Goodman Games

Harley, I've got some questions for you!

Since you are listed as the author of this latest version, I'm curious how you proceeded. Did Mr. Arneson give you copious notes? Did he monitor you closely?

Also, on the main map on page eight, something titled "Shrine of Axmouth" is shown. No hints that I found give any clue as to what this location is. Would you care to shed light on this?

Thanks.

Jedi,

Thanks for the questions.

Re: Arneson input. My source texts were previous incarnations of the City, including the campaign record of Kuntz, Gygax and Arneson. I was given generous amounts of freedom to 3.5-ify the original, with the goal of keeping it true to the original spirit of the game, while fresh and new to those that might have played it before.

Ultimately I suspect that my versions of both City and Temple are missing one aspect that was crucial to the originals: humor. The Old Ones took their games a lot less seriously than we do. Reading through some of Dave's memoirs is like flipping through a Xanth novel. Puns and in-jokes abound.

Re: Shrine of Axmouth. This was placed out of the 3.5 Blackmoor Campaign Setting source book (produced by Goodman Games and then by Code Monkey Publishing). It appears on the map because purists would note its absence, even though it has no relevance to the adventure.

What's the import of the Shine? I have my theories, but we'll both have to wait for the next Blackmoor installment to know for sure.

Thanks for the questions, and for not noting that the picture of the City is standing, while the map of the City shows it fallen down. *whistle* I hope it is a thrilling for your PCs ... even if it is a bit out of the ordinary crawl.

//H

Harley Stroh wrote:Jedi,

Thanks for the questions.

Re: Arneson input. My source texts were previous incarnations of the City, including the campaign record of Kuntz, Gygax and Arneson. I was given generous amounts of freedom to 3.5-ify the original, with the goal of keeping it true to the original spirit of the game, while fresh and new to those that might have played it before.

Ultimately I suspect that my versions of both City and Temple are missing one aspect that was crucial to the originals: humor. The Old Ones took their games a lot less seriously than we do. Reading through some of Dave's memoirs is like flipping through a Xanth novel. Puns and in-jokes abound.

Re: Shrine of Axmouth. This was placed out of the 3.5 Blackmoor Campaign Setting source book (produced by Goodman Games and then by Code Monkey Publishing). It appears on the map because purists would note its absence, even though it has no relevance to the adventure.

What's the import of the Shine? I have my theories, but we'll both have to wait for the next Blackmoor installment to know for sure.

Thanks for the questions, and for not noting that the picture of the City is standing, while the map of the City shows it fallen down. *whistle* I hope it is a thrilling for your PCs ... even if it is a bit out of the ordinary crawl.

//H

Hi Harley,

Just saw this post and found it pretty interesting. If I can follow up, so you worked off the old published material and your own imagination, but did you also have any notes or maps or descriptions of specific things from Arneson that arent previously published? How much did you two talk about the setting?

Harley Stroh wrote:Re: Arneson input. My source texts were previous incarnations of the City, including the campaign record of Kuntz, Gygax and Arneson.

I suspect that this means most of the ideas came from Rob and Gary, since they often DM'ed in the same campaigns as each other while Dave ran a totally seperate campaign.

Also, I seem to recall reading that Dave had little input into the DA3 module of the same name, that it was mostly David Richie's work.

finarvyn wrote:

Harley Stroh wrote:Re: Arneson input. My source texts were previous incarnations of the City, including the campaign record of Kuntz, Gygax and Arneson.

I suspect that this means most of the ideas came from Rob and Gary, since they often DM'ed in the same campaigns as each other while Dave ran a totally seperate campaign.

I think Harley here is referring only to the short story "Robilars Journey to the City of the Gods" by RJK in Oerth Journal 6.