Friday, October 23, 2020

Rip Lenard "Len" Lakofka (1944-2020)

 

I was sad to hear about the passing of another legend in tabletop gaming today, Len Lakofka. This blog's main focus is the people involved with the gamers from Dave Arneson's group, but today I feel like paying respect to Mr Lakofka. 


Perhaps best known as the main whose campaign gave its name to the Lendore Isles of Greyhawk and the Leomund of various spells across all editions of Dungeons & Dragons, Len created the L-series of modules, a project he continued after his departure from TSR releasing L4 for free to fans via Dragonsfoot.


Len's involvement with the hobby goes back to the 1960s when he got involved with the International Federation of Wargamers (IFW) at one point becoming President of that organization and helping Gary Gygax organizing GenCon. 


I never got to meet Mr Lakofka in person, but we were friends on Facebook and I got to discuss some aspects of the history of D&D with him a few months back. He was always very polite and helpful. I am sad to hear that he is gone.


Rest in peace.


Photo is screenshot by Bryan Nystul.



-Havard

Thursday, October 1, 2020

A New Thonia Sourcebook (Dave Arneson Game Day 2020)!

 

Dave Arneson Game Day 2020 is here! October 1st is a great opportunity to celebrate gaming all around the world! 


FEATURES

Here are today's featured contributions:

  • The Stone Mask: A cursed item linked to the Temple of the Frog, created by Zeromaru X. Read all about it here.
  • Do you love Halflings, Docrae and Gnomes? Boddynock at the Gnomish Embassy has an article every day this week. Today's article oresents information for converting the short races of Blackmoor to the D&D 5th Edition Rules. Check it out here.  
For more details on what's going on, don't forget to visit the following places on the Internet:



FREEBIES
  • Thonia: Province of Bleakwood Sourcebook. This is the third installment in the Comeback Inn series of sourcebooks detailing the ten provinces of the Thonian Empire. This sourcebook has callbacks to such Dave Arneson creations as Adventures in Fantasy and The First Fantasy Campaign as well as tributes to Mike Carr and others. Get the PDF here.
  • Blackmoor Rampart, the MMRPG Newsletter #13 and 14 are now available here.








WHY DON'T YOU JOIN US?
Anyone can participate in Dave Arneson Game Day. If you have written something that I haven't noticed, ran a game and posted some pictures or a game report, let me know by posting in one of the forum links above. 

Go here to join Dave Arneson Game Day!





-Havard

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

When Frogmen Attack! (Blackmor Week Day 3)

 



Temple of the Frog was the first Dungeons & Dragons adventure published by TSR. We are already on Day 3 of Blackmoor Week and what better way to celebrate than with an adventure featuring those pesky Frogfolk? Dave Arneson Game Day 2020 is tomorrow and I hope you are all ready for the big day!  

As with every day during Blackmoor Week, we bring you featured articles and free Blackmoor PDFs. Remember that we also enjoy hearing stories about your games, and what you are doing to participate in the celebration to make this into a joint effort. It doesn't strictly even have to be connected to Blackmoor as long as you would like to join us in celebrating our common hobby of RPGs!


FEATURES

Here are today's featured contributions:

  • Thonia: Province of Bleakwood Map Preview. This is something I have been working on for quite some time and hopefully I can have more on this topic ready tomorrow. Check it out at The Piazza here.
  • Boddynock at the Gnomish Embassy has an article every day this week. Today's article continues his conversions of Blackmoor to the D&D 5th Edition Rules. Today the focus is on the elves and half-elves of Blackmoor. This article also features a new Cumasti NPC. Check it out here.  
For more details on what's going on, don't forget to visit the following places on the Internet:



FREEBIES
  • A free Blackmoor Adventure for D&D 5E. This is the second installment of the Shattered Empires series by MMRPG author Philip J Slama. Both this adventure and the previous installment are available here.
  • Blackmoor Rampart, the MMRPG Newsletter #12 is now available here.








WHY DON'T YOU JOIN US?
Anyone can participate in Dave Arneson Game Day. If you have written something that I haven't noticed, ran a game and posted some pictures or a game report, let me know by posting in one of the forum links above. 

