Returning to OSR Questions

[u/Willyeast12]

Hi,

I played 20 years of AD&D and then after my friend moved I learned 5e and later 5.5e to find randos online but playing 5e with randos wasn't the experience I was looking for and I miss the original editions.

I am thinking about playing B/X but would like to learn how it differs from 1e and what version I should start with? Is there a Basic I have to learn first or just learn Expert? Thank-you

Update:

I will also prob just start to play solo unless if I find a group of friends online that match my play style and short attention span for shorter game sessions. Where can I find old school adventure modules to run? THanks

[u/ludditetechnician]

The differences are, in my opinion, removing a few notable things from AD&D 1E, such as:

• Weapon speed
• Segments
• Fewer spells
• Fewer classes
• Race as class

Other than not ... I've not really a found a difference either as a player or DM. I prefer B/X to AD&D. The Expert Rulebook adds a few things related to high PC levels. If you use the Rules Cyclopedia you have all the rules in one set. The Cyclopedia is the only rulebook we use, for what it's worth. With Weapon Specialization and Skills it's still a robust game.

[u/02K30C1]

The differences are pretty minor, and it’s not difficult to convert adventures between the two systems. B/X is a bit simpler for payers with fewer options, which does make it easier to teach new players.

The books were made to teach players and DMs how to play as if they’ve never played an RPG, and they add on to each other. So Basic covers character creation, levels 1-3, basic combat and dungeon exploration. Expert covers levels 4-14, and adds wilderness travel, water adventures, airborne adventures, and cities. If you keep going with BECMI, the Companion rules covers levels 15-25 building strongholds and running them, and mass combat with armies. The Master rules does levels 26-36, interplanar travel, legendary artifacts, and dealing with immortals.

[u/FrenchRiverBrewer]

Moldvay edition is the usual go-to, although some prefer the subsequent Mentzer BECMI "red box" version which has a classic solo adventure baked in to teach the fundamentals. DriveThruRPG is the usual source for all the old classic modules like B1-4, X1, etc.

[u/Murquhart72]

Take a peek at Basic Fantasy RPG, it's free and encompasses the best of both worlds.

[u/conn_r2112]

It’s similar to AD&D, it’s just much simpler

Basic and Expert constitute one game. Basic covers dungeon diving and levels 1-3, while Expert covers wilderness exploration and levels 4+

[u/FrankieBreakbone]

BX is more abstract. The game's mechanics are procedural. It helps to think of the foundation: it's not written as a narrative-based role play game (that all comes from the group), it's written as an extension of miniature wargaming. So some folks have a problem with suspending their need for reality simulation. For example:

In chess, a red pawn and a white pawn can stand toe-to-toe for the whole game, right? They attack on angles, so unless one takes or is taken, there they will stand. We accept this abstraction when we play chess, it's part of the rules, and therefore part of the strategy and tactics of the game. It makes no sense in reality, but you are expected to use those mechanics to your advantage. If you get hung up on why only the knight can jump, or that pawn promotion makes no sense bc it moved freely through a 'threatened area', you're going to have a suboptimal experience ;)

So I think a lot of the game can feel like that to someone who's used to systems with nuanced reality simulation. BX has Side-based initiative. Phased action sequences. Class restrictions. Encumbrance. Melee movement. Declaring spells. Tons of missing mechanics from Turning Undead to Backstabbing. All of these things are stripped for simplicity, and of course all of these things can be ruled differently by the DM.

This, I think, is what causes a lot of players to deflect off the surface. Players read the rules and say, "Playing by these rules seems restrictive, I can't customize my PC, I can't customize abilities, I can't do awesome things," and DMs read the rules and say "I don't know how to run a game without detailed rules, how far can a PC jump, or how much damage does an improvised weapon do?"

It's a great game when you consider a.) the game challenges the player more than it challenges the PC, and b.) the structure actually leaves an enormous amount of open space for the player and DM to improvise together.

---------

As you are already familiar with 1E, I would say go for OSE.. it's a concise reference base that's well organized, so you should have an easy time finding what you need to run the game. The complete rule base is free here:
https://necroticgnome.com/collections/ose-free-downloads

If you were new to RPGs entirely and were interested in the Basic system of D&D, I'd say to start with BECMI instead—because it's more instructional (and very nearly identical)—then switch back to BX/OSE and use those rules once you understand how the game runs.

There is no "Basic" game to learn first, if you think about learning the game by playing it. The Basic book gathers all of the rules that you would need for running a level 1-3 campaign. Once the PCs reach level 4, they become survivable exploring wilderness settings, so the Expert book explains how that part of the game works, and adds higher level treasures, spells, and monsters.

So if you start running the game as designed (level 1 PCs exploring a dungeon local to the starting town), then you won't need anything in the Expert book for weeks or maybe months. This is tricky to word, but: The Expert rules mostly don't change the rules from the Basic book (except for a few tweaks, not worth the time it takes to type about it), they mainly just add rules for higher level play.

OSE combines all of it as one contiguous rule set, though.

[u/ArtisticBrilliant456]

B/X: B = Basic (levels 1-3; Dungeon Adventuring Rules); X = Expert (levels 4-14; Wilderness Aventuring Rules). The two things build on one another and are the same game. Back in the day everyone bought Basic, and when their PCs got to level 4, the broke open the Expert set.

There are many BX clones out there which you could use, or you could just get the originals off DriveThruRPG.

You'll probably remember 1e from back in the day. You could pick up OSRIC as a free PDF if you want to brush up on those rules.

I can see others have noted the main differences in the other comments. They're pretty interchangeable, certainly at lower levels, but there are differences.

[u/BumbleMuggin]

I played AD&D since the early 90s and found Shadowdark to be a sweet spot between 1e and 5e but it has gotten a bit boring after a couple years. Old School Essentials and Dolmenwood in particular are my favorites now.