Gary Con 2025: Day 2 - BECMI D&D, OD&D and AD&D all in one day

Dungeon Map for the Eye of Arzaz adventure by J. Eric Holmes,
from his 1981 book. Photo by J. B. (mondotikiman)

It's just about one week until Gary Con 2026 starts, which means it's a great time to try to finish up my con report from last year. : )

This post covers Friday, March 21, 2025, my second full day at the con, where in a single day I played in or ran D&D games from three different eras: BECMI D&D, OD&D and AD&D.

The previous days can be found here: Day 0 (Wed) - Day 1 (Thur)

AC7 Master Player Screen with the The Spindle of Heaven mini-adventure.
Photo from the AC series page at Wayne's Books.

(1) My first game on Friday was nothing less than the start of a quest for Immortality in a very high level D&D adventure, 

The Spindle of Heaven (1985), run by Demos Sahlas of the OSR Grimoire blog. I try to play in one of his games every year. In addition to being a great GM, his picks are overlooked gems from the past, often Mystara/D&D or Judges Guild modules, which means that I get to play through adventures that I've known about for decades but never thought I would get a chance to experience.

This TSR "mini-adventure" (8-pages), which was written by Bruce Nesmith for Master-level BECMI D&D, came bundled with the AC7 Master Player Screen, and finds the PCs taking their first steps on a path towards BECMI Immortal-level play. One reason Demos chose this is because it was the 40th anniversary of its release.

As Demos explains here, he used the pre-gens from another Master-level adventure, M2 Vengeance of Alphaks by Skip Williams. I was Trent the White, a 30th Level Paladin (112 Hit Points!), who I believe is the highest level character that I have ever played. (For those unfamiliar with high level BECMI D&D, Lawful Fighters can opt to become Paladins once they reach 9th Level). The party successfully navigated the adventure, and if this was a campaign, would then continue on further adventures to attempt achieve Immortality, at which point their characters would be transferred over to the Immortals Rules boxed set.

Convention event listing description:

"The Spindle of Heaven is reborn." An epic quest for the secret of immortality, the endgame of the BECMI boxed sets, using the D&D Master Set rules. Here's your chance to play a character of 28th-30th levels. Do you have what it takes to confront the elemental powers guarding the path to immortality?"

Photos:

Demos running the Spindle of Heaven

Trent the Paladin

(2) As with the day before, the afternoon was when I ran a game. This time it was The Eye of Arzaz, the *other* sample dungeon written by J. Eric Holmes, which appears in his 1981 book, Fantasy Role-Playing Games. While in the book it is part of a chapter that includes its own simple d6-based FRPG, I decided to run the game using OD&D rules, which let me use my Boinger & Zereth & friends pre-gens that I previously created for my In Search of the Brazen Head of Zenopus con game. 

I made a few modifications to the Arzaz adventure as written by Holmes to fill it out a bit, including adding an encounter from an Example of Play in the opening chapter of his book. There was lots of creative play and the party was successful in retrieving the legendary Eye. 

Thanks to all of my players in this game, four of whom were returning from previous games of mine: Lee (Sunna), Gary (Sir Geoffrey), Joel (Zereth), Steven (Bardan), J. B. (Maximilian), Jarrett (Murray) and Paul (Brother Ambrose). 

Convention event listing description:

"Delve into a classic dungeon filled with monsters, traps and magic in search of the legendary jewel, The Eye of Arzaz. J. Eric Holmes, the editor of the original D&D Basic Set, wrote this introductory dungeon for his 1981 book Fantasy Role-Playing Games, and it will be run using OD&D rules."

Photos:

Attention wanders as I draw part of the map... Photo by J. B. (mondotikiman)

Partial dungeon map. To speed things along for time-limited con games
I usually draw the map on a giant sheet of graph paper. Photo by J.B.

Detail of the pre-gen Maximillian the Centaur taken by his player, J.B.

Table photo by player Gary Welsh. I'm behind two players on the right.
Also captured in this photo is game behind us being including T
om Morello, Joe Mangiello and D.B. Weiss as players!

