Alternatives to DnD 5e from the OSR
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- Опубліковано 11 лип 2024
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The first 1,000 people to use the link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: skl.sh/questingbeast0123
Get the abridged, free PDF of Worlds Without Number: bit.ly/WWNFree
Get the complete edition in PDF or Print: bit.ly/WWNComplete
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Into the Odd in PDF: bit.ly/ITORemasteredPDF
Into the Odd in Print: amzn.to/3WxMkg7
Maze Rats (worldbuilding toolkit): bit.ly/MazeRats
Knave (classless OSR-compatible rules): bit.ly/KnaveRPG
I will mention Basic Fantasy.. all the books are free and it's a good step to get into OSR with no investment
I love all the games mentioned but BFRPG, I agree, deserves a shout! Even if one buys the physical books, they are so cheap. You can get almost everything they have ever made in print form for the cost of most RPG core books
I'm actually curious about Castles and Crusades. So far I haven't heard anything negative about it.
Absolutely. I own physical copies of everything BFRPG has in print for, and paid less that a 5e core cook would cost.
@@andrewlustfield6079 the only issue is getting current books. Often they do limited prints and it can be hard to get up to date books. Other than that I don't have an issue with it as it is a mix with OSR and 3E.
Basic Fantasy is an excellent option. OSE is easier to navigate and has a superior art. But BF is free (or really cheap, if you get the physical books) and the game feels basically the same.
For the algorithm! great video.
Thanks Professor! I really enjoyed your breakdown of the rhetorical techniques in the WotC apology.
I left 5e for OSE advanced about a year ago and it was the best decision I've ever made for my DnD campaign. The simplicity of the core rules plus the extra character options without making characters too powerful is just perfect. Since switching its the most fun my group has had at the table for years and my players are showing every week and are more invested in the campaign than they have ever been before! It's not just the system but also the culture and play style associated with it, it just makes for a much more engaging game in my experience.
Yes! I find my group are more engaged in OSE too. When I played 5e, it was harder to be invested in anyone else's character because keeping track of all of my own abilities was a lot of work.
Worth mentioning that Humble Bundle currently has the "RPG Worlds" bundle. The $25 tier has the Old School Essentials Player's Tome and Referee's Tome, along with a shitload of other stuff.
Such a good bundle. Everything you'd need to run a weekly game for years.
Hi there! I'm one of the many displaced 5e players. 👋
So glad I found your channel. My copy OSE arrived today.
You should also take a look at Basic Fantasy RPG. It is free and open source, and the books are sold at cost. It is another OSR game, and I am surprised it didn't make this list. I am another displaced/disappointed 5e player who just found it, and am very excited to give it a go.
He’s recommended Basic Fantasy in another video about how to get into OSR
Welcome to OSR games! I hope you find them as fun as as freeing as I do. I did find that I went through a few "false starts" where I ran OSR games in the same way as 5e and that didn't work well. For me, I needed a few tries to really "get it" and adapt my playstyle to fit OSE, so don't be discouraged if it's awkward or shaky at first!
KNAVE is a great system. This is maybe the only thing you will ever need to play if you have enough imagination. You can make up the rest on the fly.
GURPS, Mutants and Masterminds 3E/4E, Symbaroum, The One Ring 2E, Twilight: 2000, Mutant: Year Zero, Conan 2d20, Savage Lands, Pathfinder 2E, ALIEN, Starfinder, Palladium Fantasy, Heroes 6E (Crunchy), Dark Heresy 2E, Tiny D6, West End Games D6, Ghostbusters, FATE, COC, ...all tons of fun.
Hands down my highest recommendations go to "White Box" and "Basic Fantasy". Tons of fun and easy for beginners to pick up too.
Picked up the "White Box" paperback version not long ago and am really enjoying it.
Your video on Mork Borg got me into your channel, and Morg Borg got me back into TTRPGs, so it goes on the list too. I've been DMing games for every group of friends I can muster. The game demands inspiring visuals, so I painted up Dark Souls board game minis, and used its tokens and boards.
The setting book for World's Without Number - Atlas of the Latter Earth - also has more players rules options including more partial classes which lets you actually play classic D&D classes. This is the absolute best option if you want modern design in an OSR influenced game.
This is very good to know. I love WWN but wasn't aware of the supplement
I'd advise Cairn. It's an "into the odd" inspired game, but with a more normal D&D assumed setting
Cairn is one of the best. Simple fun and short. All things I like.
Knave is wonderful! We've played a couple oneshots with it.
