When comparing Old School Reference and Indexing Compilation (OSRIC) vs Microlite20 Purest Essence, the Slant community recommends Old School Reference and Indexing Compilation (OSRIC) for most people. In the question“What are the best tabletop RPGs?” Old School Reference and Indexing Compilation (OSRIC) is ranked 32nd while Microlite20 Purest Essence is ranked 54th. The most important reason people chose Old School Reference and Indexing Compilation (OSRIC) is:
OSRIC is based on the well-known 1st edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, arguably the most popular RPG of all time. It doesn't stick to is slavishly, though, but instead brings in a few innovations from the later "d20 SRD" to regularize the system a bit and fill in some of the gaps. It is, however, still very much a 1980s system.
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Pros
Pro AD&D 1E aligned to d20 SRD
OSRIC is based on the well-known 1st edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, arguably the most popular RPG of all time. It doesn't stick to is slavishly, though, but instead brings in a few innovations from the later "d20 SRD" to regularize the system a bit and fill in some of the gaps. It is, however, still very much a 1980s system.
Pro Easy to start
If you are looking for a game like DnD, but much easier - try Microlite20 Pures Essence with Ultimate Fantasy supplement.
Pro Rules will be familiar to any veteran D&D player
As Microlite20 is a stripped down version of the d20 SRD with the same classes, races, items and abilities, it will be easy to understand by anyone that has previously played a D&D game. Especially D&D 3.x.
Pro Compatible with d20 SRD
Any material written for the d20 system can be used with the Microlite20 system. All creatures, items, monsters, spells, etc from any d20 SRD licensed resource are compatible with the Microlite20 system.
Pro Clear writing
The writing is very terse and to the point. There's very little in terms of fluff. As such the rules are easy to comprehend and reference.
Pro Simple rules allow easy customization
m20 remains compatible with the d20 SRD, but rules are lite enough that adding modifications to the system is trivially simple.
Cons
Con Complex and inconsistent rules
There is no "general system" for doing things in the game - everything is a special case. This can result in a lot of page-flipping to find the particular rules for something, and in problems for new GMs who don't yet know the system well, or who aren't comfortable with improvising.
Con Combat can potentially get stale
Due to the fact that combat is simplified to just 3 variables (AC, HP and attacks) a less experienced DM runs the risk of creating repetitive combat.