Old School Renaissance

Play-style movement in the tabletop role-playing game hobbyist community From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Old School Renaissance, Old School Revival,^[1] or OSR is a play style movement in tabletop role-playing games which draws inspiration from the earliest days of tabletop RPGs in the 1970s, especially Dungeons & Dragons.^[2] Today it consists of a loose network or community of gamers and game designers^[3] who share an interest in a certain style of play and set of game design principles.^[4]

Terminology

The terms "old school revival" and "old school renaissance" were first used on the Dragonsfoot forum as early as 2004^[5] and 2005,^[6]^[7] respectively, to refer to a growing interest in older editions of Dungeons and Dragons and games inspired by those older editions. By February of 2008, a pre-launch call for submissions for Fight On! magazine described it as "a quarterly fanzine for the old-school Renaissance".^[8] The two terms (revival and renaissance) continue to be used interchangeably according to user preference,^[9] though a 2018 survey found that most respondents understood the R in OSR to mean "renaissance" over "revival", with "rules" and "revolution" as distant third- and fourth-place choices.^[10] Ben Milton describes the use of "Revival" as a return to older role-playing games, and "Renaissance" as taking inspiration from the kinds of play they engendered.^[11]

History

The OSR movement grew out of a surviving player base dedicated to older, superseded and out of print editions of Dungeons & Dragons (primarily 1st edition) who were not interested in then-current 3rd edition D&D.^[12] In the early 2000s, games were released that were aimed at this older player base—2001's Hackmaster and 2004's Castles & Crusades—alongside third-party products created by Necromancer Games for 3rd edition D&D but advertised as having an "old-school feel". A sense that these pre-OSR retro-style products did not entirely provide what the player base desired led to discussion on internet forums such as Dragonsfoot, Knights & Knaves Alehouse, and Original D&D Discussion concerning the use of Wizard of the Coast's recently released Open Gaming License (OGL).^[13] The license permitted independent creators to make new material using many of the concepts previously prohibited from public use, in turn allowing the public to create material that more closely hewed to older rules of D&D.^[14]^[15]^[16]

This interest in and discussion of "old school" play led to the first OSR games separate from the original versions of D&D, created by independent publishers. These were Dungeons and Dragons retro-clones (legal emulations of D&D rules from the 1970s and early 1980s, created via the OGL), the most notable of which were BFRPG (2006), OSRIC (2006), Labyrinth Lord (2007), and Swords & Wizardry (2008), developed in whole or in part on the above forums.^[17] Zines dedicated to OSR content, such as Fight On! and Knockspell, began to be published as early as 2008,^[18]^[19]^[20]^[21] and soon the discussion was expanded on a large and diverse network of blogs.^[17]^[22]

Starting in 2006, hundreds of new, independently produced support products were created for these new games. In 2008, Matthew Finch (creator of OSRIC) released his free "Quick Primer for Old School Gaming", which tried to sum up the OSR aesthetic.^[17]^[23]^[24] In 2008 and 2009, sites such as Lulu and DriveThruRPG began allowing authors to tag their periodicals as "OSR" if desired and sell them as print-on-demand items.^[17]^[25] New games were released over time, notably Lamentations of the Flame Princess (2010), an exploration of weird fiction themes set during the early modern period that began to publish a large number of independent authors under its umbrella,^[26]^[27]^[28] and Old-School Essentials (2019),^[29] a retroclone of the 1981 Basic and Expert rulesets.

In 2012, Wizards of the Coast began publishing reprints and PDFs of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons and Dungeons and Dragons Basic Set materials, possibly in response to a perceived market for these materials driven by the OSR.^[30]

By the early 2020s, the OSR had inspired such diverse developments in tabletop gaming that new classifications such as "BrOSR", "Classic OSR", "OSR-Adjacent", "Nu-OSR/NSR" and "Commercial OSR" were being used.^[17]

Games

A variety of published RPGs can be understood to be influenced by or part of the OSR trend, ranging from emulations of specific editions of Dungeons and Dragons such as OSRIC,^[31] Old-School Essentials,^[29] and Labyrinth Lord^[32] to games such as The Black Hack, Mörk Borg, and Electric Bastionland, which are designed to recreate the "feel" of 1970s roleplaying while taking only slight (if any) inspiration from the early rules.^[33]

Style of play

Broadly, OSR games encourage a tonal fidelity to early editions of Dungeons & Dragons—less emphasis on predefined endings, and a greater emphasis on player choice determining the fate of characters. OSR Games provide play where wrong decisions can easily become lethal for characters and do not guarantee satisfying endings to character arcs. Characters live and die by player choice as opposed to the story's needs.^[34]

