Since I had such a fun time in my previous post comparing WB:FMAG and Delving Deeper, I thought I would compare three other retroclones that are based on OD&D plus Greyhawk. Technically, Blueholme is based on Dr. Holmes' rules, which were designed to restate the OD&D rules in a coherent fashion. The Journeymanne rules are really close to OD&D though, so I think it is fair to compare here.
Blueholme Journeymanne is the Holmes 1977 version of the game, expanded to 20 levels. It is written by Michael Thomas. Iron Falcon is a different way of saying Grey Hawk, which is Chris Gonnerman's contribution to the early days. Swords & Wizardry core is by Matt Finch. All of the games go to at least 20 levels, so these comparisons should be kosher. I will abbreviate them as Blue, IF, and Core, to make my typing easier. I was going to abbreviate Blueholme Journeymanne as BJ but I know how you degenerates think! For shame!
I purchased Blueholme from Drivethru, I believe. I don't see S&W Core listed as a hardback so I perhaps got it from Lulu. I know that Iron Falcon came from Lulu since it is the newest of the bunch. Here are the Drivethru links if you want to pick any of them up:
Blueholme Journeymanne
Iron Falcon
Swords & Wizardry Core
I am not using Swords & Wizardry complete since it includes OD&D booklets which the other two do not include. I own all three of the books I'm comparing in the post in hard back print on demand, so please keep that in mind when I discuss the physical books.
I am going to pick a handful of topics and then compare and contrast them between all three of these books. I will also compare them to God's Own D&D from time to time, as necessary. I, of course, mean the Moldvay-Cook 1981 version of the rules, sent down from Heaven into the mind of Saint Moldvay, to write and publish via TSR. If any of my biases come through, you can probably assume it is because no D&D version is as good as his version. I will also be scoring with 2, 1, or 0 points, for highest, middle, and lowest.
Oh, I will also go ahead and choose which of the three I prefer for each of my comparisons. At the end, we will all know which one I would keep if I could keep only one. I am excited to find out!
Comparison #1: Ability Scores
All three games have the standard six, of course. Each of the three games has idiosyncrasies and none of them match 100% with any other for all abilities but some match for individual abilities.
Strength: Blue does not have ability score modifiers here, allowing only a prime requisite adjustment for fighters. Core and IF both match exactly, assuming you translate the coins-to-pounds weight adjustment. Both allow only fighters to receive bonuses for melee attacks and damage but both allow it for other classes with GM approval.
Intelligence: Blue gives one additional language per point of INT over 10 but does not not give us details on intelligence for chances to learn spells, nor number of spells known until the chapter on classes. IF uses the same additional language range as Blue but allows magic-users to only learn spell levels up to a number based on their INT score. Core does not have this rule. All three have minimum and maximum spells known for magic-users and also a chance to learn spells. They are basically the same but Core gives a 4% greater chance to learn spells with an 18 INT. Intelligence is the prime score for magic-users, of course.
Wisdom: Core gives a bonus spell to clerics if their wisdom is 15, or higher. No other benefit, other than prime requisite bonus, is given for any of the games. Wisdom is the prime score for clerics.
Constitution: Blue and IF match up here, giving bonus hit points starting at a score of 15, or higher; the bonus ranging from +1 to +3 hp per level. Core gives a +1 bonus at 13 but does not improve. Both IF and Core have a resurrection survival number, while Blue does not.
Dexterity: All three games give a +1 bonus to attack rolls if dexterity is 13, or higher. Core and IF give a bonus to armor class with high DEX. Core is a straight +1 bonus while IF ranges from +1 to +4. The +4 of IF seems too high, to me, but I think that this corresponds with Core's "parrying" for fighters. Dexterity is the prime requisite for thieves, of course.
Charisma: All three games use charisma for followers, as should be expected. Core limits followers ("special hirelings" in their lingo) to 7, while Blue and IF max at 12.
I am not a fan of large ability score modifiers. I actually think that ability scores can be either done away with or severely limited. In the original game, a high score was mostly to get an experience bonus, so I suppose they need to be kept for that reason. I like IF and Core for limiting the melee combat modifiers to just fighter. Personally, I'd rather the modifier go to all classes and limit the level-based melee "to hit" bonus even further for non-fighters. IF's dexterity AC modifier is nuts. Maxing at +3 is acceptable since there is only a 0.5% chance of rolling an 18 with 3d6. You ARE doing 3d6, in order, I hope?! I like the 12 followers for Blue and IF. I have never used min and max spells and spell level limits based on intelligence so I'm tossing that right out for any game. I think I am going to have to choose Blue for the best ability score section since it is the most streamlined, though I would prefer a melee combat modifier, whether limited to fighters, or not. It's a tossup for 2nd place but since I prefer a HP modifier based on CON and the 12 followers, let's go with IF in 2nd place. None of them match up to the streamlined BX modifiers.
