Explorers wander a dark, folkloric forest full of fairies and strange folk, tracking treasure, rumors and danger.
Old-school (OSR)Fairy taleclasseshexcrawldungeon crawlXP for treasuretravel proceduresCampaignsNeeds a GM
6.6
Geek rating
From 7 firsthand play reports in 2 r/rpg threads. The threads alone average 8.6.
Player rating—/ 10
No visitor ratings yet.
Discussion5.5/ 10
98 r/rpg posts named it, October 2023 to October 2026.
Rules weight
Medium. Hype 6.0 for its age.
Have you played it?
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Didn't work for usOne of our best
What players say
At the table
Dolmenwood is a B/X-style hexcrawl set in a large, strange forest. Tables that have played it, some for a year or more, describe a campaign that starts from a published adventure and drifts into stories the hexes and towns generate. The notes hold seven firsthand reports in total, six from one thread and one from the other.
What works
Hooks in every hex let a campaign move from a published adventure into emergent stories from encounters in hexes and towns (thread).
The B/X-style procedures, hexcrawling included, are tight and fun to run (thread).
There is a lot of content. Groups a year or more in say they have seen only a fraction of the forest (thread).
Players praise the layout and writing, and say the rules suit the setting (thread).
One GM of an open table found the Campaign Book's clear layout and linked neighboring hexes useful, and the regulars wrote excellent session notes (thread).
What tables struggle with
Characters have little to spend treasure on. One table was left wondering what to do with a 100k hoard (thread).
One player said that without spending outlets the game felt like competing for a high score (thread).
Over a long campaign, player notes got confusing. Links between NPCs and quest hooks became unclear (thread).
New players joining an open table with accumulated notes were lost, and building a linked reference by hand was too tedious (thread).
Who it suits
Groups that want a long, open-ended hexcrawl and are happy to let stories emerge from the map.
GMs who like B/X-style procedures and dense, well-laid-out setting material.
Tables willing to keep their campaign records organized, or to invent their own uses for treasure.
In players' words
"My campaign started with a published adventure, and it quickly shifted to the emergent stories that came from the encounters in hexes and towns." (thread)
"I've ran two campaign stretching a year of play each. We've seen maybe 20% of the forest by this point." (thread)
"My players wrote and shared excellent session notes after each game, but eventually even the regulars started getting confused as to what was where" (thread)
The threads behind it
Each thread is rated for the play it describes, from the firsthand reports in it. Load one here or read it on Reddit.
8.6
Stonetop or Dolmenwood?
People who have run or played Dolmenwood are very positive. They describe hex-based emergent stories, deep content, and campaigns of a year or more. The thread mostly compares it with Stonetop. The one recurring complaint from play is that characters have little to spend treasure on. 6 firsthand · 86 comments
I made a tool for turning session notes into a Dolmenwood-like linked PDF
The thread is mostly about a tool for turning session notes into a Dolmenwood-style linked PDF, with one firsthand account from the GM of an open-table Dolmenwood game. Play itself went well, with players writing excellent session notes, but the notes became hard to navigate over time, especially for new players. The commenters are not describing their own play. 1 firsthand · 5 comments