Where to start? And where to go from there?

[Vile]

Apologies if this has been asked elsewhere, but I haven't been able to find it. I'm pretty unfamiliar with Blackmoor the setting, having only read Supplement II and skimmed the First Fantasy Campaign. In order to get my head around it, which books should I look for and what's the best order in which to read them?

As you might guess I'm mainly interested in the old stuff, although I'll happily take the scholarly advice of the members here on matters relating to the newer products.

[Havard]

Hi Vile!

I like this kind of question!

As to which product to start with, I would recommend either:

A) Dave Arneson's Blackmoor D20 Softcover: This gives a good overview of the lands of Blackmoor, races, classes, gods, monsters etc.

or

B) DA1 - Adventures in Blackmoor: Ruleswise this book may be better suited for your needs, though since it is presented as an adventure some things may be more difficult to find. The book still covers alot of ground though and there is much more there than the missing king plot which is the main storyline of the adventure itself.


-Havard

[Vile]

Okay, the D20 book it is then (because I just realised that have that, for some strange reason).

Is the D20 book set in the same time as the FFC? The main thing I'm concerned about is whether the different editions take place at different times, or whether there are unexplained changes between them. I grew up on Glorantha, you see, which has left me with a phobia of "Gregging".*

* "Gregging" in this sense means Greg Stafford re-writing important elements of his gameworld at random and without warning, totally screwing with your personal campaign history. Don't look up "Gregging" on the internet. I'm warning you.

[Havard]

Okay, the D20 book it is then (because I just realised that have that, for some strange reason).

Is the D20 book set in the same time as the FFC? The main thing I'm concerned about is whether the different editions take place at different times, or whether there are unexplained changes between them. I grew up on Glorantha, you see, which has left me with a phobia of "Gregging".*

* "Gregging" in this sense means Greg Stafford re-writing important elements of his gameworld at random and without warning, totally screwing with your personal campaign history. Don't look up "Gregging" on the internet. I'm warning you.

Heh, yeah I've heard about Gregging

The FFC chronicles the years 995-1000, while the d20/3E line is set in the year 1030.

My own Vales Campaign makes use of d20 sourcebooks (although for Classic D&D rules), but is set in the FFC era. In this thread I cover some of the changes from the standard D20 era material.

Note that the setting has been added to and expanded over the years so not everything from the D20 line was planned at the time when Arneson chronicled the FFC. There aren't many direct contraditions, but for instance the Gods presented in the D20 books are different from the more humorous presentation of the Church in the FFC. Also, the Wizards Cabal was originally (1987) presented as an evil secret organization, but the d20 version changed them to an open (if somewhat sinister) wizardly order.

-Havard

[Vile]

Well, I've started looking through the Zeitgeist book, looks interesting so far. Still, I suspect "my" mental vision of Blackmoor will draw on the factual details from these sources but the feel will probably still be based on FFC. There's something about the carefree spirit of those early days that clicks with me.

[RobJN]

My own initial exposure to Blackmoor was DA1, a copy of which I was able to obtain... has it been 15 years ago already? My how time flies.

Much later, I read through Supplement II, and briefly perused bits and pieces of the FFC.... I think I'm glad I started with DA1

I have very much "Gregged" (I'm not going to dare to look to see if that is, indeed, a verb, for fear of what I might find on teh intarwebz) my own version of Blackmoor, in which Havard and company are currently running around. Or should I say "floating above"?

Still, it is set 1000+ years after Vales/FFC/DA1/LFC continuities, so I felt taking certain liberties doesn't break things too much....

I'd be very interested to see where you apply your own tweaks and twists to the setting. I love steal-- er.... seeing what others do with a favorite setting in their own campaigns.

[Rafael]

I'd also get the BM core book by ZGG, regardless of printing, or edition. It is not as deep as DA 1, but its layout is according to contemporary standards, and as such, easy to use for a DM.

[finarvyn]

...the feel will probably still be based on FFC. There's something about the carefree spirit of those early days that clicks with me.

A man after my own heart! 8)

I always like to go back to the FFC and the large Judges Guild map as a basis for a Blackmoor campaign. I function better when there are some vague details but not that much that I have to memorize about a setting. Pre-Alzheimers or something, but I just can't keep track of all of the stuff folks want me to know about a published setting, but the feel I can fake as we go. :wink:

[Vile]

I can see how I will be using Blackmoor as I look at the material - I will probably read through all of it eventually, but when the time comes I expect I'll be using the FFC and my memories of the new publications, which may or may not be clear and/or accurate. I should point out that my current plan is not to use the setting as-is, but to fit the elements into the version of the Outdoor Survival map I'm using for my BLUEHOLME™ playtests.

[finarvyn]

This sounds cool and I hope we get updates on how the campaign comes along. I like linking the FFC map to Outdoor Survival and for low-level games I suspect that BLUEHOLME™ would work as well as any other classic D&D ruels set!