Tower of Xenopus: Mazes & Minotaurs RPG adaptation by Tony Stroppa

In the comments to "Zenopus Built a Tower", Part 46 of the Holmes Manuscript series on this blog, reader Tony Stroppa wrote in about his adaptation of Holmes' Tower of Zenopus dungeon for the Mazes & Minotaurs RPG, a reimagining of OD&D as if it was inspired only by Greek mythology, and which can be found for free on DriveThruRPG. With Tony's permission, I'm sharing his comments here:

"I am running a game of "Mazes & Minotaurs", which is Mythic Greek inspired OSR game (instead of based on Tolkien and the Middle Ages). The setting is "Kriti" (Crete) during a quasi-mythical version of the Late Bronze Age. As an homage (plus, I am lazy) I repurposed and repackaged "The Tower of Zenopus" to be more Greek-sounding as "The Tower of Xenopus", and tied it into the myth of the Labyrinth of the Minotaur. The stone tower was a fortification built by a Mycenaean warlord, Xenopus ("Strange Foot") which is still standing. It is built on top of the earlier ruins of a Minoan temple on a mountaintop (a "peak sanctuary") in central Crete. Like many Minoan peak sanctuaries it was also a sacred burial cave, which dovetails nicely with parts of the original "Tower of Zenopus". The tunnels of the "dungeon" would have been carved out of the soft limestone rock common to Crete and filled with bones. (Minoans practiced primary and secondary burial, where remains would first be stripped of flesh, then re-interred en masse in ossuaries like jars, small caskets, etc. with several sets of remains in one container). Floors are limestone, all walls have extensive Minoan murals (dolphins, bulls, female goddess figures of Rhea/Cybele, etc.). Most doors have been removed to fit the archaic burial cave theme. Also, metal for hinges was scarce in the Late Bronze Age.

To adapt the map I flipped it over left-to-right but left it mostly unchanged. Above the initial entry stairs was a Mycenaean square stone tower fortification typical of the period (a ground floor and a roof accessed by a stairs). As the underground complex is on a mountain the underground river is the same. But the tunnel to the ocean is now instead a mystical passage to the Underworld. The pirates inside it are all changed to be "Telkines", mythical Greek "fish-children" (aka "Sons of Dagon" or off-brand Deep Ones). The goblins are changed to "Kobaloi". ("Kobalos" is linguistically related to "Kobold", which is itself linguistically related to "Goblin".) The ghouls become "Vrykolakes", a sorta-similar undead cannibal of Greek folklore. Giant rats and the Giant Spider are the same. Room S still has stairs up, these lead to another burial cave. The sorcerer inside is changed to be a Telkine water Elementalist with a Telkine guard.

Room S now also has stairs down, these lead to the Labyrinth of the Minotaur. At the middle of the maze are the remains of the Minotaur, slain by Theseus (and with the sword he used still in its ribs). At the entrance to the Labyrinth a "clue" (ball of thread) is tied off. This is what Theseus used to navigate the Labyrinth. It becomes clear the Labyrinth is not a real maze; although the path twisted and turned there are no branching paths or dead ends. (This is the classical Cretan labyrinth diagram.) It becomes clear the thread does not somehow mark off branches to aid in navigation, it simply measures distance to the middle of the Labyrinth. This is because it was intended all along the Greek (Hellene) sacrifices would be forced to travel a single path inwards to the centre where the Minotaur would be waiting to kill them. There would be no side passages, no dead ends. They would simply travel the path and it turned back and forth, becoming disheartened and confused, then die. Theseus, as he knew how far he would go, was forewarned by the thread running out. Thus when nearing the centre of the Labyrinth he was ready for a fight, unlike all the other sacrificial victims.

Thus, the classic "Tower of Zenopus" becomes the "Tower of Xenopus"!"

"Silver coin from Knossos displaying the 7-course "Classical" design to represent the Labyrinth, c. 400 BC." Source: Wikipedia page on the Labyrinth

 

Followup comment:

"It would be my pleasure! There are a couple of monsters that do not need adapting: the giant spider and crab, and the skeletons. The players are very into the quest; they have passed up every chance of looting even though there are glints of gold and valuables mixed within the bones in the ossuary vessels, a couple chests of silver in the boats on the shore of the vast underground ocean (the Gods warned them to not proceed further in that direction as it leads to the underworld, and it was not yet their time). As another "Greek" touch the rotating statue is of Poseidon, and the talking mask looks like the "death mask" of Agamemnon. In the central circular room are stairs leading up (into come caves on the mountainside) and a trap door leading down into the labyrinth.

