A bit of TSR History

The more I dig into the older D&D material, the more interested I get in getting to know the people behind the game products that form the basis of our beloved hoby. Fortunately, I don't have to do all the research myself.
Grognardia is running an interview with Jean Wells, the original author of B3: Palace of the Silver Princess (Read part II of the interview here). A few weeks back, Steve Winter also wrote an interesting article on his blog with pictures of the old days at TSR. Both are recommended reading if you are interested in these things, just as I am!

(Mark Acres, Harold Johnson, Tom Moldvay and Mike Price)

(Picture shamelessly stolen from Steve Winter)

-Havard

The Last Fantasy Campaign

"The skies of the world were always meant to have dragons.
When they are not there, humans miss them.

Some never think of them, of course.

But some children, from the time they are small,
they look up at a blue summer sky and watch for something that never comes.

Because they know.

Something that was supposed to be there faded and vanished.

Something that we must bring back, you and I."

- Robin Hobb, "Golden Fool" 

WHAT BE... "The Last Fantasy Campaign"?

"The Last Fantasy Campaign", dedicated to the memory of Dave Arneson and Richard Snider, and consisting so far of "The Grim Winter", "The War of the Thieves", "The Road", and "The Promised Land" aims at bringing the tale of Blackmoor's struggle against it's many enemy, as begun by Dave Arneson and continued by many others, to a coherent ending. By the end of "The Company of the Maiden's" and their companions' adventures, the Blackmoor we have known for forty years will cease to exist. - At least in our campaign's own continuity...

HOW TO... Join campaign?

An invitation to join "The Last Fantasy Campaign" and "The Company of the Maiden" comes by personal invitation only. This is not because we would be a bunch of arrogant bastards, but because our group was established in 2005/2006, and the players have the same right as the DM to decide if someone new will join us, or who in particular. If there ever are free spots and we don't know whom to offer membership we will make a public rolecall.

HOW TO... Create character?

In 2005, this started as a d20 game, and remains so until today. Base for character creation is, essentially, everything ever published for D&D 3.5, by any company, as long as the character makes sense in our campaign environment. - Though I, as the DM, specifically encourage players to use either the material put out by Zeitgeist Games for Blackmoor, or by Necromancer Games, for Wilderlands of High Fantasy, for the creation and later, advancement of their PCs.

WHAT BE... "The Grim Winter"?

Started in December of 2005, and ended in March of 2009, "The Grim Winter" was the Company of the Maiden's first adventure and told the story of the Third War of Ten.
By the end of the campaign, the forces of Blackmoor had overthrown the evil Afridhi, albeit suffering great losses due to the treachery of the dread Bascom Ungulian. On the climax of the campaign, that later would have been called "The Battle of the Longest Day" by northern historians, King Uther, who had ruled and defended the Kingdom of Blackmoor since the days of the first war with the Egg of Coot, was said to have been severely wounded and to have later been abducted by the infamous lich-wizard Ran. The Company of the Maiden is said to have been among the last ones who saw Uther alive.

WHAT BE... "The War Of The Thieves"?

Starting in summer of 2006, and ending in spring of 2008, this was a side campaign to The Grim Winter, but advancing more slowly than the main game so players who couldn’t post as regularly as the rest didn’t have to quit our game. The War of the Thieves essentially told the further adventures of the thief Rowell and his companions, a group of NPCs the party had met during the first chapters of The Grim Winter, and featured an adventuring party participating in the Coven’s (the Blackmoorian Thieves Guild’s) conquest of the abandoned city of Mondburgh (based on Ernie and Luke Gygax’ lost city of Gaxmoor for Troll Lord Games’ setting of Erde). Though relatively short and admittedly not very coherent, the game had a huge impact on the development of our campaign and touched some of the topics that will alter be detailed in The Promised Land.

WHAT BE... "The Road"?

No relation to the famous book and movie. Running from March 2009 until December of the same year, "The Road", previously called "The Road to the Promised Land", was a collaborative writing effort by the players of "The Company of the Maiden" and chronicled the years after the Third War of Ten, and until six months before the beginning of "The Promised Land". On their quest to rebuild the war-ravaged lands of the Northern Marches, the split-up members of the "Maiden" survived a multitude of adventures, but ultimately could not prevent the second, and successful invasion by the Egg of Coot. By the end of this tale, many Blackmoorian cities had fallen to the enemy, while the Free People, led by Uther's and Risa Aleford's illegitimate son Mordred, had established to bring the front line to halt between Newgate and Vestfold.

WHAT BE... "The Promised Land"?

Our upcoming campaign, starting in February 2010, reuniting the old cast of characters, and set shortly after the events of The Road…, beginning with “the day on which Vestfold felll”… Word is that this will be the final stage, the last battle, and the end of days for the Kingdom of Blackmoor, as we know it…








Posted by Rafael 
(Edited by Havard)

Deities: Known by many names

One of the things I liked with the Mystara setting was how different Immortals (as the deities there are known) will have one name that they are called by one culture, but will go by another name in another culture. Comparing Real World mythologies we find that many concepts occur in multiple mythologies. Many cultures have a Trickster, a King of Gods, a God of War, Fertility etc etc.This has led some to speculate whether there could be some truth behind these mythologies or whether they could hide some secrets of the deeper nature of humanity. I'm not so concerned with such speculations however.