(3) In the evening, I once again played in the annual Friday night Legends of Role-Playing Tourney organized by Paul Stormberg. This time the scenario was the Dungeons of the Ghost Tower, a sequel to the TSR module C1 Ghost Tower of Inverness, written by former TSR employee Allen Hammack. Our GM turned out to be none other than Harold Johnson, also a former TSR employee, and co-author of the AD&D modules C1 Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan and A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade.

As is standard for these tournaments, the pre-gens are provided on replicas of 1979 AD&D 1E characters sheets, and with character portraits by TSR artists, here Erol Otus. I ran Delkus, a 7th level M-U, whose name was apparently drawn from a brief mention in the AD&D module I9 The Day of Al'Akbar, also by Hammack.

Character sheet signed by GM Harold Johnson

I've played in this tournament several times before with low- to mid-levels of success, but have enjoyed teaming up with several regulars each year. Thanks to Harold for running the game, and returning team members Matthew, Demos, Steve and Vince for making the session fun.

Convention event listing:

"The 7th Annual Gary Con, Legends of Roleplaying Tournament! A single-round, open tournament inspired by legendary tournaments of the past. Gary Con's most popular gaming event with over 140 participants each year, making it the largest old-school D&D tournament in the world! The top scoring team receives free Silver Badges to next year's Gary Con and is crowned Legends of Roleplaying Champion!"

 

Handout from the game, Player Aid #1: Introduction

Also in this series:

Gary Con 2025: Day 0

Gary Con 2025: Day 1

Previous Gary Con convention summaries:

Gary Con 2023 (unfinished): Day 0

Gary Con 2022: Day 1 --- Day 2 --- Days 3 and 4

Gary Con 2019 (unfinished): Day 1 --- Day 2 (part 1)

The Tower Card

"The Tower" card from the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck

The recent miniseries Agatha All Along features the famous Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck, originally published by Rider in 1908, with sublime illustrations by Pamela Colman Smith and instructions by poet-mystic A. E. Waite, both members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a secret society devoted to occultism.

Pamela Colman Smith

A pivotal scene in one episode of the series employs the Major Arcana card The Tower (pictured above), which per Waite's instructions in the Pictoral Key to the Tarot represents: 

"Misery, distress, indigence, adversity, calamity, disgrace, deception, ruin. It is a card in particular of unforeseen catastrophe. Reversed: Negligence, absence, distribution, carelessness, distraction, apathy, nullity, vanity"

Note the emphasis on "unforeseen catastrophe", which is illustrated on the card by the lightning strike that knocks the crown and "wizards" from the tower and sets it afire. Per the Wikipedia page, Smith's design for this card is drawn from the card in the Tarot of Marseilles, which in turn had merged earlier concepts.

Rider-Waite-Smith cards at the Whitney

I've been a fan of Smith's illustrations since seeing the Rider deck on display in an exhibit of modernist art at the Whitney in NYC, where the Tower card jumped out at me, obviously, given my interest in the Tower of Zenopus. Seeing it again in the Agatha show reminded me of how well it resonates with the backstory of Holmes' sample dungeon, where the wizard and his tower are destroyed by unknown forces and a consuming fire, although here from beneath rather than above:

"Fifty years ago, on a cold wintry night, the wizard's tower was suddenly engulfed in green flame. Several of his human servants escaped the holocaust, saying their master had been destroyed by some powerful force he had unleashed in the depths of the tower"

I'm not suggesting that the Tower Card had any particular influence on Holmes' story, only that it has a similar theme, which also recalls ancient legends like the Tower of Babel or Zeus smiting the legendary doctor Asclepius with a bolt-from-the-blue for advancing his medical knowledge so far that he brought the dead back to life.

Holmes was a doctor and a scientist, but being a life-long fan of pulp and weird fiction, would have been familiar with the occultism as practiced around the turn of the 20th century. For example, he was a member of the Machen Society, devoted to the author Arthur Machen, who was friends with A. E. Waite and even briefly joined the Golden Dawn. In writing his own fantasy, Holmes occasionally employed the trappings of the occult. One Boinger and Zereth story, The Sorcerer's Jewel, features a medium, Misteera, who conducts seances, and another, In the Bag, even has the wizard Murray employ a tarot deck, albeit for solitaire rather than fortune telling; Boinger suggests that he "Play the knave on the Queen of Cups". 

