d20 Blackmoor - Worth buying?

[DClingman]

By my understanding (and I'm sure Dustin will correct me if/where I'm wrong)...

The history of Blackmoor, as presented in this book and as intended by Dave Arneson from the beginning, has nothing whatsoever to do with Greyhawk. (Or Mystara, for that matter.) The decision to include Blackmoor in those settings was made by others at TSR, after Dave was long gone from the company.

In "official" Blackmoor canon--that is, anything presented in a Blackmoor book published by Zeitgeist and overseen and approved by Dave--no such thing ever happened. Blackmoor is part of its own setting, with no connection to any other.

That's pretty close Ari.

Blackmoor was arbitrarily dropped into Greyhawk and included into its timeline. The main reason for this is that it wasn't ever placed into a "world". I should say that the "world of Blackmoor" was never published. (YET!) Just because it hasn't been put into print doesn't mean it's not a known quantitiy.

Dave Arneson's Blackmoor, is a completely separate world, even though it does share some of the elements of its GH self. Blackmoor does continue on in Greyhawk to this day. It will continue to be reference in the Gazeteer and follow its own storyline in the Greyhawk universe. The events of both versions are mutually exclusive and have no bearing on the other.

Someone mentioned the size in another post and asked about the borders. We know all about them, it just hasn't had its day in the sun. Also consider that despite the size, an infinite number of possibilities exist both above and below. There is an infinite set of numbers just between 0 and 1, let alont 1 and infinity.

One final note, Blackmoor is not a museum piece. Sure it's got alot of history, but its a living, growing world full of suprises. You should see the boxes of note that Dave has about stuff I had never heard of. Its exciting to be a part of this process. I just hope people will keep the part about the world living, breathing and changing when they read through the book.

Dustin

 

[Piratecat]

While it looks like we're back on track, let's be clear about this: do not hijack this thread, please. This thread is about Blackmoor. It is not about Gamma World, or Bruce Baugh, or arguing between folks who may have disagreed in previous threads. From this point onwards, I'd like this thread to stay focused. If you want to talk substantively about one of the other subjects, then please start another thread on the topic.

Thank you.

 

[DClingman]

Here are a few of the planned future supplements to Blackmoor :

The Redwood Scar (adventure, 64 pages) November - An adventure through the Elven forest for characters of level 2-6.

The Wizards' Cabal -(supplement 128 pages) February - Includes expanded organizational structure for Arcane Warriors. More detail about the Magical Inquisition and its foundations. Expanded rules for magic. New Types of magic, etc. I will post up the tentative TOC at some point so you guys can see. This will be the full and probably almost final word on magic in Blackmoor.

Clock and Steam (supplement 128 pages) - Details rules regarding construction of clock and steam elements into Blackmoor. Care is taken to give strong detail to each aspect of the technology and its limitations. This book will be a crunch heavy book with a frosting of fluff to give these creations life.

Blackmoor Dungeon - Yes! This book will detail all levels of Blackmoor dungeon, including the ones that didn't fit into the original First Fantasy Campaign book!

Afridhi Splatbook - Detailing the culture and background of this insidious race of men. Covers and details military organization, specialized spellcasters and other classes. Maps to detail important areas. Discussion of current plans to continue invading Blackmoor.

Peshwah Splatbook - Detailing the nomadic life of the Blackmoorian Horse Lords. Expansion on each of the 12 major tribes of Peshwah.

Mount Obramdu - Just what do the dwarves have hiding in those big mountains? This supplement details dwarven mining culture.

Temple of the Frog and The City of the Gods will also appear in time.

Hope that gives you a brief idea of where we are going in the next year.

Dustin

 

[BOZ]

Temple of the Frog and The City of the Gods will also appear in time.

there, now maybe some of you can calm down.

 

[Wraith Form]

I'm waiting for GURPS Blackmoor.

GURPS? Huh. Wuss.

My money's on the HackMaster version.

 

[Melan]

there, now maybe some of you can calm down.

As soon as I am holding these two in my hands, yes.

 

[DClingman]

Hahah!

Everyone Embrace positivity!

Nisarg, clear the dark clouds dude, embrace positivity! Thanks for your input, we appreciate it! I am not sure where you were in the last two years that we were working on this book, but I can say had you popped your head in, you might have had some more input. The long time posters on the d20Blackmoor Yahoo Group, the Mystara listserver, and folks on our own forums made great contributions to the production of this book. The book is what it is. I think most people will enjoy it.

At this point, I can't really spend time trying to cast the time travel spell. I don't think we did anything wrong with the book. Some people irreversibly do think so. Again, Thanks for the input. I would rather continue to answer questions about what Dave Arneson's Blackmoor is at this point, rather than what it is not. Those of you who are working off conjecture can freely question me at length once you have actually read the book (Note: Read, not purchased).

Some people have asserted that there are trolls in this thread. I don't think that there are, just passionate people who like RPGs. Either way, I think that those with strong opinions have made themselves clear and don't need to futher reiterate.

Moving on, what other questions might I be able to answer regarding Dave Arneson's Blackmoor or our future plans for the line?

EDIT, I am in the ENWorld Chatroom Right now (5pm EST Friday), Feel free to drop by to chat.


Dustin

 

[Henry]

Piratecat warned people, people didn't listen: There WON'T be any more derailings of this Blackmoor thread. There WON'T be insulting other posters. Period. Anyone has a problem with that, e-mail me.

 

[DClingman]

For the record. I did not think that Sigil insulted anyone. I read his post. He was probably too stern with a few of his words, but I can certainly understand where he is coming from.

Dustin

 

[The Sigil]

Piratecat warned people, people didn't listen: There WON'T be any more derailings of this Blackmoor thread. There WON'T be insulting other posters. Period. Anyone has a problem with that, e-mail me.

Thanks, Henry. I have problems with neither your position expressed above nor the actions you took to keep things out of this thread that should not be here.

Slight hijack - Is the "Report Post" function disabled? I tried it before I exploded and was told via an onscreen message that it had been disabled. /hijack

Dustin - thanks for your little teasers in the IRC chat this afternoon... good to hear that the Rogues Regents and Rascals *are* in the Zeitgeist vaults (even if they're not all in the Blackmoor HC) and will be making their d20 debuts in the various and sundry Blackmoor products in the future... you mentioned Skandros the Strangler will be in the upcoming Blackmoor Module - any other RRRs we can look forward to seeing there? Also, for those of us who don't want to/aren't able to purchase all the Blackmoor stuff, are there plans to at least make the RRR's (not the whole products, obviously) available later on as a web supplement or similar? Thanks! (See, told you I'd have some more questions given a little more time LOL.)

--The Sigil