For Gold & Glory

For Gold & Glory embraces the classic high-fantasy kitchen-sink setting that defined Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition. The system supports everything from grim dungeon crawls to epic planar adventures, with mechanics that assume a world of human-centric civilizations surrounded by dangerous wilderness and ancient ruins.

Theme and Setting

Unlike more focused modern OSR games, this retroclone preserves the anything-goes approach of the 1990s—dragon-riding knights, planar travelers, and dungeon-delving thieves all fit comfortably within its framework. The bestiary includes classic monsters from aboleths to zombies, while the magic system supports the full spectrum of D&D spellcasting from fireballs to wish spells.

How Play Feels

The game uses the familiar d20-based THAC0 system for combat, where lower armor class is better and attack rolls must exceed a target number derived from the attacker's skill versus defender's protection. Percentile dice (d100) handle thief skills and other specialized abilities, creating a dual-resolution system that feels distinctly 2e.

What Makes It Distinct

Character creation follows the classic race and class separation—humans, elves, dwarves, halflings, gnomes, and half-elves each have access to different class combinations, with prime requisite stats affecting experience point bonuses. The book consolidates what originally required three separate volumes: 94 pages of core rules, followed by 105 pages of magic, treasure, and monsters.

Where It May Not Fit

You want the system to stay almost invisible at the table You want a much breezier tone than this game is built to support.