Book 4 Running the Game makes this set worth it on it's own.

I love that it's printed in separate volumes, to be able to have a player working on spells and another working on thier character at the same time while a third looks up rules is way more useful than one would expect. The booklet format, too is nice, it gives it an old school feel to it, almost like it's own white box.

Book 6... Honestly, I don't know if it was intentional, (I highly doubt it) but the fact that a companion volume was promised but not finished echoes B/X pretty closely.

This system is a 5e game with a B/X tone to it. I personally was born 6 years after B/X was printed, and find 5e more comfortable to run. However, I recently purchased "Into the Borderlands" from goodman games and wanted to try it with a game that had an OSR feel with 5e mechanics. This works pretty well for it.

Its fine but basically a good/high quality, with art and all, 5e homebrew with some baffling layout choices (Ability Score Modifers belong in the character creation book guys). Its very basic, good, but basic and I'd say a better gateway to the OSR. I'd skip this and grab Five Torches Deep Instead, though since it feel more like B/X meets 5e in a more concise and modular way.

Great old-school hack of the modern (2014) D&D rules. I would give five stars, but this 'complete' product bundle does NOT include a print copy of Book 3: Magic

Edit: Publisher has reached out and made good on this mistake. Looking forward to more Into the Unknown! Five Stars!

Into the Unknown marries 5e and B/X into a succinct and elegant ruleset. It's 5e stripped to the very core with some subtle but excellent changes resulting in a lean and mean system flensed of cruft. Much like B/X, the clear rules make an excellent template for a DM expand upon for genre and setting emulation. For example, the Rogue Schemes cover Thief, Drifter, Acrobat and Mountebank but it was simple for me to add Assassin because I could see how the author built the class features and generated my own with little effort.

I bought all five books of Into the Unknown in print. It is a great system that really finds a sweet spot between 5e and OSR games. My only issue, aside from some typos, is with the print copy of book 2: Playing the Game. The book opens with a completely unrelated product, an adventure for Thrilling Tales called "Terror in Tinseltown." This adventure takes up more than half of the book and it's the first half of the book about game rules. I would much rather have a slimmed down copy or have the bonus material in the back of the book. It would even be acceptable if the genre wasn't such a contrast to a fantasy RPG. As it is, it's just something that I have to flip past everytime I'm trying to look up a rule.

(Edit 3/31/2021) I received the reprinted book 2 without the strange inclusion. I updated my rating to 5 stars as this is my go to system for introducing 5e players to the OSR. This is criminally underated as a game system and blows Five Torches Deep out of the water.

Here's to hoping the author gets his "Expert" rules finished in the near future. It'll be an autobuy for me.

Best version of 5e. Some of the things that really sold the game for me were:

• Game actually gives you concrete and solid exploration rules for both hexcrawl and point-crawl
• Different areas of gameplay are codified really well
• Power level is tuned just slightly down without losing compatibility with 5e
• Monster list is condensed and usable at the table

There were two things that bothered me. First, XP based on damage received/dealt is way too cumbersome and should be rewritten completely. Fortunately there are two other ways to award XP. Second, the demihumans are objectively better at everything compared to the core classes so I wouldn't use them in the same campaign. There are also some typos which should be addressed, but generally the books are well-written and laid out.

Overall, ItU is highly recommended for anyone willing to keep running 5e but with old-school tone. I'm really looking forward to the Companion expansion.

This is a great book for those that enjoy 5e but wish to play/explore a more OSR style play. The game uses 5e, but adds some b/x inspired mechanics to help it play a little closer to those early edtions of D&D.
You dont need the 5e core books to play as the necessary rules are all stated again across the books. I find the presentation of the 5e rules in Into The Unknown to be much less wordy and easier/quicker to digest then the core 5e books. To highlight some of the changes to vanilla 5e there is:

*** • The return of the 10min round for dungeon exploration, which is a helpful formal structure to keep pressure on the pc's, and keep track of supplies etc The threat of Wandering monsters, dwindling light sources, and the need to rest are all devices that keep the tension going in old school Dungeon explorations. Theres a clever table to roll on which takes care of these aspects, making it easier for the DM to run dungeon crawls without too much book keeping.

*** • Slower healing rates to make dungeon exploration more dangerous.

*** • Paired down classes, and race as class. With some nice new feaures that can be taken at 1st level which replaces the addtion of the 3rd level archtypes in standard 5e. You'll recognise the basic classes from 5e, but the new feature at 1st level gives some good flavour and options, retaining some variety to characters.