Kenzer & Company's "Hackmaster 5e" obligatory shoutout; my favorite edition of "D&D".
I would highly recommend White Box FMAG by Charlie Mason. FREE PDF's and the physical copies are at cost for under $5
Thanks for the video! Great points!
I've been playing my homebrew Elthos RPG since I created it in 1978. From the beginning I wanted to have a rules system that would support any kind of worlds I could imagine in the future, so the rules are genre-neutral and comes without a setting. I also wanted a system that would be easy to remember and fast to pick up for my players. So it uses what I call Tiny-Numbers-Math, and the core mechanic is a General Resolution Matrix that is used for every kind of action in the game. No fuss, no muss. I even went ahead and created a full blown web application that supports my rules system with GMing Prep features, and player character management for my players, named Mythos Machine. It speeds up my prep tremendously. Because of this I won't miss WotC D&D, as I never had a use for it This hobby has always been a homebrewer's paradise. Long live RPGs!
Thank you for opening with WWN!!! Cities Without Number is coming to kickstarter in February and it will be more Crawford goodies in a cyberpunk setting!!!
Thanks for this heads up!
Also my wallet curses you.
a kevin crawford cyberpunk game?! That's so exciting!
OSE Advanced is the ticket for me. Just before the OGL debacle, I got the complete OSE Advanced set because 5e was a severe disappointment to me. I returned after a 30 year break to find D&D had become a bloated mess of classes and races with overpowered builds and exploits.
OSE: Advanced Books are also beautifully printed. And the rules remind me of D&D to AD&D. I put it together with BFRPG, OSRIC, & BECMI
Recently got OSE and had a blast running a dungeon crawl for my players! Your videos have been a big factor in motivating me to make the jump, so thank you :)
I'd contest the assertion that Worlds Without Number's GM support is world class.
BECAUSE THEY'RE GODDAMN GALAXY-CLASS!
Sure you'e not thinking of Stars Without Number there?
Ben shows his wisdom and savvy, acknowledging the situation but staying positive, using his expertise to give helpful options without stoking fires. Good form!
I'm eager to try new games, esp. OSE, ICRPG and C&C. But I'm continuing to play D&D, for sure. You can support other games and developers without ditching a game you've loved for (in my case) 40 years. :)
The easiest migration from 5e is Castles & Crusades, IMO. It uses the same basic mechanic (d20+attribute vs DC), same armor class scale, etc. It takes only a few minutes to create a character, and is firmly in the OSR mould of exploration and danger. It is one of the first two OSRs game as well (it came out in 2004). The other "original" OSR game is Hackmaster. The current version is more detailed than C&C but also very easy to play and teach. Both have tons of terrific adventures and supplements.
If I was to ever come back to level/class based game again, Hackmaster 5e would probably be THE game I'd come back to, if for nothing else but for opposed rolls combat and the way combat clock works in 1s increments.
Happy to read this, I just bought the Kobold Press and Friends humble bundle currently available and Castles & Crusades is in it.
Shadow is the demon lord. But they are all good choices
I agree about C&C. Most of the alternatives listed here are not alternatives for D&D 5e. Most OSRs are based on BECMI and this is vastly different to what is D&D 5e, which is an evolution of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons line. A lot of 5e players will be disappointed when they pick random OSR game to find out there are 3-7 classes (including race-as-a-class class). C&C is Advanced Dungeons & Dragons made on d20 ruleset - it's modern design but old school philosophy.
I have to say, I love Maze Rats. I've never actually played it but I use at least one random table from it almost every session of D&D I run. I even made a simple app for the random spell generation to speed that aspect up, because I use those tables all the time.
Do you have the name of that app? :)
Can we download the app?
I don't have it hosted anywhere but if people are interested I can ask Ben if he minds me putting something together.
(And by app I mean a desktop exe, not something on a phone)
I was today years old when I found out you made Knave / Maze Rats 😂
THANK YOU for mentioning WWN! Just started a nautical campaign with it, and my players LOVED session 0
Shadow dark RPG! The Arcane Library needs our support!
just saw the shorts you made from this video, have to say it’s the most interesting use of that feature i’ve seen. already saw this video when it came out, but cutting it up and making the sections seem like their own videos really makes you want to see the rest. great video as always ben
Some good suggestions that may not be OSR per se, but EZD6, ICRPG, Deathbringer I think qualify.
These!
