More Blackmoor

The First Fantasy Campaign
Supplement II gives us a taste of Mr. Arneson's Blackmoor campaign, Judges Guilds The First Fantasy Campaign gives us an additional insight into the campaign that started it all.  In this playing aid, as it's referred to on the cover, are maps of castle Blackmoor and the village nearby, the dungeon beneath and some select sites such as Svenson's Freehold. Also included are two campaign maps printed on the signature heavy brown paper that makes Judges Guild maps a delight to handle. In this 92 page book Mr. Arneson shares information on how he ran his Blackmoor campaign, some of the characters involved and their fate, price lists, construction costs, a glimpse into how magic and melee were handled, the magical nature of swords, gypsy sayings and more. As inspiration The First Fantasy Campaign is just full of mysteries and snippets of information. Scattered throughout the book are a number of sketches depicting events which presumably occurred during Mr. Arneson's early campaign, and which give the reader ideas for developing their own adventures. A set of blue armor and an heroic horse are described which can seemingly make a hero out of anyone, no matter how unwilling they may be. Blackmoor as described in The First Fantasy Campaign, is a dynamic, living, ever changing setting for adventurers. The book describes how the early players discovered the dungeon beneath castle Blackmoor, how the castle was raised by Funk I, King of All the Orcs, who in turn was defeated by the elves who currently reside in what's left of the castle and for a time ran the dungeon as a sort of business enterprise called The Elven Tour. With a copyright of 1977 this Playing Aid would have been available about the time I started out in the hobby with the White Box. I don't recall when I purchased The First Fantasy Campaign, but I think it was the first Judges Guild product I owned. I never ran a Blackmoor campaign straight of the book, but rather was inspired by it to take pieces here and there, which ended up ideas twisted to fit into my own version of a White Box campaign.The First Fantasy Campaign definitely got me thinking beyond one-off dungeons and onto world building, elaborate back stories, and changes being brought about by player actions as well as by Non Player Characters. Together with Supplement II, The First Fantasy Campaign can take us back in time to the beginning of the hobby whare we can share in the magic of those early days of discovery as Mr. Arneson leads us into adventure in his Blackmoor campaign.