However, in crafting the tale of Zenopus, Holmes was more likely directly inspired by the various doomed wizards in the Weird Fiction. In the Holmes Manuscript series, part 46, I went through the introduction to the Sample Dungeon and examined where Holmes may have taken inspiration from the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith and Robert E. Howard.

FIGHT ON fanzine returns with an issue dedicated to J. Eric Holmes!

 

The long dormant OSR zine Fight On! has returned from the crypt with a new issue, #15, dedicated to none other than J. Eric Holmes...! 

Find it on DrivethruRPG (currently PDF only; print is coming) or on Lulu (print or PDF).

For this issue I contributed an article, titled "Ten Ways to Holmesify Your Game", which goes over ten different rules or themes you can use to make your D&D game more "Holmesian". It is accompanied by an illustration by Cameron Hawkey of adventurers tangling with a purple worm.

Other Holmesian content in this issue includes:

• "Holmes Town Heroes" by Tony Rowe (with whom I co-authored an chapter about Holmes in the recent book Fifty Years of D&D), which provides D&D character write-ups for Boinger, Zereth and Murray the Mage from Holmes' stories.

• "Bringing it All Back Holmes": Holmes Basic origin stories from Aron Clark (author of the Holmes & Clark RPG), Grodog and Calithena.

• "Distributary of Darkness" by Alex Zisch expands an area of the Sample Dungeon.

• Two original dungeon maps by J. Eric Holmes that relate to the Maze of Peril (these can also be found in Things Better Left Alone).

• A page of art by Chris Holmes

Plus loads of other content, including a continuation of the long-running Darkness Beneath megadungeon!

All of the Back issues of Fight On are also available, either individually or in compilations (see the links above).

Pacesetter Games: Islands of Peril

Cover of the standard edition

Islands of Peril is the latest adventure from Pacesetter Games written by Bill Barsh based on the 1970s maps and notes of J. Eric Holmes (with permission from the Holmes estate).  This follows last year's Things Better Left Alone dungeon adventure; read my post about that one here. I contributed a Foreword to this one, where I give an overview of the original maps that it is based on. Note that this one is a sandbox wilderness, and is the first of a two-part series of island-based adventures.

The adventure was released last weekend at North Texas RPG Con, where Chris Holmes is a regular attendee. To quote Pacesetter's announcement: 

"This year we bring you Islands of Peril: Book One. This massive island (wilderness) adventure includes five fully-detailed islands within Holmes' home campaign. Designed for Classic D&D using character levels 1-4, there are numerous sandbox style adventure locales on each of the islands. PCs can explore the Crying Cyclops Isle, Shadow Island, Isle of the Creeping Doom, Barrow Island, and Isle of Ash. Each features unique adventures and encounters within this first installment featuring the maps and notes from Dr. Holmes, the father of Basic Dungeons & Dragons.

We have three versions to choose from; softcover, hardcover, and special edition hardcover. In case you missed Things Better Left Alone last year, we have brought it back into print (it sold out last year at NTX). Available in both softcover and brand new hardcover edition.

Lastly, but most importantly, Chris Holmes, the son of Dr. Holmes, is attending the convention. Find him at the con or at our booth and have him sign your copy! Not only did he provide us with the original hand-drawn maps (included in each book), he contributed his artistic talents to the illustrations in each book.

If you cannot make it to the convention, look for the books at pacesettergames.com."

Find three different hardcopy versions of Islands of Peril, as well the PDF version, here on the Pacesetter games website:

Pacesetter Games: Islands of Peril

The Maze of Peril: Auction of Gygax's Manuscript Copy

Typescript draft for the Maze of Peril, along with a reply letter from Gygax

In the most recent round of auctions from the estate of Gary Gygax, I was pleasantly surprised to see an auction for a typed manuscript of Holmes' D&D novel The Maze of Peril, originally published in November 1986 by the venerable independent publisher Space & Time, which was founded by author Gordon Linzner in the 1960s.

