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|author = Various | |author = Various | ||
|editor = Mike Breault with Jon Pickens | |editor = Mike Breault with Jon Pickens | ||
|publisher = [[ | |publisher = [[TSR]] | ||
|cover_artist = Keith Parkinson | |cover_artist = Keith Parkinson | ||
|inter_artist = Jim Holloway, Jeff Easley, Stephen Sullivan <small>(cartography)</small> | |inter_artist = Jim Holloway, Jeff Easley, Stephen Sullivan <small>(cartography)</small> | ||
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|class = Apocryphal | |class = Apocryphal | ||
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'''''Castle Greyhawk''''' is an adventure | '''''Castle Greyhawk''''' is an adventure set in the ''[[World of Greyhawk]]''. The adventure bears the code WG7 and was published by [[TSR, Inc.]] in 1988 for first edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons''. | ||
The product contains many references to contemporary popular culture | The product contains many references to contemporary popular culture. The adventure's back cover states "The common theme of this dungeon is that no joke is so old, no pun is so bad, and no schtick is so obvious that it can’t be used to confuse and trip up PCs!"{{csb|WG7||back cover}} | ||
Thus, although the adventure | Thus, although the adventure nominally concerns [[Castle Greyhawk]], it is a parody. In 1990, TSR released a more definitive and serious treatment of the Castle itself in the adventure WGR1 ''[[Greyhawk Ruins]]''. In another later sourcebook, ''[[The Adventure Begins]],'' (1998)— one of the publications meant to r3evitalize the campaign world—this adventure was specifically deprecated by the IP holder ([[TSR]]) as a parody, stating that ''Greyhawk Ruins'' is the definitive castle layout and not ''Castle Greyhawk''.{{csb|TAB|4}}{{refn|group=note |name=wg7|''The Adventure Begins'', states "WG7 Castle Greyhawk [TSR #9222, 1988] is a comedy version of this dungeon, not for use in a straightforward and serious Greyhawk campaign."{{csb|TAB|4}} }} | ||
}} | |||
== Table of Contents == | == Table of Contents == | ||
| Line 88: | Line 57: | ||
| Level 12: Where the Random Monsters Roam|| by Steve Perrin|| 119 | | Level 12: Where the Random Monsters Roam|| by Steve Perrin|| 119 | ||
|} | |} | ||
== Back cover blurb == | == Back cover blurb == | ||
{{quote| | {{quote|Deep beneath the keep of Castle Greyhawk, a really nasty device is creating all of these gross mutated and unpleasant monsters that are running wild throughout the Castle and the 12 level dungeon beneath the Castle. The call has gone out for heroic, fearless, and kind of foolish adventurers to out-hack, out-slash and sometimes even out-think hordes of dough mn, headless mice, manic bee queens, really bad did things, Burgermen, crazed chiefs, and movie moguls. If they survive these and much odder obstacles, the characters still have too fine a nasty monster creator and put it out of business.''<br /> | ||
''Castle Greyhawk contains 13 detailed levels for adventuring and expiration. Each level is a separate adventure written by a different author and each has its own unique brand of insane and baffling weirdness. Some levels involve solving puzzles and some require good old hacking and slashing the adventures can be played separately are altogether as a grand quest to free Castle Greyhawk from the evil, rotten boards that are plaguing it. The common theme of this dungeon is that no joke is too old is too bad no snhtick is so obvious that it cannot be used to confuse and trip up the PCs!''<br /> | |||
''Castle Greyhawk contains 13 detailed levels for adventuring and expiration. Each level is a separate adventure written by a different author and each has its own unique brand of insane and baffling weirdness. Some levels involve solving puzzles and some require good old hacking and slashing the adventures can be played separately are altogether as a grand quest to free Castle Greyhawk from the evil, rotten boards that are plaguing it. The common theme of this dungeon is that no joke is too old is too bad no snhtick is so obvious that it | ''13 adventures for characters levels 0 to 25''}} | ||
