my dream rules system

I frequently find myself reading through the three most widely accepted forms of the old-school versions of D&D: Original Dungeons & Dragons, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, and Basic/Expert. I have heard repeatedly from many casual old-school players that OD&D is not a ruleset they look forward to using. Much of the books are not straightforward and are left up to the referee to adjudicate while at the table. This means that the players can't reliably predict the outcome of their choices. There isn't a good way for them to brush up on the rules in their own time due to these discrepancies. The alternative to this is to pick an alternative game. B/X is great, but it lacks the grand scope that I seek in my games and locks down the game in ways hard to explain. AD&D is a great alternative when trying to run a game that feels a lot like OD&D, but when it comes down to it, the same type of players to complain about OD&D's readability will be even more resistant to AD&D for similar but different reasons. So as you can see this leaves me at a seeming impasse. Do I play the game that I prefer at the expense of my player's enjoyment or do I play the game my players seem to better comprehend and enjoy at the sake of my creativity and enjoyment?

the hybrid

I propose for my particular use case that the usage of OD&D (3LBB + Greyhawk) as a pseudo "Dungeon Master's Guide", Holmes Basic as the "Player's Handbook" and the AD&D 1E Monster Manual as the Monster Manual meets all my requirements without the requirement to adjust any rules whatsoever.

why holmes

This is where Holmes enters the picture. As many know, Holmes Basic was released after OD&D but before AD&D. Its original intent was to introduce players to OD&D but was edited after submission to instead point players to AD&D despite having little to no attempt made to right the rules between the two systems, instead maintaining full compatibility with the 3 Little Brown Books + Greyhawk. As Holmes was created with the intent of introducing new players to OD&D, this is a perfect option for my current situation. My players can use a rules system that gives them a bit more direction (in a similar vein to B/X) but without drowning them in a sea of content (as they feel when playing AD&D). Not only does this make my players happy, but it also allows me as the referee to continue using the OD&D rules as written behind the screen with just a few minor additions from Greyhawk.

beyond 3rd level

Due to Holmes only taking characters to 3rd level, it leaves the mid to late game wide open. Thinking about it from the positive side, the game of D&D needs the foundational elements of the game nailed down the most - the combat and movement, the nitty gritty of carry weight, how character progression generally works, etc. After the basics are understood and the foundation is laid, the players will be able to explore more complex options within the game world and not have the book provide them with presuppositions as to what a high-level character can or cannot do. This provides the referee with an immense amount of freedom. Established players with characters of 3rd level have learned how to play the game. Ideally, they have a few adventures under their belt, some gold to their name, a magic item or two, and a handful of hirelings. By this point, the player has learned how to interact with the world on a meaningful level and can utilize the rules in the book to explore and make a name for themselves. From here the world opens up to limitless possibilities: what unknown spells can I discover beyond the list for levels 1-3? What magical items are there for me to find? Can I establish a stronghold of my own? Can I get new abilities by swearing fealty to a dark god? All this becomes possible with Holmes because after level 3 there are no expectations. Of course for an OD&D enthusiast such as myself, this is where I can just continue using the OD&D rules.

who needs od&d, anyway?

An interesting alternative that I have heard some briefly mention is the possibility of capping all characters at 3rd level and not even using OD&D. Prevent characters from advancing in XP or HP, instead allowing them to grow horizontally, so to speak. Their to-hit will never increase, so instead they must find more powerful magic items. They won't ever be capable of memorizing higher level spells than second, but perhaps there are spells that can be cast via ritual that take, hours, days, weeks, or even months to prepare? Perhaps making an offering to a demon grants the character a dark gift enhancing their abilities beyond a natural man? This path will keep the PCs in a state where every creature they fight remains a threat as they will not have large pools of HP. It will also avoid the slogs of back-and-forth combat seen in the higher levels of OD&D. Of course there are obvious downsides to running a game in this way as it requires extreme creativity on referee's part to provide interesting non-XP progression for the characters for an indeterminate amount of time. It's important to note you could continue to allow a character to progress past level three but treat it like OD&D treats progression past name level, just giving each character +1 HP to their total.

the monster manual

As stated previously, I would just use OD&D in place of Holmes. As I want to maintain the fullness of the %-in-lair statistic for monsters as well as Number Appearing, using the monsters listed in Holmes is a no-go for me. A major issue I take with OD&D's combat is the staleness of creature's attacking capabilities assuming they all do 1d6 damage and strike once against enemies above 1HD. This can cause high-level fights between PCs and powerful monsters to drag on. I think the multiple attacks with varying dice types for damage presented in Greyhawk solves this issue, as the players get stronger, they will have more men with them to help them fight, likewise, more powerful creatures can reasonably fight multiple creatures. The problem with using Greyhawk's monster list with the 3LBB is the usability at the table - it's a massive pain to switch back and forth between Monsters & Treasure and Greyhawk when running a monster. The solution to this is simple: the Monster Manual. The Monster Manual was the first book released in the AD&D line, but interestingly, it presents monsters 100% compatible with OD&D while providing a treasure system at the back of the book. This meets our needs perfectly as we will be able to utilize all the interesting elements for monsters provided within.

potential problems

Of course, there are a slew of playing the game in this way. Likely many issues I don't even see initially. One major issue is the lack of direction provided to the players after 3rd level. The same complaint I had from players about OD&D could be leveled against Holmes after 3rd level is reached. The referee using a separate set of books will be confusing when rules are referenced at the table. Holmes, unlike OD&D and AD&D sourcebooks, is not in print anymore so if players prefer a physical copy they will need a vintage version which can be pricey. Its likely there are unforseen variances that haven't made themselves known to me in which either Holmes or OD&D would need to be used as the "authoritative source" further confusing play when that particular variance in rules arises.

blueholme

As mentioned above Holmes is difficult to get your hands on for a reasonable price. It's important to note that a clone of Holmes called Blueholme exists for a cheap price. It is well made, but one would have to do a bit more conversion work between it and OD&D since it doesn't use the exact values as described in Holmes due to copywrite issues.

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