Have recently discovered the Gygaxian splendor of the original version of S4 "The Lost Caverns of Tsojconth" and am...

Have recently discovered the Gygaxian splendor of the original version of S4 "The Lost Caverns of Tsojconth" and am running it using my Holmes/OD&D expansion (basically just Holmes + OD&D).  Check out my campaign journal/play report over on Dragonsfoot for bits of Holmesiana.

The adventure is relevant for Holmes enthusiasts in that it was run the year before publication of the Blue Book, and seems to have provided some influence (most notably, the inclusion of troglodytes into both the Holmes rulebook, as well as B1 a year later).

The pregenerated characters' equipment is also listed in a style similar to that used in the Holmes rulebook.  Are there any other "Holmesisms" that folks are aware of?
http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=72443

After all these decades, Holmes is still the default D&D system in my head.

After all these decades, Holmes is still the default D&D system in my head. Sometimes, this makes it difficult to figure out what other editions are talking about.

Originally shared by Joel Priddy

Holmes/AD&D/B/X: Spells Known
I often find rules in D&D that don’t work the way I expect them to, and blame my younger self for having been too lazy to learn the rules correctly back in the day. Turns out, I’m usually just remembering Holmes Basic. This came up recently, when a campaign...

I've backed the kickstarter to reprint Runequest 2nd edition being run by Rick Meints (member here).

I've backed the kickstarter to reprint Runequest 2nd edition being run by Rick Meints (member here). I've never played it before or even read one of the rulebooks but am interested in it from a historical perspective. Both the original Runequest (1978) and the revised 2nd edition (1980) both came out during the Holmes Basic era, and Holmes reviewed the game in his 1981 book about FRPGs. A pdf of the original 1978 version is also being offered as an add-on to the kickstarter.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/224590870/runequest-classic-edition

The cover art by Todd James for the latest issue of Dragon+ is inspired by Sutherland's Holmes Basic set cover.

The cover art by Todd James for the latest issue of Dragon+ is inspired by Sutherland's Holmes Basic set cover. #dcsIII
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/12/dragon-5-wallpaper.html

Sad news: Donald McKinney who has been a member of this group since 2012, has passed away.

Sad news: Donald McKinney who has been a member of this group since 2012, has passed away. Just this past June he wrote here: "...what I really want is to run Holmes fantasy using Classic Traveller rules. Some bits work, the rest has evaded me for over a decade. I fiddle with that when I get the chance."

Rest in peace.

Originally shared by Jeff Rients

Don McKinney, Traveller guru, longtime chairman of the Winter War gaming convention, and best man at my wedding is in the hospital, presumably because of his heart again, and not expected to recover. My thoughts and prayers are with Don and his family. :(

Something is terrorizing the streets and backalleys of Portown!

http://primereq.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-marrowbeast-of-portown-parts-one-two.html

Something is terrorizing the streets and backalleys of Portown! The dockers and the homeless are terrified, and even the Assassin's Guild is worried!

Although a big deal was made about cornering a doppleganger in a storage complex near the docks (Part One), the authorities claim that they have caught the "Marrowbeast" and all is safe once again. But the truth is, the disappearances and the murders have increased in frequency and ferocity!

But your PCs, hanging out at the Green Dragon Inn, can't get a word in edge-wise. Yes, they know the truth, but the people don't want the truth...

...and then they're hired by Gerron Dwelvenminter, dwarvish son of the famous Dwarven Miner and Archaeologist Garron Dwelvenminter to recover his father's body from an ill-fated expedition -- in the heart of Portown! Down a disused drainpipe, Dwelvenminter discovered an ancient crypt, broke it's magical seal, and fell to his death.

Coincidentally, this all happened just before reports of the Marrowbeast first surfaced - right about the same time of the first in a series of disappearances and killings...

A revised version of the Character Worksheet.

A revised version of the Character Worksheet. Now includes Movement Rates and Thieves' Backstab, and some other info has been moved around.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/12/character-creation-worksheet-revised.html

Magic Missile

Magic Missile
I'm taking this version of the iconic spell for a spin:

Once memorised, the magic-user can deploy the spell in one of two ways:

1. Spell hits automatically for 2 - 7 points of damage.

2. Spell requires a throw "to hit" its target but if successful scores 1 - 12 damage.

So far, our mage is opting for #2 but sadly he's wishing he didn't half the time but when it works... big smiles.

I initially started with the d10 for option #2 but the payoff didn't match the risk, sure you can still throw a one on a d12 but the chance to score up to five extra damage over option #1 is tempting.

Wayne has the pdf for issue 3 of his zine Dungeon Crawl on sale.

Wayne has the pdf for issue 3 of his zine Dungeon Crawl on sale. I contributed an article to this issue, "Lesser Magic Items": "twenty weak magic items for 1st level characters" as I wrote in a blog post when it first came out in summer 2013:
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2013/08/dungeon-crawl-3.html

Originally shared by Wayne Rossi

I'm putting the Dungeon Crawl #3 PDF on sale for $2. Check it out if you haven't gotten it. (Use the link for the discount.) Also check out my Pay What You Want PDFs:

Dungeon Crawl #2
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/115366/Dungeon-Crawl-2?manufacturers_id=5328&src=OldSchoolRPGs

Secret of Cykranosh
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/163302/The-Secret-of-Cykranosh?manufacturers_id=5328&src=OldSchoolRPGs
http://www.rpgnow.com/browse.php?discount=9b71661ea4

Here's a draft of new reference sheet for Holmes Ref: a Character Creation Worksheet, which can also double as a...

Here's a draft of new reference sheet for Holmes Ref: a Character Creation Worksheet, which can also double as a character sheet.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/11/character-creation-worksheet.html

A look at some recently auctioned TSR ephemera related to their Founders Day celebrations in 1980 and 1981.

A look at some recently auctioned TSR ephemera related to their Founders Day celebrations in 1980 and 1981. Includes some sales info on the Basic Set.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/11/tsr-founders-day-memo-1980.html

Demon!

Demon!

I posted this to the blog on Friday, if you haven't seen it.

I posted this to the blog on Friday, if you haven't seen it. It's a cross-section of levels that I drew in the vein of Skull Mountain, but constructed of monster faces. #skullmountain #cross-section
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/11/monster-face-mountain.html

Wizard with Psychic Tentacles

Alien

Fearsome Monster

Monster Face Mountain awaits!

Monster Face Mountain awaits!
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/11/monster-face-mountain.html

This DF thread is asking for advice on a problem for the original poster but I thought I'd share it because it...

This DF thread is asking for advice on a problem for the original poster but I thought I'd share it because it involves a long-running campaign world that started out using Holmes Basic as the core of the rules.
http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4080

Great logo design by Cameron.

Great logo design by Cameron.

Originally shared by Piper

I recently mocked up a "compatible with" logo for another game system and thought it might be fun to do one for OD&D, too. Here it is. I was trying for something easily recognizable from beyond arm's length as opposed to something artistically amazing. It's free for your use. I'm hoping this may inspire someone with a bit more talent than I to give it a shot. Or ... does a logo already exist?

Look what surfaced on the Acaeum last week. A 1st print Holmes Basic rulebook signed by the man himself.