The labyrinth is a classic "Cretan" one: circular with no branching paths with dead ends. One single path to the end. Clearly not the confusing maze they are expecting! The purpose of the labyrinth was to execute prisoners. So they wander the single path to the end where the Minotaur waited to end their lives. By that time they would be disoriented and demoralised, easy prey in the darkness. How Theseus prevailed was using a "clue", a ball of yarn. I could never figure out how that would help to navigate a maze unless it was really, really big! But if the path has no branches then a strand of twine can do one thing well: measure distance. Therefore Theseus would know exactly how far he'd gone and how close to the end. Instead of the Minotaur ambushing him as he stumbled along, confused, he would know to be armed and ready for a fight. A fight the Minotaur would not expect, the advantage would be his. In this case the PCs would follow the twine to the centre, there to face the Minotaur."

Second follow-up comment:

I decided to not do random encounters, although the Kobaloi (employed by the sorcerer as guards) are not doing a great job and could start patrolling. The sorcerer "boss" is a recurring NPC in my game, a woman. She's annoyed the Kobaloi are not doing their job!

Although like everyone I read Zenopus in the D&D Basic set, I never experienced it as a player or DM. It just has so many nice touches. And as mentioned it converts well to other fantasy systems.

As a GM's note, I thought the giant crab would give them a lot of trouble as their claws are very deadly in a low-HP system like Mazes & Minotaurs. But this turned out to not be the case. We are using the optional "Homeric" combat rules (critical hits) and the first shot with a sling stone nailed it in the eye and it spasmed, losing its turn. I determined it had been flipped on its back and needed a turn to right itself. (The actual result was the target fell down, which doesn't make sense for a squat 6-legged behemoth. Instead of ignoring the result I decided on something cinematic.) The PCs piled on and got several good hits in. By the time it stood back up the fight was practically over. It tried to disengage and they finished it off.

My commentary: This is a very creative adaptation of Holmes' Sample Dungeon and would be a great deal of fun to play through!

Article in KNOCK! #3

 

"3D rendering" of KNOCK! #3

KNOCK! is a still newish "zine" that describes itself as "Compendium of Miscellanea for Old School RPGs". I put "zine" in quotes because each issue runs over 200 pages, making it more of a book. Two issues are already out, which still can be purchased via the website of the publisher, The Merry Mushmen (issue #1 is only available digitally at this point). 

The Kickstarter for the third issue of the "zine" KNOCK! has just gone live, and this one includes an article by yours truly. Part of the goal of the publication is to reprint "nearly-forgotten blog posts" and this issue I'm honored that they asked to include my 2013 article "One Hit Point Monsters", which I revised for them. As full disclosure, they pay authors per page of content at a rate based on the success of the KS.

Find the Kickstarter here:

KNOCK! #3

The promo video - featuring awesome music - can also be watched here on Youtube.

There's a "Zenopus (homless seer)" quoted in there, but that's not me.

And publishers are promoting the KS on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Reddit. 

The Ruined Tower of Zenopus: Running it Retro II

Sarcophagus Skeletons by David Sutherland. An illustration for Room N,
although with a bit of artistic license as there is only one sarcophagus with an animated skeleton

This is the second post in a series of notes for running The Ruined Tower of Zenopus using old school D&D rules. It continues from the first post here. This post focuses on a roster of monster stats for the dungeon rooms.

Page 5: Printer-Friendly dungeon map. Usable as-is with any ruleset.

Pages 4-13: Areas of the Dungeon. Here is a Roster of Monsters:

Room A. Goblins: MV 60, AC 6, HD 1-1, AT 1 weapon for 1d6. For 1-3 PCs: 3 goblins; 4-5 PCs: 5 goblins; 6+ PCs, 7-8 goblins

Room B. 4 skeletons: MV 120, AC 8, HD 1/2, AT 1 claws for 1d6

Room F. The veteran smuggler: MV 60, AC 5 (chain), F2, hp 11, AT 1 sword+1 for 1d6, Str 12, Int 10, Wis 9, Con 13, Dex 10, Cha 12

