Family game night tonight with my weekly AD&D session on pause until next week.

Family game night tonight with my weekly AD&D session on pause until next week. So, it's time to break out the family favored edition. (Honest, they have played a bunch! Haha)

Any clever puzzles or maps you have seen recently and want to share? For some reason I'm running a bit blank today.

Gary Con photos!

Gary Con photos!

Originally shared by Zenopus Archives

Here are my annotated Gary Con IX photos, in a public FB album. Should be viewable via this link even if you don't have a FB account. Click on the first picture (ZA badge) to view the slideshow and read the notes for each picture. #garycon #gcix
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1837662533225469.1073741829.100009452211671&type=1&l=53cb4025e9

Here are my annotated Gary Con IX photos, in a public FB album.

Here are my annotated Gary Con IX photos, in a public FB album. Should be viewable via this link even if you don't have a FB account. Click on the first picture (ZA badge) to view the slideshow and read the notes for each picture. #garycon #gcix
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1837662533225469.1073741829.100009452211671&type=1&l=53cb4025e9

Just in case anyone here is interested. ;-)

Just in case anyone here is interested. ;-)
https://dreamscapedesign.net/2017/03/30/kickstarter-launch-4-april/

Fun story.

Fun story.

While at Gary Con IX, I asked Tom Wham to sign the Holmes Blue Box rulebook I picked up a couple years ago. (I gave my original to the younger of my two younger brothers when I left for college.)

Tom said, "I didn't do anything in that."

I said, "Sure you did, take a look."

Tom flipped through it and saw one of his pictures and said, "Gee that looks familiar, I guess I did."

David Wesely running one of his Braunstein scenarios, a pre-D&DRPG. #garycon #gcix

David Wesely running one of his Braunstein scenarios, a pre-D&D RPG. #garycon #gcix

Tom Wham explaining his Dragon Lairds card game earlier thismorning. #garycon #gcix

Tom Wham explaining his Dragon Lairds card game earlier this morning. #garycon #gcix

Just routed their Giant off the board with a direct hit Lightning Bolt from the wizard. #garycon #gcix

The forces of Law. Our wizard is currently invisible. Figure byElastolin. #garycon #gcix

The forces of Law. Our wizard is currently invisible. Figure by Elastolin. #garycon #gcix

Chainmail with Paul Stormberg. The scenario is Battle of the BrownHills by Gygax. #garycon #gcix

Chainmail with Paul Stormberg. The scenario is Battle of the Brown Hills by Gygax. #garycon #gcix

Funny the things you find when buying old box sets..

Funny the things you find when buying old box sets..

I picked up a Holmes Basic box set so I don't have to abuse my prized original that started me on gaming as a hobby. The replacement was a Lizard Man cover box, oddly with a wizard logo rulebook and B1 inside.

The funny part about the contents.. also inside was someone's custom photocopied (out of Dragon Magazine) of Snit Smashing, with a photocopy map for Snit Smashing itself plus one of the spaceship Znutar; and a plethora of handmade counters (photocopies glued to chipboard); all with the photocopies being glorious poor-color, sticky ink 70s work.

The snits were entertaining enough, but the real kicker was the yellow credit card receipt (the carbon kind you used to run over that mechanical thing) for the princely sum of $9.95 for "Basic D&D".. from the famous California hobby shop Aero Hobbies. A little piece of gaming history right thar..

Interesting cover on the Swedish RPG magazine Fenix, Issue #2, 2016! Remind you of anything?

Interesting cover on the Swedish RPG magazine Fenix, Issue #2, 2016! Remind you of anything?
http://43710.shop.textalk.se/se/article.php?id=43710&art=39899247

Currently at Gary Con Charity Auction for Jim Ward.

Currently at Gary Con Charity Auction for Jim Ward. This pic shows Frank Mentzer in action on one of the auctions. #garycon #gcix

David Megarry showing us his original prototype board for Dungeon.

David Megarry showing us his original prototype board for Dungeon. Afterwards we played the game using 1st edition prints of the game. My Wizard lost badly. #garycon #gcix

Just defeated the Minotaur in Caves of Chaos in a quick 5E game.

Just defeated the Minotaur in Caves of Chaos in a quick 5E game. Played a Lvl 1 Half-Orc Paladin pregen. #garycon #gcix

First game of the day.

