"The skies of the world were always meant to have dragons.
When they are not there, humans miss them.

Some never think of them, of course.

But some children, from the time they are small,
they look up at a blue summer sky and watch for something that never comes.

Because they know.

Something that was supposed to be there faded and vanished.

Something that we must bring back, you and I."

- Robin Hobb, "Golden Fool"





Hi all,

Here, with the necessary brevity, I address a few questions an interested reader of this board might probably come up with!

WHAT BE... "The Last Fantasy Campaign"?

"The Last Fantasy Campaign", dedicated to the memory of Dave Arneson and Richard Snider, and consisting so far of "The Grim Winter", "The War of the Thieves", "The Road", and "The Promised Land" aims at bringing the tale of Blackmoor's struggle against it's many enemy, as begun by Dave Arneson and continued by many others, to a coherent ending. By the end of "The Company of the Maiden's" and their companions' adventures, the Blackmoor we have known for forty years will cease to exist. - At least in our campaign's own continuity... :wink:



HOW DO... Join campaign?

An invitation to join "The Last Fantasy Campaign" and "The Company of the Maiden" comes by personal invitation only. This is not because we would be a bunch of arrogant bastards, but because our group was established in 2005/2006, and the players have the same right as the DM to decide if someone new will join us, or who in particular. If there ever are free spots and we don't know whom to offer membership we will make a public rolecall.



HOW DO... Create character?

In 2005, this started as a d20 game, and remains so until today. Base for character creation is, essentially, everything ever published for D&D 3.5, by any company, as long as the character makes sense in our campaign environment. - Though I, as the DM, specifically encourage players to use either the material put out by Zeitgeist Games for Blackmoor, or by Necromancer Games, for Wilderlands of High Fantasy, for the creation and later, advancement of their PCs.



WHAT BE... "The Grim Winter"?

Started in December of 2005, and ended in March of 2009, "The Grim Winter" was the Company of the Maiden's first adventure and told the story of the Third War of Ten.
By the end of the campaign, the forces of Blackmoor had overthrown the evil Afridhi, albeit suffering great losses due to the treachery of the dread Bascom Ungulian. On the climax of the campaign, that later would have been called "The Battle of the Longest Day" by northern historians, King Uther, who had ruled and defended the Kingdom of Blackmoor since the days of the first war with the Egg of Coot, was said to have been severely wounded and to have later been abducted by the infamous lich-wizard Ran. The Company of the Maiden is said to have been among the last ones who saw Uther alive.



WHAT BE... "The War Of The Thieves"?

Starting in summer of 2006, and ending in spring of 2008, this was a side campaign to The Grim Winter, but advancing more slowly than the main game so players who couldn’t post as regularly as the rest didn’t have to quit our game.
The War of the Thieves essentially told the further adventures of the thief Rowell and his companions, a group of NPCs the party had met during the first chapters of The Grim Winter, and featured an adventuring party participating in the Coven’s (the Blackmoorian Thieves Guild’s) conquest of the abandoned city of Mondburgh (based on Ernie and Luke Gygax’ lost city of Gaxmoor for Troll Lord Games’ setting of Erde). Though relatively short and admittedly not very coherent, the game had a huge impact on the development of our campaign and touched some of the topics that will alter be detailed in The Promised Land.



WHAT BE... "The Road"?

No relation to the famous book and movie. Running from March 2009 until December of the same year, "The Road", previously called "The Road to the Promised Land", was a collaborative writing effort by the players of "The Company of the Maiden" and chronicled the years after the Third War of Ten, and until six months before the beginning of "The Promised Land".
On their quest to rebuild the war-ravaged lands of the Northern Marches, the split-up members of the "Maiden" survived a multitude of adventures, but ultimately could not prevent the second, and successful invasion by the Egg of Coot. By the end of this tale, many Blackmoorian cities had fallen to the enemy, while the Free People, led by Uther's and Risa Aleford's illegitimate son Mordred, had established to bring the front line to halt between Newgate and Vestfold.



