Dungeons of Blackmoor and Blackmoor Castle

[neuronphaser]

Having just recently gotten into the whole Blackmoor scene now that I'm about to run a campaign there, there's two things that continue to elude me:

1. Errata/Corrected Maps for ZGG's Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor
My main problem is that, right from the word "go," the maps are all sorts of incorrectly labeled. Level 1 is just messed up. I'm up for doing the work myself, but just in case I don't have to reinvent the wheel, has anyone got the correct room labels for the maps featured in Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor?

2. The map of Castle Blackmoor (above ground levels)
I found a map of Castle Blackmoor (found at this link) with plenty of numbering, but no clue as to what's what (and some of the writing is so small, I can't read it). Is this from FCC book, or is this something else? And can anyone share any more info on it (if it's in FCC, I don't need you to pirate me a copy or something crazy, but just a list of what # = what room [i.e. 1 = Entrance Hall, 2= kitchen, etc.] would be nice).

If you're interested in watching me piece together as much Blackmoor stuff as I can for my campaign, you can follow along at my blog: http://www.timbannock.com/dungeoncrawl/

Link fixed by Havard

[Havard]

Hello Neuronphaser! Welcome to the Comeback Inn

Having just recently gotten into the whole Blackmoor scene now that I'm about to run a campaign there, there's two things that continue to elude me:

1. Errata/Corrected Maps for ZGG's Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor
My main problem is that, right from the word "go," the maps are all sorts of incorrectly labeled. Level 1 is just messed up. I'm up for doing the work myself, but just in case I don't have to reinvent the wheel, has anyone got the correct room labels for the maps featured in Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor?

I think there is a revised version of the level 1 map floating around somewhere. I will see if I can find it. As to the other levels there are problems with those as well. I know that a couple of people here have been looking into this. Maybe some of them can offer more advice.

2. The map of Castle Blackmoor (above ground levels)
I found a map of Castle Blackmoor (found at this link) with plenty of numbering, but no clue as to what's what (and some of the writing is so small, I can't read it). Is this from FCC book, or is this something else? And can anyone share any more info on it (if it's in FCC, I don't need you to pirate me a copy or something crazy, but just a list of what # = what room [i.e. 1 = Entrance Hall, 2= kitchen, etc.] would be nice).

If you're interested in watching me piece together as much Blackmoor stuff as I can for my campaign, you can follow along at my blog: http://www.timbannock.com/dungeoncrawl/

The first link doesnt quite work for me, though it links to a site that feeds from my blog. I am pretty sure this is the article it was supposed to link to. If you click on the link within the article, you can find Aldarron's mapping of the rooms, although no canon version exists. The map is from the FFC, but they never listed what was in the rooms in an orderly fashion.


Your blog looks great by the way. Glad to see another blog about my favorite setting

-Havard

[Rafael]

Wow, AWESOME stuff! hock:

[Havard]

To make things easier, I am copying [url="http://dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=45933"]Aldarron's stuff from Dragonsfoot:
[/url]

So as a group project, I thought it would be fun to flesh out the contents of Dave Arnesons Castle Blackmoor. He gives us a map for it in his First Fantasy Campaign and some details, but the map is unkeyed. I've taken the liberty of writing in numbers in the rooms in no special order.

And

Here's what we know from Arnesons notes. In a few cases I've put known monsters in what seemed like the right room but I haven't given them any stats.

Blackmoor Castle key
Wandering monster - the Lady of Lust – a ghost who’s fate for being an uncooperative wife is to take any man that wanders into her grasp, much to his detriment.

Basement
A huge irregularly shaped room with seven pillars supporting the ceiling and a large number of doors leading into the dungeon. Several doors lead out of this chamber to five-foot corridors and two lead to water closets with outhouse-style arrangements. It has been remodeled several times, including serving as a throne room.

1st floor
Judging from the pictures of the model, an entrance, perhaps the main one is in the round tower on the first floor. There is also a ground level door entering the “basement” on level one of the dungeon.

1) – The black hall. This room is haunted by the “10th abomination” – a specter. Only a 1 in 20 chance of its appearing.

