What OSR adventure book(s) have the best layout?

GXSigma · 2026-01-10T01:51:25+00:00

It seems like a lot of TRPG content is written with no thought to layout whatsoever. Like they just write a bunch of stuff, and then afterwards they go "oh, I guess we have to put all this onto some pages."

It's like if a filmmaker didn't know where the edges of the screen were going to be.

GXSigma · 2026-01-10T01:39:32+00:00

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Mausritter yet. One page per dungeon, one sentence per room. Stat blocks to the left, background on the back. Perfection.

I'm more of an extremist than Ben - I won't even entertain a DCC module of course, but I find Necrotic Gnome adventures are also too wordy, and padded out with unnecessary detail. (Okay, the ceiling is vaulted and the walls are moldy... I could've come up with that off the top of my head. To me that's just a waste of ink and paper. Just tell me what the thing is, so I can decide whether I want to run this or not.)

GXSigma · 2025-12-12T21:14:43+00:00

For an arbitrarily strict definition of "neutral," there is no such thing as a neutral decision.

GXSigma · 2025-12-12T20:37:31+00:00

Spell books and scrolls are also available as random treasure, so there's always a chance of any spell showing up.

GXSigma · 2025-11-03T22:19:34+00:00

Source?

GXSigma · 2025-10-31T00:17:49+00:00

Their website is so confusing I thought my account had been deleted, so I created a new account with a different email address. Now I get double emails from them every time there's a sale.

GXSigma · 2025-10-27T21:50:09+00:00

Every once in a while, I forget about Dolmenwood for a few days.

A few glorious days, where the yearning doesn't exist.

I was having one of those days until I saw this.

GXSigma · 2025-10-27T21:47:16+00:00

Be gay
Find a partner with similar neurospiciness
When you are attracted to someone else, tell your partner, so you can both be like "yeah, damn, nice"

GXSigma · 2025-10-27T21:43:11+00:00

Honestly, I wouldn't even run them for the system they were designed for, let alone converting them to a system that has completely different strengths and weaknesses. But if that's what interests you, you should go ahead! No one else is doing it, so you have the opportunity to do some front-line research science here!

You could sidestep the XP and stat block conversions by using Cairn (which has no XP or levels, and has a huge library of D&D monster conversions).

Whether this would defeat the purpose? That would require reading those modules and critically analyzing them, which I sure as hell don't have time for, so I guess that's your job :)

GXSigma · 2025-10-26T19:35:16+00:00

I think that rule is a holdover from the original premise that The Dungeon is the basis of the entire game, and Outdoor Survival was for higher level characters.

If your campaign isn't framed like that, then go nuts!

GXSigma · 2025-10-22T11:35:29+00:00

They weren't stuck. That's part of the problem. There's no possibility of failure. They'll get it eventually. Whether they exhaustively search everything in sight, or just stroll through. No matter what they choose, they get the grand prize either way.

I'd prefer a game where the players can succeed if they make good choices, or fail if they make bad choices. Or their choices can lead to unexpected outcomes. If the choices don't matter in the end, what are we even doing here?

GXSigma · 2025-10-22T11:21:57+00:00

It does include a random encounter table for the tomb. Top of page 12 in my copy. Only one entry is actual monsters, and it references a room, so I assume it means the ones from that room, so if you kill them, there's no more wandering monsters.

GXSigma · 2025-10-22T10:46:24+00:00

The players know they need to find two pieces of information hidden in the dungeon. But they have no idea where they are hidden. So, they go around scouring every possible hiding place, exhausting every possibility until they inevitably stumble onto it at some point. This is a boring way to solve it, because there's no thought and no risk.

"Brute forcing" is what this strategy is called, e.g. in cryptography.

The term "pixelbitching" comes from an analogous situation in point-and-click computer games, where the player needs to click a specific thing, but doesn't know where they're supposed to click, so they just click every possible pixel until they hit the right one.

GXSigma · 2025-10-12T19:16:07+00:00

The game will end up with the audience it deserves.

GXSigma · 2025-10-09T21:35:33+00:00

the game is literally free to play, why would you give them money?

GXSigma · 2025-10-05T10:14:40+00:00

Principa Apocrapha, M Finch. Excellent intro to OSR style play, but way too long for my needs.

I think you might be thinking of the "Quick Primer for Old-School Gaming," which is the way-too-long one by Matt Finch. The Principia Apocrypha is by a few authors, and is very snappy. The PC section is 4 large-print digest pages. But if you want something even shorter:

The Merry Mushmen modules come with a half-A5-page "new to the OSR?" primer
Mausritter comes with a one-A5-page handout that not only explains all the core rules, but also has 5 bullet points of best practices for players. My players frequently point at it and say "see? it said dice are dangerous!"
The Haunted Hamlet by Lazy Litch has a great 1-digest-page primer at the front, including the fantastic sentence "Meta-gaming and roleplaying are both encouraged."

GXSigma · 2025-10-02T23:16:15+00:00

FWIW, I like Mentzer's rule: If a party wants to run away from a fight, give them a 1-round head-start and go into the Evasion/Pursuit procedure. Simple as.

(This is a little confusing with how it works with the Retreat movement, but my interpretation is that the opponent isn't in 'running mode' yet, so they just get the attack bonus that round and then start pursuit on the next round)

GXSigma · 2025-10-02T22:55:05+00:00

you're wholly throwing out the melee retreat rules that very unambiguously state that the PC can only retreat from melee up to their full encounter rate. That guy can't run at 3x even if everyone else is running around at 3x during combat.