In addition to the typescript itself, the auction included the mailing envelope from the publisher; a cover letter from the publisher; a copy of a reply letter from Gygax; and a copy of an introduction to the book written by Gygax. This last is the most surprising of all, as the published novel includes Gygax in the dedication ("To Gygax who invented the game") but does not include any sort of introduction, by Gygax or other author.

Together we can gather that the publisher sent the completed typescript to Gygax in March 1986 and requested an introduction to the book, which Gygax wrote and mailed back to the publisher soon after, but for unknown reasons this introduction was not included in the book when it was published in November of that year.

Looking in more detail at each item:

---Of typescript itself, the photos show the cover page, with the title of the book and author's name appearing as on the title page of published book, and with a Shiprock, New Mexico address. Shiprock is part of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico, and according to the author bio accompanying Holmes' short story Martian Twilight (1991, Running Dinosaur Press), he and his wife (also a doctor) lived there for four years while they "worked for the Indian Health Service Hospitals". See this post for a letter to Space Gamer magazine that Holmes wrote during this time period.

The above photo shows a portion of one page of the text of the book, which is part of Chapter 1 (page 10 as published), and matches the text as published.

---The mailing envelope from Space and Time has a return address of 138 West 70th St, 4B in New York City, which is the same address from which I myself ordered a copy of Maze of Peril about 20 years ago. It addressed to Gygax at a PO Box 388 in Lake Geneva. Gygax had been ousted from TSR a little over 6 months previously. For more on this topic, see the article the Ambush at Sherdian Springs by Jon Peterson, or his book Game Wizards.

Written on the cover of the mailing envelope from Space & Time are the following handwritten notes in pencil: "Copy letter + 5 pp of intro. Origs. to Jani Anderson. File remainder under Holmes, J. Eric". Thus, it appears Gygax stored all of these papers in this envelope.

---The letter from Space & Time is mostly obscured in the photos, but it can be seen that it is dated March 15th, 1986.

---Gygax's return letter is dated March 21st, 1986, and uses a different address, "832 Geneva Street", the history of which is described on the Gygax Memorial Page. The letter is addressed to Jani Anderson, who was an editor at Space & Time.

This letter is visible in full, and the body reads:

Thanks for the note and copy of Eric's manuscript for the captioned. Naturally, I didn't read it for editorial work but for refreshing my memory. I believe the least time I saw it was about two years ago.

After I wrote the four numbered pages, I thought the whole was a bit too dry, so I added the "insert" paragraph. I envision that becoming the leading portion of the whole.

Having had a couple of books published, I am quite used to the indignities of editorial work. Feel free to do as you wish with the words. The presentation of the Registered Trade Marks of TSR, Inc. is, I believe, legally correct. Do be careful about that. I suggest you consult with a lawyer about usages beyond what I have written. Certainly, I can freely be shown as co-creator of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game, or creator of ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game. Cover usage might require some acknolwedgement of ownership of the mark(s).

Please feel free to contact me if I may be of any further assistance.

This suggests Gygax previously saw a copy of the draft around 1984, when he was still at TSR. Holmes was working on the book as early as 1979, as it is mentioned by title in an L.A. Times newspaper article from that year, "Fantasy Life in a Game Without End".

One possibility is that concern over trademark usage kept the publisher from using Gygax's introduction, although I note that the book as published uses the D&D trademark on the back cover, and in Holmes' author bio. Another possibility is Gygax's legal tussle with TSR, which was still ongoing in the first half of 1986, per Jon Peterson's article cited above.

Efforts are currently underway to contact Space & Time to see if they have any records or memories as to why Gygax's introduction was not used.

Copies of the original printing of Maze of Peril are still available from Space & Time via Amazon. Find the link in the sidebar to this blog or by clicking here:

Maze of Peril original 1986 printing

See also:

Tales of Peril Book Club

Things Better Left Alone is a limited time release

Per an announcement by Pacesetter Games on FB, the recently released Things Better Left Alone will only be available for a short time longer:

"This is the last chance to secure your copy of Things Better Left Alone! If you would like to secure your piece of D&D history, click the button below! If you are out of the loop, continue reading to learn more!

