The Infernax of Spells, Necromancy and Black Magic was published in 1978 by Attack International Wargaming Association. My friend Big Mac from The Piazza D&D Forum poited me to this obscure supplement to OD&D. Interestingly the cover states that this book was indeed approved by David L. Arneson. Furthermore, Dave Arneson fans will note that the book includes an introduction by Dave Arneson written in March 1978 and carrying the D&D Co-Creator's signature. 

 

The oldest published reference to the City of the Gods is in the First Fantasy Campaign. This adventure proved deadly to many of the player characters from Dave Arneson's campaign and was probably played out shortly after the publication of Dungeons & Dragons. Another group of players who realised the dangers of this fabled location were none other than Gary Gygax and Rob Kuntz, as chronicled by Rob Kuntz in Oerth Journal #6. It was clear at the time that Gary wanted to explore the idea of combining fantasy and science fiction. In 1980, TSR published the adventure Expedition to Barrier Peaks. Written by Gary Gygax, it was a different, but similar concept. It was the 1987 TSR module DA3 City of the Gods (Dave Arneson & David Ritchie) that would finally make the adventure available to D&D players worldwide. 

In 2008, Dave Arneson's company Zeitgeit Games decided to revisit the adventure. Written by Harley Stroh, the d20 version is not a mere rehash of the 1987 module, but explores other parts of the crashed spaceship that is at the heart of the adventure. It also expands the lands surrounding the City of the Gods greatly. To me this will remain one of the highlights of the d20 Blackmoor line. 

The back cover reads:

Deep in the heart of the harsh landscape of the Valley of the Ancients lies Blackmoors greatest mystery an accursed place the local desert tribes know only as the City of the Gods. One royal expedition to the site has already failed to return and now the heroes must traverse unforgiving wilds and dangers untold in search of truth and if they can survive the journey the glory of a lifetime. Whet your blades and ready your spells heroes for the greatest of trials awaits! Welcome to City of the Gods one of the most infamous and enduring mysteries in the long and storied history of Dave Arnesons Blackmoor. Designed for four to six characters of 9th to 10th level this epic adventure is sure to challenge even the bravest heroes be they peasants or nobles warriors or wizards. Will you succeed where so many others have failed or will you too fall victim to the unearthly perils that lie in wait in the forgotten City of the Gods?

Title: City of the Gods

Author: Harley Stroh 

Executive Producers: Dave Arneson & Dustin Clingman

Editor: C.A. Suleiman

ISBN: N/A

Pages: 108

Publishers: Zeitgeist Games & Code Monkey Press (2008)

Purchase a copy at DrivethruRPG (currently for 3$) - This blog does not use affiliate links.

Do you have a copy of this adventure? Have you adventured near the City of the Gods?

Read more about City of the Gods at The Comeback Inn,

-Havard

 

Interview with C.A. Suleiman 

June 17, 2024 

By Havard

Readers may know or recall C.A. Suleiman as the developer Dave Arneson trusted to shepherd new material for Blackmoor, the first fantasy campaign, into the 3rd and 4th editions of D&D. He’s also the developer of the last tabletop project with which Dave Arneson was directly involved prior to his passing in 2009, a setting update for Blackmoor called Age of the Wolf. 

What was it like working with Dave Arneson?

 In some ways, it was the opportunity of a lifetime for a lifelong gamer like me. Dave’s creative mind is what drew me not just to roleplaying, but to really exploring the limits of my imagination. Getting to sort of channel a guy like that through your own work, which is what being his developer was like, is like taking a guided tour through the halls of another creator’s imagination. Beyond being a legendary figure, Dave was like a kindred spirit to me. I’ve been fortunate enough to work on a number of high-profile projects for some well known companies, but there is no substitute for having the father of the roleplaying game put his trust and endorsement in you when it came to developing material for him. Dave could have empowered any one of a number of worthy designers, and he chose to put his faith in me. Words fall for short for describing how that made me feel back then, and how it still makes me feel today. 

What is Age of the Wolf like and what can we expect from the new release? 

