ArneCon 0.2 Announced for October 15 2022

 

As October approaches, new developments are seen in the ongoing saga of various Dave Arneson gaming conventions! 

I previously mentioned  how the team behind the excellent documentary Secrets of Blackmoor were teasing a convention for October. Now, however it looks like documentary creators Chris Graves and Griffith Mon Morgan III will not be involved in the convention. Instead, local Minnesota Blackmoor enthusiasts are taking matters into their own hands. The event will be organized by Kevin McColl, a friend of Dave Arneson and owner of the Castle Blackmoor Website and the group called United Geeks of Gaming. 

The gaming event that now has been given the official name of ArneCon 0.2 was announced at the Castle Blackmoor Facebook Page.

Mark October 15th. ArneCon 0.2 Returning since 2017 We are planning a gaming convention in October, to tie in with the Birthday of Dave Arneson celebrating Minnesota's history of the origin of Role-Playing Games. And cheer all who were involved in the early years! Emphasis on old school style gaming, its history, and how it's history evolved. More to come location: Geek Partnership Society https://www.meetup.com/geekgaming/events/288131139

According to Kevin McColl, this will be a continuation of similar events run by the group before a hiatus during Covid.  

Several of the original Blackmoor Players are announced to attend:

• Bob Meyer, doing a Blackmoor game, which will be a continuation of the original Blackmoor Campaign. 
• David Wesely, doing a Braunstein. 
• Bill Hoyt (yet to be confirmed)

In addition, Kevin McColl will be running games, possibly including a beta test of an upcoming RPG he is working on. Kevin stressed that this will be a smaller event with the possibility of expanding it next year. 

-Havard

Blackmoor Convention in October teased by SoB Team

 There has been a lot of talk about  Gaming Conventions connected to Dave Arneson and Blackmoor this year. A few days ago, the idea of a Blackmoor convention in October was teased by the Secrets of Blackmoor documentary team on Twitter. 

This is the same convention a different source told me about back in July, but the follow up tweet reveals a bit more about what may have been planned. 

The mention of the convention being close to Dave's birthday is why I speculate that they are looking for October since Dave's birthday is October 1st which has been celebrated for years here at this blog and the main Blackmoor fan hangout at The Comeback Inn and associated social media accounts. 

Fake autographs sounds a bit strange, but having Dave Arneson's daughter as a guest of honor at such a convention would be awesome. 

My main concern about this is that October is only a little more than a month away. However, for a "small and intimate" event I am sure they can still manage to organize something, especially if many of the locals are already aware of the details.

As I have stated in the past, I will support any project that seeks to honor Dave Arneson's legacy and I hope this convention will come to pass. If not this year, perhaps next year can be an option? Joining forces with DaveCon might help give that convention a boost, but two conventions could also mean twice the fun!

-Havard

Minnesota Team Plan Dave Arneson Convention in October 2022

 As a response to the post I made yesterday about DaveCon 2023, one of the members of the Minnesota Team of gamers reached out to me and told me a bit more about their plans for a separate convention in October this year. 

The Minnesota Team told me they do not wish to be seen as working against DaveCon. The original Blackmoor players have been meeting for gaming each year for as long as Dave Arneson was alive. When Dave passed away, Bob Meyer took over responsibilities as the Dungeon Master of the group starting with the memorial game in 2010 that Dave's daughter also mentions in Secrets of Blackmoor. The planned convention in October is to be a continuation of these annual conventions. While no official announcement has yet been made, I was told that David Wesely will be present running Braunstein Games as will Bill Hoyt. Most likely other members of the original group and their friends will also attend. 

What this means to me is that fans of Blackmoor, Dave Arneson and gaming in general get two conventions instead of one. And there seems to be enough of an interest to support both conventions. That is a very good thing. I hope as many as possible support all of these projects to commemorate the legacy of Dave Arneson and celebrate gaming in all its forms.

-Havard

DaveCon 2023 in the works

 The convention known as DaveCon will return for 2023. The convention named after Dave Arneson will take place in Minnesota in April of next year according to organizer Victor Dorso. Special guests for next years convention will include Blackmoor alumni David Wesely, Mike Carr and Bill Hoyt.

