More maps from the archives

Here's a couple more Dungeons & Dragons maps I found in my old Trapper Keeper.  This is a castle and settlement I think I drew up for one of my characters for when he gained a domain:

 I also sketched a detailed map of the fortress itself:

Anyone else still have their D&D creations from when they were kids?

Monkeys & mayhem

Last week Ed the THW Guy blogged about the aftermath of a combat we played out using the rules for 5150: New Beginnings.  I generated a character (mercenary/bounty hunter) who landed a job retreiving a certain item on behalf of a trophy wife.  It was supposed to be a simple exchange, but the monkeys who supposedly had the mcguffin tried a double-cross.  Combat ensued, and I remembered to take a couple of photos during the firefight.

Here's my Star (green) and his group: Ace & Duce (the twins in blue) and Sparx (in grey).  They managed to get the drop on the quartet of uplifted simians who tried to mess the hardworking bounty hunter around, wounding three and chasing off the other one.  They snatched the downed leader and escaped in the van before the cops arrived, letting a gang of Hishen who happened to be walking by take the rap for the shootings.

Fun game, interesting background, quick play, and its way of generating encounters leads to some great storytelling based on what the dice give you.  I'm looking forward to finding out just what that monkeyboy knows ....

Unearthed nostalgia

Some three decades ago, I came up with a short D&D adventure using the Holmes rules.  My recent postings on the blue book made me nostalgic, so I dug out my old module.  I thought I'd share the maps now:

As you can see, I was apparently influenced a great deal by the moathouse and dungeon from The Village of Hommlet.  I don't think I ever actually ran the adventure, so you, my readers, are the first people to see these maps.

The adventure itself is unbalanced as hell, but I was probably only 13 or so when I came up with it.  Still, it's fun to look back at the creative works of a younger me.

Bonus new monster for Holmes D&D

And because it gets mentioned in the Holmes rulebook, I would be remiss if I didn't stat up the samurai along with the other AD&D character classes as monsters for this version of D&D.

Samurai

Move: 120 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 4
Armor Class: 3
Treasure Type: B
Alignment: any
Attacks: 2
Damage: 1-6 points each

Samurai have a strict code of honor, and will not hesitate to attack any characters who do not show them the proper deference.  Samurai consider surrender dishonorable, and they will die rather than lay down their arms to a superior foe.  In battle, they wield a sword in each hand, and can therefore attack or parry with either or both weapons in the same melee round.  In large battles, a group of samurai will be led by a shogun with 9 hit dice and 2-8 samurai bodyguards with maximum hit points.

Sunday Starships: Monday Edition

I messed up in my posting yesterday, so this edition of Sunday Starships is going up on Monday.  This week's featured ships are Pirate Assault Scouts from the Star Frontiers Knight Hawks range of spaceship minis.  These were part of my previous acquisitions from a local used bookstore.

I think this style of spaceship goes very well with the vessels in my Flying Roadshow, so I started out painting them the same way: white primer, brushed on metallic pearl white, and metallic gunmetal gray wash.  Instead of detailing with another metallic, this time I just picked out a couple of areas on each ship in a bright primary color.

One problem with the primer, it went on really gritty and grainy--and it even started coming off as dust when I handled the primed minis.  I don't think it was the temperature/humidity--I sprayed some other ships black at the same time, and they came out all right.  However, once I brushed on the pearl over the white primered ships, they looked fine, and the wash did a good job bringing out the details (although they're washed out by the flash in these pics).

The size and style of these ships doesn't really fit in with most of the Superior Models/Monday Knight ships in my collection, but I think they will work as civilian passenger shuttles.  They also would work great in War Rocket, if I ever get to play that game again.

I'm happy with the way these came out, and I'm encouraged by the fact that the wash did such a good job showing of the detailing on these models.  I'm gonna have to leave my safety zone of drybrushing to try experimenting with wash techniques more often. 

More new monsters for Holmes D&D

Building on my earlier list of new monsters for the Holmes D&D rules inspired by character classes, here are some more offerings.  Like the previous batch, these are based on a brief mention by Holmes in the basic rulebook under Additional Character Classes and the literature and pop culture available to a 13-year-old version of me.

Monk

Move: 150 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 5
Armor Class: 9
Treasure Type: nil
Alignment: lawful good (50%), lawful evil (50%)
Attacks: 1 or 2
Damage: 1-6 or 1-4 points each

As Monks are skilled in unarmed combat, they always strike first, attacking twice per round with their hands, or once per round with a weapon.  If hit in melee, a monk takes half damage (round down).  Their training also allows them to dodge incoming missile fire half the time.  When fighting men or similar opponents, if a monk rolls 5 or more than the number needed to hit the target, the target is knocked unconscious for 1-20 rounds.  Monks carry no treasure, although their monasteries typically have valuable statuary or other adornments.  A monastery is led by the grand master, who fights as a 10 hit dice monster and attacks twice per round with weapons or four times per round open-hand.

