The Minnesota Gathering of Blackmoor Fans Happening Right Now

 

I talked about the Minnesota Gathering earlier this month. It is a small convention of sorts, and a meeting of some of Dave Arneson's players and friends along with other gamers. This gathering is not associated with ArneCon or DaveCon. The convention organisers were kind enough to remind me that The MN Gathering is happening right now. I will share updates if I can get some reports!

Are you at the Minnesota Gathering right now? Please let me know if you are having a good time! I would love to hear about your experiences!

-Havard

DA3 City of the Gods (TSR, 1987)

 

While it would later be revisited in the d20 version City of the Gods for the Dave Arneson's Blackmoor line, the legendary City of the Gods from Dave Arneson's original campaign had been whispered about since it had been mentioned in the First Fantasy Campaign (1977) or perhaps even earlier as a place where many of the original Blackmoor players would see their characters meeting their doom. Even Rob Kuntz and Gary Gygax had struggled to face the dangers of this place.

But it was DA3 City of the Gods that would first give full details about the City and its surrounding Valley of the Ancients. TSR and Dave Arneson had seeming overcome some of their differences and the DA series allowed fans to finally learn more about the world of Blackmoor. TSR partnered up Dave Arneson with freelancer Dave Ritchie who authored the modules based on manuscrips provided by Dave who also gave his final approval on DA1-3. Both Arneson and Ritchie were credited on these three modules, unlike DA4 Duchy of Ten which is only credited to Ritchie while still clearly based on details from Arneson. 

This adventure also gave the world more details about the Peshwah Horsemen and their lands, including expanding the Blackmoor world map south for the first time. Early on in the adventure, the PCs are introduced to Bosero, the character originally played by Jon Sider, before they are soon attacked by things that can only be linked to the City of the Gods. Although the module's excellent cover by Doug Chaffee does not really reflect the contents of the adventure, the shameless use of science fiction on a fantasy adventure module, told customers that Blackmoor is a very different place than what you can expect from most Dungeons & Dragons campaign. Indeed, combining sci fi and fantasy elements was one of the hallmarks of Dave's original campaign and could be seen as early as in Supplement II's Temple of the Frog. Zeitgeist Games would later double down on sci fi in Blackmoor campaigns with Clock & Steam decades later.

Item Code: #9191 (DA3)
Title: City of the Gods
Type: Adventure
Author: Dave L. Arneson and David J. Ritchie
Published: 1987
Format: 48-page book w/tri-fold cover, fold-out map

"New Magic... That's what the flying egg has. New magic unlike any ever encountered in Blackmoor. New magic of a type that could give the fledgling kingdom an important edge in the wars that are brewing on its borders. There are only a few minor problems. Like the fact that the magician who piloted the metal egg to one of Blackmoor's southern outposts was killed before he could utter a word. And the fact that Blackmoor's sworn enemies, the monks of the evil and eccentric Order of the Frog, are also interested in the magic represented by the egg. And, most important, the fact that the egg came from the distant and dangerous City of the Gods. Set amidst the blistered salt flats of the Valley of the Ancients, the City of the Gods is a strange and deadly metal metropolis whose powerful guardians do not welcome intruders. Yet it is to this place of deadly menace that Blackmoor's leaders now send a daring expedition - to bargain for aid in the coming wars - or to steal the magic of the gods."

• DA3 City of the Gods can be purchased as PDF or POD from DrivethruRPG (not an affilated link)
• Read more about DA3 at the Comeback Inn Forum!

Have you played this adventure or do you own a copy? I would love to hear your thoughts!

-Havard

ArneCon 2024 T-Shirts and Other News

 

ArneCon is the convention organized by The Fellowship of the Thing, producers of the Secrets of Blackmoor documentary. As I mentioned back in February, this year's convention will take place on October 4-6. The addition of Rob Kuntz as a guest of honor is a very welcome addition along with others who also have a long history with Blackmoor. 

The art for the t-shirt was announced yesterday. I like the image of Dave as a mage in front of the castle. You can find out more about the convention, events and how to get tickets here. 

Also, several Blackmoor alumni may be spotted at the MN Gathering, is coming up on the 29th of this month!

Are you going to ArneCon this year? Let me know about your plans and what you are the most excited about!

-Havard

DA4 The Duchy of Ten (1987)

 I talked a bit about DA4 back in 2016 when it was first released on PDF at the DMsGuild. Back then I mentioned how Dave Arneson's name does not appear on the cover of this adventure and that Dave had expressed some dissatisfaction about the adventure as he had not been given a chance to give it his approval which he presumably had done with the previous modules in the series.

Duchy of Ten is the final instalment of TSR's DA module series. Although the name Duchy of Tehn also appeared in Gary Gygax' Greyhawk, its origins are likely from Dave Arneson's campaign. In the original campaign, these lands may have been home to the villain The Ran of Ah'Foo and it may at one point have been controlled by a player named Chuck Munson. 

