Blackmarsh setting is released!

I got back the proof copy of Blackmarsh and it exceeded my expectations. Therefore I am releasing Blackmarsh on RPGNow as of today. I want to thank Tim Shorts of Gothridge Manor, Dwayne of Gamers Closet, and the Rusty Battleaxe for their help and support.

A special thanks to John Adams and the Delving Deeper development team for giving me the opportunity and drive to contribute Blackmarsh to the OSR.

In the days when man knew only the working of stone and fought for their existence against the orc and the goblin, the sky turned to ash and down fell the fiery mountain onto the land. The world tore open and the grey waters rushed in. Those who survived the impact were lost as boiling clouds rushed out in all directions leaving a wasteland in its wake.

The Mountain That Fell left a gift; magic. Near and far, those of learning and strong of heart discovered new powers to shape the world. In the desolation around the Smoking Bay the adventurous found viz, magic in physical form. And there was more, scattered amid the landscape were strange artifacts and stranger creatures that survived The Mountain That Fell. For a time men, dwarves, orc, goblins, and other races braved the dangers and fought each other in the wastelands. Then the elves came into Blackmarsh expelled the feuding races, drove the monsters out, and healed the land.

In the present day, many come to Blackmarsh to harvest viz, kill monsters, or seek the strange artifacts left by The Mountain That Fell. The only force that stands against the wilderness is the Blackmarsh Rangers. Anyone who is willing to defend the land and its people are welcomed into their ranks. Powerful kingdoms outside of Blackmarsh are beginning cast a covetous eyes toward the land's riches. Will the adventurers of your campaign become wealthy and powerful? Or will their bones join the many that have sunk into the swamps?

Blackmarsh is a complete, ready to run setting for your campaign. It can be run as its own setting or an expansion of your existing world. Contained in Blackmarsh are 17 geographical entries, 78 described locales, and one detailed town; Castle Blackmarsh. Each entry provide one or more adventure hooks to use in your campaigns. The text and map for Blackmarsh have been released under the Open Game License for anybody to use for commerical and non-commerical purposes.

Blackmarsh package on RPGNOW (FREE!) (pdf)

Blackmarsh Setting Book ($7), (letter size print)

Blackmarsh Setting Reference Document (doc, pdf, zip), included on RPGNow.

Blackmarsh, a sandbox fantasy setting for Delving Deeper

I am pleased to announce that the Blackmarsh sandbox fantasy setting will be included in the Delving Deeper boxed set by Brave Halfling Publishing. It will be a 20 to 24 page supplement detailing the region of Blackmarsh and its locale. It will include a 8.5 by 11 map of Blackmarsh, a half page map of the town of Castle Blackmarsh, an essay on managing sandbox fantasy campaigns, a short history, and a fleshed out list of locales, The locales are described in one or two paragraphs with only the level, class, or HD noted for the NPCs and creatures.

The text and maps of Blackmarsh will be released under the Open Game License allowing anybody to freely publish supplemental material for the setting. The setting shares the same loose background with the other Points of Light setting. It is designed to adjoin the Southland setting. Blackmarsh is to the north of Southland. For those with the Points of Light books, it is set in the same "time period" as Southland.

I consider my work on sandbox setting my most original contribution to the hobby. Until the Necromancer team and myself worked on the Wilderlands boxed set it received little attention or interest. Since then I been able to write a number of well received projects, Points of Light, How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox, etc.

since then, I am always looking for opportunities to get more sandbox fantasy material out there. When John Adam announced his boxed set I sent him an email and we quickly came to an agreement to include Blackmarsh in the boxed set. I really excited about this as I think it will help people get up and running with Delving Deeper quickly. Of course since Delving Deeper is built on the original 1974 roleplaying game, Blackmarsh will work with Labyrinth Lord, Swords & Wizardry, OSRIC, and many other retro-clones.

When the three volume softcover series is released, I will release the PDF of Blackmarsh for free. Also I will release a plain word document of Blackmarsh. Along with this I will offer for sale a standalone print copy of Blackmarsh.

Currently the project is the midst of being edited and proofed, see the series of editing post by Tim of Gothridge Manor. I will post more on Blackmarsh itself tomorrow.