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[[Category:Adventures]]
[[Category:Apocryphal sources]]
[[Category:Apocryphal sources]]

Revision as of 23:47, 12 April 2024

Greyhawk Source
Castle Greyhawk (adventure)
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 for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game, set in the game's World of Greyhawk campaign setting. The module bears the code WG7 and was published by TSR, Inc. in 1988 for the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules.

The product contains many references to contemporary popular culture, along with a bitingly satirical treatment of TSR's approach to earlier Greyhawk publications. The module'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!"

Thus, although the adventure purportedly concerns Castle Greyhawk, most fans of the setting consider it to be a "joke" module. In 1990, TSR released a more definitive and serious treatment of the Castle itself in module WGR1 - Greyhawk Ruins. Greyhawk: The Adventure Begins, one of the late '90s Greyhawk publications meant to revamp the campaign world, explicitly states that Greyhawk Ruins is to be considered the definitive castle layout and not Castle Greyhawk.

WG7 Castle Greyhawk was eventually specifically written off in 1998 by the IP holder (TSR) as a parody and that this version of the ruins of Castle Greyhawk should not be considered the official version.[1][note 1]

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.[2]

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".[3] 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".[3]

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[4]to less than half[5] 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 module's a goof."[6] 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 can't be used...."[7]

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."[8] "

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

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

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 can't be used to confuse and trip up the PCs!

13 adventures for characters levels 0 to 25"

Notable nonplayer characters

Magic items

See also

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.

References

Notes

  1. ↑ 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."
  2. ↑ Credited as Paul Jaquays.

Citations

  1. ↑ The Adventure Begins (1998), p.4.
  2. ↑ Dragon #151 (Nov 1989), p.85.
  3. ↑ a b Rolston, Ken (July 1988). "Role-playing Reviews". Dragon (#135): 77. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin: TSR.
  4. ↑ EternalKnight (5 September 2005). "Rate WG7 - Castle Greyhawk". Newsgroup: ENWorld.org. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  5. ↑ Wolfsire (26 July 2006). "Is Castle Greyhawk obscene?". Newsgroup: Canonfire.com. Archived from the original on 2007-03-10. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  6. ↑ John Terra (StupidSmurf) (September 2005). "Rate WG7 - Castle Greyhawk". Newsgroup: ENWorld.com. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  7. ↑ WG7 Castle Greyhawk (1988), p.Back cover.
  8. ↑ 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

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
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