The original players in Blackmoor

[Finarvyn]

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 Belfry
Blue Petal – Pre-Blackmoor
Mike Carr – Cleric; Bishop Carr; Mi-Kar
Larry Bond
Steve Dabenspeck
Dave 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 Kellen
Tim Kirkpatrick – Halfling
Kurt Krey – First ever Evil Wizard PC of Blackmoor
Jim Lafferie – Mage
Steve Lortz – Lortz the Dwarf
Ross Maker – Dwarf
David Megarry
Bob 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 Munson
Dale Nelson
Dan 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.”)

Internet claim (can someone confirm this?)
Joe Vail – Dwarves Frick & Frack; vampire-dwarf slaves the "Fang-ettes"
Note: This name was NOT on Dave’s list, either.

These are all of the names I have found so far. Additions and corrections are welcome!

[badger2305]

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.

[foster1941]

Dont forget that Mike Mornard (oldgeezer) is also a member of this site

Are any other of these folks active online?

[badger2305]

foster1941 said:

Dont forget that Mike Mornard (oldgeezer) is also a member of this site

That's true. Michael was one of my first referees (and a very good guy to this day).

[crimhthanthegreat]

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.

[gsvenson]

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.

[darneson]

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.

[darneson]

No I did not mislike Hobbits or their ilk. Just ask Dustin. Foot amputated ? Boy, I don't recall that one.

Arneson

[darneson]

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

[badger2305]

May 22, 2008 18:47:11 GMT -6 darneson said:

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.

[gsvenson]

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.

[Finarvyn]

May 27, 2008 9:42:57 GMT -6 gsvenson said:

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.....

[foster1941]

Hey Fin,

Time to mark Dave Arneson as one of the folks who's now a member of this board, no?

[Finarvyn]

Can't believe I dropped the ball on this one.

Thanks for the catch.

[gsvenson]

May 27, 2008 11:10:19 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

May 27, 2008 9:42:57 GMT -6 gsvenson said:

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.....

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...

[Finarvyn]

I stand corrected ... er, sit corrected ... um, type corrected....

Anyway, it's fixed. :-)

[havard]

Does anyone know anything more about Jim Abler's evil mage character?

Havard

[grodog]

EGG and RJK played at least a few times in Blackmoor, although I don't get the impression that they were regulars.

[havard]

Oct 6, 2009 22:20:18 GMT -6 grodog said:

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

[havard]

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

[havard]

Nov 24, 2009 16:40:01 GMT -6 havard said:

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

[havard]

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

[aldarron]

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.

[Malchor]

Jan 24, 2008 20:32:47 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

Dave Wesley – Half-elf

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?

[Deleted]

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. 

[robertthebald]

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)

[Finarvyn]

Thanks, Bob! I added your brother to the list, but left the "Mike Belfry" reference there for historical purposes.

[aldarron]

Nov 24, 2018 15:22:22 GMT -6 Malchor said:

Jan 24, 2008 20:32:47 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

Dave Wesley – Half-elf

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