Top products from r/osr

Alright so first a nice big list for you to peruse and consider. most don't explicitly have the randomness in spells but are still worth considering.

OSR Games

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Retro Clones

• Swords and Wizardry(ODnD) - almost a direct rehash of the very first edition of DnD
  
  
• The Black Hack (ODnD) A very modern hack of ODnD. Fast and streamlined.
  
  
• Labyrinth Lord (BX DnD) - Almost a direct rehashing of the old BX dnd system. There's a separate Advanced Edition Companion which makes it more like ADnD.
  
  
• Lamentations of the Flame Princess(BX DnD) - this is the current hot stuff. Dark and Mature with a great ruleset. Lots of the best supplements coming out are based on this system. Veins of the Earth, Vornheim, and Deep Carbon Observatory were built with this system in mind.
  
  
• Basic Fantasy RPG (BX DnD?) BX dnd with race separated from class.
  
  All of these have complete free versions on their websites(usually minus art)
  
  
• I would also recommend the Rules Cyclopedia as one of the most complete versions of dnd ever created. It's now available as print on demand!
  
  New Stuff
  
  
• Maze Rats (Even if you don't play it, get it for it's amazingly useful tables.)
  
  
• Shadow of the Demon Lord (Starts with a basic Character and then builds in complexity over time. My favorite class system. Horror/dark setting but easily stripped out.)
  
  
• Dungeon Crawl Classics (Beautifully done. Every class feels really unique. A bit of a gonzo Aesthetic)
  
  
• Stars without Number (Possibly the best sci-fi RPG you can get right now)
  
  
• Godbound (High powered OSR style game by the same guy who made Stars Without Number.)
  
  
• Index Card RPG (What it says on the tin. Check out the youtube channel of the guy who made it.)
  
  
• Freebooters on the Frontier (Great for short campaigns. Requires Dungeon World, a great game in it's own right, and The Perilous Wilds)
  
  
• World of dungeons (1 page OSR-like Dungeon World hack. I feel it's OSR so fight me.)
  
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  As you are specifically asking for random magic, I'd say that the games that go that way use either a more freeform magic system or use tables for magic casting. Dungeon Crawl Classics goes the table route and is a great system. that said the tone is more gonzo than dark. Maze rats is great and uses a freeform magic system where players randomly roll up spell names and then you interpret what they mean. It's tone neutral so it should fit in whatever game you run.
  
  You could also use this massive chart to determine random magical effects as spells are cast. I'd have the players roll different types of dice to simulate casting riskier or more dangerous spells. Consider the chart carefully as it's randomness is quite harsh.
  
  The system with the best character customization is probably Shadow of the Demon lord. It's a great game and I could easily see you hacking on a random magic system onto it.
  

This Kickstarter kicks ass!

After reading Patrick's campaign summary, I am totally on board as a backer.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an essential piece of Transitional English Poetry.

• It exists between Old and Middle English.
  
• The majority of the poem is written in the Alliterative Old English style, but each verse ends in a rhyming 'bob and wheel' - which looks forward to the rhyming heroic couplets of Chaucer's Middle English.
  
• The 'Pearl Poet' freely and comfortably combines Christian and Pagan imagery - the most famous of which is Sir Gawain's Pentangle Shield, which the poet thoroughly describes as a Christian symbol.
  
• There are obvious undertones of 'masculine love' in the Poem, which Patrick has vowed to address (rather than ignore, like most other translations).
  
  But above all else, Patrick's translation seems to be an excellent representation of the alliterative poetic style, while still making sense to modern ears.
  
  There is an example of him reciting his translation of the first verse at the bottom of the Campaign page.
  
  'Peek Inside' this copy of W.R.J Barron's translation and turn to page 32 to compare the original text to Patrick's translation. He has done an excellent job.

The Vance Blue World book is an expansion of his short story "The Kragen" -- while the book is good, I think the short story is better, more tightly plotted and fast-paced.

Others have already recommended the rest of the Tschai series, so I don't need to do so even if the urge is strong -- it's really good! The whole series is probably easier to find in the omnibus edition put out by Orb books, but that doesn't include the corrections done in the Vance Integral Edition to restore text edited out of the original pulp version.

A nice free resource. I also recommend this YouTube video.

For those looking for more details in a product you can buy, I recommend the Vikings doorbell by Iron Crown Enterprises.

It's pricey, but AEG's Ultimate Toolbox has tons of good stuff in it. I've also heard good things about the Table Fables books available on Amazon, but don't have any personal experience with them.
 
Lately, Hubris has been my go-to for adding in weird terrain features and plot hooks.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/952590444X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_FGVXCbMRF6WTN is the physical book, though if you can get your LFGS to order it, that's always recommended.