''13 adventures for characters levels 0 to 25'' | == Notable characters == | ||
}} | * [[Akitrom]] | ||
== Notable | |||
* [[ | |||
*[[Asmodeus]] | *[[Asmodeus]] | ||
*[[Drumorg]] | *[[Drumorg]] | ||
| Line 146: | Line 101: | ||
*''[[Random Monster Generator]]'' | *''[[Random Monster Generator]]'' | ||
*''[[Tapestry of Rooms]]'' | *''[[Tapestry of Rooms]]'' | ||
==Credits== | |||
Editing: Mike Breault with Jon Pickens<br /> | |||
Cover Art: [[Keith Parkinson]]<br /> | |||
Interior Art: Jim Holloway with [[Jeff Easley]]<br /> | |||
Typography: Kim Janke<br /> | |||
Cartography : Stephen Sullivan<br /> | |||
Keylining: Stephanie Tabat and Dave S. LaForce<br /> | |||
Product number: 9222XXX1401<br /> | |||
ISBN 0-088038-530-8 | |||
==Reception== | |||
At the time it was published, reception of ''Castle Greyhawk'' was positive. It was awarded the Gamers' Choice Award for ''"Best Role Playing Adventure"'' at GenCon 1989.{{cite dragon|151|85}} | |||
Ken Rolston reviewed ''Castle Greyhawk'' for ''[[dragmag|Dragon]]'' magazine No. 135 (July 1988), and described it as a light-hearted treasure "for gamers with a sense of humor".<ref name="Dragon #135">{{cite journal| last = Rolston| first = Ken| author-link = Ken Rolston| title = Role-playing Reviews| journal = [[dragmag|Dragon]]| issue = #135| page = 77| publisher = [[TSR, Inc.|TSR]]| location = Lake Geneva, Wisconsin|date=July 1988}}</ref> Rolston felt that publishing an anthology of "really low fantasy" scenarios dignified the style of play involving "this sort of bizarre, humorous, incoherent fantasy arcade adventure, where DMs took the totally illogical premises of the D&D and AD&D games, accepted them without question, then improvised thinly rationalized dungeon universes for us to wander about in, smashing and roasting things and having a thumping good time".<ref name="Dragon #135"/> | |||
In later years, fan reception of ''Castle Greyhawk'' was mixed. Some dedicated fans of the ''Greyhawk'' setting were bitterly disappointed by the long-awaited work. The adventure was interpreted as being a direct insult to [[Gary Gygax]] (who had recently left TSR in a dispute over ownership of the company) and by extension to early fans of the setting. These issues continue to be discussed and debated on various fan sites and chat rooms, with a third<ref name=enworld>{{cite newsgroup | |||
| title = Rate WG7 - Castle Greyhawk | |||
| author = EternalKnight | |||
| date = 5 September 2005 | |||
| access-date = 23 October 2022 | |||
| newsgroup =ENWorld.org | |||
| url = http://www.enworld.org/archive/index.php/t-146761.html | |||
}}</ref>to less than half<ref name=cf>{{cite newsgroup | |||
|title = Is Castle Greyhawk obscene? | |||
| author = Wolfsire | |||
|date = 26 July 2006 | |||
|access-date = 23 October 2022 | |||
|newsgroup = Canonfire.com | |||
|url = http://www.canonfire.com/cf/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2029&highlight=castle+greyhawk | |||
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070310223937/http://www.canonfire.com/cfhtml/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=2029&highlight=castle+greyhawk# | |||
|archive-date = 2007-03-10 | |||
|url-status = dead | |||
}}</ref> of responses being unfavorable. | |||
The author of ''Level 5: The Name of the Game'', John Terra, said, "I stand by my work" but, "the idea that many people bought WG7 thinking that it was a serious adventure, only to be disappointed ...does indeed bother me. TSR really should have screamed a warning from the rooftops, saying that the adventure's a goof."<ref>{{cite newsgroup |title=Rate WG7 - Castle Greyhawk |author=John Terra (StupidSmurf)|date= September 2005 |newsgroup=ENWorld.com |url=https://www.enworld.org/threads/rate-wg7-castle-greyhawk.146761/post-2549253 |access-date=October 23, 2022}}</ref> However, the cover text of the adventure does contain mention that "The common theme of this dungeon is that no joke is so old, no pun is so bad, and no schtick is so obvious that it cannot be used...."{{csb|WG7|Back cover}} | |||
