Fantasy Heartbreak Workshop

Back in December, Mike Evans asked:

"Many people have different opinions on this... so: what does the OSR mean to you? What characteristics define it?"
I responded at the time in the thread he started, but wanted to repost my thoughts again here for future reference:

The Old School Renaissance (OSR) in role-playing games seems to mean different things to different people, and I've seen some frustration, especially outside the OSR community with trying to pin down a definition.  Or disdain due to the idea that OSR is simply shorthand for nostalgia-driven, regurgitated pap.

But the ambiguity doesn't really bother me at all.  When I see OSR I know what I'm getting, and nostalgia is only a piece of the formula.

In my mind OSR is associated with any combination of the following:


Compatibility (either 1-to-1 or in spirit) with older types of games.An effort to figure out the mindset which went in to earlier games, approached with both a critical eye and an open mind.  Usual…

Infravision is the most recent thing I've been working on, a little Black Hack offshoot that diverges heavily in some regards and cribs extensively from a lot of other games I admire.

A bunch of major rules changes from Black Hack, but a lot more minor tinkerings and reskinnings of existing material.  There were a bunch of things I wanted to try out, and as long as changes are being made it might be worthwhile to attach this to something at least slightly different than the standard fantasy setting. Maybe not crazy different to start, but enough that shift expectations. Differences include, but not limited to: Separate races and classesStandard fantasy races swapped out for whatever others struck my whim at the time:Humans (same ol')Eld - The prigs and sickos you met elsewhere before. Here two distinct metaphysical strains.Mokta - Big, tough, lazy cat-things. Might seem familiar as well.Skulkin - R.O.U.S.sSimplified classes: Warrior/Jack/MageReduced Attributes reduced from 6 t…