François Marcela-Froideval ( 1958 – 2025)

I was saddened to hear about the passing of François Marcela-Froideval (10 December 1958 – 17 June 2025). I learned about this news via Frank Mentzer who wrote:

Francois Marcela-Froideval has moved on. RIP
He was known for his hobby work in France and came to Gary's attention. He came to Lake Geneva for more than a year, and Gary & he & I got together often for design work and socializing. He proved he could handle a sailboat on the lake, for one thing... Francois produced two trial adventures for AD&D but they were never published by TSR. I still have the manuscripts in my archives. He contributed to Oriental Adventures, and (of greater note in Europe) was founder of Casus Belli magazine. As creator and screenwriter of Black Moon Chronicles series, he began with this preface: "This series is dedicated to E. Gary Gygax, the first dreamer, inventor of the role-playing game, without whom the heroic fantasy and science-fiction genre would only be today a minor, almost forgotten genre. To this quiet giant who made millions of players dream, to my master and friend. May he live forever in the universe he so patiently built." (tnx to Ciro Sacco for the news)

 Froideval also made the global map of Mystara which first appeared in a complete form in the D&D Master Set Rules. This was also the product where the name Thonia first appeared. 

My condolences to his friends and family. 

-Havard

Someone made a miniature based on the D&D Master Set Cover

 Someone called Aaron Prati made a miniature that I want so badly. It is based on the cover of the D&D Master Set from the BECMI D&D line. Mr. Prati made this as a hobby project as a tribute to Larry Emore who did the painting for all the BECMI boxed sets.

There have been a lot of unofficial BECMI/Mystara miniatures over the years. This one is excellent. Go here for Aaron Prati's original post on Facebook.

-Havard

TSR's Skip Williams on the Origin of Pegataurs the Iconic D&D Monster

 

Pegataurs are an iconic creature from the D&D multiverse that is strangely underused. In the World of Mystara they are found in the Known World, the Empire of Alphatia, the City of Serraine and on the Savage Coast. Some are found living among elves or making their lairs in moutain sides, while others lend their services as mercenaries or trainers of Pegasi mounts to ground dwellers. 

 

Part Elf and part Pegasus, these magnificent D&D creatures first appeared in 1986 in the epic adventure Vengeance of Alphaks (M2) for the Classic D&D edition popularly known as BECMI. Pegataurs most recently made an appearance in the latest edition of D&D in the book Dungeons & Dragons: Worlds and Realms (2024) where the the character named Luphandi, a free thinking Pegataur who befriends the legendary Wizard Mordenkainen as they explore the World of Mystara.

Including a Pegataur character in Dungeons & Dragons: Worlds and Realms in that book's chapter on Mystara is perhaps not a coincidence as this legendary setting is where Vengeance of Alphaks was set, like most of the wonderful BECMI product line. It was Jeff Easley who brought the creatures to life in the spectacular painting shown above, gracing the cover of the adventure. 

Skip Williams was kind enough to share with me how the creatures came to be and how he worked with Jeff Easley to bring the creatures to life in the spectacular painting shown above, gracing the cover of the adventure.  

I created pegataurs for the adventure—flying sentries for a flying castle. TSR had me write an art order for the cover. I wrote something along the lines of "ramparts of a floating castle sticking up through clouds with a pegataur (think of a centaur with pegasus wings). Easley took it from there, choosing the composition, color palette, and making a single pegataur archer as the focus.

M2 Vengance of Alphaks continues the saga of Norwold, a region in Mystara fought over by two Empires; Thyatis and Alphatia. Here we follow the story of Alphaks one of the main villains of the Mystara setting as he rises to become a powerful demon. The Demon's main goal is to destroy the Empire of Alphatia.This is not the last time we see Pegataurs in D&D however. In 1989,  famous game designer and author Aaron Allston expanded on the backstory of Pegataurs and their connections to the Empire of Alphatia for the Mystara setting. 

That same year, Pegataurs went from being just a monster to be encountered to also becoming a playable race in PC2 Top Balista by Carl Sargent. This sourcebook for BECMI focused on flying creatures that could be used by players and DMs alike and also explored the Flying City of Serraine that travels across the skies of Mystara. The source book also expanded on the lore by Williams and Allston.

In 1994 Pegataurs appeared in the AD&D 2nd Edition in the AD&D Monstrous Compendium Mystara Appendix by John Nephew. Here we learn more about Pegataurs, their allies such as the Phanatons and their way of life.  