The thaumaturgist: MV 120, AC 9, MU4, hp 9, AT 1 spell or 1 dagger for 1d6, Str 9, Int 16, Wis 9, Con 10, Dex 11, Cha 12. Spells: Read Magic, Charm Person, Magic Missile, Protection from Good, Wizard Lock, Web

Room G. 2d4 giant rats: MV 120, AC 7, HD 1/2, hp 2, AT 1 bite for 1d3 + 5% chance of disease

Room J. 1 giant spider (Holmes manuscript): MV 60, AC 3, HD 1, hp 4, AT 1 bite for 1d6 + save vs. poison

1 enormous spider (1st edition rulebook): MV 20 (100 in web), AC 3, HD 6, hp 31, AT 1 bite for 1d8 + save vs. poison at -1

1 giant spider (2nd edition rulebook): MV 30 (120 in web), AC 4, HD 4+4, hp 21, AT 1 bite for 2d4 + save vs. poison

Spider attack rules: 

1st round: If the room is entered incautiously, roll a die to select a PC, and then roll for the spider's attack on them. On a hit, the PC is knocked down (the original does not indicate whether this causes damage; it could be interpreted as a standard d6 of damage), and may not return a blow. Continue with rounds 2-4 below. On a miss, the next round instead switches to normal combat.

2nd round: If there was a knockdown, the spider gets an attack on the PC, who gets no return attack. Others may join combat now and attack the spider. 

3rd round: Spider gets an attack on the PC, who may attack at -2 while getting up.

4th round and after: Normal attacks on both sides.

Room L. 1 monstrous sand crab: MV 60, AC 3, HD 2, AT 2 pinchers for 2d6 each

Room M. 4 smugglers: MV 120, AC 7, HD NH, hp 4, AT 1 cutlass for 1d6

Lemunda: MV 120, AC 9, F2, hp 11, AT 1 dagger for 1d6, Str 10, Int 14, Wis 12, Con 15, Dex 12, Cha 17

1 giant octopus: MV 120 (swimming), AC 7, HD 3, hp 16, AT 6 tentacles for 0 + drag underwater

Room N. Endless giant rats: see Room G

1 flying dagger: MV 0, AC 3, HD 1, hp special, AT 1 for 1d6; if hit, motionless for 3 rounds

1 sarcophagus skeleton: MV 120, AC 7, HD 1, hp 7, AT 1 scimitar for 1d6

Room P.  2 ghouls: MV 90, AC 6, HD 2, hp 11, 9, AT claw/claw/bite for 1d3 each & paralysis

Option: 1d6 cultists: MV 120, AC 9, HD NH, AT 1 scimitar for 1d6

1 ghoul; as above, but with 7 hp

Room RT. Endless giant rats: see Room G

Option: 1 monstrous rat: MV 180, AC 5, HD 1-1, hp 7, AT 1 bite/1 claws for 1d3+1 each

1d6 giant rats: see Room G

Room S. 1 giant constrictor snake: MV 100, AC 6, HD 2, hp 13, AT 1 bite for 1d6

Room S2. Ape: MV 120, AC7, HD 2, hp 9, AT 1 pummel for 1d6

The Ruined Tower of Zenopus: Running it Retro

Occasionally, I have been asked about a retro version of The Ruined Tower of Zenopus (RTOZ); i.e., one for an old-school D&D or OSR ruleset. There is of course, the original adventure, still available as a free pdf on the Wizards site, but it doesn't include the content that I added. 

I would love to include such conversion notes in the adventure itself, but DMs Guild doesn't allow products to include rules for non-5e D&D systems. So instead I will post some notes here on the blog. These are written up for Holmes Ref, which uses OD&D to expand Holmes, but really should be sufficient for any old D&D (e.g., OD&D, B/X, AD&D 1E, AD&D 2E) or retroclone thereof. These notes focus on rules & assume that you have a copy of the RTOZ at hand.

Pages 1-3 don't require any retroversion. Page 1 is the cover; page 2 the introduction; and page 3 is my map of Portown and a description of the points of interest. No rules here!

Page 4: 

Doors: Force open on 1-2 in 6, optionally modified for strength (i.e., if using Strength adjustments for doors such as I included in the Rolling Up An Adventurer sheet for Holmes Ref or the bonuses given in the Greyhawk supplement). Repeat attempts are possible, but there is no chance for surprise after the first attempt. Doors can also be chopped apart with the right tools, such as axes; this takes 1 turn and makes such a racket that it necessitates an immediate check for wandering monsters.

