Although I grew up with Dungeons & Dragons, having started with the sixth printing of the Holmes Basic Set that included the Keep on the Borderlands (which we never played), it has been a very long time since I played with those rules. I’ve mostly kept up with new versions, though 4e (thankfully) came out during a time when I wasn’t really engaged with the hobby.

One of my groups, however, is about to start a short campaign using those older rules as they are now reflected in Old School Essentials (OSE) from Necrotic Gnome. Since I will get to be a player in this campaign, I have been going through the rules as I think about the character I may play. To that end, I tend to take notes to help my decision-making during character creation and I wanted to summarize and share them with you, just in case you’re also looking to take the plunge and go Old School

First, I figured I would use the Advanced Fantasy Player’s Tome, as it pulls together a number of the class/race combinations that came out after the original basic set. This tome provides a couple of different character build options. While our GM hasn’t specified yet which we’ll use, I figured it was safe to go with the standard build process, in which race/class is combined. It’s a bit more streamlined to build and, given we’re only going to be playing a short campaign, likely the way I will go no matter what.

By default, rolling character stats in OSE is very easy but also provides almost no control over what you will play. You simply roll 3d6 – in order – for your six stats. The GM may let you reroll if all of your scores are under 8 or if you have a particularly bad stat (say, a 3) in one of your attributes. Now, a GM can certainly house rule another rolling method, but I am preparing to stick with the usual. Again, it’s a short campaign and I think playing a flawed character is fun. Plus, some of the stats mean less than you would expect, but more on that below.

Once you have your attributes generated, you want to choose your class. A few classes have one or more minimum stat requirements. All stats embrace a concept of Prime Requisites, though those only contribute as an Experience Point (XP) modifier, which I’ll discuss further. All this to say that, given a particular set of rolled attributes, your choice of class may be limited. The book does not summarize those, forcing you to look at each class of interest to see if you can take it. I made myself a matrix to more easily review them. You’re welcome to view and copy the Google Sheet if you find it helpful.

As I consider what class I may want to play (knowing the dice rolls will influence my choice), I noticed something others have spoken of before – not all stats give your class any significant benefits!

Take the Cleric, for instance.

I’m used to the PC’s WIS score having a considerable impact on the effectiveness of my character. In OSE… no impact whatsoever. You can have a Wisdom of 8 and still be effective. Wisdom does not affect how many spells you can cast nor how powerful they are. It does not affect your ability to Turn Undead. Wisdom can affect your saving throws against magical effects, but that’s useful for anyone.

Intelligence is similar. There is an optional rule in which your INT governs the number of spells you can start with in your spell book and the success of copying spells but, unless you use that rule, INT has no bearing on your ability to cast. Charisma is likewise a weak stat.

That’s not to say they have no use but, when choosing a class, a low score in any or all of those three mental stats are not the end of the world. The physical stats of Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution are far more useful.

As to Prime Requisites (PRs), they only impact your XP accumulation. For my case, we’re only going to be playing a handful of sessions. I think even in a longer campaign, I wouldn’t worry too much about having high stats in my PR unless it helped actual game play. The argument against the PR bonuses I have seen, and I agree with, is that you’re getting an XP bonus for something that happened randomly when you first created your PC – you got a high stat in your PR. It’s completely unaffected by clever play or fun risk-taking.

That’s the extent of my preparation. Until we meet with the GM and discuss any optional rules or setting details, this should serve to help me make a reasonable PC in a short amount of time.

One last note, though. I was looking at the equipment lists and I couldn’t help but laugh about how odd the old school economy is. Garlic costs 5 gold pieces – 5! A crowbar costs 10. A battle axe is 7. Clearly there are far more weaponsmiths than there are farmers in this world.