Author’s Notes on the Rules

Old-School Essentials is the product of With the aim of increasing the playability
over two years of poring over venerable of the game, I decided to iron out such
tomes, discussing rules minutiae with ambiguities in the rules. In doing so, I
the elite of online RPG geeks, laborious was careful to cleave as closely as possible
writing, and painstaking layout work. to what I interpreted as the intent of the
The result—the book that you hold in original rules. Other interpretations of
your hands—is a game 100% compatible the rules—and other resolutions of the
with the classic Basic/Expert rules from areas of contradiction—are certainly
1981. However, even the hallowed Basic/ possible, though.
Expert rules are not perfect and Old- Note that I did not attempt to elaborate
School Essentials attempts to fix some of upon vague or ambiguous spell descrip-
their most irksome errors. tions, magic item powers, or monster
This document—aimed at those with a abilities. Vagaries in such areas are a
passion for rules archaeology—describes cherished feature of the Basic/Expert
the tweaks that I made. rules and each referee must make their
own rulings as required.
The changes that I have made can be cat-
egorised into three groups, as follows. Expansions of Scope
I expanded the scope of a small number
Ambiguities and Omissions
of rules, applying them to more general
The original Basic/Expert rules are not
situations than are explicitly allowed by
devoid of ambiguities: some rules are
the original rules.
incomplete, some rules are described in a
way that could be interpreted in multi- Additional Optional Rules
ple different ways, and some rules even I decided (after much soul-searching!)
contain contradictions. to include two additional rules options
to the game, both aimed at speeding up
combat: ascending Armour Class and
resolving attack rolls using THAC0.

Writing, editing, layout: © 2018 Gavin Norman. Header art: © 2017 Andrew Walter.
Old-School Essentials is a trademark of Necrotic Gnome.
 Archaeological Notes
Core Rules Traps
The original Basic rules distinguish
between room traps and treasure traps,
but the relevance of this distinction to the
Ambiguities and Omissions abilities of adventurers to find traps is im-
plicit. In my opinion, the rules presented
Ability Checks in Old-School Essentials are the clearest
The original rules are somewhat ambig- way to resolve the ambiguity between the
uous on whether ability checks are an general adventurer ability to find traps
optional rule or not. They are specified (i.e. room traps) and the traditional thief
as an optional rule in the original Expert class’ ability to find small traps (i.e. treas-
rules, but are recommended for use in ure traps). The clarification presented
climbing. The original Basic rules do not is far from the only possible resolution,
specify ability checks as an optional rule. though.
On balance, I decided against specifying
ability checks as optional. Their appli- Movement in Combat
cation is, of course, entirely up to the The original Basic rules do not make
referee. it clear whether characters may run in
combat (using the rules for evasion and
Encumbrance pursuit in the dungeon). However, a later
The original Basic rules contain ambigu- edition of the game makes it clear that
ities relating to the encumbrance system. this is not possible, so I have followed
I have attempted to resolve these ambigu- that clarification in Old-School Essentials.
ities in a sensible and consistent way, but
other interpretations of the original rules Morale
are possible. The original rules are ambiguous as to
whether a morale check is triggered the
Retainers first time a member of the monsters’ side
The original Basic rules stipulate that in combat is killed or whether a check
retainers only receive half the experi- is triggered the first time a member of
ence points due to them. There are two either side is killed. I have clarified this to
possible interpretations of this. It may be what I feel is the most sensible interpreta-
that retainers’ XP is entirely dependent tion: monsters check morale the first time
on how much treasure they receive (1 XP one of their own number is killed.
per gp), but that there is an unspoken
assumption that retainers receive a half Treasure Type Average Values
share of treasure. It may, alternatively, According to my re-calculation of these
mean that retainers only receive half of averages, there were errors in the original
the XP that is due to them. The actual Basic rules. The average value for treasure
intention of the Basic rules is unclear; I type M, in particular, was way off.
chose to favour the latter interpretation.
Expansions of Scope Additional Optional Rules
Adventures Ascending Armour Class
While not a rule per se, it is worth noting The optional rule for ascending Armour
that I have not followed the original Basic Class is not present in the original Basic/
book’s definition of the term “adventure” Expert rules. The reason for integrat-
(the word was defined as a single session ing this option into the core rules is as
in which the game is played). This defini- follows:
tion of the word is so unusual nowadays ▶  Use of ascending AC is probably
that I felt continuing to use it would only the most common house rule applied
confuse, rather than elucidate. by modern players to the classic Basic/
Hirelings Expert rules framework. (The second
most common probably being separating
The original rules do not use this term
character race and class, in the vein of the
(or indeed any term) to refer to non-ad-
traditional Advanced rules.)
venturing NPCs that may be hired by
PCs. The term hireling is introduced to ▶  Armour Class is a fundamental
conveniently refer to all types of such game mechanic and, as such, is referred
characters, including mercenaries and to throughout all rules modules (for
specialists. example, in equipment lists, many spells,
all monster descriptions, etc.). Applying
Subduing house rules to such core mechanics of the
The rule for subduing is mentioned in the game is awkward, entailing either the sig-
original rules in the context of dragons. I nificant adaptation effort of all materials
chose to place this rule in the combat sec- in use or an on-the-fly conversion when-
tion, as it could easily apply to other types ever the mechanic comes up. Neither is
of creatures (including humanoids). trivial. (In contrast, for example, optional
rules for creating characters with separate
THAC0 race and class can be easily addressed in
This term was not present in the original a rules supplement, without affecting the
rules, but was introduced as a convenient core rules of the game.)
way of indicating which row of the attack
matrix a monster or character class uses. On balance, I felt it was better to include
ascending AC as an option for those
Types of Magic groups that prefer to use it. Groups that
In the original rules, the two types of prefer the traditional AC mechanic may
spells are simply described as “cleric simply ignore the optional rule for AAC.
spells” and “magic-user and elf spells”. In
order to expand the scope to potentially Attack Rolls Using THAC0
include other character classes, I use the The optional rule for resolving attack
terms “divine magic” and “arcane magic”. rolls using THAC0 is not present in the
original Basic/Expert rules. It was added
Vehicles as it provides a more streamlined way of
The rules listed in this section original- handling combat, removing the need to
ly applied only to water vessels. I have refer to the attack matrix.
broadened their scope to encompass all
types of vehicles.
Classic Fantasy: Slow Weapons Losing Initiative
The Expert rules note this rule as option-
al, where the Basic rules do not. I chose

