Hi Sluggo!
Indeed I did miss the message below. As you are are likely a Little Lulu fan, how can I refuse to answer?
sluggo the sleazebag said:
Hey there Gary...
Glad to hear that Castle Z is moving right along. How exciting it must be to share it with your fans after all these years. In the meantime, I hope you won't mind fielding a couple design questions.
What I am working on now is what Rob would call backfill. Seeing as how the original setrting for the work can't be used, I am creating a large module with a campaign area of managable size that's filled with a lot of material that establishes the politics and society of the area, its ecomony and monetary system. There is a walled town, some small communities, a great inn, and all the surrounding terrain is described and keyed for encounters and random ones too, with many adventure hooks and five dungeon-level-like areas that I have yet to flesh out as I await the final monsters list for the C&C rules.
Meantime, Rob is outlining an add-on module that will introduce Zagyg's original residence in the area.
I'm sure you've had some great ideas pop up over the years. Ideas that, for one reason or another, you couldn't put to paper. What I want to know is: How much of Castle Z will absorb those sudden moments of satori, and how much of it will retain its original splendor?
The whole of the combined material Rob and I put together would be far too large for publication, 50 levels or so. What I have done is gone back to my original design of more modest scope, because I doubt the work will need to accommodate groups of 20 PCs delving on a daily basis.
As Rob learned from me, he too DMed by the proverbial seat of the pants method. A single line of notes for an encounter was sufficient for wither of us to detail a lengthy description, action, dialog, tricks or traps, and all the rest. As this is not the stuff of modules, we will have to do the same thing as we go over each encounter on the map, actually recording our otherwise extemporized details for the reader.
The most interesting and demanding features of levels will be retained, but the maps will have to be re-drawn from originals. the latter were altered as we merged dungeons, and as PCs interacted with the complex. At one time Robilar, Tenser, and Terik converted the first level of the dungeons to their base.
In short the original upper and lower parts of Castle Greyhawk changed many times over the years they were in active use. What we will do is to take the best of the lot and put that into a detailed format usable by anyone, no "winging-it' required. Noite that it is "Zagyg's Castle", so no tedious explanations of how the denizens of the place got there will be needed.
I'm also curious as to whether your extensive gaming experience has tempered the encounters therein or have you chosen to preserve the Castle as it first appeared when Robilar and company made their initial forays?
The desire to build upon one's early work is a temptation not easily overcome. You could hardly be condemned for doing so, but I imagine there's a percentage of fans who would hope for either result. What can you share about your design plans so far?
Sincerely,
Sluggo
To be frank, the castle changed over the years, so "original" is moot. As levels were added by me, new nad different things were introduced. When after a couple of year's of time Rob became my co-DM there was a massive alteration in the upper works of the castle, a whole, massive new 1st level was created, and then the level plan for the expanded lower levels of the dungeon was created anew, with the original levels of my making incorperated with those of Rob's dungeons, plus a number of new ones we created to fill the whole scheme.
Again, what our challenge is going to be is to cull the extraneous, take the best, and re-create the details we made up on the spot. Of course the most famous things will be there, along with most of the best parts that are not well-known through story and word of mouth. Of course, the expanded work's multiple levels will have to be cut back. Having six second level maps is not only impossible for a published work but quite unnecessary for a normal campaign.
Remember, when Castle Greyhawk was in its heyday, groups of 10 or more PCs would adventure in it several times a week, many of the players in each group different from the previous ones.
Cheers,
Gary
