The OSR is Cringe

It's Kind of Lame Now

Over the last year and a half, anyone looking closely at my work has seen that I no longer identify with the OSR. I no longer market my stuff as “OSR” nor put OSR logos on my work and covers. For instance, Wight-Box has zero references to OSR within and on the cover. The same is true of Macuahuitl, my Aztec game based on 0e D&D.

Why?

The OSR is no longer a fun place, mostly due to the general type of person found within it, at least in the online sphere.

When I started my YouTube channel in January of 2021, I had been reading, playing, solo gaming, and running OSR games for a while. The difference then was that I was not connected to any online community or group. I was sort of alone in it; I read rulebooks and games that interested me. Having come from 5e and, previous to that, 4e, I found the old-school rules intriguing and was immediately drawn to BX (where I get my pen name).

Again, though, I was not connected to any online group or community and was thus unaware of what I would eventually learn as I connected to the online sphere of OSR gaming. And oh boy! The things I have experienced in the hobby since 2021 have caused me to never want to associate with the OSR again.

The Purpose of the OSR and the Start of the Sickness

The purpose of the OSR was originally to clone old rules and get them into the hands of modern gamers or grognards who no longer had access to them. In the mid-2000s, games like Basic Fantasy RPG and OSRIC filled this gap. These are not perfect 1:1 interpretations of the rules, but they at least gave people a taste of the old-school way. Ultimately, this goal of getting the original rules into players' hands succeeded. These clone games forced WotC’s hand, and now you can get almost anything from the TSR era on DTRPG as a digital PDF or print-on-demand. On top of that, very close clones exist now. If BX still interests you, you can get Old School Essentials (OSE) and have a game that is very much the original TSR version of the classic rules. The original mission of the OSR succeeded. The OSR won!

But this produces another problem. The OSR won, but it no longer has a purpose for it to exist. This is when the OSR changed in the 2010s or so, or at least when it started to take off. In this era, the OSR segment of the hobby shifted from cloning the original rules to adapting the original rules to settings and ideas the original rules were never seen adapted to before. I, as a designer, got my start here. My own game, Macuahuitl, is one such game that does this. Now, you have creators adapting BX (which has become the “language” of the OSR) to science fiction, World War II, and various historical events and times.

Through this creative adaptation of rules, the idea of rule 0 and GM fiat have arisen, and they are being championed by many in the OSR as the foundational principle of this hobby segment. However, I already made a video about how the 5e crowd they despise already claimed rule zero for themselves as well. And we see this as fact as there is an even larger designer sphere of people adapting the 5th edition rules to any and every setting.

We even saw a while back, when the Cyberpunk Edgrunner show was popular, that 5e people were discussing how to adapt Edgerunner to 5e, not knowing that Cyberpunk 2020 and Cyberpunk Red already exist for this exact purpose. In fact I saw many within the OSR ridicule the Bell of Lost Souls article about how 5e people know nothing but 5e and try to shoehorn everything into 5e.

This was a turning point for me logically because I realized something. The OSR people do the same thing with the BX ruleset. Who are they to mock these people for doing to 5e what they have done to Basic/Expert? It seemed incredibly hypocritical and lacking in self-awareness.

The general OSR enjoyer worships a fake version of D&D, which has led to me calling it cringe. They love and worship the version of D&D they misunderstood when they were twelve and have not advanced their knowledge, understanding, or skill of the game since then. This is proven by the fact that if you bring up some cool obscure rule as I have, you are not met with, “Wow, that’s neat!” or, “Woah yeah, we used that sometimes to good or bad effect.” Instead, you are met with, “Well, I have played for forty years (incorrectly, but don’t tell me that), and let me tell you how you are a bad person for bringing this forgotten part of the game up.”

I have asked questions about how certain rules work, hoping the “muh 40 years” crowd could enlighten me. Instead of explaining the rule and answering my question, I’m often met by someone who explains how they handwave a rule, ignore it, or homebrew it.

That doesn’t answer my question and only deepens my view that these guys have never understood D&D correctly or opened their books in forty years. This is harsh, but let me explain why. I have no nostalgia for old-school D&D. As I stated, I started in 4e (the most hated edition). My interests and viewpoints are not from nostalgia and are not clouded by nostalgia. My view is purely from a “what kind of game do the old rules produce, and what do they say?”

