Gavin Norman's Blog

This blog is no longer maintained. For news on Necrotic Gnome please visit our official website: necroticgnome.com/blogs/news.

It's been a long time since I last posted on this blog... and the reason for that is that I'm now posting news and updates at necroticgnome.com directly. Here's a direct link to the news section of the site.

Nothing more to say really. Thanks for dropping by!

As work on the final digital rewards for the Old-School Essentials Kickstarter is entering the end stages, my thoughts are slowly returning to "the next big thing". In this case, the next big thing is the long anticipated Dolmenwood Campaign Book!

This Thing is HugeThe first thing I noticed, upon looking at where I stand with the Campaign Book, is just how big a project this is. The Campaign Book alone is looking like it'll come in at around 200-300 pages (and these are full size pages, not the mini A5 pages of Old-School Essentials!). I also had notes detailing plans to publish anywhere from 3-8 new adventures as part of the Dolmenwood Kickstarter. And that's not to mention the plan to offer a B/X and a 5e version of everything!

It's a really huge project.

My first Kickstarter, Old-School Essentials, was also huge, and stretched the limits of my project management capabilities. So for the Dolmenwood Kickstarter I've decided to take a step back and strip out some of the less essential parts of the plan. I want to get this book published, and I want to get it published within a feasible time frame.

B/X Only at FirstThe biggest decision I've made, with regard to simplifying the project a little, is to delay the 5e version of the book (and the 5e versions of the new adventures). The conversion from B/X to 5e alone could easily be 6 months' work. My feeling now is that it'd be smoother to finalise everything with the B/X version first, get that published, then move on to the 5e version.
This means that the Campaign Book Kickstarter will just be for the B/X version. I'll either run a separate Kickstarter later on for the 5e version or may simply publish it without crowdfunding.
Kickstarter PlansSo my revamped plan is as follows (all open to change still, of course!):Kickstarter launch: Around Spring 2020. (Though the real launch date is, of course, "when it's ready".)Main reward: The Dolmenwood Campaign Book (B/X version). Current projections put it at around 200-300 pages A4. Full colour art (more about this below). Creamy paper. High quality sewn-binding hardcover.Extras: Certain pledge levels will also include a package of print extras (current working title: "the Dolmenwood Folio"). Initially this will consist of three adventures (Winter's Daughter, The Fungus that Came to Blackeswell, plus a secret, as yet unannounced adventure). More stuff will be added to the package as stretch goals are unlocked.Stretch goals: Physical upgrades to the book (e.g. ribbon markers, printed endpapers, etc.). Free digital rewards (e.g. a player's intro to Dolmenwood, pre-gen characters for Dolmenwood, etc.). Additional print rewards for the Folio (see above -- e.g. poster maps, print versions of digital rewards, etc.).Old-School Essentials tie-in: I'm thinking of offering pledge levels that include a special edition of the Old-School Essentials Rules Tome. This would be the same content as the standard Rules Tome, but would come with a special, limited edition cover. (Probably black leatherette.)Pledge manager: I plan to use BackerKit to run an add-on store following the Kickstarter. You'll be able to add on extra copies of all the books in the Kickstarter, plus anything from the Old-School Essentials product line
Next StepsNow that I have a project plan that feels more feasible to me, the next step is simply to finish writing this book! I think the writing is probably about 75% complete, as things stand. It'll still take quite a few months to finish everything up. (And that's once I've finished everything for Old-School Essentials, of course!)
Art CommissionsIn the meantime, however, I've already started commissioning art for the book! I'm in discussion with various artists, but I can reveal that the following people are involved at this stage:Pauliina Hannuniemi: Pauliina is working on a series of full-page illustrations which will act as chapter headings in the book. A couple of these pieces are already complete. See below. https://pauhami.bigcartel.com/Mish Scott: Mish will be working on spot illustrations of various scenes and characters. Expect moss dwarves, fungi, and talking animals galore! https://www.mishscott.co.uk/Arlin Ortiz: Arlin will be working on a series of maps of the settlements in Dolmenwood. The plan is for each town or village to have a map showing the general feeling of the place, the layout, and the location of the most important buildings. https://arlinortiz.com/map-collectionChris Hüth: Chris is working on some decorative, black & white elements such as borders and little quirky icons to break up the layout. http://www.chrishuth.com/I'm super excited to have them all involved!
Sample ArtworkHere's a layout mockup featuring one of Pauliina's chapter heading illustrations. The text and layout is just rough / placeholder, but you can get the idea of what I'm going for with these.
The image depicts the unseason of Colligwyld, where the forest is overrun by giant, spongy fungus which melt into a rainbow-coloured sludge after a few weeks.

