The First Fantasy Campaign
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''The First Fantasy Campaign'' is a supplement for fantasy
role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, or abbreviated as RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out ...
s written by
Dave Arneson David Lance Arneson (; October 1, 1947 – April 7, 2009) was an American game designer best known for co-developing the first published role-playing game (RPG), ''Dungeons & Dragons'', with Gary Gygax, in the early 1970s. Arneson's fundamental ...
and published by
Judges Guild Judges Guild is a game publisher that has been active since 1976. The company created and sold many role-playing game supplements, periodicals and related materials. During the late 1970s and early 1980s the company was one of the leading publish ...
in 1977.


Description

Dave Arneson created a new type of game in 1970, something he called "Blackmoor". After he demonstrated his game to
Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering tabletop role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax creat ...
in 1972, Gygax proposed that the two of them work together to codify a set of rules for a new game, which subsequently became ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
''. Gygax also founded TSR to publish the original set of rules in 1974. The following year, TSR published '' Blackmoor'', which outlined supplemental rules for ''D&D'' and included Arneson's sample adventure "Temple of the Frog"; however, despite its title, ''Blackmoor'' contained very little information about Arneson's Blackmoor campaign world. Arneson came to work at TSR in 1976 as Director of Research, but he and Gygax had very different visions of role-playing, and the creative differences between the two proved irreconcilable. Arneson left TSR at the end of 1976, and immediately started working to produce role-playing material. One was the self-published ''Dungeonmaster's Index'' (1977); the other was ''The First Fantasy Campaign'', a book published by Judges Guild in which Arneson described details of his world of Blackmoor. Despite the cover, which stated the book was 88 pages, it was actually a 96-page book, with illustrations by Pixie Bledsaw, Ken Simpson and Arneson, and two large maps drawn by Arneson. The book includes: * A listing of the various armies in Blackmoor, and summaries of kingdom management, including road construction, building ships, the costs of exploration, farming, etc. As game historian James Maliszewksi noted, the book is "a fascinating reminder that D&D's roots are in wargaming and not just in a vague 'it's about killing bad guys and taking their stuff' sort of way. As presented in this book, Blackmoor was at least in part an honest-to-goodness exercise in strategy and tactics by the players, as the armies of good and evil contended to determine the fate of the northern provinces of the Great Kingdom." * "Blackmoor's More Infamous Characters", both heroes and villains * Details and a map of the village of Blackmoor, including the home of Mello the Halfling and the tower of Svenson's Freehold * The baronies and villages of the surrounding region * The upper works of Blackmoor Castle, as well as the first ten levels of the dungeons beneath the castle. (The book states there are at least 15 more levels, although these were never published) * Four levels of dungeons under a ruin called Glendower. * A collection of various unrelated pieces, including ** a list of magic swords ** the use of magic in Blackmoor ** earning experience points ** several more maps ** expanded rules for other monster such as dragons and vampires. ** alternate rules for using miniatures in play. In his 2014 book ''Designers & Dragons'', Shannon Appelcline commented, "Amidst rules and army listings, readers learned some facts about the Kingdom, received information on some notable personalities, and got a look at Blackmoor Town, Blackmoor Castle, and Blackmoor Dungeon. There were also some maps of more distant lands, which would have to be enough to keep players content for several years." James Maliszewksi pointed out that there's no actual set of rules for how to play in Blackmoor, saying, "for all this information, it's unclear what rules set Dave and his players used to adjudicate these battles. One assumes ''
Chainmail Mail (sometimes spelled maille and, since the 18th century, colloquially referred to as chain mail, chainmail or chain-mail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common milita ...
'' but that's not a certainty."


Publication history

The book was published by Judges Guild in 1977, and went through three printings. However, this was the last work by Arneson that Judges Guild produced.


Reception

In the October-November 1977 issue of ''
White Dwarf A white dwarf is a Compact star, stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very density, dense: in an Earth sized volume, it packs a mass that is comparable to the Sun. No nuclear fusion takes place i ...
'' (Issue #3), Don Turnbull gave a strong recommendation to this book, saying, "To designers of outdoor adventure universes, this is a must. Time has not permitted me to study every detail, but the booklet is brimful of ideas ranging from farm management to the cost and labour of building roads." Patrick Amory reviewed ''First Fantasy Campaign'' for ''
Different Worlds ''Different Worlds'' was an American role-playing games magazine published from 1979 to 1987. Scope ''Different Worlds'' published support articles, scenarios, and variants for various role-playing games including ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Rune ...
'' magazine and stated that "Many of the guidelines are oriented towards wargames and miniatures play, as that is what Blackmoor developed from. I cannot believe that anyone would not be interested in this aid. It presents a far more detailed area for play than anything else in the Fantasy Universe." Shannon Appelcline commented that "''The First Fantasy Campaign'' (1977) was written by none other than Dave Arneson. It was written as part of his attempt to get back into the RPG business following his departure from TSR — a brief renaissance where he also worked with Heritage Models to produce the ''Dungeonmaster’s Index'' (1977). Not only did ''The First Fantasy Campaign'' offer a new fantasy campaign setting, but the setting was Dave Arneson's Blackmoor. Unfortunately, Blackmoor wasn't quite presented as its ''own'' world, because it connected to the Wilderlands along one map edge — a theme that would continue through all of Blackmoor's appearances for the next 25 years. Sadly, Arneson and Judges Guild never released anything beyond this first book." RPG Geek notes that "Although fascinating for anyone with an interest in the history of the RPG hobby, the ''First Fantasy Campaign'' supplement is very loosely organized and may disappoint readers who are hoping for a fully fleshed out campaign setting."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:First Fantasy Campaign Judges Guild fantasy role-playing game supplements Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1977