living document

Best Laid Plans

Aron Clark2 Comments
“Maus” by Art Spiegelman

123123…4

The new year has come and gone, and I’m not entirely too sure what day it is – thanks in large part to some extended time off from my regular 9-5.

As is tradition amongst my tabletop gaming friends we consider our hobby plans for the new year, describing projects we plan to take on or commitments to finish things long overdue. In an attempt to organize whirling ideas I have for my own tabletop games in ‘24 I’m applying some principals from my professional world.

In short, I’ve set broad goals for myself and defined some projects that fit into goals, with a simple task list that I can organize week over week. If projects are not on the list, or doesn’t fit into one of my goals, I don’t work on them. All the crazy ideas that pop into my head I collect in a separate list which can be considered if and when I have some spare capacity.

There’s a good chance this could work well for me, and if you’d like to take a look at how this concept is shaping up here.

Let’s Review

‘23 was a fine year for my tabletop gaming efforts. I have continued regular games both online and in person, but with little data to show for it (above methods should help in the next year’s analysis). This blog continues to grow with 2,220 visitors in ‘23 (up 31%), the most popular post being Holmes & Clark with 1,110 views.

Post volume is still low, with on 4 posts in ‘23 (down 40%). So perhaps that’s something that needs more attention.

I did experiment with tracking my miniature purchases and completed output in ‘23, but by the summer I had fallen out of the practice of tracking such things. However, it still seams a reasonable excercise and one I’ll attempt again in ‘24. Find those details here.

Holmes & Clark

Aron Clark5 Comments
Original artwork by Justin Russell – link tree

In 2019 I started running Basic D&D using the Holmes Blue Box, I’ve written about that here. During that time my games were heavily house ruled with ideas that addressed how I wanted the game to work at my table. As new players joined in my open table games I committed to convert these house rules to something that more resembled a traditional rulebook.

It was an interesting, if not difficult, project producing a complete rpg rulebook. Even when this project was informed by concepts that are now familiar within our hobby. My guiding principle in this work was to produce an accessible reference to my interpretation of the game; simplifying concepts and to perhaps offer something new.

2020 and the quiet years that followed allowed me to run more games using these rules, all the while shaping and refining the presentation. What exists now is something that matches my original vision and these rules have been tested in well over a hundred sessions with dozens of players.

This work which I’ve termed “Holmes & Clark” is offered here without charge. Print on demand copies are made available at cost. My hope is that others will pick up these rules and attempt a game like D&D that is not overly complicated with expense or minutia, and rather; enjoy a fantasy adventure that can propel the imagination and excite the mind.

Google Drive Folder – includes the following:

  • Google Doc of the Current Release
  • PDF w/o gutter offset
  • PDF w/ gutter offset
  • PC Control Panel
  • DM Control Panel

At Cost Lulu Print on Demand:

  • Softcover – w/ gutter offset – current Lulu price $4.50
  • Hardcover – no longer available, sadly Lulu cannot produce an acceptable full-bleed color cover.
  • We now have a Discord server! Please get in touch if you would be interested in joining the conversation there, or find the link in the rule book.

Preview Pages

Update Nov 10

Jason Conerly of the Nerds RPG Variety Podcast has be on as a guest recently to talk about ol’ school games and the Holmes & Clark rules in particular. You check out that episode here.

The You Tuber “Hex Pressed” has done a read through (flip through?) of the Holmes & Clark rulebook. Check that out here.

Update Sep 30

Even AI shares its opinion on Holmes & Clark, find that 10m podcast here.

Streamlined To The Strongest +Battlefield Generator

Aron Clark1 Comment

Information spread across multiple sources, locations, or systems is difficult to access. This is a maximum of my professional world and applies equally to my hobby world, especially with complex or evolving rulesets.

To the Strongest is one such use case where periodic updates via the Even Stronger compilation add or clarify rules from the core book. I have taken on a small project to summarize the core rules, simplifying where I can, and adding the ES amendments.

That streamlined TTS effort is now available here.

I’ve posted previously on the topic of To the Strongest here, which includes:

  • A reformatted quick reference sheet,
  • Video tutorial on playing the game with Table Top Simulator, AND
  • A video of a demonstration game

Have also updated my QRS, dropping the troop specific melee and shooting modifiers from the reference sheet in favor of including those details in the STTS unit summary. I feel that such modifiers should be included in an army list not the core reference.

April 9 Update

The Streamlined To The Strongest summary has been updated with the latest Even Stronger v12 update.

Links:
– STTS summary keeps its original link
– Updated QRS available here, and original post links also update
– Army list template that might be helpful available here

April 18 Update

Have just finished another random generator tool, this time for TTS battlefields. That tool available here, sample output follows:

July 13 Update

Here’s my first attempt with the random battlefield generator, working as designed.

I’ve had a thought about roads, which should always be an easy activation if following the track.

This house rule provides a further improvement to the use of a road even while in open ground.

Nov 10 Update

Have updated the battlefield generator with some logic that reflects card draws and added some graphics for final map layout. All links remain the same.

This Is How We Play

Aron Clark3 Comments

My return to RPGs in 2012 started w/ Dungeon Crawl Classics, struck out into the OSR frontier, explored three little brown books, revisited “blue box”, and have generally been rambling around the DIY indie scene. All this I’ve done as both a DM & a PC. There have been successes and failures on both sides of the screen.

I recently joined an Old School Essential (OSE) campaign run by Jason Hobbs. Part of the introduction to the campaign was a review of Jason’s house rules, those variants & rulings Jason uses in his game. This reminded of a similar compilation of my own.

I’ve re-organized my own house rules, which I consider a living document. Sharing those here as an example of the concepts that I find interesting or helpful in a game like Dungeons & Dragons.