I've decided to have a go at reviving this topic.
grognard9 wrote:
For personal taste and additional content, I and a few others wouldn't mind seeing
a small sampling of the monsters given the "___ as Player Characters"
treatment in the Monsters section as well (such as Pixies, Satyrs, Centaurs, etc).
All were a part of Basic ala the "Creature Crucible" series for BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia after all...
Throw in Tabaxi from "The Tome of Horrors" or Catfolk from one of the SRD's, Lizardfolk, etc. for good measure
& to attract some modern gamers to the OSR fold as well.
My perspective on this is that there is no need to include monstrous races as player characters in a new volume. If referees wish to include such races as playable options, they can always create playable versions themselves. If the Advanced Edition Companion is supposed to be a nod to AD&D 1st Edition, then including additional races derived from monsters would be out of place.
I also don't see that there is a need to attract folk who prefer later editions to the OSR or older editions, especially if that involves modifying older games to make them more appealing to the modern gamer. Surely the whole point of the OSR is to preserve older games
as they were, and changing aspects to appeal to a modern crowd would essentially render them no longer 'old school'. That being said, I don't object to people releasing new supplemental material for older editions, including new playable races and classes, but in my opinion they should remain supplemental.
"Who wants to play the same old dwarf, elf, halfling or human all the time?!!? Your game lacks creativity
and the races are lame and boooriiing!"
I appreciate that this is not your point of view. My response to someone who makes this claim would be that there are different ways of introducing creativity to a game besides new races and classes. Just because you're not playing an obscure race doesn't mean you can't be imaginative with your character. Just because the selection of races are limited to 'traditional' fantasy does not mean that all characters must stringently fit within racial stereotypes. Not all dwarves need to be drunken elf-haters, and not all elves need to be Legolas. Your character is an individual, distinct from others of his or her clan. There's plenty of room to get creative with your character.
I might also say that if you think the choice of races is lame and boring, then maybe old school fantasy roleplay isn't for you. Again, this isn't directed at you, grognard9, but rather the folks you are referring to in your post.
There is actually a fair selection of additional races and classes already available for Labyrinth Lord, from Barrel Rider Games (see DriveThruRPG) and other sources.
There are so many retro-clones that regurgitate the same material
Isn't that the point of a retro-clone? To emulate the rules of an older game as closely as possible.
To clarify, I'm not saying that new options shouldn't be available for older editions or retro-clones. Rather, I suggest that they remain supplemental, so that the game itself can remain as true to the original as possible.