Genre Rules to favour the Basic rules, in this case.

Water Vessels
The exact capabilities of the different
Ambiguities and Omissions types of ships in the original Expert
rules are somewhat contradictory. The
Dwarf and Halfling Saving Throws
details presented in Old-School Essen-
The saving throw values listed in the
tials resolve these contradictions in one
Basic rules are different from those listed
possible way, while sticking as closely to
in the Expert rules. I chose to favour the
the original rules as possible.
Expert saving throws.
Unseaworthy Vessels
Halfling Language
The draft of canoes and rafts were not
The original Basic rules include a hal-
defined in the traditional Expert rules.
fling tongue in the list of languages that
The listed values are extrapolated from
characters may learn, but do not specify
similar vessels.
whether halfling adventurers speak this
language. I chose to make the obvious Mercenaries
clarification that halfling characters do The original rules are unclear about what
speak this language, in the same way that type of horses mounted mercenaries ride.
dwarf and elf adventurers speak their
racial languages. Specialists
The wages of assistant armourers are not
Fighter Extra Attacks at High Levels defined in the traditional Expert rules.
The suggestions for high-level play in The listed value is extrapolated from
the original Expert rules are ambiguous similar specialists.
about the level at which fighters gain
extra attacks per round. Strongholds and Domains
The original Expert rules for calculating
Magical Research the cost of towers are highly ambiguous.
The original rules are not clear on wheth-
er spell casters of any level may perform Expansions of Scope
research into miscellaneous effects. I
chose to specify that clerics, magic-users, Land Vehicles
and elves can perform such research at AC and hull point ratings are listed for
any level. carts and wagons. These were not speci-
fied in the original Expert rules.
Weight of Weapons
The weights of the following weapons are Turning Undead
not specified in the original Basic/Expert The original rules specify turning purely
rules and have been extrapolated from by type of monster. The turning table in
similar items: javelin, lance, sling, staff. Old-School Essentials has been expanded
to cover all undead, by HD, for the sake
Weapon Combat Stats of modularity.
The range of the javelin is not specified
in the original Expert rules and has been
extrapolated from similar items.
Classic Fantasy: Ochre Jelly
The description of the ochre jelly in the
original Basic rules is ambiguous on

Cleric and Magic- several points. I have attempted to re-

solve these ambiguities in a sensible and

User Spells consistent way, based on the mechanics

used for similar monsters, but other
interpretations of the original monster
are possible.
Ambiguities and Omissions Sea Dragon
Detect Invisible The sleeping percentage is extrapolated
I added a description of this notoriously from dragons of like HD.
absent spell, drawing the details from a Sea Snake
later edition of the game.
The original rules do not specify the ef-
fects of sea snakes’ poison. This has been

Classic Fantasy: clarified to be death one turn after the

poison’s effects are noticed.

Monsters Special Ability Asterisks

In the original rules, there are a small
number monsters with offensive special
abilities but without an asterisk after their
Ambiguities and Omissions HD rating. As these monsters gained an
Bull Shark asterisk in a later edition of the game,
The original rules state that bull sharks this appears to have been an error in the
use a ram attack to stun prey, but do not Basic/Expert rules. I have followed this
give mechanics for it. The rule in Old- later correction in Old-School Essentials.
School Essentials is derived from a later The following monsters are affected: giant
edition of the game. centipede, djinni, dragon turtle, sea drag-
on, giant rockfish, yellow mould.
Dervish
The suggested equipment is adapted from
the 1979 Advanced rules.
Giant Bass
In the original Expert rules, the giant bass
is only mentioned within the descrip-
tion of the nixie monster. In Old-School
Essentials, I have adapted it to a full
monster, referring to a later edition of the
game for the descriptive details.
Classic Fantasy:
Treasures
Ambiguities and Omissions
Gauntlets of Ogre Power
The description of this item in the origi-
nal Basic rules is somewhat ambiguous.
It’s not clear that the bonuses only apply
to melee attacks. The listed unarmed
attack damage also contradicts what is
listed in the Expert rules.
Potion of Growth
The original Basic rules do not note by
how much the character’s STR increases
and are not explicit that only damage of
melee attacks is increased.
Staff of Wizardry
The exact nature of this staff ’s whirlwind
power is not clear in the original Expert
rules. I have specified a duration of 3
rounds, based on the pillar of flame effect
of the efreeti monster.
Sword +1, Light
The original rules are unclear whether
the sword can be commanded to pro-
duce light or to cast the light spell. I have
followed the former interpretation.
Warhammer +3, Dwarven Thrower
The range of this weapon is not specified
in the original Expert rules and was taken
from a later edition of the game.