WHAT BE... "The Promised Land"?

Our upcoming campaign, starting in February 2010, reuniting the old cast of characters, and set shortly after the events of The Road…, beginning with “the day on which Vestfold felll”… Word is that this will be the final stage, the last battle, and the end of days for the Kingdom of Blackmoor, as we know it…

The following documents contain information that form the basis for our game.
We of the Company of the Maiden hope you enjoy reading it and maybe even find it useful for your own games!



The Maiden's Blackmoor

A short written companion, containing information on our past games, on the concrete changes we made to our setting,
AND the big "Maiden's Timeline", the backbone of the setting we use, containing about all information about our game that we can spare.



The Grim Winter PbP Backup Files

The complete transcript of the "campaign that started it all", from December 2005 to April 2009. Docs come in txt and rtf format.

The following documents contain information that form the basis for our game.
We of the Company of the Maiden hope you enjoy reading it and maybe even find it useful for your own games!



The Maiden's Blackmoor

A short written companion, containing information on our past games, on the concrete changes we made to our setting,
AND the big "Maiden's Timeline", the backbone of the setting we use, containing about all information about our game that we can spare.



The Grim Winter PbP Backup Files

The complete transcript of the "campaign that started it all", from December 2005 to April 2009. Docs come in txt and rtf format.

What is the name of the Blackmoor equivalent of March?

Help me quickly, please!

http://mmrpg.zeitgeistgames.com/index.p ... opic&t=152

Havard:
The FFC and other Blackmoor sources suggest that Dinos are still alive and kicking in the Age of Blackmoor. I havent seen any references to them in the ZGG material though. Do you use dinosaurs in your Blackmoor campaigns?
*****************************
Spikey:
Only if it is a feindish dire vampire half-troll half-dragon t-rex of legend. With 5 rounds of buff spells applied first.
***********************************

Gsvenson:
I can recall battling T-Rex's several times in Blackmoor, including a recent encounter south of Kenville on an adventure a couple of years ago when I was playing as Svenny's son Sol.

Greg
***********************
Rafe:
IMC, dinosaurs roam the upper Great Dismal Swamp. Also, since I located Caverns of Thracia in the North, reptiles of all kind are fairly common.
************************
Havard:
Thanks for your thoughts guys!

My own is something I've been thinking about alot of things with Roleplaying Settings these days. Either I include it or I dont. And If I do, it needs to be important. Blackmoor can be played as a dull standard run of the mill fantasy campaign, but if I want to bring in some of the elements that set Blackmoor apart from all the others, I want to do it in a big way. This goes for races, technology, monsters and all of it. If its not going to play a significant role in that campaign, I'll probably leave it out.

I liked how Mystaros' Blackmoor timeline created an almost Dino-wars like atmosphere at one point in Blackmoors future when the people of Blackmoor mounted gunpowder armed cavalry on dinosaurs fighting the Beastmen and Dragons. OTOH, I'm not sure if I want to go there IMC. And if not, perhaps I should just leave it alone?

Other ways to make dinos an important part of the campaign?
********************************
Rafe:
Smile I would highly recommend you to check out Caverns of Thracia, in any case, for it simply presents the idea of an ancient reptile/snake empire that was defeated when beastmen and men began to settle in the region. Plus, JG deity Thanatos plays a big role, and Thanatos in the end is also a BM deity...

I am currently in the process of writing my own BM timeline, which will include all the modules I want to have included into the setting so far. When it's finished, I can detail you this a bit more. Wink
*******************************************
Kythrian:
Hmmm... dinos + yuan-ti... interesting ideas for villains there. Maybe add a flame theme with salamanders too, do the whole fiery snake pit of Hell...

