HOLMENTZER CLERICS

HOLMENTZER CLERICS

Clerics are humans who have dedicated themselves to one or more of the gods. Depending on the god, the cleric may be good or evil, lawful or chaotic. Clerics have their own special spells... They may... wear armor, including magic armor, and carry non-edged weapons such as the mace or the quarter staff.  No swords or bows and arrows can be employed, for the cleric is forbidden by his religion from the drawing of blood. Good clerics can often dispel the undead - skeletons, zombies and their ilk... As they advance in experience levels they gain the use of additional spells. Spells for evil clerics differ slightly from those of good clerics... Clerics have the ability to turn away the "undead," and higher level clerics can dispel them. If the cleric turns the undead away they retreat before him, will not touch him and flee from his immediate vicinity if they can. When a higher level cleric dispels an undead monster it disappears and is gone forever. - Holmes, pgs. 6 & 12

Whenever a cleric character tries to Turn undead monsters, the player will roll 2d6 and compare the total to the Turn Undead chart... If the attempt at Turning the undead is successful, the player will then ask you how many monsters are affected. - Mentzer DMR, pg. 21

Note in Cleric Experience Table that I allow 1st level clerics one 1st level spell a day.

HOLMENTZER HALFLINGS

HOLMENTZER HALFLINGS

Halflings are short, 3 feet high, little folk with several special abilities. Out-of-doors they are difficult to see, having the ability to vanish into woods or undergrowth. They are like dwarves in their resistance to magic.* Halflings are extremely accurate with missiles and fire any missile at +1. They can use all the weapons and armor of a fighting man as long as it is "cut down" to their size. - Holmes, pg. 7

Further specifics from Mentzer DMR, pg. 16:

A halfling character has special skills at hiding. This is because of the halfling's small size and ability to "freeze," or hold very still, not moving, for short periods of time. A halfling is also harder to hit when attacked by any creature larger than man-sized... [gaining] a bonus to their Armor Class.

* Holmentzer uses the Saving Throw Chart from inside the back cover of Mentzer Basic DMR, a chart by way of Cook Expert.

HALFLINGS IN FURTHERMOOR

Long ago, the largest community of halflings in Furthermoor was among the hills of Hoppling Downs, in NW Furthermoor, until the Shadow War took place nearby, in the zone now known as the Enchanted Waste. Today, the largest communities are the Halfling Ghetto within Furthermoor City & the hilly region of Duck Hill. Halflings are known for their excellence in the leisure arts, namely the brewing of beer & the growing of potent leaf.

HOLMENTZER DWARVES

HOLMENTZER DWARVES

Dwarves are about four feet tall, stocky of build and weigh 150 pounds, shoulders very broad, their skin a ruddy tan, brown or gray. They wear long beards. They are sturdy fighters and are especially resistant to magic as shown by their better saving throws against magical attack*. They have infravision and can see 60 feet in the dark. Underground, they can detect slanting passages, traps, shifting walls and new construction about one-third of the time. Dwarves can all speak the languages of gnomes, kobolds and goblins. - Holmes, pg. 6

The traps a dwarf can find are those involving large dungeon features, such as a falling ceiling, floor pit, and so forth. The traps a dwarf may discover does not refer to all traps. For example, a dwarf would have no chance at detecting a small dart trap on a chest; this could be detectable only by a thief.^ - Mentzer DMR, pg. 15

* The resistance to magic a dwarf enjoys is most beneficial using the saving throw table from the back of Mentzer DMR, i.e. Holmentzer. The Mentzer chart comes from Cook Expert.

^If a dwarf is a thief, these abilities will be in addition to their thief abilities.

DWARVES IN FURTHERMOOR

The origin of the dwarf in Wild Earth, published in Hooded Periscope #2, is mostly concerned w/ the realm of Kush, which is west of Furthermoor. In Furthermoor, dwarves come from various places, but mainly the SW, the magnificent, loud city of Moloch, or the nearby Mines of Turnip Skull. Though the dwarves have other places, unknown to non-dwarves, all over & through the mountains.