That is what interests me.

I have realized that this viewpoint has put me at odds ideologically with the general person in the OSR. The OSR guy loves the idea of playing the game like he is twelve again. I have never had this experience, so I went in as an adult, looked at the rules, and accepted them. I switched from 5e to old-school games, not for simple aesthetics, but because the rules differ from 5e in big, dramatic ways. But as we can see, what is the point of pointing out these system distinctions if we put rule zero above the rules that make the game different from 5e? Again, the 5e people have rule zero on a pedestal as well. So what, then, is the difference between the OSR and the 5e people if they both have rule zero at the foundation? Why does it matter if the old-school rules are different from 5e if the OSR guy is just as likely to toss out or change rules as the 5e guy? Why is the OSR guy any different or “better” in his mind? The answer is dumb. He’s better because “at least he doesn’t play 5e.” That’s it. Most of the OSR stuff is, “At least it isn’t WotC.” And basing your stance on “well, at least I’m not like a thing or group ‘X’” is a recipe for hypocrisy and stupidity. It means you stand for nothing substantial. Again, we can’t say that the creative freedom of the OSR is the selling point. The 5e sphere is even bigger than the OSR and has the same level of adapting 5e to things beyond medieval fantasy settings. So, this is a moot point.

This has led me to have some less-than-pleasant interactions with people within the OSR. Because I’m interested in the kind of game the rules produce, I often bump into people’s nostalgia. The “muh 40 years” crowd hates realizing that they missed something over those 40 years. Some (not all) have rested on their laurels for a long time. So, seeing a younger guy (I’m not that young; I’m 37) point out something they have missed for forty years is a personal attack against them. Their nerd credentials are being challenged! And, of course, I don’t mean it that way, but that is how it is perceived.

But this is why if I do make a game based on old D&D rules, I attempt to have a twist on the rules no one has seen yet. That is what Macuahuitl is with slaves and sacrifices, essentially counting as XP instead of gold. But this scale of advancement is still perfectly in line with gold for XP games and thus could be plugged into any version of TSR D&D. It’s why I made my game system to run westerns with Cowpunchers. That is why I made Atomic Punk 2d10 a unique game that is all its own, based on its BX origins. This is why Wight-Box is a 0e/3LBB clone, but instead of leaning toward GM fiat, it leans toward Chainmail to fill in the gaps while retaining the alternative combat system in 0e.

This isn’t “BX but worse,” which is what I see many creators do (and unjustly toot their own horns about). I at least want to TRY and do something someone hasn’t tried yet. Because how many different homebrew versions of BX do you need? Again, the original rules are actually readily available now; you don’t need the nostalgia lens interpretation of a “muh 40 years!” guy. You can get the rules and read them for yourself.

So, the OSR is at a point where it is no different than 5e. It’s shoveling anything and everything into nostalgia versions of BX. And that may be your thing, but despite my pen name, that’s not mine. That sounds boring and like an exercise in futility. The OSR has, at this point, attempted to prop up heartbreaker games as if they were not heartbreakers. And how dare anyone point that out or to areas where maybe the heartbreaker is taking creative liberties!

Ultimately, I would like to point out that the hobby produced Critical Role by putting rule zero on a pedestal. For the OSR people who despise Critical Role, I want you to grasp that.

The Culture War has Poisoned the OSR

I was stubborn about the culture war for a long time. I commented on it, pointing out the bad actors on the progressive side because I felt that I needed to. Ultimately, I think this was a mistake and a waste of time. Some pointed out to me that it was a waste of time, and I obstinately pushed back for a while. Well, these people were right. The time spent pulling my hair out about 5e, a game I don’t even play anymore, and worrying about WotC could have been spent working on my games, projects, and art. This links back to my idea of trying things no one or very few have tried before. If I want the hobby to change and be better, maybe I should focus more on making cool stuff and being a chill guy to talk to about it in the hobby.

The culture war has bred tribalism in the hobby. So, sure, it’s probably good to point out some activists who want to speak ill of the dead, like Gary Gygax or Dave Arneson. Maybe it’s good to call out those who want to change the hobby drastically from sword and sorcery adventures to DEI coffee shop adventures. But maybe we should consider two things when doing so:

1. Not everything is a battle worth fighting.

2. If you are going to call out bad actors based on higher principles, you need to be consistent and apply those callouts to everyone, including those on “your side” if you are claiming said higher principles.

