My OSR Guide For The Perplexed Questionnaire

It all started here  (Zak Sabbath the absolute madman)

And it is a fuckin' good idea, so here we go.

OSR Guide For The Perplexed Questionnaire

1. One article or blog entry that exemplifies the best of the Old School Renaissance for me:
I actually can't choose, there is too much to talk about, but if I have to reflect on the 'actual impact' I think that all the stuff related to gygaxian democracy would be top tier.
It is a staple in the OSR, mostly because it is based on the Do it Yourself philosophy.
Oh, and I really like stuff like this, in case you need to 'come and see' what worldbuilding is about in the OSR.

2. My favorite piece of OSR wisdom/advice/snark:
The answer is not on your FUCKIN' character sheet. See the world, touch the world, be clever, be smart, run and hide. Just play it out and let the dices roll.

3. Best OSR module/supplement:
Yoon suin by noisms is definitely one of the best I've read. Wild and creative, it is good food for your brain while being super playable, Basically it is a toolkit for generating the setting itself through well put togheter tables, full of awesome entries grounded on the lore of the book itself (probably THE BEST way to speak about a setting without info dumping your shit in my throat).

And then Vornheim by Zak S. Again we have a wild and creative mini setting that is a superb toolkit to create and run urban based adventures, the so called 'urbancrawl' (with a plus, zak's art is actually dope).

4. My favorite house rule (by someone else):
This is a hard one, just because OSR is all about frankenstein rulesets made of houserules stockpiled with other houserules. Some of them are really famous by now, and they are almost a staple for a lot of us. I think the one i used the most is 'A shield shall be splintered', but for me the best is the overloaded die by necropraxis (not a real hr, but a procedure), it is so useful! Basically it helps the referee/gm in so many ways that I think i'd never run a game without it. 

5. How I found out about the OSR:
I started playing d&d 5E after Pf and 3.5, a friend of mine was talking about some weird stuff called 'lamentations of the flame somethin' and then I don't know. I started googling and reading blogs, even before going full delve mode into the retroclones and old modules. I think i was just reading a lot of those top tier blogs like Zak Sabbath, Noisms, Alexandrian, Manolas and more. I was just thinking 'Wow this stuff is really good, and weird, and original! I wanna know more! I wanna do it!'. 

6. My favorite OSR online resource/toy:
All the various random generators, but this is the best (giga collection of stuff).
Last grasps generators are good too.

7. Best place to talk to other OSR gamers:
Google +, untill the shutdown (10 months by now).

8. Other places I might be found hanging out talking games:
Reddit is fine (/osr subreddit), youtube (some reviews, mostly by questing beast. Some actual play even), and the blogs ofc!

9. My awesome, pithy OSR take nobody appreciates enough:
The referee/Gm is there to be silent and watch (mostly), then act. But only on response. It is not always true, obviously - as I can immagine a really active Gm in an urbancrawl, for example- but player's agency is all. The players are those in charge of finding the fun for themselves at the table.

10. My favorite non-OSR RPG:
I'd probably play a lot of Call of Cthulhu (or even Trail), and D&D 5E.

11. Why I like OSR stuff:
As a Referee/Gm I like the freedom you have when creating stuff to use during games. It is so empowering and fun. I also like the problem solving connected with OSR play, both as Gm and as Player. It is challenging and rewarding if played out properly. I won't ever sit at a table with dices for listening to some bullshit storytelling, I want action and player's agency.

12. Two other cool OSR things you should know about that I haven’t named yet:
A Red&Pleasant Land. Zak Sabbath again. This time with a setting full with tables and mini dungeons and gigadungeons and maps and gorgeous art. It is a vicious one, that might be hard to master if you don't like its mood (ah, it is based on Dracula, Bathory and Alice in wonderland).

Deep carbon observatory, by patrick stuart and scrap princess. This is a crazy short adventure that will take you sailing upriver to an ancient dam and...well I don't wanna spoil it. Buy it. Read it, I hope that, someday, they'll release a new printing with better maps. I dig scrap princess artworks, but the maps are kinda bad to use at the table.

Wormskin. By Necrotic gnome. Forest, witches, feys, folklore. It is a really good zine packed with creatures/resources to run a mystic forest/hexes. 

13. If I could read but one other RPG blog but my own it would be:
Probably playing D&D with pornstars or Coins and Scrolls.

14. A game thing I made that I like quite a lot is:
This stuff about a corrupted tree that came to my mind playing Dark Souls 3. It started with an illustration that I was really fond of and it ended with me writing 4 blog entries about its lair, its minions and all that crap...it was fun.

15. I'm currently running/playing:
Walda (folklore-horror) D&D 5E hacked -almost over after 2 years, Obku (grimdark sword&sorcery) LotFP campaign - it started as an open table project, but now we are 3 and it is hard to play due to real life. As a player I just started some LotFP gaming in a pure sandbox semi-open table.

16. I don't care whether you use ascending or descending AC because:
Just adapt it, izi.

17. The OSRest picture I could post on short notice:

B2, Erol Otus

All Mullen new stuff

weird adventures, arts from LotFP