[DocBM] Blue, the Watchful Helm

[Havard]

Just noticed, the helm "Blue" is mentioned in the FFC p33 (Revised edition).

-Havard

I think you just solved the mystery Havard. Whoever wrote up the DoCBM entry saw the FFC entry For level 7, room 2, - 1 Sword, Helmet "Blue" (50) - and made up an entry for the "Blue" helmet.

Thing is, that's a mistake. There is no Blue helmet in that room. What the entry is telling us is that there is a sword and a helmet and one of those is worth 50 magic points. Further, Arneson notes that the sword is actually the sword "Blue" detailed on page 44 of the 1980 printing FFC.

So yeah, its the sword, not the helmet that is named Blue.

Yes, that makes sense. It is a bit confusing how it is written in the FFC, but when I saw it, I also immediately thought about the sword matrix. I guess we'll never know if this confusing comes from Dave's notes or the people editing the FFC (Bill Owen).

In any case, I like the interpretation of the Watchful Helm in DocBM, and I also like that it isn' associated with the Blue Rider.

DocBM actually has a lot of this sort of thing. The people writing the various levels were no doubt given some verbal guidance but also told to consult the FFC, and it's not unusual to see instances of where misunderstandings of the FFC text led to sometimes weird, sometimes interesting and cool inclusions in the d20 text. One of these instances bugs me, that being the "river" on DoCBM level 9, that came about because Arneson drew a boundary line for an orc tribe and this was mistaken as some kind of an underground river.

Ahh, that is indeed another oddball!

Its weird how the label "Orc Tribe border" is still included on the map, but how it still keeps the river thing. I wish I was better at creating digital versions of dungeon maps. If I had been, I might have given a go at doing updated versions of these maps.

Anyway, thanks for the input!

-Havard