Well, maybe the most important aspect of the book is going to be its cost to fans: I’m pleased to be able to announce here, for the first time, that Age of the Wolf is going to be absolutely free to pick up, starting the first day of its release. Here in the U.S., the price tag is going to be $0.00. 

Wow. What prompted you to push for a no-cost price for the new book? 

A number of considerations, chief among them the desire to create an inclusive offering for people to celebrate on the 50th anniversary of the biggest RPG. Sadly, there aren’t a lot of releases or events dedicated to Dave and his legacy on the industry slate this year, and that means that whatever projects are in the offing, should really be given their due. Waiting 15 years to get the book seemed enough of a barrier. No sense complicating matters any further. 

How does Age of the Wolf differ from previous Blackmoor offerings? 

The biggest difference is that Age of the Wolf isn’t strictly a game book. It’s a world guide for a new a vision of Blackmoor and a creative tribute to the man who started it all. The book has no game mechanics for any specific edition or iteration of any game, but rather focuses on setting, mood, and hopefully doing justice to the legacy and memory of Dave Arneson. In that regard, it’s fair to say that Age of the Wolf is a book that’s intended to be enjoyed by all. 

    Apart from how it’s being rolled out, the biggest difference between Age of the Wolf and previous Blackmoor material is the timeline. The entire concept for the book is a big “What if?” — in this case, what if the Kingdom of Blackmoor fell and the land was put through centuries of turmoils and upheavals both magical and mundane? As a result, the political situation, most of the active characters, and even the underlying themes are all written to suit this specific vision. The classic Blackmoor setting is about a land united by a singular king and his attempts to bring ordered civilization to a dangerous part of the world. In Age of the Wolf, that king and his works are long gone, and the land he fought to unite is now being fought over by those who remain. 

Would it be difficult for those running classic Blackmoor campaigns to bring their characters into an Age of the Wolf campaign? 

Since the book advances the Blackmoor timeline 270 years, it’s fair to say that only characters who were young elves or dwarves in the classic setting (or otherwise trapped out of time, or the like; always a possibility in a Blackmoor story) would still be around come the new setting. 

Will Age of the Wolf cover the same geographic area as did previous Blackmoor offerings? 

While the timeline may be different in the new book, the geography is still more or less the same as it was in the classic setting. A lot has changed, but it has changed the face of the same North we know and love, not moved the setting to a different geographic region in the same world. This book is set for a 2024 Gen Con release. 

What will be available for Gen Con attendees? Will some of this material become available for fans who are not able to attend? 

As mentioned, the digital edition will be free to download starting the first day of Gen Con, and that offer will be good for everyone, whether they attend Gen Con or not, for as long as Ink Bat publishes the book. Those who attend Ink Bat’s ticketed events will also receive a limited edition print copy, as well as a free high-quality metal miniature courtesy of Paizo Publishing, but Ink  Bat has no plans to distribute a print edition of the book through general distribution thereafter. This project is primarily about seeing the last tabletop book Dave was involved with finally released to the fans, and in the process, celebrating the 50th anniversary of his greatest work. Many Blackmoor fans have been waiting 15 years for this book to be published and are excited that it is finally coming to fruition. 

Besides the shift to new rules, have other changes been made to the original product? 

Originally, I intended Age of the Wolf to be compatible with 4e, since that was the new hotness at the time and since Dave’s approach had been to release Blackmoor support right on the heels of the release of new rules, as we’d done with 3e and 3.5e. After 50 years, though, there are a lot of fans enjoying Blackmoor through a number of different rulesets, so I decided a more system-neutral book, a world and tonal guide, was the most accessible approach for the whole community. Dave’s genius wasn’t rooted in any one rules design, and his genius is for everyone. 

You have worked in the RPG industry for decades. What are some products that you are especially proud of outside of Blackmoor? 

I’m grateful for both the opportunities I’ve been given in my career and for the way most of those projects turned out. I’m especially proud to have created Hamunaptra, the first expressly ancient Egyptian setting for the great game, but the other books I’ve written for D&D stand out, as well, including Heroes of Horror and Cityscape, both of which continue to have their fan followings long after the edition of the game for which they were written wrapped. I’m also proud of the work I’ve done for the World of Darkness, especially Mummy: The Curse, which I created, and Vampire: The Requiem, which I wrote with my friend Ari Marmell, and which remains the biggest-selling RPG White Wolf ever published. 