Here's another of Pauliina's chapter heading illustrations, this time depicting a pivotal moment in the history of Dolmenwood, where the forest's wicked fairy ruler, the Cold Prince, was exiled.

More News When it Happens!

Work on the multifarious rewards that are being produced as a result of the Old-School Essentials Kickstarter continues apace! One of the most exciting items for me is the referee's screen, which was unlocked as a stretch goal. I've long wanted to design a referee's screen, so it was great to have the opportunity to do so, bringing the Old-School Essentials focus on clarity and concision to the process.

Even more exciting is the second stretch goal that unlocked a full 4-panel painting by Peter Mullen to grace the front of the screen!

Well, I'm proud to announce that work on both the info panels and the paintings is now complete. Check out these previews to see how they turned out. Peter's painting is a thing of great old-school beauty, I feel!



Where to Order?Get it here!

The screen is available in two forms:

An 8 page PDF with the four info panels and the four art panels. (The art panels are provided at high resolution for home printing.)A set of 8 print-on-demand card inserts for a universal GM screen. You can order these along with the DriveThruRPG universal GM screen at a reduced price. For an "unboxing" of the print-on-demand edition, see Ryan Marsh's post here.Deluxe Print RunAs the screen has turned out so well, I'm planning to do a proper print run of it in the not too distant future. This will be printed at high quality on thick card stock. It will truly do Peter's wondrous artwork justice!

More news on that front when plans are more concrete.

It's a crazy feeling making this announcement, as it's the culmination of 6 months of intensive work (and a couple of years of work before that), but:

Old-School Essentials is now on general sale!
All-in-one Rules Tome $19.99
Set of 5 modular books $19.99
(With one caveat: PDF only for now. The deluxe hardcover editions will be available in November.)

What is Old-School Essentials?For anyone reading this who doesn't already know what this is all about, the three "pillars" of Old-School Essentials are:

B/X compatibility. Old-School Essentials is an old-school adventure game in the tradition of the Basic/Expert rules from 1981 (B/X). The game is 100% compatible with all material that's been published for B/X since the 80s.Usability. The writing and layout focus on ease of use in play. Everything is structured around "control panel" spreads, where all information pertaining to a certain gameplay topic is presented on two facing pages of the book. See example spreads below.Modularity. Old-School Essentials is a modular game, with different types of content presented in separate books. So there's a book of core rules, a book of classes and equipment, a book of spells, a book of monsters, and a book of treasures. There's also an all-in-one tome that compiles everything together, for those who prefer their RPG books chunky. The modular nature of the game makes it easy to add new content in the form of rules modules that can be mixed and matched.
The rules for character creation


The elf class
The rules for dungeon adventuring

A few people have asked me recently about the next book in the Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy line, the book of AD&D-inspired monsters. While I've started some preliminary work on this book, it's an undefined amount of time away. That is, it's definitely not "coming soon". Nonetheless, I have a couple of little tidbits that are worth sharing.

