PCs completing DA1 "Adventures in Blackmoor" will be able to enter Blackmoor City upon leaving the Comeback Inn.
The Town of Blackmoor map, from JG 37 "The First Fantasy Campaign" is an excellent resource in this regard.
A module in the DA series describing the City of Blackmoor was actually planned, but never released.
Pre-production cover of DA5 "The City of Blackmoor" by Dave Arneson and David Ritchie, which was never published.
From the Acaeum:
DA5 City of Blackmoor was a Mystara module scheduled for production sometime in the late 1980's, but cancelled. The only references we have to this are in an ad by Esdevium Games in Dragon #131 (page 85), an earmarked TSR stock # (9219), and an advertisement in the 1987 TSR Fall Catalog (depicting this pre-production cover scan, which uses the artwork from the cover of Dragon #97).* Bruce Heard, in charge of the D&D product line at the time, has said that this module was never even designed, let alone produced and shipped. However, contributor Dave Keyser has told us that the module was actually nearly completed, and the material is now currently with a company (Zeitgeist Games) who plans on releasing a "Blackmoor d20" module, in collusion with Dave Arneson. (Thanks to Curt Gould for the pre-production scan, and to Dave Keyser and John Rateliff for help with this info).
*the dragon on the pre-production scan may have been intended to represent Gertie the Dragon
For more on DA5 "The City of Blackmoor", see this post from June 17, 2010 on Havard's Blackmoor Blog.
In December 2020, it was confirmed by Ritchie's half-brother on "The Comeback Inn" that a manuscript for DA5 did in fact exist, a copy of which has been shared with Havard.
Blackmoor Castle:
King Uther holds audiences with the PCs in Blackmoor Castle, which was restored as a residence 18 years previously.
Floorplan for Blackmoor Castle, drafted for Origins 1984, from this post from chirine's workbench.
The castle has a long and storied history, sitting as it does atop Blackmoor Dungeons.
Uther sealed the entrance to the dungeons in 1013, following unsuccessful attempts to clear them, although reasons for an expedition could still arise.
The reversed cover image was also used for the cover of Dragon Magazine #97 (May, 85).
ReplyDeleteBah, never mind...missed that detail in the module description. :/
ReplyDeleteI recognized it immediately, though as its one of my favorite covers (the dragon's scales are gorgeous).
Agree, I've always loved that illustration!
DeleteI'm curious about how close Dave Arneson's original Castle Blackmoor compares to both this proposed DA5 and Zeitgeist Games' actually published Castle Blackmoor. I'm assuming both later products would have had some sort of seal of approval from Dave himself.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be really interesting to see what David Ritchie did with Dave Arneson's notes for the City of Blackmoor. A lot has been gleaned about Arneson's dungeon complex beneath Castle Blackmoor. I haven't taken a close look at Zeitgeist Games' version, but it's pretty different, from what I could gather (but still very cool)
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