Look what surfaced on the Acaeum last week. A 1st print Holmes Basic rulebook signed by the man himself.
https://www.acaeum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=246350#p246350

Interesting observation on Delta's blog:

Ebay auction of two "header modules"

An Ebay auction of two "header modules". See for more info:
https://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/modpages/header.html

Originally shared by Wayne's Books

Here's an interesting eBay auction (http://www.ebay.com/itm/121814957049) of D&D/AD&D modules still on their hangcards. Pretty rare these days as the hangers were always discarded after opening.

Dungeons & Dragons Expert Module X5 - Temple of Death - and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Module L2 - The Assassin's Knot - which still has the Toys R Us sticker for $3.97 I believe.

A nice blast from the past. Really takes me back. I remember seeing these in the store.

I've been thinking about tavern prices, and this got me thinking aboutthe value of money.

Julian Levallon originally posted:

I've been thinking about tavern prices, and this got me thinking about the value of money. In RL, a gold piece was what the Romans paid soldiers for a year of service. Yet in B1, a mug of honey mead is listed at 1gp. A whole year's pay? (There's also something called Roast Joint for 2 gp, but I don't allow characters to smoke weed in my campaign...ha ha). Clearly there's a different currency valuing system at play. So how much does a gold piece buy in your campaign? What do you base your prices on?

She held aloft Excalibur: concerning magic weapons in sword and sorcery games.

Originally shared by Peter Foxhoven

She held aloft Excalibur: concerning magic weapons in sword and sorcery games.
A few posts back I discussed how to make an anthropomorphic,low-fantasy campaign . I touched in a very minor way about magic items, but at
the time I felt like this is a subject that could be dealt with in greater
detail. It I in this spirit that I turn tow...

A pic of Holmes from an ERB zine

Scott Mob wrote:

A pic of John Eric Holmes from an old ERB zine

Nice photo of the entire Pellucidar series in paperbacks includingHolmes' contribution.

Nice photo of the entire Pellucidar series in paperbacks including Holmes' contribution.

Originally shared by Brandon Goeringer (RPG Overviews)

Found these Edgar Rice Burroughs Pellucidar books today. Not sure how they are but they look cool with great art. The prehistoric creatures reminds me of AS&SH a bit so I'll give em a shot.

Fantasy Wargaming article Battle magazine April 78

Chris found an article, from the April 1978 issue of Battle magazine, by Charles Grant describing pre-D&D fantasy wargaming convention events organized by Tony Bath. The article is, strangely enough, illustrated with pictures from Holmes Basic (UK and US versions) with permission from Games Workshop, who was distributing/printing TSR material in the UK at the time.

Originally shared by Chris Kutalik

I came across an interesting artifact in researching old Battle magazines from the 1970s (a British wargaming magazine that got folded into Military Modelling). Here's an April 1978 report from Charles Grant relaying an early fantasy miniatures event from 1972 (set up by other UK wargaming great Tony Bath no less) that clearly has many, if not all, the elements of what people say are RPGs. It does make me question (again) the Great Man theory of how RPGs developed.

In itself the event sounds off the chain. A quest where a gonzo literary range of 20 player-heroes (John Carter, Beowulf, Cuchlain, Boromir, Gandalf, Robin Hood etc) move over a series of four by four tables with firecrackers and kookie poetry.

The next installment is up, covering the first part of the thaumaturgist's lair - Rooms S and S1.

The next installment is up, covering the first part of the thaumaturgist's lair - Rooms S and S1.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/11/part-53-room-contains-giant-snake.html

I wrote another thing about movement rates.

I wrote another thing about movement rates. Feedback welcome! http://nilisnotnull.blogspot.com/2015/11/justifying-exploration-movement.html

Visual representations of Portown?

For many Homes Basic fans, Portown looms large in the imagination. Holmes' short, evocative description of the place provided both a handy home base for launching the sample Zenopus dungeon adventure and had enough meat in it to provide the seed for a long term base for a campaign.

Portown, like many early D&D locations, was never visually depicted so fans were free to let their imagination roam; I've read interpretations ranging from small fishing ports to bustling cities. Personally, I've always envisioned it as a small trading city of around 10,000 - big enough to support merchants, temples and assorted factions but small enough for low level PCs to make a difference; a Lankhmar writ small as it were.

From a purely visual perspective though, I've never really nailed down a look for Portown in my mind's eye. Recently, I ran across Mike Mignolas illustrations for a 4 part comic series which illustrated a set of Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar stories. Have loved his work for years, and I think I may have just found my mind's eye look for Portown.

Besides the main link below, here are a few more of his pieces depicting Lankhmar:
- http://photos1.blogger.com/img/198/4480/640/fafhrd%201.jpg
- http://photos1.blogger.com/img/198/4480/640/fafhrd%202.jpg

That said, what does your Portown look like?
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CLelXRGWwAA8RZT.jpg

Don't know if this has been posted before, but JB of the always solid B/X Blackrazor has put together some AD&D...

Don't know if this has been posted before, but JB of the always solid B/X Blackrazor has put together some AD&D style subclasses for Holmes Basic.

Paladins & Rangers:
- http://bxblackrazor.blogspot.com/2015/11/holmes-rules-bonus-classes.html
- Paladins were introduced along with Thieves in the GReyhawk supplement for OD&D (first print March 1975, 2nd print July 1975). Jeff Rients does a pretty good overview on the OD&D Paladin here: http://jrients.blogspot.com/2007/05/paladin-problem-part-1.html
- The Ranger was originally created for OD&D by Joe Fischer and appeared in Strategic Review #2 (Summer 1975), extract available in this DF thread: http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1503

Illusionists (2 parter - class in first link, Illusion magic in second link):
- http://bxblackrazor.blogspot.com/2015/11/holmes-rules-illusionist-part-1.html
- http://bxblackrazor.blogspot.com/
- Note that the OD&D Illusionist first appeared in Strategic Review #4 (Winter 1975), created by Peter Aronson. The original pre-AD&D version of the class is in this DF thread: http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1615

Holmes Basic, of course, arrived broadly on store shelves in late 1977, with the AD&D Monster Manual arriving in December of that year (just for general reference as to when these now-classic subclasses arrived in D&D with respect to Holmes Basic).

Speaking of the OD&D subclasses, if you use 3d6 ability generation they are pretty rare given the minimum ability score requirements. Worth a look at this old blog post on Grognardia if you consider using these in your Holmes Basic: http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2011/03/ability-scores-and-sub-classes.html
http://bxblackrazor.blogspot.com/2015/11/holmes-rules-bonus-classes.html

Fighting Men

Mike Hill wrote:

Fighting Men
Nearly forgot this one. I allow fighters to attack using the monster's combat table starting on the 1+2 to 2 row. As the fighter's level increases he moves down the table observing the number in the left-hand column.

So a level 4 fighter (darn heroic!) would fight on the 4+ to 6+ row. He wouldn't advance to the next row until he was level 7.

You might be thinking this makes the fighter pretty tough? Well, I hope so, he needs all the help he can get. :-)

Edit
One more thing... All fighters score one more point of damage in hand-to-hand combat by virtue of their class training.. Any character with a strength of 15+ scores one extra hit. So a fighter with strength 17, for example, would get a whopping +2 bonus to hits scored in a toe-to-toe rumble.

