I see lots of people talking about Tonisburg. I looked at the kickstarter for Tonisburg and knew immediately I wouldn't give it a dime. I wouldn't piss on the manuscript if it was on fire.
Tonisburg is written by Dan Hugh Boggs (he's listed as one of the authors), and that's the guy who wrote the abysmal Dragons at Dawn, a game pretending to be an "Arnesonian" game for purposes of marketing but was really just his own OSR with Arneson quotes sprinkled throughout, including ones that contradicted the rules for the game as presented. Somehow this trash game is still available on Lulu (no link given, don't look for it, it's a scam). For this reason I wrote off the Tonisburg kickstarter entirely and consider the Tonisburg book about as historically accurate as Mazes & Minotaurs or Encounter Critical. Maybe there's good stuff in there, but I do hate being lied to/fleeced, and am not about to be again by DH Boggs. If his name is on a work I am not buying it. Not until I get a full refund and an apology, along with honesty. For example...
There is a non-zero chance that DH Boggs wrote the entirety of Tonisburg inside of the last 6 years and paid somebody who once gamed with Dave to rubber stamp it as authentic. Because of DH Boggs' track record, I consider this not only possible but likely that he wrote more than 60% of the document, and that the supposed core author Greg Svenson, who's only credit I can find is in an article in Fight On! #2 which was indeed an interview with Dave Arneson, didn't write any of it. I'm also very reticent to even watch Secrets of Blackmoor because of his incorporation, as it's highly likely around 40% fictional (other than the accounts of those members of Arneson's table that were actually there). I don't trust DH Boggs anymore, and never will again. He produced a turd in sheep's clothing, then another one called Champions of ZED that he couldn't even keep in print because he was too stupid not to use terms copyrighted by the Tolkien estate. Anyone with half a brain and any memory of D&D's history knows not to poke that particular bear.
So, good luck to those of you buying Tonisburg. I hope it's good. I expect it's shit.
EDIT: I hate being right. See this review, and especially note the comments by Scammaster Bogg himself, where he all but confirms my suppositions and guesswork above.
