grodog's review of Castle Zagyg: The Upper Works

[Treebore]

I ordered mine from my FLGS, Pandemonium games, and picked it up yesterday. Although it was released at Gen Con it seems to have taken awhile for distributors to get ahold of it, so that is why you may not have seen it in game stores. If you want to support your FLGS, you might want to ask if they can order it before you order it directly from Troll Lord.

Yeah, it didn't get put into distributor channels until just a few weeks ago.

 

[Melan]

Oh wow. Very impressive; it looks like I'll have reading material for this evening.

 

[grodog]

This is awesome. Amazing work, GD. Did this get posted to the ENworld review section as well?

Thanks Filcher. I didn't, since I didn't think that the Reviews were fully-working yet, and I really wasn't sure that the review engine could accommodate an 8700 word review or not. Anyone know?

Having a Greyhawk scholar such as yourself analyze this work is awesome. I love the context information, especially the analysis of encounters vs. Gygax's 1E DMG days of encounter mixes. Rad!

Thanks: that section of analysis was directly prompted by some excellent questions that TFoster threw my way after he saw a draft of the review.

I hope to spring Castle Zagyg on my unaware players as a special Pre-Christmas session in honor of Gary's passing, great adventures, and all-around-holiday-D&D-good-cheer!

An excellent plan, neuronphaser! I'll be doing the same thing over the holidays, though running Kuntz's Bottle City level.

 

[grodog]

Oh wow. Very impressive; it looks like I'll have reading material for this evening.

I definitely look forward to your feedback, Gabor!

 

[the Jester]

Wow- what a great review! Talk about thorough, and talk about examining the boxed set (and the very concept of CG) on many levels-!

Hat's off to you, grodog. That's the second best review I've ever read (second only to a hilarious review of Grindhouse I read shortly before it came out).

 

[dragonlordofpoondari]

Hi Grodog! Amazing review, man.

Just got mine from FRP Games. For the moment, they have more copies ...

FRP GAMES - Your Hobby Gaming Source

 

[grodog]

Wow- what a great review! Talk about thorough, and talk about examining the boxed set (and the very concept of CG) on many levels-!

Hat's off to you, grodog.

Thanks Jester! I didn't think it was fair to review the product based soley on its long history, since the Castle Greyhawk/Dunfalcon/Zagyg product has evolved and changed several times over the years. Still, I wanted to provide some of that context, too, since it is, essentially, Castle Greyhawk with the serial numbers filed off.

Hi Grodog! Amazing review, man.

Thanks Joshua

Just got mine from FRP Games. For the moment, they have more copies ...

FRP GAMES - Your Hobby Gaming Source

For international folks seeking the CZ boxed set, check out the thread on the Acaeum starting @ Upper Works review? since several collectors have posted very good deals on international shipping there.

 

[T. Foster]

Hi Grodog! Amazing review, man.

Just got mine from FRP Games. For the moment, they have more copies ...

FRP GAMES - Your Hobby Gaming Source

Thanks for the link -- just placed an order there

 

[dragonlordofpoondari]

Thanks for the link -- just placed an order there

You're welcome!

 

[timbannock]

So I spent a ton of time working on a 4E version of this module; pretty much finished up the Mouths of Madness, Ruins of the Castle Precincts, and Random Encounters (haven't converted the Losels yet). Working hard on the Castle Fortress at the moment.

I was hoping to play it with my group on Sunday, but we live in CT and MA, and the snow pretty much ruined that. But man...this module has a LOT going on in it! Yet it leaves so much up to the DM, too, though with plenty of idea seeds throughout. It's amazing.

I got into D&D during 2e, and never really had the chance to appreciate Gygax's approach of "here's tons of really neat ideas, and all the tools you need to make it your own at the same time." I don't have to rewrite any story stuff to fit my campaign because it's already open-ended. I don't have to add in a million encounters because Gygax got lazy with the "make it your own" approach. It's brilliant.

I do hate the really "Earthy" names of so many of the NPCs, and I'm a little worried that all my name-changes might get a little hard to track during play, but other than that, this module is a thing of beauty.

I wish the future of CZ was a little more clear.