Also, make sure to sign up for this year's Dave Arneson Game Day!





-Havard

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Dwarves! (Blackmoor Week 2020 Day 2)

 Are you ready for more Blackmoor Goodness? Its great to see more and more D&D fans joining in the celebration of Blackmoor Week as we keep moving towards Dave Arneson Game Day. My friend Dungeon Delver mentioned that he will be re-reading Dave Arneson's First Fantasy Campaign. That is a book that deserves being re-read at least once per year and what better day to read it than today? OD&D superfan Finarvyn is running a Blackmoor campaign with laser wielding frog miniatures that he borrowed from a board game. Are you doing anything with Blackmoor this year?


TODAY's FEATURED ARTICLES

  • Boddynock at the Gnomish Embassy follows up with another article today for Blackmoor and D&D 5th edition, this time with a a rules conversion for Blacmoor Dwarves along with an NPC and an organization called the Hearthguard. Check it out here.
  • At The Piazza, Zeromaru X has expanded his article on the City of Rodhin from last year's Dave Arneson Game Day.
FREE STUFF FROM THE COMEBACK INN
  • The Age of the Wolf DM's Guide to Meta Orgs for Blackmoor 4E is now available as a free download 
  • 3 issues of the Blackmoor Rampart Newsletter for the D&D 3E Blackmoor MMRPG. #9, #10 and #11 are now available. 





For more details on what's going on, don't forget to visit the following places on the Internet:



WHY DON'T YOU JOIN US?
Anyone can participate in Dave Arneson Game Day. If you have written something that I haven't noticed, ran a game and posted some pictures or a game report, let me know by posting in one of the forum links above. 

Also, make sure to sign up for this year's Dave Arneson Game Day!


What are you doing in gaming this week? What would you like to see over the next or for future events?





-Havard

Monday, September 28, 2020

Blackmoor Week 2020 Begins! (With Free Blackmoor Stuff!)

 


As mentioned in yesterday's blog article, Blackmoor Week, the week leading up to the annual celebration of Dave Arneson Game Day has now begun!


In association with The Comeback Inn and The Piazza, this blog attempts this year, like every year to provide an overview of everything Blackmoor related that happens during this week. Several people have already announced that they will participate in the event and more are joining in! 


FEATURES

Here are today's featured contributions:

  • Doc Necrotic has a post talking about the various iterations of Blackmoor including his own Blackmoor Returned Campaign. Check it out here! Doc Necrotic is a regular contributor to The Piazza and the Mystara Reborn Facebook Group.
  • If you are a fan of Dragonborn, check out this latest article at The Gnomish Embassy presenting two new Blackmoor based types of Dragonborn for 5th Edition based on two unique types of Dragons from Dave Arneson's Campaign. Dragonborn first appeared in the 4E version of Blackmoor. Boddynock at The Gnomish Embassy has been a consistent supporter of Blackmoor Week over several weeks and is a friend of the Comeback Inn. This article also fits very well with the City of Rodhin mini gazetteer by Zeromaru X which can be found here.
For more details on what's going on, don't forget to visit the following places on the Internet:



FREEBIES
Today's Blackmoor Freebies are 3 issues of Blackmoor Rampart. This newsletter was createt during the Blackmoor Zeitgeist Games era and are now available once again. Currently 8 issues are available at the Comeback Inn.

Get your free downloads here.

(If you are not yet registered at The Comeback Inn, you will have to follow some simple instructions before you can get to the goodies, but it might be worth it!)






WHY DON'T YOU JOIN US?
Anyone can participate in Dave Arneson Game Day. If you have written something that I haven't noticed, ran a game and posted some pictures or a game report, let me know by posting in one of the forum links above. 

Also, make sure to sign up for this year's Dave Arneson Game Day!





-Havard

Sunday, September 27, 2020

Blackmoor Week 2020 Starts Tomorrow!


Next week will be all about Blackmoor! Not just on this blog, but all over the Internet. It is our annual tradition of arranging Blackmoor related activities all over the Internet in the week leading up to October 1st which is Dave Arneson Game Day. 


