Great Red Dragon of Mystara Limited Edition Miniature

This Ral Partha miniature was a limited edition production with 5300 copies made. The miniature was fashioned after the Great Red Dragon painting by Jeff Easley, used on the cover of the D&D "Black Box" intro set for the D&D Rules Cyclopedia (BECMI). Since Mystara was the default setting of the Rules Cyclopedia, I call this miniature The Great Red Dragon of Mystara. And now it is finally mine. I hope to get around to painting it at some point, though I am a little nervous about ruining it!

The "Black Box" was an intro set to the D&D Rules Cyclopedia, which collected most of the previous "BECMI" D&D rules, except the Immotal Set. 

-Havard

HWR2 Kingdom of Nithia - Alternate Cover

TSR often made alternate covers for their game supplements as part of pre production. Many times, these were also used in early advertising. Orcs of Thar and the D&D Rules Cyclopedia are a couple of known examples. DA5 City of Blackmoor had a cover produced for it as well, but if the module had ever been releaset it is pretty certain that it would have gotten a different cover illustration than the one they used in marketing which was borrowed from a Dragonlance product.

Here's another example, the Kingdom of Nithia which was part of the Hollow World series for Mystara. The cover to the right was the one they ended up using, but it is interesting to see the cover on the right having a different color hue and only a single statue. I almost like the idea of using this one for a fan created HW sourcebook for Hutaaka.

What do you guys think of the alternate cover?

-Havard

Want to Play Blackmoor With An Original Player?

Now is your chance. A group who call themselves the United Geeks of Gaming are
hosting an event in Minnesota:

"A special event at the Source Comics and Games. Blackmoor game, the game that started it all! Guest Game Master Robert Meyer hosting a game that is the first and longest running Fantasy RPG! Bring pencil, paper, and 2 six sided dice! 🎲 United Geeks of Gaming has a day for role playing games! "

Robert Meyer played Robert the Bald, a powerful Wizard in Dave Arneson's campaign, and has DMed several Blackmoor games for the original group since Dave passed away. The Source is the gaming store where Dave ran many of his games.

Learn more about this event here!



-Havard

Frank Mentzer launches Empyrea Kickstarter

Frank Mentzer, TSR alumni and creator of the D&D Red Box and the rest of the BECMI series of D&D, has been working to prepare his own game world for commercial sale for a long time. Previously this setting has been referred to as Aquaria, but the setting title has now been officially announced as Empyrea, named after the greatest empire of the continent of Aquaria.

I am a big fan of BECMI D&D and Frank Mentzer's game design. I am also excited to learn of the design team that Frank has brought with him:


Frank Mentzer, Darlene,Ted Fauster, Tim Beach,  Steven Winter, Anne K. Brown, Peter Bradley, Don Higgins, Mark Quire, Alyssa Faden, Anna Meyer, Christopher Wiese, Kevin “Doc” Wilson , David "Zeb" Cook, Ed Greenwood, Allen Hammack, Tracy Hickman, Harold Johnson, Tim Kask, Len "Leomund" Lakofka, Steve Marsh, Douglas Niles, James M. Ward , “Skip” Williams, Margaret Weis, Clyde Caldwell, Liz Danforth, Jeff Dee Jeff Easley, Larry Elmore, Jennell Jaquays “Diesel” LaForce, Erol Otus, Stephen D. Sullivan

Check out the Kickstarter for Emyprea here

Also, if you want to learn more about Empyrea, visit the Empyrea/Aquaria forum at The Piazza, where you can ask Frank questions about this project and other things related to gaming.

-Havard

Blackmoor MMRPG Season 4 Debut!

Season 4!

The first adventure episode of Blackmoor the MMRPG Season 4 has been released. This is part of Dave Arneson Day 2017 and is beeing released at The Comeback Inn. Season 4 was played at conventions back when Zeitgeist Games were still doing their d20 Blackmoor Line, but these episodes never made it to release on their website.

Get the Episode Here.

-Havard

Dave Arneson Game Day 2017 is Today!

"Ribbit!"

Today is a great day for gaming! On October 1st 1947, Dave Arneson, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons was born. Do we need more excuses to get together with friends and roll some dice? Dave Arneson loved gaming all his life. He was the one who first combined the roleplaying techniques he had learned from his friend Dave Wesely with a fantasy environment. Dave also developed the dungeon exploration model and allowed his players to create characters who would advance in abilities as the campaign went along. In 1972 he went down to visit Gary Gygax because Dave wanted to show Gary the game he called Blackmoor. The two of them set down to create Dungeons & Dragons!

Last year was an incredible year for Dave Arneson Day. This year we also have many things in store for you. Many people are reporting that they will be running games today. Others are posting blog articles or posting on the different forums where Blackmoor and Dave Arneson are being discussed. There is a Renessance Fair happening not to far from Dave Arneson's home in Minnesota today and we hope they might make some announcement regarding the day. Over at the Comeback Inn, Season 4 of the MMRPG (Free D&D adventures!) is about to be released.

Get Your Updates here:

Havard's Blackmoor Blog

Dave Arneson Game Day 2017 Facebook Event

Comeback Inn Dave Arneson Game DayThread 

Piazza Dave Arneson Game Day Thread

-Havard

Preparing for Dave Arneson Game Day October 1st 2017

October 1st is Dave Arneson's birthday and like always it keeps sneaking up on us! We haven't forgotten about it though, and expect lots of Blackmoor, Dave Arneson and D&D related material to appear in the days leading up to this weekend!

Dave Arneson Game Day isn't just about the hard core Dave Arneson fans though. Everyone who loves D&D and Roleplaying can take part. Some people run games, others post articles or share projects they are working on etc.

If you want to take a look at what happened for Dave Arneson Game Day last year, then take a look at this thread from The Comeback Inn.

Look out for Dave Arneson Game Day related material at The Comeback Inn, The Piazza, this blog and other sites. If you have a site you want to link to Dave Arneson Day, let me know and we can add you to the list this time as well!

More on this in the coming days!

Dave Arneson Game Day 2017 Facebook Event

Comeback Inn Dave Arneson Game Day Announcement Thread 
Piazza Dave Arneson Game Day Thread


-Havard