On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another DM and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.
Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will be compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. Then there is also Old School Essentials.
Carcass Crawler is ‘The Official Fanzine Old-School Essentials zine’. Published by Necrotic Gnome, Old School Essentials is the retroclone based upon the version of Basic Dungeons & Dragons designed by Tom Moldvay and published in 1981, and Carcass Crawler provides content and options for it. It is pleasingly ‘old school’ in its sensibilities, being a medley of things in its content rather than just the one thing or the one roleplaying game as has been the trend in gaming fanzines, especially with ZineQuest. To date, Carcass Crawler #1, Carcass Crawler Issue #2, and Carcass Crawler Issue #3 have all focused on providing new Classes and Races, both in ‘Race as Class’ and ‘Race and Class’ formats as well as general support for Old School Essentials, and Carcass Crawler Issue #4 is no exception.
Carcass Crawler Issue #4 was published in December, 2024 and includes three new Classes, four gods, eight monsters, a shelf of arcane grimoires and their contents, expanded rules for brewing, purchasing, sampling, and describing potions, and a short adventure. The first two of the three Classes draw heavily from Tolkien’s Middle-earth and specifically The Shire. The first is the ‘Halfling Hearthsinger’ by James Spahn and Gavin Norman, which specialises in collecting and memorising legends, lore, and folk tales. The Class’ primary abilities are ‘Foster Friendship’, enabling the Hearthsinger to temporarily make friends if he can tell a story; recall Lore about monsters, folk tales, legends, and even magical items; and ‘Read Languages’ that are non-magical, including codes and dead languages. He can also better listen at doors and as a ‘Rumour Monger’ learn more rumours from others! Eventually, when he has enough money, he can establish tavern, although there is no Level requirement. The ‘Halfling Hearthsinger’ has a maximum of eight Levels and is a Class designed for interaction, so suitable for players who like to talk and build relationships.
The second new Class is also Halfling related. Designed by James Spahn, the ‘Halfling Reeve’ is more obviously based on the Bounder, who patrols the borders of The Shire. The Class must be Lawful and is a capable forager and hunter, good at stealth, and is also a Goblin Slayer and a Wolf Hunter. In addition, the Class also is able to cast Druidic magic at higher Levels. Again, this Class has a maximum of eight Levels. The Class is effectively a variant upon the Ranger, but pleasingly effective.
The third Class is Gavin Norman’s ‘Arcane Bard’. This is intended to be like the jack-of-all-trades Bard Class from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition, combining skills such as Climb Sheer Surfaces, Hear Noise, Pick Pockets, and Read Languages with the Lore ability as per the ‘Halfling Hearthsinger’ and the casting of Arcane magic. The only musical benefit that the ‘Arcane Bard’ gains is an ‘Anti-Charm’ effect against song-based powers like that of the fairies or Sylvan creatures. With its mixture of Thief abilities and ability to cast magic, the Class is more of a generalist and not quite as interesting a design. It can go up to a maximum of fourteen Levels.
‘Deities and Cults’ by Chance Dudinack and Gavin Norman describes four gods, the benefits of worshipping them, and their spells. For example, ‘The Black Alderman’ is the god of skulls, dentistry, and organ dirges who directs his worshippers to collects skulls for him, including those of rare monsters and influential personages. Some worshippers, known as ‘Bonesmiths’, work as travelling dentists and bone-setters, but its spellcasters gain traits such as a pallid complexion for gaining the ability to cast First Level spells, a sunken, skull-like facial features for Second Level spells, and more. The spells include Skull Speech, which causes a skull to speak, even that of an undead skull; Skull Sentry, which sets a skull to chatter its teeth if anyone of the designed type comes close; Danse Macabre, which makes bones come to life and dace; and Control Skull, which gives complete control of a skull, but not the rest of the bones, to the caster. The other gods include a deity of redemption and light, once a fiendish deity, but now reformed; a god of insane, danger, perils and risk, which revels in seeing others overcome great odds and thus endlessly creates them; and a god of the weird deeps of the Underworld. These are all small cults and will really enhance a campaign as very nicely themed faiths and there are some entertaining spells to go with them as well as some nice roleplaying hooks, whether for a player or the Game Master.
