|
|
Post by havard on Oct 14, 2009 14:43:52 GMT -6
Which Sci Fi game was Blackmoor linked to? I remember Greg or Bob or someone talking about how Dave decided that Blackmoor was located in a specific sector of that games setting and that several devices, including the armor of the Blue Rider came from visitors from that game...
Anyone remember anything else about this?
Havard
Edit: changed the thread name
|
|
|
|
Post by gsvenson on Oct 15, 2009 11:59:08 GMT -6
John Sniders "Star Empires" RPG. We were playing it in the summer of 1973 until John went into the army, but it was never published. It might have been John Snider who placed Blackmoor's planet on the stellar campaign map. Bill Heaton got the "magic" armor earlier than when we placed it in the Star Empires game. The armor appeared during the Fall of 1972 a part of the treasure trove of a dragon deep in the BM dungeon. I was on the adventure with Bill Heaton and Rick (Mel) Johnson. I don't recall if anyone else participated. Bill was the only one brave enough to face the dragon, who was on an island in a sea of lava, if I recall correctly. He jumped off of a ledge and on to the island, while Mel and I refused to jump.
Remember that several of the initial players were playing 20th C types who were transplanted into the Blackmoor world (which according to Wesley and Maker was before my first dungeon adventure), so the Sci Fi link was there from the beginning.
|
|
|
|
Post by harami2000 on Oct 15, 2009 13:31:45 GMT -6
It might have been John Snider who placed Blackmoor's planet on the stellar campaign map. That was my understanding too, fwiw. (Presumably from Richard unless that was mentioned in passing on some thread I've forgotten about: hopefully not by yourself, if so  ). John Sniders "Star Empires" RPG. We were playing it in the summer of 1973 until John went into the army, but it was never published. Well, two books out of three, the second belatedly, since those published by TSR were conceived as a deliberate trilogy prior to April 1974 with gameplay running high-level down rather than the opposite way around as was more common in later RPGs. I think I'd somehow placed John being in the army a bit later given the wording in his letter to Lew Pulsipher's Supernova in April 1974 but that still reads OK if someone had taken over from him in running his /specific/ game from June 1973 -- the original enquiry letter from Lew to Dave Arneson (out of the blue? unknown...) was replied to by John regarding the game Dave was /currently/ playing in, that John had designed. Help; what am I missing and/or have forgotten? Late '73/early '74 is rather sparse for 'zine publication schedules which doesn't help with regards to people saying what they were up to, in order to pin down definitive dates 35+ years on. Remember that several of the initial players were playing 20th C types who were transplanted into the Blackmoor world (which according to Wesley and Maker was before my first dungeon adventure), so the Sci Fi link was there from the beginning. *g* Thanks for the reminder. Shouldn't be a surprise on that linking given that SF gaming was #1 in the charts in those days. Likewise in Rob Kuntz's gaming contribs prior to the publication of D&D. 02c, anyhow. Regards, David. |
|
|
|
Post by havard on Dec 21, 2009 5:12:57 GMT -6
|
|
|
|
Post by Finarvyn on Dec 21, 2009 7:20:48 GMT -6
It might have been John Snider who placed Blackmoor's planet on the stellar campaign map. Well, two books out of three, the second belatedly, since those published by TSR were conceived as a deliberate trilogy prior to April 1974 with gameplay running high-level down rather than the opposite way around as was more common in later RPGs. This was always a source of great frustration to me, as well. I bought both Star Probe and Star Empires when they first came out and have now been waiting for three decades, never to have the third installment see the light of day. These games were marketed as a trilogy originally, and the third one was supposed to be the actual role-playing game, with the first two having more of a miniatures exploration game kind of feel. Without the RPG, the first two always felt a little sterile to me. Too bad the maps are so small... The maps are actually quite generic. There are a bunch of dots on the page with numbers like +8 or -3 that represent how far the star is above or below the plane of the map. None of the stars had names, no empires or other political boundaries are hinted at. (Although there is a timeline of galactic events in Star Empires.) I suspect that a lot of this would have been developed in the third booklet. There is a thread that talks a little about Star Probe and Star Empires here if you are interested. :-D |
|
|
|
Post by deodanth on Dec 22, 2009 6:03:42 GMT -6
This was always a source of great frustration to me, as well. I bought both Star Probe and Star Empires when they first came out and have now been waiting for three decades, never to have the third installment see the light of day. These games were marketed as a trilogy originally, and the third one was supposed to be the actual role-playing game, with the first two having more of a miniatures exploration game kind of feel. Without the RPG, the first two always felt a little sterile to me. Ditto, Finarvyn. The promotional blurbs mentioned that Snider had already written the third game, and hinted that it would be an RPG, which seemed right to me. When TSR eventually published Star Frontiers, I knew without even buying it that it was NOT the game -- and also that I should stop holding my breath for the third Snider installment. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2010 9:16:43 GMT -6
I'd like to hear more about STAR PROBE and STAR EMPIRES and how they link to role playing, so if anyone has anything to add, please do!
|
|
).
