Necrotic Gnome & Exalted Funeral Press Launch ‘Old-School Essentials’ Month On BackerKit
by Anton Kromoff
Welcome to the table,
As a regular follower of artist Kennon James and a black & white sword & sorcery tabletop roleplaying game enthusiast, I’ve been waiting for this announcement for a while now. I am happy to report that Necrotic Gnome and Exalted Funeral Press have kicked off Old-School Essentials Month over on BackerKit with a whole coven of demon-themed projects for the OSE TTRPG.
Let’s get into it.
Necrotic Gnome (Dolmenwood, Old-School Essentials) has teamed up with Exalted Funeral Press to launch their new supplement, the Demonic Grimoire, alongside 16 other demon-themed projects from other well-known old-school RPG creators.
For those new to the table, Old-School Essentials — or OSE — is a tabletop role-playing game inspired by classic TTRPG games of the 1970s and ’80s. These games let players explore forbidden crypts and forsaken ruins, all touched with a grindhouse level of brutality that one can expect to see in classic sword & sorcery fiction. The rules are simple and fast-paced, allowing the action and combat to take the spotlight over some more group storytelling-aligned systems. OSE is also 100% compatible with ’80s Dungeons & Dragons rules and the decades of classic adventures and supplements created for those systems.
The new supplement, The Demonic Grimoire, launched May 6th on BackerKit and is the first major official rules supplement for Old-School Essentials. It was designed by Gavin Norman, Chance Dudinack, and Brad Kerr of Necrotic Gnome. This 176-page book is a toolkit for expanding the game with demons, cults, and dark magic. It also includes epic-level stat blocks for 8 demon lords, along with their settings information covering spells, cults, schemes, and their planes of Hell.
There are also over 60 monsters to challenge characters of all levels, from lowly tormented souls to the mighty lords of Hell. Additionally, we can expect over 70 new magic items infused with demonic power and rules for demonology, magic circles, summoning rituals, infernal pacts, and fiendish familiars to work with or against your players.
For those looking to craft something new to bring to the table, new character options like the chaos knight, cultist, and demon hunter are available as well. I’m always a fan of new character options because it gives players a chance to test the limits of the systems and Storytellers a new challenge to build and play off of.
“The AD&D Monster Manual is my favourite RPG book of all time, and — like many gamers — I especially love the devils and demons in all their baroque, terrifying majesty. Working with a fantastic team of writers and artists to produce a sourcebook that channels that wonderful, sinister, esoteric flavour for Old-School Essentials games has been a dream project,” shared Norman, lead designer of the Demonic Grimoire.
Old-School Essentials Month 2026 is running from May 6th to June 5th over on BackerKit. The thrust of the whole endeavor is a collaborative crowdfunding event that spotlights not only the Demonic Grimoire, but also sixteen third-party projects from the extensive community of Old-School Essentials creators and publishers. Beyond the major new addition, there are also titles like HELLCRAWL by Agamemnon Press, The Black Spire Pact by Flaming Hand, and a zine called Emporium of the Damned by Knight Owl Publishing that I really want to get my hands on.
Those who end up backing multiple OSE Month projects will also get access to additional benefits, including cheaper shipping and exclusive rewards, like a foil pack of seventeen monster cards, each contributed by the developers of the featured projects.
I’m a big fan of the art style being used and sword & sorcery in general. So this kind of thing, where a whole bunch of publishers and creators come together to make these larger themed pushes, just feels like it strengthens the vibes and community around a system.
Until next time, go check this out if it’s your flavor of fantasy. I think you will find something you like.
