💡 From the Sorcerer's Scroll, a cool idea for quick high-concept random campaign settings based on Appendix N authors. I've followed this blog since I started the Zenopus Archives ⤵️

NEW FROM TTRPG INSIDER: I got to sit down and try @dndbeyond.com 's new starter set HEROES OF THE BORDERLANDS. Is it worth your time? www.ttrpginsider.news/p/news-round...

The Keep and the Cave of Chaos are back in the box of the newest D&D "basic", which is called "Heroes of the Borderlands"

Mail call...the new #Superchunk CD has arrived! Officially out this Friday, it's called Songs in the Key of Yikes. Time for a spin on the vintage 3-disc changer. @superchunk.bsky.social

Just heard about this: The World of #Greyhawk is returning as a setting for organized D&D play, and it begins with an adventure derived from the Village of Hommlet.

DRAGONFLIGHT (1978) Acrylic on Masonite - 20" X 30" For the first book in Anne McCaffrey's now legendary Dragonriders of Pern series, I wanted to create a literal visualization of the title. I selected an aerial point-of-view and tilted the horizon to simulate the dizzying sensation of flight. 1/4

The first dragon I owned. From the Fisher Price Little People Castle set. It lived in a cave with a secret door that led into the castle.

"The influence of Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu has spanned more than 40 years..." — The Strong National Museum of Play (Rochester, NY) looks at the enduring impact of #CallOfCthulhu on #TTRPGs and beyond.

If You See This Post A #Castle 🏰 The Keep on the Borderlands

Thanks to living 1 hour from the University of Wisconsin Parkside and another era's low standards for leaving kids unattended, my first Gen Con was in 1981. I saved the program. dmdavid.com/Gen_Con_XIV_...

A favorite house rule of mine lately for my Holmes/OD&D games is that thieves can fire missile weapons into melee without penalty; i.e. no chance of friendly fire. This leans on Dex being their prime requisite, and gives them the ability to hang back but still contribute.

Sad news. Trend's scratch & sniff "Stinky Stickers" of the early 80s were a favorite of mine around the same time that I started with D&D. The front of my Monster Manual II, which I still have, became a sticker album including several Stinkies.

On Wandering DMs, a fun conversation about their recent play-through of the 2011 Skull Mountain module, by Jeff Sparks, which is inspired by the famous cross-section in #HolmesBasic. ⤵️

It’s why I still play “Holmes” Basic from time to time, instead of any retroclones — the hair-splitting is not worth the effort, and it’s a perfectly fine base to build upon if I feel the need to add to it…

In Greyhawk, the 2nd-level thief is a footpad. For all these years, I figured a footpad was someone who stole things by stealth (by padding quietly on foot). Nope, a footpad is a robber who robs you on the path ("pad") and is on foot when he does so.

Chris Holmes, son of J. Eric Holmes, running the Islands of Peril adventure based on his father's notes at North Texas RPG Con:

I'm pleased to announce that after five years, the Ruined Tower of Zenopus 5E conversion + expansion has achieved Mithral (2,501+ sales) on DMs Guild! Thanks to all that have purchased it. Read more in a post on the Zenopus Archives blog: zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2025/06/ruin...

Dean Wareham solo band playing a classic Galaxie 500 cut on their current tour:

New album coming in August from my favorite band! First saw them play in 1991 and about 20 times since.

What’s the cover art that got you started in the TTRPG hobby? (Just that booklet! No box/dice. Had to use those chits!)

Today’s piece is my Oxonmoot 2021 talk, on the 40th anniversary of #Tolkien’s Unfinished Tales, focusing on “Aldarion and Erendis”, Galadriel’s hair, and Gandalf’s character development. @tolkiensociety.org @tolkienguide.com @uofgfantasy.bsky.social dimitrafimi.substack.com/p/reflection...

Interesting list of trivia regarding the sources of the names of forests in Greyhawk:

Depite owning Dragon Master FlipSider game for years, I somehow never realized they ripped off Larry Elmore's Red Dragon, most iconic Dungeons&Dragons image ever, which graced the Red Box Basic Rules Set I had since I was six years old. D&D buddy Zenopus Archives @zenopus.bsky.social pointed it out

The original illustration by Greg Bell from Greyhawk (1976)

"Owlbears have brownish-black to yellow brown fur and feathers. The 1,300 to 1,500 pound males will be the darker colored. The beaks of these creatures are yellow to ivory. The eyes are red-rimmed and exceedingly terrible to behold." Gary Gygax, Monster Manual I

It's an interesting topic. The manuscript that Holmes submitted to TSR was titled "Dungeons and Dragons for Beginners". I don't know whether he came up with this on his own or after talking with Gygax. Holmes doesn't use this title anywhere else in the manuscript.