Wandering Monsters:

Check as indicated; the rules given in the RTOZ are the same as in the original dungeon.

For the monsters, use the following stats. If running Holmes, you can use 1/10 of the MV as Dexterity for determining first strike, or roll it on the spot as suggested in the Holmes rules.

For HD, "NH" means "normal human". For Holmes, this means they have 1d6 hp and use on their own line on the combat and saving throw tables (which is -1 compared to a 1st level fighter). In OD&D, they would be treated as 1st level fighters.

The behavior and treasure for each monster can be left unchanged.

1. 1d3 goblins: MV 60, AC 6, HD 1-1, AT 1 weapon for 1d6

2. 1d3 zombies: MV 60, AC 8, HD 2, AT 1 claws for 1d8, only attack every other round

3. 1d3 skeletons: MV 120, AC 8, HD 1/2, AT 1 claws for 1d6

(Note: I use the Monster Manual move rates for zombies and skeletons, which is reversed from that of the Holmes rulebook. If you prefer, switch them back).

4. 1d6 giant rats: MV 120, AC 7, HD 1/2, AT 1 bite for 1d3 + 5% chance of disease

    1 monstrous rat: MV 180, AC 5, HD 1-1, AT 1 bite/1 claws for 1d3+1 each

5. 1d6 large sand crabs: MV 90, AC 6, HD 1/2, AT 2 pinchers for 1d4 each

6. 1d3 giant centipedes: MV 150, AC 9, HD 1/4, AT 1 bite for 0 but save vs. poison at +4

7. 1d6 smugglers: MV 120, AC 7, HD NH, AT 1 cutlass for 1d6

8. 1d3 large spiders: MV 60, AC 8, HD 1+1, AT 1 bite for 1 + save vs. poison at +2

9. 1d6 stirges: MV 180, AC 7, HD 1, AT 1 proboscis (at +2) for 1d3 & drain blood at 1d4/round

10. 1d6 cultists: MV 120, AC 9, HD NH, AT 1 scimitar for 1d6

11. 1 ghoul: MV 90, AC 6, HD 2, AT claw/claw/bite for 1d3 each & paralysis

12. 1 cleaning cube: MV 30, AC 9, HD 2, AT 1 touch for 1d4 & paralysis

Instead of an item from the 5E Trinkets table, the cleaning cube will be carrying a random piece of equipment from the Holmes Ref Equipment Reference Sheet. 

NEW MONSTERS

Holmes-style stat blocks are below. Use the descriptions from the RTOZ.

Monstrous Rat

Move: 180 feet/turn, 90 feet/turn swimming
Hit Dice: 1-1
Armor Class: 5
Treasure Type: Q
Attacks: 1 bite, 1 claws
Damage: 1d3 + 1 each

(I wrote this up previously as a "Giant Rat King" here)

Large Sand Crab

Move: 90 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 1/2
Armor Class: 6
Treasure Type: nil
Attacks: 2 pinchers
Damage: 1d4 each

Smuggler

Move: 120 feet/turn
Hit Dice: Normal Human (1d6 hit points)
Armor Class: 7
Treasure Type: 2d6 gp
Alignment: neutral
Attacks: 1 cutlass
Damage: 1d6

Cultist

Move: 120 feet/turn
Hit Dice: Normal Human (1d6 hit points)
Armor Class: 9
Treasure Type: nil
Alignment: chaotic evil
Attacks: 1 scimitar
Damage: 1d6 

Cleaning Cube

Move: 30 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 2
Armor Class: 9
Treasure Type: variable
Attacks: 1 touch
Damage: 1d4 plus save vs. paralysis

Page 5: Doesn't need any retroversion as it is just a printer-friendly map of the dungeon.

That's it for now. I'll continue in another with notes on converting the rooms (Page 6 & beyond).

The second & final installment of "Running it Retro" can be found here.

The Holmes Basic G+ Community Archive

...or how I created another blog with over 2000 posts:

The Holmes Basic G+ Community Archive

What is this Archive?

The top post explains what the archive is, and I've copied the intro over from there:

This archive [which is a new Blogger blog] preserves most of the posts made to the Holmes Basic D&D Community on the late G+. I created this Community in late 2012, not long after Communities were added, and it existed through April 2nd 2019, when G+ was shutdown for non-commercial users. By the end there were over 600 members. While most were not active, there was always a core group of commenters to keep things interesting.

