Yggsburgh and Greyhawk

[dcas]

Btw, Jeff, I have three different e-mail addresses for you. Which is the correct one? (Just let me know the domain as I know your username.)

[GT]

Thanks for the update, Jeff!

[ghul]

dcs said:

Btw, Jeff, I have three different e-mail addresses for you. Which is the correct one? (Just let me know the domain as I know your username.)

Either my comcast account or my mac account is good. The adelphia one died with adelphia (my former internet company that went bankrupt after it was discovered that the owner and his sons had been stealing from the shareholders for years; fraud and corruption that led to the demise of the 5th largest cable provider in the country and a 15 year sentence for the guilty.)

[Rhuvein]

ghul said:

Hello fellows. All properties of Trigee Enterprises are now the purview of Gail Gygax. She is a very kind woman that many of us here have come to know well -- full of wit, sarcasm, and good humor. She's also a sweetheart of a woman, and I have nothing but the greatest respect for her. Should she decide to pull the plug on Gary's unpublished works, including those of which I am presently involved with, I will be at peace with her decision and will respect her wishes with no regrets.

If she feels that the development and publication of Gary's outstanding works is a fine idea, then we will proceed apace. I continue to work on Castle Zagyg every day as though the big guy is still looking over my shoulder and cracking the whip. Until I hear otherwise, I will continue to do just that.

The product descriptions on the TLG site are somewhat dated. They are my responsibility to update, something that I had promised Steve and Gary a while ago when we'd mutually decided that it would be better to have more boxed sets with less levels contained than to have just a few boxes with lots of levels. That way there is a steady flow of product, when you factor in the Yggsburgh modules and other expansions. So, we have gone from planning for 3 large sets to 5 or (maybe) 6 smaller sets.

The first boxed set, Castle Zagyg: The Upper Works will include:
* Mouths of Madness (wilderness adventure, caves surrounding CZ)
* Ruins of the Castle Precincts (all the towers, gatehouses, walls, outbuildings, and more)
* The East Wall Towers (two massive towers that flank Castle Zagyg)
* Castle Fortress (the castle proper -- it is huge, gentlemen, several stories in size and full of surprises)
* The Storerooms (Level 1) (also includes appendices)
* Upper Works: Map & Illustration Booklet (maps for the GM's eyes and pictures to be used by the GM to show the players views as the adventure progresses)

The second boxed set is already in the works, as much of the mapping is complete, and many encounter areas are already planned out. The second one will not take as long as the first one has. Also because I have become more efficient at this and I have come to understand Gary's wants and expectations. To be blunt, I was not prepared to simply step in Rob's shoes and start running. I had a lot to learn, and I'm still learning every day.

Fellows, I have enough information at my fingertips -- hundreds of pages of notes and encounter information -- to complete the entire mega-dungeon adventure to its very end while preserving and developing all the adventure springboards Gary was providing me up until a few weeks ago. How we go about this is something I will be discussing with the Trolls in the coming days.

I'll keep you fellows posted.

Cheers,
--Jeff T.

Thanks for the info, Jeff.

Knowing that Gary was working on this material and hoping to get it published will only make us all appreciate it the more when it is released. Your help and efforts cannot be overstated. And I thank for them.

[ghul]

Much appreciated Rhuv. I'm normally pretty thick-skinned about most things, but if I got the impression that no one cared about this project anymore, I'd likely be discouraged. But on the contrary, I have received through private emails and on some forums nothing but encouragement. Also, it's what Gary would want. See you at LGGC, amigo.

[GT]

What!?!? Is there even a doubt?? GET TO WORK SLACKER!!!! (Crack's 'Zagyg's +5 Whip Of Shame & Motivation ' at Jeff...) ;D

[ghul]

Ouch! That smarts!

[geneweigel]

And they were never heard from again....

Seriously, whats going on? Same march forward or has something changed?

[dcas]

Jeff is still hard at work. I'll ping him and see if he wants to give an update here.

[geneweigel]

All things considered, I was beginning to wonder. If its just that they're gunning to finish it then its probably best to leave them be.

[dcas]

I think the goal is a GenCon release for the Upper Works.