I love Into the Odd, and I think that whenever it's recommended, at least three other games should always be mentioned as well:
- Electric Bastionland because it has some of the best GM advice ever written in a book
- Cairn because it's free, and it's a great Into the Odd hack for playing classic "D&D-esque" fantasy adventures
- Mausritter because it's also available for free, and it packs a lot of good extra tools and procedures (even if you don't like the mouse setting)
Currently running Stars without Number, its been a blast.
loving into the odd! picked it up on kickstarter after a video of yours and it did not disappoint
I just want to say thank you for all of your videos. You got me excited about the OSR a couple of years ago and I just last night got to run Winter’s Daughter using OSE for the first time. It was so nice to run as a DM and my players seemed to enjoy themselves.
My compliments on the way you said: "Something a bit more peculiar."
8:25 Michael Scott eat your heart out! Great list, Ben. Black Hack as a bonus.
Played a handful of modules with Dungeon Crawl Classics. Had an absolute blast! I had been turned off my modules in the past but the DCC writers really know what they're doing.
OSE caught my attention before the WotC fiasco and I like it a lot better. I think the droves of people leaving 5e will only lead to more development of smaller games and the creation of new games. So for that, we should thank WotC.
Something not super OSE-like but that I think makes for a great alternative for 5e is Dragonbane. Just released from Free League, and the box set is fantastic for someone who is just starting. Full rules, nice map, huge adventure book, solo ruleset and adventure, standees, dice, and a fold-out grid map for
Nice list. I'd also throw Castles & Crusades out there-it truly feels like 5e borrowed several things from C&C, so in several ways it will be very familiar to people who are looking to alternatives to 5e. Without debating the merits of C&C versus OSR alternatives, I think transitioning from 5e would be easy/comfortable for people who are nervous about making a larger leap and want to keep some familiar touchstones.
Yeah. I always say, if you come from 5E and want *more* crunch, try PF2, and if you want *less* crunch, try C&C
I’m in a Castles And Crusades campaign that I love, but I do find the “primary attribute” system frustrating and at times blatantly broken. (Here’s looking at you Half Orc ranger)
Yea there’s so many good options. I’d recommend finding a few that you love and present them as options to your group to decide together
Holy cow! Great overview of these recommendations. Looks like there is something for every fantasy role-player. 👍
I have considered making video content for Worlds Without Number, much like what happened with 5E. With people leaving 5E I was thinking it would be dope to have some introductory material for some of the other systems.
This is super helpful, thank you!! 😃
All the books are great for inspiration also, different ways of approaching the same "problem" - winning and getting loot. Something that can re-ignite a player or gm's desire to go forth on an adventure.
There is certainly no shortage of options for players who want something new. Boycotting Wizards of the Coast should be the easiest homework assignment ever! No more money to Wotc! I didn't love DCC myself, but I appreciate its appeal - however I'll second Old School Essentials as a great system. Easy to learn, gives the classic D&D feel, essentially 50 years of compatible material available... marvellous stuff.
DCC is definitely a strong flavour. I like that they lean into it, hard, but it definitely means it won't be for everyone I reckon.
The last few years have produced some interesting 5e adventures, and I liked picking out a couple, but I wouldn’t use the 5e rules for them. I wonder what happens to Hasbro after this.
Maze Rats is amazing! It is the most value per page of ANY TTRPG in my collection. Even if you don't use the system, it includes tons of incredibly well organized and creative random tables that will spice up your game prep and add tons of variety to your game. I especially love using the "mutations" and "insanities" tables to make magic more volatile and risky, or as a consequence for chugging a spoiled potion, etc. Love your work, Ben!
Thanks for the recommendation of "Into the Odd". I'll check out that review. My current OSR obsession is OSE! BTW, I am surprised you did not mention Five Torches Deep. I love that little book, and it seems like the perfect way to hook 5th ed. players into OSR (IMHO).
He’s recommended Five Torches Deep in a video about how to get into OSR
Been a longtime fan of yours at this point Ben, your videos got me into the OSR, I appreciate what you do and watched about every video, I am going to run whitehack soon with some ideas pinched from other games, like maze rat spell generation, sacrificing shields to deflect hits from mork borg, and how Into the odd handles HP, should be a good time. and of course some Worlds without number gm advice and world generation. I am hoping people still flock to other systems despite WOTC making the SRD creative commons. Indie DIY folk style RPGs expand on what TTRPGs can do outside of the 5e scope of play and I love pouring through different systems and how they approach things.
I'm going to give a shout out to "White Box Fantastic Midevil Adventure Game" at the time of this writing the core book is free on Drivethru RPG. Super stripped down easy to learn, I'd also suggest grabbing the advanced players handbook, also free, for more character options.
