Asolutely love this. Whilst being a tome that ties in nicely with the Old School Essentials set, this is usable with most B/X (or even later Mentzer/Cyclopedia) versions of Basic D&D. It introduces race & class as distinct whilst keeping the flavour of osr gaming (you have the option to keep race-as-class, and it includes many new additions for this style if you prefer it).

I particularly liked the feel of old-style classes (Acrobat, Assassin, Ranger etc.) in the context of the Basic set-up. Also includes 'advanced rules' (two-weapon fighting, parrying, multi-classing, skills, weapon proficiency), yet somehow manages to 'feel' like its own thing, i.e not just a compromise with AD&D rules tacked-on.

I find the rules herein far more intuitive than the weapon rules offered in the Cyclopedia version of basic D&D (which add more complexity than AD&D in many ways, albeit adding great depth).

OSE keeps to the design principle of 'rules-light' and intuitive, whilst serving up something very evocative of what I had been looking for whenever I went back to try the 'basic' version of the 'Original Game' and found it missing something. This volume is an incredibly good answer to that feeling of what was missing. Great work, all!

If you are looking for a product that is faithful to the B/X rules and presents them in a way that is easy to digest and read, then this product is a five star product.

However, if you want the feel of the B/X rules but some tweaks to improve them a little then you won't really get that here. For example, the RAW B/X rogue is kind of useless because the base percentages for the thieving skills are so low. It would have been easy for the designer to tweak those to make them actually useful. Of course as a GM it's not that hard to houserule, but I do like it when the designer takes time to do some of that work for me. That being said, I don't really think that was the goal of this product, so I can't really criticize it for that.

Excellent book, the classic B/E rules, revised, updated and presented in the clearest format I've ever seen in an RPG book. This page's layout is art in itself.

Rules for B/X games all in one easy to read manuscript. Faithful to the 1981 Edition, it's streamlined and layed out exceptionally well. Coupled with some necessary clarifications and fabulous illustrations, OSE has set the bar for OSR. After playing with the book in two homebrew adventures, I am not only satisfied, but also impressed! Highly recommended.

This is one of the greatest single purchases for my games I have ever made. The spells are imaginative and dangerous. Must have for any casters and great for any class. The only thing that could make it better is if it was a hard cover book.

I love this product. A bunch of pregen characters each with their own character sheet, illustration, backstory, equipment, everything. Need characters for a quick game? Right here. Need a rival adventuring party? Here you go. I just wish there were more. Each character is one page with everything you need- just print and play.

PDF and Hardcover, 48 pages

Much like the Cleric and Magic-User Spells book this one covers Druids and Illusionist spells. Again the modularity of the game pays off here. You can play Advanced Genre Druids and Illusionists OR you can just use the Cleric and Magic-User classes respectively and this book to play a Basic Druid and Basic Illusionist and not even buy the Advanced Fantasy Genre Rules book. It would be better to pick up that book, but the way everything is written you do not have too.

This covers the usual suspects of spells again. The Basic style presentation is fun and it is like seeing these classes and spells through new eyes. It really is a testament to the system and the authorship.

Like many in the early 80s, I moved from the B/X version of the World's Greatest Game to the Advanced version. But also like many, I never forgot my "Basic" roots and thought for all it's "Advancements" there was still something special about the Basic game.

Well OSE hears you. The modular design of OSE makes adding material that is considered "Advanced" to be quite easy. Granted this is not the first Retro-Clone to do this, but this one does it in such an elegant fashion.

Advanced Fantasy: Genre Rules adds new classes and new races. For new races we get drow, duergar, gnome, half-elf, half-orc, and svirfneblin (yes deep gnomes!) Also true to the advanced rules this book pulls race and class apart. In truth this was one of the major benefits of the Advanced game and that is true here as well. For new classes, we get acrobat, assassin, barbarian, bard, druid, illusionist, knight, paladin, and ranger. There is also rules for multi-classing, something I always want to add to my basic games. Some additional rules on poison and magic are also included.

A fantastic addition to the Core Rules.

The one thing that B/X lacked was a proper GM's screen. Yes, BECMI had one, but not B/X. Well OSE has you covered, or screened as it were.

This product has 10 pages (1 cover, 1 OGL page and 8 pages of screen) for standard 8-panel, landscape orientation screens. Purchase the PDF and print them out. Easy.

The cover art is Peter Mullen's core art. So there are ways to get all the cover art...covered I guess.

