Susie's Declassified RPG Survival Guide #1

Today I'll be giving some of my house rules and GM tips for Basic Fantasy RPG, which should help new players ease into the game.

My first tip is to have the player characters start at maximum HP instead of rolling for health. This gives a lot more wiggle room for magic users and thieves, who would roll for HP with a d4. Then every level past one, the players would roll like normal. I found that doing this helps ease new players into the OSR experience, since being able to start at one HP is rough.

Next, I like to set expectations as a GM, to make sure that Basic Fantasy (and OSR in general) has a different play style to modern games. I let them know that the key to success is playing creatively, and not being afraid to play "underhanded." Older games had weaker PCs, so things like running away from combat or stealthily stealing treasure from a monster's hoard were more apparent. Nowadays, that style of play is uncommon, so it's good to remind players that is a valid and advantageous way to play.

Finally, as a GM I try to play the enemies realistically. That means that enemies won't fight to the death, and would rather find another way to resolve conflict, such as running away or trying to persuade or barter with the party to spare them. The same applies to animals and beasts, with intimidation instead of persuasion.

Anyway, I hope those tips help your Basic Fantasy games as they have with mine!