Matthew Finch, in his 2008 book A Quick Primer for Old School Gaming, sets out the four pillars of OSR:

Rulings from the gamemaster are more important than rule books. Concoct a clever plan and let the gamemaster rule on it.
Player skill is more important than character abilities. Outwit the enemy, do not simply out-fight them.
Emphasize the heroic, not the superheroic. Success lies in experience, not superpowers.
Game balance is not important. If the characters meet a more powerful opponent, either think of a clever plan or run away.^[35]^[36]

References

[1]
"Old School Revival | The GeekPreacher". 30 June 2012.
[2]
Maliszewski, James (21 August 2009). "Full Circle: A History of the Old School Revival". The Escapist. Escapist Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021. This has led some critics to charge that the old school revival is essentially "fundamentalist", while many old school players counter that it is in fact radical in its original meaning, which is to say, returning to the roots of the hobby. Many of these same bloggers are participating in campaigns using older rules or retro-clones and use their blogs to demonstrate the principles of the style of gaming they prefer: rules light, freeform, and placing a greater emphasis on player skill rather than on character skill. Taken together, along with a do-it-yourself spirit, the outlines of what the old school revival is all about become more apparent.
[3]
Bebergal, Peter (6 May 2013). "Old School Dungeons & Dragons: Wizards of the Coast's Problem Child". Boing Boing. Archived from the original on 6 May 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2021. Sometimes referred to as the Old School Renaissance (OSR), this loose gathering of gamers and designers [...]
[4]
"OSR survey: meaning". Necropraxis. 14 December 2018. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021. These averages tell a simple story, which is that respondents agree most that OSR refers to a play style and set of design principles. Respondents agree somewhat that OSR is a scene or movement and that OSR is a collection of aesthetics.
[5]
Foster, T. "The long journey home..." Dragonsfoot. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021. If the 'old-school revival' continues to pick up steam and the current game continues to flounder [...] sooner or later some bean-counter at Hasbro who doesn't have an emotional attachment to the current edition is going to realize that there's a demand (i.e. money to be made) for 'collector's editions' of the classic games (OD&D, AD&D, B/X D&D) and we'll see them back on the shelves in some form or another.
[6]
"Is True20 mustling in on Castles & Crusades' turf?". Dragonsfoot. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021. The popularity of none d20 systems is again growing with WFRP selling second only to WoTs D&D. CoC and GURPS have also seen a slight revival in their market share. Compare this to the decrease in sales of d20 material over the last year (although still high). Over production and over stock is leading many online stores to slash prices. An old school renaissance could be on the horizon.
[7]
Conley, Robert (23 August 2009). "Where the hell The Old School Renaissance come from?". Bat in the Attic. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
[8]
Calithena (27 February 2008). "Revenant Runes Pre-Launch Thread". OD&D Discussion. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
[9]
Maliszewski, James (21 August 2009). "Full Circle: A History of the Old School Revival". The Escapist. Escapist Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021. a fully-fledged old school revival (or, as some call it, an old school renaissance)
[10]
"What about the R?". Necropraxis. 20 December 2018. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021. Respondents clearly preferred Renaissance (70% of responses) as the meaning of the R in OSR. Revival took silver, with about 20% of responses. After that was a long tail of many different alternatives. Third place was "Rules" (but at less than 4%).
[11]
"Six Cultures of Play". YouTube. 27 February 2024.
[12]
Maliszewski, James (21 August 2009). "Full Circle: A History of the Old School Revival". The Escapist. Escapist Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021. Dragonsfoot benefitted from these fans that had little interest in the latest version of the game, whose rules and aesthetics seemed very different from their own preferences.
[13]
"Simulacrum: Exploring OSR Design: A Historical Look at the OSR — Part IV". Simulacrum. 15 March 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2026.
[14]
Dancey, Ryan (28 February 2002). "The Most Dangerous Column in Gaming". Interview with Ryan Dancey. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original (Interview) on 4 April 2002. Retrieved 26 February 2008.
[15]
Cook, Monte. "The Open Game License as I See It". Archived from the original on 1 May 2007. Retrieved 15 March 2007.
[16]