Game designer John D. Ratecliff wrote in an article published on the [[Wizards of the Coast]] website: | |||
{{quote|Despite being ''intended in fun'', the unrelenting mayhem of [[Dungeonland]] and [[The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror]] creates a sense of bedlam, and the parody element opened the door for the later WG7, Castle Greyhawk (1988) -- thought by some at the time to be a deliberate attempt by TSR to destroy Gygax’s reputation in the wake of his departure from the company. The truth, especially given the freelance talent involved, is more likely to be that someone thought it a good idea at the time. They were wrong. Castle Greyhawk’s assortment of villains—Col. Sanders, the Pillsbury Doughboy, the cast of Star Trek, and others—would be more in keeping with a bad episode of Scooby Doo than a dungeon crawl. Unfortunately, the Castle Greyhawk collection of unconnected parody adventures tainted the mystique of D&D’s original dungeon so badly that not even the astonishingly deadly killer dungeon presented slightly later in WGR1. [[Greyhawk Ruins]] (1990) could reclaim its lost prestige.|John D. Rateliff|Wizards.com|21 Jan 2002|<ref>{{cite web |last=Rateliff |first=John D. |title=EX1-2. Dungeonland and The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror |url=http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/dx20020121x8 |format= |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20031011205037/http://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=dnd/dx20020121x8 |archivedate=11 October 2003 |work=Wizaards.com |publisher=[[WotC]] |date=21 January 2002 |accessdate=23 October 2022 |}}</ref>}} | |||
== See also == | == See also == | ||
*[[Castle Greyhawk]] | *[[Castle Greyhawk]] | ||
==External links== | == External links == | ||
{{External link disclaimer}} | |||
*[http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/modpages/wg.html World of Greyhawk Series] at the Acaeum. | *[http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/modpages/wg.html World of Greyhawk Series] at the Acaeum. | ||
*''[http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showbook&bookid=643 Castle Greyhawk]'' at Pen-Paper.net. | *''[http://www.pen-paper.net/rpgdb.php?op=showbook&bookid=643 Castle Greyhawk]'' at Pen-Paper.net. | ||
| Line 163: | Line 159: | ||
*Breault, Mike, ed. ''Castle Greyhawk''. Lake Geneva, WI: [[TSR, Inc.|TSR]], 1988. | *Breault, Mike, ed. ''Castle Greyhawk''. Lake Geneva, WI: [[TSR, Inc.|TSR]], 1988. | ||
*[[Blake Mobley|Mobley, Blake]], and [[Timothy B. Brown]]. ''[[Greyhawk Ruins]]''. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1990. | *[[Blake Mobley|Mobley, Blake]], and [[Timothy B. Brown]]. ''[[Greyhawk Ruins]]''. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1990. | ||
*[[Moore, Roger E.]] ''[[ | *[[Moore, Roger E.]] ''[[The Adventure Begins]]''. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1998. | ||
{{Wikipedia}} | {{Wikipedia}} | ||
{{index|title=Castle Greyhawk}} | {{index|title=Castle Greyhawk}} | ||
[[Category:Adventures]] | |||
[[Category:Apocryphal sources]] | [[Category:Apocryphal sources]] | ||
Latest revision as of 10:26, 18 December 2024
| Castle Greyhawk (adventure) | |
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|
| The cover of WG7. Art by Keith Parkinson. | |
| Type: | Adventure anthology |
|---|---|
| Code/Abbreviation: | WG7 or TSR9222 |
| Edition: | AD&D 1e |
| Author(s): | Various |
| Editor(s): | Mike Breault with Jon Pickens |
| Cover Artist(s): | Keith Parkinson |
| Interior Artist(s): | Jim Holloway, Jeff Easley, Stephen Sullivan (cartography) |
| Publisher: | TSR |
| First Published: | 1988 |
| Pages: | 128 |
| ISBN: | 0-088038-530-8 |
| Class: | Apocryphal |
Castle Greyhawk is an adventure set in the World of Greyhawk. The adventure bears the code WG7 and was published by TSR, Inc. in 1988 for first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.