3) “grey room” – haunted by ghost of Lord Calvin

2nd floor

25) Secret room – Haunted by the apparition of a semi naked Lord Alfred and a serving wench being axed to death by Lady Alfred. The apparition is harmless. (or is it?). The room is also haunted by a Baroness and her 2 children who starved to death in the room after they were walled in by her husband to hide them along with all his wealth from invaders. The Baron who was subsequently killed in the invasion and his wealth remains in the room.

3rd floor

39) the Lair, a room of records

4th floor

44) The library – Haunted by the ghosts of lords loyal to Blackmoor who were killed by a treacherous Baron (The Weasel)

-Havard

[aldarron]

Yep. Thanks Havard.

Neuro - these two threads are very useful to your project http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?bo ... hread=3246

and

http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?bo ... hread=4664

Get Tavis' gimp maps and your stair issues will be solved at least to level 7 or so.

I highly reccomend you use the original map of blackmoor town if you are going to include the castle in your adventures. The Judges Guild map in the FFC is oriented differently, and as I point out in the second thread, the dungeon orientation and castle orientation don't match in the later versions.

Can't wait to see what you come up with. If you still need the zg dungeon level 1 map, pm me with an email addy. Zeitgeist used to give it out for free, but I'm not sure you can still find it online.

[neuronphaser]

Much appreciated on everything! I'll go over this info over the next couple days and see what I come up with. Whatever happens, I'll probably be back to ask some follow-up questions, and will post more to my blog.

[neuronphaser]

Get Tavis' gimp maps and your stair issues will be solved at least to level 7 or so.

I haven't been able to come up with Tavis' maps for Dungeons of CBM. Any link, or should I contact him directly?

I'll be posting either today or tomorrow to my blog with some of the research on this topic. Man oh man, is there a lot of stuff to unearth for this!!

[aldarron]

Get Tavis' gimp maps and your stair issues will be solved at least to level 7 or so.

I haven't been able to come up with Tavis' maps for Dungeons of CBM. Any link, or should I contact him directly?

I'll be posting either today or tomorrow to my blog with some of the research on this topic. Man oh man, is there a lot of stuff to unearth for this!!

Just emailed you with info,

[neuronphaser]

Once again, thanks!!

I've posted some of my thoughts to my blog, but since then, I've actually been able to get my hands on a copy of First Fantasy Campaign to peruse, so I'll be posting again on this topic to cover that and Tavis' maps.

One thing I will say immediately is how barren the dungeons are in FFC. It's noted that some of Arneson's notes were lost or misplaced at the time of the writing, so the encounter/treasure lists are pretty compact, but it amazes me how this is such a deadly dungeon, but there's so much empty space. I'm guessing it's deadly because some of the rooms are just filled to the brim with enemies, and several encounters (especially wandering ones like Sir Fang) are totally freakin' deadly, even though they have a chance of occurring at very low-level times for the PCs. Anyway, all that means is that I'm happy to use a lot of what's in Zeitgeist Games' Dungeons... book because they've pretty much thrown something in almost every single room.

[aldarron]

Once again, thanks!!

I've posted some of my thoughts to my blog, but since then, I've actually been able to get my hands on a copy of First Fantasy Campaign to peruse, so I'll be posting again on this topic to cover that and Tavis' maps.

One thing I will say immediately is how barren the dungeons are in FFC. It's noted that some of Arneson's notes were lost or misplaced at the time of the writing, so the encounter/treasure lists are pretty compact, but it amazes me how this is such a deadly dungeon, but there's so much empty space. I'm guessing it's deadly because some of the rooms are just filled to the brim with enemies, and several encounters (especially wandering ones like Sir Fang) are totally freakin' deadly, even though they have a chance of occurring at very low-level times for the PCs. Anyway, all that means is that I'm happy to use a lot of what's in Zeitgeist Games' Dungeons... book because they've pretty much thrown something in almost every single room.

A lot of the rooms are empty because that was how the dungeon was intended - call it Arnesonian realism - to reflect actual use, as opposed to a gonzo monty hall situation. Dave stocked primarily by letting the dice decide for him. Take another look at that DF post for the castle or the intro in the FFC where Dave discusses his stocking percentages.

Another thing was that Dave had the "bad habit" of restocking his dungeon however he pleased - imagine that. So there are some accounts that describe stuff not seen elswhere. I try to account for the locations of some of those accounts in this thread http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?bo ... hread=4666

But its mostly guesswork...