Thanks
Mike

Alternative Thief Skills

Alternative Thief Skills
I know it's been done to death but I hate percentile skills so here's the thief skill variant that I use. Apologies to the person I lifted it from but I'm sure it's not original.

It is, however, dead simple: at first level all but one thief skill is successful on a throw of 1 or 2 on one six-sided die. The player chooses one special skill for his character and that succeeds on a 1, 2 or 3.

Each time the thief gains a level, the player increases the success range of one skill by one point. One caveat, the character must have at least 2 skills rated at just one point lower than his or her highest skill level.

If a thief is in danger of becoming so skilled that success seems assured there are  a few options.

1. Success is assured. When the character has perfected a skill (to the point where it's successful on a throw of 1 to 6), a die throw is no longer required, success is automatic. In theory this is the option I would use but I haven't had to yet. Your thief will be level 4 before he has a singe skill rated at 1 - 4 if the player chooses to specialise.

2. Capped skills. The maximum success range any skill can have is 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. A throw of 6 always fails.

3. Fate conspires against even the mightiest. With a skill range of 1 to 6, the player throws two dice and is successful as long as double sixes don't come along.

I allow thieves to buy thieves' tools for 25 gold pieces. Tools may be used 3 times before their supplies are exhausted. Each use adds 1 to the success range of any one skill. So aside from lock picks, tools include black face paint (hiding); crampons (climbing); tiny listening trumpet (hear noise) and so on.

Thanks
Mike

Compleat Strategist ad from the July 18th 1977 issue of New York magazine

Ad for the Compleat Strategist from the July 18th 1977 issue of New York magazine, page 20. This is very close to the time that Holmes Basic was first released; the earliest recorded public availability is Origins III starting on July 22nd, 1977, also in NYC (Staten Island). Amazingly the store is still in the same location with the same phone number: http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-compleat-strategist-new-york

D&D Family Tree by Mr Reaper on DF.

D&D Family Tree by Mr Reaper on DF. What I like is that he listened to our feedback and has Holmes at the nexus between OD&D, AD&D and B/X. Bonus points for using pale blue for the 'bluebook'.
Read the entire thread starting here: http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=72062

Interesting summary by Peter V. Dell'Orto of the pro/cons of "visual aid" combat vs "theatre of the mind" combat.

A Random Wilderness Generator

Robert Weber wrote:

A Random Wilderness Generator for y'all, especially Alan Bradley, who asked about the world outside the dungeon & the town.

http://primereq.blogspot.com/2015/11/a-random-wilderness-generator.html

Russ Nicholson reimagining of Sailors of the Starless Sea cover

Russ Nicholson did the many of illustrations for the Fiend Folio. Here's recent work of his for Goodman Games - a re-imagining of Doug Kovacs cover of Sailors on the Starless Sea.

Originally shared by russ nicholson

recently arrived my copy from Goodman Games showing my cover variant for 'Sailors of the Starless Sea'.

This is like something out of Alien or The Thing.

This is like something out of Alien or The Thing.
#rollforinitiative
http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2015/11/04/454066109/a-man-in-colombia-got-cancer-and-it-came-from-a-tapeworm

A dungeon.

A dungeon.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/11/monster-face-dungeon-map.html

For Dyson Logos in case he wants to add a version of this to his annotated Monster Manual.

For Dyson Logos in case he wants to add a version of this to his annotated Monster Manual. The short version is that at some point during his time at TSR, Erol Otus drew a Masher for the Monster Manual that was never included.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2012/02/obscure-art-friday-masher-by-erol-otus.html

The next step in my campaign design: the world beyond the dungeon.

Alan Bradley wrote:

The next step in my campaign design: the world beyond the dungeon.

Obviously there's the "town", but beyond that?

B1 has only vague geographical descriptions, and my copy has notes about locating it in Greyhawk.

B2 has its map, and a vague description/concept of a broader world.

The Sample Dungeon has a vague description of the world beyond Portown. There's also the interesting Stone Mountain cross section..

Unfortunately the feel in B1 and B2 doesn't really match the Sample Dungeon, IMHO. Since I'd rather keep the campaign area fairly small at first, I'd probably leave them out and expand from the Portown description.

That requires at least a vague sense of what is beyond the sea. Detailed maps wouldn't be required, but a medieval style map should be available to the PCs if they look hard enough. Failing that they can rely on rumours and legends. It would be interesting to see what kind of "map" they would put together from those...

Has anyone done anything with the Sample Dungeon "world"? (Aside from mapping Portown).

Who Plays Holmes?

Mike Hill wrote:

Who Plays Holmes?

Hi folks,

1) Who amongst us actually plays Holmes as their standard gaming rules set some or all of the time?

2) What, if any, house-rules do you have in place?


I'm hoping to run a game for my crowd sticking as close as possible to the rules as they are, but:

a) I'm going to pick one of the many options available here and elsewhere for light/heavy weapons

b) My players will baulk at the "no strength modifier" (it won't be an issue if everyone throws poorly for strength). If it is an issue I might run with a bonus equal to the constitution/hit points adjustment for fighting men only. Any thoughts on this and whether it should apply just to damage or strike throws too?

Many thanks

Mike

RIP TSR artist Will McLean

TSR artist Will McLean, best known for his delightful cartoons in the DMG, recently passed away: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20151030_William_McLean_IV__philanthropist.html
See also this DF thread where I heard about it:
http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=72065

Marc Majcher Saw your Holmes Basic rulebook photo with a Newsweek article:...

Marc Majcher Saw your Holmes Basic rulebook photo with a Newsweek article: http://www.newsweek.com/explain-your-letter-388563

I saw a link to this column posted on DF.

I saw a link to this column posted on DF. Newsweek has used a pic of the Holmes rulebook and the low impact dice to illustrate it, even though it's about a letter from 1985 and focuses more on Top Secret.
http://www.newsweek.com/explain-your-letter-388563

Keep on Conjurin'

A bit of fun...

With apologies to Tom Wham and R. Crumb. : )

Gygax's description of Giant Rats in the Monster Manual includes: "Their burrows honeycomb many graveyards, where...

Gygax's description of Giant Rats in the Monster Manual includes: "Their burrows honeycomb many graveyards, where they seek to cheat ghouls of their prizes by tunneling to newly interred corpses". This might be influenced by Holmes' Giant Rat tunnels in the Sample Dungeon (Room RT), which are in the "soft earth of the cemetery" and near the Ghoul room (Room P). The Monster Manual came out after Gygax reviewed the manuscript for Holmes Basic, the first edition of which doesn't have a monster entry for Giant Rats.

OldSchoolFRP: "This wizard brings mind R.

OldSchoolFRP: "This wizard brings mind R. Crumb, Mr. Natural and Keep on Truckin'". The R. Crumb influence here is obvious once pointed out - just look at those shoes! - but hadn't occurred to me before.
http://oldschoolfrp.tumblr.com/post/19289471803/unwary-magic-user-and-ambushing-gnoll-band-by-tom

Wereshark on the CW

Piper wrote:

The unaltered screencap for you purists out there. C'mon ... you know who you are!

