Blackmoor Trademark Now Registered to Estate of Dave Arneson LLC

 

As of March 4th, 2025, the Blackmoor Trademark is listed as Registered to the The Estate of David Arneson LLC. The estate first applied to register the Trademark of Blackmoor back in July 2021, but it seems there is a long and complicated process to move a Trademark from Pending Status to Live. 

It has been listed under the following categories for statement of use:

Toys and Sporting Goods Products Dice games; Role playing games; Tabletop hobby battle games in the nature of battle, war and skirmish games, and fantasy games, and playing equipment sold as a unit therewith.

Paper Goods and Printed Material Role playing game equipment in the nature of printed game book manuals

According to a press release from last year, the Estate of David Arneson LLC is Dave's Daughter Malia Arneson-Weinhagen, her husband Luke and their grandchildren. The same press release made it clear that Chris Graves, producer of the documentary "Secrets of Blackmoor", has been made 

"Authorized Representative and Bridge Troll for the Estate of David Arneson, LLC". 

Note that Mr Graves' associate Griff Morgan who runs the Secrets of Blackmoor account on X/Twitter and elsewhere has made it clear that he is not a spokesperson for the Estate".

At this point, no official statement has been made from the Estate about what this confirmation of the Trademark Registration would mean for the future of Blackmoor.

-Havard

Into the Wild Blue Yonder - Blackmoor Adventure from tFotT and Rob Kuntz

 

Into the Blue Yonder is now available for preoder from tFotT. This adventure was written by Rob Kuntz and was demonstrated at ArneCon last weekend. The adventure is written for characters of levels 10-12 and takes the PCs on a journey through Blackmoor's Realm of the Dead, AKA the Dark Realm. 

Pre-Orders Being Taken: Into The Wild Blue Yonder By Robert Kuntz An Official Blackmoor Setting, Into The Wild Blue Yonder was used as a convention adventure at Arnecon 2. World famous Greyhawk author, Robert Kuntz has created a module to honor his old friend, Dave Arneson. This is a historic adventure as Rob has never before written a module for Blackmoor. Extensively researched in order to evoke the essence of Arneson's Blackmoor campaign, adventurers set out on a quest into the Dark Realm of the unliving to discover the secrets behind a conspiracy that could lead to a great war.

The tFotT website offers pre-orders for 30 USD and is expected to be ready for shipping in November 2024. The site has more details:

An AD&D adventure for characters levels 10-12. Special ArneCon 2 Edition -Includes signed certificate from Robert J. Kuntz! (limited to the first 100 copies). Cover may change for the final release. Into the Wild Blue Yonder is a very grounded and straight forward quest related to a story line created by Dave Arneson in his original campaign and as fictionally extended by this author. This should not of itself stop capable DMs from utilizing what is presented here in their own campaign settings. In other cases this adventure is suitable as a one-off type played out over several sessions. It also contains a lot of new source material that can be integrated into any campaign. The adventure is designed for 8 PCs of 10-12th level. DMs can substitute their own PCs for the 8 pre-generated PCs included herein while taking note of the balance in spells and items the latter possess. The action takes place in the Dark Realm (land of the dead) beneath the Goblin Hills in the Egg of Coot. It is quest oriented and centers upon the party retrieving knowledge that will eliminate a brewing revolt in the Duchy of Bulgryn, the latter which could draw adjacent Duchies into a War of the Roses scale conflict. Into the Wild Blue Yonder can either be placed in a land comparable to Oerth or it can be easily adapted to any campaign. It is connected in no small way to the lands comprising Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor & environs. A portion of the information contained herein has been derived from Dave’s Blackmoor campaign for the express purpose of continuing a legendary story line he composed concerning Marfeldt the Barbarian. Just as important was the need to recognize Pete Gaylord’s Wizard of the Wood character; and out of respect for the first wizard of RPGs I was eager to include him in the story’s plot. You’ll discover venerable histories herein which I have adapted for crafting this adventure as part of the legendary saga of Blackmoor, the first fantasy RPG campaign.

The Duchy of Bulgryn is not something mentioned in previous published versions of Blackmoor, but based on reports from the ArneCon presentation, it could be Rob Kuntz version of the Duchy of the Peaks. It is also interesting that the description from the website references Oerth along with other settings where the adventure may be set. Famoust NPCs mentioned in the adventure are The Egg of Coot, Marfeldt the Barbarian and Pete Gaylord's Wizard of the Woods. I am not sure if this means that Pete Gaylord was involved in writing this adventure, but it does seem more like a homage from Kuntz.

This is the first real game product from tFotT since Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg and the first to make explicit use of Blackmoor related locations and characters. 

-Havard

ArneCon 2024 Reports Are Coming In

As mentioned, ArneCon 2024, took place this weekend, from October 4-6. Managed by the creators of the Secrets of Blackmoor documentary (Griff Morgan and Chris Graves), the convention honoring the legacy of D&D Co-Creator Dave Arneson was held at The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, in Minneapolis MN. Although I haven't seen any numbers of participants for this year's events, organisers stated early on that the plan was for this to be a small and cozy event. Morgan stated that the convention was a highly successful and my impression is that everyone had a great time. 

