Let's improve the Blackmoor Wikipedia article!

[Rafael]

Hi all,

The page is not only in dire need of updating, but also lacks some reference to our stuff here:

So, let's try to make it a bit better!


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackmoor

{{about|the fantasy campaign setting|the goldfish type|Black Moor|other uses of the term Blackmoor/Blackmore|Blackmore (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox RPG
|title= Blackmoor
|image=[[Image:Blackmoor logo.png]]
|designer= [[Dave Arneson]]
|publisher= [[Tactical Studies Rules]] (TSR), [[Zeitgeist Games]]
|date= 1970s - present
|genre= Fantasy
|system= [[Dungeons & Dragons]], [[d20 System|d20]]
|footnotes=
}}

'''Blackmoor''' is a [[fantasy]] [[role-playing game]] [[campaign setting]] generally associated with the game ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''. It originally evolved in the early 1970s as the personal setting of [[Dave Arneson]], the co-creator of ''Dungeons & Dragons'', first as a setting for Arneson's miniature [[wargaming|wargames]], then as an early testing ground for what would become ''D&D''. Blackmoor is the longest continuously played fantasy role-playing campaign in existence.

==Original publication==
{{seealso|Blackmoor (supplement)}}
[[Image:ArnesonBlackmoorSupplementIICover.jpg|thumb|The original ''Blackmoor'' supplement ([[TSR Inc.]], 1975)]]

The original Blackmoor product was published by [[Tactical Studies Rules]] (TSR) in 1975, as the second supplement to ''D&D'' (the first being [[Greyhawk (supplement)|Greyhawk]]). The booklet was named for the original role-playing campaign world by Dave Arneson, who also wrote this booklet.Thumbnail Analysis - Blackmoor, [[Don Lowry]], ''[[Panzerfaust Magazine|Panzerfaust and Campaign]]'' #72 (Panzerfaust Publications, 1976) It added rules, monsters, treasure, and the first published role-playing game adventure, "Temple of the Frog".[http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/12/12622.phtml Review of Dungeons & Dragons Supplement II: Blackmoor], Scott Casper (2006), retrieved March 2008 Despite the name, however, it did not include any information on the setting itself.

==First Fantasy Campaign==
[[Image:ArnesonFirstFantasyCampaignCover.jpg|thumb|left|First Fantasy Campaign ([[Judges Guild]]), 1977]]
Written by Dave Arneson and published by [[Judges Guild]] in 1977, ''First Fantasy Campaign'' added information on the actual Blackmoor campaign setting. It included baronies, citadels, history of leaders and details on the Blackmoor dungeon. It also contained additional rules for creating lairs, character interests and vocations.[http://www.acaeum.com/jg/Item0037.html First Fantasy Campaign] at acaeum.com

==DA module series==
{{seealso|DA module series}}
{|border=0 align="right" cellpadding="10"
|-
|
{| border=1 class="wikitable"
|+ DA Expansion Modules
!Code!! Title
|-
|DA1|| Adventures in Blackmoor
|-
|DA2|| Temple of the Frog
|-
|DA3|| City of the Gods
|-
|DA4|| Duchy of Ten
|}
|}
Though Arneson left TSR in the early 1980s, Blackmoor remained a part of ''D&D'' lore and was referred to in many later supplements. In a subsequent re-release of the world of [[Greyhawk]] for the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D)'' game, an Arctic region of mysterious black ice in the northwestern area of the map was called [[Blackmoor (Greyhawk)|Blackmoor]]. However, Arneson's Blackmoor would become integral to a different setting and rules-system, those of the ''Basic Dungeons & Dragons'' game.

For various reasons, TSR published two different versions of their flagship game line. Over the course of several supplements, the ''Basic Dungeons & Dragons'' developed its own campaign setting, referred to at first simply as the Known World and later as [[Mystara]]. When the history of Mystara was codified, it was established that Arneson's Blackmoor had existed in the world's distant past, achieved a technologically advanced civilization and then destroyed itself in a global catastrophe which shifted the planet's axis.