Lots of fun out there.
Could you do a review of "For Gold and Glory" it's a 2e retro clone.
Don't hear too many people talk about it.
I have all OSE, DCC, and ItO, love them all!
I use Knave character generation and UNE to make every NPC in my world.
I have all of these rules systems already due to your vids.
I love Star Without Number and it has world class Game master support in its rulebook so I would not expect anything less from Worlds Witout Number
Great stuff friend 👏 👍
Good vid Questy B, my boy! I love learning about games I have no friends to play with!
Lol honestly Knave checks all my boxes. I been watching your channel off and on for a bit, but never tried Knave till recently. Been a fan of Dungeon World for a bit but Knave has been a refreshing change, lol old-school Mt dew dorritos feel I like.
Thanks Ben ; I always appreciate your measured comments , honesty and thoughtfulness.
My recommendation is the Adventurer Conqueror Kings, or ACK's game. A great system inspired by BECMI. with comprehensive rules that can take your players from humble 1st level adventurer to kings. It is made by Autarch.
Five Torches Deep is a perfect stepping stone from 5e into the OSR. It’s built on 5e’s bones, with the same classes and similar mechanics, and is almost completely compatible with 5e spells, monsters, and adventures, while adding new mechanics for dungeon crawling and exploration.
I recommend 5TD as well as it's expansion, Homesteads.
Plus one of the best names ever.
OH NO! 'Hard and fast and full of flavour'? Knave is indeed a gem assuming one likes 'equipment based levelling'. Fantastic work. Did not know about Worlds Without Number - now i have gifted a free copy to all my friends. Love the concept that magic produces random results - is there a hardcover version of this book / could not find it. My thanks. You are a friend in these strangely dark times.
The is very video, it had a lot Thought put into it. Games. Thank you for your time I really enjoyed
Low Fantasy Gaming is amazing as well! Great Video!
Thank you.
Interested in Index Card RPG. 2E vs Master Edition.
Based on these recommendations will pick them up for a nice reading as I want more grit than super heroes
Have you seen the "What's O.L.D. is N.E.W." (WOIN) RPG? It's a generic game like GURPS, Hero, or Cypher, but gets flavoured as O.L.D. (Fantasy), N.E.W. (Future), and N.O.W. (Modern) for different eras. It's a d6 pool system with some tweaks to give players more choices. I don't think it's widely used but my group (mostly older grognards) used it for both Fantasy and Future, off and on, over several years as one of our alternate games and quite liked it. (We like TSR's Alternity - quite a lot - and GDW's Dangerous Journeys too - for our sins - so there's that...)
That intro had me in stitches. It's completely true of course, but what a wild thing to open with.
Labyrinth Lord in OG hardcover is what I first turned to back when I rejected 4thed D&D - I have the 5th edition core rulebooks but it's products like BFRPG/OSRIC, DCC, OSE and other related source books and content published where my heart is.
OSRIC, All the core 1.0 AD&D books wrapped up into a neat little package. With D&D scrubbed out of it and re-organized with a few little personal changes from the authors.
Ben, you are just the best
Another vote for Into the Odd and games using the Mark of the Odd licence (Mutants of Ixx, Mausritter and lots more!)
Cairn, Into the Odd, Mörk Borg, White Hack, Maze Rats and Heroes of Adventure are my favourite not-DnD dnd games. The BECMI edition of DnD is really awesome too.
edit: loool, I completely forgot Maze Rats was yours. Gold Standard for dm tools in rules lite games.
An excellent array of suggestions. I always like to add Five Torches Deep to that list for people migrating from 5e, especially with the addition of Origins.
My favorite 5TD expansion so far has been Homesteads.
@@calevenice I'm not familiar with that, but I'll have to check it out!
While not like D&D, other than being a ttrpg, Ultraviolet Grasslands (which I learned of from this channel) is the most fun I’ve had playing a game in my 25+ years of gaming and it doesn’t get anywhere near the credit or love that it deserves. Anyone who thinks roleplaying of any kind sounds fun should try UVG.
Awesome!
Dungeon Crawl Classics, in my opinion, has the best artwork! Great game too! And I'm a huge fan Basic Fantasy. I'm a bx kid from way back, and I love ascending armor class.
Goodman Games always produces high quality books. I'm never disappointed.
I really like that it makes magic feel risky and dangerous. Corruption, and the possibility for spells to fail or go out of control really makes magic feel more like the fiction these games are inspired by than D&D's version where spells are literally the most reliable option for solving problems. But I can see why some might not like it because it's so unpredictable. I'd run that for campaigns with a certain tone, and something like WWN or S&W for a more reserved style of game.