In conjunction with the Dr. John Eric Holmes estate, Pacesetter has produced a massive, 76-page adventure module based on Holmes' home campaign adventure from the mid-1970s. This dungeon was also featured in The Maze of Peril novel by Holmes. We were provided with his original hand-drawn maps and notes to create this amazing adventure. It truly is a window into the early days of Dungeons & Dragons. 

Dr. Holmes is the author of the first Dungeons & Dragons basic set; the first mass-marketed version of D&D. We used those rules (which include rules for 1st to 3rd level characters) to create a new set of rule books that allow play through 10th level. These rules are not required to play the adventure module (which is set for 4th-6th level characters), but are available as well. The adventure module is compatible with any classic version of D&D (BX D&D, BECMI, AD&D). But if you would like to play using original the Holmes system, we have the books.

The Physical + PDF version costs $30, and the PDF only is $20! We will be closing off sales in the next day or so. As of now, there are no plans to reprint this adventure. However, due to the great success we have had, we are in talks with the Holmes estate on where to go next 🙂 Perhaps an expansion? Time will tell!"

 

See my previous post for more info on this release. 

Order it here from Pacesetter Games:

Things Better Left Alone from Pacesetter Games

Pacesetter Games: Things Better Left Alone

 

Things Better Left Alone. Cover at by Wonkee.

Things Better Left Alone is an adventure written by Bill Barsh and published by his company, Pacesetter Games, based on four original dungeon maps drawn by J. Eric Holmes, as well as the associated keys, which are mostly written directly on the maps but also include one additional page of notes.

These maps include the areas which Holmes drew on for his novel The Maze of Peril. I wrote about the correspondence between the story and these maps back in my Tales of Peril Book Club (sadly unfinished); specifically, see Scene 6 and Scene 7. If you'd like a copy of The Maze of Peril to read along with the adventure, the publisher is still selling copies from the original print run on Amazon.

This adventure was authorized by the Holmes family and includes art by Chris Holmes and Wonkee, as well as scans of the original maps and notes on which it is based, as well as modern renderings of the maps.

The adventure went on sale today in conjunction with the North Texas RPG Con. Print copies can be purchased directly from their booth at the con, but are also available on the Pacesetter games website, where there are two options: Print + PDF plus PDF alone. The PDF can be downloaded directly after purchasing. Find it here on DriveThruRPG:

Things Better Left Alone in Print or PDF

Chris Holmes on the This Ol' Dungeon Podcast

 

While I was at Philmont, Chris Holmes alerted me that he would be appearing on an upcoming episode of the This Ol' Dungeon Podcast. The episode, number 22, is out now and can be found here:

Episode 22: Chris Holmes and the Tower of Zenopus

Here is the teaser for the episode: 

"This episode we are joined by Chris Holmes: artist, writer, hobby game designer, and all-around renaissance man.  Chris recounts his father's, John Eric Holmes, creation of the original D&D basic boxset as well as telling us about his own "made for the con" game designs-that he does as a way to express his interests and creativity.  He tells about an up-coming re-release of his father's Pellucidar books and hangs with us for the This Ol' Dungeon segment where we revisit "The Tower of Zenopus" - also known as the sample dungeon from the Holmes D&D boxset.  So, hang with us for another great episode!"

I've listened to it and enjoyed hearing Chris relate a few anecdotes about his father that I hadn't heard before as well an extensive critique of the Zenopus dungeon.

Links to other podcasts that Chris has appeared on previously can be found on the Podcasts page on the Zenopus Archives site.

Dragon #46 retrospective on Enworld

Dragon Reflections, by M.T. Black, is a regular column on Enworld that offers retrospectives of Dragon magazine in chronological order. This week they've reached issue #46, which among other content includes Holmes' second published Boinger and Zereth story, "The Sorcerer's Jewel":

Dragon Reflections #46

Black covers the entire magazine, so doesn't say too much about Holmes' story, just that it is "pretty typical D&D-inspired fiction", but the first commenter offers this gem:

I would point the reader to Tales of Peril: The Complete Boinger and Zereth Stories of John Eric Holmes by Black Blade Publishing. Over the span of months, me and my D&D group read the entire collection out-loud together, on nights we weren't up for playing TTRPGs. More than "typical", I say the stories are "archetypal." It was so interesting to see how one of the authors of BD&D interpreted and portrayed how the class and race traits work in a story. The stories are zany and fun. We laughed out loud many a time. I recommend the book. (And I'm not sure, but I believe they're all autographed and numbered too.)