Paladin

Move: 120 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 8
Armor Class: 2
Treasure Type: see below
Alignment: lawful good
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1-6 points

There are a dozen paladins, all of whom serve the king.  The strength of their faith gives paladins a +4 save vs. any fear or charm effect, whether from spell, wand, or dragon breath.  Once per day, a paladin may lay hands on a person, this has the effect of a cleric's Bless spell.  Although paladins have no use for treasure, they are always armed and armored as a knight (sword, lance, shield, plate mail, etc.), with a 40% chance an item will be magical.  If encountered outside, a paladin will have a heavy war horse with barding (AC 5) able to understand the paladin's commands.  A paladin will not join an evil party or perform an evil deed.

Ranger

Move: 120 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 7
Armor Class: 5
Treasure Type: M
Alignment: chaotic good
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1-6 points

Rangers are skilled in woodcraft and can track small groups or even individuals through the wilderness 90% of the time.  When outdoors, they can sense an ambush on a roll of 1 to 5 on a six-sided die.  While in the wilderness there is a 50% chance a ranger can use certain plants to create a healing draught that can cure the touch of a wight or heal 1-4 points of damage; such a potion takes 2-7 hours to make and must be used immediately or it loses its curative power.  The rangers have a chieftain of noble birth with 10 hit dice and a magic sword (roll type).  In large battles, a ranger will lead a company of 30-180 normal men or 20-80 elves.

Witch

Move: 120 feet/turn, 240 feet flying
Hit Dice: 3
Armor Class: 9
Treasure Type: S
Alignment: lawful evil (50%) chaotic evil (25%) neutral (25%)
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1-6 points

Although powerful witches such as Baba Yaga lead a solitary existence, witches usually gather in covens of three or more.  A witch will always have a Broom of Flying and a magic cauldron that functions as a Crystal Ball, but only for the witch.  A witch can also use her cauldron cast a curse similar to that of a scroll spell or to create enchantments able to dupicate any spell, scroll, or magic item effect (except wishes).  Witches often bestow these magic charms to adventurers in exchange for certain tasks.  A witch can speak with her familiar (usually a cat) and therefore knows what it knows.

New monsters for Holmes D&D

In a comment about my expanded wandering monster tables for the Holmes version of Dungeons & Dragons, Zenopus noted that I didn't include any nonplayer characters in the charts (early printings of the blue book, echoing the original D&D rules, had character classes such as warriors, seers, adepts and footpads among the table entries).  While I said I'd maybe churn out some revised tables, I haven't done that yet.  However, that suggestion did inspire me to create a few additions to the monsters available for Holmes.

As you can see, these monsters are inspired by the additional character classes Holmes mentions in the Additional Character Classes section of the book.  While they share names with the archetypes available for the white box rules and Advanced D&D, I statted these up as opponents using the other monsters in the basic rulebook as a template.  Basically, I'm creating these new monsters based on the information that would have been available to the 13-year-old version of me after I first received the boxed set--so these entries don't necessarily reflect the classes found in the AD&D Players Handbook.  Instead, they're based on literature and pop culture of that era, along with a dash of The Holmes Companion.

Assassin

Move: 120 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 4
Armor Class: 6
Treasure Type: M
Alignment: neutral
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1-6 points

These fanatical killers (known as ninjas in the Far East) inflict double damage when striking from behind and have all the other abilities of fourth-level thieves.  Assassins wear leather armor; their high dexterity (16) gives them a +1 on their Armor Class and means they usually strike first in combat.  These killers are typically armed with missile weapons in addition to hand-to-hand arms, but they never use shields.  On rare occasions, an assassin will use blowguns to shoot poison-tipped darts, but this requires special permission from the guildmaster.  Assassins usually operate in groups of one to four, but can be found in greater numbers in their stronghold, usually a fortress in a remote area.  The stronghold of assassins in the service of a higher cause will be led by an EHP, while that of killers for hire will be led by a master assassin with 9 hit dice who strikes from behind for quadruple damage and has all the other abilities of a ninth level thief.

Druid

Move: 120 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 5
Armor Class: 7
Treasure Type: Q
Alignment: neutral
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1-6 points

Druids are spiritual leaders and keepers of mystic wisdom who often serve as advisors to local warlords or champions.  Druids may use any two first-level spells and any two second-level spells (magic-user or cleric) per day.  A druid will always carry a magical staff (1-3=Staff of Striking, 4-5=Snake Staff, 6=Staff of Healing).  When defending the territory of his people, a druid will be accompanied by one or two heroes (4th level fighters) and 10-100 normal men followers.  There are tales of an archdruid who presides over all other druids with nine hit dice who can cast any three first-, second-, third-, or fourth-level spells (12 total) per day.

Illusionist

Move: 120 feet/turn
Hit Dice: 3
Armor Class: 9
Treasure Type: I, S
Alignment: any
Attacks: 1
Damage: 1-4 points

Illusionists are masters of escape and misdirection.  If tied up, shackled, or otherwise bound, they can escape their bindings in 1-10 rounds.  They can cast any six of the following spells once per day: Dancing Lights, Ventriloquism, Audible Glamer, Invisibility, Knock, Levitate, Mirror Image, Pyrotechnics, Rope Trick, Water Breathing, Confusion.  In addition, with at least one day of preparation, an illusionist can duplicate the effect of a Massmorph spell.