Above are two photos from a "Beneath the Ruined Tower of Zenopus" game that was run at Dragonflight 40 in the Seattle area this past weekend. This is a venerable con, held every year since 1980, the era of Holmes Basic itself. From the event listing for the session:
"50 years ago, the citizens of Portown battered the wizard's tower to rubble. But has an even greater evil arisen? Pirates grow bold, the innocent have vanished, and ghastly screams are heard from the abandoned graveyard near the ruins. An adventure using the original (1977) Dungeons and Dragons basic rules. Pregens provided (or roll your own)."
The shots were taken by Scott M. of the Halls of Tizun Thane blog, who played in the game. Scott reports they used some of my Holmes Ref sheets; I can see the 1-page Character Creation Worksheet. I also see print-outs of Paleologos' Map of Portown.
Scott reports that during the game "[w]e followed a rumor of scratching noises at a ladies' house with her dead husband's loot in the basement" and "[I] sent in my guy Gutboy Barrelhouse (Dwarf) and a Hobbit first. We eventually got to a place where we saw flickering lights (which rats can't make) so we got the rest of the party to follow (hands and knees at first)". After that they "[e]nded up exploring the dungeons most of the session".
That sounds like Portown Rumor #18! It's great to hear about this stuff being used.
Update: BX Blackrazor now has a con report that includes the Holmes game.
Ha! I was in that game (though I’m not pictured). Survivability was surprisingly high for everyone.
ReplyDeleteA lot of fun, and my first experience playing in a Holmes game.
: )
That's great! It's a small oldschool world. : )
DeleteApparently. By the way, where did you get these pix? It looks like Scott’s blog has been inactive since 2015.
DeleteAgreed! Was a good game and fun to run through that classic intro scenario!
Delete@JB: From MeWe, Scott's in the Holmes group, followed us over from G+. He also posts on ODD74 and DF as Scalydemon.
Delete@Vance: Great to hear from another player from the game, particularly one with on old-school D&D blog! I'm adding it to my blogroll.
Deletethanks! and I connected the dots with JB after the fact. His random bx headgear table is de rigueur for character creation
DeleteI would be scared to have so much beer around all my copies of Holmes.
ReplyDeleteI know, that's one reason I made the reference sheets! I give out the spell sheets to MUs & Clerics.
DeleteHey, thanks for the write up and the shout out to Pac NW old school gaming. The organization that puts Dragonflight on Metro Seattle Gamers is also neat. One of a very few true gaming clubhouses in existence in the world. https://metroseattlegamers.org/
ReplyDeleteThanks for the photos & notes, and thanks for stopping by. Looks a fun & storied gamers' club!
DeleteThanks for the expanded rumor tables — they are a great spur to the imagination. Yes, it was Portown rumor 18 that led the party to the rat tunnels in the widow Dannick’s cellar.
ReplyDeleteAnd your Character Creation Sheets are outstanding. Super helpful when you have more players than rulebooks. Thanks!
Thanks for stopping by, and glad the sheets were useful!
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