When I'm designing for a home game, I tend to say 'Canon? What canon, I AM canon!'
*******************************************

Rafe:
As to yuan-ti, do you know about Ghostwalk? - That's indeed a scenery I might very well incorporate into my BM home game. The version presented there has much more flair than the FR stuff available for 3e, if you ask me, AND it works well with Thracia... Wink
****************************

Kythrian:
Yes, I've got that book. My book library is rather... extensive, shall we say. The FR stuff I don't use for flavor but rather for stat ideas; mainly monsters and spells, some feats.

Ethereal flaming snake pit of Hell? I like it... (ghost salamanders and yuan-ti, oh my)
**************************
Rafe:
Hehe, mine as well... Although I am proud to say I am more the real oldscholler and d20 Player, for the smallest number of my books really were published by WotC...

Although I have also fallen into shame and bought some FR d20 books this year - especially The unapproachable East works perfectly woth my BM stuff, as does *Lost Empires of Faerun* - sorry if the titles are inaccurate, btw. I use the Spanish editions... Very Happy
********************
Havard:
Interesting. I guess this could easily be linked to the Frog and the various denizens of the Great Dismal Swamp? I didn't know Thanatos was part of the JG setting. He is ofcourse one of the major players in the Mystara setting, so more the reason to mix it all together

Looking forward to seeing it!
*****************************
Rafe:
Either just after the holidays, or during carnival celebration, but I'll get this one done! Smile
*******************************

Havard:
umping this thread. In my upcoming campaign I have decided not to include Dinos, at least not on a regular basis.

Instead I have decided to go for Ancient Mammals, mainly Wooly Mamoths, Wooly Rhinos, Saber Toothed Tigers, Cave Bears and Great Eagles. I can easily see the Afridhi using some of these creatures as mounts, perhaps the Skandaharians do aswell.

The Great Dismal swamp IMC is more like a great north-European marshland, rather than a Louisiana-style swamp which was my first association with the region. Crocs and Gatormen probably won't make an appearance, though I am toying with giant salamanders. Froglin are definately in there, though I am considering portraying them almost like the Deep Ones from Cthulhu, giving them a really creepy feel.

Comments?
********************************
Spikey:
No the Great Dismal is like the Louisiana, The Barrier Swamp is the European marsh land.
*************************************
Havard:
That is my impression too, from the way things are written. However, I decided to change it for the sake of internal consistency and being able to avoid the "Its Magic" explaination.

I'd like to know though, if people think this sort of conceptual thinking that I am doing is having any merit, or whether it just gets in the way of Maximum Gaming Fun. I am mostly concerned about creating a consistant feel for my campaign, and I also think it can provide me with some adventure ideas rather than get in the way of them.
*********************************
Spikey:
Well for the record Rotfoot is not a European marsh gnome. But how would making it magic turn it into a steamy swamp, it could all have to do with elevations and such. Or fire elemental cities under an illusionary territory of swamp heating up the rest of it.
**********************

Havard:
All of those work. Another likely explaination could be the EGG, which has been known to cause climatic changes.

For my own campaign though, I want to emphasize the Blackmoor region as "The North" in all senses of the word, thus the change in the Dismal Swamp.

What do you think of making Lost World mammals commonplace?
*********************

Spikey:
I actually like it, kind of makes it like when the last Ice Age hit during the dark ages. Albiet now it has big stompy bitey furballs.
*******************************************

Tadkil:
Dinosaurs... The Egg.... Idea

Dude! You do not realize what you just unleashed on the MMRPG.

Twisted Evil Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha Twisted Evil
*****************************************

Havard:

Hmmm...I kinda like the idea of having some influence over those things Wink

But then again I hope there won't be hordes of MMRPG players hunting me down because of it.... Rolling Eyes

**************************

Spikey:
You SON OF A @#$!%!!!!!!!!
****************

Havard:
*hides in shadows* Wink
************************

-Havard

Aug 2006
http://mmrpg.zeitgeistgames.com/index.p ... opic&t=328

Sheridan:
The description of The Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor (Item# ZTG4505) in the Blackmoor Store says:
"Classic styled maps and artwork make this hardback a great nostalgia piece and an excellent tie in for new adventurers to Blackmoor! Take your party back to the birthplace of RPGs for an incredible adventure through The Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor! 304 Pages, Softcover"
So it is a hardback or a softcover? Of course, I already ordered it so it doesn't matter, but I was hoping to own a hardcover version of this classic!
Thanks,
-Scott Moore
*Sheridan
**********************
Rafe:
I am sooo waiting for my gaming store to have this... Smile
*********************

Christopher.Reed:
Greetings,

The Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor, like the Player's Guide to Blackmoor, is a softcover book.