First game of the day. Orc's Drift, a Chainmail scenario run by Kevin Cabai. My first ever game of Chainmail. #garycon #gcix

Shrinkwrapped 1st print set, previously owned by Brian Blume.

Shrinkwrapped 1st print set, previously owned by Brian Blume. Now part of the collection of William Meinhardt (stratochamp on the Acaeum). He had a table display at tonight's reception at Horticultural Hall, the site of the first Gen Con. #garycon #gcix

The Lake of Unknown Depths...

The Lake of Unknown Depths...
My first view of the actual Lake Geneva. This is right next to the library. Most beautiful setting for a public library I've ever seen #garycon #gcix

Merle Rasmussen with the new Top Secret demo.

Merle Rasmussen with the new Top Secret demo. Merle is very congenial and ran a great new TS scenario for us that he hopes to use as part of module. The mechanics reminded me of Savage Worlds. #garycon #gcix

My first Garycon game was playtesting the new version of Top Secretwith Merle Rasmussen, who designed the original.

My first Garycon game was playtesting the new version of Top Secret with Merle Rasmussen, who designed the original. To start the game, he gave us each a bag of Legos to build a Pre-Egyptian ruin, which he then connected to a central building he had prebuilt. #garycon #gcix

Does anybody know what's the latest on the Maze of Peril reprint?

Just pulled into Lake Geneva, got lost looking for Starbucks, pulledover and realized I was in the same block as...

Just pulled into Lake Geneva, got lost looking for Starbucks, pulled over and realized I was in the same block as the old Gygax house, 330 Center St. This where Castle Greyhawk was first explored. #garycon #gcix

http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2017/03/gary-con-bound.html

http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2017/03/gary-con-bound.html
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2017/03/gary-con-bound.html

Fantastic Gygax photo from 1985 posted to the Gary Con FB group byGabriel Meister.

Fantastic Gygax photo from 1985 posted to the Gary Con FB group by Gabriel Meister. I don't think I've seen this one before. Apparently from a newspaper, I'm waiting for more info from Gabriel. Love the MMII on the desk; "I just wrote the MMII, what have you done lately?"

Scott Mob always likes a good Gygax photo.

I did a quick edit to the Character Sheet draft to make this. : )

I did a quick edit to the Character Sheet draft to make this. : )

Originally shared by Zenopus Archives

Homemade badge for Gary Con. I'll wear this in addition my official badge. #garycon #GCIX

The Twisting Stair: new zine

New zine from Allan Grohe and Anthony Rosten. Debuting at Garycon, will be available from Black Blade Publishing after the con.

Originally shared by Anthony Rosten

Coming soon to an old-school gaming convention near you (if you live near SE Wisconsin, that is!). Myself and Allan Grohe (of Black Blade Publishing and many other fine gaming endeavors) are putting out a gaming newsletter called THE TWISTING STAIR, and I'm handling all the art, cartography and layout. You'll be able to find it at the BBP booth this week at GaryCon, and I'm sure we'll be selling them online soon enough. Below is the nameplate.

Zenopus note: https://grodog.blogspot.com/2017/04/the-twisting-stair-1.html

Today's used bookstore finds: Machine Man #7 (Oct 1978, written/drawnby Kirby), ZORK #3: The Cavern of Doom (1983,...

Today's used bookstore finds: Machine Man #7 (Oct 1978, written/drawn by Kirby), ZORK #3: The Cavern of Doom (1983, an Infocom "What-Do-I-Do-Now Book), and a Disney gazetteer for the "Small World" setting.

FANTASTIC! EXCITING! IMAGINATIVE!

FANTASTIC! EXCITING! IMAGINATIVE!

> > > Print Edition Charity-Raffle < < <

I have three print copies of F.E.I. to give away...

The giveaway is based on your donating at least $5 to charity. But it won’t be based on who can give the most — instead going to three random winners from all possible entries. I’m willing to cover mailing costs to addresses within the U.S., but if winners are located outside the U.S., I’ll ask you to reimburse me for the postage costs.

So it works like this:

• You make a donation to the non-profit charity of your choice. Donations from December 2016 until the end date of this raffle are acceptable. Qualifying entries will be $5 or more (or equivalent).

