When comparing Old School Reference and Indexing Compilation (OSRIC) vs Warrior, Rogue, & Mage, the Slant community recommends Warrior, Rogue, & Mage for most people. In the question“What are the best tabletop RPGs?” Warrior, Rogue, & Mage is ranked 11th while Old School Reference and Indexing Compilation (OSRIC) is ranked 32nd.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
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 Light ruleset
Pro Easily expanded and adapted
Pro Beginner-friendly
Pro WR&M derivatives can be shared and even sold freely
Released under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license, which means you can create WR&M derivatives and share them freely or even sell them. It’s the same open license Fate Core uses.
Pro Good if you like Simulationist RPGs
If you like RPGs putout by the big publishers, you will probably like this game.
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 Simulationist
GM-based
Unequal distribution of authority
If you like Story Games (i.e. GMless, Collaborative RPGs) this is not for you.