Is Ink Bat working with WotC or the Arneson estate for this product, or is it a completely independent launch? 

Ink Bat approached Wizards of the Coast about its plans for the book, and WotC proved just as excited to see Age of the Wolf finally released to the community as the fans seem to be, so they gave their blessing for publication to proceed. And of course, the project predates the Arneson estate, so neither the estate nor WotC were involved in the creation of the content of the book. 

Can we expect more Age of the Wolf content in the future? What other projects are in the works from Ink Bat?

 To my knowledge, there are no current plans to produce support specifically for Age of the Wolf beyond this one book, though of course we all hope the book will live on at the tables and in the stories of Dave’s fans. Ink Bat is just getting started, though. Look for a teaser for their next big project at Gen Con in August.

More discussion of this topic at The Comeback Inn

-Havard

Looks like 2024 and the 50th Anniversary of D&D will have a lot of great things in store for fans of the creations of Dave Arneson. Loyal followers of this blog will be familiar with the Age of the Wolf which was supposed to be released just before Dave Arneson passed away. Now it seems like the original designers of that book have joined up with Studio Ink Bat to make sure the fans finally get to see what this was all about. 

INK BAT TO PUBLISH D&D CO-CREATOR DAVE ARNESON’S FINAL RPG PROJECT

STUDIO TO RELEASE THE LONG-AWAITED NEW EDITION OF BLACKMOOR, THE FIRST FANTASY CAMPAIGN SETTING

WASHINGTON, DC (03/12/24): Studio Ink Bat announced today that it will release the final tabletop roleplaying game sourcebook directly overseen by the late Dave Arneson, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons and the creator of Blackmoor, the fantasy setting in which the game was first incubated. Entitled Blackmoor: Age of the Wolf, the book is a fiction of ideas, taking the classic setting’s timeline and sending it centuries into the future.

The announcement was made by Denise Robinson, Art Director for Studio Ink Bat. “I had the chance to meet Dave Arneson,” said Robinson. “And as so many others did, I liked him immediately. When the opportunity arose to help release the last RPG project created by Dave’s own team, I knew we had to jump. The content is fantastic, too. If you aren’t a Blackmoor fan, yet, Age of the Wolf is sure to make a believer out of you.”

“After a fifteen-year wait, I could not be happier to see this project finally come to fruition,” added C.A. Suleiman, developer of Dave Arneson’s tabletop projects at the time of his passing in 2009. “With the 50th anniversary of D&D; the 20th anniversary of the launch of an independent Blackmoor line overseen by Dave, himself; and the 15th anniversary of the legend’s passing, the timing could scarcely be any more appropriate than it is right now.”

Back in 2009, the project was nearly complete and ready to be sent to the printer when Dave Arneson passed away suddenly. After that tragic turn of events, it didn’t seem right to release the book as planned originally, and so the project went into indefinite hibernation. “With the big anniversary year upon us,” Robinson concluded, “We feel the time is right to finally get this book into the hands of fans.”

Blackmoor: Age of the Wolf is scheduled for release this August, 2024. As a supplemental edition for the setting, the book will be released system-neutral,  allowing players of any edition or expression of the world’s greatest roleplaying game to make immediate use of it.

About Studio Ink Bat

Ink Bat is a content development studio dedicated to the art of making excellent games. Blackmoor: Age of the Wolf is Ink Bat’s first major release, but will surely not be its last. Ink Bat can be found online at http://ink-bat.com

About Dave Arneson

Dave Arneson is the late co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons. He is regarded the creator of the roleplaying game and innovator of the ‘dungeon adventure’ concept in tabletop gaming. Blackmoor is his original fantasy setting and the environment in which he and Gary Gygax incubated their legendary game. He passed away in 2009, but his profound legacy endures.

Are you excited about this news? What do you think this book will contain? 

More details at the Comeback Inn

Ink Bat Studios Press Release

-Havard

Last week, Ben Riggs, author of Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons, posted an article on his blog about Dave Arneson revealing a letter that Dave Arneson sent to Peter Adkison on April 11 1997.

