• 18 Dec, 2025 *

Previously, I mentioned that I wanted to talk about how I play my elfgames. Of course, exactly how changes from time to time, but I thought my style was consistent enough that it bears mentioning. The gist is that it’s OSE, but I mess with it a little bit. I also intend to write about the culture of my tables and my style of refereeing. If that’s all you care, you can stop here.

The reason I am indulging this embarrassing exercise is that I want it to be very clear how I playtest the material I put out. If you run things very differently from how I do, the things I do may not be useful to you.

The supplies

This will probably be the briefest section. I always run elfgames using the OSE classic tome, you can also find it those rules online, for free. I don’t like to have more than one book of rules. I also usually have my laptop for PDFs, possibly a physical adventure module, and a notebook. I use physical dice, but having played on a small table, I eventually impulse purchased a dice roller which is more convenient for my table space.

The rules

As previously stated, the basics of my games are built on OSE. I like to ask my players to be creative within a somewhat limited set of initial options. I do make a few rule changes, largely inspired by the Target 20 rules, plus some Carcass Crawler modules and things from my personal taste.

Ability scores are rolled 3d6 and recorded in the order they are rolled. I do not usually bother with modifiers, though I am somewhat mercurial and this changes campaign-to-campaign. Ability checks are rolled on a d20 at-or-below the ability score. Scores do not affect XP gain.

Saving throws are done by adding a static bonus (by class), adding the character’s level, and trying to roll at-or-below. To get a class’s saves, subtract their first-level saves from 16, and record that as a positive modifier (i.e. the fighter has D +4 W +3 P +2 B +1 S 0, the elf has D +4 W +3 P +3 B +1 S +1). These never need to be modified since the thing that changes when rolling is level.

I do not restrict the weapon use of any class, because weapons do not affect damage with these rules.

With regards to character creation, I make quite a few changes. I will list changes to classes in the order which they appear in the OSE rules tome.

• Cleric: None
• Dwarf: To-hit bonus starts at +1
• Elf: Depending on the campaign, I may instead give the elf the druid spell list from OSE Advanced
• Fighter: To-hit bonus starts at +1, gets a combat talent from Carcass Crawler #1
• Halfling: None; in some campaigns I will make the halfling’s ability to hide a static 4-in-6 (i.e. not environment-dependent)
• Magic-user: Lots of changes; I give the MU cantrips from Carcass Crawler #5, I allow them to access the magic-user and illusionist spell list– favoring the lower level if a spell appears on both lists, their spellbook includes 3 spells to begin
• Thieves: I use the D6 Thief Skills from Carcass Crawler #1 as well.

To-hit and damage rolls are the big changes, for one: they are now one roll. You are rolling a d20, trying to roll at-or-below your attack bonus + the target’s DAC. If you succeed, the result of the d20 is the amount of damage you deal. This combat is swingier, but a lot faster. I haven’t been able to find a satisfying one-roll combat, but when I do, trust it will end up here.

Initiative is a simple d6 roll, with 1-3 favoring the PCs and 4-6 favoring their enemies. I do not follow the hierarchy of actions as described in OSE.

With regards to exploration, I use a real-life 1-hour timer for their light sources. I scoffed at this rule when I first read it in Shadowdark, but was an instant convert once I tried it.

Depending on the campaign, I offer XP incentives for exploring in addition to XP gained from getting money and killing monsters. If I do, I tend to model my XP awards off of those in 3d6 Down the Line’s Feats of Exploration. When leveling up, I have players roll all of their new hit dice, and take the highest sum (whether that be their previous or new roll). This makes higher-level characters much more survivable.

To generate starting equipment, I use this handy resource from Brendan at Necropraxis. Dwarves roll on the fighter equipment list, elves on the cleric list (replacing crosses with spellbooks or sprigs of mistletoe as appropriate), and halfings on the thief (er, burglar) list. I have long said I will make my own version of these tables; if I do, I will update this post with them.

I am not usually super focused on the travel speed impacts of encumbrance; I allow PCs to carry an amount of items equal to their strength score.

My travel rules are also different. I split the day into three shifts, morning, afternoon, and night– each 8 hours. You can travel 1 hex per shift through wilderness, 2 hexes per shift on a forced march, and 3 hexes per shift via road or boat.

Note that, if a player asks, I am generally amenable to allowing other classes into the game, especially demihumans.

Everything else is done as it appears in the OSE classic rules.

My table culture

My weekly game is composed mostly of folks who are not into tabletop RPGs beyond our sessions. Many of them have not played RPGs before I was running this game for them, and I doubt they will play the game after I have finished running games for them. That is to say, almost everyone is rather casual. I only have one regular who is into the hobby, and I like to joke that he is a grog for the "OC" style of play which is so culturally dominant right now. I have one more player who I would describe as "on the cuff" since he has played games with me for so many years.

This group tends to stay true to the OSR "challenge-based" gameplay and fiction-first rulings adjudications. Because of this, the group does veer a little into the "beer and pretzels" style of play. I encourage this; we are mostly hanging out. I have a job and an infant, I get my drama elsewhere. That said, we have been known to veer into the "OC" style of play when characters start getting up there in level. I think it’s great when it feels earned. I make sure to keep the peril for those characters as well, so that there are stakes to the sort of emotional galavanting we veer into.

We play weekly as of now, having just returned from a long hiatus. We are playing Mothership.

My refereeing style

My style of running the game is largely informed by the culture of my table. So, I take pride in how well I do my hobby, but I don’t take it too seriously when we are at the table. We are adults pretending to be elves– how serious can we be?

When it comes to tracking, I am pretty lax. I vibe out distances in most cases, and track ammo by magazine/quiver/etc. I will sometimes not track ammo at all, or I will give my players a chance to deplete an ammo reserve after a fight. I work very well with the sort of house style found in first-party Mothership modules which doesn’t really track exact distances or anything like that.

When it comes to preparing my games, I don’t have as much prep time as I would like. Writing this took me almost two weeks, for example. So, I have leaned into a collage approach for RPG design; I take modules and insert them into the setting, then draw material from the modules to build the world out and fill the gaps. Usually, I then drop in one or more towns and let it rip. I have some high-minded RPG thoughts, but the reality of my games is very workmanlike.

These styles of gaming have been very successful for my group. We usually play the same campaign for about a year before moving on to something else.

Happy holidays, if you’re a sicko who celebrates that kind of thing. As always, send me questions and comments at hello@queuedawg.cc.

#class #house-rules #osr #ttrpg