Check out this thread for the identity of a source book used by Gygax and Sutherland for the dinosaur entries and...

Check out this thread for the identity of a source book used by Gygax and Sutherland for the dinosaur entries and illustrations in the original Monster Manual. Note that Chris Holmes identified it first - he mentioned this find in email a few months ago, but not the name. After reading the DF thread I just happened to recall this book, which I'd seen before and have a copy of, and it turned out to be the one in question. #dcsIII
http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=72017&p=1686907#p1686907

A shorthand for monster leaders.

A shorthand for monster leaders.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/10/goblin-1.html

I'm overdue in giving thanks for some great gaming experiences at TridentCon the weekend before last.

I'm overdue in giving thanks for some great gaming experiences at TridentCon the weekend before last. Erik Jensen put much effort into organizing this new convention. This was its second year and I hope that it returns for many more.

The first game I played in was a high energy White Star scenario run by none other than its author James Spahn. Among the players were Eric Hoffman, Pearce Shea and Larry Hollis. I selected the pregen mercenary in Fett-like armor who turned out to have suspiciously poor aim.  The group was successful and mostly survived encounters with Lava Crabs and a Void Knight of the Consortium. James generously gifted us all with a copy of the White Star rulebook.

The second game was a DCC funnel: The Devil's Cauldron written by Eric Hoffman and run by his Stormlord co-publisher Carl Bussler. It's part of their weird west DCC rules - Black Powder, Black Magic. Carl brought a great playing aid: a table-wide set of tiles representing the train we were taking to the town of Brimstone. This game also had James Spahn and Noah Stevens playing in it. I had the table record for pregen deaths - 5 out of 6, the most memorable being Sister Mary, a nun killed by an arrow while firing a stolen bandit's pistol out a train window. We made it to Brimstone.

These guys are pushing the setting of OSR games in different directions from the standard fantasy; play in their games if you get a chance.

Links:
http://www.tridentcon.org/
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/148169/White-Star-White-Box-Science-Fiction-Roleplaying-Swords--Wizardry
https://stormlordpublishing.com/product/black-powder-black-magic-vol-1/
http://www.tridentcon.org

Remember the old "light weapons strike two blows per round, heavy weapons strike once every other round" thing?

Remember the old "light weapons strike two blows per round, heavy weapons strike once every other round" thing?

I've never played that rule. I don't think I even noticed it. Back in the day, my desire to play far outweighed my need to read the rules. I was the GM, with the only rule book, and spent my time cooking up gonzo dungeons not rule questing.

My question is: would it be worth using a tweak (I've read a few) like light weapons do half damage and heavy (those listed) do double,  be worth a go?

Mathematically (I think...) the pros and cons would even out over many combats but in the short term, in the moment so to speak, it might make a dramatic difference. Or not?

Caller

Caller
Hi folks,
Seeing that transcript of game play from Holmes, reminded me that I've never played a game (as a player or referee) where one player was nominated as the "Caller".

I'm the odd man out here, right? Who amongst us has experiences of the Caller role and how does it work out for you?

Thanks
Mike

I've been thinking about how to handle making potions in a Holmesian manner.

I've been thinking about how to handle making potions in a Holmesian manner. In a lot of ways, potions and scrolls are similar - one use spells in a can. On the other hand, it takes a Magic User or Elf to use a scroll, while potions can be drunk by anyone.

This suggests that making potions should be more difficult (expensive, time consuming, requiring rare ingredients, and possibly a higher level).

Has anyone done anything related to this? Any thoughts?

Holmesians, particularly ones who are fans of Clark Ashton Smith, may enjoy this new OSR Compatible module.

Holmesians, particularly ones who are fans of Clark Ashton Smith, may enjoy this new OSR Compatible module. The stat block even includes Dexterity scores for all monsters!

Any d6 Star Wars fans here?

Any d6 Star Wars fans here? I had never played it before, but lately I've been digging in since my son is really into SW now. So far we've mostly been running some of the introductory solo adventures, which work great for one-on-one sessions.

Old School FRP tumblr just featured part of the HB Example of Play. Incs a few paragraphs of commentary.

Old School FRP tumblr just featured part of the HB Example of Play. Incs a few paragraphs of commentary.
http://oldschoolfrp.tumblr.com/post/130410825292/the-example-gameplay-transcript-in-holmes-basic

At Tridentcon

I was tagged in Noah Stevens's album.

Details on the copyright fight to make a film of Anthony "Buck" Rogers' origin story: ARMAGEDDON 2419.

Details on the copyright fight to make a film of Anthony "Buck" Rogers' origin story: ARMAGEDDON 2419. Even though that story is in the public domain and even through John Dille did NOT create the character, the Dille family claims rights to the character of Buck.

How does this relate to Holmes?

1. Dr. Holmes wrote the novel MORDRED, a direct sequel to ARMAGEDDON 2419. Holmes was allowed to do almost anything with the character of Anthony Rogers except call him "Buck."
2. Lorraine Dille Williams was one of the inheritors of the Dille family fortune and the rights to Buck Rogers. She also happened to take control of TSR in 1986 when the Blume brothers sold her their shares of stock. Soon after, she made sure TSR produced a bunch of Buck Rogers RPG and board games that nobody wanted so that she could profit from both sides of the licensing agreement.
http://boingboing.net/2015/10/16/buck-rogers-and-the-copyright.html

Secrets of Portown

Robert Weber wrote:

The Secrets of Portown, one map grid, one monster entry, and one table at a time!

http://primereq.blogspot.com/2015/10/portown-in-3d-marrowbeast-of-portown.html

Bob Jester's Portown

http://primereq.blogspot.com/2015/10/bobjesters-portown.html

Rather than clogging up Google+ Holmes discussion, I've more ramblings about Portown to share with y'all at my blog.

Latest in the manuscript series...Room RT - Rat Tunnels!

Latest in the manuscript series...Room RT - Rat Tunnels!
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/10/part-52-no-end-to-rats.html

Your Personalized Portown?

Portown is described as a small town in Holmes Basic, but my own version is between large town and small city. Anyone else have their own personalized designs of Holmes' famous city?

Delving Deeper conversion of the Zenopus Dungeon, by Mike Hill

Delving Deeper conversion of the Zenopus Dungeon, by Mike Hill 

Originally shared by Mike Hill

Beneath the Tower of Zenopus: Delving Deeper Style

OK, I didn't have to make too many changes but I think I've got them all. I've converted the best (well, my favourite) starter dungeon of all time to Delving Deeper. By that I mean, I've changed the rulesy references: spell and magic item names to reflect DD rather than BD&D.

The two nameless characters (charmed fighter and thaumatergist) are now named; well, why not eh? But otherwise it's all Holmes.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9hqeTU5Uef3cDFOVWNGb3pzV0U/view?usp=sharing

Interesting interview, covers TSR, Villains & Vigilantes, Tekumel.

Interesting interview, covers TSR, Villains & Vigilantes, Tekumel. Villains & Vigilantes was originally developed from the Empire of the Petal Throne rules.