Blueholme: 2
Iron Falcon: 1
S&W Core: 0
Comparison #2: Classes
All three games have the core four classes - cleric, fighter, magic-user, and thief.
Clerics: all three games do not allow the cleric to receive spells until 2nd level. Here are tables to show number of spells allowed per level, based on character level.
Blueholme Cleric Spells per Level:
Level 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th
5 2 2 - - - - -
10 3 3 3 3 3 - -
15 6 6 6 5 5 2 -
20 8 8 8 8 8 5 2
Iron Falcon Spells per Level:
Level 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th
5 2 2 - - - - -
10 3 3 3 3 3 - -
15 6 6 6 5 5 2 -
20 8 8 8 8 8 5 2
S&W Core Spells per Level:
Level 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th
5 2 2 - - - - -
10 3 3 3 2 2 - -
15 6 6 6 5 5 2 -
20 8 8 8 8 8 5 2
You can see that spells available per day are nearly identical, with Core limiting a smidge in the mid levels.
Clerics can turn undead in all three versions. Blue cleric's roll 2d6, IF rolls 1d20, and Core rolls 2d10. Using 2d6 limits the types of undead the cleric can turn in Blueholme, but this is what I'm used to seeing in BX. All three have automatic turn and destruction of some undead, based on the cleric's level. Clerics max rolled hit dice is level 8 in Blue and level 9 in IF and Core. All games have d6 hit dice for clerics.
XP for levels, Cleric
Level Blueholme Iron Falcon S&W Core
5 12,001 12,800 12,000
10 300,001 400,000 310,000
15 800,001 1,240,000 590,000
20 1,300,001 2,560,000 940,000
There is a noticeable difference when clerics reach high level, or rather the xp required to reach high levels.
Both Blue and Core include building a stronghold in the character description chapter and Blue also includes rules for creating holy water and healing potions.
Fighters: As I stated earlier, under Dexterity, IF builds in "parrying" into armor class with high scores. Core has a parrying bonus, which is actually a penalty that enemies have to attack the fighter. This bonus maxes at +5 (well, -5 for enemy attacks, actually). Blue doesn't have anything like this but gives fighters a bonus to damage with all weapons, ranging from +0 at 1st level up to +9 at 20th level. Core gives multiple attacks to foes of 1HD or less. Both Blue and Core have baked-in stronghold rules within the character class chapter.
Fighters roll d8 for hit points in all three. Rolled hit dice cap at 10 in Blue, 9 in IF, and 9 in Core.
XP for levels, Fighter
Level Blueholme Iron Falcon S&W Core
5 16,001 16,000 16,000
10 360,001 500,000 350,000
15 920,001 1,500,000 850,000
20 1,320,001 2,500,000 1,350,000
We see that Blue and Core are pretty close through all levels for XP required. IF is the outlier and I can't figure out why since they have few abilities than the either two rule sets.
Magic-users: All three books allow magic-users to cast spells, of course. Blue includes the INT-based spell bonuses in this section of the book, which is an odd choice. I get that only MUs will need this chart, but it would perhaps look "cleaner" if this info was included in ability scores. At any rate, the info is here. As you should expect by now, Blue and Core include rules on strongholds included with class details. Blue includes rules for spell research and scrolls in this chapter, Core includes them in the magic chapter, while IF doesn't include them at all, as we should expect by now.
Magic-users roll a d4 hit die in all three games, Blue and Core has them roll through 11th level, while IF has MUs stop rolling for hit points at 9th level
Blueholme Magic-user Spells per Level:
Level 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
5 4 2 1 - - - - - -
10 4 4 3 3 2 - - - -
15 5 5 5 4 4 3 1 - -
20 7 7 7 7 7 7 3 3 2
Iron Falcon Spells per Level:
Level 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
5 4 2 1 - - - - - -
10 4 4 3 3 2 - - - -
15 5 5 5 4 4 3 1 - -
20 7 7 7 7 7 7 3 3 2
S&W Core Spells per Level:
Level 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
5 4 2 1 - - - - - -
10 4 4 3 2 2 - - - -
15 5 5 5 5 4 4 2 - -
20 7 7 7 7 7 7 3 3 2
All three games are pretty close in magic-user spells per day. Core gives a couple more spells at high levels.
