I may cross-post this to other boards, just to generate some chatter.
 
The 2024 DMG has a 28-page guideline for Gygax's World of Greyhawk Setting (which they say is based heavily on the WoG gazetteer from 1980). I was wondering if anyone has done something similar for Blackmoor? (I'm aware of the First Fantasy Campaign, of course, but it tends to wander a lot. This Greyhawk thing is pretty dense and focused.)
 
What's in those 28 pages of the DMG?
1. Important names for the continents.
 
2. Premise that the campaign starts in the year 576.
 
3. Clearly explains three factions in conflict (Chromatic Dragons, Elemental Evil, Iuz the Evil)
 
4. Information about the calendar, holidays
 
5. Mysteries of Greyhawk (mentions six different places of note to explore, with a paragraph of what each represents)
 
6. Gods of Greyhawk
 
7. Information about the Free City of Greyhawk -- adventure hooks, how to use the city in a campaign, overview of the parts of the city which includes various neighborhoods and a nice map
 
8. More detailed information about locations in the city, roughly 1/2 page each for the Black Dragon Inn, Grand Citadel, Great Library, High Tower Inn, Silver Dragon Inn, Temple of the Far Horizon, Temple of the Radiant Sun, and the Unearthed Arcana magic shop.
 
9. Map of the wilderness area around Greyhawk with a dozen or more specific places one might visit.
 
10. Map of the continent where one can find the Free City of Greyhawk with lists of some of the kingdoms with the name of the ruler and culture plus general information for each. (They have charts for Central Flanaess, Eastern Flanaess, Northern Flanaess, Old Keoland, and Western Flanaess.)
 
In short, in 28 pages (plus a fold-out map in the back of the book) WotC has outlined a big chunk of what one needs to know in order to run a Greyhawk campaign. City, around the city, nearby region, continent. All levels of play, well organized and ready for use.
 
I feel like Blackmoor would benefit a lot from similar treatment. Thoughts?

Into the Wild Blue Yonder - Blackmoor Adventure from tFotT and Rob Kuntz

Quote:Into the Blue Yonder is now available for preoder from tFotT. This adventure was written by Rob Kuntz and was demonstrated at ArneCon last weekend. The adventure is written for characters of levels 10-12 and takes the PCs on a journey through Blackmoor's Realm of the Dead, AKA the Dark Realm.

Pre-Orders Being Taken: Into The Wild Blue Yonder By Robert Kuntz An Official Blackmoor Setting, Into The Wild Blue Yonder was used as a convention adventure at Arnecon 2. World famous Greyhawk author, Robert Kuntz has created a module to honor his old friend, Dave Arneson. This is a historic adventure as Rob has never before written a module for Blackmoor. Extensively researched in order to evoke the essence of Arneson's Blackmoor campaign, adventurers set out on a quest into the Dark Realm of the unliving to discover the secrets behind a conspiracy that could lead to a great war.


The tFotT website offers pre-orders for 30 USD and is expected to be ready for shipping in November 2024. The site has more details:



An AD&D adventure for characters levels 10-12. Special ArneCon 2 Edition -Includes signed certificate from Robert J. Kuntz! (limited to the first 100 copies). Cover may change for the final release. Into the Wild Blue Yonder is a very grounded and straight forward quest related to a story line created by Dave Arneson in his original campaign and as fictionally extended by this author. This should not of itself stop capable DMs from utilizing what is presented here in their own campaign settings. In other cases this adventure is suitable as a one-off type played out over several sessions. It also contains a lot of new source material that can be integrated into any campaign. The adventure is designed for 8 PCs of 10-12th level. DMs can substitute their own PCs for the 8 pre-generated PCs included herein while taking note of the balance in spells and items the latter possess. The action takes place in the Dark Realm (land of the dead) beneath the Goblin Hills in the Egg of Coot. It is quest oriented and centers upon the party retrieving knowledge that will eliminate a brewing revolt in the Duchy of Bulgryn, the latter which could draw adjacent Duchies into a War of the Roses scale conflict. Into the Wild Blue Yonder can either be placed in a land comparable to Oerth or it can be easily adapted to any campaign. It is connected in no small way to the lands comprising Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor & environs. A portion of the information contained herein has been derived from Dave’s Blackmoor campaign for the express purpose of continuing a legendary story line he composed concerning Marfeldt the Barbarian. Just as important was the need to recognize Pete Gaylord’s Wizard of the Wood character; and out of respect for the first wizard of RPGs I was eager to include him in the story’s plot. You’ll discover venerable histories herein which I have adapted for crafting this adventure as part of the legendary saga of Blackmoor, the first fantasy RPG campaign.


