| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 10 Jun 2008 : 09:43:24
My antipathy towards the imposition of the Chaos Wastes Shadowfell on Ed's Forgotten Realms being well known, I would like to know if anyone has tried placing Dave Arneson's Blackmoor in the Realms, or made it accessible from the Realms? If you did, what rules system did you use for Blackmoor, and how did it turn out (compared to the rest of your realms campaign)? Given that Blackmoor is "native" to D&D, how well did Blackmoor and the Realms fit together?
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| 4 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 19 Jun 2008 : 02:41:19
One would presume from what Ed and Jeff Grub wrote in Forgotten Realms Adventures that firearms would be at the flintlock stage, at least, but Hasbro may want to hold back on gun technology until they can unleash their D&D MUD. Why, after all, deny potential suckers players the chance to use weapons that they can't find in World of Warcraft? I'm looking forward to the day when Drizzt hangs up Twinkle and Icingdeath to arm himself a couple of +5 Dragonbane Thundering six-shooters ("Which you, too, can buy for only 59.95 Game Dollars! Don't let some guy in China have a weapon which you don't have! Buy! Buy! Buy!").
Buy buy, indeed. AD&D is looking better and better every day....
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| Markustay |
Posted - 18 Jun 2008 : 17:30:25
Thanks for the compliment. 
I don't have Blackmoor tech in FR, and the connection to that forest is just in name-only (thus far). I believe the Blackmoor culture visited or originated from Mystara, if I remeber my OD&D lore correctly.
I had a VERY short-lived 'Wild West' game set in the Anchorome of 1489 DR, borrowing heavily from the Weird West/Deadlands rules, with a little Iron Kingdoms (Necrotite) magi-tech thrown in, and some Girl Genius/Steam-Punk flavor and League of Extraodinary Gentlemen/Gothic Earth atmosphere.
I suppose it was a little too ambitious in scope, or perhaps my players didn't care for my NPCs (Doc Hobbitday, Wyatt Elf, etc...), but the campaign only ran two sessions. 
And I hadn't even gotten to the use the stuff from Red Steel yet... 
Anyhow, not entirely on-topic, but I like my 'tech' to have a Victorian/H.G. Wells feel, with some magical undertones, similar to what was presented in the Computer game Arcanum - one of the BEST video-RPGs ever made (if a little light on eye-candy).
I also took some of my Train ideas (of course I had one! It was an 'old west' campaign, after all) from the novel Iron Dragon, which was based on the game of the same name; Nothing like the ol' Dwarven-run TSR (Transcontinental Service Railroad) 
After all the work I did flushing out the 'Future Anchorome', I am probably most greatly dissapointed in WotC's decision to NOT include any of the stuff Ed wrote for that region in the upcoming FRCG. As a fan of the setting, Rich baker himself has sited that as his big dissapoinment (with 4e FR) as well.
I wonder if any of Ed's 50,000 words actually made it into the FRCG, or if it was all saved for the DDi (knowing full well people would be wiling to pay for that, if nothing else).
I kinda wandered far afield here, but since I imagined some technological breakthroughs to become more prominent in the future Realms, I thought it was pertinent, in as much that it appears that the tech level of the Realms has actually taken a step backwards in 4e.
It went from a burgeoning 'Renaissance' era, to a full-fledged 'Medieval' period once again. Strange, because I would have expected quite the opposite to occur when 'magic died'. |
| Jamallo Kreen |
Posted - 15 Jun 2008 : 15:36:46
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
I have a region of boreal forest just above the Reghed Glacier in my campaign named Blackmoor, as a nod to the world of Greyhawk, but I've never actually used it in a game.
I believe every D&D world should havve a 'Blackmoor' somewhere. 
Sorry I couldn't be more help.
As an aside - I like the Shadowfel, but I hate the way everything bad in FR has to have some form of Shadowcrap or connections to Shar.
Markustay, you have done far more to "help" many of us than has Wizards of the Coast. 'Tis a pity that Candlekeep doesn't have awards and decorations to be pinned to the avatars of the truly helpful; if there were such thingamabobs, you would definitely be in the running because of your cartographic work.
As for everyone having a Blackmoor, well ... my own private game world (not a published setting) has a peculiar mixture of technology from 11th century-ish to 19th century-ish. Some tech isn't quite what it seems -- "railroads" are metal rails on paved roadways along which horse-drawn carriages and wagons with flanged wheels may travel; pig farms supply both pork and methane, which is burned to provide electric lighting; single-sheet printing presses are in widespread use, but there don't seem to be any firearms anywhere on the planet, and experiments with balloons -- you can guess what sorts of adventuring rabble are hired as crew! -- are invariably met with picket lines and violent demonstrations by wizards afraid of being put out of work if their teleporting businesses are replaced by aeronautical type competitors. There is no Blackmoor-level technology, and suggesting that there might be is a sure way to wind up in the Imperial dungeons, where the tech level is about 12th century -- fire, tongs, the rack, that sort of thing. ("Ignore the men in white plate armor with gold visors and peculiar staffs. They are not there." fnord)
As for not wanting Shar involved in every Bad Thing on Toril ... d'accord. With such a large collection of Evil deities, it is annoyingly repetitious to see the same Bad Guys behind every E-vil plot. I'd like to see Shar, Cyric, and Talona put back on the shelf for a while so that Talos, Umberlee, Velsharoon, and the elemental deities can spin their own plots. Of course, I am not at all interested in Realms.New.Coke, so I'll have to write my own fan-fic to see those Villains get a chance. *sigh*
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| Markustay |
Posted - 14 Jun 2008 : 14:56:54
I have a region of boreal forest just above the Reghed Glacier in my campaign named Blackmoor, as a nod to the world of Greyhawk, but I've never actually used it in a game.
I believe every D&D world should have a 'Blackmoor' somewhere.
Sorry I couldn't be more help.
As an aside - I like the Shadowfel, but I hate the way everything bad in FR has to have some form of Shadowcrap or connections to Shar. |
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