Confused about Rob's castles

[Deleted]

Welcome to Mr. Kuntz on these boards!

I've been looking at some of the threads here and am trying to work some things out in my brain.

1. What is the difference between Castle Maure and Castle El Raja Key?

2. Are they both from the original Gary/Rob Greyhawk campaign?

[Deleted]

Thanks SK.

I was hoping to recall where I posted the response to this before but failed that check. Here's a brief which I hope helps:

1) To protect my IP in both cases (with WG5 and MC) I contrived alternate setting designs for each. Therein lies the main reason for the confusion. There is much more kinship to the real (campaign/IP) matter in WG5; and MC is truly not related but through contrivance of EGG noting that this castle (in the WoG folio) was located there and that it equated (as he said to me personally) to ERK in his expanded conceptual view of integrating my Castle into the expanded world view of Greyhawk. Though a nice thought, and in retrospect, going back in time and bringing us both off of the shared Outdoor Survival map we first used as a shared outdoor resource, that in essence was his take and not pursued any further except as noted through WG5. I was a bit cagey and guardian-like in those days of my IP, and for good reasons, now, if one looks upon what happened to both Greyhawk and Blackmoor....

2) ERK was used in the play test of D&D and it is where Gary (Yrag, Mordenkainen, Bigby, etc.) and other LGTSA members adventured in (see this link lordofthegreendragons.blogspot.com/2009/03/first-living-campaign.html at my blog for further commentary). Maure Castle was located on the WoG outdoor and conceptualized beyond that by myself with adventure input from Erik Mona and James Jacobs. It is a Poesque (re: Fall of the House of Usher) type family of ageless wizards, but this is detailed after-matter and not within the realm of what might have been in EGG's mind all along, though he enjoyed my take as much as I enjoyed his take on my god, Tharzdu'un (Tharizdun).

I hope this answers your question, and if not I will expand where needed.

[Finarvyn]

Jul 17, 2010 12:03:28 GMT -6 robkuntz said:

Though a nice thought, and in retrospect, going back in time and bringing us both off of the shared Outdoor Survival map we first used as a shared outdoor resource, that in essence was his take and not pursued any further except as noted through WG5.

Hey, now this really grabbed my attention. I remember Dave saying that the Outdoor Survival map was used for the lands "to the south" of Blackmoor and I assumed that this was the only reason for its inclusion in OD&D.

So you and Gary also made use of the OS map? As a general resource or did it represent a particular section of wilderness?

[Deleted]

Hi Fin: Yeah. We have both stated in several areas its use in our shared campaigns, so I thought people knew that. How odd.

EGG and I had a system we created for using it as a continuing wilderness map and I actually made notes of that which detailed it and thus the City of Greyhawk's location and its position and placement relative to the other notable locations (Circle of Eight, Castle El Raja Key, Tenser's Castle, Terik's abode, etc., etc.). These have actual locations through the system we used and have been noted on a redone map I have drawn and colorized, which in essence reproduces the main wilderness areas. For the most part, this was a tracking mechanic we employed, so if you continued off the main map where the City of Greyhawk (and others as noted) was located, you appeared at the opposite edge of the "new" map--so if you exited west we lifted up the counter and placed it on the corresponding east edge aligned hex of the same map. Think of it as multiple OS maps abutting each other, continuing on and forever. That was our shared wilderness for quite some time and all throughout the play tests, in fact.

[Finarvyn]

That's really cool, and I'm not sure how I missed that detail. Is there somewhere we can find that has the hex numbers that correspond to all of the locations?

[Deleted]

Hi Fin. The detailed information has never been posted, though I may consider doing so through a pdf file someday.

[Falconer]

*drools*

[grodog]

Jul 18, 2010 8:29:20 GMT -6 robkuntz said:

Hi Fin. The detailed information has never been posted, though I may consider doing so through a pdf file someday.

Perhaps as part of the Lake Geneva map of gamers we've discussed in the past, Rob (IIRC that was in the context of Don Kaye's dungeon, perhaps?)?

I thought that Rob also posted some details about ERK vs. MC on the Paizo boards but I couldn't find them; might have been PPP, perhaps?

[Deleted]

Hey Gro. You in NJ yet? Well that would combine the players' bios then with the two maps, one being of the campaign's Outdoor Survival area.... Murlynd's Castle is noted on the non-play map for the Lake Geneva Gamers (a send up and back ground much like Rogues Gallery was, but with bios of the gamers a well), though he actually in the game (Don Kaye) never built one; his PC Murlynd lived in the City. His 'Castle" is the one Don constructed and which I have re-constructed from memory as he showed me its levels and described them after I'd played in it a while. So, actually, these are 3 separate concepts (if applied to publishing).