This means that every day, I will be posting information on this blog about activities happening related to Blackmoor Week. We already have quite a few people telling us that they would like to participate. Just yesterday, on MMRPG organizer Tad Kilgore's livestreamed Blackmoor game, they mentioned that Dave Arneson Game Day is coming up and that they would like to do something linked to that day. 


As usual we will have some things to share with you in the form of free PDFs and other stuff over at The Comeback Inn. I will also put some links at the bottom of this article for relevant forum threads on various forums where Blackmoor Week related activities are already being announced. 


A few things to remember: Blackmoor Week should be a celebration of gaming. It should never be about airing grudges, edition warring, or attacking other game designers. Also, anyone can join in! This is a celebration for everyone who loves this hobby. If you want to do your part, we would love to have you with us. Post on forums or blogs. Run or organize games or other gaming related activites. But make sure you let us know what you are doing so that this can be a shared experience! Post about your Blackmoor Week activities in any of the links below:


The Comeback Inn Blackmoor Week Preparation Thread

The Piazza Blackmoor Week Preparation Thread

Blackmoor Fans on Facebook



Join the fun!



-Havard


Saturday, September 26, 2020

Tribality.com Fails to Notice Mystara's Incredible Fan Base

Could Mystara be set to return as a published setting by Wizards of the Coast in the near future? Over the last few weeks, the rumor that WotC are planning to bring back three classic settings has lead to speculation all over the web about which three settings WotC are looking at. 


This incredible painting by Clyde Cladwell would have been a much better illustration for an article discussing the D&D World of Mystara.

Recently Tim Baker at The Piazza brought to my attention that an article at Tribality.com had a run down about what settings they thought were the most likely candidates. While the article was interesting, I found the description of Mystara very disappointing. Not only was the choice of image illustrating the setting disappointing, but it was especially this line that drew my attention:


"While fan love for this setting exists, it’s far quieter than other classic settings."

Mystara first appeared in 1981's classic adventure X1 Isle of Dread. While the setting was very popular and during the TSR era had more sourcebooks published for it than any other D&D or AD&D setting, the setting and its fans have a long history of being ignored by TSR and later WotC. While various teasers appeared for the setting during the D&D 3E and 4E eras, D&D 5th Edition was recieved especially positively for its explicit mention of the setting in the Players Handbook and with the adventure hardback Ghosts of Saltmarsh making extensive suggestions for how to adapt each chapter to the setting and even including a rewamped version of the Mystara adventure Isle of the Abbey. 

So how about this claim that the fans of Mystara are more quiet than fans of other settings? Mystara has had an incredibly active and dedicated online fan base that I have been a member of since the 1990s. Today these fans can be found on various Facebook groups including the 2,5000+ member Mystara Reborn group and on the D&D webforum The Piazza. The fan works of this highly productive and extremely friendly fan base is collected at the Vaults of Pandius website and also releases a quarterly 300+ page PDF professional looking free fanzine Threshold Magazine which is soon to release its 26th issue, not counting earlier iterations under other titles like the Mystara NetMag, Tome of Mystara etc.

So why is it that this community remains invisble to the world at large? Is it that we mostly prefer to stick to our own parts of the Internet? Or just that others don't know where to look for us? In any case it is a shame, because there are gamers out there who are missing out on something they might really enjoy!




-Havard

Thursday, September 24, 2020

MMRPG Authors Talk Blackmoor at Comeback Inn Forum

 


My Website, the Comeback Inn has been hosting the MMRPG Blackmoor Adventures; modules easy to play with any edition of Dungeons & Dragons since 2011 with permission from all involved parties. In March, the final episode was made available as a free download. 

Moreover, we are lucky to have many of the authors of these adventures registered at the forum, eager to answer questions or just chat with fans. This week Gregory S Walker signed up to the forum. Gregory was part of the Terror Inc group of designers and contributed to such MMRPG adventures as Cutty Black Sow, Bug Hunt, Into the Lightless Dephts, The Dawn of Goss, Small Problems and Confectionary King II. Some of these adventures also helped explore the MMRPG created Blackmoor Subsetting known as the Dweomer Realm.