There are over 2100 posts included, made by myself and various members of the community, each accompanied by its original comments. While a number of posts (~500?) are shares and thus duplicative of posts on the Zenopus Archives blog, these have been saved because they include different comments. The other ~1600 posts fall into two broad categories. I often used G+ for quick shares of images and links of interest to the community, material often not posted to the ZA blog. And then there are the many posts by other members of the community. A big thank you to everyone who participated!

Some highlights include (to be updated):

Michael Thomas providing updates on the progress of his retroclone Blueholme

Jon Wilson organizing contributions for two issues of the Holmes-art inspired zine, FEI

Chris Holmes joining in 2016 and becoming an active commentator

Tony Rowe with scans of Holmes' & other D&D magazine articles

Tristan Tanner with a fun series of new monsters (cryptids, movie monsters and later edition conversions) for Holmes Basic throughout the later half 2018

Weresharks and Skull Mountains

[The post continues with some technical information about the posts, labels and images]

In Memoriam: OSR blogger James Smith

James' profile photo from the Underdark Gazette

James Smith, well known among the OSR for his blog Dreams of Mythic Fantasy (and in an earlier incarnation as the Underdark Gazette), passed away on Wednesday per posts made by his family to his blog and his account on Facebook. 

His obituary can be found on this memorial page set up by his family: James A. Smith Jr (1968-2019). Tributes, Stories and Photos can be left there. 

His blog will be well-remembered for its long-running series of detailed OSR News updates, the most recent of which was posted on March 23rd of this year. His love of this hobby we share is evident in this work and as related by his family in his obituary: "James was a loving father who enjoyed “old school gaming”, internet blogging, reading, and listening to classic rock. His favorite pastime was playing Dungeons and Dragons with his son."

And I recall that for years he had the following graphic on the sidebar of his blog: 

Holmes Basic Testimonials

2019 update: Today is the 89th anniversary of J. Eric Holmes birthday! Please feel free to add your own testimonial to the comments below.

If you missed it major new addition to the Zenopus Archives site this past year was the addition of a J. Eric Holmes Photo Gallery.

2018 update: This year we celebrate Holmes' birthday in the middle of the 40th anniversary year of Holmes Basic (July 2017-July 2018). As a tribute, I'll be running two session of Return to the Tower of Zenopus at Gary Con in a few weeks (I had to cancel these).

There will also be a "Ruined Tower of Zenopus - 40 years later" event, by a different author, at the North Texas RPGCon this year in June! (this game was played with Chris Holmes in attendance)

And Beyond the Door to Monster Mountain - a Holmes Basic mini-scenario available here - will be run for the second year in a row at Dundracon this coming Sunday.

If you missed it, last July Chris Holmes was on the 3rd season of the short podcast Tell Me About Your Character, talking about his third favorite D&D character (after Boinger and Zereth) in the games he played with his father in the '70s. (this podcast seems to be no longer available)

And since Holmes' birthday last year we've seen a lot of great releases:

Tales of Peril, a gorgeous hardcover compilation of Holmes' stories of the adventures of Boinger the Halfling and Zereth the Elf, debuted at North Texas last June and shortly thereafter was available for direct order from Black Blade Publishing. I've been slowly blogging my way through the book in a series called the Tales of Peril Book Club, although at the moment it is on hiatus while I prep my con scenario.

The Blueholme Journeymanne rulebook was released by Dreamscape Design, and expands the Blueholme Prentice rules up to 20 levels. It is chock-full of evocative art thanks to all of the Holmes fans out there who funded the Kickstarter for the art.

Jon of Appendix M released two issues of his zine Fantastic! Exciting! Imaginative!, which is inspired by the art found in the Holmes Basic rulebook. The content is by various members of the Holmes Basic groups on G+ and Facebook, including one article in each by myself. Join up if you want to contribute to the next one! These can be found at DTRPG: Vol 1 (free pdf) and Vol 2 ($4 pdf).

On Free RPG day I released Holmes Ref 2.0 an expanded compilation of my reference sheets for Holmes Basic referees. I hope to release a further expansion this year.

Each year I bring this post forward and invite you to add new testimonials. I've moved my posts from previous years to an archive page on the Holmes Basic site, but everyone else's comments from previous years remain below. Feel free to comment again if you've commented before.