It is also nice to see photos of Morgan hanging out with Vic Dorso of DaveCon. It seems that any rivalry that may have existed between the two conventions is now ancient history and Morgan stated that he plans to attend at DaveCon next year. 

I know that some announced guests did end up not showing up and a few events may not have occurred according to the program, but it looks like they had more than enough games and activities to keep the attendees busy. Some of the games were live streamed and can be viewed here. Among the Blackmoor Bunch who were present were Dave Wesely, Ross Maker, Dave Megarry, Bill Hoyt and possibly others. 

In particular, I have to say I found Rob Kuntz adventure particularly interesting, involving legendary Blackmoor characters like Marfeldt and the Wizard of the Woods as well as reference to places like the Duchy of the Peaks and the Realm of the Egg of Coot. 

Did you attend the convention? I would love to hear from you!

More discussion about this article at The Comeback Inn.

-Havard

Photo by: Marianne Wong

Blackmoor Foundation Book Temporarily Out of Stock

 Secrets of Blackmoor on Twitter/X reported the following:

Blackmoor Foundations Update
 Trying to keep up on shipping - yes, we do all our own fulfillment with Chris and I packing book orders ourselves. We filled nearly all the orders thus far, but we ran out of stock on Blackmoor Foundations again, still plenty of Tonisborg. Looks like we need to do a double re-order to keep up. The reception on this book has surprised us. It seems gamers do want to know about Dave Arneson's original campaign along with the origin of RPGs. Thank you all of you who purchased a book.

 

Tonisborg is The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg by Greg Svenson."Chris and I" would refer to Griffith Morgan and Chris Graves who created the documentary Secrets of Blackmoor.  

It is great to see there being such a huge demand for this book that promises to include many unpublished notes, documents and maps by Dave Arneson. I ordered by copy through Amazon and I am still waiting for my copy :)

-Havard

Arneson Estate Responds to Ink Bat's Age of the Wolf

Over the past few months we have reported on this blog about Age of the Wolf after Ink Bat announced that they were bringing this project back for a GenCon release. 

Here is the official  response from the Arneson Estate:

 For Immediate Release (07/28/2024): 

Is The Age of the Wolf an actual work by Dave Arneson or even a Blackmoor setting? 

 

 The Arneson Estate believes it to be a fake. ​

The Estate of David Arneson comprises his much-cherished family, Malia, Luke, and Dave's grandchildren. Dave's family is very perplexed regarding the publication of Studio Ink Bat's "Age Of The Wolf" book. This manuscript is purported to be Dave Arneson's last major work which Studio Ink Bat plans to distribute during events at GenCon 2024. ​

 

One would think someone wanting to publish an original work by Dave Arneson, or even a work derived from Dave's ideas, would be excited to collaborate with the family of Dave Arneson for the published work to have authenticity.

 

This is far from what has transpired thus far. Studio Ink Bat's attitude and actions leave the Arneson family utterly baffled. Studio Ink Bat (aka Denise Robinson & C.A. Suleiman) show no respect to the family's legal right to control intellectual properties created by Dave Arneson and properties derived from his works. Additionally, Studio Ink Bat has wholly disregarded the family's feelings in matters which are very much a family decision. This leads the Arneson family to believe that Studio Ink Bat's publication, "The Age of the Wolf," is a counterfeit — which cannot be attributed in any way to Dave Arneson. Furthermore, the Estate emphasizes this publication violates their trademark and naming rights.

 

​ I want to emphasize here that we have not received any documentation proving the work is anything but a counterfeit. We are still very open to seeing anything that could disprove our current assessment, which could be forthcoming from Studio Ink Bat. ​

 

Studio Ink Bat's behavior is puzzling to us, as it was Studio Ink Bat who initially approached the Arneson Estate asking for the Estate's blessing on the "Age of the Wolf" book. At first, they claimed David Arneson had contributed to the manuscript before his untimely death in 2009. Since email exchanges with the Arneson Estate, they are now walking that back and saying he was leading a team producing this adventure. They also said they were publishing it to honor Arneson, the co-creator of D&D, and planned on giving 100 copies away for free at GenCon 2024 (the 50th anniversary of D&D). Sounds nice enough, and it could have been simple. We exchanged pleasantries back and forth and requested they provide the Estate with three things to move the process forward:

 

​ 1. We asked Studio Ink Bat multiple times to show us any documentation they have (e.g., notes, correspondence, or a contract) that shows Dave Arneson worked on this project or granted any rights to his intellectual property (his name or the Blackmoor name).

 

2. We asked Studio Ink Bat multiple times to send us the manuscript so the Arneson family could review it to determine if it is something the Blackmoor trademark could be attached to (e.g., would the family license the Blackmoor name to Studio Ink Bat based solely on the quality of the content). We received only a tiny sample which contained elements easily copied from previously published material.

 

3. We asked Studio Ink Bat to temporarily remove any public notices about the project until points 1 and 2 have been addressed. This would protect them from potential liability and was a first step for Studio Ink Bat to demonstrate an appreciation for Dave Arneson and his creations. Immediate action would also have shown respect to his family members.

