The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg Softcover Edition is now available from Barnes and Nobles for 30 USD.
Written by Greg Svenson, Griffith Morgan and D.H. Boggs and published by Fellowship of the Thing, Tonisborg is based on the dungeons original Blackmoor player Greg Svenson created with the approval of Dave Arneson back in the early days of the hobby:
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A guide to how Dungeons & Dragons was played before Dungeons & Dragons!
Greg Svenson's, The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg. An Official BLACKMOOR™ Setting
The Most Unique RPG Module ever published.
In 1971, Greg Svenson and his friends took part in the very first dungeon adventure game, Blackmoor, created by their friend, Dave Arneson (D&D Co-Creator).
The large group of players descended into Blackmoor Dungeon in search of a wizard and his cohort, an evil Balrog. Greg was the only player to survive this momentous first game session, earning the title: The Great Svenni. As his game persona, Greg would go on to become the most celebrated character in the history of Blackmoor and RPGs.
Then, in the summer of 1973, as Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax worked to complete the manuscript for Dungeons & Dragons, Greg was given a play-test copy of this novel new game. He used these rules to create his own adventure dungeon, The Dungeons of Tonisborg.
One day, Greg loaned his maps to a friend to make copies. An unexpected disaster struck: the maps, stowed in an old magazine, were thrown away. All ten original map levels of Greg's epic mega-dungeon were thought lost forever. This lost map set came to be known as The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg among the "Blackmoor Bunch."
Thirty-five years later, during the making of the documentary film, Secrets of Blackmoor, a mysterious set of photocopied dungeon maps was unearthed. D. H. Boggs emailed copies to Greg Svenson, who instantly recognized his own handwriting, declaring that these old photocopies were indeed copies of his original Tonisborg Dungeon.
Now published with extensive background information, The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg is not like any RPG Game Module you've ever encountered before.
Step back into time with this stand-alone book, presenting the second oldest mega-dungeon created in the Twin Cities during the early development of RPGs.
It's a history of RPG dungeons.
It's a guide to the secret art of the Dungeon Master - from the people who invented it.
It's a rediscovered ten-level mega-dungeon filled with monsters and hidden treasures.
It is an entire RPG, complete with old-school rules for creating player personas, outfitting equipment, adventuring, extensive charts for generating treasures, a spellbook, and a compendium of mythical creatures. (Or you can use your own favorite rules)
Everything you need to play is in this one volume! Guide your players through a deep dive into the dungeon as you learn RPG History, Philosophy, and Traditional Game Methods to improve your gaming sessions. Immerse yourself and your friends into a fantastic world of adventure with this historic mega-dungeon using original game rules derived from rare manuscripts from times past The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg - The Seminal Guidebook to Traditional Role Playing!
Includes:
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Reproductions of the original drawings of all ten levels of Tonisborg Dungeon, complete with the original dungeon keys and stocking lists.
- Updated maps and keys have been beautifully reconstructed from the originals for ease of play.
- Greg Svenson reveals how the dungeon came about and why it's a bridge between past and present.
- Extensive play guidelines teach you how to make Tonisborg rise again as a real-life experience for you and your players.
- A set of historically accurate game rules are included that are ideal for developing an original style adventure campaign - or use your own preferred rules.
Product Details
- ISBN-13: 9781736572108
- Publisher: The Fellowship of the Thing LTD
- Publication date: 01/13/2023
- Pages: 164
- Sales rank: 241,197
- Product dimensions: 8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.35(d)"
By the Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg Softcover from Barnes & Noble (Not a paid advertisement)
The Softcover Edition first became available directly from the publisher back in July this year. It is also noteworthy that the book is now marketed as an Official Blackmoor Setting. I reported on the status of the Blackmoor Trademark here. The wording is a bit unusual. I would have thought that Blackmoor was the name of the setting, while Tonisborg could have been said to be a supplement for Blackmoor. But that is not how it is phrased. I am not sure if this signifies something important about how the publisher views Blackmoor, but it will be interesting to see.
NOTE: This blog, like all of my Blackmoor related websites are non-profit fan materials. I am not associated with any publisher. This blog is not monetised.
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-Havard
