About Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy: Treasures

Following the recent announcement of the upcoming Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy Kickstarter, I'll be doing a series of posts going into a bit more detail on various aspects of the project and what you can expect.

First up, as it's not been discussed previously, I want to talk about the Advanced Fantasy: Treasures rules module.

The Kickstarter pre-launch page is live now—sign up to be notified on launch!

What's It Look Like?

Advanced Fantasy: Treasures will be a 56 page, A5 (Digest-sized) hardcover to match all of the other rules modules in the Old-School Essentials product line.

As luck would have it, I just received the glorious final cover art from Stefan Poag, so I can share a mockup of the book!

What's the Book About?

Loads more magic items for your Old-School Essentials games! This book continues the Advanced Fantasy line of OSE books, joining the already published Advanced Fantasy: Genre Rules and Advanced Fantasy: Druid and Illusionist Spells and the yet to be published Advanced Fantasy: Monsters. Like those other books, Advanced Fantasy: Treasures adds material inspired by the Advanced 1st edition game to Old-School Essentials. Naturally, the new magic items are all presented in the familiar, streamlined OSE format.

Current Status

Here's where things stand as of right now (mid July 2020):

• The writing and layout of the book are complete.
• The roster of magic items comes in at 141. (See below for the full list.) (Weird... I was aiming at a round 140, but it seems an extra item snuck in there somewhere along the way!)
• The cover art by Stefan Poag is complete. (See above.)
• Interior illustration has begun, but no final pieces of art are in yet.

The List of Magic Items!

Alchemist's Beaker, Amulet of Protection Against Possession, Apparatus of the Crab, Arrow +1, Slaying, Arrow of Location, Bag of Transformation, Book of Foul Corruption, Book of Infinite Spells, Book of Sublime Holiness, Boots of Dancing, Bracers of Armour, Bracers of Defencelessness, Brooch of Shielding, Candle of Invocation, Chime of Opening, Chime of Ravening, Cloak of Defence, Cloak of Flight, Cloak of Poison, Cloak of the Manta Ray, Crossbow +1, Distance, Crossbow +1, Speed, Crossbow +2, Accuracy, Crystal Hypnosis Ball, Cube of Force, Cube of Frost Resistance, Dagger +1, Venomous, Decanter of Endless Water, Deck of Many Things, Drums of Thunder, Dust of Appearance, Dust of Disappearance, Dust of Sneezing and Choking, Eyes of Charming, Eyes of Miniscule Sight, Eyes of Petrification, Eyes of the Eagle, Feather Token, Figurines of Wondrous Power, Folding Boat, Gem of Brightness, Gem of Pristine Facetting, Gem of Seeing, Gloves of Dexterity, Gloves of Swimming and Climbing, Horn of Cave-Ins, Horn of Frothing, Horn of the Tritons, Horn of Valhalla, Horseshoes of a Zephyr, Horseshoes of Speed, Immovable Rod, Incense of Meditation, Incense of Obsession, Instant Fortress, Ioun Stones, Iron Flask, Javelin of Lightning, Javelin of Seeking, Jewel of Monster Attraction, Jug of Endless Liquids, Libram of Arcane Power, Loadstone, Luckstone, Lyre of Building, Mace +1, Disrupting, Marvellous Pigments, Medallion of Thought Projection, Mirror of Mental Prowess, Mirror of Opposition, Necklace of Adaptation, Necklace of Fireballs, Necklace of Strangulation, Net of Aquatic Snaring, Net of Snaring, Oil of Insubstantiality, Oil of Slipperiness, Pearl of Power, Pearl of Wisdom, Periapt of Foul Rotting, Periapt of Health, Periapt of Proof Against Poison, Periapt of Wound Closure, Phylactery of Betrayal, Phylactery of Faithfulness, Phylactery of Longevity, Pipes of the Sewers, Portable Hole, Purse of Plentiful Coin, Restorative Ointment, Robe of Blending, Robe of Eyes, Robe of Powerlessness, Robe of Scintillating Colors, Robe of the Archmagi, Robe of Useful Items, Rod of Absorption, Rod of Captivation, Rod of Lordly Might, Rod of Parrying, Rod of Resurrection, Rod of Striking, Rope of Entanglement, Rope of Strangulation, Rug of Suffocation, Saw of Felling, Scarab of Chaos, Scarab of Death, Scarab of Rage, Spade of Mighty Digging, Spear –1, Backbiter (Cursed), Sphere of Annihilation, Staff of Dispelling, Staff of the Healer, Sweet Water, Sword –1, Berserker (Cursed), Sword +1, +3 vs Reptiles, Sword +1, +3 vs Shape Changers, Sword +1, Dragon Slayer, Sword +1, Frost Brand, Sword +1, Giant Slayer, Sword +1, Luck Blade, Sword +1, Sharpness, Sword +1, Sun Blade, Sword +1, Wounding, Sword +2, Dancing, Sword +2, Nine Lives Stealer, Sword +2, Vorpal, Sword +3, Defender, Sword +3, Holy Avenger, Talisman of the Sphere, Trident –2, Yearning (Cursed), Trident +1, Fish Command, Trident +1, Submission, Trident +2, Warning, Vacuous Grimoire, Wand of Magic Missiles, Wand of Radiance, Wand of Summoning, War Hammer +3, Thunderbolts, Well of Many Worlds.

Magic Item Types

Old-School Essentials Core Rules mentions the following 8 types of magic items: armour and shields, miscellaneous items, potions, rings, rods / staves / wands, scrolls and maps, swords, weapons.

You may notice that not all of those 8 kinds of items are represented in the list of items in Advanced Fantasy: Treasures. The reason for this is simple: many of the magic items in the Advanced 1st edition game are also present in the Basic/Expert game which Old-School Essentials is based on. For some of the categories of magic items (e.g. armour and shields, potions, rings), there wasn't a significant enough number of new items to include a whole section. Thus, the new items fall into only 4 of the 8 categories: miscellaneous items (the vast bulk of the book — 100 new magic items!), rods / staves / wands, swords, weapons.