4e Blackmoor? Forked Thread: Pray for Dave Arneson!

[havard]

I picked this up today at the local FLGS. I have not read the book yet but I have skimmed it several times. It has a Black soft bound cover with a 4e compatability logo on the front. It is a 260 page B&W book. It is layed out in a style similar to the 4e PHB. The start of each chapter is a 2 page spread with a column of text and the rest of the space devoted to a large picture just like most WotC 4e books.

Wow, its great that this book is out! Thanks for sharing these details TirionAnthion. Do you have any of the 3E Blackmoor material? How does this book compare to the 3E Blackmoor "core" book?

Which races and classes are included? Are Docrae included for instance, or have they been abandoned?

Havard

 

[TirionAnthion]

Wow, its great that this book is out! Thanks for sharing these details TirionAnthion. Do you have any of the 3E Blackmoor material? How does this book compare to the 3E Blackmoor "core" book?

Which races and classes are included? Are Docrae included for instance, or have they been abandoned?

Havard

I did not pick up any of the 3e Blackmoor books, so I cannot compare it to those. I have the old DA series of modules from the BECMI days. I always loved the setting when I was younger. Once I read a bit more of the book I will be better able to compare it to those.

As for races, the Docrae are the only new race, although the book discusses the various races from the PHB and how they fit into the setting. I glanced at the tiefling write up and found it interesting. They appear human (Thonian) but the younger generations have begun to show small horns and yellow eyes.

As for classes, the book has 6 new base classes:
Arcane Warrior - Arcane Defender - a kind of magical policeman
Elderkin - Divine Controller - communes with the spirits of the dead
Idolater - Spiritial Controller - sort of like a witch doctor
Mystic - Spiritual Defender - sage/warriors and precogs, stong monk vibe
Noble - Martial Leader - Bearers of royal blood that inspire others
Wokan - Primal Hybrid - guides, herbalists and mouthpieces of nature

Each class has a full 30 levels of powers and 4 to 5 paragon paths. The book also has some generic paragon paths not tied to specific classes. The book has around 37 new feats, several of these being channel divinity feats for the new gods in the book.

 

[Mark]

Welcome out of lurkerdom, TirionAnthion!

 

[Toll Carom]

I don't even play 4e but just seeing that cover made me tear up a little

Aww, thanks, Hunter. I felt the same. And it's strange, because we decided on the classic black with silver lettering long before Dave passed. But once he did, it only seemed all the more appropriate.

But yes, 4E Blackmoor is now out, and I couldn't be more proud. Just to answer a couple of the questions I've seen:

1) Pay no mind to what it says on the CMP online store (which is still in partial transition). We're beyond pre-order now (obviously, since it's in stores).
2) Of course we didn't ditch the Docrae! In fact, a friend is going to start running 4E Blackmoor for me, and in the game I'll be playing a Docrae Mystic.
3) Yes, you read that right: SIX entire 4E base classes, covering every core role and introducing a new power source.

Thanks for giving it a look, fellas. I know Dave would be thrilled to see it.

Best,
CAS

 

[Hunter In Darkness]

Aww, thanks, Hunter. I felt the same. And it's strange, because we decided on the classic black with silver lettering long before Dave passed. But once he did, it only seemed all the more appropriate.


CAS

Your welcome . 4E is not a system I enjoy but many do . So I want to thank you for giving them blackmoor to enjoy. Dave Arneson never got the credit Gary Gygax did, but he will always have my thanks.

 

[havard]

I did not pick up any of the 3e Blackmoor books, so I cannot compare it to those.

That's okay. Your description of the chapters earlier on made it seem like this book is fairly close to the structure and contents of the 3E book which makes sense I guess

I have the old DA series of modules from the BECMI days. I always loved the setting when I was younger. Once I read a bit more of the book I will be better able to compare it to those.

Very cool. I am also a fan of BECMI and the DA modules. It seems to me like DA1 has been the most influental since it covers much of the basics of the setting.

