I had not been checking the court website with any regularity, and after I came in from moving the lawn, saw on Tenkar’s Tavern that the lawsuit has ended. Tenkar explains that the “with prejudice” phrase means that the lawsuit is over and cannot be resumed.
My last post on this was March 30, 2018, and this court filing is dated April 16, 2018. Now over two weeks later and no response to my last direct email or Kickstarter message. I realize they have to work through the Kickstarter process to get things rolling.
I will be happy with either a documentary or a refund.
If and when I have any response to my queries, I will post another update.
+Doug Cole is running his long awaited Kickstarter for his 5e based RPG Dragon Heresy. Dragon Heresy is a Norse/Viking themed RPG. The Kickstarter is to get this starter set off the ground. It covers up to 5th level of play. As of this writing, the Kickstarter just hit the basic funding level, and is nearing double the base amount. There are three stretch goals, yet to be reached. More races, classes, and backgrounds; offset printing; and the big one – the production of the Deluxe Edition of Dragon Heresy, which is already written.
The Book of Foes
I received two PDFs of the working draft that is awaiting final edits. First I dug into The Book of Foes. This is basically the monster manual/bestiary. I really like the initial presentation that describes creatures as either obstacles or opposition. The section on How to Use This Book and Creature Behavior are great explanations that both new and experienced GMs can use to help get into the mind/motivation of creatures.
This covers the gamut from normal wildlife, monstrosities, elementals, fae, dragon kind, and undead. Every creature is described through the lenses of a northern/cold environment and a Norse flavor/mythology. One finds an explanation for why these creatures make sense in this world.
Dragon Heresy Introductory Set
The second PDF is the Dragon Heresy Introductory Set. It goes into some of the same information as I already encountered in The Book of Foes. For example, vigor and wounds. Rather than a standard 5e system, Doug has added some complexity to make hit points more varied. Armor also negates some damage either by the nature of armor, or the ablative nature of wearing down an opponent’s armor. At a certain level of hit point loss, one begins to suffer wounds.
Doug’s last Kickstarter, The Lost Hall of Tyr, is a module in this setting. Some of the creatures and setting text are duplicated, but it just reflects the consistency of Doug’s presentation. Also his grappling rules, as presented in his first Kickstarter, Dungeon Grappling, have a place in this world. Both people and creatures/monsters have ways to grapple foes.
I reviewed his prior Kickstarters and backed both of them. I was going to pass on backing this Kickstarter, but I really like what I’ve seen in the PDFs Doug sent me. I like having the physical book to hold in my hands, so I’m going to chip in at the $50 level. Doug runs a top notch Kiskstarter and will give plenty of updates and deliver on time or early.
One of the tiers is $5 for a PDF of the combat rules for the standard three classes, wizard, cleric, and fighter for levels one and two. This lets you see his take on combat. He’s studied various martial arts, most recently re-constructed Viking fighting styles, which inform his take on grappling and combat in Dragon Heresy. If you are looking for a combined setting and rules for a Norse based RPG based on 5e, this is the one for you.
In response to a comment on my big article about the legally troubled Great Kingdom Kickstarter. While the Kickstarter page still has the same message about a legal dispute, I found that there has been some movement in the legal front. The last online data about the case is from September 29, 2017. [Go here or use the link search as guest for Case: 505665 and Year: 2014.
I am not a lawyer, and from what I can see, it appears that the two parties were ordered to mediation to save the expense of a trial. They have had depositions and meetings to work out whatever deal they may have reached. I assume there is a settlement based on what the commenter said on my other article.
According to the comments, “. . . they had just cleared a legal hurdle and it should be released soon.” Also: “They are going to send out a survey to make sure if peoples addresses have changed (like mine has) what their new address is so they can get the kickstarter (sic) rewards shipped. This is progress.”
Since I am a backer of this Kickstarter, I also messaged them to get an official response from them. I asked if “it” is a film or refunds.
Judges Guild has a Kickstarter for a re-print/revision of their City State Of The Invincible Overlord book. As all successful Kickstarters, there is the blurb about the number of backers and the amount raised: “965 backers pledged $85,130 to help bring this project to life.”
This was a respectable amount of pledges, but had problems from the start. First, the add ons included minis that were not factored in before the start. Second, none of the pledges included shipping, or did include shipping, as it cost in 2014. James Mishler was supposed to do some writing for the project, and his own personal issues led to nothing happening from him and the February 13, 2015 update revealed that his portion had not been done. (This was a major setback, but it seemed to be OK, since they could just clean up what they had with maybe a few additions.)
