Castle of the Mad Archmage to be published...

[Treebore]

"The agreement includes the publication and distribution of all twelve of the Castle of the Mad Archmage dungeon levels included in the previously released pdf of the same title, plus two additional levels that Joseph wrote exclusively for inclusion in the Black Blade Publishing release of the Castle of the Mad Archmage. These two additional levels will be

-- Surface Level – The Upper Ruins, and

-- Level One – The Storage Rooms

The Black Blade release of the Castle of the Mad Archmage will be published with several other design features that will make this a truly stand-out print product, including:

-- A 220-240 page hardcover containing the encounter keys and level by level detail for all 14 levels;

-- Full-color poster maps on heavyweight stock for all 14 levels;

-- A folio or folder to organize and store the poster maps when they're not in use;

-- A deluxe box or slipcase for storing both the level key hardcover and the map folio with all of the poster maps;

-- The addition of a number of original black & white interior art pieces to highlight specific set piece encounters or unique features of the Castle levels;


In addition, Black Blade Publishing and Joseph Bloch have discussed plans to release further expansions of the Castle of the Mad Archmage, including several sub-levels and level-expansions for the twelve primary dungeon levels beneath the ruins of the Mad Archmage’s Castle."

[Rigon]

Very, very cool.

R-

[Treebore]

Very, very cool.

R-

Yep. I know the price tag is going to make me at least flinch, but I have no doubt it will be worth it.

[Go0gleplex]

Now that is a mega-dungeon done right.

[TheMetal1]

Now that is a mega-dungeon done right.

a big +1 on that

(and yes, only +1, this is Old School D&D here, not the new fangled one where the whole party is all level 30 and everyone has at least a +8 weapon and rides on Hippogriffs. Nope, Old School, we've been playing the game for 5 months and we have only one magical weapon for the whole party, we're all either 2nd or 3rd level and we're running for our lives deep in the underdark from slavers).

[Geleg]

this sounds great. i'll be excited to own a copy and, hopefully, inflict it on my players. (I do already have the download, but still)

[Omote]

While, overall, I'm excited about this project, I do hope they update those maps. Sure, they look old-school an all, but the maps are just SO boring with the simply blockiness of them. None of the old TSR modules had such blocky, boring dungeon maps.

~O

[Rigon]

I look at it this way, it is a great oppertunity for those of us who missed out on the CZ:UW box to get a CZ-type dungeon. Especially with the added material described.

R-

[Omote]

I look at it this way, it is a great oppertunity for those of us who missed out on the CZ:UW box to get a CZ-type dungeon. Especially with the added material described.

R-

I certainly won't deny that, but let's be honest here for a second. Castle of the Mad Archmage is nowhere near the quality of Gygax's Castle Zagyg: Upper Works. Not even close. However, if you can't get a hold of that one, I guess the next best choice would be COTMA, though IMO it doesn't have the heart or the feeling of CZ at all. YMMV.

~O

[Tadhg]

I saw the first and second levels and thought they were OK, not my cup of tea and I agree with Omote - they are not necessarily a CZ alternative. Not a bad thing, but I suggest people read up and research the product when released so you won't be disappointed in what you receive.

[Treebore]

I look at it this way, it is a great oppertunity for those of us who missed out on the CZ:UW box to get a CZ-type dungeon. Especially with the added material described.

R-

I certainly won't deny that, but let's be honest here for a second. Castle of the Mad Archmage is nowhere near the quality of Gygax's Castle Zagyg: Upper Works. Not even close. However, if you can't get a hold of that one, I guess the next best choice would be COTMA, though IMO it doesn't have the heart or the feeling of CZ at all. YMMV.

~O

I think we should wait and see the final product, which is predicted to be between 220 to 240 pages. No doubt it won't have the same heart or feeling of CZ, it isn't created or written by the same people. Nor do I think anyone wants it to have the same heart or feeling. This is only similar in concept and maybe style. Personally I like most of this in its fan made form, but do I think its in any way "identical" to CZ? Heck no! Is it something similar enough to be useable or adaptable in a similar fashion? Absolutely. Can it stand on its own merits? I think so. I think it already does.

[Thulcondar]

I saw the first and second levels and thought they were OK, not my cup of tea

May I ask how? As far as I'm aware the only people who have seen them are myself and the folks at BB.

If you're referring to the levels that were done as a sort of adjunct to the Castle of the Mad Archmage by a third party author, those are NOT the Surface or Storage Room levels that will be included with the BB edition. I had nothing to do with them, and have created completely new levels that are exclusive to the BB edition, and fit in thematically and structurally with the other levels of CotMA.

I should also point out that the Castle of the Mad Archmage will be a self-contained product, complete unto itself. It will *not* be dependent on anyone having CZ:UW.

Joe Bloch
http://greyhawkgrognard.blogspot.com

[Tadhg]

I saw the first and second levels and thought they were OK, not my cup of tea

May I ask how? As far as I'm aware the only people who have seen them are myself and the folks at BB.

If you're referring to the levels that were done as a sort of adjunct to the Castle of the Mad Archmage by a third party author, those are NOT the Surface or Storage Room levels that will be included with the BB edition. I had nothing to do with them, and have created completely new levels that are exclusive to the BB edition, and fit in thematically and structurally with the other levels of CotMA.