From a gaming perspective, stating that the Elven God of War and the Human God of War is the same guy does have its advantages. KenzerCo's wonderful Kingdoms of Kalamar setting used this model extensively. It allowed them to have a shorter list of Deities which could then be applied to all cultures, with modifications. In a world where gods are real, doesn't it make sense that a god will have tried to gain followers among more than one culture?

Looking at the D20 Campaign Guide for Blackmoor, I found that many of the deities there were quite similar to one another. I asked myself what I would loose if I assumed that these were simply multiple identities of the same deity? For instance, Elgath, Faunus, Ordana, Terra and Sylvain are all Gods of nature. I can see the reason for having more than one God of nature, but five seems high. I decided for my campaign that Elgath, Faunus and Sylvain are the same guy, known to different followers by different names.The most controversial decision I made was probably to make Odir, Hak, Aeros, Charis and Dhummon the same entity. These five arent exactly identical, but do have many shared traits. The campaign sourcebook seems to suggest that Odir is actually followed by that name in multiple cultures, but I preferred to have different names for him depending on which culture you ask.

For the complete condensed list of  deities, click here.








-Havard

Denizens of the Black Sea

The Black Sea is the sea to the north of Blackmoor. Until about a century ago, it was merely a great lake surrounded by land on all sides, and connected to the Skandaharian Sea to the north by the enormous Firefrost Canal. In the years that followed, the land began to change. The Black Sea grew as some of the lands surrounding it began to sink, creating disastrous floods across the northern Redwood. Unknown to all at the time, this was the Egg of Coot preparing for its ascension to the surface. As the realm of the Egg rose from the Sea, other lands around the Black Sea began to sink, wrecking havoc in the lands of humans and elves. This altering of the landscape caused the Black Sea to join with the Great Ocean (North Sea), changing the water in the Black Sea from fresh water to brackish water.

The Sar-Aigu
The oldest known civilization to have existed beneath the water of the Black Sea was the race of the Sar-Aigu. These mysterious Sea Devils share their origin with that of the Temple of the Frog, but soon found their way from the swamps and into the Black Sea. Eventually they gained the courage to rise from beneath the waves and build their stronghold on land, on the peninsula which would later be the site of Castle Blackmoor. They remained there until driven back into the sea by a greater evil. They were never heard from again, though they may still be lurking down there in the deep.

Merfolk
The Black Sea is also home to other intelligent life. The Merfolk of the Black Sea are said to have a civilization which “rivals that of humans” (Supplement II). They use Giant Seahorses (Hippocampi) as mounts and their warriors favor the trident.  Rumours speak of great Merfolk cities on the bottom of the sea. They maintain regular underwater communities where schools of fish are kept penned in with nets for food. Dolphins are allies of the Merfolk and the two races often work together.

It is difficult to say how the Egg’s devastating alteration of the seas affected the Merfolk. They seem to have been able to adapt from living in a fresh water environment to living in a saltier one.  The joining of the Black Sea and the North Sea allowed more clans of Skandaharians to get access to the Black Sea and the Merfolk quickly learned of the ruthlessness of the Northmen (See DA4 for details). Some speculate that it was in fact the Merfolk who accidentally awakened the Egg of Coot from its long slumber.

Sea Monsters
Both the Black Sea and the rivers that run through the Dismal Swamp are filled with various Sea Monsters. Many of these are believed to be spawned by the Egg of Coot. This is true in the case of the dreaded Sea Serpents known as Naliseth whose blood can turn drowning men into zombie like creatures. The Egg of Coot has used Sea Monsters in its attacks on Blackmoor, something that has proved to be quite successful against Blackmoor’s navy (See the FFC)

More ideas for underwater adventures in the Black Sea can be found here.








-Havard

New Blackmoor Forum Opening

Here's the big announcement I've been dying to share with you: 

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my special pleasure to announce the grand opening of "The Comeback Inn", the new home of Dave Arneson's Blackmoor on the internet!
As some of you might already know, Blackmoor was one of the last "Golden Age" D&D settings that was officially supported by WotC,
through license holders Zeitgeist Games and Code Monkey Publishing.

When WotC didn't renew the license last autumn, our little group, tentatively called "The Regency Council", decided it was time to step up and do something to save our favorite setting from falling into oblivion.

The result is our little message board, which we now humbly present to the public:

http://blackmoor.mystara.us/forums/index.php

What are we?!

"The Comeback Inn", called so in reference to the first D&D in-game tavern of all time, is already the biggest database
for Blackmoor lore on the internet, and also home to the "Company of the Maiden"
and the latest installment of their long-running PbP campaign "The Promised Land".

We have prepared a small line of fan publications that we will present to the public in the next few months,
starting with a rules-free 30-page companion to the "Company of the Maiden's" take on Blackmoor.

