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{{Infobox game
|title=Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game
|image=File:Basic_Fantasy_Core_Rules,_3rd_Edition_cover_4th_Edition_cover.jpeg
|image_size=250px
|caption=Cover of the 3rd4th Edition
|designer=Chris Gonnerman
|publisher=Self-published
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|web={{url|https://www.basicfantasy.org}}
}}
'''''Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game''''' (also commonly known as '''''Basic Fantasy RPG''''' and abbreviated '''''BFRPG'''''), is an [[open source]] [[Dungeons & Dragons retro-clones|retro-clone]] [[role-playing game]] written by Chris Gonnerman that emulates, and is largely compatible with, the 1981 ''[[Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set|Basic]]'' and ''[[Dungeons & Dragons Expert Set|Expert]]'' sets of ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''. Its main differences from ''B/X D&D'' include [[D20 System|d20]]-style ascending [[armor class]] and separation of character [[Fantasy race|race]] and [[Character class|class]]. It was first published in print in 2007<ref name=bforg>[http://www.basicfantasy.org/news.html ''Basic Fantasy News'']. Retrieved on 2020-10-19.</ref> and updated in 2008,<ref>[http://www.basicfantasy.org/news.html#75core ''Core Rules 2nd Edition (Release 75)'' – July 15, 2008]. Retrieved on 2008-08-09.</ref> and 2014.,<ref>[http://www.basicfantasy.org/news.html#96core ''Core Rules 3rd Edition (Release 96)'' – November 24, 2014]. Retrieved on 2016-05-31.</ref> and 2023.<ref>[https://basicfantasy.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=90897#p90897 "Core Rules 4th Edition (Release 132) - June 10, 2023"] Retrieved on 2023-07-13.</ref> The game is one of the first products of the [[Old School Revival]] and has been positively received.<ref name=BFRPG_vs_LL>[http://arcona.wordpress.com/2008/08/02/labyrinth-lord-vs-basic-fantasy/ ''Labyrinth Lord vs. Basic Fantasy'', The Dwarf and the Basilisk – August 8, 2008"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140320093440/http://arcona.wordpress.com/2008/08/02/labyrinth-lord-vs-basic-fantasy/ |date=2014-03-20 }} Retrieved on 2008-08-16.</ref><ref>[http://mythadvocate.blogspot.com/2007/12/basic-fantasy-game.html ''Random Acts: The Basic Fantasy Game'']. Retrieved on 2020-10-20.</ref><ref>[https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-108-save-vs-basic-fantasy-rpg/id385668065?i=1000343201176 Save or Die! Podcast. ''Episode 108: Save vs. Basic Fantasy RPG,'' – May 26, 2015]</ref>
 
==History==
With his original copies of the Basic and Expert rules having fallen into disrepair from use, Gonnerman found himself in need of a replacement for himself, as well as copies he could legally share with his players.<ref name=3ts>[https://3toadstools.blogspot.com/2016/10/its-your-turn-chris-ladies-gentlemen.html Shane Patrick Ward. ''An Interview with Chris Gonnerman.''3 Toadstools Publishing – October 7, 2016"]</ref> At the time, the potential use of the [[Open GamingGame License]] (OGL) and d20 [[System Reference Document]] were being actively discussed as an avenue toward making clones of games no longer in print, but no one had yet succeeded.<ref name="3ts" />
 
While created in its own right to emulate and improve upon the inspirational work of [[Tom Moldvay]] and [[David Cook (game_designer)|David Cook]], Basic Fantasy also derives inspiration from Gonnerman's earlier RPG, ''Project 74'',<ref>[http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9267.phtml Tom Sutherland. ''REVIEW OF PROJECT 74.'' RPGnet.] Retrieved on 2008-08-09.</ref><ref>[http://tower.newcenturycomputers.net/project74.html ''Alderon's Tower – Project 74 Role-Playing Game'']. Retrieved on 2008-08-09.</ref> itself a retro-clone of fantasy gaming of the mid-1970s.<ref name="bforg" /><ref name="3ts" />
 