Adkison was at the time CEO of Wizards of the Coast, the company that had just acquired TSR and with it the game Dungeons & Dragons. Adkison did not respond to the letter and Dave wrote a second letter later that month that Riggs plans on revealing at a later point. 

What I find most interesting about all this is what it tells us about Dave Arneson at this point in his life. Dave was 49 at the time. 6 years earlier he had published his last module, The Case of the Pacific Clipper, published by Flying Buffalo Games. Riggs describes Dave's career as being left a  a minor figure in the industry after having been vital to creating D&D suggesting this and perhaps the style of the letter as a possible explanation why Adkison never responded. 

However, we also know that this was not the end of Dave's involvement. After reaching a settlement with WotC, Dave was invited to be an advisor on the D&D movie (2000) and wrote tie in articles for the WotC website before eventually co-founding Zeitgeist Games in 2003). This was the company that would return Blackmoor to published form until Dave's passing in 2009. 

What are your thoughts about the letter and the notion that Dave wanted to run TSR in 1997?

Discuss this topic at The Comeback Inn.

-Havard

Brent Chumley recently posted on Facebook about this wonderful map on Facebook. Chumley created this Blackmoor map based on Dave Arneson's maps for the Zeitgeist Games iteration of Blackmoor. The map was released in poster format with the Softcover Blackmoor Campaign Sourcebook from 2004. The big news now is that Chumley is in possession copy of this very map that he made that was signed by Dave Arneson. And he may be convinced to sell it off at the Gary Con auction. 

Here's what Chumley had to say about the map:

"As the Artist that created the Dave Arneson Blackmoor map for Zeitgeist Games back in 2005, I have the ONE AND ONLY copy of this map SIGNED by DAVE ARNESON himself for sale!!!! I am attaching photos of it along with pics of his signature and my cartography credit. I am interested to see if anyone is interested in this piece of history as it is the only one in existence!!! I WILL have this map with me at GaryCon. There is a room dedicated to Dave at GaryCon with a miniaturized version of this map that sits on the table just inside the entrance to the room. I am the artist that created this map and may try to put it in the Auction if there is interest. Direct Message me at the show or before for details if interested. Luke Gygax"

 Wizards of the Coast keep sending me these surveys and I am not sure if there is much point to me answering any of them since, even though I play 5th Edition (I play and enjoy all editions of D&D), I don't think they particularly care about my answers. 

Many of the questions this time around were, not surprisingly related to the Covid-19 situation and to virtual platforms/tools for gaming. However, I was surprised to see two questions related to famous D&D Game designers and see Dave Arneson's name listed as one of the possible answers!

The first questions was about what Game Designers you recognize and the second one was about what names would make you more likely to buy a product. 

Could this mean WotC are considering returning to Dave Arneson's Blackmoor? 

Wishful thinking for sure, but I made sure to click on Dave's name. 

The other names were a combination of current WotC designers and former WotC and TSR era designers. There were several names missing from the list than I would have liked to see on there, but I did like seeing Margaret Weis, Tracy Hickman, Jeff Grubb and David Zeb Cook on the list. Again, it would be cool if this could mean something for Dragonlance, Spelljammer or even Taladas. 

Anyway, I am probably putting too much thought into this, but since I took the time completing the survey, I do think I should be getting something out of this! :D

Take the survey here (vote for Dave!)

-Havard 

We are already on the 3rd day of Blackmoor Week. As we swiftly approach Dave Arneson Game Day on October 1st, its time to share a bit more of the exciting news we are preparing for you in the days ahead:

The Noble House of Zvenzen

First of all, on October 1st, we will be releasing a brand new Blackmoor PDF book in Greg Svenson's series about the Newgate mini-setting. This will be the fourth book in the series about the lands controlled by Greg's character in Dave Arneson's original campaign, the epic Paladin-like hero known to most as The Great Svenny. I have had the honor of working with Greg on this series of books and have taken it upon myself to work as an editor.