The adventure as published covers the sea voyage to the Duchy which is located to the west of Blackmoor. On the voyage there, the PCs may have to deal with a number of threats including Skandaharian raiders, Merfolk and traitorous sailors. Upon arrival, it is revealed that the Duchy of Ten is now under the occupation of the the conquering people known as the Afridhi and their queen, Toska Rusa. In this adventure you can also learn about the evil deity known as Zugzul and what nefarious plans his priestess Toska Rusa has with the artifact called the Well of Souls. 

It is unfortunate that Dave Arneson did not get the chance to give his final approval of this adventure, but comparing the information given here with what we learn about the Duchy of Ten in DA1, it does seem like much of the information does come from sources Arneson had approved of, even if he may have wanted the storyline to be different. We don't really know if there were any specifics Dave was unhappy with and if so, we don't know what those might have been. We do know that when Zeitgeist Games revisited the Duchy for the d20 Dave Arneson's Blackmoor line, they decided to keep the Duchy pretty much as presented in this adventure. At the time, ZGG said it was what fans had come to expect from the region. It is unfortunate that they did not revisit this adventure for the d20 line as they did with the previous modules in the series. 

Overall, this is a fun adventure and like the rest of the DA series, it allows for much exploration outside the main storyline and can in many ways be used as a setting sourcebook as much as an adventure. Mystara fans can use the introduction part where the heroes are PCs travelling through time, but this part can easily be skipped and the adventure can be ran with PCs who are heroes from Blackmoor. 

DA4 The Duchy of Ten 

 Item Code: #9205 (DA4) 

Title: The Duchy of Ten 

Type: Adventure 

Author: David J. Ritchie 

Published: 1987 

Format: 48-page book w/tri-fold cover, fold-out map

"The Well of Souls... 

That's what Zugzul bade the Afridhi call the evil artifact that he had taught them to make. They call it the Well of Souls, and they must carry it before them into every battle - and they would be mighty. Thus said the god of Afridhi, Zugzul the One. So the Afridhi did as they were bade. Seeking the volcano called the Hill of the Hammer in the far Barrens of Karsh, they built in its heart a great forge. There, as Zugzul had promised, efreet came to help them make the mighty artifact.

 

There, amid vile, unholy rites, they bound the souls of men into its very substance, and, as it took shape, they sharpened their swords for the red-handed work that must surely follow hard upon its completion. Many were the men who guarded the Hill of the Hammer during the days of making - for their foes in hated Blackmoor would try to unmake that which they had wrought. Yet, it was not men that would keep the Well of Souls from destruction, but a prophecy - that the artifact would be unmade only by the hand of one as yet unborn!"

Buy this adventure in Print or PDF format from DrivetrhuRPG

More discussion of this adventure at The Comeback Inn. 

Do you own a copy f the Duchy of Ten? What do you think about this adventure?

-Havard

Clock & Steam (2007) - A Sourcebook for ZGG's Dave Arneson's Blackmoor D20 Line

Clock & Steam (2007) was published by Zeitgeist Games and focused on adding various forms of technology such as clockwork and steam technology mixed with a bit of magic to the d20 Dave Arneson's Blackmoor product line. 

This was one of the last books that were published for D&D 3E by Zeitgeist Games before their team up with Code Monkey Press. Written by Rodney Thompson, the book introduced a new Inventor Class that would later be revisited in the sadly short lived 4E update of Dave Arneson's Blackmoor. The sourcebook produced game statistics for a number of technological items, including original Blackmoor campaign items like the Warhorse and Armor belonging to the Blue Rider.  Interestingly the book states that the material within is not official Blackmoor material.

Clock & Steam 

Blackmoor Creator: Dave Arneson 

Executive Producers: Dave Arneson and Dustin Clingman 

Writer and Designer: Rodney Thompson 

Blackmoor Line Developer: C.A. Suleiman 

Cover Artist: John Donahue 

Interior Artists: Dan Bryce, Jon Hodgson, Doug Kovacs, Britt Martin, and Beth Trott 

Cartographer: Ed Bourelle 

Art Director: jim pinto 

 Once viewed as the idle pursuit of low races, the development of clockwork and steam power has since swept across the lands of the North like a wildfire. High Thonians now boast the bravest and most innovative advances in these arts, and the call for the fruits of their labors grows louder with each passing day. But every new order threatens the old, and resistance to the march of progress grows, as well. What stand will you take in the name of science? Harness the Power of Invention ! Welcome to Clock and Steam, the comprehensive guide to "gadgetech" for Dave Arneson's Blackmoor. This long-awaited sourcebook reveals the ways in which clockwork and steam-powered devices have shaped the lands of Blackmoor, and adds new dimensions of play to any fantasy campaign. Now players can step into the role of creator, with a new base class-the inventor-and prestige classes such as the clock mage, the infuser, and the warmaker! 

 Publisher : Zeitgeist Games (January 1, 2008) 

ISBN-10 : 0978576152 ISBN-13 : 978-0978576158 

Item Weight : 12.6 ounces 

By the PDF from DrivethruRPG (not an affiliated ID link)

Read more about this sourcebook at The Comeback Inn

Do you own this book? How would you use it in a campaign?