Though its influence was now central to at least one of TSR's published worlds, the actual setting of Blackmoor as Arneson described it had yet to be presented. This was finally remedied in the mid-1980s through the DA series of [[List of Dungeons & Dragons modules|expansion modules]], which carried a party of adventurers into Mystara's past to visit Blackmoor. The first of these, DA1 "Adventures in Blackmoor", described in general the geography and politics of Blackmoor and the means by which the characters travel there. DA2 "Temple of the Frog" expanded the scenario that had appeared in the original Blackmoor supplement. DA3 "City of the Gods" explored the starship crashed near the Kingdom of Blackmoor, from which the setting's intentional anachronisms derived. DA4 "The Duchy of Ten" dealt with a horde of invading barbarians, but was the only work not derived from Dave Arneson's original campaign notes. A fifth installment, DA5 "City of Blackmoor", was announced but was never written or published.

Though there were no further direct explorations of Blackmoor, later [[Mystara]] products continued to make reference to it. For instance, "The Wrath of the Immortals", an epic adventure which described a massive war involving both heaven and earth, climaxes with the discovery of the preserved control room from the starship which had crashed near Blackmoor millennia ago.

==d20 System==
{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2009}}
After the ''Basic D&D'' game and its Mystara setting were discontinued, [[Zeitgeist Games]], where Arneson worked prior to his death, produced an updated [[d20 System]] version of Blackmoor, ''Dave Arneson's Blackmoor Campaign Setting'', published by [[Goodman Games]], [http://www.goodman-games.com www.goodman-games.com], in 2004.[http://www.goodman-games.com/pastnews.html 3rd Edition Publishing Announcement] '6/27/04 - Blackmoor is off to the printer and on track for a Gen Con release! If you want to be one of the first to get your hands on this beauty, be sure to place your preorder now!' Goodman Games 'Past News' page, retrieved January 2010 Goodman and Zeitgeist also produced a Blackmoor d20 adventure module, ''Dave Arneson's Blackmoor: The Redwood Scar'' (2004) and sourcebook, ''Dave Arneson's Blackmoor: The Wizards Cabal'' (2005). In 2006 Zeigteist Games started publishing new books on their own. The 2006 release calendar includes a softcover reprint (with added content) of ''Dave Arneson's Blackmoor Campaign Setting'', a hardcover version of the ''Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor'', ''Player's Guide to Blackmoor'', and the adventure 'Temple of the Frog'' (which had a sneak preview event at [[Gen Con]] 2007).

==Dave Arneson's Blackmoor: The MMRPG==
There is also an ongoing [[MMRPG|Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game (MMRPG)]] campaign, [http://mmrpg.zeitgeistgames.com mmrpg.zeitgeistgames.com], organized by Zeitgeist games, which is similar in form to the [[Living Campaigns]] organized by the [[RPGA]].[http://mmrpg.zeitgeistgames.com/ What is Dave Arneson's Blackmoor: The MMRPG?] Dave Arneon's Blackmoor the MMRPG homepage, retrieved January 2010 The version of the campaign for D&D 3.5 ended in February 2009 at [[Megacon]] with a version of the campaign for D&D 4th Edition expected to launch at [[Gen Con]] 2009.

A list of their released adventures can be found [http://mmrpg.zeitgeistgames.com/index.ph...play&pid=3 here]. The episodes for the MMRPG are available for free to play at home and at [[Gaming convention]]s such as [[Gen Con]] and [[Megacon]].

[[Megacon]] is Blackmoor's home convention, where the new season is kicked off each year.

==4th Edition==
In 2008 [[Code Monkey Publishing]] announced that it had reached a deal with [[Zeitgeist Games]] to be the publisher of Blackmoor in the new Wizards of the Coast 4th Edition of ''Dungeons & Dragons''. The currently announced plans for Blackmoor in 4th Edition include a reprinting of the 3.5 Blackmoor core book using 4th edition mechanics and a series of three books set after a time jump of unknown length [http://mmrpg.zeitgeistgames.com/index.ph...cle&sid=22 4th Edition Publishing Announcement].

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.blackmoorcastle.com/ Dave Arneson's homepage]
*[http://www.zeitgeistgames.com Zeitgeist Games]
*[http://www.dablackmoor.com Dave Arneson's Blackmoor: The MMRPG]
*[http://www.goodman-games.com Goodman Games]
*[http://www.codemonkeypublishing.com/ Code Monkey Publishing]

{{D&D Campaign Settings}}

[[Categoryungeons & Dragons campaign settings]]
[[Category:Mystara]]

[[it:Blackmoor]]