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Post by simrion on Apr 26, 2023 4:39:29 GMT -5
Any idea what the parenthesis stand for after each castle description?
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Apr 26, 2023 16:32:40 GMT -5
Any idea what the parenthesis stand for after each castle description? No, I will have to check, but IIRC, that is one of the unexplained things.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Apr 26, 2023 16:38:19 GMT -5
Yeah, that is not explained. I remember thinking the number in () would be the number of structures for each, not counting the ditch, but if that were it the first one would be a (3) instead of a (2).
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Apr 28, 2023 1:48:13 GMT -5
In the campaign map notes he lays out how he reserved a small area out of the center of the Great Kingdom Map of IFW's Castle & Crusade Society and notes that group is now extinct. It is interesting that Blackmoor and the surrounds where based on some old Dutch Maps. Much was derived from those maps including the scale that was used. After the players were exiled from Blackmoor and moved for a time to Lake Gloomy,they used the Outdoor Survival Board map. He talks about some of the happenings and one area now covered with a deadly yellow mist and no one knows what happened. A terrain Key to the Campaign Map was also provided.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Apr 28, 2023 1:50:00 GMT -5
The above is a ship versus fort encounter that shows the ship getting the upper hand. Note the wizard throwing a lightening bolt.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on Apr 28, 2023 1:58:47 GMT -5
Blackmoor's More Infamous Characters.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:25:02 GMT -5
Here is where we find out there where sheets (yeah plural) handed out to the players that told them of horrors lurking in their backyards. Also giving them the details of the initial garrison placed in Blackmoor. So above we have two Barons, a Captain, an Earl, Swenson's Freehold, Merchants, Bandits, an Inspector General, Wizard of the Wood, a sizable group Dwarves and of Elves and of peasants.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:26:13 GMT -5
Then referring to the Table of Contents below he gives a disclaimer, pay special attention to that before you continue. Now with the Table of Contents he lists but a few of the personages that will be described in the following pages. The ones listed are these with some additional information Egg of Coot Ran of Ah Fooh Gin of Salik Marfeldt the Barbarian Duke of the Peaks Final Notes Then he lets us know this is a secret list!! It supersedes another list that was burned before being sent out, to avoid panic. These are guidelines for setting up these horrible characters. And you can put the blame on him.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:27:17 GMT -5
I find this very funny, one is that he is giving handouts to his players and I have heard repeatedly over the years that most players do not like handouts and do not read them. Now if I am given handouts, I read them, practically by reflex. For me (YMMV), for me, I cannot imagine not reading handouts, but apparently in that regard I am an odd duck. Now I have generally avoided giving players handouts over the years. The second reason I find it funny is his sense of humor, because it is very much like mine.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:27:59 GMT -5
A local place of interest in Blackmoor.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:29:41 GMT -5
Some infamous characters in Blackmoor and some that are perhaps more famous than infamous, of course it depends on who you ask. I wish that I could reprint the entire thing, this is one of the most fascinating villains in all of fiction.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:30:14 GMT -5
Are you crafty enough to play the Egg of Coot and Ran of Ah Fooh off against each other?
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:31:00 GMT -5
This one also has a long section full of information. This one may be the worst of the bunch, even worse than the first two.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:31:23 GMT -5
This one also has a lengthy description in the "short" biography.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:32:23 GMT -5
Have you noticed a trend of these villains switching sides a lot? One of the reasons they are villains.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:33:04 GMT -5
Further reports indicate that he took up the challenge of being a good guy! (The Great Blue Sword and the Great Blue Armor)
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:34:20 GMT -5
I think there is a typo, I think that Gentle Hobbits is what was meant, but I could be wrong. Mello what a great name for a half-hobbit. He roamed with the Blue Rider, apparently this was after The Blue Rider took up the challenge of being a good guy. That is Mello's house floor plan shown above.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:36:44 GMT -5
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:37:31 GMT -5
First up, the Great Svenny! Greg Svenson, aka "The Great Svenny" Original Blackmoor Participant
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:42:05 GMT -5
Greg Svenson, aka "The Great Svenny" Original Blackmoor Participant The First Dungeon Adventure (Yes, the very first!) (including a balrog that could turn invisible) Orcs Bane The Great Svenny killed 108 orcs in this battle. THE GREAT SVENNY LORD CHAMPION Author unknown (written c. The 3rd Age) This was written by Dave Arneson and Greg Svenson published it with Dave's permission.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:43:21 GMT -5
The Blue Rider (How The Blue Rider got his name and other stories from the original Blackmoor game) this link loads very slow and the page is very dark and hard to read (black on black), but if you select all and highlight the print it is easier to read. The Blue Rider story is several posts down from the top.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:45:21 GMT -5
The Battle of Loch Gloomin (part of a thread in the Wayfarer's Inn forum and may take a while to load) Did you catch that? 200 orcs in one battle!
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:46:27 GMT -5
The nuances in this description and what is easily read between the lines is a hoot.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:47:48 GMT -5
We all need characters like this running around in our game that are just plain mysterious.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:50:11 GMT -5
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:50:49 GMT -5
Have you ever written up anything like for any part of your game world?
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:51:17 GMT -5
If you have written something up, did you include monsters are part of the official population? It almost sounds like you might find the Trolls and the Werewolves running businesses in Blackmoor, but that is an Illusion, I wonder if this was intentional.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:52:55 GMT -5
Look at the detail we are provided from back at the beginning, when even now, historically (gamewise that is) there are very few highly detailed examples.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:53:33 GMT -5
Other resources, unnamed, which are undeveloped and he explains why they are undeveloped. How deeply do you think about or develop your world.
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Post by The Perilous Dreamer on May 1, 2023 17:56:59 GMT -5
The ruling class and the merchant class. It is a real shame that this write-up was not done from the very beginning for as he said at the beginning of this volume the first two scenarios were lost. To be able to see what was added when and in what order. But we do have this and other people did build detailed worlds, but Arneson did it first, well not entirely, there is MAR Barker and Tolkien, but if not for Arneson would we have ever seen Tekumel as a game world? and it did become a novel later. And Middle Earth was in the form of novels and not a game world. Is there some other fork of existence where Arneson would have written novels instead?
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