Old School Fantasy Returns!

"Old School Essentials - Genre Rules" by Gavin Norman
Published and Distributed by Necrotic Gnome
ISBN-13: 978-3-96657-0046-0 -- 48 Pages
The Second Book of the Retro Adventure Game Books

There is currently a revival of "Old School" type rules for Dungeons and Dragons. I've bought and/or looked at and/or played and ran several of them, and this is one of the better ones.

This remake takes the old Tom Moldvay Basic and Expert ("B/X") rule sets, and dissects them into five Retro Adventure Rulebooks. This volume is available separately and as part of a great boxed set. This book covers the Genre Rules for Fantasy within Necrotic Gnome Retro Adventure Games, and is probably the one most people will buy.

There are seven classes available to choose from: Cleric, Dwarf, Elf, Fighter, Halfling, Magic-User, and Thief. Newer players would certainly say that races are not classes, But that =is= the way they were portrayed in OSR. Game Masters should have both the Core Rules, and the Genre Rules, as well as the Classic Fantasy: Cleric and Magic-User Spells book.

There's a two page spread for each class, giving each the table of progression (in other words: How much experience do I need to go up a level?) and other very general info. Equipment is next with general adventuring gear, then Weapons and Armor. After that is info on Vehicles and Mounts, Hirelings, and Strongholds.

Once again, Necrotic Gnome packed this book as full as they could get! Even the inside front cover, and the inside back cover have important tables for very easy access!

The Open Gaming License and a handy index of Tables complete this work.

I've played some other games, and I've been gaming for over 40 years! I started in 1976 with what is commonly known as "The Little White Box" which contained four digest-sized booklets: 1) "Men and Magic", 2) "Monsters and Treasures", and 3) "Underground and Wilderness", and a small white pamphlet with very necessary tables. I feel as though my experience with gaming and role-playing in particular, gives me memories of the game as it was originally published, and thus real life experiences to use in this review.

I supported this through Necrotic Gnome's Kickstarter, and also received a module for the adventurers to explore called "The Hole in the Oak". Right now, I cannot think of a better retro-clone of older D&D. It reminds me of the original red booklet which was one of the first types of first edition. Highly Recommended.