OSE 2026 Update Revealed: Get Your Questions Answered + Halloween Deals!

OSE 2026 Update - One Set to Rule Them All

Old-School Essentials turns seven next year, and we’re celebrating its coming of age with the OSE 2026 Update!

It’s been wonderful to see a large, vibrant community grow around OSE over the years, even as the 5(!) different “core” rules products across the Classic and Advanced range have caused some confusion. To dispel this confusion, we are refining OSE into its most accessible and beautifully presented form yet.

The 2026 Update consolidates OSE into just two definitive core books—the Player’s Book and Referee’s Book—featuring expanded Peter Mullen covers, 200 new illustrations, clearer examples and indexes, and optional rules for training, magic item XP, and more.

Expect minor class tweaks, improved clarity, and total compatibility with all existing OSE products. Plus, this update is completely OGL-free, ensuring the game’s long-term independence.

For a more detailed breakdown of what to expect, see Gavin’s blog post here.

We don’t have a fixed release date for the 2026 Update yet, so watch this space for further news! OSE fans have plenty to look forward to next year, including more adventures, Carcass Crawler issues, a boxed Starter Set, and the long-awaited Demonic Grimoire supplement.

Questions? Hop on the Discord Q&A Session

Want to know more? Gavin will be hosting a live Q&A on the Necrotic Gnome fan Discord on Thursday October 30th, 7-9PM EST (with some follow-up the next morning).

Become a member of the awesome Discord fan community now and join the chat to get the skinny from the mastermind behind all things Necrotic Gnome.

Carcass Crawler 4 Foundry Module

Carcass Crawler Issue 4 is now available in the Foundry Marketplace, revealing secrets arcane and divine, as well as tenebrous foes and a short adventure in a shadow-steeped dungeon.

Halls of the Blood King Halloween Sale!

Halloween is upon us, and Halls of the Blood King, Diogo Nogueira’s haunting foray through the mansion of a vampire lord is on sale until October 31 to celebrate the spooky season!

Grab a frightfully good deal on the format of your choice:

Wildendrem Volume Two: The Saintly Hollows

The much-anticipated follow-up to the award-winning Valley of Flowers is live on Kickstarter and has already smashed its funding goal. 

The Saintly Hollows invites you to adventure in three new regions of Wildendrem, teeming with dungeons, strange beasts, saintly cults, clashing factions, tempting cursed treasures, and troves of random tables.

Highlights include: 

• The Asterial Sanctum (a sprawling prison-dungeon of scheming sorcerer-saints)
• Sir Goliath, Ambulating Terror of the Moors (a colossal mechanical knight that’s a dungeon unto itself),
• The Wildendrem Codex, with new character backgrounds, a starter adventure (The Moaning Midden of Cudwick), optional rules for Oaths & Quests, and gazetteer-style setting lore to fuel sandboxes. 

Check out the Kickstarter page for more details and your chance to grab copies of Wildendrem Volumes One, Two, and the Codex at crowdfunding prices!

Some exciting new third-party adventures and supplements from the OSE and Dolmenwood communities:

• Bastion of the Painted Men and Eldritch Borderlands, two free OSE adventures from the creator of The Oneiric Hinterlands.
• The Hollow Tower, an adventure for level 1 characters with accompanying hex map, new monsters, and magic tomes.
• The Spithollow Forest Mob, a low-level OSE adventure with audio files included to master the Hobbit dialect of God’s own country.
• The Quest Unpronouncable, bringing together the worlds of Mr. Unpronouncable and The Painted Wastelands.
• Dolmenwood introduction and lore video by RedMageGM.

Creating your own OSE or Dolmenwood content? Send it to 3pp@necroticgnome.com for a chance to be showcased in an upcoming newsletter!