List of MonstersI've already selected the list of monsters that will feature in the book. These come from several sources:The AD&D Monster Manual: The majority of monsters will be adapted from this book.The AD&D Monster Manual 2 and Fiend Folio: A choice selection will be adapted from these books.The D&D Rules Cyclopedia: Although it's not an Advanced book per se, there are a few monsters in the RC that really fit.New monsters: Just a few to round out obvious gaps.
Here's the full list of monsters along with the source:Amphisbaena MM1Anhkheg MM1Banshee (Groaning Spirit) MM1Brown mold MM1Brownie MM1Bulette MM1Caryatid column FFCatoblepas MM1Coffer Corpse FFCouatl MM1Dark Creeper FFDark Stalker FFDeep one FFDemonic knight FFDisenchanter FFDjinni, greater RCDog, hunting dog NewDog, War dog MM1Dog, Wild dog MM1Dragon, Chromatic MM1Dragonne MM1Drow (dark elf) FFDuergar MM2Ear seeker MM1Efreeti, greater RCEttin MM1Eye of terror MM1Eye of the deep MM1Fish, Giant, Electric eel MM1Fish, Giant, Pike MM1Fish, Giant, Swordfish MM2Flail Snail FFFloating eye MM1Frog, Giant MM1Frog, Giant, Killer frog MM1Fungoid MM2Gas spore MM1Ghast MM1Ghost MM1Gibbering mouther MM2Golem, Clay golem MM1Golem, Flesh golem MM1Golem, Iron golem MM1Golem, Stone golem MM1Gorilla MM1Gullygug FFHag, Annis MM2Hag, Night hag MM1Hag, Sea hag MM1Hippocampus MM1Hippopotamus, Behemoth MM2Hippopotamus, Normal MM1Homunculus MM1Hook beast FFHulker MM1Imp MM1Jackalwere MM1Jellyfish, giant, man-o-war MM1Jellyfish, giant, marauder MM1Kraken MM2Krell FFLamia MM1Lamprey, giant MM1Leprechaun MM1Leucrotta MM1Lich MM1Lich, Demilich MM2Lizard king FFLizard, Giant, Fire lizard MM1Lizard, Giant, Minotaur lizard MM1Lizard, Giant, Subterranean lizard MM1Locathah MM1Lurker above MM1Malfyr RCMantis man MM2Mantis, giant MM2Merrow (Aquatic Ogre) MM2Mimic MM1Mind lasher MM1Mongrelman MM2Necrophidius FFNightmare MM1Otyugh MM1Otyugh, Elevated MM1Peryton MM1Phoenix MM2Piercer MM1Poltergeist FFPseudo-dragon MM1Quasit MM1Rakshasa MM1Remorhaz MM1Revenant FFRoper MM1Rot grub MM1Sahuagin MM1Satyr MM1Scorpion man RCSea serpent, greater NewShambling mound MM1Skeleton warrior FFSlithering tracker MM1Slug, giant MM1Snakeman NewSphinx, Androsphinx MM1Sphinx, Criosphinx MM1Sphinx, Gynosphinx MM1Sphinx, Hieracosphinx MM1Spider, Giant, Phase MM1Spider, Giant, water MM1Stag, giant MM1Strangle weed MM1Svirfneblin (deep gnome) FFTarrasque MM2Titan MM1Toad, Giant, Ice MM1Toad, Giant, Poisonous MM1Trapper MM1Triton MM1Turtle, Giant, sea turtle MM1Turtle, Giant, snapping turtle MM1Violet fungi MM1Wasp, giant MM1Water weird MM1Will-o-(the)-wisp MM1Wolf, Winter wolf MM1Xorn MM1Yeti MM1(If anyone spots any obvious classics that are missing, please let me know!)
Very Early Work Has Begun!My mind was numbed from proofreading the other day, so I snatched a bit of time for something refreshing and fun ... writing up a few monsters! With this project, I'm experimenting with doing writing and layout together in a single step. I think this should work fine, as I'm now deeply familiar with the writing and layout requirements of an Old-School Essentials monster book.
Anyway, here's the first page of monsters!


News When it ExistsAs I said, I doubt I'll be continuing work on this book at any serious pace any time soon. When there are further developments, I'll keep everyone updated!

An addendum to the previous post about Dragonmeet that warrants its own post...

Looking for Referees!Dragonmeet GM signup is open now!

It is my hope to see a multitude of Old-School Essentials and Dolmenwood games being run at Dragonmeet this year, so:

Anyone who signs up to run a game  set in Dolmenwood or  using Old-School Essentials as the game system will be rewarded with a free t-shirt or adventure!

(Get in touch! You will not regret it.)

As some of you may have heard, Necrotic Gnome will be exhibiting at Dragonmeet this year! For anyone who's not familiar with Dragonmeet, it's a one-day RPG convention in London that happens every year on a Saturday in early December (actually it's November 30th this year, due to the way the weekends fall). This year is supposed to be bigger than ever -- double the size, according to the organisers! It's a really wonderful, cosy day of gaming, browsing stalls, meeting the physical manifestations of people you know online, etc. Highly recommended!