After many updates and back and forth, the layout is supposedly being done by Bob 3. Bob 2 has stated somewhere online that he gave Bob 3 money to pay for a layout person. (I wish people posting in the updates would share all these link. I don’t have time to track them down to back this up. So consider this heresay.)
A few pages of layout were supposedly being done each month. I think someone built a spreadsheet to show how close it must be.
The last update prior to today was September 28, 2017. A monthly update was promised after less than monthly updates were not forthcoming. Each update indicated the number of pages of layout, etc. Often filled with stories of sick family, moving to a new apartment, fumigating for pests, et. al.
After radio silence from Judges Guild, and Bob 2 and 3, Rob Conley, one of the cartographers, stepped up and got permission and a license from Bob 2, to share his map with the Kickstarter backers, then sell it on OBS to recoup the license cost. You can read about it here, here, here, and here on the Bat In The Attic blog. It’s pretty bad when one of your artists/cartographers has to step up and do something for the backers.
Change of Attitude
I greatly appreciated Rob Conley’s efforts. But after all this radio silence, I decided I had enough. I sent the following via the Kickstarter email feature:
JG-CSIO-KS-RefundRequest_Screen Shot
Unlike many others who have requested a refund, I received an answer today. The KS email feature only shows the date. I checked my actual email, and it was sent at 1:20 AM EST.
Here is the reply:
JG-CSIO-KS-RefundRequestDenied_Screen Shot
I was careful to quote the Kickstarter Terms of Use that apply to this Kickstarter, which can be found here.
You will notice that Bob 3 uses the same document to deny my request. I did a search and he has accurately quoted two parts of the section Projects: Fundraising and Commerce, lines 13 and 14, and lines 20 & 21.
So, under this Terms of Use, we can’t get our money without the free will of the creator, or proof of fraud. I am not a lawyer, but it looks like I have no recourse, unless I want to spend a lot of money for a lawyer to find out what my options are.
I feel that I only got a response based on what is discussed in the rest of this blog article. There are others in the comments who have also asked for a refund months ago, with not even a reply. They are eagerly waiting for me to post this.
Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!
Today’s (January 24, 2018) update appears to be prompted by an article over on Tenkar’s Tavern yesterday. After the unexpected update on Kickstarter, Tenkar posted a follow up today.
Until the last few weeks, I have only followed the saga of this project via the updates and comments on the Kickstarter page. It was in reading over the comments a few weeks ago that I learned that Bob 2 has been saying that the CSIO Kickstarter is NOT an official Judges Guild adventure. (I’ll look up the links with quotes, etc. unless someone wants to send me the links. Just hearsay otherwise.) There are two screenshots someone has shared to Imgur showing that it was stated as a Judges Guild endeavor on their website. I’ll share that screenshot below, for the record.
SOURCE: https://imgur.com/a/m21Eo
SOURCE: https://imgur.com/a/m21Eo
Supposedly Bob 2 has been deleting comments from the Judges Guild Game Company Facebook page. The most recent post is from January 22, 2018 with a picture of Bob 1’s office scissors. Before that December 23, 2017. So it is not a very busy page.
There is a Kickstarter page on the Judges Guild website, but it requires a password. It is unclear what the purpose of this page is. Why have a publicly visible page? It is trivial to make a page only those in the know can even see. I am sure this just invites more criticism.
I don’t normally visit forums, and found the above forum links via a search on Google. It is not difficult to find a lot of talk about this Kickstarter and how many plan to boycott Judges Guild products and projects until something happens with this Kickstarter.
Conclusion
If you do a Kickstarter, plan to communicate with your backers with substantive and demonstrable things that don’t sound like you don’t want to do the work you said you’d do.
I think there are two courses of action for Judges Guild and the Bobs:
Admit defeat and refund what you can’t deliver. Deliver what you can.
Some have suggested a PDF of what they have now to prove it exists and renew trust.
Do a PDF as mentioned above to show that there is a real product. Backers would then get off your back asking so many questions from being kept in the dark.
Anyone who is thinking about doing a Kickstarter can learn from this what not to do. If JG and the Bobs can pull it off, it will be an example of how to rise from the ashes. If they can do it, it will be too little to late for many, in my opinion.
Apologies
This is not a well written post, but I said I’d do it tonight, and don’t have time to track down links for sources, or to polish it before a quick supper before tonight’s Roll20 game.