If you're looking to go cheap, Basic Fantasy RPG is a a great option. It's available free in PDF form and dead tree copies are on Amazon. For $20 you can get the core rules and at least a year worth of adventures and campaign stuff: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1503334945/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_DIVXCbCSGRPAT

Blogs

http://tenfootpole.org

http://beyondfomalhaut.blogspot.com

http://batintheattic.blogspot.com

http://falsemachine.blogspot.com

https://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com

http://dieheart.net

http://save.vs.totalpartykill.ca

http://roll1d12.blogspot.ca/

http://hillcantons.blogspot.com/

http://deltasdnd.blogspot.com/

http://www.lastgaspgrimoire.com/do-not-take-me-for-some-turner-of-cheap-tricks/

http://hackslashmaster.blogspot.com/

http://dungeonofsigns.blogspot.com/

http://monstersandmanuals.blogspot.com

http://www.necropraxis.com

http://jrients.blogspot.com

http://questingblog.com

http://the-city-of-iron.blogspot.com

http://gorgonmilk.blogspot.com

http://grognardia.blogspot.com

http://www.paperspencils.com/2017/08/06/blogs-on-tape/

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/user/ivanmike1968

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvYwePdbWSEwUa-Pk02u3Zw

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjSRQhEHGH0gUuIBxGNe5Fw

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEPDe-2045AHmnKfEeIve7Q

More OSR Primers

https://www.amazon.com/Role-Playing-Game-Primer-Old-School-Playbook/dp/1502764342

http://www.grey-elf.com/philotomy.pdf (Soooo good)

If you'd really like to go down the rabbit hole

https://campaignwiki.org/wiki/LinksToWisdom/HomePage

There is so much more, but these should keep you busy for awhile. I'm reeeaaaally loving the Blogs on Tape.

I love this idea! Here's my nom: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/245450/The-Return-Of-The-Blue-Baron-A-Collaborative-Dungeon-For-Blueholme https://www.amazon.com/Return-Blue-Baron-collaborative-Blueholme/dp/1723228753

I second this. https://www.amazon.com/Grimtooths-Ultimate-Traps-Collection-Softcover/dp/0996181318/ref=asc_df_0996181318/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=266444585221&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10792846104281503888&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1015550&hvtargid=pla-451160009729&psc=1 I own this book and I love the crap out of it always keep your players very afraid.

I would recommend adding the Isle of Sahu from the Complete Book of Necromancers if you can get your hands on it. It was part of the Al-Qadim Arabic fantasy setting but adds a dark fantasy element,

Is this the white box you're referring too? White Box: Fantastic Medieval Adventure Game https://www.amazon.com/dp/1545516480/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_pJ5RDbBYN8JKS

Also, I really want to try old school essentials, but I can't get a physical copy anywhere which kinda sucks. Do you know where to find the bundled physical copies?

Before you buy this set, there are a ton of other options available on Amazon, including one built for fantasy story telling:
https://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Hub-RSC28-Rorys-Fantasia/dp/B073CYXT5V/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=rory%27s+story+cubes+Fantasia&qid=1574477763&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01K7WBEWI/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Closest will be Jon Peterson's work in the development of the RPG in terms of wargaming. Though he might not get down to the nitty-gritty of each stat. You'll have to pull up Chainmail and maybe the stuff from the 'rough draft' of 0e (if that's available).

*Here's a section on HD for example:
>Because of the murkiness of the system, it is
difficult to expose the linkage of the hit points in Dungeons & Dragons to
the Chainmail cumulative hit mechanism. A determined reader can
extrapolate, however, that hits in Dungeons & Dragons cause a
standard 1–6 points of damage.

>...

>But in the context where “cumulative” hits applied in Chainmail—to cases
like mundane Fighting-men attacking a giant—the parallel is inescapable: a hit
in Dungeons & Dragons deals the same range of damage that a hit die
grants, and a certain number of hit dice in Dungeons & Dragons provide
the same system effect on average that the ability to take that certain number
of hits provided in Chainmail. A giant could withstand eight cumulative
hits in Chainmail, and so a footman would need to score eight hits on
the giant to kill it. If a giant in Dungeons & Dragons has eight “hit
dice” worth of hit points, how many hits would a Fighting-man need to slay the
giant in Dungeons & Dragons? If we go by the arithmetic mean of 3.5
for a d6, then an eight hit die giant would have 28 hit points, and eight hits
from a Fighting-man (also dealing an average of 3.5 each) would suffice. Statistically,
it takes the same number of hits in both systems.