Hi all,

Let's say... If a certain lazy blackguard wanted to run a game in Blackmoor Town, but not in any of the officially covered eras,
but back in Blackmoor's past, in the year 500 NC, to be specific... What would he do good in looking out for? :wink:

Yours,

Rafe

goes into quite a bit of discussion on that subject

To summarize my own thoughts from that thread:

1. No Ducy of Ten (Not even Robinsport, Dacoit etc)
2. Duchy of the Peaks is fairly young (founded ca Year 500)
3. Temple of the Id is still active (Destroyed in Year 500)
4. No Dwarven Settlements. Dwarves have just arrived and Uberstar Khazakhum is looking for a place to found his realm. still inhabit the Crystal Peaks and other mountains.
5. Before the Deluge. Sinking lands have not yet begun to sink. North Sea not yet connected to Black Sea. (see )
6. Elves are still one race. (Split ca year 500)
7. Huge Forest, known as the Heartforest covers large portions of the land. (Per Jeff Quinn)
8. Darker creatures, including demons are much more commonplace.
9. Skandaharians to the North will be here already at this time, but are perhaps not yet a developed raider culture?
10. Vestfold, Maus and Blackmoor are already present, but most other settlements are still villages at best. Populations are small.
11. Orcs and Goblins do not yet exist. Beastmen are created in the year 500 as response to destruction of the temple of Id (Fan theory)
10. No Afridhi
12. Egg of Coot has not yet risen.
13. No Wizards Cabal. Mage Wars have not yet occurred. Human mages are likely rare, except for the primitive kinds (Wokans, Sorcerers)
14. Valemen more commonplace. Not yet driven to the west (fan speculation)
15. Blackmoor and the northern settlements are loyal outposts of the Thonian Empire
16. Peshwah are still around, many live as raiders.
17. No Loch Gloomen, Fel, Dukane, South Pim, Newgate, Kennydale, Cloudtop, Dragonia, Booh, Williamsfort, Bosero's Tower, Fairfield Abby, Boggy Bottom

Overall it is an interesting subject, although most timelines make the year 500 to be a transition year so it would be easier to describe Blackmoor before or after that year. Campaigns Set before the destruction of the Temple of Id will probably likely end up dealing with that enemy. Campaigns set immediately after the destruction if Id could be interesting too as it would be a time of unheaval dealing with the aftermath of that war, the split between the elf clans, the growing division between Elves and Men and the arrival of dwarves and halflings.

Havard

Woof! Nice list, my friend! Thank you!

I think it wouldn't take much effort to make this a playable setting, even with the tools that we already we have (i. e. your antediluvian map, etc.).

For a BM Town campaign, I'd probably focus on the Id cult, and on the relative closeness to the Elven realm. (In "Tales from the Old Land", I think I kind of hinted at how the relationship could have looked.)

I think perhaps the Runequest "King of Dragon Pass" storyline wouldn't be a bad blueprint for a Northern campaign, there.

As in, for example, the Afridhi themselves might not be there, but perhaps some first traces of them...

(Got to run, more later.)

Short version of my answer is: Check the old ToEE book, if you can. Just from the first few pages, you might see how things fit into place pretty nicely.

I have always thought about using Williamsfort as Hommlet, but, with a few tweaks, it could even work as Blackmoor, or one of the Watchtowers on the Old Land coast. :)

If I remember my reading from the Campaign Setting book, the Westryn are the more "woods-y" of the elves, rather than the more cosmopolitan Cumasti. Could the split between the two be something along the lines of law-chaos?

The Cumasti, who seem to want to mingle, are seen as losing something of their "true" nature due to the (real or perceived) influence of their interactions with Men and their towns/cities/farming. In a sense, they are becoming ever so slightly more Lawful (ordered, organized, structured), whereas the Westryn want to go back to their more carefree/chaotic/individualistic roots.

The frictions between the two factions could have started before the beginnings of the campaign against the forces of the Temple/cult of Id: the half that would become the Cumasti wanted to join forces with Men and quash the threat, whereas the Westryn felt that isolation and seclusion were the answer: let Men fight their own battles, and not drag the elves into it.

Just some thoughts....