Meet Gavin at PAXU, OSE 2026 FAQ, Dolmenwood Map Posters & More!

Gavin + Exalted Funeral at PAX Unplugged

By moss and bone, on fungal throne, behold the gnome! Necrotic Gnome creator and overlord Gavin Norman will be joining the Exalted Funeral crew at PAX Unplugged this 21–23 November in Philadelphia, PA. Don’t miss your chance to hobnob with the head honcho himself at one of the biggest tabletop gaming conventions in the world.

According to the whispers of mostly-trustworthy owls, Gavin will be present at the Exalted Funeral booth (that’s number 3443) “some of the time” to receive your appreciation, queries, recipes, offerings of wicker effigies, etc.

Most importantly, Gavin will be doing book signings at the EF booth on Friday 4 PM, Saturday 4 PM, so bring (or buy) some books!

You’ll also get the chance to pick up some brand new or hard-to-get print products at the booth, namely:

• New releases: Carcass Crawler 6 and Quick Delve #2: The Grotesque’s Grotto.
• Rarities: Carcass Crawler 0, Winter’s Daughter (5e), and The Necromancer.

Our publishing partners at Exalted Funeral will also be offering a variety of weird and wonderful indie RPG treasures in case you have any change left over after buying all the OSE books, zines, and accessories you can get your hands on!

See you in Philly, adventurers!

OSE 2026 Update FAQ

Regular readers will know that OSE is due for a refresh in 2026, with the main product line being consolidated into two updated core books (details here). Naturally, the diverse and passionate OSE fan community had some questions—and we have answers, now gathered and organised in our official OSE 2026 Update FAQ.

If you have any questions about rules changes, class updates, product availability, licensing, or other topics to do with the OSE 2026 Update, check the link below—you might just find the answer there.

Errata Reporting - Help Us Improve Old-School Essentials

The OSE 2026 Update will already be our clearest and tightest version of OSE yet. However, as usual before doing a new printing of the game, we fix any reported mistakes.

If you’ve spotted any errors or any text you think is unclear (or less clear than the original B/X rules), email us at summon@necroticgnome.com.

Dolmenwood POD Poster Maps

Let your walls inspire adventure with our new glossy 12” by 18” poster versions of the Dolmenwood maps. Both the Player’s Map and Referee’s Map are available as print-on-demand products via DriveThruRPG.

Fantasy Grounds Goes Free to Play

Great news for virtual adventurers: Fantasy Grounds is now free to download and run, unlocking one of the most powerful virtual tabletops with zero upfront licence fee. Previously, Fantasy Grounds positioned itself as a premium VTT, with a $50 price tag for all its features. Now that the financial barrier to entry has been removed, you’ve got more money to spend on some amazing rule systems and adventures for your online games—and we have a couple in mind!

Both Old‑School Essentials and Dolmenwood are fully implemented on Fantasy Grounds for your online play pleasure. You’ll find core rulebooks, adventures, zines, and much more ready to roll.

VTTs come with varying prices and functionalities, but if software costs were holding you back, then Fantasy Grounds might be right for your next old-school campaign.

Fresh third-party adventures and supplements from the OSE and Dolmenwood communities:

• Barrow of the Bear-King, an OSE adventure zine in a northern setting.
• The Wake of the Brawny Witch, a shipwreck dungeon for OSE.
• OSE Character App, a handy virtual character sheet for iOS devices.
• Fortnightly Adventures 1: The Flame Pact, an OSE adventure in a volcanic locale.
• Wulvs, a lupine Kindred Class for Dolmenwood.
• The Bounty Hunter, a Domenwood martial class that can disable foes.
• The Toad Folk II, a new forest synth album from Dolmenwood soundtrack artist Tales Under the Oak.

Check out our third-party licenses for creating your own commercial content for OSE and Dolmenwood.

Got something in the works? Send it to 3pp@necroticgnome.com for a chance to be featured in a future newsletter.