City of Blackmoor and hello

[TheGreenZap]

Hello all!

I am new to the forum and I have been studying a lot of Blackmoor history. I love the world and I am very interested in it.

I also draw old school dungeon maps and I am enjoying that. I hope to do something Blackmoor related.

One of the first questions I have is about the City of Blackmoor. I have tried looking up maps and I have found a few of the city, but I am wondering about the buildings I am seeing on the maps. Some of the maps I found have numbers on the buildings but I do not see a key of any kind with them. So I wondered where I could find the key to know which buildings are what on the map?

I would appreciate any help you could provide.

[Havard]

Hello all!

I am new to the forum and I have been studying a lot of Blackmoor history. I love the world and I am very interested in it.

I also draw old school dungeon maps and I am enjoying that. I hope to do something Blackmoor related.

One of the first questions I have is about the City of Blackmoor. I have tried looking up maps and I have found a few of the city, but I am wondering about the buildings I am seeing on the maps. Some of the maps I found have numbers on the buildings but I do not see a key of any kind with them. So I wondered where I could find the key to know which buildings are what on the map?

I would appreciate any help you could provide.

Hi there!

Welcome to the Comeback Inn!

IIRC many of the buildings are identified in the FFC. Not sure if you have access to it? I assume the map you are referring to is the one that appeared in that book. 

Some of the buildings are warehouses controlled by the Merchant of Blackmoor and many of the others are controlled by the alliance of Mello, the Blue Rider and I believe one more character (player). 

I am writing this off memory. Will check and get back to you with more details later!

-Havard

[TheGreenZap]

Hello all!

I am new to the forum and I have been studying a lot of Blackmoor history. I love the world and I am very interested in it.

I also draw old school dungeon maps and I am enjoying that. I hope to do something Blackmoor related.

One of the first questions I have is about the City of Blackmoor. I have tried looking up maps and I have found a few of the city, but I am wondering about the buildings I am seeing on the maps. Some of the maps I found have numbers on the buildings but I do not see a key of any kind with them. So I wondered where I could find the key to know which buildings are what on the map?

I would appreciate any help you could provide.

Hi there!

Welcome to the Comeback Inn!

IIRC many of the buildings are identified in the FFC. Not sure if you have access to it? I assume the map you are referring to is the one that appeared in that book. 

Some of the buildings are warehouses controlled by the Merchant of Blackmoor and many of the others are controlled by the alliance of Mello, the Blue Rider and I believe one more character (player). 

I am writing this off memory. Will check and get back to you with more details later!

-Havard

Thank you Havard. I just grabbed the FFC and I see the explanations of those buildings now.

Does everyone still look at this city map as "the" Blackmoor City map? I have read that Blackmoor became much larger with more of a population. So I wasn't sure if everyone thought of it as much larger now or not. I just wondered what the fan consensus was about that?

[Havard]

Thank you Havard. I just grabbed the FFC and I see the explanations of those buildings now.

Does everyone still look at this city map as "the" Blackmoor City map? I have read that Blackmoor became much larger with more of a population. So I wasn't sure if everyone thought of it as much larger now or not. I just wondered what the fan consensus was about that?

Not sure about the consensus, but here are my thoughts:

The FFC details events that for the most part took place in the years around 990-1000 of the Thonian Calendar. The DA modules take place ca 25 years later and the d20 material 5 years after the DA modules again. 

Some of the material in the FFC takes place when Blackmoor Town is occupied by the Egg of Coot and later when Sir Fang controls the Castle. 

I have always believed that in the 30 years following the events of the FFC the city grew, especially as King Uther declared independence and made Blackmoor his capital (previously being ruled from Vestfold).

In my campaign the area mapped in the FFC is considered "Old Town" with a second city wall surrounding the first one, adding a number of temples and shrines to the Gods from the d20 books, Blackmoor University has been constructed above the Wizard Pit (as per DA1) etc. 

David Ritchie was working on a map for the unpublished DA5 City of Blackmoor which would have incorporated similar features. 

By the Thonian Year 2000 (or thereabout), Blackmoor had likely grown to a massive metropolis connecting Booh and Vestfold, powered by technomagical nuclear power plants with monorails taking you to Maus, Starmorgan or Starport.

-Havard

[TheGreenZap]

This is great to know and helps me envision Blackmoor past and present much easier.
Thank you!

[Yaztromo]

Blackmoor City (like every settlement) is always in development and it is important to understand at which point in time you want to set your map. Of course, there is no "forever" map, and this is true also for the map in the FFC: only few years or decades later, Blackmoor City will be bigger and more populated.

[Secrets of Blackmoor]

The beauty of running a Blackmoor campagn is that, to my way of thinking which is based on studying Arneson closely, It is a moving target and open enough that you are not bogged down by too much canon.

My campaign deviates quite a bit from standard Blackmoor, yet I spoke with Maila ( Arneson's Daughter) about publishing my altered ideas. Her response was: Just do what you want, that is what Dave would want you to do.

My campaign is taking place a few dacdes after the beginning of play in the world and places such as Blackmoor town have had a bit of new construction and there are no longer gaps between the buildings.

Most activity takes place in Vestfold, which I call Fastness fold. Several places are now changed to provide space for settings I want to put into the world.

Don't let yourself feel limited. Do what Dave Arneson would do and introduce anything which seems like it will be fun to do.