Making the Ultimate Castle Greyhawk

[@hectorforth2671]

I still want my money back for the joke Castle Greyhawk.

[@waynesworldofsci-tech]

A friend brought that module. I read it and was bored.

[@DoktorRotwang]

I never bought it, but I was more or less forced to play it... including that ridiculous dough golem or whatever it was which my DM insisted on using an extremely annoying high pitched voice. I've been drunk a lot since then, so the memories have mostly faded.

[@SimonAshworthWood]

😂

[@mikeh892]

That thing was like the Star Wars Holiday Special in module form.

[@GroudonMcL]

I've been running Expedition to the Ruins (3e) with the expanded Greyhawk Ruins maps for a number of years now. Also using Castle Greyhawk dungeons mixed in. Wish I had known about Castle Zagyg/Castle of the Mad Archmage and El Raja Key when I started...

[@thezatren6481]

Glad to see you back to making videos after the scare you had a week or two ago.

[@dallaspark9100]

I'm running Mordenkainen's fantastic adventure right now, but I am expanding it into a very long campaign where my players are trying to find the key right now to even enter the castle.

[@geofftottenperthcoys9944]

Waiting for my Print on Demand copy of that to arrive!

[@williammeek7218]

I love that curtain so much. Grognard your coverage of Greyhawk is amazing. Keep it going. I bought the funhouse Castle Greyhawk long ago.

[@andrewlustfield6079]

Love it! Greyhawk brings back so many good memories. And expanding a serious Castle Greyhawk has always been intriguing. As a campaign world, it has so much going on and so much promise for creative game design, still. I do wish the pantheon was unified in a more cohesive divine order. But this is a problem most D&D worlds suffer from.

[@johnedgar7956]

Dungeon Geomorphs!! Now THAT takes me back. I wish I still had mine.

[@AuthorTraceRichards]

Glad to see you are back from the hospital and doing well🙂

[@kuriboh635]

This is definitely a great help to the community. I am personally not the bigger fan boy of greyhawk, mostly because ive only really known about it and a few other of the old school mega dungeons just a year ago. But i absolutely see a lot of value in this and would love to see everyone build their own castle greyhawk or even their own castle. Greyhawk and blackmoor both inspired me to start my castle wasserstein, so far i am only one level down but i have some ideas on what to do with it.

[@josephloehr9617]

I had Greyhawk Ruins. It was Very Good. Now I’m getting back into playing D&D, I’m making MY version of Castle Greyhawk. What I recall from Ruins, I’ve got the EX modules, and things I’m creating.

[@Gialmere]

Wow, you're talking MEGA mega dungeon. Such a campaign might have its players rise from 1st to 20th level with the group seeing less than half of all there is to see. Way less. Btw, I saw a British D&D channel discussing Castle Greyhawk and "Castle of the Mad Archmage" was in the mix. So your work has become part of the legend. Congratulations!

[@michaelmontalto]

Now that the Trolls have the licenses back. The only thing that matters is the official release of Volumes 1 through 7 to complete Castle Zagyg. The rest of this is fun and super cool and outstanding in terms of it's ability to piece meal things together. That said, the Trolls need to wrap this up in the next two years for good and all.

[@mattinthehat3]

Another great video. So many awesome ideas that one could practically base an entire campaign just within the castle and ruins itself.

[@CalstaffTheGold]

1:48 “by sheer coincidence” 😂

[@GreyhawkGrognard]

Heh

[@AuthorTraceRichards]

Glad to see you are back from the hospital and doing well

[@RBloom0566]

Please do! “A little more in-depth video on just this module.”

[@hamishshaw4907]

I think the idea of dropping The Tomb of Horrors into a dungeon is brilliant!

[@hamishshaw4907]

I have my Castle Zagyg and the Castle of the Mad Arch Mage 😁!

[@bromossunstarranger8706]

Great video to inspire a weekender of Castle Grayhawk Design. I'm putting some random tables to good use. Thanks Joe have a great weekend.

[@misomiso8228]

You're great Greyhawk Grognard! My question is: What PERSONAL hacks of Greyhawk do you do in your games? What I mean are there any 'world level' hacks that you do to make the game more to your liking, or do you tend to keep the world 'as written' as possible? For example I turn Freecity of Greyhawk into a Fantasy 'Megacity', similar to Victorian London with about 10 million inhabitants, as I really like the 'megacity' vibe and find it adds a lot to the campaign (I also change it's location slightly but that may be a bit too far for most people!). I also try and make Iuz much more cunning and much more threatening; he's more akin to Sauron in some of the earlier ages of Middle Earth, and his monster kingdom is more of an alliance that he has woven together with him at the head. The Hobgoblins for example are quite simialr to the cardasicans from Star Trek:DS9. Anyway just interested! Love the channel!

