I like OSRIC’s character sheet, and even though it’s missing some important fields for AD&D 1e and feels more like a B/X sheet, it’s still familiar enough to OSR players and simple and clear enough for players new to the game.

For players who really want to get into AD&D 1e with all the rules though, nothing is better than TSR’s official Player Character Record “goldenrod” sheets.

 

I made a post about this on my blog a while back, that I feel like I should expand upon, that most random chance in O/AD&D does not rely on PC stats or abilities. I feel like this is an important thing to write, as this style was very quickly forgotten as early as 1981, when Moldvay’s Basic book put in a paragraph titled “There’s always a chance” where it advised to roll under a character’s stat to determine probability

This advice is nowhere in AD&D 1e, in fact the opposite is given where the GM is told to grab a handful of dice and just make up a probability that seems fair.

 

Perception is based on character stats. One character with a high WIS will have a much better chance of succeeding than one with low WIS, who might always be helpless against hidden traps.

X-in-6 is standard for all characters, and doesn’t rely on their build 

 

Roll under stat probabilities would become a standard resolution mechanic in AD&D 2e, which evolved into 3e’s skill and save system

 

 I’m considering running fortified towns and settlements as open air dungeons where single-room houses function as traditional dungeon rooms or as treasure lairs.

Prices for magic items

 Shopkeepers use mundane prices, i.e. a magic ring will only be sold for the price of regular ring, a magic sword for the price of a regular sword.

"Just Start at level 3"

 Nah, treat levels 1 and 2 with kid gloves, then at level 3 let it be "The Real Dark Souls Starts Here"

Takeaways from BROSR

 I read some of their blogs and I still don't really get how patron play works, but what really stuck with me was their description of how a campaign was run. Every patron is essentially the leader of a faction, and their intrigues against one another drive the quests that regular PCs go on.
 Now I don't really know how the BROSR run their games, but the idea that the campaign world essentially moves from a Grand Strategy level with different factions in a constant state of flux, as determined by the actions of the players, is very appealing. I'm very fond of Grand Strategy games and populating a world of medieval nations at war is very natural to me. This is what I'm implementing in my current campaign, where every adventure that the PCs go on has some direct political or strategic consequence in the greater campaign world. As the fortunes of various factions shift, new adventure hooks naturally open up.  That's also why I'm using AD&D 2e, the non-OSR edition, as its a much better fit for this kind of campaign. It beats going into another undeground cave and getting stuck in a squabble between bugbears and hobgoblins, at least.

No more kitchen sinks!

 I'm running a campaign set in a mythic fantasy version of the British Isles, circa 860 AD. Due to the nature of the setting, there's many monsters and magic items that are restricted from use, and I absolutely love the effect that has in game. Given that I'm using a twist on a real world setting, the players immediately relate to it and have ideas of what can and should be done in the adventure, and by limiting monsters and items, I'm able to reinforce their suspension of disbelief.
  I think that adding too many elements from outside influences such as Tolkein's works, Conan and pulp adventure stories, etc., tends to shatter disbelief and revert players into a headspace where they know that they're just playing a game. Actually one of the issues running B2: Keep on the Borderlands is the baggage that creatures like Orcs and goblins bring, because they've been done so many times in so many other kinds of games.
  In fact one of my drives to play systems like Original D&D was its restrictions on player classes and races, and a lot of my advice for running spellcasters is to limit the specific spells that they have access to. I just didn't realize that it's better to limit all of these from a setting perspective and not a system one. That might explain the popularity of settings like Dark Sun and Ravenloft, which specialize D&D in their own ways.
  Rather than running a generic fantasy kitchen sink, I think its better to see the monster manual and spell lists as options that you must remove pieces of in order to fit your campaign. Most tables that I've seen just assume that everything that exists in the rule books also exists somewhere in the campaign world, but by creating a campaign world where some things cannot exist has conversely freed me up to run a more satisfying game.

Also as a side effect, using a map of historical Britain and Scandinavia has absolutely crashed my interest in fantasy maps. Fantasy maps are usually just pastiches of real world places anyway, with odd geography. I think it would be fun to run a campaign in Central or Eastern Europe as well, which would give access to most kinds of biomes.