The BX Advanced book is over 350 pages of player options and expansions for old school gaming, written for OSE and BX-style games in mind. New classes, spells, a simple skill system, and more.
I've been publishing material for old-school games for about seven years now, and over that time have accumulated a lot of words: nearly thirty hexes that were part of the original series, three full years of a monthly zine, plus associated hexcrawls, bestiaries, and more. This project takes player-facing material from that entire span of work and compiles it into a single, easy to reference volume. I'll (hopefully) also be commissioning new art for the book.
Since this is a compilation, everything has already been written. I've also done the initial layout, and ordered mockups of the book in hard and softcover (I wanted to see what an A5 book of this page count looked like. In fact, you can find previews of the book, here!
This is *not* a complete system, but it is compatible with most OSR-style systems. If you've got players that desire more robust OSR-options than most provide this will be a great resource for you, with classes that feature optional, feat-like abilities called "Knacks" that can be used to customize them to a greater extent than is typically allowed in most OSR systems.
If you're a member of my Patreon or a subscriber to Populated Hexes Monthly you'll be emailed links to use for three discounted pledge levels. If you've purchased any of my stuff before you'll be getting an email from Drivethrurpg with a discount link, but it won't be quite as much a discount as Patreons/subscribers. If you'd like access to the Patreon rate there is an option to sign up for a year's subscription to either the print or pdf version of Populated Hexes Monthly, which automatically gives you the discounted rate.
This is not a new system. You will still need to use a core game to use this book. It is written for Old School Essentials, but can be used with Labyrinth Lord or any other BX-adjacent game.Â
For the large part this is also not new material; with the exception on the guidelines for play-by-post gaming, everything in this book has been published already. It merely compiles all of the player facing material I've published into a single reference volume.
As it stands right now the book is a 315-page book in A5 format. This exact page count may vary based on the finalized layout and art. It contains:
10-15 pages of rules and guidelines for playing in games in a play-by-post format.
50 new classes, including the necromancer (inspired by Garth Nix's Old Kingdom series), monk, binder (from the 3.5 Tome of Magic), knight, plus three goblin options, three orc options, and more. It does not include the two psionic goat-folk classes from PHM Issues 25 and 26. These will be wrapped into an upcoming OSR Psionics book. It does also not include material from the recent BX Bestiary Vol. 2, nor Year Four releases of Populated Hexes Monthly or the Into the Wild Omnibus.
75+ new spells.
Rules for researching spells, magical items, and more.
A simple skill system that can be added to any OSR-system.
Rules for combat maneuvers and fighting styles.
Rules for founding a temple and harvesting the divine energy worshippers produce.
Alternate rules for channeling divinity, where clerics get special "turn" abilities based upon their deity's portfolio.
As mentioned above, the material is written and laid and ready for art. This crowdfunding project is raising money for two things: art and an offset print run. If we hit the 5,000.00 stretch goal I'll commission artists to fully illustrate the book. If we hit the 10,000.00 stretch goal all of the offset books will include a ribbon bookmark, and if we hit the 12,500.00 stretch goal all of the offset books will have a sewn binding. Once the campaign funds, assuming we hit the 5,000 stretch goal, I'll begin by reaching out to artists and get them working. I'm assuming it will take roughly two months from when it funds to when all of the art is in. During this time I'll be working to finalize the layout based on the art and any final revisions, and once that is done I'll release the pdfs to all backers. I've found it is generally a good idea to release the pdfs first to make sure that any layout or proof-reading mistakes I or my editor have made are caught. After about two weeks, I'll finalize the print files and send them in. This will take about a month. My best guess is, assuming everything goes well, that I will have the books in hand ready to be mailed out by the end of January.
Risks should be minimal. Everything is already written and in rough layout. I've allotted two months for art, which is generous. I've run a number of crowdfunding projects before and have successfully fulfilled every one.