Christopher Reed
Line Developer - Dave Arneson's Blackmoor
Zeitgeist Games, Inc.
christopher.reed@zeitgeistgames.com
*************************

Rafe:
Thank you for the info! Smile
**************

-Havard

Tervola:
Do they get the chance to 'lose' and replace spells like sorcerers and bards can?
*******************

Christopher.Reed:
No.
First, it is not specifically listed within the text of the Player's Guide to Blackmoor of the new base class. Secondly, the "unseen forces" would be most unhappy about being so easily discarded.
So you'll need to select your spells carefully from the beginning.

Christopher Reed
Line Developer - Dave Arneson's Blackmoor
Zeitgeist Games, Inc.
christopher.reed@zeitgeistgames.com
********************

-Havard

Time Travel ideas?
http://mmrpg.zeitgeistgames.com/index.p ... opic&t=286

Havard:

am looking for ideas revolving around Time Travel which could be used to link Mystara and Blackmoor.

What would be some different ideas for means of time travel?

What could be motivations for travelling through time?

Which groups or individuals could work as allies and enemies, possibly in several eras?
************************

Sheridan:
Hi Havard!
I love using time travel in campaigns. For Blackmoor, the most obvious is to use the gate in the basement of the Comeback Inn, ala module DA1. I've had Mystara characters use it to go back and explore Blackmoor (which has a legendary status attached to it in my Mystara campaign).
In a seperate d20 Modern campaign based on the new Odyssey Prime setting by Eden Games/Misfit Studios, a group of dimensional explorers actually ended up on Mystara's moon (the one that revolves normally) and witnessed the Rain Of Fire from space - but didn't understand the significance of it at the time.
I have also allowed players to re-use their dead characters in a DungeonWorld (Fast Forward Games) campaign, where characters are spirits in the afterlife that have a chance at escaping back to the world of the living. Those that do escape end up in Blackmoor.
Another idea I'm toying with is having the Isle of the Dead in the underground city from module B4 have a link to Blackmoor. Per B4, the island is supposedly home to many undead. In my campaign, it's because of an unusual artifact which was placed on the island (formerly a burial site) to keep it away from other living creatures. This artifact, actually an energy source from the Beagle, is the item responsible for the creation of the undead on the island. I'm considering having passages under the tunnel lead back to Blackmoor via the space and time warping energies produced by the Beagle's still running power source that is secluded there.
To my campaign, Blackmoor was an era of high magic. The players could want to go there to "rediscover" magic spells (or even mundane clockwork mechanics) or items (a rare cure for the "Red Steel" disease) which no longer exist in Mystara (or their other "current world"). The opposite works as well - Blackmoor characters might travel to the future in hopes of bringing back advanced magic, futuristic technology, knowledge of future history, a cure for a specific disease, etc.
I like using the Egg of Coot as an enemy "across eras". I've even tied him to my Gamma World history by connecting him to E. (Edmund) Coot from one of TSR's Gamma World modules (by Kim Eastman, was it?) and Deadlands: Hell On Earth/Lost Colony history by connecting him to the Hellstrome Corporation.
In a campaign based "after" the time period of Blackmoor proper, a secret society of descendants of Uther may be plotting to return/establish their bloodline to the throne of modern nations (ala, Priory of Sion from "Holy Blood, Holy Grail"). Depending on the motivations of the party, this society might be valuable allies or opponents.
These are just a few thoughts to spark creativity, anyway. Hope you like 'em!
Take care,
*Sheridan
-Scott Moore
******************************

Havard:
Sheridan wrote:
Hi Havard!
I love using time travel in campaigns. For Blackmoor, the most obvious is to use the gate in the basement of the Comeback Inn, ala module DA1. I've had Mystara characters use it to go back and explore Blackmoor (which has a legendary status attached to it in my Mystara campaign).


