The King of Orcs Has Passed Away

I just learned from Greg Svenson that Frederick "Fred" Paul Funk III passed away January 21, 2011. Fred Funk was part of Dave Arneson's original Blackmoor group. Not to be confused with the professional golfer, Funk played the Orc King, controlling the 10th level of the Blackmoor Dungeon. He is the first known player to have played an Orc in an RPG, but later the Half-Orc would become a popular race in D&D.

A friend of Greg Svenson since junior high school, it was Svenson who introduced Funk to Arneson's group. Later Fred Funk would also run his own Blackmoor games. Fred Funk worked as a police officer and later went into security management in Minnesota.

Frederick Funk  was born on May 12, 1950 and passed away on Friday, January 21, 2011. He was 60 years old.  Frederick was a resident of Albert Lea, Minnesota.


May he Rest in Peace.


Edit:
A discussion of the memories of Fred Funk can be found here. (Comeback Inn registration required)
A discussion of Fred's World can be found here. (Comeback Inn registration required)


-Havard

The Oerth Journal

I was pleasantly surprised when it was recently announced that the Oerth Journal is being revived. The Oerth Journal is a Greyhawk periodicle, but should also be of interest to all Blackmoor fans. In particular, #5 which details the Greyhawk version of the Archbarony of Blackmoor, and #6 detailing Rob Kuntz recollections of Robilar and Mordenkeinen's adventure in the City of the Gods, where Dave Arneson also contributed with commentaries. In addition to these articles, the series include many gems and pieces, many of which were authored by notables from the industry's past and present.

The Greyhawk Grognard blog has a nice index of the Oerth Journals issue #1 to 25 which can be a useful starting point. A new website has been set up for the Oerth Jorunal here. You can also go directly to their downloads page.

Currently the new leadership of the Journal are looking for submissions. Find out more about this here.


-Havard

The Piazza is back!

As I reported on Tuesday, the Piazza (D&D Worlds Discussion) Forum, was temporarily shut down earlier this week due to Malware problems. However, the problems have now been taken care of and the Piazza is back up for discussion!


Go here, to visit the Piazza now!





-Havard

Blackmarsh is out!

If you haven't done so already, check out Rob Conley's Blackmarsh Setting! I mentioned this project a few weeks ago, and now you can get it too. You can read a review of it over at Zombiecowboy's Gameblog. Conley also has an interesting article about how Blackmarsh was published on his Bat in the Attic Blog. An interesting read if you are thinking about getting your own old school material published. Rob has done some great things in the past, like the excellent Points of Light setting, so give Blackmarsh a chance!





-Havard

Crisis on the Piazza!

Just a quick notice. The forum known as the Piazza has been infected by Malware. To avoid getting your own computers infected, it is advisable to stay away from the site. I am working with the admin of the Piazza and the rest of the moderators to resolve the situation.

I will post more information on this topic here when I have more to report. Be assured, the people involved are determined not to let the Piazza die. The situation is pretty dire, but we will have a sollution for you. The Piazza is one of the best D&D forums out there and it must go on!

More updates on the Piazza Group on Facebook.




-Havard

Blackmoor Studios at Full Sail University

As I reported in October, Full Sail University dedicated their new game studio to Dave Arneson and Blackmoor. Dave Arneson's daughter Malia Weinhagen and former TSR vice president “Uncle” Duke Seifried were among the guests at the dedication ceremony.  Here is a video from the event:




You can read more about the event here.




-Havard

Dave Arneson The Player

While Dave Arneson may have been the first Dungeon Master, he also enjoyed being on the other side of the DM's screen. As with most roleplayers, he started out as a player.

A formative moment in the life of young Dave Arneson was when his parents got him Avalon Hill's Gettysburg War Game, in the early 1960s. A few years later (1965?), he joined the Midwest Military Simulation Association which used to meet at Greg Scott's house. When the group became too big, the younger and more war game interested of the group, Including David A. Wesely, Dan Nicholson and Pete Gaylord split from the rest and began meeting at Arneson's house instead. 

So what was Arneson like as a player? Michael Mornard describes him like this:

"And yeah, Dave is a SUPER bad-ass player. You'd never know it talking to him out of context. Sweetest guy in the world. And then at the gaming table, he suddenly eats your spleen."

One of the more epic moments in Dave's career as a player was in David Wesely's Braunstein 4: Banana Republic, as Wesely recalls:

"He lied, swindled, improvised, and played his character to the hilt. He came to the game with fake CIA ID he’d mocked up, so when another player “captured” and searched him he could whip them out. Other players were still moving pieces around the board and issuing orders like a wargame while Dave Arneson was running circles around them and changing the whole scenario. He was winning the game entirely by roleplaying.

You may think of Dave Arneson as one of the godfathers of GMing, but even before that he was the godfather of players. He was, literally, the proto-player."

Over at the Comeback Inn Forum, Jeff Berry fondly remembers Dave playing Captain Harchar in Professor Phil Barker's Tekumel games:

"He was just one heck of a lot of fun; like a lot of his friends, he was very fast on his feet and very, very smart. He threw himself into any role that he took... Dave's showing up out at Phil's was always a good indicator that it was going to be a good night; we'd just hang on to the roller coaster, and watch the fun unfold."

If you have been asking yourself where Dave Arneson got all his ideas and creativity from then perhaps this is could be the answer. Creativty comes from passion, and we know that one of Dave's true passions was games, whether running them as a judge or DM, or enjoying them as a player.





Image source.

-Havard