D&D General 50th Anniversary of Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor campign

[darjr]

The willingness of folks to be dogmatic astounds me. Also from Greg.

Greg: You are welcome; hopefully I will be able to answer your questions. Nobody is really sure when we started playing Blackmoor. My recollection was that we played the first adventure over the Christmas holidays during the winter of 1970-1971; but, I am not really sure. The first documented Blackmoor game was on May 21, 1971. Dave Arneson found that in an old “Corner of the Table” newsletter article a few months ago. The “Corner of the Table” was Dave’s newsletter for our Napoleonics campaign. Dave recently came across a complete set of them.

from Q&A with Greg Svenson

so, hard in print documentation still fits the April 17 timeline. I admit it also may be wrong.

 

[aco175]

I just wonder if you have been telling the story of being the first for 40+ years, you believe it to be real. Same for the other person. So now, it may be hard to know the actual truth. One may have beta tested and is calling it the real thing, and likely thinking it was.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I just wonder if you have been telling the story of being the first for 40+ years, you believe it to be real. Same for the other person. So now, it may be hard to know the actual truth. One may have beta tested and is calling it the real thing, and likely thinking it was.

I'm not sure how much of a line there was between beta testing and just playing, given that, at the time, there was no prospect that the game would be turned into a professional product.

But yes, memory playing tricks decades later is likely a big component here, as is what everyone defines as "the beginning."

(It's very clear to me that D&D didn't exist before I played the first time at summer camp, no matter what the creators might say.)