Introduction
The setting of Blackmoor is the creation of Dave Arneson, whose legend within the RPG community needs little explanation. The foundation he laid for the hobby lives on with Blackmoor The First Campaign (Blackmoor:TFC). This current edition now bridges the gap to the fourth edition Dungeons & Dragons. After discussing the book with the design lead, C.A. Suleiman, with Code Monkey Publishing I learned that a fair amount of the source material was brought forward from the previous edition that was tweaked for the third editions of Dungeons & Dragons.
Please note I am not completely familiar with Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition (D&D4e) and I will be eschewing from commenting too much about the game mechanics Blackmoor:TFC introduces into the current edition of D&D.
Layout, Design and Production
The production values within Blackmoor:TFC are within the norm for an RPG publication. A standard two column layout with a relatively small font displays a lot of information per page. I did not notice any serious editing or typographical errors and the bumpers for chapters are nicely done. The art is sparse in some sections and could have been used to effectively break up the text and convey a better sense of the setting. This is only a slight criticism and does not concern me much. Art can be a black hole for any game’s budget and if forced to choose between art and information… I choose information. The art that is in Blackmoor:TFC ranges from adequate to decent.
However some graphics are important and that is one area within the presentation of Blackmoor:TFC that is lacking. In the preface is a large map representing the area around Blackmoor. It is a bit of an eye chart and areas are not labeled clearly. This might be an issue with the map being converted from color to black and white and area I have worked in and can appreciate the difficulty translating a color work into monochrome. But this is an RPG setting book and a clear legible map is important.
Breakout maps of specific geographic regions covered in a supplement. It gives the reader a far better understanding combining source material and a graphic representation of the setting. This may come down to a personal choice on my part, but after reading a plethora of setting books I know what works best and what presents a challenge in conveying the textual information effectively.
Races, Classes and Characters
One new race is presented in Blackmoor:TFC, the docrea. To sum up they are militaristic, not quite so friendly Halflings. I think they are more interesting of a race to play than halflings and translate well into a game setting. I guess compare fat, happy scamps with angry, scrappy fighters… there is room for both and I like the option.
The remaining races are analogous to the D&D Fourth Edition races. There are no differences for game mechanics, what is presented are simply cultural differences. Religions, names, interactions and a general overview are presented. One thing I did enjoy was the breaking up of elves into many different factions. Sometimes I think it is easy to lump elves into one mould and move on. I was pleased to see elves (along with Halflings) presented in different ways within Blackmoor.
The introduction of tieflings and dragonborn feels awkward and as if they were bolted onto the Blackmoor setting. I think the charm of a world outside of the Wizards of the Coast bailiwick is that a developer/publisher does not have to (and should resist) throwing in the kitchen sink from the core D&D books. However both tieflings and dragon born could be edited out or fleshed out as appropriate depending on how a GM feels about them. Neither play much of a role within Blackmoor:TFC .
Blackmoor:TFC presents a handful of character options. All are well presented and defined in regards to powers, spells/prayers/techniques/exploits/etc and paragon paths. These include:
The arcane warrior is to wizards as to what a paladin is to clerics.
Elderkin manipulate spirits, which to me feels like a cleric with a tinge of necromancy.
Idolator garners magical power from spirits and this does represent a different type of magic, in lieu of spells elderkin have techniques… which accomplish what spells and prayers do.
Mystics are a combination of seer and monk. I personally like this class because monk’s in Dungeons & Dragons always seem to suffer from being cut from the same cloth and not a lot of diversity is presented. There can be a lot of different types of rogues, clerics, etc… so the mystic is a great option.
The noble covers a martial type of noble that you would see out of fancy courts and in the muck adventurers live in. The noble might better define what a high born or high serving warrior was historically than paladins. Also this class presents a leadership role that is not in the area of bards, rogues and classes that are often the face of a party.
Wokans are akin to shaman or druids. There are quite a few ways in which to build one out, so it seems like a solid choice for someone wanting to do a jack of all trades nature oriented character.
New feats are discussed at the end of this section. Most relate to the above mentioned classes, but there are new feats available to other character classes. For general feats there is not anything shockingly new, but within the context of Blackmoor:TFC they are appropriate.
