Thoughts on the 4E book?

[Havard]

Anyone here besides me have the Blackmoor: First Campaign (4E) sourcebook? I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on it.

Havard

[Havard]

I finally got the hard copy of this book a week or so ago. Looking at the hard copy is quite different from looking at a pdf. The book is much better organized than the 3E version, but the crunch really outweighs the background material in the 4E book. I guess this is fairly typical of 4E books in general.

Most of the material in the First Campaign book appears to be identical to information from various books in the 3E line. The main new material is tied to the Tieflings and Dragonborn, both presented in the race chapter.

Havard

[sheridan]

I like it...but it's Blackmoor, so of course I like it...

Yes, since it is set in the same era as the 3.5 BM core book, there isn't a lot of 'new' setting material. I would have liked to have seen either separate race write ups for the Westryn and Cumasti or an 'Elf' write up to cover the Westryn and a 'Eladrin' write up to cover the Cumasti. I liked the background added for Dragonborn and Tieflings pretty much just because it was 'new' material.

I would have liked a huge color map as well.

All in all, it's a really good campaign setting, but having been a Blackmoor fan since...well...forever...I would have liked to see more 'new' stuff. Even if the 4e setting had been set in the year 1035 (after the last year of published adventures for the MMRPG) as opposed to 1030 (the same year as the 3.5 setting), there could have been a bunch of interesting 'history' added to cover the five game years since the 3.5 book, while still staying in essentially the same era.

[Havard]

I like it...but it's Blackmoor, so of course I like it...

Yes, since it is set in the same era as the 3.5 BM core book, there isn't a lot of 'new' setting material. I would have liked to have seen either separate race write ups for the Westryn and Cumasti or an 'Elf' write up to cover the Westryn and a 'Eladrin' write up to cover the Cumasti.

Jeff had some interesting comments on this in his Q&A thread.

I liked the background added for Dragonborn and Tieflings pretty much just because it was 'new' material.

I think the Tieflings were particularly well handled.

I would have liked a huge color map as well.

Poster maps is something I really miss from the good old TSR days. Its also something you really can't make yourself.

All in all, it's a really good campaign setting, but having been a Blackmoor fan since...well...forever...I would have liked to see more 'new' stuff. Even if the 4e setting had been set in the year 1035 (after the last year of published adventures for the MMRPG) as opposed to 1030 (the same year as the 3.5 setting), there could have been a bunch of interesting 'history' added to cover the five game years since the 3.5 book, while still staying in essentially the same era.

I agreee. It would have made sense to set the First Campaign sourcebook after the MMRPG. That would have given us a few new elements, while still leaving alot of the big setting changes for the Age of the Wolf.

Havard

[Havard]

An interesting review that I havent seen before:
http://gamecryer.com/2009/08/23/dave-ar ... -campaign/

[quote]Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor: The First Campaign

Posted by Gerald Cameron on Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor: The First Campaign is the Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition incarnation of the very first RPG setting. It features the same setting material as the Dungeons & Dragon 3.5 setting book Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor Core Campaign Book published by Zeitgeist Games, plus 4th Edition write-ups of one race, six classes and numerous magic items, NPCs and heroic and paragon tier monsters.

I found reading Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor like settling into a warm bath. Blackmoor carved the mold for Dungeons & Dragons settings, and it shows in this book. There is nothing that will make the jaded gamer sit up and go “wow, I’ve never seen that before!â€