Castle Zagyg - I need some pointers

[Odhanan]

Alright. So in the EGG's Castle Zagyg series, what's in print already?

I've seen Castle Zagyg Volume One: Yggsburgh and Dark Chateau from Rob Kuntz. What else exists in print?

When are Castle Zagyg Upper Works, Dungeons etc going to be released?

What do you think of the whole thing? What do you like about it? What are the contents?
Pitch the thing to me if you know it, please.

 

[jdrakeh]

I've seen Castle Zagyg Volume One: Yggsburgh and Dark Chateau from Rob Kuntz. What else exists in print?

To the best of my knowledge, that's it.

When are Castle Zagyg Upper Works, Dungeons etc going to be released?

This was briefly touched on in a recent-ish EGG Q&A thread where Gary indicated that he was as much in the dark about Troll Lord release dates as anybody else (IIRC, he specifically expressed some frustration that he had been cited release dates for a boardgame and some other projects that Troll Lord then failed to meet).

What do you think of the whole thing? What do you like about it? What are the contents? Pitch the thing to me if you know it, please.

Personally, I really like the concepts and the writing (though I also like Greyhawk, so this probably won't come as surprise). The low point is definitely the layout which is horrible -- the first Zygag hardcover book has huge, empty, margins and looks like it was slapped together with a gluestick and a xerox machine (in many ways, it is reminiscient of older Palladium products, sans lots of good artwork).

 

[Odhanan]

What kind of games does Yggsburgh encourage you to play?

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Alright. So in the EGG's Castle Zagyg series, what's in print already?

I've seen Castle Zagyg Volume One: Yggsburgh and Dark Chateau from Rob Kuntz. What else exists in print?

The Eastmark Gazetteer Folio. This is worth getting, IMO. It has some very nice maps, a Greyhawk-style Gazetteer of the Yggsburgh/Eastmark area, and the "Mouths of Madness" adventure, which is our first glimpse of Castle Zagyg, itself. The Gazetteer portion of the product duplicates material from the Yggsburgh hardcover, but is in a much nicer presentation, and is better organized for reference. Even so, the real draw is the adventure, IMO. The "Mouths of Madness" are a series of cave systems underneath the castle (allowing entrance into the dungeons, in some cases). The mouths draw inspiration from the Caves of Chaos in the Keep on the Borderlands module. They're excellent for low-level exploration of the castle-site, proper.

Two of the "town expansion" modules are available, too:
CZ10 Yggsburgh Town Halls
CZ11 Yggsburgh Moat Gate
I don't have these, so can't comment on them.

There's a list of available product on the TLG store site. They have a "Castle Zagyg" category.

 

[jdrakeh]

What kind of games does Yggsburgh encourage you to play?

Well, it's very much a psuedo-European fantasy setting in the vein of Greyhawk, thematically speaking. If you liked the wide open appeal of the original (i.e., Gygax folio) Greyhawk and enjoy vanilla fantasy heavily inspired by medieval Europe, you'll find a lot to like about Yggsburgh, too.

As with most D&D settings, there is no underlying premise or mode of play inherent in Yggsburgh. It's really a setting in the truest sense of the word (i.e., it is a place for adventure to happen, not a supplement custom-tailored to support certain styles of gameplay).

 

[jdrakeh]

The Eastmark Gazetteer Folio. This is worth getting, IMO. It has some very nice maps, a Greyhawk-style Gazetteer of the Yggsburgh/Eastmark area, and the "Mouths of Madness" adventure, which is our first glimpse of Castle Zagyg, itself. The Gazetteer portion of the product duplicates material from the Yggsburgh hardcover, but is in a much nicer presentation, and is better organized for reference.

Thanks for the heads-up. It's nice to know that material is still being published and that they've cleaned up the presentation (I cannot stress enough how repulsed I was by the layout in the Yggsburgh hardcover). I'll have to see if I can get my FLGS to order a copy of the Gazetteer Folio.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

One other note on the Gazetteer: it's focused on a broad presentation of the setting (similar to the old Greyhawk presentation), so it doesn't include the adventures or adventure seeds from the hardcover. However, that's one reason the Gazetteer is handy as a setting reference; it's easy to find what you're looking for.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

What kind of games does Yggsburgh encourage you to play?

As jdrakeh said, it's pretty wide-open. It has the European fantasy feel. Here's how it describes the general flavor:

The society of Yggsburgh is assumed to be basically Western European, rather English in culture, and generally feudal in political structure...The cultural level is that of the High Middle Ages, and early Renaissance in developed states. Technology is at least on a par with that general period, more advanced in areas of agriculture, transportation, and engineering, but lacking chemical explosives...As the Romans of our real world built fine roads, bridges, aqueducts, used concrete and had central heating, indoor plumbing, and underground sewers, including such amenities in the larger communities of civilized states in not a stretch, especially in a fantasy milieu that does not assume [an event like our real-world 'Dark Ages' collapse]...

As you can tell from that quote, the default Yggsburgh feel is European fantasy, but with some fantasy-advancement touches. It doesn't strike me as a dark, swords-n-sorcery setting, for example.

If you have access to EGG's Living Fantasy book, you'll find that Yggsburgh is designed along the lines outlined, there. (This makes Living Fantasy is a very useful book for a Yggsburgh campaign.)

 

[jdrakeh]

One other note on the Gazetteer: it's focused on a broad presentation of the setting (similar to the old Greyhawk presentation), so it doesn't include the adventures or adventure seeds from the hardcover. However, that's one reason the Gazetteer is handy as a setting reference; it's easy to find what you're looking for.

Sold! I much prefer this approach, myself. The adventures in the hardcover weren't bad, though they weren't necessary by any means. Adventure seeds are, of course, as far away as your favorite television program or novel.