The Dungeons of Black Moore Castle (reprinted on pages 63-67 of the Blackmoor Foundations book), is the oldest tabletop RPG fantasy game narrative describing a dungeon adventure in existence. It predates D&D by over 2 years.
Although the poker game under the troll bridge announced for April 17, 1971 in COTT Vol 3 #4 is generally acknowledged as the first known Blackmoor game, the only player known to have participated in that short and deadly foray into the world was Bob Meyer. Researchers have often thought of "The Icelandic cave adventure" remembered by Ross Maker and Dave Weseley as taking place later that summer as the first Blackmoor RPG game with multiple players, and we now have the original narrative Arneson typed up for this adventure. Interestingly, however, he titled it as "Return to Black Moor". (Blackmoor Foundations pp 42-60) Note the spelling of Black Moor is still a word as it often is on those earliest documents.
In telling the story of the creation of Blackmoor in later years, Arneson always began with a popcorn and monster movie fueled weekend, leading to the creation of a dungeon map and dungeon dive adventure. Researchers have since cast doubt on this, suggesting dungeons did not develop until 1972, almost a year after the Blackmoor game began.
We can be certain that the story Arneson relates in Return to Black Moor, took place after his June 1971 trip to Europe, surely within a matter of weeks. Return relates a "wilderness adventure" with overland travel, skirmishes, and even a pitched battle taking place at Black Moor Castle (no e). In this story Dave Weseley, who in real life is in the US Army and only home on leave a few times a year, is introduced to Blackmoor play, along with Dan Nicholson, Ross Maker, Dale Nelson and David Fant. Furthermore, Fant is portrayed as a native of the place, involved in separate incidents from the other four.
Note that these are not the same players mentioned in The Dungeons of Black Moore Castle. Those players are Duane Jenkins, Bill Heaton, Kurt Krey, Scott Belfry Mel Johnson, and an un-named narrator I will have much more to say about later. Arneson is the only common denominator in these two stories.
One of these adventures obviously comes before the other. Some researchers have taken it as a given that Blackmoor Dungeon didn't exist until 1972, when it gets explicitly mentioned in CoTT, and therefore Return must be the oldest narrative we have. But is this correct? Could the unfinished "Return" instead be a follow up to the Dungeons adventure?
I think it is a question worth asking.
Arneson tells us in the FFC that "the Weasel" was in charge initially and got replaced by Lord Fant after the Weasel defected to the baddies. Meanwhile Jenkins in the FFC is a bandit leader who was placed in charge of Glendower.
We can take our research a step further back to the March 1971 Northern Marches letter where we find yet a different situation: "The area known as JENKIN’S LAND is ruled by Sir Jenkins while Bill Hoyt rules Williamfort."
We know from a map Arneson drew (see page 14, Blackmoor Foundations), That Blackmoor Castle was originally called Williamsfort and the name was relocated elsewhere later.
We also know, that Hoyt could not reasonably participate in this campaign in 1971, having moved to Elsworth Wisconsin in late 1970 to take a teaching job.
Are these two or three completely different stories? Is Arneson just changing who the baron is depending on who shows up to games? What the heck is going on? Researchers have guessed that "in world" continuity was not something of much importance early on and whoever showed up to the game made it into the story. But did the story really flip flop all over the place for the first few months or could there be a simpler explanation?
What if what we are really seeing here is not a jumble of inconsistency, but a linear evolution of Arneson's conception of the world?
It is important to consider the real time line when we ask these questions.
- We know "The Northern Marches" exists by March of 1971, with a castle called Williamsfort ruled by Bill Hoyt.
- Because of Blackmoor Gazette And Rumormonger #1 We know that by October of 1971 this exact same castle is called Black Moor and is ruled by Lard Fant. We also know Lord Jenkins rules Glendower., but has been in Blackmoor Castle since fall.
- From the FFC we know that Fant became lord of Blackmoor after the previous lord, nicknamed "the Weasel" turned traitor in the first Coot Invasion.