I backed out of the culture war, partly because I had no desire to do this. I realized that those on “my side” of the culture war were sometimes just as terrible as the progressive side and I would eventually experience this when I interviewed Jeffro Johnson last year about AD&D. I realized I was taking more heat from people “on my side” for the things Jeffro said than Jeffro himself was.

The issue with RPGPundit became so annoying, with him making appearances on various streams and streaming himself, that I got a lawyer involved and discussed my options. I know I am not the first creator to have to resort to this with him. All for the crime of talking to someone he didn’t like. At the time, I was getting ready to launch my Kickstarter for Macuahuitl offset prints. Given the climate of the hobby, being called an anti-semite concerned me. I thought it would potentially impact the success of my Kickstarter campaign. Thankfully, it did not; I sold about 500 copies of the book through it and was 150% funded in 6 days. But at the time, I wasn’t sure. A creator much larger than myself in the OSR was going so far as to compare me to Goebbels as I was ramping up for this campaign on Kickstarter!

During this time, it was infuriating to see “totally based anti-woke” people blame me for the attempted cancelation I had to endure at the hands of others. Seeing people act like I was the bad guy for defending myself was infuriating. The implication that I had to just sit back and take the abuse by these “totally based free speech” people angered me.

People who made their whole shtick the culture war and calling out progressives were radio silent during this time. I received some quiet support from one or two, but I was struck by this. I knew that if instead of RPGPundet doing this to me, if it was a progressive WotC influencer, these same people would have jumped to defend me instantly. The fact that it was “one of our own” showed me there are no higher principles in the culture war, and with pretty much everyone “fighting the culture war” in the OSR. It’s all a grift. None of this is even about games anymore, I realized. All sides care more about their tribe and owning the other side than actually playing the damn games! Ironically, before all of this, I had elected to ignore culture war stuff and only chat about games and perspectives on games. But here I was, dragged into culture war nonsense.

Of course, I had an idea that people would get upset when talking to Jeffro at the time. But the BROs were the only ones talking about the ideas I was interested in. Remember, I’m not clouded by nostalgia. I’m interested in the kind of game the old rules produce. No one else in the OSR talks about the game in the same way as the BROs. Again, the OSR is full of, “Just rule zero, ya dummy!” I wanted to know about his perspective on AD&D. Political discourse or culture war nonsense were and are of no interest to me anymore. Just the game.

The cultural war has created a new economy in the hobby that is only tangentially related to it. Selling clickbait and complaints about the other side (or WotC itself) is now a whole sub-genre of the hobby, for better or worse. This means that other grifters, with no real knowledge of the hobby beyond a surface-level understanding, are attempting to break in and work in this clickbait economy. I wish to call out Ryan David of Nerdcognito directly. I won’t vague post like he does (which we will discuss this very effeminate tactic of his in a second). Ryan David was an individual I was initially friendly towards. I even appeared on his Nerdcognito show as a guest a while back.

That changed when he attacked a friend of mine, Crossface, for volunteering in a D&D club at a local high school. His crime was running 5th edition for the kids because the club had already settled on using it before he volunteered. In no uncertain terms, he essentially called Crossface a groomer for volunteering his time to run 5e for the kids.

I was not the only one who found this way over the line and uncalled for. Many told Ryan to chill out and cease his witch hunt against Crossface. To think that running 5th edition for a high school club is grooming is just unhinged. But this is what Ryan and the culture war grifter do. In fact, this is a mirror image of the progressive side. Ryan and those like him are no different from the progressive activists. Those activists are constantly purity-testing those on their own side. This was no different.

Ryan was called out, and he was not happy about it. He decided to make a vague post, which I called out because I was just honestly tired of his effeminate behavior. Ryan thought his witch hunt against a close friend would work, but he acted this way when it didn't.

This prompted a message from him to me.

Clearly, he was embarrassed, as evidenced by his “You delete your tweet, and I’ll delete mine” proposition. I don’t behave in this manner, though. I mean what I say, and I say what I mean. I thought this was the end of it. But it has been nonstop jabs on his podcast for a year. His co-host Kyle has even gone out of his way to say he wants to “destroy” me.

