Okay, beofre I go down to my local store and order this, I need to know if this fits in w/ GH at all, or am I going to waste money and have to shoehorn it in w/ serious changes? Anyone know?
I own that book. It was a good read, I haven't got around to using any of it yet. I intend to run a campaign based on the north with Blackmoor, the LOBIce and Hyperboria. Bits of this will come in handy to developing local areas that the LGG doesn't cover. In fact I think Blackmoor as it is now in the LGG was patterned heavily off of Arneson's Blackmoor. Fred Wiening(?) The maps in Arneson's Blackmoor won't match up with the Darlene map at all. For example, the Duchy of 'Ten' is west of Blackmoor instead of east I think. The most useful parts however must be the stuff concerning the Egg of Coot. You will not find any sources on the Egg better than this book IMO.
Okay, beofre I go down to my local store and order this, I need to know if this fits in w/ GH at all, or am I going to waste money and have to shoehorn it in w/ serious changes? Anyone know?
Arneson's Blackmoor (The Goodman Games version), Greyhawk's Blackmoor, and Mystara's Blackmoor are all technically different, although Mystara's is the setting for the Blackmoor material Arneson published via TSR.
As has been suggested here though, there's little to nothing written about GH's Blackmoor, so this is as good a place as any to start looking for inspiration. _________________ What would Raxivort do?<br />
The specific geography doesn't fit in regards to Tehn/Ten, but the rest of the book is fantastic. Blackmoor has always been a looming mystery in my game; who hasn't heard of the City of the Gods or the Egg of Coot?
Pros:
-Classic Arneson material.
-Prestige classes that make sense in the Greyhawk setting.
-Detailed gazeteer of the Northlands.
Cons:
-The world needs to be shifted slightly, but essentially you are given a very detailed Northland. An entire campaign could take place here now (think of the detail offered by the City of Greyhawk box set).
-Monsters. Not as developed as I would have liked. This is the North. Give me terrible new threats!
-I still miss the days when you could buy the PHB for $15.00, and a module for $8.00 :)
Forest for the Trees:
I'm a fan. Take what you want, leave what you don't like, and revel in knowing that Arenson has been running this game for the last 30 years.
Links to their free downloads and product previews so you can decide for yourself:
Blackmoor Downloads Check out the Night in Maus short story serials to get a sense of the world.
My personal tastes have always cringed at "Expedition to the Barrier Peaks" and similar tech-theme adventures. (Even "The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror" features similar tech+fantasy weaves. Gah!)
And, according to Kuntz's journal, the original Greyhawk/Blackmoor games mixed tech and fantasy freely. (See "The Journey to the City of the Gods" download at Havard's site: http://www.geocities.com/havardfaa/downloads.html). Whether I like it or not, it seems Gygax spent a lot of time with scifi-tech in his world.
So when I picked up the Blackmoor book, I was a little worried that I would have to do "major shoehorning" to remove any scifi elements. THANKFULLY, this was not the case. I don't know if future releases will address these issues, but for now, my fantasy is simply that ... fantasy!
As has been noted, on its own merits, this is a pretty good book.
It also provides the greatest detail of any of the "Blackmoors" - Greyhawk Blackmoor, Mystara (DA Series) Blackmoor and Arneson Blackmoor (previously only available as the old Judges Guild, First Fantasy Campaign). There are then, count 'em, FOUR Blackmoors. All are related in that all are by some measure related to Dave Arneson's "vision" of Blackmoor.
To get to your question - Dave Arneson's Blackmoor (Goodman Games) is not a Greyhawk product. It has Greyhawkesque or "Greyhawkable" "links" but as DM you will have to forge those "links" into something meaningful. You will need to do a great deal of work if you want to make this a GH sourcebook - UNLESS -
You like time travel. DA's Blackmoor (Goodman Games) is a ready made "Blackmoor of old" that would need little modification to fit Greyhawk. This would actually "fit" with DA1 from the "Mystara Blackmoor."
If you are not using time travel, the book has little immediate utility, IMO.
However, Blackmoor in four versions is one of the richest "GH mines" out there for the enterprising DM. This is primarily why I bought the game. Like Mortellan, I am in the planning stages of a "Northern Campaign" in Blackmoor, Hyperborea and the LoBI. Frostburn got me excited about this idea and the ideas, they just keep on coming.
Personally, I liked the version presented in OJ 2 (?) a lot more.
My suggestion would be to buy the Blackmoor adventure from GG and do the Background with the free stuff...
Anyway, as Blackmoor 2004 was regarded one of the best d20 products of the year (maybe not in those hardcore polls, but of what people said in independent reviews), you may enjoy it anyway.
Another idea to continue a Blackmoor campaign would be to set Monte Cook's *The Banewarren* after the BM 2004 adventure, I believe...
After all, it's always the question what you personally want for your campaign.... But indeed, the OJ article IN NO. 5 was really brillant - made me kind of a Blackmoor enthusiast...
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Canonfire! is a production of the Thursday Group in assocation with GREYtalk and Canonfire! Enterprises
After all, it's always the question what you personally want for your campaign....