 

These are things that any reasonable person would ask for to protect the legacy of a late and much-beloved father - none of the above requests were ever fully met. ​ Since Studio Ink Bat told us this event was a one-time small, free distribution, we thought any license fee could be as meager as a dollar. The Arneson Estate is in the business of licensing the Blackmoor trademark, and the distribution of an actual, unseen, unpublished Dave Arneson work could only be a good thing.

 

Not long after, it became obvious to us they did not understand how IP law works, when Studio Ink Bat replied "Well, since we're giving the book away for free we don't need your permission" to paraphrase. However, this is wrong on two points - they do not appear to be giving the book away for free, and IP rights infringement involves publication, and not money (see below).

 

Despite the situation clearly being a misunderstanding we continued to reach out, while at the same time making it known we were very open to coming to an agreement with Studio Ink Bat. ​

 

Yet, they have refused to show us any proof that Dave Arneson worked on it (instead, they told us they had no documentation and we should "look it up"). They have refused to show us the entire manuscript. And let’s not forget the phone conversation where they called the Estate “stupid”. We need time to examine the manuscript to determine if it contains anything of Arneson's work or style. Time is also needed to distribute copies to numerous scholars for expert assessments of the work and its validity.

 

Instead, they offered to send us money, possibly give us the rights to the book after GenCon, and other things — anything but fulfilling our simple requests. The issue is that without knowing the content or seeing any evidence that Arneson worked on it, we can't simply give them a license to make claims as to the attribution and or validity of this work. Hence, their offers of money and publishing rights are not pertinent. We informed them of this, and our requests to see the manuscript continued to be ignored. ​

 

Furthermore, from the small sample Studio Ink Bat sent, from other content on their website, and their apparent limited knowledge of IP law gathered from our correspondence, we believe the book could contain violations of other publishers' and authors' IP rights, which would make the book difficult or impossible to distribute — again, unless we can review the full content we can't make any determination as to who can make claims to this content. Additionally, the family doesn't want to attach Dave Arneson's name to a product without providing proper credit to any other creators of the content, as has often been done to work Dave produced. We'd still be more than happy to examine the manuscript. We are in a quandary, as once the book is distributed, it will likely be too late to resolve this issue in a friendly way. ​

 

Studio Ink Bat's seeming desire to force our hand in this manner leads to more confusion, as we would rather offer a handshake and be friends than do otherwise.

 

​ Even as a derived work bearing a Blackmoor trademark, which the Estate is in the business of licensing, we would still need to see the manuscript they have refused to provide. How can we issue a license to use the trademark without seeing it? We need to know what kind of content this book presents. Does the content meet the Arneson family's standards for a fun adventure book meant for general distribution, or is this book aimed at an adult audience? Would you license your father's legacy to something you knew little about, or worse, something which could lead to negative public opinion? We would've liked to get the whole picture, but they have yet to provide it.

 

And — we discovered they are not giving the "Age of the Wolf" away for free, but instead "shadow selling" their book at GenCon 2024. The admission fee for their 14 paid events at GenCon is $48 per person and comes with a "free Age of the Wolf book." Do you think an unknown company's first publication could sell out all 14 events at GenCon for $48 a head if they weren't using Dave Arneson's name and the Blackmoor trademark to promote it? We don't believe so. They are using the Arneson and Blackmoor names to sell a publication we can only believe is a fake.

 

Even if they were giving the copies away at a free admission event or simply handing them out gratis to people on the street, it still infringes on the Arneson family's rights. Infringement does not have to involve money changing hands — the law is about publication and distribution. One would think that in this situation, ethics demand transparency and cooperation at the very least.

 

The Estate of David Arneson's goal is to promote and protect the legacy of the co-creator of the game that has changed so many lives for the better — and help that legacy continue into the future for all gamers, David's children, and his grandchildren. Studio Ink Bat claims they are honoring Dave's legacy but are instead doing the same thing to Dave Arneson in death as many did to him in life by exploiting properties that are not theirs (Blackmoor and Arneson's name).

 

For those going to Gencon, who have paid up front to play in an actual Dave Arneson adventure, our advice is simple: Buyer Beware! It is up to you as individuals to decide if attending a NOT BLACKMOOR event has value to you.

 

Again, the Estate and the Arneson family are excited to discover a new Arneson Blackmoor setting - assuming it is real. Thus, we are more than happy to review the manuscript, but Studio Ink Bat has chosen to be unethical in our estimation.

 

Chris Graves Authorized Representative and Bridge Troll for the Estate of David Arneson, LLC © 2024 Estate of David Arneson, LLC.

Stay tuned for future updates.

-Havard 

Blackmoor Foundations Book Now on Amazon

 

The new book Blackmoor Foundations is now available on Amazon. That is, it is currently listed as out of stock, but I assume that is just because they are awaiting the shipment of books. I have previously talked about this book here on this blog. Published by The Fellowship of the Thing, the company behind the Secrets of Blackmoor documentary, this book includes a number of historic documents and maps from the Blackmoor campaign that has never before seen the light of day. 