 Pegataur Bibliography

• M2 Vengeance of Alphaks (1986)
• AC9 Creature Catalogue (1986)
• DMR3 Creature Catalogue (1993)
• PC2 Top Balista  (1989)
• Dawn of the Emperors (1989)
• AD&D Trading Card R1 #722 1991
• AD&D 2ND EDITION AD&D Mystara Monstrous Compendium Appendix.  (1994)
• Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three  (1996)
• Orc's Head Peninsula Campaign Book
• Dungeons & Dragons: Worlds and Realms (2024)

A big thank you to Skip Williams for answering questions about this race and to the wonderful people of The Piazza D&D fan community who helped with researching Pegataurs in this topic.

Are you a fan of Pegataurs? How would you include Pegataurs in an adventure?

-Havard

Larry Elmore Red Box Cover 3D Rendition at Lucca Games & Comics 2024

 

The Italian Gaming Convention, Lucca Games & Comics has been steadily growing in popularity over the years. During this year's convention, a few weeks ago, a 3D sculpture based on Larry Elmore's Red Box Basic Set cover from the BECMI D&D edition was brought to life. The piece was painted live in front of Lucca attendees by artist Silvia Corso. 

The BECMI edition of D&D, created by Frank Mentzer (editor) and its associated setting, Mystara, is unusually popular in Italy and many other parts of Europe, so it is not surprising that this piece was selected to be presented at the Lucca Convention. 

This piece does not appear to be available for sale, but more details on how to commission work from the artist can be found at the BECMI Italia group on Facebook.

Photos by Elisabetta Giulivi 

-Havard

Aleena the Cleric Iconic D&D Legend Character Sheet Revealed

 

Aleena the Cleric was the legendary character introduced in the BECMI D&D Red Box introductory adventure. Her tragic death at the hands of the evil Wizard Bargle inspired thousands of players to go on adventures and seek justice for this innocent and brave hero. Aleena went in to become an NPC in the Mystara setting, appearing in Gaz1 The Grand Duchy of Karameikos and the the AD&D Boxed Set Karameikos: Kingdom of Magic. The introductory adventure also gave inspiration to the Kill Bargle phenomenon and was revisited several times in Dragon Magazine during the Paizo era. 

Frank Mentzer, editor of the TSR top selling D&D Red Box Basic Set and the rest of the BECMI line revealed the charcter sheet used for Aleena back in 2020 and shared it again now for the 50th anniversary of the D&D Gamenull. According to Frank, this character was rolled up in 1977 and the character sheet shows the character as she appeared in ca 1979. Aleena was played by Aileen Shea in Frank's campaign. As presented this character sheet presents Aleena as an 8th level Cleric wielding a +2 Mace of Disruption and a +1 Shield. She is dressed in plate armor. 

The character sheet also reveals some fantasic adventures that this character has lived through. She has retrieved a magical ring from a Type II Demon. These Frog-like demons were lated renamed Hezrou and also provided the inspiration for the Croaking Demons from the BECMI Immortal Set. What happened to this ring, I wonder?

Sadly, the character sheet also states that Aleena has been killed by the hands of a Mummy. Does this mean Bargle was an undead all along?

With WotC revisiting all kinds of obscure characters for their new 2024 Core Rulebooks, why aren't they using Bargle and Aleena?

Discuss this topic further on The Piazzaon The Piazza.

-Havard

David "Zeb" Cook and Frank Mentzer to Attend Italian Conventions in 2024

Two legends from the TSR era are coming to Italy this year as is being reported on  the dmmagazine blog:

David "Zeb" Cook will be a guest of honor at the Play Festival del Gioco in Modena, to be held in May, 17 to 19 in 2024. Frank Mentzer will be a host during Napoli ComiCon. This convention tales place in Naples from April 25 to 28 and is said to be one of Italy biggest pop culture events. Yet to be confirmed are rumours that Frank Mentzer will also attend to the Lucca convention, also in Italy. This convention takes place sometime in the fall.

Are you going to any Italian gaming conventions this year?

-Havard

Blackmoor is back in print!

 Last week two classic Blacmoor adventures once again became available as print on demand releases from Wizards of the Coast. 

The two adventures in question are part of the series of modules published by TSR between 1986-1987. Labelled the DA series or Dave Arneson series, the adventures were written by Dave Arneson and David Ritchie for the BECMI edition of D&D. Four DA modules were published and it is interesting to see that the two first to make it back to Print on Demand format from DrivethruRPG are two that focus on some of the most iconic adventure locations of Dave Arneson's setting.

