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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 1749607" data-attributes="member: 2013">Nisarg, I hear you.  I recently acquired a copy of First Fantasy Campaign.  I cut my teeth on DA1, Adventures in Blackmoor (my very first module, BTW).  I have copies of DA1-DA4, and have read the Blackmoor Gazetteer (google it online).  I have read them all many, many times over - DA1 still stands out to me as the "perfect" adventure module - 48 pages, of which 20 were setting, 15 were NPCs and their motivations, and 13 or so was "dungeon" (well, inn, but set up much like a dungeon).  I have loved Blackmoor and been voraciously devouring every scrap of information I could find for 20-odd years.  As I said, I have always seen DA1 to be the epitome of RPG setting product.I just received the new hardcover in the mail two days ago.  I'm still reading through it.Right now, my only complaint is, "not enough Rogues, Regents, and Rascals" - I want MORE stories about them and their exploits.  But thus far, the rest of the book... I've liked.I will post a (very) thorough review, including (I hope) cross-referencing DA1-4 and the FFC to show how it all fits together, once I have time to digest it (no sooner than next week, to be sure).  I will refrain from posting more on it until I can give it that thorough treatment - I'm not a Blackmoor scholar like some, but I know the setting pretty doggone well (and in fact, Dave Arneson actually picked off a copy of DA3 from me in an e-bay auction long ago, though he probably doesn't remember it was me - I still remember seeing his name and address on that check), and I feel pretty connected to it, and I hope I can do a review that examines both its merits as a "d20 product" AND as a "Blackmoor" product.Also, consider that, as mentioned above, 240 pages just isn't enough to put in everything.  You simply can't fit the Peshwa, the Afridhi, the Duchy of Ten, the City of the Gods, the Temple of the Frog, the High Hak, the Duchy of the Peaks, Castle Blackmoor, and all the other things in there and do them ALL justice.  You have to take the time to examine each in turn.  I see this as more like the FR Campaign Setting book versus the "Unapproachable East" and "Lords of Darkness" and goodness know how many other "area-specific" supplements are out there now... Blackmoor is like the FR Campaign Setting - it has to give you the grand overview; it might "zoom in" on a few details, but there's simply not enough room to "zoom" on everything.Besides, IIRC, laser swords et al were rather downplayed in most of the published material; IIRC, the only "technology" from the City of the Gods extant in DA1 was an Amulet of Proof vs. Telepathy and ESP worn by the Fetch, and if they hadn't mentioned he got it on a mission into the City of the Gods, it would barely have been worth mentioning.  Heck, DA3 (very minor spoilers, safe to read unless you're a PC about to run the DA3 City of the Gods module, and even then doesn't give away much that isn't given away in the first ten minutes of play) [spoiler]has the PCs going into the City of the Gods to get some of their "new magic" precisely BECAUSE nobody outside the Froggies and the City of the Gods' residents has technology in any quantity whatsoever beyond the Fetch's one item and thus[/spoiler] makes it clear that the City of the Gods "keeps to itself" for the most part; nobody goes near them, they don't come out to mingle with others.  When you consider that the d20 Hardback is supposed to take place at least 30 years BEFORE DA3 - and conceivably before the Fetch went on his mission, it's pretty easy to theorize that "hi-tech" stuff really doesn't exist - and doesn't matter - outside of the boundaries of City of the Gods itself.  A little perspective, eh? <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />--The Sigil</blockquote>

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