Book 4 in the series is titled The Noble House of Zvenzen and gives us a more detailed look at this noble family itself. The book is set in Dave Arneson's Blackmoor around the time of the TSR Blackmoor modules and the D20 Blackmoor Books by Zeitgeist Games. In addition, you will find a large number of trivia and historical tidbits about Dave Arneson's Campaign. Also you will find NPCs, Magic Items, Maps, Stores and More!  Even more exciting is the fact that this book will include material by Dave Arneson himself!

If you don't have the previous books in the series, go to the Comeback Inn and download them today!

The bad news is that you will have to wait untill October 1st to get the book. The good news is that it will be available as a free PDF, just like everything else we are sharing with you!

More Blackmoor Week Goodness

Two days ago Cecilia D'Anastasio  published an article called Dungeons & Deceptions: The First D&D Players Push Back On The Legend Of Gary Gygax at a website called Kotaku. While I found the article to be well researched and making some very interesting points, some of Gary's family members and fans have reacted strongly against the article while others feel like this is stirring up old bygones that should have been left alone. Others again point to the fact that D'Anastasio wrote an article on Gary's Widow Gail Gygax earlier this year which many saw as rather one-sided.

Gary Gygax passed away in 2008 at 69 and Dave Arneson passed in 2009 at 61. While the two had a falling out early in their careers, both men apparently moved on long before they died. Is the "who did more, Dave or Gary" discussion really worth dragging up or is it just something D&D fans who love drama use to entertain themselves while getting in pointless fights over it on forums and social media platforms?

I have tended to stay away from this debate myself. Although my work has always focused on Blackmoor and Dave Arneson, I have always seen myself as a fan of both D&D creators. I have never had any interest in the drama beyond learning the basic facts of what happened.

The problem, however, is that by leaving this discussion alone, we risk forgetting half of the story. The story that is most often forgotten is the story about Dave Arneson and the Minnesota Gamers. The Kotaku article is correct in saying that some misconceptions about the history of the hobby are being perpetuated by books and articles that have been published on the subject over the years. Several documentaries are in the works and with only one notable exception, these appear to focus on the importance of Gary Gygax.

The topic that even the best works on D&D History get wrong is on the importance of Chainmail in the development of D&D. The Kotaku article correctly identifies how by describing Dave Arneson's Blackmoor campaign as simply a Chainmail Game, the real significance of Arneson's contributions to D&D are lost. I have talked about this problem back in 2016 on this blog.

I think the best part of the Kotaku article is where it describes Dave and Gary's contributions to the creation of D&D this way:

To be sure, there would be no Dungeons & Dragons without Gary Gygax. Chainmail is a clear influence for D&D’s famous combat rules, and Gygax’s particular tastes in literature and voracious reading habit helped populate D&D’s world with monsters, gods, and legendary beasts. Gygax saw the potential in Blackmoor, or the aspects of Chainmail it happened to bring out, and moved quickly and purposefully enough to put the idea into a publishable format. But what gets lost is that neither would there be D&D without Dave Arneson. And indeed, the things that D&D fans love the most about the game—the things that distinguish “role-playing” from “fantasy wargaming”—were Arneson’s vision.

By simply choosing to avoid these discussions, I think we risk overlooking the importance of powerful ideas and concepts that are still found at the core of the hobby today. Some of these ideas are the very things Dave passed onto the hobby, in part drawn from his friend David Wesely's Braunstein games and other ideas brought in by their fellow gamers in Minnesota.

More importantly to new generations of D&D fans, I think there is much more to learn from David Arneson and his friends. Because Arneson left TSR (or was forced to leave) so early, many of the ideas and concepts that Dave Arneson's Gaming Group experimented with in the late 60s and onwards never made it into D&D. Perhaps learning more about Dave Arneson and his friends and what they did in gaming can inspire young gamers today to take the hobby to new places in the future!

In the last decades I have been researching the story of Dave Arneson and his friends, not because I love to dig up dirt or because I want to hurt the legacy of Gary Gygax. I don't like hurting anyone's feelings. I have been doing this because I am interested in truth. There are many people out there telling Gary's story, so it is only fair that some are telling Dave's as well. Perhaps the Kotaku article could have been written in a more moderate fashion and avoided some characteristics, a few quotes and its provocative heading. But at least it is another voice telling Dave's story. Its not like our corner is that crowded.