I followed up on this to comment that the Black Blade ordering page:

"hasn't been updated, but from communication with Allan and John (the folks behind Black Blade), I've heard that the first printing of Tales of Peril has sold out, and they are planning a reprint. If anyone who reads this is interested in a copy, if you email them at the address on that page they will add you to a list for notification when it has been reprinted."

I also commented that:

"One interesting bit in Holmes' story is a reference to "under Witch's Hill, where the old Suloise city is supposed to be buried". I believe this is only reference to specific setting material from the World of Greyhawk in the Boinger and Zereth stories. Given that the World of Greyhawk folio, which as noted above was also reviewed in this issue, mentions "A lost, ruined city of the Old Suloise is said to be hidden somewhere in the Suss forest" (page 26), and the Sea of Dust has buried Suel cities (also page 26), this suggests that Holmes had a copy of the new WoG folio, or at least had heard about the material from Gygax."

"The Sorcerer's Jewel" versus "The Sorceror's Jewel"

The title of contents spell the title of the story as "The Sorcerer's Jewel", but Kim Mohan's editorial on the same page, and the formal title above Jim Roslof's art on page 8 spell it "The Sorceror's Jewel": 

However, given that "sorceror" is a fairly common misspelling, and that the word is correctly spelled "sorcerer" throughout the actual story, I'd suggest "The Sorcerer's Jewel" as the correct spelling. Tales of Peril (2017) titles it as "The Sorcerer's Jewel", except where it reproduces the title as part of Jim Roslof's art. 

Furthermore, this wasn't even the original title of story; a few years back I briefly saw a typed manuscript for this story that was instead titled "The Apprentice Treasure Hunter", which appears to reference the character of Tarkan, pictured above between Boinger and Zereth. It's unclear whether Holmes was asked to change the title, or whether Dragon simply changed it themselves. Along these lines, it's also possible the use of Suloise (see above) was also an editorial change or suggestion.

Interestingly, "The Sorcerer's Jewel" is also the title of 1939 story by Robert Bloch. I've read this and it doesn't seem related in any way to Holmes' story.

Holmes Day 2021

Today marks the 91st anniversary of the birth of J. Eric Holmes in 1930. Above is a picture that Chris Holmes sent me a while back for the J. Eric Holmes Photo Gallery, which I will be adding to it shortly. Chris doesn't have a specific date but thinks it is from the late '50s or early '60s.

Some "Holmesian Highlights" of the past year for me, in roughly chronological order:

On Leap Day, just before the pandemic hit, helping the Scrum Club put on its second Scrum Con, including running a session In Search of the Brazen Head of Zenopus. A bit of new news: Scrum Con may return later this year in virtual form!

Being a guest on the Wandering DMs Chat show on YT, talking about the original Sample Dungeon and my 5E conversion.

Releasing three new reference sheets for Holmes Ref, including an Equipment Sheet, "Rolling Up An Adventurer" and a Dungeoneering Reference Sheet.

Chris Holmes being a guest on the Appendix N podcast and being interviewed by the newly resurgent Grognardia.

In the summer, running an all too brief series of D&D games for my kids, exploring B1. To be continued?

The publisher of The Maze of Peril starting to sell copies from the original 1986 printing on Amazon, making it much easier to obtain a copy.

Reviewing Sunny Rolls the Dice by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (no relation to J. Eric Holmes), the most recent installment in a coming-of-age series of graphic novels, and one that prominently features D&D and Holmes Basic.

Discovering that an audio recording of "Frontiers in Brain Research", a lecture that Holmes gave at Worldcon 36 in 1978 (aka IguanaCon) was available for download on the internet. This is a real treat if you missed it at the time!

Watching the success of The Ruined Tower of Zenopus, my first "commercial" project, on DMs Guild over the year, as it earned a Platinum badge. A big thank you to everyone who took the time to review it! 