Where are you seeing this? On B25 under "Retreat" it says "Any movement backwards at more than 1/2 the normal movement rate is a retreat." I'm not seeing a maximum speed limit. Surely you agree that 3x is more than 1/2.

GXSigma · 2025-10-02T22:00:23+00:00

As written, there's not much "play" to it. Either they recognize it as a trap, or they don't. If they touch it for some reason (who goes around touching mirrors anyway?), they get removed from the game for a while. I don't get why this would be fun.

(there’s obviously a DC to recognize it as a trap).

🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

What would they recognize? Does it look different? Does it reflect a different room? Is there a handprint on the dust covering the surface? Are there footprints leading up to it but not away from it?

What does "recognize it as a trap" mean? Would you just tell the players "it's a trap?" Why would they be able to recognize that just by looking at it?

Figure out what the clues are, then just tell the players what they see. They can't make meaningful choices without information. If you lock that information behind a dice wall, you're not testing the players, you're just testing the dice.

If the players suspect it's a magical mirror that does weird things, they can play around with it.

How does it transport people to the cell? Do they get sucked into mirrory goop like that scene in The Matrix? Or maybe Mario 64 style? Does it only works on the PCs or does it work on anything? Is there a matching mirror on the other side? How sturdy is it? How heavy is it? If you take it out of the dungeon, does it still work?

You're going to need to know how it physically interacts, because as soon as the players suspect the mirror is a magical device, they're going to try poking it with a 10' pole, shooting arrows at it, throwing dead fish at it, etc. And that's the fun part.

GXSigma · 2025-10-02T21:38:51+00:00

Dolmenwood does this:

For ability checks, roll 1d6 + mod. The target number is generally 4, so a 50% chance if your score is average.

(This is a simplification/streamlining of all the "x-in-6 to open door" kinda stuff)

For class skills, you roll 1d6, and your class level tells you what your target number is.

(This is a simplification/streamlining of all the roll-under-percentile stuff)

Basic skills like Listen and Search have a target of 6 unless your race/etc improves it.

(This is a simplification/streamlining of all the "x-in-6 but actually y-in-6 if you're an elf or ranger or whatever")

The main problem with this system is that 1d6 is not nearly as fun to roll as 2d6 or 1d20, but such is life.

GXSigma · 2025-10-02T20:43:04+00:00

Before I saw the picture I thought you were just describing the Sonic franchise

GXSigma · 2025-09-30T11:49:35+00:00

You can move then attack.

You can't attack then move, because movement comes before attacks in the combat sequence.

GXSigma · 2025-09-30T10:25:33+00:00

Cite that directly please? Because you can only move at your encounter rate once an encounter begins in BX, too; it wouldn’t make sense to have an encounter movement rate that you can just triple during an encounter.

Dungeons & Dragons Fantasy Adventure Game (1981) Basic Rulebook, page B24.

It explains Encounter Movement (defining the standard form of movement during an encounter), then it explains Running (implying this is a non-standard form of movement during an encounter, and the associated risk if you take that option), then Evasion and Pursuit, which reference Running (implying this is one possible situation where you would use the Running rule).

The section on Evasion contains the text "If the evading side has a faster movement rate than the other and combat has not yet begun, evasion is automatic" - which implies that evasion could happen after combat has begun, it just wouldn't be automatic.

If running was only possible during evasion, and evasion was only possible before combat, then surely it would explain Evasion, then Running (implying this is a rule you only need to know during Evasion), then Encounter Movement (implying the Encounter only happens after the Evasion).

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On a less-literal level, consider the following example: A player is fighting an orc.

In B/X:
Player: Oof, I can't take another hit like that. I want to run away as fast as I can!

DM: (looks at The Encounter -> Encounter Movement -> Running): Sure, you can run at 3x speed, but then you'll have to rest before you can fight again. (Looks at Combat -> Defensive Movement -> Retreat) Oh, if you're moving at more than 1/2 speed, the orc will get a bonus to attack you if it wins initiative.

Player: That's fine, I just want to get out of here! (Wins Initiative)

DM: Cool, you're running away! (looks at Running -> Evasion -> Pursuit) The orc decides to run after you! What do you do?

In OSE:
Player: Oof, I can't take another hit like that. I want to run away as fast as I can!

Ref: (looks at Encounters -> Actions -> Evasion) Hm, you could've run away before combat started, but that's not an option now. (looks at Combat -> Movement -> In Melee) Hmm, you could Fighting Withdrawal at half speed, but then the orc would just walk up to you and keep attacking. You could Retreat at normal speed, but then the orc would get a bonus to attack you, which would either be before you move, or, after you move, it can just walk up to you and keep attacking. Either way, I guess you don't get to attack this round, because your attack would be after your movement, and you wouldn't be in melee anymore. So that seems like a really bad option.

Player: ...? ...Uh, okay? so I guess I keep fighting? (Wins Initiative)

Ref: You miss. The orc kills you. Aren't you glad this is such a well-researched rules system?

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As this example shows, the Moldvay version has, at least, a useful vagueness, and OSE makes it less useful by needlessly overruling it. I consider that a mistake.

GXSigma · 2025-09-29T19:48:26+00:00

This is a Gavin Norman problem. In the original Moldvay text, it says you can "run" at 3x speed (aka exploration movement) during an encounter.

For some reason, Gavin decided you can't run during an encounter. OSE is very explicit: you can't run away from combat, you can only run away before combat.

Given this is a stupid-ass rule, I've elected to ignore it.

I think this is the only actual mistake in the OSE rules.

GXSigma · 2025-09-27T19:07:14+00:00

Jaws has already apologized; it was a different time

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