This was in response to some people discussing their dislike for Ryan David on my Guilded Server. Which, you know, I get why they don’t like the guy. I don’t either, obviously. Note, too, that Ryan David also had an account on my server. Same with Kyle/DyingBreedTabletop. But worrying about what others think about you privately is effeminate and weak. I know others are probably saying terrible things about me on some private server or chat, and I don’t care. This is just male weakness gushing out of weak men.

Since then, Ryan has become a co-host in Inappropriate Characters with, you guessed it, RPGPundit! This is partly why the incessant jabs have not stopped. At a point in May, the Inappropriate Characters show would fall on Cinco de Mayo. I guess Ryan made a joke about having me on because I’m Hispanic.

I ignored the tag and the offer as I don’t like these people and, for the reasons listed above with Pundit, have no desire to associate or talk to them. In a since-deleted tweet on the Inappropriate Character’s account, they made it sound like I was slated to be a guest and backed out, which is tacitly false. Not only was the 5th Cinco de Mayo, but more importantly, it was Pascha (Orthodox Easter). Which would I rather spend my time with? My Church on Pascha or these jokers? The answer was clear to me.

Ryan was not happy about this at all.

I can’t help but feel that the bad Hispanic accent and use of Spanish are an attempt to ridicule me for my ethnicity. Weird. But again, why would I want to spend a Sunday evening with people I dislike who have sought to destroy me?

I believe Ryan even accused his haters, myself included, of his YouTube channel being “deleted.” However, he deleted it himself and was not banned on YouTube. Below is his channel. His is on the left. This is what it looks like when you delete a channel. The one on the right is when a channel is actually banned by YouTube. It does make me wonder if RPGPundit knows he moved his whole stream over to Rumble from YouTube for a lie. I’ll let him and Ryan sort that out.

But again, this is what Ryan and grifters like him do. They sit and pretend they can take the lumps they dish out, but they can’t. Recently, he streamed and made this thumbnail.

At the bottom, you can see little characters. One is explicitly CondorDM, whom I personally do not care for either. There is a mariachi who is clearly me (given Ryan's above fixations on my ethnicity). There is a leprechaun, who Ryan clearly refers to for Paddy’s Parlor, and the Stay Puft marshmallow man, who has been my friend Viktor’s avatar for ages. I believe the luchador is also supposed to be Crossface.

It’s obnoxious because most of us he is attacking here have not said anything publicly about him. And ironically, he hinted at being done which I was fine with.

The “FauxSR” term is ironic, given that his favorite game is 13th Age, a bad 4e clone.

Ryan, in his typical style, pretends it was never about us! Haha, he got us! But he always does this—like a real housewife reality character.

Anyone with even a room-temperature IQ can see he is clearly, again, taking shots at us for clicks and views. This vaguely specific posting, followed by the “it was never about you” routine, is just old hat. His behavior is akin to that kid who feels he should be able to hit others, but suddenly, things are different once people start hitting back.

If you go to my X profile. You will note I’ve not mentioned anything about this guy. Per his promise and words, I’ve been happy to go on and do my own thing and leave him alone. But Ryan is a faker in the hobby. He’s the grifter who needs drama to fuel his culture war content. And that is the point of his jabs and sniping. For me, I want others to understand who they are dealing with when dealing with Ryan or Pundit or anyone else like this. Just general culture warriors.

So I don’t know what his claim of supposed expert is coming from against me. My pen name is self-deprecating with “The Basic Expert.” Like I’m basic and not much of an expert. I haven’t even streamed or produced much content as of late. I’ve been too busy making things like Atomic Punk 2240 and getting ready to ship out hardcovers of Macuahuitl.

I’ve been too busy for this real housewife stuff. I don’t really want to talk about this guy again, and I hope my covering the kind of person he is here will enlighten people. If you are a culture warrior playing defense for Ryan, Pundit, or anyone else’s bad behavior, I have to ask what you would do if it was someone like Daniel Fox, Ginny Di, or Daniel Kwan doing it? Would you call them out? I bet you would. But your continual blind eye towards your side shows your culture war effort is fake and thus doomed to fail. You have no higher principles and are thus no different from the progressives you despise.

I’m just a gamer. I’m done with the OSR label and have been done with it for a while. I’ll do whatever I want. Sometimes, it will be old-school compatible. Sometimes, it won’t. I’m done associating with gross amoral people, and I’m done tolerating this behavior.