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The Forgotten Smugglers' Cave: Index of Posts

An index of posts describing the Forgotten Smugglers' Cave, an adventure for Holmes Basic characters levels 2-4.                    ...

Saturday, October 19, 2024

A Return to Greyhawk!


"Behold Greyhawk" by Bruce Brenneise for the new DMG


A few days ago DMs Guild announced that Greyhawk is now available a campaign setting for community content:



This is because the newly revised 5E DMG, out in November, includes a 30-page chapter on detailing Greyhawk as a sample setting to show DMs how they can create their own settings. This will include a map of the City of Greyhawk and an updated version of Darlene's famous map of the setting:



Harking back to the Sample Dungeons of yore, the DMG will also contain a chapter of Sample Adventures that are set in Greyhawk.

Watch here for an 18 minute interview with Chris Perkins and James Wyatt about thoughts behind using Greyhawk as a sample campaign setting in the new DMG.

While WOTC may not support this setting any further, allowing it to be added to DMs Guild opens it up to fans who wish to add more content to the setting (albeit only in 5E form).

I don't have any specific plans at the moment for creating Greyhawk content for DMsGuild, but I have updated the Ruined Tower of Zenopus conversion/expansion to tag it as Greyhawk (as opposed to just "nonspecific/any setting"), given that I have an appendix in it on using it with the Ghosts of Saltmarsh, which draws its mini-setting details from Greyhawk.

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Making of OD&D: Discounted at Game Nerdz



If you haven't picked up the Making of Orginal D&D, it's available at Game Nerdz for $70.47 plus shipping (if you get your order up to $75 you'll get free shipping). This is almost $20 cheaper than the current Amazon price of $89.35. The page says there are currently 26 copies in stock. I've ordered from Game Nerdz a few times before without problem. 

Find it here: 

The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977 

(includes affiliate link)

See also these earlier posts about the book:

Early Greyhawk Lore in the 1973 D&D Draft

"The Making of Original D&D: 1970-1977": Out Today! 

"The Making of Original D&D: 1970-1977": Table of Contents

"The Making of Original D&D: 1970-1977": What Might the Precursors Be?

"How Dungeons & Dragons Started" (video about the book)

"The Making of Original D&D: 1970-1977": Everything we know about this upcoming WOTC book

Playing at the World revised edition out in July

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Making of OD&D: Sale for Prime Members



FYI, right now Amazon is offering the Making of Orginal D&D book for $71.49, as a "Prime Big Deal" for Prime Member which is almost $30 off the cover price $99.99, and almost $20 off the "regular" sale price ($89.36). Unfortunately I just noticed this sale and it appears it ends in about 5 hours (the Big Deal Days are Oct 8-9).

Find it here: 

The Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons: 1970-1977


See also these earlier posts:

Early Greyhawk Lore in the 1973 D&D Draft

"The Making of Original D&D: 1970-1977": Out Today! 

"The Making of Original D&D: 1970-1977": Table of Contents

"The Making of Original D&D: 1970-1977": What Might the Precursors Be?

"How Dungeons & Dragons Started" (video about the book)

"The Making of Original D&D: 1970-1977": Everything we know about this upcoming WOTC book

Playing at the World revised edition out in July

Friday, September 27, 2024

Blackmoor Week: Blackmoor Foundations (New Book)


Blackmoor Week is the week leading up to the anniversary of Dave Arneson's birthday on October 1st, which is designated Dave Arneson Game Day. Thanks to Havard at Havard's Blackmoor Blog, who is making a whole series of posts this week, for reminding me of this.

The Making of OD&D wasn't the only book of historical D&D documents to come out this year. The end of May also saw the release of Blackmoor Foundations, which is subtitled "The Early Fantasy RPG Works of David Arneson" (and can be purchased here). I recently ordered a copy, and while I'm only partway through, I thought I should highlight it in a post now for Blackmoor Week.

Here is an overview of Blackmoor Foundations:

---Paperback with glossy cover, 103 pages in length, and includes approximately 30 original documents including maps & letters, some of which are multiple typed pages in length including one ("Return to Black Moor") that is 15 (!) pages long.

---Nicely laid out with commentary by Griffith Morgan, the director of the Secrets of Blackmoor documentary, on the lefthand pages in a very readable san-serif font, and with the images of the documents on the right. I like this format for presenting these types of documents; it makes makes reading the notes while looking at the document very easy.

---Also credited for consultation are the "Northern Marches Historical Society", which among others includes D.H. Boggs, who has been presenting Blackmoor research for years over at the Hidden at Shadows blog, and Michael Calleia, who has published a comprehensive list of Dave Arneson publications on the Chance & Circumstance blog.

---The publisher's product page here has a table of contents and even a complete flip-through of the book.

---There are two lengthy reports of delves into Blackmoor Dungeon, "The Dungeons of Black Moore Castle" (5 typed pages) and "Into the Dungeons of Black Moor Castle and Back" (6 typed pages). These look interesting but are very dense and I haven't read through them fully yet.