Magic
A history of the magical nature of Blackmoor leads off this section. It sets some interesting plot lines in motion, specifically The Wizard’s Cabal versus all other arcane spell users. I like the balance between serving the common good and magical fascism they represent. I would say some of the text in this section of Blackmoor:TFC might suffer from being over written, but overall it is within professional RPG norms.
An alternative presented in Blackmoor:TFC is the spell focus. This might be more pertinent to previous editions of Dungeons & Dragons, but over all I like the rule as it simplifies a rule that I have never once bothered to use in 30 years of gaming: Spell components…
The section jumps back to other wizard organizations, which seems to be an odd choice as the flow feels disrupted. I would have liked to have seen the groups in one block as opposed to splitting them up. That said the groups get a fair amount of text and history dedicated to them. There are certainly enough details to bridge a group over to another setting should they strike a GM’s interest. Within the context of a Blackmoor campaign, there is ample intrigue provided within these pages.
New magic items are also covered, most of this relates to fourth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, but the intelligent weapons and artifacts cab easily be applied to any system. Their abilities are clearly laid out and how they interact with the PC is well documented.
Setting
There is a lot of detail in this section of Blackmoor:TFC. The first area covered is, naturally, Blackmoor. Over all there is a deep feeling of history and there are certainly many details that stem from this setting’s decades long lineage. At the same time the material feels disjointed like several writers are penning the text and their styles are different. I would have also liked to see each region in a template. For example in some regions, in circumstantial benefits are bestowed upon players. It would have been good to lay this out like in the magic section relating to artifacts, clearly state what perks or penalties a PC must deal with in the same spot in a location… it would be good for referencing and solidifying a layout of the setting’s locals.
Steam power and clockwork power are also discussed in these pages. I have a problem with this on several levels. The first is that clockworks in particular are a rather big pill to swallow. The premise is that wondrous devices like animals or men can be made from clockworks… just lots of springs are inside them. There simply is not enough energy in a wound spring to propel a complex device of any size for all but a brief moment. What could have saved clockworks from being silly is that in the magic chapter a plane filled with giant gear works exists… Tying that to this plot device (pardon the pun) would have been nifty. As well in the religions section there is a deity directly relating to gear works, that too could have been worked in as a plot device through the setting. Not typing all of these ideas together is such a missed opportunity. Steam I have a similar issue with, but it is married with the dwarven love for machines so it makes sense and it is counter balanced with some realistic ideas on machinery breaking down.
As I discussed above in the layout section of this review was the fact that there was one hard to read map in the front of Blackmoor:TFC. What I think would have tied all the geographical areas discussed in this chapter would have been maps of the areas discussed. There are ample column inches dedicated to telling the reader where things are, a map would show them and is a more powerful way of conveying the geography of Blackmoor.
Blackmoor itself has a lot of great information. There are quite a few locations, all with a fair amount of text dedicated to them. What was missing was a map of the city of Blackmoor, which again is an oversite I have difficulty giving a pass on. If I were using Blackmoor:TFC for my campaign I would like page space dedicated to the area my players would probably spend the most time in… not to mention the region that has a lot of great text dedicated to it. Nestled in Blackmoor is the Comeback Inn, which is a bit of a fantastical Inn… but this is a fantasy setting… and makes for a good base of operations for players.
Outside of the city of Blackmoor, which has an undeniable great name… some of the locations have names that to a modern reader might sound a little awkward. But to an old timer, such as myself, can appreciate that the names might be silly yet completely descriptive. Take for example the town of Boggy Bottom, a great yet accurate name! Some of the location descriptions veer towards cliché… and sometimes I am a bit at odds with the idea that it is a constantly super dangerous world, people die in droves, etc, etc. It makes for good drama, but it grinds a little on my world building instincts. Take for example Dragonia. They have a dragon problem, to the point of stone houses and siege weapons pointing upward. From reading the text the place simply exists to be attacked by dragons, no reason is given for why people would settle there.
A number of other states surrounding Blackmoor are given details. The elves are largely countries within the borders of human nations. Dwarves are given treatment too. The overarching enemy of the people of the north are the Afridi , who are given enough treatment to be displayed as a threat, but they are far enough away that they could be inserted into a campaign in a variety of ways. I like the enemy on the distant horizon as opposed to being dropped into a war… well for Blackmoor, much of the north has not fared so well within the context of the story arch.
