So...part of the fun behind playing a OSR game is playing it, but another part is collecting books you can use in the game. A 2XL game means Xpansions and Xtra stuff to me. I need a few more parts to make things happen and some of the characters I want to play. I have a preference for printed books, especially hardcovers, but I will make a few exceptions for some really helpful resources. Let's take the base game of Labyrinth Lord and expand the heck out of it until we can't recognize it anymore, and try to build an interesting setting and world.
Class Compendium
First up is the excellent Class Compendium, which gets me an interesting mix of B/X classes. I get a nice version of the bard, an acrobat, a barbarian, fortune tellers, pirates, bounty hunters, knights, and gladiators. Some of these classes don't really fit in or I would do another way, so this wouldn't be a "take everything" sort of book. Just the best parts of the classes I need and want for a couple characters. One thing I like about these really specific classes is I can create a unique NPC such as a Investigator or Rune-Master and have that be an NPC unique to the world.
I would probably make all of these classes "by GM permission only" to start, with some being easier calls to allow players to use, such as the bard. Some, like the angel, familiar, or death knight would be NPC only. And a couple like the shootist and automation would be more steampunk and likely disallowed for a more fantasy setting. Some are also more setting specific, such as the samurai and gladiator. I would be careful and make sure they match the flavor of my setting.
Creature Compendium
Another must-have is the Creature Compendium, we need more monsters, and this book is densely packed in the same way the original AD&D Monster Manual was - and the creatures are terrifying, different, and at times just plain strange. Which is what you want in a Monster Manual, players wondering...um, I haven't seen that in a previous edition, should we be running?
Realms of Crawling Chaos
How much Cthulhu do you want in your game? If none, skip this book. If you like the idea of monsters from the Eldritch Realm showing up and causing terror, dive right in. If anything, you can pick and choose here and avoid the overly Lovecraft style bits and still have serpent people, lamias, cave beasts, other monsters you can rename, and a psionic system you can use without summoning an old god.
Opening the door to Cthulhu does flip a huge "campaign bad guy" switch, and I can see entire groups of villains sighing and saying, "Not more Lovecraft please!" Demons throw up their hands and say, "Why be afraid of us?" Evil gods shrug their shoulders and ask, "Our cults are evil too!" Evil dragons let out long, disappointed growls and say, "Not more aliens, geeze, there isn't even a societal progress as evil force narrative going on here that is so early industrial era, they don't even make sense in fantasy since no one is afraid of magic!"
Evil GMs nod their head, make every faction a TPK force players should be afraid of, toss the Cthulhus on top like a side dish at a buffet, and smile.
Barrowmaze & FC of Archia
Every time I pick these books up they becomes harder not to use. While these aren't stuff books, either are a compelling start for an XXL version of Labyrinth Lord. They are region-based campaign settings, and you don't have to use the mega-dungeons within 100%. Little parts could be home bases for villain groups, plots, and stories. Wait, what? Don't use it all? Yes, please.
One doesn't need to clean the book, room-by-room, and and vacuum up every last copper piece off the floor, kill every monster, bleach every surface, put up warning signs on all hazards, and disarm every trap. Part of the problem of mega-dungeons are that "completest" mentality going into them, and what I find is a better approach is to use parts of them during the campaign as stories are told, and to weave them into the campaign's narrative.
Plus I would rather have the freedom to venture out to a bandit fort or lost temple every so often, something of my creation, rather than feel obligated to go to the last bookmark and check off some more rooms. Then why use a mega-dungeon? Well, hundreds or pre-created locations can be re-used in millions of ways, especially if they are easily accessible.
Petty Gods
A strange entry to this list would be the quirky choice of Petty Gods, a compendium of minor, oddball, strange, and forgotten deities in the world. I know, this begs the question, who are the main gods of the world you are building? We will get to that, but the wonderful thing this book adds to the mix is a whole catalog of gods once worshiped, but now forgotten. Ruined shrines and lost temples now can have meaning, strange puzzles on who may have been worshiped there, and the entire world's backstory takes on a different and interesting tone.
Who knows, perhaps one of these long-dormant gods could be reawakened? For trouble, or perhaps service giving our heroes missions in exchange for secrets and valuable knowledge of old.
d30 DM and Sandbox Companions
Downsides? There are no printed books, and you need a d30 for these. Otherwise, these are a solid set of tables for just about anything you would need, and especially when you do solo play. These are purely for filling in things you may not think of, and to add some color and spice to the game.
I am working on house-rules for this project as well. More on those as I get them done.
A Table Full of Options
Labyrinth Lord makes this easy. A lot of cool adventures and supplements are designed to use with the game, and while other games may have simple implementations or other unique mechanics, Labyrinth Lord brings a lot of third party support to the table. Over time this will likely change, but some of what is already out there are classic books with some really fun options and choices.
And a Setting...
So is OSR better with or without a setting? I would say start your sandbox small and worry about the larger world later. I want to stay away from traditional D&D settings or anything linked to a system. Maybe I will cover OSR settings in another post, since a deeper dive will be needed to examine the possibilities.
It is a needed choice, since setting will determine many things, such as gods, factions, and many other aspects. One problem of a lot of settings is that they throw too much at you, and all of a sudden all those gods, factions, conflicts, and other things going on in the world players should know about become the only things they worry about and they feel like world ambassadors having to take it all in and solve the load of it. Starting small, on a local level, puts blinders on you and keeps the players the most important force in the game.
For now, this is a good base set of sources and tools I will need to get started.
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