#holmes basic d&d

It can be run as a simple room-by-room dungeon crawl, but there are a number of good design ideas for inspiration like one entrance leading to multiple hidden exits.  It includes many potential hooks for new adventures, which makes it a great first session to start a sandbox campaign if the party follows one or more of those leads.

Who are the NPCs who were turned to stone?  Who built the previous ancient city with some enormous dungeon rooms, and are there more hidden levels below?  Who are the pirates and what else are they up to?  The pirates have abducted at least one person from town, so I’ve had them be part of the slavers network from the A1-4 series of modules.

I also use this dungeon as a benchmark for trying new editions of the game, comparing how the rules handle different types of encounters.  The thaumaturgist can die quickly in 5th ed if he faces a party alone, but a handful of goblins might be a problem if they outnumber the party.

Rolling 3d6 in order I initially get:

STR  6

INT  12

WIS  9

CON  11

DEX  12

CHA  8

Fairly average, with Int and Dex the highest stats.  I consider thief then make him a magic-user with a traditionally awkward name, Phyzzbyn.  Holmes lets magic-users trade 3 STR points for 1 INT, so those become:

STR  3

INT  13

which is just enough INT for a 5% experience point bonus.  Who cares about STR when there are others around to do the heavy lifting.  Rolling 1d4 gives him 2 hp.  I’ve seen worse.

INT 13 also gives him a 65% chance to have any given spell in his spellbook.  I pick the ones I want most and dice for those first -- he knows Charm Person, Shield, Sleep, Magic Missile, Read Magic (necessary for discovering new spells and reading scrolls), Light, Protection from Evil, and Tenser’s Floating Disc.  During his apprenticeship he tried but failed to gain access to Read Languages, Detect Magic, Hold Portal, and Ventriloquism.

He picks Charm Person as his single spell to memorize.  His first priority in the dungeon will be to charm a strong orc to be his bodyguard.  Charm effects can last for weeks in this edition, so on later days he can switch to the Shield spell and hide behind some magical protection while the bodyguard does the dangerous stuff.

INT 13 gives him 3 extra languages besides Common and the alignment language of Chaotic Good, so he picks Goblin and Orcish (to command his charmed minions), and Elvish (so he can talk with those fighter/magic-users and trade spells for his spellbook when he levels up).