PRE-ORDER: Estimate Delivery is February 2025

Bloat Games has partnered with Small Niche Games (SNG) to publish WWII: Operation B/X for Old-School Essentials, a reimagining of SNG’s hugely popular game WWII: Operation WhiteBox!  This Kickstarter will include two books: OBX: Core Rules (non-supernatural) and OBX: Into The Dark (a supernatural WWII version).

Pete Spahn of SNG and creator of Operation WhiteBox, has fully written and developed OBX and Bloat Games is excited to bring his creative vision to the world. Peter Frain of 77Studios (Movie Night RPG) has created complimentary matching cover art for both OBX: Core Rules and OBX: Into The Dark, and Luigi Castellani will return from OWB to handle the interior art needs. Eric Bloat is tasked with layout duties, and Brandon Goeringer (RPG Overviews, Pocket Fantasy RPG) and Jeffey Scifert (Evolved) are onboard to assist with editing.

From the desk of Pete Spahn:

“In 2016, I released WWII: Operation WhiteBox. In the game, characters play WWII special forces spies and operatives working for organizations like the British Commandos, U.S. Army Airborne, and Special Operations Executive. The game used the Swords & Wizardry WhiteBox rules (by Matt Finch and Marv Breig) as its core and received high praise for its focus and ease of play, especially at conventions.

Almost immediately I began receiving requests for an “occult” version of the game. I hesitated. For one thing, I love history, so I really enjoyed running “pseudohistorical” games set during World War II with no myth or magic involved. What’s more, other game companies had already tackled “German werewolves and vampires” and “Nazi Cthulhu” so I knew if I was going to do WWII horror, I had to come up with my own take on the genre. Something that would be customizable to monsters, myths, and legends from all over the world.

So I started taking notes on the types of horror I liked to play and run and soon came up with something that was heavily inspired by some of my favorite media including the Masque of the Red Death/Ravenloft TSR settings, the Silent Hill games and movies, various works Stephen King, and even the TV show Stranger Things. Sprinkle in some actual Nazi occult history and lore and I had the makings of a good horror expansion for WWII: Operation WhiteBox.

I had already stumbled onto Old-School Essentials years earlier and immediately fell in love with the look and feel of the game. This was the way I had played D&D fantasy in the 80s and I started wondering what an OSE conversion of WWII: Operation WhiteBox would look like. After Gavin Norman of Necrotic Gnome gave his blessing, I decided to make it a reality. And thus, Operation B/X (core rules) and OBX: Into the Dark (occult expansion) were born!”

About the Books:

Both OBX: Core Rules and OBX: Into the Dark will be hardcover A5-sized, like the Old-School Essential counterparts.  Check out the Stretch Goals Section for some cool chances to upgrade your print experience.

What's the Difference in the game books?

Operation B/X is a historical tabletop RPG set during WWII that focuses the play on real world events, without any supernatural involvement.

OBX: Into the Dark is also set during WWII, but focuses on supernatural involvement, featuring monsters, and other elements, that were not present in the actual war.  

Both books offer TTRPG OSR rules that are familiar to anyone who has played D&D but particularly feature the "B/X" variant of D&D.  OBX uses Necrotic Gnomes Old-School Essentials interpretation of that ruleset. 

About Old-School Essentials:

Old-School Essentials is an award-winning role-playing game of fantastic adventure, monsters, and magic by Necrotic Gnome and Gavin Norman. Players delve into forbidden crypts and forsaken ruins, explore haunted forests and perilous mountain ranges, sail the high seas in search of lost lands, recover fabulous treasures, and unearth secrets of ancient magic.

Simple, Robust Rules: Light, easily modified rules put the focus of play on shared imagination, improvisation, and fun. The game's core rules cover the essentials of fantasy gaming: delving into dungeons, exploring the wilderness, voyaging across the seas, and founding strongholds.

Easy to Learn and Reference: Modern formatting and layout make the game easy to learn and a breeze to reference during play. The game is designed around "control panels", presenting each topic on two side-by-side pages. The rules are quick to reference, even in the heat of battle.

Necrotic Gnome is not affiliated with Bloat Games or WWII: Operation B/X. Permission to include material from the Player Characters and Adventuring sections of Old-School Essentials granted by Necrotic Gnome.

OBX: Into The Dark

• Enhanced Classes: Arcanist, Cyborg Soldier, Divine Chaplain, Gadgeteer, Psychic, Super Soldier, Warspirit, and Wildling

• Arcane Spells: 60+ spells ranging in levels from 1 to 5

• Holy Prayers: 30+ prayers ranging in levels from 1 to 5

• Eldritch Energies: 30+ energies ranging in levels 1 to 5

• Psychic Abilities:  Mind Probe, Psychic Spear, See Beyond Sight, Shift Emotions, Telekinesis, and Telepathy

• Supernatural Items and Weapons:  Potions, Elixirs, Brews, Artefakts, Superscience, and  Superscience Weapons 

• Setting: Occult Organizations, Pre-War Occult Timeline, notable Occult Events, In-War Occult Events, The WWII Supernatural Campaign, Out of the Void, and more 

• Harbingers - Otherworldly Supernatural Beings: Destroyer, Deceiver, Defiler, Wüstling, Necrotic and more

• A Complete Dark Creatures Bestiary

• Random Tables: Supernatural Mission Generator, Eldritch Beings, Blighted and Damned Monsters, Random Rift Generator.

• Sample Adventure

• Requires Operation B/X Core Rules to play.