Q&A with Jeffery Quinn

[Big Mac]

Hmm. I'm a 3e man personally. Would that include my kind of grognard?

Maybe not "your type" (though I wouldn't consider 3e old enough to be grog-worthy yet). But if you like Blackmoor, Wilderlands, the 3e Dungeon Crawl Classics series, and anything from 3e that was "retro-styled," then you'll love Destiny.

Well, third edition fans got the rug pulled under them, just like 2nd edition AD&D fans did (and just like OD&D fans did before them). The big 4dventure countdown was supposed to be a countdown to me putting a bunch of books into the recycling bin and going out to buy new versions of the same thing.

I certainly find both Blackmoor and Wilderlands interesting. I especially like the way that there are three versions of Wilderlands. I find that kind-of weird. But in a nice way. I know less about Wilderlands than I do about Blackmoor, but did recently buy the Majestic Wilderlands book.

I will certainly give Destiny a look. (Even if it isn't for me, I'll repost any previews over at The Piazza.)

How much of what Dave Arneson showed you has gone into printed products? (Or to put it another way, if I buy all the books, how much Blackmoor ideas are missing?) Can I get away with just buying the 3e products, or are there any pre-3e things that got missed out from the 3e line?

I would say Dave had ideas and enough written information for a least another 500 to 1000 pages. And the development teams scrambled to keep up with him. So, I don't think there would have ever been an "end" to the information that he had. I'm sure Greg and Robert (both on this board and played in his first campaign) can attest to that.

You know, every time I talk to someone about this stuff, I wish more and more that the legal stuff that was holding back Blackmoor had been put aside a lot longer ago.

It would have been really great to have had an AD&D Blackmoor and for the ZGG version to have been a refinement of that.

BTW: Do you know if any of the "lost eras" had (unpublished) Blackmoor conversions? Or did Dave Arneson always stick to classic D&D?

I'm guessing there were no conversions, although I know that Majestic Wilderlands has existed in multiple (unpublished) versions.

And as for the 3e books. A great deal of info is in there, but there is a bunch missing that we weren't allowed to touch (due to licensing agreements). Be sure to check out Basic Dungeons & Dragons, 1e D&D, and pretty much anything with Mystara and Greyhawk in it. You are bound to pick up some information in all those (plus sources like the WotC website, this site, Havard's dark and dusty mind, etc.). And brushing up on the older editions will aid you in becoming "grog-versed" (I believe there is an age prerequisite to become a grognard, check with your FLGS for what the prerequisites are in your area).

Hmm. This sounds like a job for the fan community and the ESD Conversion Agreement! :lol: