The Divinity of Dragons

While D&D Dragons often are just big monsters to be killed in the last room of the dungeon, many mythologies connect dragons with the Gods. But Divine Dragons have always been a part of the game as well. OD&D had Tiamat and Bamut as Divine Dragons and BECMI D&D had the Dragon Rulers.  Dragonlance took the concept even further with having both Draconic Gods, but also mortal dragons as messengers of the Gods.

In my Blackmoor campaign I decided I wanted to explore this idea of humans viewing dragons as part of the divine. In this case, I decided to use the Peshwah Horsemen. Since I take some inspiration for the Peshwah from the Fremen in Frank Herbert's Dune series, I thought of the idea of using Dragons as a parallell to the Sand Worms of that series. The Fremen view the Sand Worms or Shai Hulud, as the manifestations of God; their actions being those of reverence, no matter how destructive. My idea was to make the Peshwah feel the same way about Dragons. Additionally I decided that the Peshwah would not distinquish between Good and Evil dragons. All dragons to them are sacred.

In the last session, my players took the concept even further than I had anticipated. One of the player characters had his arm destroyed by dragonfire, only to have it replaced by a clockwork arm. Upon learning this, another player, playing a Peshwah Monk of the Fallen Star (See Dave Arneson's Blackmoor D20 for details), declared that the fact that the character had his arm destroyed by a dragon was a mark of the divine. He believed that the character was Dragontouched, an individual meant for a greater purpose. Introducing the Dragontouched to the Peshwah clan of the Adiel, this character was met with reverence. This could be the thing that could help the PCs convince the Peshwah to join with Blackmoor in the ongoing War against the Egg of Coot. And the war is not looking good for Blackmoor right now. 


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-Havard

[Mystara] History of Dragonkind available!

The Mystara Community is one of the most creative D&D communities that I know of, which can be seen from the vast amount of high quality material available at the Vaults of Pandius, the official Mystara fansite. I have compiled a list of the most comprehensive of these fan productions here.

This week, a new community release was announced at the Piazza. This is the History of Dragonkind, by Simone Neri. Over the years alot of material on Mystara's dragons and what makes them different from the dragons of other D&D settings. Neri has been able to combine all of these sources presenting a great overview of the history of dragons from before the Blackmoor Era, through the events from the Dragonlord Trilogy and up to the modern Mystaran Era.

You can download this excellent fan sourcebook here.





-Havard

The Most Enthusiastic Blackmoor Player

In the First Fantasy Campaign, Dave Arneson described Richard Snider as one of the most enthusiastic players of the original Blackmoor game.

Last November, I was sad to report of his passing. In my experience, a D&D campaign is never better than the players. The best games I have DMed, have been so enjoyable, as much thanks to the players as to the DM. Arneson recognized how lucky he was to have such great players. In the FFC, Arneson describes how Snider "evolved an entirely separate campaign and mythos" as well as developing more advanced rules for dragons.

Richard later went on to develop his own setting; the Perilous Lands, which he continued to work on long after the books for it had been out of print.

Above is a picure of Richard from the 1980s Origins Convention.

-Havard

[Characters] The Wizard of the Wood

Legendary Characters is going to be a returning feature in this blog. One of the striking features of Dave Arneson's Blackmoor is its characters. The fact that so many of the NPCs were at one point PCs gives them a certain depth that would be more difficult to achive had they simply been designed by an author. We have earlier taken a look at the Great Svenny. Today's Legendary Character is the Wizard of the Wood. Greg Svenson provided the following:

"Pete Gaylord played the original Wizard of the Wood. The 'Wood' was a forest area just east of the city of Blackmoor where the wizard resided. He was the first wizard/magic user."

After settling in the woods east of Blackmoor, the Wizard befriended many woodland creatures. He was able to raise a considerable force of Pixies. Ents and other sylvan creatures may also have been among his allies. The Wizard of the Wood has also been known to befriend dragons. The serene woodlands where the wizard had his homely hut built was protected by the dragon Tuffy, named after Gaylord's cat. In Garbage Pits of Despair, we learn of "Sophie", another of the Wizard's dragons. Sophie makes her home in the Dragon Hills. The Wizard befriended the Sophie when she was still quite young (20 years old), but used his magic to increase her age to over 300 years.

The greatest moment of the Wizard may have been during the Great Invasion, where the Egg of Coot attacked Vestfold (most likely in 994). The Wizard of the Wood joined with other forces of good, commanding a force of Pixies. The fate of the Wizard is unknown, but at some point he disappeared.  After this, the Woods which had been his home grew into a sinister place. So they remained untill the Thonian Year 1001 when a wizard named Sildonis cleared out the woods and claimed the title Wizard of the Wood for himself.

I have always been fascinated by the Wizard of the Wood. I think it was the reference in David Ross' Blackmoor Timeline that first drew my attention to this character. I always imagined there would have to be something to this title "Wizard of the Wood". Does the title imply fealty from the nearby Sylvan creatures? Does becoming "the new Wizard of the Wood" provide you druidic powers? In a campaign, I would be tempted to make Sildonis disappear or leave his post (he seems bored with it) so that someone else (a PC?) can claim the title...




-Havard