OSE vs. S&W

Discuss old-school games that don't have their own sub-forum here
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Yajin
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Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2022 9:16 pm

OSE vs. S&W

Post by Yajin »

Good evening:

I'm curious what the opinion is here regarding OSE vs. S&W. I notice there is no OSE forum.

Thanks!

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badams30
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Joined: Mon May 07, 2018 6:50 pm

Re: OSE vs. S&W

Post by badams30 »

Yajin wrote:
Mon Jan 17, 2022 10:47 pm
Good evening:

I'm curious what the opinion is here regarding OSE vs. S&W. I notice there is no OSE forum.

Thanks!
What a question. I'm decidedly split. I've got all the OSE and Advanced OSE stuff, and I've got all the S&W stuff. I've spent a fortune on the OSE books and a relative pittance on the S&W stuff (both Compleat and White Box - FMAG).

OSE: I love B/X, it's amazing for its simplicity, and how it lends itself to house rules and customization. It's layout and pleasing format are real plusses for me, and are the main reason I bought all the stuff I did. It's beautiful, useable, and a good gateway RPG for someone who is curious about OSE stuff.

S&W: FMAG is simple, cheap, and to me is really at the heart of what OSE is about. I was lukewarm to it initially, but now it's my favorite system. I wish more people published stuff for it. I really love S&W Complete, and the new box set (I have both) and S&W is to simplicity as OSE is to layout and formatting. I like the simple rules, the easy learning curve (especially if you are old like I am and can explain OSE well) and the support with games and stuff found online.

While I love both, and despite spending a FORTUNE on the OSE stuff, hands down, S&W is my preferred RPG. I just like the flavor and format of it, and I appreciate the relative low cost that the creators and contributors have kept as a cornerstone of it. Easy to house rule, and familiar (for lack of a better word) it seems well-suited for what I use it for - mostly playing with experienced players and new ones - even young ones like my kids (8-12 years old) they've tried D&D 5E and didn't care too much for it....

Hows that for a convoluted answer?

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merias
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Re: OSE vs. S&W

Post by merias »

Welcome, Yajin! My opinion in a minute...but first on why there is no OSE forum:

If you read the forum history, you'll notice this forum was originally meant to replace the defunct S&W forum. I later broadened the scope to include discussion of all old-school games or clones. Over the years I've added sub-forums as needed, but generally if a game does not have a dedicated forum, posts about it can go into this "Other Old-School Games or Clones" sub-forum.

I did recently add a Moldvay B/X forum - and that raises an interesting question - should OSE discussion go in the B/X forum, or in this "other games" sub-forum, or maybe we need a sub-forum just for OSE? Moldvay and OSE are so much alike, that I'd lean towards combining them, although that might get the B/X purists angry :lol: :lol: :lol:. I'm interested to hear what folks think on that.

On which I like better - I have a soft-spot for S&W White Box, although I've warmed to OSE lately. I think B/X is a really great simplification/cleanup of original D&D, and OSE did a great job of cleaning up B/X, while keeping it as close as possible to the original. So I like both, with a preference for S&W.

Yajin
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Joined: Mon Jan 17, 2022 9:16 pm

Re: OSE vs. S&W

Post by Yajin »

Wow great answers! Thanks very much!

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