Frank Mentzer, Tim Kask, Jim Ward and Chistopher Clarke form Eldritch Enterprises

[Frank Mentzer]

Publishing Lich was actually a reaction, not a plan.

The first full work I wrote for publication was Mystery of History, but I decided not to 'lead' with that. The mystery involves about 95% role playing (and player mystery-solving) and 5% (or less) is combat. It works fine, and will be coming soon from EE, but it would have sent the wrong message.

Were Mystery my 'first out' from Eldritch, I'd have fans thinking I've gone around the bend, writing stuff like that all the time. In actuality, mostly I run wilderness jaunts, good ol' dungeon crawls, etc., all mixing combat and role gaming and uberplot and player-driven stories and more, reflecting what we've learned in four decades of gaming.

I also have a bit of a personal bias against the pure "kill everybody and steal their Stuff" style. While it may be fun for a little bit, it's a very barbaric mentality and loses its appeal quickly (at least for me). Relevant to that my campaign includes some Monstrous Beings (irredeemable whatever you do, so it's okay to simply slay them) amidst a lot of Normal Beings, some having semi-monstrous natures but not always Evil, certain not always ethically slayable (setting up moral quandaries).

So anyway... we at Eldritch discussed the problem, and I quickly wrote up good ol' Lich as a 'blast from the past'. Mystery may come next (at the other end of the design spectrum), and various things after that, including more details on the Aquaria campaign that I've been running & developing since the 1970s. I'll keep trickling out tidbits over at piazza and Dragonsfoot and such.

F

 

[Toric_Arthendain]

Their name recognition will make a big difference. I'm not one to throw my money at every OSR work that comes along -- I still haven't picked up Stonehell, for instance, or the Grinding Gear -- but if they put out a take on Castle Greyhawk by any name, I'd grab it to use, at least in parts, in a heartbeat.

I'll second what Frank said. Pick up Stonehell. It's a fantastic book! Huge megadungeon done in a very interesting and specific style. I love that book. It's done by the same author as the Dungeon Alphabet book from a few years back published by Goodman Games.

As for Lich Dungeon and the other Eldritch Enterprises releases, they are all worth getting. I have read Lich Dungeon and really enjoyed it. The other three releases I have only skimmed so far but all are interesting settings, cool ideas and easily portable to your system and setting of choice.

 

[howandwhy99]

I wanted to say that I really like Lich Dungeon, that it is unique in its starting point, and has an interesting premise.

Spoiler

I also like what you did with the trees and never would have thought of that myself. Now I'm curious as to just how deep they go and what's going on there.