Castle Zagyg coming in 5-8 parts

[Alzrius]

I'm coming into this discussion with virtually no idea what's going on, so I'm hoping someone can bring me up to speed on some points.

Is this actually supposed to be Castle Greyhawk, just with the name changed (and done seriously, as opposed to the actual Castle Greyhawk)?

How did Troll Lord Games get the rights to use the name Zagyg, which is the intellectual property of WotC (try as I might, I can't imagine WotC allowing the name to be used...though that may just be failure of imagination on my part)?

Is the Castles & Crusades system d20 or OGL?

 

[johnsemlak]

Will try to answer the questions but for more info you can surf either the Greyhawk forum at www.dragonsfoot.org or the TLG forums.

I

Is this actually supposed to be Castle Greyhawk, just with the name changed (and done seriously, as opposed to the actual Castle Greyhawk)?

It is the actual Castle Greyhawk, though presumably an updated version with some changes made. I imagine that in EGG's long history of running the dungeon and making changes the term 'original Castle Greyhawk' is a hard thing to define.

How did Troll Lord Games get the rights to use the name Zagyg, which is the intellectual property of WotC (try as I might, I can't imagine WotC allowing the name to be used...though that may just be failure of imagination on my part)?

I'm not exactly sure of that. It may be that Castle Zagyg is an allowable name.

Is the Castles & Crusades system d20 or OGL?

Short answer: OGL. See the above post from Davis Chenault I pasted. It appears to be a combination of several aspects of d20, AD&D and some other stuff. It is being published under the Open Gaming License, but will not be as d20 compatible as some other d20 games/settings.

 

[Melan]

How did Troll Lord Games get the rights to use the name Zagyg, which is the intellectual property of WotC (try as I might, I can't imagine WotC allowing the name to be used...though that may just be failure of imagination on my part)?

As far as I know, EGG could keep the name "Zagyg" when he left TSR, since it was a derivation of his name.

 

[herald]

As far as I know, EGG could keep the name "Zagyg" when he left TSR, since it was a derivation of his name.

Gary owns "Zagyg", WOTC owns "Zagig".

 

[Henry]

A few points of clarification:

(These are the points as I understand them from conversations with Gary over a several year period; he, Rob, or the Troll Lords may add correcting info for certain)

Castle Zagyg (Gary owns that name) will be a "snapshot" of Castle Greyhawk as Gary and co-DM Rob Kuntz visualize it at this time. Despite the mythology, there is no "original" Castle dungeon product sitting in stasis in somebody's drawer; the thing has mutated and evolved as Gary has played with it at home and at cons, as Rob has played with it at home (and at cons, presumably), and the volume of the work will be a joint effort by Rob and Gary to codify hundreds of pages of stuff between the two of them and come up with one hell of a living castle dungeon and environs.

If you ever saw the Greyhawk Ruins product years ago, it's a product totally not designed by Gary & Rob, but designed in the style of the type of "living environs" that they created. Nothing was the same, but the "living" aspect, with side-dimensions, warring factions, mysterious artifacts and edifices, is what is represented in the Greyhawk Ruins product.

The original and its environs by Gary & Rob over the years can be glimpsed in several of his "Soapbox" articles in Dragon Mag - things like the Stone Face that contained the demon Frazz-urbb-Luu, released by Erac's Cousin, like the Jeweled man that everyone tried to capture and no one succeeded, like the side-dimensions in the style of Alice in Wonderland, like the prisons where several Greyhawk gods were stored, etc. More recent additions contained the "Old Guard" Kobolds (if you hear 'em marching down the hall, RUN!), etc.

So the Holy Grail will never be seen - there is no "Castle Greyhawk" gathering dust in a drawer. But the joint effort will codify tons of notes and maps into something that will give many first- and second-decade gamers what' they've been wanting for a long time. A VERY long time.

 

[DaveMage]

I've played all of the D&D editions, but I have settled on 3.5.

I'll buy Castle Zagyg and then wait for someone better apt than me to do a d20 conversion for the entire thing.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I am interested in Castle Zagyg but I want hooks, it is so big it that I want my players to see it as a location they can keep going back to in a campaign.

 

[Leopold]

I've played all of the D&D editions, but I have settled on 3.5.

I'll buy Castle Zagyg and then wait for someone better apt than me to do a d20 conversion for the entire thing.

:insertIamWithStupidsign:

I want to know how hard it will be to bend the C&C rules to D20 and make it stick. If it's too hard to do and too overwhelming I won't even bother buying the thing.

Myself and my players play only D20 as we have all come to understand and accept the rules and changes and house rules we have established. It's simple, it's flexible, it's easy to learn if you have the right teacher. Why they are reinventing the wheel is their own concern but I want D20 and D20 only.

 

[cleaverthepit]

""I am interested in Castle Zagyg but I want hooks, it is so big it that I want my players to see it as a location they can keep going back to in a campaign.""

Yggsburgh is Part I of the series. It comprises the city Yggsburgh and its surroundings, covering an area of 34 x 44 miles or roughly 1500 square miles. The city has about 20,000 inhabitants and another 10,000 living in its immediate environs. Within the city a numerous placesto explore including dungeons and such. Much more can be found outside the city. These numerous areas and the innumerable NPCs in Yggsburgh offer enough adventures to keep a party busy for a year or more. All this without the dungeon of the Mad Mage himself.

The series is designe as a campaign setting unto itself. It is not just one long bloody dungeon crawl. Far far from it.

""I want to know how hard it will be to bend the C&C rules to D20 and make it stick. If it's too hard to do and too overwhelming I won't even bother buying the thing.""

Bending Castle Zagyg into d20 will require somelegwork though not bending the CandC rules. Imagine taking G1 and bending it to d20. The stat blocks are the leg work. What CandC specific things go in there will not dramatically effect d20 conversion. However, the adventure was designed and written for a 'different type' of gaming than is currently the norm. Part of CandCs goal was to create a system in which Gary felt comfortable writing.

I guess we will be going more into this as timeprogresses, how to manage conversions and I am sure a fan will set up a conversion site .

Davis Chenault
Troll Lord Games