B/x Essentials is apparently now Old-School Essentials and has a Kickstarter

As someone who started with AD&D and a mix of OD&D (since the DMG hadn't come out yet), I always think of Basic as being somewhat newfangled, not old school. As to why it's supposedly so hard it needs new easier versions, I don't get, but as of this writing, 858 people and nearly $60,000 of their money do get it

Still, Mr Norman is a talented man so his success is well deserved. I just wish it had been for his more original products (like the Complete Vivimancer) than a re-hash.

One amusing thing, though

Compatibility: Old-School Essentials is a 100% accurate restatement of the original Basic/Expert rules (B/X), with nothing added, changed, or removed. All material written for the B/X rules over the last 38 years can be used with Old-School Essentials, without any conversion effort whatsoever!

B/X as a rules system literally lasted for 2 years, replaced in 1983. It is literally the least successful version of D&D ever produced (even Holmes lasted 4 years)


As near as I can tell, it only had 5 modules written for it - B3, B4, X1,X2, and X3. (B1 and B2 being for Holmes)