J. Eric Holmes Yearbook Entry

This is John Eric Holmes' yearbook entry from his senior year of high school, from the 1947 issue of The Oahuan, a publication of the Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii --- the same school Barack Obama would graduate from several decades later, in 1979.

The bio is neat as it attests to his long interest in the pulps and writing --- "Eric keeps busy trying to crash the pulp market" and is "planning to make writing a career". It also suggests he will study chemistry in college, although he ended graduating from Stanford in 1951 with a degree in psychology.

Posted with permission of Chris and Tristan Holmes.

I've added this to the J. Eric Holmes Photo Gallery

The J. Eric Holmes Photo Gallery

Photo from the back cover of the U.S. Printing of
Holmes' 1981 book Fantasy Role-Playing Games

Announcing: The J. Eric Holmes Photo Gallery

This is a collection of annotated photos from various publications. I've had it up for a while on the Sites page, slowly adding photos, but hadn't posted anything about it here. Currently there are nine photos, with a few more to come.

Check it out!

Lizardmen PCs for Holmes Basic

Illustration by Greg Bell from Greyhawk (1975)

     Lizardmen --- are swamp-dwelling saurianoids about seven feet in height when fully grown. Members of the more advanced hut-dwelling tribes can speak a hissing version of Common in addition to their own tongue, and occasionally seek out employment as muscle in more civilized areas. They progress as members of the fighting class, but due to their size and strength gain a bonus hit point at first level and attack on the Monster Table for 1 to 8 points of damage when employing a weapon. Claws and teeth also allow them to attack for 1 to 6 points of damage without weaponry. Their scaly hide affords protection equivalent to chainmail (armor class 5) but due to their affinity for swimming they shun metal armor of any type other than a shield. They move at twice normal rate in water.


Notes
---Adapted from comments I first left to a post in the Holmes G+ group, with some changes on further reflection.

---Holmes has lizardman guards in two Boinger & Zereth stories, The Sorceror's Jewel and In the Bag. One speaks with a hiss and the other wields a halberd (much like the image above). Holmes uses the term "saurianoid" in In the Bag, and "saurian" in the other story.

---The height of seven feet, and the concept of more advanced hut-dwelling tribes, comes from the Monster Manual.

---The stat details comes from the Holmes Basic entry: AC 5, HD 2+1, AT 1, D 1-8 with spear or club. The bonus hit point at first level leads to a total HD of 2+1 at second level, meaning a 2nd level lizardman fighter here is equivalent to the monster version.

---Compared to a first level human fighter they get +1 HP and +1 damage, but with a loss of 2 points of AC (no plate mail). If using variable damage for weapons, you can give them a +1 to damage or step the dice up one notch (d8 to d10, etc). Using the Monster Table (which varies slightly between OD&D and different printings of Holmes) for attacks means a lizardman fighter will generally attack better than a human fighter of equivalent level, but their AC will remain much worse without magic armor (e.g., no plate mail +2). In addition to shunning metal armor, magic armor would generally not be available that fits their size and proportions.