OSRIC the Third

The wise sages at Mythmere Games are hard at work on the third version of OSRIC (“Old School Reference and Index Compilation”). You can support this project at Backerkit.

OSRIC is a restatement of the first edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons rules as they existed prior to the publication of Unearthed Arcana (with some minor modifications to ensure its legal “safety” at the time). It was the first true “retro clone” – version 1.0 came out in 2006 – and helped turbocharge the “Old School Renaissance” in its early days. While other “old school” games preceded it (e.g., Castles & Crusades, Basic Fantasy RPG, Hackmaster), OSRIC was the first to aim simply to restate an earlier, no longer supported, set of rules, rather than capture its “ethos” or “feel” with a somewhat different (more “modern”) system.   

While continuously available for free (in PDF) for almost two decades now, OSRIC eventually was eclipsed by other retro clones (including Mythmere Games’ own Swords & Wizardry, which restates the pre-AD&D version of the game). 

Hopefully with new art and a more reader-friendly presentation, though, OSRIC will enjoy its own renaissance and find a new audience.

Certainly, when I contemplate running an old school TSR-era version of D&D again, I tend to think of “Gygaxian” AD&D (using Gygax’s version of the World of Greyhawk) more than anything else. And I prefer the pre-UA version of the game overall (in part because I don’t have much nostalgia for the post-UA version, as I had drifted away from AD&D shortly after it was published).

The new version promises to be great. Hopefully half-elves will be able to be druids in this version (as they were in AD&D – their true, unique niche). And while I’m disappointed that there will be no bard class, I’m looking forward to adding OSRIC 3.0 to my library. I’m “all in”!

Emirikol would approve!