The product contains many references to contemporary popular culture. The adventure's back cover states "The common theme of this dungeon is that no joke is so old, no pun is so bad, and no schtick is so obvious that it can’t be used to confuse and trip up PCs!"[1]
Thus, although the adventure nominally concerns Castle Greyhawk, it is a parody. In 1990, TSR released a more definitive and serious treatment of the Castle itself in the adventure WGR1 Greyhawk Ruins. In another later sourcebook, The Adventure Begins, (1998)— one of the publications meant to r3evitalize the campaign world—this adventure was specifically deprecated by the IP holder (TSR) as a parody, stating that Greyhawk Ruins is the definitive castle layout and not Castle Greyhawk.[2][note 1]
Table of Contents
| Chapter | Designer | page |
|---|---|---|
| What's Happening Now at Castle Greyhawk | by Chris Mortika | 2 |
| Level I: Against the Little Guys | by Steve Gilbert | 12 |
| Level 2: It's My Party and I'll Die if I Want to | by Rick Swan | 21 |
| Level 3: Too Many Cooks | by Guy McLimore, Greg Poehlein, and David Tepool | 32 |
| Level 4: There's No Place Like Up | by Jennell Jaquays[note 2] | 44 |
| Level 5: The Name of the Game | by John Terra | 54 |
| Level 6: The Temple of Really Bad Dead Things | by Greg Gorden | 63 |
| Level 7: Queen of the Honeybee Hive | by Grant Boucher and Kurt Wenz | 73 |
| Level 8 : Of Kings and Colonels | by John Nephew | 83 |
| Level 9: Vices 'N Virtues | by Scott Bennie | 92 |
| Level 10: Fluffy Goes Down the Drain | by Rick Reid | 102 |
| Level 11: Mordenkainen's Movie Madness | by Ray Winmnger | 111 |
| Level 12: Where the Random Monsters Roam | by Steve Perrin | 119 |
Back cover blurb
"Deep beneath the keep of Castle Greyhawk, a really nasty device is creating all of these gross mutated and unpleasant monsters that are running wild throughout the Castle and the 12 level dungeon beneath the Castle. The call has gone out for heroic, fearless, and kind of foolish adventurers to out-hack, out-slash and sometimes even out-think hordes of dough mn, headless mice, manic bee queens, really bad did things, Burgermen, crazed chiefs, and movie moguls. If they survive these and much odder obstacles, the characters still have too fine a nasty monster creator and put it out of business.
Castle Greyhawk contains 13 detailed levels for adventuring and expiration. Each level is a separate adventure written by a different author and each has its own unique brand of insane and baffling weirdness. Some levels involve solving puzzles and some require good old hacking and slashing the adventures can be played separately are altogether as a grand quest to free Castle Greyhawk from the evil, rotten boards that are plaguing it. The common theme of this dungeon is that no joke is too old is too bad no snhtick is so obvious that it cannot be used to confuse and trip up the PCs!
13 adventures for characters levels 0 to 25"
Notable characters
- Akitrom
- Asmodeus
- Drumorg
- Egg
- Poppinfarsh the Dough Golem
- Gingerbread Man
- Inflated Ego
- Miss Gulch
- Ye Secret Tom of Inestimable Knowledges
- Driderman
- The Inedible Bulk
- Da Ting
- Captain Kork
- Mees Taspark
- Bones
- Indiana Gnome
- Prof. Why
- Baba Yaga
- Elfin John
- Hack and Slash
- Captain Cheer Eo
- Marvin Grape
- Aunt Bee
- Tela Vision
- Bunny
- Graz'zt and Iggwilv
- Jak Briddon
- Penny & Fluffy
- Juiblex
- Mordenkainen
- Voyeux
- Xodast
- Zol Darklock
Magic items
Credits
Editing: Mike Breault with Jon Pickens
Cover Art: Keith Parkinson
Interior Art: Jim Holloway with Jeff Easley
Typography: Kim Janke
Cartography : Stephen Sullivan
Keylining: Stephanie Tabat and Dave S. LaForce
Product number: 9222XXX1401
ISBN 0-088038-530-8
Reception
At the time it was published, reception of Castle Greyhawk was positive. It was awarded the Gamers' Choice Award for "Best Role Playing Adventure" at GenCon 1989.[3]
Ken Rolston reviewed Castle Greyhawk for Dragon magazine No. 135 (July 1988), and described it as a light-hearted treasure "for gamers with a sense of humor".[4] Rolston felt that publishing an anthology of "really low fantasy" scenarios dignified the style of play involving "this sort of bizarre, humorous, incoherent fantasy arcade adventure, where DMs took the totally illogical premises of the D&D and AD&D games, accepted them without question, then improvised thinly rationalized dungeon universes for us to wander about in, smashing and roasting things and having a thumping good time".[4]
In later years, fan reception of Castle Greyhawk was mixed. Some dedicated fans of the Greyhawk setting were bitterly disappointed by the long-awaited work. The adventure was interpreted as being a direct insult to Gary Gygax (who had recently left TSR in a dispute over ownership of the company) and by extension to early fans of the setting. These issues continue to be discussed and debated on various fan sites and chat rooms, with a third[5]to less than half[6] of responses being unfavorable.