[GT]

Yeah, that's what Jeff said---also, the dungeons would be split differently than originally planned! Now let the lad stay hard at work, so I don't have to nag him! ^__^

[Merkholz]

I don't think that the interest has disintigrated, I'm more anxious than ever, but I think that a lot of people are wondering what the passing of Gary means to this and other projects. The message of Stay calm, we're working on it! would be enough to relax the masses.

Oh, and keep cracking that whip just in case! ;D

M

[geneweigel]

Not that the interest would wane, I was wondering if something legally changed as anything that bears the name Gygax has traditionally had an "ill weird" to it. So I've been conditioned to have skepticism. WAIT! Make that "advanced skepticism"....

[ghul]

Sorry I've been quiet fellows. I've been hiding in my bunker, typing a lot. DCAS told me you fellows were wondering about old ghul. I've been limiting my forum browsing to just TLG and DF lately, as I must serve as an "official" voice for the entire Castle Zagyg product line, including all its expansions and adjuncts. Sorry if I've been quiet here. I'll try to pop by more often. We are shooting to release this product sooner than Gen Con. We have our sights set on LGGC IV. I'm looking forward to soon reviewing the galley copies of Gary Gygax's Castle Zagyg, Vol. II: The Upper Works.

Again, sorry I've been so quiet, and don't take my silence to indicate anything more than me locking myself in my bunker. I am a coffee shop writer and I deny myself the use of wireless, so it's usually just my mac and me hiding out on internet-less islands, typing away until the "regulars" get to know me and begin chatting me up too much. Then I find a new coffee shop for a few month . . . I know, I'm an odd fellow.

[Scott]

What do you think of placing Yggsburgh on the Wild Coast where Narwell is? The geopolitical conditions mesh very well with the East Mark.

[amalric]

Jeff ~ I'm new around here, but I just wanted to echo everyone else's comments, in that I appreciate your continued hard work and effort in bringing all this to end product. I'm sure we're all very much looking forward to it.

[ghul]

May 14, 2008 20:24:26 GMT -5 Scott said:

What do you think of placing Yggsburgh on the Wild Coast where Narwell is? The geopolitical conditions mesh very well with the East Mark.

Hey Scotty, I think it's a fine idea, and perhaps even better than the one Gary suggests. The only snag as I see it is this: at least with the Castle Zagyg being so close to Greyhawk City, if Yggsburgh is indeed placed at the confluence of the Ery and Neen, then is it possible to make more of a geographic stretch, making the castle the very same that is next to Greyhawk; otherwise you have to either have 2 castles, or excise that part of Greyhawk's history from your campaign, IMO.

[ghul]

May 15, 2008 5:42:50 GMT -5 amalric said:

Jeff ~ I'm new around here, but I just wanted to echo everyone else's comments, in that I appreciate your continued hard work and effort in bringing all this to end product. I'm sure we're all very much looking forward to it.

Thank-you. It's hang-outs like this place and their core of True-Believers (as Stan Lee is wont to say) that are integral to the success of CZ, in my opinion. And besides, I like the people who hang here. They are smart, veteran gamers from whom one can learn a few things.

[Scott]

May 16, 2008 7:33:00 GMT -5 ghul said:

Hey Scotty, I think it's a fine idea, and perhaps even better than the one Gary suggests. The only snag as I see it is this: at least with the Castle Zagyg being so close to Greyhawk City, if Yggsburgh is indeed placed at the confluence of the Ery and Neen, then is it possible to make more of a geographic stretch, making the castle the very same that is next to Greyhawk; otherwise you have to either have 2 castles, or excise that part of Greyhawk's history from your campaign, IMO.

There is no seamless way to integrate Yggsburgh, wholecloth, into Greyhawk. There is very little EGG gaming material that relates to the city, or that is dependant on the proximity of the ruins to the city.
If you're going to re-write history anyways, i.e. Zagig got fed up with the Mage's guild in Dunfalcon/Greyhawk and relocated to Yggsburgh and built his castles in the nearby hills, then I'd prefer to place Yggsburgh where it makes more sense in the greater setting context.