PDF and Hardcover, 296 pages

If you are a fan of the old "Rule Cyclopedia" version of the BECMI rules then this is going to be a treat for you. The Rules Tome combines all of the "Core" and "Classic Fantasy" rules into one large and gorgeous tome. There are three different cover versions. I have the foil JShields version, the Andrew Walter is the standard version and in many ways, I like it better! It is the same art on the Box Set, so I am happy to have both. This book includes:

Core Rules: Rules for character creation and advancement, adventuring in dungeons, the wilderness, and at sea, magic and combat. Classic Fantasy: Genre Rules: Seven classic classes (cleric, dwarf, elf, fighter, halfling, magic-user, thief), complete lists of weapons and adventuring gear, extensive lists of vehicles, mounts, and vessels, mercenaries and specialists for hire, rules for stronghold construction. Classic Fantasy: Cleric and Magic-User Spells: The complete set of 34 cleric spells (from 1st to 5th level) and 72 magic-user spells (from 1st to 6th level), for use by players or cleric, elf, and magic-user characters. Classic Fantasy: Monsters: A selection of over 200 classic monsters to challenge adventurers of all levels. Classic Fantasy: Treasures: A hoard of over 150 wondrous magic items.

So everything you need for a full fantasy game.

Should you get this one or the individual books? That is up to you. The combined volume is obviously cheaper. But all are enjoyable.
I have a Rules Tome for me, a set of books for the table and a couple extra players' books (Core Rules and Genre Rules).

This is pretty much perfect.

Ah, now this is a book I would have loved back in 81. Also coming in at 80 pages this book is about monsters and nothing else.

Stat blocks are concise and there is none of the bloat in the descriptions that appear in later editions (ok to be fair that bloat was demanded by players). The book is fantastic.

There are also NPC encounter tables and monsters listed by HD. The utility of this book is top-notch.

I can easily see a "Monsters 2" and "Monsters 3" sometime in the future for this line.

PDF and Hardcover, 80 pages

Ah, now this is a book I would have loved back in 81. Also coming in at 80 pages this book is about monsters and nothing else.

Stat blocks are concise and there is none of the bloat in the descriptions that appear in later editions (ok to be fair that bloat was demanded by players). The book is fantastic with my only reservation in I wish it had been illustrated more. But even that is fine because the illustration we get are fantastic and very reminiscent of the old school monster books.

There are also NPC encounter tables and monsters listed by HD. The utility of this book is top-notch.

I can easily see a "Monsters 2" and "Monsters 3" sometime in the future for this line.

Cleric and Magic-User Spells would have been my favorite book if OSE had come out in the 80s. Right now it also has my favorite cover from the entire series. Seriously, I love it. It just oozes eldritch weirdness.

The book itself has 48 pages and covers all the Cleric and Magic-User/Elf spells in the game.

All the usual suspects are here. Cleric spells go to level 5 and magic-user spells go to level 6, just as expected from the B/X sources. Again, when making my recent Cleric I used this book.

The modularity again is a huge boon for this book and game. Adding a new class, like the Druid or Illusionists? Add a new book easy! In fact, we see that is exactly what was done. Expandability is the key here.

PDF and Hardcover, 48 pages

Cleric and Magic-User Spells would have been my favorite book if OSE had come out in the 80s. Right now it also has my favorite cover from the entire series. Seriously, I love it. It just oozes eldritch weirdness.

The book itself has 48 pages and covers all the Cleric and Magic-User/Elf spells in the game.

All the usual suspects are here. Cleric spells go to level 5 and magic-user spells go to level 6, just as expected from the B/X sources. Again, when making my recent Cleric I used this book.

The modularity again is a huge boon for this book and game. Adding a new class, like the Druid or Illusionists? Add a new book easy! In fact, we see that is exactly what was done. Expandability is the key here.

These are the rules to allow you to play in any sort of "Basic Fantasy" style game. Here get our character classes of Cleric, Fighter, Magic-User, and Theif and The three "demi-human" classes of Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling. If you are familiar with the Basic/Expert games of 1981 then this is home territory for you. Human classes are limited to 14th level and demi-humans vary.

In addition to the classes (half the book more or less) we go into Equipment, mounts, hirelings and building strongholds. So yes, everything that concerns players from level 1 to level 14 or retirement.

This is one of the three required books by the players. The others are the Core Rules and then also Cleric and Magic-User spells (if they are playing one of those classes).

Like all the books in this series the layout is crisp, clean and a model of efficient use of words. From a User Experience point of view it is an absolute gem.