Aaron Allston, former TSR employee, has passed away.

Aaron Allston, former TSR employee, has passed away. Allston edited 1991's Rules Cyclopedia, making him a heir to the editorial work started by Holmes and continued by Moldvay and Mentzer. Allston also wrote the innovative beginner's module N4 Treasure Hunt for 0-level characters, and a number of products for the Mystara setting, including the first Gazetter GAZ1 The Grand Duchy of Karameikos.
http://www.theforce.net/story/front/Author_Aaron_Allston_Has_Passed_Away_156868.asp

Essay at Baen by an author who started with Holmes Basic in 1980

The author of this essay started with Holmes Basic in 1980. Thanks to Random Wizard for the link.
http://www.baen.com/dungeonsdragons.asp

Covering the 'D' monsters from the Monster List. Two were cut: Dervishes & Dryads, and one was added: Djinni.

Covering the 'D' monsters from the Monster List. Two were cut: Dervishes & Dryads, and one was added: Djinni.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/part-23-she-and-beautiful-female-tree.html

Adam Muszkiewicz covers the Thief class in Warlock.

Adam Muszkiewicz covers the Thief class in Warlock. I believe the title is a reference to the Ministry song, "Thieves". #completewarlock

The 'C' monsters in the Holmes Manuscript. Two were cut by TSR: Cavemen & Centaurs.

The 'C' monsters in the Holmes Manuscript. Two were cut by TSR: Cavemen & Centaurs.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/part-22-fierce-fighters-if-cornered.html

#completewarlock

Barker's copy of OD&D

"Men & Magic inside cover with Prof. Barker’s signature"

"As part of the process of cataloging Professor Barker’s vast collection of games and material related to Tekumel, we discovered Professor Barker’s copy of OD&D.  When we looked inside the covers, though, we discovered that Professor Barker not only signed the books but dated them as well."
http://blog.tekumelfoundation.org/2014/02/19/another-40th-anniversary-for-original-dd

In the Greyhawk Supplment, Men are listed as getting 1 or 2 attacks

Here's something I never noticed in Greyhawk before. Men are listed as getting 1 or 2 attacks, unlike humanoids. As far as I can tell this is not explained anywhere. It could be reference back to the Chainmail "Weapon class" rules for Man-to-Man Combat.  If so though it should really be "1 or 2 or 3" per Chainmail, page 26. Also, it should apply to the humanoids if they are using weapons.

What is more likely is that it is an early reference to a rule change for Berserker. In OD&D Vol 2, they just get a single attack at +2 against normal men. But in the Monster Manual this was changed to 2 attacks or one at +2 to hit; thus their attacks are listed as 1 (or 2). So possibly Gygax was using this rule change at the time of Greyhawk but forgot to explain it in the text.

Finishing up the "B" monsters in the Monster List.

Finishing up the "B" monsters in the Monster List. First big surprise: Holmes had an entry for "Buccaneers" in the manuscript.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/part-21-always-hungry-and-always.html

Clerics in Complete Warlock by Adam Muszkiewicz #completewarlock

Please welcome Vincent Florio, author of Mazes & Perils, a Holmes Basic retroclone that won an ENnie last year for...

Please welcome Vincent Florio, author of Mazes & Perils, a Holmes Basic retroclone that won an ENnie last year for Best Free RPG. Mazes & Perils can be downloaded here:
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/104536/Mazes-%26-Perils-RPG

Great overview.

Great overview. Intelligence does affect spell points - see the section on page 11. Int 13-15 = +1/2 per HD, 16+ = +1 per HD.

A spell point system similar to the one in Warlock is probably what Holmes was referring to in Dragon #52, when he...

A spell point system similar to the one in Warlock is probably what Holmes was referring to in Dragon #52, when he mentions that during the development of Basic D&D, "I had disagreements with Gary over some items (I wanted to use a spell point system, for instance), but we kept the rules as close as possible to the original intent." #completewarlock

It lives!

It lives!
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/part-20-monster-list-bandit-to-zombie.html

Today marks the birthday of J.

Today marks the birthday of J. Eric Holmes. Born in 1930, he would have been 84 today. He passed away in 2010 at the age of 80. Fight on!

Adam Muszkiewicz author of this post is a member here.

Adam Muszkiewicz author of this post is a member here. If you are wondering why I am re-posting these here, it is because J. Eric Holmes used the Warlock rules in the early days. #completewarlock

Dispatches From Kickassistan begins a series looking at The Complete Warlock (1978). #completewarlock

As with many 'modern' rules, an early version can be found in an old-school product...

