For the past year, in my attempt to get away from what I consider a rules-medium game (5e), I've been really interested in very stripped-down, ultra rules light games (Knave, Maze Rats, Black Hack, Mork Borg which I've run, and then also Into the Odd and Cairn which I have not run). I've run some really great dungeon-crawling one shots, and have thought that if I ever run a longer hexcrawl campaign I would use one of those systems and focus more on interesting items than built-in character abilities.
But I'm also coming to realize that players (myself included) not only enjoy some built-in abilities, but that character classes and abilities help create a character that is both grounded in the setting and thematically interesting. So here I've become interested in games that are or seem a little more built-out: OSE, white hack, worlds without number, or, inevitably, house-ruled 5e.*
I'm curious if people have experience running long-ish osr games (say, 15+ sessions), what has been your experience re: ultralight, mostly classless games (like Knave) and games with a little more heft (white hack or ose)? Do you have to add in a bunch of stuff to the ultralight games in order to make them work for your setting (and is their hackability along those lines a pro or a con?).
Thanks in advance!
* (at which point I wonder, what is even the point, if all roads lead back to 5e...)
But I'm also coming to realize that players (myself included) not only enjoy some built-in abilities, but that character classes and abilities help create a character that is both grounded in the setting and thematically interesting. So here I've become interested in games that are or seem a little more built-out: OSE, white hack, worlds without number, or, inevitably, house-ruled 5e.*
I'm curious if people have experience running long-ish osr games (say, 15+ sessions), what has been your experience re: ultralight, mostly classless games (like Knave) and games with a little more heft (white hack or ose)? Do you have to add in a bunch of stuff to the ultralight games in order to make them work for your setting (and is their hackability along those lines a pro or a con?).
Thanks in advance!
* (at which point I wonder, what is even the point, if all roads lead back to 5e...)