---For actual use in gameplay, it could serve as a supplement to Judge's Guild First Fantasy Campaign (1977), which was the original publication sharing Arneson's notes about Blackmoor, but which sadly remains out of print. For example, while the FFC has a map of Blackmoor town, the Blackmoor Foundations has a "Blackmoor Surrounding Landscape Map" that shows more of the immediate surrounding area, laid out in hexes.

---In all, I applaud the publisher & Arneson estate for making these historical documents directly available to the public.

Blackmoor Foundations can be ordered for $39.95 via the publisher's page (linked above) or via Amazon where it is currently on sale for $32.75:

Blackmoor Foundations


Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Art & Arcana on sale again - get the original Tomb of Horrors


 

Today I notice that the Art & Arcana Special Edition - which includes a reprint of the original version of Tomb of Horrors resembling an OD&D supplement - is back in stock and on sale and at an even lower listed price than before, $61.61 (albeit there's no extra coupon). That's lower than the pre-order price I paid when it came out ($63.50). Find it here:


Art & Arcana Special Edition


One thing I forgot to mention last time that is of interest to readers of this blog is that the book includes a drawing by Chris Holmes of a displacer beast from the 70s, drawn for the Basic rulebook manuscript (which appears courtesy of Billy Galaxy).

Update: I was asked about the content of the posters in this set. I took a look at my set and found:

  • AD&D Player's Handbook cover (1978) by Dave Trampier (16 x 10")
  • DM Screen cover (1979) by Dave Trampier (18 x 14")
  • Keep on the Borderlands cover (1980) by Jim Roslof (8 x 10")
  • AD&D Fiend Folio cover (1981) by Emmanuel (16 x 10")
  • World of Greyhawk box cover (1983) by Jeff Easley (8 x 10")
  • Swords of Deceit module cover (1986) by Keith Parkinson (8 x 10")
  • AD&D 2E PHB interior (PCs with slain tiny dragon)(1989) by Larry Elmore (8 x10")
  • Forge of Fury module cover (2000) by Todd Lockwood (16 x 10")
  • "Promotional painting for D&D 30th Anniversary (2004) by Todd Lockwood (16 x 10")
  • Storm King's Thunder interior painting (2016) by Chris Rahn (24 x 16")

Earlier post (from April):

The Special Edition of the D&D artbook Art & Arcana is currently selling for $69.99 on Amazon, plus when I look at the page I'm also seeing a coupon for $23.33, making the total only $46.66. If you can get it for this, it's a great deal for a set that has a list price of $125. 

The real hidden gem of the set is a reprint of the original OD&D tournament version of Tomb of Horrors, in a digest format resembling the LBBs. FWIW, the page says only 10 copies are left in stock.


Art & Arcana Special Edition


See also my earlier posts:

Locations for the Tomb of Horrors on the Great Kingdom Map

Delta's D&D Hotspot: Tomb of Ra-Hotep


Earlier Update (from April):

Amazon is no longer has the coupon available, but the book is still available new for $69.99 (follow the link above).

Friday, September 13, 2024

Upcoming New Tolkien Book: Collected Poems

 


FYI: Out on the 17th, just prior to Hobbit Day (Sep 22nd, Bilbo/Frodo's birthday), is The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien, a hefty 3-volume (!) set collecting much, but not all (!), of Tolkien's poetry:

The Collected Poems of J.R.R. Tolkien on Amazon

It has a list price of $125 and is currently available with a pre-order price of $103. According to the publisher Harper Collins, it contains "almost 200 works ... including more than 60 that have never before been seen". A full list of the poems is posted over at the Tolkien Gateway.

This collection has been edited and annotated by Christina Scull & Wayne Hammond, who have prepared so many other excellent Tolkien books that I already own, like Roverandom, Farmer Giles of Ham (50th anniversary edition)Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator, and The Lord of the Rings Reader's Companion.

I've been fascinated by Tolkien's poetry, since the '80s when I discovered in my grandparent's house an old paperback of the Tolkien Reader, which included The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, Tolkien's original compilation of verse, which was released in recent years in an expanded edition, also edited & annotated by Hammond & Scull.

I'm debating whether I will pick this up myself. I always find Scull & Hammond's notes to be fascinating, but my shelves are already groaning under the weight of other unfinished Tolkien books...

Earlier Tolkien Posts on this blog:

Green Dragon Miniature (Mythical Earth Minifig)
Gygaxian Orc Tribes (originally derived from Tolkien)

And find a list of more older Tolkien posts here.

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Playing at the World 2E: Price Drop

 


The first volume of the revised second edition has dropped to $23.33 on Amazon: 

Playing at the World, 2nd Edition, Volume 1: The Invention of D&D

This is down from a list price of $29.99 and an Amazon price of $27.85 in July just prior to release.

Read more about the book in my July post just prior to the release:

Reminder: The first volume of the revised Playing at the World is out in two days!