Contact Outer OSR SPHERES

Hello? Anybody there?

The OSR scene is an endless expanse of innumerable spheres connected by a thin sinew of a shared love of old school gaming. And it's just as splintered and distant as that sounds. I wrote this out to maybe help people better connect with the overall community, but we're a very opinionated people.

Here's all the spheres I know of and how to contact them.

[Note: Just a warning, some places tend to lean heavily left or right politically. I'm only discussing each purely on the fact that they contribute something (however little) to the OSR scene. Also they are in no particular order.]

The Blog-0-Sphere

A living fossil but still living, for now. The blog-o-sphere is in my opinion the best way to absorb OSR content. You can easily curate what you're reading and there's literally hundreds or even thousands of OSR blogs out there. Each with probably more content you could use in a lifetime. Seriously. Where to start though?

RPG PLANET collects a ton of blogs and displays them all on a "blogroll here". Go down the bloghole and see where it leads you!

and here's some legendary blogs to get you started:

Grognardia

Jeff's Gameblog

BRINEHOUSE

The Alexandrian

tenfootpole -FYI, this is the place to read OSR adventure reviews. Check out his greatest hits here to see what to buy.

Traditional Forums

Surprisingly there are still some active forums out there considering how dated the medium is. Here are a few:

RPGNET -while not a dedicated OSR forum you will some posts pop up every now and then. 

dragonsfoot.org -Heavy emphasis on "Old" in the OSR since the late Gygax himself would post here. One of the birth places of the OSR, next to blogs.

r/osr [reddit] -Reddit should probably be it's own category but I'll put it here since I consider it to be a traditional forum. That and this subreddit is the only OSR one I know of. r/osr is very active and great posts pop up pretty much daily. The negatives are the downvote brigades and very vocal energy vampires native to reddit.

Suggested by Scott Mob over on MeWe:

odd74 - od&d focused.

Knights & Knaves Alehouse -OSR focused forum. 

Discord

I really like discord but the discussions can be very hard to follow especially in larger servers. Here's some of the OSR related ones:

OSR Server -One of my favorite places to lurk, has a great collection of blogs in their blogroll channel and archive. Probably the most active OSR place after blogs.

Necrotic Gnome -I consider b/x to be the Rosetta Stone of the OSR and Necrotic Gnome's OSE is literally just b/x with a fresh paint job.

MÖRK BORG -The newest hot thing to infect the OSR, and for good reason.  

Melenosia -Run by the people who made Troika! One of the popular new wave OSR products. 

Exalted Funeral -Pretty much the place to easily  buy OSR stuff in the US. Actual store here.

Tenkar's Tavern - I dipped in for a bit for research purposes. Seems like a place that has discussions regarding the OSR. 

Discourse

I never heard of Discourse before this next entry but it's actually really interesting. A little wonky layout wise IMO but still really cool. 

The OSR Pit -While not as active as I'd like, I think this place has the potential to be the next hub for the OSR after the heat death of g+. In fact that's what it was made for, use it!

Facebook

Ugh Facebook. If ever there was a obvious mustache twirling evil mega-corp, FB would be it. But you can't deny how goddamn easy is it easy to use. Here's some decent groups to join.

Lamentations of the Flame Princess -I used to personally mod this group so I can attest to how great it is. Hyper focused on LotFP discussion with an almost no bullshit, relaxed userbase. If you like LotFP stuff you should be in this group. 

Dungeons & Dragons B/X (Moldvay / Cook & Marsh)  -A recent group I joined, seems chill so far. B/X stuff only. 

Old School Essentials -The place to talk shop about Old School Essentials.

Fantasy OSRs -Generic OSR group. All old systems and retro clones are allowed. 

Old School Gaming Rocks! -OSR focused, a bit slower than the others. 

OSR -There's a "main" OSR group on Facebook but I think they banned me so I can't post the link. Can't say why for sure but probably because I used to work for LotFP. If you're the admin or know the admin hit me up. I'm curious. 

