Old School Essentials in 2025

When I was on the Labyrinth Lord bandwagon, Old School Essentials was the hot newcomer, replacing everything as the hobby's old-school standard bearer.

I even have my original books!

These days, it feels like Shadowdark took all of OSE's steam. Any significant outflow from D&D will create its own market due to the size of the D&D market and the smaller sizes of every other game. Shadowdark, with a few percent of D&D players moving over, will steamroll any other OSR game.

OSE is still out there; it is just that Shadowdark came in with a small percentage of 5E players and blew out everyone's numbers. OSE players are sticking with OSE, but there is a flood of Shadowdark players in the OSR market.

Shadowdark is in the top spot, and there is a good reason for this. With very little explanation, you can play this with any 5E player; everyone knows what is happening and how to play. I have seen this happen. I will play this with others with zero-prep, and they can join in without a book, needing to read rules or taking time to understand differences and significant sections of books.

Some with OSE Kickstarters say things are slow. Things will slow down this far into the game version, and attention will be elsewhere. Shadowdark may have taken some of OSE's steam, but I see Shadowdark more as a 5E alternative than an OSE alternative.

Still, Shadowdark has a hefty amount of "play design" baked into the system, like the torch timers and other aspects of the rules that focus the experience. The game was designed to be played one way and exceedingly well with the "fun baked in." The game is closer to a board game than a roleplaying game, and that is its charm.

OSE is more of a rules reference to a B/X style of game. The "design" was done long ago, and the source game matters. If you enjoy the play of B/X, you will enjoy OSE.

Shadowdark is 5E to me. The only other game in the "5E Lite" space is Tales of Argosa. This is another game to watch in 2025, and it is amazingly crafted and full of charts. The entire book is a campaign generation system, and it borrows many great ideas from other games, along with coming up with a few great new ideas of its own.

As players move away from 2024 D&D, Tales of the Valiant will immediately surge into relevance again because a large player base is moving over.

I suspect ToV will have a significant upswing this year as an alternative to the controversial and divisive 2024 D&D. I have ToV in my garage, with the rest of 5E. I am not in the mood for the system or needing computerized character sheets that don't support all the options I want.

Still, ToV is a worthy, supported system, and if you want to leave Wizards, it is worth your time.

I miss OSE. This is still the standard bearer in the world of B/X, though many equally great games compete for that spot. OSE tends to be "dry" in some places because it is first a reference guide. The fighter class is very dry unless a few optional rules are used; even then, other games give us fighter classes that can do a lot more and have bonuses above and beyond what B/X allows.

The OSRIC fighter gets multiple attacks against lower hit-die monsters, high-level multi-attacks, weapon specialization, and even double specialization. Where B/X does fighters plain and a bit flat, OSRIC has a Gygaxian design baked in from years of play experience and feedback.

B/X can be overly simplified at times, where it becomes either too easy or too deadly. A more detailed system like GURPS or Adventures Dark and Deep will give me the detail and granularity I want to model a situation with more realism. Sure, you are facing 8 goblins with short bows with your AC 4 and 6 hit-point fighter character in plate mail. They have a 17+ to hit, right? In ADAD, short bows are -4 to hit against plate mail. This is the difference between a character's death and not having one.

Even 5E's advantage/disadvantage rule is far too simple and a "hammer for every problem" to simulate this situation and possibly make for a very cool, character-defining, memorable moment in the game.

Swords & Wizardry is a good example. With the expansion books, S&W can completely replace 5E for many groups while delivering a solid AD&D-like experience. S&W replaces Castles and Crusades for me, despite how much I love C&C. The fighters in S&W are also fun, with them getting the damage and hit bonuses from STR, and the other classes do not.

OSE is currently drowning in a sea of fantastic options. I don't see it being "replaced" as the "gold standard" version of B/X. The game still has many of the best "race as class" options in gaming. The books are compact, dense, highly-referenceable, and easy-to-use gems of gaming goodness. OSE is also highly deadly and harsh, with multiple PC deaths per session in low-level games.

OSE also beats Shadowdark in many areas. The game is more expansive and covers more ground regarding overland encounters, hirelings, strongholds, and the classic B/X experience. You have a lot more race, class, and spell options. You are not dealing with torch timers or darkness rules.

You lack healing at low levels, especially with clerics not having a first-level spell. Also, characters die at zero hit points; there are no rules for unconscious characters. Again, OSE was written as a reference guide for B/X-style gaming, so it tends to be harsher, and even OSRIC and ADAD are a lot softer on player death, allowing bleeding out to -10 hit points. Swords & Wizardry and Labyrinth Lord are as harsh as OSE, with death at zero.

Shadowdark is also very "board game-like," with the initiative roll and movement happening in real-time and never entering a narrative mode if played by the rules. OSE is the better choice if you want a looser theater-of-the-mind play style.

It feels strange to say this, but if you want a less lethal game, especially versus OSE, LL, or S&W, play OSRIC or any other AD&D variant (like ADAD).

OSRIC and Labyrinth Lord have healing at low levels (clerics get a level one spell at level one). OSRIC /ADAD gives bonus spells for high wisdom for clerics. A WIS 14 and higher will give a cleric three first-level spells, which could be all healing spells. Clerics in AD&D games are potent allies and beat the armored greaves off of their OSE, LL, and S&W counterparts. Magic Users do not get the bonus spells since they will reap the benefits they earned if they survive to a high level.

I swear, the cleric bonus spells of the first edition are there for a reason, and every version of D&D past 2nd and every version of B/X just don't understand why. The first edition rules gave clerics those extra slots for healing boosts, which in turn increases party longevity, which in turn increases fun at the table.

OSE is still a solid choice for a more straightforward game with a quick reference. You could always mod in the -10 hp rule from OSRIC and have the best of both worlds.

Would I play OSE instead of Shadowdark? Yes, OSE has more options, especially if I am playing solo. Online? No, since I can find far more 5E players willing to try Shadowdark and interested in the game. OSRIC gets so many things right that it is tough to consider games from the B/X genealogy when I have a first-edition game and a wealth of expansions to play.

I hate comparing OSE to OSRIC, but that game "the game is based on" matters. If you enjoy B/X more, OSE is your game. First edition games have rules, complexity, and depth.

Gygax made critical changes and needed rule fixes for the first edition (for fun, depth, and balance) that B/X games ignore. As a "base for other games," B/X works well since designers will put their own spin on the rules. As a stand-alone game, the as-written B/X rules need house ruling or an extra layer of interpretation.

Also of note is the fantastic Adventures Dark and Deep, which takes the first edition in a new and unique direction. I am devouring and enjoying this new version quite a bit, and it builds on my love of OSRIC and the first edition. ADAD is becoming one of the games I am most excited about this year.

OSE still is on my most-played shelves, will never be put in the garage, and remains a fixture of my inspirations today. OSRIC remains more my "flavor" of a d20-based game, but it doesn't take anything away from the streamlined simplicity of OSE. Shadowdark remains more of a 5E-based board game and a 5E replacement for me, while OSE remains superior for exploration and campaign play.