Also, expect all kind of supplementing articles on gaming in Blackmoor for all editions,
investigative articles on the history of the setting, interviews with some of the icons of D&D's earliest days,
reviews on old and current gaming items of interest, and many more things that will help you to run a campaign
in Blackmoor, in a time were it is increasingly harder to get one's hands on out-of-print books.


What is that "Blackmoor" thingy we are talking about?!

Ugh... I know there might be some among you who don't know what I am talking about...

So, let's check Wikipedia's article on Blackmoor:

Quote:

Blackmoor is a fantasy role-playing game campaign setting generally associated with the game Dungeons & Dragons. It originally evolved in the early 1970s as the personal setting of Dave Arneson, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, first as a setting for Arneson's miniature wargames, then as an early testing ground for what would become D&D. Blackmoor is the longest continuously played fantasy role-playing campaign in existence.

Yeah, Blackmoor is arguably the mother of all D&D settings, and in great part responsible for the birth of the original (White Box) D&D game!


So, that's all pretty nice, but why should YOU go there and register?!

The idea of the "Regency Council" is to give Blackmoor what it has lacked all the way through its forty-year long history:
A place for the community to grow and to exchange ideas, and a place to discuss the many aspects and elements of the setting,
while staying accessible and open to n00bs.

In short, if you are or ever were interested in Dave Arneson's World of Blackmoor, this is the place to go!


Hoping to see you soon over at the Comeback Inn,


Rafael, speaking for the Regency Council






-Havard

Now we're 50!

Today the 50th person joined the ranks of my fantastic followers! That is reason to celebrate! Thanks for hanging out here and thanks for the good feedback. It really helps keeping me motivated to write more articles. A friend of mine asked me yesterday why I haven't gone into publishing some material of my own and maybe make a few dollars, but for now I am actually just really happy to share my thoughts and ideas with people who are interested in the same things as I am.

I think I will go out and celebrate this weekend, and I think you should do the same! I have a pretty cool announcement which I will share with you guys in a couple of days. Have a great weekend!




Havard

Realm of the Egg Part III

Here's the third installment about the Realm of the Egg.

Realm of the Egg Timeline:

The Cthonian Age
The Egg is formed. It is said that it originally had humanoid characteristics, but as centuries passed this has changed...

Tsaothogghua spawns the Sar-Aigu and sends them towards what will become Blackmoor.

1
Empire of Thonia Founded
Emperor Robert I founds Blackmoor as the northernmost province of the Thonian Empire

512
Temple of Id is destroyed

970
The Egg of Coot is first discovered by men of the Duchy of the Peaks.

994
In his rampage through the Duchy of the Peaks, Marfeldt learns of the Egg of Coot and fully realizes what threat this entity poses to all who value freedom in the North. Marfeldt wows to destroy the Egg.

995
The “Weasel” is promoted to Baron of Blackmoor. Learning of threats to the realm, he betrays Thonia and flees to barbarian lands, leaving Blackmoor unprotected.

The Egg launches its first invasion against Blackmoor finding Blackmoor town largely unprotected. A small force lead by Lord Fant sneak into the castle and open the gates from the inside. The Egg’s forces are driven back, but the Town of Blackmoor is all but destroyed. Rebuilding begins. Fant becomes the new baron of Blackmoor.

Captain Krey of Blackmoor sells out to the Egg’s Lieutenant, Soukup, but the treason fails.

997
Large scale invasions of Blackmoor by the Egg of Coot, under the leadership of the Egg’s most trusted lieutenant: Ran. In the second wave of attacks, Blackmoor ‘s defences are breached and the Egg’s forces make it all the way into Blackmoor Castle, slaying everyone in sight.

The Egg places King Funk I of the Orcs in charge of Blackmoor. Too Confident in their own strength, the Egg’s forces expand south, eventually stirring even the Peshwa. The Barons regroup and are aided by Peshwa, elves and Northern Lords, working to regroup.

The Ran of Ah Foo betrays the Egg of Coot, escaping to the Duchy of Ten, taking many of the Egg’s secrets with him. The Egg does not forget betrayal. The Egg’s forces are gradually driven back.

998
Elven forces liberate Blackmoor Town, driving the orcs deep underground. Great Svenny slays Funk I. The Egg licks its wounds.

Moorkok the Slayer leads a Skandaharian attack against the Realm of Coot. The Slayer is captured and turned into a Thrall.

1008
Third invasion attempt by the Egg of Coot. This time the men of Blackmoor are prepared. King Uther repels the invasion.

1015
The Duchy of Ten is occupied by the Afridhi. The Egg is pleased to hear that the Ran has lost his realm, but disappointed that he seems to have escaped.

Working under the command of the Egg, Orc King Funk II launches an attack on Bramwald from the Stormkiller Mountains. Unfortunately for the Egg, the attack is repelled.

1022
Baron Bascom Ungulian leads an attack against the Realm of Coot, but is captured and his attack force is crushed.

1024
Baron Ungulian returns alive from the Egg’s captivity, but has been stripped of any memory of the events.
King Funk’s Orcs of the Black Hand attacks the Crystal Peaks and capture Dwarf-King Khazakhum.

Dwarven attempts to rescue their King fail.

1030
The Present.