Greg signed up just in time for Blackmoor Week which starts on Monday leading up to Dave Arneson Game Day 2020 which will be arranged worldwide on October 1st as usual. I hope lots of people will take this opportunity to ask him and the other MMRPG authors some questions. 

Join us at The Comeback Inn to talk to the MMRPG authors and to find out more about Dave Arneson Game Day 2020.


JOIN THE FORUM HERE.






-Havard

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

New WotC Survey Has Questions About Dave Arneson

 Wizards of the Coast keep sending me these surveys and I am not sure if there is much point to me answering any of them since, even though I play 5th Edition (I play and enjoy all editions of D&D), I don't think they particularly care about my answers. 


Many of the questions this time around were, not surprisingly related to the Covid-19 situation and to virtual platforms/tools for gaming. However, I was surprised to see two questions related to famous D&D Game designers and see Dave Arneson's name listed as one of the possible answers!

The first questions was about what Game Designers you recognize and the second one was about what names would make you more likely to buy a product. 

Could this mean WotC are considering returning to Dave Arneson's Blackmoor? 

Wishful thinking for sure, but I made sure to click on Dave's name. 


The other names were a combination of current WotC designers and former WotC and TSR era designers. There were several names missing from the list than I would have liked to see on there, but I did like seeing Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Jeff Grubb and David Zeb Cook on the list. Again, it would be cool if this could mean something for Dragonlance, Spelljammer or even Taladas. 


Anyway, I am probably putting too much thought into this, but since I took the time completing the survey, I do think I should be getting something out of this! :D


Take the survey here (vote for Dave!)


-Havard 



Monday, June 29, 2020

Jim Holloway Has Passed Away (-June 29, 2020)

I'm sad to learn that prolific RPG artist Jim Holloway has passed away. A self-taught artist, Holloway started out doing illustrations for Dragon and Dungeon Magazines since 1981 and other TSR D&D products from 1983. In addition to working on Dungeons & Dragons products, Holloway produced paintings and illustrations for a number of RPGs including Paranoia (West End Games), FASA's Battletech, Chill (Pacesetter Games) and Sovereign Stone (Sovereign Press).


His son posted the following on a Facebook group dedicated to Holloway's art:

I feel like it’s necessary to post this because of all of the support everyone has given my dad over the course of this group. Earlier today, he passed away peacefully. My brother, uncle and I were there for him, holding his hand and telling him we loved him. To everyone who reached out or commented on my post about him being sick, thank you so much. It means a lot to us, and it meant a lot to him. Afterwards, I went to his house and looked at all of his old paintings. I wanted to share this one from the ‘70s with you all — a scene from The Hobbit, a book my dad forced me to read as a kid (I’m not complainin!) it’s a picture of the painting, not a scan, so I apologize for the unlit sections. But if everyone could please continue to share his art in this group and wherever else, my family would really appreciate you helping us keep his memory alive. He was a talented man, and I love seeing the stuff everyone shares.

I personally have fond memories of his humorous interior illustrations in Mystara's Gaz10 The Orcs of Thar as well as his work in Paranoia RPG. His unique style made his art easy to recognize even for a young gamer like myself back then.


Rest in Peace.




Image: Photo taken from Jim's no longer existing website.

-Havard

Friday, May 15, 2020

[Artifacts] Dave Arneson's Tome of Chaos

Note: This article was updated on May 16th to correct mistakes and add information provided by Dan Boggs and Jon Peterson. 

The Tome of Chaos


This dark artifact from the original Blackmoor setting is drawn from an adventure that Dave Arneson ran at different conventions in the 1970s. The book's cover is made from human skin and is adorned by a skull. Opening the book without speaking the proper rituals will release all kinds of evil undead spirits to destroy anyone in sight. The quest was simple. Venture into the dungeon below Castle Blackmoor and recover the book. The forces of darkness could not be permitted to have such a book in their posession. Deep within the dungeon there is a library filled with ancient tomes and scrolls. The Tome of Chaos was found on a pedistal at the center of the room. But why was the temptation to open the book so strong?







