Monday, June 25, 2012

D&D 3 The Movie - Trailer Up!

They have gone and done it again:

"This chapter of Dungeons & Dragons takes you deeper into the dark and fantastic world of this epic fantasy adventure. A noble warrior must battle dragons and demons while upholding his moral code as he covertly joins a group of villains to rescue his kidnapped father from Shathrax, the Mind Flayer, who threatens to destroy the world."



More detail here.http://blackmoor.mystara.us/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2769&p=17556#p17556

-Havard

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Mi-Karr and the Wizards Cabal

One of the most powerful Wizards in the history of Blackmoor is the mysterious Wizard of Mi-Karr. I decided to make use of this character in my Tales from the Vales Campaign. Very little is known about this Wizard who was introduced in the First Fantasy Campaign. Undoubtedly, Dave Arneson named the character after Mike Carr, although it doesnt seem like Mike actually played the character. More details on the origins of Mi-Karr and how I have adapted him to my campaign  can be found here.



Image source


-Havard

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Vales Campaign approaches Season Finale




Tales from the Vales is my ongoing PbP campaign hosted at the Comeback Inn. It is set in the lands west of Blackmoor, known simply as the Vales. Starting in February this year, the campaign is now approaching its season finale.
 

The Story So Far:
When they first arrived in the Vales, the heroes befriended Thane Arthax, a local chieftain. Arthax was having trouble with local brigands and the heroes agreed to help rid the Thane of this problem. Investigating the  situatuon further, they learned that the brigands were lead by a man called Drunstan the Dog and that Drunstan was also hiring out his brigands to Master Oswin, an emissary of the Wizards Cabal.

The Wizards Cabal formally has no authority in the Vales, but were tracking a renegade sorceress named Madam Wynne who had sought refuge in this region. Having killed most of the brigands, the heroes made contact with Wynne and agreed to help her defeat the Wizards.


Retrieving an artifact for Wynne in ancient ruins, the heroes once again crossed paths with Drunstan the Dog as well as a cult dedicated to the worship of the Frog God. The cult was lead by Thane Arthax' daughter who apparently had seduced Drunstan. Defeating the cultists and killing the Thane's daughter, the heroes, Drunstan and Wynne have now formed an unlikely alliance in order to fight Master Oswin. But will their collective strength be enough to oppose a Master of the Cabal and his Arcane Warriors?





Image Sorce:


-Havard

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Thorn's Blackmoor: Kingdoms of the Twilight Empire

It is time for this month's guest entry for my blog and a new visit from RobJN who takes a look at the monsters of Thorn's Blackmoor: 



Before the Great Unification, the southlands of Skothar were teeming with woodlands, and the Fey outnumbered men and elves and halflings and dwarves nearly ten to one. But as Men pushed ever outward, the forests fell, lands were cleared, and order was brought to the wilderness. Then came the plows and the farms. The chaos of the wilds withered beneath the onslaught of the laws and ways of Men, and most of the Fey withdrew, either receding further and further to the North, or simply… fading away.
By the time of the Mage Wars, the Fey were nearly extinct in the Southlands, with a few secreting themselves among Men out of curiosity, observing, puzzling over their ways. The main concentrations of Fey situated themselves among the forests and lakes of the North, and collectively referred to their nation as the Twilight Empire.

Their rulership was something only vaguely understood even by the Wizards of the Woods. At times, the leadership changed with the seasons. Other times, it seemed that wagers among certain groups, won or lost, determined who would reign over a given pocket of the Fey. The Wizard of the Woods, Pete, was said to have observed rulership hinging on who won a staring contest between two pixie lordlings.

No one is sure of the exact date, but Morgana seized the Twilight Throne some time between the end of the Mage Wars and the time that the lands of the Egg rose up from the Black Sea. It was then that the Equinox Pacts were forged among the Summer and Winter fey, combining those two nations, to better fend off the depredations of the Egg of Coot, which only grew stronger as years passed.

Though Morgana was dark of hair and eye, as was Uther Andahar, there has been some speculation that the golden-haired twins may very well be court hostages of the Summer fey, given over to a neutral party for safekeeping….






Rob’s blog and website (which close on July 30th) are in the process of moving. The new blog is already up, and continues to chronicle a bit of a darker take on the Mystara presented in the D&D Gazetteers. Thorn's Chronicle is posted semi-regularly on the Mystara board of The Piazza.







 Image Sources
Thorns Chroicle logo by RobJN 


-Havard

Blackmoor Player Bill Hoyt Shares Campaign Notes in Free PDF

  Bill Hoyt is one of the surviving members of the Blackmoor Bunch, the group that played in Dave's Blackmoor campaign and parttook in o...