Stars Without Number: Revised Edition [Affiliate Link] is the result of a Kickstarter to fund a second/revised edition of the rules that are backwards compatible with the original. Kevin Crawford is the man behind Stars Without Number, and in my opinion, is the best at running RPG Kickstarters. I backed this Kickstarter personally, and am extremely pleased with how well he ran it.
The Right Way To Run An RPG Kickstarter.
On the Kickstarter front, Kevin had a plan and worked his plan to his advantage. He had the artists lined up and had a spreadsheet to track each step of each artist’s work on each picture they were contracted. He tracked drafts, revisions, due dates, payments, etc. The end result for the art, thanks to a stretch goal, is that the complete art is available for free for both personal and commercial use, in the Art Pack [Affiliate Link]. He set a goal to raise enough money to buy the complete rights to the art, and he has given it away! He also did that with the original.
When I say Kevin had a plan, I mean it. It is also something he shares with others. He wrote about it in his zine The Sandbox #1 [Affiliate Link]. He directly mentions that he has a process for running a Kickstarter. He also has a total catastrophe plan, and if he does not deliver 100% by the day he said he would, he will refund all the money. This will only happens if he dies. Well we needn’t worry, it completed today, a month and a half beforethe delivery deadline.
I think everyone who wants to run a Kickstarter should get the first edition of his zine, and use that to build a plan. The big secret is having the writing done, and lining up the artwork, printing, and fulfillment process up front.
What’s In The Kickstarter?
Obviously the revised rules. There is a whole section on the Kickstarter page about what is changing and what is being added. The rules came as a PDF to all backers, and he added ebook formats of mobi and epub. The PDF is in a lightweight format with smaller resolution art, and the full quality art. There is a form fillable PDF character sheet in the rule, and Kevin separated it into its own PDF. Plus there is the GM screen with all the tables pertinent to running a session.
The artwork is gorgeous! Don’t take my word for it, the art is available for free! [Affiliate Link] The first image in the GM screen PDF hit the right spot for me. See the image below. This is the portion of the image I was greeted with when I first opened the PDF for the GM screen. WOW! My monitor is set so I have to look up just a bit, adding to the feeling of awe.
There is a PDF with a picture of all the art with the name of the artist under it. All 28 illustrations come in tif format, meaning full color and ready to print! The only requirement for using this royalty free art is to credit the original artist. Free pictures of star fields, nebula, and other astronomical objects from NASA help add to the awesomeness of this project.
First Page SWN GM Screen by Aaron Lee
The book is a hefty 321 pages with a gorgeous cover, good quality paper that is easy to read – the background art sticks to the edges away from the text.
Finally, Kevin offered a code for all backers to get a monster tome with all of his previously published material for SWN. This tome was only available to backers. I wasn’t going to spend the $100 to get this 1009 page beast of a book, but I relented and added it to my collection. This is even bigger than the 609 page 2nd edition Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea [Affiliate Link] that is bigger than the DCC [Affiliate Link] rule book.
If you want to see an actual play, Adam Koebel ran a game that is on YouTube. He also had episodes just for the GM. I have only watched the session 0/character creation video, and the first GM video on the faction turn. Having the PDF of the rules available for free is a low bar for jumping into the game. The only difference between the free and full rules is the art.
The Mini Review.
Gorgeous art, with a science fiction setting built in, tables for system and session generation. Lots of cool ideas that can be used in any game. The original edition had rules for a faction turn, which remain. I really like the idea of multi-system spanning corporations and other organizations seeking to control things. It has been described as the GM’s turn between sessions. While the ideas are not totally portable to all genres, it has a framework that gives you something to think about.
The system is based on the standard six abilities from D&D. While much is familiar, there are minor differences. Initiative is with a d8, for example. I was really impressed with the original edition, and I bought the PDF a while back. I decided to back the Kickstarter, when I learned of it.
I’ll be running a session of SWN at Gary Con X in March, and I will be digging in to all of the materials I now have in my hands as I polish and tighten the scenario. If you are interested, you can sign up for event #222 Raid on The Space Vikings. I got inspired last year when I read H. Beam Piper’sSpace Vikings.
After a more in depth reading of what I have, I can post a more in-depth review. There is a lot here, and if you are a fan of science fiction, or like the ideas in random tables to add to your GM toolkit, you can’t go wrong with the free rules. Although I recommend you buy the full rules to support the creator.
Kevin has done many other games, and game supplements. Check them out at his website, Sine Nomine Publishing, or click the link for his products at OBS and see what else he has done.
