Campaigns

Maps

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  Perrenland

  Modern Perrenland is generally located in the northwestern portion of the Flanaess. It is bordered by Lake Quag to the north (though Perrenlanders consider the lake to be within the boundaries of the country itself), by the Yatil Mountains to the west and south, and by the Clatspur Mountains and the Vesve Forest to the east.   The nation is comprised of eight cantons. The unclaimed Sepia Uplands to the north-east is sometimes regarded as Perrenland territory but only fractions of this region is claimed or even inhabited by Perrenlander settlers and/or troops. As of 591 CY, the most populous towns are Schwartzenbruin (pop. 27,500), Traft (pop. 12,000), Exag (pop. 8,500), and Krestible (pop. 7,300).   Perrenland is named for Jeff Perren, who co-wrote the Chainmail medieval miniatures wargame with Gary Gygax. Perrenland - Greyhawk Wiki greyhawkonline.com/greyhawkwiki/Perrenland
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  Blackmoor

  Blackmoor One day, a little over thirty years ago, I discovered that I was bored. Faced with a long weekend without gaming, I turned to the television. I tried to occupy my time sitting on a couch watching cheesy 50’s monster movies and reading “fantasy hero” novels until I could find something better to do. I noted that the hero in the movie I was watching had again failed to pick up the gun and blast the monster. Even if such a puny weapon did not stop the critter it would probably slow it down. Why didn’t the heroes make better decisions? The fantasy hero in my novel had once again dodged the magic spell and solved his problems with a sword. All this in the face of clear indicators that told him, and the reader, exactly what he must do to destroy the evil menace through an easier route! Even I could write better junk than this! I began to reflect on the latest bad translation quoted from an obscure historical tome that would call for major rule changes in the Napoleonic miniatures campaign. The campaign that I was running had become a drag. It was consumed with these long tedious battles and constant bickering over historical details. These most recently uncovered details would mess up next week’s battle. Curses on all such books! Why not just use one source and be done with it? CLICK! Graph paper, pencil, the old 20-sided dice we never used, some really poorly sculpted plastic monsters…I began to imagine a dungeon. My mind raced…I began to draw. Maybe I can fill it with critters and gold! This dungeon needs a name? Hmm, it’s a dark place in the wilds of wherever. Ahh! Blackmoor! By Sunday night the first six levels of the dungeon were done and the gaming table in the basement had been transformed into a small medieval town with a castle. A dungeon seemed like a good idea since it would keep the players from running all over the place. We still needed some more details… Ah! I drew a map of the town and the country around it. These last details took me most of the rest of the week to complete. I was really excited about this idea. Now everyone could be a hero like in a book but without a tight (and often dumb!) plot. They could do just about anything that they wanted to do, for better or for worse. In that short time, Blackmoor was born. I had a few rules and no plans for anything beneath the 6th level in the dungeon, or beyond the tabletop boundaries into a greater world. With the basic idea laid out, there were still questions to answer. Where did the players meet? Inns were popular in a lot of books and it was logical that the guys would meet in a public establishment. And there had been this neat medieval restaurant in Chicago called The Comeback Inn. What was their goal? Why, money, of course. They sought great treasure and cool magic items. These were quite popular quests in fantasy novels and movies. Maybe they will quest after the “Magic McGuffin Amulet!” The campaign setting now known as Blackmoor was done within the month with additional details added as needed. Both the setting and the rules continued to grow over the weeks. Most, but alas not all, the guys liked the game and wanted to keep playing. So the next few weeks were spent fleshing things out and trying to maintain the structure. In a very real way I have continued to “flesh things out” over the last thirty years. Major combat changed from rolling a pair of dice that resulted in victory or death to one where the hero could fight on beyond the first swing just like in the movies! Killing critters in one blow was fine but not when it meant getting your character killed. Within the first month the players were getting quite attached to their characters. Then came the next big questions…”Shouldn’t we be getting better at killing stuff like experienced troops on our Napoleonic campaign?” OK, lets work something out. Many major adventure quests were planned out into new areas of the map such as the Temple Of The Frog, City Of The Gods, The Quacking Dragons, etc. Complement these adventures with invasions by evil forces and migrating hordes and you have a good amount of fun on your hands, Some things worked and others didn’t go so well. The Frogs were supposed to be a one shot adventure that everyone loved so much that I did sequel adventures for them. Nefarious enemies like The Egg of Coot weren’t popular opponents at first. The Egg was OK while it stayed out of the mainstream, but no one liked adventuring near it. Some new weapons were added as the same Napoleonic guys that had hassled me before about assorted minutia came around with tomes on medieval weapons! “So, Dave, what can this device do?” I thought that I had escaped that stuff! There was no master plan at the start, and portions of the campaign have had to be updated over the years. At least once a year many of the old players get together and journey again through the land of Blackmoor. I continue to run the Blackmoor campaign in the games I judge at conventions and in my classroom. Over the years some 5,000+ people have adventured in Blackmoor in excess of 1,500 game sessions. The roads are well traveled but the adventures never end. Dave Arneson Orlando, Florida 2004