TTRPG Actual Plays have played a major part in the TTRPG Hobby since the inception of Critical Role and Dimension 20, but when looking at the rise of this format you see a wide variety of systems from D&D 5e to Call of Cthulhu in my experience the OSR has had a serious lack in well-produced Actual Plays. This is not to say OSR actual plays don't exist but ones that reach the same heights as other systems of comparative popularity are very low.
But one actual play on YouTube has risen to the occasion, and in my opinion, could cement itself as the definitive OSR actual play representative of the wider OSR community. 3d6 Down the Line is a group of friends who have been playing through the legendary MEGA mega dungeon, The Halls of Arden Vul, using the Old School Essentials system. Their series is the most engaged I have been in an actual play in a long time. I think their strength comes from their refusal to compromise on the old-school tenets within the actual play medium and instead embracing the turn tracking, character mortality, and item weight of Old School Games. This, along with their small group size and chemistry with each other, creates the ultimate example of OSR play anywhere on the internet. can check out the first episode HERE. They have also recently played through a smaller adventure showcasing the upcoming Dolmenwood system by Gavin Norman. This could be a good way to explore their content if you find the 50+ episode Arden Vul series intimidating, which can be found HERE.
This is not a review of 3d6 Down the Line (that may come later), but I couldn't talk about the XP system they released without proselytizing their series. I am both a Patron and Lurker on their Discord (making this review slightly biased). For those who only needed a heads up that it exists and nothing more, it can be found on DriveThruRPG for the low price of $2.95. If you want to hear the words of someone who knows what they are talking about you can see Jon Britton from 3d6 Down the Line talk about the System Here on their YouTube channel. I also just learned, while writing this review, that it is available as a Print on Demand product for $4.95. It looks like I will need to place an order soon.
Since they began their delve into Arden Vul in September of last year, they have consistently utilized some version of the Feats of Exploration system. It has even been somewhat publicly available, as each video includes a link to an automated Google Sheets page. As a note the PDF lacks any mention of the Google Sheet, so make sure to check it out, it makes using the system much more streamlined.
All of this is to say that the system has undergone thorough playtesting, which, from my experience, is rare in smaller TTRPG publications like this one. Moreover, it was playtested publicly, so even though I have never personally used the system, I have seen it being utilized extensively. Therefore, I can confidently say that it offers a superior method of gaining XP compared to most other alternatives I have seen.
The system itself is relatively straightforward. It takes a goal-oriented approach, offering a wide variety of different Feats of Exploration. If the players succeed, it means they get a percentage of the sum of the party's XP which is then split between all the characters.
An easy pitfall I could have seen this product taking is being tailored for only a single playstyle. However, Jon has included three other alternative sets of feats for different settings/styles: Wilderness, City, and Planar Jaunt. The system is also highly modular, making it easy to add, remove, or swap any of the feats while ensuring the system remains robust.
To illustrate the system, the standard set of Feats includes actions like "Applying in-world lore in a useful or flavorful manner," "Manipulating or crippling a faction to your benefit," and "Establishing a reliable safe haven." In Planar Jaunt we have feats like "Actively inducing an alignment change in a naturally aligned planar power or environment" and "Proactively encountering and interacting with a deity in a beneficial manner" which are designed for an inherently distinct gaming experience, and show how much the system can be bent and changed for different campaigns.
Similar to the larger OSR movement, the system shines in its simplicity and modularity. I could see large modules adopting this system and creating custom sets of feats to better encourage players to delve into more nuanced parts of the setting, rather than adhering to the stereotypical gold-hungry murder hobo, which is what Gold for XP pushes for. Imagine a setting like Dolmenwood with a set of feats specifically designed to reinforce the fairy tale inspirations, or Dark Sun with feats intended to emphasize the idea of survival and harshness.
The overarching concept of rewarding the desired behavior is not new, but what sets this apart in the OSR Scene is its expertly laid-out modular system, which puts the idea to paper in a way I have not seen before. I recommend this for any OSR DM, even if just to cannibalize the system for inspiration in your own XP system.
As a final note, the Feats of Exploration System has recently achieved gold bestseller status on DriveThruRPG. I'd like to extend my congratulations to Jon and the rest of the team at 3d6 DtL for their successful debut in published content. I eagerly anticipate what you all cook up next!
You can follow the folks at 3d6 down the line on both Bluesky and Twitter along with their official website and YouTube channel.
You can also follow me on Bluesky and Twitter to see my occasional rambling about things that interest me and if you liked what you read please follow me on this blog, I would love to have you!
.webp)
.webp)