‘The Mage’s Grimoire’ by Brad Kerr and Gavin Norman adds more spells. These consist of Burning Hands, Feather Fall, Shocking Grasp, Unseen Servant, Pyrotechnics, Ray of Enfeeblement, Shrinking Cloud, Blink, Slow, and Tongues. These are all going to be familiar from Dungeons & Dragons, specifically for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, but which do not appear in Old School Essentials. Now they do. The article also add five tomes, packed with spells, including several of those listed earlier. Not only do they add spells that can be studied and learned, but also flavour. For example, the ‘Book of the Hideous Frog, written by the Frogmancer Neem, is a wide, frog-faced tome bound in damp frog flesh that wiggles in an unnerving fashion and which causes frogs to spawn in the owner’s clothes and belongings each night! These are all great fun and will just add a little bit of flavour to a campaign and inspiration for the Game Master to create more should she need them.
Gavin Norman’s ‘Strange Brew’ expands the basic guidelines for potions included under ‘Magical Research’ in Old School Essentials with a plethora of options. It allows any character able to create magical items to brew potions or if not, hire an alchemist. An alchemist NPC can brew potions at half the time it would take a Player Character, but is an expensive hireling—1,000 gp per month, and that does not include the cost of the actual potions. The article does not discuss either Potions of Delusion or poison, but otherwise, keeps things simple by approximating potion effects with particular spells, such as a Potion of Control Undead with the spell Control Monster and a Potion of Speed with the spell Haste. It also suggests possible potion ingredients, like a Storm Giant’s heart for a Potion of Giant Control or Pegasus feather for Potion of Levitation; what hints might be gained on a sampling a potion for the first time; and a table of options to describe potions. Handling alchemy and brewing potions in Dungeons & Dragons-style games can get bogged down in a lot of detail, but the guidelines here opt for simplicity and clarity. It does not delve too much into the how and why of brewing potions, but suggests ways in which the ‘Magical Research’ rules can be expanded and the use of potions in game play can be enhanced.
Penultimately, Gavin Norman details eight new monsters in ‘Terrors of the Dark’. These are all creatures to be found in the depths of the Underworld. They include the Grue, a thing of magical darkness found stalking desolate places; Oil-Mites, tiny, rock-like mites that lurk in webs and drop onto passing adventurers to consume their flasks of oil; and the Torch-Bearer’s Ghost, the spirit of some poor townsfolk who met his end in a dark dungeon after being hired as a torchbearer by an adventuring party and now haunts the dungeon, carrying a flickering light, and potentially leading other adventurers to their doom in revenge! This is a delightfully thematic octet of threats and dangers several of which play upon the fear of the dark for both players and their characters and their need for light.
Lastly, ‘Noximander’s Cave’ by Chance Dudinack and Brad Kerr is a rare inclusion of a scenario in the pages of Carcass Crawler and a rare appearance of a scenario for old School Essentials for Player Characters of Fourth and Fifth Level. With a map by Glynn Seal, it describes a small complex of rooms and caves used by the illusionist Noximander the Tenebrous to worship Moumb and conduct further research. Located under a city, builders recently broke into the complex via a cellar and the adventurers are hired to investigate. This is a decent mini-dungeon using many of the monsters from ‘Terrors of the Dark’ that could be played through in a session or two.
Physically, Carcass Crawler Issue #4 is well written and well presented. The artwork is excellent and the cartography good.
Although Carcass Crawler describes itself as a fanzine, it is not really a fanzine, since much of its content is written by the designer and publisher of Old School Essentials, it is published by the publisher of Old School Essentials, and it is obviously more polished and professionally produced than most fanzines. That aside, the content in Carcass Crawler Issue #4 is a good mix of the useful and the flavoursome. The new-is spells of ‘The Mage’s Grimoire’ and the potion details of ‘Strange Brew’ are interesting, whilst the flavoursome include the ‘Halfling Hearthsinger’ and ‘Halfling Reeve’ Classes with their lovely bucolic feel, and ‘Deities and Cults’ adds delightful roleplaying details that will make any setting that bit more interesting. Overall, Carcass Crawler Issue #4 is a very enjoyable issue with plenty that will enhance any Game Master’s campaign.
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