The paperback edition is currently listed at 39.95 USD, and can be ordered from Amazon here. 

-Havard

New Maps and More details on Blackmoor Foundations Book

More is being revealed about the Blackmoor Foundations book coming from the Secrets of Blackmoor crew. I mentioned the other day that the book will contain several maps. Included is also the original Dutch Map that was often mentioned as a source for the Blackmoor coastline. Among the other maps included is apparently also the map from AVH's Outdoor Survival Game which was used to detail the inland geography. 

.

The texts included here are also interesting as they show part of the connection between a Dutch Historical campaign that may have gradually transitioned into the Blackmoor game. Master Fant mentioned here is the character of David Fant who later also played the Baron of Blackmoor. 

Also of interest are references to the Great Kingdom, the Tower of Sorrows (Tower of Salt?) and the Capital of the Picts. The Picts were later replaced by Orcs as enemies, though I have also used them in my development for the people of the Vales as an older human culture before the Thonians moved into the lands of Blackmoor. 

It is going to be interesting to see what else comes to light when this book becomes widely available. 

-Havard

Blackmoor Foundation Arneson Manuscripts Content

 Blackmoor Foundations is a book to be published towards the end of this month. I talked about the book a few weeks ago and how it is going to include many unpublished documents and maps that can be linked back to Dave Arneson's campaign, including material written by Dave Arneson himself. Much of the content is still unknown, but some is starting to get leaked. 

Fellow Blackmoor scholar DH Boggs wrote on his blog that much of this material comes from illustratior Ken Fletcher's collection. Ken was employed by Dave Arneson's company and was tasked to prepare Blackmoor material for possible publication in the early 1980s.

More details comes from YouTuber DaddyRolledA1 who has been given a first draft copy of Blackmoor Foundations. In his video D&D History: Foundations, Product Lines, Art, & Creators, he covers many sources for gaming history, but I want to direct your attention to the section where he is talking about this specific book and reveals some of the content. 

The explains how the book discusses dates that are often uncertain and how it contrasts some documented dates with sometimes contradictory information from what people who were there rememeber. Given the type of "documentation" that is available from someone's personal games, I 

Some of these maps or variants of them have been shared among fans already, but it will be nice to see everything collected. 

Ken Flether apparently had lots of pages of documents that he shared with The Fellowship of the Thing (DaddyRolledA1 does not seem to appreciate the name of that company) that produced this book. 

This illustration made be curions. According to the youtube video this illustration was made by Dave Arneson.

The firearms of Blackmoor are shown in the illustration below. I am not sure if this refers to artifacts origination from the aliens, or if these are supposed to be regular firearms that the men of Blackmoor were able to produce. Both types are referenced in the FFC. 

Credits for this book are given to Griffith M. Morgan III of Fellowship of the Thing, but others have also contributed as shown on the intro page. 

So the final version of this book should be available soon. If you already own a copy, let me know what else might be found there!

More discussion of this article at The Comeback Inn.

-Havard

Age of the Wolf not Sanctioned by Estate Morgan Says

Edit: I just talked to a source within Ink Bat Studios. They have clarified that the Age of the Wolf Sourcebook was not written by Dave Arneson: "like all but one of the Blackmoor supplements during the 3e and 4e eras, Dave did not write any of the book. He simply oversaw and approved it. We're just trying to honor Dave's own wishes and make sure he's not forgotten." They also says that from their perspective, Ink Bat's contact with Fellowship of the Thing (Griffith Morgan and Chris Graves) was just established and that they were still trying to make a deal. They were surprised that Fellowship contacted myself and other bloggers before negtotiations were finalized. Lets hope this is all just a misunderstanding and that things can be cleared up!

Yesterday we were excited to report that the legendary sourcebook Blackmoor Age of the Wolf will be released by Ink Bat Studio this August. The Age of the Wolf sourcebook was a project started during the 3E and 4E eras when Dave Arneson's company Zeitgeist Games and later their partners Code Monkey Press wanted to develop a new subsetting for Blackmoor. The manuscript along with a lot of illustrations were completed when Dave passed away and WotC announced that the Blackmoor lisence had been rewoked. This marked the end of Zeitgeist Games venturing into RPG publishing. 

What happened to the Age of the Wolf manuscript since then is not yet known, but I have confirmation that some of those working on Age of the Wolf are currently involved with Ink Bat Studios. Some of the designers involved have a long list of credits working in the industry and the final Blackmoor sourcebook, dubbed Blackmoor: The First Campaign was highly acclaimed by fans of newer and older editions. It is possible that they have spent all these years seeking to find a way to get the manuscript published. 

According to Griffith Morgan from the company Fellowship of the Thing (Secrets of Blackmoor Documentary, Tonisborg Sourcebook), Ink Bat Studios will not be allowed to publish Blackmoor: Age of the Wolf. "It is not sanctioned by the Estate", Morgan says. "If this is Arneson material it belongs to [Arneson's daughter]. They cannot use the Blackmoor Trade [Mark]. Wthout the family's permission, they cannot put Dave Arneson's name on it." I have not yet been able to get confirmation from the family, but Morgan says his company are operating under a lisence from the Estate.

