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?).

Join the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (Holmes) group on Facebook!

Join the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (Holmes) group on Facebook!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/holmesbasic

Categories of dungeon puzzles by Talysman the Ur-Beatle.

Categories of dungeon puzzles by Talysman the Ur-Beatle.
http://9and30kingdoms.blogspot.com/2015/06/dungeon-puzzles.html

Here's an alternate "Draw Your Own" for One-Page Dungeons.

Here's an alternate "Draw Your Own" for One-Page Dungeons. The upper half is 25 x 38 of 5-squares-per-inch (5-1) ash grey graph (prints light for easy inking). The lower half is 20 blank lines for keying.

Find this on the Holmes Ref page:

https://sites.google.com/site/zenopusarchives/home/holmes-ref

Discussion of the origin of 10 second rounds.

Discussion of the origin of 10 second rounds. I made a post about Warlock which I believe is the origin of 10 sec rounds in Holmes. #completewarlock
http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=70570

I made a 1-page pdf replica of the Draw Your Own Floor Plan sheet from B2.

I made a 1-page pdf replica of the Draw Your Own Floor Plan sheet from B2. As in the original, the grid is 30 squares horizontally, 41 vertically. The header font is a Futura 11.5 bolded. Not an exact match to the original but pretty close. Download and draw away! Let me know how it prints. I first optimized it in Word, but then the pdf printed dark so I had to go back in Word and make the line width smaller. The final version came out slightly lighter than the original, but that's not terrible since it will make the dungeon stand out better. I'm working on some more of these in other styles (smaller squares, other colors).

Find this on the Holmes Ref page:

https://sites.google.com/site/zenopusarchives/home/holmes-ref

Holmes Basic poster makes its annual appearance at #ntrpgcon ---

Holmes Basic poster makes its annual appearance at #ntrpgcon ---

Originally shared by Erik Tenkar

Awesome dice for another 1977 game - Traveller.

Awesome dice for another 1977 game - Traveller. The full set is available here: http://www.farfuture.net/FFE-Books.html

Originally shared by Dyson Logos

I'm a long time Traveller fan - it was my first non D&D gaming experience (it turned into a series of running gun fights because it was the first RPG we had that involved guns... Salesman ripping you off? Shoot him. Pedestrian gives you a funny look? Shoot him. Cops out to get you for shooting everyone in town? Shoot them.)

We had some much better Traveller games later, but not until we had shot everyone and everything in the Imperium. Twice. A lot like my experience with the Top Secret RPG.

Anyways, during the MegaTraveller Bundle of Holding, Marc Miller offered early birds a free Traveller die for jumping in. Mine arrived yesterday with a note that since it was costing him much more to ship me the die than the actual cost of the die, he was sending me a set of five dice instead.

So I thought it was only fair of me to post it here and remind everyone about how cool Traveller is, and to tell them how cool Marc Miller is too.