The Duchy of Bulgryn is not something mentioned in previous published versions of Blackmoor, but based on reports from the ArneCon presentation, it could be Rob Kuntz version of the Duchy of the Peaks. It is also interesting that the description from the website references Oerth along with other settings where the adventure may be set. Famoust NPCs mentioned in the adventure are The Egg of Coot, Marfeldt the Barbarian and Pete Gaylord's Wizard of the Woods. I am not sure if this means that Pete Gaylord was involved in writing this adventure, but it does seem more like a homage from Kuntz.

This is the first real game product from tFotT since Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg and the first to make explicit use of Blackmoor related locations and characters.

Spiral Keep

This adventure, presumably to be written by Griff Morgan, was first announced on August 22nd:

Quote:The best part of playing old school RPGs is being the Referee/DM/GM.
You are the one who spends all week conspiring to challenge and confound your players.
Drawing maps is a hobby within a hobby and I've been working on a draft for Spiral Keep.
I'm doing all five levels overlapping on two sheets of 11 x 17 T-shirt cardboard - no flipping between pages.
No grids either.
I have found that grids limit my creativity because I want to follow the lines. All my maps in the past decade are grid free.
Although I play tested some of my ideas for this dungeon with the house group, no one has played this version yet.
I will be running this dungeon at Arnecon. It's pretty big and I do not expect the players to explore more than about a 5th of it in a 4 hour session.
Then again, it's a late night session and with enough coffee... ?
I still have 6 seats available for this game at Arnecon. I also always take walk ups.

Quote:Sometimes you just gotta LARP it
Running Spiral Keep at Arnecon.
Things just kept getting more and more verbally complicated in a room with a treasure chest.
I don't use minis when I run my games - it is all in your head.
I also had a lot of players. Maybe as many as 12?
That was when I opted to go live play and I put a chair on its side to represent the treasure chest and my players began to creep down the side of the room to examine it.
They lucked out and the poisoned darts all shot out into the room away from them.
I think they had a lot of fun with this improvisation that just happened in the moment without any planning.

Quote:ArneCon 2024 Reports Are Coming In




As mentioned, ArneCon 2024, took place this weekend, from October 4-6. Managed by the creators of the Secrets of Blackmoor documentary (Griff Morgan and Chris Graves), the convention honoring the legacy of D&D Co-Creator Dave Arneson was held at The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, in Minneapolis MN. Although I haven't seen any numbers of participants for this year's events, organisers stated early on that the plan was for this to be a small and cozy event. Morgan stated that the convention was a highly successful and my impression is that everyone had a great time.


It is also nice to see photos of Morgan hanging out with Vic Dorso of DaveCon. It seems that any rivalry that may have existed between the two conventions is now ancient history and Morgan stated that he plans to attend at DaveCon next year.



I know that some announced guests did end up not showing up and a few events may not have occurred according to the program, but it looks like they had more than enough games and activities to keep the attendees busy. Some of the games were live streamed and can be viewed here. Among the Blackmoor Bunch who were present were Dave Wesely, Ross Maker, Dave Megarry, Bill Hoyt and possibly others.



In particular, I have to say I found Rob Kuntz adventure particularly interesting, involving legendary Blackmoor characters like Marfeldt and the Wizard of the Woods as well as reference to places like the Duchy of the Peaks and the Realm of the Egg of Coot.



Did you attend the convention? I would love to hear from you!



-Havard

ArneCon Live Streamed Events:


Strategos-N Miniatures Battle "The Bridge @ San Dismas" - Ref'd by Ross Maker - Live from ArneCon 2

Quote:135 views Streamed live on Oct 6, 2024 MINNEAPOLIS
Carlos IV, King of Spain, has abdicated, and so has Ferdinand, his son. Napoleon's brother, Joseph, now wears the crown, but most in Spain do not consider him their king, especially the troop of "Fernandinos" who currently hold the town of San Dismas and its important bridge. Bonaparte's "Josefinos" want control of the bridge, and are prepared to fight their fellow Spaniards to get it. The house rules for miniatures combat of the Blackmoor Bunch. A variant of the 1880 professional war-game rules by Charles Totten. Hosted by Ross Maker: Close friend of Dave Arneson, game author, historical miniatures expert, & 1st person to play a dwarf character. Miniatures provided.

Quote:244 views  Streamed live on Oct 6, 2024  MINNEAPOLIS
The perfect way to begin your last day of gaming at ArneCon.
"Mochas and..." is becoming a tradition at ArneCon. Every year Griff Morgan picks something different to showcase over breakfast. Last year we played TFT: Melee. This year we'll try playing Original D&D Holmes Basic Set rules set in a classic dungeon.
Grab some coffee, or breakfast, and then sit back and enjoy a fun session of D&D.
The game is introductory level and has almost no rules to it, I'm not kidding, as the rule book is only 44 pages long!
I will be using the original Zenopus dungeon + some minor additions of my own. In the grand tradition of Original D&D expect a lot of character deaths - no worries though, as you'll get to make another immediately and rejoin the adventure party!
If you choose to join the adventure your goal is simple, make new friends and have fun.
Hosted by Griffith Morgan (Secrets of Blackmoor, The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg, and Blackmoor Foundations)

Quote:117 views Streamed live on Oct 5, 2024 MINNEAPOLIS
Dungeon! is an adventure board game designed by David R. Megarry and first released by TSR, Inc. in 1975. Come watch a session of the game with the creator. The game will be played on Dave Arneson's actual gaming table.

