Rob S. Conley's Blackmarsh Setting

[Havard]

According to Rob S. Conley's excellent blog, the Blackmarsh Setting is ready to be released through the Print on Demand company Lightning Source in about a week or so. Blackmoor fans will find many similarities between this setting and Arneson's world. The map for it was created through a process believed to be the same as what Arneson did when coming up with his map for Blackmoor. However, the author is quick to point out that:

"Blackmarsh is a homage to Dave Arneson's Blackmoor. But it is not a clone. The elements that it shares are; drawn from a map of holland, has a castle with a dungeon underneath where access is controlled by the elves, an elven forest, vikings roaming around, and there is a larger kingdom to the southeast. Beyond that background, the locales and details are unique to the Blackmarsh setting."

In additon to these elements, Blackmarsh also has the Mountain that Fell, a meteorite that fell from the sky, creating the Smoking Bay, a seeming parallell to the crashed spaceship of Blackmoor. Conley has previously suggested that the Blackmarsh Setting could be connected to his other projects of the Southlands (From the Points of Light) and the Wild North (published in Fight On #3), both also having some connection to Blackmoor.

More information and illustrations can be found at:

http://blackmoormystara.blogspot.com/20 ... tting.html


-Havard

[robertsconley]

Thanks for the shout out, I hope people enjoy it.

[Havard]

Welcome to the Comeback Inn Rob!

I might have some questions for you here in a day or two...

-Havard

[finarvyn]

Any further updates? The April blog post said "in a week or so" (or something like that), which should have happened already. I'd love to get one ASAP!

[Havard]

Any further updates? The April blog post said "in a week or so" (or something like that), which should have happened already. I'd love to get one ASAP!

Its out: http://blackmoormystara.blogspot.com/20 ... s-out.html



-Havard

[Havard]

Rob has posted an update on Blackmarsh on The Piazza:

Here he presents a map where he combines Blackmarsh with his other two minisettings: The Northern Wilds and the Points of Light Southlands in a different manner than first envisioned.

The Full Map
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-j3J9DcgJbCg/Us...+Rev+1.jpg

Source: http://www.thepiazza.org.uk/bb/viewtopi ... 21#p137021


Placing the Northern Wilds north of Blackmarsh rather than to the west makes it less ideal to use the Northern Wilds with Blackmoor however. Still we know how much research Rob has done into the First Fantasy Campaign and Dave Arneson's works in general before creating these settings so I think many Blackmoor fans will be curious to see where he is taking things next

Thoughts from CBI posters on this?

-Havard

[robertsconley]

Placing the Northern Wilds north of Blackmarsh rather than to the west makes it less ideal to use the Northern Wilds with Blackmoor however. Still we know how much research Rob has done into the First Fantasy Campaign and Dave Arneson's works in general before creating these settings so I think many Blackmoor fans will be curious to see where he is taking things next

Let's just say another original campaign map has surfaced in the past year. On that map there is no sea or ocean "one map" to the west of Blackmoor.

Seeing the other map led me to figure how to remove the Wilderlands specific stuff form the Wild North.

[Yaztromo]

Thanks for the shout out, I hope people enjoy it.

well... I enjoyed it

[Havard]

Let's just say another original campaign map has surfaced in the past year. On that map there is no sea or ocean "one map" to the west of Blackmoor.

Seeing the other map led me to figure how to remove the Wilderlands specific stuff form the Wild North.

Ah! I didnt realize the changes were in any way linked to the C&C map. Actually, there is an ocean to the west, but perhaps farther removed than previously imagined?

Does this mean that all Wilderlands inspiration will be purged from the extended Blackmarsh setting then?

-Havard

[Rafael]

Got to say, read it a few years ago, and, didn't like it all.
Had already given a bad review to Rob's article in "Fight On", and didn't want to write one for Blackmarsh as well,
so he wouldn't think I was purposely crapping on him.

...Then, reread Blackmarsh a few weeks back, and got to say, liked it better. Not the original, of course, and for the people in the know,
the connections and references are obviously hard to hide, but for a new group, or as an introduction to a more generic, open game,
the module serves well. Downloaded the additions Rob put with the file on RPGNow yesterday, and got to say, if not particularly my cup of tea,
this is certainly a playable module. So, here, my apologies, and my respect, Rob!

(You know I like your WL stuff, of course, so this kind of always itched me.)