Happy 2025 - 50 Years of Published Blackmoor!

 

I hope everyone has had nice celebrations for the New Year and are ready for 2025 to begin. 50 years ago, TSR published the second supplement for D&D. This booklet bore the title Blackmoor and was written by D&D Co-Creator Dave Arneson, edited by Tim Kask and included additional material by Steve Marsh, Brian Blume and others. It was based on the campaign Dave Arneson and his friends had been running for many years prior. 

This will be as good a year as any to celebrate our favorite D&D campaign world! I hope the year will be a good one for all readers of this blog.

-Havard

Blackmoor on DMsGuild.com!

It has been all over the social media today: Supplement II Blackmoor for Original Edition Dungeons & Dragons (OD&D) has been made available for PDF sale on the DMsGuild.com website! Unlike the Greyhawk Supplement which appeared on the site yesterday, they have kept the original cover illustration for Supplement II rather than the revised art used in the 2013 reprint.

This is not the first Blackmoor PDF to be offered for sale from WotC though. DA2 Temple of the Frog has been out for quite a while. Now is the chance to get the original version of the Temple of the Frog it appeared in Supplement II back in 1975 though! You might need both of these modules if you hope to properly defeat D&D's first true Arch Villain, St. Stephen!

It would be nice if Blackmoor could be made to appear among the setting filters on the DMsGuild Website though. Even more frustrating is it that a search for "Blackmoor" does not give you DA2! I hope the fine folks at DMsGuild.com get both of those things sorted out as soon as possible.





-Havard

OD&D Book V: Blackmoor back in Print!

OD&D Book V, is what used to be called OD&D Supplement II, now available with the new deluxe reprint version of Original Dungeons & Dragons releases, which includes seven booklets (the first three rules booklets and four supplements) and dice within an engraved and illustrated wooden storage case. This also means, we once again get to see a book with the Blackmoor logo and Dave Arneson's name on the covers.

Speaking of Covers, included above is the revised cover, which has this odd sort of not quite old school look to it. A new artist's impression of Blackmoor Castle however, can never be a bad thing! Here is WotC's Preview for Book V. 

WotC's preview page is also keen to note the fact that this book includes the first iteration of the Temple of the Frog. Temple of the Frog was also the first published D&D adventure ever, and it was revisited in several versions. The second version, DA2, is also available for sale through DndClassics. A third version was released for D&D3E by Zeitgeist Games. Finally, WotC also released a Return to the Temple of the Frog module which can be downloaded for free here. How much Froggie goodness do you want?

 It is interesting to read the high praise TSR gives Dave Arneson in the introduction to this book. There is no trace there of the ugly statements from TSR following the lawsuits after Arneson left the company. This book is clearly a leap back into the good old days of innocence!


See also:
More discussion of this news
Discussion of Supplement II






 -Havard

Supplement II: Blackmoor on Save or Die Podcast

I was excited to learn that in the latest Save or Die Podcast they talk about Supplement II: Blackmoor! I was a bit surprised at how critical they are when they first approach the various sections of the booklet, though some of the criticism is fair and they do offer some good analsysis of the product. I do think they forget at times to compare this booklet to the standards of the time it was written although to be fair they do mention that at one point.


What I like about the SoD gang is that they have stated that they do not claim to be experts on gaming, but rather are honest about being average gamers talking about games. This causes me to forgive the mistakes in the podcast such as (Braunstein was created by Dave Wesely, Temple of the Frog was not written for Chainmail, Monks are in fact mentioned in the FFC etc). Although some additonal information about Blackmoor and Dave Arneson's work outside Supplement II would have improved the podcast, the group have at least read the Supplement and the FFC in advance and even make references to Jon Peterson's Playing The Game.

I was a bit worried early on because it sounded like they were going to make a big deal out of "who wrote what" in Supplement II, but although they do repeat that question several times, they thankfully avoid this done to death topic for the most part. I wonder if anyone could mention any other gaming product where the credited author has undergone as much scrutiny as Dave Arneson has had to suffer. I was relieved to learn that the podcasters at least distance themselves a bit from the most vehement attackers on Dave in this respect.

The biggest disservice in the podcast, I feel is the lack of appreciating for the Temple of the Frog adventure, which was the first published adventure for D&D ever, and arguably also contains the first setting material in any D&D product. The fact that it is structurally different from most adventures that followed it, still is a pretty awesome adventure. I am also a bit surprised at the rejection of the Monk and Assassin classes. Not that the classes do not have flaws in their excecution, but to me it seems like the podcasters disliked the concepts more than their actual class features. Given the success of the Assassin's Creed game series, you would at least think that the potential assassin class would be recognized?

Having said that, I did enjoy the SoD gang chatting about this historical roleplaying supplement. It is fun to listen to them talk about the various monsters, how the illustrations (although they do like them!) seem out of place, and the connection between Blackmoor and Mystara. One of my favorite bits is towards the end when the group apparently feel bad about how hashly they have judged the booklet, go on to express their respect for Dave Arneson.

If you, like me, enjoy listening to gamers talk about Blackmoor stuff, the podcast is worth listening to.