You can get both modules as PDF or in Print Format from DrivethruRPG by following these links:

DA2 Temple of the Frog

DA3 City of the Gods

I also hope that WotC will release DA1 Adventures in Blackmoor soon. Not only was this the first module in the series, but it also serves as a great introduction to the setting. 

In any case, it is really cool to see these adventures back in print. Are you planning to pick them up, dear readers? 

-Havard

Joe Manganiello is a Mystara fan

Actor Joe Manganiello (True Blood, Justice League) has made a name for himself as a D&D superfan over the last few years. He has appeared on numerous streaming shows talking about his passion for D&D and showing off his amazing gaming cellar. Most recently, his character, Arkhan the Cruel appeared in the D&D5E Adventure Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus. 

I recall that in one of his videos, he mentioned that he started out with the Frank Mentzer edited BECMI Red Box D&D set, which gets him even more props in my book. However, last month I also learned that the man is a Mystara fan! Check out the twitter correspondence between The Piazza, Joe and myself: 

Joe refers to the setting as Thyatis rather than Mystara, but we all know what he is talking about! I started to suspect things when it was revealed that Arkhan the Cruel has a companion who is a Tortle. I wonder if Arkhan himself was a Mystara character?

We know that Joe likes Mystara. Will Mystara fans like Krull the Tortle Death Cleric?

Now, back to writing about Blackmoor Week!


-Havard

1983 Red Box Aleena Bargle Tribute Kickstarter from Failsquad Games in Trouble

Failsquad Games recently announced a new Kickstarter featurng a reimagined version of the legendary 1983 Red Box intro adventure featuring Bargle and Aleena. Labelled The Ruins of Mistemere (after the Red Box's Castle Mistamere), the adventure promised in the Kickstarter also included several of the characters from the dungeon with their names slightly altered. 

Now as some feared right from the start, this concept may have been a little too close to the original. At least Wizards of the Coast thought so and had the Kickstarter shut down. Kickstarter now only displays the following message: 

The Ruins of Mistemere - a 5E adventure is the subject of an intellectual property dispute and is currently unavailable.

If you are interested in this project, please check back later. Thanks for your patience.

The reason for seeking to get this project shut down by WotC is listed as follows:

Re: The Ruins of Mistemere - a 5E adventure
Description of copyrighted material: "The Ruins of Mistamere" was an adventure found in the classic Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Red Box - a starter set for D&D created in 1983.

Description of infringing material: This Kickstarter plans on recreating an "inspired by" version of our copyrighted material. It is derivative and not authorized. As you can see from their own description, anyone familiar with the original material would know what they are trying.

Castle Mistamere is an iconic dungeon and Frank Mentzer's tragic story about Aleena the Cleric and the evil Wizard Bargle have inspired generations of gamers. The characters made it into the Mystara setting with Gaz1 Grand Duchy of Karameikos and have been revisited since in the Kill Bargle adventure in Dungeon #150. It would be really nice to see this adventure reimagined for the current edition of Dungeons & Dragons. That said, Wizards of the Coast's objection in this case does not strike me as unreasonable. (Even if they called it the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Red Box... ;) ).

Lloyd Metcalf of Failsquad Games told me he understands WotC's position. He felt "they were in fair use territory", but stresses that FSG does not want to infringe on anyone's IP. It looks like that is the end for this product. The company is moving on to work on an Old School fanzine called "Maximum HP"

Lets hope Failsquad Games finds success with less problematic projects in the future!



-Havard

X5 Temple of Death One of the Best D&D Adventures Says 5E Designer Robert J Schwalb

The classic Dungeons & Dragons adventure X5 Temple of Death is getting renewed interest. Published in 1983 for the Frank Mentzer BECMI  "Red Box" edition of the world's most famous roleplaying game and set in the world of Mystara, this adventure was written by David "Zeb" Cook as a sequel to X4 Master of the Desert Nomads (Also by Cook). The series would later be concluded in X10 Red Arrow Black Shield by Michael S. Dobson. Beautifully illustrated by Timothy Truman, the module explored a mysterious temple in the lands of Sind and also introduced new monsters such as Dusanu, Genoid, Mujina, Malfera and Spectral Hounds.

