CASTLE OLDSKULL – Oldskull Dungeon Bestiary is a role playing game supplement written and published by Kent David Kelly. It is intended for use with classic role playing games, particularly Dungeons & Dragons, as well as OSR games. It is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.
This is a 380 page PDF that is available from DriveThruRPG for $3.99 but was purchased at the reduced price of $0.99 during a sale. One page is the front cover, eight pages are the front matter, five pages are the Table of Contents (which is in the Introduction), ten pages are ads for other supplements and three pages are the Open Game License.
Chapter 1, Introduction, states that this is a companion to the Classic Dungeon Design Guide series, and just how great the supplement is.
Chapter 2, GM’s Guide to Monsters, is the first chapter of real content. It explains how to use the book, how to quickly use it and the 14 specific design goals of the work. There are suggestions, and examples, of how to create unique monsters and what a monster actually is. The purposes of monsters and an explanation of dungeon stocking are covered and there is an overview of the two random monster generation systems.
Chapter 3, Monster Lore, starts with monster power hierarchies, ranging from 1 to 10, their habitats and rarities, including possible population numbers, for demi-humans, humanoids and monsters.
Chapter 4, The Oldskull Dungeon Bestiary starts with a list of what monsters are included. There are several thousand (although in many cases, these are simply the names of the original references), and their sources. Most “fictional” monsters originate in European, Mediterranean and Egyptian folklore and legends, with some Lovecraftian influences. True wilderness monsters are not included. There is a listing of monster archetypes, and then a listing of the monsters themselves.
This is a listing of monsters from A to Z. Each monster follows a standard format; Description, Notes and Origin. Description describes what the monster looks like. Notes gives the HD and Challenge Rating, in some cases with variations for different sizes of monster. Origin explains where the monster’s inspiration comes from. This can be the real world, myths and fiction.
Chapter 5, Oldskull Impious, is a quick dungeon stocking system. It starts with an overview of how to use the system and then has 16 d100 tables of encounters for adventuring parties of different levels. These encounter lists are very similar to most of the d1000 table of monster encounters that makes up part of CASTLE OLDSKULL – Monsters & Treasures Level 1.
Chapter 6, Oldskull Magnus, is the deluxe dungeon stocking system. This is a far more complex system, and starts with an explanation of classic monster levels and Oldskull Challenge Levels. There are explanations of adventuring parties and how to compare monster and party levels, and what percentage of a dungeon should be stocked with what type of encounters. Dungeons stocked using this method will have encounters that can overpower a party, up to a total party kill. The main part of this chapter has 16 tables for determining encounter type.
Chapter 7, Magnus Encounter Tables, has 25 d100 tables, arranged by Challenge Level, of encounters.
Chapter 8, Aftermath, briefly discusses fleshing out encounters and references The Book of Dungeon Traps, Oldskull Dungeon Generator, The Classic Dungeon Design Guide Books I and II and the Oldskull Treasure Trove. It also has a list of inspirational bestiaries and an About the Author section.
CASTLE OLDSKULL – Oldskull Dungeon Bestiary in Review
The PDF is decently bookmarked with the various sections linked. The Table of Contents is to a similar level of detail, and is also hyperlinked. There are also a number of internal hyperlinks. Navigation is pretty good for a large supplement. The text maintains a single column format and was mostly error free. There are a number of stock illustrations, up to full page in size, including colour and black and white fantasy stock and public domain material. The use of these is rather slipshod and they don’t really fit into a coherent whole. Presentation could be better.
The supplement references a number of works, but one of these, The Classic Wilderness Adventure Guide, was not available when this was written. Presumably it is an upcoming supplement.
Despite being covered by the OGL, there is not a single monster stat beyond hit dice included anywhere in this supplement. Such would have greatly increased the length, but this is not a supplement that can be used by itself. It is also not a supplement that will be easy to use by many less experienced GMs. It lacks details on adding specific abilities to monsters; GMs who lack the time, or the knowledge, to do this will probably not find this a hugely useful supplement.
There is a wealth of information included, and some extensive dungeon stocking tables and notes on design philosophies. Players more used to modern RPGs where everything is balanced will probably run into a TPK in very quick order against dungeons stocked using these tables. Individual GMs will need to work out how best to use the system; some may be able to use the material on the fly whilst others may need to cross-reference everything with other bestiaries that describe monsters in greater detail. It is far more suited to Old School campaigns than modern ones though.
This is an extensively detailed supplement, and even at full price it is pretty reasonable. It is definitely not for every GM or player though. CASTLE OLDSKULL – Oldskull Dungeon Bestiary can be found by clicking here.
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