Discerning Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor Combat System - Part 3

Decomposing AIF

We begin today by looking at Adventures in Fantasy (AIF) by David Arneson and Richard Snider (one of the fellows in the Twin Cities gaming crowd). Snider is well known for adding complexity (see reviews of Powers & Perils by Avalon Hill) though I do find Star Empires to be readable and hope to get in some play next year. Arneson had complained that OD&D differed from the material he sent to Gygax. By looking at the combat system in AIF (published in 1979), I am hoping we will garner some insight into the elements of combat that Arneson found most essential to early Blackmoor’s combat system.