"Octopus Attack" by Chris Holmes for The Ruined Tower of Zenopus

Updating the RTOZ adventure twice during the year, first to add a map file for Roll20/VTT (essential during the pandemic), and then to add a printer-friendly map, and best of all, a commissioned illustration by Chris Holmes.

Being interviewed by Bart Carroll for the D&D Classics Column in issue #32 of Dragon+, the on-line successor to Dragon Magazine!

The Lurker in the Grotto by Lore Suto

Trying something new on the blog: writing an adventure, The Forgotten Smugglers' Cave, in installments, area-by-area. I've been lucky to have a talented artist, Lore Suto, volunteer to provide art for the series. This is still in the progress, with Area #7 being posted last week, and the next one coming soon!

Please leave comments below on anything of interest from the past year or that you are looking forward to: Holmesian games you've run or played in, or are planning to; stories of starting D&D with Holmes Basic; etc

See also: Holmes Day 2020

Note:

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Holmes for the Holidays 2020

Back for the pandemic, it's "Holmes for the Holidays"!

For this year, I've got an extra copy of Dragon #58 (February 1982), which features the Boinger and Zereth story, "In the Bag". The condition isn't the best: while the front cover looks like fine (see above), the back cover has a tear 2/3rds of the way across (it could be taped pretty easily), and the "Spellminders" counters from the center of the magazine are missing. Buy hey, it's free!

"In the Bag" was the last of Holmes' three Boinger and Zereth stories to appear in Dragon, and also the last of his writing of any kind for the magazine. Chronologically, it is set after "The Sorcerer's Jewel", as Boinger mentions that adventure, which had appeared one year earlier in Dragon #46 (February 1981). Murray and Olaf from The Maze of Peril also return in this story, and there are also references to Amazons and Dagon from that story (which at the time of this story, had been written but not yet been published).

The story is delightfully illustrated throughout by Donna Barr, an artist I'm not otherwise familiar with, but per wikipedia she illustrated other RPG products and comics books. While the Tales of Peril compilation includes "In the Bag", it does not include Barr's illustrations, which means this issue retains some draw for the Holmes collector.

The cover of Dragon #58 is by Clyde Caldwell - his second for the magazine - and features a castle with a skull-shaped gate reminiscent of Skull Mountain or Castle Greyskull (although Caldwell's painting is dated 1981 and it says here that the first He-Man toys were released in 1982). And to me, the lizard-riding, spear-wielding dwarf also recalls the lizard rider image featured at the top of this blog. 

The issue also include an article by the late Lenard Lakofka, "Beefing up the cleric", that details a bunch of new "official" cleric spells, which were later compiled in Unearthed Arcana. The article is introduced by Gary Gygax, who writes "All readers should be aware that Len Lakofka has been of considerable aid and assistance in formulating the whole of the AD&D game system".

* * * * *

For the give-away I will use the same system as before: 

If interested, leave a comment in reply to this post within the next two days, before automated moderation kicks in on this post. After two days, I will treat the list of comments as a table and roll randomly for the winner, using dice from a Holmes Basic set.

I'll cover postage (media mail) for any U.S. address. I can ship to other countries but I ask that you cover the difference (any amount over $4) in shipping by PayPal; so if you are overseas please only participate if you have a PayPal account and willing to chip in the extra. I'll estimate the exact shipping by weight and refund the difference if I overcharge.

Please note that due to the date I'm starting this that I probably won't get it in the mail until after Christmas.

* * * * * 

12/29 Update, including the Results:

I recruited two dice elves to make the rolls. There were less than 20 comments, so we used a Holmes white 20-sided die (numbered 0-9 twice) and an orange 6-sided die as the control die (1-3 = 1-10, 4-6 = 11-20).

After warming up the dice, we made the official roll...

...which indicates that number 7 is the winner! (the control die being a "1" means that it's "7" instead of 17). That's The Great Khan! 

Thanks to all who commented, and hopefully 2021 will be a better year for all.

The Maze of Peril video review by captcorajus

The Maze of Peril (1986), cover art by Dan Day

Space and Time Books continues to restock copies of the original 1986 printing of The Maze of Peril in their Amazon store, as I previously reported. 

