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Post by Finarvyn on Jan 24, 2008 20:32:47 GMT -6
This list isn't complete, but I've been trying to put together as many names as possible from the early campaigns. Keep in mind that in the early days, many character names were a form of the person's actual name (if they were given a name at all). Thus, in Dave's FFC book, characters are often called "Munson" or some such and not always given proper credit. Several of these players are members of this board. These names were confirmed by Dave Arneson!Dave Arneson – Referee Malia Arneson-Weinhagen – Thief/Monk Jim Abler – Mage (Evil) Jim Barber – Elf Dave Belfry – Dwarf Scott BelfryBlue Petal – Pre-Blackmoor Mike Carr – Cleric; Bishop Carr; Mi-Kar Larry BondSteve DabenspeckDave Fant – Baron of Blackmoor Kletcher Fletcher – Ranger Giovanna Frengi – Dwarven Battle maid Frederick Paul Funk III – Orc; Funk I King of All Orcs Pete Gaylord – Mage; Wizard of the Woods Phil Grant – Elf Bill Heaton – The Blue Rider; Paladin Harry Holman – Dwarf Duane Jenkins – Vampire-Knight; Sir Jenkins (Dave says: “He wanted to be a vampire, but I kept frustrating him. Hee, hee.”) Rick (Mel) Johnson – Mello; Halfling Tony KellenTim Kirkpatrick – Halfling Kurt Krey – First ever Evil Wizard PC of Blackmoor Jim Lafferie – Mage Steve Lortz – Lortz the Dwarf Ross Maker – Dwarf David MegarryBob Meyer – Robert the Bald Mike Meyer (added to the list 6/11/21 from Bob Meyer's post) Mike Mornard (Dave says: “Mike was actually in my campaign, Gary’s campaign, and Phil Barker’s.”) Chuck MunsonDale NelsonDan Nicholson – Merchant Martin Noetzel – Elf Walter Oberstar – Oberstar the Dwarf Cliff Olilla – Pre-Blackmoor John Snider – Fighter Richard Snider – Cleric; The Flying Monk * Chuck Soukup: (Dave says: “Nah, just one of the first bad guys.”) * John Soukup – Balrog (Dave says: “Nah, just one of the first bad guys.”) Greg Svenson – Great Svenny; Swenny I, King of All Good; Zvenzon (Dave says: “King?? Certainly the leader of all the good guys.”) Dave Wesley – Half-elf * The Soukup brothers were added again as per Svenny's comments. These names were removed from the original list, based on Dave Arneson’s comments!Mike Belfry (Dave says: “Mike?”) Mike Norman (Dave says: “Mike never played, although he was in the group.”) Greg Scott -- Egg of Coot (Dave says: “No, he never played, just a local character I used.”) These are all of the names I have found so far. Additions and corrections are welcome! ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png)
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Post by badger2305 on Jan 24, 2008 21:34:54 GMT -6
Oh, dear me. Memory comes back. I played only a couple of times in Blackmoor back in the day (with a hobbit. Dave disliked hobbits; I only got a foot amputated).
Fred Funk, an entirely decent if somewhat eccentric fellow, and a very nice guy to the punk kid I was, played an orc. In fact, he ended up being Funk the 1st, King of All the Orcs, somewhere down the line. And in particular, was responsible for the idea of the Orkian Way (sp?). This was a spiral staircase in Blackmoor dungeon that went from the top to the bottom, and once you entered the staircase, you were unable to find a door to any level EXCEPT at the top and bottom. And there was schmaltzy music playing the entire time you were inside. I seem to recall that every entrance to the Orkian Way was well-lit and marked with an inscription to Funk the 1st, King of All the Orcs.
At the bottom of the Orkian Way, there was a Balrog and an army of monsters ready to turn any player-character into mincemeat. At the top, there was a small room, with a ladder and a hatch. If you climbed the ladder and opened the hatch, you would see blue sky and feel the wind (but you couldn't see down). If you hoisted yourself out of the hatch, you would be teleported to several hundred feet above the lake outside Blackmoor Castle, and dropping into the water. Wearing metal armor was a BAD IDEA, as it would contribute to drowning. You got a chance to get it off before splash-down, and then you had to deal with the large fish that usually greeted your arrival with the same sense of happiness as the sudden breakdown of a Chicken Delight delivery truck in their vicinity.