-Havard

Blackmoor Foundation Book Temporarily Out of Stock

 Secrets of Blackmoor on Twitter/X reported the following:

Blackmoor Foundations Update
 Trying to keep up on shipping - yes, we do all our own fulfillment with Chris and I packing book orders ourselves. We filled nearly all the orders thus far, but we ran out of stock on Blackmoor Foundations again, still plenty of Tonisborg. Looks like we need to do a double re-order to keep up. The reception on this book has surprised us. It seems gamers do want to know about Dave Arneson's original campaign along with the origin of RPGs. Thank you all of you who purchased a book.

 

Tonisborg is The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg by Greg Svenson."Chris and I" would refer to Griffith Morgan and Chris Graves who created the documentary Secrets of Blackmoor.  

It is great to see there being such a huge demand for this book that promises to include many unpublished notes, documents and maps by Dave Arneson. I ordered by copy through Amazon and I am still waiting for my copy :)

-Havard

MN Gathering 2024 for Friends and Fans of Blackmoor to Take Place on August 29

 

The Minnesota Gathering is one of the smaller get togethers involving the original Blackmoor players and friends. I mentioned this event last week, but now we know a little bit more. They are referring to the event as a Micro Convetnion taking place on August 29th:

 The following was announced today on their Facebook page:

August 29th. Perkins in Roseville MN at 6 pm. Next event. This year we reflect a bit on the 1969 GenCon pre event where Hoyt, Arneson, & Gygax met to discuss doing a Fictional Napoleonic like Arneson was doing But set in a medieval time. A suggestion posed By Gary. Arneson already wanting to do his version of a Braunstein pulled a lot from this as well. This is why those in MN say it started with Role-Playing, not Wargaming… the seed was already planted. But a lot more had to happen. The game started in 1970 Spring being as accurate to the tech and time as was logical. And Dwayne Jenkins would push for the Fantasy additions for those playing in MN when Hoyt took a job and had to move in the fall (August). Williams fort name changed to Blackmoor. Still more coming.

Date: August 29 

Venue: Perkins Restaurant, Roseville MN. 

Dave Wesely and David Megarry are among the attendees. David Fant, Ken Fletcher and others may also show up. 

If you are in the area and decide to drop by, please let me know if you had a good time! :)

-Havard

Frog Friday!

 

Happy Frog Friday Folks!

-Havard

Return to the Temple of the Frog, WotC 2007

 In 2007, Wizards of the Coast decided to revisit one of the most iconic locations in Blackmoor. Return to the Temple of the Frog was published and released as a free PDF on the Wizards of the Coast Website. This was quite surprising since Dave Arneson's company Zeitgeist Games were publishing Blackmoor at the time as well. Dave Arneson is surprisingly not credited for the adventure even though it is clearly based on his original designs and concepts. The PDF does credit Dave Arneson as one of the creators of D&D however. The Temple of the Frog has gone through many iterations and I detailed a history of the adventure over at my website. 

Return to the Temple of the Frog takes place more than twenty years after the original adventure and the defeat of the Temple. Known to his followers only as Saint Stephen, D&D's first arch villain has somehow managed to rebuilt the temple with newly gained abilities. New adventurer's are needed and will be put up against mutated apes, cyborgs and an enormous mutated frog before they finally can confront Saint Stephen and his nefarious allies. 

The adventure provides updated maps of the original Temple of the Frog and presents players with 3E rules for sci fi weaponry and equipment as well as stats for some of the classic opponents found in the Temple. In many ways this adventure is a replay of the 1987 version (DA2) of the adventure, although with much of the surrounding framework removed or changed. 

The introduction provided on the website at the time was as follows: 

"The Order of the Frog was led by a man of resource and ambition. High Priest Saint Stephen and four companions appeared out of nowhere and took over the order twenty five years ago. Though Stephen and his companions seemed normal enough (except for the slight greenish cast of their skin), they were quite literally not of this world. They were aliens, members of a scientific expedition that crash landed on this planet some years ago. Temple of the Frog was first published in the 1975 D&D Supplement II Blackmoor. It was later republished in 1986 as module DA2, Temple of the Frog. In the original adventure, the PCs were hired to find a missing person (Rissa Aleford, Baroness of the Lakes) and investigate a strange cult based on the worship of frogs. Return to the Temple of the Frog picks up the adventure decades later. During an adventuring party's assault on the temple over twenty years ago, Saint Stephen escaped the conflict and hid in the swamp until the adventurers departed. Having completed their raid, rescued the prisoner they had come for, and hurriedly looted the temple, the heroes left the area and never looked back. Saint Stephen entered the temple hoping to salvage anything that he could. The Order of the Frog was done for, all his fellow aliens were slain, and his frog cultists had fled or were put to the sword. He only wanted enough to allow him to flee the swamp and find a new hiding place. He found more than he had counted on...."

Title: Return to the Temple of the Frog

Year Published (2007, Wizards of the Coast)

Format: PDF

Pages: 36

Author: Ted Albert

Have you played Return to the Temple of the Frog? What did you think about it? What is your favorite version of this adventure location?

• More discussion of this adventure at The Comeback Inn. 

-Havard