XP for levels, Magic-user
Level Blueholme Iron Falcon S&W Core
5 20,001 19,200 20,000
10 200,001 600,000 200,000
15 700,001 1,700,000 700,000
20 1,200,001 2,800,000 1,200,000
Blue and Core match up in regards to experience required. IF is similar at low levels but by mid levels, they are really jacking up the XP required. This is less noticeable with clerics and fighters but it really is noticeable with wizards. I personally think that Blue and Core requirements are too low at mid and high levels. Once magic-users hit the mid levels in Core and IF, it is easier for them to level than either clerics or fighters. I would prefer to have wizards' requirements higher than other classes through all levels.
Thief: The Greyhawk supplement added the character class, thief. Some groups out there who play OD&D play a thiefless game. I get that but as thief is probably my favorite class, I don't think I'd run a game that way.
All three games allow thieves to backstab unaware foes. All three games also award extra damage based on the level of the thief. Blue has x2 damage at level 1, increasing up to x6 damage at level 17. IF follows this scheme but awards x7 damage at level 21, which Blue doesn't go to. Core tops out at x4 damage at level 8.
The other thief skills are what you would expect from any version of traditional D&D - open locks, remove traps, hide in shadows, hear noise, etc. These are represented as a % chance of success, as normal. Of course, % chance is dumb, and thief skills should be x-in-6 like all other skills (especially since hear noise is traditionally x-in-6; White Box FMAG and Delving Deeper are an improvement with x-in-6 for all thief skills), or d20 like combat and saves. Having one particular set of abilities percentage-based was an odd choice, even in 1974. Blue has hear noise being a % chance, while IF and Core keep the normal x-in-6. IF and Core allow thieves to read languages at 3rd level, Core allows them to read magical writings at 9th, while IF allows this ability at 10th level. Blue allows these from level 1, and also allows thieves to use magic wants at 1st level, even if the chance of success is very small.
Blueholme Thief Abilities by Level:
Level Climb Hear Hide Locks Move Pockets
1 80% 35% 10% 15% 20% 20%
5 100% 65% 35% 40% 45% 45%
10 125% 105% 75% 75% 85% 85%
15 150% 130% 105% 115% 115% 115%
20 175% 155% 130% 140% 140% 140%
Iron Falcon Thief Abilities by Level:
Level Climb Hear Hide Locks Move Pockets
1 87% 1-2 10% 15% 20% 20%
5 91% 1-3 35% 40% 45% 45%
10 94% 1-4 75% 85% 85% 85%
15 97% 1-5 93% 93% 95% 95%
20 99% 1-5 98% 98% 100% 100%
In IF, Pick Pockets and Move Silently use the same column for success.
S&W Core Thief Abilities by Level:
Level Climb Hear Hide Locks Move Pockets
1 85% 1-3 10% 10% 20% 15%
5 89% 1-4 30% 30% 40% 35%
10 94% 1-5 75% 75% 80% 70%
15 99% 1-6 100% 100% 100% 100%
20 99% 1-6 100% 100% 100% 100%
In Core, thief skills max out at level 16. Hide in Shadows and Open Locks have different columns for success but the % chance is exactly the same. Also, in Core, removing traps and picking locks are the same skill, called Delicate Tasks.
You will notice that Blue has chances which go above 100%. The rules note that sometimes the skill check will be modified based on the ease of task. The other two don't specify that task difficulty is taken into consideration and both IF and Core are pretty close as far as success chance goes.
Blueholme does not modify the success chance based on the race of the thief while both IF and Core do. This would be fine if either humans got bonus points to put where they want or to give some for of penalty to at least one skill for non-humans. As it stands, non-humans get nothing but bonuses in Core and IF.
Both Core and Blue have thief strongholds (thieves' guilds) while IF ignores this yet again.
All three games use the d4 for hit dice for thieves. Blue and Core max out with 10 hit dice and IF maxes at 9.
XP for levels, Thief
Level Blueholme Iron Falcon S&W Core
5 9,601 11,200 10,000
10 125,001 350,000 120,000
15 750,001 1,400,000 760,000
20 1,375,001 2,500,000 1,410,000
As with all classes, Blue and Core but jive with each other pretty well while IF is quite a bit higher XP required for mid and high levels.
