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Painting: an ancient lexicon open on a carved lectern in a dark chapel of books, glowing runes and symbols lifting off its pages like fireflies.
TermTabletop term

Retro-clone

A game that uses open game content to restate the rules of an out-of-print edition, usually early D&D, so it can be legally published and played again. Retro-clones such as OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord and Swords & Wizardry powered the Old-School Renaissance (OSR).

A game that uses open game content to restate the rules of an out-of-print edition, usually early D&D, so it can be legally published and played again. Retro-clones such as OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord and Swords & Wizardry powered the Old-School Renaissance (OSR).

Origin

The term is usually credited to Goblinoid Games, publisher of Labyrinth Lord (2007); the movement depended on the Open Game License of 2000.

Quick answers

What does "Retro-clone" mean?
A game that uses open game content to restate the rules of an out-of-print edition, usually early D&D, so it can be legally published and played again. Retro-clones such as OSRIC, Labyrinth Lord and Swords & Wizardry powered the Old-School Renaissance (OSR).
Where does the term "Retro-clone" come from?
The term is usually credited to Goblinoid Games, publisher of Labyrinth Lord (2007); the movement depended on the Open Game License of 2000.

Nearby in the archive

The Open Game License

Milestone2000

In 2000 Wizards of the Coast opened the rules of Dungeons & Dragons to rival publishers under a perpetual license; in January 2023 a leaked attempt to replace it provoked the largest fan revolt in the game's history.

Old-School Renaissance (OSR)

Tabletop genre2006

A movement to play roleplaying games the way they were played in the 1970s — deadly dungeons, clever players, rulings not rules — built on legal clones of early D&D and grown into a vibrant DIY scene.

Old-School Essentials

Tabletop RPG2019

Gavin Norman's crisp reorganization of 1981 Basic/Expert D&D: the old rules, unchanged in spirit, laid out so every topic fits on a page or a spread you can find at the table.

Grognard

General term

A veteran gamer devoted to older games and styles, often wargames or early editions of D&D, and skeptical of newer ones. Used with both affection and exasperation.