For DnD historians (including @daddyrolleda1.bsky.social ) It's interesting that we refer to the 1977 "Dungeons & Dragons" paperback book with the blue dragon, edited by Eric J. Holmes as "HOLMES BASIC". The book itself is only called DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and doesn't use the word "basic" anywhere...

Wow!

While not necessarily considered living, these legendary automatons are entities attributed with supernatural abilities of speech.

Started playing in a new in-person D&D campaign with the Local Group today for the first time since covid. Dragonlance! 🫨

It would be well worth it to anyone who is a fan of the "Dungeon Mastering As a Fine Art" section of Holmes Basic D&D to track down a copy of this book:

TORCHES (6) is my collection of blog posts that caught my eye. In Vol 5, we have a moon crawl, fluctuating economies, book review, why adventures are bad, getting started with OD&D, and considering Holmes Basic as a 33-session complete campaign within itself: icastlight.blogspot.com/2025/04/torc...

Today on the Zenopus Archives blog, the first of several posts of my highlights of #GaryCon this year. First up is "Day 0", covering travel and arrival. zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2025/04/gary...

#GaryCon highlight: Playing in the Legends of Roleplaying AD&D 1E Tourney for the 5th time. This year, it was Dungeons of the Ghost Tower, a sequel to the module C2 The Ghost Tower of Inverness, designed by the original author Allen Hammack.

#GaryCon highlight: Playing West End Games Star Wars RPG for the first time! GM Chris Hunt ran us through a scenario derived from the 1992 module Planet of the Mists.

New AD&D 1E module by T. Foster of Dragonsfoot and other forums & author of the Heroic Legendarium manual for AD&D:

#GaryCon highlight: Seeing the oversized 3D board for DUNGEON! constructed by Douglas Waltman for the Legends of Wargaming hall.

#GaryCon highlight: Playing a D&D Master Set adventure for the first time! Demos of the OSR Grimoire blog ran The Spindle of Heaven, a mini-adventure by Bruce Nesmith that came with the 1985 Master Set Player Screen.

Great list here of practical ideas for upping your con game ⤵️

#GaryCon 2025 highlight: Playing CHAINMAIL on the sand table. Michael Mornard (aka Gronan) ran Battle on the Ice, a historical scenario, using 1960s Elastolin figures.

#GaryCon 2025 highlight: Trying out the new D&D pinball. Several units were set up for freeplay throughout the hotel.

Player photos from "The Eye of Arzaz", my Friday afternoon game at #GaryCon this year. The original adventure is by J. Eric Holmes and can be found in his 1981 book, "Fantasy Role-Playing Games"

This morning at #GaryCon I played in the "Battle of the Moathouse" Chainmail game, which recreates the battle that led to the moathouse being ruined in T1. I was on the side of Chaos, and we kept the forces of Law at bay until the time ran out.

"The Bowmen and Other Legends of the War" by Arthur Machen, published by Putnam in 1915. The titular story of this collection recounts the tale of a unit of British soldiers at the Battle of Mons during World War One who were saved by the spirits of medieval English longbowmen 1/2

"The weird beauty of O&D": I like that turn of phrase. A post by the Trollish Delver on a new appreciation for OD&D. ⤵️

In one hour, we chat about how to respond to grim outside events if you're running D&D for other people. Our live viewer chat always inspires, join us if you can: #dnd #players #currentaffairs www.youtube.com/live/O8li1XU...

Dungeons and Dragons just got put on Netflix and might I suggest everyone go watch it immediately?

Reminder, General (Silver) registration for games at #GaryCon opens today at noon CST. I'm running two games, you can find them in the blog post linked below:

Today on the Zenopus Archives, a post in honor of the 95th anniversary of Holmes' birth, aka Holmes Day 2025, with a roundup of Holmes-iana from the past year: zenopusarchives.blogspot.com/2025/02/holm...

Another Super Bowl Sunday, which means it is time to play Dungeons & Dragons!