Bleakwood?

[Yaztromo]

I am curious about the Bleakwood. I can find few (very few) information in FFC (pages 60 and 61), for example that it is next to Bramwald. I don't know what is said about Bleakwood in Adventures in Fantasy, hopefully you can help me covering this bit. Do we find Bleakwood in any other publication?
However, east, "on the way to Bramwald" is also the Super Berry Wood (FFC, page 19). Are they independent or are they the very same wood, as far as you know?

How comes I can't find any Bleakwood (nor Super Berry Wood, BTW) on Blackmoor official maps? Are they in some other map that I missed? or is it that small wood without a name besides Williamsfort?

[Yaztromo]

Actually I forgot this other Bleakwood, but I don't really know how to pitch it, precisely.

[Havard]

Adventures in Fantasy uses Bleakwood as its setting. That RPG contains a map of the settting and more details, even though it remains a fairly bare bones setting in that game as well.

The FFC is the only source to my knowledge that connects Bleakwood and Blackmoor. I was puzzled by the "near Bramwald" reference as well, but remember that Dave revised the Blackmoor map on several occasions. IMC I have placed Bleakwood in the Great Kingdom/Thonia, south west of Eastern Hak.

Do we know what year the "Rumor" document was published? I wonder if the reason Dave was using the Bleakwood name was connected to rights issues or whether he had other reasons to want to develop this part of the world?

However, east, "on the way to Bramwald" is also the Super Berry Wood (FFC, page 19). Are they independent or are they the very same wood, as far as you know?

How comes I can't find any Bleakwood (nor Super Berry Wood, BTW) on Blackmoor official maps? Are they in some other map that I missed? or is it that small wood without a name besides Williamsfort?

I think the Super Berry Wood is unrelated to Bleakwood and that they are not necessarily anywhere close to eachother. I do think that the Super Berry Wood and the Wood of the Wizard of the Wood (aka Pete's Place) is the same forest or at least they are part of the same woodlands. I think it might be the woods you mention, but it is possible that some of these woods don't show up on the scale of maps we are given and that it is actually closer to Blackmoor Town. It really depends on how much emphasis we want to put on the early maps and material compared to the revised maps published by TSR and ZGG. Things were probably moved around a bit simply due to changes in scale.


-Havard

[Yaztromo]

Do we know what year the "Rumor" document was published?

If it is the same document that you mention here: viewtopic.php?f=22&t=8691 it seems to be '74.

[Havard]

It makes sense that this was happening in 74. This might also be why it was included in the later parts of the FFC. I wonder if this was something Dave was considering to develop further for TSR, perhaps parts of what was submitted for Supplement II? It is interesting that Dave went on to use it as the setting for his own RPG.

I think many of the details from the document could apply to Blackmoor as well.

-Havard

[Rafael]

I've done quite a lot with the Bleakwood setting, over the years - but with the one published in AiF, not necessarily the canonic BM material. - I think I can go ahead and say this: From my impression, the St Pauls campaign, also influenced by Tekumel, evolved more towards a story-oriented style of roleplay. I think the change of location sort of reflects that: BM Town and environs were reserved for dungeoneering: the more distant a specific territory was to the two or three megadungeons, the more stoy-focused the games held there were.

[Yaztromo]

I think it might be the woods you mention, but it is possible that some of these woods don't show up on the scale of maps we are given and that it is actually closer to Blackmoor Town. It really depends on how much emphasis we want to put on the early maps and material compared to the revised maps published by TSR and ZGG. Things were probably moved around a bit simply due to changes in scale.

I agree with the change in scale: in FFC the Temple of Id is one mile away from Blackmoor, while in TSR and Zeitgeist campaigns this distance multiplies. For this reason what is indicated in FFC as the Wood of the Wizard of the Wood appears at a short walk from Blackmoor Village, but in the TSR and Zeitgeis map probably would have been much further away, for example at the distance of that small unnamed wood near Williamsfort.