Welcome, traveller, to the fungus-wracked tangle of Dolmenwood, and beware, for all here is not as it seems…
Dolmenwood is a fantasy adventure game set in a lavishly detailed world inspired by the fairy tales and eerie folklore of the British Isles. Like traditional fairy tales, Dolmenwood blends the dark and whimsical, the wondrous and weird.
Streamlined rules and helpful introductory materials guide novice players, while unique new magic and monsters bring a fresh sense of the unknown to veteran role-players. We’re launching the three Dolmenwood core books, plus a range of delectable extras.
Check Out a 76-Page Preview PDF!
Check out our free 76 page preview PDF of material from the 3 core books!
Preview also available at DriveThruRPG and necroticgnome.com (no account required).
Rife with intrigue, secrets, and magic, Dolmenwood draws travellers of adventurous spirit, daring them to venture within.
Explore the wild places of the Wood, travelling through bramble-choked dells, fungus-encrusted glades, and foetid marshes, bedding down among root and bracken amid the nocturnal babbling of strange beasts.
Unearth treasure hoards in forgotten ruins, haunted fairy manors, dripping caverns, crystal grottoes, unhallowed barrow mounds, and abandoned delvings.
Confront fell beasts, roving fungal monstrosities, terrible wyrms, tricksome fairies, and restless spirits of the long deceased.
Recover saintly relics and shrines lost in the befuddling tangle of the Wood, gaining the favour of the Church by returning them to civilisation.
Forage for weird fungi and herbs in the untrod depths of the woods, many with useful magical powers—and many that can be sold for profit.
Strike against Chaos, defending civilisation from the encroaching forces of the wicked, half-unicorn Nag-Lord who lurks in the corrupted northern woods.
Unravel secrets of deep magic, charting the obelisks, dolmens, and ley lines littered throughout Dolmenwood—but beware the sinister Drune cult that wards them.
Seek the counsel of witches and hags, masters of magic that can heal, hex, or divine the future.
Meddle in the affairs of the nobility, allying with a noble house in its intrigues and power plays in the courts of High-Hankle and Castle Brackenwold.
Journey along fairy roads, ancient magical paths bordering on the ageless realm of Fairy that allow travel throughout Dolmenwood—and perchance to realms beyond.
Return to the homely hearth to share tales of peril with quaint locals over a mug of ale and a well-stoked pipe.
The Dolmenwood Player’s Book (A4 size, Smyth-sewn hardcover, 192 pages approx., 1 ribbon marker) contains the complete game rules plus all character options.
Player’s introduction to the intrigues and mysteries of the forest realm of Dolmenwood.
Familiar character creation with the six classic stats, level and XP, Hit Points, and Armour Class.
6 playable kindreds: goat-headed breggles, starry-eyed elves, tricksome grimalkin cat-fairies, everyday humans, fungus-riddled mosslings, and bat-faced woodgrues.
9 character classes: cleric, enchanter, fighter, friar, hunter, knight, magician, minstrel, and thief.
4 kinds of magic: mighty arcane workings, fairy glamours and runes, holy prayers to the host of saints, and the odd knacks of mosslings.
Detailed, flavourful equipment with lists of adventuring gear, armour, weapons, mounts, hounds, inn lodgings, tavern fare, beverages, pipeleafs, fungi, and herbs.
Simple core rules: roll a d6 or a d20 plus modifiers versus a target number.
Easy-to-follow procedures for travel, camping, foraging, dungeon delving, encounters, combat, and downtime.
Full examples of play and introductory materials make the game easy to learn.
The Dolmenwood Campaign Book (A4 size, Smyth-sewn hardcover, 464 pages approx., 2 ribbon markers) presents a lavishly detailed campaign setting, ready for years of adventure.
Referee’s introduction delving into the regions and history of Dolmenwood.
Mysterious lore of the lost shrines, standing stones, ley lines, fairy roads, Wood Gods, and fairy nobles.