See also:
Testimonal Thread at OD&D Discussion
Testimonial Thread at Knights & Knaves Alehouse  
Testimonial Thread at Dragonsfoot
Testimonial Thread at the Acaeum

(DTRPG links include this blog's affiliate # which gives us a 5% credit for each purchase)

Blueholme Kickstarter - Final Day

Octocat by Chris Holmes preview from blog post

There's just about a day left in the Kickstarter for the Blueholme Journeymanne rules, a Holmes clone plus expansion that takes the four core classes up to level 20 and adds numerous monsters. It's produced by Dreamscape Design, who has a blog over here.

Cave Creeper by Chris Holmes preview from Kickstater

The primary goal of the Kickstarter is to fund artwork for the finished product. The bullpen of artists - at least 15 - includes Chris Holmes, whose contributions will include both Carrion Crawler & Displacer Beast analogs (see previews above), rectifying TSR's failure to use Chris' original art for the Holmes Manuscript. Chris has also write a Foreword for the book.

Old One art preview from ODD74 post

I've made a minor contibution myself: write-ups for two monsters previously featured on this blog, including the Green Grabber / Sleepflower and the Ancient Builder (appearing as Old One). (Disclosure: I am not receiving any money for this).

I've backed the Kickstarter at the Lord level for a pdf and softcover copy of the rules.

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea RPG 2nd Edition Kickstarter

Screenshot from the Kickstarter Page showing the cover for the 2nd Edition rulebook

As I write this, 12 hours remain in the kickstarter for the 2nd Edition of the Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea RPG. The kickstarter currently over 800 backers with over $64K raised, meaning that all stretch goals have been unlocked. I've backed the game at the $59 level (plus shipping), which includes a hardcover book, pdf, and the stretch goals, many of which are improvements to the book itself.

This game was written by Jeff Talanian, who has professed deep admiration for Holmes Basic. See this post from September where I transcribed some quotes from his interview on the Dead Games Society podcast. The second sentence in the kickstarter states that the game is "Inspired by Robert E. Howard, H.P. Lovecraft, and Clark Ashton Smith!". These are three "Weird Fiction" authors whom J. Eric Holmes was very fond of. As he wrote in his widely read 1980 article in the magazine Psychology Today, "...my players have wandered through bits of Barsoom and Hyperborea, through worlds created by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, H. Rider Haggard, A. Merritt, H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith".

The AS&SH RPG includes the 4 standard D&D classes, as well as 22 subclasses, among which are all of those originally promised for AD&D in the Holmes Basic rulebook: paladins, rangers, illusionists, monks, druids, assassins and even the witch. Plus many others. Instead of demi-humans, the game includes a variety of fictional human cultures from which to create a character.

Peruse the Kickstarter page and this update thread on the OD&D Discussion Forum for many examples of the fantastic art commissioned for this new edition by at least ten artists, including Russ Nicholson of Fiend Folio and Fighting Fantasy fame. Nicholson's artwork remains very much in the style of his Fiend Folio work (which I love), for example see this piece posted in the OD&D thread:

Jeff Talanian on Holmes Basic

Jeff Talanian (aka Ghul) is the author of the Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea RPG (a 2nd edition of which is on the way). Earlier in his career he was Gary Gygax's wingman on the Castle Zagyg series, co-authoring the Upper Works boxed set. 

Earlier this year Jeff was interviewed on the Dead Games Society podcast, Episode 20, where he talked about Holmes Basic for the better part of an hour.

Here's the DGS blurb for the show:
"The Dead Games Society talks with Jeffrey Talanian, creator of Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers, about his favorite dead edition of Dungeons and Dragons, the legendary Holmes Edition! It’s a great hour of hearing Jeffrey’s memory’s regarding this great out-of-print edition so beloved by the gaming community."

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the show:
17:09: "Well, one of my favorite things about it, sort of harkening back to when I was a kid, was there was a certain mystique to it, a sort of magic to it ... you can have so many sessions of game play with it for three levels, 48 pages..."

17:52: "Magic-users have so much more resources in that they can start creating scrolls at first level ... so if you have the money you don't necessarily have to be limited to throwing that one spell at an early level"

18:25: "...The initiative system is so much easier to grasp than what later came out with AD&D. Basically in Holmes it embraces a system that's ordered by dexterity..."

25:54: "...I think an open-ended game is anything but Basic because ... there's so much that you can do with it ... contrary to having hundreds and hundreds of pages of rules where everything is defined."

