OSR Review & Commentary On 'The Invisible College" rpg By Kasimir Urbanski From Well of Urd Press

 "All of human history has been an occult war between those who would dominate humanity, and those who would liberate it. This war is still going on, hidden in plain sight."


For my birthday I ordered Kasimir Urbanski's   "The Invisible College" rpg from Amazon. And boy I wish I had waited for the Drivethrurpg printing instead. This is a massive four hundred & thirty two page OSR occult rpg that covers acres of modern, conspiracy, & supernatural warfare. There's been an issue of the early printing in which its layout & writing was a brown lettering  on brown background. Or as Stacie W. put in the comments section of the Drivethrurpg entry for the Invivsible College rpg; "put on display just how not so good the dark brown lettering on the lighter brown background really is. Another graphical thing that could have made the book really pop for the color is when you look at the chapter headers, with the white letters on the really dark brown/gold header the white letters popped off the page too, really easy to read. So whomever it was that made these graphical decisions didn't account for printing. At least the font size is large enough that its still somewhat legible." 

 Now this doesn't take away from the fact "The Invisible College" rpg is actually a solid modern occult & supernatural B/X OSR game. Now that being said get "The Invisible College" rpg through Drivethrurpg instead of Amazon. Well of Urd Press actually does a good job with the layout & the artwork of  "The Invisible College" rpg. 
Within the "The Invisible College" rpg you play an occultist or wizard whose a part of a faction of a wizard's order, an occult  movement, or secret society. Even though this is a B/X based OSR game its got a full on skill system. All in all so far its decent as far as character generation, skill based, & a good take on modern occult & supernatural magick in a modern age. PC's are will workers of the highest degree & take here is very different then say White Wolf's Mage rpg or Supernatural. There's a very different & dymanic magick system within the "The Invisible College" rpg. Magick is ritualistic, darkly occult, & actually dangerous. Yes you can change the world but the price is there to take on the PC's. Yes there are vast occult conspiracies  & yes they do control the fate of countries. Within this game its numbers, techique, & solid numbers that can help turn the tide of the supernatural "The Invisible College" rpg warfare. 
And its this warfare that drives the adventures & conflict within the game. The adventurers & wizards with The Invisible College" rpg are together for mutual protection & spell power. The rituals & spells here are well thought out & researched. But is The Invisible College" rpg worth the money?! In The Invisible College" rpg the B/X D&D OSR system is put to really good use. There isn't really a spare bit of wasted OSR space in The Invisible College" rpg. 
There are monsters & oppentants but the occult take here is quite different then the traditional Dungeons & Dragons monsters. Instead magick fueled horrors from beyond the pale of mankind are waiting in the wings of the modern world for the unwary. The biggest hazard to PC's in The Invisible College" rpg is actually other wizards! And through spells, curse, or ritual or even violence they will kill PC's! This is a supernatural war for the soul of mankind after all! 


Does 'The Invisible College" rpg play well with other OSR games!? Yes & no. Yes it can be incorporated into other modern occult OSR games based on B/X D&D. But no because of the fact that the occult traditions & background of The Invisible College" rpg are based within its own supernatural world. This doesn't take away from its ulitity. DM's who can & will use OSR systems to their advantage will easily side slide in the magick & occult systems of The Invisible College" rpg into their own campaign. 'The Invisible College" rpg  is a well research, very well written, & dangerously subversive OSR B/X magick or occult warfare rpg. The writer knows his stuff & its refreshing to see a double take on the usual B/X retroclones. Can I see using 'The Invisible College" rpg in a campaign?! In a word yes!