FAQs — Advanced Old School Revival

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OSR+ System

What is OSR+ and why is it unique?

Advanced Old School Revival (OSR+) is rules-light tabletop RPG that combines old school play, such you might find in games from the OSR tradition, with modern storygaming, such as you might find in the PbtA tradition. It’s very easy to learn, only requires a single d6, and features both theater-of-mind combat with tactical depth and simple storytelling mechanics that help you deeply immerse yourself in the game.

OSR+ ships with a Character Creator and all of the Core Rules are available for free online. It’s also highly modular, meaning that as new campaign settings are developed for the system, all of the digital tools available for the system get updated automatically with new content.

Why is it called OSR+?

The plus stands for “Advanced,” similar to when TSR added “Advanced” to Dungeons & Dragons in its Second Edition. Learn more about the history of OSR+ and why it’s named after the Old School Revival.

Are the rules on OSR+ free to use?

Yes, you can use the Core Rules and the Character Creator for free to play OSR+ and use it in your own homebrew campaigns.

As far as using the Core Rules or any OSR+ content in products you want to release (whether they’re commercial or not), we’re currently working on licensing that allows you to do that. We have our eyes on new developments like Open RPG licensing and would like to go in that direction.

In the meantime, get in touch with us so we can work it out!

System Development

What can I expect as far as support goes for new content?

OSR+ has been in development privately for a several years (we have over 400 hours of actual plays recorded from our playtesting!), and we conducted an open beta to improve the system by taking public feedback, which was completed at the end of 2023.

OSR+ was built so that we could rapidly deploy content to our web platform and update the rules on the fly. There are four of us behind the system, by trade: a web developer, graphic designer, setting designer, and video ops technician. We’ve run six – eight games a month for the past several years as we developed the Core Rules and Game Master’s Guide and created the digital integration with the Character Creator.

But that’s just the beginning! Ever since we’ve left open beta, we have a lot of work to do, and you’ll see content released on a near weekly basis! Play OSR+ with us by making an account on this website, or joining our Discord. And don’t forget to like/subscribe to our Youtube!

What are the short term goals for OSR+?

Now that we’re out of open beta, you’re able to support the project by signing up for a premium account that will allow you access to all the Worlds of OSR+ on top of the free Core Fantasy Rules in the Character Creator.

Roadmap

You can view a comprehensive roadmap for OSR+ and vote on future features and content to help us drive development of content you love.

What are the long term goals of OSR+?

We have multiple phases of ideas!

On the digital side: more digital tools, such as a Clockwright that lets you build airships; a Lair Lab that lets you build hideouts and headquarters; a Monster Maker that lets you build monsters for encounters; and an Ethos Tarot that determines your hero’s ethos via questionnaire. Add to this more practical GM and player-facing tools, such as random table generators and a Session Zero Wizard for when you set up new games.

On the content side: We also have lots and lots of campaign settings that have been playtested and produced, but need to be released on the site and added to the Character Creator, such as the Long Night, the Great White North, Ride the Lightning, Magic University, and so many others. In the future, we envision a Scifi Core Rules and Modern Core Rules (with support in the Character Creator) so we can plug in scifi and superhero campaigns into the mix!

On the functional side: ADA compliance is a goal we’re striving for, especially for all our digital tools. With a team of 1 developer (me!) this will take some time.

On the product side: The ultimate goal for OSR+ is to be able to raise the money to make print editions of the Core Rules, the game master guide, and then provide a platform to sell adventure modules that showcase the Worlds of OSR+ (campaign settings).

Roadmap

You can view a comprehensive roadmap for OSR+ and vote on future features and content to help us drive development of content you love.

How do the premium subscriptions work?

Any Core Rules (inclusive of future Scifi and Modern rules) and the Character Creator will always be free to use, including the digital tools we plan to create to further support the OSR+ ecosystem. As we figure out licensing options, you’ll also be able to make use of the rules with an SRD in your own games.

However, we plan to release A LOT of campaign settings that beef up the Character Creator with new origins, kits, classes, spells, treasure, etc on a regular basis. To unlock this content in the Character Creator, you’ll need to upgrade your free account to a premium subscription. This will also give you a bunch of Patreon-like perks in our community and in the website in general.

At the moment there are three types of premium subscribers: Players, Game Masters, and Legends. When you subscribe to any of these three, you get access to all the Worlds of OSR+ and any extra functionality in any digital tools we develop for our subscribers. There will never be chunking of access, as a premiun subscriber, you’ll always have access to everything, whereas free users get the OSR+ Fantasy Core Rules (and in the future, the OSR+ Scifi Core and OSR+ Modern Core).

For Game Masters

The Game Master Subscription additionally gives you between 4 or 8 (depending on which tier you sign up for) seat codes you can share with your friends so they can also get premium access.

For Legends

As a Legend, we’re looking for your opinion as we continue to develop the system. Come join the Discord and talk to us! You get everything in all the other tiers, plus you can join us for an official OSR+ one-shot. We’ll also credit you in our actual plays and you’ll get any patron exclusive features we develop as progress continues.

What is your stance on AI and do you use it in OSR+?

We proudly use AI tools to generate art for OSR+, specifically Stable Diffusion, Midjourney, and RunwayML. We are enthusiastic about AI and the creative possibilities it offers to creatives like us. OSR+ in its current state would not be possible if not for the existence of AI tools.

We do not think the training involved in creating AI models infringes on the derivative rights of others. For this reason, we don’t think using AI to create art is unethical, unless your intent is specifically to replicate and profit off the work of a particular creator. We think the future will bear this out as AI tools become integrated into every aspect of our lives and copyright law catches up to its development.

Obviously, not everyone agrees with this stance! If you don’t like AI or its use in creating art, you don’t have to play our games or buy our products. And we’re OK with that.

Community

I hear there are games I can join on the Discord server?

There sure are!

There are a number of OSR+ Game Masters running games on our Discord server. Dungeons & Flagons is a monthly show (think drunk history, but a random RPG one-shot) that you can guest star on.

Ongoing campaigns are invite-only, but we do run lots of one-shots. If you’ve never played an RPG before, you’re our favorite kind of player. You should sign up for an introductory tutorial and we can teach you how to play.

Can I subscribe to a calendar of OSR+ events?

Add the server’s calendar URL to your calendar:

Google Calendar: Click custom calendars and paste in the URL above
Other Calendars: Choose “Add calendar by URL” or similar and paste in the URL.