In summation for the classes, each of the games works with XP requirements within the game itself, though Iron Falcon requires quite a bit more experience at mid and high levels. This will slow down character progression, of course, which isn't a bad thing, but it should be noted. I don't really have a preference with either slow or fast advancement since the DM is going to award bonus XP anyway if he wants the characters to advance faster. Blueholme and Core are very compatible, but with the additional information included in Blue, I find that I like it the best. I will say that I enjoy having Iron Falcon cap all hit dice at 9. Core gets 2nd billing in this category
Blueholme: 2+2=4
Iron Falcon: 1+0=1
S&W Core: 0+1=1
Races: Bluholme Journeymanne takes the bold move here to not include the standard elf, dwarf, and halfling. They note that many of the monsters can be used as PCs Blueholme apprentice does use the standard races so I will use them for this comparison. I have already noted that demihuman thieves have bonuses. Both IF and Core limit demihumans in level, which is how it should be. Blue does not have this limit. All three games limit classes available by race, which is also a good thing. Core does have an optional rule to allow demihumans to advance past maximum level, which requires a XP penalty once they reach "maximum" level. I find this a good way to continue advancement.
Dwarves in Blue gain a +2 on saving throws, they save as 4 levels higher in IF, and Core gives them a +4 bonus. In all three, dwarves are good at dwarfy stuff like finding moving rooms, new construction, and all that.
Both IF and Core limit dwarven fighters to level 6, 7, or 8, depending on the character's strength. Blueholme Apprentice requires all PC dwarves to be fighters, Core allows fighters or fighter/thieves, while IF allows fighter, cleric, or fighter/thief. Dwarven clerics are limited to 7th level in IF.
Elves are great at finding secret doors (4-in-6) in all three games and elves are immune to ghoul paralysis in all three, but you have to look in the monster section for ghouls to realize this in IF. Apprentice requires elven hit dice to d6 for all allowed classes.
Blueholme Apprentice allows elves to be fighter, magic-user, or fighter/magic-user. IF allows fighter, cleric, magic-user, thief, fighter/magic-user, fighter/thief, magic-user/thief, or fighter/magic-user/thief. In IF, fighters are limited to 4th or 5th level, depending on strength, magic-users are limited to 8th or 9th, depending on intelligence, and I already mentioned IF dwarven clerics. Core requires PC elves to be fighter/magic-user (hearkening back to both OD&D and God's Own BX), thief, or fighter/magic-user/thief. In Core, the fighter portion of elves is limted to 4th, 5th, or 6th level, depending on strength and to 8th or 9th level as magic-users, again, depending on intelligence.
In regards to halflings, Apprentice requires that halfling fighters use d6 for hit dice, and also requires all PCs to be fighters. Halflings in Apprentice receive +2 to all saving throws and attack with +1 bonus with all ranged weapons. IF gives them a +3 bonus to hit with all ranged weapons and allows halflings to be fighters or thieves, limited to 4th level as fighters. In IF, they also roll all saving throws four levels higher. Core gives halflings a +4 bonus on all saves and a +1 bonus with missile weapons. They also limit halflings in the same manner as IF.
IF alone allows half-elves as a choice. They can be any class or multi-class, with either two or three class choices. They are limited to 6th level as clerics, 6-8 levels as fighter and/or magic-user, depending on the character's strength or intelligence.
Frustratingly, IF and Core allow unlimited levels for demihuman thieves. With the extra bonuses for thief skills and unlimited level advancement, demihuman thiefs are always going to overshadow their human compatriots.
I think Blueholme Journeymanne dropped the ball by not including these common races in the book. I had to purchase Apprentice and print out the page and stick it in the book. Allowing monster races hearkens back to the days of old, which is fine, but it was a big miss to not inlcude all standard races. Core also allows DMs to include various monsters as PCs, if wanted. IF is silent on minotaur thieves and harpy wizards.
Overall, I like the way Iron Falcon does races the best, with Core following behind. Including clerics as an option pushes IF to the top. Blueholme fails here due to lack of standard races in the rule book.
Blueholme: 2+2+0=4
Iron Falcon: 1+0+2=3
S&W Core: 0+1+1=2
Alignment is the standard Law-Neutrality-Chaos in both IF and Core, while Blue uses Dr. Holmes' 5 point aligment (LG, LE, N, CG, and CE. I think both are fine and I'm not going to award points to any game for this.
