A lot has happened since the last progress report on Dolmenwood — Necrotic Gnome's fairy tale and folk horror campaign setting — so I thought it was time for an update!

Work on the three big hardcover books is now in the final stages. Looking at the work that's been done and what remains to be finalised, here's a high-level progress bar for each of the three books:

• Dolmenwood Player's Book: 112 pages. 99% finished.
• Dolmenwood Campaign Book: 400 pages. 95% finished.
• Dolmenwood Monster Book: 96 pages. 99% finished.

As you can see, the end is very nearly in sight! In fact, the final pages of the massive Dolmenwood Campaign Book should be finished in the next month or two, by the end of the year.

A Detailed Look at Each Book

The Dolmenwood Player's Book

A complete guide for players in Dolmenwood campaigns. Here's what's in the book:

• 10 pages of introductory material, including a player's gazetteer, a player's overview of Dolmenwood, and some rumours and folklore.
• 16 pages of info (including loads of flavourful tables) on the sentient races of Dolmenwood.
• 9 new character classes (elf, friar, goatfolk, grimalkin, hunter, knight, minstrel, moss dwarf, woodgrue), along with guidelines for using standard Old-School Essentials classes in Dolmenwood.
• Rules for creating characters with separate race and class.
• 12 pages on magic in Dolmenwood, including rules for fairy glamours, elf runes, and moss dwarf knacks.
• 16 pages on equipment in Dolmenwood, including trinkets, quick start equipment tables, new adventuring gear, useful herbs and fungi, beverages, lodgings, hounds, and pipeweeds.
• Appendices with rules for exploring the wilds, details on the calendar and climate of Dolmenwood, optional rules for moon signs, and an overview of the noble houses and saints of Dolmenwood.

Status (99%): Everything apart from some section intro text, the back cover text, and the endpapers is complete.

The Dolmenwood Campaign Book

This book is the heart and centrepiece of the campaign setting. It's around 4 times longer than the Player's Book or the Monster Book. (400 pages vs 100-odd pages in the other two.) Here's what's in the book:

• 34 pages of introductory and setting background information, including a referee's gazetteer, an overview of the history of Dolmenwood, details on the ley lines and standing stones, an overview of the parallel realm of Fairy, its rulers, and how to get there, and a listing of the ancient Wood Gods once venerated in Dolmenwood.
• 4-6 page write-ups of each of the 7 major factions, including detailed descriptions and portraits of the most important NPCs in each faction (28 NPCs total).
• 4-8 page write-ups of 12 settlements and the important NPCs that dwell in them, each accompanied by night and day encounter tables and a beautiful map by Arlin Ortiz. The Castle Brackenwold write-up, for example, covers 21 numbered locations in the city, comes in at 8 pages, and includes descriptions of 7 additional NPCs.
• 12 pages of additional rules and tables fleshing out the procedures for exploring the forest, weather, fishing, foraging, hunting, and camping in the wilds.
• 200 pages of fantastic locations throughout the Wood — one page for each of the 200 hexes on the campaign map.
• Appendices with rumours, new spells, and magical herbs and fungi.

Status (95%): All introductory material apart from a few pages is complete, all settlements are complete, factions complete, exploration rules complete, 187 / 200 hexes complete, all appendices apart from rumours complete.

The Dolmenwood Monster Book

The companion to the Campaign Book. Here's what's in the book:

• 10 pages of introductory material, including information on the types of normal humans that one might meet in Dolmenwood, a Dolmenwood-specific NPC adventuring party generator (including quests), and a list of standard Old-School Essentials monsters recommended for use in Dolmenwood.
• 65 new monsters, each with a colour illustration and tables of example traits, encounters, and lairs.
• Appendices with tables of trade goods and rumours about each monster.

Status (99%): Everything apart from some section intro text and the back cover text is complete.

When Will the Books Be Available?

We're currently planning a Kickstarter for early 2023. Once the Kickstarter finishes, backers will get access to the near finished PDFs. The printed books will be on general sale once rewards have been sent out to Kickstarter backers.

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