The Gaming Gang reviews BFRPG

[Tazer_The_Yoot]

Basic Fantasy was one of the very first OSR games to be released; there was no model for how it should be done. When I described the game, I was careful to play up the SRD connection, in hopes that it would help me in case WoTC decided they didn't like my whole clone-the-old-game idea.

That makes sense. In this case, I suppose when reviewers mention the d20 connection, that's a case of them taking your word for it. Me, I'm familiar with the older rules so my instinct is "Hey, hold on a minute..." but the legal reasoning you give is the missing piece of the puzzle. When you published this for the first time there was no real precedent for it at all, was there? It's not like nowadays with another clone coming out every month.

[Solomoriah]

No. Basic Fantasy RPG was available for download before OSRIC (though OSRIC was in print first) so I was the canary, so to speak.

[CptClyde]

"Based on D20" means to me the 6 basic D&D attributes and D20 for all challenges. And that sums BFRPG up pretty well. Am I mistaken what D20 means?

[Solomoriah]

I see a distinction between "based on d20" and "d20 mechanics." The latter implies d20 rolls vs. DC values, with bonuses added to the die roll for abilities, skills, etc.

[Hackworthy]

Basic Fantasy was one of the very first OSR games to be released; there was no model for how it should be done. When I described the game, I was careful to play up the SRD connection, in hopes that it would help me in case WoTC decided they didn't like my whole clone-the-old-game idea.

I mean, it's not entirely devoid of a connection. As someone who started with 3.5, never played anything prior and ultimately moved from Pathfinder to BFRPG, it was less alien to me than older additions of DnD or other OSR games I have now looked at. I think presenting it as a D20 game probably does more harm than good in regards to drawing in more modern players dissatisfied with WotC or Paizo's design direction.

[Solomoriah]

To be clear, mechanically BFRPG is as close a clone as possible to the mechanics of the 1981 version of the worlds most popular RPG, with just one modern-era rule, and that is ascending AC.