7 major factions: the Chaos-godling Atanuwë, the wicked fairy Cold Prince, the sorcerous Drune, the human nobility, the breggle nobility, the monotheistic Pluritine Church, and the enigmatic witches.
12 settlements detailed with major sites and NPCs and beautiful maps.
Expanded procedures for weather, getting lost, encountering monsters, fishing, foraging, and hunting.
200 pages of fantastic locations waiting to be explored.
Over 280 NPCs with their own desires and schemes.
Referee advice on starting and running campaigns, awarding XP, designing adventures, and creating dungeons.
Starter adventure to get you right into the action.
Hundreds of magical artefacts from enchanted oddments to mighty relics.
Over 250 rumours to drive adventure.
Easy-to-reference presentation designed to minimise page flipping and prep time.
The Dolmenwood Monster Book (A4 size, Smyth-sewn hardcover, 128 pages approx., 1 ribbon marker) details a bestiary of creatures that lurk under Dolmenwood’s eaves.
87 fully detailed monsters dripping with flavour, including encounter seeds and beautiful illustrations.
48 mundane animals including unique Dolmenwood fauna such as gobbles and gelatinous apes.
9 types of of normal humans: anglers, criers, fortune-tellers, lost souls, merchants, pedlars, pilgrims, priests, and villagers.
27 NPC stat blocks for common adventuring classes.
Adventuring party generator for rolling up NPC adventurers on quests of their own.
Over 300 rumours describing monsters as featured in local folklore.
Monster creation guidelines to keep players on their toes.
Easy-to-read stat blocks and bullet point presentation for quick reference.
Dolmenwood uses a lightly customised version of the acclaimed Old-School Essentials rules system, tailored to Dolmenwood and with some major quality-of-life upgrades. Players of all editions of Dungeons & Dragons will find the Dolmenwood rules very familiar.
Ability Scores: Roll for 6 ability scores: Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, Charisma.
Kindred, Class, and Level: 6 kindreds, 9 classes, levels 1–15.
Hit Points (HP): Roll 1d4, 1d6, or 1d8 (determined by Class) for HP. Re-roll 1s or 2s. 0 HP is dead!
Armour Class (AC): AC 10 = unarmoured, better protection raises AC.
Initiative: Streamlined side-based initiative makes combat fast and exciting: each side (monsters / adventurers) rolls 1d6 each Round—highest roll acts first.
Attacking: Roll 1d20, add Attack bonus and modifiers, try to beat the target’s AC, roll damage.
Saving Throws: Roll 1d20, add modifiers, try to beat a fixed target number on the character sheet.
Ability Checks: Roll 1d6, add ability modifier, 4 or higher succeeds.
Skill Checks: Roll 1d6, add modifiers, try to beat a fixed target number on the character sheet.
As an adventure game in the heritage of the RPGs of the 1970s and 1980s, Dolmenwood espouses the danger and excitement of the old-school play style.
Emergent character creation: Unique and surprising Player Characters emerge from quick random rolls, rather than from detailed character build optimisation.
Exploration, puzzles, and tricks: Players’ ingenuity and creativity are challenged by devious puzzles, traps, and tricks. Simply rolling dice to succeed is often not an option!
Creative thinking encouraged: Easy-to-learn rules for exploration, encounters, and combat provide referees with a robust framework from which to make impromptu rulings on players’ outside-the-box antics.
Fast, exciting combat: Combat encounters are quick to play out, leaving plenty of time in game sessions for exploration and role-playing. As in real life, combat is not fair or balanced—players whose clever tactics tip the balance in their favour will prevail!
Zeroes to heroes: Characters advance from humble beginnings to heights of great power.
Open-ended sandbox play: Campaigns focus on freeform stories evolved over the course of play, with players driving the action.
Kickstarter campaign ends: Sat, September 9 2023 4:59 AM BST
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