Hot Elf Chicks Seek Gamer Guys for a Good Time

You read that right! Hot elf chicks seek gamer guys for good times and great adventures! YOU can live out your wildest fantasies! YOU can storm the mad wizard’s tower and win the girl! YOU can slay the dragon and take the gold! YOU can become a king among men and be the envy of the peasantry! How?!?!

Hehehe, a little bit of tongue in cheek there. In all seriousness, for those tuning in, welcome to Ostensible Cat, a blog associated with the OSR (for my regular readers bear with me – or blame it on James at the Underdark Gazette for giving me the idea).

What is the OSR you ask? Well, it is a loosely affiliated or group of self identified gamers that choose to play role playing games in the Old School manner. OSR has a few different meanings for the acronym (Old School Renaissance, Old School Revival, Old School Revolution, etc). Essentially it all boils down to the same thing: a bunch of gamers that are enthusiasts of older editions of pen and paper role playing games (RPGs). There are many blogs out there talking about the OSR but a good place for those unfamiliar with what the OSR is Matthew “Mythmere” Finch’s Primer on Old School Gaming is a good place to start.

Now, done with reading that? Good, it’s time to get started playing. The OSR has generally been focused on recreating play styles surrounding the earliest versions of Dungeons and Dragons or Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Of course, you can go on places like eBay and purchase older copies of these gaming materials or visit online storefronts such as Noble Knight Games. There are several rule sets out there that emulate the earlier editions of the game and are freely available thanks to the magic of Wizards of the Coast Open Game License. Swords and Wizardry recreates the gaming experience of the 1974 version of the Dungeons and Dragons rules. There are some differences, but it does a great job of delivering that feel (and you don’t have to spend a couple of hundred dollars trying to get the original rules). Labyrinth Lord recreates the play experience of the Basic/Expert rule sets of the early 1980’s. OSRIC (Old School Reference Index Compilation) recreates the 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons play experience. All great stuff. But why stop there? One thing about the folks in the OSR is that they are an incredibly creative and prolific lot. There are games out there in the spirit of the OSR that do not try and recreate the older editions of a game. Instead, the build upon the foundations of the older games to bring some pretty interesting twist to the table. Lamentations of the Flame Princess is one such game that uses the Original edition of Dungeons and Dragons as a template but builds up a very evocative and interesting adult oriented horror game. Also, if Dungeons and Dragons isn’t your cuppa, there are other choices such as OpenQuest which is a Basic Role Playing derivative (RuneQuest and Stormbringer). Or how about some SciFi action? Stars Without Numberis a great game to look into, how about post apocalyptic gaming? Go check out Mutant Future. Or Superheroes? Check out 4c. And you know what? This is just the tip of the iceberg! There's tons of content out there availiable for free or low cost to keep you in the realm of imagination for years!

Bottom line is that the OSR offers adventure beyond compare. Many of the resources are free, so why not check them out? Grab some dice and go play!