Originally shared by Jeff Dee

I got interviewed about my early career in gaming, as well as recent projects:
http://www.stargazersworld.com/2015/10/05/interview-with-jeff-dee-of-monkey-house-games/
http://www.stargazersworld.com/2015/10/05/interview-with-jeff-dee-of-monkey-house-games/

Dave Arneson Day.

Bob Jester on the OGL

Robert Weber wrote:

Frying Pan or Fire? and other OGL questions...

http://primereq.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-ogl-and-other-stds-and-you.html

From the Creighton Broadhurst (Raging Swam Press) blog: "Over the weekend, I got to do something I never thought I’d...

From the Creighton Broadhurst (Raging Swam Press) blog: "Over the weekend, I got to do something I never thought I’d get to do again. I got to introduce a completely new group to the Keep on the Borderlands."
http://www.creightonbroadhurst.com/living-the-old-gamer-dream-with-b2

Oh, and its free!

Conclusion!

I've just launched my 14th Kickstarter project.

I've just launched my 14th Kickstarter project. The B/X Monster Reference Index will be an A5-sized, spiral-bound index, with stats for over 500 b/x monsters.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1730454032/b-x-monster-reference-index

More pictures of the "D&D For Beginners" dungeon by Chris Holmes.

More pictures of the "D&D For Beginners" dungeon by Chris Holmes.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-d-for-beginners-dungeon-model-part.html

Something I missed back in the day: A 1983 PBS version of David Macaulay's 1978 book Castle, mix of documentary and...

Something I missed back in the day: A 1983 PBS version of David Macaulay's 1978 book Castle, mix of documentary and animation.

Originally shared by Eric Hoffman

I was talking with my daughter about History class last night and she asked me what was my favorite thing I learned when I was in school.  I thought about it and remembered this little gem (and the book by the same guy in my school library) when I was in about 3rd grade or so.  If you haven't watched this special before, or read the book, give it a look.  It is a shame they don't make educational shows this cool any more.

We watched some of the show afterward and it got me thinking about a campaign idea.  The players are all part of a Lords retinue (Castellan, Captain of the Guard, Knight, Advisor, Huntsman, etc.) and the Lord is charged with building a Castle in a hostile land.  The Lord can be a player character or an NPC. The players will have to decide where to build the castle, obtain resources to keep on schedule, repel attacks by the indigenous people, explore the countryside, discover ruins and maybe a major over arching plot involving ancient evil to boot.

If the setting gets stale the King can always demand the Lord provide troops for an overseas military campaign to mix things up for a few sessions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGbPShUpjpg

Cover of the 1980 Gateway to Adventure TSR catalog, commonly referred to as the "demon" version.

Cover of the 1980 Gateway to Adventure TSR catalog, commonly referred to as the "demon" version. This is back when TSR was still putting demon-looking things on their covers.

Originally shared by Olde House Rules

This catalog came with my Holmes Basic Set...

Just hit 400 members here!

First post on the "D&D For Beginners" Dungeon Model.

First post on the "D&D For Beginners" Dungeon Model.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-d-for-beginners-dungeon-model.html

Amazing chalk rendering of the Deities & Demigods cover!

Amazing chalk rendering of the Deities & Demigods cover!
Thanks to Zachary Zahringer for reposting this.

Originally shared by Phillip Woodward

Weekend well spent!

Chris Holmes' "D&D For Beginners" dungeon

Chris Holmes has sent me some photos of the 3x6' dungeon he constructed for the "D&D For Beginners" scenario that he and his dad ran at Gen Con XII in 1979. Above is a preview of the entrance.

John Stater reviews Dragon #34.

John Stater reviews Dragon #34. This issue includes a module, Doomkeep, which was run as the 2nd Masters Tournament at Gen Con '79. Holmes played in this while he was at the Con and came in 13th of 36. The scenario is credited to Brian Blume but a note near the end indicates that "The dungeon was constructed from rooms to play or parts of rooms, submitted to Brian by those who were invited in the tournament".
http://matt-landofnod.blogspot.com/2015/09/dragon-by-dragon-february-1980.html

Recent marginalia. Two somewhat adventure-worn knights sketched above acrossword puzzle.

Recent marginalia. Two somewhat adventure-worn knights sketched above a crossword puzzle.

Lead Dragon review of Ch. 11 of Holmes' FRPGs

The Lead Dragon blog with a review of the miniatures chapter of Holmes' 1981 book on RPGs.

https://theleaddragon.blogspot.com/2015/09/chapter-11-little-metal-people.html

Zhu Bajiee on the Stonehenge font, seen in various 70s/80s RPG products including the title of the monochrome Hidden...

Zhu Bajiee on the Stonehenge font, seen in various 70s/80s RPG products including the title of the monochrome Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan.
http://realmofzhu.blogspot.com/2015/09/fighting-fontasy-stonehenge.html

The Geometry of Madness blog with five variant owlbears.

A D&D Club adventuring in the Holmes Basic version of B2 in the early80s, posted on Chase Neptune's blog.

A D&D Club adventuring in the Holmes Basic version of B2 in the early 80s, posted on Chase Neptune's blog. Originally posted by Keith Sloan (member here) in the comments to a post at  Greyhawk Grognard (Joseph Bloch)
https://2warpstoneptune.wordpress.com/2015/09/10/a-portrait-of-young-geeks-playing-dd-circa-1983

One of the long-time ongoing projects that I actually get back to (eventually) is the exploration of the Djangorün...

One of the long-time ongoing projects that I actually get back to (eventually) is the exploration of the Djangorün Depths! The characters were created with Holmes & 0e rules, and not strictly BtB "Levels Beyond Basic" rules, but the feel is old school, dangerous and fun to write!

The actual Campaign Journal is at Dragonsfoot: http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=65248&p=1669595#p1669595

An easter egg in the I1 Dwellers of the Forbbiden City map.

An easter egg in the I1 Dwellers of the Forbbiden City map. Further Adventure #2 in the back of the module may relate: "As part of their plan to regain power, the yuan ti have revived the worship of a vile and loathsome creature from another plane. In one of the larger temple buildings of the city, the yuan ti have succeeded in opening a small gate to the creature’s plane."

Originally shared by Dyson Logos

I only noticed this because the cartographer from Dwellers of the Forbidden City (Steve Sullivan) asked if I had found it already which started me looking...

there is a Temple of Cthulhu in the Forbidden City. :)

Part 51, covering the Ghoul Room in the Sample Dungeon, plus the entry for Ghouls in the Monster List, which I...

Part 51, covering the Ghoul Room in the Sample Dungeon, plus the entry for Ghouls in the Monster List, which I missed previously. Thanks to Jarrett Perdue for bringing this to my attention.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/09/part-51-indescribable-odds-and-ends.html

Map from my recent sessions running Basic D&D.

Map from my recent sessions running Basic D&D. This is the Zenopus dungeon after our 2nd game. I drew the map on a wall chalkboard as the game progressed.

Another entertaining Dragon review by John Stater for issue #32.