Twitter

The twitter scene isn't really a fun place to be. It's full of hot takes, disk horses and people denouncing d&d just to help sell their games instead. Stay away, far, far away. Except for this bot that feeds you blogrolls from the OSR Discord, I just think its neat.
[Note: If you really think there is someone on there that's worth braving the twitter void let me know and I'll add them here.]

Here's a link to search #OSR on Twitter. I'll let you decide if it's worth it.

MeWe

A lot of OSR g+ refugees fled to this place, the so called next "big social media platform". A very small but dedicated community.

TTRPG Blogosphere -Another place people post their blogs. MeWe has its own unique community so you see some different blog faces here. 

OSR -One of the more active places on this index. I'm not a huge fan of MeWe but I think making an account just for this group is worth it. 


And I think that's it for the spheres. If I missed anything big let me know in the comments and I'll add it to the post (if they're not literal monsters).

Thanks for reading and hope this helps you connect a bit better with the OSR community.

Each point of light is a blog post waiting to be read

Goblin Slayer is OSR

How much XP for the Goblin?

More groan inducing titles I know, but Goblin Slayer (GS) is pretty OSR-esque in my opinion. If you've never heard of it, GS is a light novel-turned manga-turned anime that blew up in popularity in late 2018 after the anime's debut. Partly due to it's controversial first episode but also, I think, due to it's unique premise. The main protagonist just slays goblins that's it. 

Well, that's not quite true, he also fights:

Drow

Ogres

And even...

Beholders

but not out of choice but circumstance. The big bad evils above use the goblins as fodder in their chaos armies or are just random encounters in the adventures. 

But how is Goblin Slayer OSR?

Its uses one of the OSR's core tenants and treats combat as war, not sport.

SPOILERS AHEAD

How do you think GS defeated the Beholder above?
Choose 1 of the answers below:

A) Shooting arrows from the hallway and cheesing it.
B) Filling the room with fine flour and igniting it, causing a massive explosion.
C) Running in and hacking it to death.

If you guessed B, you're right! Although option A was contemplated by the party as well. 

Exploding dust or flour in this case is something I didn't even know was a thing. But its one of the many examples how GS treats combat; something to be feared and not a game. 

But where's the goblin slaying your probably thinking. How does Goblin Slayer slay goblins. Brutally and efficiently is how. [Note: Manga is read right to left.]

Goblin Slayer regularly uses his environment to take down goblins safely and effectively. In one of the earlier chapters GS takes a quest to slay goblins that have taken over an abandoned elven fortress. Elven fortresses tend to be made of dry wood...you can guess how he completes the quest.

Yes, yes they do.

Gasoline is used to take out a room full of sleeping goblins.

Enemy numbers are culled with ranged weapons before moving into melee.

Here's panel of GS getting lambasted for always throwing his sword and then asking the M-U to bring the ceiling down with magic.

And like a lot of OSR games, GS and his party occasionally get their asses kicked.

All in all if you're a manga/anime fan and don't mind some brutal scenes (sexual assault) it might be worth checking out Goblin Slayer. For me its a perfect example of fantasy combat as war, not sport.

So what do you think? Is Goblin Slayer OSR? Let me know in the comments below.

B/X: The OSR's Rosetta Stone?

I can hear the audible groans already but I think the title is true; 

Fighting Dragons in a Dungeon

Basic & Expert [b/x] D&D is the OSR's Rosetta Stone. I just had this thought after watching some of Questing Beast's reviews and had to jot it down real quick.

After reading tons of OSR systems you begin to see the foundations for what it is, b/x. Even OSR "system neutral" adventures assume b/x styled rules since they use the terms. Phrases like armor as chain or leather, Hit Dice, Random Encounters, etc. All b/x mechanics. Even the most popular core systems in the OSR Spheres tend to use b/x as starting point before either filing it down or putting on a fresh coat of paint. Do you need to know b/x to play OSR games? Absolutely not, play whatever looks cool to you. But I do think playing it gives a greater, appreciation? To the scene.

What do you think? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. 

Sidenote: Think my next post will be about the fractured OSR scene or "spheres" and how to contact them.

Happy Holidays!

Source

Happy Holidays! 

