Friday, December 31, 2021

The Eight Mantras of OSR Gaming

Considering several sources and my own experience running and playing games on the OSR Pick-Up Games Discord server for the last two years, I have created a list of the (currently) eight mantras of OSR-style gaming I most frequently hear and repeat:


1. Imagine the Hell out of it.

2. The OSR is rulings not rules.

3. Play worlds not rules. 

4. The OSR is a mindset, not a rules set.

5. The OSR is problems without prescribed solutions.

6. The answer isn't on the character sheet. 

7. Combat is a fail state. (I dislike this one. It's become dogma.)

8. The OSR is the players' story, not the game master's.



Here's to another year of OSR gaming! 

— Stripe