The MN Gathering 2025 to take place on Aug 21

 

The Minnesota Gathering is a small meeting or micro convention (their term) where friends of Dave Arneson, original Blackmoor players and other gamers meet up. This can be a nice alternative to the larger gaming conventions and those interested in Blackmoor can probably get a chance to talk more at length with some of those who helped shape the birth of D&D. 

The gaterhing is organized by Kevin McColl and the Castle Blackmoor group. 

This year's TMg is scheduled for August 21st. 

Once more details are revealed, I will report it here.

-Havard

The Minnesota Gathering of Blackmoor Fans Happening Right Now

 

I talked about the Minnesota Gathering earlier this month. It is a small convention of sorts, and a meeting of some of Dave Arneson's players and friends along with other gamers. This gathering is not associated with ArneCon or DaveCon. The convention organisers were kind enough to remind me that The MN Gathering is happening right now. I will share updates if I can get some reports!

Are you at the Minnesota Gathering right now? Please let me know if you are having a good time! I would love to hear about your experiences!

-Havard

MN Gathering 2024 for Friends and Fans of Blackmoor to Take Place on August 29

 

The Minnesota Gathering is one of the smaller get togethers involving the original Blackmoor players and friends. I mentioned this event last week, but now we know a little bit more. They are referring to the event as a Micro Convetnion taking place on August 29th:

 The following was announced today on their Facebook page:

August 29th. Perkins in Roseville MN at 6 pm. Next event. This year we reflect a bit on the 1969 GenCon pre event where Hoyt, Arneson, & Gygax met to discuss doing a Fictional Napoleonic like Arneson was doing But set in a medieval time. A suggestion posed By Gary. Arneson already wanting to do his version of a Braunstein pulled a lot from this as well. This is why those in MN say it started with Role-Playing, not Wargaming… the seed was already planted. But a lot more had to happen. The game started in 1970 Spring being as accurate to the tech and time as was logical. And Dwayne Jenkins would push for the Fantasy additions for those playing in MN when Hoyt took a job and had to move in the fall (August). Williams fort name changed to Blackmoor. Still more coming.

Date: August 29 

Venue: Perkins Restaurant, Roseville MN. 

Dave Wesely and David Megarry are among the attendees. David Fant, Ken Fletcher and others may also show up. 

If you are in the area and decide to drop by, please let me know if you had a good time! :)

-Havard

The MN Gathering 2024 - Arneson's Legacy Honored by Friends and Minnesota Gamers in August

 

Friends and fans of Dave Arneson have a number of chances to meet up this year. The MN Gathering is organized by The people behind the Castle Blackmoor website and other gamers from the Twin Cities. This year, the gathering will take place towards the end of August. 

In the past the MN Gathering has been organized in October for Dave Arneson Game Day, but this year the convention has been moved to August. The reason given for this is that it will honor the meeting of Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson and Bill Hoyt in 1969. 

It is always great to see the Blackmoor Bunch getting together with other gamers and fans honoring the legacy they helped create with Arneson. 

This blog celebrates all such events and all activities commemorating he early roots leading to the creation of Dungeons  &  Dragons. I wish the attendees of The MN Gathering a great time!

-Havard

ArneCon 2022 coming up this Weekend

 

The Castle Blackmoor Facebook Page shared a posted the other day with a reminder that ArneCon will be taking place this weekend. Back in September I reported that it looked like the Secrets of Blackmoor crew (Griffith Morgan and Chris Graves) would not be involved in the convention, but instead would be organized by Castle Blackmoor's Kevin McColl. Now it seems from the posted that both groups will see at least nominal involvement although it is clear that McColl is doing the heavy lifting on what he has described as a small event mostly for local gamers. It is unclear if the Secrets of Blackmoor group will have a presence at the convention, but at this point it seems less likely. 

Several of the original Blackmoor Players are announced to attend:

• Bob Meyer, doing a Blackmoor game, which will be a continuation of the original Blackmoor Campaign. 
• David Wesely, doing a Braunstein. 
• Bill Hoyt 

The event will take place at the Geek Partnership Society HQ on October 15th. 

Disclaimer: I am not associated with this event and I am also sadly unable to attend.

-Havard

ArneCon 0.2 Announced for October 15 2022

 

As October approaches, new developments are seen in the ongoing saga of various Dave Arneson gaming conventions! 

I previously mentioned  how the team behind the excellent documentary Secrets of Blackmoor were teasing a convention for October. Now, however it looks like documentary creators Chris Graves and Griffith Mon Morgan III will not be involved in the convention. Instead, local Minnesota Blackmoor enthusiasts are taking matters into their own hands. The event will be organized by Kevin McColl, a friend of Dave Arneson and owner of the Castle Blackmoor Website and the group called United Geeks of Gaming. 

The gaming event that now has been given the official name of ArneCon 0.2 was announced at the Castle Blackmoor Facebook Page.