Equipment: All three games have a decent list of gear available for purchase by characters. Both Blue and IF group same items so it will cost a whole number of gp to purchase, while Core uses fractions of gold. It costs 1 gp for 12 iron spikes in both IF and Blue, where it cost 0.05 gp for one iron spike in Core.
Armor Class for armor tracks across all three books but the prices vary. Blue and IF price chain mail at 30 gp and plate at 50 gp while Core has them at 75 and 100 gp, respectively.
The weapon list in Blue and Core match up pretty well.
Blue follows the Holmes set and has all weapons do d6 damage as the standard rule but allows for an option where light weapons do lesser of 2d6, heavy weapons do the better of 2d6, and extra-heavy weapons do the best of 3d6. Attacks per round are also addressed in Blue (light 2 attacks per round, heavy attack every other round, and extra heavy allows one attack every 3rd round). This is all well and good, but just using other polyhedral dice for damage makes more sense to me.
Core uses "standard" dice for damage, which might be modified. For example, a crossbow does 1d4+1 damage, a battle axe does 1d8, and a two-handed sword does 1d10. Core has a single number for range while Blue and IF write out the ranges for missile weapons by range category.
Both Blue and Core have a good range of weapons, hitting all of the standards. IF, on the other hand, is missing the short sword, which is a pretty common weapons in D&D games. IF inlcudes line items for spear, thrown or thrust, spear, set vs. charge, and spear, thrust vs. charge while the other two games just have spear as a single item. IF throws back to differing damages for small and medium creatures and for large creatures. Core wisely went away from this. Core also notes that some weapons, when used in two hands, do +1 damage.
Blue and IF have prices for ships and rules for waterborne movement while Core does not. Core has movement but not prices (technically, it has a price for a rowboat).
I like the look of IF's equipment charts, I find that they include the most information and the layout is nice. Core's weapons tables include the information needed but are not very handsome. Blue missed out by not having variable weapon damage by polyhedral as either a core rule or option. I also like that Core has both descending AC and ascending AC as options. Blue has descriptions for all equipment items, or at least most of them, I didn't count them. Core has descriptions for a few items and IF describes none. I will rate them as Core, Blue, and then IF for the equipment chapter.
Blueholme: 2+2+0+1=5
Iron Falcon: 1+0+2+0=3
S&W Core: 0+1+1+2=4
It looks like all three books are now getting closer together!
Combat: since all three games have a descending armor class as either the only resolution or an option, I will use it for comparison. All three games use the same 2-in-6 surprise mechanic. IF and Blue have a reaction table, while Core does not. Blue has five results for reactions while IF has three. Both would work fine. I don't know why Core left this bit out, it is a standard in old school gaming.
Core includes two initiative systems, one of which is based on the Holmes set. Blue and IF have one initiative system. Blue and Core have specific segments in which combatants act (surprise, then spells, then ranged, etc.), whereas IF doesn't specify initiative based on weapon use. All three systems give fighters the best attack rolls (this makes sense), Blue and IF lump thieves and clerics together, while Core lumps thieves and magic-users together.
For the tables below, I'm going to use THAC0, which isn't a standard option in any game. For those youngin's out there who haven't used it, THAC0 is the "To Hit AC0".
Blueholme THAC0, per Level:
Level Fighter Cleric Magic-user Thief
1 19 19 19 19
5 17 17 19 17
10 12 14 17 14
15 10 12 14 12
20 6 10 12 10
Iron Falcon THAC0, per Level:
Level Fighter Cleric Magic-user Thief
1 19 19 19 19
5 16 17 18 17
10 12 15 15 15
15 8 12 13 12
20 4 9 10 9
S&W Core THAC0, per Level:
Level Fighter Cleric Magic-user Thief
1 19 19 19 19
5 17 17 18 18
10 12 14 15 15
15 9 11 13 13
20 6 8 11 11
As we see, each game is within 2 points (10%) at each of the notated levels. Any of the three games is fine with the numbers. I do question lumping thieves and magic-users together in Core, though.
Blue has rules for parrying (allowed to all classes and not just fighters), subdual damage, shooting into melee, retreating, special attacks (oil, poison, wolfsbane, etc.) and siege engines. IF has rules for charging and oil. Core has rules for subdual damage, shooting into melee, and two-weapon fighting.
Blue has two examples of combat, Core has one example that includes adventuring and combat. IF has no examples.
All three games use saving throws and they are close enough that I'm not going to bother typing them out. Core has a single saving throw as default but includes the standard old school saving throws as an option.
