Today, we have a great video from a solo player using the BECMI system, as outlined in the Rules Cyclopedia, to play the Gunderholfen mega-dungeon. Please watch this all the way through, like, and subscribe! I am always up for great solo content, and also videos discussing the struggles and challenges of solo play.
One interesting point he makes is how cumbersome using the Rules Cyclopedia is, as compared to Old School Essentials. He now carries the OSE Classic Fantasy rules book with him, as it is a small, concise book that is far easier to reference.
I get the same feeling about "large" OSR systems, such as Adventures Dark & Deep, Dragonslayer, ACKS II, and a few others. That somehow, they are too big to have fun with. They are harder to play because they are so huge. While I love having "so much," this also starts moving into an area where the game becomes "too big to play."
I know, you are a GURPS player, what are you talking about?
I expect GURPS to be huge, but nothing outside of GURPS Lite is really what you need to know for 90% of the game. GURPS is a small game filled with infinite options, most of which can be ignored. There are vast parts of ACKS II and ADAD that I can't skip over and feel like I am playing the game as intended.
The reasons I play GURPS are that it offers three things B/X does not: point-based design, inner character motivation, and gritty realism. You do not even need a narrative game if you have GURPS; all the narrative you will ever need in a session will be designed into your character, and you will have the rules ready to go.
With B/X, the Classic Fantasy rules tome is all you need. Advanced Fantasy just exists for options, but that Classic book is just about the best book in role-playing right now. The bloat of 5E, and this applies to every version of the game, including Open 5E, kills the game for me. There is no way to simplify the game to something manageable, and it requires flipping through hundreds of pages of rules to play.
Shadowdark is your best option for 5E, and that is not compatible with all the 5E junk I have in books. The whole system feels like a waste. Even then, why do I need Shadowdark if I am playing solo? I want the dominion and hireling rules of OSE, along with the broader variety of options, without the glut of filler content.
OSE is the best way to experience this thing we call "D&D." You can keep buying new editions of D&D 5E and 6E for the next 10 or 20 years, but you won't surpass this. You can keep hopping on the next OSR bandwagon, these gimmick-filled narrative games, or another game trying to reinvent D&D 4E - but you will never find a better game than this.
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