[@nordicmaelstrom4714]

Id like to make a Castle FUWOTC but I feel like I would be assailed by Pinkertons hah. All kidding aside that sounds like a great idea for the ultimate Castle Greyhawk. I for one would be intrigued to see you do an in depth video of Greyhawk Ruins. What are you painting there GG? I'm working on 15mm American Civil War miniatures at the moment.

[@willmistretta]

I've come to the conclusion that DIY is the "truest" way. Even if the original maps were ever to be released to the public, I doubt they'd be in a state even approximating some ultimate holy grail masterpiece dungeon. While no doubt invaluable from a gaming history perspective, they'd fundamentally be squiggly graph paper mazes with skeletal keys, not really that different from what any passionate DM could cook up for their own home campaign. So in that spirit, one may as well do just that.

[@pentegarn1]

Constitution roll...check. Hit points full...check. Normal background setting.....check! Ok all is right in the world again. ;)

[@ScarletBrotherhood]

Been running through Grodog's Castle Greyhawk a couple weeks a month since 2020. We're still on the first level. >.< ... but we're a methodical party, and easily sidetracked. I own your CotMA, Zagyg, Expeditions, and Ruins due to the recommendations from your blog posts when you first published CotMA. (very happy you made the transition to video!) A nice companion piece to this could be "Making the Ultimate Greyhawk City" cuz what's a dungeon w/o the town to sell your hard found loot! -.o

[@thatpatrickguy3446]

Great video! I was always curious about the Castle since it was the megadungeon that sparked so many imaginations. The DM I played under one summer at a camp had made his own megadungeon castle that added to ideas I used for my own adventures, both for megadungeons or regular ones. I HATED the disrespect shown to Gary with the BS that was WG7. I bought it thinking that it was an actual part of the original, and I ended up losing all respect for late 80s TSR and the so-called creators of these insults that stole the name of Gary's work. I felt especially upset with Jaquays contribution since I had previously liked her works, especially Dark Tower which she contributed to for Judges Guild. I remember asking about Castle Greyhawk as one of the questions I put down for our conference call with him when I was in middle school. Of course we had heard snippets about it through mentions here and there in various works including Dragon Magazine. I remember him chuckling and saying that, like every living (i.e. being explored by PCs and monsters) dungeon it was constantly in flux, and while the maps stayed relatively stable, though he mentioned an aside that the players had changed them through various means mundane and magical though he didn't expand on that, the contents obviously did not. He did mention that there were 'side adventures' and pocket planes where he could insert random things he thought would be interesting but were off kilter from the standard of Greyhawk (the Alice in Wonderland adventures being a prime example of that I guess), and that they might not always be accessible for the next group to go hunting for them due to various changes the Mad Archmage kept making in his whimsical way. So the lesson I learned for my own megadungeons was to create the foundation for the party, and as they continued exploring, I continue expanding. He also said that sometimes players give the best ideas for how to expand the future levels. Making their fears the reality is kind of fun. 😀 As far as adventures to connect to Greyhawk, the EX series based on the Alice books mentioned above are the most whimsical ones I'd add, but they'd absolutely get added. Also, thinking of the pocket dimensions/planes concept, they would be a good way to include adventure concepts that don't seem to work well in a standard megadungeon. In a related note, some "megadungeon" style adventures don't really fit the standard for a megadungeon. The example I'm thinking of is "Ruins of Adventure" which was based on the Pool of Radiance computer game. I could see using the pocket places as a way to include such adventures into an actual megadungeon too. I did this myself with my first Halloween adventure for my most recent campaign back in 2015, sticking a pocket plane portal into the huge Tegel Manor type dungeon (which was also in a pocket plane) they were trying to escape, as it was already established that there was no graveyard around the manor house itself. So long as it is done with a definite purpose and not too often it works well for getting the group somewhere they don't quite expect, which can be a lot of fun for everyone. 🙂

[@andrewszigeti2174]

I think if I were to drop Tomb of Horrors into Castle Greyhawk, it would be as a massive practical joke on the party exploring it by Zagyg. Once (if) the survivors beat the demi-lich, they'd discover the dead members of the party, and probably quite few others, held prisoner in some humorous way. And if it's a TPK, the players get to try and figure out how to get themselves out. Or even tie it into the Movie Madness level, Zagyg making a 'blooper' reel of PCs dying humorously...

[@maximus3160]

Don't even go there with that joke version. Still can't believe I bought that mess.

