Lacking Natural Simplicity

Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy Player’s Tome by Gavin Norman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This adapts the classes, races, spells, and other player facing rules of first edition AD&D to the scale and mechanics of the Moldvay/Cook/Marsh edition of Basic/Expert D&D, contrasting with Labyrinth Lord: Revised, Advanced Edition Companion, and Advanced Labyrinth Lord, which does it the other way around and adapts the B/X rules to the scale of first edition AD&D.

I must admit I miss the monk, and the two Hit Dice at first level of the Ranger from AD&D 1E, but I suppose the former is out because of the common perception that it doesn't thematically fit the pseudo-medieval setting of most D&D games, and the latter is part of adapting to the scale of B/X.

The OSE Advanced Fantasy Player's Tome is another excellent presentation of the classic rules in a well designed and sturdy hard back book. I'm impressed with the organization and clarity of the presentation. I think that this is an excellent choice for someone new to D&D to learn the classic player rules.

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