HOLMENTZER ELVES

[so I plan to sweep through races for Holmentzer - class & race generally comes from Holmes Blue Book, i.e. Holmentzer Player's Handbook; however, there are a few key spots where Mentzer DMR adds a nuance to make it something singular - this race is a good example]

HOLMENTZER ELVES

Elves are five or more feet in height, slim of build, weigh about 120 pounds and have fair to tan skin. They can use all the weapons and armor of the fighting man*, including all magical weapons, and can also cast spells like a magic-user. They can detect secret hidden doors about one-third of the time. They have infravision; like dwarves, they can see 60 feet in the dark. They are not paralyzed by the touch of ghouls. Elves can speak the languages of orcs, hobgoblins and gnolls as well as Elvish and the Common speech they share with men, dwarves, and halflings. Thus, they have the advantages of both fighting men and magic-users as well as certain special capabilities of their own*.

Elves progress in level as both fighting men and magic-users*, but since each game nets them experience in both categories equally, they progress more slowly than other characters. - Holmes, pgs. 6-7.

*This is true, unless a player decides their elf is a magic-user only, or in place of fighting man, choose a different class, like thief, which has its own limitations, e.g. cannot wear plate armor, etc.

If an elf player wishes their elf to be a magic-user only, they follow THESE RULES for determining spells in their 1st level spell book, referring to the FIRST LEVEL ELF SPELL LIST. Also, they will progress solely on the experience path of a magic-user.

Otherwise, all other elves, which are multi-classed, i.e. Fighter/Magic-user, Thief/magic-user, etc. will follow the Spell Book rules from Mentzer Dungeon Masters Rulebook. The reason for this, is that while all elves grow up learning magic to some degree, those that have focused on other talents, don't have the same magic experience as those dedicating everything to magic. The Mentzer rules are as follows:

When a player starts as a... elf character, the player will ask you what spells the character has in the spell book. The magic-user's teacher is a higher level NPC magic-user, and the spells come from the teacher... The first spell given should always be Read Magic. This allows the character to read scrolls found, and would be a basic part of the character's training... You may give any "second spell" to a beginning elf character. The elf's many talents keep that character class balanced with the others, whatever spells are known. The player of an elf can feel useful in many ways; the spell is an additional bonus, not the character's only specialty. - Mentzer Basic DMR, pg. 18.

If a multi-classed elf has a high enough INT, they have more than two spells in their book at the beginning of a game, e.g. INT of 13-15 = 3 spells, 16-17 = 4 spells, 18 = 5 spells. Also, these spells are selected by the DM, and may not always be from the elf list.

ELVES IN FURTHERMOOR

Like Holmes mentions in his monster section, in Furthermoor, there are both high elves & wood elves. As of now, all elf PCs are considered high elves. For high elves as monsters, I'm using Mentzer's monster description, & for wood elves, Holmes. In addition, wood elves of Furthermoor are green. Currently thinking about this, but it's gotta be good.

PALADINS

Paladin class is per OD&D Greyhawk: Supplement I (17+ CHA Lawful fighter, 1d8 HD). Now that we have a paladin, here's that info, plus additional scans from AD&D Player's Handbook. Any conflicts? We'll figure it out. It works well w/ Holmes, b/c while Holmes isn't an expansion of Greyhawk, like AD&D, Greyhawk OD&D is its gamey core.

For now, any paladin in Furthermoor will be assumed a paladin of the Great Church, unless the player has something else they'd like to work in.

