by Robert J. Kuntz

Note that a fiction piece of mine appears in this issue. Ahem! One might take a first look and say: Hey that's fantasy! And yes. That statement would be true. In fact all works of fiction of this type are technically fantasy--the genres break these down into types within it. But I won't ruin the story for you, and if you have not read it yet do so before reading this column. No surprises will be spoiled that way.

Back in the Golden Age there started what I call the utopian fantasies, such as the speculative narrative of Atlantis in Plato's Critias. Atlantis sprung from an age of fantasy wherein gods and harpies and other legendary creatures and figures ruled. Mr. B. Jowett summarizes Critias in Volume 2 of "The Dialogues of Plato." Note an interesting extract:

The Fiction has exercised a great influence over the imagination of later ages. As many attempts have been made to find the great island, as to discover the country of the lost tribes. Without regard to the description of Plato, and without a suspicion that the whole narrative is a fabrication, interpreters have looked for the spot in every part of the globe. . . .

Not only have others looked for it, still others have amended and changed Plato's initial version altogether. It grew from being a utopian fantasy and allegory of the wars between Athens and Persia, as Jowett points out, into fantastical dimensions of cosmic nature and proportion--i.e., science fiction.

Of course Homer and his mythological cycles predates Critias by several centuries; and Plato was less a fantasist than our esteemed epic-maker and is more properly categorized in this instance as a political allegorist. But still, his Atlantean idea had the impact necessary, just as Da Vinci's tanks and helicopters did, to influence mankind's imaginative soul up and until this age. Of course Plato had no knowledge, just like DaVinci, that some day the tables would be turned and one of our science fiction "fathers" and capable historian, H.G Wells, would be writing about angels as well as utopias.

The First Meeting of SF&F in RPGs

It was natural for David L. Arneson, one of the original Dungeons and Dragons authors, to take H.G Well's course when crafting his Blackmoor campaign, and more specifically, a part thereof--City of the Gods. He is after all a devotee of history and science-fiction, and a master game-player. But what about this mysterious City of the Gods, TSR's code-named DA3 -- and of its counterparts, DA1 and DA2 -- which are the earliest examples of science fiction in any unpublished and published work of RPG history?

Note some handy references and descriptions of these taken from the Mystara Digest list as presented by Steve Miller, Thom Denholm, and Steven M. Latour, all of whom deserve credit for compiling the following information regarding Blackmoor. Bold emphases are mine, and, where appropriate, please note the corresponding magical names (like this, in parentheses) for these "items." Further note that I give major credit to Dave Arneson for the initial design here. All three presentations existed in raw form previous to Mr. Ritchies' help in ordering, editing and writing some of the parts. For example, a scaled down version of the Temple of the Frog first appeared in TSR's Supplement #2 to Dungeons and Dragons, Blackmoor. And do reference my afterword in the "Journey to the City of the Gods" story in this issue for further history about this venerable campaign.

Overview of the Blackmoor series of modules: Blackmoor was a civilization that existed several thousand years before the Known World. After a spaceship crashed near the Kingdom of Blackmoor, adventurers were sent to defeat this mysterious evil (DA2 and DA3). Subsequently, large amounts of high technology fell into the hands of a magic-rich, feudal society. Magic and technology merged, more and more destructive devices were invented, and eventually the whole realm went up in a big nuclear (?) explosion. All that remained was the fusion engines that once powered the spaceship. Now located in a cavern far below Glantri City, this device has become an artifact (due to, in part, Immortal tampering) and sends out a radiation that is the source of magic on Mystara. . . .

DA1: Adventures in Blackmoor TSR No.: 9172 Status: Out of print. Authors: Dave L. Arneson and David J. Ritchie. Summary: The PCs are introduced to Blackmoor and the Empire of Thonia by means of time travel and one stable location -- the Comeback Inn.

DA2: Temple of the Frog TSR No.: 9175. Status: Out of print. Authors: Dave L. Arneson and David J. Ritchie. Summary: Baroness of the Lakes is kidnapped by frog folk, and the PCs need to invade the Temple of the Frog to get her back. Unfortunately, the froggies have been getting some technological help. . . . New magical items: Battle Armor (Godsuit), Hand Blaster (Wand of Sunflame), Heavy Blaster (Staff of Sunflame), Translator Badge (Medallion of Speaking).