The author of Level 5: The Name of the Game, John Terra, said, "I stand by my work" but, "the idea that many people bought WG7 thinking that it was a serious adventure, only to be disappointed ...does indeed bother me. TSR really should have screamed a warning from the rooftops, saying that the adventure's a goof."[7] However, the cover text of the adventure does contain mention that "The common theme of this dungeon is that no joke is so old, no pun is so bad, and no schtick is so obvious that it cannot be used...."[8]
Game designer John D. Ratecliff wrote in an article published on the Wizards of the Coast website:
"Despite being intended in fun, the unrelenting mayhem of Dungeonland and The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror creates a sense of bedlam, and the parody element opened the door for the later WG7, Castle Greyhawk (1988) -- thought by some at the time to be a deliberate attempt by TSR to destroy Gygax’s reputation in the wake of his departure from the company. The truth, especially given the freelance talent involved, is more likely to be that someone thought it a good idea at the time. They were wrong. Castle Greyhawk’s assortment of villains—Col. Sanders, the Pillsbury Doughboy, the cast of Star Trek, and others—would be more in keeping with a bad episode of Scooby Doo than a dungeon crawl. Unfortunately, the Castle Greyhawk collection of unconnected parody adventures tainted the mystique of D&D’s original dungeon so badly that not even the astonishingly deadly killer dungeon presented slightly later in WGR1. Greyhawk Ruins (1990) could reclaim its lost prestige."
—John D. Rateliff, Wizards.com (21 Jan 2002)[9]
See also
External links
Disclaimer:Any lore presented through the following links does not necessarily adhere to established officially published content, and the views expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the editors of this wiki.
- World of Greyhawk Series at the Acaeum.
- Castle Greyhawk at Pen-Paper.net.
- Castle Greyhawk at the TSR Archive.
References
Notes
Citations
- ↑ WG7 Castle Greyhawk (1988), back cover.
- ↑ a b The Adventure Begins (1998), p.4.
- ↑ Dragon #151 (Nov 1989), p.85.
- ↑ a b Rolston, Ken (July 1988). "Role-playing Reviews". Dragon (#135): 77. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: TSR.
- ↑ EternalKnight (5 September 2005). "Rate WG7 - Castle Greyhawk". Newsgroup: ENWorld.org. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
- ↑ Wolfsire (26 July 2006). "Is Castle Greyhawk obscene?". Newsgroup: Canonfire.com. Archived from the original on 2007-03-10. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
- ↑ John Terra (StupidSmurf) (September 2005). "Rate WG7 - Castle Greyhawk". Newsgroup: ENWorld.com. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ↑ WG7 Castle Greyhawk (1988), p.Back cover.
- ↑ Rateliff, John D.. EX1-2. Dungeonland and The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror. Wizaards.com. WotC, 21 January 2002. Archived from the original on 11 October 2003. Retrieved on 23 October 2022.
Bibliography
- Breault, Mike, ed. Castle Greyhawk. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1988.
- Mobley, Blake, and Timothy B. Brown. Greyhawk Ruins. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1990.
- Moore, Roger E. The Adventure Begins. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1998.
| This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors). |
Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index
The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.
| Topic | Type | Description | Product | Page/Card/Image
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WG7 Castle Greyhawk | Adventure | Located in: Cairn hills, | The City of Greyhawk: Gem of the Flanaess | 6, 9, 21 |
| WG7 Castle Greyhawk | Adventure | Located in: Cairn hills, | From the Ashes: Atlas of the Flanaess | 73 |
| WG7 Castle Greyhawk | Adventure | Located in: Cairn hills, | The Adventure Begins | 77 |
