Zenopus Archives: Holmes Basic website & blog - updates
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Post Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 9:41 pm 
 

Today marks the one year anniversary since the passing of Dr. Holmes. As a memorial, I'd like to announce a small website I've been working on for Holmes Basic. It's linked below in my signature, but here's the address:

https://sites.google.com/site/zenopusarchives/home

Some more info on the site can be found here:
http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?ac ... ge=1#67607


Zenopus Archives website & blog: Exploring the Underworld of Holmes Basic D&D. Holmes Ref: Reference Sheets for Holmes Basic Referees, also compatible with OD&D plus the Greyhawk supplement


Last edited by Zenopus on Thu Jul 21, 2022 9:55 am, edited 3 times in total.
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Post Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2011 10:07 pm 
 

Awesome!


And I could've bought these damn modules off the 1$ rack!!!

New modules for your Old School game http://pacesettergames.com/

Everything Pacesetter at http://pacesettergames.blog.com/

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Post Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:27 pm 
 

Your Holmes website is pretty cool!


"But I have watched the dragons come, fire-eyed, across the world."

  

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Post Posted: Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:04 pm 
 

PDT_Armataz_01_37

Pitched at a good level, IMHO, and respectful of the original sources certainly gets a thumbs-up here. Lists such as the "references not found in the rulebook" are useful to have neatly collated in that context. :)

aside, on the sample dungeon chronology: "The Dungeons of the Ground Goblins" was well into the "official" period for TSR/GW collaboration (interpret "agency" as you will). GW had been producing character sheets with the Lizardman logo for sale since February 1976, so it's safe to presume that if there had been any "issues" those would have been flagged in due course!


"7.3 ORGANIZING THE PARTY: Always have a keg, even if it's BYOB...
7.4 TAKING THE GAME SERIOUSLY: Don't"

  


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Post Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2011 11:05 am 
 

I now have a blog associated with the website. I plan to post updates (and other tidbits) to the website on the blog, so you can follow the blog to tell when there's an update rather than just checking the site.

http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/


Zenopus Archives website & blog: Exploring the Underworld of Holmes Basic D&D. Holmes Ref: Reference Sheets for Holmes Basic Referees, also compatible with OD&D plus the Greyhawk supplement

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Post Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 11:03 am 
 

Very nice site. Well done!

  

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Post Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 11:59 am 
 

Zenopus, I've updated The Gray Book slightly to fix a problem with haste and slow spells not explaining how they affect the targets. Download a new copy from my link below so you can add it to the site.



  


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Post Posted: Tue Sep 13, 2011 12:10 pm 
 

Very cool, I especially like the "Artists of" page!

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Post Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 9:42 pm 
 

Zenopus wrote:I now have a blog associated with the website. I plan to post updates (and other tidbits) to the website on the blog, so you can follow the blog to tell when there's an update rather than just checking the site.

http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/


Thanks for sharing! Looks great.

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Verbose Collector

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Post Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 9:50 pm 
 

HermitFromPluto - Thanks, I appreciate it coming from someone who's put so much effort into the Acaeum wiki.

Traveller - I've updated the link on my site and put a [url=http://zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2011/09/revised-gray-book.html[/url]post[/url] on the blog up about it.

Danull - Thanks, I find that many like the art, and know some artist's names, but don't who did what pieces. I've often wished we had a comprehensive list here of the artists for all the art in the modules, etc.

Brute - Thanks. On the B2 page on the site I have a link to a page of yours, where you did a comparison of the text changes to between the original/revised B2.


Zenopus Archives website & blog: Exploring the Underworld of Holmes Basic D&D. Holmes Ref: Reference Sheets for Holmes Basic Referees, also compatible with OD&D plus the Greyhawk supplement

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Post Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 8:55 pm 
 

I saw that. :)

Haste and slow not explaining how the targets were affected is a Chainmail dependency I missed.