As (finally) an ex-5e GM (and 3.5e and Pathfinder 1e before that), I'm now running Solar Blades & Cosmic Spells and having the time of my life. I feel so free!
I can`t believe no one is recommending Knave or Maze Rats, two amazing games!!!!!!!!!!😊😙
Knave is really great for something really stripped down and straightforward that still gives you the dungeons and dragons feel. I like it a lot.
Did you watch the video? He recommended both
@@trainerred6582 Yep, at the end, but Ben doesn't count 😄
Geat list! And I like basic fantasy as it's free aor cheap you choice and it's a nice blend of D&D is while being beginner feindly but playable for veterns of the hobby.
Hello Ben, thank you for this awesome list, my favorite OSR is OSE.
I do have to say something about how easy it is to get games in 5e vs OSR.
-I played 5e from 2017-2021. I found that it was super easy to get games, either online, adventures league, discord servers or at your local game store.
-I'm an OSR enthusiast since 2020, and while I love my little collection of games (OSE, White Box FMAG, Mausritter, Maze Rats, Deathbringer)... boy is it hard to get games! (The few OSR games that I have been able to play are a couple of random discord one shots and a few games that I managed my local group to try out... with me as the GM).
-Maybe you could make a video with suggestions on how to find games or people willing to play OSR (I think the current scenario of this 2023 might be ideal to grow the OSR players community).
I never really was fully converted to 5e, altho I played and DM'd it for several years, and a couple years ago got into DCC and it's related games like Mutant Crawl Classics.
I still fall back on 0e, AD&D 1e, BX, Gamma World, Traveller, Star Frontiers, Paranoia, d6 Star Wars...
I confused Worlds Without Number with Stars Without Number by Sine Nomine Publishing for a second. SWN is a great 'clone' of OD&D set in a science fiction setting.
I'm a bit surprised Five Torches Deep wasn't mentioned.
I recently taught two beginners to TTRPG's with Mork Borg. The other two players are experienced in the hobby in general, and that was also very helpful. But Starting with something rules lite and quick was great! Got them making decisions and rolling dice in no time.
I friggin love maze rats and knave
I decided to drop 5e a few months ago and move on to WWN. It's a great game. I then got DCC, for more wacky and risky games. And finally, I've finally checked out Swords and Wizardry for really light, properly old school fast playing D&D. I think all three provide different things, two of them are free as pdfs that also print out really nicely.
And jeez, I should say, Ben's game Knave is a great choice for a super light game that still has a real D&D feel.
I like Swords and Wizardry too! It's not perfect, but has some interesting rules and has it's own distinct flavor
Lavender Hack. A great exploration game with fantastic rules for factions to interact with and how the successful adventures grow the PCs home town
I just bought the physical edition of Knave from L.F. OSR. Very cool to have, and a beautiful edition of the game. Is there a chance we'll see Maze Rats through them one day??
Five Torches Deep is explicitly made with modern players that are new to OSR in mind. It's easy, it's fun, it has a few great supplements
I know there was controversy around it, but Lamentations of the Flame Princess is a great one. I'm running it now for a group of people who have never played any RPGs before. For Gold and Glory is another great one. It's basically 2nd edition D&D. OSRIC is probably my personal favorite though.
Castles and crusades
A solid rules set, essentially first edition style played with a streamlined modern mindset, flexible in play, almost impossible to break and my GO TO fantasy rules
Proof in the pudding, I'm rapidly approaching the third anniversary of our monthly C&C game, still going strong and all the players bought the rules after a year or so of play. Result! 👍
Earthdawn's setting is amazing. 4e has been in print since mid 10's. I wish more were talking about it right now, but I get it. FASA sucks.
Earthdawn is amazing.
@@daleandrade8140 All the content creators are making alt DnD lists and no one talks about ED. Bummer, but I get it.
Hey QB! Have you ever checked out Hârnworld/Hârnmaster? IMO one of the most criminally underrated worlds/systems out there...
One of my favorite old systems is Arduin Grimore for being very different.
People should taste some of the different takes on game play.
Runequest and Champions have very different takes on how characters are built and develop. More recently, Fate.
We did a totally "freestyle" game with virtually no dice and just collaborative storytelling for a while.
This is a great opportunity to see what is out there!
would you mind elaborating on how Arduin Grimoire is different? I'm interested.
