Mail Call: Holmes for the Weekend

Scratch a Holy Grail item or two off my list!  A couple of impulse purchases made this week were delivered together today.  Which means only one thing!  Holmes Basic this weekend!

So why do I need another Holmes Boxed Set? Well, I don't but this one is much nicer shape than my others and it had some surprises inside.

In addition to the chits, it had one of my Holy Grail items, a set of Dragon Dice "random number generators" with the card.  I have wanted one of these for years!  Yeah, it's damaged but that is fine with me. It honestly looks like one I had bought at White Oaks Mall in Springfield IL circa 1983.

It also included a copy of B2 Keep on the Borderlands (I have several, this is the first with the Wizard logo) and a much better copy of T1 than what I had.  But that is not all.

I also got a copy of the Holmes Gateway to Adventure! Yeah, it is not much, but I didn't have a copy yet.

I love looking at this old collection of games and thinking back to that time.

This would have been a treat in and of itself.  But I also got some NEW dice to go with my old dice.

These are the Zucati "Holamge" dice sets.

In addition to dice and crayons, there are character sheets, maps, and an artist's spotlight!

The dice are great and compare well to the GaryCon dice I got a couple years back.

I even have my d12 from the era.  Sadly the only one I still have.

The d20 is numbered 1-20 rather than 0-9 twice, but the crayons can turn a normal d20 into a d% easy.

Comparing my Holmes sets I think I can keep two and sell off one.

Which is a good idea since I need to recoup some cash here.

The dice though now allow me to have a set with all my "Basic" sets.

My Moldvay Basic has the most complete set I can find of my original dice.  Holmes and Mentzer Basic get some uninked sets with a crayon.  My expert set came with orange dice originally. I traded them for something else and then got a set of blue Dragon Dice just like these for my Expert.  Oddly enough I do have that set of dice still.  They were always my goto set even in the AD&D 2nd Ed age.

I think I can finally say that after all these years I have rebuilt my Basic D&D collection after it was lost so many decades ago.

The Holmes set also came with these dice.  They are all d8s but the numbering is strange to me.  No idea what they are for. I am sure some here knows.

Kickstart Your Weekend: Halloween Theme, Part 1

Today and next Friday I am bringing you some Halloween-themed Kickstarters that I think you my readers might enjoy. I was going to break these up by theme, but some are ending soon.

Tempus Halloween Special - Witch & Vampire Zircon Glass Dice

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tempustales/tempus-halloween-special-witch-and-vampire-zircon-glass-dice?ref=theotherside

Ok. I'll admit it. I love themed dice. And these look great. They look a touch larger than the typical dice we get, but that is a good thing. They are not cheap, but these are what I guess we can call "luxury dice sets."

The next two came up in a search and I think they work well together.

Widdershins: the Roleplaying Game

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/libomni/widdershins-the-roleplaying-game?ref=theotherside

Early 20th Century steam-punk-esque, battling Eldritch Horrors indie RPG?  Sounds like a blast to me!  There is a focus on LGBTQ play and characters, but frankly we need more of that in RPGs.  I also like how sexuality is used as a metaphor for being on the outside and thus being able to comprehend the horrors in the world that others ignore. 

It looks like there is a rich world here to explore and the art looks fantastic so far.  Can't wait to see more.

Love Potion: An Illustrated LGBT Novel

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/everafterprint/love-potion-an-illustrated-lgbt-novel?ref=theotherside

The purpose of Kickstarter in my mind is to give a boost to new artists, game designers, and authors whose material we might not otherwise ever see.  I try not to use it as pre-order system or a ransomware buy, I have a FLGS I like to support and I would rather buy there and wait than not support them.

But every so often something comes up and I feel the need to share. This is one of those.

The project creators have never done a Kickstarter before nor have they backed one. Normally this is a red flag for me.  But everyone must start somewhere.

I like the story. I once joked (ok, more than once) that why is the witch always the evil one in the story? Why can't the prince fall for the witch instead of the princess?  Then that logically went to why can't the princess and witch fall in love and tell the prince to take a hike?

This is not that story, but it is a story of the witch not being the one at end of the villager's pitchforks for once.

I enjoy the art and the creators both seem like good people.  How do I make that assumption?  They refer to each other as a "writer orc" and an "art goblin."  

There is always a part on a Kickstarter that says "back it because you believe in it." I believe in this project and would like to see it made into a reality.