"The Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor": ZGG, 2006.

[Rafael]

Revisit the most classic dungeon crawl of all time! The Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor will take adventurers on a journey through the dungeon that started the roleplaying game genre! The Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor details the 20 known levels of the dungeon including the first 10 levels as originally created by Dave Arneson himself. Designed to scale with varying party sizes and power levels, this incredible dungeon includes adventure material for character levels 1-20. Classic-styled maps and artwork make this hardback a great nostalgia piece and an excellent tie in for new adventurers to Blackmoor! Take your party back to the birthplace of RPGs for an incredible adventure through the Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor!

http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Castle-B ... 0978576128

[Rafael]

4 of 5 Afridhi skulls.

Aaaah, this is a book that had me divided.

A faithful treatment of the original dungeon, through full of small weaknesses, errors and inconsistencies.

Still, I enjoyed it. Maybe not very easy to run, but certainly THE single best BM book to pillage for ideas.

[Big Mac]

A faithful treatment of the original dungeon, through full of small weaknesses, errors and inconsistencies.

Are these "errors" the sort of thing that a "fan project" could put together a "how to fix..." netbook for? Or is it stuff that could only have been fixed by Dave Arneson (and therefore now impossible)?

Still, I enjoyed it. Maybe not very easy to run, but certainly THE single best BM book to pillage for ideas.

I generally prefer sourcebooks to adventures. Do you think that this adventure is better (as a sourcebook) than the proper 3e Blackmoor sourcebooks?

[Dave L]

I generally prefer sourcebooks to adventures. Do you think that this adventure is better (as a sourcebook) than the proper 3e Blackmoor sourcebooks?

Personally? No.

There's a lot of material that could be used in the Blackmoor setting, but it doesn't give you enough of an overview of the setting, from my admittedly quick glance through it.

There is some history of the setting I'm not sure is available anywhere else, but there isn't enough present day info to make it a replacement for the proper sourcebook.

However, I haven't read it all yet, because when it became apparent Rafe might actually be sending us into the blasted thing, I stopped reading! 8)

[Big Mac]

I generally prefer sourcebooks to adventures. Do you think that this adventure is better (as a sourcebook) than the proper 3e Blackmoor sourcebooks?

Personally? No.

There's a lot of material that could be used in the Blackmoor setting, but it doesn't give you enough of an overview of the setting, from my admittedly quick glance through it.

There is some history of the setting I'm not sure is available anywhere else, but there isn't enough present day info to make it a replacement for the proper sourcebook.

Well, given the name, I was more thinking of its merit only as a sourcebook of Castle Blackmoor's dungeons. I took it as a given that I would also need the core 3e Blackmoor Campaign Setting book (which I already have - in paperback). Maybe I wasn't clear.

Rafael seemed to really like the book, and I've heard the mega-dungeons of both Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax were iconic elements of their home campaigns.

What I would be looking for, from this product, would be something as close to 100 percent of Dave Arneson's dungeon as possible. I could accept maybe 80-90 percent of the dungeon, but if it was only 10-20 percent I would feel that it wasn't living up to it's name.

However, I haven't read it all yet, because when it became apparent Rafe might actually be sending us into the blasted thing, I stopped reading! 8)

Hmm. So you haven't done any maps yet, then?

[Dave L]

I don't know how close it is to the original dungeon, but the stats are all for 3.5e, which would save you having to convert everything.

As for a map - I've never even tried an indoor map, that's a whole new learning curve.

[Rafael]

Well, given the name, I was more thinking of its merit only as a sourcebook of Castle Blackmoor's dungeons. I took it as a given that I would also need the core 3e Blackmoor Campaign Setting book (which I already have - in paperback). Maybe I wasn't clear.

Rafael seemed to really like the book, and I've heard the mega-dungeons of both Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax were iconic elements of their home campaigns.

What I would be looking for, from this product, would be something as close to 100 percent of Dave Arneson's dungeon as possible. I could accept maybe 80-90 percent of the dungeon, but if it was only 10-20 percent I would feel that it wasn't living up to it's name.

You don't know the setting very well, or do you? :twisted:

Google something called "The First Fantasy Campaign".

[Big Mac]

Well, given the name, I was more thinking of its merit only as a sourcebook of Castle Blackmoor's dungeons. I took it as a given that I would also need the core 3e Blackmoor Campaign Setting book (which I already have - in paperback). Maybe I wasn't clear.

Rafael seemed to really like the book, and I've heard the mega-dungeons of both Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax were iconic elements of their home campaigns.

What I would be looking for, from this product, would be something as close to 100 percent of Dave Arneson's dungeon as possible. I could accept maybe 80-90 percent of the dungeon, but if it was only 10-20 percent I would feel that it wasn't living up to it's name.

You don't know the setting very well, or do you? :twisted:

Did you read my sig ("New to Blackmoor...")?

Google something called "The First Fantasy Campaign".

Is that a better source of information for the dungeons?

[Rafael]

GOOGLE IT, N00B! :twisted:

Hell, it's THE legendary textbook written by Dave Arneson himself, detailing nearly everything that became famous later, and the base for the entire line, including the form of the map etc.

Anything that you don't find in the other books, you find there.

(As well as a description of the ten first levels of the dungeon. )

[Dave L]

It's where I got the map for my original Blackmoor map - the one that says 1977 Blackmoor Map.

The DA1 and DA4 maps use this exact map, just adding more locations.

The new Castle Blackmoor book details the whole dungeon, right to the bottom - but you DON'T want to go there! hock:

A good rule of thumb is don't go lower than your character's level.