Beyond the Wall and Other Adventures is a great transition for a lot of 5e players imo and does a great job capturing the sense of young heroes on their first adventure. It's also incredibly new player friendly and you can get a session going within an hour with full backstories and a starter town.
I was asked to run a campaign for two people close to me, who didn't play D&D in the 80-90s like I did, and wanted to know what it was like. So naturally, I went for old school/OSR stuff. I still had the Rules Cylcopedia summing up BECMI (minus I). However, there's still a good deal in those old systems which isn't great. What I wanted most of all to preserve was the sense of progression, where you start out really small with dungeon crawling adventures, and eventually grow to interact more with the world, explore it and become a more important character in it yourself -- eventually becoming a legendary hero or even a demigod, if it goes on long enough and they don't die. We did make some progress in that direction, but here are some things I feel:
* Combat in D&D isn't great. However, just about all competing systems are worse in my opinion. Taking turns to move on a grid would be the worst.
* Classes really aren't balanced. Thieves in particular get the short end of the stick, luckily none of my players chose to play one. If they did, I have some ideas about making them more useful in combat (as long as they aren't outnumbered), and also maybe merge them with bards to allow them some magic eventually (like Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, canonical thieves in my book).
* The cosmology... there are some great things in it, but I also feel it has a bit of a "space jamming" syndrome, where they just jumbled too many things together that would be great on their own, but don't fit in. I've changed a lot here, giving a justification for Vancian magic, origin stories for the demihumans, and an embellishment of "the dark court" (the fey world) explaining how such creatures as doppelgangers, trolls and goblins can exist without wreaking havoc on plausible ecology and politics/history. I've weaved in some little-known legends from my own country, as well as of course some inspiration from computer games and pop culture. I'm kind of proud of it.
I recently discovered the Mythic game emulator engine and the Ironsworn/Starforged games. Co-Op sessions without a gamemaster and without a lot of prep work sounded interesting to me. Ironsworn is still gritty and low fantasy/magic so it ticks some of those OSR boxes as well. Can't recommend it enough, it also changes how one thinks about impro storytelling and GMing in general. Edit: Oh and it's around 250 pages (around 100 pages for in-depth explanation of mechanics) and completely free as well!
What are your thoughts on Index Card RPG? Or does it not qualify as OSR? I just picked up the Master Edition down at my local game shop to show community support during this time of turmoil and like what I see so far as a simplified playing experience that reminds me a bit of Basic D&D (I started with the Holmes Box set in the late ‘70s). #OpenDnD #FeedTheAlgorighm
I've taken a liking to Five Torches Deep, and it is very close to 5e in mechanics
My favorite 5TD expansion so far has been Homesteads.
Worlds Without Number - YES. And Stars Without Number for the campaign to follow.
Shout out to Black Hack, Basic Fantasy, and Low Fantasy Gaming - this last is another 5e alternative with plenty of character customisation.
Also (no affiliation, I promise) there's Realms of Peril - it's fantasy PbtA but presented as *graphic* *novels* - who doesn't love THAT?
I strongly recommend to check out Lamentations of Flame Princess as well. It gives slightly different taste of Basic DnD rules compared to OSE. Also, I think that Lamentations of Flame Princess is a great rule set in it's own right, especially if you want to play something rooted in 16-17th century kind of settings. I mean nothing holds you back from running a standard fantasy game, but there is already fire-arms statted out for your convenience, alternative armor rules, etc. Also, I really enjoy how LotFP handles combat, investing/running business and hiring of retainers/henchmen and don't forget spells! I keep using some rulings from LotFP even when I'm playing other OSR games. Check it out, it's really worth it.
Dungeon World. I find the Apocalypse system so easy, fast and fun for many genres.
I think people are still upset with Adam Koebel (co-creator of Dungeon World). So it's hard to recommend DW without some caveats that might not make for a good YT video.
Dungeon world is a great recommendation. I found the Discord server very friendly and supportive to new GMs. They are the home for several hacks of DW too.
@@boriscat1999 Cancel culture at its myopic best. What a brave new world that has such people in it.
@@hpyle5592 not so much a "culture" as just me exercising my remaining freedom of voting with my dollars. I don't have to buy things from problematic people that have no respect for others.
He didn’t recommend DW because it’s not an OSR game, it’s a PBTA game
I love the way you said "thicc bad boi"... Savage Worlds and Dungeonworld might be worth mentioning, as well as Forbidden Lands and Torchbearer.
Savage Worlds was the system I started my grade schooler on before 5e came out, as it was far easier to teach.