More discussion of this article



-Havard

Supplement II Blackmoor Coming Back in Print!

Its been all over the social media and forums today. I think the first place I noticed it was TAD's post on The Piazza where he writes that Wizards of the Coast will release a printed premium, deluxe edition of the Original D&D "White Box".

The price is a little steep, 150 USD, but based on the pictures it looks gorgeous. For Dave Arneson fans like myself it is also worth noting that the box includes Supplement II: Blackmoor! That is right. I only yesterday wrote about the DA2 Temple of the Frog returning as a PDF, but now you can get your hands on a real physical copy of the original Temple of the Frog as well!

Those who said Blackmoor was gone forever are sorely mistaken! :)



More discussion of this article.

-Havard

Sea Monsters of Blackmoor

As I mentioned in my blog article on Dinosaurs the other day, the First Fantasy Campaign reports of a great battle in Blackmoor Bay between sea vessels and sea monsters. In the same article, I also speculated that the aquatic dinosaurs from OD&D Supplement II. Let's take a closer look at these creatures:


Mososaurus:
These Gigantic marine lizards are over 40 ft long. They sometimes use their great bodies to overturn ships. Fortunately their main diet is other aquatic beasts.

Elasmosaurus:
This creature is about 14 m (46 ft) in length and weighed over 2,000 kg (2.2 tons), making it the second longest plesiosaur. It has a large body and four flippers for limbs. More than half of its length is its neck, which had more than 70 vertebrae, more than any other animal. It has a relatively small head with sharp teeth. According to Supplement II, it loves snatching crewmen from ships.

Plesiosaurus:
These huge serpents have short necks, but large heads. They will not hesitate to attack ships venturing into their territories.

These are but a few of the various aquatic monsters mentioned in Supplement II. It seems likely that these creatures have some times been encountered in the deep rivers of the swamps near Blackmoor and in the Black Sea. Some speculate that these monsters are being bred in the realm of the Egg. Perhaps the Egg also has some way of controlling the beasts. Fortunately not all denizens of the Black Sea are this hostile.




Image Sources
Elasmosaur
Plesiosaurus
Mosasaur




-Havard

Dungeons & Dinosaurs!

I have previously talked about how since in the 70s the line between the fantasy and science fiction genres was not so defined, Dave Arneson was able to include various sci fi elements into his fantasy game. It is odd however, that in the later decades Dinosaurs were to be considered more acceptable in the science fiction genre (through time travel or genetics for instance) than in the realm of fantasy. The best known example of Dinosaurs in D&D is probably X1 - the Isle of Dread (1980), by David Cook and Tom Moldvay. However, Dinosaurs appeared in D&D years before that legendary module was published. Although several people contributed to Supplement II, the Dinosaurs in that book are believed to be Arneson's work.

Three types of Dinosaurs were found in Supplement II: Elasomosaurus, Plesiosaurus and the Mosasaurus. All of these are aquatic creatures, which may have been useful for the naval battles Arneson enjoyed running. The FFC mentions a legendary battle in Blackmoor Bay between sea vessels and sea monsters, in which the sea monsters won! These sea monsters may in fact have been the Dinosaurs from Supplement II.

The DA series includes a few species of Dinosaur-like creatures such as Pteranodons, which are believed to have been spawned by the Egg of Coot. In the ZGG Blackmoor CS, the Egg of Coot is also said to spawn sea monsters such as the dreaded Naliseth, so perhaps the Egg is also responsible for the other great creatures roaming the lands of Blackmoor? Supplement II describes the Plesiosaurus as an endangered species, so perhaps the Egg is bringing ancient creatures back from extinction?

Pathfinder's Cave of Dinosaurs. Another nod to the good old days of gaming.

How common were Dinosaurs in Arneson's Blackmoor campaign? That is hard to say. It is easy to forget that the original Blackmoor campaign was mostly a regular D&D campaign, along with Gygax' and Kuntz' Greyhawk models for all D&D games to follow them. It is still interesting to take a look at the features that were not so often followed up on in later games. Dinosaurs being one of them.

And Dinosaurs did show up in Arneson's games from time to time, as Greg Svenson recalls:

The most recent adventure I played with Dave Arneson as DM included an encounter with a pair of T-Rexes.

Most Sea Going Dinosaurs are probably found in the North Sea, a few finding their way into the Black Sea, or even the Skandaharian Sea in the distant north. Land based dinosaurs like the Tyrannosauruses would have to be very rare. However they have been seen not far from Blackmoor itself:

I can recall battling T-Rex's several times in Blackmoor, including a recent encounter south of Kenville on an adventure a couple of years ago when I was playing as Svenny's son Sol.

Distant lands may hold more of these creatures, in particular if you link your Blackmoor campaign to the JG Wilderlands Setting. Even Svenson's experiences suggest that dangerous creatures lurk beyond the borders of Blackmoor:

They seems to be found more commonly on the south side of the Root River.

How common is unknown, but it seems likely that the Thonian Empire have their share of trouble with monsterous lizards roaming the countryside. That sounds like adventuring opportunities to me, which was probably Arneson's idea all along!




