What OSR book should I review next?
Posted: Tue May 12, 2020 8:50 pm
Those keeping up with my work likely know that I reviewed a bunch of 5th Edition books, and I plan on doing so in the future. But it’s good to shake things up a bit and take a break, so I figured that reviewing some old-school style sourcebooks would be a nice change of pace.
Below are four books which are of particular interest to me. Let me know which ones seem the most interesting by voting in this StrawPoll. For the sake of transparency this poll is being posted on various sites I plan on releasing my reviews, so results will be a more holistic overview than of one particular website.
StrawPoll link. I didn’t see the option for closing results (dunno if this was a feature that was changed or deleted) so as of this posting I’ll judge results 2 weeks from now (May 26th EST).
Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG: A gonzo RPG which is more an inspiration and homage of 70s gaming than a straight clone. Is notable for its “Level 0 Funnels,” where players control 3-4 hapless civilians who get 1 level in a real class should they be lucky enough to survive.
Magical Industrial Revolution: A high-magic Dickensian fantasy city where arcane magic has been repurposed to feed the engines of capitalism, and supernatural innovations bring great prosperity and misery in equal measure.
Stars Without Number Revised Edition: The quintessential sci-fi OSR game, has inspiration from Basic D&D and Traveller where civilization is recovering from a galactic cataclysm that tore apart an interstellar empire, and explorers are needed to make contact with the scattered remnants of star systems and planets. I will also note what changes have been made between the 2010 original edition and the newer Revised version.
The Nightmares Underneath, 2nd Edition: A retroclone with horror influences set in a pseudo-Middle Eastern world where dungeons are otherworldly nightmares feeding off of mortal sins and fears. This review will cover the 2nd Edition, reviewing both the book as a whole and also noting what changes have been made.
Below are four books which are of particular interest to me. Let me know which ones seem the most interesting by voting in this StrawPoll. For the sake of transparency this poll is being posted on various sites I plan on releasing my reviews, so results will be a more holistic overview than of one particular website.
StrawPoll link. I didn’t see the option for closing results (dunno if this was a feature that was changed or deleted) so as of this posting I’ll judge results 2 weeks from now (May 26th EST).
Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG: A gonzo RPG which is more an inspiration and homage of 70s gaming than a straight clone. Is notable for its “Level 0 Funnels,” where players control 3-4 hapless civilians who get 1 level in a real class should they be lucky enough to survive.
Magical Industrial Revolution: A high-magic Dickensian fantasy city where arcane magic has been repurposed to feed the engines of capitalism, and supernatural innovations bring great prosperity and misery in equal measure.
Stars Without Number Revised Edition: The quintessential sci-fi OSR game, has inspiration from Basic D&D and Traveller where civilization is recovering from a galactic cataclysm that tore apart an interstellar empire, and explorers are needed to make contact with the scattered remnants of star systems and planets. I will also note what changes have been made between the 2010 original edition and the newer Revised version.
The Nightmares Underneath, 2nd Edition: A retroclone with horror influences set in a pseudo-Middle Eastern world where dungeons are otherworldly nightmares feeding off of mortal sins and fears. This review will cover the 2nd Edition, reviewing both the book as a whole and also noting what changes have been made.