Griffith Morgan as he appeared on Wandering DM's Youtube Channel three years ago. 

Morgan says Ink Bat Studios have been in contact with both the Estate and Fellowship of the Thing. Morgan says his company would love to publish the manuscript, but according to Morgan, no agreement was reached. 

Legalities about Blackmoor have always been complicated. Although I am no expert on these matters It is important to realize that Trade Marks and IP are two separate issues. An entity called the Arneson Estate LLC has made claim to the Blackmoor Trademark, but the Trademark registry status is still listed as pending, although an extension was granted on Feb 1. 2024. WotC also claim to own the Blackmoor Trademark through continued publication of PDF and Print material. 

When it comes to Blackmoor IP, things are even more complicated as multiple parties have supported Blackmoor across the years. 

For the sake of fans, many of us have been waiting for this source book since we first heard about the concept in the early 2000s, let us hope that some solution can be found so that we can finally see what this book was about. Before we know more, it is dangerous to speculate too much.

-Havard

ArneCon 2024 Announcement

 

The Secrets of Blackmoor group just annonced the dates for this year's ArneCon. The convention will take place on October 4-6. Here is the full announcement:

"October 4-6, 2024 are the dates to lock out. Arnecon-2 is coming and you do not want to miss out on the fun of RPGs, War Games, Board Games, Computer Games, and a lot more! Buy a Ticket before March 1st! We have a 20% off early bird special on tickets. You can see last years events in the posted images. Check back for info on Special Guests - not yet announced."

2024 marks the 50th anniversary of D&D and it looks like fans of Blackmoor will have a lot of events to attend this year. 

Are you excited about ArneCon 2? Share your thoughts in the comments below! :)

Get your tickets for ArneCon here.

-Havard

 

ArneCon 2023 Reports are in!

 ArneCon 1 took place this weekend and reports are coming in. I have made several posts about ArneCon this fall talking about the announced program and the guests of honor which included many of the original Blackmoor players and other alumni. 

I snatched a bunch of these photos from the ArneCon Facebook page. As announced, it looks like this was a nice and intimate convention which makes sense since it was the first convention organized by the creators of the Secrets of Blackmoor documentary. 

It looks like everyone is having a great time and it was especially nice to see Dave Arneson's daughter present along with the original Blackmoor players. These nice people have always been helpful and supportive of my blog and the Comeback Inn website. Also nice to see Paul Stormberg and Dan H Boggs present. In addition to being co-author of  Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg, Boggs is also a friend of the Comeback Inn. 

Did you attend ArneCon 2023? I would love to hear your war stories and photos you might want to share!

-Havard

ArneCon 2023 Announcement - This is the First ArneCon Organizers Say

An announcement was just made about ArneCon 2023. While it is exciting for all Blackmoor fans  that this event is approaching, the announcement also contradicts much of the information provided in the original announcement made in April, including moving the dates almost a month back, and raises some questions.

 

Welcome to the first ever Arnecon! 

 Brought to you by The Fellowship of the Thing, Ltd - creators of the film, Secrets of Blackmoor and the book, The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg. 

 “...After all, the keynote is, that ‘Anything is Possible’, just that some [things] are more likely than others.”- David Arneson

 Officially sanctioned by the Estate of Dave Arneson Set in an intimate locale, Arnecon is a gathering honoring the creative genius of Dave Arneson and his game group, The Blackmoor Bunch. It is a panoply of game experiences - featuring miniatures war-games, board games, and role playing games. Come game with the people who were there when Role Playing was invented. A celebration of the friendships formed through gaming - where everyone is welcome and "anything is possible". Come, try a new game, make new friends, and explore the unlimited possibilities of gaming. Most of all - have fun! 

Special Guests:

•  Malia Arneson - Dave Arneson’s daughter. 
•  David Wesely - A half-elf in Blackmoor. Known for Strategos - A adaptation of Totten’s Strategos;
• The American game of war, The Braunstien RPG, Valley Forge, and Co-author of Source of the Nile. 
•  Paul Stormberg - Creator of the Legends of Wargaming, and Owner, The Collector's Trove. 
•  Ross Maker - The worlds first Dwarf character in Blackmoor. Co-author of Source of the Nile. 
•  Stephen Rocheford - The High Priest of the Temple of the Frogs, Owner of Lavender Magazine, Minnesota’s premier LGBTQ+ news source. 
•  Gail Gaylord - The first woman to play fantasy RPGs. Known for having typed development drafts of Dungeons & Dragons for Dave Arneson. 
•  Martin Noetzel - The Wandering Elf in Blackmoor and a keen fan of online RPGs. 

Event Submissions Open August 31! More to come... 

 Special room hotel rates for Arnecon will be available on a limited basis. 

 Dates 

Fri, Oct 20 2023, 5:00pm - 12:00am 

Sat, Oct 21 2023, 8:00am - 12:00am 

Sun, Oct 22 2023, 8:00am - 6:00pm 

 Time zone: America/Chicago (UTC -05:00) 

 Location Minneapolis, Minnesota 

 Contact Us (303) 872-7666 

 Venue DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Minneapolis - Park Place 1500 Park Pl Blvd, Minneapolis, MN 55416, USA

Source.