THE GREAT CHURCH OF FURTHERMOOR

[main game bit below 2nd image]

from Holmes Basic equipment list

The Great Church was an early TSR D&D religion based on Christianity. For instance, in OD&D & Holmes Basic, Cleric "symbols" were crosses. Think Hammer Horror & Peter Cushing. I included the Great Church in Furthermoor b/c of Farned of the Great Church, an NPC used from an old module pre-gen. Now, we have Guerrand, a paladin of the Great Church, as well as he & Grego's quest to locate the book, Dark Genesis of the Great Church's Underside. I have no clue of the specifics of the old D&D Great Church (if there were any), except for Lawfulness, but I dig the possibilities. What follows is what the Great Church of Furthermoor stands for in Wild Earth. If you have any ideas to add, lemme know.

from R. Crumb's Genesis, as is below image

The Great Church believes humans were created on Wild Earth, in their God Jalopinet's likeness, w/ an origin similar to the traditional "Adam & Eve" story, in a garden called Eden, in East Furthermoor. Jalopinet, being all Lawful, created Adam & Eve to tend the garden, but tempted & drawn from its borders by strange fires & beings (Lizard Men, Troglodytes, etc.) created by something other than Jalopinet, Adam & Eve ventured from the garden, finding that as Jalopinet had warned them, once out, they were unable to go back in, a flaming & whirling sword blocking their path, three guardian beasts @ the sides. Soon, they were bound by the Lizard Men. It would be anywhere between one & thirteen years (stories differ) before they would escape the Lizard Men, traveling far into the west until coming upon a beautiful place to settle, north of a bay*. After much prayer to Jalopinet, pleading for forgiveness, Adam & Eve, & their children, received magical abilities daily, & as chaotic forces encroached on their settlement, they realized power in the Symbol of the Crossroads, a natural cross which had appeared as roads going N, E, W & S. Eventually, a few hundred years later, the largest, most grandiose church...the Great Church...was built @ this storied Crossroads.

As the bard Robert Johnson, from Avalon, once sang:

I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees
I went to the crossroad, fell down on my knees
Asked the Lord above, Have mercy, now save poor Bob, if you please

*Many ancient books tell the tale of Adam & Eve's escape & flight & all of them speak of other demi-human races coming to their aid. Different tales tell of different friends, though all taken together, Adam & Eve had contact w/ most races of Wild Earth: Elves, Dwarves, Halflings, etc.

HOLMENTZER WEAPON DAMAGE & ATTACKS

[important rule bits are the table image & the paragraph below it]

OD&D damage was 1d6, no matter what, until Greyhawk introduced variable weapon damage. Holmes uses the classic 1d6 damage die, but refers players to AD&D if they want something more complex:

He then makes another die roll, with one 6-sided die, to see how many points of damage were done by the hit. (The more complex system used for advanced play allows for varying amounts of damage by different weapons and by various sorts of monsters)... The number of damage points scored by a monster's hit is variable and is given in the monster section. In general, humanoid creatures and first level monsters do one six-sided die's worth of damage per "hit" - whether the hit is a sword blow, a bite, a horn gore, a clawing or whatever. - Holmes, pg. 18 & 19.

Mentzer DMR on the other hand, mentions nothing of damage in regard to player characters, though Mentzer's Player's Manual does introduce a simplified variable weapon damage chart, via Moldvay:

Whenever you hit a monster in your adventures so far, your character's weapon inflicted 1-6 (1d6) points of damage. But if we consider the battle realistically, a dagger should do less damage than a sword (for example). - Mentzer Basic Player's Manual, pg. 60.

In Holmes, variable weapon damage is mentioned as advanced, whereas Mentzer presents variable weapon damage as being more realistic. I side w/ Holmes, having trouble w/ Mentzer's realistic bit, as I don't see why, a dagger, if a solid hit, in a vital place, couldn't do just as much damage as any other weapon. Also, given that it's mainly the Mentzer DM Rulebook I'm concerned w/ re: Holmentzer, I'm gonna follow Holmes' lead for more advanced weapon damage rules & use AD&D 1e Players Handbook, which rocks a modified & expanded version of the table from Greyhawk.

Damage By Weapon Type (disregard weight column) - click me

In addition to the above image, I will be using this bit from Holmes, pg. 20, in regard to number of attacks in a round, etc.:

Light weapons such as a dagger allow two blows per round. The heavy two-handed sword, battle axe, halberd, flail, morning star, and most pole arm can be used only once every other round. The light crossbow takes time to cock and load, so it likewise can be fired only once every other round. The heavy crossbow takes twice as long to load and fire.