Dungeons of Blackmoor and Blackmoor Castle

[neuronphaser]

A lot of the rooms are empty because that was how the dungeon was intended - call it Arnesonian realism - to reflect actual use, as opposed to a gonzo monty hall situation. Dave stocked primarily by letting the dice decide for him. Take another look at that DF post for the castle or the intro in the FFC where Dave discusses his stocking percentages.

Another thing was that Dave had the "bad habit" of restocking his dungeon however he pleased - imagine that. So there are some accounts that describe stuff not seen elswhere. I try to account for the locations of some of those accounts in this thread http://odd74.proboards.com/index.cgi?bo ... hread=4666

But its mostly guesswork...

Good work on pulling the stories together and notating map locations.

After re-reading exactly what you pointed out in the FFC, it does make a lot of sense. Most of the rooms aren't empty, as the chance for random encounters and re-stocking seems to pile on at least a few more encounters per level, so that seems to (vaguely) equate to 1 encounter every 1.5 rooms or so, which is perfect.

I actually plan to do much the same; I may use some of the FFC encounter lists more as a "random encounter/re-stocking" list to complement the encounters in Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor. That way, I won't feel too bad about axing any encounters that I don't feel fit my style or the (occasionally silly) Blackmoor style. I want the encounters to all be memorable and have a place, so anything that's just "here's a creature...um...because" is going the way of the dodo in my campaign.

I've already got a plan for the PCs' first sojourn into the dungeons, and it will -- quite on purpose -- be a short stint. I think that way I can see how many baddies my player takes care of, and re-stock immediately for the next time he goes down there, which will set up the idea that it's a dynamic dungeon environment early on.

My only problem now is that my idea relies on there being a quick route to level 3 (not a direct route maybe, but something a little quicker than what I think is there, unless I missed something). That's where I'll do the next part of my research: using Tavis' maps to figure out the quickest possible route to level 3, and then figure out the logistics of a possible chase sequence through that route.

[aldarron]

IIRC one of the stairwells on the castle grounds leads to level 3, but anyway you can always add an entrance.....

There was supposed to be one in the church cemetary, one in the Inn, one on a nearby hill, etc.

[neuronphaser]

IIRC one of the stairwells on the castle grounds leads to level 3, but anyway you can always add an entrance.....

There was supposed to be one in the church cemetary, one in the Inn, one on a nearby hill, etc.

Really?! Well that would solve my problem big time. Any more info on that specific one? I've read more in the FFC about some of the entrances, but all I recall is one going to Level 5 at the moment.

I've also done a bunch of homework last night and tried really hard to match up some stairwells to find a quick route to Level 3 and back (and think I found it). I'm still having issues getting Tavis' GIMP files, so I'm S.O.L. there at the moment. But I'm pretty clever, so I should be able to do something.

I'll do up a blog post soon (today or Monday) that goes over some of my findings. The important thing is that the Level 3 map in Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor seem to actually be correct when compared to the room notations, and Level 2 also seems correct. Based on that, I just had to puzzle out some of the stairwells on each of those levels, and see what lined up in a rough sense.

More soon!

[neuronphaser]

Here it is.

Because I'm having technical problems getting Tavis' GIMP maps where he aligns the stairwells on levels 1 through 6, I started some homework on aligning them myself. It appears that Levels 2 and 3 are correctly mapped and labeled, which helps, but there's still the problem of most rooms in the Dungeons of C BM book not actually telling you where stairs lead, just that they have stairs leading up or down (and plenty of stairwells aren't in designated locations, so there's no indication where they lead).

Anyway, the blog has a lot more story stuff as well as some of my current solutions, but once I make more headway with correcting maps and aligning stairs, I'll post them here.

Also, does anyone know if Zeitgeist or anyone else would be mad if I posted versions of the Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor maps that I've altered, such as showing where stairs lead or whatever?

[aldarron]

I'd send you the files but its 30,000 kb. Contact Tavis directly for help if you need to.

Anywho I see two stairwells that get what you want.

The first, on the DoCBM map is just marked "down" and is in the se part of the main basement room, just past the rubble filled corridor.

the second goes all the way to the surface and is in that small well like room next to room 6. It is marked "up"

both of these stairs exit on levels 1,2,3 and 4.

[Rafael]

Posting this here, rather than in a new thread - do we actually, canonically, know who Lord and Lady Alfred are?

Because the info I found on them is fairly minimal, and, even if I *reimagine* them in Firewater, I'd like to play with as many details as possible.

[Havard]

Posting this here, rather than in a new thread - do we actually, canonically, know who Lord and Lady Alfred are?

Lord Alfred was a ruler (Baron?) of Blackmoor who was axed down by his wife when she caught him cheating with a servant girl. Lady Alfred went on to become a ghost.

In my Rulers of Blackmoor thread, I suggested the following dates:

King Robert I of Geneva (1-38)
The “Dog Duke” (ca 500)
Baron Kargas “Pissaic” Dolmut (ca 600)
Raddan Goss “The Bloody Duke” (805-896)
Baron Calvin (896-927)
Baron Alfred (927-950)
Baron Balfred “the Bald” (950-965)
Baron Alveraz (965-985)
Baron Ra-All “the Wise” (985-995)
Baron Wesely “The Weasel”(995)
Baron Fant (995-1002)
Baron Bakula Andahar (1002-1005)
Baron Uther Andahar (1005-, King from 1014-)

Aldarron has speculated that Alfred could be an Andahar.

I like the idea that Alfred is the father if Balfred. In addition to the IMO rather silly name, the tragic events of his childhood could explain why Balfred went on to become an adventurer with rather excentric tastes such as keeping a jungle beast as his pet.



-Havard

[Rafael]

Ah, many thanks! This is exactly the info I was looking for!

[aldarron]

Aldarron has speculated that Alfred could be an Andahar.

-Havard

Yeah, because somewhere it says the Andahars were the ancestral rulers of castle Blackmoor, so that would have to be the Calvin to Ra-all fellows.

[Havard]

Yeah, because somewhere it says the Andahars were the ancestral rulers of castle Blackmoor, so that would have to be the Calvin to Ra-all fellows.

Ah yes! I found the reference now. Its the first sentence in the description of Uther in the D20 DAB Book. Interestingly there was no such mention in the DA1 writeup of him.

But I could see that working since Ra-All was promoted Earl of Vestfold, opening up for Non-Andahars to become Barons of Blackmoor in the days of Wesely and Fant before Uther once again takes command of Blackmoor. Both Wesely and Fant clearly are no Andahars.

-Havard