Anyway, we'll have a stall there. The stall numbers haven't been allocated yet, but I'll be sure to let people know how to find us once the venue layout is finalised.

Here's what you can expect from Necrotic Gnome on this auspicious occasion...

New ProductsDragonmeet 2019 will see the launch of two things:

Old-School Essentials. Though the game will have been available online for a short period before the con, Dragonmeet will be the first time it'l be on sale in a physical context.The new Dolmenwood adventure: The Fungus that Came to Blackeswell. I'm hoping to have this adventure published in time to launch it at the con, in both its old-school and 5e variants.
Old ProductsWe'll be selling a barrage of older products such as:

Winter's Daughter. Deluxe hardcover. Old-school and 5e versions. Nominated for 2 ENnies this year.Wormskin. The origin of all things Dolmenwood. Catch up on any issues you don't have.B/X Essentials. We might even have some copies of Old-School Essentials' progenitor, signed and bundled up for collectors.
Art PrintsWe've got a slightly bigger stall this year, which means space for more stuff. I'm inviting an elite selection of Necrotic Gnome artists to come and sell art prints, originals, or whatever takes their fancy. So far, ENnie award nominated Mish Scott has confirmed his presence. Other unconfirmed mythological miscreants may also be joining us.

MerchandiseDragonmeet will also be the first opportunity to buy Necrotic Gnome t-shirts in a physical context, without the use of the internet.

And who knows... maybe we'll have a new tshirt design (or two) available! (No promises...)

PeopleA selection of Necrotic Gnome cultists will be present and willing to answer all of your questions and entertain all of your fanciful discussions. Some likely sorts:Gavin Norman. The Moss Master himself (that's me).Mish Scott. Dolmenwood artist extraordinaire. Shipped in direct from the dimensional anomaly that is Bristol.Yves Geens. Author of The Fungus that Came to Blackeswell. Not definite yet, but I'm attempting to convince Yves to make an appearance to bask in the glory of his adventure (finally! / hopefully!) being published.
Game SessionsLike last year, we'll have a Necrotic Gnome demo table where we'll be running game sessions throughout the day. I've not planned exactly what we'll be running or who will be refereeing, but excursions into Dolmenwood are highly likely. More info and sign-up sheets closer to the time.
See You All There!Looking forward to hanging out!

A few people have been making their own B/X classes in the Old-School Essentials style recently, which is wonderful to see! My hope is that once the game is officially released (PDFs expected in about a week, print expected in the autumn) that we'll see lots of creative content coming out. (For anyone who's interested in publishing content for Old-School Essentials, check out the Third Party License!)

This post provides a little insight into one of design principles behind the Old-School Essentials style, for the interest of people who are interested in structuring their own creations in a similar way.

What is the Old-School Essentials Style?When I refer to "the Old-School Essentials style", I'm not referring to the visual design of the books (e.g. the choice of fonts, table colours, etc.). Rather, I'm referring to the design principles that I used when writing, editing, and laying out the text.

One of the most important OSE design principles is that each piece of content should fit onto a single page or spread, for the sake of usability. Looking at the books, you'll notice that no individual pieces of content (e.g. classes, spells, monsters, etc.) are divided across multiple spreads. This means that the reader will never have to flip a page back and forth when reading something, which is great for usability!

One Class per Spread as a Limit on ComplexityIn the case of class descriptions, this principle also has a second purpose: it serves as a limitation on class complexity. If you look at the Classic Fantasy: Genre Rules book, you'll notice that each of the standard B/X classes fit completely on a single spread (i.e. two pages side by side). This includes all relevant tables. The standard cleric and thief classes -- having special abilities that require quite a bit of explanation -- push the limits of this, but still both fit on a single spread.

When creating my renditions of the AD&D classes and races for the Advanced Fantasy: Genre Rules book, I used this "must fit on a single spread" principle as a convenient yardstick for limiting the complexity of the classes to B/X-like levels. It's very easy to get carried away when writing a class, adding verbiage and slews of flavourful abilities, until one ends up with something that it significantly more complex than the (pretty minimal) B/X classes. This layout principle proved an absolutely perfect tool for reining things in.