Another entertaining Dragon review by John Stater for issue #32. I'm going to have go back and read John's reviews of the earlier issues.
Dig the SKAG (Scorpion-Kobold-Ant-Goblin) (!) monster "class" by Leonard Lakofka:
http://matt-landofnod.blogspot.com/2015/08/dragon-by-dragon-december-1979.html

Haven't got a photo of a product you are selling?

Haven't got a photo of a product you are selling? No problem, just draw one yourself! Thanks to Chase Neptune for finding this.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/08/hand-drawn-basic-box-cover-1980.html

An interesting article (found via Black Gate) about the work involved in the recent reissue of the SSI "Gold Box" PC...

An interesting article (found via Black Gate) about the work involved in the recent reissue of the SSI "Gold Box" PC games. I had fun with Pool of Radiance when it first came out & finished it & also played some of the first two sequels.
http://www.pcgamer.com/how-gog-rescued-13-forgotten-realms-games-from-licensing-hell

Pointcrawl map of the B2 Wilderness by Eric Nieudan using an octacrawltemplate by Doug Anderson.

Pointcrawl map of the B2 Wilderness by Eric Nieudan using an octacrawl template by Doug Anderson. Reminds me of the maps for Text Adventure / Interactive Fiction games like Zork.

Originally shared by Eric Nieudan

I've made an octacrawl with Doug Anderson​​'s template, using a somewhat famous map. 

It's as close as I could make it, so I've had to populate empty areas with landmarks, which in itself is interesting.

Deep, Analogous, Garrulous, AmphibiaN, -ites.

Deep, Analogous, Garrulous, AmphibiaN, -ites. Another HPL inspired race for 0e/Holmes, and not so much more whinging...

I used the scan by Tony Rowe to write a little bit about Holmes at Gen Con XII in 1979

I used the scan by Tony Rowe to write a little bit about Holmes at Gen Con XII in 1979 ... 36 years ago! Thanks also to John Stater for getting the ball rolling with a review of Dragon #31.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/08/holmes-at-gen-con-xii-1979.html

The Holmes family with Tim Kask at the Strategists Club Banquet during GenCon XII. From The Dragon #31.

The Holmes family with Tim Kask at the Strategists Club Banquet during GenCon XII. From The Dragon #31.

Review of Dragon #31 by John Stater.

Review of Dragon #31 by John Stater. Issue includes Holmes' Trollshead story as well as a photo of the Holmes clan. BTW anyone have this issue and ablo to make a high res scan of the photo?

Originally shared by John Stater

Dragon 31, November 1979 - John-Eric Holmes, Jason of Star Command, Jungle Hydras and Ventriloquism!

http://matt-landofnod.blogspot.com/2015/08/dragon-by-dragon-november-1979.html
http://matt-landofnod.blogspot.com/2015/08/dragon-by-dragon-november-1979.html

Ta-Nehisi Coates on B2:

Ta-Nehisi Coates on B2:
"Still remember going into the Keep on the Borderlands with a magic-user and getting punched to death by the Mad Hermit."
(from Twitter yesterday as part of flurry of enthusiastic tweets in response to the re-issue of the SSI Gold Box games)
https://twitter.com/tanehisicoates/status/634426424728924160

I'm just back from vacation, where I got to run a mini-campaign for a group of kids.

I'm just back from vacation, where I got to run a mini-campaign for a group of kids. Nine sessions, two adventures completed - Zenopus Dungeon and Mistamere Castle.

Wherein Bob whinges about his lot in life, and posts a New Monster for "Hordes & Hoards" -- The C'thulhic Elemental...

Wherein Bob whinges about his lot in life, and posts a New Monster for "Hordes & Hoards" -- The C'thulhic Elemental (Tentacule Nevesta)!

Short review of Mahars of Pellucidar on the "Dispatches From the Last Outlaw" blog

Tonight's game: Part of Buffalo Castle using "D&D from Memory" and Lego Heroica as minis.

Tonight's game: Part of Buffalo Castle using "D&D from Memory" and Lego Heroica as minis.
http://www.gamebooks.org/show_item.php?id=2703

Chris Holmes has written about the wereshark, and I've got someadditional info on my blog. #wereshark

Chris Holmes has written about the wereshark, and I've got some additional info on my blog. #wereshark
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/07/chris-holmes-on-origins-of-wereshark.html

A local print shop took one of Holmes books and scanned it, added the Moldvay basic pdf I purchased from D&D...

A local print shop took one of Holmes books and scanned it, added the Moldvay basic pdf I purchased from D&D classics, and then made high res scans for the covers which completed a coil bound book.

J. Eric Holmes Basic set mention in The Wild Hunt #52

Jason Zavoda wrote:

J. Eric Holmes Basic set mention in The Wild Hunt #52

From Steve Marsh's The Heroquestor (1980)

Page #1 Paragraphs 4-6

"After the guys decided I wasn't too incompetent I began to do some real work. TSR is currently doing EXPERT SET and rewriting BASIC SET. These are rewrites of D&D (as opposed to AD&D which is a completely different system). There are very few changes except for format. The goal is to make the system understandable by a kid who is the only person on his block to have even seen the rules.

I am working on some modules on my own time (as per previous agreement and a current one) and have one (OLD SHARDS) in Gary's hands for a final gloss. I proofread BASIC SET and am doing parts of EXPERT SET (rewrote the monsters from ELEMENTALS to WYVERNS). I am currently on magic items.

D&D means the first three books plus Eric Holmes BASIC SET. We are tied to that because most of our sales are of that volume (over 500,000 this year for example). The "collector's edition" is not being pushed at all and there are enough in stock to last forever."

Miseries and Misfortunes is a 54-page zine-format supplement for Basic Dungeons & Dragons by Luke Crane (Burning...

Miseries and Misfortunes is a 54-page zine-format supplement for Basic Dungeons & Dragons by Luke Crane (Burning Wheel/Mouse Guard RPG/Burning Empires/Torchbearer RPG/FreeMarket RPG, etc.).

It contains six new classes, as well as weapons, spells and equipment for playing D&D in the first half of the 17th century. Rules describe fighting with rapier, pistol, pike and musket in small formations, hiring servants and exploring strange and forgotten places. 

https://www.burningwheel.com/?p=812

It is a FREE download. 

There will be only 22 zine-format copies available for sale at Gen Con (EXTREMELY LIMITED RUN!). 
https://www.burningwheel.com/store/index.php/miseries-misfortunes.html

Interesting post on DF on using Minecraft as a DM's tool to draw/stock/reference/visual aid for tabletop play.

Interesting post on DF on using Minecraft as a DM's tool to draw/stock/reference/visual aid for tabletop play. #minecraft
http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=71085

From the DM David blog:

From the DM David blog:
http://dmdavid.com/tag/4-popular-beliefs-dungeons-dragons-defied-in-the-70s

Yuggoth is still in our minds...

Yuggoth is still in our minds...
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/07/holmes-mi-go.html

Yup!

Yup! LBB Characters, Combat & Magic Version 11 is up! Zenopus' Random Character Backgrounds hacked for LBB! New shaded box entries! (Actually old entries recently shaded, as I had planned to do some of these for awhile now...)

A newcomer on this community, I ran Holmes for the first time thisSaturday and I learned a lot.

A newcomer on this community, I ran Holmes for the first time this Saturday and I learned a lot.