IF inlcudes weapons vs. armor worn in an appendix. I would probably never use this but it is pretty cool that they inlcuded it as an option. IF has damage determined by foe's size so they might as well have included this.
Core has its positive points but I find that Blue takes the cake here. IF is perfectly acceptable in regards to combat but it falls behind its two homies.
Blueholme: 2+2+0+1+2=7
Iron Falcon: 1+0+2+0+0=3
S&W Core: 0+1+1+2+1=5
Spells: Blue takes the bold move to require clerics to have spell books. They are basically missals, but the author doesn't use that word. Other than that, all three games are pretty much the same in regards spellcasting.
In organization, Blue organizes spells by class and level while the other two have spells combined into one alphabetical section. I prefer this way. The spells are pretty much the same between all three versions. Blue includes reversed spells as specific spells in their lists while the other two notate that a spell can be reversed, either in the list (IF), or in the description (Core). Blue and Core include range and duration in the spells header. IF requires you to read through the description. Blue makes it a point to have the same number of spells available for each spell level (praise the Lord!) while IF and Core have a varying number of spells at each level.
* Cure Light Wounds cures 1d6+1 hp in each version.
* Light has a 120' range and duration of level x 2 turns in Blue and IF, while in Core it is a 60' range and duration for clerics is 2 hours and for magic-users it is 1 hour + 10 min per level.
* Magic Missile requires an attack roll in Blue and does 1d6+1 damage with two missiles at 3rd level, three at 5th level, and one additional missile for each two levels, thereafter; range is 70/140/210. IF does not require a to hit roll, does 1d6+1 damage, and adds two missiles for each 5 additional caster levels (three missiles at 6th, five missiles at 11th, etc); range is 150'. Core does either 1d6+1 damage with a successful attack or 1d4+1 with an automatic hit, at 5th level the caster gets three missiles, five missiles at 10th level, etc. and the range is 150'.
I like the way Core does magic missile but dislike the way they chose to do light. I dislike Blue's spells broken down by class and level but enjoy the headers having range and duration. IF falls in the middle. I like Blue having both standard and reversed spells in their spell tables, as well as the same number of spells (disregarding reversed) at each level I'm giving Blue the win here with IF coming in 2nd.
Blueholme: 2+2+0+1+2+2=9
Iron Falcon: 1+0+2+0+0+1=4
S&W Core: 0+1+1+2+1+0=5
Adventuring: All three games have some typical adventuring rules. I won't list them all but just generalize.
Blue has all adventuring rules in one chapter of the book. IF is very pared down from Blue but does include the most important rules, such as traps, listening at doors, finding secret doors, and land/air/water movement. There is a different reaction table in IF for NPCs and the book lists 8 different types of specialists, plus a page of men-at-arms. Blue has 10 NPC types plus several types of mercenaries. Core has 13 types of NPCs but lumps all mercenaries into one type. Core has movement rates but has rules for doors, traps, and whatnot spread throughout other chapters of the book, from ability score generation to "high level adventuring". IF has no specific rules for strongholds or pricing for structures, which makes sense since it wasn't even brought up in the class section. Core has a very limited selection of structure prices but does have some rules. Blue has the most exhaustive list of the three books. Blue also has a pretty comprehensive chapter on designing the campaign setting. Core has a cool dungeon laid out as a sample, as well as a one-page campaign setting and map. IF has no campaign information. All three games include random encounter tables based on dungeon level or terrain type. Blue-IF-Core are the winners. I could have gone either way with IF and Core but since IF has most of it's adventuring rules in one place edges them ahead of Core.
Blueholme: 2+2+0+1+2+2+2=11
Iron Falcon: 1+0+2+0+0+1+2=6
S&W Core: 0+1+1+2+1+0+0=5
Monsters: All three books have good selection of monsters and all three have the usual suspects that one would expect to see in a core rulebook bestiary. Blue has stat blocks differentiated by using bold type. There is not a lot of space between each critter. IF uses a clean table layout, with a large, bold font for monster type. Core uses a bold font as well but separates the monsters with white space. I will be judging art later one but a note that Blue has more of its monsters illustrated.
Goblin:
Rules HD AC Damage Align Other?
Blueholme 1d6 9 1d6 2N:1LE -1 attacks in daylight
Iron Falcon 1d8-1 6 1d4 C -1 attacks and morale in daylight
S&W Core 1d6 7 1d6 C -1 attacks in daylight
All three games have damage by weapon as an option for goblins.
Red Dragon, Adult:
Rules HD AC Damage Align Other?