At 28:55, Jeff does a great reading of the first two paragraphs of the Background of the Zenopus Sample Dungeon, which he follows with "...if that doesn't grab the imagination of a young person back then ... it did for me anyway"

Q: How do you think the Holmes edition influenced the later D&D editions?
 36:55: "I would say format more than anything. It was much more of a digestable format ... it seemed like a more playable game as opposed to say a reference ... the whole intention of Holmes of being an introductory set for young people, it was perfectly aimed...

41:00" "...it's the edition that I introduced my kids to ... I think introducing it to kids is a great thing to do. I introduced my kids to D&D through the Holmes set and we made that transition to the blue Expert set."

...plus much more. Listen to it! 

Save or Die Interview

The latest episode of the Save or Die! podcast, Episode 124, features an interview with yours truly. Here's the teaser:

"The Dmigoes welcome to Save or Die….the Mad Wizard Zenopus from the Holmes Basic set! Ok, not the wizard himself, but Zenopus from the esteemed blog Zenopus Archives. We talk about J. Eric Holmes, Purple Worms, and why so many dungeons have rivers flowing through them at one point or another?"

It was great fun recording the show & I'd like to thank Jim, Liz and Mike for having me on!

The Episode 124 page has several links for topics we discussed. Here are a few more:

Dungeon made with Lego Heroica

Gygax's Castle Greyhawk Dungeon Level One handout from Origins II

Holmes Manuscript series - index of posts

The Warlock OD&D Spell Point System

From Warlock (1975), pages 6-7

It wasn't long after D&D was released in 1974 that fans began tinkering with the rules. One of the earliest published variants was Warlock, which appeared in the the Spartan Gaming Journal in August 1975. Holmes used this system in the games he ran with his sons prior to editing the Basic Set, and I've written about the possible influence of these rules on Holmes Basic. In Dragon #52, Holmes wrote that he tried to convince Gygax to include a spell point system in Basic D&D. As we know from the lack of these rules in D&D, Gary was not persuaded.

When Warlock was published the only available D&D books were the original set and the Greyhawk supplement, both of which it references. Now that these first two publications are available again as pdfs, it is a good time to go back and take a look at this spell point system that Holmes was a fan of. The presentation in Warlock is a bit scattershot, like the OD&D rules themselves, so I've tried to re-organize it here.

Above I've quoted a bit of Warlock's theory behind using spell points: M-U spells have two qualities, complexity (level) and effort required (spell points). Thus each spell is additionally assigned a spell point usage cost. 

The basic formula:
Spell Points (SP) per day = Level + Hit Points  + Int modifier 

Int modifier:
16+ : +1 point per HD
13-15: +1/2 point per HD
9-12: none
6-8: -1
4-5: -2
3: -3

Note that the HD system in Warlock is similar to the original d6-based HD system, with a M-U only getting a full d6 HD every other level. So HD here is not the same as Level.

Note also that Warlock uses the original OD&D Con modifier to HP (Con > 15 = +1 HP/HD, Con < 6 = -1 HP/HD), so a high Con only gives a small bonus to spell points.

Example (from pg 6): 
A 5th level M-U (3d6 HD) with 9 HP with an average Int gets 14 SP 

5 + 9 + 0 = 14

"Life-Saving Margin": A M-U can exceed their SP only to safe their own life. The extra margin is the same as the character's "Death Level", which is the number of HP between unconsciousness and death (i.e., the "death's door" rule in later systems). 

The calculation for the "Death Level" is explained in the section on combat (pg 29) and uses a complex formula: .03 x HP x CON score. The example given is a 10 HP character with 15 CON, yielding a 4.5 HP "Death Level" (.03 x 10 x 15), meaning the character can go to -4.5 HP before dying.  

Spell points get the same margin as Death Level, but when M-Us go below it they suffer the following consequences in lieu of dying: unconsciousness for d6 turns, movement slowed by one step, and loss of all other casting for the day (i.e., since they have no spell points left).
 
Memorization rules: This system is not "free casting". Despite having spell points, a M-U can still only cast based on what spells are known and memorized. At lower levels, the memorization tables are the same as OD&D; e.g. a 1st level MU can memorize one 1st level spell/day; a 3rd level M-U can memorize two 1st level and one 2nd level spells. Higher levels have some changes and go all the way up to level 40 (!).

