What is the "feel" of Blackmoor?

[finarvyn]

Standard Fantasy, I agree, but what is that these days?

A great point. For me, "standard fantasy" is mostly the stuff from Appendix N.

Fafhrd & the Grey Mouser. Conan. Elric. Stories of heroes who fight big bad things, yet hang out in cities to carouse and make trouble. Heroes who may not be paladins, but who have a clear code of ethics and tend to fight for the little guy. That kind of thing (to me) makes up "standard fantasy" and are the bedrock of my concept of OD&D and Blackmoor.

Tolkien is different than the three examples I mentioned, yet still fits my "standard fantasy" definition. His elves and dwarves are all so iconic. The notion of the epic quest -- slaying dragons for treasure, sneaking through the dungeons of Moria -- all fit into the style of play that I associate with OD&D and with Blackmoor.

Beyond this, I toss in Burroughs' Barsoom. Saving the princess, strange technology that can do cool things, those things bring out the wonder of OD&D and Blackmoor.

Actually, I find it hard to seperate my notion of "what is OD&D" from "what is Blackmoor" because both have been so blended together in my mind for too many decades. The two are really one in my mind.

Just my two coppers.