Following a reacent discussion at The Piazza, which also spun into that RPG forum's Facebook Page, Robert J. Schwalb was among those giving the adventure praise:

In addition to being one of the designers on the team that created the 5th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, Schwalb is also the publishing his own RPG Shadow of the Demon Lord. Check it out! :)


As a fan of BECMI D&D and Mystara, it is always nice to see the adventures of that era get more recognition. I am looking foward to seeing X1 Isle of Dread (the original Mystara advenure) return in a collection from Goodman Games next year. Could we see the Desert Nomad Series  further down the line?



-Havard

Mystara Monster Nightwalker returns to 5E in Mordenkeinen's Tome of Foes

Art by Ben Wootten

These appear in the upcoming Mordenkeinen's Tome of Foes according to this Dragon +video. I am not sure that Mystara or BECMI will be referenced in the 5E book, but this was one of the Nightshade monsters that originally appeared in the BECMI Master Set, by Frank Mentzer. These are some of the most terrifying creatures that existed in that edition. There were three types of Nightshade. Nightwing and Nightcrawlers were the two others. The Nightwing appeared the Immortals Triad novels by Douglas Niles.

Sea Elves is another Monster with long ties to Mystara and Classic D&D that also is said to appear in Mordenkeinen's Tome of Foes as are Nagpa.

Thanks to zontoxira at the Piazza for pointing me to the video.

-Havard

D&D Rules Cyclopedia Advert

Kyrel posted this picture over at Dragonsfoot and I just had to share it. Dave Arneson himself apparently even admitted to loving this particular version of D&D. Note the pre-production cover of the Rules Cycøopedia up there in the left corner.

Anyway, there is a call to reprint the RC over at wizards.com, so go ahead and sign the petition. Rumour has it that this is the only edition of D&D that is so good that WotC doesn't risk reprinting it. We shall see!





-Havard

Larry Elmore

I can still remember my first encounter with the art of Larry Elmore. The 1983 D&D "Red Box" Basic Set. It was love at first sight. Although TSR had many amazing artists including great ones like Jeff Easley, Brom, Clyde Caldwell, Stephen Fabian and others, there were few who to such a degree defined the D&D experience as Larry Elmore. I am happy that Dave Arneson's company chose this artist for the D20 version of Blackmoor.

Happy birthday Larry Elmore!

-Havard

RedBox30: WotC are reading my blog!

So last month, I started posting about how the Red Box, the best selling product in the history was published 30 years ago.  Yesterday I reported that the Frank Mentzer Basic Set (Red Box) was finally available as a PDF.

Today, WotC responds: The now have a 30 year anniversary offer at dndclassics.com for various classic era products along with the basic set.

Have they been reading my blog, or what? :D

Some more discussion about this special anniversary offer over at The Piazza.

Also, check out this 1984 vintage TV commercial for the Red Box and other TSR Games at the time.

-Havard

Red Box Basic Set Available!

As I was talking about a few weeks ago, this year marks the 30th Anniversary of the Mentzer Red Box Basic Set, the edition that made D&D into a world wide hobby. It has been surprisingly quiet from WotC over this occasion, but my friend TAD just made me aware of the fact that DriveThru has finally released the Basic Set (Red Box version) for sale in the PDF format.

I think it is awesome that new fans can finally get to experience this edition of D&D and play through the beginner adventure featuring the legendary Bargle and Aleena. Also, this is a great chance to pick up the BECMI rules for your tablet. Money-wise it may be cheaper just to get the RC pdf, but it depends on your preferences.

Some more concerned voices have mentioned that this could mean that the chances of seeing a BECMI/RC reprinted version (as they have now done with AD&D 1&2 and 3E). I hope this is not the case. BECMI deserves to get its reprinted edition and it is one D&D product that I will buy in a heartbeat, either in the RC version or in a different collected version of the BECMI boxes.

-Havard

30 Years of Red Box D&D!

While there hasn't been much talk about it over at wizards.com, this year marks 30 years of gaming with the legendary Red Box Basic Set! The red box with the iconic Larry Elmore Dragon was first published in May 1983. This was also the edition that marked the international launch of D&D, turning the game into a worldwide hobby with the box being translated to 44 different languages. With tens of millions of copies sold, the Red Box basic set marked what undoubtedly the best selling product throughout the history of TSR.

