The Great List of OD&D Games
What This Is
Here you'll find a master list of OD&D clones and OD&D-derived games ("neoclones," riffs, reskins) that I will do my best to update periodically. This list features robust, full games that aim to replicate or reimagine the era between 1973 and 1977 and that are widely available for download through normal channels (and not left half-finished/abandoned by the author). Here is a predecessor to this list that includes other versions of the world's greatest most popular role-playing game. One notable omission is Midwest Fantasy Wargame, which is a "what if?" of 1972 tabletop role-playing that misses the 1973 cutoff. From its author: "Midwest Fantasy Wargame tries to come as close as possible to reproducing gameplay from 1972 without the benefit of first-hand knowledge. It has been a labor of love to analyze fifty years of misremembered game sessions, some scraps of paper, reminiscences written years after the fact, and a few draft rulesets to find our way home."
All I'm doing is providing a list in alphabetical order with brief descriptions. Caveat emptor.
Retroclones
- Blueholme Journeymanne: An expanded version of Holmes Basic that goes to level 20. There's also a "Prentice" version of the rules that hews more closely to Holmes Basic by only going to level 3.
- Delving Deeper: Clones the LBBs closely and pulls from later sources like the Strategic Review to shore up some gaps. Likely the most widely-played clone of the LBBs.
- Dragons Beyond: A retroclone of "Beyond This Point Be Dragons," the OD&D pre-publication draft from 1973.
- Fantastic Medieval Campaigns: This hews extremely closely to the LBBs, opting not to attempt to clean up anything other than the organization. It includes Chainmail rules as an appendix.
- Full Metal Platemail: This "is a retroclone of popular pen-and-paper roleplaying rules from the 1970s, reorganised and clarified and with a few gaps filled, but as little altered as necessary."
- Iron Falcon: Clones the LBBs + Greyhawk with some gaps filled in by the author Chris Gonnerman, better known for Basic Fantasy.
- The Littlest Brown Book: A lean and mean clone that includes 90% of the LBBs in a tight, concise format. It omits naval combat and endgame (post-tenth-level) play.
- Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg: A scan with commentary of the oldest dungeon in existence, complete with notes on RPG philosophy and an OD&D clone in the back that's informed by the earliest iteration of the rules (albeit lacking some things like wilderness exploration). A personal favorite for its rich commentary and old-school layout.
- Swords & Wizardry: Currently available in three versions—one that includes all of the supplements ("Complete"), one with select material from the supplements ("Core"), and one that's just the LBBs ("Whitebox"). It is notable for being one of the earliest clones, having high production values, and receiving a lot of support from Mythmere and Frog God Games over the years.
- Whitebox Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game: A popular, slightly tweaked version of Swords & Wizardy Whitebox.
- Wight-Box: "The premise of Wight-Box is to pretend it is 1974, and all we have is CHAINMAIL and the 3LBBs. How would we play this game?" Also available on DriveThruRPG in print.
Neoclones, Derivations, Reskins, etc.
- Arrows of Indra: Inspired by Indian mythology.
- Barrows & Borderlands: Weird science-fantasy with black powder and radioactivity. Somewhere between OD&D and AD&D, but it comes in a woodgrain box in small white booklets.
- Blood & Bullets: Old West: A Wild West reskin of Swords & Wizardry Whitebox.
- Colonial Trooper: "What if the first RPG was inspired by hard Science Fiction as written by Robert Heinlein, Poul Anderson, Isaac Asimov, and Frank Herbert instead of Tolkienesque fantasy?"
- Freebooters: "What if the first RPG was inspired by epic tales of the buccaneers and pirates of the Caribbean? Instead of slogging their way through gloomy dungeons, freebooters hoist the Jolly Roger and seek plunder and adventure on the high seas!"
- Grey Six: Intended for low-level gaming and heavily derives from OD&D.
- Guardians: "What if the original roleplaying game was inspired by colorful superheroes rather than Tolkienesque fantasy?"
- The Hero's Journey Second Edition: Taking the Tolkien elements of OD&D a step further. The second edition moves farther away from OD&D, though.
- Lion & Dragon: An attempt to make OD&D more resolutely "medieval."
- Macuahuitl: Whitebox Roleplaying in the Aztec Empire: What it says on the tin.
- Mazes & Minotaurs: What if Gary and Dave were into classical myths instead of swords & sorcery? Tongue-in-cheek.
- Microlite 74: Available in Basic, Standard, and Expanded versions. Also includes material from the supplements.
- Operation Whitebox: OD&D by way of WWII.
- Raiders: "What if the first roleplaying game had been about skulking around in ancient ruins, underground tombs, and ancient graveyards in search of treasure, magic and secrets Man Was Not Meant To Know… but the heroes themselves were pulpy archaeologists, explorers and mercenaries from the 1930s instead of the wizards and warriors of fantasy?"
- Ruins & Ronin: A medieval Japanese fantasy reskin of Swords & Wizardry Whitebox.
- Seven Voyages of Zylarthen: OD&D by way of 1001 Arabian Nights and Sinbad instead of Western fantasy. Includes some refinements to the core combat system.
- Shakhàn: An enormous, complex, sprawling, simulationist game inspired by Empire of the Petal Throne (which was inspired by OD&D).
- Shinobi & Samurai: OD&D-esque game "designed for campaigns in an Oriental setting with honourable samurai and agile ninjas."
- Warriors of the Red Planet: OD&D by way of planetary romance instead of Tolkienesque fantasy.
- Whitehack: A game heavily inspired by OD&D but which makes some major departures.
- White Star: Galaxy Edition: Space opera OD&D.
- X-plorers: A science-fiction game.
Honorable Mentions
- Into the Odd: A revolutionary, groundbreaking distillation of OD&D that helped kick off an entire "New School Renaissance" movement of games that adhere to OD&D's spirit but don't attempt to clone its mechanics. Cairn is the most well-known of its descendants. Another personal favorite.
- Original Edition Delta: A collection of excellent houserules for OD&D plus some supplements. This where the Target 20 system originated.
- Original Edition Campaign: A set of houserules with additional options for OD&D referees to add to their toolboxes.