Hi Scott! You are right, the Comeback Inn's basement is the most logical time travel device to use when involving Blackmoor. I am wondering if one could evoke a similar feel to that of the children sneaking into the wardrobe in Narnia with PCs sneaking into the Inn's basement not knowing what they are getting themselves into. Alternately, it could be interesting to have them wake up hung over after a part at the Inn finding themselves at a different place and time having no idea that the Inn itself was involved... Twisted Evil

Quote:
Another idea I'm toying with is having the Isle of the Dead in the underground city from module B4 have a link to Blackmoor. Per B4, the island is supposedly home to many undead. In my campaign, it's because of an unusual artifact which was placed on the island (formerly a burial site) to keep it away from other living creatures. This artifact, actually an energy source from the Beagle, is the item responsible for the creation of the undead on the island. I'm considering having passages under the tunnel lead back to Blackmoor via the space and time warping energies produced by the Beagle's still running power source that is secluded there.


Thats a good idea. Have you considered using the Lightning Zombies from WotI as some of these undead? Lightning Zombies are usually created from such technological artifacts.

Quote:
To my campaign, Blackmoor was an era of high magic. The players could want to go there to "rediscover" magic spells (or even mundane clockwork mechanics) or items (a rare cure for the "Red Steel" disease) which no longer exist in Mystara (or their other "current world"). The opposite works as well - Blackmoor characters might travel to the future in hopes of bringing back advanced magic, futuristic technology, knowledge of future history, a cure for a specific disease, etc.


Now you are touching upon another interesting question. Motivation. Why would PCs want to travel through time, say to Blackmoor? You offer some interesting ideas here.

Quote:
I like using the Egg of Coot as an enemy "across eras". I've even tied him to my Gamma World history by connecting him to E. (Edmund) Coot from one of TSR's Gamma World modules (by Kim Eastman, was it?) and Deadlands: Hell On Earth/Lost Colony history by connecting him to the Hellstrome Corporation.


Thats a cool idea. Cab Davidson from Dragonsfoot did a writeup of the Desert Master actually being the Egg of Coot, which is sort of a similar idea.

Quote:
In a campaign based "after" the time period of Blackmoor proper, a secret society of descendants of Uther may be plotting to return/establish their bloodline to the throne of modern nations (ala, Priory of Sion from "Holy Blood, Holy Grail"). Depending on the motivations of the party, this society might be valuable allies or opponents.


I like this! Prince Jaggar von Drachenfels claims to the a descendant of Blackmoor. He would surely be involved in such a group. What sort of powers would a Descendant of Uther possess?

Quote:
These are just a few thoughts to spark creativity, anyway. Hope you like 'em!


Cool ideas Scott! Would like to see more!
*****************************

Scott:
Most definately. It's great to use the Lightning Zombies and have characters begin to make the connection between this specific type of undead and the Beagle/Radience.
-Scott Moore
*************
Havard:
Very cool
IMC I refer to them simply as Radience Zombies. I think they could also fit in a proper Blackmoor campaign, and be found perhaps in the Valley of Ancients, or near some of Stephen Rocklin's experimentation facilities...
**********************

-Havard

Blackmoor using Castles & Crusades instead of D&D 3.
http://mmrpg.zeitgeistgames.com/index.p ... opic&t=302

Lord_Lamorek_Steelguard

Ok,

I know there is some deal with Zeitgeist and the Open Gaming License that prevents them from using non-Core D&D products. However, would it be possible (other than fan-based) to have an 'official' conversion of the Blackmoor MMRPG to Troll Lord Games' Castles & Crusades ruleset? I ask this, partly, because I think Blackmoor actually translates better using C&C than using D&D 3.5. Also, because C&C is 'd20 Lite', its conversion shouldn't be all that difficult.