The most exciting thing for me is to see the list of honored guests. It is very nice to see that so many of the original players are able to make an appearance. It would be nice to see even more of the original group make an appearance, but there could be many reasons why not all are able to go. It is also nice to see Malia's name on the list. 

What came as a surprise to many is that this event is designated as ArneCon 1. The name ArneCon was first coined by Original Player David Megarry back in 2019, when the idea of a convention similar to GaryCon, but in other of the other D&D Co-Creator was first mentioned. The name ArneCon was actually used for the convention organized last year in the Twin Cities, so what makes the 2023 convention the first ArneCon?

The 2022 ArneCon was originally teased by Blackmoor Documentary makers Griffith Morgan and Chris Graves (AKA The Fellowshin of the Thing), but when they dropped out, local organizers lead by Kevin McColl took over. Kevin at the time stressed that he saw the event as a continuation of the gathering Dave Arneson's Players had continued after Dave's passing, typically organized around Dave's birthday on October 1st, also known as Dave Arneson Gameday. 

This new ArneCon appears to be a clean break from past events with the Fellowship of the Thing taking full charge of the event. Moving the dates also separates the convention from the Blackmoor Social Event announced for Octobers 1st. Moreover the Facebook event for ArneCon 2023 now points to the wrong dates and details.

I wish ArneCon 2023 all the success it can get and I think it has the potential to become a great event. However, from this corner, it looks like there much unused potential in getting better coordination between various groups of Blackmoor enthusiasts. 

UPDATE:

Additional information from Kevin McColl: 

Technically the same people behind setting this up have had two other conventions that had to be cobble together because of peoples health. After the first one we had COVID-19 kick in, and the second one which we still did Chris was in the hospital. Morgan might be listing it as the first one but it’s not. Even though we didn’t have that working title for the first two. In case anyone’s confused

More discussion of this article.

-Havard

Tonisborg Softcover Official Blackmoor Setting Now Available from Barnes And Noble

 

The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg Softcover Edition is now available from Barnes and Nobles for 30 USD.

Written by Greg Svenson, Griffith Morgan and D.H. Boggs and published by Fellowship of the Thing, Tonisborg is based on the dungeons original Blackmoor player Greg Svenson created with the approval of Dave Arneson back in the early days of the hobby:

" A guide to how Dungeons & Dragons was played before Dungeons & Dragons! Greg Svenson's, The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg. An Official BLACKMOOR™ Setting The Most Unique RPG Module ever published. In 1971, Greg Svenson and his friends took part in the very first dungeon adventure game, Blackmoor, created by their friend, Dave Arneson (D&D Co-Creator).

 

The large group of players descended into Blackmoor Dungeon in search of a wizard and his cohort, an evil Balrog. Greg was the only player to survive this momentous first game session, earning the title: The Great Svenni. As his game persona, Greg would go on to become the most celebrated character in the history of Blackmoor and RPGs. Then, in the summer of 1973, as Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax worked to complete the manuscript for Dungeons & Dragons, Greg was given a play-test copy of this novel new game. He used these rules to create his own adventure dungeon, The Dungeons of Tonisborg. One day, Greg loaned his maps to a friend to make copies. An unexpected disaster struck: the maps, stowed in an old magazine, were thrown away. All ten original map levels of Greg's epic mega-dungeon were thought lost forever. This lost map set came to be known as The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg among the "Blackmoor Bunch."

Thirty-five years later, during the making of the documentary film, Secrets of Blackmoor, a mysterious set of photocopied dungeon maps was unearthed. D. H. Boggs emailed copies to Greg Svenson, who instantly recognized his own handwriting, declaring that these old photocopies were indeed copies of his original Tonisborg Dungeon. Now published with extensive background information, The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg is not like any RPG Game Module you've ever encountered before. Step back into time with this stand-alone book, presenting the second oldest mega-dungeon created in the Twin Cities during the early development of RPGs. It's a history of RPG dungeons. It's a guide to the secret art of the Dungeon Master - from the people who invented it. It's a rediscovered ten-level mega-dungeon filled with monsters and hidden treasures. It is an entire RPG, complete with old-school rules for creating player personas, outfitting equipment, adventuring, extensive charts for generating treasures, a spellbook, and a compendium of mythical creatures. (Or you can use your own favorite rules)

Everything you need to play is in this one volume! Guide your players through a deep dive into the dungeon as you learn RPG History, Philosophy, and Traditional Game Methods to improve your gaming sessions. Immerse yourself and your friends into a fantastic world of adventure with this historic mega-dungeon using original game rules derived from rare manuscripts from times past The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg - The Seminal Guidebook to Traditional Role Playing! 