My last Outstanding Kickstarters Update was just over a year ago, December 24, 2016. Sadly, over a year has not helped a few reach fulfillment. Here’s a big surprise, I’m still way behind on reviews….
For a list of which Kickstarters I’ve reviewed check here.
From the oldest to the most current outstanding Kickstarters for which I am waiting fulfillment, they are:
The Great Kingdom Kickstarter page is still shut down. They were supposed to actually go to trial this past spring, but I am so over it, I never bothered to follow up. $50 I wish I had so I could give it to the RPG History Project by Pat Kilbane. He’s funding his efforts via Patreon and is nearing the finish line.
City State of the Invincible Overlord had been making more or less monthly updates until September 28, 2017. The comments have exploded with angry people, many demanding their money back. This was a train wreck on two fronts. First they added miniatures and other physical rewards as stretch goals without adding in shipping. Some of the minis were delivered. The person hired to revise/re-write the book didn’t do it. Supposedly Bob Bledsaw III has been doing layout on a finished text. He has been cursed with the failings of many troubled Kickstarter creators, health issues, weddings, insect plagues, etc. Bob Bledsaw II said that this wasn’t a Judges Guild project even though there is a screenshot showing where it was stated to be one on the JG website. Bob Conley of Bat In The Attic is the one hired to do the maps, and his part is finished. He got permission to release his map(s) into the wild, now on DriveThruRPG [Affiliate Link]. Backers of this Kickstarter can get it for free, see the comments on the September 17, 2017 update.
The Marmoreal Tomb had some delays due to health of both creators, and some other unexpected delays. There are updates, but it is not as clear what is outstanding, nor how soon to completion. The last update was on 10/25/2017, but creators are active in the KS comments. Updates are posted regularly on Facebook. There is at least visible action on this. However, no date has been given, that I have seen, for projected delivery.
Top Secret: NWO was initially slated for delivery in November, 2017, but it got pushed to December, 2017. So far no word on what the new ETA is. Since the last day of December is a Sunday, I don’t expect to get it this year.
Stars Without Number: Revised Edition is way ahead of schedule. The final PDF is complete and in the hands of backers. The print run has been ordered and shipping has commenced. The GM screen and other minor things are still in the works, but I see no issues in full delivery ahead of the announced delivery date of February 28, 2018. Kevin Crawford is a stand up guy, and he takes his word seriously. He has a free PDF on DriveThruRPG that has an article about how he runs a Kickstarter. I wish EVERY RPG Kickstarter creator would read that and act on it before launch. Even non-RPG Kickstarters could learn a few things.
RPG WorldBuilder is an app using graphics from the worldbuilder cards. It is slated for delivery in December, 2017. The beta went out last week, and so far, it looks good. I have yet to put it through its paces.
Old School Gamer Radio: A D&D Resource funded October 1, 2017 and the website Old School Gamer Radio went live yesterday. I got my add on of a ball cap today. Most people have their rewards. I was one of the four top tier backers, and we are still waiting on our fulfillment, which should be soon. The live play has also gone live, with a pilot episode release today.
I have updated my Kickstarters page here on the blog that tracks the status of my Kickstarters. I also indicate which ones I have done a review, with a link to the review.
I added five reviews today, and a couple more in recent weeks. All since the last time I updated that page.
I have $684 in seven outstanding Kickstarters. Four of those launched in 2017, and the amount I have tied up in them is $444.
The total of all thirteen Kickstaters that funded in 2017 is $743. I am confident that the four outstanding from 2017 will deliver very soon. On top of that, I went for the $100 Stars Without Numbers Omnibus available to backers of the SWN 2e Kickstarter.
Only one Kickstarter that I backed in 2017 failed to fund because it became a train wreck, and was cancelled. It was supposed to be re-launched with more reasonable goals, but the train wrecks kept coming. This was the Empyrea Kickstarter. I doubt another attempt will be forthcoming.
I said it this time last year, that I would be unlikely to back more Kickstarters, but I obviously didn’t stick with that. Too much nostalgia or cool things. I had to add some monthly expenses that greatly limit my ability to consider new ones. Plus I added several very large volumes to my collection, and have more physical rewards in the wings. I am running out of room, and I am trying to downsize.
I will be much more picky about backing Kickstarters. I have to get serious about both downsizing and spending less on Kickstarters so I am able to attend conventions.
I backed this Kickstarter and ordered two of the books, one for me, and one for my granddaughter. She loves this book! It even won an Ennie in 2017!
