Low Fantasy Gaming

This is seriously a good game.

I can play an OSR-style experience and collect high-quality 3rd-party 5E books, and stay 100% away from Wizards' content? Now, you may think I say that because I have a dislike for Wizards' D&D books, I don't really; what I have a severe aversion to is the library of books needed to play, the power-creep expansion book builds, and just the creeping complexity of how the D&D game changed since it was released. Also, the mainline D&D 5E game feels too cartoony, just like Pathfinder 2e.

Don't take it as dislike; I want a fresh start - not a by-the-books official game.

Yes, I could play with the original 3 books, but being a fan of the OSR, I like the OSR themes and the difficulty they enshrine in Low Fantasy Gaming was better than the stock easy-mode 5E with the three base books.

Better OSR-Style Systems

The resource management in Low Fantasy Gaming feels better than the base 5E game, with ever-depleting rest, reroll, and luck pools. You have to be careful which type of resting you choose. Your luck keeps depleting. Resources become scarce. You play the resource management game here in a 5E experience, with some game mechanics providing tension, which is fantastic.

The combat system slays D&D 5E and makes the base game feel boring. There is a lot to love here, from fighters switching up styles to expendable rerolls, fighting styles, and martial exploits that let you trip, push back, and otherwise gain an advantage on your foes. Exploits are separated into minor and major, with major requiring a luck roll and expenditure, and you could outright slay a weaker opponent in one hit. Combat here is expressive, pulp-action, and uses the resource system - very cool.

The magic system has corruption and divine favor, which is not a sure thing. Mages can gain corruption effects, suffer spell failure, and magic is a strange and dangerous thing. Cultists (clerics) have to be active speakers and practitioners of the word to gain favor, or they risk angering their gods. Divine magic also does not have spell lists, but they have a blessing type that simulates a spell, so I am sure if you really wanted a spell from a 5E divine list, you could make it happen through that mechanic.

Everything else is primarily compatible with base 5E rules, except classes and characters. You can use 5E monsters, treasures, spells, and adventures quickly with the system without much conversion.

This is the only 5E game that catches my eye away from Castles & Crusades. Granted, C&C is a much easier game to run and manage, with way better OSR compatibility. The LFG characters are that complex, large character sheet, 5E-style, that I tend to avoid. But still, this game has a very Savage Worlds feeling to me like the extra complexity is worth the effort.

A Wizards-Free 5E Game

What I love is the system insulates me from the beast D&D 5E has grown into, with all the min-maxers, power-gamers, S-tier builds, and all the changes introduced down the line (and still being introduced) to the game. I can play a fun, OSR-like, sandbox 5E-style game and be walled away from all the noise of the official books. I can roll exclusively with this book and a few 3rd party books and have a Wizards-free 5E game.

That is cool.

Not that I dislike Wizards, but it is a remarkable design achievement to have a standalone game. And, I have a limited sandbox with 5E mechanics to play in, plus OSR-style play.

Some games still need the base three books, and I do not like it when that happens since the base books are this "siren's call" to come back. I only play standalone 5E clones since much more effort was put into these, and they are immune from base-game changes. That will matter in a few years when the "requires the base 5E book games" have to upgrade to One D&D or rely on the used book market.

Low Fantasy Gaming can continue on for years as it is and never have to change the rules.

Right now, this is as close to a "White Box" style 5E clone as I can get, but with the added attraction of pulp-action combat mechanics to spice up battles, along with resource management to increase the tension as the dungeon crawl goes on and on. Would I love a pure White-Box 5E clone? I have one possibly coming in the mail, and we will see. But yes, the game that resets 5E and creates a pure base game that addresses balance issues and creates an OSR evergreen 5E game - while ignoring the expansion nonsense - is my unicorn game right now.

Low Fantasy Gaming is really good, and it is nearly a bullseye in my quest. The beauty here is that the things it does change; it does for a good reason and to emulate a genre that I love - dark fantasy gaming.