This artifact is not mentioned in any published material from Dave Arneson, but recently two separate accounts of Dave Arneson using this adventure for conventions has been discovered. The earliest account is from a convention in San Jose, California in 1976 where Dave Arneson and various other TSR personalities as accounted by in this youtube video by Jim Murphy. From Jon Peterson we learn that the same adventure involving the book was also used by Dave Arneson at Origins Game Fair at Staten Island New York in 1977. Arneson had quit TSR and TSR were boycotting Origins. 

Although the concept of an evil book is something that goes back in history, it is interesting that the Book of Vile Darkness appeared in D&D Supplement I: Greyhawk which came out in 1975, the the year before Dave used this adventure in San Jose. However, the effects of the Book of Vile Darkness are quite different from those of the Tome of Chaos so the two might be completely unrelated items. Or it is also possible that the book from Dave Arneson's campaign, which I have dubbed the Tome of Chaos was created much earlier by Arneson when he was developing the Blackmoor Dungeon. Over at the Comeback Inn, Blackmoor fans have been speculating to where in the dungeon this secret library might have been located. Right now, evidence points towards the library being found on Dungeon Level 5 even though this is not specified in either of the two published versions of the dungeon. If we learn more about the library's location or more details on the properties of the Tome of Chaos, I will make sure to share it!


Further discussion of this article here




Artifacts: Artifacts is a new series of articles where I write about powerful magical items and relics of the Dave Arneson's Blackmoor Campaign Setting which have appeared in any published version of the setting or in Dave Arneson's original campaign. Stay tuned for more! 

About the illustration: The hand crafted book depicted apparently exists in real life and was sold at the etsy website. Would be sweet to own one of these!



-Havard

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Greg Svenson's Lost Dungeon of Tonisborg: What Can The Maps Tell Us?

The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg is an adventure with a history going back to the Blackmoor Campaign of the 1970s. It was created by Greg Svenson, player in Dave Arneson's campaign back in 1973/1974. Greg placed the adventure in Blackmoor and the city also appeared in Dave's campaign, although when the First Fantasy Campaign was published in 1977, Dave changed the name of the city to Vestfold, which was kept in later publications of Blackmoor. The origins of Vestfold and Tonisborg are discussed in more detail in this article.

Greg's Dungeon Maps were thought lost forever untill a copy was rediscovered by another member of Dave Arneson's group, David Megarry, the designer of Dungeon! More details about the dungeon and its rediscovery can be read at Dan Bogg's blog here. A rewamped version of the dungeon is currently in the works to be published as a special stretch goal for the Secrets of Blackmoor Kickstarter. Recently many backers of the Kickstarter have joined the Comeback Inn Forum as the Secrets of Blackmoor creators have promised to share more details with Kickstarter backers there.


Recently, the Secrets of Blackmoor Facebook page shared Megarry's copies of the original dungeon maps for Dungeon Level 1 and Dungeon Level 3 of the Tonisborg Dungeon. It is interesting to see that this map shares certain features with Dave Arneson's dungeon maps that are less common in dungeon maps from later decades. We see the characteristic diagonal corridors, non-standard rooms and long corridors that seem to lead to no rooms.

David Megarry offered the following suggestion to why Dave Arneson may have used diagonal corridors in his dungeons


"My hunch is that it is a consequence of Arneson drawing the roads and streams for table top battlefield maps for the Napoleonic Campaign. Outside of urban areas, roads and streams go any which way; it is only in cities and towns you end up with grid systems (though some older east coast towns road designs may have been drawn by drunken city planners, who knows?;) He did use graph paper to draw his maps but was not bound by those grid lines. If you look at the original Blackmoor town map, you can see that a tunnel from the town to Elf home or the Freehold would follow a diagonal line.

This theory certainly makes sense, and I do agree that Dave Arneson was probably thinking in terms of what was going on above ground much more than what later dungeon mappers would have been. From the FFC we know that his maps point towards where certain corridors would connect to other dungeons (like the Glendower dungeon connecting to the Blackmoor Dungeon) and other parts of Blackmoor.


