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Old-School Essentials Advanced Fantasy Referee's Tome

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The essential old-school game of fantastic adventure, monsters, and magic — expanded with advanced monsters and treasures!

Referee's Tome of Monsters and Treasures

  • This book contains full guidelines for creating and running adventures, over 300 fearsome monsters, and over 300 wondrous magic items.
  • Simple rules let imagination and fast-paced action take the spotlight.
  • Clear, modern presentation makes the game easy to learn and quick to reference.
  • Compatible with decades of classic adventures and supplements.

Requires the Companion Player's Tome

Referees will also require the companion book, the Advanced Fantasy Player’s Tome.

Classic Fantasy or Advanced Fantasy?

Old-School Essentials comes in two flavours: Classic Fantasy (based on the 1981 Basic/Expert rules) and Advanced Fantasy (the same game, massively expanded with content inspired by the 1970s Advanced 1st Edition rules).
This book includes all monsters and magic items from the Classic Fantasy Rules Tome, expanded with 120 extra monsters and 150 extra magic items.

Deluxe Print Edition

A deluxe, sewn-binding hardcover edition of this book ( + free PDF) is available from Exalted Funeral, along with all of the other books in the Old-School Essentials line.

Note that there is no print-on-demand edition of this book.

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Reviews (3)
Discussions (12)
Customer avatar
September 09, 2023 1:27 am UTC
What's the difference between this and the monsters/treasure/adventures small books in the boxed classic/advanced sets? Does this have rules for generating higher lever characters (complete with random magic items and such)?
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Customer avatar
Necrotic G September 11, 2023 2:25 pm UTC
PUBLISHER
The Advanced Fantasy Referee's Tome compiles the following content from the box set books: all referee advice, all monsters (Classic + Advanced), all rules for generating treasure hoards, all magic items (Classic + Advanced). It also includes new encounter tables (including Classic + Advanced monsters) and procedures for generating NPC adventuring parties (including Classic + Advanced classes).

You can look at the Classic Fantasy procedures for generating NPC adventuring parties on the SRD: https://oldschoolessentials.necroticgnome.com/srd/index.php/Adventuring_Parties. The Advanced Fantasy version just includes extra classes.
Customer avatar
Eric C M January 28, 2023 2:57 pm UTC
PURCHASER
You need to have a POD version here because I have credit on here ready to buy...
Customer avatar
Jeremiah J December 22, 2022 5:11 pm UTC
Question for anyone!

How difficult is it to adapt newer content from 5e settings and monster manuals to OSE?
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Customer avatar
Andrew H January 09, 2023 9:35 pm UTC
It would depend on how comprehensively you understand each system and what you're trying to adapt, but it's very easy to find an existing OSE monster and re-skin/adjust it into whatever you need. Adapting a full setting or module would be slightly harder because 5e has many different assumptions about play that don't really work with an old-school system, but the dungeon maps themselves are probably still usable.
Customer avatar
Joonas O December 20, 2022 4:01 pm UTC
Hi there - really tempted to get these but confused what books should i get if i want the "full set"
All that is needed for players and all that is needed for gm.
If I understood correctly this is the edtiton if you want to play the "old red box" edition olus the blue, green, teal and black editions combined. Am i cirrect.
Where could i I buy these and solid books ?
Reply
Customer avatar
Necrotic G December 21, 2022 5:25 am UTC
PUBLISHER
Hi Joonas, if you want something 100% compatible with the 1981 Basic/Expert game (which was a slightly earlier version of the game than the 1984 Basic/Expert/Companion game), go for the Classic Fantasy Rules Tome (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/279183/OldSchool-Essentials-Classic-Fantasy-Rules-Tome).

If you want something founded on the same core rules but massively expanded with material inspired by 1st Edition, go for the Advanced Fantasy Player's Tome (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/336584/OldSchool-Essentials-Advanced-Fantasy-Players-Tome) and Referee's Tome (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/336585/OldSchool-Essentials-Advanced-Fantasy-Referees-Tome).

