10-26-2023, 09:34 AM
(This post was last modified: 10-30-2023, 08:45 PM by klintron.
Edit Reason: Correcting error
)
Day 2, morning:
My second game, and the first of Arnecon Day 2, was Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg run by Dan Boggs (known as aldarron on this forum). This is probably well known on this forum, but: Tonisborg was created by Greg Svenson, one of Arneson's original Blackmoor players (His character was "The Great Svenny" and his handle here on the forum is gsvenson [edit: Not Yaztromo as I previously wrote]). The setting is located within the larger Blackmoor setting and includes a 10 level dungeon. Greg created it around 1973, working from a playtest version of D&D (as well as some of Arneson's own notes?). Much of this was lost until just a few years ago. Some of Greg's maps were published online, then reworked into a poster that was included with The Secrets of Blackmoor documentary DVD, and finally published in a more expanded form in the book Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg, written by Greg, Dan, and Griffith Morgan (Griff is also one of the organizers of Arnecon, directors of The Secrets of Blackmoor, and the publisher of the Tonisborg book). It also includes an RPG system inspired by Arneson's initial draft of D&D, including a combat system that differs from the one included in OD&D.
The hook: A large group of adventurers were lunching at an inn in Bramwald called the Wonky Wizard. A servant of the house Kervel (sp?) arrives and asks that we meet with the lady of his House. We are slightly reluctant since the House of Kervel is on the outs with the king, but the pay is good so we take the meeting. We learn that Lady Kervel's husbands, sons, and several retainers departed weeks ago for a quest to Tonisborg, where Lord Tervel hoped to find the Crown of Blackmoor, which he hoped would restore favor to his house. All but one retainer was killed in some tunnels beneath the surface of an island near Tonisborg. The sole survivor returned on the lord's quest to recruit reinforcements. But the lady is paying us to simply bring her husband and sons home.
We didn't get a lot accomplished in this game. We had a big group that deliberated a lot. It took us a good two hours just to get to the dungeon, after much debate and some time hiring and haggling with Skanaharian hirelings. We didn't see a whole lot of the dungeon, focusing on moving down quickly instead of exploring each floor. And of course, there was a lot of debate about which direction to go each time we reached an intersection. Eventually one of the clerics came up with the idea of using Detect Object to find pieces of Tervel livery. That got us moving in the right direction, and we eventually found the lord and his sons. We had to use paralyze to get the lord to come with us, the sons were more willing to abandon their quest and get back to their home.
We didn't have many encounters in the dungeon, and there was no combat. At one point someone triggered a trap door, and three PCs nearly fell in but through wit and magic managed not to fall into what lay below: A Devil Pool (As described by Greg in his recollection of the first-ever dungeon crawl. I believe they're also mentioned in FFC). Other than casting detect evil and seeing that it glowed brightly with darkness, no one interacted with the pool. I didn't engage the mechanics much, so I can't really say anything about them.
I wish our group had been decisive enough to see a bit more of the dungeon. The surviving retainer told of "unspeakable horrors," but we never saw anything like that.
One big highlight: We played the game on Dave Arneson's old gaming table.
My second game, and the first of Arnecon Day 2, was Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg run by Dan Boggs (known as aldarron on this forum). This is probably well known on this forum, but: Tonisborg was created by Greg Svenson, one of Arneson's original Blackmoor players (His character was "The Great Svenny" and his handle here on the forum is gsvenson [edit: Not Yaztromo as I previously wrote]). The setting is located within the larger Blackmoor setting and includes a 10 level dungeon. Greg created it around 1973, working from a playtest version of D&D (as well as some of Arneson's own notes?). Much of this was lost until just a few years ago. Some of Greg's maps were published online, then reworked into a poster that was included with The Secrets of Blackmoor documentary DVD, and finally published in a more expanded form in the book Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg, written by Greg, Dan, and Griffith Morgan (Griff is also one of the organizers of Arnecon, directors of The Secrets of Blackmoor, and the publisher of the Tonisborg book). It also includes an RPG system inspired by Arneson's initial draft of D&D, including a combat system that differs from the one included in OD&D.
The hook: A large group of adventurers were lunching at an inn in Bramwald called the Wonky Wizard. A servant of the house Kervel (sp?) arrives and asks that we meet with the lady of his House. We are slightly reluctant since the House of Kervel is on the outs with the king, but the pay is good so we take the meeting. We learn that Lady Kervel's husbands, sons, and several retainers departed weeks ago for a quest to Tonisborg, where Lord Tervel hoped to find the Crown of Blackmoor, which he hoped would restore favor to his house. All but one retainer was killed in some tunnels beneath the surface of an island near Tonisborg. The sole survivor returned on the lord's quest to recruit reinforcements. But the lady is paying us to simply bring her husband and sons home.
We didn't get a lot accomplished in this game. We had a big group that deliberated a lot. It took us a good two hours just to get to the dungeon, after much debate and some time hiring and haggling with Skanaharian hirelings. We didn't see a whole lot of the dungeon, focusing on moving down quickly instead of exploring each floor. And of course, there was a lot of debate about which direction to go each time we reached an intersection. Eventually one of the clerics came up with the idea of using Detect Object to find pieces of Tervel livery. That got us moving in the right direction, and we eventually found the lord and his sons. We had to use paralyze to get the lord to come with us, the sons were more willing to abandon their quest and get back to their home.
We didn't have many encounters in the dungeon, and there was no combat. At one point someone triggered a trap door, and three PCs nearly fell in but through wit and magic managed not to fall into what lay below: A Devil Pool (As described by Greg in his recollection of the first-ever dungeon crawl. I believe they're also mentioned in FFC). Other than casting detect evil and seeing that it glowed brightly with darkness, no one interacted with the pool. I didn't engage the mechanics much, so I can't really say anything about them.
I wish our group had been decisive enough to see a bit more of the dungeon. The surviving retainer told of "unspeakable horrors," but we never saw anything like that.
One big highlight: We played the game on Dave Arneson's old gaming table.