We have exciting news to share, including The Ruined Abbey of St Clewyd for Dolmenwood, the Czech translation of the Classic Fantasy Rules Tome, recent third-party products, recent reviews, and more. So let's dig in!

In Development: The Ruined Abbey of St Clewyd

We are thrilled to announce that The Ruined Abbey of St Clewyd, an adventure originally published in Wormskin zine issues 3 and 4, will be released for the first time as a standalone product, in a revised and updated form! It will be available as part of the Dolmenwood campaign setting Kickstarter, estimated to launch Q1 2023.

Written by Gavin Norman and Yves Geens,The Ruined Abbey of St Clewd is a weird crypt crawl adventure for characters of 3rd to 5th level. The revised adventure will be hardcover with deluxe quality sewn binding, and keyed in a quick-reference, bullet point format. For more info, click HERE!

Czech Translation Pre-Order of the Classic Fantasy Rules Tome

We are pleased to announce that the Czech translation of the Old-School Essentials Classic Fantasy Rules Tome is now available for pre-order from Imago! It is anticipated to ship and be widely available around the end of July. Check it out HERE! 

Recent Third Party Old-School Essentials Products

Settlers of a Dead God

This is a forthcoming setting for Old-School Essentials where you’ll be able to play as insects with human features exploring the mysterious corpse of an immense God of hundreds of kilometers. From the decomposing body of this immense being brought life; its blood formed the seas that bathe the coasts, its skin became the land, deserts, and mountains. And from its tears, rivers and lakes were born. The insects were the first inhabitants who walked this putrid land and through the infinite power emanating from within they evolved into insectoids; new beings with powers far superior to those of their ancestors. This preview PDF is a teaser for the full book, and available FREE from Exalted Funeral! Also, check out thedeadgod.com for more info on the development cycle! 

Old School & Cool #3

Old School & Cool is back! Issue #3 offers high-level options for all of the standard Old-School Essentials classes. Have you tired of the standard B/X level progression when it extended beyond level 14 and character XP ran into the millions? Traditional high-level characters gain followers and build strongholds. A new game emerges; the player characters go from adventurer to nobility. This part is a joy for some; but what about those characters who want to keep on adventuring? This issue offers a different way of handling high-level play, and includes god-level powers for characters, new spells, magic items, monsters and a mini-adventure! PDF available from DriveThruRPG. Print + PDF from Knight Owl Publishing.

Harrowings #3: Muspelhell

This is a collaboration-based zine which explores the juxtaposition of the genres of fantasy and horror. This issue includes a 3-level dungeon adventure with over 40 rooms! Much of the inspiration for this adventure was finding the intersection between the source material for Norse myth, and classic 80's heavy metal. Also includes dwarf character generation, solo RPG support, procedural tunnel encounters, and more! PDF available from itch.io. Print + PDF from Exalted Funeral.

Gig Economy

This zine contains weird, fun and quirky retainers with just enough detail to get your games rolling. Includes 200 bite sized retainers, hirelings and henchman, 20 Lackeys, 40 townsfolk, 140 adventurers, and hiring procedures and guidelines for creating your own. A starting town map on back cover includes 10 different hiring locations. Organized to support infinite hiring procedures and designed to be fast and easy to use. PDF available form from itch.io and DriveThruRPG. Print + PDF from hurtleberry.net.

Troll Cats & Even Stranger Familiars

A.C. Luke has created a new creature for Old-School Essentials on her Substack newsletter Mythoi, a weekly column on using folklore in tabletop RPGs. Black cats, dogs, and crows acting as familiars are such a common sight in folklore and fiction it can sometimes border on cliche — so what if you gave your witch something really weird? Inspired by Scandinavian folklore, the author has come up with the Tilberi, a witch’s familiar made from wool and with a hunger for milk and blood! Check it out HERE!

Third Party Old-School Essentials Kickstarters

A Folklore Bestiary

From the publishers who bring you KNOCK! magazine, here comes A Folklore Bestiary for Old-School Essentials, a 160 page hardback book full of whimsical, spooky creatures inspired by actual folktales and superstitions. Packed with giants, faeries, and magical beasts, the bestiary also features the tales these monsters come from and one to three pages of gameable material: adventure hooks, magical items, spells, dungeons and hexcrawls, and more! The book will be produced as a beautifully printed, full-colour hardback. Pledge NOW!

Reviews of Necrotic Gnome Products

Carcass Crawler #2 and #3 on Wobblies & Wizards

Carcass Crawler issues #2 and #3 were recently reviewed on the Wobblies & Wizards podcast. Listen to the episode HERE!

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