As for races, the Docrae are the only new race, although the book discusses the various races from the PHB and how they fit into the setting. I glanced at the tiefling write up and found it interesting. They appear human (Thonian) but the younger generations have begun to show small horns and yellow eyes.

Good to see the Docrae being kept. I am still trying to make them more different from standard halflings, though I am wondering if the 4E book has done anything to push them even further towards being an independent race.

As for classes, the book has 6 new base classes:
Arcane Warrior - Arcane Defender - a kind of magical policeman
Elderkin - Divine Controller - communes with the spirits of the dead
Idolater - Spiritial Controller - sort of like a witch doctor
Mystic - Spiritual Defender - sage/warriors and precogs, stong monk vibe
Noble - Martial Leader - Bearers of royal blood that inspire others
Wokan - Primal Hybrid - guides, herbalists and mouthpieces of nature

Quite interesting. These all appeared in some form or other in various 3E products, though they might work even better under 4E. Arcane Warrior, Mystic and Wokan are all at some level tributes to BECMI btw.

Each class has a full 30 levels of powers and 4 to 5 paragon paths. The book also has some generic paragon paths not tied to specific classes. The book has around 37 new feats, several of these being channel divinity feats for the new gods in the book.

I am not really sold on 4E yet so my biggest worry is that these books are going to be all crunch and of little value to those of us who are mainly fans of Blackmoor, rather than a specific edition. I will ofcourse buy this book in any case though

Havard

 

[havard]

Aww, thanks, Hunter. I felt the same. And it's strange, because we decided on the classic black with silver lettering long before Dave passed. But once he did, it only seemed all the more appropriate.

I agree. The cover is awesome

It would be cool if you for later products would use some re-renderings of the covers from the FCC (the Fire Elemental) and Supplement II. Just an idea

But yes, 4E Blackmoor is now out, and I couldn't be more proud.

Very good. You need to get the word out though. There are plenty of people wanting to buy this book that dont know about it yet

Just to answer a couple of the questions I've seen:

1) Pay no mind to what it says on the CMP online store (which is still in partial transition). We're beyond pre-order now (obviously, since it's in stores).

Will this book be available through major internet retailers like amazon? That would make it easier to get it overseas. We are really looking forward to seeing the CMP forum get back though. The MMORPG forum is also fairly quiet.

2) Of course we didn't ditch the Docrae! In fact, a friend is going to start running 4E Blackmoor for me, and in the game I'll be playing a Docrae Mystic.

Cool. I guess they have come to stay

Thanks for sharing CAS!

Havard

 

[Jack99]

Looks like they ship to Europe. Before ordering this, could someone who has it tell me (us) how many pages the fluff chapters cover? (I believe that would be mostly chapter 3, 4 and 5, but please correct me if I am wrong).

Cheers

 

[Phaezen]

Does anyone have an ISBN for this please?

Your welcome . 4E is not a system I enjoy but many do . So I want to thank you for giving them blackmoor to enjoy. Dave Arneson never got the credit Gary Gygax did, but he will always have my thanks.

Also, just want give a huge thumbs up (and some xp) to Hunter, we need to see more of this on the forums

 

[TirionAnthion]

Looks like they ship to Europe. Before ordering this, could someone who has it tell me (us) how many pages the fluff chapters cover? (I believe that would be mostly chapter 3, 4 and 5, but please correct me if I am wrong).

Cheers

The character chapter that has the new races, classes, paragon paths and feats runs from pages 12 to 125. The Magic chapter runs from 126 to 145 with first ten pages being fluff and the last nine being crunch (items and artifacts). Chapters 3, 4 and 5 are all fluff and run from page 146 to page 207. Chapters 6 and 7 are crunch and run from pages 208 to 255. The book has an epilogue which is a little bit of fluff to finish the book at the end.

So out of 260 pages, roughly 169 pages of crunch and about 91 pages of fluff. A bit lighter on the fluff side, but for 4e fans, this book has a lot of crunchy goodness that can easily be plucked and used in any campaign. This book definately makes me want to break out DA1 and convert it to 4e as a fun hook to pull heroes into Blackmoor.