O is for OSR

A bit of a meta post. 

The theme has been Table Top Roleplaying Games (TTRPGs) and their settings and the fiction that can be seeded by and created in and around it. TTRPGs come in a lot settings and systems today. None appeal to me more than the Old School Renaissance or Old School Revival—I prefer the former over the latter, but both are acceptable—games that lean into the medieval fantasy settings and systems building on the original Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) games of the 1970s and 1980s.

OSR games build on the original “white box" D&D release (0e) and often include work that builds on the play style prominent in the 1970s: “Player Skill, not Character Abilities." This style breaks the fourth wall using the fact that you are playing a game. The dice provide friction and prevent the game from becoming just “playing pretend," and the situations are challenges presented by the Dungeon Master, a friend at the table, but not necessarily cheering you or your characters on using with traps and monsters loosely hung on a “plot hook" or part of a larger “campaign," a series of interconnected play sessions with episodic or dramatic arcs.

OSR also includes new looks at the original Basic and Expert (B/X) sets compiled by Dr. J. Eric Holmes—a neurologist and professor at USC and a veteran of the Korean War (Marines). Sometimes this includes the later Basic, Expert, Companion, Master, and Immortal (BECMI) sets and the Rules Cyclopedia that compiled the BECMI in a single volume. 

OSR has even grown to include works that attempt to refine and build on the first edition (1e) of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D).

This only kicks loose dirt into a deep rabbit hole of history, including the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. Many OSR players today lived through and “survived the panic" to fuel the Renaissance (or Revival).

Editor's Note

Here is just a sampling of OSR titles (and some titles may even be debated in the community). I include what I think deserves inclusion. Your list may be very different. 

• OSRIC (Old School Reference and Index Compilation) (1e AD&D)
• Old School Essentials (B/X+)
• Labyrinth Lord (1e AD&D)
• Swords and Wizardry (1e AD&D)
• The Black Hack (B/X+)
• Torchbearer (B/X+)
• Shadowdark (B/X+)
• Tunnels and Trolls (1e AD&D)
• Castles and Crusades (1e AD&D)

There are dozens more.