Originally shared by Eric Nieudan

21st Century Gamers vs Doctor Holmes
Actual play report with every fucking thought thrown in

Thanks to Greg Gorgonmilk I finally got to read Holmes Basic. I was so enthusiastic about it that I organised a game over hangouts - even on a short notice, I had five players from our amazing French-speaking community. People with different gaming backgrounds, motivated by nostalgia, curiousity or game designer interest. These brave heroes were Magi max Thomas Munier Arjuna Khan Sebastien Delfino and Tiburce Guyard.

tl;dr

- Dwarves, dwarves everywhere!
- The game is great, but needs house rules from the start.
- It was very educational to elfgame like my ancestors did.

Keep reading for actual play and a few rules considerations.

Return to Zenopus

I decided to run Zenopus, the sample dungeon provided in the book, but couldn't resist experimenting with random dungeons procedures. So I set the adventure about 5O years later in my post-apocalyptic setting, and repopulated the dungeon with dog-men and hyena-men (kobolds and gnolls), some more undead (the magic-user died looking for Zenopus' knowledge, but that didn't stop him), a couple of mechanical spiders from the elemental plane of smoke and a band of dust mutants looking for a better hideout. These all came from a mini-sandbox I created beforehand to get a few things going in and around Portown (that's what the pic is).

Character creation

After a short introduction to the rules and the OD&D mindset, we proceeded to roll up characters. As I expected, non-humans dominated the party: we had three dwarf fighters, a halfling thief (I thought these could only be fighters but someone found a reference in the book) and a cleric.

To save time, I proposed they rolled backgrounds on Zenopus Archives' table, which proved a winner. We ended up with a colourful party (a cave dwarf, a merdwarf and a half-orc hobbit) and some interesting character motivation (both the last dwarf and the cleric got the Spy background).

Logistics and information gathering

Before they spent the rest of their gold, the players wanted to know about the dungeon. I explained the setting and gave them common knowledge about the Zenopus ruins. This is when they decided about a backstory for the adventuring group: they were coastal explorers who lost their ship in a storm. Their motivation for dungeon delving was therefore simple: boats are expensive.

Play started with a montage : the characters split up to gather information, buy equipment and recruit another cleric. I was generous with the info and gave them most of the rumours I had prepared, especially the false ones. Since this was a one-shot, I wanted the players to make informed choices.

Tough going underground

They elected to approach the dungeon via the smugglers cave. They got a rowboad from Portown's mayor (who happens to be a much older, Lemunda the Lovely) and sent Marsouin the merdwarf scouting ahead. Another good hunch, as he was able to notice the giant octopus without being snatched. He also noticed some kobolds dismantling old boats on the beach inside the cave (that's room M for those of you following at home). The party decided for a stealthy approach and attempted to row the boat as quietly as possible, hoping the octopus would stay in its hiding hole. I didn't want the first encounter to end in a TPK so I ruled there was a 4 in 6 chance of success.

This is where the ruleset's main flaw kicked in: no all-purpose resolution procedure. Holmes is a system that needs to be patched from the start.

Relying on infravision (which meant the clerics had to be led about) the adventurers landed their boat quietly enough to avoid being heard by the kobolds. They decided to play it safe and explore the southern exit. The passage led them to the river caves, where they found a dead giant crab and (surprise !) a swarm of hungry baby crabs. With half the group still on the other side of the river, the first fight of the night was relatively tense, even with 1hp monsters dealing only 1 damage. In the end the merdwarf lit a torch to frighten the aggressive seafood. (I rolled reaction here.)

Further exploration led the party to the sundial room (area L), where they immediately grokked how to get the mask to speak. They asked it about the dangers they should avoid at all costs. The mask told them about the undead wizard (who they assumed was Zenopus himself because of a false rumour they had heard) and its minions to the east. The party wisely decided to go the other way.

The experience gets less realistic from here. It was starting to get late and we all knew it was a one-shot, so caution was thrown to the underground wind.

One of the dwarves kicked the door, surprising a group of six hyena-men making camp in room H. Some heroes talked about running, but the door wouldn't lock anymore. Plus I think the players wanted to test their mettle against real monsters. The spy dwarf fled by himself, thinking his king wouldn't want to lose all the information gathered. (So, despite what his fellow adventurers said, he was not being a coward).

The rest of the party decided to defend the doorway. As most of the gnolls moved in across the river, arrows started flying. The hobborc thief caught one, survived it but kept firing. He was promptly killed by another arrow. Nevertheless, some tactical action and good rolling kept most of the gnolls out. One managed to get in and killed the cleric (platemail is great, except when you have 1hp). With all the gnolls but the two archers injured, the heroes resolved to charge in after throwing their oil flasks - the center of the room was turned into a fiery hell and both the gnolls were killed. Man, flaming oil is the ultimate weapon in Holmes! After that, the party had no problem dispatching the demoralised hyena-men, shooting some in the back.
Meanwhile, the spy dwarf was backtracking fast. He avoided the crab babies but was swept in the river, barely avoiding drowning and having to lose his hauberk. He managed to swim outside and I decided that he was able to climb the cliff and make it back to town.

We relied on fictional positioning as much as possible, but I couldn't always rule that a character was able to do something. Crossing the river together with enough time and a length of rope was okay, but when a PC crossed it in a hurry and without assistance, I came up with a roll-under mechanic with 3d6. (Why not d20? I don't know. It felt more old school and I figured it would give a better chance to people with above average stats). We used that rule quite a few times during the session.

It was 2am and we called it a night, but we agreed to say that the delve would have ended there, with the characters trying to make it back out (tough break, the kobolds on the beach had found their rowboat) with no treasure and grand total of 160 xp between them... There is a chance the spy would have brought back some help, but we'll never know.

Would I play again?

I don't think so. If I was to run old school D&D, I'd probably go back to the slightly more balanced and actually somewhat organised B/X rules. Or give Blueholme a spin. For the moment, I'm content to run Odd Dungeons, which has the advantage of considerably speeding up fights.

That said, it was a great experience for all involved, including me. I may set up other archeogaming sessions in the future. Also, these last few months I had been avoiding running games for health reasons, and Saturday proved that I'm up to GMing again. I know of a Lost City that will soon be explored again.

"Major Wesely was literally present for the birth of our hobby, hell, he delivered the baby!

"Major Wesely was literally present for the birth of our hobby, hell, he delivered the baby!  And one of the many pleasures of working with him is hearing his FIRST-HAND accounts of what went down back in the earliest days of role-playing."

Originally shared by Olde House Rules

History 101 for gamers...

Holmes used Yuggoth - Lovecraft's version of Pluto - in his campaign.

Holmes used Yuggoth - Lovecraft's version of Pluto - in his campaign.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/07/yuggoth-resolves.html

"Ye Olde Lande of Badmap" from the Mythcreants blog athttp://mythcreants.com/blog/crafting-plausible-maps/

"Ye Olde Lande of Badmap" from the Mythcreants blog at http://mythcreants.com/blog/crafting-plausible-maps/
This actually looks like more fun than his example of a realistic map.
Thanks to Russell Flowers for linking this on DF.

