François Marcela-Froideval ( 1958 – 2025)

I was saddened to hear about the passing of François Marcela-Froideval (10 December 1958 – 17 June 2025). I learned about this news via Frank Mentzer who wrote:

Francois Marcela-Froideval has moved on. RIP
He was known for his hobby work in France and came to Gary's attention. He came to Lake Geneva for more than a year, and Gary & he & I got together often for design work and socializing. He proved he could handle a sailboat on the lake, for one thing... Francois produced two trial adventures for AD&D but they were never published by TSR. I still have the manuscripts in my archives. He contributed to Oriental Adventures, and (of greater note in Europe) was founder of Casus Belli magazine. As creator and screenwriter of Black Moon Chronicles series, he began with this preface: "This series is dedicated to E. Gary Gygax, the first dreamer, inventor of the role-playing game, without whom the heroic fantasy and science-fiction genre would only be today a minor, almost forgotten genre. To this quiet giant who made millions of players dream, to my master and friend. May he live forever in the universe he so patiently built." (tnx to Ciro Sacco for the news)

 Froideval also made the global map of Mystara which first appeared in a complete form in the D&D Master Set Rules. This was also the product where the name Thonia first appeared. 

My condolences to his friends and family. 

-Havard

ArneCon 3 Special Events for Oct 2025

 

ArneCon 3 just made an announcement  regarding their special events.The  number of people with real connections to Dave Arneson seems to be fewer than in previous years, but it is especially nice to see David Megarry and David Wesely appearing.

I am sure people attending the convention will have a lot of fun. Are you going to this year's ArneCon?

The Piazza celebrated its 17th birthday this Weekend!

The Piazza website was created for fans who wanted to discuss the worlds of Dungeons & Dragons. 17 years later, the forum is still going on strong! The forum is known for being open to all editions and settings as well as non D&D games. The forum is home to a number of dedicated fans as well as several game designers and is known for its friendly atmosphere. While the most popular D&D settings like the Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk have vibrant fan discussions at The Piazza, you can also find very strong followings for less famous settings like Mystara and Spelljammer and many at The Piazza love digging up the most obscure D&D products they can find. The Piazza takes pride in having fans of the latest editions of D&D enjoying civil discussions with fans of the TSR era aditions. 

This Weekend, from May 30th - June 1st, The Piazza celebrated its birthday. The 17th Birthday Party was celebrated on Discord, both as a voice and text chat. The Discord was opened to non-members for the occasion. Former TSR designer Frank Mentzer dropped by to wish everyone a happy birthday. Thorf (from the Atlas of Mystara) and Ashtagon (creator of The Piazza) both had live streams where they did live fantasy map making. Aulddragon ran a Spelljammer adventure on Twitch where several party guests attended as audience members and players. 

As a special surprise, a new section of the Piazza forum was opened. This one dedicated to Minor D&D Worlds. A typical Piazza birthday party tradition is that a certain number of guests can choose new custom titles. There are more of those that have gone unclaimed this year, so its not too late! 

Overall a very successful online party. Thanks to everyone who came out to say hello. I look forward to many more! 

What are your favorite experiences with The Piazza?

-Havard

Someone made a miniature based on the D&D Master Set Cover

 Someone called Aaron Prati made a miniature that I want so badly. It is based on the cover of the D&D Master Set from the BECMI D&D line. Mr. Prati made this as a hobby project as a tribute to Larry Emore who did the painting for all the BECMI boxed sets.

There have been a lot of unofficial BECMI/Mystara miniatures over the years. This one is excellent. Go here for Aaron Prati's original post on Facebook.

-Havard

Rare Dave Arneson Approved 1978 OD&D Supplement Resurfaces!

 

The Infernax of Spells, Necromancy and Black Magic was published in 1978 by Attack International Wargaming Association. My friend Big Mac from The Piazza D&D Forum poited me to this obscure supplement to OD&D. Interestingly the cover states that this book was indeed approved by David L. Arneson. Furthermore, Dave Arneson fans will note that the book includes an introduction by Dave Arneson written in March 1978 and carrying the D&D Co-Creator's signature. 

The book is credited to Dave M. Casciano, M. Fisher,  and G. Mangene. It is a 40 page booklet in a style similar to that of the 1974 Dungeons & Dragons booklets and supplements. The book contains a new magic system for OD&D, New Spells, New rules for damage and non-lethal combat and three new character classes. The classes were the Beast Master, the Trader and a combined class for Outlaws and Brigands. The book also included new monsters and rules  for Magic User Strongholds.

