In Memoriam - John Eric Holmes (1930 - 2010)

It has been a year since Dr. Holmes passed away.  As is often the case, when someone passes away, you develop an appreciation of their legacy.

I started playing D&D back in 1980 and I began using the Holmes Blue Book.  (Of course it wasn't called that back then, it was called just D&D)

My friend Brian invited me over in August of that year after I had just returned from spending the summer away.  He had discovered the game with friends that summer and he wanted to share it with me.

I went over to his house and I made up characters.  Brian had made a clever change to the rules for my first adventure; no attributes.  I just picked classes, equipment and rolled up HPs, then we got on to the adventuring.

As I recall, we did some preliminary exploration of eponymous Keep on the Borderlands.  I "met" some of the characters there, such as the Castellan.  I didn't know what a keep or castellan was at that point.  Dictionaries and encyclopedias held a large place in my future reading time...

Eventually, Brian handwaved the trip to the Caves of Chaos and we were there.  In fact, he handwaved the whole idea of the CoC.  We started at K, "The Shrine of Evil Chaos!"

Brian mapped the whole thing as we went along on graph paper.  He stuck the graph paper to a cardboard box with tape and we used thumbtacks to represent the party and the monsters!  It was a battlemap BEFORE there were battlemaps!  Brian was a visionary!  :)

I remember using the thumbtack for "Berserker" my fighter, to indicate that I was "peeking" around the corners of hallways to see what was there.  It was great fun and the exploration was the thing.  I know we fought monsters, but it was the excitement of "what was up around the bend" that was so great.

Thank you Dr. Holmes for making that day possible and for all the exciting days of adventure since!

PS: I'm almost done reading "The Maze of Peril."  At some point in the future, I'll post a review.

Maze of Peril - NOT a 4e Adventure!

I've just begun reading the "Maze of Peril" by John Eric Holmes and I plan on posting a full review once I'm done.  For now, I thought I'd post a few little tidbits from the first chapter as a way of setting the tone.

This is a seriously "Old School" adventure so far.  Here are some bits --

(I suppose some minor spoilers follow; I will be revealing some plot elements from the book)

• The adventurers meet in a tavern.
• They are hired by a wizard.
• They are heading down into "the fabled Underworld" -- obviously a mega-megadungeon.
• One character has a helm "with a long Norman nosepiece" and another curses "Mother of Mithra" -- the setting is a mish-mash of sources. 

"What race or races had built the original maze no one knew.  It seemed, in the opinion of the sages and magicians of the time, that there must have been many layers of dungeons and underworlds laid down, one atop the other, as the world crust was formed, so that now no one knew, ore even guessed, how many levels it extended below the surface."

• There's a halfling, an elf, a dwarf and a wizard in the party.
• The enter the underworld through a "secret door".
• They bring a pack mule down into the dungeon.
• Once the party gets together, the elf says, "I'll buy the next round.  Now, let us talk business."

Wanna guess what they talk about?  Here's a hint -- it's not healing surges or marks or anything like that...

 "The halfling and the dwarf launched into a discussion of magical detection schemes, march distances, horse power, mercenary men-at-arms, supply dumps, and rations."

I'm really liking it so far.  It's not as polished as some, but so far it has a charm all its own.

The Maze of Peril

Christmas came early for me today and I'm giddy with anticipation!

Look!

I just received my very own copy of John Eric Holmes' "Maze of Peril"

Back on July 5, James M over at GROGNARDIA mentioned that you can still order copies from Space and Time books.

Well, I clicked on the email at the bottom of the page and "natalia" suggested that I contact Gordon Linzner.  He said that he still had copies of the book and that I could send him a check.  Here's what he said in an email to me:

I've got a couple hundred left. $6.95 each, but the $2 postal charge applies to the whole order. Order 5 or more and there's no postage handling charge.

I'd verify that the offer still stands with him (glinzner@hotmail.com) before I send my check, but I was thrilled with the price and the service.

I sent my check last week and I found it in my mailbox today!  Just in time for some Thanksgiving reading!

Get your copy/copies while the supply lasts!  This is a classic that's a must have!

Dragons at Dawn

Look what just arrived at my house...

I'm looking forward to reading it.  It fits right in with my Moldvay, Cook and Holmes books.