Blueholme 10d8 2 4d6/1d6/1d6 1N:1CE fire breath weapon 50 hp damage
Iron Falcon 10d8 2 3d10/1d4/1d4 C fire breath does uninjured hp in damage
S&W Core 10d8 2 3d10/1d8/1d8 C fire breath weapon 50 hp damage
I selected middle stat block for all three, figuring it was halfway between young dragon and old dragon. Red dragons do not cast spells in Blueholme, and at the middle age category cast two 1st and two 2nd level spells in IF; however number and levels of spells varies by age category.. In Core, they cast 1d4 1st level, 1d3 2nd level, and 1d2 3rd level spells. Blue has only white, black, red, and brass dragons. Core has black, blue, gold, green, red, and white. IF has black, blue, brass, bronze, copper, gold, green, red, silver, and white.
Black Pudding:
Rules HD AC Damage Align Other?
Blueholme 10d8 6 3d8 Nil only damaged by fire
Iron Falcon 10d8 6 3d8 N unaffected by weapons or lightning
S&W Core 10d8 6 3d8 N immune to cold
All three games are very similar with black puddings. The notable differences are immunities. Blue has them dividing in two when hit by any attack; IF has them dividing when hit by weapon or lightning; Core has them dividing only when hit by lightning.
Stirge:
Rules HD AC Damage Align Other?
Blueholme 1d8 7 1d3 N 1d4 blood drain per round
Iron Falcon 1d8 7 1d4 N 1d4 blood drain per round; +2 attack rolls
S&W Core 1d8+1 7 1d3 N 1d4 blood drain per round
We see here that stirges are pretty close. Blue switches from Nil to Neutral for alignment (black pudding is Nil) and I don't know why. IF stirges have the most details given, including that a stirge will flee if it kills a foe in order to digest the blood.
Finally, let us end with the humble zombie.
Zombie:
Rules HD AC Damage Align Other?
Blueholme 2d8 8 1d8 or 1d4 Nil immune to charm and sleep, salt poisons
Iron Falcon 1d8 8 1d8 C never check morale
S&W Core 2d8 8 or 7 1d8 N some might be contagious
Our simple walking dead fellow. Blue gives damage for both fist and bite and we are back to Nil for alignment. Hearkening to real voodoo lore, zombies might be poisoned with salt and the zombies are immune to a few spells. IF specifies that their zombies never check morale but the other two systems don't mention any specific morale rules for zombies. Core gives an option for movie zombies, in that they can transmit a disease to create more zombies. It specifies that this is optional.
Blue has a decent list of monsters unique to itsself - amazon, dagonite, deep one, dreenoi, and the great race are some examples. The other two rules don't have anything too different. Blue has four standard horses, IF has three standard plus an optional "paladin's steed", and Core has one lonely horse.
Blue has 114 general monsters, discounting types of giants, types of dragons, types of horses, etc. IF has 89 general monsters. Core has 96 monsters, including a large list of demons. Blue has a small number of demons.
Judging between the three games for monsters is difficult. They all have good and bad points. I like that Blue has more types of monsters but dislike their limited selection of dragons. IF has the best layout in this section but all three are totally usable. Both Blue and Core have rules for creating or modifying monsters. I think I will place Core in the lead here as it has both a good selection of critters and they cover the broadest base. Blue comes in 2nd as they have the largest selection of monsters and also have some cool Cthulhuesque type foes. So far, this is the hardest category to judge.
Blueholme: 2+2+0+1+2+2+2+1=12
Iron Falcon: 1+0+2+0+0+1+2+0=6
S&W Core: 0+1+1+2+1+0+0+2=7
Treasure: Of course, all of the rules have a chapter on treasure. Blue and IF have the standard "treasure type" that all versions of D&D, except S&W uses. Core has a simple hoard mechanic, and the DM has to "trade out" the treasure value for gems and magic items. I find this the least useful way of doing it. The types of magic items are comparable between all rules. Blue has a broader range of enchantments, from -4 AC armor to +5 AC armor, -2 weapons to +4 weapons. IF goes from -2 to +3 for armor and -2 to +4 for weapons. Core ranges armor and weapons from -3 to +5. All three have the standard magical items that adventurers like to find - healing potions, elven cloaks, and the like.
Core has the worst treasure section I feel. I don't like their trade out system and their magical item selection required the referee to roll on chart A, then maybe chart B, then maybe chart C, etc. Blue and IF limit moving from chart to chart to just one jump, say roll and get a +1 weapon and then roll to find out it's a dagger. That sort of thing. I think that I prefer the treasure system in Blue to IF, but just barely. Blue's layout is better, breaking up charts rather than having ten charts on facing pages.
