OD&D: Castle Blackmoor

About the adventure

At the very origin of Dungeons & Dragons lies Castle Blackmoor, the dungeon Dave Arneson started running in 1970. In 1980, Dave published a large portion of his campaign notes as The First Fantasy Campaign. I will be using that to take you on a short tour of the City, the Castle, and the Dungeon of Blackmoor. Although Castle Blackmoor predates D&D, I will be using the original D&D rules (1974 ed) to run it. Play careful, because your fighters, magic-users, and clerics are dead at 0 hit points!

Additional Details

How to prepare

You will need a webcam and a mic; it would be ideal to test them on Google Meet before the game. You do not need to have read the rules, but it would not hurt. If you wish to make a character in advance, you may, but it would need to be emailed to me (melissakainen at gmail) before the game. You will be rolling dice on your end (honor system). It would be a good idea to have graph paper for mapping.

What I provide

I will be bringing my imagination! My dice, game books, and maps will be right here with me. There may be improvised visual aids (drawn as needed), but it will largely be theater of the mind.

Gameplay details

Players can expect to quickly pick up the 0e D&D (1970s) rules. Game play will be largely exploration, with killing, looting, problem solving, and roleplaying probably happening in that order. Every session will begin with a short 15-minute "session 0," discussing expectations, things you need to know, and character generation (unless you opt to play a pre-gen). During the session we will be using Open Door policy - you are free to come and go as needed during the session. After 4 hours we will stop for a debriefing to discuss the game and the mechanics.

Content warnings

(none)

Safety tools used

Debriefing
Open Door
Session 0

How will character creation work

Characters will be created during the "session 0" portion at the beginning of the session. You will roll your own dice using the honor system. Be prepared to record your own character on your end. These will be level 1 characters, which are simple enough to fit on an index card. I will also have pre-gens available, in case you do not wish to make your own character or are late and miss the session 0.

Players can expect

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