-Havard

The two creators of Dungeons & Dragons

As mentioned the other day, it is difficult to talk about Dave Arneson without getting into his troubled relationship with Gary Gygax. This is the creative relationship that resulted in the creation of Dungeons & Dragons and the invention of the RPG hobby. But it is also a story of much grief and words and actions that both men would have been better without.

Early on in my gaming career I learned about Blackmoor. It was Blackmoor that made me curious about its creator, Dave Arneson, whom I only knew as the lesser known of the two D&D creators. The age of the Intenet opened up to new opportunities for learning about authors and game designers that I only knew from the covers of the books and games that my friends and I had so much fun with. With mailing lists and internet forums it  even became possible to interract with people like Frank Mentzer, Bruce Heard, Rob Kuntz, Colin McComb, Ed Greenwood, David Zeb Cook, Aaron Allston, Allen Varney and all the others. It was heaven for us fans.

The internet forums was where I first learned about the ugly side of fandom though. The lawsuits and falling out between Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax was not only the source of grief for those two men and their friends and associates. Long after Dave and Gary had seemingly put the conflict behind them, fans associated so strongly with their heroes that they continued the fight.

People arguing on the Internet

Gary Gygax has always had a huge following. Most of them are great people. But among them I also encountered quite a few people saying pretty nasty things about Dave Arneson. Claims that he had not really contributed to the creation of D&D at all. Blackmoor was just a variant of Chainmail. And what an evil man he had been to dare sue TSR and Gary. I didn't really know what to think about that at first. But these claims made me wonder. Could this really be true? Is the world really made up of good guys and bad guys like in the movies? Or could there be more than one side to the story? That was the beginning of a story that lead to this blog, a website and a forum. I have learned alot about the history of D&D since then.

So who is the good guy and who is the bad guy of the story? Ultimately I don't know. I never knew either Dave nor Gary. I never had a chance to speak to Gary. I met Dave once and corresponded briefly with him. But I cannot say I knew him. I think they were just two human beings who had some brilliant ideas and also made some mistakes in their lives, just like everybody else.

In 1974 both men agreed to put both names on the cover of Dungeons & Dragons. They were both willing to sign a contract that recognized both men as creators of the game. I am thankful to both men for the game they made and this is why I am a fan of both Dave and Gary. Fan theories, whether posted online or published in books is not going to change that.


 So thank you Gary. Thank you Dave. Your game brought alot of joy in my life.





-Havard

Young Dave Arneson. Picture released via the Great Kingdom Documentary

Before he went on to become Co-Designer of Dungeons & Dragons, Dave Arneson was a kid just like everyone else. This picture surfaced earlier this year via the now frozen Great Kingdom documentary project. Dave was born in Hennepin County, Minnesota on October 1st 1947. As a teenager in the 1960s he discovered board and war gaming with favorites such as Avalon Hill's Gettysburg.

Arneson Estate. Picture capture from the Great Kingdom Trailer.

In 1964 a gaming organization called the The Midwest Military Simulation Association (MMSA) was founded. Dave Arneson was a student at Park Sr High School in St Paul Minnesota at the time and joined the MMSA soon after it was founded. It was there that he met people such as Dave Wesely whose ideas would become incredibly influential on Dave's later views on gaming as well as many of the other original Blackmoor players.

It was the basement of his childhood home (seen in the picture above) that became the base of operations for the gaming events that would develop into the first fantasy roleplaying game. This is where one would find the bar counter that Dave used as what may have been the first DM's screen and the Ping Pong Table where much of the gaming took place.

Greg Svenson describes the basement as follows:

When you went down the stairs to the basement of Dave's house there were doors to the right and to the left. The right hand door went to the laundry room (where we met the first black pudding on the first dungeon dive). The door to the left led to the room where we did most of the gaming. When you walked in to the room the bar was to your immediate right and the ping pong table (a pretty ordinary one) was on the left, with a couch against the wall on the far left.

Who would have guessed that an ordinary Minnesota kid with a fascination for board games would help change the world?



