A few years ago I finally acquired a copy of the Holmes rules - haven't had the chance to play yet, but it's a great little read, I'm still really fascinated by the different options in combat (my early playing was BECMI and AD&D). I printed out Meepo's Holmes Companion to make it more "complete" - I like imagining campaigns for simple compact systems, like T&T5 and S&W Wb (I've played the former, but not the latter), especially for new players. Do people generally home-rule their way with Holmes' or are there other expansions people like to use?
I'd say a lot of it depends on how close you run Holmes to "rules as written". None of its quirks - initiative by DEX, attacks per round / damage wonkiness with the dagger / pole arm / crossbow, MU scroll creation, etc. - necessarily breaks using OD&D or Cook Expert as expansions. Of what's out there (Meepo's; The Grey Book; etc.) nothing really rang my bell enough that I'd use those as written to expand Holmes, so speaking just for myself I would home rule it. That said, take a look at what's out there, read some of the blog work out there on it, and make the best choice for you and your players.
ReplyDeleteThanks Andy, I will peruse the many vaults! :)
ReplyDeleteI like using Blue-Holme for a clarification of the rules and their is a Complete version coming out at some point that will bring play into higher levels, including new classes(pretty much everything mentioned about AD&D in the Holmes book but it will still be Holmes rules.). Then there is Mazes & Perils which is a complete game based on Holmes D&D. It's all good to me, I'm a Basic D&D fanatic.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first read Holmes I started writing an errata document just to iron out the kinks, and look how that turned out. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI think Holmes doesn't need house-ruling so much as fixing little inconsistencies and errors. Zach H's series on the Holmes manuscript is a great place to start to figure out some of the mistakes that crept in during the editing. One house rule you could try is with regard to damage - either stick to 1d6 damage and hit dice for everything (OD&D 3LBB style) or go for variable damage and hit dice for everything (Greyhawk style). It will definitely alter the style of play because PCs will be on a more equal footing with monsters than they are in the published Blue Book.
Thanks, for the pointers, guys. I do believe that I have the Blueholme Pdf on this very iPad, downloaded many moons ago (I think I even promoted it on my blog :o How can I have forgotten that?) - I must revisit it and do a proper comparison again now I have a better context. Interesting thoughts on damage (it's hard turning ones back on variable damage) :)
ReplyDeleteIt getting folks who are used to variable damage to go back to d6 damage for everything. That said though, a lot of it is how you sell it. The core mechanic going back to Chainmail was 1 hit = 1 kill (dead mini); going from that to 1 HD is 1d6hp, and a weapon hit deals 1d6hp damage (or put another way on average will kill a 1 HD mook) restores more realistic weapon damage that was inflated away in later editions. Also, with 1d6 damage weapons, a +1 dam bonus from strength or a weapon actually means something (unlike later editions where a +1 to anything is almost a throwaway bonus). If you sell it as a more lethal system at low levels (and more dramatic battles vs mook for high level, if you do multiple attacks / rnd for them) with the stated intention that it better mimics classic sword & sorcery like Conan et al (as opposed to later editions which due to inflation of hp and damage have become fantasy superhero games), then your crew might be more willing to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI like variable damage, I've used it since Moldvay's Basic introduced it to me after I had played Holmes D&D for a couple of years or so. My Holmes house rules is actually the "Single Volume Edition" of 0e, Chainmail, Swords & Spells, Greyhawk, Blackmoor & Eldritch Wizardry, the Addenda from B1, Zenopus' one-pagers, and a 'few' other fixes by me, and the Ready Ref Sheets by JG, so that might tell you what 0e/Holmes rules I like to reinforce, and which ones I alter.
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