Includes: 

• Reproductions of the original drawings of all ten levels of Tonisborg Dungeon, complete with the original dungeon keys and stocking lists. 
• Updated maps and keys have been beautifully reconstructed from the originals for ease of play.
• Greg Svenson reveals how the dungeon came about and why it's a bridge between past and present.
• Extensive play guidelines teach you how to make Tonisborg rise again as a real-life experience for you and your players. 
• A set of historically accurate game rules are included that are ideal for developing an original style adventure campaign - or use your own preferred rules. 

 

 Product Details 

• ISBN-13: 9781736572108 
• Publisher: The Fellowship of the Thing LTD
• Publication date: 01/13/2023
• Pages: 164
• Sales rank: 241,197
• Product dimensions: 8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.35(d)"

By the Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg Softcover from Barnes & Noble (Not a paid advertisement)

The Softcover Edition first became available directly from the publisher back in July this year. It is also noteworthy that the book is now marketed as an Official Blackmoor Setting. I reported on the status of the Blackmoor Trademark here. The wording is a bit unusual. I would have thought that Blackmoor was the name of the setting, while Tonisborg could have been said to be a supplement for Blackmoor. But that is not how it is phrased. I am not sure if this signifies something important about how the publisher views Blackmoor, but it will be interesting to see. 

NOTE: This blog, like all of my Blackmoor related websites are non-profit fan materials. I am not associated with any publisher. This blog is not monetised. 

More discussion of this article

Visit Greg Svenson's Tonisborg Fan Forum

-Havard

 

Blackmoor Trademark Claimed by Arneson Estate Documentary Makers Say

The company known as The Fellowship of the Thing, creators of the documentary Secrets of Blackmoor  are looking to expand their business into the RPG industry. Recently, they published a new version of the RPG sourcebook "Greg Svenson's Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg", which first appeared in published form as part of the Secrets of Blackmoor Kickstarter.

A few days ago, a more widely available Softcover version of the Tonisborg book was released. On their website, it now says that Tonisborg is an official Blackmoor Setting and that the company is operating under a license owned by the Estate of David Arneson.  

 Published by The Fellowship of the Thing, Ltd. Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. Printed in the U.S.A. ​ BLACKMOOR™ is a trademark of the Estate of David Arneson, LLC. Used under license

Now, ownership of Blackmoor has always been complicated.

Blackmoor was first mentioned in published form in the foreword of the 1974 Dungeons & Dragons ruleset and 1975's D&D Supplement II - Blackmoor. Wizards of the Coast continues to sell these books as well as the old DA series of Blackmoor modules through Drivethru RPG in PDF and Print Format. Meanwhile Zeitgeist Games continues to sell PDFs of the D20 Blackmoor books on the same website. Judges Guild has also had some claim over Blackmoor as publishers of The First Fantasy Campaign, though it is possible that this was settled with Dave Arneson before his passing. 

I have recently learned that the Trademark for Blackmoor was published for opposition on June 13th. That is more than 30 days ago, meaning any party that would be interested in contesting this ownership should have done so by now. Recently WotC has shown an increased willingness to protect its interests through legal measures, though it should also be noted that WotC has expressed a desire to stay on friendly terms with the Gygax and Arneson families. It is also worth mentioning that Fellowship of the Thing have proven themselves not to be troublemakers and have stayed far away from tresspassing on material that could be copyrighted to other companies.

Copyright and Trademark are often confused (sometimes apparently intentionally), but from that I understand as a non-lawyer is that copyright refers to the contents of the material rather than specific brand names etc. The Estate of David Arneson nay likely claim ownership of material created by Dave Arneson that was never published by other companies. It will be interesting to see if more material originating from Dave or his gaming group will appear from Fellowship of the Thing in the future.

As always, the author of this blog remains supportive of the Arneson family and those seeking to promote the legacy of Dave Arneson and his gaming group who did so much for our hobby.

More discussion of this article here

-Havard

Blackmoor Player James Laferriere Has Passed

I am sad to announce that another of the original Blackmoor players has passed away from cancer. James "Jim" Laferriere joined Dave Arneson's Blackmoor group in 1973 when he enrolled as a student of  St. Thomas University in Minnesota. At this time the Blackmoor campaign had already been going on for several years, but Jim still got to experience playing with Dave Arneson long before D&D was published. He stayed in Minnesota untill 1977 when he moved to Massachuseth to study Medicine. After graduating, Jim worked for more than 35 years paediatrician operating out of Osseo, Minnesota. His passing was reported earlier today on the Secrets of Blackmoor Facebook Page.

In the original campaign, Jim played a magic user and the character of Jallapiere who appeared in DA1 Adventures in Blackmoor was likely based on Jim's character from the early days. In DA1 Jallapiere or Jal is described as a very powerful wizard, known for his kindness. He is said to be a teacher at Blackmoor University. In this video excerpt from the Secrets of Blackmoor documentary, you can see Jim and Greg Svenson talk about their early gaming experiences together in Dave Arneson's world of Blackmoor. 

My thoughts go to his friends and family. 

-Havard

Fans Demand Tonisborg PDF

 

Last week, I wrote about how the Tonisborg Kickstarter from The Fellowship of the Thing group had been successful. But while successful, could this project have enjoyed even more success? Several people told me that they would have supported the Kickstarter if it had offered PDF options as well. 