The Infernax includes some fairly provocative elements that many religious readers might take offence to. This book was published a year before the disappearance of  James Dallas Egbert III, but this is the sort of thing that the people behind the misguided Satanic Panic in the 1980s would have loved to use as evidence for their wild claims about D&D being harmful to young gamers. Dave Arneson and many of his friends were fairly religious so I am a little surprised that he would have been okay with this, but it is possible that he didn't see the final product or he may have just shrugged it off as just being part of the game. 

Adding the D&D logo under Dave Arneson's name was a quite sneaky way of promoting this book. There are apparently copies in existence with this logo blacked out and some suggest that the author Dave M. Casciano may have done this after being contacted by TSR.

Do you have a copy of the Infernax or do you know anything more about it let me know?

There is more to explore about this book, its contents, Dave Arneson's involvement and more of its history, but I will leave that for later as I continue to investigate this sourcebook. Stay tuned!

Further Reading:

• https://index.rpg.net/display-entry.phtml?mainid=18723
• https://www.nobleknight.com/P/2147392015/Infernax-of-Spells-Necromancy-and-Black-Magic-The
• https://tomeoftreasures.com/tot_nontsr/casciano/dave_casciano_co.htm
• https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/star-raider-attack-wargaming-505965293

-Havard

Northern Marches Kickstarter from Robert S. Conley (Funded)

 Game designer Robert S. Conley just launched a new Kickstarter called Into the Majestic Fantasy Realms: The Northern Marches and it has already reached its funding goal. Rob is a long time Blackmoor fan and I first got in contact with him when he was doing an incredible series of articles on his Bat in the Attic Blog where he analysed Dave Arneson's First Fantasy Campaign. Furthernmore, Rob has always been supportive of my work. This post is not sponsored (as is nothing on this blog), but rather I am doing this because I believe in what Rob is doing.

He later released the Blackmarsh setting which while its clearly Rob's own original creation, bears heavy inspiration from the sources that he loves and admires from the 1970s era D&D. The new Northern Marches Kickstarter promises to be an expansion on Blackmarsh. Again, we will get to see amazing hex maps and interesting locations to explore. 

The Living Sandbox concept also sounds interesting with techniques that promise to create a world that feels lived in. I am curious to learn more about this.

Check out the Kickstarter.

-Havard

Heidi Gygax Garland: Mike Carr Will Be Special Guest for EGG Con 2

 Mike Carr Will Be a Guest of Honor at EGG Con 2 this year. This was announced today by Gary Gygax' daughter Heidi Gygax Garland in the EGG Con Facebook group. 

I was lucky enough to interview Mike Carr back in 2011 about his role in shaping the creation of D&D as part of Dave Arneson's gaming group playing the first Cleric in the history of our hobby as well as his many other contributions to the history of gaming.

Here's the announcement:

Mike Carr 

Mike Carr began gaming as a teenager in the 1960s in Saint Paul, Minnesota where he met Dave Arneson and Dave Wesely – and became the first-ever Cleric in D&D. Through the International Federation of Wargaming (IFW) he met Gary Gygax, who encouraged him to self-publish his game “Fight in the Skies” through the IFW’s Wargame Inventors Guild. The game was published in 1976 as one of TSR’s first boxed games, and later as “Dawn Patrol” in 1982. At Gary Gygax’s invitation, Mike joined TSR in 1976 and worked there until 1983. At TSR he wrote the B1 Module “In Search of the Unknown,” served as editor for the Monster Manual, Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide, and wrote the Endless Quest book “Robbers & Robots” that sold over 250,000 copies. He also edited Gygax and Arneson’s Napoleonic naval rules “Don’t Give Up the Ship!” and earned credit as co-author. Mike attended the first Gen Con on August 24th, 1968 at Horticultural Hall and after Gary Gygax’s welcoming remarks, ran the first event, a “Fight in the Skies” game. Mike is the only person who has attended every Gen Con and his “Dawn Patrol” game is the only one that has been played there every year. Mike's current project is a rhyming book for children ages 4-9 entitled "Girls & Boys Love Great Big Toys," which he plans to self-publish, preceded by a Kickstarter campaign. The 48-page book features 19 different "great big toys" like monster trucks, hot air balloons, sailboats, motorcycles, snowmobiles and many more, each spanning a two page spread with accompanying rhymes (46 stanzas in all). A retail version will be produced and sold, but the bulk of the books will be donated to charities like Toys For Tots, Ronald McDonald Houses, Bernie's Book Bank, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library and others. For information, visit the web site greatbigtoys.com.

