Tell me about the Iron Duke

[Havard]

Nice Havard,

No time to really dig through DA1 at the moment, but my recollection is that the Iron Duke was created to serve as the mastermind behind the whole kidnap Uther plot which sets up the time travel business for the adventure.

I think none of that came from Arneson. Certainly the time travel aspect did not, not did details of "Thonia", and I doubt he had a plot where Uther was captured due to machinations from the Great Kingdom/Thonia.

The time travel plot is the only thing we really know for sure didn't come from Arneson.

It's possible, but I suspect the Iron Duke was inserted by TSR to provide a plot device for the time travel adventure.

I hadn't thought about this, but I suppose it is possible. The kidnapping of Uther is the main plot of the first adventure in the DA series, so it seems a bit strange to me that this was not Arneson's idea. I always imagined that this was a regular kidnapping plot, but that the time travel thing was added into the plot as well as to the setting. Alternately, it is possible that the kidnapping in the original draft did include the Comeback Inn's "teleporter", but that it originally didn't lead to The Known World, or perhaps even not through time. We know that such expeditions to other realities or time periods have already been tried out in Arneson's campaign so it does not seem so surprising.

But as you say, we really don't know.

I am open to being wrong about the Iron Duke, but I think that I in general see Arneson as much more active in creating the DA modules, at least the first 3 than you do. We know that Arneson submitted manuscripts and that he approved the 3 first after being sent them from TSR with Ritchie's additions.

But its hard to say what's what.

The other thing is that I haven't heard anyone hint at an Iron Duke character. That doesn't at all mean there wasn't, but I have no reason to suspect there was such a person in any of Arneson's games. Most of the "real" characters get some kind of nod or treatment somewhere.

Agreed. I don't think this was based on any player, at least from the pre 1975 campaign. If he did appear in any games, I think it would be related to games Dave would have run in the late 70s or early 80s.


-Havard