[DocBM] Blue, the Watchful Helm

[Havard]

Blue, the watchful Helm

This helm is detailed in Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor p 100. It is a helm of telepathy, but is a major artifact and also has several other powers as well as an INT of 27. It used to be worn by guardians at the gates of Castle Blackmoor, but was eventually corrupted by dark magics of the dungeon itself.

Who created this helm?

Is it connected to the Blue Rider? The name seems to suggest that, but something feels off in my opinion. I am of the understanding that it would be hard to separate the helm and armor of the Blue Rider.

What are other ideas for this artifact?


-Havard

[gsvenson]

Yes, I would agree that it is totally separate from the Blue Rider's helmet.

[Havard]

Yes, I would agree that it is totally separate from the Blue Rider's helmet.

Thanks for commenting Greg! Seems that bit is settled then. I don't know why they added the name "Blue" to the helmet. Did it appear in the FFC?

My current theory is that this is a helmet created by the elves who brought it to Blackmoor when they liberated Blackmoor from the last Coot Invasion. If we assume that humans under Uther gradually took over protection of the Castle, it could be that the elves left the helmet with the humans.

-Havard

[RobJN]

Sounds to me like it's an application of blue-dragonstone's analytical/encyclopedic properties. In those early days of Blackmoor, there would not have been very many seasoned sirens, and their fragile intelli-matrices were more easily subsumed by demonic interference.

[Yaztromo]

Of course this is totally removed from canon and history, but... looking at the image it looks like this could be actually the helm of Ajax! (http://www.chimerae.it/download/CHBLWP3en.zip)
Perhaps it had bad influences like Ajax had.

[Havard]

Of course this is totally removed from canon and history, but... looking at the image it looks like this could be actually the helm of Ajax! (http://www.chimerae.it/download/CHBLWP3en.zip)
Perhaps it had bad influences like Ajax had.

Those are not bad ideas!

Of course, the image is just an illustration that I pulled from the Internet and isn't really linked to the artifact.

-Havard

[Havard]

Just noticed, the helm "Blue" is mentioned in the FFC p33 (Revised edition).

-Havard

[aldarron]

Just noticed, the helm "Blue" is mentioned in the FFC p33 (Revised edition).

-Havard

I think you just solved the mystery Havard. Whoever wrote up the DoCBM entry saw the FFC entry For level 7, room 2, - 1 Sword, Helmet "Blue" (50) - and made up an entry for the "Blue" helmet.

Thing is, that's a mistake. There is no Blue helmet in that room. What the entry is telling us is that there is a sword and a helmet and one of those is worth 50 magic points. Further, Arneson notes that the sword is actually the sword "Blue" detailed on page 44 of the 1980 printing FFC.

So yeah, its the sword, not the helmet that is named Blue.

DocBM actually has a lot of this sort of thing. The people writing the various levels were no doubt given some verbal guidance but also told to consult the FFC, and it's not unusual to see instances of where misunderstandings of the FFC text led to sometimes weird, sometimes interesting and cool inclusions in the d20 text. One of these instances bugs me, that being the "river" on DoCBM level 9, that came about because Arneson drew a boundary line for an orc tribe and this was mistaken as some kind of an underground river.

[Yaztromo]

I think this solves the mystery!

[Havard]

Just noticed, the helm "Blue" is mentioned in the FFC p33 (Revised edition).

-Havard

I think you just solved the mystery Havard. Whoever wrote up the DoCBM entry saw the FFC entry For level 7, room 2, - 1 Sword, Helmet "Blue" (50) - and made up an entry for the "Blue" helmet.

Thing is, that's a mistake. There is no Blue helmet in that room. What the entry is telling us is that there is a sword and a helmet and one of those is worth 50 magic points. Further, Arneson notes that the sword is actually the sword "Blue" detailed on page 44 of the 1980 printing FFC.

So yeah, its the sword, not the helmet that is named Blue.

Yes, that makes sense. It is a bit confusing how it is written in the FFC, but when I saw it, I also immediately thought about the sword matrix. I guess we'll never know if this confusing comes from Dave's notes or the people editing the FFC (Bill Owen).

In any case, I like the interpretation of the Watchful Helm in DocBM, and I also like that it isn' associated with the Blue Rider.

DocBM actually has a lot of this sort of thing. The people writing the various levels were no doubt given some verbal guidance but also told to consult the FFC, and it's not unusual to see instances of where misunderstandings of the FFC text led to sometimes weird, sometimes interesting and cool inclusions in the d20 text. One of these instances bugs me, that being the "river" on DoCBM level 9, that came about because Arneson drew a boundary line for an orc tribe and this was mistaken as some kind of an underground river.

Ahh, that is indeed another oddball!

Its weird how the label "Orc Tribe border" is still included on the map, but how it still keeps the river thing. I wish I was better at creating digital versions of dungeon maps. If I had been, I might have given a go at doing updated versions of these maps.

Anyway, thanks for the input!

-Havard