Image Source
Paizo's Dinosaur Cave
Tyrannousaur vs. Triceratops





-Havard

City of the Gods: Bringing the Mystery back

Fans of the so called Golden Age D&D from the 1970s and early 80s sometimes criticizes later era game material for suffering from a need to create too much coherence, explaining much more than is really neccessary in order to run a fun game. The downside of this is of course that it detracts from what is important and even takes away some of the mystery.

Now, this is not normally my view of things. I am very interested in early age D&D, but I am also a fan of many of the products that were made in later decades. When looking at the various versions of City of the Gods, I am beginning to think that they were right. The best source to Dave Arneson's original version of City of the Gods is Rob Kuntz' account from the game Dave ran for him and Gary Gygax. The FFC also has references to the City of the Gods, but is fairly vague on the details.

While the 1970s sources are clear on the fact that the City of the Gods is a source of technology, it is Ritchie and Arneson's DA3 which introduces the space ship and its crewmembers. Granted, Stephen Rocklin goes all the way back to Supplement II, but even there it is unclear to whether St. Stephen is from space, another dimension or what. The vagueness of the nature of the city makes it more mysterious, leaving room for each player and DM to figure things out for themselves.




Image Source

-Havard

Harpies

I've never really regarded the Harpy as a particularly Blackmoorian creature, but on Friday, A Paladin in Citadel made me remember the legendary harpy illustration from Supplement II. I wonder to what extent the monster selection from Supplement II should be an indication of which creatures are the most common in Blackmoor. Based on who wrote what in that supplement, perhaps not so much, but then again, the book does have the Blackmoor label on the cover and Dave didnt seem to mind having it associated with himself even in later years.



-Havard

Was Supplement II Arneson's work?

Well, certainly it was, but as it turns out only parts of what appeared in D&D Supplement II: Blackmoor was written by Dave Arneson himself. Over at the Dragonsfoot Forums , people have been investigating which parts of Supplement II were Arneson's. In a recent post, Aldarron sums it like this:

Arnesons material in Supp II;
Temple of the Frog, pretty much straight from Arneson, with light editing by Kask. Marsh's statement that Gygax converted it must be a misunderstanding, generalizing from the rest of Arnesons material (which was somewhat converted by Kask). My reason for saying this is that anyone who has read TotF will be struck by all the non standard FFC like approaches, mechanics and terminology used. There's nothing Gygaxian about it, not even the way stats or lack thereof are presented.

The Disease section was straight from Arneson with only light editing by Kask. (I asked him, see pages 138-40 of Q&A here on DF and a few pages earlier for monk topic). Arneson also wrote a similar article on diseases for the first Pegasus magazine.

The hit location was perhaps a little more closely edited but was also from Arneson.

The Assasin , including the assasination table, was "reimagined" from Arnesonian material to conform to "standard" Greyhawk D&D. (same Q&A with Tim Kask pages). Arneson, on his web page, mentions a backstabbing thief arising in Blackmoor - likely the progenetor of the Assasin, since the D&D thief came from another gaming group and was first written up by Gygax.

The rest of the material in Supp II came from other people.

Apparently, Arneson provided enough material for an entire supplement himself, but other people at TSR considered the rest of the material "unusable". One can only wonder what this submitted, but never published material might have been. Some have speculated that this remaining material was what made it to become the First Fantasy Campaign Supplement. If so, it is great that Arneson with the help of Bob Bledsaw of Judges Guild made the material available. It is interesting that TSR decided not to make more use of what Arneson submitted. It has been suggested that it had to do with the quality of the material, but I suspect it had as much to do with understanding Arneson's ideas, which at times were quite different from that of Gygax.





-Havard

Disease in Blackmoor

In the latest entry of the Dungeons and Digressions blog, ze bulette talks about disease in D&D. The article mentions Supplement II Blackmoor as a good resource for information about this phenomenon. Sure enough, on page 52 of Supplement II, the following diseases are detailed:

• Grippe
• Bubonic Plague
• Cholera
• Malaria
• Small Pox
• TB
• Typhoid Fever
• Typhus
• Yellow Fever
• Adv. Leprocy
• Crud
• Spottet Fever

I am not aware of whether disease was a common phenomenon of Blackmoor campaigns. So far I have not seen any accounts from the original players mentioning it, nor does it seem like a particularly heroic element to a story. Still, the rules can come in pretty handy as can be seen in the previously mentioned blog.

Of course, it would be wrong autmonatically linking something to Blackmoor because of its appearance in Supplement II. Beyond Temple of the Frog, many authors contributed to Supplement II. Editor Tim Kask wrote the following on Supplement II:

"TotF was the only part of BM that was Dave’s alone. In fact, if the whole of the book were analyzed, Dave wrote the TotF segment, and I wrote about 65 or 70% of the rest. Gary  [Gygax], Brian [Blume] and Rob [Kuntz], and Terry [Kuntz], too, contributed the rest. Some of the ideas might have been Dave’s, but the execution, expansion and explanation were ours."


 So where does that leave diseases in Blackmoor? I guess that's up to you! :)





-Havard