I should also point out that the Castle of the Mad Archmage will be a self-contained product, complete unto itself. It will *not* be dependent on anyone having CZ:UW.

Joe Bloch
http://greyhawkgrognard.blogspot.com

Hi Joe.

Thanks, I might be misremembering. I thought you released those early levels on DF when they were completed last year or the prior one. May I ask who then actually created those levels in question?

[Thulcondar]

That would be Richard Graves, who published his level under the title "The Mad Demigod's Castle" in 2009 (after I asked him not to use "Castle of the Mad Archmage"). He goes by the name "Rath" over at DF.

I never looked much past the cover, myself, but it seems like he only did level 1, not the surface ruins.

Joe
http://greyhawkgrognard.blogspot.com

[Tadhg]

That would be Richard Graves, who published his level under the title "The Mad Demigod's Castle" in 2009 (after I asked him not to use "Castle of the Mad Archmage"). He goes by the name "Rath" over at DF.

I never looked much past the cover, myself, but it seems like he only did level 1, not the surface ruins.

Joe
http://greyhawkgrognard.blogspot.com

Oh, him. Yeah, a major dickwad and basher of Gygax Games as well as a disrespectful poster on DF after Gary's passing. He has an account here too, but hasn't been around in a few years thankfully.

So, sorry to have inadvertently associated you with him. Probably due to that situation that you mentioned.

But that aside, are there any samples of your maps or work that can be viewed/pre-viewed?

I'm reading positive posts about your product, but I'm now wondering where or how people are getting their info - in order to express these opinions regarding same.

Many thanks!

[Thulcondar]

If you go to my blog, over in the "free downloads" section, you'll find a link to the free pdf version of the dungeon, which has levels 2 through 13. It includes maps, although a link to poster-versions of the maps are also available right below the first link.

The print version will include everything from the surface through level 13, with redone maps, extensive editing of the text, artwork, and other niceties to put it head and shoulders above the free pdf version. But at least that will give you some idea of what's there.

Joe
http://greyhawkgrognard.blogspot.com

[TheMetal1]

Joe,

My gaming resolution for 2009 is thus. My big gaming project will be to design my own Castle of the Mad Archmage. And I'm going to publish it here, level by level. I don't pretend that I'm going to get through the whole thing, but I will get the core levels done. Hand-drawn maps, the way the Gods intended, and a simple one or two-line description for most rooms. Set pieces will be more fleshed out, but the idea will be to bring back the idea of Spartan design to incite GM flexibility and creativity, and the use of random tables to fill in some of the blank spots.

Thank you for keeping your gaming resolution and congratulations on getting it published. You're labor of love freely given to fans has opened the way to seeing this published - congraulations and thank you for putting Castles of the Mad Archmage out there. I was curious if it was going to be system specific or system netural. I know your working on Adventures Dark & Deep so I didn't know if it would centered on that, another product, etc.

Also, have you considered releasing the levels as on module at a time, soft cover or PDF? That way there is as long a wait or those using Castle Zagyg can just get the levels we interested in?

Thanks!

[rmckee78]

I met Joe at last year's DexCon, through his invasion of the Grognards, and he is a really nice guy. I am really looking forward to this as I really enjoyed reading through the free version. I even printed it out as a booklet so I could stealth read it in class. I found it to be very good at capturing the "mega-dungeon" style of play. I am thinking about setting it under a ruined caste by The City State of the Invincible Overlord in my Wed. C&C game.

I am hoping to make it out to NJCon for some Ogre in May too.

[Keolander]

"The agreement includes the publication and distribution of all twelve of the Castle of the Mad Archmage dungeon levels included in the previously released pdf of the same title, plus two additional levels that Joseph wrote exclusively for inclusion in the Black Blade Publishing release of the Castle of the Mad Archmage. These two additional levels will be

-- Surface Level – The Upper Ruins, and

-- Level One – The Storage Rooms

The Black Blade release of the Castle of the Mad Archmage will be published with several other design features that will make this a truly stand-out print product, including:

-- Full-color poster maps on heavyweight stock for all 14 levels;

-- A folio or folder to organize and store the poster maps when they're not in use;

-- A deluxe box or slipcase for storing both the level key hardcover and the map folio with all of the poster maps;

-- The addition of a number of original black & white interior art pieces to highlight specific set piece encounters or unique features of the Castle levels;

In addition, Black Blade Publishing and Joseph Bloch have discussed plans to release further expansions of the Castle of the Mad Archmage, including several sub-levels and level-expansions for the twelve primary dungeon levels beneath the ruins of the Mad Archmage’s Castle."

This is absolutely awesome!

-- A 220-240 page hardcover containing the encounter keys and level by level detail for all 14 levels;

This, however, is not. Call me a fuddy-duddy, but I like my modules split into smaller softbound books for easier use by me the GM. I will say that it IS good that the maps are separate as that is one of the most absolutely infuriating aspects of more modern modules (like WotC's 3.x Expedition series and Zeitgeist's Dungeons of Castle Blackmoor).

[Thulcondar]

Also, have you considered releasing the levels as on module at a time, soft cover or PDF? That way there is as long a wait or those using Castle Zagyg can just get the levels we interested in?

Thanks!

At the moment, I think the focus is on the hardcover/slipcase version. I will leave it to the good folks from Black Blade to comment on any future plans.

Joe
http://greyhawkgrognard.blogspot.com