Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Castle Zagyg - The Upper Works (review)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="MerricB" data-source="post: 4489556" data-attributes="member: 3586"><p>Last week, I picked up <em>Castle Zagyg: the Upper Works</em> by Gary Gygax, a boxed adventure module detailing the upper levels of his original <em>Castle Greyhawk</em> dungeon, something for which I've been waiting a very long time indeed. The publication is by Troll Lord Games and should be arriving in game shops in the near future. This series of posts will form a serialised review of the product, as doing so will make it a much easier task to review it!</p><p></p><p>Feel free to comment on the review or to ask questions. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /></p><p></p><p>The adventure is designed for the <em>Castles & Crusades</em> game, and is very compatible with earlier iterations of D&D (oD&D, 1st & 2nd edition in particular). Part of the adventure was previously released, and my current 4e Greyhawk campaign uses it as the basis for the action therein. Some conversion work is necessary for 4e DMs, but I have considered it well worth the time and effort.</p><p></p><p>Overall, the boxed set consists of the following:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Book 1: <em>The Mouths of Madness</em> - 44 pages, revised from the earlier release in the <em>East Mark Gazetteer</em>, detailing the caves around the base of the "moat" around the castle. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Book 2: <em>Ruins of the Castle Precincts</em> - 48 pages, detailing the walls, towers, gatehouses and other buildings that stand on the surface over the dungeon. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Book 3: <em>East Wall Towers</em> - 20 pages, detailing the two massive towers that flank the ruined castle. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Book 4: <em>Castle Fortress</em> - 44 pages, detailing the actual fortress level itself. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Book 5: <em>Store Rooms</em> - 44 pages, detailing the first real dungeon level of the Castle, along with new monsters, magic and NPCs.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><em>Maps & Illustration booklet</em> - 36 pages, B&W illustrations and maps. About half the booklet is maps, the rest illustrations of encounters</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">B&W Poster Map (28 cm x 42 cm) of the Mouths of Madness/Store Rooms</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">B&W Poster Map (28 cm x 42 cm) of the Castle Precincts/Towers/Fortress</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Colour Poster Map (28 cm x 42 cm) of the wilderness around the castle.</li> </ul><p></p><p>The biggest problem I have with the entire package I'll put up front: Gary Gygax, in his later years, decided to go with a most unhistorical valuation of gold to silver, namely 50:1. (Historically, for most of the period D&D is derived from, it wandered between 10:1 and possibly 20:1, staying more near the former). Castle Zagyg also adopts a "silver standard".</p><p></p><p>The net result of these decisions is to throw the economy of the base D&D and C&C books completely off. It was not helped by the <em>Yggsburgh</em> book using misprinted costs, and then having most weapons being worth under 1 gp, whilst swords cost over 100 gp apiece!</p><p></p><p>Anyone using this adventure will need to adjust treasure values to fit the baseline of his or her campaign; it is a serious flaw in the adventure, and a grave misjudgement by the adventure's editors.</p><p></p><p>However, this may be redeemed by some entertaining encounters and descriptions: the real meat of the adventure. Does <em>Castle Zagyg</em> deliver? Read on and find out!</p><p></p><p>Cheers!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MerricB, post: 4489556, member: 3586"] Last week, I picked up [i]Castle Zagyg: the Upper Works[/i] by Gary Gygax, a boxed adventure module detailing the upper levels of his original [i]Castle Greyhawk[/i] dungeon, something for which I've been waiting a very long time indeed. The publication is by Troll Lord Games and should be arriving in game shops in the near future. This series of posts will form a serialised review of the product, as doing so will make it a much easier task to review it! Feel free to comment on the review or to ask questions. :) The adventure is designed for the [i]Castles & Crusades[/i] game, and is very compatible with earlier iterations of D&D (oD&D, 1st & 2nd edition in particular). Part of the adventure was previously released, and my current 4e Greyhawk campaign uses it as the basis for the action therein. Some conversion work is necessary for 4e DMs, but I have considered it well worth the time and effort. Overall, the boxed set consists of the following: [LIST] [*]Book 1: [i]The Mouths of Madness[/i] - 44 pages, revised from the earlier release in the [i]East Mark Gazetteer[/i], detailing the caves around the base of the "moat" around the castle. [*]Book 2: [i]Ruins of the Castle Precincts[/i] - 48 pages, detailing the walls, towers, gatehouses and other buildings that stand on the surface over the dungeon. [*]Book 3: [i]East Wall Towers[/i] - 20 pages, detailing the two massive towers that flank the ruined castle. [*]Book 4: [i]Castle Fortress[/i] - 44 pages, detailing the actual fortress level itself. [*]Book 5: [i]Store Rooms[/i] - 44 pages, detailing the first real dungeon level of the Castle, along with new monsters, magic and NPCs. [*][i]Maps & Illustration booklet[/i] - 36 pages, B&W illustrations and maps. About half the booklet is maps, the rest illustrations of encounters [*]B&W Poster Map (28 cm x 42 cm) of the Mouths of Madness/Store Rooms [*]B&W Poster Map (28 cm x 42 cm) of the Castle Precincts/Towers/Fortress [*]Colour Poster Map (28 cm x 42 cm) of the wilderness around the castle. [/LIST] The biggest problem I have with the entire package I'll put up front: Gary Gygax, in his later years, decided to go with a most unhistorical valuation of gold to silver, namely 50:1. (Historically, for most of the period D&D is derived from, it wandered between 10:1 and possibly 20:1, staying more near the former). Castle Zagyg also adopts a "silver standard". The net result of these decisions is to throw the economy of the base D&D and C&C books completely off. It was not helped by the [i]Yggsburgh[/i] book using misprinted costs, and then having most weapons being worth under 1 gp, whilst swords cost over 100 gp apiece! Anyone using this adventure will need to adjust treasure values to fit the baseline of his or her campaign; it is a serious flaw in the adventure, and a grave misjudgement by the adventure's editors. However, this may be redeemed by some entertaining encounters and descriptions: the real meat of the adventure. Does [i]Castle Zagyg[/i] deliver? Read on and find out! Cheers! [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Castle Zagyg - The Upper Works (review)
Top