If you haven't yet snagged one or more of Kevin Crawford's "Without Number" rulesets, do yourself a favor and do so. Kevin is very generous with the free rulesets he gives to the community.
For just US$12.95 you get all three titles in our Numberless Worlds Collection (retail value $55) as DRM-free ebooks in both .PDF and ePub formats, including the complete 400-page Worlds Without Number Deluxe Edition corebook (previously in our November 2023 Sine Nomine Corebooks offer) along with two supplements new to the Bundle of Holding: the 223-page gazetteer Atlas of the Latter Earth and the introductory campaign setting Diocesi of Montfroid.
Even if you don't run it "as is", the tools included will help ANY DM looking to run a sandbox campaign.
Fight On! #17(recent release) delivers exactly what longtime OSR fans crave: a massive, creativity-packed issue overflowing with fresh classes, monsters, adventures, tables, and setting material. Calithena kicks things off with a thoughtful breakdown of Reptile Men and Samurai design, a great peek into how broad-stroke class concepts can be shaped for old-school play. From there, the issue launches into a rich mix of articles, including martial options, grimoire lore, and a flavorful Knight & Knaves scenario, all packed with gameable ideas.
One of the standout features is James Maliszewski’s Eshkom District, a full hexcrawl dripping with atmospheric detail—settlements on the brink, strange wilderness threats, and classic exploration hooks that practically beg to be dropped into a campaign. Philipp H.’s Under Samora: Al’Murtok’s Refuge adds a compelling dungeon expansion full of memorable rooms, clever items, and encounters that feel straight out of the best early megadungeon traditions. Grodog’s deep dive into the myth and evolution of the Thoul is another highlight, blending RPG archaeology with a fresh monster variant ready for the table.
The middle and later portions of the issue serve up a treasure trove of random tables, adventures, setting snippets, and RPG wisdom. Attronarch shares practical advice for running online games (mt bladder won't last 3 hours without a break, but otherwise good advice ;). Bill Webb covers techniques for large groups (I've experienced Bill running large groups - he's spot on with his advice). The Tables for Fables section delivers a joyous variety of tavern events, strange books, and situational prompts ideal for improvisational refereeing. Fiction, lore pieces, and tributes—such as Michael Mornard’s heartfelt memories of Dave Sutherland—add depth and warmth to the issue.
Rounding things out are adventures like Demonweb Savanna and the Rose Bush Hedge Maze, along with the wargaming-focused Chainmail/Sarissa content and a wonderfully quirky Random RPG Name Generator that captures Fight On!’s playful spirit. Taken as a whole, Issue 17 is a vibrant celebration of the OSR’s do-it-yourself heart—packed with material you can run tonight, mine for ideas, or simply enjoy as a love letter to the hobby’s roots.
I touched on HexCrawls recently on The Tavern's YouTube Channel. Done right, they are one of the most enjoyable aspects of campaign play IMHO. TheFlexTale Hexcrawl Toolkit is a fantastic tool for the toolbox of any GM seeking to run a hexcrawl or a sandbox.
This book was designed to be the most complete, most comprehensive, most innovative authority on hexcrawl roleplaying game adventuring ever produced.
After more than 35 years of gaming, both old-school through to today's most popular systems, the Hexcrawl Toolkit takes one of the hobby's oldest and most enduring concepts, and provides a passionate and well-organized guide for running hexcrawls, either as part of your campaign, or as the focus of them. Designed to be used by new players, veteran G/DMs, those entirely new to hexcrawls, and solo players alike, this book will be immediately useful to any gaming group, in any context, using any rules system, for campaigns of any length--even those already in progress!
The goal of the book is to guide readers through the concepts at the reader's own pace and preference.
If you've ever seen a module or other book with a hex map, and thought to yourself, how do I make one of those? How do I make the one that's there better? This book is for you.
What is This Thing?
The Hexcrawl Toolkit contains dozens of topics, organized into the following sections:
This book was written to contain any and all of the rules a G/DM or solo adventurer could possibly want or need to run their own hexcrawl campaign, design and build their own hexcrawl map, or even author and publish their own hexcrawl worlds.
This book will help you if:
If you're new to TTRPGs entirely.
If you're new to hexcrawls and have never seen a map with hexes.
If you're a veteran G/DM who wants to elevate the scope and scale of their adventures.
If you're an experienced hexcrawler who wants to take the detail, realism, scalability, or thoroughness of their approach to the next level.
If you're designing your own fantasy world, and want to use a hex map to represent your vision.
If you have no time before the next gaming session, and the PCs are traveling across the wilderness.
If you want to dynamically generate an infinite diversity of adventure content on a continental scale.
If you're a solo player who's looking for that ever-elusive element of surprise and inspiration for massively-detailed, ever-unfolding adventures on a realm-wide scale.
The FlexTale Difference
The goal here is that if you have ten minutes, or ten weeks, to prepare for a game session, there's something in this book that will help you out enormously.
The Hexcrawl Toolkit features the FlexTale approach to gaming design: the content herein supports ANY set of PCs of ANY level, and scales accordingly. No two adventures or quests are the same.
The majority of the book is system-agnostic, and can be used easily with any TTRPG system. Some specific tools and elements contain rules language tailored to 5E, Pathfinder, Pathfinder Second Edition (P2E), OSR, and Dungeon Crawl Classics (DCC).
What's Included
The Hexcrawl Toolkit features:
Over 190 tables, each designed to take minimal time to randomly determine dynamic adventure content or select from amongst well-described and easy-to-implement options.
Simplified FlexAI rules to drive dynamic and interesting creature behavior in combat and in social interactions.
