OSRIC vs. BX

What am I seeing that most of OSR YouTube is missing? Why am I so hyped about OSRIC? How does 1E fix most of BX's problems? Why is 1E superior to BX?

Timing.

In BX (going by OSE Classic), here is the turn order:

Combat Sequence Per Round (BX/OSE)

1. Declare spells and melee movement
2. Initiative: Each side rolls 1d6.
3. Winning side acts:
1. Monster morale
2. Movement
3. Missile attacks
4. Spell casting
5. Melee attacks
4. The other side acts in initiative order.

They follow a strict turn order to compensate for the lack of OSRIC turn timing. Spells must be announced at the start of the turn, so if you lose initiative, the spell can be disrupted if the caster is successfully attacked or fails a saving throw.

Note where missile attacks land in this turn order; this will come up.

If you aren't using this turn order in BX and are playing "fast and loose," you are missing the point and making casters too powerful. The entire BX turn order is a patch that tries to simulate 1E's elegant combat turn, but it breaks or forces attacker classes into a set order, eliminating any granular, meaningful detail in combat.

BX combat is "one size fits all."

Let's hit OSRIC, and I am NOT going to AD&D, since AD&D's initiative order is confusing because you are "rolling for the other side." OSRIC cleans this up and keeps the same core idea. In OSRIC, you roll for the phase when your side starts.

The order of events in OSRIC is as follows:

1. Determine Surprise (d6) and encounter distance.
2. Declare Spells and General Actions.
3. Determine Initiative (d6 and you go in the segment number you rolled, so a low roll goes earlier and is better). Missile attack bonuses may let individuals make ranged attacks before the main group attacks. Also, higher-level fighter-types may attack in specific segments with their Melee Attack Combinations instead of the rest of the group.
4. The party with initiative acts first (casting spells, attacking, etc.), and results take effect (except spells, which have casting times before they take effect). Note: Some actions may let the other side “interrupt” with an action, such as a fleeing attack or attacking charging opponents with spears set against a charge.
5. The party that lost initiative acts, and results take effect (except spells, which take effect when casting time ends).
6. The round is complete; declare spells and general actions for the next round if the battle has not been resolved (go back to step 2).

Seems very similar, right? I can't see the difference, and I did not at first, either. It is "just initiative," but lower is better here? Both sides go on their own roll, so how is that any different than side-based initiative in BX? So there are "10 phases" in a combat turn, so what?

Three things change that number:

1. Casters start casting the spell in their initiative phase and end when they complete the spell's casting time in segments.
2. High DEX missile weapon users can "jump ahead" and lower their phase by the DEX chart modifier.
3. Weapon specialization locks multiattack turns to phases 1 and 10 for those weapons.

There is a fourth thing for what OSE calls "slow" weapons, forcing them to always lose initiative, which is a hack and overly punishing. In OSRIC, weapon speed only breaks ties for combatants in the same phase, and the overly punishing BX rule for slow two-handed melee and missile weapons always losing initiative is gone.

The caster starts the spell in their phase and finishes "casting time" phases later, giving anyone in between a chance to attack them and disrupt the spell. This is the missing caster balance we have been looking for in every edition of D&D Wizards has put out. Are you a fast-attack specialist, or a high-DEX archer? Chances are you will be the one taking shots at enemy mages and ruining their spellcasting. And it is such a simple timing rule! Modern game designers have to think their way around the barn to get what Gygax gave us in 1E, and invent dozens of pages of subclass abilities and combat rules just to capture what a simple timing system built into combat does in 1E.

BX is too simple, and slow spells aren't any different from fast ones. What combat spell you pick matters here. Are you using a fast-cast combat spell (Burning Hands, fast, happens in the same segment), or winding up a massive, slow-casting fireball (3-segment cast time)? This is the baseball "bunt" versus "grand slam" choice casters need to make in combat. Do I cast something in the same phase, or wind up and hit them with a big spell later, risking losing it?

What? Betting theory in casting? Take a big risk for a big effect?

Quick, somebody start a crowdfunding campaign to write and sell a new game with these revolutionary rules! The same ones we had in 1980! Somebody make "Advanced Combat Casting" for 5E and sell these rules there, too!

BX spells don't have this built in, and none of them have segmented casting time. This is where 1E clearly beats the too-simple BX. The second part of caster balance is risk-reward, which BX and 5E both simplify out of the game, leaving us with overpowered casters again. They keep spell disruption, but entirely miss the point of the gambling choice casters must make.

It gets better. High-DEX missile weapon users jump ahead and can attack ahead of the party. If you know classic Tunnels and Trolls, this is the pre-combat "missile weapons phase" in that game, where missile weapon fire can happen before party action. The party may lose initiative, but the party's missile-weapon users can still go before the monsters. You can also hold your phase and wait for a monster to start casting, and target them. All this in a simple turn-order rule that other games ignore.

You don't get that in BX or 5E.

It gets even better, as if I need to pile on. The optional weapon specialization rules give you a 3/2 attack rate at levels 1-6 for two proficiency picks. The double-attack turns are the odd ones out, meaning on turn one of every combat, your specialized weapon attacks in phase 1 and phase 10. So, my fighter who picks weapon specialization for their longsword acts in phase 1 at the start of every combat, and they get an extra attack at the end of the turn to clean up. You get two attacks at the start of battle, and you always win initiative with that specialized weapon.

It is like getting a free action surge every other turn at level one. BX needs house rules and zines to spice up the fighter. The 1E fighter is plenty spicy.

5E writes dozens of pages of rules to address this and invents an overcomplicated, slow action economy system. They stack dozens of pages of subclass options to give me what 1E builds into the combat turn. Players flip through their character sheets while my 1E fighter knows exactly what they are doing this turn. 

Going first. Killing things. And mopping up.

And all this for only a moderate increase in turn-order and timing complexity. This is easier than 5E's action economy and overdesigned collection of special action types. Gary Gygax was a genius-level game designer, and today's designers often fumble in the dark trying to simulate this elegance and powerful simplicity. OSRIC just boils it down and makes it very clear what is going on, even to new players.

And since the spell lists have phase timing, it all works together beautifully. BX spells do not have this.

You may prefer BX's simplified combat; there are times when I couldn't care less about phase timing. But never assume "1E is BX with a bigger book and more rules" - it isn't. 1E refactors the BX system by adding a critical timing layer to combat and rebuilding D&D around the phased-combat system to better balance casters and buff martial characters. You don't need to "add spells" to balance martial classes, 5E! We have this in 1E! And OSR YouTube, for the most part, ignores this core difference and presents 1E as "rules-heavy BX."

If you read OSRIC, you will see most of the differences between OSRIC and BX are related to this phased-turn system. Once you understand this simple change, you unlock the power of 1E, and your games get much better and more tactical.

Gygax knew this was how you could fix casters and buff martial classes with an elegant, simple, clean phased-timing combat turn.

It is pure genius.