In a recent interview at Tabletop Taproom, Dorso talked about his plans for next year's convention with host Tom /Jedion. In the interview, Dorso says that he sees DaveCon as a continuation of the annual Blackmoor games, that the original Blackmoor players held at the gaming store known as The Source following Arneson's passing in 2009. Dorso also talked about how last year's convention with the theme of unification was met with some negativity from various individuals both from Minnesota and others wanting to start a rival convention. He also admits that controversy surrounding Ernie Gygax Jr. may have contributed to these reactions. However, Dorso is optimistic about nex year's convention that will take place at a larger venue. 

Dorso has a great deal of plans for next year's convention and plans on making the event much larger than last years with gaming events, food, beer and other activities, including an app that will let gamers order food and have it brought to their tables. He also stressed that both men and women are welcome at the convention and should feel safe to attend. Children are also welcome as long as they are there in the company of an adult. 

Highlights for next year's convention include Braunstein games with David Wesely and Mike Carr running the classic adventure B1 In Search of Unknown, written by Carr and published by TSR in 1978. Bill Hoyt's Blackmoor Castle model that Dave Arneson used for his games will also be on display at the convention. Many old and new RPGs will be played at Dave Con 2023.

A separate Dave Arneson convention organised by others has been discussed for later this year, but nothing formal has been announced yet. Dave Wesely spoke fondly about his experiences at DaveCon 2022 and says he would gladly participate at both conventions, suggesting that there would be enough interest for two such conventions to the Co-Creator of D&D. 

It has always been the idea of this author to support all things that would honor the gaming legacy of Dave Arneson and the Minnesota Gamers. I think having Mike Carr as a guest of honor along with Wesely and Hoyt puts a much needed emphasis of next years DaveCon as an event in that tradition. 

Further discussion of this article here.

-Havard

DA4 Duchy of Ten back in Print!

 The Complete DA module series is now available as Print on Demand from DrivethruRPG. The final module, DA4 Duchy of Ten just became available in this format. It had previously only been available as a PDF.

DA4 notably is the only module in the series that was not credited to Dave Arneson, but only to Dave Ritchie who had been credited as co-author of the previous three modules. Arneson later said that, unlike with the previous three adventures, he had not been consulted for this one. On the other hand, much of the adventure background repeats and expands upon elements that can be found in earlier instalments of the series. When Arneson's company Zeitgeist Games detailed these lands, they stayed fairly close to the descriptions of the Duchy as shown in DA4. 

Read my review of DA4 from a few years back here. 

Get your copy of Duchy of Ten here  (Non-affiliate link)

-Havard

DA1 Adventures in Blackmoor - Once again in print format!

 As I reported a few days ago, Drivetrhu RPG is now offering some of the old WotC owned TSR modules of the DA series as Print on Demand products.

DA2 Temple of the Frog and DA3 City of the Gods were mentioned in my previous article, but now the time has come for DA1 Adventures in Blackmoor!

Back in 2016 I reported that DA1 had been made available for sale as a PDF from DrivethruRPG.  Adventures in Blackmoor is backed with information about the world of Blackmoor. I wrote a review of it back in 2009 that you can read here. 

ORDER A PRINT COPY HERE

(Non-affiliate link)

Thanks to Morfie at The Piazza for letting me know about this release. Thanks to Dartamian and Night Druid for letting me know about the other DA modules!

Are you going to get a copy of DA1 Adventures in Blackmoor to add to your collection? Please let me know :)

-Havard

Blackmoor is back in print!

 Last week two classic Blacmoor adventures once again became available as print on demand releases from Wizards of the Coast. 

The two adventures in question are part of the series of modules published by TSR between 1986-1987. Labelled the DA series or Dave Arneson series, the adventures were written by Dave Arneson and David Ritchie for the BECMI edition of D&D. Four DA modules were published and it is interesting to see that the two first to make it back to Print on Demand format from DrivethruRPG are two that focus on some of the most iconic adventure locations of Dave Arneson's setting.

You can get both modules as PDF or in Print Format from DrivethruRPG by following these links:

DA2 Temple of the Frog

DA3 City of the Gods

I also hope that WotC will release DA1 Adventures in Blackmoor soon. Not only was this the first module in the series, but it also serves as a great introduction to the setting. 

In any case, it is really cool to see these adventures back in print. Are you planning to pick them up, dear readers? 

-Havard