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 Lave 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.