Mark October 15th. ArneCon 0.2 Returning since 2017 We are planning a gaming convention in October, to tie in with the Birthday of Dave Arneson celebrating Minnesota's history of the origin of Role-Playing Games. And cheer all who were involved in the early years! Emphasis on old school style gaming, its history, and how it's history evolved. More to come location: Geek Partnership Society https://www.meetup.com/geekgaming/events/288131139

According to Kevin McColl, this will be a continuation of similar events run by the group before a hiatus during Covid.  

Several of the original Blackmoor Players are announced to attend:

• Bob Meyer, doing a Blackmoor game, which will be a continuation of the original Blackmoor Campaign. 
• David Wesely, doing a Braunstein. 
• Bill Hoyt (yet to be confirmed)

In addition, Kevin McColl will be running games, possibly including a beta test of an upcoming RPG he is working on. Kevin stressed that this will be a smaller event with the possibility of expanding it next year. 

-Havard

Minnesota Team Plan Dave Arneson Convention in October 2022

 As a response to the post I made yesterday about DaveCon 2023, one of the members of the Minnesota Team of gamers reached out to me and told me a bit more about their plans for a separate convention in October this year. 

The Minnesota Team told me they do not wish to be seen as working against DaveCon. The original Blackmoor players have been meeting for gaming each year for as long as Dave Arneson was alive. When Dave passed away, Bob Meyer took over responsibilities as the Dungeon Master of the group starting with the memorial game in 2010 that Dave's daughter also mentions in Secrets of Blackmoor. The planned convention in October is to be a continuation of these annual conventions. While no official announcement has yet been made, I was told that David Wesely will be present running Braunstein Games as will Bill Hoyt. Most likely other members of the original group and their friends will also attend. 

What this means to me is that fans of Blackmoor, Dave Arneson and gaming in general get two conventions instead of one. And there seems to be enough of an interest to support both conventions. That is a very good thing. I hope as many as possible support all of these projects to commemorate the legacy of Dave Arneson and celebrate gaming in all its forms.

-Havard

We Remember - 4 Years

Arneson Gameday has been changed to October 1st, Dave's date of birth, rather than his day of passing which was today 4 years ago. I still think it feels right to post a picture of him today. Also, it provides me with the opportunity of sharing this little used picture of Dave from 1979. He is holding up the painting that was used as the cover art for Adventures in Fantasy, the fantasy Roleplaying Game he wrote with Richard Snider that was published by Dave's own company.



Img source: http://www.twincities.com/ci_12112297 (Pioneer Press Photo)


-Havard

Blackmoor at UCON 2011

It pleases me to learn that Blackmoor is still being played at conventions. Not only at the Dave Arneson Memorial events, but also regular gaming convetions feature Blackmoor play in 2011. Last weekend, Blackmoor MMRPG episode modules were being run at UCON in Michigan. This is particularly pleasing to hear with the recent announcement that the MMRPG episodes are once again becoming available at the Comeback Inn.

The UCON session seems to have been a success. In spite of little ahead planning or marketing, the group had no trouble finding players, one UCON participant tells me. If you have more information about the UCON games, or other convetions running Blackmoor, I am interested in hearing about it! :)




-Havard

Happy Birthday Dave

64 years ago today, Dave Arneson was born. His legacy lives on.

-Havard

Arneson Gameday Poster

As mentioned the 3rd Arneson Gameday hosted in New York City is being arranged on October 1st this year. The Mule Abides recently posted this fantastic looking poster by Scott LeMien for the event. I love castle Blackmoor in the background and the interesting looking hands/weapons thrust into the air in homage to Dave Arneson.

Here are some of the games announced for this year's event:

• Luke Crane will be running games of Arneson’s adventure DNA/DOA using a hack of Burning Wheel Gold
• Darren Watts will be running games of Lucha Libre for the HERO System
• Michael Curtis will be running games of Stonehell Dungeon
• Joseph Bloch will be running games of Adventures Dark & Deep, and will have a new version of the Bestiary
• Paul Hughes will be running games of 4E Dungeons & Dragons using his poster of the OD&D random monster charts
• Tavis Allison will be running games of Adventurer Conqueror King

More details at the Comeback Inn. Are you doing anything for Arneson Game Day?


