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Yes! I did grow up in the region. Some of my favorite places to visit growing up were the DC Zoo, the Smithsonian Natural History Museum and the Baltimore Aquarium. In the later '80s, I bought my OD&D "Collector's Edition" Whitebox at a game store that used to exist in the Harborplace Mall in the Inner Harbor.

That's as specific as I will be in a public forum.

Origins game fair would be another date for possible release. In 1977, Holmes Basic was available at Origins before Gen Con.
In 1980, Origins was June 27-29.

The copyright record has it listed as Nov 1, 1980, but I would take that date with a grain of salt as it was not recorded until 1985.

zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2011/11/tsr-publication-dates-through-1981.html

jeffb

The Errata states that part about Orcus' tail should read:


Can you tell me what was said here originally in the 1st printing?

Warning for violating Rule 3: "...introducing political discussions that aren't specific to gaming or fictional game worlds. Discuss it elsewhere. These topics tend to get people here worked up, and to be counter productive)"

See the full rules here: odd74.proboards.com/thread/12913/rules-board-join-odd74

Thread unlocked, but proceed with caution (fly casual)...

Scrum Con returns for its third year next weekend, April 24th-25th, this time virtual.

Games that still have open seats:

Sat 10 AM-2 PM:

"Beneath Sorcerer's Stone", an AD&D 1E game (4/19 update: this game is now full)

"Battle on the Borderland", a CHAINMAIL fantasy miniatures game run on a real sandtable

Sat 2:30-6:30 PM:

"The Counterattack: Elves against the Dark Emperor", a Ral Partha Chaos Wars (2016 revived) miniatures scenario, run by our very own rsdean.

Sat 7-11 PM:

"Star Schlock - Battle for Verdo Prime": miniatures-based skirmish game based on 1980s Sci-fi Movies.

"The Garnet Town Gambit", a RIFTS Savage Worlds RPG game.

Sun 11 AM-3 PM:

"Wampus Country: Into the Lumberlands", a Moldvay Basic (B/X) D&D game (I'm signed up for this).

"Into the Dragon's Lair", a 5E D&D game for kids ages 9-14, run by a kid of like age (this one is free).

"Stringbags Out of Darkness", a WWII wargame scenario

Sun 1 PM:

Interview and Q&A with Jon Peterson, author of Playing at the World and The Elusive Shift (our very own increment).

Sun 3:30-7:30 PM:

"In Deep Trouble", a fantasy miniatures skirmish game that blends D&D, Warcraft and MTG.

"Ambush in Provence", a WWII tank-combat scenario.

Sign up here:
www.scrum-con.com

Registration is $5, and there's no limit now on the number of games you can sign up for.

I think the disconnect here is between what Gygax used in the '70s versus what he used when he ran OD&D in the '00s. The internet compilations of his "house rules" are mainly of the latter.

It looks like the Professor sourced his stuff from here:

cyclopeatron.blogspot.com/2010/03/gary-gygaxs-whitebox-od-house-rules.html

Those are compiled from actual Gygax posts, but they refer to his late era games.

Yes, I met him at Scrum Con last year when he played in my game! I'm not sure if he's attending this year, although I know he's seen our ads as we've posted about this game in his Chainmail group on FB.

Here's another point where Gygax's Chainmail melee example from from the Great Plains Game Players Newsletter #15 (Feb 1975), may prove clarifying. This example clearly shows that an extra die is added per figure for the charging "impetus bonus", as retrorob interpreted. See the bolded portion.



From here: odd74.proboards.com/post/240709/thread

I just played it for the first time last weekend - with Jim Ward at Gary Con! It ended in a classic Wardian TPK.

Also got to play TSR's Marvel Super Heroes RPG for the first time since the '80s. I had forgotten how much fun that system is.

Does it use the same rules as the Star Wars d6 game? Could one do a cross-over easily?

PM sent to your DF account, please reply.

So what does having the map illustrate for us about Gygax's early dungeon design features?

Stairs may have landings
Stairs may split & head in two different directions
Stairs may curve
Stairs may exit into the middle of a corridor

Corridors may be orthogonal or diagonal with respect to compass points
Corridors may change direction (orthogonal/diagonal) at intersections
Corridor width is assumed default of 10'
Corridor with may change, e.g., 10' to 20' wide
Corridors may have long uninterrupted sections e.g., a 70' stretch with no doors or intersections
Corridors may have doors across from each other

Doors are wide enough for three to listen simultaneously

Rooms may be oddly shaped, e.g., trapezoidal

Trap doors may be in rooms
Trap doors may be secret
Trap doors sound hollow
Trap doors may lead to stairs

Not bad! I think that's about as good a guess as possible for the seemingly nonsensical "door to your left across the passage on a northwest wall", when the party should be facing south after exiting the stairs.