The art is cool and the story gets the concepts of RPGs across to little ones.
My granddaughter really likes Chris, the owlbear. It is really cute the way she says owlbear.
I really like this book. It is a board book, so it is really good for reading to your little ones before they are ready to read. It teaches the alphabet while espousing how cool RPGs are. There is one page where the lettering blends in a bit with the art behind it, so I always have trouble with the page in low light.
I also got the coloring book and stickers. I got the coloring book for me. My old eyes just can’t handle the lines. Even with glasses, I have to get really close to make sure I go on the side of the line I want. That isn’t as much fun as I thought it’d be because older eyes. Now I get why my parents and grandparents couldn’t see certain things.
I doubt my granddaughter will have siblings, but my youngest son shared some news a few weeks ago that grandchild number two is on its way!
Time to head over to Hunter’s Books to get another copy!
You can get the PDF of the book on DriveThruRPG [Affiliate Link].
You can get the PDF of the activity book on DriveThruRPG [Affiliate Link].
The concept of Adventure Kits is a framework with the general idea and some main points for GMs that like to improv. Tables are provided to help fill in some of these pieces. It allows the GM to randomly generate, or use the ideas in the provided tables to take the general idea for the adventure and craft it to their own style and that of their players.
They use a die-drop table with the six standard dice to generate the relative position of each encounter location. The result of each die influences the specifics of the encounter in that location. For example, the d4 is the Hall of Bone and Ice and there are 4 different things that can be encountered there. The result is a six room dungeon, as is seen later with the battle maps.
If you don’t want the adventure set in the frozen tundra, they have a d8 table with how to re-skin it for any environment.
They introduce a new notation, such as d12³, which means roll a d12 three times. This is first seen on a table with twelve rows and three columns. The intent is to roll a d12 for each column. To yield more than the initial 12 options, there are 12x12x12 or 1,728 combinations of possible quests mixed in this adventure.
Next is a table of six potential twists to tweak things so it isn’t so cut and dried.
Then a d20 table of twenty possible motivations for the PCs to be here.
The Locations are defined by two sentences, then 3 bullet points for each of the sights, sounds, and sensations in that location.
The encounters are classed as: roleplay, combat, skill challenge, puzzle/trap, and environmental hazard. Each encounter has 3 or 4 bold type phrases to describe an aspect of the encounter. Until the encounters, there is no ruleset specific terminology. This makes it very easy to run this with any ruleset.
The NPCs presented are just descriptions and traits, no stats, again making this easy to use across various rules.
Monsters that are presented have some very basic stats related to HP & AC and damage.
Next are some things to think about for resolutions and rewards, with ideas to wrap up the adventure, extend the adventure into an ongoing campaign, and repercussions in the future. There are tables for repercussions and relations, treasure, social rewards, and ties that bind. These are all good ideas for things to keep in mind when adventurers do something, there are always unexpected and unintended consequences.
There are 18 pages of tables in what is called the Toolbox, which can be used to further modify the adventure. Various details, phrases, set details, loot, hazards, trinkets, locations, sights, sounds, sensations, encounters, monster generation, skill challenges, trap generator, and NPC generator, all of which can be used for modding other adventures.
The conclusion is a short story to set the tone and mood.
What I Liked:
A loosely defined default setting, with encouragement to use your own, or another.
The use of the die-drop table to configure the locations used in the adventure.
The page devoted to explaining how this die-drop table works.
It is graphical, so makes it very clear how to use it.
The various tables to tweak the different aspects of the adventure.
One can read all the options in a given table and pick the one that is the most interesting.
The tables in the Toolbox.
All of the tables they use give a lot of ideas for crafting your own tables, or using them to make your own adventures.
What I’d Like to See:
Hyperlinks in the Table of Contents.
More options for the die-drop tables.
There are only four options on each table, why not just use a bunch of d4s? I’d prefer to see one option for each possible number on a given die.
This is very minor. I know well the challenges of coming up with good options for tables.
Conclusion:
I find this to be a helpful way to build an adventure for sale to the masses. It has enough detail that you can run it without much effort, and you can tweak it to suit your style of play. Almost all of the tables can be used on their own. This is a great example of how little information one needs to run an adventure. For those GMs that need all the details ready to run, this may not be for them.
The PDF is available on DriveThruRPG [Affiliate Link] for $9.95.
Archive – Historical People, Places, and Events for RPGs is a Kickstarter funded book. by Molten Sulfer Press. It is a high quality paperback with full color photographs and art. 80 people, places, and events from ancient to modern times are presented with the known historical facts, and each topic ends with a section on how it could be used in a roleplaying game.