If you plan on attending EGG Con, please let me know if you got a chance to talk to Mike or any of the other interesting people sure to be there.

EGG Con 2 is scheduled for July 24-27.

-Havard

 

The MN Gathering 2025 to take place on Aug 21

 

The Minnesota Gathering is a small meeting or micro convention (their term) where friends of Dave Arneson, original Blackmoor players and other gamers meet up. This can be a nice alternative to the larger gaming conventions and those interested in Blackmoor can probably get a chance to talk more at length with some of those who helped shape the birth of D&D. 

The gaterhing is organized by Kevin McColl and the Castle Blackmoor group. 

This year's TMg is scheduled for August 21st. 

Once more details are revealed, I will report it here.

-Havard

TSR's Skip Williams on the Origin of Pegataurs the Iconic D&D Monster

 

Pegataurs are an iconic creature from the D&D multiverse that is strangely underused. In the World of Mystara they are found in the Known World, the Empire of Alphatia, the City of Serraine and on the Savage Coast. Some are found living among elves or making their lairs in moutain sides, while others lend their services as mercenaries or trainers of Pegasi mounts to ground dwellers. 

 

Part Elf and part Pegasus, these magnificent D&D creatures first appeared in 1986 in the epic adventure Vengeance of Alphaks (M2) for the Classic D&D edition popularly known as BECMI. Pegataurs most recently made an appearance in the latest edition of D&D in the book Dungeons & Dragons: Worlds and Realms (2024) where the the character named Luphandi, a free thinking Pegataur who befriends the legendary Wizard Mordenkainen as they explore the World of Mystara.

Including a Pegataur character in Dungeons & Dragons: Worlds and Realms in that book's chapter on Mystara is perhaps not a coincidence as this legendary setting is where Vengeance of Alphaks was set, like most of the wonderful BECMI product line. It was Jeff Easley who brought the creatures to life in the spectacular painting shown above, gracing the cover of the adventure. 

Skip Williams was kind enough to share with me how the creatures came to be and how he worked with Jeff Easley to bring the creatures to life in the spectacular painting shown above, gracing the cover of the adventure.  

I created pegataurs for the adventure—flying sentries for a flying castle. TSR had me write an art order for the cover. I wrote something along the lines of "ramparts of a floating castle sticking up through clouds with a pegataur (think of a centaur with pegasus wings). Easley took it from there, choosing the composition, color palette, and making a single pegataur archer as the focus.

M2 Vengance of Alphaks continues the saga of Norwold, a region in Mystara fought over by two Empires; Thyatis and Alphatia. Here we follow the story of Alphaks one of the main villains of the Mystara setting as he rises to become a powerful demon. The Demon's main goal is to destroy the Empire of Alphatia.This is not the last time we see Pegataurs in D&D however. In 1989,  famous game designer and author Aaron Allston expanded on the backstory of Pegataurs and their connections to the Empire of Alphatia for the Mystara setting. 

That same year, Pegataurs went from being just a monster to be encountered to also becoming a playable race in PC2 Top Balista by Carl Sargent. This sourcebook for BECMI focused on flying creatures that could be used by players and DMs alike and also explored the Flying City of Serraine that travels across the skies of Mystara. The source book also expanded on the lore by Williams and Allston.

In 1994 Pegataurs appeared in the AD&D 2nd Edition in the AD&D Monstrous Compendium Mystara Appendix by John Nephew. Here we learn more about Pegataurs, their allies such as the Phanatons and their way of life.  

 Pegataur Bibliography

• M2 Vengeance of Alphaks (1986)
• AC9 Creature Catalogue (1986)
• DMR3 Creature Catalogue (1993)
• PC2 Top Balista  (1989)
• Dawn of the Emperors (1989)
• AD&D Trading Card R1 #722 1991
• AD&D 2ND EDITION AD&D Mystara Monstrous Compendium Appendix.  (1994)
• Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three  (1996)
• Orc's Head Peninsula Campaign Book
• Dungeons & Dragons: Worlds and Realms (2024)

A big thank you to Skip Williams for answering questions about this race and to the wonderful people of The Piazza D&D fan community who helped with researching Pegataurs in this topic.

Are you a fan of Pegataurs? How would you include Pegataurs in an adventure?

