Arneson turns C&C Map into RPG World

The Great Kingdom was an attempt by Gary Gygax and Rob Kuntz to create a "mythical world" for their Castles & Crusades Society. New details of this appear in Jon Peterson's new book, Playing the World. The first mention of the Great Kingdom appeared in the Domesday Book #6 and the map appeared in Domesday Book #9. In this fanzine, Rob Kuntz is referred to as King and Gary Gygax and other members are given other titles.  However, what does this mean in the context of the C&C Society being mainly an organization for Medieval Miniature War Gamers?

For Dave Arneson, however the nature of the map and other details about the society grew to get a deeper meaning. With the Blackmoor Game, the focus shifted from skirmish units and the vague war gaming notion of "Generals" to real flesh and blood characters. The setting Arneson created for these player controlled characters was called Blackmoor of course, but what of the lands beyond the Castle and town?



In the introduction to the original Dungeons & Dragons game, Gary Gygax writes:

'From the map of the "land" of the "Great Kingdom" and environs -- the territory of the C&C Society -- Dave located a nice bog wherein to nest the weird enclave of "Blackmoor," a spot between the "Great Kingdom" and the fearsome "Egg of Coot."'

On his blog, Zenopus examines the exact location of Blackmoor on the map that became the basis for Arneson's campaign and later also the basis for the World of Greyhawk Setting.  In an RPG-like context, the world of the Great Kingdom also gained a new depth. "King" Rob Kuntz was no longer just the leader of the was gaming association, but a character living in this imagined world, controlling the Kingdom. In Arneson's game, the King would sometimes send troops to aid Blackmoor against its many enemies.

Rob Kuntz himself may not have known about this, had it not been for the article Facts About Black Moor by Dave Arneson published in Domesday Book #13. I imagine the editors must have been thrilled to see someone taking their "world" so seriously!

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More discussion of this article here.

-Havard

WotC to Bring Back Old Setting!

As was reported on The Piazza today by Big Mac, WotC has just announced that they will be bringing back an old D&D setting, presumably for D&D Next. Which setting that will be is to be revealed on GenCon this Thursday!

Is it going to be Blackmoor? Unlikely. Although as Twin Agate Dragons mentioned in the same Piazza thread, Blackmoor would be ideal in many ways. Greyhawk is the obvious choice, but in a recent poll held by WotC Greyhawk ended up fairly far down on the list. As one commenter suggested, perhaps it is "too soon" for another go at Gygax' campaign setting after Greyhawk's return as a default 3E setting.

More details on all of this at the D&D Nexus.


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-Havard

Beyond This Point...

I got this from a friend on Facebook. My first association was Skandaharian explorers on their way to the mythical Janivarsland. There is always a Blackmoor connection if you know where to look! :) Looks like the Skandaharians got a bit more than they were hoping for this time...


-Havard

More MMRPG Episodes

Things are a bit more quiet now with summer here. I have returned to uploading MMRPG episodes to the website. We are still on Season 2 which I hope to complete over the summer so that we can get started with the third season this autumn.

You can find these and more free Blackmoor Downloads here.

-Havard

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

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.



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-Havard

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?

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-Havard