We have exciting news to share, including Necrotic Gnome's 10 Year Anniversary, a free PDF Necromancer character class for Old-School Essentials, an interview with Gavin Norman, third-party products and Kickstarters, and more. So let's dig in!

Necrotic Gnome’s 10 Year Anniversary!

Back in the misty days of 2012, a fresh-faced gnome by the name of Gavin Norman put quill to parchment and concocted a tome of magical spells entitled Theorems & Thaumaturgy. On the 30th of October 2012 — ten years ago, almost to the day — Theorems and Thaumaturgy was unleashed on the print-on-demand service lulu.com, becoming the first publication under the Necrotic Gnome imprint.

Since those humble beginnings, we’re proud to have grown into one of the foremost publishers of quality old-school gaming goodness. A huge thank you to everyone who’s supported Necrotic Gnome over the last 10 years. We’re super excited for what’s to come in the next decade!

Free PDF: The Necromancer for Old-School Essentials

To celebrate our anniversary and to coincide with Halloween we’re thrilled to release a free PDF of the necromancer class for Old-School Essentials, written by Gavin Norman. This is a new spell-caster that specialises in (you guessed it!) the arcane arts of death and the undead. The PDF contains the necromancer class and the complete list of 72 spells, including such creepy delights as corpse visage, carrion stench, vampiric touch, wall of bones, veil of life, and necrotic gaze. Grab the PDF for free HERE!

The Redcaps Podcast: Gavin Norman & OSE

Necrotic Gnome's Gavin Norman was recently interviewed on The Redcaps Podcast, where he chats about all things Old-School Essentials, Dolmenwood, and much more. Listen to it HERE!

Other podcast guests this month include Matt Finch (creator of Swords & Wizardry), Chris Gonnerman (creator of Basic Fantasy RPG), and Dan Proctor (creator of Labyrinth Lord).

Recent Third Party Old-School Essentials Products

Desiccated Temple of Locha

In the parched desert sands, a mirage glistens invitingly on the horizon, but the nearest water is a hard day’s march in the opposite direction. There’s no water here, just a lone sandblasted pillar, its features smeared by centuries of sand. Desiccated Temple of Locha is a one-shot adventure where players explore the ruins of an aquatic temple that's in a state of suspended animation, waiting for the return of water to its parched steps. Includes the author’s map that was published in Knock #2 by Merry Mushmen, 2-page center spread with maps and keys, and everything needed to run the adventure at a glance! PDF available from itch.io and DriveThruRPG.

Dead Men Walking

Dead Men Walking provides referees and players a genre rule set to recreate their favorite apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic zombie stories. Includes specific genre rules to capture the feel and experience of the modern zombie survival horror, 13 new classes designed for a modern zombie survivor horror setting, modern equipment including vehicles, weapons, and gear, a bestiary of modern antagonists, including tables for generating your own breeds of zombies and the cause of the zombie apocalypse, and more! PDF available from DriveThruRPG.

 

Creature Classes Volumes 1 & 2

Artist Jeremey Hart has used some of his monster art to create two volumes of alternate/monstrous classes. Inside you'll find Agram – fierce, monstrous humanoids from the stygian depths of the subterranean realm; Moroi – morbid ascetics that have found a way to bind their souls to mystical vessels within the entropic planes; Umbral – incorporeal undead that have regained their free will and remnants of their mortal memories, and much more! A paper mini design and VTT token is provided for each class. Both volumes are available in PDF from DriveThruRPG. Get Volume 1 HERE, and Volume 2 HERE.

The Shadow of Golgotha

This is a gothic fantasy setting by Rose Bailey, where the vampire scions of Christ have returned and carved up the known world amongst themselves. The Nobles and their Church rain down prosperity, for the small price of hot red blood. But the forests and moors are still haunted by gruesome creatures, from clockwork mutants to Death Herself. Lady Regina Drake and the Ruby Paladin grapple for power in the heartland, while Mother Medusa and her anchoresses plot their heresies on the frontiers. Includes 7 new character, 34 monsters with special abilities, tools to randomly generate settlements, including regions, landmarks, troubles, political conditions, quirky inhabitants, and more! PDF available from DriveThruRPG.

Third-Party Old-School Essentials Kickstarters & Crowdfunding

Fane of the Fly God 

This is a supplement designed to inject the weird and the disturbing directly into the veins of your games. It overflows with the imaginative and the grotesque. Includes a slew of vivid spell descriptions – all reimagined around a fly theme and injected with a copious amount of repulsiveness, a list of unique deities and demi-gods which are monstrous beings, a city which worships an ancient fly god, a deep, dark, dank dungeon, and more! Pledge NOW!

Delver Issue #6

Delver is back! Issue #6 features tons of resources for your games, including more than 20 pages of random charts that can be used before or during a session, a ready-to-go adventure, complete with maps, room descriptions, random encounters, an article to provide a referee with some useful points to ponder on between sessions, and much more! Pledge NOW!

Pan, His Majesty in Yellow

Presenting a new imagining of lost Carcosa, this is a fairy tale cosmic horror campaign setting with dozens of evocative and strange islands and locations to explore. The lore is inspired by a pastiche of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan stories, Robert Chambers' The King in Yellow,  Lovecraftian horror, Greek myths, and the darker side of children's fairy tales. Includes new monsters, like bleeding trees, lurking shadows, bloodthirsty gnome tailors, truly memorable NPCs, such as Peter Pan himself (and his various avatars he may be encountered as), new artifacts and magic items with rich lore tied to the setting, random tables, and more! Pledge NOW!