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I'm wondering about what kind of process the episodes went through before they were published in terms of content approval.
Were episodes ever changed or edited to fit events and facts in Blackmoor or were they pretty much accepted as is if they seemed like a good adventure? Did Dave Arneson read, approve, or in any way edit or suggest changes to the episodes or was this left up to the line editor.
What's the story?
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Dave and I worked together to develop the principle story arc that was focused on a series of Hard Plot points and a range of Soft Points. Multiple story lines were constructed. Authors could focus on one area or another of Blackmoor as a function of submitting an episode proposal. Those proposals were reviewed and compared against canon. If we liked where they were going and it didn't impact our Hard Plot points, we usually gave approval.
These were generally written by amateur contributors, but many of them are magnificent.
Dave oversaw quite a few of the First Season episodes. From there, we had a pretty good handle on things.
Episodes generally "premiered" (first time ever in play) at the convention MegaCon in Orlando. Both Dave and I knew the owner of the show and she was kind enough to work with us on coordinating Blackmoor events. Dave attended these conventions while his health allowed and even participated in the first Battle Interactive as a character.
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Thanks Dustin; very thorough answer. From that then, I would consider info from the episodes to be as "legitimate" and "canon" as any of the published material.
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Very interesting hearing about this process. it is nice to hear that Dave was so directly involved with season 1.
-Havard
Currently Running: The Blackmoor Vales Saga
Currently Playing: Daniel S. Debelfry in the Throne of Star's Campaign
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He was! I'll be super clear to say that Dave did not write the episodes. That credit goes to the outstanding writers that we were so lucky to have involved. Tad Kilgore, Chris Reed, Dawn Coakley - so many good memories of working with them! Dave and I spend a good amount of time on Episode 1.
I'm am incredibly proud of the view that the first four episodes give players into Blackmoor. We introduce a world of high magic and danger, but mostly through grounded stories. When we debuted those adventures, they were mostly played by hardcore Living Greyhawk and Living Arcanis players who had seen it all. Seeing them have fun and get invested in Blackmoor was very satisfying!
One thing that might be an old echo for some - Dave really believed that Blackmoor was a distinct place, but that it had so much room for so many different interpretations of what it was. I've really come to see that view to mean that Blackmoor was a sandbox to play in. Yes, there were consistencies in terms of the Kingdom, main NPCs and places - but there was room enough for dinosaurs, pirates, evil nazis, gunpowder, magic and steampunk.
It's easy to dismiss that diversity and to see it as a liability from a narrative point of view. People do get invested in their worlds and want the stories to matter and make sense - but there is plenty of room in Blackmoor for your stories too. I think Dave really wanted everyone to understand that.
Cheers!
Dustin
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Quite a few really poignant points in this last post. Thanks.
He's a real Nowhere man, sitting in his Nowhere land,
making all his Nowhere plans for Nobody.