Some or all of this is in the FFC, if I recall. But a good chunk of it comes from personal (albeit brief) experience.
One last item: "Blue Peal" should be "Blue Petal" a local science fiction fan, who took the idea of D&D back to MinnStF, the Minnesota Science Tiction Fociety (well, that's one way to explain it). This turned into MinnStF "Dungeon" which was popular for quite some time among MinnStF members, including Steven Brust, Pat Wrede, Richard Tatge, Dean Gahlon, David S. Cargo, Pamela Dean and others. "Dungeon" was like D&D but even more lean and decidedly more strange. That's a post for elsewhere, though.
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Post by foster1941 on Jan 25, 2008 0:28:46 GMT -6
Dont forget that Mike Mornard ( oldgeezer) is also a member of this site ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) Are any other of these folks active online?
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Post by badger2305 on Jan 25, 2008 1:10:26 GMT -6
Dont forget that Mike Mornard ( oldgeezer) is also a member of this site ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) That's true. Michael was one of my first referees (and a very good guy to this day).
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Post by crimhthanthegreat on Jan 25, 2008 6:44:00 GMT -6
Just how many people registered here are from the original Blackmoor campaign? Maybe they could jointly start a Q&A Thread. Or several Q&A threads. Also any of them they talk to Dave Arneson could let him know in how high a regard many of us hold FFC as a resource for our campaigns.
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Post by gsvenson on Jan 25, 2008 10:25:06 GMT -6
Boy, I didn't think Svenny was ever the "king" of anything...
One name I notice that is missing from the list is Dave Fant. He was the original Baron of Blackmoor. I don't think that he was ever very active in the group - I can't remember ever going on an adventure with him, but he had a significant role in the the original game.
Fred Funk grew up near me, we were good friends up until I moved away from the Twin Cities. I don't know where he is these days. Fred actually had his orc tribe build the Orcian Way, it was not there when we went on our first adventures in Blackmoor's dungeon...
Mel's (Mello) real name was Rick Johnson. I assume that Johnaon was a typo.
Most of the other guys are not very active on the net, but Bob and I are hoping that we can get them to register here and start posting about some of their memories of the early games in Blackmoor. Bob has had more contact with the other guys than I do, because I moved to Florida while he is still in the Twin Cities. I only have contact with Dave, Bob, and the Sniders these days.
I plan to go over to Orlando to see Dave Arneson tomorrow, so I would be happy to pass on your regards for FFC. I also used it as my primary campaign resource back in the 80's when I was still DMing.
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darneson
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Post by darneson on May 22, 2008 18:44:58 GMT -6
Mike Belfry (Mike ??)
Duane Jenkins -- Vampire-Knight; Sir Jenkins (He wanted to be a Vampire but I kept frustrating hm. hee hee -Dave)
David Megarry (sp)
Mike Mornard (Mike was actually in my campaign, Gary's campaign annd Phil Barkers!)
Mike Norman (nah Mike never player althpugh he was in the group-Dave)
Greg Scott -- Egg of Coot (No he never played, just a local character I used-Dave)
Chuck Soukup (Nah just one of the first bad guys.-Dave)
John Soukup -- Balrog (Nah just one of the first bad guys.-Dave)
Greg Svenson -- Great Svenny; Swenny I, King (King?? Certainly the leader of all the good guys.-Dave)
------------------- FINARVYN EDIT: What I did was to add Dave's comments to my master list at the top of the thread. Then, I cleaned up Dave's post to get rid of the names for which he had no comment and were unchanged. All I left were his corrections and comments.
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Post by darneson on May 22, 2008 18:47:11 GMT -6
No I did not mislike Hobbits or their ilk. Just ask Dustin. Foot amputated ? Boy, I don't recall that one.
Arneson
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darneson
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Post by darneson on May 22, 2008 18:51:17 GMT -6
Yep, Fred Fant , and Mel (Heroic Hobbit and sidekick of the Blue Rider). were in the game "back then". Yes, he was Rick Johnson.)