***• A strong emphasis on improvisation in game play akin to that engendered by the older rules lite addtions of d&d. This I really liked. it opens up the 5e rule set to a more open ended style of play. In fairness to vanilla 5e it has been designed to allow this sort of improvisation along side class abilities, but the text heavy nature of those rule books and myriad of class options somehow gets that message a bit lost. Into The Unknown puts that aspect front and centre, and has great advice on how to improvise actions within the 5e rule set, something only lightly hinted at in the core wizard of the coast 5e books. If you find yourself getting repetitive & overly perscriptive in your 5e PC options this is worth the price of the books alone.

*** • In place of individual skills there is the option to just use areas of proficiency.

All in all if you like 5e but want to try a b/x inspired flavour of 5e i'd recommend it. Thanks to its suggestions its made me reappraise standard 5e ( for the better). The suggestions and options can inform vanilla 5e and vice versa thanks to its compatibility. Also worth considering if you fancy running any of the Goodman Games 5e conversions of classic D&D modules, or even better make up your own dungeon crawls old school style.

I love this game. I've got two 5e D&D campaigns that I'm currently running and have been looking for a way to introduce more old-school play to my group. This may do just the trick. When my current games are over I'm thinking of using to either run Rime of the Frostmaiden or one of the Goodman Games Original Adventures Reincarnated series. I'll say more about it once I've run it, but from an initial read through it is a very exciting marriage of the best features of old school games with modern mechanics.

The print production quality is my only complaint. I wish it were available as saddle-stitched booklets rather than perfect bound. As it is the text really crowds the center margins at the spine of the book making it a little bit of a strain to read. But the content is good enough that it is worth the minor annoyance and if it became available in saddle-stitched booklets I would buy it all over again.

Let's be honest. This ruleset might not be for every OSR fan out there, certainly not for the most hardcore OSR fans. But what it does best is that it brings OSR-style adventures into 5e games. By all means it is still 5e and if you didn't liked 5e base mechanics (like combat system, proficiencies, backgrounds and inflated HPs) you might not quite like this one as well, even though a lot has changed. Nevertheless it is a great rule system if you, like me, play with people that are not accustomed to OSR games usually because of high leathality, very few character options and specific style of play. This game builds the bridge between 5e and OSR. It throws out the window all the unnecessary, complicated stuff, but leaves enough character options so that most people will be satisfied. It doesn't ends here, as every class is in many ways is similar but different to their 5e counter-parts so that all the 5e players should feel that they came across something new, but familiar at the same time - and it is all made in the spirit of OSR games.

With many of it rule variants it is also a highly modular game, allowing DM to change up many things to their liking, making it resemble OSR games even more. There are some excellent rules, like even HARSHIER healing, Grevious Wounds, lasting Critical Hits and many more that will make your game even more deadly, while still giving your players some space to breathe. It also does great job at teaching what OSR-style adventures are like and how to DM them, so it is a great choice if you want to DM OSR-style game but you are new to this whole "new" concept. I don't think there is a better game that explains to modern players what OSR is like while at the same time making the transision painless (there are probably better OSR games, but most of them are very rough around the edges and not very appealing to more modern audience). I think that both hardcore 5e and OSR players will find here something to their liking.

Is it perfect system? No - there's no such a thing. Being a good DM is an art of compromises as you need to choose between what you like and what your players enjoy, which doesn't always align. For me ItU was the right choice as it allowed me to continue nursing my love of OSR-style campaigns, while at the same time having modern rule system with enough options so that my players can enjoy their characters.

I believe that for a long time to come this will be my main rules system, especially that it created a great foundation for DMs to build upon. Also, me and my players can't wait for the Companion book, which is possibly coming out this year. Keep up the good job, Anders! You've made a lot of people happy with your work :)

All 5 booklets in this set are very nice. All together they make a fairly complete rewrite of B/X rules for 5e sensibilities, and can be easily used to run whole campaigns. But book 4 is my favorite, because it's clearly a summary of a GM's experience and it successfully combines insights and techniques from both the older origins of the hobby and newer indie approaches - making players feel challenged while preserving their agency, using rules as a light framework that let complexity and fun emerge from the roleplaying instead of mechanical gimmicks, etc. It takes time to discuss some of the most common approaches in adventure building - like using dungeon world-style fronts for narrative-driven adventures, for example. In general, this book should be recommended reading for any GMs ready to lose the raining wheels.

