OSRIC, first thoughts

This game, OSRIC, was acquired almost by accident. Essentially, when I returned to the gaming table after a long hiatus I wanted to immerse myself in the hobby. Things had changed over the years, and the games I was familiar with had mutated significantly. OSRIC, however, is the exact opposite of that mutation. If the rest of the RPG hobby was gleefully embracing whatever new system sprang up, OSRIC was an example of a people rejecting how the hobby was changing.

OSRIC actually stands for Old School Reference and Index Compilation. The game is actually a re-creation of 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. What the objective is for the game is to allow people to create material for a game and rule set that is well-known, but that was essentially abandoned. Thus, a game was ressurected, polished, and sent out to live again. It worked. The game was successful, and one of many so called “retro-clones”. Thus far, as I’m reading the book, it truly does feel like I am reading an old D&D rulebook, and not a game that has only been around a little while.

Thus far, the experience has been pleasant. I find the that the more I read some of these older rule books, the more I appreciate where gaming is now. I’ve heard from multiple sources that the AD&D 1st Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide is arguably the greatest RPG book ever written. Considering the sheer volume of material that is out there I have a hard time believing this is the case, but I don’t know. I’ve never read it, and it comes up a lot. This is something that can be discussed in a later post though.

OSRIC has promise, and while I haven’t fully embraced the OSR gaming experience, I’m seeing why it has such a strong appeal. It also has the look of something I could actually see myself playing for a long time, but we’ll see how the book progresses.