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I've been playing RPG's since the late 70's yet this is only the second game I've been willing to Kickstart.  You had me at "Retro-Open World Survival".  Then I saw "Hexcrawl the World" and got really excited.  My friends and I used to spend hours with 1st Edition D&D, exploring the wilderness with little direction beyond "There are riches to be found in the Great Mountains, many leagues to the north."  It was the journey as much as the destination that we enjoyed.  Most encounters were unscripted.  We rolled our way through many hexes, facing many encounters and natural hazards before arriving at anything the DM actually planned as a destination.  It was sandbox heaven.  Intended or not, FL gives me the same vibe, and I have seen nothing else like it on the market.

Patrick, I also started out with the first edition of D&D in ancient times so I know what you mean: ”I can go … anywhere?”
At the time we were all new to RPGs so it might be hard to recapture that initial awe.

However, in Forbidden lands the world is basically unknown in-game as you start, so you should be able to recreate the excitement of exploration. Perhaps the player´s shouldn't be allowed to see the map initially but instead have to explore it from where they start. There should be technical ways to do this I suppose if you don't want to cover the map with pieces of paper. Also we've written the setting so that background and information is revealed as you play rather than being available from start.

I'm not really into the rules so I don't know the mechanics of the hex crawling, but when I've written the adventure sites unlocked in the kickstarter, I will write a bunch of random encounters, a quarter to half a page long rather than single lines in a table. I aim to make them seeds to side adventures, providing ideas but not details. You'll be able to throw these in as you see fit or come up with your own of course while the company is on their way to an adventure site. My Swedish friends that have used the mini adventures in the Trachoria module know what I mean.

/Erik G

Actually there are a lot of games out there that aim to recreate that OD&D hex-crawl vibe, many of which are lumped together under the OSR (Old-School Revival) banner.  You seem to know your stuff, so I'm curious as to why you think the glut of OSR retro-clones (especially ACKS) fail to deliver that vibe, considering that's a big design aim for most of them?

In my mind, the thing that sets FL apart is that (unlike most other OSR games) it isn't yet another D&D clone.  As such, it isn't beholden to the D&D attribute lists (or similar variants thereof), the d20 dice (or variants thereof, like 3d6), etc.  It uses a dice pool mechanic that (while not completely original) manages to bring just the right level of simplicity and crunch to satisfy most gamers, including new ones.  Also, the hex-crawling elements are essentially baked-in to the engine, as MYZ has a blank map exploration mechanic that is directly related to classic hex-crawling.  Coriolis eschews the random map for a brilliant random system generation system.

As someone who tries out a lot of games with my groups, I've been so inspired by the Year Zero games (Mutant Year Zero, Coriolis and Tales From the Loop) that I started making my own fantasy hack a few months ago, aiming to recreate a WFRP-style experience using the Year Zero engine (link, if you're interested).  I saw the potential to use this engine for a great grimdark fantasy game, and thankfully so have Fria Ligan.  

I think we have the making of something very special here with Forbidden Lands.

Oh, and if you want to see some awesome hex-crawling resources, here's a great site to help with your planning while you wait for FL to release!

Many of the OSR games out there are in fact not very similar to the old 70ies and 80ies RPGs they claim kinship with. (I haven´t read all the OSR systems so just my opinion obviously.) I´ve gotten the impression many OSR games rather have a lot of "the Forge"-style indie design in their DNA. Especially the idea that the system should support its intended play style. Which of course is a good idea (and Fria Ligan´s games does that too btw) but it is not necessarily oldschool in itself.
I believe that a big part of Fria Ligan´s popularity comes from
1. Their ability to keep the word count down but still coherently explain what needs to be explained. Some RPGs out there are a chore to read.
2. Great illustrations and layout!
Those two things does not explain why many players get that special oldschool feeling playing Mutant:YZ and the other stuff though. Maybe the "rulings not rules" design philosophy helps with that but it is hard to nail it down.

I have only read a few of the OSR games, so I am no expert.  Any of those would allow a hex-crawl campaign, but none advertise as being designed for it.  Thank you for the links, there is a lot there I will enjoy reading. 

I have only read a few of the OSR games, so I am no expert.  Any of those would allow a hex-crawl campaign, but none advertise as being designed for it.  Thank you for the links, there is a lot there I will enjoy reading. 

Yep, very true.

ACKS is the only one I'm aware of that is designed for it, even including advice on running hexcrawls in the book, I believe. I haven't actually read it, though, so don't quote me on that.

Also, be aware that the term "sandbox" can often be used interchangeably with "hexcrawl". People seem more interested in sandbox games these days, so that's the term often used in book descriptions.

I think I misinterpreted Patricks initial question – I thought we were talking about the setting and feel of the game rather than rules and systems, but I see that subsequent anwers more focus on the mechanics. That's quite OK of course and the setting should propably be discussed in that section anyway.

Incidently ”Brior” is settings writer Erik Granström.

I think I misinterpreted Patricks initial question – I thought we were talking about the setting and feel of the game rather than rules and systems, but I see that subsequent anwers more focus on the mechanics. That's quite OK of course and the setting should propably be discussed in that section anyway.

Incidently ”Brior” is settings writer Erik Granström.

We can talk about anything that feels unique about FL.  Of course most of this is speculative, since we don't have a lot of information yet.

This is an interesting question, since I'm still wavering on joining the Kickstart. (I want a little bit more information before I commit my $88.00!)

I'm currently running a Lamentations of the Flame Princess campaign. LotFP is a retro-clone of B/X D&D. We are having a great time with it! It isn't based on being a hex crawl... but it is a simple, if early, design for RPG play based on exploration and puzzle solving. (For the record, I also play games like King Arthur Pendragon, Burning Wheel, Primetime Adventures, HeroQuest in Glorantha, Unknown Armies... among many others. So I'm not about Old School play by definition at all.)

I think the thing that attracts me to Forbidden Lands is mostly the Mechanics -- especially since I am only now learning more about the setting. I love the mechanics in MYZ and would love to have that same sort of energy and tension in a fantasy RPG game. There are certain things many D&D retroclones do very well (games like LotFP, Swords & Wizardry, Adventurer Conquerer King, Blueholme, Dungeon Crawl Classics, and countless others, that really are very much like the original, early D&D rules)... but sometime I want to play in a fantasy setting with the same feel of exploration that D&D offered while having a newer system that allows for a different kind of play experience.

The thing about MYZ is that it offers exactly that sense of exploration -- but with a lot of new ideas that make a whole new level of play focused on character relationships, risk and tension during conflict, strategic decision making at the Ark level and so on that I really enjoy. It is the mix of old and new that turn me on about MYZ -- and what I hope to get from FL.

Finally, MYZ supports a lot of low-prep play, and for me that's a big win!

As for the setting: I'm sure will be great. The notion that there is a unique, enclosed area full of adventure that supports low-prep play is exactly what I would be looking for in a game. The setting material for MYZ and Coriolis is rich and evocative, and I'm hoping the same will be true for FL.

Also: one could then take the core mechanics of FL and build out new Kin and new classes off the existing example to create another, unique setting.