Blackmoor reading list

[Rafael]

And which works in concrete?

Try to keep in mind that there may not be an answer to this question.

Exactly, this is what I am trying to differentiate. - For example, "Voyage of the Beagle" was in all likelihood, a direct source, it featuring a few elements that are quoted VERBALLY by Arneson.

The Lord of the Rings/Middle Earth quintet was as well, for Balrogs, Hobbits, and Ringlo Hall.


So, we have already two confirmed and direct sources. What more?

Looking for sources that are directly quoted/referenced in a name, or mentioned by the author as a source.

[Havard]

Remember that the weekend before creating Blackmoor (December 1970), Arneson watched through a marathon of B-Horror movies on TV.

A few things I have recently picked up on:

The Blob - Mentioned by Greg Svenson in the original version of his account for the First Dungeon Adventure, as the inspiration for the Black Pudding.

Hammer Film's Dracula as the specific inspiration for Mike Carr's Cleric and Sir Fang, mentioned by Mike Mornard.



-Havard

[Rafael]

My understanding is that much of the "Temple of the Frog" inspiration came from a frog-shaped planter or some sort of prop that Dave used as a visual aid when he ran the game. (Kind of like using a bowl as a miniature for the gaming table.)

Which is a very vernacular , but good explanation. Litle Lovecraft in BM, as far as I'm concerned.

[Rafael]

[*]Anderson's "Three Hearts and Three Lions" along with "The Broken Sword"

Is that where the regenrating trolls come from?

[Rafael]

The Blob - Mentioned by Greg Svenson in the original version of his account for the First Dungeon Adventure, as the inspiration for the Black Pudding.

Hammer Film's Dracula as the specific inspiration for Mike Carr's Cleric and Sir Fang, mentioned by Mike Mornard.



-Havard

No that I wouldn't believe you blindly anyway, but can you point me to the sources of those comments?
It seems I have missed a few interesting interviews, then.

[Havard]

My understanding is that much of the "Temple of the Frog" inspiration came from a frog-shaped planter or some sort of prop that Dave used as a visual aid when he ran the game. (Kind of like using a bowl as a miniature for the gaming table.)

Which is a very vernacular , but good explanation. Litle Lovecraft in BM, as far as I'm concerned.

Finarvyn is correct about the ceramic garden frogused to represent the Temple of the Frog. However, the Order of the Frog most likely predates this item, as it goes back to the discussions between Arneson and Rocheford in 1973.

The reason why I maintain that Lovecraft is likely a source of inspiration for this religion, is both that Jeff Berry mentioned it as where Phil Barker and Dave Arneson got the idea of Frogmen from, and that the deity (real or false) behind the religion seems to have resembled Tsaothoggua, created by Ashton-Smith for Lovecraft's myhos.

-Havard

[Havard]

The Blob - Mentioned by Greg Svenson in the original version of his account for the First Dungeon Adventure, as the inspiration for the Black Pudding.

Hammer Film's Dracula as the specific inspiration for Mike Carr's Cleric and Sir Fang, mentioned by Mike Mornard.

No that I wouldn't believe you blindly anyway, but can you point me to the sources of those comments?
It seems I have missed a few interesting interviews, then.

Not interviews as such, but:

Greg Svenson on the film Blob: http://blackmoor.mystara.us/svenny.html
Mike Mornard on Hammer's Dracula: http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?p=5787205

I made use of these sources today when I wrote the Blog Entry on Bishop Carr.

-Havard

[Rafael]

Hehe, many, many thanks! Will get back to you later, now got to update our beloved game!

[aldarron]

Well, no, when you consider this is 1970 and the american midwest we are talking about. There really were no other famous vampires or vampire stories.

Really? - Again, I wasn't born then, and the lands of my parents had a very different media culture, but I'd say that by 1970, there were more than enough other examples for Vampire-ish characters. Namely (using wiki for convenience):

The Giaour by Lord Byron (1813)
Varney the Vampire or The Feast of Blood by James Malcolm Rymer (or Thomas Peckett Prest) (1847)
The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker (1911)
"The Dark Castle" (1931) by Marion Brandon
"The Girl with the Hungry Eyes" (1949) by Fritz Leiber
I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (1954)
'Salem's Lot by Stephen King (1975)

And that, leaving out movie interpretations like Nosferatu, the Omega-Man (based on I Am Legend),
all the sci-fi b-movies featuring vampires, all the magazine short stories, all the comic books, comic strips,
and so on...

There may have been a few short stories here and there but they would have been very obscure and silent foreign films like Nosferatu generally weren't available on the 5 or 6 TV stations broadcasting in those days. Count Dracula was pretty much the model for vampires and the Hollywood Dracula was quite well known. Although, come to think or it, I believe Count Chocula might have been around too...

Edit - I forgot about the "Dark Shadows" vampire soap opera. I think that was pretty much in the same vein as Dracula, but I don't think I ever watched the original. Anyway, turns out Duane Jenkins was a big fan.

[Rafael]

Remember that the weekend before creating Blackmoor (December 1970), Arneson watched through a marathon of B-Horror movies on TV.

A few things I have recently picked up on:

The Blob - Mentioned by Greg Svenson in the original version of his account for the First Dungeon Adventure, as the inspiration for the Black Pudding.

Hammer Film's Dracula as the specific inspiration for Mike Carr's Cleric and Sir Fang, mentioned by Mike Mornard.



-Havard

Having read that, okay, that seems very clear. Most interesting!!!