Arneson & Ritchie

Recently there have been a lot of speculations to the nature of the Arneson Ritchie working relationship. As most of you will know David J Ritchie was the co-author of DA modules 1-3 and the only author listed for DA4. Over the years, some have questioned to what degree the DA modules could be considered Arneson’s work. Perhaps the credits on the covers were simply a nod to the original creator and nothing else? And why was Arneson’s name omitted from DA4? My attempts to reach David J Ritchie have so far been unsuccessful. Dustin Clingman has earlier stated that Arneson was consulted on the DA modules, but it has been unclear to what extent this consultation.

Greg Svenson clarifies:

“Dave Arneson worked with Dave Richie on DA1-3. His contract with TSR gave him the right to review all Blackmoor material before it was published, but DA4 was published before he was able to review. So, that was most of his problem with that module.”

Not only was Ritchie working based on notes submitted by Arneson over the years, but he was also able to review the modules with the exception of DA4. This confirms my suspicion that Arneson had significant influence over these products. In the case of DA4, there has been a lot of discussion to whether there were specific elements in that module that Arneson directly objected to, but Greg’s comment above does not seem to support this. In addition Greg reveals that:

“I am also sure that he objected to the fact that the Ran of Ah Foo, the leader of one one of Blackmoor's major enemies, was not even mentioned in the module. All the rest of this discussion […] is just speculation.”

The absence of the Ran of Ah Foo was indeed a surprise given the importance of this archvillain in the FFC. David Ross raised the question of Ran's disappearance in the Blackmoor Fan gazetteer and suggested that he might have died, but this explanation seemed less than satisfactory.It makes sense that this is something Arneson would have changed, had he been given time to review the module.




-Havard

THE GAZETTEER OF BLACKMOOR

I will no doubt be talking more about the official Blackmoor products (old and new) later in this blog, but today I would like to draw attention to an unofficial product: The Gazetteer of Blackmoor, by David Ross (aka Zimriel). The author (though he calls himself an editor) has done an amazing job going through the material published for Blackmoor in the 70s and 80s. Ross managed to incorporate material, not only from the First Fantasy Campaign and the DA Modules, but also the more obscure material like the adventure Garbage Pits of Despair and the information from the Domesday Book.

The style of writing is unique in terms of fan RPG products:

I (David Ross) "wrote" the gazetteer... in a very, very technical sense. My aim was to clarify what was really the work of Dave Arneson (1970-1987) and, to a much lesser extent, Dave Ritchie (1986-7); I saw my role as an editor. This ZIP has 13 files (12 RTF's, one XLS) of the history and geography of the world's oldest Role-Playing fantasy world. You will still need the DA series in order to play; there are no warez'ed maps or modules here.
-David Ross(http://pages.sbcglobal.net/zimriel/Blackmoor/)

Ross is not exaggerating. The gazetteer is written in a highly academic style and is extremely well researched. This makes it challenging to read if you aren't already familiar with Blackmoor, but also highly valuable since it doesnt deviate from Arneson's intentions. Ross includes his own speculation and analysis, but is always clear on what comes from Arneson and which conclusions are his own.

The files are highly recommended for any fan of Blackmoor. Rumour has it that the ZGG staff adviced their freelance authors to read through the gazetteer before making submissions for the 3E line. If you haven't already, go over to Blackmoor - Home of the Ancients and download it now! :)






Havard