There is a lot to like about the setting specific within Blackmoor:TFC. Blackmoor at this point is a venerable and legendary setting with a history that has run the course of decades in player time. However I also think that this great setting and information suffers uneven writing and editing. There is enough here to fuel a great campaign, but it lacks a cohesive voice and organization that, to me, it truly needs.
Religion
An overview of primarily human and dwarven deities are covered in this section. There are a lot to choose from and the basic information about the gods are covered (symbols, weapons, alignment, influence, etc). Each has a few paragraphs detailing their history or role in the world. The writing is tight and gives just enough information to be useful to the setting and leaves things abstract enough for a GM to work the religions in as they see fit. Each diety also has an icon displayed in Blackmoor:TFC and seeing more art here shows how well place art, maps or graphics can make a product look very slick.
NPC’s and Creatures
The next two sections of Blackmoor:TFC are rogue’s gallery of fleshed out characters and monsters. I like fleshed out NPC’s when they are tied into the setting so I am a little hesitant when I see large page count dedicated to NPC’s that might not relate to the couple hundred of pages of setting and rules I just finished reading. However my concern was largely unfounded. Each persona is fully fleshed out with a detailed history with a D&D4ebuild. There are some great NPC’s in this section and the writing is tight. Well placed art in this section also makes this section look great, there are a number of artists used in the NPC portraits which I also enjoyed.
I would have liked to see more references in the setting portions of Blackmoor:TFC to these characters (either with a reference to this section or a sidebar with some basic information). All of these NPC’s are of a relatively high level (13-19) and it might have been interesting to see NPC’s that were not completely over powering to all but experiences player characters.
The creatures of Blackmoor are well done. The writing in this section is focused and organized. Each creature has the statistical information you would expect and many subtypes are broken out. For example Blackmoor:TFC’s primary villains the Afridhi this is good to see, the five subtypes could easily be tweaked as a GM needs. Each creature has information on what lore skill checks will yield, which I find to be a great addition. As for the creatures themselves, I think they are well done and more importantly interesting.
Blackmoor:TFC ends with the second half of the fiction started in the preface. The writing is decent and interesting, but it seems an odd choice to do a set piece not relating to the central local of the setting. It does offer a view of the coming threat of the Afridhi and maybe where the action lies and maybe some of the ideas presented in the fiction could have been further integrated into the setting material and tie the fair amount of pages dedicated to fiction into it.
Overall
The legacy and history Blackmoor represents does translate well into modern role playing games. Its history is rich and that is proven throughout Blackmoor The First Campaign. There is a plethora of information presented in regards to locals, Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition, people, religions and monsters. However how this information is presented is uneven. The setting portions of Blackmoor The First Campaign feel disjointed and like information was inserted or bolted on to previous works. It is not bad by any means, but it probably could have used either editing or a rewrite to give the material a clearer and stronger voice. The other sections of Blackmoor seem to have a tighter writing style combined with great information that I thought worked better.
The presentation of Blackmoor is decent. A glaring omission is the lack of a legible map in the PDF which is compounded by a lack of zoomed in maps in the sections covering the setting. I think had those been added it would have helped show the reader Blackmoor in all its splendor. Layout and design are decent and well within norms for a professional supplement. I thought the D&D4ematerial was well laid out and easy to read.
If you are a gamer who wants to learn about how role playing games evolved, Blackmoor: The First Campaign is a fantastic read. If you are a GM that wants an old school setting for a campaign, this is a good setting to check out. For gamers who are interested solely in setting and bought the previous edition, there may not be enough new material and I would recommend browsing the book at your local game store before purchase. For people who play Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition, there are interesting classes and monsters that might make Blackmoor The First Campaign a good addition to their gaming library.
So far as RPG.net scoring goes, for style I settled in at a three out of five. Most of the problems within Blackmoor:TFC lied within this score and those related to some disjointed writing, art and the map. While some issues were more serious than others on the whole they fell within an industry average.
For substance I scored Blackmoor:TFC a four out of five. The content of the setting and the old school gaming fun within it can not be denied. There is a plethora of great information and more importantly this was a fun supplement to read in regards to the history of gaming and as a setting.
Review Summary