Sometimes the most overlooked part of the rules that explain so much!

Several firsts last night.

Several firsts last night. A player in our regular group ran a session for the first time, in which I got to play in the Forgotten Realms for the first time, specifically Menzoberranzan. I ran a 2E M-U for the first time, an Alteration Specialist favoring Color Spray & Shield.

RPG Retro Review tackles the Blue Box:

RPG Retro Review tackles the Blue Box:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhug8E7s210

The AD&D Players Handbook was released on pdf yesterday. A few thoughts:

The AD&D Players Handbook was released on pdf yesterday. A few thoughts:
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/07/ad-1e-players-handbook-pdf.html

A review of Blueholme Prentice Rules. A viable retroclone for Holmes lovers.

Part 50 (!), covering Room N in the Sample Dungeon.

Part 50 (!), covering Room N in the Sample Dungeon.
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/07/part-50-dancing-dagger-is-hard-to-hit.html

Zach H ...curious as to your knowledge on the Silver Anniversary re-print of the Holmes rulebook...I of course still...

Zach H ...curious as to your knowledge on the Silver Anniversary re-print of the Holmes rulebook...I of course still have my original box set from my younger days and a few other copies of the original rulebook...I remember reading somewhere this re-print had some errors in it?..was thinking about buying one to just add to my collection. thanks!

One plus to the Holmes magic missile requiring a to-hit roll: you can give a 1st level M-U a Wand of Magic Missiles...

One plus to the Holmes magic missile requiring a to-hit roll: you can give a 1st level M-U a Wand of Magic Missiles with 100 charges and it is not unbalancing.

The Wizard of Spot Tower

The Wizard of Spot Tower
(sketch done today while waiting at the car shop)

Just saw Fury Road. Wow.

8 years of OD&D Discussion at ODD74!

8 years of OD&D Discussion at ODD74!
http://odd74.proboards.com/thread/11043/happy-8th-birthday?page=1&scrollTo=166314

Save or Die #110: Jon Peterson interview

Save or Die #110 featuring Jon Peterson talking Arduin. Elizabeth Stewart is one of the hosts.
http://saveordie.info/?p=1282

FYI, Chris Holmes now has his own website. Check it out!

FYI, Chris Holmes now has his own website. Check it out!
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2015/06/chris-holmes-website.html

Lich drawing

Denis McCarthy wrote:

T gave that Lich a phylactery. Liches love phylacteries

Tseshaht Face in the Rock mystery

"The face appears to be a rock carving [about seven feet tall] tucked in a cleft on the small, rugged island cliffs. There are reefs along the steep shoreline making the approach to the Face in the Rock dangerous ... [you must navigate] through a ‘chute’ between the reefs and the island ... it would be necessary for very calm water for someone to jump from a boat and climb to get close".

Then you can talk with it.

Tseshaht Face in the Rock mystery

In my search for intermediate-level adventures to continue my Holmes-based OD&D campaign, I came across the Gen Con...

In my search for intermediate-level adventures to continue my Holmes-based OD&D campaign, I came across the Gen Con X tournament dungeon, originally published by Judges Guild.

There's something about this adventure that's very "Holmesian" - the dungeon in particular.  Gen Con X was right around the time that the Holmes Basic Set came out, so that's probably no coincidence.

Interestingly, there's a set of tournament rules included, in which it's stated that a dagger strikes 2 times per round!  The tournament was played in 1977, so a connection to the rule in Holmes seems quite likely.
http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=70763

Megadungeon on Ceres? "The Colossal Pyramid of Ceres" #gameable

Megadungeon on Ceres? "The Colossal Pyramid of Ceres" #gameable  
http://www.cnet.com/news/3-mile-tall-pyramid-more-bright-spots-spied-on-ceres/

A fairy tale inspired 1-page dungeon by Tom Walker with map by Dyson Logos. 3rd place winner in this year's contest.

A fairy tale inspired 1-page dungeon by Tom Walker with map by Dyson Logos. 3rd place winner in this year's contest.

Originally shared by Dyson Logos

I didn't get involved in the 1 Page Dungeon contest this year except as a sponsor (I gave away print copies of some of my books as prize support).

But one of my maps still took third place!

Tom Walker 
http://www.onepagedungeon.info/2015/image-gallery/detail/tom-walker---the-princess-and-the-frog/

A review on the Hobby Games Recce blog of "Uncertainty in Games" by Greg Costikyan, an long-time game designer who...

A review on the Hobby Games Recce blog of "Uncertainty in Games" by Greg Costikyan, an long-time game designer who got his start writing about OD&D in Alarums & Excursions back the '70s.

New Yorker Minecraft cover by Chris Ware

If you have a kid that loves Minecraft you'll appreciate this recent New Yorker cover and article by illustrator Chris Ware. In the article he mentions his old D&D manuals. #minecraft

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/cover-story-playdate

Holmes 0th Edition aka Holmes Zero: the Holmes Manuscript. No editing by TSR to include references to AD&D.

Holmes 0th Edition aka Holmes Zero: the Holmes Manuscript. No editing by TSR to include references to AD&D.
Holmes 4th Edition: Theoretical further edit of the Holmes rulebook to make it more compatible with AD&D so that it could serve as an intro to AD&D as Gygax intended.

Levels Beyond Basic version 8

Robert Weber wrote:

Levels Beyond Basic sections 1 & 2 (version 8) are up now!

http://primereq.blogspot.com/2015/06/levels-beyond-basic-version-8-is-up.html

A DM will be running the Zenopus dungeon at Q-Con XXII in Ireland next weekend.

A DM will be running the Zenopus dungeon at Q-Con XXII in Ireland next weekend.
http://www.q-con.org.uk/RPGGameInformation

Thanks to Doug Anderson for this pointing out "Monster Slayers", a "D&D Adventure for Ages 6 and Up" by Susan Morris.

Thanks to Doug Anderson for this pointing out "Monster Slayers", a "D&D Adventure for Ages 6 and Up" by Susan Morris. Posted as a 22-page pdf on the Wizards site on 6/10. Mostly combat, but should be fun as a boardgame.
http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/monsterslayers

The Time Travel Mystery: One Page Dungeon

You should read this excellent dissertation disguised as an adventure if you want insight into the One Page Dungeon and the mindset of the next generation of gamers.

At the Sword+1 blog, a pdf of character creation rules built on Holmes Basic for a campaign set in Middle-earth.

At the Sword+1 blog, a pdf of character creation rules built on Holmes Basic for a campaign set in Middle-earth. Replaces the Cleric with the Ranger.
http://swordplusone.blogspot.com/2015/06/drums-in-deep.html

Bookmark this and read it before you design your next adventure.

Bookmark this and read it before you design your next adventure.

Originally shared by Wayne Rossi

In which I write a fairly long post on the elements that I see making up a great adventure.

A reference to Holmes Basic, though tangential to the topic.

A reference to Holmes Basic, though tangential to the topic.

http://crierofkemen.blogspot.com/2015/06/understanding-chaos.html

Holmesburg Hoagie

Tony Rowe wrote:

Next time any of you Holmes fans are in Philadelphia, be sure to pick up a Holmesburg hoagie (no relation?).