DA3: City of the Gods TSR No.: 9191. Status: Out of print. Authors: Dave L. Arneson and David J. Ritchie. Summary: New magic has arrived, brought to Blackmoor in a magic egg by a magician who died before he could utter a single word. However, recovery must be swift since the Order of the Frog is interested in this new magic, too. New magical items: Battle Armor (Godsuit), Communicator (Talk Box), Glow Wand (Magic Torch), Grenade (Death Egg), Grenade Launcher (Wand of Death Eggs), Hand Blaster (Wand of Sunflame), Heavy Blaster (Staff of Sunflame), Implant (Talk Spell), Light Sabre (Sword of Light), Medkit (Cube of Healing), Needler (Wand of Poisoned Dreams), Pressure Suit (Suit of Lights), Riot Stick (Wand of Pain), Snoopers (Far Seers), Translator Badge (Medallion of Speaking) New creatures: Cyborg, Robots (Defense Robot, Security Robot, Ecology Robot, Utility Robot).

This merging of FandSF has had valuable and creative outcomes. And Blackmoor was but the first to offer proof of that. This science- fantasy blend is wondrous to behold and the possibilities inherent to plots of this nature are endless. TSR did produce science-fiction stand-alones Metamorphosis Alpha, Gamma World, and Star Frontiers, but they failed to do something here: to continue integrating the concept of science fiction into fantasy, which would have eventually lead to the amalgamation of their many divergent rules systems into one more easily adaptable to their entire product line. Instead they produced some fine looking islands; and after the fruit was gleaned from these, they, like Blackmoor, drifted away, abandoned. A great loss in my opinion.

But one might add that this is old hat. It's been done over and over again with new rules, fiction books with cross-genre appeal, and so on and so forth. Just as someone might had said to Wells that it had been done already. "Hey H. G.! Look at Plato's utopia, at DaVinci's notebooks, and at Shelly's Frankenstein! There are steam engines and light bulbs and telegraphs," and so forth and so on. I for one find histories of this sort fascinating. And just as Wells was a father of science fiction, so was David L. Arneson one of the very first fathers of RPGs, not just in the role of fantasy (with Gary Gygax), but with his inclusion of the above Blackmoor series, particularly the City of the Gods, exclusively of science fiction as well.

This may or may not mean much to anybody today. But, what is still derived from the recounting or study of history is inspiration. In fact, as Plato and DaVinci and Shelly went on to inspire those around them and in the future with their ideas and stories, so too did Dave Arneson inspire many. Take for example Gary Gygax' and my own module offering of Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, wherein occurs -- a spaceship! But it's fantasy. Well, yes and no. . . . And that type of inspiration has roller coastered to today, and now the offerings are more unique and seemingly as endless as the stories and former games which inspired them.

Beyond Blackmoor

We have all learned from the past. "Fun it is!" might Yoda have said to Luke. But now we are even replacing these cult sci-fi icons with others of our own dreams and imaginings. Yes the world turns furiously folks, and the past is ever mixing with the present and vice versa. The realms have met, and, to a certain extent, have merged. FRP fast became RPG. We have gone from D&D to Traveller to GURPS and back to . . . Deadlands, to name but a few, and here we are. But where are we going from here? Where will the creative talents and inspired vision-workers lead us next? And are we prepared as ever for this cross-genre ride? First, note Orson Scott Card's insights from his Hugo Award-winning book, How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy:

Indeed, you might think of genre boundries not as obstacles, but rather as dikes and levees that hold out the river or the sea. Where-ever they are raised up, they allow you to cultivate new land... If enough of us like your story we'll accept your new boundary as the true one, and plant a few stories in your newfound land... We're all harvesting crops in lands opened up by the pioneers in our field-- Wells,Verne, Merritt, Haggard, Lovecraft, Shelley, Tolkien, and many others. But we're none of us confined to the territory they discovered. It's just a starting point.

Great insights for our industry! His last one, a question, I emphasize:

"How can we create the literature of the strange if we stay in well-mapped lands?"

So, according to our esteemed colleague, we are always at the starting point of the strange, the unpredictable and the weird. And there have been many starts for new RPGs which recently are being churned out like hot cakes at a cook-off: Men in Black, Armored Trooper Votoms, Highlander, Changeling, Deadlands, and the list continues and even becomes explosive if one considers the past available titles and what has been done on the internet with electronic offerings and other free RPGs.