After Gonnerman released a downloadable preview of the work in progress on January 1, 2006,<ref name="bforg" /> [[OSRIC]] also began development,<ref>[http://www.knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1231 Matt “Mythmere” Finch. ''D&D Restatement Project''. Knights & Knaves Alehouse. Retrieved on 2020-10-23]</ref> but Stuart Marshall has stated that BFRPG came first.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-H92nEUBZgo OSRIC Interview with Stuart Marshall, YouTube]</ref> Contemporaries [[Labyrinth Lord]] and [[Swords & Wizardry]] followingfollowed after. The first edition of Basic Fantasy was published in softcover and offered for purchase on February 28, 2007.<ref>[https://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=19085&start=390 Chris "Solomoriah" Gonnerman. ''AT LAST!'' Dragonsfoot. Retrieved on 2020-10-19.]</ref> The current version, 3rd4th Edition revision 107132, was released on June 3010, 20162023.<ref name>[https://basicfantasy.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=90897#p90897 "bforgCore Rules 4th Edition (Release 132) - June 10, 2023"] Retrieved on 2023-07-13.</ref>
 
According to The Orr Group Industry Report, Basic Fantasy is in the top 45 games played worldwide on [[Roll20]] &mdash; more popular than its contemporaries Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry, and [[Dungeon Crawl Classics]], as well as [[Dungeons & Dragons (1974)|Original D&D]].<ref>[{{Cite web |url=https://blog.roll20.net/post/188703613190/the-orr-group-industry-report-q3-2019-here |title=''The Orr Group Industry Report'' (Q3, 2019)] |access-date=2020-10-20 |archive-date=2020-10-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023025230/https://blog.roll20.net/post/188703613190/the-orr-group-industry-report-q3-2019-here |url-status=dead }}</ref>
 
==Design==
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As an open source gaming system, it has grown and changed similarly to other successful open source projects using that model, "supported by dedicated fans worldwide who have contributed hundreds of pages of rules supplements, adventure modules, and other useful and enjoyable game materials".<ref name="bf" />
 
==ReviewsLicense change==
On January 7, 2023, Gonnerman expressed concern that pending changes to the OGL represented "an existential threat" to the future of the system.<ref>[https://www.basicfantasy.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4596 A Manifesto of Sorts, which is a Plan as well. Retrieved on 2023-01-10]</ref> He proposed a switch to the [[Creative Commons]] Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license, and after receiving positive feedback, work commenced on auditing the text content of the core rulebook with the goal of modifying or removing any verbiage similar to that found in the [[System Reference Document]]. The resulting book was dubbed the 4th Edition and released on June 10, 2023.<ref>[https://basicfantasy.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=90897#p90897 "Core Rules 4th Edition (Release 132) - June 10, 2023"] Retrieved on 2023-07-13.</ref>
*''[[Pyramid (magazine)|Pyramid]]''<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sjgames.com/pyramid/sample.html?id=6879|title = Pyramid: Pyramid Review: Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game}}</ref>
 
*''[[Black Gate (magazine)|Black Gate]]''<ref>https://www.blackgate.com/2019/01/24/a-belated-first-look-at-basic-fantasy-role-playing-game/</ref>
==Reception==
In a review of ''Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game'' in ''[[Black Gate (magazine)|Black Gate]]'', M Harold Page said "Overall, this game does what it sets out to do, and does it with conviction. It's an inexpensive, exhaustive, and approachable system. A motivated early teen could master it quickly, though with some mentoring because they would need to know what roleplaying was and would be well advised to ignore the paragraph where it recommends that players be responsible for mapping according to the DM's descriptions, They might also want to apply selected additions from the website's PDFs."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.blackgate.com/2019/01/24/a-belated-first-look-at-basic-fantasy-role-playing-game/ | title=A (Belated) First Look at Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game. – Black Gate | date=24 January 2019 }}</ref>
 
==References==
{{reflist}}
 
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons retro-clones| ]]
[[Category:Fantasy role-playing games]]
[[Category:Indie role-playing games]]