[RPG] What defines the “old school renaissance”

dungeons-and-dragonsosrterminology

I'm aware that the old school renaissance (OSR) is all about hearkening back to old versions of D&D and the play styles of the 70's and 80's, but what characteristics really define this movement? What minimum set of qualities does my game play require to be "old school"?

Best Answer

OSR is, for me, defined by gamers, games or publishers adherence to one or more of the following traits:

  1. playing or supporting one of the "old styled" games, such as D&D editions from the '70s, Tunnels & Trolls and so on
  2. concentrating more on players' skills and ideas than PCs' skills
  3. having a small body of rules, privileging rulings instead
  4. it's an adventure game, with adventurers delving in weird places finding creepy crawly things, odd magical items and hoards of gold. It's not necessarily about acting.
  5. incorporating sci-fi and gonzo bits
  6. self-created setting/rules, possibly published in A5 or digest size and available for cheap/free
  7. be very opinionated on ill-defined things ;)