If self promo is not allowed I entirely understand. Not offended if this gets deleted.

My partner Chris and I (Griff) are a tiny company. We made the documentary, Secrets of Blackmoor, on a shoe string budget compared to all the other films that never got completed.

We are doing a Kickstarter project for a really Retro module, The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg.

The book presents one of the oldest dungeons ever created, so it is a bit of a history book, but it also talks about how to play in the Traditional way. We feel the new games do not help to pass on the old ways, so we've tried to preserve the style in this book. But it isn't preachy. It merely shows how you can play and you can take from it what you want.

The book also contains an entire retro game system derived from Pre-release copies of OD&D, thus it is a Edition zero version by D.H. Boggs. It is a dungeon delving version of his Champions of Zed game system.

We do not have an advertising budget because we are such a small company. It is just me going around and talking to people on all the forums to try to get the word out.

We have no famous people, no actors, no influencers, no Youtube stars on our project. It's just a couple of old dudes who like to make games.

Glad to discuss the book we are Kickstarting if you have any questions.

So as not to be a "here go to my Kickstarter and buy stuff" kind of poster, here is a fan video of an unboxing of the game book.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsWi5wY7Tqc

If the video interests you then I figure you can find the Kickstarter on your own.

Thanks Griff

I think this should be in News & Adverts? Good luck, anyway! 

I did not want to be a massive SPAM Meister.

But I am definitely out to lure those who can appreciate our book to the project.

You should see the kinds of comments I have to contend with on the Aceium that place is fiery.

I am pretty excited for this. I managed to score a Purple Covered First Print!

I am looking forward to finding a place of honor in my collection for it. I think I am going to pick up on a Red cover or two as well.

Yeah I wouldn't have noticed this if it was in News & Adverts. Glad it's posted here. I'd really like a copy but money's right right now. Shame there isn't a pdf version

Some history for those who want to see it.

https://vimeo.com/597513864

Some guy reviewed the book and said nice things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m4IB8fjmB8

Too late! I already backed it for a second printing    . I'm really interested in the advice on running large dungeons.

Ah yes, I can feel the dark and evil Lich DM force in you - MUUAAAHAHAHAHAA!!!! LOL

This is Pundit's club - but I see no harm in letting it ride in the main forum for a while before moving to a forum that nobody goes to.

Didn't see a link to the kickstarter itself:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/secretsofblackmoor/the-lost-dungeons-of-tonisborg

Pundit's video convinced me to back this. I've gotten interested in how old school games work recently - seeing a proto D&D is hard to pass up.

Quote from: Jaeger on October 19, 2022, 03:04:16 PM
I've gotten interested in how old school games work recently - seeing a proto D&D is hard to pass up.

That is exactly what has me so interested in it, too, Jaeger!

I have the 2nd printing (shame I missed the first, purple is my favorite color), and the book is SOOOOO gorgeous. It has a truly old-school feel. The quality of construction is tits and the material inside is fantastic! Awesome dungeon, and awesome insight into running old-school games/dungeons from someone who was there when the hobby was a-bornin'. I'm really glad I got this. Thanks and good luck, Secrets of Blackmoor!

Just for clarity -

I see in other places people saying our book is a Dandino 5e book. Kind of funny actually.

The 5e section is just a PDF conversion. The book itself is entirely PRE-OD&D to AD&D friendly. Possibly BX?

We are in business and we're not going to ignore the large market of a 5e conversion. When I see people griping because we are offering product enhancements they do not want for themselves it kind of makes me giggle.

Quote from: Tubesock Army on October 19, 2022, 09:19:03 PM
I have the 2nd printing (shame I missed the first, purple is my favorite color), and the book is SOOOOO gorgeous. It has a truly old-school feel. The quality of construction is tits and the material inside is fantastic! Awesome dungeon, and awesome insight into running old-school games/dungeons from someone who was there when the hobby was a-bornin'. I'm really glad I got this. Thanks and good luck, Secrets of Blackmoor!

Thank you for supporting the little game company!