-Havard

3rd Annual NYC Arneson Memorial Gameday: October 1

A little over a month to go to the 3rd Annual NYC Arneson Memorial Gameday! Previously this New York City based event was held in March, but has now been moved to October 1st which is Dave Arneson's birthday. Although I have yet to get it confirmed, it is believed that it will be held at the Brooklyn Strategist. This year's events include:

• Michael Curtis will be running games of Stonehell Dungeon
• Joseph Bloch will be running games of Adventures Dark & Deep, and will have a new version of the Bestiary
• Luke Crane will be running games of DNA/DOA using a hack of Burning Wheel Gold
• Darren Watts will be running games of Lucha Libre for the HERO System
• Tavis Allison and others will be running games of the soon to be published Adventurer Conqueror King
• Paul Hughes will be running 4E using his poster of the OD&D random monster charts
• Daniel Boggs can't make it, but will be writing a piece for the program book and sending a single-volume collection of Dragons at Dawn & its first sequel
• Panel discussion about Arneson's legacy and how it's shaped modern culture; panelists will include journalists Ethan Gilsdorf (Wired, Salon) and David Ewalt (Forbes) .

More information can be found here. If you are going, make sure to send me the reports, pictures, videos or sound recordings. I want them :)



Image Source


-Havard

3rd Annual David L. Arneson Maritime Miniatures Event Report

Last weekend was the time of the 3rd Annual David L. Arneson Maritime Miniatures Event. As I mentioned when I first announced this about a month ago, the event took place at the Fantasy Flight Games Event Center in Roseville, Minnesota. The miniatures game was announced to take place on Saturday, but as things developed, it ended up taking the entire weekend, featuring among other things Dave Arneson's character, Captain Harchar. At the Comeback Inn, Chirine Ba Kal reported the following from the event:

"We had eight players for the first game and six for the second, and lots of people who stopped by to have a look and talk about Dave and Harchar. Things ended about ten pm, and we loaded out by eleven pm.

I had a business breakfast meeting on Sunday, after which we did the load-in back into the game room, and then had another RPG session from two pm to six pm to resolve the Dire Peril from Friday's game. Dinner after that, and then back into the game room to tell gaming stories.

Clean-up this morning from six am to now (11:30 am), and that was that.

Everyone seemed to be having a great time, or that's what they told me; I'm way too close to the thing to be objective. The players, the people who dropped by, and the Event Center staff were all very impressed by the tables and the games, so I think we can call this one a success. We handed out a lot of flyers and took a lot of pictures, and I'll get those sorted out as soon as I can.

The planning for the next event is already started, and I'm both startled and delighted with the way that people here and outside the Twin Cities want to make this a bigger and better event; Dave had both a lot of friends and a lot of influence on our shared hobby and I'm touched at the happiness that we managed to generate this weekend. It was a lot of work, and I'm exhausted; next year, though, more people want to help out on the organization side of the event and I'll be able to concentrate on the game side of things."

More about this years event and future events will be revealed here. 






-Havard

3rd Annual David L. Arneson Maritime Miniatures Event

 Last year, I was pleased to learn of the Dave Arneson Maritime Event in Minnesota. I am happy to hear that this tradition is continuing:

"Yarrrrgh, me buckos! It be the time o' the year when we sets sail once again on the High Seas of Tekumelyani Adventure, and celebrates the life and times of our dear old Captain Harchar of the Blazoned Sail Clan, that devilishly handsome seafaring rogue and Honest Merchant Seaman!"

In short, it's time once again for the annual David L. Arneson Memorial Maritime Miniatures Mayhem Event; Dave played the infamous sea captain Harchar in Prof. M. A. R. Barker’s Tekumel games for many years, and we like to remember him with an annual Tekumel miniatures game. This year, our third annual outing will be held on Saturday, April 9th, 2011, at the Fantasy Flight Games Event Center in Roseville, Minnesota. The event starts at noon, and goes until everyone is too tired to laugh any more.

The address is 1975 Oakcrest Avenue, Suite 10; for more information on the center, have a look at their website:

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_npm.asp?eidm=13

We have booked the upper Mezzanine level for the event, as befits the high standards of gaming that Dave set. (That's our story, anyway, and we're sticking to it.) We'll bring all the needful, and all you need to do is show up and have fun.

The basic plot of the game will be the same as the infamous "Saving Serqu's Sisters", or "Romp In The Swamp" we played at our Annual New Year’s Day game event; the idea is to save General Serqu's two sisters from A Horrible Fate at the hands of the terrible Hlutrgu. The last time around, these little rubbery nasties had it all their own way against the heavy infantry of the Legion of Serqu, Sword of the Empire, but this time around they'll have to contend with the intrepid Captain Harchar, his equally intrepid daughter Malia the Pirate Princess, and a couple of their friends like Carolyn, the Pirate Queen of Butrus. (If ye thinks ye detects A Theme, matey, ye'd be right on course, belike!)

There will be more boats, more swamp, more mayhem, more swamp, and a lot more fun for all and sundry as the Aethervox Gamers and their guests take on the best that Howard Fielding and the Tekumel Project can throw at them. We’re going to run this game several times in the course of the day so as to let everybody play different roles, too. Pictures from the last two years of this event are available at:

http://s277.photobucket.com/albums/kk72/Chirine_ba_Kal/

And further information will be available on my blog:

http://chirinesworkbench.blogspot.com/

Please feel free to post this announcement anywhere you think people might be interested!

