OSRIC In Dungeon Magazine, HotDC Stays The Course

Been reading these past few days on the forums about how the guys at OSRIC got a mention in Dragon Magazine. There has been some debate over legality over what these guys are doing. They have essentially created a document they claim makes it legal to print old school (That's 1st Edition AD&D style) Adventure Modules for sale. Not gonna get into legalities here. You can find that on certain forums if you look. The OSRIC page is linked here as I like this project. Though I'm uncertain what they can do legally, I admire them for trying.

From what I've read, by the way, the revision of OSRIC will be ready soon. While a free pdf dowbload will still be available, people will be able to purchase a hard copy if they want. The guys are moving ahead with things, and there are lots of mods available for purchase that work with OSRIC.

Anyway, Dragon Magazine's June edition has a mention of OSRIC and some mods as well, and it's said to be favorable. This is a bit of a surprise, but it's good news to the OSRIC people. Does this mean the project is safe from lawsuit? Some may think so, but it may be too low on Wizards' radar at the moment.

I stopped by my local game store today, and the owner had this to say, "Sounds like a good way to get hit with a lawsuit."

Granted, he didn't seem to know about this project when I told him and likely hasn't read anything on the subject.

Goblinoid Games has created mods for OSRIC and are working on Labyrinth Lord, which is set for release in the next month or so. LL will follow the same principles as OSRIC, while creating the vibe of that old school basic game (Basic D&D).

Now, I had thought about going where LL is going, and I had to think about this. In the past, I have halted two writing projects because they were based on other people's IP. I knew they could never be published, so why bother? Though I work on Heroes of the Dungeon Crawl and will continue to do so, I am cheering for LL. I wish them luck. RPG Gaming needs this one, in my opinion.

I had to think long and hard about what I wanted from HotDC. In the end, I decided to go a different route to make my own game. It will have familliar elements to it, but I see nothing on the market like it. It will be a six sided dice system. I ditched the Armor Level System for
the Attack-Defense System. That is something I continue to tweak. I'm staying with three attributes with an option for two more. Many terms are being created for HotDC, such as Degrees, Life Points, Adventure Points and others.

In the long run, this will be better for HotDC. The game will be customizable with several options being presented. However, it will not be at all difficult to grasp these rules and move right into playing. That's why I call it Basic HotDC. There are no plans for an Advanced HotDC.

Oh, a while back, I commented on changing the name. I have a list of a half dozen or so names, one that I'm really liking. Not saying anything now though as I've made no official decision.