Interestingly, this might also tell us how the designers of such maps (in this case Greg) imagined the surface world above the dungeon might have appeared. Upon Greg's suggestion, I placed Tonnisborg on the small island outside of Vestfold. Do I need to revise my city plan map now? :)

-Havard

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

New Blackmoor Livestreamed Campaign From Blackmoor Author Tad Kilgore and MMRPG Alumni



Live Streamed Dungeons & Dragons gaming is incredibly popular these days, so it is great seeing a live streamed game set in the first D&D campaign setting, Dave Arneson's Blackmoor.

This campaign is hosted by Tad Kilgore who has a long history with the setting. He was campaign organized for the Blackmoor MMRPG and was the author of the Riders of Hak Sourcebook for the Blackmoor d20 line. The players in this campaign are also people with a history of writing for the Blackmoor MMRPG campaign as well as being long time friends of Tad.

The players include:
  • Phil Slama, former head of Terror Inc. and MMRPG author. Phil has also released several 5E adventures which are available for free at The Comeback Inn.
  • Jenn Barth, former MMRPG author
  • Mathew Tearle, former MMPRG author and member of Terror Inc.
  • Jimmy, a newcomer to Blackmoor. Which is also awesome! 

This campaign uses the D&D 5th Edition Rules and is centered around the Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor and starts out at The Comeback Inn. It is going to be extremely interesting to follow these adventures!

The Campaign is livestreamed in Twitch and is also available on YouTube. You can also follow the campaign on Facebook via Kilgore's Lair page and the Blackmoor Fans Facebook Group.



-Havard


Wednesday, April 1, 2020

Rest in Peace Brian Blume (1950- 2020)

One of the Co-founder of TSR, passed away last Friday. Brian John Blume (January 12, 1950 ~ March 27, 2020 helped found the company together with Gary Gygax and Don Kaye in 1973, just one year before the company launched Dungeons & Dragons and changed the world. 

Brian Blume co-authored Warriors of Mars and Boot Hill with Gary Gygax and created Panzer Warfare. In connection to Blackmoor, the Mon Class which appeared in Supplement II: Blackmoor is sometimes credited to Blume. The Dungeons & Dragons Companion Set was dedicated to him with the following text:


As the saying goes, 'for want of a nail, the war was lost'; and for want of a company, the D&D game might have been lost amidst the lean and turbulent years of the last decade. This set is therefore dedicated to an oft-neglected leader of TSR Inc., who with Gary Gygax founded this company and made it grow. The D&D Companion set is dedicated to BRIAN BLUME. -- foreword, D&D Companion Set 1984

His obituary reads:


Brian John Blume January 12, 1950 ~ March 27, 2020 (age 70) 

 Brian J. Blume, 70 of Lake Geneva, passed away Friday March 27, 2020 at the Lakeland Nursing Home in Elkhorn WI from Lewy Body Dementia and Parkinson's disease. 

 Brian was born January 12, 1950 in Oak Park, IL to Melvin and Kathleen Blume. He grew up in Wauconda IL, about an hour from Chicago, with 4 brothers and 3 half-brothers, and graduated as the valedictorian of his high school class. He attended Wabash College, but followed in the footsteps of his father by leaving and becoming a journeyman tool and die maker. While he excelled academically, he loved the precision and sense of exacting creation in tool making. He met and married Victoria Miller of Elkhorn WI, and they have been married for 40 years at the time of his death. They were devoted to each other throughout their marriage. Brian was also well known as the co-founder, with the late Gary Gygax, also of Lake Geneva, of TSR, the company involved in the creation and world-wide popularization of Dungeons and Dragons, the first “role playing” game to achieve national and international acclaim. 

 Brian was instrumental in the development of the company and in helping to expand the details of the Dungeons and Dragons world. He was the author of several other TSR games. His creative work at TSR built on a lifetime of interest in, and enjoyment from, games that challenge the intellect, expand the players’ horizons, interests, and understanding, and are just plain fun. He could always be found with friends and family pursuing a new, challenging, and enjoyable game. His general knowledge was encyclopedic. He is remembered in the gaming world as being one of the sharpest players of any game, who always found the best and most innovative games, and who was one of the friendliest and fairest players who ever rolled a die, moved a token, or played a card. Despite being hard to beat, he always played for simple enjoyment. 

