Indie and OSR peeps: play each other’s games!

Indie and OSR peeps: play each other’s games!

Originally shared by Eric Nieudan

Indie and OSR peeps: play each other’s games!

I’ve said it before: the indie/storygamer/post-Forge and the old school/DIY/OSR ‘communities’ have a lot in common. Maybe not in their design philosophy (though we see new hybrid games all the time), but in the way they create, share, and build upon each other’s work. I’m convinced everyone would gain something by looking at what is being made and discussed on the other side of the minefield.

So I’m going to recommend my two favourite games of the last few years.

Story gamers, have you read Into the Odd?

It’s a short book about survivors, explorers and entrepreneurs in a 19th century gone mad. Cthulhu-is-back-and-the-aliens-have-been-here-all-along mad. The smog makes you sick, three wars have been declared since you left the pub, and the street urchins have eaten your dog. But you believe you can make it. If you could just find a relic from another world that doesn’t turn you into sentient pudding like it happened to poor Whelma.

That’s my Odd World. Yours will emerge from your choices, your referee’s tastes, and a bunch of random tables. The game is a traditional, GM+players affair, but it manages to distill the old school angle that makes the genre so appealing to me. You may not create a complete story in three hours, but you’ll get to flex those problem solving muscles and work as a team to (maybe) beat overwhelming odds.

Free and commercial versions in the sidebar of Chris McDowall​’s blog: http://soogagames.blogspot.ie/ Also peruse the site, as Chris tends to develop his version of Bastionland with ideas no human mind should be allowed to have.

Old school crowd, you’re into the sword & sorcery of Leiber and Howard, right?

Try Swords Without Master. It’ll take you places no other S&S RPG can. It builds on everyone’s ideas to create a tale of magic and mayhem that has the feel of the short stories we love. Now it’s a different type of game that what you may be used to, but trust me, it’s worth it. You’ll get to play larger than life rogues who laugh in the face of their enemies and topple kingdoms with steel and wizardry.

This one is not free, but  you can grab the sort-of-tutorial here, https://dig1000holes.wordpress.com/2012/06/24/the-city-of-fire-coin/, or spend the whole of four bucks on the mag it was published in (with bonus sword & sorcery fiction and comics): http://www.worldswithoutmaster.com/swords-without-master/

Also, Epidiah Ravachol​ has started a tradition of playing most Sunday mornings (or afternoons, if you’re in Europe) for a couple of hours. Dead easy way to learn the game.

So there you are, my recommendations to get out of your comfort zone and learn about elf games. Come on, I dare ya.

(Hopefully this’ll count as my #awesomegamerday contribution, cause I have a 5E game to go to 😉

EDIT Afterthought: why don’t you share your favourite indie and old school games in the comments?

12 thoughts on “Indie and OSR peeps: play each other’s games!”

  1. Well said +Ferrell Riley ​​​(and Eric) I too inhabit the battle scarred no man’s land between the two… Only populated by pesky soccer players at Christmas otherwise …. Do you know what a soccer ball does when it lands on your minis!?  

  2. Well said +Ferrell Riley ​​​(and Eric) I too inhabit the battle scarred no man’s land between the two… Only populated by pesky soccer players at Christmas otherwise …. Do you know what a soccer ball does when it lands on your minis!?  

  3. FREE OSR: Lamentations of the Flame Princess has popularized the “negadungeon”. With lots of Cthulhu vibe, the only way to win is to not play. 😉 You’ll never have as much fun getting killed (or worse!)

    NOT FREE STORY-GAME: Inspectres is Ghost Busters meets Real World funny. The most powerful mechanic in the game is the Confessional, where players can make declarations about what is going to happen that must be true. Easy to run, easy to play, and consistently funny.

  4. FREE OSR: Lamentations of the Flame Princess has popularized the “negadungeon”. With lots of Cthulhu vibe, the only way to win is to not play. 😉 You’ll never have as much fun getting killed (or worse!)

    NOT FREE STORY-GAME: Inspectres is Ghost Busters meets Real World funny. The most powerful mechanic in the game is the Confessional, where players can make declarations about what is going to happen that must be true. Easy to run, easy to play, and consistently funny.

  7. I am starting a DW game right now that shamelessly pillaged most of the character generation / setting building from Beyond the Wall and the Further Afield supplement. That game is pretty much a straightforward 1e retro-clone with some modern notions of narrative control and collaborative setting/world-building. We had a great time ‘letting the dice fall where they may’ to create characters and map out the PC’s home village and environs.

  8. I am starting a DW game right now that shamelessly pillaged most of the character generation / setting building from Beyond the Wall and the Further Afield supplement. That game is pretty much a straightforward 1e retro-clone with some modern notions of narrative control and collaborative setting/world-building. We had a great time ‘letting the dice fall where they may’ to create characters and map out the PC’s home village and environs.

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