Arneson
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Post by badger2305 on May 27, 2008 7:42:34 GMT -6
No I did not mislike Hobbits or their ilk. Just ask Dustin. Foot amputated ? Boy, I don't recall that one. Arneson Then it must have been me (yes, a punk kid at the time). Fred Funk was a night manager for the Holiday Inn in downtown Minneapolis, and several times he secured some function space for gaming when he was mostly supervising and not immediately on call. You came and ran Blackmoor for me, Fred, and a few others.
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Post by gsvenson on May 27, 2008 9:42:57 GMT -6
The Soukup brothers were actually players in the original campaign. Dave said they "were just one of the first bad guys." John Soukup played the balrog in the first adventure into Blackmoor dungeon and, again as the balrog, joined the good guys in an attack on Fred Funk's orc tribe on the 10th level of Blackmoor dungeon later in the campaign, his balrog character died on that adventure and the Great Svenny had to be dragged out by his companions (down to 0 hp). These are the two adventures I have the clearest memories of from among the 100's (?) I participated in in the early days.
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Post by Finarvyn on May 27, 2008 11:10:19 GMT -6
The Soukup brothers were actually players in the original campaign. Okay. I put their names back onto the main list. You and Dave should compare notes on this..... ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png)
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Post by foster1941 on May 27, 2008 12:18:47 GMT -6
Hey Fin,
Time to mark Dave Arneson as one of the folks who's now a member of this board, no?
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Post by Finarvyn on May 27, 2008 12:30:26 GMT -6
Can't believe I dropped the ball on this one. Thanks for the catch.
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Post by gsvenson on May 27, 2008 12:48:18 GMT -6
The Soukup brothers were actually players in the original campaign. Okay. I put their names back onto the main list. You and Dave should compare notes on this..... ![:D](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/grin.png) Dave and I were not disagreeing, John and Chuck Soukup are both listed as original players in "Dave Arneson's Blackmoor" - the 3.5 Ed Blackmoor campaign source book. I was just saying that you mis-interpreted what Dave was saying. If I remember correctly, they played different bad guys in many adventures, depending on what the good guys were doing. If fact, those two adventures, though they were months apart, are the only times I can recall where John played the balrog. Of course, I didn't make every gaming session, either...
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Post by Finarvyn on Jun 4, 2008 10:08:48 GMT -6
I stand corrected ... er, sit corrected ... um, type corrected....
Anyway, it's fixed. :-)
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Post by havard on Sept 29, 2009 12:24:46 GMT -6
Does anyone know anything more about Jim Abler's evil mage character?
Havard
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Post by grodog on Oct 6, 2009 22:20:18 GMT -6
EGG and RJK played at least a few times in Blackmoor, although I don't get the impression that they were regulars.
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Post by havard on Nov 24, 2009 16:32:18 GMT -6
EGG and RJK played at least a few times in Blackmoor, although I don't get the impression that they were regulars. Do you know if they always used their Mordenkeinen/Robilar characters? Havard
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Post by havard on Nov 24, 2009 16:40:01 GMT -6
Scott Belfry played a Thief didnt he? At least there's a Thief named Scott Debelfry in DA1.
Mike Carr's second character Mi-Kar is a mage IIRC
Does anyone know what Chuck Munson played?
Didnt Kurt Krey also have a character named Captain Krey? (Fighter perhaps?
Is Dave Wesley the one sometimes referred to as the Weasel? Didnt he rule Blackmoor at one point? Was that with his half-elf character? Does OD&D have rules for half-elves anyway?
Was the Gin of Salik somebody's character?
Greg mentioned elsewhere that Toska Rusa was played by some lady who joined at one point, though he could not recall her name...
