Shane Plays Podcast Extra:
Secrets of Blackmoor: The True History of Dungeons & Dragons

Accidental gaming historian M. Griffith (“Griff”) discusses the Secrets of Blackmoor documentary, a five year project involving 10 cities, 200 hours of interviews, and 20,000 photos and documents. Dungeons & Dragons was famously co-created by Dave Arneson & Gary Gygax, but what part did Arneson and his gaming group play in the creation of tabletop role playing itself? There’s more to the story than you know!

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Show Notes

Secrets of Blackmoor Kickstarter
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/secretsofblackmoor/secrets-of-blackmoor-the-true-history-of-dungeons

“The GaryCon Draft” – 35 minutes of Secrets of Blackmoor
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC4qH-Psvpc

The Blackmoor Archives – Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor Discussion Forum
https://blackmoor.mystara.net/forums/

OD&D Discussion forum
http://odd74.proboards.com/

Dragonsfoot Forums
https://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/

Empire (PLATO) – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_(PLATO)

dnd (video game) – Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dnd_(video_game)

TOPICS COVERED include (but are not limited to):

• This documentary is NOT Dave Arneson vs. Gary Gygax. It’s the story of what happened before they met with Arneson and his gaming group.
• The vital role of Dave Arneson (and his gaming group) in the creation of D&D / fantasy roleplaying
• Preconceptions, misconceptions and headcanon
• Is it Gee-gax or Gy-gax?
• Difference in difficulty / sense of accomplishment between old school and new school tabletop RPGs
• The “Strategos Connection”: Strategos military training wargame book from 1880 and its connection to Dave Arneson’s gaming group
• David Wesley’s Braunstein style miniatures wargaming (pre-Blackmoor proto fantasy roleplaying)
• How direct is the connection between Chainmail and Dungeons & Dragons?
• Is a sapper tunnel a proto-dungeon?
• David McGary’s Dungeon! Boardgame
• Tonisborg, the oldest still existing dungeon map set (publicly known, anyway)
• Griff’s desired death rate percentage per session as DM
• Is it possible to define what a roleplaying game is?
• Hipster D&D
• Where did the Tolkien influence on Dungeons & Dragons come from?
• Would RPGs have exploded into pop culture without Gary Gygax / TSR?
• What types of cons do Shane and Griff prefer?

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