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May 23, 2013, 3:42am

Original D&D Discussion :: Dungeons & Dragons (1971-1978) :: Holmes Basic D&D (1978) :: Holmes level 12

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aldarron
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Holmes level 12
« Thread Started on Jul 28, 2010, 9:18pm »

Mentioned this in the underdark. Last april/march I began toying with a version of the holmes rules Greyharp had done some revision work on, with the idea of expanding it to level 12. I was waiting on Delve's latest revision but then decided I was happy with it as is.

Between the two of us, here is what we did:

Note From Aldarron: For purists the major changes in this revision are allowing hobbits to play thieves (naturally!), the reversion of the Alignment system to the OD&D original and the expansion/revision of the sample dungeon for the sake of fun. Elf level advancement has been re-explained to conform to one of two methods found in OD&D. Things of lesser note include following most of the suggested revisions (except spell points and changing the armor class system) Dr. Holmes proposed in Dragon #52 and including a few sentences of his text. Small portions of text from Dr Holmes Fantasy Role Playing Games book were also included in the strength description, the description of Anvil the Dwarf and the sample dungeon floorplan. Also the description of the caller and the example of play from the Holmes book replaces the earlier version. Mike Carrs’ text which was originally published in game module B1 as an accompaniment to the Holmes rulebook has been woven into the text in the EXPERIENCE POINT, HENCHMEN and DUNGEON MASTERING AS A FINE ART sections. The section PORTCULLISES, AND DOUBLE PORTCULLISES is taken verbatim from the original release of Module B3, Palace of the Silver Princess by Jean Wells. A morale system was suggested by Holmes but rather than looking to later versions of the game I choose to include Nicolas “Snori” Dessauxs system presented as a logical means of adapting Jeff Perrens morale system in Chainmail as was suggested to do in the 1974 OD&D rules. CONSTRUCTION OF STRONGHOLDS, HIRELING MORALE, FIFTH LEVEL CLERICAL SPELLS, and SIXTH LEVEL MAGIC USER SPELLS and parts of SIEGE WEAPONS were compiled by Delve, however Hit point values of structures were derived by multiplying by three the values found in Chainmail because the average catapult damage in D&D is three times that listed in Chainmail. The revisions to the thief class follow the original publication by Gary Gygax and Gary Schweitzer taken from “The Great Plains Game Players Newsletter” #9 (June 1974?; pages 8-9). Likewise a more detailed combat table by Gary Gygax, (Liaisons Dangereuses #73, August 16, 1976) replaces the original. GRAPPLING ATTACKS summarizes the method presented by Gary Gygax in The Strategic Review Vol. 1, No. 2, Summer 1975). Sections on FIRES AND FLOODS IN STRUCTURES and AERIAL and NAVAL ENCOUNTERS were drawn from the Rules Cyclopedia and D&D sources (via Greybook) rather than the somewhat complex and board-game-like rules found in OD&D, and the short section on being LOST by me, is based loosely on the Outdoor Survival and OD&D rules as implied in the text. FATIGUE follows the recommendation of Aaron Oliver in his Rules Cyclopedia Addendum with references to Chainmail. Jeff Grubs’ B 1-9 In Search of Adventure, 1987, page 5 supplied the OUTDOOR SCALE and MOVEMENT IN THE WILDERNESS rules. Lastly, some changes to POISONED WEAPONS were made to create compatibility with OD&D Men and Monsters and Supplement II Blackmoor. The little squiggle art at the end is from the unauthorized French translation.

Note from Greyharp: I added in all the extra information in Meepo's Holmes expansion, as well as various elements that were in the initial printing but then dropped in later ones and got rid of all the AD&D references. I got it to the stage of inserting images (low quality scans), again from all the various printings of Holmes. I also added in all the elements that were listed in Holmes, but not detailed - monsters, weapons, magic items, etc. I referenced the 3LBB, Greyhawk and even Chainmail for any missing information. I changed the word halfling to hobbit. The section on Catapults is half OD&D, half Chainmail. It avoids the complexity of Chainmail, but remains flexible enough for D&D and nicely fleshes out all those hints and references in the 3LBB.