How do you guys run your OSR campaigns?

[cailano]

I'm asking about your style of game. Megadungeons? Sandbox dungeon crawls? Wilderness? Epic Fantasy with lots of NPCs and plot threads? Anyone doing a dominion game with strongholds and mass combat?

I know a lot of you will say it's whatever your players want to do, but if that's the case... what kind of game do they lean into? The last OSR group I had basically just wanted to dungeon crawl and didn't engage with even one-shot adventures if they had story elements.

Also curious to hear your favorite system to run! 
 

[cailano]

Come on now, I know I'm not the only OSR GM on this site...

[Jedaii]

Identifying "OSR" as 1) Rulings over rules, 2) Player skill over Character ability, 3) Heroes not Superheroes, and 4) Unbalanced encounters - I'm giving that a run now using BoL. The system is rules-lite compared to D&D/Pathfinder giving space for player ingenuity that can necessitate rulings, or that's the plan. The hard part, I'm thinking, will be #4 as in my experience players tend to want to fight in situations where running "tactical evasion" would be wiser. But this group's been wise so far and make an effort to have their PCs work together, which is fantastic 😀 The story includes city and wilderness exploration, occasional combat and a pseudo-dungeon crawl. I'm not a "Mother-May-I" GM, enjoying active players who push the drama with their characters and the group knows this, so hopefully they'll take their agency as far as they like. We've just begun, but after running various editions of D&D and other rules-medium/high games, I'm looking forward to seeing how this system empowers our group. 

Anyone else have OSR experiences?

[cailano]

Yep, that sounds like the OSR. Do you run mostly dungeons crawls?

[Jedaii]

5 hours ago, cailano said:

Yep, that sounds like the OSR. Do you run mostly dungeons crawls?

I try to get the most out of wilderness exploration and social interaction with NPCs. But there's almost always a dungeon, right? They're fun though because player skill gets a lot of use exploring a dungeon: players new to TTRPGs almost never understand how dangerous dungeons can be, unlike veteran players who pull out the S.W.A.T. team tactics manual for any kind of subterranean trip 😅

[Chaz Hoosier]

I just run published modules because, honestly, I don't have the DM chops to run anything else. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[cailano]

1 hour ago, Chaz Hoosier said:

I just run published modules because, honestly, I don't have the DM chops to run anything else. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

No shame in that, especially since the OSR community is basically an endless font of awesome material. Do you have any favorite scenarios or settings? I'm running a DCC module right now and seriously considering taking a stab at Rappan Athuk.

[Chaz Hoosier]

Heh, I like things nice and out of the box to be honest. I usually limit sources to "core plus" books, start at level 1, and limit character races. On PBP you kinda have to limit the scope of your campaign--even the shortest modules can take years to complete.

[GaryD20]

Who doesn't like a good ole fashioned dungeon crawl?? Wilderness, megadungeons, city crawls, seafaring, et al. I like them all. And the sandboxier (is that a even a word?) the better. A wide open sandbox to play in is the shit! Love it when players go off script and go and do things you weren't expecting. Keeps you on your toes creatively. I love that. But let's face it, a good dungeon is hard to beat!

[Malkavian Grin]

I'm new OSR, but as a forever-GM (minus on MW) I'm used to running stuff. It jives well with Sword and Sorcery themes. I think my first foray into running OSR will be Mörk Borg. I have a bad habit of not killing PCs, but I think MB will give me an excuse to try to rip that scab off. Er, I mean, bandage.

Honestly, I'd love to see some kind of weird Victorian Era OSR gameplay. Rapiers at dawn, fighting for honor, or maybe just drunk on wine and got bored. You could even weave some social combats in there that lead to actual duels that are wicked deadly. Hmmm. It's too bad I am bad at running period-settings.

On 3/2/2023 at 1:36 PM, cailano said:

seriously considering taking a stab at Rappan Athuk.

Shut up, you did not just say that. If I see an advert for the Dungeon of Graves you better believe I'll break my mouse clicking so fast.

[Eric]

Oh no. You just invoked 7th Sea… … … swaahbucklery intensifies

[cailano]

5 hours ago, Malkavian Grin said:

 

Shut up, you did not just say that. If I see an advert for the Dungeon of Graves you better believe I'll break my mouse clicking so fast.

In truth, running Rappan Athuk is one of my GMing dreams. Rappan Athuk is the dungeon I break out when I just want to read something and have a malevolent chuckle about tormenting a group of players.

I've already created the game, but I've hesitated to pull the trigger on it because Rappan Athuk is intimidating AF. Would it be the ultimate OSR dungeon crawl? Yes. Would it also be nearly impossible to finish in PbP? Also, yes.

I have some ideas for trying to deal with its size. I'd break up the campaign into four parts. I'd try to streamline exploration if there are a lot of not-so-interesting rooms in a given section. But it's still huge.

So, I hesitate. I think it is mostly out of respect for the material. One does not simply start a Rappan Athuk campaign. That's a statement game. Gotta do it right.

[Malkavian Grin]

1 hour ago, cailano said:

Would it also be nearly impossible to finish in PbP? Also, yes.

You're not wrong. I tried running it before with 3.5e and then again with PF 1e. I could never get an in-group game going long enough to keep it going. The one session ended with PC betrayal with a character joining the dark side and getting a skeletal arm. Then he tried to kill the other PCs. 

I respect your decisions. You're not wrong, that's a hell of a commitment. 

[Jedaii]

17 hours ago, cailano said:

In truth, running Rappan Athuk is one of my GMing dreams. Rappan Athuk is the dungeon I break out when I just want to read something and have a malevolent chuckle about tormenting a group of players ...
... One does not simply start a Rappan Athuk campaign. That's a statement game. Gotta do it right.

So if you DID decide to run it 🤨 which system would you use? Number of players? Level? I'm thinking PF 1e, 6-10 PCs, 5th-level, no firearms or hi-tech, Core Races only, a mix of Unchained and Variant rules. 

[cailano]

2 hours ago, Jedaii said:

So if you DID decide to run it 🤨 which system would you use? Number of players? Level? I'm thinking PF 1e, 6-10 PCs, 5th-level, no firearms or hi-tech, Core Races only, a mix of Unchained and Variant rules. 

No, I'd go with Swords and Wizardry , a rules-lite OSR system based on the original edition of D&D. PCs would start at 20,000xp, which is around 5th level for most classes. I'd probably recruit eight players and expect normal attrition to bring the party size down to five or six after a few weeks.

There's an edition of Rappan Athuk made specifically for Swords and Wizardry, and it just feels right in that format. At its heart, Rappan Athuk is an old-school dungeon crawl.