Blueholme: 2+2+0+1+2+2+2+1+2=14
Iron Falcon: 1+0+2+0+0+1+2+0+1=7
S&W Core: 0+1+1+2+1+0+0+2+0=7
Optional Rules: Blue has one page of optional rules, covering ability rolls, additional classes (none inlcuded but says it is easy), alignment change, and "no hope" characters. They also have a usable character sheet but it is pretty ugly. IF has an extensive selection of optional rules, including the weapon vs. armor that I mentioned already, paladins, intelligent swords (Core has one in its magical item list), and different ways to run the game for Referees (Author's choice, Oldest school, and Full Gary), variant rules for spellbooks, a campaign checklist, and a very ugly, but usable, character sheet. Core has a handful of variant rules spread throughout the book (ascending or descending armor class, single save or standard saves, etc.) The Core character sheet is, by far, the best looking.
I'm giving props to IF here. It's section on options is quite large and they are all lumped in the appendices, showing that they aren't core rules. Blue is quite limited and their optional rules aren't really necessary. I like Core's options for saving throws and combat but I don't like that you have to read side bars to see them. I am going to go with IF, then Core, and finally Blue for optional rules.
Blueholme: 2+2+0+1+2+2+2+1+2+0=14
Iron Falcon: 1+0+2+0+0+1+2+0+1+2=9
S&W Core: 0+1+1+2+1+0+0+2+0+1=8
Physical Book: All of the books are hardback and print on demand. All three are perfectly usable and all three were not that expensive.
Peter Mullen did the cover for Core. He is my favorite rpg artist after Erol Otus. The cover of Core is freaking amazing. Alexander Cook did the cover for IF. It is decent but I find that I prefer the other two covers. Blue was done by Jean-Francois Beaulieu. It also is really, really good. I think that most folks would find it the best of the three but since I have a think for Otus and Mullen, I'm going with Core as the best cover.
Blue has the most interior art and it's nearly all good or great. Mr. Thomas manned up and commisioned some topless women, which is always nice - it hearkens back to the earliest days. There is even a spooky piece, used to illustrate zombies. Anyone who played AD&D back in the day will recognize the homage paid in the piece with some folks dividing treasure. IF has the least amount of art. Some of it is good or great and some is just passable. Core has some really good art, including full-page art, but there isn't a lot of it, though it has more than IF.
The paper quality is what you would expect from a POD book - good but not silky smooth.
The layout for some portions of IF I find I like the best, but this isn't consistent through the book. Blue has the best, most consistent layout, and I find I prefer this layout the best. Core isn't bad but formatting every table with equally-sized rows (a good thing) and then aligning them all to the top causes me mental anguish. There is so much space wasted. Blue > IF > Core
Blueholme: 2+2+0+1+2+2+2+1+2+0+2=16 <- winner winner chicken dinner
Iron Falcon: 1+0+2+0+0+1+2+0+1+2+2=11
S&W Core: 0+1+1+2+1+0+0+2+0+1+0=8
Final Thoughts: It looks like Blueholme Journeymanne is my favorite of the three rulebooks. Not one of the three is bad, however. I am kinda tempted to use Blueholme for my next game instead of what I am currently planning (BX/OSE), just to see how it works out.
If I did use it, I would probably change the following:
1. Adjust ability score modifiers a bit, maybe give a bonus for high strength, limited to +1 or +2. Maybe.
2. Use the standard elf, dwarf, and halfling. I prefer humanocentric campaigns but you can't stroll through Alfheim or the Five Shires and not trip over an elf or halfling. Also, they would be limited in levels. I would use the classes allowed as Iron Falcon does it, but with a higher level limit and definitely limit the demihuman thieves.
3. Ditch thief % scores and do d20- or d6-based success. I do this for every D&Dish game I've run since the 1990s. Percentage just irritates me.
4. Use traditional polyhedral damage with weapons, daggers do d4, short swords do d6, normal swords do d8, etc. I would also ignore the attacks per round and say that all weapons attack once per round except heavy crossbows, which attack every other round.
5. I'd also probably give fighters two attacks at 10th level and three at 20th level.
6. I think that I might prefer the 1d20 cleric's turning. I know that I like giving low level clerics the ability to turn more powerful undead, even if it is only a 5% chance.