Click here or on the cover image in the right side bar to get a copy 

(the link includes my Amazon affiliate number)

Over on Youtube, captcorajus has a new video review of the book, titled "OSR Musings: Maze of Peril". captcorajus is a Holmes fan; I've featured two of his RPG Retro Reviews before, one of the Holmes Basic Set as a whole and the other of the Tower of Zenopus Dungeon. And this past February (just before coronavirus shut everything down), I had the pleasure of meeting and having him play Bardan the Dwarf in my game at Scrum Con!

I will note as a warning that if you haven't read the book yet, this review does include a significant number of spoilers regarding the plot.

OSR Musings: Maze of Peril

Stepping away from game and module reviews this week, I take a look at the Dungeons & Dragons inspired adventure by the author of the D&D Basic Set, John Eri...

Original Printing of The Maze of Peril on Amazon

The cover of The Maze of Peril (1986)

The Maze of Peril, J. Eric Holmes' 1986 fantasy novel, can now be ordered via Amazon from the original publisher, Space & Time Books. Follow this link to find it: 

The Maze of Peril (1986) on Amazon

For the uninitiated, this novel details the meeting of Boinger the Halfling and Zereth the Elf and their first grand adventure. The two characters had previously appeared in three short stories in Dragon magazine, and before that in several campaign stories in the Alarums & Excursions D&D APAzine. The adventures in the Maze of Peril are based on some of the characters and events from the original D&D campaign that Holmes ran for his sons and their friends in the mid-1970s. Here's the Amazon product teaser, which is straight from the back cover and highlights the OD&D megadungeon influence on the setting:

What race or races built the maze, no one knew. In the opinion of the sages of Caladan, many layers of dungeons and underworld were laid down, one atop the other, as the world crust was formed, so that now no one knew or even guessed how many levels extended below the surface. Corridors of wealth, they were also tunnels of deadly peril, for many of the rash adventurers and soldiers of fortune who set forth for the secret entrances were never heard from again. To those with the courage and ability to survive the challenges, however, the maze had always paid equal tribute with its fabulous mysteries and treasures from countless civilizations.

Now the Dagonites--creatures part human, part frog--seek to keep these riches for themselves and extend their domain to the surface. It falls to Boinger the halfling and his companions, in the midst of their quest for personal glory and wealth, to discover the Dagonite stronghold, challenge their warriors and wizards, rescue a kidnapped friend, preserve the waterways of Amazonia, and...perhaps...save the world!

This new retail outlet was brought to my attention via a thread on Dragonsfoot, and a commenter there that purchased the book confirmed with photos that this is remaining stock from the original 1986 printing. Tavis of the Mule Abides reported back in 2008 that 1,000 copies were originally printed and about half had been sold at the time.

This is much more convenient than the previous method of ordering directly from the publisher; when I ordered it more than twenty years ago I had to send in a check to the address listed on their website. 

As of February 2024, the book is still in stock at Amazon, with a cost of $17.95, which is $11 more than the original cover price of $6.95. 

The novel was later compiled in Tales of Peril by Black Blade Publishing, along with the short stories and other writings of J. Eric Holmes, although that is now out of print, with a second edition still in planning stages.

Despite the reprint, I  have a fondness for the original printing. Reading this book kickstarted my interest in the work of Holmes which eventually led to this blog. 

The original printing is zine-sized, with shiny cardstock covers and 147 pages plus endpapers. It has a few features not found in the reprint, including the pastel blue cover art by Dan Day (echoing the Holmes Basic rulebook color?) and a frontispiece illustration by Gregario Montejo. There are two excerpts from the story before the frontispiece, and another on the back cover (which you can see in the Dragonsfoot thread linked above). There is also an author bio for Holmes along with each of the artists.

Several reviews of the book:

Dragonsfoot review (2006) - by myself, points out the many similarities with Holmes Basic

OD&D Discussion thread (2008)

Grognardia Pulp Fantasy Library review (2010)

Carjacked Seraphim review (2010)
Delta's D&D Hotspot review (2011)

And a few years ago I began a Tales of Peril Book Club and made it through most of the first chapter of the Maze of Peril (warning, spoilers abound). I hope to return to this series eventually.