11-19-2017, 06:52 PM
Havard Wrote:I think that the people working with Dave Arneson at Zeitgeist Games were really torn between trying to appeal to those of us interested in the early days of gaming and those simply looking to expand their D&D 3rd Edition Games. The RPG business being as tough as it is I can understand them wanting to draw in as many d20 fans as possible, but looking back I would have loved it if they had focused more on stories from the original campaign and a little less on new feats, prestigue classes and other things that were linked to that edition of the game. I think it was an opportunity missed not to include the kind of stories shared in this forum by the people who played with Dave as well as more stories from Dave himself. I actually think that most 3E fans would have loved this too.
But hindsight is what it is and it is easy to look back and see how things could have been done differently. Overall, I am glad that I own both the Blackmoor material from the 70s and 80s and the books that came out in the 2000s so I can use all of them in my games. I also love the stories shared here at The Comeback Inn and that really enhances my games too.
-Havard
I think you've hit the nail on the head, here. The Zeitgeist books are very good, and very solid I think. But to me, the feel like a much 'newer' product of the game hobby and industry then the pioneering campaign that Blackmoor was. In fairness to them - and I do agree with you about their dilemma! - the later Greyhawk materials have the same issues. Not enough Dave and gary, to my tastes. Is it worth buying? Yes, as a game book, but not as an evocation of Dave's Blackmoor the way he played it.
I run into the same issues when talking about Phil's style of game play with 'modern' gamers; they often have issues with the idea that he did not - like Dave also did not - play by 'the letter of the rules' and instead played by the spirit of them. About all I can keep doing is demo games that show how they did things, and tell as many stories about them and their games as people are interested in listening to...