Hope you're enjoying yourselves as best as possible in this COVID landscape. Be safe out there and hopefully next Christmas the pandemic will just be a bad memory. 

+1 Magic Sword Replacements, A Trio

Source

(This post was inspired by these +1 Magic Sword replacement collections here & here.)

"Magic swords are born not forged. The anvil is but a womb and the first kill births the blade, the hundredth awakens it."
-Dwarven Proverb 

Next time you would roll a +1 magic sword on your treasure roll table, maybe pick one of these instead.

1. NITPICKER

A shard of multichromatic stained glass with a makeshift "hilt" of a worn rag. It smells faintly of turpentine (shorts sword sized). According to legend a renowned glass-smith slew his local Bishop, along with the present congregation, after a particularly nasty bout of ridicule from the holy man. The smithy would eventually be found by the authorities with his wrists slit, Nitpicker at his side and a fresh stained glass hanging behind him. The pane depicted a hellscape with the glass-smith hurled into an widening maw-shaped abyss by his victims. 

EFFECTS:

• Those who wield Nitpicker occasionally see their victim's reflections starting back with a nightmare hellspcape in the vista.
• Save vs Spells upon death with a -1 for each victim or have your soul dragged inside the blade and cast into the void. You cannot be brought back to life. A successful save means your soul claws from the void to whatever afterlife you are due.
• Save vs Spells when you receive criticism regarding your work, on a fail you enter a rage and will attempt to kill your critic. 
• +1 for preternatural sharpness, +3 versus Critics.

2. CHIME

A enormous rusted steel tuning fork with strange inlays that seem to sway when the fork is struck (Two-handed sword size) . Forged by dwarven prisoners to assist their captor, a black dragon, tune it's voice correctly for spell craft. However the dwarves tricked the dragon and secretly changed the frequency to a forbidden otherworldly tone. Using the fork's dead tone they managed to to keep the dragon subdued and slay it. Emboldened the dwarves would go on to use the fork to hunt down dragons and named it Chime. Unfortunately the dwarves found out too late that while Chime was effective against dragons it also attracted the undead. They were ambushed one night and promptly devoured. 

EFFECTS:

• Causes immense discomfort to dragons when struck in the form of -4 to all attacks and saving throws. Chime must be rung each round by the wielder to continue the effect.
• Dragons are automatically hostile to those who wield Chime. 
• Causes all undead in a 6 mile radius to begin marching towards Chime.
• Increased chance of random encounters with undead in dungeons.
  
  

3. FORGET-ME-NOT

A well cared for longsword owned by a retired soldier who tragically lost his mind to age before passing. The sword however, never forgot it's master or his skill. Years later on a cool windy night the soldier's town was attacked by a wandering pack of goblins. The sword awoke suddenly when pulled from the mantle and drawn by the soldier's granddaughter. The girl who had never once held a blade struck down the goblins with the skill of a master swordsman, of her grandfather. With the threat extinguished the sword once again drifted off to oblivion, until needed again.

EFFECTS:

• When wielded by a Lawful 1st level or lower level Fighter Forget-Me-Not performs as a +2 sword and the Fighter's Maximum HP becomes 12. 
• If the wielder commits an evil act (referee's discretion) while in possession of Forget-Me-Not they lose all their memories and suffer from advanced dementia (cured with remove curse). The memories however do not return.

Excalibur!

The Magician's Forlorn Conclusion

If you watch a lot of Shonen anime you'll notice a surprising trend; the characters love to blow themselves up!

Warning: Major spoilers below.

Some examples: 

DBZ: Vegeta vs Fat Buu.

DBZ: Farewell Tien!

The Last Hero Inuyashiki: The Meteor

Hunter x Hunter:  *SUPER MAJOR SPOILERS*

Dragon Quest, The Adventure of Dai: Avan vs Hadlar 

Now what if there was a spell in your elf games where you could sacrifice yourself to deal massive damage to your enemies? Look no further.

The Forlorn Conclusion
Magic-User 1
Duration: Instant
Range: 10ft per caster level radius from the caster
This spells consumes the caster's life essence and fate in order to lash out one final time against the caster's enemies as a chaos burst explosion. The explosion deals 1d6 damage per caster level plus additional damage for each dice rolled equal to the caster's INT bonus* to all inside the spell's range. For each 6 rolled roll an additional d6, repeat as necessary. The caster is killed in the process and their body and all belongings are completely destroyed. Roll to see if magic items are destroyed as normal. Those slain by the spell are completely obliterated and leave no remains except their shadow burned into a nearby surface.

*A 5th level M-U with a +2 INT MOD casting this spell would roll 5d6+10 damage, if another 6 is rolled they would roll an additional 1d6+2.

Now obviously this is a very dangerous spell to introduce to a campaign. Especially because it's first level. You could have an insane M-U churning out this spell as scrolls and forcing his apprentices to blow themselves up in combat. Shit, I could see a kingdom sending secret suicide m-u (thief?) squads with this scroll to blow up key fortifications. Anyways let me know what you think, too much? What are some unforeseen consequences of introducing this to a campaign world?

B/X House Rules

The House Rules are coming!

Here's the house rules I'm thinking of using for my budding French vanilla B/X campaign.

GENERAL

1. HIT POINTS -- Reroll all HD upon level up. If total is higher, take the new number. Reroll 1's.
   
   
2. DAMAGE DIE = HIT DIE -- Characters use their Class's HD to determine the damage they deal. For example a Fighter deals 1d8 damage with any weapon while a Magic-User would deal 1d4. 
   
   
3. CRITICALS -- Max damage is dealt on a natural 20, 1’s are an auto-miss.
   
   
4. AAC-- Ascending Armor Class rules are used. 
   
   
5. HELMETS -- Grant +1 AC and costs 10gp. 
   
   

CLASSES

FIGHTER:

• CLEAVE -- Whenever a Fighter eliminates an enemy in melee, they may immediately make another melee attack against another enemy within melee range. If this attack also kills an enemy, they can attack again, and so on.
  
  

• SHIELDS SHALL BE SPLINTERED -- The fighter may sacrifice their shield to negate an incoming attack. Make a Save vs Paralysis to succeed, a fail means damage is taken as normal. Must be called before damage is rolled. [As seen here]

CLERIC:

• TURN UNDEAD -- Can only be attempted once per combat encounter. Clerics of Chaos may attempt to subjugate undead instead of turning and can control a number of total HD equal to their level.
  
  
• SCROLL PRODUCTION -- As seen here.
  
  
• WEAPON RESTRICTION -- Based on in-game religion.

MAGIC-USER:

• STARTING SPELLS -- Taken from OSE Advanced Fantasy Book.
  
  
• SCROLL PRODUCTION -- As seen here.
  
  
• WEAPON RESTRICTION -- N/A. See Damage die above.
  
  
• REACTION ROLLS -- M-U's are a strange, suspicious lot. -1 to all reaction rolls when you have one or more magic-users in the party.
  

I'll update this page as I add or remove rules and may leave a comment to state what was changed.

New Blog and Goals, A Rebirth

2020 in 1 picture.

2020 was a rough year for me gaming wise. While I managed to keep playing with my IRL group over discord a lot of momentum I had was lost. People lost interest or had to shift their focus to surviving the pandemic and not getting COVID. Eventually around June/July the enthusiasm I had eventually tapered off (mostly after this) and I took a break from running games and only played in the best LotFP campaign on YouTube.

I decided to made a new blog as a fresh start for 2021. So...

Welcome to BRINEHOUSE, this new blog will focus mainly on OSR gaming but also some of my other interests. If you're wondering what my obsession with salt is, it's probably a death premonition since I'm an overweight American (I will be fixing that in 2021 though). Additionally I'll talk about some of my other fascinations like the horror genre and my obsession with manga and anime. 

Another reason I made a new blog is I just noticed how terrible the URL was on my old one. Made sure this one was pretty clear lol. 

That's it, thanks for reading and here's hoping for a better time in 2021. If you liked my old blog please follow this one and add it to your blogroll. 

Dead blog here if your curious.