Thus the story must have developed in those intervening months.
- We also know that Arneson spent a month or so in Europe from June into July and the Return story takes place as an event on the way back from that trip, but in that story evil Lord Hyde is in charge of a place already named Blackmoor Castle.
The pieces of this puzzle are falling into place, and they break around Arneson's European trip. It appears to go from the "The Weasel" ruling the castle straight to Fant, and the only hint of a successor after Fant is Rob Kuntz, who says Arneson made him lord of the castle around 1973/4 which would have been long after Dave Fant had left the game because of work.
Bill Hoyt, who I game with and I must says has proven to have a remarkable memory, tells us a story that can be seen in the Secrets of Blackmoor documentary. Sadly Duane Jenkins, who surely knew almost as much as Arneson did about the earliest development of Blackmoor, was suffering from dementia by the time he was interviewed for the film. However, he and Bill discuss a story he had told Bill years before. In summary, as Bill recalled it, Duane had gone on a solo, "test" adventure prior to the rest of the Blackmoor Bunch experiencing the dungeon for the first time.
The Dungeons story begins with a history of Blackmoor dungeon and relates a funny vignette - an adventure in Blackmoor Dungeon in which Jenkins is the only player, along with some guards and amusingly, a stable boy and peasant girl. Griff Morgan suggests this solo adventure vignette and the story Duane told Bill about a test solo adventure are one and the same. I agree. They match up surprisingly well for something half remembered and told second hand.
This being the case, Dungeons would necessarily be a re-counting of the first ever tabletop RPG dungeon game.
But when?
The Dungeons story makes it clear that the adventurers have never been in the dungeon before, except for Lord Jenkins, who went in once, the day before.
Given all the firsts happening here, it is more likely to be very early in the campaign. If we turn back to the Blackmoor Gazette And Rumormonger #1, we find all the pieces in place for early "Fall" 1971, when Jenkins first comes to stay in the castle - presumably late September or early October.
None of this tells us for certain if Dungeons predates Return, but taken all together it appears not. However, it does appear the two are likely only weeks apart.
The sequence that logically follows is:
- Arneson creates the fictional lord Hyde to be in charge of Blackmoor after realizing Bill couldn't play and won't be Baron of Blackmoor - presumably this realization occurs after the March 1971 letter to Kuntz. (I hedge here, only because I don't know when the letter was written, only when it was mailed, which was March).
- June/July 1971 - Arneson flys to Europe
- Early August 1971 - Upon returning, he comes up with a new story idea/skirmish game to introduce Blackmoor to Weseley, who is briefly on leave from the army, and some other new players including Fant who's gaming has become intermittent due to work. Arneson types these adventures up as Return to Black Moor placing Blackmoor under the leadership of an evil NPC character called Hyde - later to be nicknamed "the Weasel" (possibly a dig at the often absent Dave Wesely). This identification of Hyde with The Weasel is the only leap we have to take.
- Mid-Late August 1971 - First Coot Invasion. Fant becomes the Baron of Blackmoor after a game in which he is victorious against the baddies in the castle. This story is the continuation of where Return to Black Moor left off unfinished.
- September 1971 "Fall" - Lord Jenkins arrives from Glendower and begins exploring Blackmoor Castle where Fant is now Baron. Arneson draws up a dungeon and has a test game with Jenkins, followed by a larger game with a group of players. He types it up as The Dungeons of Castle Black Moore.
I can't claim this sequence is certain. There is some wiggle room in that Lord Jenkins seems to be in charge in the Dungeons story but at the very end we learn the baron's name is Fant. Nevertheless the important details are that this sequence explains the given facts in a sensible way (including some others we will look at in another post).
Furhtermore, Arneson's story about the invention of Blackmoor dungeon following his monster marathon weekend appears a bit more credible. While we arn't looking at the very start of the Blackmoor setting, the Dungeons adventure appears much closer to that time.
Next we will look at some additional information tying the adventure to those earliest days.