Dare we ask what is next? Fifty-two card pick-up? Seriously, the competition bug has hit full cycle here. Gaming racks are pretty jammed these days with every product imaginable. Reviews can't keep up with them. And when TSR swings its re-polished sights back into this arena, watch for some blistering fun here. We love this industry to glut, don't we? And here I mean it in a good way. Most of those presidents and others who run these game corporations just love games. Period. They want to see these on the shelves. They believe in them. And that's important. But you have to release that new title before the other guy. Take the market by storm. Beat 'em to the punch, etc. As in George Carlan's parody of football, this could perhaps be viewed not so much as a game (industry) anymore, but as a battlefield. But this in itself can be a bugaboo for our industry. Sometimes it is less, "What are the tactics?" than, "How much ammo do we have?" I suppose the latter of these two strategies lets the consumer decide which gaming trench to fall into. Fire enough rounds and you're sure to bring down your target. . . .

Base philosophies never change that dramatically. Tactics only broaden. Or one should hope that they do, for the entrenched, linear approach to this industry has left even some of the giants who started it scratching their heads in wonder. Is there enough creative vision remaining within the RPG industry for companies to survive and conquer in?

The RPG industry is devolving. Words are being whispered, nay, spoken aloud: "Change is good . . . Change is good. . . ." You did note the word "devolving"? I don't joke. The word "changing" is a meager descriptive by comparison. RPGs have not only grown and evolved over the years, they are now faced with their mightiest enemies, and many of these are created in-house: cards, computer games, and MUDs (Internet games) are the notable three which have successfully challenged RPG's supremacy and, to a greater extent, wrested once sacred ground away from their bookish relatives. In many cases RPGs are being squeezed out and retrenched. So my choice of the word devolving is not too harsh. There are new grand actors on stage. Please step behind the curtain RPGs so that your sons and daughters have room to bow. In this instance our Plato might have here referred to yet another allegory of the Titans being vanquished by their offspring. . . .

Perhaps RPGs will now become advertising mechanisms for future conglomerate computer- and card-game companies. You know. Buy up or produce a line of RPGs and talk about them a lot and produce a few as the bounty is made from computer and card games and licensed fiction. Keep the offerings coming--like huge advertisements in boxed or shrink-wrapped form--to stimulate controlled diversification in the market. Continue to wean cross- over buyers and collectors. A new industry catch phrase might then become something like: "You play Bork? Try Tork!" In between try to define a market which a person with a fifty dollar bill who is confronted by 200 offerings in a hobby store can't put a finger on without closing eyes and playing pin-the-hand on the game-box. Yes, the sky's the limit these days; but unfortunately this sky has too often showered pieces upon the above consumer's head, causing buying numbness. "Oh heck," says the store clerk. "Buy some cards, get the whole family (or, school-mates) to play! They're the new craze!" Okay, the offerings are now paired down to 100. But these are at least palm-sized. . . .

It is not all doom and gloom, of course. Gary Gygax, one of the Masters of the field, has pointed out many times, and once again at Gencon this past August, that people like the feel of one on one competition, so this will never entirely disappear. Roll the dice. Talk, even. Socialize. It is a game, after all. And real people make, buy, and play these. Certainly MUDS and their counterparts will gain part of that market and card games have staked their large share of it as well. Playing against the computer doesn't allow for flesh-to-flesh competition, but it is expedient and we do live in the hyped-up-and-get-it-done-with-nineties, so computer games are here to stay. Well, what's left? The best. We are faced with producing a new excellence in games. Deadlands represents, in my view, the way this should be approached. With guts and imagination. No rolling the dice there, just another turn of the card.

This humble servant of the four winds does not foresee an end to the present cycle in RPG growth, just another turn of the card, with aces high. I have participated in the beginning point of RPGs with Dungeons and Dragons*, and perhaps the reader can add my excitement and scant insights from this to that growing and merging pool of information socked away between his or her ears and ponder over the future possibilities of this wonderful industry as I have done. And perhaps along the way even note that what Yoda might have said is very true indeed!

Robert J. Kuntz
Tucson, Arizona

Worlds Within #2 (for Troll Magazine).
Copyright © 1997, 2006 Robert Kuntz

*All Trademarks used are copyright their respective owners. No violation of ownership is intended.