Quote:115 views Streamed live on Oct 5, 2024 MINNEAPOLIS
Ronin Wong, one of the original co-authors, referees a session of "Paradise Lost" - a Shadowrun 2E adventure published by FASA. A top team goes to Hawai’i to retrieve an extremely valuable prototype from the clutches of a ruthless megacorp and terrorist organziation.

Ronin started playing RPGs in 1980 when he found the Holmes Basic D&D set. Initially playing solo due to the lack of other gamers, he later became a DM for a group of AD&D players, despite having never seen a group play before. His unique DMing style, which involved fully portraying NPCs with voices and mannerisms, was initially surprising to the players but they ended up enjoying it. In the 90s, Ronin co-wrote the adventure "Paradise Lost" for Shadowrun 2nd edition with Nigel Findley and contributed to the Denver Boxed Set for Shadowrun. Instead of pursuing RPG writing full-time, Ronin pursued a career in music, film, and television, working as an actor, musician, composer, writer, and director. His acting career includes appearances in "Kung Fu," "Man in the High Castle," "Outer Limits," and "DC’s Legends of Tomorrow." He is best known for his role in season 4 of "The Sinner," now available on Netflix.

Quote:193 views Streamed live on Oct 5, 2024 MINNEAPOLIS
Robert Kuntz referees a session of “Into the Wild Blue Yonder”, an adventure written by him specially for ArneCon 2, using AD&D 1E rules. This is his first appearance in the US in about 10 years!

Kuntz is the last designer standing from the Golden Age of D&D’s inception. Co-author of the Greyhawk supplement (1975) & Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes (1976), and Dragon Magazine columnist. Friends with both Gygax and Arneson, he participated in the Blackmoor demo game wherein Arneson revealed to Gygax and the Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association (LGTSA) that he had created a new category of games: the RPG paper and pencil adventure game.

wallup.net by Havard Blackmoor, on Flickr

Here's my latest blog entry, summarizing many of the things that are being done in honor of the D&D Co-Creator:

Quote:Blackmoor Week is over. Dave Arneson Game Day is today! On October 1st, we celebrate the love for our hobby on the birthday of the D&D Co-Creator.
So many things related to Blackmoor and Dave Arneson have been happening these past days and the activity is still going on!
I really like that we are seeing fans of the early editions and fans of the most recent editions of D&D all joining in to celebrate together. Gaming should bring people together, not divide us. We have too much of that going on in the world.
Let's look at some highlights so far:
Over at The Piazza, Coronides is making conversions for Blackmoor to D&D 5E and has just added the Noble Class.
Zenopus posted his overview of the Blackmoor Foundations Book at his blog.
Did you make sure to get the free PDF of the Dragonborn of Blackmoor Sourcebook by Jon Gómes that I posted about the other day?
The Gnomish Embassy has posted two NPCs, the latest seems to be linked to the Dragonborn sourcebook
Let us add to this list as the day continues!

In Episode 20 (Sorcerer's Tomb) we encounter Alertern, first apprentice to Skelfer Ard. Is he mentioned anywhere else in canon or in fanon, or is this a one-off reference to him?

What are you doing for Blackmoor week?

Each year, Compose Dream Games RPG Markeplace runs a 20% off sitewide sale. This year it is on our original Canadian site as well as our new (since May) UK website.

Also new this year, we making PDFs 25% or more off. That's gonna keep me pretty busy.  .  .

CAD [/url][url=https://composedreamgames.com/marketplace/]https://composedreamgames.com/marketplace/ (ships to the world)

GBP https://composedreamgames.co.uk/ (ships to UK and EU)


Since that's not enough, this weekend I am at Northeast Tabletop in Newcastle, UK and Wednesday I will be setting up for Essen Spiel.


... Maybe I'll be able to fit in a little development time for Fabrication: A Game that Makes Games. I'm trying to capture a little Arnesonian magic with it.

In Corner of the Table (3 (5), 1971), Dave Arneson describes the world of Blackmoor as such:

Quote:... and the start of the "Black Moors" battle reports as a series dealing with the perils of living in Medevil Europe.(Or at leas t as much as is possible when a wargamer cum fantasy nut creates a parallel world that includes perils from a dozen Fantasy plots plus a few of his own).

Blackmoor Week Day 1

-Havard