Further discussion of this article


-Havard

Over at the Comeback Inn we have been discussing whether some of the characters in Blackmoor were based on Dave Arneson himself. Jim Holloway who illustrated the DA modules certainly seems to agree with us that King Uther was in fact a personification of Dave.

In the later d20 line his appearance was changed however:



-Havard

The Great Kingdom (Trailer) from The Great Kingdom on Vimeo.

Check out this trailer! The Great Kingdom is a documentary put together by Chris Haifley, James Sprattley and Andrew Pascal depicting the origins of D&D and the early days of TSR. Jon Peterson (Playing at the World), Paul Stormberg (The Treasure Trove) and Michael Mornard are also among those involved.

One thing I liked about the trailer is the point made by Stormberg that the real tragedy of the history of TSR is that both Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax ended up on the outside and their creation, Dungeons & Dragons was left in the hands of others.

For those wanting to find out more, the Great Kingdom Facebook Page is a good place to stay updated on this project. I am certainly looking forward to seeing the completed film!





-Havard

Dave Wesely's Braunstein games were among the first to introduce roleplaying methods into the wargaming hobby. Dave Arneson and Dave Wesely belonged to the same group and Blackmoor is said to have started out as a Medieval Braunstein run by Arneson.

Dave Arneson had played in the original Braunstein Game, another Braunstein game (Brainstein 4) set in a Central American Republic (where he won). In yesterday's Q&A session, Jon Peterson revealed some more details on another Braunstein Game set in the Old West:

"Well, don't sell short Duane Jenkin's "Brownstone," the pre-D&D Western RPG were Arneson played the evil bandit "El Pauncho," and Dave Fant was the lawman "Marshall Fant." All of these activities informed the development of role-playing and the idea of simulating people."

In Blackmoor, Dave Wesely played the treacherous "Weasel", David Fant controlled Blackmoor and Duane Jenkins eventually became a Vampire Knight. I originally believed that Blackmoor was Dave Arneson's first medieval Braunstein. However, in his History of D&D in 12 Treasures Video, Peterson mentions several medieval Braunsteins run by Arneson. The first such game was run as early as 1970.

Dave Arneson Started Experimenting with a Medieval Braunstein as early as 1970 Jon Peterson says.

Peterson describes how this game dealt with a battle between one player controlling a defending Castle and two players controlling an invading army. In addition there are other players controlling rebellious peasants, a band of vikings looking for plunder and two mercenary bands.

Arneson's Medieval Braunstein featured invading forces attacking a Castle. Sounds familiar FFC readers?

Peasant Forces also took part in the battle.

Although Peterson makes it clear that this is a different game than Blackmoor, it is hard not to notice the Blackmoor-like elements. A Castle being invaded by attacking forces sounds like it comes straight out of the First Fantasy Campaign (FFC). The FFC also has peasant rebellions, of course. And Vikings, though they were later referred to as Skandaharians, as more layers of mythology were added to those. Summing up things, it would, in my opinion, be difficult to argue that the 1970 Medieval Braunstein was anything but a first step towards Blackmoor.

Its a bit difficult to read...does this one say Rescue Forces?

Image Source: Beowulf, by Marcgabbana



-Havard

2014 marks 40 years of Dungeons and Dragons. As pointed out by the author of Playing at the World, today could very well be considered the birthday of D&D. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson created a game that changed the world in more ways than we can grasp.

Most importantly, the game has given countless hours of joy to us all.


Happy Birthday Dungeons & Dragons!

Image Source


-Havard

OD&D Book V, is what used to be called OD&D Supplement II, now available with the new deluxe reprint version of Original Dungeons & Dragons releases, which includes seven booklets (the first three rules booklets and four supplements) and dice within an engraved and illustrated wooden storage case. This also means, we once again get to see a book with the Blackmoor logo and Dave Arneson's name on the covers.

Speaking of Covers, included above is the revised cover, which has this odd sort of not quite old school look to it. A new artist's impression of Blackmoor Castle however, can never be a bad thing! Here is WotC's Preview for Book V. 