I think the doors in the 20'-wide passage heading south should be at 70' from the intersection. In each instance earlier in the example, when numbers are called out by the Ref, it indicates where the party is currently located.

So at this point...

"CAL: Go south.
REF: 10' - 70': passage continues, doors east and west."

...The party has gone 70' south when they are at the doors.

As can be read above, the second page is the more interesting, particularly the long paragraph describing the features of the map, and the last bit, which appears to be the first encounter of the dungeon.

More notes:

* "a rather boring campaign--often called ... " where players can barely manage to keep up with the flood
...[ma]gic poured into their laps by the referee." This first style of DMing that Gygax disparages may be a "Monty Hall dungeon" or "giveway dungeon", although no text of this can be seen beyond the final quotation mark. In the Foreward to God, Demigods and Heroes in 1976 (published the same year as this demonstration was run at Origins II), Tim Kask writes that the publication is "our last attempt to reach the "Monty Hall" DM's. Perhaps now some of the 'giveaway' campaigns will look as foolish as they truly are."

* "The other extreme, ... [killer] dungeon", sours participants even more rapidly." This second type of DMing style may be the "killer dungeon", or something similar. In the DMG, page 92, section "Placement of Magic Items", Gygax references both "Monty Haul" games followed by "killer-dungeons", echoing the paragraph here.

* "[expan]ded to include additional features": I'm guessing on the "expanded" here based on the last three letters; it could alternately be "amended" or something else. This statement, plus the "based upon", may indicate that this level was changed from Gygax's original dungeon for purposes of the demonstration.

* "...additional features, however, such as the ... northeastern corner of the map." Could this refer to the circle in the northeastern corner of Gygax's "binder map"? If so, what could this be? There does appear to be some kind marking in the middle of it that looks like a "T" or a number or a perhaps marking of a stair. On the other hand, the "northeastern corner" might refer to something added to the demonstration map that is not seen on the binder map, such as something to aid in running the demonstration. A compass? A key on the map? A marking, such as "START", indicating the entrance being used for the demo? The photo of Gygax running the demo does not appear to shed any light on this.

* "The various symbols and ... are somewhat self-apparent." Paul indicated that the 5-page introduction/key was accompanied by a one page map that "doesn't have color coding. The big blown up map was probably colored-in for easier visuals." The instructions for the Dungeon Geomorphs: Set One (1976, again this is the same year as Origins II), also suggest adding color to note dungeon features: "Color will be helpful nothing such things as passageways which are slanted so as to lead upwards or downwards (perhaps green, with the letters "U" and "D", with appropriately pointing arrows to indicate the direction of the slant), gas areas, and special doors (non-resisting, wizard locked, intelligent, etc.)."

* With the "Black lines are stone walls of a foot or two thickness", we get an acknowledgment of how thin those dungeon walls are in Gygax's full-sheet dungeons.

* "[pits are] indicated by red "X" marks": I'm guessing that red X's denote pit traps, based on the deciphered key for Gygax's binder map of level one.

* "Sloping ... green": Notably, the Dungeon Geomorphs also suggest using green to denote sloping passages (see full quote above).

* "Teleporter rooms are delineated by yellow": The key to Gygax's binder shows a circle filled in with yellow with "Transporter" written next to it. OD&D Vol 3 uses "transporter" in the sample level: "Room "E" is a transporter, two ways, to just about anywhere the referee likes, including the center of the earth or the moon. The passage south containing "F" is a one-way transporter, and the poor dupes will never realize it unless a very large party (over 50' in length) is entering it". The Dungeon Geomorphs suggest "putting in areas where those who enter are teleported to a similar spot elsewhere", which appears to be what Gygax used for the binder map (the two yellow-colored areas are similarly L-shaped).

* "the Dungeonmaster will ... extemporize as necessary during the course of play": Gygax's instruction here fits with his use of a minimal key in the binder map. The entries in the key appear to be a bit longer.

* "TSR Hobbies, Inc booth": Paul mentioned that the document mentioned this text here on the Acaeum, and I've placed it where it seems likely.

* From the partial description, the first dungeon encounter may be related to the "footsteps" encounter described by Rob Kuntz on Enworld last year: Gary's Immersion in Castle El Raja Key: The Four-Way Footsteps

Also note that the "binder map" key has an entry for "RUSTLING CORRIDOR - no bats", which may be an unexplained noise meant to make the party apprehensive. And the "Unexplained Sounds and Weird Noises" table in the DMG (pg 217), which among many other nosies includes six types of footsteps (ahead, approaching, behind, receding, side, faint) and "rustling".