Blackmoor Setting Differences: A Definitive Comparison?

[Havard]

I'm an unusual case when it comes to Blackmoor. My first introduction to the setting was in 2014, when I returned to D&D for the first time in 20 years. I started learning more about Blackmoor from this site, the forum and your blog. But soon I bought a copy of the D20 campaign setting. I started getting copies of the original FFC and DA materials as well, but the D20 setting and map really kindled my interest in Blackmoor.

But here's where it gets strange. As I've mentioned elsewhere, I don't like the science fantasy aspects of Blackmoor, so that makes me pretty rare among Blackmoor fans. I don't care for genre mixing, and I prefer the aspects of Blackmoor that are more pulp fantasy, sword and sorcery, and high fantasy.

I am not sure you are so unusual in the case of science fiction elements in Blackmoor. I think many people probably stay away from the setting for this reason. At the same time, every iteration of Blackmoor has these elements. They are also some of the elements that make Blackmoor stand out compared to other D&D settings today.

On the other hand, if you look at Dave Arneson's original campaign, it rarely revolved around these aspects. Even if they were present with the armor and weapons of the Blue Rider, the Monks of the Swamp, the City of the Gods, assorted magic items and perhaps even the Egg of Coot, most Blackmoor adventures focused on other fantasy activities. Looking at the DA modules, DA1 and DA4 have few of these aspects. The same can be said for the ZGG line.

For me, this is also an issue of science fiction changing over time. Including elements of science fiction as presented today might be easier to accept than including elements of science fiction as it existed in the 70s and 80s. I think a reimagined Blackmoor where alien artifacts exist, but where they are presented as mysterious and truly alien instead of something borrowed from Star Trek:TOS might make for a very different setting. Modern RPGs like Monte Cook's Numenera might be a good model for such artifacts.

I remember seeing the Temple of the Frog module in the mid-1980s, and I thought the cover art and core concept were absurd. :lol: The same goes for the City of the Gods.

Of course they are! Then again, this is also in the spirit of Dave Arneson and many old school game designers. They didn't take things as seriously as many of us do and they loved having fun with the genre. There could be a lesson in that too

As I've learned more about Blackmoor, I don't like the retrofit into the Mystara setting either. I like Mystara, but I wish Blackmoor had simply been treated and developed as a separate setting. But that's mostly harmless since Blackmoor can be run as a standalone setting anyway. And you can ignore the adventures in the DA modules and just use those books for setting info.

Again, I know many people who feel this way. However, as you say it is really easy to run the DA adventures and remove the sections related to Mystara. Looking back at the circumstances of how the DA modules were created, I think integrating them into Mystara could have actually been why the DA modules are able to present such a pure version of Blackmoor that they do. The decision to set Blackmoor into Mystara's past meant that very few changes had to be made to Blackmoor itself. The FFC adapted the map to fit with the Wilderlands. The ZGG books made changes to the setting to accomodate 3E/4E classes and races. If Dave Ritchie made changes to the setting of Blackmoor as presented in the DA modules or to Arneson's script, it would have been due to concerns of the adventures themselves or to clear up things he found confusing or perhaps didn't understand.

In general, I prefer the D20 version of Blackmoor, but as I've been learning more about the FFC, I also like the idea of staying closer to Dave Arneson's original vision and the elements that came out of his home campaign. The problem is that it's so hard to discern his innovations in the DA modules and the D20 content from the work of other designers. That's partly what led me to create this topic, but it's also for historical and general understanding among Blackmoor fans.

The FFC is an amazing gem and a book I keep going back to. When I play games in Blackmoor my main priority is for my players and myself to have a great time. I don't really care who came up with what for Blacmoor during actual play. However, I still love bringing in elements from the FFC and the original campaign, as a tribute to the original Blackmoor Bunch, but perhaps just as importantly, because there are some really great ideas there. Ideas that really make Blackmoor into a truly fascinating setting with amazing depth and creativity.

In the end, when it comes to running Blackmoor with recent versions of D&D, I think the D20 version is by far the easiest and post practical choice.

I am glad that we have the D20 books. My editions of choice today are BECMI and 5E, but I still consult the ZGG books since they have information that gamers today consider essential, but which were missing in earlier products. Also, they add many cool things that I make use of.

-Havard