WotC's preview page is also keen to note the fact that this book includes the first iteration of the Temple of the Frog. Temple of the Frog was also the first published D&D adventure ever, and it was revisited in several versions. The second version, DA2, is also available for sale through DndClassics. A third version was released for D&D3E by Zeitgeist Games. Finally, WotC also released a Return to the Temple of the Frog module which can be downloaded for free here. How much Froggie goodness do you want?

 It is interesting to read the high praise TSR gives Dave Arneson in the introduction to this book. There is no trace there of the ugly statements from TSR following the lawsuits after Arneson left the company. This book is clearly a leap back into the good old days of innocence!


See also:
More discussion of this news
Discussion of Supplement II






 -Havard

I can still remember my first encounter with the art of Larry Elmore. The 1983 D&D "Red Box" Basic Set. It was love at first sight. Although TSR had many amazing artists including great ones like Jeff Easley, Brom, Clyde Caldwell, Stephen Fabian and others, there were few who to such a degree defined the D&D experience as Larry Elmore. I am happy that Dave Arneson's company chose this artist for the D20 version of Blackmoor.

Happy birthday Larry Elmore!

-Havard

While there hasn't been much talk about it over at wizards.com, this year marks 30 years of gaming with the legendary Red Box Basic Set! The red box with the iconic Larry Elmore Dragon was first published in May 1983. This was also the edition that marked the international launch of D&D, turning the game into a worldwide hobby with the box being translated to 44 different languages. With tens of millions of copies sold, the Red Box basic set marked what undoubtedly the best selling product throughout the history of TSR.



Written by Frank Mentzer (credited as editor, as policy was back then), this was the edition that included the legendary intro adventure featuring the tragic death of Aleena the Cleric at the hands of the evil Wizard Bargle. The Red Box was the first in a line of five boxes which would take characters from 1st level to 36th and beyond that into further adventures as Immortals.  Known later by hard core fans as the BECMI edition (Basic - Expert - Companion - Master - Immortals), this edition took the classic line of D&D (as opposed to the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons line) to its full potential. The first two boxed sets, Basic and Expert, built heavily on the works of Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson, John Eric Holmes, Tom Moldvay and David Cook. From the Companion Rules and onwards, the series began to explore unknown territory allowing not only the traditional exploration of dungeons and wilderness, but also having your characters become rulers of kingdoms, control armies, explore the Outer Planes and eventually become god-like beings of legend.




Sometimes mistakenly  believed to be a "kids version" of  the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, the BECMI series in fact created an elegant balance between a ruleset that was easy to get into with the Red Box, but with an increasing complexity to rival that of AD&D as you progressed through the series. The series also offered a return to the Known World, previously introduced in the Moldvay/Cook B/X ruleset of 1981, which would eventually develop into the World of Mystara. BECMI would also later become the rule framework that would allow Blackmoor's return with the DA modules (Dave Arneson Series).

With the vast number of gamers introduced to the hobby of Roleplaying Games through the Red Box, 1983 was clearly a significant year in the history of gaming. Time to celebrate!



-Havard

Arneson Gameday has been changed to October 1st, Dave's date of birth, rather than his day of passing which was today 4 years ago. I still think it feels right to post a picture of him today. Also, it provides me with the opportunity of sharing this little used picture of Dave from 1979. He is holding up the painting that was used as the cover art for Adventures in Fantasy, the fantasy Roleplaying Game he wrote with Richard Snider that was published by Dave's own company.



Img source: http://www.twincities.com/ci_12112297 (Pioneer Press Photo)


-Havard

I just noticed via the Akratic Wizardry Blog that the Fight On! magazine is approaching its final issue. Fight On! Fight On holds a special place for me, not the least because of the 2nd issue being dedicated to Dave Arneson. It included the last known interview with Dave and also contained Robert Lionheart's report from his game with Dave at Gen Con as well as Greg Svenson's essay on the First Dungeon Adventure.
 

Fight On! #2 dedicated to Dave Arneson

Later issues also contained high quality material relevant for Blackmoor fans such as Rob S. Conely's Wilderlands Map expansion (#3), Dan Bogg's article on Champions of ZED (#13) and much more. You can read more about Fight On! at their website here.

Hopefully the end of the magazine will not be the end of the fight! :)



-Havard