What is "One Spread"?There's a catch: what exactly constitutes "two pages / one spread"? A spread of two Letter sized pages is a very different matter to a spread of two Digest sized pages -- it's possible to fit a lot more information on the former. So for the purposes of using the "one spread per class" principle as a limitation on complexity, the exact size of the page that we're talking about becomes very important. The font size is also important, of course, as you can squeeze lot more information onto a page using an 8pt font than with a 12pt font.

The Official FormulaSo for anyone who's interested in creating their own classes using the same limitations that I used in the official Old-School Essentials books, here's the magic formula!


I shall leave conversion into fractional parts of yards as an exercise for the reader
Please Share!Myself and others in the Old-School Essentials community are always keen to see new classes and other material! If you feel like sharing, please drop by the Necrotic Gnome MeWe group or our Discord server.

The last few months have been so dominated with Old-School Essentials that I've not said much (or indeed thought much!) about Dolmenwood. But with work on OSE now reaching the final stages (yeah! -- see here for more info on the current state of affairs), my mind is returning to the fetid swamps and shroom-encrusted groves of everyone's favourite enchanted forest.

A couple of little updates on what's happening in the weird world of Dolmenwood...

The Fungus that Came to BlackeswellFollowing on from the critically acclaimed Winter's Daughter, we have another Dolmenwood adventure module coming up! It's a module that I've spoken of now and then in the past, as it's been bubbling away in the background for some time. Here's some info:

Name: The Fungus that Came to BlackeswellSystem: Old-school and 5e versionsAuthor: Yves GeensEditor: Gavin NormanLayout: Gavin Norman5e conversion: Thilo GrafCover art: Mish ScottCartography: Spaghetti QuesterInterior art: Spaghetti QuesterFormat: A5 (roughly US Digest size), sewn-binding hardcoverPublication date (hopefully): December 2019
I've started work on the layout, but haven't had the chance to make much progress on it recently (for obvious reasons). However, once Old-School Essentials is in the capable hands of the manufacturer, I'll jump full throttle onto finishing up Blackeswell.

I hope to be able to launch it at Dragonmeet in London this year. (And of course it'll be available for purchase online as well, for those unfortunate lost souls whose paths do not lead to Dragonmeet.)

I'm sure I'll be posting more updates about this adventure once I get working on it again properly, but in the meantime here's a preview of the wondrous cover, with art by (ENnie award nominated!) Mish Scott.

Peacefully gathering specimens in a fungus-ravaged village. What could possibly go wrong?
The Dolmenwood Campaign BookOnce Blackeswell is finished, the full might of Necrotic Gnome will be focused resolutely on completing the now near-mythical complete tome of Dolmenwood lore. Some info there:

Name: Dolmenwood Campaign BookSystem: Old-school and 5e versionsAuthor: Gavin Norman (with contributions from Brian Richmond, Yves Geens, Greg Gorgonmilk, Jonathan Newell, Glynn Seal, Andrew Walter, etc.)Cover art: UnknownInterior art: Pauliina Hannuniemi and others (to be determined)Format: A4 (roughly US Letter size), sewn-binding hardcoverPage count (estimated): 300-400 pages (proper chunky tome of ultimate lore!)Kickstarter date (estimated): March 2020Publication date: Unknown ... Autumn 2020?
The most immediate update on this book is that I've commissioned Pauliina Hannuniemi to do a series of twelve paintings for the section heading pages! Here's a mockup of how those will look. The featured art is by Pauliina, but it's the piece she did for Old-School Essentials, so not directly Dolmenwood-related. It gives an idea of how her style will look in the book, though. (The text is just placeholder content, as well, before anyone attempts to point out errors in it!)


Yeah, creamy paper. Yum.

I've not looked at the text of the book much recently and haven't actually done any work on it since earlier this year (pre-OSE), but I believe the text is probably somewhere between two-thirds and three-quarters complete.

I have lots of ideas for the Kickstarter but don't want to reveal any of them just yet. I will of course do so once we're closer to the time, so keep your ears peeled for updates!