FANTASTIC! EXCITING! IMAGINATIVE!
The "Basic" Art-Inspired Supplement Project
The goal of this project is to compile as many alternate stats and encounter ideas as possible based on the art from the JEH edited edition of The World's Most Famous Roleplaying Game, and to publish these in zine-format for free. In short, the aim is to create a compendium anyone can use to populate and enhance their Holmes-based adventure games!
Contributors! Base your work on any illustration from any published variant of the Basic rules, be that a printing variation or non-U.S. edition. This would either be all-new game stats for who or what is featured in the illustration (everyone that is depicted or just one creature) OR an idea for a creatively unique roleplaying encounter featuring the illustrated creature. To do both of those things for the same illustration would be two contributions (and perfectly welcome).
There is no need to ask what has already been done — for example, there are many bands of orcs, so 'duplication' should be no issue. If one person's minotaur encounter doesn't thrill a DM, maybe another's will... Write up what it most excites you to share!
Contributions should include the edition date for U.S. printings (e.g., Dec '79), or the Nation of Origin for other editions (and if there are variations thereof[?], then please include the year as well), along with the page number of the illustration that inspired the entry. Contributions should not exceed 500 words (but I don't expect to be draconian about that; but please keep your entries concise). [For quick reference, this entire proposal is about 500 words.]
New drawings inspired by the originals are also welcome. I will be providing a cover image and whatever any art we are short. If you've got a variant harpy attack rattling in your brain, or an alternate vision of a wizard bumping into gnolls, let's see it! Just remember the zine format (8.5" x 5.5") is smaller than the original book we're inspired by when creating your art.
I will do my best as editor to include everything submitted. I hope it will be as little as possible, but I may need to wave my editorial pen here and there; were there 15 variant illustrations of page 36, they may not all get in...
The resultant pdf when completed will be readily available from whatever pdf sources it winds up in/at (a google drive file linked in this community? RPGnow? elsewhere?).
TIMELINE
December 10th — Last Day to submit an article
December 20th — Last Day for art
January — Finalizing Layout and adding finishing touches
February — This Beast is let loose into the Wilds...
Note: The current title for the project — Fantastic! Exciting! Imaginative! — is taken from the first line of Holmes' description of the game, right there in his Introduction. There is probably a better title out there, drawn directly from the words of the good Doctor, and if you've spotted it, please let me know!
A) I will be releasing the final product under my own imprint, but it will always be available for free.
ReplyDeleteB) You can reach me for submissions at wilson4681220 at the gmails. Note the numbers — you found those dice in your Holmes set.
ReplyDeleteC) If you have questions, ask them right here, so everyone can benefit from the information.
ReplyDeleteSAMPLE ENTRY:
ReplyDeleteSleeping Skeletons (Dec '79, pg 32)
Move: 90 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 1/8 (1 hit point each)
Armor Class: 7
Treasure Type: nil
Alignment: neutral
Attacks: special
Damage: none
Even animated skeletons can be subject to the degradation of time and moulder away to nothingness. But before they are completely gone, they can still be a threat.
The individual bones of an animated skeleton, can each animate when they can no longer act in the semblance of humanoid life. They can roll and tumble, as if drawn by unseen strings, to chase down targets. What was once a single, cohesive creature is now 1d100 tiny monstrosities, acting as a cluster of doom. Spending a round to attack them and smash each and every one, a normal attack roll is made. On a successful hit, roll double the normal damage dice — each point of damage destroys one individual bone.
While they can't deal damage directly, they can swarm an explorer and lock themselves into place against each other, reducing the target's movement and actions by half, so long as half their starting number is still active.
At any number above a quarter of the starting number, they can swarm upon a target's weapon arm, causing a penalty of 2 to attack rolls, or spoiling spell casting on a 2-in-6 chance. This effect can also negate the AC bonus from a shield in this way, or ruin Thief's Abilities by 20%.
At any number remaining, a few of them, or even just one, can roll under an adventurer's foot and cause them to fall prone, unless they succeed at a Save vs. Death Ray. The DM is encouraged to use sleeping skeletons in further creative ways.
They are often found mixed in with fully animated skeletons.
(That's about 300 words, and comes to about one page worth of zine.)
ReplyDeleteLike your skeleton bits. I will try to think of something to draw for your project. I like your title too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chris Holmes
ReplyDeleteZach H: I hope we might see your Regal Lizard Man write-up, in some form...
Anyone else thinking of jumping in...?
Fantastic idea! I'll definitely submit the RLM. I found my draft & it's about 75% complete.
ReplyDeleteOh nice... Great idea.
ReplyDeleteBadass. I'm gonna do this.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you covered this and I'm blind, but does this include riffing on B2? My box is from 1979 and does include B2, which is pictured on the back.
ReplyDeleteI'm assuming the answer is no since it wasn't mentioned, but I wanted to get clarity...
James V West, my thoughts had been to hold things to the illustrations from the main rulebook. If the project is wildly successful, I was thinking of then moving on to alternate keys for the Sample Floor Plan and/or Sample Cross Section of Levels...
ReplyDeleteIf your brain is pinging and fizzing over an idea about something in B2, let's do it. My box came with B1, FWIW, and I figured those already are adventures -- but a good idea is a good idea!
I totally forgot -- also let me know how you'd like to be ID'd as contributor.
ReplyDeleteQuasqueton for the win Jon Wilson
ReplyDelete;-)
JV West is what the old timers call me.
ReplyDelete