovering artefacts, amassing wealth and getting powerful enough to finally defeat the evil deep beneath the manor. Currently looking at Sunday 6pm CET / 12pm EDT with some room for flexibility based on replies. Play will be on Discord. Open to any enjoyer of Darkest Dungeon, regardless of experience. Drop me a DM if you're interested and tell me who your favourite hero is. I look forward to hearing from you!

Read more

Save to favorites
en English
DND5E
Dungeons & Dragons 5E
...
Carrboro
Online
Mat
Hi, I am Mat.  I am a 56 year old veteran of TTRPGs, I started in the 1970's and love playing Dungeons and Dragons 5 and 5.5.  I also enjoy Basic Fantasy and other OSR systems. I prefer role playing over combat, but am not afraid to get my hands "dirty" if needed. I would like to find games in EST and on nights I don't currently have games.
Save to favorites
en English
VtM
Vampire: The Masquerade
Homebrew
Homebrew
...
Online
eikona
I've been gaming since the early 80s. I suck at bios. I have played a bazillion games, and am willing to learn new systems. I prefer long term campaigns, with  focus on roleplay and character development. I haven't listed all games I've played/own, because there's far too many.
Save to favorites
en English
DND5E
Dungeons & Dragons 5E
...
Newtownards
Online
Unlucky Dragon
Hey hoping to be a player in a ttrpg game I've 13 years experience playing on and off mostly GMing but would like to play more used to play pathfinder 1st edition back in the day played some 5e but most comfortable with shadowdark and osr but happy to learn any system for one shots or  campaigns
Save to favorites
en English
PATH2E
Pathfinder 2E
DH
Daggerheart
...
Online
Keith
Greetings! I am a 45 veteran of mainly d20 based role playing games but I might be open to another system if it strikes my fancy. I am open to one shots but I wouldn't complain if someone asked me to join a campaign :)  I have played the following games: Basic/Expert D&D Advanced D&D 1st and 2nd Editions Gamma World 1E Gamma World 4E GURPS World of Darkness (Vampire 2E, Mage 2E) D&D 3.5 Pathfinder 1st Edition Star Wars Saga Edition Star Wars: Edge of the Empire D&D 5E Dungeon Crawl Classics Mutant Crawl Classics X-Crawl Classics Pathfinder 2E/Remastered ShadowDark Castles & Crusades
Save to favorites
en English de German
DND5.5E
Dungeons & Dragons 5.5E (2024)
...
Tallinn
Online
Nehop
Hey there, Have been playing a lot of DnD 5E but have gradually shifted to other systems. My local group is currently playing Mork Borg with me DMing.  Generally I would love to dive deeper into Shadowdark, other Borgs, OSE and into the Odd but open to try all systems.
Save to favorites

Reviews

Sorted by:

No reviews yet.

Login to leave a review.

Other entries

Traveller 2E (2016)
Tabletop Roleplaying Games

Traveller 2E (2016)

English
Sci-fi
Rules-medium
Traveller 2E is a sci-fi tabletop roleplaying game system, that was published in 2016 and updated in 2022, by Mongoose Publishing. It involves the characters adventuring through star systems, engaging in (space) exploration and engaging in battles both on ground and in space. The system it directly evolved from is classic Traveller (1977) Description The characers in Traveller can be humans, robots, aliens or of a genetically engineered species. Each character is distinguished by their occupation - whether they are a civilian, military, a noble, a young cadet or a veteran. Each type comes with their own strengths and weaknesses. To further expand on the sci-fi aspect of the game, some characters are prone to extra-sensory abilities, such as telekinesis, telepathy and others. System Overview & Key Features Lifepath Character Creation When creating their character, players roll to determine their character's background, education, and career history. Characters will acquire skills, allies, enemies and physical injuries. No Classes or Levels Characters do not have traditional classes, and they do not gain experience points to level up. Progression is entirely material and narrative. Characters improve by acquiring better gear, installing cybernetics, buying larger starships, and finding lucrative trade routes. The Trade and Commerce System A massive part of the game involves interstellar economics. The rules provide deep, robust systems for buying speculative cargo on one planet and selling it at a profit on another. Players must factor in fuel costs, jump drive maintenance, and life support while managing their massive starship mortgage. Lethal Combat Gunfights are incredibly dangerous as the characters have very low health pools. These are directly tied to their physical attributes like Endurance, Dexterity, and Strength. A single shot from a laser rifle can instantly incapacitate or kill a character, making armor and cover absolute necessities. Hex Crawling and Subsectors The game provides incredible tools for the Game Master to procedurally generate entire sectors of space. Using a blank hex map and the core rulebook, you can roll up planetary environments, government types, law levels, and starport qualities to create a completely unique sandbox galaxy. Additional links mongoosepublishing.com - Official Mongoose Publishing website travellermap.com - The Traveller Map (An interactive map of the official Third Imperium setting)

Read more

The RPG Radiocast
Actual Play & Podcasts

The RPG Radiocast

English
Discussions
This is the podcast show of the The RPG Gazette. Here you will find our interviews and sometimes discussions between staff members on all manner of TTRPG related topics! Links spotify.com - Spotify feed

Read more

Scvmrack
Tools & Platforms

Scvmrack

English
Polish
Free
SCVMRACK is a free, unofficial character toolkit for MÖRK BORG. It lets players generate characters in seconds, manage their character sheets during play, track equipment, weapons, armor, abilities, pets, silver, HP, Omens and more. Characters can be edited and updated directly in the browser, with support for English and Polish. SCVMRACK also includes searchable game content, character storage, Guilds for organizing groups, and tools that let GMs quickly view their players’ characters without taking control of their sheets. It is built as a practical companion for play at the table or online, with no account required for basic character creation. SCVMRACK is completely free and is developed as part of RPGTools.co.

Read more

Looking for a group?

Find a tabletop group to join or players to invite. Groupfinder is a free looking-for-group platform. By players, for players.