I think this is my new favorite RPG.

It preserves the streamlined, intuitiive gameplay of 5E, which means no wonky, crunchy saving throw or to-hit tables (or THAC0), just straightforward ability + proficiency rolls vs DC, or (ascending) AC, for just about all checks.

Characters classes, meanwhile, are scaled back to the B/X or Rules Cyclopedia style fighter, rogue, priest, and magic-user, with options for race-as-class dwarf, elf, and halfling. All classes are simplified from 5E and there are no archetypes or subclasses to choose from. There are, however, a few meaningful options for each class which adds some nice variation and flexibility to the game. The fighter gets a fighting style, for example, while the priest and magic user each have a few options that determine which spells they can use and a few other features.

Monster and spell lists are truncated from the 5E core rules. You get just about all the classic material you could want, though I would have liked to see the inclusion of certain spells (Fire bolt cantrip) and at least one metallic (gold) dragon. Stat blocks and spell descriptions are also more concise and simpified, but they remain 5E at the core.

The game is designed to be fully compatible with 5E and I think is largely accompishes this. The default rules-as-written are designed to be slightly harsher and more "old school" than 5E. A long rest only restores 1 spent hit die, rather than full hit points, and optional rules are included to make the game even more old school. There are options for eliminating at-will cantrips, or reducing bonuses for high attributes to B/X table (where 18 only gives +3 rather than +4). At the same time, the written rules are pretty transparent with their differences from 5E, so it's easy to house rule just about anything back to 5E rules if preferred.

The DM's section on designing and running dungeons, adventures, campaigns, and so on is concise but packs a lot of good tips for getting started.

The game supports play up to level 10, so there's no "high-level content"... no age categories for dragons in the monster listings, for example, or any other insanely overpowered monsters or spells. Personally, I think this is fine. 10 levels of core D&D gameplay is plenty. More of the same at higher levels can bog down the gameplay with excessive number crunching, though 5E is much better about this than its immediate predecessors. On the other hand, back in the old Rules Cyclopedia, the game changes into something almost completely different at 9th level, aka "name level"... with rules for domain management, mass combat, and paths to immortality.

While I've always enjoyed the concept of a successful heroic adventurer eventually owning a castle, leading armies, and so on, core D&D gameplay wasn't really designed for that. Still, Into the Unknown is simple enough that you could probably fiddle around with Rules Cyclopedia content or later third-party supplements if you really wanted to include domains, warfare, etc., in a campaign at or after 9th or 10th level.

5E made a lot of improvements to the D&D "engine" that I'm personally fond of. These generally get lost or ignored by most "OSR" games, even the ones that aren't straight "retroclones" of the original cumbersome rulesets. Into the Unknown is different. It achieves its goals of playing streamlined like 5E while recapturing the simplistic design and feel of the much older editions of D&D.

All in all, an excellent RPG.

Into the Unknown takes the mechanics of the 5E system, strips it down to the essentials, and melds it with old-school playing style, creating a lean but complete system for low level (1st through 10th) adventures. The game is fun, well-organized, and should appeal to gamers who like the 5E system but may want a bit more simplicity. I highly recommend this game.

This is a interesting way to do 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons. I'm rating it only 3 stars because there seems to be a couple of spelling and grammer errors that could be fixed, and and other things that need to make the product better.

What I liked: Classes can choose what they want to be when they start instead of doing subclasses, and giving the player ideas of how they should play their characters is great way to Role Play. Back to the basic 7 classes and 3 alignments, just more modern take on it, which is always good. Speaking of, Race as Class in this version is nice and would use it for vanilla 5e.

What I don't Like: Spelling errors and grammer needed to be fixed before being released.

Looks dangerously close to the free basic 5e rules and should be more closer to OSR to set it appart (in my opinion.) Not having an attribute score and bonus chart that tells players what to write down on there character sheet and what they mean, even if it is just a basic description, would have made it easier for new players to learn ( I know that is what book 2 is for but even then it doesn't have the score/bonus chart in that, as far as I have seen, but it would help here instead of relying on basic 5e rules for that information.)

It's overall a good product just needs some work on fixing the spelling errors.

Although it's the slimmest volume of Into the Unkown, Book 2: Playing the Game brings the fundamentals of old-school play to the fifth edition of the world's oldest role-playing game. By introducing turn based dungeon and wilderness exploration with segments and watches, and modifying short and long rest rules, this volume brings old school functionality to new school mechanics. You've never enjoyed middle school so much!