RetroRoleplaying: The Blog

When I started RetroRoleplaying.com a couple of years ago, I intended it to be a site with in formation about out-of-print RPGs. However, I soon found myself sucked into publishing my own free RPGs. Now RetroRoleplaying.com is publish a number of free games, most based on Microlite20, a trimmed down, sub-miniature version of the 3.x Primary Fantasy SRD rules which designed to be quick and easy to play. Most of the the games RetroRoleplaying.com publishes are designed for "old school" play. Here is the current list of our games, with links to their new pages on our web site:

• Microlite74 recreates the style and feel of that very first ("0e") fantasy roleplaying game published back in 1974 using somewhat more modern rules. It's not quite a clone of 0e, but most people find it close to a clone. There are two supplements to Microlite74: Ancient Auguries and Wary's Grimoire. The current version is 2.0.
• Microlite75 is a heavily expanded and house-ruled version of Microlite74. It plays much like the 0e/1e based rules I was using in the late 1970s. Unlike Microlite74, it includes most of the additional classes and spells from the 0e supplements with a few modern twists. It is currently being written -- and playtested in my Sunday campaign. Playtest versions are available for download. Estimated Completion: Late Summer 2010.
• Microlite20 OSS (Old School Style) is an attempt to do "old school style" with rules that can use all the standard SRD monsters, spells, and treasure just as you can with standard Microlite20. It is currently almost complete and is in the "proofreading" phase. Copies are available for download. Estimated Completion: Late Summer 2010.
• Advanced Microlite20 OSS is an expansion of our basic Microlite20 OSS rules with supplemental material from Microlite20, other Microlite20-based games, and some of the authors house rules and other modifications It is currently being written. Playtest copies should be available for download soon. Estimated Completion: Late Summer 2010.
• The Microlite20 RPG Collection is a 600 plus page PDF compilation of Microlite20 rules and variants as well as a large number of Microlite20 based games. The current, Spring 2010, edition is available for download.

You may have noticed that several of these games are currently under development (and are on schedule for final release in late summer 2010). There are a couple of major ways you can help these games toward final release.

First, you can help playtest these games. Playtest copies of these games are currently available and newer versions will be made available as more work is done on each game. You can download a copy from each game's web page (links above). If you do so, feel free to comment on the game -- especially errors or problems you notice -- in the RetroRoleplaying Forum. Your comments (and typo catching) will make a major difference in the quality of the the final versions.

Second, you can help sponsor Microlite75, Advanced Microlite20 OSS, and Wary's Grimoire. Many long time visitors to RetroRoleplaying.com know that my wife is recovering successfully from oral cancer and that I worked on the original Microlite74 as way to cope during her recovery from 6 weeks of radiation treatment in 2008. We are some of the 40 to 50 million people in the US who do not have health insurance. Worse, we do not qualify for government aid as we live in Texas and have no children. The cancer treatments have cost over $110,000 so far. While some of this has been absorbed by hospital foundations and the like, we still owe a lot of it. I make available some special bonuses for those who help us pay these bills with a donation to the RetroRoleplaying Cancer Fund. See the sidebar on the left for more info on these special downloads -- and for a Paypal link for donations.

For a limited time (while Microlite75, Advanced Microlite20 OSS and Wary's Grimoire are in playtest) you can be listed as a sponsor in all printings of all three of these games for a qualifying donation. This is in addition to all the usual benefits from any donation.

If you donate $25 or more you will also be listed as a Bronze Sponsor of Microlite75 in the final edition of the Microlite75, the Advanced Microlite20 OSS and the Wary's Grimoire rulebooks (and future playtest drafts leading up to it).

If you donate $50 or more you will also be listed as a Silver Sponsor of Microlite75 in the final edition of the Microlite75, the Advanced Microlite20 OSS and the Wary's Grimoire rulebooks (and future playtest drafts leading up to it).

If you donate $100 or more you will also be listed as a Gold Sponsor of Microlite75 in the final edition ofthe Microlite75, the Advanced Microlite20 OSS and the Wary's Grimoire rulebooks (and future playtest drafts leading up to it).