 He is remembered by family and friends as generous, soft spoken, and always concerned about the well being of others. Even in the later stages of his disease he still had the quick wit and insight that was one of his many gifts throughout life. He is survived by his wife, Victoria Miller Blume, his brothers; Daniel, Keith, Douglas, Kevin, Gary, and Erick Blume, his brother-in-law, George Miller, and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his brother, Bruce Blume. In keeping with his lifelong wish to help others, his body is being donated for research. Also, in keeping with Brian's wishes, there will be no memorial service. Please consider donations to the Parkinson's Foundation or Lake Geneva Public Library.

Our hobby has lost yet another figure of historic importance to the development of Dungeons & Dragons. My thoughts go to his friends and family.

-Havard

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Final Blackmoor Pen and Paper MMRPG Adventure Now Available



Its been a long time since I started uploading the Blackmoor adventures from the MMRPG series to the Comeback Inn Website. While they were considered unofficial, they were organized by Dave Arneson's company while they were publishing Blackmoor for the D20 line and eventually for Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition and ran all the way untill the lisence was discontinued by Wizards of the Coast after Dave's passing.

And here we are. The final episode of the series:

 Ep. 4002 - No Evil Shall Escape My Sight

 By Robert Reed

"In 1299, a new age is dawning, and the Peshwah Nation is in need of aid. Unsure of who to blame for their horses disappearing from the Plains of Hak, they are seeking the help of outsiders. Can you discover the thieves, return the horses of the Peshwah and identify the culprits?" 
A Dave Arneson's Blackmoor adventure for heroic level characters. 

 Set in in the Age of the Wolf era of Dave Arneson's Blackmoor, this is the second adventure written for D&D 4th Edition and the final adventure ever written for the Blackmoor tabletop MMRPG line.

 Is that the end then? Have no fear. We have more MMRPG related goodness that will be revealed here at The Comeback Inn in the coming months, although we are getting close to sharing what we have uncovered from the vaults now.

Also, there will be more unofficial Blackmoor 5E adventures released as well. Make sure you have all the previous MMRPG adventures downloaded safely on your HDs.

But first, enjoy this last adventure of the ZGG/CMP era.

Download here




Image source: https://www.deviantart.com/werewolves0791/art/indian-horse-172452880

-Havard

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Blackmoor MMRPG Inventor Class!


Things have been a bit busy for me these past six months, but its all good kinds of busy. Still, it has left many of my Blackmoor projects on hold. Thankfully good people like Zeromaru X, Tim Baker, Yaztromo, RobJN and others have been pestering me at The Piazza and the Comeback Inn to put up more Blackmoor MMRPG material. Feedback like this is what makes what we are doing at this blog and at the Comeback Inn meaningful, so I definitely wanted to share something this week.

While you will have to wait a few more days before the next MMRPG adventure episode will be released, I hope you like what I just uploaded. This Inventor Class originally appeared in Clock & Steam, but was updated for the Blackmoor 4E MMRPG and the Age of the Wolf Setting.

If you like this booklet, make sure you download the older 3E and 4E MMRPG material too. The adventures are easy to adapt to any edition of Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder etc.

If you want me to keep providing these things, please send me a word here on this blog or at the forums!



Download the PDF here.



-Havard

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

West End Games Founder Scott Palter Has Passed



I just learned via Greg Gorden that Daniel Scott Palter has passed away. Scott was the founder of West End Games and was president of this games publisher as they published RPGs such as Ghostbusters, Star Wars, Paranoia, TORG and Shatterzone as well as classic board games like Junta.

As a personal note, I connected with Scott via various social media and we interracted quite a bit over the last decade. We talked about gaming history, gaming, and real world issues and although we did not always agree, he was always respectful and thoughtful in his responses.

My thoughts go to his family and friends.


-Havard


Thursday, January 16, 2020

Christopher Tolkien Has Passed Away at 95 years old

As reported on Reddit, JRR Tolkien's youngest son Chrisopher Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 15 January 2020) has passed away.



He will be remembered as a great preserver of his father's legacy and an editor of his father's unfinished works. He also drew many of the wonderful maps of Middle-earth. I am thankful for what he did to bring those works to the public.


Rest in Peace.


-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...