Following the hugely successful Kickstarter we ran last year to bring to life the massively expanded Advanced Fantasy flavour of Old-School Essentials, I'm delighted to announce that the PDFs of the game are now live at DriveThruRPG!
Classic Fantasy vs Advanced Fantasy
Old-School Essentials now comes in two flavours: Classic Fantasy (based on the 1981 Basic/Expert rules) and Advanced Fantasy (the same game, massively expanded with content inspired by the 1970s Advanced 1st Edition rules).
Already Got Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy?
For people who already have the Classic Fantasy game (or the classic Basic/Expert rules... or another game based on those rules), all of the new 1e-inspired material is available in the following supplements:
- Advanced Fantasy Genre Rules: 9 human classes (acrobat, assassin, barbarian, bard, druid, illusionist, knight, paladin, ranger), 6 demihuman classes (drow, duergar, gnome, half-elf, half-orc, svirfneblin), optional rules for creating characters by choosing race and class separately, extra options to add extra depth to character creation, combat, and spell casting.
- Advanced Fantasy Druid and Illusionist Spells: 34 druid spells from 1st to 5th level, 72 illusionist spells from 1st to 6th level.
- Advanced Fantasy Monsters: 120 terrifying, weird, and wonderful monsters.
- Advanced Fantasy Treasures: 150 weird and wondrous magic items.
Expand your games with all the new options or just grab the bits you want!
New to Old-School Essentials?
For people who don't already have the Classic Fantasy game and want a complete game including all the 1e-inspired material, everything's compiled into two massive tomes that form a complete game:
- Advanced Fantasy Player's Tome: The complete game rules, 13 fantastic classes, 10 classic races, full equipment lists, and over 200 weird and wonderful spells.
- Advanced Fantasy Referee's Tome: Full guidelines for creating and running adventures, over 300 fearsome monsters, and over 300 wondrous magic items.
These two tomes include everything from Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy plus everything in the four Advanced Fantasy supplements listed above!
Print Editions?
Will be available in the spring, once Kickstarter rewards have been sent out to backers.
15 comments
>Do you have an idea when the books will go on sale on Exalted Funeral. I am standing by to purchase! Also, my players love OSE even though they keep dying. Keep up the great work!
They’ll go on general sale once rewards have been sent out to people who backed the Kickstarter last year. We don’t have an exact date as it depends on a lot of factors still (e.g. the vagaries of international shipping). Current estimate: June-ish.
Do you have an idea when the books will go on sale on Exalted Funeral. I am standing by to purchase! Also, my players love OSE even though they keep dying. Keep up the great work!
>Will the Advanced Player and Referee’s Tomes be going on sale on Exalted Funeral the same time they go on sale on this site? I missed out on the Kickstarter, just want to make sure I don’t miss out again. :)
Yes.
Will the Advanced Player and Referee’s Tomes be going on sale on Exalted Funeral the same time they go on sale on this site? I missed out on the Kickstarter, just want to make sure I don’t miss out again. :)
>1. When the Advanced Fantasy hard copy books go on sale soon, will there be enough for everyone or will it be a mad dash? I am hoping to snag what I need but I know its in super high demand.
There are thousands of extra copies of the Advanced Fantasy Tomes and a few hundred extra copies of the separate books.
>2. If I do not have the Classic Fantasy books yet, do the 4 Advanced Fantasy books incorporate the everything from Classic or will I need to purchase the Advanced Player’s and Referee’s tomes instead? I like the idea of having multiple separate books (like the boxed set) and would like to go that direction with both the Classic and the Advanced content as well if possible.
The 4 separate Advanced books are supplements for OSE Classic Fantasy and don’t replicate any of that content. So you either need:
1. OSE Classic Fantasy + the 4 Advanced Fantasy supplements.
2. The Advanced Fantasy Tomes.
Both those options contain the same content. (Though bear in mind that the OSE Classic Fantasy boxed set is currently out of print.)
>3. Does the Classic Fantasy set incorporate anything from the BECMI D&D editions?
No, it’s a pure clone of B/X which was released in 1981, a few years before BECMI started.