Yours, Chirine - chirine@aethervox.net

The above was taken from the announcement at the Comeback Inn.

Image Source

-Havard

Summarizing Blackmoor 2010

With Dave Arneson's passing the year before, things did not look good for Blackmoor as we entered 2010. The year began with Wizards of the Coast, not renewing their lisence with Zeitgeist Games, making the chances of seeing any official Blackmoor product in print in any forseeable future unlikely.

In spite of this, fandom were intent to carry the flame on. The readers of this blog one year ago, numbered 50. Now we are 99! Last february we launched the new Blackmoor Fan Forum; the Comeback Inn. I renamed my website, now called the Blackmoor Archives, to reflect its more defined role, with the forum and blog complementing eachother.

In March and April, I was happy to report, several gaming events dedicated to the memory of Dave Arneson and Blackmoor. On March 27th, the second Dave Arneson memorial game day was celebrated in New York City. On April 10, The second annual David L. Arneson Memorial Maritime Mayhem Miniatures Event was held at The Source Comics. I hope these events will return this year and go on for many years to come. 2010 was also the year when the Arnesonian RPG, Dragons at Dawn was published. In October, Full Sail University honored their former colleague. Last year, a new season of the legendary Blackmoor Play by Post game, the Last Fantasy Campaign was launched at the Comeback Inn with players including former Blackmoor players, former ZGG affiliates and die-hard fans.

The Original Blackmoor Players have also been kind to share their memories of gaming with Dave Arneson. Greg Svenson is a founding member of the Comeback Inn Forum and continues to contribute there. Stephen Rocheford told us about the first D&D archvillain. Bob Meyer told me about his Blackmoor memorial Game.  David Wesely ran Braunstein and gave  a podcast Interview. Thanks to Jeff Berry, we also learned about Deborah Naffziger who played Toska Rusa. Mike Carr also spoke about his memories of playing the first D&D Cleric in history in Arneson's Game. I am also in contact with other players who continue to be supportive of our work. More to be revealed on this later!

Finally, a big thank you to everyone who have been following this blog and responding to my forum posts at the Comeback Inn and the Piazza. You are the reason why I am doing this.

Those are but a few memories of 2010, all in all a great year in Blackmoor's history. All of these events make me optimistic about 2011. Let's make it even better than 2010!

-Havard

A Miniature of Dave Arneson

Some people get a statue in their honor. How should we best commemorate Dave Arneson? At the Maritime Mayhem event back in April, some of the attendees were discussing the matter with Dave's Daughter, Malia Arneson Weinhagen .

The idea of erecting a statue in Dave's memory might not have been something this modest man would have been comfortable with, Jeff Berry stated afterwards:

"we all agreed that if somebody had suggested this idea to Dave, he would have laughed his head off and very kindly told you that you needed to go soak your head in a bucket of water as your brain was obviously overheating; statues in the town square seemed silly to him. "

If not a statue, then what kind of a token could be made so that Arneson's many fans could remember him? Jeff continues:

I thought that running games for people to have fun with and at would be a more fitting tribute, and Malia [Arneson Weinhagen] agreed with me as she watched the mayhem and happiness unfold around the game table. We also talked about a Dave Arneson figure for people to have for games, and I'm going to see what I can do about that. Glasses, beard, and that Cheshire Cat grin; what more do you want in a wandering monster, eh?

 A miniature then, in the shape of the game designer himself to be used on every gaming table? This is something I would love to get my hands on.


(The fake miniature illustration was made using the software on this site) 



-Havard 

Maritime Mayhem!

Just a quick reminder for anyone near St. Paul, Minnesota, of the Dave Arneson Memorial Maritime Mayhem Event being arrange at the Source Comics & Games store today.


If you are one of those able to go, please take pictures, write reports and send them to me! :)






-Havard

Remembering Dave Arneson

David L. Arneson (October 1, 1947 - April 7, 2009)

"Gone, but not forgotten," says today's Grognardia article. A year has passed, but today the blogosphere and various forums are honoring Dave. Gaming events are being arranged as a tribute to him. My previous entry here detailed the game Dragon's at Dawn as another example of how Dave Arneson is being remembered by the many fans of his ideas.






-Havard

NYC Dave Arneson Gameday Today!

I just surfed by JoeTheLawyer's blog and was reminded that today is Dave Arneson Gameday! At the Compleat Strategist in New York City, various RPG events will be arranged in Dave's memory.






-Havard

St. Paul Memorial Event Poster

As I mentioned earlier this month, there will be a memorial event held in St. Paul, Minnesota on April 10th. Thanks to Jeff Berry, I can present you with the poster for the event:

I like the illustration. I wonder if that is Arneson's character, Captain Harchar right there, swinging from the mast?






-Havard