The OSR started out as a fervent movement to bring back the old school style of play from the 70's and early 80's. No one was able to quite nail the perfect definition of what OSR was because it had a certain jen sais qua. Perhaps Mythmere's Quick Primer for Old School Gaming said it best: Player Skill, not Character Abilities.
Then there was Philotomy's Musings that gave a road map of house rules for how to play old school.
Some incredible things were made. Retroclones that nearly perfectly mimicked old rules sets that were arguably better than the originals because of improved production values and organization. There were epic mega-dungeons, and more adventures than you could shake a ten foot pole at.
Like all movements it diversified over time. Just when things seemed to be getting a little stale Hasbro nuked the entire community from orbit. It remains to be seen how the new OGL will really play out. The silence, and barely a response are deafening. Which means it is probably all true. Rather than the end this has served as a wake up call.
Many publishers have said they'll be making their own games with no reliance on the OGL. This is great news! Expect to see a wave of terrific new RPG's over the coming years.
People who have been playing RPG's for decades aren't going to just go quietly in the night. Many of them are still playing with the same game books they had in their youth.
Instead of defeat I see the entire gaming community coming together in alliance. Who knows how long it will last but you love to see it.
What will Night Owl do under these new conditions? We'll be removing any content that may have come from the SRD, which there is not a lot of, if any really. The genres Night Owl has designed games in are far removed from the generic kitchen sink fantasy of DnD. During this review, new revised editions will be made of each of the core books: Guardians, Freebooters, Raiders, Colonial Troopers, and of course Warriors of the Red Planet. This is an opportunity to improve and deepen the books with more content and art.
What of the projects in development? Gunslinger is on the cusp of going to the printers, and the Princess of the Red Planet adventure is about 70% done. They will be completed and free of OGL.
Interestingly all of these things were already in development and heading this way, this just gave these books a good nudge into their own unique and individual direction.
One more thing. For those who may have noticed, if it wasn't obvious, all the Night Owl games were working up to a master game system called Gateway. A universal RPG that will be the beating heart of all NOW games moving forward. It is very old school in its sensibilities and very new school in its refinement. You'll feel right at home in it. More on that when there is something more solid to share.
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