-Havard

DaveCon 2025 Report and DaveCon 2026 Announcement

 

DaveCon 2025 is the third DaveCon organized by Victor Dorso. It took place on April 25-27 this year, as by the original announcement. The convention is no longer exclusively dedicated to Dave Arneson, but rather "all the Daves that helped make D&D great" according to the organisers. However the guests of honor did include several of Dave Arneson's players  including David Wesely, David Megarry, David Wesely, Mike Carr, William J Hoyt and Ross Maker as well as Ken Fletcher and Kevin McColl who worked for Dave Arneson at various points. So I think the convention should still be of interest to the readers of this blog. 

Other guests of honor included  Griff Morgan, Baron DeRopp, Justin Alexander, Bob Worldbuilder, Grace WorldDestroyer, Greg Gillespie, David Johnson and Mark Rein-Haugen.  

During the first DaveCon there was some disagreement between Victor Dorso and the organisers of ArneCon. However, these differences seem to have been set aside and Griff Morgan of ArneCon did attend this year's convention. 

Next year's DaveCon has already been announced for April 24-26, 2026, Bloomington, MN, USA. 

Blackmoor Trademark Now Registered to Estate of Dave Arneson LLC

 

As of March 4th, 2025, the Blackmoor Trademark is listed as Registered to the The Estate of David Arneson LLC. The estate first applied to register the Trademark of Blackmoor back in July 2021, but it seems there is a long and complicated process to move a Trademark from Pending Status to Live. 

It has been listed under the following categories for statement of use:

Toys and Sporting Goods Products Dice games; Role playing games; Tabletop hobby battle games in the nature of battle, war and skirmish games, and fantasy games, and playing equipment sold as a unit therewith.

Paper Goods and Printed Material Role playing game equipment in the nature of printed game book manuals

According to a press release from last year, the Estate of David Arneson LLC is Dave's Daughter Malia Arneson-Weinhagen, her husband Luke and their grandchildren. The same press release made it clear that Chris Graves, producer of the documentary "Secrets of Blackmoor", has been made 

"Authorized Representative and Bridge Troll for the Estate of David Arneson, LLC". 

Note that Mr Graves' associate Griff Morgan who runs the Secrets of Blackmoor account on X/Twitter and elsewhere has made it clear that he is not a spokesperson for the Estate".

At this point, no official statement has been made from the Estate about what this confirmation of the Trademark Registration would mean for the future of Blackmoor.

-Havard

Ernie Gygax Passes Away

 

I was saddened to learn the news that Ernie Gygax, the eldest son of Gary Gygax passed away yesterday. Ernie had been in and out of hospitals for the last few years. Growing up in the Gygax household as his father was developing D&D, he became one of the games' first Play testers. His legacy was memorialised in the game as Tenser. 

My thoughts go to his wife Donna, the Gygax family and friends. 

Rest in Peace.

-Havard

Chaosium 50 Year Anniversary (1975-2025)

 This is not just the 50 year anniversary of the Blackmoor Supplement and with that, Blackmoor in its published form. This also marks the 50th Anniversary of Chaosium. Founded by Greg Stafford in 1975, the company has brought the world a number of games, including legendary RPGs like Call of Cthulhu and RuneQuest. 

I have always been an advocate of playing a wide variety of tabletop RPGs. I have played and enjoyed almost every edition of D&D. I have also been lucky enough to play a number of non D&D RPGs. I have to thank my friends for exposing me to many of these games. After discovering D&D, we wanted to try everything we could get our hands on. I still love early edition D&D, but I am happy that I got to try so many other RPGs early on and am still able to play in many of them. I am currently a player in a RuneQuest 5 Campaign in an amazing homebrew setting. My first exposure to RuneQuest was RuneQuest 3 which we had a lot of fun with. One of my early non D&D experiences as a Game Master was running an early ElfQuest campaign. I am not sure I did a very good job, but my friends kept coming back for new games, so I guess I was doing something right. I put some money into the last year's ElfQuest RPG Kickstarter, so I can't wait to get that version in the mail.

I am happy to see Chaosium still going strong. I hope to see lots of fun stuff from this company in the future as well!

-Havard

Happy 2025 - 50 Years of Published Blackmoor!

 

I hope everyone has had nice celebrations for the New Year and are ready for 2025 to begin. 50 years ago, TSR published the second supplement for D&D. This booklet bore the title Blackmoor and was written by D&D Co-Creator Dave Arneson, edited by Tim Kask and included additional material by Steve Marsh, Brian Blume and others. It was based on the campaign Dave Arneson and his friends had been running for many years prior. 

This will be as good a year as any to celebrate our favorite D&D campaign world! I hope the year will be a good one for all readers of this blog.

-Havard