• Post a photo of the receipt here. You can blank out personal info, credit card numbers, etc. But let’s see your name, which charity, and how much, to insure it meets the minimum.

• After the deadline, I will randomly determine three winners and announce them here.

• Your receipt/entry should be posted before Midnight on April 7th, 2017 (California Time) to qualify.

• I will choose a winner the next day and announce them here. I’ll tally up how many entries there are, and generate some random numbers to arrive at each winner (taking previous winners out of the pool to determine second and third winners).

So let’s get some cash to your favorite food bank, medical cause, or community supporter, and then let’s get some Holmesian gaming going!

Wendy's of all places has a cool line of "Create Your Adventure" playsets for their kids' meals.

Wendy's of all places has a cool line of "Create Your Adventure" playsets for their kids' meals. Hat-tip to Chris H for the link.
http://imgur.com/a/c3LSO

Lizard Rider

http://chrisquilliams.deviantart.com/art/Lizard-Rider-276597086

[Zines] If you missed it, there's a new OSR D&D zine called Fantastic Exciting Imaginative put together by Jon...

[Zines] If you missed it, there's a new OSR D&D zine called Fantastic Exciting Imaginative put together by Jon Wilson. The first issue is available as a free pdf from DTRPG. I write about it at the link below.

http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2017/03/fantastic-exciting-imaginative-zine.html
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2017/03/fantastic-exciting-imaginative-zine.html

I finally had a chance to write about Jon's new zine.

I finally had a chance to write about Jon's new zine. I linked all contributor names to their blogs that I was aware. If your name doesn't have a link (to a blog or elsewhere), just let me know & I will add it.

http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2017/03/fantastic-exciting-imaginative-zine.html
http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2017/03/fantastic-exciting-imaginative-zine.html

Just hit 550 members here!

What should we call an "Appendix N" that's sourced from Dr.

What should we call an "Appendix N" that's sourced from Dr. Holmes? A list that at least hypothetically could have appeared in the Basic Rules... "Appendix N-H"? Or "...Nh"? "Appendix H"? "...H-N"? "Appendix JEH"?

Here's a "D&D" reading list, based on page 46 of Fantasy Role Playing Games:

J.R.R. Tolkien
Fritz Leiber
Robert E. Howard
L. Sprague de Camp
Jack Vance
A. Merritt
Andre Norton
Clark Ashton Smith
Lord Dunsany
Edgar Rice Burroughs
H. Rider Haggard

Recent Newsweek article on Tolkien & the making of the Silmarillion.

Recent Newsweek article on Tolkien & the making of the Silmarillion. Short & fluffy, appears to be extracted from a special Tolkien issue of the mag.

http://www.newsweek.com/road-goes-ever-after-jrr-tolkiens-passing-563534
http://www.newsweek.com/road-goes-ever-after-jrr-tolkiens-passing-563534

Mail call: Fantastic Exciting Imaginative

Originally shared by Shane Ward

Mail call! I added a table to this fine Holmes mag.
Get it here. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/206310/FANTASTIC-EXCITING-IMAGINATIVE-Volume-One?term=Fantastic%21+Excitin&test_epoch=0
Jon Wilson​ thanks!

Just saw Lego Batman. Spoiler below

Just saw Lego Batman. Spoiler below
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Didn't expect the Lord of the Rings content!

It is HERE!

It is HERE!
http://www.rpgnow.com/product/206310/FANTASTIC-EXCITING-IMAGINATIVE-Volume-One

So my guess is that FEI was so awesome, it broke OBS.

So my guess is that FEI was so awesome, it broke OBS... They've been down for "less than an hour's" maintenance since last evening...

Built for Blueholme (and Holmes obviously). Enjoy.

Built for Blueholme (and Holmes obviously). Enjoy.

Originally shared by Shane Ward

Grab "An Invitation From The Blue Baron". Written for Blueholme Rules. Contributing Authors in no particular order are:
Tim Shorts Michael Thomas Olde House Rules matt jackson Thaumiel Nerub James V West Dyson Logos Michael Wenman Goblins Henchman Steve C Mike Evans Venger Satanis

Holmes d6 old & new

Matt Ryan wrote:

Did I ever share my before and after shot? The one on the left was my original, the one on the right is a recent acquisition.