Havard
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Post by havard on Jul 18, 2010 20:10:17 GMT -6
Does anyone know what Chuck Munson played? I'm trying to find out more about Chuck Munson's (Monson?) character. From the FFC we learn that he controlled an area north of the Valley of the Ancients. His character was killed during a peasant revolt which also hurt Dale Nelson's character severely. Does anyone know anything more about this? On the DA1 maps, the areas north of the Valley of the Ancients available, could be Ramsgate and Boggy Bottoms. I am guessing that Ramsgate is Phil Grant's area, while I have no idea of who might have ruled Boggy Bottoms. Any thoughts? Havard
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Post by havard on Sept 28, 2010 12:50:18 GMT -6
In my recent research I have come across the names of some more people who played in Arneson's original campaign: Deborah Naffziger: Most likely the one who played Toska Rusa in 1975 ( blackmoormystara.blogspot.com/2010/09/afridhi.html ) Bill Hoyt: Controlled Blackmoor in the very early stage before taking over Williamsfort. Played with Jenkins and some others. Possibly before Greg joins? Ed Wernecke: Another early day player. His holdings were in the swamp (Gloomen?). I'm corresponding with Bill trying to learn more about this, but perhaps someone else can add something about these players? Greg? -Havard
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Post by aldarron on Aug 14, 2011 11:28:30 GMT -6
There's also this name that appears in David Ross' notes: A Ray Smestad "By 1978 or thereabouts, Arneson and friends had pretty much finished developing the Northern Marches. Instead they used it as a springboard for adventures, usually into Blackmoor Dungeon (according to private correspondence with A Ray Smestad)"
So, not an original player but presumably this was a player involved in Blackmoor play during the Adventures in Fantasy era.
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Post by Malchor on Nov 24, 2018 15:22:22 GMT -6
Curious when Wesley's Half-elf was created. Is this the first Half-elf? Was it pre-publication? Pre-Greyhawk supplement? Has anyone asked Wesley about it?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 25, 2018 12:22:26 GMT -6
I do not see Stephen Rocheford "Rocky" in the list, but I get a bit dyslexic looking at computer screens. He was a player with the good guys, but he also played the High Priest of the Temple of the Frogs and was essential to the creation of that character. Stephen is the founder and owner of one of the largest LGBT periodicals, "Lavender Magazine" in the Twin Cities. It seems Stephen is quite well known within the LGBT publishing community in America. When Chris was talking with our local mag. reps. about some advertizing, he mentioned that we knew Stephen. It went something like so: "Yeah, we hang out with Stephen when we visit Minnesota" (It was then that something along the lines of much bowing and scraping occurred, along with mutterings of "we are not worthy.") There is a list of players we interviewed on our KickStarter: Since then we'e located others, but finances have kept us from doing interviews with them. Hopefully for the next film. Mind my typos Marnie. Griff -------- Looked at our list: Randy Hoffa never played, but he is the Ran of Afooh. Helen Nicholson (Wife of Dan Nicholson) played in The second Braunstein and we have some charatcer sheets from I think 1974 from Blackmoor, with her name. Kletcher Fletcher, is Ken Fletcher - Artist for Adventure Games. He played in the famous Druid with a hand faser game, along with Megarry. Jeff Berry is not on that list, he played as Chirine Bakal when Phil Barker got tired of Dm'ing and he and Arneson switched seats and transported Barkers group into Blackmoor. Martin Noetzel was the Wandering Elf. Wesely became the first half elf very soon after his first Blackmoor game. As Ross Maker described it "In the beginning, we were playing ourselves, and we nearly lost some." Thus not long after starting Blackmoor, people assumed alter ego's. I think I got them all. Also, consider that there are a lot of younger siblings who played here and there, but never get on these lists.
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Post by robertthebald on Jun 11, 2021 0:49:11 GMT -6
Mike Belfry is wrong. That should be Mike Meyer, my brother. He lived with us for a short time, and played the game a couple times. Not surprising that David would not remember him. Bob Meyer (Robert the Bald)
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Post by Finarvyn on Jun 11, 2021 5:16:25 GMT -6
Thanks, Bob! I added your brother to the list, but left the "Mike Belfry" reference there for historical purposes.
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Post by aldarron on Apr 5, 2022 14:57:17 GMT -6
Curious when Wesley's Half-elf was created. Is this the first Half-elf? Was it pre-publication? Pre-Greyhawk supplement? Has anyone asked Wesley about it? Not exactly when except to say he may not have played the character until the d20 era. The story is the Wesely was home on leave - this would have been 1973, give or take - and he went on a dungeon dive to rescue Lotsa, princess of the elves. Short version (longer version on my blog) after rescuing the princess his character enjoyed the benefits of a 24 hour marriage of which the half-elf was the result. Wesely couldn't remember the half-elf character's name but suggested to me that it was something like Martin Vessaloy. Arneson wrote up his friends characters as tributes for the DA series and it seems nearly certain that the half elf Veslo Meridan is "Martin Vessaloy" - Veslo certainly appears to be a play on Wesely
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