02-12-2010, 04:21 AM
JPQuinn Wrote:I apologize for being vague. But, I'm being purposefully cryptic on some points. After all, Blackmoor is what it is because there is no defined interpretations of its most pivotal plot hooks.
Sure. BM is a setting with a narrow enough plot, there is no need to limit it even more by adding more constraints.
We have discussed a few times already that the plot of BM, with the Egg, the Afridhi etc is pointing too much into one single direction. The real differences between the campaign really come on how people flesh things out.
JPQuinn Wrote:What "is" the Scar? As described, it is a choke point or eruption of the fabric of magic and reality caused by the huge release of energy during the Mage Wars, the "birth" of sorcerers, and the downfall of the Westrin princess. These events culminate in "festering wounds of malice and evil" on the land itself. To use a more modern 4e approach, the Scar is to Blackmoor as the spellplague is to the Realms.
I don't have the booklet before me, being away from home, but in fact, this is more info than what was stated in the module itself. Thanks a lot!Fits in pretty well with BM, IMO!
- I for my part always linked the mechaspider to the City of the Gods IMC, and I would guess that's what most people did.
JPQuinn Wrote:My other two favorites are: Idylls of the Rat King and Interludes: Brief Expeditions to Bluffside.
:twisted: Where would you set those two in Blackmoor?
JPQuinn Wrote:Dave had a master idea. No, it was more like a master philosophy and vision. Something greater than any major campaign arc. He and Bob Bledsaw said it to me at the GenCon booth, "in the end, did you have fun?" We had carte blanche (within limits), and the darker, grittier, wartorn, and bloodstained Blackmoor was forged from this.
That sounds as I expected. Are the Mage Wars Dave's creation then, or the work of the ZGG team? - IRRC, there was no mention of them in any d20-publications.
Hehe, and even with running the risk to ask something you maybe don't want to answer: What was that master idea Dave had, of course?
Since we here are de facto taking up the mantle of continuing the setting for now, and effectively try to write an epilogue, it would be interesting to know how close we get to Mr Arneson's own ideas.