Have any other fans out there done their own conversions? I would be more than willing to get together on the 'Net and help others convert Blackmoor to C&C as a fan-based endeavour.

_________________
Lord Lamorek Steelguard
High Thonian
Noble/Fighter
Baron of Calx Mons Montis - The Castles & Crusades Society
****************************


Lostpike1:
Officially I doubt this will happen till their license ends.

**********************

Spikey:
Well what Blackmoor uses from 3.5 is OGL so there would be no reason to switch really.
**********************
Havard:
I doubt there would ever be an official C&C Blackmoor, but it should be easy to convert to that system. From what I know of it, C&C seems pretty interesting, so I'd love to see conversions. Maybe you want to post them here?

************************

Lord Lamorek:
Since Castles & Crusades uses the OGL as well (I've heard it described as 'd20 Lite'), I was merely wondering. Wink
***************************
Havard:
From what I understand C&C is not so much D20 lite as D20 Old School, although still probably quite a bit lighter on the rules side than 3.5. Conversions should be real easy though.

If someone is willing to make a project out of this, I wouldn't mind hosting it on my website.
*****************************

Lord Lamorek:
I might take you up on that offer. I know that at least one fan over at Troll Lord's boards might be interested as well. There has already been a conversion done (and posted) over at Sovereign Stone's forums for DragonLance using Castles & Crusades.

It'll likely be a while before I could get to do this, mostly because of several other pressing commitments. I'll get back to you on this....
*************************
Ozymandius:
Aw man and I was just having fun playing a wizard with a 36 Armor Class, +9 to attack (+11 with ray spells) a DC of 16 starting, three meta-magic rods, two pearl 2nds, three pearl 1st, a couple of unique certs and an empty wallet!

Continue the smack! Heavy numbers finally came through for me after my 17 greyhawk deaths.
****************************
Havard:
Cool
***********

HarleyStroh:
There's a d20/C&C conversion document posted to the Goodman Games forums. It's writen by Chris Rutkowsky, who did the conversion of the Mysterious Tower. I'd repost it here, but I don't have the author's permission, so until we get Chris' okay, we'll have to follow the link.

http://www.goodman-games.com/forums/vie ... ca3bce7a67

//H
*********************

-Havard

dragonr:
http://mmrpg.zeitgeistgames.com/index.p ... opic&t=278

After reading over Dave Arneson's Blackmoor, I could find nothing in the book that related to the phase of the moon. Or for that matter any information about how many moons that there are in the night sky.
Does anyone know?

Thanks - Very Happy
Rob
*******************************
Havard:
I'd assume one, since there hasn't been any mention. If your Blackmoor is part of Mystara, like mine, there would be two moons, though since one is invisible it rarely affects the way of things.

Does Greyhawk have more than one moon BTW?
*************************

Falconer:
Greyhawk has two. "The Great Moon (Luna) waxes and wanes in fixed cycles of 28 days each, upon which our months are based; while the Handmaiden (Celene, the small aquamarine satellite) follows a path which shows Her in full beauty but four times each year, thus showing us the time for our Festivals. When both Mistress and Handmaiden are full, things of great portent are likely to occur, depending upon the positions of the five wandering stars in the Lairs, naturally. For complete details of Astrology, I recommend the reader to such texts as Selvor the Elder's Secrets of ye Skye Revealed or Yestro Bilnigd's Astrology, Divinity, and Mankind." Regards.

_________________
Michael Falconer - http://ulmo.mux.net
"Because by fate even the gods are cast down, weep ye all with me."
*********************
dragonr:
Thanks Guys,
I was setting Blackmoor in its own separate world. That way I will not have to worry about any references to other game worlds. So I will assume 1 moon unless otherwise specified by the higher powers (Dave or Duston.). Using a 28 day cycle of the moon.

Thanks
Rob
*********************

-Havard