OSR in new games: STRIGA!

OSR inspirations in STRIGA!

Greetings, wizards of the Tome of Oddz! In the latest posts I’ve talked about my upcoming game STRIGA, which I presented as an OSR game.
We have already analyzed what is OSR and how the movement is rapidly growing, but what makes the STRIGA exactly “OSR”? Let’s find out together!

THE OLD SCHOOL AND THE NEW SCHOOL

In the old times, when the creature known as Google+ still existed, the folks alive back then usually used the term OSR for retro-clones; games that emulated the first editions of the most well known game about dragons.
However, the definition lately embraced titles that branched off that game, and started doing their own thing.
While some use the term NSR or Nu-SR to define that genre of games, I feel like splitting the family up is not necessary.

The new OSR games so, are just keeping the spirit of OSR retro-clones, while adding their own taste to the soup.
Improving combat mechanics, exploration, interactions, and leveling up systems, are just a few of the things you’ll see change in new OSR games.
That begs the question though: How they manage to still stay OSR?

I would like to use my own upcoming game as an example!

IS STRIGA AN OSR GAME?

To cut a long story short: yes, I would say STRIGA is an OSR game, mainly because of its focus on exploration, player problem-solving, and lethal combat.

But let’s dive a bit deeper into the mechanics, starting with character creation:

Like a lot of OSR games, you only roll 3d6 to generate your Characteristics (like Strength or Dexterity), there is no drop-the-lowest. This is to further reinstate the importance of your actions, rather than your rolls, and to enhance lethality.

The “big” difference from classic retro-clones here is the presence of a class-less system. The players only choose a Starting Equipment (or create their own), and have complete freedom on what they want to become. You can pick a Fusilier and then buy a spellbook during your adventures, and become a sharpshooter magus.

Another thing I wanted to have a different flavor is combat.
Combat in OSR games is surely an improvement from certain games relying on “action bonus action free action and you get a free attack” shenanigans, but I wanted something that relied more on player using skills as problem-solving tools, while staying far away from being complex.

This is why STRIGA has a set of Skills you can use both in combat and outside combat creatively. These Skills are special actions your character has learned during training, and can be picked from 5 Skill categories freely.
Their purpose is encourage a much more “problem-solving” combat encounter.

Another big factor in OSR games is rolling on random tables, and I can say that in 44 pages, STRIGA features quite a lot of things you can roll randomly, like the Skill you gain by leveling up, for example.

That’s it for today, we will leave further updates on the game for later on!
Thanks for reading, and if you wish to get a notification when the game launches, follow this pre-launch page!