Over on the Kickstarter page, Fellowship of the Thing, gave the following reason why they are not doing PDFs at this point: 

"I appreciate you reaching out in regard to the PDF option. A lot of people do want to know what we will be doing in this regard. Chris and I have talked a lot about doing PDFs. We're testing the water in that regard with the 5e conversion PDF. As a small company our margins are really small if you consider that sales of physical units are in the small print run range anyway. We talk to other small houses about how their sales are and some have had horrible encounters with PDF piracy. One said his sales dropped 50% over a month and when he went on the web to see what was going on he discovered that his PDFs were being shared freely on dark sites. It has effectively killed his business. It leaves us in a quandary because we want people to use our book to run adventures and have all the tools to do so, yet, if we release digital content it could put us out of business in the next few months. The option of having a PDF is still on the table, but we really need to take a closer look and be cautious about how we do it. I hope that helps clarify why are not making PDFs right now."

Source 

Hopefully, "right now" is the key word here, meaning we can hope for PDFs at some point in the future?

-Havard

How 35 Year Old Dungeon Maps were found by David Megarry

 When preparing to take part in the documentary Secrets of Blackmoor, David Megarry, discovered another hidden gem among his old documents. David Megarry, creator of the Dungeon! board game is one of Dave Arneson's Original Blackmoor Players. I first wrote about Megarry and his contributions to our hobby back in 2011.

The treasure Megarry discovered among his documents were dungeon maps drawn up 35 years earlier by his friend and fellow Blackmoor Player, Greg Svenson. They detailed Greg's own Blackmoor based dungeon known as the Dungeons of Tonisborg. 

Yesterday, David Megarry, revealed on his Facebook page the story about how the maps were lost in the first place back in 1978:

"I have a role in this work as I am responsible for the "lost" part: I think it might be titled better "The (How Megarry) Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg" or something to that effect. Yes, dear readers, in 1978 in my attempt to preserve Greg's Tonisborg by making a copy at my workplace, I did not do a very good job of handling the originals. I put them in a magazine so they would not get bent and went to sleep. When I awoke and went to retrieve the magazine, it had been picked up by the cleaning lady and thrown in the garbage. I raced to the garbage bin in the alley, but, alas, it was also garbage day and the bin was empty! Tonisborg was irretrievably lost. It was one of the hardest days when I told Greg I had lost his only copy. 

To add insult to injury, at Arneson's funeral 21 years later, having completely forgotten the history, I asked Greg if he was going to do anything with that dungeon he had created. To his great credit, being the gentleman he is (but I could tell he was mad), he politely informed me he couldn't do anything with it because I had lost it. Chagrin doesn't begin to explain how I felt at that moment. Memory is a funny thing and can be selective. Greg and I had both forgotten he had made me a copy in 1974, which got "lost" in my files after many years of moving place to place. In getting my records in order for my part in the "Secrets of Blackmoor" movie, I found what is pictured below and couldn't remember who's dungeon it belonged to. When it was shown to Greg, he instantly recognized it as Tonisborg."

The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg will now become available to all gaming enthusiasts in the new Kickstarter from Fellowship of the Thing. Learn more about this kickstarter here.

Buy rare art from the Tonisborg project here

Discuss this article at The Comeback Inn!

-Havard

Tonisborg Art and Rarities Auction from Secrets of Blackmoor

 

Original art and maps for the Tonisborg book are now for sale at the Secrets of Blackmoor Website. Most interesting are perhaps the original David Megarry hand drawn maps. According to the website, "all preceeds go to the artists". Starting bids range from 150-300 USD.

See anything you fancy? Go here for the auction site. 

More discussion of this auction here.

Oh, and if you are interested in a Blackmoor map signed by Dave Arneson, this might also be of interest to you. The seller of this map is Brent Chumley who made the map for the D20 Blackmoor Softcover edition. 

-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

Greg Svenson's Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg now live in Kickstarter (and funded)

 

As mentioned at The Comeback Inn yesterday, the new Kickstarter for Greg Svenson's Lost Dungeons of Tonnisborg is now live on Kickstarter. Within hours of launch, the Kickstarter reached its initial goal.

Greg Svenson was one of the early members of Dave Arneson's Blackmoor Group and Dave mentions Greg's role in Blackmoor in the First Fantasy Campaign (1977). Greg originally designed this mega dungeon below the town of Tonnisborg which was placed in the Blackmoor map on the spot where Vestfold appears in later Blackmoor material. Interestingly both Vestfold and Tonisborg share real world inspirations. Greg has also been a friend and eager supporter of my work since I first started doing Blackmoor stuff on this blog and the Comeback Inn so I hope this project is highly successful!

Behind this Kickstarter is the duo known as the Fellowship of the Thing (Griffith Morgan and Chris Graves) best known as the producers of the Secrets of Blackmoor documentary. Mr Morgan recently spoke about this project in this video interview with the Wandering GM

Disclaimer: The author of this blog is in no way associated with this Kickstarter or any commercial activity connected to RPGs.

Check out the Kickstarter here.

-Havard