As with many 'modern' rules, an early version can be found in an old-school product...
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/ascending-ac-in-holmes-basic.html

Unused concept art by Jim Roslof for the Moldvay Basic Set. Posted onthe Acaeum last month:

Unused concept art by Jim Roslof for the Moldvay Basic Set. Posted on the Acaeum last month:
http://www.acaeum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?cache=1&p=219393#p219393

Old School FRP - Character creation in OD&D was nasty, brutish, and...

http://oldschoolfrp.tumblr.com/post/76016608728/character-creation-in-od-d-was-nasty-brutish-and

Some fun TSR emphemera posted on the Acaeum by Frank Mentzer (exTSR).

Pic 1 (above):
TSR Inc. Silver Anniversary Button, 1999
TSR Hobbies "Face logo" Sutherland dragon button, c. 1980
Brian Blume in cowboy outfit (Boot Hill 2e promo), c. 1979
GenCon hotel cards (2), 2004, 2005
Pool of Radiance (SSI) promo, c. 1988-89
Lady of Pain (Planescape), c. 1994-95

Pic 2 (above):
GenCon East II DM (revised type), 1982
GenCon XV DM, 1982
RPGA, orange, c 1986
RPGA, yellow, c 1986
RPGA Charter member, 1981
D&D Players Association, 1982-83
RPGA Recruiter, 1982 Membership Drive (rather corroded)
GenCon East II DM (original/1st type), 1982

Pic 3 (above):
My RPGA membership card, 1987
Original RPGA membership card (unblemished), 1981
D&D Players Association membership card (unblemished), 1981-82
My D&D PA card, 1981-82
My RPGA membership card, 1992
My RPGA membership card, 1991

Pic 4 (above):
Souvenir d6 (red), GenCon25/Origins, 1992
Souvenir d6 (aqua), Origins 25, 1999
TSR Inc. Compass Keychain (with 'instructions' & original box), c 1983 (in-house only)
TSR Inc. Pen (red), MIBag, c 1983
GaryCon Pen (black), c 2011

Some fun TSR emphemera posted on the Acaeum by Frank Mentzer (exTSR). Lots of pins/badges, including the one with the Sutherland Dragon that I use as my avatar here. I wasn't sure it was an official TSR product but this shows it was.
http://www.acaeum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?cache=1&p=220462#p220462

Monte Cook goes into detail about the #dnd game he ran recently.

Monte Cook goes into detail about the #dnd game he ran recently.
http://www.montecook.com/celebrating-40-years-of-dd/

Rankin of Rankin-Bass has passed away.

Rankin of Rankin-Bass has passed away.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2014/02/rip-arthur-rankin-jr.html

The classes of my Middle Earth using Holmes (expanded to 5th level).

The classes of my Middle Earth using Holmes (expanded to 5th level).
http://swordplusone.blogspot.com/2014/02/tolkien-holmes-d-class-summary.html

Sounds like 5th edition will have a Basic level of play, called Apprentice tier (levels 1-4).

Sounds like 5th edition will have a Basic level of play, called Apprentice tier (levels 1-4). The cutoff is 5th level when MU acquire 3rd levels (same as in OD&D). The other tiers are Expert (6-10), Paragon (11-16) and Epic (17-20).
http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4wand/20140205#90758

From HeroPress, a photo of the Sample Dungeon in action...

Rather Gamey has a sketch of the Zenopus ruins with Skull Mountain in the background.

Rather Gamey has a sketch of the Zenopus ruins with Skull Mountain in the background. For the 40th anniversary blog hop...  #skullmountain

Sword +1 presents a Tolkien Ranger class (replacing Clerics) as well as High Elves in a previous post, all classes...

Sword +1 presents a Tolkien Ranger class (replacing Clerics) as well as High Elves in a previous post, all classes limited to 5th level. 5th level is a great cap if you are just using Holmes because you don't need any spells for Players beyond 3rd level.
http://swordplusone.blogspot.com/2014/01/rangers-for-holmes-d.html

Carjacked Seraphim encounters Holmes Basic and The Caves of Chaos in 1980...

Carjacked Seraphim encounters Holmes Basic and The Caves of Chaos in 1980...
http://carjackedseraphim.blogspot.com/2014/02/day-1-person-who-introduced-me-to-d.html