We'd recommend checking out our website necroticgnome.com for a more detailed overview of Old-School Essentials and for links to buy the books in print.
Customer avatar
Christopher H July 07, 2022 3:28 pm UTC
This may be silly, but could you create a bundled entry (digital box set) of what is needed to play? I am not looking for any discount; I just see multiple rule book, some of which already seem to be compilations of other books, and am confused as to which are distinct, essential, or expansions.
Reply
Customer avatar
Necrotic G July 08, 2022 8:41 am UTC
PUBLISHER
You need either:
1. The Classic Fantasy Rules Tome (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/279183/OldSchool-Essentials-Classic-Fantasy-Rules-Tome)
or 2. The Advanced Fantasy Player's Tome (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/336584/OldSchool-Essentials-Advanced-Fantasy-Players-Tome) and Referee's Tome (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/336585/OldSchool-Essentials-Advanced-Fantasy-Referees-Tome)

Hope that helps!
Customer avatar
Keith J. D June 02, 2022 6:06 pm UTC
A perhaps silly question, I just yesterday got the files from the OSE Kickstarter... does this title have the same material, just collected (monsters and treasures)? And the player's book has the characters and magic content?
Reply
Customer avatar
Nicholas M June 03, 2022 1:35 am UTC
Yes. This book is basically the monsters books and treasures books from both box sets combined into one big book. The Advanced Fantasy Players Tome is the rest of the content from those two sets.
Reply
Customer avatar
Keith J. D June 04, 2022 6:58 pm UTC
I was pretty sure... I've already got the content, then, via the latest KS. And I wasn't paying attention and missed the sale price anyway. I'll wait for it to come on sale again ('completionist' is a curse, I tell you).
Customer avatar
Robert D February 06, 2022 3:08 am UTC
Hi Necrotic G:
Any update on when the Referee's Tome will be out?
I just read through the Player's Tome and can't wait to try out an OSE adventure, but I'd really like to use the print version of the RT if possible.
Thanks!
Reply
Customer avatar
Necrotic G February 06, 2022 4:46 am UTC
PUBLISHER
You can get it in print now via our partner Exalted Funeral.
Reply
Customer avatar
Robert D February 06, 2022 7:54 pm UTC
Thanks for the quick reply!
Customer avatar
Randall O November 14, 2021 12:31 am UTC
PURCHASER
I've been waiting a while to be able to purchase physical copies of this and the player's advanced guide but its been out of stock since...well...every time I've checked. Will this be changing soon or will there be a print on demand option?

I really love the PDFs already I just want to have physical reference copies. :)

Thanks!
Reply
Customer avatar
Necrotic G November 15, 2021 8:27 am UTC
PUBLISHER
Yes, unfortunately the first printing sold out many times faster than we expected. A second printing has been done and the books are on their way to the warehouses. International shipping is very unpredictable right now though, so we don't know when they'll arrive. (A guess would be anything between 1-4 months from now.)
Customer avatar
Richard M April 08, 2021 5:32 am UTC
When are we going to be able the to buy the hard cover copy?
Reply
Customer avatar
Necrotic G April 08, 2021 6:24 am UTC
PUBLISHER
They'll be on general sale once they've been sent out to backers of our Kickstarter. Should be roughly May/June-ish.
Customer avatar
Francis M March 26, 2021 8:54 pm UTC
PURCHASER
Hi. I just noticed you removed B and X differentiation in the different Magic Items types. Is it assumed that Level 1-3 PCs can gain any magic items if lucky and not appropriate items for their levels as detailed in classic?
Reply
Customer avatar
Necrotic G March 29, 2021 6:25 am UTC
PUBLISHER
Correct. It wasn't a distinction that we felt was worth carrying forward with all of the new magic items added in Advanced Fantasy.
Customer avatar
Vladimir M February 04, 2021 2:24 am UTC
PURCHASER
sign me up for an Random Wilderness Terrain, or a solitaire mode (gm-less).
You can use the OSIRIC (Old School Reference and Index Compilation) level encounter matrix.
Customer avatar
Jeremy H February 01, 2021 2:52 am UTC
PURCHASER
Full size preview isn't working... yet... probably a server issue on DriveThru's end.

How do you guys think this would pair with LotFP?
Reply
Customer avatar
Necrotic G February 01, 2021 8:41 am UTC
PUBLISHER
Everything in the book should be really easy to use with LotFP. You may find the odd difference in monster stats, but nothing that isn't easy to convert on the fly.


(About the previews... yeah, it seems to be a problem with the servers. We're in touch with DTRPG support about it.)
Reply
Customer avatar
Jeremy H February 01, 2021 8:43 am UTC
PURCHASER
Very cool. Thanks for the update. I've had similar issues with my stuff and the previews... go figure.
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File Last Updated:
April 11, 2023
This title was added to our catalog on January 28, 2021.