Modern OSR

An exploration of old school and modern rules and methods.

Danger and wonder abound; dragons soar in the skies, demons lurk in the shadows, and powerful relics lie buried beneath forgotten cities. This is a world of swords and sorcery, where magic is real and the gods influence mortal affairs. 
Monsters and magical creatures are commonplace enough that towns build defenses against them. The world is still largely untamed. Trade routes crisscross vast tracts of wilderness, pockets of civilization dot its lawless frontier. Old kingdoms rose and fell, ancient tombs, ruined fortresses, labyrinthine caves, and dark dungeons are scattered throughout the wilds, often hiding secrets of a mythical past. 
Exceptional individuals dare to explore these forgotten dangerous places in search of glory, treasure, and heroism. 
This is what Modern OSR is.

Modern OSR focuses on empowering the Referee to be able to resolve situations by narrative judgement through an open rules framework. At the table this promotes storytelling and creative problem-solving. There are a few principles to help encourage and foster imaginative thinking at the table.

• Rulings over Rules
• Agency of Action
• Broadcast Danger
• Clear Perception
• Problems Not Solutions
• Random Fate
• Embrace House Rules

Vision for Modern OSR

• Elegant simplicity over crunch
• Embrace: Rulings over Rules, Supply Problems Not Solutions, and House Rules
• Effortlessly slide into any setting - default to OSR concept
• 8 Parts: Core Rules, Character Creation, Goods and Services, Referee Rules, Spells, Magic Items, Monsters and Appendix
• Five tiers of play (every 4 levels) low/mid/high here - epic/mythic later
  
• Numbers in the scale of classic OSR
• An option for all Hit Dice and Damage Dice are all static ½ die
• Use just Ability modifiers
• Use ability, attack and save checks with a default difficulty value of 12
• Advantage/disadvantage +/-2
• Four core classes and multiclass as six more classes
• Spells written by tiers and most available to mage with cleric picking based on domains
• Monsters are templates

This is a work in progress, it is 80% done and playable.