2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary - Day Twenty-Six

Celebrating 2020 - The Year of Blackmoor - 50th Anniversary!

Yesterday I linked to a two part essay that asks the question “Who in the World is Dave Arneson?” Now the writer started with the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set edited by Dr. J. Eric Holmes and his essay is from that perspective.

Mine is a bit different as I started with just the (original) three books of Dungeons & Dragons in did not see the Monster Manual/AD&D or the First Fantasy Campaign until the 1990's. I spent nearly 30 years with no knowledge beyond what was in OD&D itself, the supplements, The Strategic Review and the first few issues of The Dragon.

Here is what shaped my view of Dave Arneson: Excerpt from the Forward(sic) of Men & Magic Volume One of OD&D.

For a time the group grew and prospered, and Dave Arneson decided to begin a medieval fantasy campaign game for his active Twin Cities club. From the map of the "land" of the "Great Kingdom" and environs — the territory of the C & C Society — Dave located a nice bog wherein to nest the weird enclave of "Blackmoor", a spot between the "Great Kingdom" and the fearsome "Egg of Coot". From the CHAINMAIL fantasy rules he drew ideas for a far more complex and exciting game, and thus began a campaign which still thrives as of this writing! In due course the news reached my ears, and the result is what you have in your hands at this moment.

First let us quickly dispense with the widely promulgated untruth that the "Egg of Coot" was a slam at E. Gary Gygax(EGG). Note that not only did the "Egg of Coot" predate D&D, it also pre-dated any falling out between Arneson and Gygax.

I had Chainmail and I had OD&D and a few things I certain of, one D&D was not in anyway a Chainmail campaign, IMO you can not play OD&D and be familiar with Chainmail and honestly be able to hold that opinion.`The second thing I was certain of was that Dave Arneson created what became D&D, Gygax himself says that Arneson created a "far more complex and exciting game, and thus began a campaign" and that the "news reached my ears" (that is Gygax) and "the result is what you have in your hands at this moment."

So based on the words of Gygax himself I have always known that Arneson was the prime creative force behind OD&D and that Gygax was the writer down of things and  the prime moving force behind publication. Did Gygax add ideas of his own and did he work more Chainmail back into the game and use a lot of his own mechanics, yes to all of that. But never doubt that Arneson showed Gygax a working game system.

The other main thing that I knew about Arneson was that he was the creator of the example adventure in the Blackmoor Supplement titled "The Temple of the Frog."  

Background:
Deep in the primaeval swamps of Lake Gloomey, shrouded in perpetual mist, lies the city of The Brothers of the Swamp. For years past this "religious" order has delved into the forbidden areas of study and determined that animals have more potential to populate the world than man, who was, after all, a biological abomination which would ultimately threaten the existence of all life. Therefore the good Brothers began developing a strain of amphibian that would combine the worst ferocity and killer instincts of larger mammals with the ability to move through swamps with great swiftness to strike and avoid retaliation. Combining the natural animals available with each other — through the use of biological mutations and methods discovered in old manuscripts — the Brothers began developing the giant killer frogs of the swamp.

This was the stuff of genius that sprung from the mind of Arneson and from that time on I aspired to constantly raise the level of my own game. Not to copy Arneson, but to make to be inspired by him and create something unique. I think he would have been happy about that.