Written by Frank Mentzer (credited as editor, as policy was back then), this was the edition that included the legendary intro adventure featuring the tragic death of Aleena the Cleric at the hands of the evil Wizard Bargle. The Red Box was the first in a line of five boxes which would take characters from 1st level to 36th and beyond that into further adventures as Immortals.  Known later by hard core fans as the BECMI edition (Basic - Expert - Companion - Master - Immortals), this edition took the classic line of D&D (as opposed to the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons line) to its full potential. The first two boxed sets, Basic and Expert, built heavily on the works of Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson, John Eric Holmes, Tom Moldvay and David Cook. From the Companion Rules and onwards, the series began to explore unknown territory allowing not only the traditional exploration of dungeons and wilderness, but also having your characters become rulers of kingdoms, control armies, explore the Outer Planes and eventually become god-like beings of legend.

Sometimes mistakenly  believed to be a "kids version" of  the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, the BECMI series in fact created an elegant balance between a ruleset that was easy to get into with the Red Box, but with an increasing complexity to rival that of AD&D as you progressed through the series. The series also offered a return to the Known World, previously introduced in the Moldvay/Cook B/X ruleset of 1981, which would eventually develop into the World of Mystara. BECMI would also later become the rule framework that would allow Blackmoor's return with the DA modules (Dave Arneson Series).

With the vast number of gamers introduced to the hobby of Roleplaying Games through the Red Box, 1983 was clearly a significant year in the history of gaming. Time to celebrate!



-Havard

Arneson Auction is Up

So the Arneson Auction is up at last. Its interesting to see the items listed in the first batch. Although I am more interested in the items coming further down the line, it is interesting to see what sort of RPG items Dave Arneson owned. Some were doubtlessly gifts and perhaps items bought to collect. Still it would be interesting to know what items he used for gaming in the later days. For instance, there are reports saying Dave Arneson loved his copy of the D&D Rules Cyclopedia. Its interesting to see how the collection include personal favorites of mine like Master of the Desert Nomads, the Orcs of Thar Gazetteer and other BECMI items. I wonder if he ever used them in play?




-Havard

Gaz3 The Principalities of Glantri: Behind the Scenes

One of my highlights in gaming this month has been Bruce Heard's return to the Mystara community on the Piazza. For those who don't know it, Heard was product manager for the Classic D&D line (ie not AD&D) during the 1980s and also wrote several key products for the Mystara setting as well as authoring the Voyage of the Princess Ark, a long running series in Dragon Magazine supporting the setting/system.

As part of a Q&A session on the Facebook Group "Mystara Reborn" (are you a member yet?), Bruce Heard was telling us about how Gaz 3 the Prinicpalities of Glantri came to be. This has just been reposted at Bruce's Blog.

Personally I find it interesting how there was no real formula for what a gazetteer could contain. While many of them included a section on General Skills, Gaz3 dodged this section and instead provides so much excellent crunchy content on rules on magic (yet not a single boring new spell!) combined with rich setting atmosphere and possibly the most fascinating NPC gallery in RPG history. It is funny compared to how today's discussion about Crunch vs. Fluff was completely ignored in the Gazetteer series and the decision was simply made to have high quality bits of both.

More discussion on this topic may be found here.



-Havard

Codex Immortalis, now in English!

The Codex Immortalis is the definite collection of Mystara's Immortals. My friend Marco wrote these years ago in Italian, but thanks to Mystara enthusiast and Piazza member, Mortis, this two volume pdf is now available for free download for the first time in English.

Not only are these books packed with information, but they are also beautifully presented. Now I know what I will be reading this weekend! Go here to see how you can download them for free.




-Havard

The Empire of Owls

The Empire of Owls is a new game opening up at the Comeback Inn. This game promises to explore the southern parts of the world of Blackmoor's Great Kingdom.

"The Empire of the Owls" is set in the utmost southern province of Blackmoor's great Kingdom, in the lands of Ravilla, the ancient home of the Gray Elves, somewhat east the Wilderlands, and south of Blackmoor. This is not a canonical setting, so you won't find it on any map. "

Not only will the game take steps into yet unmapped territory, but it will also explore a new era in the world of Blackmoor, being set 90 years after the D20 line products.

"The game is set in the year 1120 of the Northern Calendar, as per the Blackmoor counting of years, or in the year 4522, as per Balozkinar's Corrected Commoner's Calendar from the Wilderlands. The wars in Blackmoor are long over, and the Empire of Thonia is history."

Another interesting feature is that it will involve dominion style play, perhaps resembling the companion rules from BECMI or the style of play seen in the Birthright setting. It seems like this game will be chat based rather than a regular PbP. My buddy Rafael is the DM, and at least one original Blackmoor player is among the participants!

More information on the game, and how YOU can join here.




 Image Source.

-Havard