OSR Experiments #14: Zen Moments and Dark Dungeon

So were the conversion experiments, from Dark Dungeon to D&D and vice versa, worth it? So far I think yes. I'd never have realized some of the differences without trying to translate between the games. D&D and DD are both fantasy, they're even close cousins in sword & sorcery. But they are also very different when you start playing them.

Does that also mean Dark Dungeon is not Old School? Good question.

Actually I think Dark Dungeon is very much Old school. At least how I understand Old School. Because the OSR doesn't necessarily agree with itself on many occasions, it seems. The OSR rocks, but it is also a collection of individuals. OSR is a rather fuzzy concept.

Dark Dungeon is rules light. In Dark Dungeon you need to use your own imagination, more than just follow the rules. If fuzzy spots in the rules appear, the game master needs to make up their own ruling. The game must flow, and be fun. It must not become an exercise in filling out a game tax form or a legalistic rules battle.s

True, OSR is more a gaming style than a set of rules. But some sets of rules help better in facilitating this style than others. Let's have a quick peek at the Zen moments in Matt Finch his Quick Guide to Old School Gaming, to see how DD holds up.

Zen moment #1: rulings, not rules

Well, how much you rely on rules and rolls is much your own responsibility. If you want you could set difficulties for everything in DD, and just make a roll. But you don't have to. You can also describe what you do. Here DD is neutral.

Zen moment #2: Player skill, not character abilities.

Again, DD is neutral here as a rules set. I must admit. You can shift all responsibility to the dice and roll for everything until you drop. But you can also play like one of my players, who refused to take the

“fast talk”skill. “I already can do that myself” he said. And he was right. Now his hero has the skill and he uses his own sleek blather nonetheless.

Zen moment #3: Heroic, not superhero

Dark Dungeon was written to be fairly gritty. But you do start out at a better power level than in D&D. And actually so do the enemies. If you want to compare, DD aims at something like D&D levels from 3 to 8, where D&D holds up best. And you can stay in this zone quite long.

Zen moment #4: Forget “game balance”

As you don't need to kill lots of monsters or gain lots of treasure to gain experience points in Dark Dungeon, you need less game balance too. The important thing is that a hero can run away and fight another day. Or at least that the hero has this choice. Having luck points to save heroes out of deadly situations helps here. Not needing to seek combat so hard also helps. At least in my opinion.

So, to me Dark Dungeon looks fairly Old School. As far as rules go, because Old School is the way you play more than the rules you use. The main difference with 0e games like D&D or Swords & Wizardry is that these focus a lot on dungeon explorations. Dark Dungeon is designed to play in scenes and free roaming stories – and dungeons are only a minor part of much larger adventures.