OD&D Retro-clones

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OD&D (see Acronyms) has inspired the creation of many retro-clones over the years. These modern recreations of the 1974 classic preserve the loose, open-ended mechanics and tone of the original to varying degrees, often with tweaks for clarity, balance, or ease of use. 

Below are the main OD&D retro-clones that I have played (or at least gave a good read). They are all really good! However, since there are so many, I decided to highlight two as highly recommended companions to the original game:
  • B., Marcia. 2023a. Fantastic Medieval Campaigns (FMC). Traverse Fantasy (A faithful restatement of the original game. Free to download)
  • B., Marcia. 2023b. Fantastic Medieval Campaigns Basic (FMC Basic). Traverse Fantasy (An excellent little game that manages to be both comprehensive and very concise. Meant to serve as a companion to the title above, it can just as well be played on its own. Free to download and highly recommended)
  • Breig, Marv, and Matthew Finch. 2011. Swords and Wizardry: White Box. Mythmere Games (One of the most well-known OD&D retroclones, with several variations -WhiteBox, Core, Complete - the latter of which incorporates later rules found in the early official supplements to OD&D. The White Box version can be purchased here)
  • Bull, Simon J. 2014. Delving Deeper. Immersive Ink (There is a free hypertext version. There used to be an annotated version in pdf, with copious references and designer commentary -- I really enjoyed reading that version)
  • Conway, Mark. 2024. Meatheads. Edited by Matt K (The Skin & Bones version is free to download) 
  • Gonnerman, Chris. 2014. Iron Falcon – Rules for Classic Fantasy Role-Playing (Closely follows OD&D, albeit incorporating elements from the early supplements. Free to download).
  • E., Thomas. 2025. The Littlest Brown Book: Pocket-sized Rules for Fabulous Premodern Wargaming Campaigns Playable with Paper & Pencil & Miniature Figures (A faithful restatement of the original game, perhaps the easiest way to reference the original material. Free to download and highly recommended)
  • Hampton, Rod. 2023. Dragons Beyond: Fantasy Medieval Wargame Campaign Rules Playable with Pencil and Paper and Miniature Figures (A retroclone based on the pre-publication OD&D manuscripts. Can be purchased here)
  • Mason, Charlie. 2017. White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game. Seattle Hill Games (A charming game that isn't really a recreation of OD&D but rather a streamlined RPG inspired by the original. I find it very charming. Free to download)
  • Spalding, Oakes. 2017. Seven Voyages of Zylarthen. Campion & Clitherow (A unique take with a human-only setting. Can be purchased here.)
  • The Basic Expert. 2024. Wight Box: Original Medieval Fantasy Adventure Campaigns (A recreation and reintegration OD&D and Chainmail mechanics. Free to download)
None of the above are affiliate links.

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