As I’m planning my Minecraft RPG, I’m doing a lot of research into DnD and trying to refresh my memory and also see what’s been happening in the 20 years since I’ve been away from the table. One movement that I’m learning about is #OSR — Old School Renaissance or Revival (or Roleplay or Rabbit Hole…).

It’s a throwback to the origins of DnD, where the rules were much simpler, the adventures were deadlier, and there was more of an emphasis on creative problem-solving than number-crunching (stats for every movement, etc.). I’m no expert, but I find it really refreshing. Don’t know if that’s just my brain getting weary with having to calculate every move mathematically, but I think I just prefer the less complicated approach anyway.

And I won’t be replicating any particular DnD system in my Minecraft RPG, mostly because it’s just too crazy to code all of that! However, I am getting inspiration as I read about dungeon ideas, monsters, magic items and weapons, traps, and characters. Especially dungeons! I got the 5E Dungeon Master’s Guide, which has a fabulous chapter on creating dungeons, and am reading everything I can get my eyes on about #OSR. I do think that this approach (not the exact system, of course) can be melded into Minecraft. I’m hoping to come up with something that is fresh and fun, scary and challenging.

I’ve already started mapping out the multi-level dungeon on paper. As I work on that, I’m also investigating making custom entities and items in Minecraft. It’s going to be a lot of work, but I’ve got some time, and I’ve got the passion for it right now. I’ll be updating things here in my digital garden as the project takes shape and grows.