I backed this because I love history, I have a B.A. in History, and knew of some of the items included, but having the bare facts at my fingertips without having to get lost in Wikipedia appealed to me.
What I Liked:
It is well presented with a cover to set the tone.
The physical construction of the book is quite solid for a 266 page paperback. The quality of the paper contributes to its heft.
The table of contents breaks down to these categories to help you find the type of information you want.
Landscapes
Cities, Towns, and Buildings
Events
People
The photographs and art convey much more than each short entry.
The concept.
The idea of collecting this type of information illustrates what I, and others in the OSR and beyond say about where we get our inspiration. We get it from everything we have ever seen, done, or read.
There is a PDF, making for searchable text, or you can print out what you need for the table.
Both the Table of Contents, and the Index have hyperlinks.
What I’d Like to See:
More
More articles, however what is contained in this book have enough ideas for more than 80 pieces of a campaign. It would take years to exhaust the suggestions here.
The PDF is available on DriveThruRPG [Affiliate Link] for $15.00.
Blueholme Journeymanne Rules was a Kickstarter by Michael Thomas. It extends his retro clone of the Holmes Blue Box Basic from 1977, Blueholme Prentice Rules for levels 1-3. The Journeymanne rules extend things to level 20. It is fitting that this was in 2017, the 40th anniversary of the Holmes Blue Box.
I got my start with the Holmes Blue Box way back in 1977, so this is my 40th year of D&D! Like many who backed this Kickstarter, it was for the nostalgia, and to finally get past level 3. Back in the day, we didn’t make the connection to the OD&D books, or we would have gotten them. The Holmes basic text told us we needed AD&D, so anything else was “basic,” and for little kids. How wrong we were. Had we ignored that, we would have gotten the original books and perhaps gone beyond 3rd level before the Player’s Handbook finally came out in 1978.
I backed at the level of the PDF and hardback. The PDF was completed a few months ago, with several weeks allowed for backers to read. I wish I had time before the cutoff to read this, I had too many Kickstarters deliver from November to December, and I ran games at two conventions the first two weeks of November. I found a couple of issues I will report elsewhere. I’m kicking myself for not digging in and reading the PDF.
The printing and shipping was via Lulu, and the quality is what I expect from Lulu. It is a serviceable book, and the cover and text look good.
All the basics are covered, species instead of races, classes, abilities, equipment, spells, monsters, treasure, adventures, encounters, and campaigns. This is 117 pages with table of contents, index, backer list, and OGL taking up 5 pages, and one more for a sample character sheet. With the PDF, it is easy to print out character sheets, or use one of the many basic/OSR character sheets, or do it old school and write it out on notebook paper or index cards.
What I Liked:
Art – A gorgeous cover and many interior illustrations.
Classes have all the information for a class in one place:
Description
XP table
Spell table
Other class specific tables, like turning undead, and a paragraph or two on strongholds.
The Introduction ends by pointing out that there are no “rules,” but rather guidelines.
Old School
Initiative is based on DEX. Roll off on a d6 to break ties. (This is how Metamorphosis Alpha does it.) This was also in Holmes.
Both magic users and clerics have spell books, and the books are so big, they can’t take them adventuring.
Looser rules on what levels magic items like potions and scrolls can be created, like in Holmes.
Less fiddly bits on spells.
Streamlined combat.
The monster section mentions that the listings are the average or typical of the type. Players can find some much tougher or weaker than what is listed.
The Class section mentions “non-standard” races, and in fact any “monster” can also be a classed character, although weaker and having to advance in levels.
Weapons all do d6, but there is a variant rule.
Many new monsters, or variations on the standard ones.
A section on Unusual Treasures, whether magical or mundane.
The section on campaigns is far from comprehensive, but hits key points to keep in mind for designing your own campaign setting.
What I’d Like to See:
More
I really struggled trying to decide what is truly “missing” or poorly executed here. This is a well executed retro clone of what a “complete” ruleset might look like from Dr. Holmes. This is meant to be a light set of rules for quick play. Characters are easy to generate in a few minutes, and play can commence right away.
Adding to this would have to be done carefully to avoid bloat. It is OSR, so monsters, spells, and magic items are easily available from multiple sources, many of them free.
Conclusion
Whether your interest is the nostalgia for the early days of the hobby, or a simple rule set for quick play, or for the kids to run their own games, this fits the bill.
