One of the things that bugs me in traditional D&D is that when playing with long time players they often know the monsters, the traps the tropes. I can change-up a monster's predation a la The Monsters Know What They are Doing, or adjust their hit points, but that doesn’t change the fact that the old players know this monster, there is no Shock and Awe factor when presented, et cetera with dungeons, taverns, towns, pit traps, mimics and so on.
Finding a solution to this issue is one of the many things that lead me to OSR. There are some really creative folks out there putting out brilliant content that I wouldn’t have come up with on my own in a hundred years. I also really admire the philosophical and/or dreamy, beautiful, dark edge that many OSR creators provide to settings and encounters. Its one thing to brute force attack a monster, but it’s a completely different battle if there is a moral or ethical cost to the fight that dooms the soul or the souls of others. You OSR fuckers are really good at making encounters and creatures more than one dimensional, literally and figuratively… and I at least, appreciate it! To that end, I have subconsciously (and now consciously, I guess) divided my favorite content makers into tiers:
UPDATE 2/3/24: I have become aware that some of the creators that I previously admired have (by their own words) engaged in hate-mobbing, as such I am reticent to promote their works. While I still think their content was/is good, I wont promote them nor this type of behavior until they've apologized to the subjects of their harassment at a minimum. I don't condone cancelling them or anybody without just cause, but personally I will strip their material from my personal games until they make amends. I'll go ahead and just say it, any call to cancel somebody is immediately sus. If you are going to cancel someone's livelihood and life, you damn sure better be able to back it up with evidence. I will leave their names here for a snapshot of my gaming history, but will remove the promotion of their blogs/websites. I have also removed non-OSR creators
Top Tier. I’ll pick up these folks’ content immediately sight unseen on general principle based upon their past work concerning philosophical dilemmas, unique creativity in mechanics or monsters, setting, or just quirky, immersive world building. I`ll backfill my coiffures with their old stuff join their kickstarters, patreons, blogs, youtube channels etc. and generally support them however they choose to avail themselves socially. In no particular order within the tiers:
-False Machine- cant wait for Demon Bone Sarcophagus!
Zak Sabbath- cant wait for more Cube World!!!
https://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/
-Noisms cant wait for Hall of the Third Blue Wizard!
- A Thousand, Thousand Islands
https://athousandthousandislands.com
-Scrap Princess
And my most recent find … the crew behind A Visitors Guide to the Rainy City, cant wait for the Beasts of the Outer Swell!
http://www.superheronecromancer.com
Im sure there are others out there of the same caliber that I have yet to discover, but that’s my list so far!
Tier 2. I will purchase most works by these folks, perhaps not in the opening kickstarter, but at some indeterminate time. I check their sites bi-weekly for new developments and cherry pick their past offerings and work for what I like.
-Elf Maids and Octopi.
https://elfmaidsandoctopi.blogspot.com
-Old School Essentials. Cant wait for new Post apocalypse setting /currently waiting for kickstarter core books.
https://necroticgnome.com/products/old-school-essentials-basic-rules
-Mork Borg- Cant wait for Pirate Borg! The beta pdf was awesome!
https://morkborg.com
-The Merry Mushmen- Waiting for Knock 3 to be released beyond the kickstarter crowd!
https://www.themerrymushmen.com
-Lamentations of the Flame Princess = I’ll ride the storm and see if they can re-ignite and continue putting out some quality stuff of old!
https://www.lotfp.com/RPG/
-Questing Beast- I like this muthafucka despite some of his reviews of less than stellar offerings, his biggest likes actually tend to lean toward the esoteric and bizarre, so we are eating from the same plate.
http://questingblog.com
Tier 3. I will acquire and view this category of content in order to forever keep an open mind. On the rare chance that I come across something decent, useful and that I can actually harvest for my games, I'll go back and purchase the material. But other than that, I have no intention of ever giving WoTC another dime as they continue their campaign of slashing old material; seem to be whole-heartedly committed to putting out uninspired drivel in a transparent marketing attempt to take over the world with computer generated artwork, cute avatars and pre-pubescent storylines.
Right now Im using the core rules, settings, mechanics, and monsters at a rate of about: 80% Tier 1, 15% Tier 2 and 5% Tier 3. just to keep my worlds weird, fun and dark .......
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