  


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Post Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2011 9:17 am 
 

Today's blog post may be of interest to collectors and students of the footnotes of TSR history.

Holmes Expert Set from TSR catalog

(Special thanks to TheMilford, also a member here, for posting the scan on Tome of Treasures).


Zenopus Archives website & blog: Exploring the Underworld of Holmes Basic D&D. Holmes Ref: Reference Sheets for Holmes Basic Referees, also compatible with OD&D plus the Greyhawk supplement

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Verbose Collector

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Post Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2011 11:00 pm 
 

I noted some Tolkien interest in the OT thread...I've been running a Blue Book & Tolkien series on the blog this week for Hobbit Day/Tolkien Week.

The installments so far:
Balrogs in the Blue Book
Balrog PCs gone missing
Centaurs and Samurai and Werebears, Oh My
Green Dragon Inn
Holmes on Tolkien


Zenopus Archives website & blog: Exploring the Underworld of Holmes Basic D&D. Holmes Ref: Reference Sheets for Holmes Basic Referees, also compatible with OD&D plus the Greyhawk supplement

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Post Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 11:59 am 
 

I've put together a one-page sheet (in pdf format) listing the stats for all of monsters from the 2nd/3rd edition Holmes rulebook:  

Holmes MONSTER REFERENCE TABLE


Zenopus Archives website & blog: Exploring the Underworld of Holmes Basic D&D. Holmes Ref: Reference Sheets for Holmes Basic Referees, also compatible with OD&D plus the Greyhawk supplement

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Verbose Collector

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Post Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 1:15 pm 
 

For Halloween, I have a post on the green flame that engulfed Zenopus' tower may have been inspired by the Lovecraft story The Festival:

How Zenopus Met His Doom


Zenopus Archives website & blog: Exploring the Underworld of Holmes Basic D&D. Holmes Ref: Reference Sheets for Holmes Basic Referees, also compatible with OD&D plus the Greyhawk supplement

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Post Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2012 2:38 pm 
 

Here's a neat tidbit I noticed recently. The room letters in the Basic rulebook Sample Dungeon spell out the initials of John Eric Holmes.

Image

JEH Easter Egg


Zenopus Archives website & blog: Exploring the Underworld of Holmes Basic D&D. Holmes Ref: Reference Sheets for Holmes Basic Referees, also compatible with OD&D plus the Greyhawk supplement

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Post Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2012 9:28 am 
 

Noble Knight is having a sale, so Maze of Peril is currently 10% off ($8.96 + shipping). Sale is ending soon (meant to post this earlier). Nine copies currently in stock.

Here's the direct link:
Maze of Peril at Noble Knight

If you are unfamiliar, this is J. Eric Holmes' 1986 D&D novel featuring Boinger the Halfling & Zereth the Elf, the same characters from his three short stories in Dragon magazine.

It's still cheaper if you order from the original publisher, but you will have to send check or money order unlike NK which takes cards & PayPal. See here for more info on ordering from the publisher.


Zenopus Archives website & blog: Exploring the Underworld of Holmes Basic D&D. Holmes Ref: Reference Sheets for Holmes Basic Referees, also compatible with OD&D plus the Greyhawk supplement

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Verbose Collector

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Post Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2012 11:30 am 
 

If you are on Google+:

"I've just created a Holmes Basic Community on G+. I'll start posting links to my blog posts over there if you want to follow them there (rather than [on the blog]), plus other random comments and links to other blogs that may not warrant a full post here.

It's private, so you'll have to request to join or see the content, although the community is publicly searchable on Google+ (i.e., anyone can search and find it, and then request to join).

Below is a link if you wish to join. You'll need to be a Google Plus member first."

Holmes Basic G+ Community


Zenopus Archives website & blog: Exploring the Underworld of Holmes Basic D&D. Holmes Ref: Reference Sheets for Holmes Basic Referees, also compatible with OD&D plus the Greyhawk supplement

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