[@PeterNorthsLeftTesticle]

1. I start with the Zagyg books from TLG, including the excellent Yggsburg hardcover. Add in locations from City of Greyhawk (or, vice versa if you're inclined to go the other way) to beef up the city. 2. East Mark represents lands around as in the Zagyg content. 3. Upper Works box as published. 4. Transition to the Grognard works for below the Storerooms level. 5. Add in my own creations - massive dungeons from 40 years ago to the NE of the river - possibly connected to the main root somehow. 6. Demi-plane of Shadow + other side excursions like this, Isle of the Ape, etc... 7. Grab singluar rooms like the chapel from S1 verbatim. 8. Three Tower roots from Greyhawk Ruins to the NW of the Castle as well as the SW and SE of the river... all connected via long, long tunnels. 9. Large gorge between the main road and the ruins proper with many caves, including one with a vertical shaft inhabited by Grell that gives access to the Underground River. 10. Hope nobody reads this because I've give it all away. 😂

[@GreyhawkGrognard]

I've used the TSR Lankhmar stuff to fill in my Greyhawk city.

[@PeterNorthsLeftTesticle]

@@GreyhawkGrognard Oh... another good idea.

[@davemills8193]

Those of us that would actually appreciate Gary's Castle Greyhawk will probably be long dead before they hit a public eye that looks at them and then scratches their heads.

[@beezyonbass3906]

Isn’t there just like, one individual that’s personally preventing the release of this stuff? I think most of us will outlive that individual.

[@golbolco3632]

@@beezyonbass3906Who is this?

[@beezyonbass3906]

@@golbolco3632 last time I checked, the gatekeeper was Gail Gygax. Google can provide more context.

[@AtlasRathbane4346]

​@@beezyonbass3906we honestly should troll her

[@ValamirCleaver]

HA! Maybe I'm safe because I don't have a public KZbin channel that I host videos of the unboxing of collectable card game packs?...

[@sebbonxxsebbon6824]

Greyhawk should have been released for the fans!

[@daves6220]

Gary still had the last laugh!

[@Squirrel-Hermit]

Wonderful...

[@AtlasRathbane4346]

I was just thinking of this

[@jebgordon6608]

I've always wanted to sit down and talk further with the person that I know that worked on the Castle Zagyg material, as he had strong options on Gary's vision for it. It is a friend's old band mate that did art and some map clean up for Gary. Sadly, close enough to know, but not really someone that I know well enough to just call up and press for information.

[@patrickgaron1728]

He may be happy to get reached by someone who enjoy his work! Give it a try, there is no harm in trying. :-)

[@jebgordon6608]

I invite him over the house a couple of times a year. He is always to busy getting art in for production deadlines to come over.

[@patrickgaron1728]

@@jebgordon6608 Oh I see. Tell him that on this youtube channel there is a high chance the we all considered him a national treasure to have work with Gygax (if it's the case!) just to boost his ego 🙂

[@jebgordon6608]

@@patrickgaron1728 I might do better telling him that we have models willing to pose for cover art. I would really would like to see myself on the front of a rulebook astride my horse dressed as some sort of warrior. He uses a lot of local people for reference and has included a ton of his former band mates in his art.

[@Se7enBeatleofDoom]

Without Greyhawk. We would have no castle grey skull in He-man.

[@mikefett5989]

Think TLG will re-release castle zagyg upper works?

[@GreyhawkGrognard]

If Yggsburg and the other books sell well enough, yes.

[@garyhuddleston7134]

Hello @greyhawk Grognard, i recently found your channel and after binge watching your videos I have fallen in love with Greyhawk. I am currently buying many of the pdfs and am hoping to get them printed. With that said do you know of a reputable place that can legally print PDF that i have legally purchased in high quality, A company that can print the maps, books with perfect bindings maybe even a box? I ask because the price of physical Greyhawk books are EXPENSIVE!!! Thanks for any advice you can offer.

[@GreyhawkGrognard]

There are some Greyhawk books available on DriveThru as print on demand, so that'll cut down costs. If you find an online printer who can do boxes, let me know - I've looked in vain for quite some time!

[@garyhuddleston7134]

I'll let you know if I find one.

[@midnightgreen8319]

What is the issue with the original maps? Did TSR own them or Gary? You would think his family would absolutely want that published

[@GreyhawkGrognard]

Issue of what?

[@midnightgreen8319]

@@GreyhawkGrognard Who owns the originals? Are they just gone? Surely Gary didn't toss them.

[@GreyhawkGrognard]

@@midnightgreen8319 Ooooh now I get what you're asking. There's been a lot of legal happenings with Gary's work over the last couple of years. His widow had control of it all (and refused to let anything be published), but recently that changed somewhat, and there's an Estate trust or something in charge now. They're being understandably cautious, but that's why Yggsburgh is being re-released by Troll Lord Games. If that does well enough, more will come.

[@midnightgreen8319]

@@GreyhawkGrognard I would think Gary's Castle Greyhawk would sell like hotcakes

[@GreyhawkGrognard]

@@midnightgreen8319 Here's hoping we get the Upper Works, and the rest of Castle Zagyg.

[@PatriceBoivin]

well... there may be good news on this front...

[@GreyhawkGrognard]

Here's hoping. It does look good at this point, but I'm not going to take anything for granted.