Iβve been struggling to distil and articulate what exactly OSR does that 5E doesnβt. I think it all circles around the designersβ trust in DM and player creativity. In early versions of the game, the reward was morally-agnosticβgold. The class abilities were often just extra actions, small statistical bonuses, and increased health. The spells typically created objects or manipulable effects. Ten-foot poles, caltrops and jugs of oil were sought after tools. Old school design didnβt assume it knew what you wanted to accomplishβit just provided you with a versatile tool. The game aspired to create a sandbox, and the burden was on the players to creatively problem-solve. Old school dangers, such as low lighting, encumbrance, rations and wandering monsters just ensured that the sandbox was always dramatic. Modern RPG design began to take particular creative solutions and repackage them as class abilities. So, now if you want to sneak up behind a sleeping orc and gut him, you can, but youβd only end up getting advantage and dealing regular damage. To do that effectively, you need to be an assassin subclass rogue. In essence, the more class abilities there are, the more innovative and creative play steps on the toes of niche protection. When your player asks if they can attempt to blind the ogre by aiming their blade at its eyes, you can say yes but you know that youβve just made the clericβs spellcasting role less proprietary. The game design lesson is that less is sometimes moreβif players think there is only one road to an action, they will play within the system. So, ensure that the system pushes them back to their own ingenuity instead of providing them with a button that activates some Seattle designerβs solution.