Warlock does not include the "% chance to know" table from Greyhawk, but does suggest limiting available spells: "In beginning a series of games it is worthwhile to limit the spells available to magic-users. This gives them incentive for finding the lairs of hostile magic-users (in order find books of spells) or researching new spells" (pg 8).

Spell Point Cost for Individual Spells for Levels 1-3:
Warlock adds many spells to each level, but I've only listed the LBB & Greyhawk spells. Warlock mentions that they have only included some of the Greyhawk spells; others have their level changed. Obviously, this system was first worked out for the original spells and the new Greyhawk spells provided some complications.

Level 1
OD&D Vol 1 original list:
Detect Magic  1
Hold Portal  3
Read Magic  1
Read Languages  1
Protection/Evil  3
Light  3
Charm Person  4
Sleep  3

Greyhawk additions:
Shield  -- (not included)
Magic Missile 4 +1/missile (changed to Level 2)
Ventriloquism  2

Level 2
OD&D Vol 1 original list:
Detect Invisible  2
Levitate  4 + 1/turn
Phantasmal Forces  4
Locate Object  4
Invisibility  4
Wizard Lock  6
Detect Evil  1
ESP  2 + 1/turn
Continual Light  5
Knock  4

Greyhawk additions:
Darkness, 5' r.  3 + 1/turn
Strength  7 (changed to level 4)
Web  5 (changed to level 3)
Mirror Image  5 + 1/turn (changed to level 3)
Magic Mouth  3 +1 /turn (changed to level 3)
Pyrotechnics  5

Level 3
OD&D Vol 1 original list:
Fly  5 + 1/turn
Hold Person  5
Dispell Magic  5
Clairvoyance  3 + 1/turn
Clairaudience  3 + 1/turn
Fire Ball  6
Lightning Bolt  5
Protection/Evil 10' r.  4
Invisibility 10' r.  5
Infravision  4
Slow Spell  5
Haste Spell  5
Protection/Normal Missiles  4
Water Breathing  4 +1/turn

Greyhawk additions:
Explosive Runes -- (not included)
Rope Trick  6 +1/turn
Suggestion -- (not included)
Monster Summoning I -- (not included)

Analysis/Examples:

M-U Level/HD/Average HP/Average SP (not including any bonuses for Int/Con)
1/ 1d6/ 3.5 / 4.5
2/ 1d6+2/ 5.5/ 7.5
3/ 2d6/ 7/ 10
4/ 2d6+2/ 9/ 13
5/ 3d6/ 10.5/ 15.5
6/ 3d6+2/ 12.5/ 18.5
7/ 4d6/ 14/ 21
8/ 4d6+2/ 16/ 24
9/ 5d6/ 17.5/ 26.5
10/ 5d6+2/ 19.5/ 28.5   

A 1st level M-U will have an average of 3-4 HP, and thus 4-5 spell points (SP), with a potential max of up to 9 spell points (1 for Level + 6 for HP + 1 for high Con + 1 for high Int). A single 1st level spell can be memorized. An average MU will be able to cast only one of the more powerful 1st level spells (Sleep, Charm Person), but an above average MU with more points may be able to cast one of these spells twice. Detect/Read Spells that only cost one point may be cast multiple times if chosen as the memorized spell.

A 3rd level M-U will have an average of 7 HP, and thus 10 SP with a potential max of 19 SP (3 for Level + 12 HP + 2 for high Con + 2 for high Int). Two 1st level and one 2nd level spell can be memorized. Magic Missile is a 2nd level spell in these rules with a cost of 4 +1/missile. An average M-U can cast Magic Missile and produce 1-5 missiles for 5-9 SP. An above average M-U with 18 SP could (among other options) cast Magic Missile three times with two missiles per casting for a total of 18 SP. 

OSR implications: 
Since this system layers on top of the existing memorization rules, it should be adaptable as an option for most OSR systems. It will be most easily used with systems similar to the original D&D rules (Swords & Wizardry Whitebox; Delving Deeper). Modification of the spell point formula/costs may be necessary for systems using a d4 HD and/or with higher HP and Int modifiers. A drawback is that it makes a M-U's power level much more dependent on HP rolls and Con bonuses.

The complications during play will be tracking spell points and remembering the varying spell point cost for each spell. Players should be able to write down this number next to the spell on their sheet and use it to keep track of their spell points when casting. Being able to cast additional spells will provide motivation for this extra work. It will be more of a pain for DMs because they will need to look up and track this for every NPC M-U.