Glad you like it. We put a lot into it as far as trying to cover every detail of playing in what I call Traditional Role Play. I thnk part of why it took a while to write is because we just kept coming back and adding in more little details.

At the same time we tried to keep it fairly slim in terms of not too wordy.

And as an older Referee there are bonus things picked up over the years. Just because we play Traditionally doesn't mean we have to be old fuddy duddy about it. If you see someone doing something you like, by all means add it to your repertoire. Everytime I play with a different DM I am watching them to see if I can steal an idea - you just never know, right?

Have you tried running a game with it yet?

The TLDR on this is "No, but I certainly intend to."

I wish I could say that I have, but I didn't yet know about it when the first printing came along. In fact when I first learned about the volume, it was between printings. I had only just found the "Secrets of Blackmoor" film, and and then learned about the book and the fact that it was in its second printing. I definitely wanted to have one of these but was already sad that it would not be a first print. I am one of those geeks who likes 1st print a lot.

Later I heard there was going to be another kickstarter to meet a lot of voiced demand for copies of the book and imagine my surprise that a tiny handful of the last of the 1st Prints were being offered! Premium price for sure, and to be expected given the rarity at this point. It was still an easy choice for me.

So I don't have a copy in hand quite yet. I do have designs on running a "ZERO EDITION" game though!

With a names like "The Great Sveni" & D.H. Boggs behind the compilation of the complete rule set in the book, there is going to be something to learn for sure. When one of the most respected D&D Archaeologists brings his formidable, long study of the early period of the game to bear, I think that is going to be the result. And I mean ... Greg Svenson! The guy was at ground zero! I have already been looking for those earliest threads in the tapestry that can help give me a fuller picture and define the origins of the game. Getting to run a game for whatever amount of time in a reasonable "PROTO D&D" state, based on what is known about the play test materials that were available when Svenson designed TONISBORG, I expect, is going to be a kind of magic unto itself.  Gygax, Arneson, Kuntz and Svenson were the earliest real DMs and the more I learn about that time during the game's initial development, the more I want to step back in time and acquaint myself ... nay! immerse myself in the mindset that Arneson, Gygax, Kuntz and Svenson were operating with at that time in terms of rule set stucture. I believe that the nature of those early rules will inform what their thinking was about what the game would be in terms of its game mechanics obviously, but also in terms of the relationship between the game's referee and its players.  I think this book is probably going to provide the best approximation of the materials they were in the process of assembling prior to the 1974 OD&D release that I am likely to get my hands on, at least any time soon and for more than just a short-lived white-gloved perusal. 

For me this is an itch that I have to scratch. It is also one that I think folks like you, Dan Boggs, Jon Peterson, Ben Riggs and some number of others have felt, and it has led them to doing the work of preserving and studying the game's history.

In the Spring of 1974 I was just about to turn 5 years old. I was not in the right place or time to be a part of what was happening around this. I started playing in '81/'82 with Moldvay and then hopped to AD&D by '84 or so and didn't look backward. I realize now that I should have been. I never even saw an OD&D set before 2016.  Now I own two of them but there are earlier printings I stay in search of.

And I know that I can collect more paper. It's out there. I could still get most all of the editions in all their printings, probably even with most all of it still in original shrink if I decided to do make the kind of money necessary to assemble that kind of collection. Alex Kammer I am looking at you. My collection is nothing to sneeze at for most mortals, though. The collection for me, though, is not fully the point. I need to feel the D&D of that time on a deeper level. Part of that is going to be walking some of the same paths that those early giants and their intrepid, latter-day students have walked.

What am I seeking? "Illumination", to quote Dr. Henry Jones Sr.

So ... that's the long answer.

I will wrap that here by simply saying thank you to Griff and Chris for the impressive work and the expense of time, money, energy and passion that they have put into making "Secrets of Blackmoor" and "The Lost Dungeons of Tonisborg". I very seriously doubt that they will have heard this enough.

Anyone who has read all this and is on the fence about whether this is something worth owning ... go buy a book. I think you will be glad you did.

-=JK=-