Leonard, Andrew (10 March 2000). "Dungeons & Dragons to go open-source?". Salon. Archived from the original on 22 December 2022. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
[17]
"A Historical Look at The OSR". Simulacrum: Exploring OSR Design. 16 December 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
[18]
Maliszewski, James (21 August 2009). "Full Circle: A History of the Old School Revival". The Escapist. Escapist Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021. Through forums, blogs, and new fanzines like Fight On! and Knockspell, the movement is now attracting the attention of gamers of all stripes, including many born well after the hobby's early days.
[19]
"Fight On! magazine - Issue 01 Information Page". Fight On! Magazine. Archived from the original on 26 April 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
[20]
Finch, Matt. Knockspell Magazine #1. Mythmere Games. p. 3.
[21]
Maliszewski, James (21 August 2009). "Full Circle: A History of the Old School Revival". The Escapist. Escapist Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021. C&C grew out of discussions on Dragonsfoot in 2003 [...] OSRIC, a First Edition AD&D clone created by Matt Finch and Stuart Marshall of the Knights & Knaves Alehouse in 2006
[22]
Maliszewski, James (21 August 2009). "Full Circle: A History of the Old School Revival". The Escapist. Escapist Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021. Forums like Dragonsfoot, Knights & Knaves Alehouse, and Original D&D Discussion all play vital roles by enabling old school gamers to discuss, share, and argue about their ideas with one another, just like the 'zines and APAs of yore. In recent years, these forums have been bolstered by a vast network of blogs, each as idiosyncratic as its owner, and many of which have produced a significant amount of new — and free — material for use with both original and retro-clone games.
[23]
Robert Conley (8 October 2008). "A Quick Primer for Old School Gaming". Bat in the Attic Blog. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
[24]
"A Quick Primer for Old School Gaming". Wired. 22 July 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
[25]
Bebergal, Peter (6 May 2013). "Old School Dungeons & Dragons: Wizards of the Coast's Problem Child". Boing Boing. Retrieved 24 June 2021. [...] print-on-demand, an option that has become central to OSR culture.
[26]
Maliszewski, James (24 August 2010). "REVIEW: Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-Playing (Part I)". GROGNARDIA. Retrieved 10 May 2026.
[27]
Maliszewski, James (26 May 2011). "REVIEW: LotFP WFRP Grindhouse Edition". GROGNARDIA. Retrieved 11 May 2026.
[28]
Worrall, William (4 February 2020). "Lamentations Of The Flame Princess Review". techraptor.net. Retrieved 10 May 2026.
[29]
Horvath, Stu (2023). Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. pp. 359–361. ISBN 9780262048224.
[30]
Bebergal, Peter (6 May 2013). "Old School Dungeons & Dragons: Wizards of the Coast's Problem Child". Boing Boing. Retrieved 24 June 2021. Wizards of the Coast finally got around to acknowledging that some people like to play the earlier versions of the game and, seeing a small but flourishing market, tried to capture the spirit of OSR with a number of publishing initiatives. [...] It is as if Wizards does not really see new value in the old D&D material, but merely recognizes the opportunity to make money from those who do.
[31]
Bebergal, Peter (6 May 2013). "Old School Dungeons & Dragons: Wizards of the Coast's Problem Child". Boing Boing. Retrieved 24 June 2021. The earliest iterations of OSR games, like the Old School Reference and Index Compilation, are simply various editions of the early D&D rules with new art and accompanying text offered as PDFs (often free) or print-on-demand at cost.
[32]
Maliszewski, James (21 August 2009). "Full Circle: A History of the Old School Revival". The Escapist. Escapist Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021. Daniel Proctor's Labyrith Lord, which emulates the 1981 edition of Dungeons & Dragons, was the second retro-clone
[33]
Gailloreto, Coleman (4 October 2020). "Excellent Tabletop RPGs From The Old School Revival Genre". Screen Rant. Retrieved 24 June 2021. More than strict rule emulation, though, OSR RPGs like those mentioned below seek to capture the feel of roleplaying game sessions from the time [...]
[34]
Gailloreto, Coleman (4 October 2020). "Excellent Tabletop RPGs From The Old School Revival Genre". Screen Rant. Retrieved 24 June 2021. OSR RPGs [...] seek to capture the feel of roleplaying game sessions from the time via the following principles: high lethality, randomized and horribly unbalanced encounters, followers who flock to the side of high-level adventurers, and a free-form, unplanned plot that rewards careful exploration and creative solutions to dangerous scenarios.
[35]
Horvath, Stu (2023). Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. p. 298. ISBN 9780262048224.
[36]
Finch, Matthew (2008). A Quick Primer for Old School Gaming. Swords & Wizardry. p. 2. Most of the time in old-style gaming, you don't use a rule; you make a ruling.